Things were quiet for an hour or so. Harry even started yawning and had to stand and move around to keep awake. Finally a diadem materialized in the room. Magic started to swirl like it did the other pieces but it didn't just fall to the floor. The magic continued to swirl and seemed to turn an angry red color. The swirling got faster and bits of light would spit out and hit the diadem. After several minutes of this a black smoke began to rise from the diadem. The wind picked up in the room and swept the smoke away as it leaked from the artifact. After several more minutes of this the smoke stopped, then the magic finished and the diadem dropped to the floor. Harry, who had been standing during this time, dropped to his knees panting.
"That was hard." he panted.
"What did you see?" Merlin asked.
"I saw the diadem arrive and then it disappeared and Voldemort was in its place. We threw spells back and forth but I won and he disintegrated." Harry said, "Isn't that what you saw?"
"No." Hermione shook her head, "We saw the same swirling magic as before. But it shot lights at the diadem before a black smoke left and then it dropped to the floor."
All three teens turned to Merlin for an explanation, "Harry is supplying the magic for this process. The One Stone is just the focus."
"Next time can we just pull the sword and cut it in half?" Harry asked.
"The next should be the cup." Hermione said, "We can save the sword for the snake and protect the schools artifacts."
"You have the sword from the story?" Merlin asked and got nods from the three, "Well pull it out and use it."
Before Hermione could find it in the bag the cup arrived and Harry began to fight it in the same way he did with the diadem. Harry was sitting in the chair this time so he just closed his eyes and relaxed for a few minutes when he was done. Hermione had to lay the sword on the floor and push it over to Harry so she waited until he was rested. He opened his eyes after several minutes and motioned to Hermione and she slid it across the floor. It stopped a few feet shy of his chair and he got up to grab it. He held the diamond in his left hand and picked up the sword with his right. Just as he did a huge snake appeared right in front of him. A quick swish of the sword and the snake's head lay separated from its body.
"Much easier." Harry sighed as he collapsed back into the chair.
"Prepare yourselves." Merlin said, "This is where it's going to get wild."
"Voldemort is next." Hermione shuddered.
She was right and soon the evil man stood in the hall. His left hand was holding someone by the shirt as his right hand held his wand and was shooting a cruciatus curse at the person. Two things then happened at once. Voldemort realized he had been moved and the stone sent out twin sparks. The sparks shot at Harry and the man that came with Voldemort. It took Hermione a few seconds to realize who the man with Voldemort was.
"Pettigrew!" Hermione growled and pulled her wand.
"Stop Ms. Granger." Merlin said, "The stone will do the work."
Before she could respond both Harry and the rat had been hit by the sparks of light. Both of them fell to the ground screaming. Voldemort also fell screaming but Ron and Hermione weren't sure why. The screams filled the hall while Ron and Hermione tried to get past the elf's shield to help Harry.
"What's happening?" Ron yelled.
"The last Horcrux is being destroyed." Merlin was watching Harry intently.
Toby threw up a silencing spell to shield them from the screams.
"What?" Hermione turned to him, "The snake was the last one."
"No it wasn't." Merlin frowned, "I told him he should have told you."
"Told us what?" Ron whispered but the portrait heard it.
"I told him last night." Merlin sighed, "His scar made him the last one."
"He has to die?" Hermione screeched then turned to her friend, "Harry you idiot."
"He may not die." Merlin said, "The fact that he is still alive five minutes into this is in his favor."
"But to destroy the Horcrux you have to destroy the container beyond magical repair." Hermione insisted.
"He is already beyond magical repair, he is destroyed." Merlin said, "If he can survive it's removal he will win this. If not it will fall to the two of you to stop the dark wizard. He knows you can do it and so do I."
"But Harry's the one who's powerful and has the skills. Hermione has the brains." Ron sagged, "I'm just the tag along."
