Last Words of Evil
By Steven deBettencourt, Jr. (a.k.a., Rougue)
A Harry Potter fanfic
DISCLAIMER: Let me make it clear that I do not own any piece of Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be a very rich young man and would force you all to pay to read this work. All rights and all that are reserved by J.K. Rowling or someone else. This story is for nonprofit purposes.
SUMMARY: In a universe parallel to our own, Geoffrey Gryffindor remained in Britain after he left Hogwarts, but he was prohibited from helping the Order of the Phoenix in any way. He watched as he saw so much that was dear to him taken away from him. On the night of the Battle of Hogwarts, he and his brother, Gary, answered the call to action and joined the Hogwarts defenders fighting against the Death Eaters and lost his last two friends from school. Voldemort's final defeat brought a sense of closure, but as Geoff watches the celebrations begin, questions still linger. And the answers could still be found. WARNING: DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS!
Some inspiration for this little piece comes from the video game "Assassin's Creed."
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Geoffrey Gryffindor knew what was coming before it even started, yet he still could not believe it. The foolishness that Lord Voldemort had shown after Harry had given him the answer. The Elder Wand was not his, had never been his. He knew that what Potter had said was true, and he knew that the Elder Wand had refused to kill its true master once already. Geoff wondered how Voldemort could have been so foolish as to even try to kill the young man again. The third time would not be the charm for him. And now he was dead, lying on the floor, his eyes wide open in shock as he hit the floor from a spell he never saw coming. Lord Voldemort, the most terrifying Dark Wizard in history, was dead, killed by the boy he had obsessed over for almost two decades.
The longest second of Geoffrey's life followed this event. The Great Hall was deathly quiet; no one dared to make a sound. It was almost too good to be true. Lord Voldemort was dead. For so much time, that very thought seemed unthinkable and impossible. And yet, here it was, for everyone to see. The second ticked by, and with it any semblance of silence. The defenders of Hogwarts gave a shout in unison and rushed in around their savior, seemingly dead only minutes ago when all was thought lost, and tried to grab hold of him in some way, seeking to be purged of their impurities by their messiah in the orange glow of the morning light. They rushed toward him, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, and Master of Death.
Geoff didn't bother rushing toward him, though. He knew there would be time later, where they could talk alone about all that had happened. Geoff could tell him some good stories about his parents, about Sirius and Remus. With Voldemort gone forever, they could all go back to living the lives they wanted to live for so many years. Now peace could reign over Wizarding Britain once again.
"Geoff, I saw Greyback when we came back inside," he heard his brother remark from behind him.
Geoff turned to face Gary. He didn't need to say anything else. "Make sure you take the body somewhere out of sight and burn it," he recommended, "We don't need those toxins being spread around anywhere."
Gary nodded as he walked out of the Great Hall, intending to take his revenge on the infamous werewolf who had caused him so much pain and suffering. The authorities would probably ask about Greyback's absence, but to say that he was dead would not cause any alarm. Burning was the proper way to dispose of werewolves, in any case.
And then Geoff saw him again. Lord Voldemort was lying on the floor about six feet away. His open eyes gazed up into the morning light, his arms outstretched as if offering his soul to the heavens at long last. It appeared as if he gave up his grip on life without a fight after all these years. But Geoff knew that couldn't have been what happened. And then he realized that he had so many questions about the past thirty years that only Voldemort had the answers to. Questions he would never find answers to now.
Except that he knew otherwise. Geoff felt that life had not quite left Lord Voldemort yet, and he felt it. He felt a fading presence from the body, struggling to hang on as long as it could, even though it must have realized that it was pointless now. But the answers were still there. And Geoff knew it.
Should I do this? Geoff asked himself as he walked over to the body and squatted down next to it. What he saw looked so little like a human that Geoff struggled to remember what he looked like in the seventh floor hallway of Hogwarts 28 years ago. The flash of red in his eyes then had turned into a permanent feature in his second and final body. What secrets would die with Voldemort? None, Geoff decided, I must understand why all this happened, and make sure that future generations don't make the same mistakes.
With his mind set, Geoffrey Gryffindor placed the tips of his fingers across Voldemort's face, establishing a telepathic link between the two wizards. Briefly, the concern about what others might think if they saw this crossed his mind, but he had to put that out of mind. He couldn't waste time to explain what he was doing to anyone. He just hoped that no one would think he'd try to revive the Dark Lord. He then cleared his mind of all thought and the link was immediately established. There was no turning back now.
