It was half way through Harry, Ron and Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry walked down the strangely empty corridors on his way to herbology with Ron and Hermione talking about the new Defense against Dark Arts teacher. Their other Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had fled after Professor Lupin had come for a visit. He was deathly afraid of werewolves. "I'm glad they finally have a girl in that job." Said Hermione. "She seems a little too strict for me." Was Ron's answer. "Can't be worse than Snape or McGonagall can she?" asked Harry. "Don't be so sure." Said Ron. All of a sudden, literally popping out of nowhere was Albus Dumbeldore looking very worried. "Children! Back to your common rooms immediately! I thought everyone heard!" "Heard what?" asked Hermione. Dumbeldore hesitated looking as though he where trying to debate whether or not he had the time to tell them. "Ginny Weasley was walking through the halls and she noticed Voldemort! He is lurking somewhere in the school with a sorcerer's stone. He has regained full power again. And please, Potter, don't look for him. You are probably in most danger of all. I will call Professor McGonagall to escort you to your common room if you wish." Ron and Hermione looked very happy with this idea, but Harry quickly said, "We will be fine, Professor Dumbeldore. Thank you." Dumbeldore nodded and quickly hurried off. "Are you crazy? Why didn't you accept…" started Hermione but Harry cut her off. "I'll explain later. Let's get to the common room."
So they climbed staircases and walked along empty corridors with no sight of the Dark Lord until they got to the portrait of the lady in the pink dress, but she wasn't there! Obviously in her fright she had fled the picture. "Oh no!" gasped Hermione. "What are we going to do?" But no one could answer because all of a sudden a low voice came from the shadows by the portrait. "I've waited a long time, Potter. A very long time indeed." Harry automatically new who was talking. He could feel evil while the voice was speaking. "Voldemort?" he replied weakly.
"That's right, Harry." Said Voldemort emerging from the shadows. He looked nothing like the time he had met him in his first year. Although he still had the same white face and gleaming red eyes, he looked sharper, more alert, and he had a body. He noticed Hermione trembling on one side of him, and Ron looking as if he where about to faint on the other side of him. Then, to everyone's surprise, Hermione stepped forward. "If you kill him, you will have to kill us to." She said, even though her voice sounded as if she were about to cry. "I didn't come for you girl." Voldemort sneered stepping forward, but still Hermione stood where she was. Harry was shocked! Hermione had never done anything this brave before. "I don't care if you didn't come for me!" Hermione shouted, which even made Voldemort look surprised because by now most of his victims were usually down on their knees. "Stand aside girl!" Voldemort screeched, sounding annoyed. "No!" Hermione yelled. "Aranto Madelina!" Voldemort yelled, and Hermione was blasted backward, smashed into the wall and was knocked unconscious. Then he turned to Ron. "I hope you are not as brave as her boy, for now I am very annoyed and the conclusions shall be much worse." Then turning back to Harry he said, "Now to do what I should have done a long time ago." He grinned a horrible grin and before he could do a thing, Dumbeldore popped out of the air and stood between Harry and Voldemort. "Really Voldemort, I thought you would have given up killing small children by now." "THIS SMALL CHILD LOST ME ALL MY POWERS!" Voldemort yelled back. "I would have thought you would have figured out by now why you lost your powers" "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW I LOST MY POWERS?" Voldemort raged. "Because," Said Dumbeldore "He is stronger than you. Even as a baby, he had more powers than you could ever dream of." Voldemort looked VERY annoyed. "You've gone to far old man!" he shouted and raised his wand. Dumbeldore tried to act back but it was too late. A fireball the size of Harry blasted Dumbeldore and burned him so badly that Harry knew even the best nurse in the world couldn't have kept him from dying. He rushed over to his side and noticed from shock of seeing what Voldemort had done to Dumbeldore Ron had fainted. He crouched beside his body. "Professor Dumbeldore?" said Harry weakly, tears filling his eyes. Dumbeldore looked up into Harry's face and smiled a weak smile. "You look just like James." He said as his final words before closing his eyes for the last time. Harry tried to wipe away the tears and face Voldemort. "How could you?" he said with more hatred in him than he had ever felt before. Voldemort still grinning from his new victory, happy to make Harry so upset he didn't even notice that Harry was raising his wand over his head. "Mithanil Cremae Tranu Quillil!" Harry shouted. All of a sudden, a look of utter bewilderment swept over Voldemort's face as a HUGE blue fire came out of Harry's wand right toward him. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" He screamed a shrill, high, horrible scream and was no longer there. His wand dropped to the floor. Harry got onto his knees and looked at the scene.
Hermione and Ron unconscious beside him, Dumbeldore's lifeless body lying in front of the portrait of the fat lady who had come back on and fainted at the sight, Voldemort's wand lying without it's master on the floor, and him sitting there on one knee, wondering what to do next. He didn't have to wonder much longer because Voldemort's scream had made such a racket that Professor McGonagall came rushing up the staircase and stared bewildered at Harry, then at Dumbeldore, Ron and Hermione's unconscious bodies and the wand lying on the floor by itself. She ran over to him. "What happened?" She asked unsteadily. "Are they all…" She gulped. "Not all of them." Said Harry. "Hermione got knocked out by Voldemort, Ron fainted but… Dumbeldore tried to save me and…" Harry knew that he didn't have to go on. He could tell by the way that she looked at him that she understood. "What about you-know-who? Is he dead?" "Yes." Replied Harry. "I suppose you killed him?" "Yes." Harry replied again. McGongall looked like she was going to cry. "Well, we better get Ron and Hermione and you up to the infirmary." "I don't need it." Said Harry. "He didn't touch me." "Are you sure?" asked McGongall. "Yes." Said Harry certainly.
The next day was probably the saddest day that Hogwarts had ever seen. A grand funeral was held in the grand hall with many flowers and weeping students. No one seemed to want to talk except for when Ron and Hermione woke up and wanted to know what happened. All the lessons were canceled for a few days and scarcely a word was heard except for occasional passwords being muttered and people saying thank you after someone passing some food to them at dinner. The only one that looked happy was Draco. Even his faithful followers Crabbe and Goyle seemed upset. Draco would continuously make jokes about his death or talk about how much better the school was without him.
Then one night while Harry was just about asleep, he saw the ghost of Dumbeldore float into his room. "Professor Dumbeldore!" He nearly shouted. "Shh." Said Dumbeldore softly. "No need to wake everyone. I can tell you didn't understand why I let him do the spell on me. I could have blocked it very easily Harry but I didn't. Do you know why Harry? "No." Harry said. "Because he was expecting me to try and block the spell so he decided to do one so strong I couldn't block. It took so much of his energy that he couldn't have done more than a hiccup slugs spell on you." "You didn't have to do that" said Harry starting to feel tears on his cheek again. "I have lived my life for many years Harry and you have barely had a chance to live yours. Goodbye Harry." Harry wanted to cry and yell no but he didn't. He knew Dumbeldore had things to do and that he couldn't stay there with him forever. "Goodbye." Said Harry back. That year didn't feel quite the same without Dumbeldore there, but he knew that Dumbeldore was still with all of them in their hearts.