Review Answers:
ww1990ww: First Tyranids codex was published in 1994 I think so how on Earth in 1988 Harry has Swarmlord figurine? The simple answer is that I adjusted the timeline so Warhammer was released and updated earlier. Given that you're already accepting a world where magic exists and a boy transforms into an alien killing machine before being transported across space by a magical portal, I figured it probably wouldn't be too much to handle. I didn't state it anywhere in the story because it would've distracted from the progression of the narrative and wasn't particularly important. It was important for the story that Harry's transformation occur while he was still very young for reasons that should become clear as the story progresses.
comodo50: Is it [the story] a one shot only? Apparently not. In all seriousness, though, I do plan on completing this story, although I can't promise that it will be finished quickly since I had the brilliant idea to work on two very long and complex stories simultaneously.
Guest who wrote me an essay: (Not a dig, it's just you only reviewed as guest and there are a bunch of other people who have done the same) Your review was too long to quote the questions in full so I'll just bullet point them.
You are aware Tyranids can eat memories?
I know some Tyranids, specifically Lictors, are able to eat memories, but as far as I'm aware it's not something all Tyranids can do. I could be wrong, but, to my knowledge, it's a skill specific to Lictors used for intelligence gathering on new worlds.
Why does Harry not lead the Tyranids to farm suns?
Even if Harry/the Swarmlord was able to consume memories from the adult wizards he ate in the Ministry, I highly doubt any of them knew how to farm a sun. Even if the Tyranids did obtain the knowledge on how to do so, it would be practically impossible for the entire Tyranid Hive to switch their complete genetic make-up to become photosynthetic rather than heterotrophic, and they would have had no interest in learning how to do so because that's not how Tyranids think. Also, even slightly active animals in real-life that are capable of using photosynthesis still need to eat because the process doesn't produce enough energy quickly enough to sustain an active creature.
General rant (If you don't know much about Tyranids and want to find out what the deal is as part of the story, don't read this part)
Firstly, I think you probably posted this in the wrong place, I would suggest posting your review (minus the stuff pertinent to my story) on a Warhammer 40K fan forum and I'm sure you'll get a good debate on your points. For my penny though, I think of the Tyranids as basically being super-space-locusts. They don't think, "Oh, what would be the most sustainable method for us to continue on," they think, "We're going to consume everything in our way in order to satisfy our unending hunger." I also think there might have been a question buried in there somewhere about why Harry/Swarmlord was just shouting "Feed" and "Kill:" he was an 8-year-old being ruled by a brand new set of alien instincts that he'd had for three days. That's hardly going to produce an eloquent treatise or finely crafted repartee. People don't evacuate because the Tyranid Hive-Mind prevents travel through the Warp and the Tyranid ships are much faster in real-space, which also stops affected planets from calling for help. And each Hive Fleet eliminates all possible resistance before they start eating a planet, so you couldn't have a fleet of ships hanging out waiting for them to land and put all their forces on the planet before blowing it up because the Tyranids would try to kill it before doing so. So, even if they had previously planted bombs and the Tyranids hadn't just eaten them already, there would be no one to set them off.
connorfig: Going to assume the shadow over the town was essentially the Shadow In The Warp thing the Tyranids have? You assume correctly, I felt it was a good way to adapt the Shadow In The Warp into the HP Universe.
Darkscythe Drake: Has Harry completely lost all reason as a Tyranid? You'll find out.
Author's Note: Firstly, I'm not dead! I understand that many people have probably been wondering, and in answer to the few questions I've had on this subject; no, neither of my stories have been abandoned. The next chapter for Lethal Injection should be forthcoming sometime reasonably soon after the publication of this chapter, and I hope to eventually regain a monthly updating schedule. How well that works out with university and life, in general, remains to be seen, but that's the hope at least.
I was originally planning on making an announcement about how my mother is dying of brain cancer and I spend almost all of my time taking care of her, but she actually passed away while I was writing this so that's no longer applicable. As a result, once I've had time to get my life back together, this story and Lethal Injection should both be on at least a somewhat regular updating schedule.
