"What?" asked Minerva as she addressed the unknown wizard who said that they should try it an opposite way. The smirk he gave as a reply was frightening to McGonagall.
"The boy must still be able to kill You-Know-Who," the wizard replied again.
The Minister hadn't caught on either. So the wizard unfolded his plan. Not once did he glance at McGonagall when told the Merlin Class what they should do. Even though, she may have shouted and voiced her opinion, no one was listening to her.
Ron was the next to run the corridors - he had to find some way of escape. His red-haired family had never been so depressed, and it was an insecurity to be around them.
He first checked on the Grangers, but Hermione's mother was crying aloud in anguish and it frightened him away from her. He had to find some way of escape. He ran through the corridors, and asked a healer where Harry Potter was. He pointed him in the right direction, and Ron nodded a thank-you as he ran faster down the hallways.
The Healers pushed to the side of the wall as they were quickly pacing around to fetch medicines, bandages, to find other Healers. Their frightening pale appearance had softened into a sickly look as all of them were overworked. Ron found Lupin just outside of Harry's room.
"Is he-?" Ron asked, not wanting to complete his sentence.
Lupin looked up at him solemnly, and shook his head no, giving Ron a weak smile as he did. Ron gave a sigh of relief.
"May I see him?" Ron asked again quietly. Lupin moved his feet from the path to the door and silently shook his head yes. He winced as Harry's breath sharpened again, and slowly returned to a normal pace.
"What happened?" Ron asked him, trying to break the awkward silence as he stared at his best friend.
"He was hit with the Death Charm by You-Know-Who," Lupin replied simply. Ron closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the green flash that covered the Entrance Hall. He opened them to see his friend gasping again for breath.
"Did He die?" Ron asked after a moment. Lupin bowed his head in reverence and shook his head no in silence. Ron was nearly as outraged as Lupin was when he found out. He was surprised and shocked. His friend was on the verge of life and death, and the person who tried to kill him has the same fate.
Sybil came back to the room, and frightened Ron. She bowed her head and left the room again, her glasses covered with a milky salt covering as she cried. She took a seat next to Remus, and dared not close her eyes for fear of another vision.
With a crack, the wizard with the smirk arrived outside of the room, pushing past Lupin as he looked at the boy. It wouldn't be even five seconds before the Minister arrived, and then the rest of the Order of Merlin First Class. Lupin jumped to his feet, and Sybil got up slowly in his shadow.
"What is going on?" Lupin asked one of the witches.
"Nothing that minds you, my dear," she replied. Lupin wanted to know what was happening. Ron was shoved out of the room and he quickly left the corridor before stopping to hear another crack and McGonagall's voice.
Ron slowly turned around and watched as the wizards shouted and yelled over McGonagall.
McGonagall was screaming, "NO! YOU CAN’T! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!" Another wizard quickly grabbed her, stopping her from getting into the room.
Lupin shoved his way through the crowd and ran into the room, but arrived just as the wizard had announced, "Avada Kedavra," and the green flash hit Harry.
Lupin froze motionless. Tears swelled in his eyes as he heard no more of Harry's breath, and saw no more movement. A Healer also pushed his way through the crowd.
"What in Merlin's Beard!?" the Healer shouted over the crowd. The minister walked up to him to silence him, and the Healer understood. He may have been the only to understand, but Lupin stood there frozen in time, horror stricken as the precious son of Lily and James passed.
"HOW COULD YOU!?" he shouted.
The wizard who had performed the curse, walked up to Lupin. "Remus, it was the only way to kill Voldemort. It was the only way. Harry is now with his parents, though."
Remus's face turned a bright red as he argued back, "How dare you! Lily and James died to save him! They wanted him to live a long and happy life! They died to protect him from this fate!"
McGonagall buried her face into her robes, as she slouched slowly to floor. She had lost Dumbledore, she had lost her students, her friends, and she lost Harry Potter. This was no victory for her.
Sybil Trelawney was absolutely silent as Lupin was shouting over the crowd, "You had no right to do this!"
Ron's eyes swelled with tears. In a time for rejoice after the final defeat of Voldemort, there was no happiness. Families were still affected and Hogwarts was still affected. Ron walked slowly through the crowds as the Healers continued to pile in bodies through the fire, and they began to take a count of deaths. There was no screaming and shouting, there was no happiness.
Ron thought this must have been how Sirius felt back in the days when Lily and James were murdered. He was innocent, he lost everybody, but one of the darkest wizards was brought down for quite some time. There was no smile.
Ron looked into Hermione's room. He could only regret not ever telling her sorry for so many things, he had to regret that she being the smartest witch of their time, wasn't going to take her N.E.W.T.s. He stared at her parents momentarily as they bawled and kissed her frail hands. They had no idea what permanent damage she may have. Ron looked up at the ceiling, he knew that the Permanent Resident ward was above him. There he could see the destruction of Voldemort; Frank and Alice Longbottom oblivious to the defeat that they had taken a part of, and how much their son had accomplished. Ron Weasley was just one single person who realized the large scale results of this.
He walked into his brother's room. The cleaned Arthur beside him as Molly hugged him tightly. She made a fuss about Ron disappearing, but he told them, "He was defeated." There were only small smiles that let him know that he was still there.
There was no more movement, there were no gasps that escaped the mouth of Voldemort, as the witches and wizards busily monitored him. They silently walked into the room where he was chained to the walls, scared and frightened by his limp body. His bruised figure was frightening even at its lowest point. At death, his name was worrisome; at death his body was scary. Lord Voldemort really had reigned over the world, in a terrifying way. He had won what he wanted - fear, but now at his lowest point, he was no longer.
Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, was no longer a leader. He was no longer the evil man who hunted by day and night, who killed the most innocent, and sought revenge on the youngest. He was no longer alive. He was no longer the man who ate death, but a corpse who was killed by a 17 year old boy.
Mrs. Granger asked the Healer if a Muggle doctor might have any answers, might have any programs. He shook his head no as she silently wept over her daughter.
The Healer sat down next to the Grangers. He looked at their 17 year old daughter, with a small smile.
"There is some good news, though," he told them. They stared at the Healer through their watery eyes.
"Your daughter will not be a permanent resident, and is suspected to make a nice recovery. It will take a few weeks though, she won't wake up over night. The overall affect this had on her wasn't to bad, she will have lost some of her memory, and may be shocked for a few days. The last note I have to share is that the person who did this to her was killed," the Healer told them in a soft whisper. Mrs. Granger gave a small smile as her daughter would be okay.
Mr. Granger was just as happy and relieved. He didn't care about Harry Potter, the boy who once lived. He didn't bother to worry who did this, and what his fate was. He only cared about his lovely daughter.
Lavender walked down the steps, followed by the entire Gryffindor house. They saw the death, they saw the destruction, and they showed valor as they helped staff and students get everything organized.
This was indeed the end of her school years at Hogwarts. This was the end of all ends as she sat there and pondered the meaning of what this could mean for her future. She saw the green flames spring up from the hearth. Green, the color that was once associated with evil. Green, the color associated with death. Yet, she realized that green was also a sign of rebirth, of rejuvenation.
Lupin and McGonagall were stunned that a complete stranger could kill Harry. Someone who didn't know the boy, someone who didn't understand his hardships would be the one to slay him while he was ill. It was an awful fate, an awful death.
It was the end of all ends.