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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 185: Burn The Witch

A short distance away, a group of students, as well as two adults, were watching the development of this duel with shocked expressions.

"When did James learn to do all of that?" Remus wondered. "Surely he didn't get that from class."

"I can't believe that he never told us he got a pet dragon! He knows how much I love dragons," Peter complained.

"Boy, I don't think dragons can spew so much poison as that one did. That thing will eat you up if you get too close," Andromeda added.

"Hey! Primum would never do such a thing. He is a good boy," Bella said.

"Professor, what spell is that white fire? The witch seems to be terrified of it," Lily asked.

"It looks like the one he used back then…" Bella was thinking back to the day when James's first lab was burned down. James had used something that looked like this to fight back against the fire.

What Bella didn't know was that James had only summoned a flimsy ember back then, and now he was using the full power of the alchemist flames to burn away the witch.

Professor Slughorn turned to the Headmaster. "Albus, are you seeing this? That white fire, is that really an…"

"An alchemy fire. But this one seems very different from the ones I use myself. There is something primal and wild about it," Dumbledore observed with narrowed eyes. "I have seriously underestimated what Mister Potter was capable of."

"I told you the boy was a once-in-a-generation genius." Professor Slughorn felt proud of being the first one to have seen this.

"Genius? No… this is something more," Dumbledore responded as he watched what James was doing. His eyes then went to the five-pillar barrier and understood the reason for James setting something like this in place at the beginning of the fight.

It wasn't just to prevent the witch from escaping, but also something that could protect them if he had to use those flames.

"We shouldn't be standing this close, just in case," Dumbledore suddenly told the others.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, we need to be close just in case James needs our help," Remus added.

"Help him, against that crazy witch?" Andromeda looked at them like they were crazy.

Dumbledore shook his head. "You boys are smarter than this. The witch that Mister Potter is facing is not an opponent any of you could handle." The Headmaster didn't want to admit this in front of the students, but he didn't think he would fare well either unless he had plenty of time to prepare.

Unlike James, he did not carry around all his alchemy tools.

"It's too late for that—look!" Professor Slughorn pointed at the sealed area.

The white fire that James had created started to grow inside very quickly. It was also becoming so bright that they could no longer even see what was going on.

"James!" Bellatrix called his name in vain, as this one had no way to hear her.

A moment later… they felt a violent explosion occur inside the barrier.

The ground began to shake while large cracks appeared all over the place, centering around the barrier.

In between the five pillars, the white flames seemed to have filled all the available space and started to rise higher.

"It's starting to feel hot in here," Andromeda pointed out.

"That's not good… the leaking heat means that the barrier won't hold those flames for long." Just as Dumbledore said this, they heard a loud crack.

The white flames managed to breach the top of the barrier and shoot out into the sky, forming a massive white pillar of light that seemed to continue until it reached the clouds.

"Are you seeing this, Albus?!" Professor Slughorn exclaimed. His eyes were filled with awe as he stared at the spectacle.

Dumbledore's narrowed eyes were, of course, staring at the same thing. "I believe everyone is seeing this… even the Muggles."

That pillar of fire was tall and bright enough to be seen for many miles all around Hogsmeade.

The temperature kept rising higher, but it didn't reach the point of actually harming them, as the flames were focused on something else.

After a good ten or fifteen seconds of this, the flames began to recede, allowing them to breathe in relief.

They all watched as the pillar of light dissipated completely and disappeared from sight.

"Is it over?" Peter asked.

"Where is James? Is he okay?" Sirius was trying to get a better look and moved behind the Headmaster.

"Stay here. Only me and Professor Slughorn will approach," Dumbledore told the students while sharing a glance with the Potions professor, who nodded in response.

They had only taken a few steps before they had to stop again after they heard a loud cracking noise.

"The pillars are breaking apart!" Slughorn pointed at them.

The formation had already been shattered by the flames and the pillars were filled with cracks.

A moment later, they fell apart piece by piece and began to disappear.

It was then that they could finally get a better look at what happened inside.

"Merlin!" Dumbledore could not help but exclaim in shock.

The ground inside the magical formation had been changed by the flames. A thick layer of some type of black glass was now covering everything.

James stood near the center and did not appear to have been burned at all, although his face showed his level of exhaustion.

At first they didn't see the witch and assumed she had been turned into dust by the intense heat.

But then they spotted a black figure still standing a bit farther ahead.

"She survived that?!" Slughorn could not believe it, and neither did Dumbledore.

"No, that's not possible even for a monster like that one." The Headmaster muttered under his breath.

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