Here we are, the finale! This is the last chapter of the war, all we have left is an epilogue. Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you guys enjoy. Also, I added a FAQ at the end of the first chapter, since I got a two messages asking the same thing. And I hope no one minds, but I summed up the discussion between Harry and Voldemort in the final part of the battle into a paragraph; I didn't want two pages of straight dialogue between them, which makes this chapter shorter than the last. Uh, yeah, I'm done rambling. ENJOY!
The air is heavy; a small fog seems to lace the grounds in a thin haze. The two sides form in a standoff, when more shouts of terror from Harry Potter's friends break through the air like McGonagall's.
"SILENCE!" Voldemort bellows, a bang of white light coming from his wand spreads over the entire grounds. I feel my throat grow sore in a second, I try to make a noise, but no sound comes. I look to Courtney who has her hand wrapped around her neck, mouth open, but like me, no sound escapes no matter how hard she tries. Voldemort casted one large silencing charm on all of us. The Death Eaters on the other side all smile confidently. Hagrid lays Harry down at Voldemort's feet, his body loose and limp.
"You see? Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!" Voldemort says. Something in the air that kept us silent suddenly breaks when a voice cuts through the stillness. The warm feeling that had wrapped around me feels stronger than ever.
"He beat you!" yells the voice. In an instant we all break out in shouts of hate towards the Death Eaters. Another bang like the first came, but more powerful, and the silence returns.
"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," Voldemort mocks, "killed while trying to save himself-"
Voldemort is interrupted when a figure from our side breaks free and charges straight towards the Dark Lord. A boy with brown hair darts towards Voldemort with ferocity. With a flick of his wand the student is disarmed and thrown back. I crane my neck forward; from the side of his face I can easily tell the student is Neville Longbottom, the one who had been helping organize the secret D.A. meetings this year.
"And who is this?" Voldemort hisses softly, "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"
A high pitch fit of laughter comes from behind Voldemort. "It's Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?" the women says with every bit of delight in her tone. She is easily recognizable as Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus' wife. They were both sent to Azkaban for the same crime, and both were displayed on the front page of the Daily Prophet when the Azkaban prison breakout occurred.
"Ah, yes, I remember," Voldemort says. Neville wobbled back up to his feet, no wand, standing in between both sides of the battle. "But, you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?" Voldemort asks the fuming Neville.
"So what if I am?" Neville shouts.
"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind Neville Longbottom," Voldemort explains in a noble tone.
"I'll join you when hell freezes over, Dumbledore's Army!" Neville shouts bravely. Our side of the field erupts in a fit of cheer. The warm atmosphere breaks through the silencing charm once again. I look to Courtney, she has just as a confused look as mine. Why isn't The Dark Lord's charm holding?
"Very well. If that's your choice Neville Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head," Voldemort taunts calmly. There is a lacing of strength and calmness in the way he speaks, "be it."
Voldemort raises his wand high in the air, a crash from the castle window above breaks through the air. Something black and tattered lands in Voldemort's clutches. He shakes the bundled piece of cloth to reveal that it is, the one and only, Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," Voldemort says, "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone," Voldemort looks to Neville, a creeping grin spreading across his face. "Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"
Voldemort jabs his wand towards Neville. Neville goes stiff and rigid; a Full Body Bind Curse has him immobile. Voldemort forces the hat onto Neville's head, covering his eyes. Courtney and I both raise our wands with our allies, but the Death Eaters, outnumbering us, have theirs pointed back, keeping us at bay.
"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," Voldemort says, and with a flick of his wand, the Sorting Hat was set aflame. Courtney lets out a small shriek; multiple allies in our line began to unsettle, unsure of what to do. We couldn't just watch someone so brave be torched on the spot. Before any sort of that could even process, many things happened at once, my eyes not knowing where to follow.
