Voldemorte's Downfall

Chapter One

It was September first, and it was back to Hogwarts again. "I wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this year?" commented Ron. "No idea," replied Zofka, his new girlfriend. "Loki, do you know at all?" Loki just shook her head. She started writing furiously in a journal. "Why are you writing so much lately?" Hermione asked. "I miss my father. A lot," replied Loki. Harry nodded. "I miss Sirius a lot too," he said quietly. "Dumbledore thinks we need to move on though." "Just because I miss him doesn't mean I haven't moved on!" Loki practically shouted. "He's my father!" Her voice shook and she quieted down. "I just wish I'd had more time with him. I didn't even get to know him." She buried her face in her hands. After this outburst, there were several attempts to restart a conversation, but no of them worked. No one spoke for the remainder of the journey.

A few weeks later, as they emerged from professor Artemis' class, Ron exclaimed "WOAH! Her last name is her first name spelled backwards! That's really cool!" Everyone stared at him, then Hermione, who had been a little bitter with Ron since their breakup, said "Well DUH!" "What was that for Hermione?" Ron asked. "Well everyone else figured that out the first day!" answered Hermione. "Well, I don't..." began Ron, but Harry interrupted. "Guys, Malfoy and His new girlfriend are headed this way. And-is that LOKI!?" he said, glaring in Malfoy's direction. "it is!" he gasped. He stomped toward Malfoy. Rice grabbed his arm. "Harry, don't!" she hissed, "Malfoy is trying to make you mad. Don't fall for it!" "Too late!" growled Harry. "Hey Malfoy! Get your hands off of her!" "Oh Potter! Didn't she tell you?" Loki intturupted-"Draco Malfoy, don't you DARE!" but Malfoy continued. "We're going out! She said she told you!" Suddenly, Harry broke out of Rice's grip, and ran toward Malfoy. He started swinging his fists. Someone grabbed the back of his robes. He heard a cold voice say "Fighting, Potter? My office, now!" and Harry turned to look fearfully into the cold eyes of Professor Snape.

"Did you hear me Potter?" snarled Snape. "My office! Now!" He glared at Harry. "MOVE IT!" Harry glanced back at Rice, who muttered "I told you, braindead, but you wouldn't listen. It's your own fault." Harry glanced at Loki, who looked anxiously at him. "NOW!" Snape roared. "Coming." Harry heaved a sigh. Sirius would be so disappointed in me, he thought glumly. Malfoy stared to say something, and he heard Loki snap "Oh, shut up already!" He reached Snape's office, and Snape said, "Sit down, Potter. Wait here, and do not touch anything. I need to speak to Professor McGonagall." He turned and walked out of the office. A few moments later, the door opened and Erick Chica walked in. He looked at Harry and said "Where's Snape? And why are you here?" Harry sighed. "I tried to kill Malfoy, and Snape caught me. I'm waiting for my punishment," he replied. Just then, Snape strode back in. "Erick, please wait. I'll be with you in a moment. Mr. Potter, Professor McGonagall and I feel that you have crossed one too many lines, and it would be best for all if you were expelled." Chica gasped and Harry finally looked at Snape's face. When he saw Snape's look of utter joy, it finally clicked. "Expelled?" he said, unable to speak above a whisper. "I'm expelled?" "Yes Potter,' Snape sneered. "You are." What am I going to do now? Harry thought.

"Expelled? For what?" asked Neville in the common room that night. "Fighting," answered Harry glumly. "With Malfoy. Only Snape caught me." Hermione glared at, well, no one in particular, and said "But expelled? Don't you think that's a bit far? Does Dumbledore agree?" Harry replied "I don't even think he knows." "He doesn't," said a voice. They turned and saw Loki climb through the portrait hole. Malfoy told me about it, oh, about 63 seconds ago." "What did he say?" Harry asked. "Don't leave anything out." Rice interrupted. "Don't you think Lupin will be upset? I mean, last you nearly kill Ron, this year, expelled? He's not going to take that very well." Loki cleared her throat. "May I talk?" she snapped. Everyone nodded. "Well, after you left, Harry, Malfoy and I went to the library. When Goyle came to get him, I waited. Malfoy came back and told me exactly what Snape said. Reader's Digest version, Dumbledore wasn't told and Snape is happy. End of story," she finished. Silence followed. Then Harry said "Well, what about Erick Chica?" Hermione giggled but everyone ignored her. "What did he say?" "Well, he was ready to seriously injure Malfoy, but we calmed him down. Luckily, too. He's got a temper, that one," Loki said. Suddenly, the portrait hole opened and Zofka climbed through. She took one look at everyone's faces and said "What'd I miss?" Ron replied, "Well, do you want the short version or the long?"

