Ancient spirits, we call upon you
âPotter!â Voldemort hissed, ignoring the spell being cast by the students of Hogwarts standing before him. Voldemort raised his wand and, keeping his eyes on Harry, started to move towards him, but found himself suddenly blocked by Hermioneâs enchanted circle.
Send out light and truth
In the next moment, the criss-crossed beams of light emanating from the runes flared to full force, trapping Voldemort in the middle of the circle.
The young wizardsâ chant grew stronger as they kept their focus and their wands on Naginiâs dead body.
This serpent, created in hate
Voldemort pointed his wand and cast a Blasting Curse at the barrier, which had no effect.
Its soul release and return with love.
He watched as the slain body of Nagini transform into two snakes. They each slithered off the fallen stone and moved rapidly towards Voldemortâs feet.
Resolutely in action, choose light
Voldemortâs eyes widened, as he began to understand the power of the magic being invoked.
Choose love, for love is the essence of life.
On either side of Voldemort, the two snakes encircled his body, rising up. He was unable to stop their progress as they twisted around him, binding and holding him fast, until their heads faced each other above his own.
We are but dust and shadow
Harry waved his wand in a broad circle over the snakesâ heads and completed the spell with a great snap of his wrist.
From spirit to dust â“ return!
A golden dust exploded from each snakeâs mouth and swirled upwards in a spiral arc, getting wider and wider until it touched the same gold dust that still encircled the destroyed Horcruxes and caught it up in the winding vortex. The combined swirls of glittering dust flew up in a single, sudden stream of light, high into the air like a cometâs tail. Suddenly, the dust cloud turned direction and, aiming straight for Voldemort, shot itself down with a tremendous force, completely encasing him in its light.
For a moment, Harry couldnât see Voldemort at all. Then, in a flash, the dust, the Horcruxes containers, and the snakes were gone.
The students gasped at the sight of the most evil wizard of their time. His hood blown back, he seemed smaller and, for a moment, frail. As Voldemort raised his head, his face seemed withered... old. And his eyes â” were blue.
Then Voldemort laughed. That horrible, high-pitched cruel laugh. âTHIS was your plan, Potter? To return to me the remnants of my soul?â Harry wasnât sure how to read the expression in Voldemortâs eyes, which still bore into him like a knife.
âVery clever to render me back my mortality. So, I suppose you now think you can kill me? A few eager schoolchildren took a few lessons in ancient magic and you believe I am â” what did the prophecy say? -- âvanquishedâ?â He raised his wand into the air and shouted, âMorsmordre!â A weakened Dark Mark shot into the air, but quickly lost its form and evaporated.
Seeing the look of surprise in Voldemortâs face, Harry stepped forward. âTheyâre not coming,â he remarked calmly. âNot tonight. Not ever. Youâre alone.â
âExpelliarmus!â Voldemortâs wand flew out of his hand and Draco Malfoy caught it deftly, and tossed it to Harry.
Voldemort looked sharply at his former young servant as if seeing him for the first time. âMalfoy. A traitor as well, are you? Youâll be happy to join your worthless parents â”â
âEnough,â Harry interrupted. The other students struggled to contain their astonishment that they had actually done this thing. And that they were still alive and facing the Dark Lord.
âNo, I donât believe I could kill you,â Harry admitted. âBut, I donât actually need to, do I? Your followers are gone and, with the Horcruxes destroyed, youâre just as mortal as the rest of us. No, I think your fate is worse than death. To live alone, powerless, watching the rest of your life slip away. In just a moment, the Aurors will be here to take you to Azkaban and bring you the justice you deserve. Itâs all over, Tom.â
Harry pulled out his mirror and looking into it called, âKingsley!â He could hear but not see Kingsley reply for, in that same moment, Voldemort spied Gryffindorâs sword on the ground and raised his hand towards it. Harry, his heart turning to ice, was unable to stop the sword from flying into Voldemortâs grip and, in one movement, swing it in a circle with a spell that shattered the beams of light that entrapped him. Voldemort stepped out of the circle of restraint and eyed his wand in Harryâs hand.
âGO! NOW!â Harry screamed to his friends. They seemed uncertain for a moment, then turned and vanished.
