Love.

We had just marched into the house where the father of the Dark Lord had been killed by his son. The snake had been easy. One single Reducto spell. And then there were the Death Eaters. No match for what was burning in me. The others, though…they didn't stand a chance. They…they were stopped. I don't know. I can't see. I can't feel. It's just us…I can't believe I'm here. He says…I'll die.

"No." Ginny was sprawled out in the corner of the room, Hermione was buried beneath a broken pile of wood, and Ron was sitting against the wall, his eyes closed. Harry stared into those eyes that had haunted him in his nightmares. A shrill laugh was heard.

"Did you think four teenagers would have chance against Lord Voldemort?" That voice hissed at him. "Amusing…I would prefer to hold you here, torture you…but since I know the risk of postponing the murder of Harry Potter, I will keep this short. Avada Kedavra."

Harry closed his eyes as he heard that terrible noise booming in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes and gasped. He was standing outside Hogwarts, by the lake. It took a few moments to realize that there was a mass of people further down the lake. Sobs and wails were heard through the air. It took a moment until Harry realized that he was once again watching the funeral of Dumbledore take place. Just as he understood that, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Rufus Scrimgeour.

"Don't you understand, Harry? Dumbledore is gone. He's gone."

"He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him," Harry said, suddenly remembering those words.

"My dear boy…even Dumbledore cannot return from the dead."

"I am not saying he can. You wouldn't understand." Harry said, his eyes narrowing. He watched as Scrimgeour closed his eyes, a sneer playing across his face.

"Oh but Harry, I do understand. I understand everything about you…how, you might ask?" Harry stared at Scrimgeour, confused. And then, he let out a gasp of horror as Scrimgeour eyelids rose and revealed a pair of scarlet eyes with black slits for pupils. "Let's just say you've got me under your skin."

"Ah!" A searing pain shot through Harry's scar, and he fell to his knees. Images starting flowing through his mind like a fast slideshow. Dumbledore was shaking on the island floor, his knees brought up to his chest…Sirius was stretched out on his back by the foot of the west tower, his eyes empty of life…a snake was tearing Ginny into pieces, her screams of pain echoing in his head…Tom Dolder stomped on Hermione's hand, and her grip on the cliff edge loosened, and she plummeted down against the rocks…Ron was holding his throat, on his knees, his eyes slowly bulging out of their sockets, and Slughorn stood next to him, laughing...Slughorn changed into Malfoy…Malfoy's hair became long and dark and he became taller…Snape watched Ron struggle for breath, his eyes about to pop out…Snape was changed into Voldemort, and Voldemort laughed loud and high-pitched as James and Lily both fell to the ground…Dumbledore crouched before Snape, begging for mercy…

"No…no…" Harry said, shaking his head forcefully, his hands on his forehead. Dumbledore fell through the veil…Voldemort was laughing loudly, Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy at his side…

"Don't you see?" A calm voice whispered in Harry's ear. The pain instantly vanished, as did the images. Harry sat in front of Dumbledore's desk, staring into the old man's blue eyes. Dumbledore smiled at him. "Love is your gift. Voldemort can only be defeated by your power, and your power lies in your ability to love. Voldemort can't understand love as his the part of his soul which loves and feels compassioned as been ripped from him, shattered into pieces." The office suddenly disappeared, and Harry stood in front of the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Everything was quiet. Harry stared at the veil for what seemed to be an eternity, the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"We are naturally afraid of what is unknown to us. Death is a concept which we cannot understand, and therefore, we despise and fear it." These words entered Harry's mind for a second and left just as quickly, and then Harry flung aside the veil and stepped into darkness. He fell himself fall…fall…fall…fall…and then he heard music. Beautiful music…

"We can only find true comfort and secure ness in the warmth of a loving embrace." Someone whispered in Harry's ear. And then he heard a voice he recognized as Ginny's.

"I don't care…I won't die…you won't…die." And then a surge shot through Harry's body, like someone had charged his body with pure energy. And he felt himself rise as everything became white before him. Images started rushing through his mind…he saw Lily and James smiling, waving at him with many other people standing behind him, also smiling…he saw a small tear trickle down Cho's face, followed by a wide grin...he saw Dobby look up at him with his large eyes, a look of pride and joy on his face…he saw Ron raise his arms and cheer as the Quidditch cup was handed to him…he saw Hermione put her face in her hands as she saw a paper with a large 'O' written on it…he saw Ginny's eyes slowly open as she stood up on the cold floor of the Chamber…he saw Sirius pick up a chicken bone from a plate and look at him with a wide smile…he saw James, Sirius and Remus running across a green field, shooting water from their wands at each other…he saw Lily giving his father a hug…he saw Neville grinning as a ghost-like deer spring out on the floor before him…all the pain was shooting out Harry, he felt the feeling of being trapped in an evil creature vanish, felt his scar cool down…Dumbledore smiled, handing Harry the sword of Gryffindor…

And then, for a short, completely calm moment of bliss, he saw a phoenix rise into the blue sky from a tall fire emerging from a white tomb, crying out its song of freedom and joy…and then eyes. Blue. Sparkling.

Harry's eyes open. Everything was white in front of him; he could only see the black edges on everything around him. He saw Voldemort back away his red eyes -seen as white by Harry- wide open with surprise.

"You…you are blind."

"No…" Harry said, smiling. "I see. I can see everything. I can see me, I can see you. I can see Ginny, I can see Ron, I can see Hermione, I can see mum, I can see dad, I can see Hagrid, I can see Sirius, and I can see…Dumbledore." Harry whispered to himself. Voldemort didn't hear him, he was laughing triumphantly.

"You're blind! It is a shame though…I would have much more enjoyed killing you in a fight. But, nonetheless, it will please me to finally see you dead. Good bye, Harry Potter." Voldemort sneered, raising his wand. But as he swung it down, Harry closed his eyes. And in a second, all those happy images shot through Harry's mind again, and he smiled to himself.

"We are naturally afraid of what is unknown to us. Death is a concept which we cannot understand, and therefore, we despise and fear it."

Harry smiled, as the green ray shot against him, and he opened his eyes…

"Blind, you say? Harry Potter…blind? How?"

"We don't know. It was not a curse, apparently, and we can't seem to cure it, even though it should be such an easy task. But Mr. Potter does not speak of what made him lose sight."

"What about the others?"

"Miss and Mr. Weasley are both fully mended. Miss Granger suffered heavy injury, we were able to cure most of it quickly, but she will have to stay here for a few days until she is fully healed."

"But…what happened?"

"Miss Weasley would not specifically explain, but she summarized it quite quickly…but…apparently there was an accident of some sort. They all got hurt."

"Really?" McGonagall asked suspiciously, looking at the Healer.

"Yes, that's what she said." She answered, sighing. Suddenly, the door behind the Healer opened, and a boy with messy, black hair stepped out, smiling widely. He had bright blue eyes hidden behind glasses, and he wore crimson robes. Following him was a boy with flaming red hair and freckles on her face, and after him a girl with the same colour on her long hair, a grin on her face as well and lastly exited another girl with bushy, brown hair, trying to hold in her giggles. McGonagall looked at them.

"Where are you going!" The Healer exclaimed. "You two, get back to your beds, you need rest!" She added, looking at Harry and Hermione. "And you two, you still have to stay for the last check-up!" She continued, looking at Ron and Ginny, but McGonagall stared at Harry.

"Potter, your eyes…" She gasped, staring into the eyes which had once shone a bright emerald. Her eyes travelled a little bit up and she tilted her head slightly. "Harry…what happened to your scar?"


I dunno. Just zapped through my head and I had to write it down. Whatever.