An uproar of battle cries booms from the far end of the forest, the giant seen earlier in the battle barrels from behind the castle and Voldemort's giants. The battle cries grow near fast; a fleet of over fifty centaurs charged the Death Eaters, their flying arrows scattering them. The Death Eaters were forced to evade and head past Voldemort, straight towards us. I tighten my grip on Courtney's hand and begin to double back towards the Hall, but not before the head of Voldemort's snake is spotted spiraling in the air. The battling giants were getting close to our side, one of them being clawed by winged creatures I have never seen before from all sides, the rest of our ranks started to scatter along with the Death Eaters; it was utter chaos.
Now was the time to act against the frantic enemy. I instantly send jinxes and hexes at two Death Eaters making a bee line for the Hall. Courtney notices, sees the small advantage we've gained over the enemy, and fires stunning spells among another group of Death Eaters. Our side became crowded, my hand not letting go of Courtney's, we were pushed into the Great Hall by the stampede of panicking warriors. When things couldn't get any more chaotic, through the front steps enter reinforcements of every resident of Hogsmeade. Another bang and out from the nearby kitchen door, armed with kitchen knives, house elves charged at the knees of unsuspecting Death Eaters. It was easy to see how much the Death Eaters' numbers were quickly diminishing.
Courtney and I were pushed into the center of the Hall; a mad Death Eater begins to fire curses our way. I volley them with ease, when another Death Eater tries to come from behind. Courtney gets back-to-back with me and begins to duel with the enemy at my rear.
"Avada Kedavra!" my opponent shouts. I hastily grab Courtney's hand and bring her down in a duck with me. The Killing Curse goes soaring far above our heads and strikes the castle wall. Courtney rotates me around in one, fluid spinning motion so that I am facing her opponent, and she mine. Her Conjunctivitis Curse lands a direct mark on the Killing Curse throwing enemy; his eyes swell shut as he grunts in pain. From the ground I launch a Leg Locker Curse at Courtney's old enemy. His legs bind together quickly, causing him to wiggle in an unbalanced fashion. Before either Death Eater can counter, Courtney and I rotate back-to-back again.
"Pertrificus Totalus!" we both shout in unison. Both Death Eaters go rigid, and fall to the ground, stiff as a plank. Another Death Eater sprints away from the battles firing curses all around him desperately. Courtney takes a firm step forward and with a grunt, jabs her wand in his direction. A deafening eruption of red lightning surges from her wand, the force sends her recoiling backward into me. The running Death Eater tries to block it, but the bolt of lightning cuts through his Shield Charm, hits him square in the chest, and sends his flying and convulsing through the air.
"Brilliant," I breathe with laughter into Courtney's ear. We take a second to breathe, but that is literally all we have. Battles are chaotic, and happening all around us. We have to make a split second decision; we don't have time like before to choose who we want to help. As if the decision presents itself, a panicking enemy charges through the crowd, unsure of what to do or where to go. Antonin Dolohov. Instinctively I fire multiple stunning spells at him; I don't want him to get away. He spots me too soon and blocks my threat at the last possible second.
" Impedimentia!" Courtney chants repetitively towards Dolohov. He continues to barely shield himself from our rapid fire of curses and jinxes. Quickly he's able to throw his own back and soon we're on even footing. The duel is fiercer than last time, the warm atmosphere that's been with us since Voldemort's arrival outside guides me in the fight. Because of it I feel I'm able to dodge Dolohov's attacks easier than our first encounter with him. Before Dolohov was superior to us in skill, but now I feel as though we're fighting as equals.
In between our exchanging spells erupts a large shield that ceases are fighting. I feel a nudge in my right leg; I look down and see Professor Flitwick waddle his way between me and Courtney, his wand in one hand, his other held in front of us, telling us to stand back. We lower our wands as Flitwick begins to swish his wand in fast, fluid motions. Dolohov commences the duel with Professor Flitwick, but is quickly outmatched by Flitwick's amazing spell work. Flitwick moves with maneuvers I have never seen in a duel, it looks odd with his small stature. Dolohov tries to fling spells down at him but Professor Flitwick's twirling wand extinguishes all threats made. In the blink of an eye, a thin white light hits Dolohov in the center of his abdomen. The look on his face twists in pain, he grunts and collapses to the floor uncomfortably.