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Geoffrey Gryffindor found himself standing in a dark landscape of some kind. And it seemed to be dissolving slowly around the edges. And in the middle of it all stood Lord Voldemort, who still could not accept what had happened to him.
"No!" he shouted in his chillingly high-pitched voice, "No! This can't happen to me!" He was looking away from Geoff with his arms stretched out wide. He knew it was futile, but Geoff saw that, to the end, Lord Voldemort still couldn't accept his own death. But he lowered his arms and slowly turned around. Once he saw Geoffrey Gryffindor, the ground stopped dissolving. They were now sharing their life forces, sustaining both of them. "Geoffrey Gryffindor," he remarked with surprise, "I wasn't expecting you to save me."
"I'm not here to save you," Geoff informed, "I want answers from you."
"Answers?" Voldemort asked, walking toward Geoff, "Why should I tell you anything?"
"Don't come any closer," Geoff warned.
Voldemort complied, knowing that he couldn't sever his only lifeline now. "Why should I give you my darkest secrets?" he inquired again.
Geoff shrugged. "Why not?" he countered, "Who knows? By telling me, you may plant the seeds of future pure-blood revolutions."
At this, Voldemort laughed. It was a haunting sound to hear, and would probably be incorporated into Geoff's nightmares for years to come. "Pure-blood revolution?" he replied, "Do you really think that's what this was all about?"
Geoff wasn't surprised by that admission. "I had a feeling that you were in it for something else," he answered, "But what?"
"Power," Voldemort informed, "Absolute power. That's what I wanted. And for just a few minutes, I thought it was mine! Immortality at last!"
Geoff shook his head. "Why would you ever want something as terrible as immortality?" he inquired.
Voldemort looked at him incredulously. "Terrible?" he repeated in shock, "What is so terrible about the ability to live forever? To deny death, the ultimate insult to life. Are you telling me you wouldn't want to live forever, Gryffindor?"
"No, I would not," Geoff answered.
"Why not?" Voldemort demanded, "I see your desires, Geoffrey Gryffindor. You could ensure the Gryffindor Family's survival for the rest of time. You and I aren't so different, you know. You could take power and ensure that all wizards follow the path you know is right."
Geoff shook his head again. "You disappoint me, Voldemort," he responded, "Why would I want to watch as those I love grow old and die while I would be unable to do the same? That would be hell for me. I would never be able to live like that."
"You disappoint me, Gryffindor," Voldemort replied in kind, "You would let your attachment to others prevent you from achieving all that you are capable of. I can see the amazing magical powers that flow in your veins. You are capable of so much, and yet you will never see it yourself. How sad."
"Perhaps there are some things better left unseen," Geoff countered, "For some reason, you saw yourself as so important, that nothing should stand in the way of preserving your life. No sacrifice was too great or too drastic. If anyone stood in your way, they would be killed without a second thought. How could you do all this?"
"You talk as if human life is somehow special," Voldemort mused, "As if it were more valuable than other kinds of life somehow."
"It is," Geoff replied, his tone showing that this point was not negotiable, "Human life is special."
"No, it isn't," Voldemort answered simply, "A human life is just like a house-elf life or any other life you could think of. What difference is there between them?"
Geoff could see this one coming, and he had no good answer, even though he knew he was right. "It just is more important," he asserted, "Something intangible, unexplainable, but it's real. And it's true."
Voldemort shook his head now. "That's your emotion talking now," he asserted, "And those only serve to hold you back. Let go of those emotions, and you shall become powerful beyond your wildest dreams. All you need is your anger, Geoffrey! Unleash it and everything you desire could be yours!"
Geoff knew Voldemort was playing to his love for power, a love that all men and women had from birth. The ability to control your destiny without question. But he resisted this. "I will never give up my humanity, Voldemort," he declared adamantly, "That's far too high a price for me to pay for that kind of power. I will not gain power at the price of my immortal soul, as you have done."
"You are someone who lives for the welfare of others, I see," Voldemort stated derisively, "But my power could help you there as well. You could take control of the world and destroy poverty. You could end war forever. Who could fault you for doing that? You'd be a hero."
"It isn't my place to determine what is right for humanity," Geoff asserted.
"And why the hell not?" Voldemort inquired, "Do you not have a voice?"
"I do have a voice," Geoff explained, "But that voice is not alone. I have to accept the fact that there are others who disagree with me."
"And that line of thinking is why so many suffer needlessly," Voldemort countered, "Why should the poor suffer because some believe they should suffer? Or, to give you a more realistic example in line with your thinking about human life being so special, because others feel certain species of animals are more important to protect than the dignity of the lives of those humans living in poverty? If some believe you should be killed, would you lay down and die for their wishes?"