After awhile, everyone drifted off to bed. There were only two people in the common room besides him. Loki and Chica. He could feel the anger throbbing around the room. Chica was muttering "He didn't do anything wrong!" and Loki was shushing him, saying "Complaining isn't going to make this any better!" Harry spoke up quietly. "I agree with McGonagall. Besides, keep's Snape off my back, right?" He gave a nervous laugh. Loki began "Harry I didn't tell you everything Snape said," but was cut off by Dobby bursting in. He cried "Dobby has just heard! Harry Potter cannot leave now! Not when Hogwarts needs him most!" Harry replied "Dobby it's okay. I understand why I have to do this. I'll miss you." Whoa! he thought. I will miss Dobby. Creepy. Loki finally said "I'm going to bed. Good night." Chica nodded. "Yeah. It is after hours. I should get back to Slytherin. Night." Dobby gave Harry one last teary look and follow Chica out. Harry drifted up to bed. He closed his eyes. The next thing he knew, it was morning. It had come too soon.

Harry got on the train and cast a last glance at Hogwarts. The train started to move. After a few hours, he started digging through his stuff. He found a crumpled piece of parchment. It was a note from Rice, which read: (Be careful. Tonight is the full moon and you know his condition.) Harry laughed. Although Lupin was a werewolf, Harry doubted he was capable of harming a fly. Seeing Lupin on the platform, looking tired but smiling, Harry felt his spirits lifted. He waved, and Lupin waved back. This won't be so bad, he thought. Not at all.

Later that evening, Harry and Lupin sat down to eat. Harry sensed
that Lupin was rather irritated, but he had no idea why. He mentioned to
Lupin that this was unfair. Malfoy wasn't punished at all. Why was he,
Harry, expelled? Lupin simply nodded, a strange look on his face.
Harry excused himself and walked up to the drawing room, where he
found Phineas Nigellus playing poker. Phineas immediately started
talking to Harry. Harry, in spite of his mood, found himself enjoying
the conversation. All of a sudden, Phineas stopped. Harry turned, and
caught a fleeting glance of someone standing in the doorway. The
figure raised a wand and yelled "CRUCIO!". Harry felt intense pain
shoot through his body. Through the haze that was slowly filling his
mind, he heard Phineas yell "Hold on I'll get Dumbledore!" Harry sank
to his knees, pleading the figure to just kill him. He heard another
shout of "CRUCIO!" and he crumpled to the floor. Everything went black, and he felt nothing more.

The next morning, through the haze that was surrounding him, Harry heard someone calling his name. The haze started to clear, and he saw someone standing over him that should not have been. "Sirius?" he asked, groggily. "Thank God, he's alive!" he heard someone shout. "But he's confused. He thinks I'm Sirius " Harry abruptly jerked himself from the Haze and saw, not one, but six people standing over him. Of course Lupin was there and Naturally, Dumbledore, but also Ron, Zofka, Hermione, and his half-sister Loki. He realized Loki, who was Sirius' daughter and looked a lot like him, had been who he had seen, not Sirius. Hermione burst into tears. "Oh Harry, we thought you were dead!" Dumbledore spoke softly. "Harry, do you know who did this to you? Did you see them?" Harry shook his head. "I didn't see who did it. Not very well, anyway. All I know is I was talking to Phineas Nigellus, and we heard noises. I don't know anything else." Everyone was silent, except the occasional sob from Hermione. Then Loki said "Well, what about Lupin? He might have seen something strange." Lupin, choosing his words carefully, replied "To the best of my knowledge, the only people in the house last night were myself and Harry." Suddenly, something clicked. "Hang on!" shouted Harry. "You were acting really strange last night. Did you do it?" Something like sadness passed through Lupin's eyes. He thought a moment and said "Yes Harry, I did. I'm sorry." For a moment, no one spoke. Then Dumbledore said "You, Lupin? But why?" Harry nodded. "Yeah we'd all like to know that!" snarled Ron. "YOU like Harry!" Zofka nodded vigorously. Lupin hesitated a moment. "I-I don't know exactly what happened. I didn't even want to do it. Something made me. I don't do that kind of thing of my own free will." He finished. Harry stared at him for a minute. Then turned to Dumbledore and said "Another thing, Professor" but Dumbledore cut him off. "I don't know why you were expelled, Harry. Professor McGonagall said no such thing." "What?" said Harry. "But Professor Snape said-" Dumbledore spoke again. "He and I will be having a little chat soon. He had no authority to do this. He will be punished." Loki finally spoke up. "Just so you know, Harry, I'm breaking up with Malfoy." "No. Don't do that. Don't spoil your happiness because of me," Harry said. "You're sure? You mean it? I want you to be happy," she replied. "I am. I'm happy if you're happy," Harry said. "Harry, we could have avoided all this if you'd just said that in the beginning," Hermione interjected. "Drop it Hermione. By the way, how's Erick Chica? He was pretty upset when I left," Harry said. Zofka, mainly because Hermione burst into giggles, answered. "Well, he has detention. He tried to attack Malfoy's cronies. Actually, Umbridge caught him." "Umbridge? What do you mean, Umbridge?" Harry said. Then, "Please tell me she's not back. Say I'm dreaming. Anything but she's back." Everyone nodded. "Artemis had family problems. She had to leave. Umbridge was the only choice," Ron said. Everyone shuddered. "Well what are we waiting for?" Loki asked. "We have school, Umbridge needs straightening out and Harry has a girl waiting for him." "I WHAT!?!?!?!?" shouted Harry. "Yeah. Rice asked me to ask you out for her. What do you say?" Loki asked. "Well duh! I say yes!" Harry shouted. "Good." Loki beamed.