Also, special shout-outs to SkylerHollow and gbbz for reviewing both Tyrant Rising, and Lethal Injection, and thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter one. I really appreciate the support.
Finally, I have something important to say about Bellatrix: she is NOT a good example of feminism, in this story or in canon. This is deliberate and is due to her character, beliefs, and background. The views she expresses, particularly about men and women and how the two should interact in society are not supposed to be correct or appropriate. I'm saying this because Bellatrix is going to be an important part of this story (to be honest, if I show you something from an individual's perspective, that individual is going to be a fixture). I know I probably didn't need to go out of my way to explain that Bellatrix Fucking Lestrange is not a good role model, but I thought it'd be best to be safe and hopefully prevent anyone from writing a furious review thinking I'm a chauvinistic misogynist pig because of her portrayal.
If you read my portrayal of a different (non-extremely fucked up) female character and conclude from that that I'm a chauvinistic misogynist pig, then please do write in furiously and tell me because I am trying to make all my characters believable people instead of having a few well defined male characters and an array of 2-dimensional female cardboard cutouts who are defined only by their interactions with the male characters.
IMPORTANT: I will be posting a poll on my profile regarding the length of chapters. Personally, when I'm reading fanfiction, I enjoy having long chapters to dig into, but my wonderful Beta suggested that chapters would be more digestible if they were shorter. This would also allow me to publish more frequently. Meaning I would post something about a quarter or so the length of the current chapters every other week or so, instead of posting chapters of this size every other month or so. If you have a preference, please vote!
Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Warhammer.
30 Seconds After Swarmlord Arrival,
2011
Lambstead Town Square,
Lancashire
The creature tore across the square, its thundering hooves pulverising the cobblestones beneath them with every step. And it was heading straight for Sirius. The world seemed to slow around him, sounds fading away as a strange sort of calm descended over him, driving away the anger and bitterness that had consumed him for so long. Turning his head, he met Nymphadora's eyes across the square, she still disliked the name, but she accepted it from him, albeit grumpily.
"I love you, and I am so very proud of you." The words were swallowed by the monster's approach, but his Nymphadora was good enough at lip-reading that she'd understand his last words to her. He would fight, of course, and the others would do everything they could to save him, but the creature was already too close. He would be dead before anyone had a chance to act, even if they could've done something to stop it.
Light was already flaring at the tip of his wand as he turned back to face the monster, prepared to at least try and make sure that the surrogate daughter he had been lucky enough to find would have the chance he'd been unable to give his godson. The creature was bearing down on him, so close he could see his distorted reflection in the crystals embedded in each blade. The spell erupted from his wand, the creature would be heading straight for him and, at this range, there was a chance it wouldn't be able to move its blades fast enough to deflect the spell. He would die too, he had chosen the most powerful explosive spell he knew, but it would be worth it if it saved the others.
He watched in horror as the beast's arm moved, so fast it left an afterimage behind, it caught the spell with the flat of the blade before arcing around the creature's body, shifting the trajectory of the spell in a sharp loop before flinging it away. Only, it didn't fling it toward Sirius, the spell flew straight at Voldemort, who was so surprised he paused for a moment before countering the spell, causing it to dissolve into sparks in mid-air.
The monster, meanwhile, charged straight past Sirius, ignoring him as if he wasn't even there and making straight for Dumbledore, who was forced to erect an opaque silver shield that shattered like glass as the creature brought the blades held in its upper two hands down upon it. The shield had bought Dumbledore enough time to gain some distance, however, and the creature was momentarily distracted by a squadron of transfigured stone golems. Unfortunately, Dumbledore was unable to make use of the monster's distraction because he was forced to dodge the green light of a Killing Curse erupting from Voldemort's wand.
"It would seem I have found an ally in my quest to des-" Voldemort was forced to break off his boasting when one of the creature's blades narrowly missed in its attempt to decapitate the distracted Dark Lord. Dumbledore's golems were laying in neatly dismantled heaps strewn across the ground between the monster's starting point and where it had attempted to kill Voldemort, as if it had simply brushed them aside while on the way.