"You miss the point, Voldemort," Geoff pointed out, "Using your voice isn't the same as action. Not even close. I may say what I feel is right, but that doesn't mean I can just go and change the world unilaterally."
"But you took action this night. You helped to destroy my vision of the world," Voldemort pointed out, "You took action, just as I have been doing for the past thirty years."
"No, those two things are completely different," Geoff asserted, "You would force your vision of the world onto the rest of us."
"And you don't?" Voldemort inquired.
"Not as you do," Geoff answered, "I seek to convince people. You sought to brainwash them."
"People are fixed in their ways, Geoffrey," Voldemort reasoned, "You are naive to think otherwise."
"But that doesn't mean you can simply eliminate those you disagree with," Geoff asserted, "Nothing can justify that."
"Nothing?" Voldemort inquired, "Not even salvation?"
"What would you care for salvation?" Geoff asked rhetorically.
"The question still stands," Voldemort said, denying this appeal, "What if your own salvation were at risk? Would murder be justified then?"
"My salvation will never be at risk," Geoff asserted, "I've heard enough from you. My questions have been answered. Thank you." He turned to leave Voldemort behind.
"Wait!" Voldemort shrieked, forcing Geoff to turn back to him, "Don't do this to me."
"You're afraid," Geoff realized, "You're afraid of dying."
"Of course I am afraid of dying," Voldemort responded, desperation seeping into his voice.
"But you're safe now," Geoff assured, trying to help evil deal with its last moments, maybe even turn it to good in some way, "You can't be attacked anymore. You don't have to worry about your power now."
"Don't you understand, you fool?" Voldemort demanded, "I'm afraid that nothing waits for me, for all of us."
"You don't believe," Geoff stated.
"After all I've seen and done, how can I?" Voldemort asked rhetorically, "In the end, we all return to dust and everything we ever did in life becomes meaningless unless it is remembered by generations to come. And even they turn to dust as well. Death comes, and makes us completely meaningless. All I want is to avoid death, the ultimate insult to life itself. But I will have to settle for a memory that will crumble in time."
"You will be remembered for all the wrong reasons," Geoff proclaimed, "You are the embodiment of pure evil. No one will follow in your steps."
"But I will be remembered," Voldemort stated, "Which is more than I can say for you, Geoffrey Gryffindor."
It was at this moment that Geoffrey first realized that Voldemort was now far too close to him. But when Geoff realized that, Voldemort knew that his chance was now. With two full strides, he was right next to Gryffindor and attempted to grab his face with his right hand. Geoff was able to react quickly enough to grab Voldemort's right wrist with his left hand, stopping the fingertips from touching his face. Voldemort attempted to do the same thing with his left hand, but Geoff grabbed that wrist with his right hand. It would have seemed like an odd scene to the uninformed, but both Geoffrey and Voldemort knew the stakes that were now on the line. If Voldemort could touch Geoff's head with his hand, then he could change places with the wizard, and would give him new life while ending Geoffrey's.
"No! Voldemort, you must die!" Geoffrey shouted as he struggled to keep both hands away from him.
"You want this, Geoffrey Gryffindor, I can feel the desire within you," Voldemort replied as he put every ounce of energy at his discretion to forcing Geoff to give in, "Your body and powers with my mind. We would be unstoppable!"
"We!?" Geoff responded, "What do you mean by that?"
"This shell that was mine no longer serves my purpose," he explained, "Were I to use that, I would be struck down immediately. By transferring myself to your body, I can use you and continue my quest for immortality and absolute power. I have to take back what I said about you. You'll be remembered as well. You'll be remembered for so much more than I will be, in fact."
"No!" Geoff cried as he struggled to turn himself and Voldemort around, switching their places relative to the edge of the plane that was Voldemort's remaining life force, "I can't allow you to wreak havoc on the world anymore! Your story, your life, must end here!"
"No! My life must go on!" Voldemort shouted back, "I will create new Horcruxes and hide them where no one will think of looking for them!"
"Horcruxes?" Geoff remarked with shock, now starting to lean back and give in voluntarily as he completed the turn that switched their spots, "You're insane!"
"Maybe," Voldemort replied, "But I will give you what you want most, Geoffrey Gryffindor. A place in the history books. To Geoffrey Gryffindor, the greatest dark wizard in history!"
