The Assassin's Comeuppance #16 (Patreon)

Harry Potter glared at the smirking witch. It seemed she was gone; there was no hope for her anymore. She knew she couldn’t win, whatever the consequences might be, but she wanted to cause as much pain and misery as possible even if she died.

He shook his head slightly in disappointment. It was a foolhardy attempt on his part, and a naïve thinking that she might take the right way out of this conflict.

Although initially reluctant to let it come to this, Harry quickly realized that he had no choice apart from battling it out and killing her to finally rid Elena of this parasite. Looking at her, Harry’s eyes softened. Elena was looking at him with a small smile, and she nodded before moving out of the way.

Harry smiled at her before his face took on an uncharacteristically serious expression as he turned around to look at his adversary. He had faced Voldemort countless times before he had finally killed him, however, he had no idea how skilled this dark witch truly was.

History books had projected her as some sort of invincible force of nature, and Harry knew he could not afford to lose focus. Even a slight misstep could result in his death, and consequently, Elena’s as well. That was something Harry could not allow.

Taking a deep breath, Harry focused. Willing his magic and weaving the invisible threads together, he envisioned himself holding his wand. He grinned in silent triumph when he felt the familiar piece of wood as his fingers curled around it. He held his wand loosely on his side and tilted his head upward to look at Morgana.

“Oh there it is… the famous Elder Wand. The Deathstick. The wand my father took from that idiot Antioch Peverell. The wand that could’ve been mine. But I digress. I’m not here to fawn over some piece of wood. Come on, Harry Potter, the last son of Peverell. Let’s finish what your ancestors started centuries ago. I hope you won’t disappoint me,” Morgana smirked.

Harry took in everything she said. So, Maul was the one who killed Antioch Peverell and took the Elder Wand. He must have died, that could be the only way this wand had switched its allegiance. From Maul to somehow Gregorovitch. From Gregorovitch to Grindelwald. Grindelwald to Dumbledore and then finally this wand was back in the hands of a Peverell. Its history was bloodied, and Harry realized how it had made a full circle as it came back home.

“I’ll sure try not to disappoint you,” Harry replied, his fist tightening around his wand as he stared at the smirking witch.

Morgana tutted.

“It’s honestly a shame that things have come down to this, Harry. We could have so much fun together. Our children would’ve made such powerful sacrifices. But you had to meddle somehow. I have to kill you now, no matter how much I don’t want to.”

Harry snorted.

“You’re really crazy if you think I’d have left you to your devices after witnessing what was really happening. Regarding you killing me, a lot more and a lot better than you have tried. None has succeeded so far. Let’s see if you manage to do it or you’re just some pushover who’s been overhyped by historians to frighten unruly children so that their mothers could put them to bed.”

Morgana seethed inside but maintained her devilish smirk. Harry could detect her smirk faltering slightly and he grinned at his success in getting under her skin.

‘So predictable, just like any other dark wizard or witch. Too big of an ego,’

“Then let’s find out if those historians are indeed right,” Morgana grinned before sweeping her wand. A massive wall of flames rose behind her until they encircled the two of them, and Harry quickly turned around. His eyes met Elena’s own for barely a second before the curtain of flames rose between them, cutting them off and enclosing him and Morgana inside.

“Now we won’t have any intruder. Let’s do this, Harry. Let’s see the might of the Peverell against the daughter of the great Maul.”

Her words came with a hidden promise, and the blue flames that erupted from her wand were evidence enough. His eyes widened as he recognized the spell. He had seen it in Dumbledore’s memories. This had Grindelwald written all over it.

Harry swept his wand in an arc, and Morgana’s smirk was wiped off her face as she looked on in silent shock. A massive shockwave erupted from his wand, effortlessly cutting the massive fire in half before extinguishing it entirely.

“Try harder, pushover,” Harry goaded her and grinned internally when she snarled. Her next assault came barely a second later as she whipped her wand. A large number of boulders came careening toward him from all sides, and Harry braced himself.

With a grunt, he planted his feet on the ground firmly and twisted his wand in an arc, and the ground in front of him was torn open. Waving his wand around, he transfigured the ground around him and grunted when the massive rocks struck the makeshift shield, like battering rams. Each strike forced him to grunt until the assault ceased.