"Indeed," Dumbledore noted wryly as he watched Voldemort struggling to keep the beast at bay with a flurry of spells and a deft use of his Shadow Manipulation. "I'm glad you have finally found someone who shares your views on how allies should be treated, Tom."
"Sirius! DUCK!" Sirius was torn from his spectating on the fight between Voldemort, Dumbledore, and the creature that seemed fixated on dismembering two of the most powerful wizards on Earth by a shout he recognised as Nymphadora. Fortunately, his body started reacting before his brain had fully processed the shouted command. As a result, his brain was not skewered by the outstretched blade of one of the creatures that had first attacked them. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough to completely avoid the creature's leaping form, and one of its hooves caught him in the side of the head, bowling him over and causing bursting constellations to swim before his eyes.
Dimly, he saw the creature blown to bits by an overpowered Reducto and then his vision was filled by the worried face of Nymphadora, her hair white and face pale as her hands tugged at him, trying desperately to drag him to his feet. Her mouth was moving, but Sirius couldn't hear the words over the ringing in his head, he wished whoever was doing it would stop. Abruptly, he felt the tap of a wand on his head and sound came rushing back to him, along with a sharp throbbing pain in the side of his head.
"OW! FUCK!" He swore loudly, hands flying up to cradle his pounding cranium.
"Deal with it, you big baby!" Despite her words, Sirius could hear the relief in Nymphadora's voice as she continued to drag him into the centre of the ring of aurors which had re-condensed since the arrival of the new monster. Looking over at the creature in question, Sirius saw it was still engaging with Dumbledore and Voldemort. From the looks of things, the two renowned sorcerors had been forced to join together simply to ward the beast off.
Craning his neck to take in the situation in the rest of the square, he realised that things had worsened for both Death Eaters and Order members in more ways than just the arrival of the new beast. The creatures that had originally attacked them, as well as the ones with the strange weapons that had taken out Boot, were now attacking in a much more organised and directed manner. Rather than attacking en masse in an undirected swarm, the creatures had split into smaller squads which were performing focused strikes at specific places in the defensive circles of both the Order and the Death Eaters.
As soon as the attention of the group was focused toward repelling the first attack, another squad would attack from another random angle, outside the line of sight of those defending from the initial strike.
"These fuckers are getting smarter!" Moody grunted, barely managing to shield in time to stop from being shot by one of the ranged creatures.
"Someone cover me!" Weasley shouted over the din of magic and thundering hooves, "I'm going to try and Legilimens one of these things so we can figure out what the fuck is going on!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Bell asked, even as she blew the legs off one of the bladed creatures and flung its corpse into a group of its ranged compatriots. "They're taking orders from the big one!"
"How?" Sirius managed to ask, pushing through the pain still throbbing in his head and forcing himself shakily to his feet, despite Nymphadora's attempts to keep him on the ground. "It's not saying anything!"
"I don't know!" Bell shouted back angrily. "But the things started fighting like this the second that thing arrived, so what else could it be?"
"Only one way to find out," Weasley said, her eyes narrowed in determination as she tried to make eye contact with one of the creatures. A task made significantly easier when Nymphadora gave up her attempts to keep Sirius on the ground and stepped forward to cover the redhead.
As soon as she was sure she wasn't going to be impaled or shot, Weasley waved her wand and cried, "Legilimens!" Within moments, her body started convulsing, eyes rolling madly in her head as she began to foam at the mouth, collapsing backwards as her legs gave way beneath her.
"Weasley!" Sirius yelled, jumping forward to catch the woman before she could crack her skull open on the cobblestone of the square. He tried shaking her, attempting to snap her out of whatever fit had gripped her.
"It's the legilimency!" Moody roared. "Whatever she's seeing in the creature's head is too much for her brain to process, you've got to break the spell before her brain melts." Sirius wasn't sure if Moody meant that literally or figuratively and he didn't want to wait around to find out. Not trusting his addled brain with a spell, he pulled back his hand and slapped Weasley across the face as hard as he could.