"You are not." Hermione punched his arm, "You are an important ingredient in our team. We weren't nearly as effective when you were gone. You are more than you think you are. You just don't have enough confidence in yourself."
"Do you really think so?" Ron asked.
"She can't lie here." Merlin pointed out.
Hermione was still watching Harry writhing on the floor. He held onto the stone as tightly as he could. She could see his white knuckles from across the room. Silent tears were rolling down her face as Ron put an arm around her to comfort her.
"If he is destroyed how will he live if he lives?" Ron asked.
"Tell me Mr. Weasley." Merlin said, "Could his life be any worse than it is right now?"
"He could have no friends." Ron said, "But we won't leave him."
"But you aren't there." Merlin said, "At this moment he knows nothing of friends or family. Nothing about friendship and love. His whole world, his whole life is nothing but pain. When that is all you have you are destroyed. It doesn't need to do any permanent damage, he will never forget this feeling of complete and total isolation."
"He's mentally destroyed." Hermione nodded in understanding, "But he's felt alone before. No one can truly understand what he has lived through. Yet he continues to live. Just like he will today. Will his mind recover?"
"Yes but he is beyond magical help. Only he can repair it. He has to want to repair it." Merlin said, "Look something is happening."
They turned back to the room to see many dark shapes appearing.
"Death eaters." Ron gasped.
"Who?" Merlin asked.
"His followers." Hermione said, "They are all linked by the dark mark they carry on their left forearms."
"That would explain it." Merlin said, "It's pulling them all in by their connections. This will be quite a fight. Toby when this part stops you may need to help."
"Yes Sir." he replied, "Do we need others?"
"If Harry survives and is functioning then no." Merlin said, "He'll be able to finish it."
"It is finished Sir." Toby dropped the shield so Ron and Hermione could check on Harry.
"I found a pulse." Hermione said loud enough for Merlin to hear, "Wake up Harry."
"Come on mate we need you." Ron added as he reached out and touched Harry's shoulder.
Harry's other hand shot up and grabbed Ron in a painful grip. Ron jumped and let out a small yelp of pain. Harry's eyes opened and saw his friends. He smiled then released Ron's arm.
"How are you?" Hermione asked.
"Fine." he sighed as he sat up.
"You should have told us." Hermione scolded him lightly.
"Yell at me later." Harry said, "We have a war to fight right now."
They helped him stand and watched as a few death eaters also managed to sit up. Voldemort made it to his feet and turned to Harry.
"Time for you to die." he started but then stopped and stared at the items at Harry's feet.
"No it's time for you to die." Harry said, "Your faithful death eaters are all dead. All that remains is those who lost any care for your reign and only stayed because to leave meant they would die."
"You have no idea." Voldemort laughed. They all heard the fear in the voice of the evil wizard. He knew he could die today. The three teens knew it too, "Belletrix show them how a real death eater reacts to words of such blasphemy."
"She can't." Harry said, "She died, that should comfort you though. It means she was a true servant to you."
"No." Voldemort growled and reached for his new wand. The only one he came up with was his normal one.
"Looking for this?" Harry asked pulling the Hallows wand out of his own pocket, "It came to it's true master. The one it was made for."
"It was made centuries ago." Voldemort laughed, "It wasn't meant for you."
"It was." Harry said, "I had a seer for a great grandmother. She predicted the need and her husband and his two brothers each made me a special tool." He then turned and whispered to his friends, "Go back to Merlin now."
Neither one argued. They felt the power behind his words and knew he would win this fight. Toby put the shield back up as they arrived. The first thing Voldemort did was throw a killing curse at Hermione, but the spell bounced off the elf's shield.
"That won't work Tom." Harry said, "The elf was ordered to protect them from harm. You cannot touch them."
"Don't use that name." he growled then waved at the other teens, "They don't matter, I will destroy you."
"I've been destroyed before and lived through it." Harry said, "You can only try."