"No!" Geoff said quietly as he saw that the edge of the landscape they were standing on was dissolving once again. Geoff had cut off voluntary support for Voldemort, and their life forces had been separated again, with Voldemort's deteriorating, though it seemed that he failed to notice this. So focused was he on transferring himself to Geoff's body that he never noticed that time itself was against him again. To continue distracting his attention from this, Geoff continued to slowly give in to Voldemort's strength.
"You say no, but your body, your heart knows what you truly desire," Voldemort pointed out, "It is useless to resist me, Geoffrey."
Geoffrey's eyes went wide as Voldemort's fingertips grew ever closer to him. "I'll never give in to you!" he shouted as he saw that the deterioration was only a foot away from where Voldemort stood now, but he could bend back no further without falling down.
"You cannot hold out forever, Geoffrey Gryffindor," Voldemort said with an air of finality, as if he believed now was the time for his resurrection, for him to pull a Harry Potter act of his own, "No one will suspect I am back in your body. I'll maintain this image, but there will come a day when I will rule not just Britain, but the entire world. You will rule the world, Geoffrey Gryffindor, once we come in contact. You cannot hold out forever."
And at this point, the edge of the landscape was about to reach Voldemort's heels. Geoff saw this and smiled, catching the Dark Lord off guard. "No, I can't," Geoff admitted, "But I don't have to."
And now the ground dissolved from under Voldemort's heels. He realized what was happening and attempted to push Geoffrey forward, but he would not budge in that direction. "Goodbye, Tom Riddle," Geoff remarked as too much ground finally vanished and Voldemort lost his balance and fell backward into the abyss.
"DAMN YOU, GRYFFINDOR!" was all Geoffrey heard before he too plunged in after him, though he would go to a much different place from where Voldemort was going. He calmly closed his eyes and waited.
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Geoffrey opened his eyes again to find himself looking into the face of a monster who was truly dead now. He removed his fingertips from Voldemort's head and used his right thumb and index finger to close the eyes of the Dark Lord for the last time. He then went onto his knees and just relaxed, trying to digest all that he had heard from Lord Voldemort.
But he was interrupted by a voice from behind him before he could do this. "Geoffrey?" a familiar female voice inquired.
Geoff quickly gasped and stood up and turned around and smiled. "Christina," he replied to his fiancé, "You survived!"
He walked toward her with his arms extended wide for a loving embrace, but he stopped when he saw her turn to her side as he approached her. The smile vanished from his face as he stopped and his arms dropped to his side. "Christina? What's wrong?" he asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Who is it that I'm talking to?" Christina inquired timidly.
Geoff looked at his black-haired, brown-eyed fiancé with confusion for a moment. Then a realization dawned on him. "How long were you watching me for?" he questioned.
"About thirty seconds," Christina answered, "Who are you?"
"Christina, it's I, Geoffrey," he assured her.
"Prove it," she demanded coldly, "Prove that you haven't become that monster."
Geoff knew exactly how to do that. He quickly stepped forward and embraced her as he closed his eyes and planted a long, loving kiss on her lips. She resisted for a few moments of panic, but then relaxed and returned the gesture.
As soon as their lips parted, Geoffrey inquired, "You think Voldemort could have been capable of doing that?"
She winced upon hearing the name, but she immediately shook her head. "I think he'd rather die than actually show that kind of love to anyone," Christina remarked.
"I don't know if I'd go that far," Geoffrey replied as he turned to see four defenders dragging the monster's body into a chamber off the hallway, "But you have the right idea, I think."
Geoff turned his head back to face Christina, only to find an open palm making contact with his left cheek, causing him to reel while clutching the spot of impact, which left a terrible stinging feeling on his face. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked as he looked back at her, waiting to stop her next strike.
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking, going into his mind!?" she exclaimed, "He could have restored himself to live at your expense! He could have entered your body and use your powers to restore his reign of terror over us all!"
"It was a risk I needed to take," Geoff explained, "I had questions that only he could answer. If I hadn't done what I did, they would nag at me forever. In addition, now we can tell future generations how they can avoid creating another Voldemort."
"Did he try to transfer to your body?" she inquired.
Geoff nodded. "He was trying to convert me to his side the whole time," Geoff elaborated, "I have to admit now, he nearly had me a few times. He was so disappointed when I chose humanity over power."
"You seem a bit disappointed yourself," Christina pointed out correctly, "Why is that?"
"I just thought for a moment that I might be able to save him," Geoff explained, "Not from death, of course. I thought I could help him come to grips with death, with all the death and destruction he wrought for so long. But I failed him."
Christina walked forward and embraced Geoffrey again. His robe of red and gold was torn in several places, as was her purple one. "Some just don't want to be saved, don't think they need to be saved," she pointed out as she ran her hand through his brown hair lovingly, "And there's no point trying to save someone who cannot feel regret for his past."
