Chapter 21 - There’s strength in numbers
He looked even less like a human than Dumby had described. His face was bone white, hairless and his nose was so flat, you could get a perfect spirit level measurement over it.
Tom tried to act quickly to catch Moldywart off guard. He sent a hex at him but it was deflected effortlessly. Moldywart sneered as he shouted, “Who are you to dare challenge me?”
Tom couldn’t think of a clever response. Rather pathetically, he just said, “I’m Tom, just like you.”
“Fool. No one is like me. I’m no longer Tom, I outgrew that name long ago. Now move aside or another Tom will come to an end.”
“You’re right about one thing,” Tom shouted.
They looked at each other with detest for a split second, then Moldywart sent multiple curses at Tom. Tom had never experienced the speed of his spell work before. He just managed to dodge one and block another, but the third struck him and he fell to the floor in pain. He had no time to dwell on the pain though. He rolled over and jumped straight back up, parrying another curse as he did. Then he attempted to go on the attack. He tried to immobilize Moldywart in different ways but to no success. They sent a few more curses back and forth at each other, Tom aiming to distract and Moldywart aiming to kill.
“You’ve got some skill boy! But you’re no match for me. Why don’t you give up now?”
“Only when I’m dead.”
“That can easily be arranged.”
Moldywart started to speed up his spell work and Tom struggled to cope. Before long, he was knocked to the floor so forcefully that his wand flew out of his hand. Noticing Tom’s lack of movement, Moldywart pulled a knife out of his robes and sent it flying through the air and it imbedded deep into Tom’s left bicep. The pain it caused almost made Tom pass out. As he struggled to remain conscious, he could see Moldywart baring down on him. So this is it. This is how I die. Tom knew he couldn’t carry on fighting.
As Moldywart bared down on him, he said, “Your bravery will be noted. Not many people could hold me off for so long. It’s a shame that you’re going to die, you could have been a powerful allay but ah well.”
Tom thought of Amber and his friends. Then his uncle Then Lyrotth.
Suddenly, he started to feel warm and powerful. He could not see her, he could not hear her, but he could feel her, as sure as anything. Lyrotth was coming.
New hope filled him and he tried to stall Moldywart, saying, “You don’t want to kill me, I’m your ticket to Trotter and Dumby.”
Moldywart was about to cast the deadly blow but staggered in surprise. Intrigued, he said, “How?”
Tom spoke as slowly as he dared. “They both rely on me heavily. All I need to do is send them false information and they’ll be vulnerable.”
“I can see you are telling the truth but I don’t believe you mean to do it. Besides, I already have Severus.”
Tom could feel Lyrotth ever stronger, he knew she must be almost here. “You’re funeral,” he said, not being able to think of anything else.
“No, it is yours!”
Moldywart raised his wand to strike but then several things happened simultaneously. A female death muncher with wild, frizzy hair came bursting out of the lifts, Moldywart got distracted and looked to see what the source of the commotion was and Tom seized his advantage and tripped him up. Then, in one fluid motion, Lyrotth came flying into the foyer through the hole in the ceiling and grabbed Moldywart between the teeth.
Moldywart screamed as her teeth sank into him. Tom could see blood pouring out of her mouth. The female death muncher tried to come to Moldywart’s aid but Lyrotth sent her flying by swiping her tail at her. Then, suddenly, the whole foyer started to fill with people. Scores of witches and wizards came out of the fireplaces, including the minister of magic, Toffee, and Harry, Dumby and the rest of the order came out of the lifts. They all froze as they observed the scene in front of them. A dragon, holding Moldywart between her teeth and Tom slouched against the fountain in the centre of it all.
Moldywart recovered from the initial pain and tried to break free but failed. As more and more people appeared, he glanced around at them all. Then there was a big bang and a smoke cloud appeared around Lyrotth’s mouth.
Once the smoke diffused, Lyrotth was visible again, but without Moldywart in her mouth. He’d vanished, leaving behind nothing more than a pile of his own blood and a deep gash in Lyrotth’s muzzle. She roared in anger at the pain and the disappearance of her prey.
Tom heard many screams and shouts of, “You know who has returned!” and, “Dragon!” Some of the wizards cowered away whilst others raised their wands.
“STOP! She won’t hurt you.” Tom bellowed.