Morgana seethed as she saw him shield against her spell. Her anger grew when his shield came crashing down, sending dust and debris all around the arena and she had to stand firm. Finally, the arena cleared, and she saw him standing there, smirking.

However, this time, he gave her no time to come up with another spell as he sent a multitude of spells careening toward his opponent.

Morgana proved to be a very adept witch, as she weaved through his spells, ducking and occasionally shielding herself from the onslaught before she sent the large chunks of a boulder back at him.

Harry sent an overpowered blasting hex, exploding the rocks into the air, turning them into dust before he levitated the dusty cloud around her, intent on choking her. His wand waved around him, and he tried to encase her legs inside a boulder before sealing it shut to trap her or at least reduce her mobility.

However, Morgana proved to be an efficient witch, as she blew the rocks into smithereens and jumped above the floating cloud of dust, overall unharmed but looking slightly disheveled from the entire ordeal. Harry clicked his tongue in annoyance, cursing the missed opportunity.

“I have to admit, Harry. You’re good. Better than I expected.”

“You’ve seen nothing yet,” Harry grinned, and Morgana smiled dangerously.

“I’m sure I haven’t,” she whispered, before letting out a shrill cry. Harry winced, and Morgana shot a massive blasting curse into the ground. He frowned when he felt his legs start to shake slightly, staring at the large hole that had formed on the ground. Just as he had found his proper footing once again, his eyes widened.

Dark, murky water shot out of the hole in the ground, and Harry watched with wide eyes as Morgana twisted her wand around her, controlling the massive jet and sending it right at him. Harry saw the dark liquid approaching him at a rapid pace, and quickly cast an overpowered Glacius right in front of himself.

A thick slab of ice formed in front of him, taking the full force of the jet, and Harry fed it more power. He saw through the transparent wall of ice as the jet started to freeze, and quickly took control of a fraction of that jet from Morgana, enough for his use but not enough for her to notice anything out of ordinary.

Too busy controlling and directing the ferocious jet of toxic liquid, she never saw the dark javelins made of the same toxic liquid shooting toward her until it was too late.

Harry watched with triumph in his eyes as he saw the frozen javelins of the liquid hit their mark, nailing her in the arm. Blood gushed out of her wounds as her control over the stream waned.

However, he had no time to celebrate his small victory as Morgana snarled before sending a volley of dark spells toward him. A massive purple spell blew his ice shield, obliterating it and Harry dodged the wild assault of the dark witch.

She was casting like a woman possessed, her movements erratic and wild. Her spellcasting had no rhythm or pattern, nor did she utilize any singular branch of magic in her assault. It seemed as if she had lost herself entirely to her emotions.

It would’ve seemed so to anyone else, but not Harry. He had been through so many battles that he could easily decipher when someone had gone crazy.

Morgana’s spellcasting was wild, there was no doubt about it. But it was purposeful. There was chaos but entirely controlled. Her target never shifted, her spells transitioning from one branch of magic to another all the time, and Harry witnessed just how powerful and knowledgeable she truly was as she cast spell after spell with a singular focus.

She was casting spells he had never even heard of, and all he could do for a while was dodge or somehow shield himself. Her purple eyes were alight, her face set into a perpetual snarl as she threw spell after devastating spell at him.

It went on for quite a while, with Morgana flinging spells at him and Harry dodging while sending a few spells in between which were either shielded against or swatted aside. He failed to get an upper hand in the fight, constantly battling on the defensive.

He could feel himself tiring from exertion, and one look at Morgana told him that she was expending too much energy herself. He knew he could either see this assault out and let her tire herself out, or return fire. What he didn’t know, was how long he could endure her assault, or how long she could keep casting without tiring out.

If he chose to fight back, he had to use magic which was probably unknown to her, and there wasn’t much he could think of that might be unknown to the ancient dark witch.

There was only one branch of magic that he knew which might ensure his victory in this situation. It was very likely that she’d have heard of this branch of magic, but he didn’t think she knew its intricacies. Full of resolve and with a look of utter seriousness on his face, Harry sent a flurry of spells, waiting for a moment of pause in her assault.

The awaited lull in the action came not even a minute later, and Harry capitalized. With a hiss in parseltongue, he cut his palm and closed the fist tightly. Once sufficient blood had been collected, he threw his arm upward, sending numerous droplets of his blood into the air.