A few weeks later, Umbridge was still there. Unexpectedly, a Hogsmeade visit came up. The day before the visit, they arrived in Umbridge's class, ready to ignore her as always. However, Umbridge had a different plan. As they arrived, Umbridge commented "Well, I'm glad to see that Miss Black has decided to follow the uniform, finally." Loki moved as though to hit her, but Rice caught her arm and said "Don't. She's just trying to make you mad. She's not worth it." Harry nodded and they took their seats in the back of the room. Harry pulled out an Exploding Snap deck. "Anyone in?" Ron nodded and the girls turned to watch. When the deck exploded, singeing Ron's eyebrows, Umbridge marched back to their desks. "5 points from Gryffindor! And I'm confiscating these!" She held up the new deck Harry had pulled out. "Just because you've been raised by fools, dangerous half-breeds and murderers does not give you the right to act like savages!" She turned to leave but found herself surrounded by Loki, Rice, Harry and Ron. "What is the meaning of this? Mr. Weasly, as head boy, I expected better of you. What is going on?" Ron replied "We are sick of your mouth. We've put up with it but you've just crossed the line. Now guys. One, two, thr..." He was inturupted by another teacher. "What is going on here?" "Professor Artemis!" Zofka gasped. "We were telling Umbridge how sick we are of her." Ron said. "Well, don't worry about it. She's leaving. Now," said Professor Artemis. "As class is almost over, no homework. Enjoy the weekend."

The next day everyone met in the entrance hall, as a couple. Ron and Zofka, Hermione and Chica, Harry and Rice and- "Wait. Where are Loki and Malfoy? They said they'd meet us here." Ron said. "Oh, I forgot. Loki said we could g on ahead. They'll catch up," replied Zofka. Harry motioned them forward and the left. Malfoy pushed his way past them, fuming. "What's wrong with him?" asked Rice. Harry shrugged. Where is Loki? he wondered. When they reached Hogsmeade, Harry went to find Malfoy. "Where is Loki?" he snapped. "Hospital," grunted Malfoy. "Why? What happened?" Harry asked, shocked. "Relax. She's fine. She and Goyle had a fight and..." "Are you saying that he HIT her?!" yelled Harry, unable to contain himself. "Yeah. Luckily Professor Simetra came around to investigate the shouting and saw him get ready to swing agian. He is seeing Dumbledore now. I hope he gets expelled." Malfoy replied. "Look, there she is now. She's fine. Hey, here comes everyone now!" "No Ron and Zofka are missing," Harry replied. As everyone approached, Malfoy ran over to Loki. "I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried!" he cried. Loki started to smile, but Malfoy grabbed her hand, pulled her to him and kissed her. She did nothing for a moment, and then kissed him back. Suddenly, everyone was kissing. Ron and Zofka were driven from Harry's mind. He didn't know about everyone else, but in Harry's mind, this was the best Hogsmeade visit ever.