âIâll take my wand back now, Potter!â Voldemort spat and, raising his hand slightly, caught his wand easily as it flew from Harryâs hand to his. âI think that makes it more âfairâ,â he said with emphasis on the last word. âI believe âfairnessâ is something important to you, isnât it?â
Harry and Voldemort circled each other, wands out. Harry was thinking fast, his heart pounding. All this planning was going to be thwarted by this one, stupid mistake! While uncertain what to do next, he knew he wasnât going to leave without a fight. He would not let Voldemort get away, not after all this! Maybe the others would alert Kingsley and the Aurors could still get here quickly â” except hadnât he told them to stay invisible and âdo nothingâ? Harry sighed. Of course, they would listen to what he'd said.
âIt is not over yet â” not for me, at least,â Voldemort remarked as he and Harry kept their wands trained on the other. âI disagree, Potter, There is nothing worse than death.â Voldemort stopped and a horrid smile crossed his now-weathered face. âI actually need to thank you, Potter! Youâve given me a very useful gift. Probably just enough of my soul back to create one more Horcrux.â
Voldemort moved his gaze down to Harryâs hand. âYes, your wand. It has given me a great deal of trouble, so I think it will do quite nicely for my purposes.â He pointed his wand towards Harry. âAccioâ”â
Two blasting spells caught Voldemort from behind and tossed him into the air. He landed with a crash, skidding across the grass.
Harry was stunned to see Ron and Hermione emerging from their invisibility robes, standing on the opposite side of the circle, their wands trained steadily on Voldemort, who was quickly back on his feet.
âSorry, Harry,â said Ron matter-of-factly. âWe had to break that promise.â
âThere was no way we were going to let you face this monster on your own, Harry,â Hermione added, more determined than Harry had ever seen her.
âSplit up!â Harry yelled.
Ron disappeared. Then, just as he reappeared some distance from them both, Voldemort shot a spell at Hermione. It must have meant to slash her, but it was repelled by her dragon skin tunic.
Ron gasped. âI owe you one, Charlie!â
Voldemort, although surrounded, appeared unruffled as he took in the three of them calmly. âMy reflexes may have slowed a bit, but even three of you are no match!â
Curses and counter-curses erupted amid the standing stones, but none of them seemed to find their targets. Harry wondered how long they could withstand even a weakened Voldemort until help arrived.
Help!
âHermione!â Harry called as he deflected another one of Voldemortâs spells. âCall Kingsley!â
Nodding, Hermione took out her mirror, but Voldemort saw it. In a flash, Hermioneâs mirror was flying out of her hand, and Harryâs and Ronâs mirrors were pulled off their necks so violently that the silk strings cut into their skin. They looked up to see Voldemort destroy the mirrors with a simple flick of his wand.
With a look from Harry, the three of them shouted, âIncarcerous!â Strands of ropes flew from their wands, wrapping Voldemort tightly from head to toe.
Voldemort laughed as if crazed, and Harry was stunned to see the ropes melt away, like ice turning into flowing water.
Harry tried to control his panic and only just missed Voldemortâs killing curse, feeling the sting in the air by his face as he rolled out of its way. He looked up to see Voldemort turning to avoid an attack of ravens that were suddenly pelting down upon him. Hermione was holding her wand to direct the birds in their attack on Voldemort, sharp beaks slicing at him, one after the other. This stopped only when Voldemortâs wand cut through the air and the birds all dropped to the ground, their heads severed from their bodies. Voldemort put his hand to his face and looked momentarily shocked to see the sight of his own blood.
In that moment, Ron trained his wand upon the now-empty marble pedestals, and with a spoken spell, they leapt off the ground and landed solidly in a tight circle around Voldemort, rendering him immobile. Hermione followed with a spell that sealed the spaces between the pedestals so that they formed a solid wall. Harry let out a breath of relief for the first time. They were safe.
He stepped forward to cast a final spell. âItâs over now, Tom.â Harry raised his wand. âPetrificusâ”â
âHarry, where are you?â
Harry, Ron and Hermione spun around and gasped to see Ginny running through the grey mist barrier, stopping suddenly in shock as she took in the scene before her. Then, Draco Malfoy stumbled into the circle as well, clearly in pursuit of the youngest Weasley.
Harry's heart sank to his knees to see her there. "No, Ginny!"
"What â” what is this...?" Ginny could barely speak, her eyes widening in horror.