"True," Geoff agreed, "I got the feeling that he didn't regret anything he ever did in his life, except failing to kill Harry Potter, of course."
Christina sensed that something else was wrong with his visit to the mind of the Dark Lord. "Is something else wrong, Geoffrey?" she inquired.
Geoff sighed before answering this question. "He told me that we weren't all that different," he said, "And when I think about it, he was right about that. The only real difference between Voldemort and myself is that I chose my humanity over power, while he chose power over humanity. When you think about it that way, I'm surprised there aren't more monsters like him in the world. Every human being has a love of power like he did."
"Choosing between humanity and power isn't a small choice, Geoff," Christina pointed out, "In fact, that's one of the biggest choices a person can make in their lives. And it's not a choice you make only once. He could have stopped whenever he wanted and save or restore his humanity. He could have stopped killing, but he never did. He must have had hundreds, maybe even a thousand chances to reclaim his humanity, but for some reason, he never did."
Geoff nodded in agreement as he returned her embrace and kissed her forehead. "I'm so happy that you're still alive, Christina," he remarked, "I remember you saying you were going up to the seventh floor and when I felt that explosion from above me, I feared the worst, especially when I didn't see you here after the fighting stopped."
"That blast dropped a bit of rubble on my head, and knocked me out for a while," she explained as Geoff looked and saw a rather large bit of swelling where she had indicated, "You aren't in great shape yourself, you know."
She was referring to the rather large amount of dried blood that covered most of the left side of his face. "One of Trelawney's crystal balls found me by mistake and cut my head open pretty bad," he explained, "But my brother was able to get the glass out of my skin and stopped the bleeding. I was going to wash off the blood when Voldemort called us outside."
After a moment, they looked at all the others in the Great Hall. Somehow, Harry Potter had disappeared without a trace, which didn't surprise Geoffrey all that much. All around were the signs of battle, including the bodies of the dead. "We lost some good people today," Geoff commented solemnly, "I lost the last of my old friends, Remus and Severus. So many lives destroyed. It's true, what all the poets say. War is hell." Recalling what Voldemort claimed to have done to his best friend reminded him that he needed to inquire about the location of his body so that he could give Severus a proper burial.
"Will we ever recover?" Christina asked.
"We'll never be able to replace those we lost," Geoff replied, "But we will rebuild. Hogwarts will be repaired, I'm sure of that. And, with time, we'll replace the lives we have lost."
Christina heard this and looked at Geoffrey. "Does that mean what I think it does?" she inquired with a smile.
Geoff laughed at that. "Honestly, my love, I feel more like falling asleep for about a year," he admitted, "But once we get married, we'll have as many kids as you want. I promise."
They both smiled and shared another kiss. "Speaking of your brother, where is Gary, anyway?" she asked, looking around once they had parted.
However, at that moment, Gary walked back into the Great Hall and looked for his brother. It didn't take long to find him. "Hello Christina," he greeted and then turned to his brother, "It's done."
"What's done?" she questioned.
"Oh, it's a small personal matter," Geoff said dismissively, "Don't worry about it."
Christina nodded her head. "Alright," she replied. She knew better than to delve into the "personal matters" of the Gryffindor Family.
"I know it's hard to believe, but I guess it's finally over," Gary remarked nervously, as if afraid that these words would jinx everything that had just happened that night and into the morning.
"No, it's not over. It's never over," Geoff pointed out, "Now we have to make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. It's our responsibility to the world and to the generations to come."
Christina nodded as they walked into the crowd and temporarily went their separate ways. Geoff sat down next to Neville, who was eating, and picked up the sword he used to kill Nagini with. He recognized it immediately. "Neville, my boy, you did very well tonight," he remarked, "I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you Mr. Gryffindor," Neville replied after he swallowed the food that he was eating, "But I really don't remember exactly what happened. It was like I wasn't even thinking."
Geoff nodded. He had a lot of catching up to do with his godson, with everyone. But now they had all the time in the world for stories, and everyone present would have plenty of those to tell their grandchildren. Especially Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.
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Author's Notes: Again, I came up with the idea for this story after playing through a section of the video game "Assassin's Creed". It's a very good game, but it gets rather repetative after a while.
This may be the last Harry Potter work you see from me for a while, so I hope you enjoy this and my other fan fiction works already on this site; The Legend of Zelda: Land of My Dreams and Harry Potter and the Heir of Gryffindor.
So, until I post something else, read, review and enjoy.