The impact snapped her head to the side with a pained cry as she jerked upright, eyes coming back into focus as her body stopped convulsing. Immediately, she turned and vomited onto the ground next to her, still shaking like a leaf.
"Thanks." She muttered once she had finished emptying her guts out. Reaching up, she gingerly massaged the red handprint on her cheek, "I am not looking forward to explaining this to Hermione."
"Sorry, I didn't think you'd want me to risk vanishing your brain trying a spell." Sirius apologised.
"It's ok, if you had we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Enough chit chat!" Moody shouted although Sirius could hear the relief in his voice, "Did you manage to get anything, Weasley?"
"Not much," Weasley winced, holding her head as she struggled to remember. "It's like all of these things share a brain, it was as if I tried to invade the minds of all of them at once. The big one is definitely calling the shots though, I think it's called the Swarmlord."
"The Swarmlord?" Moody asked quickly, getting a confused nod from Weasley. "Thank Merlin!" Moody practically sagged in relief, although that didn't stop him from punching a hole in four creatures at once with a spell aimed at one of the ranged creatures that had been pointing its weapon at Weasley.
When he realised the others were looking at him confused, Moody explained, "The Swarmlord means there probably isn't more than one, otherwise it would just be a Swarmlord. And the fewer of those things there are the better."
Weasley nodded in agreement, her face screwed up as she tried to dredge up more details, "The little ones with the blades are called hormagaunts, I think, and the ones with the guns are termagants. Beyond that I couldn't tell you anything, my brain was too busy overloading to really look for intel."
"It'll have to be enough," Moody growled, turning his full attention back to the defence against the onslaught of the -now named- hormagaunts and termagants. "Black!" He snapped, distracting Sirius enough from his struggling attempts to walk over to join the defensive line that he lost his balance and sprawled over onto the cobbles.
"What!?" He demanded angrily, it had been difficult enough standing up the first time, and now he had to try and do it again.
"Stay on the fucking ground until Abbott has Boot stable enough to fix your bloody head for Merlin's sake!" Moody snapped, not turning from his systematic destruction of any hormagaunt squad that came too close. "In your condition, you'll be more likely to blow one of us up than to actually hit any of these things."
Sirius growled, but ceased his attempts to regain his feet, he could see Moody's point. Resigning himself to the fact that he would be out of the fight for at least a little while, Sirius took a moment to take stock of the situation in the square.
The Death Eaters were in more or less the same condition as they had been before, although one of Bellatrix's lieutenants' robes were soaked with blood from a gash across their side in addition to the ragged hole in the area of their chest next to the shoulder -tough bastard that one apparently- and they seemed to have lost one of the plain-masked Death Eaters. Spells were leaving Bellatrix's wand in a continuous stream of multicoloured light, cutting a swathe through the horde of monsters even as they did their best to avoid the maniacal dark witch. As Sirius watched she even found time to fling a Killing Curse toward the Swarmlord's back as it duelled Voldemort and Dumbledore.
Following the path of the spell, Sirius knew he shouldn't have been surprised when the creature absorbed the supposedly unblockable curse with the crystal embedded in one of its blades before slashing the beam of deadly magic at its opponents. Dumbledore conjured another golem to take the impact while Voldemort disappeared in a column of shadow, reappearing in front of Bellatrix.
"Leave, Bella." He said in his high, cold voice. Bellatrix's face fell, losing all of the manic glee it had held mere moments before.
"But, my Lord-" She began, almost desperately, only for Voldemort to cut her off.
"Now. You will only get in the way if you stay. I do not wish to lose someone of your loyalty. Bring the others with you, it is an insult that these simple beasts have managed to eliminate so many of my loyal followers already." Turning away, Voldemort rejoined the fight against the Swarmlord, flinging an oily black spell toward the beast that it easily redirected toward Dumbledore, who was forced to duck hastily out of the way. The spell continued on to hit a hormagaunt that had been creeping up behind the aged wizard. The creature collapsed as it's armoured exoskeleton literally crawled off of its body, leaving the creature's organs and vivid purple blood to spill out and slick the cobblestones.