Voldemort threw several hexes at Harry but he pulled the cloak around him and disappeared. Voldemort grinned and tried to apparate but nothing happened. He frowned and tried again.
"Won't work." Harry said as he landed a punch in the man's face before he disappeared again.
"What's happening?" Voldemort screamed.
"You can't apparate here." Harry's disembodied voice called, "I'm not apparating."
He flipped the cloak back and they saw him back where he began.
"Your little cloak won't help you for long." Voldemort growled and threw several other hexes. Harry easily batted them away with the wand. Voldemort noticed some of his followers were sitting up, "Draco do your duty."
"My duty was to not touch Potter you wanted him for yourself." Draco replied, "I rather hope he kills you."
"See, only the truly loyal died. Those who serve only because they fear leaving didn't die today. They've been given a second chance by magic. Now let' see what you make of this." Harry twisted the ring on his finger.
"That belongs to me." Voldemort growled, "It was passed down through my family for generations."
"Well you see we are related. Your relative was the brother in law to the seer." Harry grinned as spirits began to appear in the room, "Now face those you killed."
Myrtle was the first to arrive. But she was closely followed by Riddles own father and grandparents. Hundreds of people appeared and swarmed the evil wizard. The spirits began to hit and tear at the evil wizard. His screams of fear filled the room. Those who had once followed him gathered together at the wall farthest away from him. The spirits finally backed away and left him beaten and bruised on his knees.
"Do you give up?" Harry asked.
"Never." Voldemort growled and threw the killing curst at Harry.
Harry pulled up his cloak then grinned over it after the curse was absorbed, "Won't work on me."
Voldemort staggered to his feet and started throwing hexes again. Harry disappeared behind his cloak and reappear a foot in front of Voldemort. This time he had the sward in his hand and he made a small cut on the wizards arm before he disappeared and returned to his spot across the room.
"Give up yet?" Harry asked.
"That is just a scratch." Voldemort laughed, "I won't give in for that."
"Too bad. You know this sword has killed you several times already." Harry pointed down at the items near the chair he had been sitting in, "The locket and the snake met their doom with this sword. Oh the ring too but it was meant for something else." Harry held up his hand.
"You lie." Voldemort sneered, "No mere sword could touch my precious belongings."
"You are right." Harry grinned, "But a sword that had killed a basilisk might just be able to. Did you know basilisk venom will kill a horcrux?"
"And where would you find one of those?" Voldemort's sneer was less pronounced this time.
"In the chamber where I destroyed it and your diary." Harry said, "I was twelve."
"You couldn't." Voldemort stumbled.
"I did." Harry shot a curse at him, "It's your fault that Slytherin's friend was destroyed. You killed her mind."
The curse hit him and sent him flying into the wall behind him. Voldemort slowly slid down the wall and crumbled to the floor like an unwanted toy.
"Any last words?" Harry asked.
"Die." Voldemort sent one more killing curse at Harry who batted it away with his wand.
Instead of flying off the curse returned to the sender. Voldemort couldn't move out of the way of his own curse and died when it impacted. His wand broke when another spell hit it and the pieces fell to the ground at Harry's feet. Hermione and Ron cheered and ran for their friend. They helped him find the chair and sit to recover from the events of the day. Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape and three other men walked towards the trio. All five handed their wands to Harry. He only lifted an eyebrow in return.
"It will be better for us at the ministry if we don't have those when we return." Severus stated.
Harry nodded and looked past the five men to the spirits coming from the spot they had stopped and stood in.
"Harry, I'm so proud." the spirit of Lily Potter was joined by that of her husband and Sirius Black.
"Me too kiddo." Sirius grinned.
"Seeker Harry?" James asked, "Why not a chaser?" Lily smacked his arm and he laughed and said, "I'm proud too."
"Thanks." he said, "Say Sirius how can you be here, I only brought those killed by Voldemort."
"I sort of tagged along." Sirius grinned.
"Take care of our niece." a set of twins called from beside Ron, "And our nephew."