Only some of the wizards put their wands down. Dumby then magically modified his voice to echo all around the room. As he spoke, he strayed over to stand by Tom and address the crowd. “Don’t attack, Lyrotth here is friendly.” He then paused to make sure everyone was listening. “As you have all just witnessed, Lord Moldywart has returned. Members of the order of the thunderbird have captured many death munchers here tonight. They are all tied up down in the DRM, apart from dear Bellatonix who is over by that fireplace. Also, I think I’m right in saying, there are a few dead underneath that pile of rubble.” He glanced at Tom who nodded subtly.
The wizards started to mutter amongst themselves. Most voices were of panic and confusion. “Dumby, How?” asked Toffee, who up until now had been completely silent.
Dumby’s voice went back to normal volume as he said, “I will explain everything to you in a few minutes. I just need to send Harry and Tom back to Hogwash.”
“Who? Who is this Tom?”
Before Tom could answer for himself, Dumby said, “I will explain that too.” He then turned round to speak to Tom and Harry. “You two need to leave. I shall make a port key to,” Tom interrupted him.
“Albus, I’ve been sending the others to the Hag’s leg via the fireplaces and I told them to wait there until further notice.”
“An excellent idea Tom. Very well, Harry, use the fireplace over there and go join the others.”
Harry seemed completely exhausted and distraught. Without speaking, he got up. “What about me sir?” Tom asked, surprised that he wasn’t going with Harry.
“I need you here a little longer Tom.” He then went with Harry over to the fireplace and sent him on his way
In the time Dumby spent helping Harry, Lyrotth came over to Tom and bowed her head so they were face to face. He gazed into the face that he’d become so accustom to and inspected her wound. There were many gasps from the crowd as he did so but Tom ignored them. “Thank you for saving me. I would be dead if you hadn’t turned up,” he said softly.
She made a noise between a growl and a purr and Tom felt her appreciation radiate right through him.
Only as he tried to stand up did he remember the knife that was in his arm. The bleeding had ceased but it was still very painful and the loss of blood made him feel very dizzy as he stood. He used Lyrotth for support and then yanked the knife free from his arm. He let out a groan as he did so but the sharp burst of pain only lasted a second.
Dumby beckoned Tom over to where he was talking to the other members of the order. A few of them greeted Tom with pats on the back, then Dumby continued. “Good job tonight everyone. You’ll be happy to hear that we no longer have to worry about the prophecy anymore as it’s been destroyed.” Apart from Tom, they all sighed in relief. “Harry is safe, along with his school friends thanks to Tom and Moldywart has yet again slipped away under our noses.”
“Not so healthily though this time,” chuckled Conks.
“He’ll patch himself up in no time, a dragon bite is only a flesh wound. It’s essentially the same as Tom’s knife wound,” said Dumby.
The group then turned their attention to the wound, having not noticed it until know. “You were stabbed!” said Rudy in surprise.
“Moldywart’s doing,”
replied Tom.
“Be lucky it’s only a wound. I’m amazed you’re still alive,” said Kingston.
“I wouldn’t be if Lyrotth hadn’t come to my aid.”
The group turned to face her. She’d been patiently waiting behind them, even though she kept getting awkward stares from members of the Ministry. “Albus, you never told us about a dragon!” said Arthur.
“That is because it was a secret between only people who were situated at Hogwash as that is where Lyrotth is living.” Arthur was about to say something else but Dumby raised a hand to stop him. “I will tell you all the details later, there are lots of things we need to discuss. But for now, I need to speak with Toffee, and Lyrotth needs to fly away from here before the sun rises. Tom, you need to get back to the others. Explain to them what you can and then take them back to school. At 6 am, bring Harry to my office. I’ll meet you there.”
Tom said his goodbyes to everyone then went over to Lyrotth, who was preparing to take off. He’d assumed he would travel back by fire, same as the others, but he could tell Lyrotth was waiting to fly with him.
She kneeled down so he could climb on her back. He struggled more than normal, having only one good arm but eventually managed it. “Let’s go,” he said.
Lyrotth then stepped onto the pile of rocks that contained the death munchers, reared onto her hind legs and flew out of the hole in the ceiling and into the night.
Tom Collivander and the Order of the Thunderbird, A Potter Parody Page 31