"Aurors!" Dumbledore thundered, a bolt of magic shooting from his wand with such force it tore a furrow in the ground underneath with its passage. "Retreat! Fawkes will transport you to St. Mungo's for medical attention."
Dumbledore's spell met one of the Swarmlord's blades and was guided onto a new path as easily as Sirius' explosive spell had been, the spell careened off toward Voldemort, who was forced to vanish into his shadow in order to avoid it. He reappeared from the shadow of the statue in the centre of the square, only to disappear again almost instantly as one of the Swarmlord's swords nearly bisected him. The Dark Lord's shadow manipulation was becoming more limited by the second as the sun rose and began to eat away at the darkness required for the technique.
"We can't, Dumbledore!" Abbott yelled back, sounding more like Moody than her usual gentle self. "Whatever happened to Boot, those things managed to infest him with parasites that made a total mess of his internal organs and nervous system. I've got them out and in stasis for study, but he's in no state to move anywhere. Apparition would kill him even if we could manage it, and I don't know if you've noticed, sir, but Fawkes is a little indisposed at the moment."
Following her gaze, Sirius was just in time to see one of the Swarmlord's swords pull itself from a scorched patch of wall, beneath it a blackened baby bird poked its head out of a pile of ashes. No one would be travelling by phoenix for a while.
As he watched, the sword flew through the air and smacked back into the Swarmlord's outstretched hand where it was used to casually deflect a bolt of vile yellow magic toward Dumbledore, who dodged, leaving the spell to impact with the statue of the eponymous Lamb. Within moments, the formerly proud statue had been reduced to a hissing puddle. In the gap left by the statue's liquefaction, Sirius could see Bellatrix and the other surviving Death Eaters staging a fighting retreat down the high street toward the outskirts of the village.
The hormagaunts and termagants, seeing that their prey was attempting escape, began to focus more and more attention on the retreating group, seemingly recognising that the Order was incapable of a similar move. The Swarmlord, meanwhile, was slowly corralling Dumbledore and Voldemort toward the alleyway both Order members and Death Eaters had initially entered the square from.
Dumbledore attempted to circle around the creature, but the Swarmlord reared it's head back, opening its mouth as if to roar a challenge, but what erupted from the creature's mouth wasn't sound. An enormous ball of thrumming green power formed in the creature's mouth before flying across the square towards Dumbledore, who leapt back to avoid the projectile. He was able to avoid the ball itself, but upon impacting with the ground it exploded in a fiery burst of energy that singed the elderly sorcerer's robe.
Recognising that the already difficult battle would become practically unwinnable if the creature was able to restrict their movement, both Dumbledore and Voldemort redoubled their efforts to push the creature back. An enormous serpent of cursed fire formed from thin air, the heat searing Sirius' face even from across the square, but it devolved almost instantly into a wash of untamed, but ordinary, fire as the Swarmlord sliced the serpent's head off with a single swing of a sword, the blow somehow sapping the magic that had been animating the creature and keeping the fire together. The move did succeed, however, in eliminating the last few shadows that had been remaining in the square and adjoining alley, completely negating the advantage of the Dark Lord's shadow manipulation.
It also threw light on one of Weasley's runic array traps on a piece of wall that had somehow avoided being blown to pieces when the Death Eaters made their explosive entrance into the square. Dumbledore was slowly retreating toward the array as the Swarmlord advanced on him, swords flashing and deflecting every spell that left the aged sorcerer's wand. Apparently, now that Voldemort's shadow manipulation had been neutralised, the creature had decided to focus on killing Dumbledore first. If he could draw the creature into the trap Weasley had left, perhaps it would give enough of an opening to finish the beast, even if the trap itself wasn't strong enough to kill the Swarmlord outright.
The only question was: could Dumbledore survive long enough to spring the trap?