"Fabian and Gideon." Ron grinned, "You know Mum named the twins after you guys. Fred and George."
"Wicked." they grinned, "I hope they are expert mischief makers."
"The best." Harry said, "They opened a joke shop and they've made tons of galleons."
They continued to talk with the spirits. Different ones introduced themselves and thanked him for his help or congratulated the trio on their fabulous victory. Some even talked with the five ex-death eaters and gave them pointers on life.
"Thank you both for taking such good care of my boy." Lily said to Ron and Hermione, "No friendship is perfect but you've done better than anyone else could have."
"Thank you." Ron and Hermione said together.
"Severus." she turned to the man that had cost her so much, "Quit living in the past and move on. We would never have married I didn't love you that way. You were the best brother a person could have."
"But I got you killed." he whispered looking at the ground.
"No Voldemort and that rat did." James indicated Peter, "You didn't kill us any more than I did by choosing Peter."
"That was rather hair brained." Merlin called from his picture.
"It would have been brilliant." Sirius argued, "If he hadn't been the spy of course."
"Severus, I forgive you for any part you think you played in my death." Lily said, "But if you don't treat Harry better in class I will come back and haunt you."
"Sorry Lils." he sighed, "He just looks too much like James. Then he looks at me with your eyes and I feel guilt ridden all over again."
"Just play nice from now on." Lily grinned before going back to James, "We have to leave now Harry. You need to send us back."
"Already?" he asked.
"I'm sorry." she said then smiled, "I don't want to see you again for two hundred years. More if you can live that long."
"I can wait to see you too." Harry grinned, "At least I know you'll be waiting for me."
"One last thing." Sirius grinned, "Tell Ginny I told her so."
"What?" Harry asked.
"She'll know what I mean." he grinned, "Let us go Harry. I love you."
"Love you guys too." Harry said.
"Even us?" the Prewitt twins grinned.
"Sure." He said, "You're too much like Fred and George not to love. Keep Dad and Sirius on their toes will you?"
"Sure thing." they grinned and rubbed their hands together.
Harry hid his hand and pulled off the ring, the spirits instantly disappeared.
"How did you do it?" Draco asked, "Call the spirits and send them back like that I mean."
"Trade secret." Harry grinned at them, "Merlin what do we do now?"
"Harry my boy first let me congratulate you on a job well done." he clapped in his portrait, "Next I think we should have a feast. Then you can take the trash out."
"Where do I take it?" Harry asked, "Will the Ministry be in any shape to receive it?"
"It will be functioning enough to receive you well." he said, "Those who voluntarily served him, even if they weren't marked, also died. They just weren't able to be brought here because they didn't have the mark to drag them by."
"What are we to say when they asked how we did this?" Ron said, "Do we tell them the truth? Won't they think we're crazy?"
"Yes they probably will." Merlin agreed, "But you'll have the memories to show them."
"What if they try to follow the path we took?" Hermione asked.
"Each person must find their own path here." Merlin said, "I am not in danger of getting a lot of company any time soon."
"Can I just stay here?" Snape asked.
"No I'm sorry." Merlin said, "Magic gave you a second chance for life. Alone here on this island is not a life for you. You must face the consequences of your actions."
"I don't think I feel like eating." Draco glanced over his shoulder at the dead bodies covering the hall.
"Me either." Ron agreed eyeing the same mass of black.
"I just want to go home." Harry hadn't moved from the chair.
"Fine." Merlin agreed, "It will be easier on Toby that way. Everyone gather around Harry. Ron take that rope from Toby it has all the dead ones. You five hold out your hands." They complied and Toby snapped his fingers and a rope appeared that bound them all, "Hermione you get the live ones. Harry give the stone back to Toby and then grab the snake man."
"Thank you." Hermione grimaced at Ron's rope.
"Ready?" Toby asked as he took the One Stone from Harry. They all nodded and the elf snapped his fingers.