âIâm sorry, Potter!â Malfoy stammered, out of breath. âI tried to stop her, but she hexed me.â
In that moment, an explosion of stone and debris rained down on them all. A large, sharp-edged stone hit Ron, who fell to the ground with a cry, holding his side. Hermione ran to him and tried to help staunch the blood that began to seep out. Voldemort had blasted his prison into dust.
Malfoy reached Ginny and tried to pull her out of the circle, but a Stunning curse threw him backwards into the air. There was a terrible crunching noise as his head hit one of the standing stones, and Malfoy fell unconscious to the ground.
Harry ran to Ginny, picking her up from the ground where sheâd fallen. As he turned to Disapparate with her out of the circle, Voldemort sent another Stunning spell that blasted them apart. Harry hit his head on one of the broken marble stones and nearly blacked out. Trying to ignore the sharp pain from the blow to the back of his head, Harry slowly got to his knees, feeling around for his wand. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision and, when it did, he saw â” and felt â” several terrible things all at once.
First, he found himself go rigid, completely immobilized on his knees. In front of him, on the fallen stone, still covered with Naginiâs blood, was Ginny, bound in chains and weeping silently. Hovering in the air to his left, still within his sight, were Ron and Hermione â” trapped inside what looked like a giant, clear bubble. He saw Hermione holding Ron, still in obvious pain from his wound, both of them clearly terrified. He could see Hermione trying to talk to him, but no sound came from their transparent prison.
And to his right, looking amused as he surveyed the scene was Voldemort, holding two wands, flicking them casually. One of them was Harryâs.
âWell! This has been so enjoyable, Potter! Itâs so nice to have all your friends and loved ones,â he said eyeing Ginny, âgathered together to say goodbye. So touching!â
Harry, unable to speak, looked imploringly at Ginny.
âIâm so s-sorry, Harry. If you had only told me!â Ginny cried.
Voldemort stood directly in front of Harry, blocking Ginny from his view. âI donât usually indulge in play, Potter. Itâs a waste of my time. But since youâve gone to so much trouble on my behalf tonight, why donât I return the favor?â
Voldemort walked over to the enclosure that held Hermione and Ron and touched it gently with his wand. Harry heard a slow and high-pitched hiss and saw Hermione turn suddenly and feel around the surface of the bubble. He saw panic fill her eyes and understood that the sound was of air escaping.
âI thought you might enjoy a little entertainment before you go!â Voldemort turned to Ginny and with a swish of his wand, the chains binding her disappeared. She didnât move, keeping her eyes on Voldemort, uncertain how to react. She was stunned when Voldemort reached into his robe and pulled out a wand and looked at it.
âI believe this one is yours, is it not?â He tossed it to Ginny, who stood to catch it. Harry saw her shaking and he tried, in vain, to will himself free of the binding spell. Ginny, sensing an opportunity, turned her wand on Harry.
âFinite Incantatem!â
But nothing happened. Harry remained immobilized and Voldemort laughed.
âDonât be foolish, silly girl. I may be mortal, but Iâm not stupid! We need our audienceâs undivided attention. Come now,â he said sharply, âyou have the unparallel opportunity to duel with the Dark Lord. Let us see if Hogwarts has taught you anything useful.â
Harry was horrified. Voldemort was going to play with her as a cat does a mouse before eating it. Even worse, he saw that familiar look on Ginnyâs face that meant she was absolutely furious.
Ginny took a dueling stance, wand out and ready. Harry was astonished to see her make a small, graceful bow.
Voldemort laughed at this. âExcellent manners, my dear. Well done!â
Ginny immediately fired her spell at Voldemort. âSTUPEFY!â Without moving at all, Voldemort easily deflected the spell and sighed.
âCome now, you can do better than that. How about something a bit stronger?â said Voldemort encouragingly as if he was trying to teach her some useful technique in class.
Ginnyâs boldness seemed to fade a bit, but she looked to see Ron and Hermione, beginning to gasp for air, Malfoy on the ground, unconscious, blood dripping down his forehead and at Harry, whose eyes betrayed his anguish. Pulling herself together, she concentrated, staring at Voldemort with hate and fury in her eyes.
âCRUCIO!â she cried. A jet of light flew from her wand. It hit Voldemort, who merely brushed off his robe where the spell had made contact, as if some annoying insect had landed there.
âA very brave, but futile attempt. But I doubt whether you have the capacity to hate that that is required for the spell to work. Let me demonstrate....â Voldemort took aim at Ginny. âCrucio!â he uttered, almost casually.
