Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Stupefy!

He heard it.

Harry knew the word came from his own mouth, and yet it sounded so far away. With that single spell, the sluggish lag lifted and life sped up appropriately. A mighty jet of red light burst from his wand and flew directly over Orion's shoulder, lifting wisps of ebony hair as it passed, and slammed into the shocked man behind him with the power of a thunderbolt straight from the hand of Zeus. It lifted its victim and rammed him back through the double-doors from whence he came. One was taken with him as a souvenir.

Orion whipped around, wand out, and immediately was on high alert. A fresh round of distressed screams traveled through the bar, and Harry couldn't exactly blame them. He wasn't even allowed a moment of smug satisfaction for taking out one of Grindelwald's followers (or for how strong his spell was) as three more invaded the bar. And they weren't exactly joyous about their friend's unconscious disposition.

Without communicating in any way with one another, Tom and Abraxas moved forward to stand with Orion, taking on two of the men while Dmitry stood with haste to help Harry fight the third.

Even though they outnumbered the attackers, it was by no means an easy duel. Their opponents were older and much more experienced at killing and fighting in general for it to have been an effortless win. Harry was sure the only reason why he so quickly disabled the first man was because he blindsided him.

Belatedly, as he dove out of the way of a sickly yellow and venomously green corkscrewing curse, Harry wished that one of the few adults still in the building would help out. Or even one of the other students left over who knew a thing or two about how to duel. It would likely have made the take down that much quicker.

There was no time for him to see how Tom and the others were doing. Harry and Dmitry had their hands full with the incensed gorilla they were dealing with. It was a great annoyance to Harry that the hulking man seemed quite happy to use obscure curses he'd never heard of, which left him ducking and dodging more than actually casting back. He wasn't sure if a Protego Horribilis would hold against them and he wasn't willing to test it on himself when the results could be catastrophically damaging.

Dmitry seemed to be standing his ground rather well. If he had to guess, Harry would say that the Russian's family had hired a private tutor to train him for situations like this one. It was the smart thing to do when there was a war going on.

"Stupify!" Harry shouted when he finally got a free shot. The other man threw up a shield, but that miniscule moment where he was put on defense allowed for Harry and Dmitry to finally switch to hard-hitting offensive tactics and pummel him with curses.

"Conjnctivitus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Incendio!"

"Bombarda! Stupefy! Bombarda Maxima!"

A millisecond after Harry launched his stronger Bombarda at their opponent, Dmitry cried out, "Altum Somnum!" Harry's spell was the final hit that broke the man's shield, allowing Dmitry's midnight-blue curse to make contact with his chest. Harry watched in fascination as it cloaked the large man and was absorbed into his body, after which he immediately fell limp to the ground. Panting slightly, he glanced across the room at Tom's battle to see the Slytherin trio just finishing off the second of the pair.

Turning back to Dmitry, he grinned and asked, "What spell was that last one? I don't think we learned it in class."

Dmitry snorted in turn. "We wouldn't. It's on the Darker side of the spectrum, according to the English Ministry. It just makes whoever's hit with it to fall asleep from between three to five days. It's Dark because there is no counter curse and nothing will wake them before the time is up."

Harry chuckled as he heard Abraxas conjuring ropes to bind their unconscious captives. "We might not have learned it in class, but it's in the library. You know, that place you tend to avoid like the plague? Too bad, really, because if you visited more often, like me, you might end up learning something like—"

He never finished. He wasn't allowed it. His fickle luck had taken a turn. He heard the movement in the brush outside, heard the spell chanted and knew immediately what was coming, not that it helped him any. There was no time to dodge, no time to escape the golden light before it hit him, cocooning around him and blocking the trashed pub from his sight. Blocking Dmitry's terrified face, Orion's anxious shouts, and Abraxas' frantic calls.

Nothing came from Tom.

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AN: I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who's been voting and writing comments it means a lot knowing you're enjoying my story :)
Also, the spell Dmitry casts 'Altum Somnum' means deep sleep in Latin in case you were wondering.