Morgana’s eyes widened at the use of parseltongue, but in her angry state, she failed to notice the blood that he had thrown into the air. She snarled before whipping her wand furiously. Harry saw a thick, dark tendril of malicious force emanating from the tip of her wand where it coalesced into a spherical structure before it shot toward him at a blistering pace.

He had no idea what spell it was, and he didn’t want to take any chances. With another loud hiss, he summoned a giant snake made of a shiny dark stone in front of him. He directed the snake with his wand, sending it into the path of the spell. The snake intercepted the dark sphere of evil energy, furiously trying to swallow the force, and Morgana’s eyes widened when the snake seemed to overcome her spell.

Her face twisted into an ugly snarl and she took a deep breath before she screamed shrilly. Harry flinched and his knees faltered as his control of the spell waned. He watched in immense shock as the sphere of doom exploded violently and the snake was blown apart. The force of the explosion sent him sprawling on his back, debris from the explosion hitting him all over his body, and he heaved and coughed.

His head was ringing, and he was sure his ears were bleeding as he blearily opened his eyes. Instinctively, he flexed the fingers that held his wand, and he realized shockingly that his wand was no longer in his hand.

A blurry figure filled his vision and he blinked his eyes furiously to clear them up. Slowly, the figure came into focus, and his eyes widened when he saw the malicious visage of Morgana hovering over him.

His breath hitched when he felt her trail her wand down his cheek before she poked him under the chin.

“You were surely running your mouth a lot back then,” she whispered, and he could discern the madness lurking in her voice.

“What happened now, Harry Potter? You’re not so talkative right now,” she smirked, lowering her face so that it was hovering right over his.

“You know,” she whispered, her warm breath caressing his lips, “Elena got to kiss you so many times, even though I had been occupying her body. It’s only fair that you give me my share as well, right?”

Harry’s eyes widened.

She grinned maliciously, before forcefully mashing her lips against his. His entire body throbbed in pain, and he could only lie there as Morgana continued to suck his lips forcefully. He tried with all his might to overpower her, but try as he might, he couldn’t move even a fraction of his body.

Finally, after a long moment, she bit his lip painfully, hard enough to draw blood, before she pulled away. His eyes took in her bloodied lips as she grinned and stood up.

“Now that was some kiss,” she whispered, smirking at him. Harry glared as he tried to move.

“You’ll feel weak for some time. The last spell I used has such an effect. So, I’d suggest you lay still, it’d be less painful that way,” she grinned.

“So, this is it, the great Harry Potter, vanquisher of dark lords and the last son of the mighty Peverell clan. Reduced to a pitiful replica of his grandiose,” she tutted. “I won’t shy away from admitting that you were a worthy adversary, Harry Potter, but this is where we part ways.”

Harry glared at her.

“Things could’ve been different, you know? You’d have gotten to sample a taste of this very fine body before you died,” she whispered sultrily, caressing her ample curves before looking at him with a grin, “but if this is how you’ve decided to die, who am I to say no?” She remarked, before quickly pointing her wand at him.

Harry glared at her defiantly.

“Do your worst,” he whispered, and Morgana’s nostrils flared.

“It didn’t have to come to this, Harry. But this is goodbye, for now. Who knows, may be in the afterlife, I’ll find you and we’d have our unfulfilled adventure at last,” she said sultrily, before waving her wand and taking down the wall of fire.

Harry looked to the side and his eyes widened when they met Elena’s wide and fearful ones. She took a few hesitant steps before breaking into a full sprint. In her fear-induced state, she started flinging spells wildly, which Morgana swatted aside with an evil laugh.

Elena ran forward, tears running down her face as her eyes locked with Harry’s emerald ones. She’d almost reached them when her eyes widened as Harry shook his head slightly. Her steps faltered and she came to a stop. With teary eyes, she looked as Morgana grinned before pointing her wand at him.

“I thought you should watch this, little girl,” Morgana sneered, looking at Elena who looked on helplessly, “say goodbye to your lover, dear Elena. AVADA KEDAVRA!”

“NOOOOOO!!!”

Elena’s loud cry sounded out in relative silence as she heard Morgana cast that spell. She looked on with wide, teary eyes as the cursed syllables left her malicious lips.

Harry’s eyes were open, his gaze fixed on Elena and she stared into them as she fell to her knees. With wide, red eyes, she saw the bright green flash of his eyes as Morgana cast the killing curse.

XXX

To be continued…