Harry felt tears sting his eyes, watching helplessly as Ginny fell and screamed in the excruciating pain he knew she was enduring. After what seemed like ages, Voldemort released the spell and Ginny was left curled in a shaking ball, eyes tightly closed, trying to regain her breath.
He was going to take his time, Harry noted, bitterly. Fury filled ever fiber of his being as he watched his friends being hurt â” again â” all because of him. Again, heâd led them to their probable deaths. And this time, he thought with a terrible ache in his heart, Dumbledore wasnât coming to rescue them. He could barely look at Hermione who, with her bare hands, was trying to rip apart the terrible trap she and Ron were in, her eyes wide and pleading, her breathing more labored.
Ginny had recovered and forced herself back onto her unsteady feet. Suddenly, with a mad dash, she sprinted to escape the stone circle. Harry winced as he saw Voldemort watch Ginny go, amused, letting her get close to escaping before he flicked his wand and sent her flying back to the fallen stone with a crash. And as she fell, there was a crack. Harry saw the stone split into two and swallow Ginny up to her waist. She struggled to get out and gasped as if she was being crushed. Voldemort laughed his horrible laugh again. Harry felt himself screaming in his head, but was no more able to give voice to his anguish than either Ron or Hermione.
Harry thought he was going to lose his mind as he listened to her screams and cries. He watched in total despair as Voldemort played with Ginny, casting innumerable hexes at her and repeatedly invoking the Cruciatus Curse. His mind and his frozen body struggled to make it stop, to have it cease, to break free. To do something! He heart veered erratically between fear, fury, terror and love. Harry screamed in his mind, Please! Help!
To the extent that he could even hear these words in his head, amidst Ginnyâs heart-wrenching screams, took Harry by surprise. Slowly, with almost impossible effort he tried to control his breathing and to focus his mind. He imagined his feelings as strands of a rope, and, using every ounce of energy he could muster, he grabbed his fear, added his terror, and funneled his fury, gathering each of them together. Amazingly, Harry was able to experience each horrible emotion separately, yet hold onto them as one. As he did this, he felt the energy of them fill his body, which began to vibrate.
Ginny was nearly unconscious, but she looked at Harry, sorrow writ onto her ravaged face. His added his overwhelming love for her to all the other feelings he was containing and it became the strongest of them all, fusing them together with a power Harry had never felt before. He glanced at Hermione and Ron, who were no longer struggling, looking at him intently. He saw Hermione nodding to him, eyes wide, as if she was reading his mind, encouraging him to do... what?
Harry looked back at Ginny and concentrated even harder, digging as deeply as he could to feel every bit of love he felt for them all. And in the moment he thought he had gone as deeply as he could, he felt a lightness rise up from within him. A shape emerged from his own body and, for some reason, Harry was not surprised to see that the shape was that of his mother. He watched Lily go to Ginny and hold her. Ginny seemed to relax in his motherâs arms, even in her pain. Harry didnât think that Ginny could see her. But he could. Her green eyes and Ginnyâs brown eyes both reached his own and the essence of the love they both had for him flowed back into him like a shot of pure energy. It filled him so completely that, this time, he found himself bursting free of the immobilizing spell with such a force that Voldemort was thrown back off his feet, taken completely by surprise.
Without a thought, Harry ran to Ginny and gently pulled her out of the stone entrapment. He heard Lily whisper in his ear, âWell done, my brave son. Donât be afraid, now. Weâll all be there.â When he looked up, she was gone.
âI was tired of playing with your lady love anyway.â Voldemort was right behind Harry, cold anger in his voice. âItâs your turn, Potter. I am so weary of you.â
Harry leapt in front of Ginny to protect her and turned to face Voldemort.
âHARRY, NO!â
âAvada Kedavra!â
A blast of green light hit Harry with full force. He stumbled for a moment, but, astonishingly, did not fall. Then Voldemort watched with horror as the lightening-bolt scar on Harryâs forehead glowed bright red. Voldemort backed away realizing, too late, the enormity of his mistake as a powerful bolt of blinding golden light shot out from Harryâs scar. It hit Voldemort so strongly that he was thrown high into the air and fell into the fire pit in the middle of the stone circle. Some of the embers still burned and caught the edges of his robes with their fiery fingers and then, with a terrible explosion of flames, what remained of the Dark Lord was gone.