Courtney and I have huge grins of relief on our faces at the sight of the crumpling Dolohov. The battle is favoring our side, live and well Death Eaters are barely seen among the flock of our allies. Two large crowds form close to one another.
"Come on, we aren't done yet," Courtney reminds me. She takes my hand and pulls me to one of the crowds. We weave our way between people standing by observing and we eventually push ourselves to the front. The weeping woman I saw after the retreat of the enemy battles with malice against Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix cackles and mocks the mother as she backs us away when we raise our wands, refusing any sort of assistance.
"She's mine!" she repeats herself. The feeling the duel gives off is hot as the ground beneath us begins to crack with every swipe and swish the woman take at each other, both with the clear intent to kill.
"This has to be too good to be true," Courtney whispers to me. I'm confused; does she have no faith in the battle we are clearly winning?
"What do you mean?" I ask. She turns and looks up at me.
"The Death Eaters haven't touched us since the centaurs arrived, and their charms haven't been holding," she speaks softly. She has a point. Curses seemed to barely miss me, and the force of my spells seemed stronger. I thought it was just because of the rush the battle is giving us. That, like Isaac said we had hope. I twist my view to the second crowd a feet away from us and see The Dark Lord himself dueling Kingsley Shackelbolt, Professor Slughorn, and Professor McGonagall all at once. Like our duels, they battle with heart and no fatal blow can be made to one another; they duck and dodge them all. Before I can formulate a response, a flash of orange light catches my attention in the corner of my peripheral. I snap my head forward just in time to catch Bellatrix Lestrange, who seems to be momentarily frozen, collapse lifelessly to the ground, her eyes wide and cackling grin present upon her face.
We roar in applause, but it was short lived as a scream overtakes us. I spin on my heels to see McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley hit the floor with a thud, and an enraged Voldemort moving to attack the red headed woman.
"Protego!" a voice shouts as a shield expands in between the woman and Voldemort. Materializing out of nowhere, Harry Potter stands between Voldemort and his would-be-victim. Everyone gasps, Courtney even clasping her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream of joy. Everyone began calling his name and crying "HE'S ALIVE!" Harry and Voldemort directed their wands at each other, but instead of an epic duel ensuing, they began to circle each other.
"I don't want anyone else to try to help," Harry announces throughout the Hall, "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."
"Potter doesn't mean that," Voldemort says, "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"
From there, no dueling occurs, they talk. Harry explains how Dumbledore was in on his own death, he had it planned. Then he explains what Courtney has been wondering, why we've easily won against the Death Eaters. Through dying for love, whatever that means, a charm was cast over us. We were able to remarkably avoid fatal curses and stand up to higher caliber Death Eaters. From there, the conversation became hard to follow, they talked of love, and things called Horcruxes. Harry lectures on how much better Dumbledore was than Voldemort, how he knew more than he could have possibly fathomed. Then Snape is mentioned, the things I have caught on in this lecture, I understood that Snape betrayed Voldemort from the very beginning. Finally, Harry claims the legendary Elder Wand, that Voldemort claims to possess, is not in allegiance to him, but to the former Slytherin, Draco Malfoy and now to Harry himself. I don't understand how, but Voldemort seems to cringe and lose hope in his once sure victory. I look around the formed crowd, everyone but a select few seem to be following along as well as me. We have also made a perfect circle around, probably, the two most important people in the world right now. Their next moves decide the fate of the wizarding world.
"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispers Harry, "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does…I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
Like the sun knew this was the moment of truth, it broke from the horizon, the golden rays illuminating over the representatives of good and evil. The instant the light gleams upon them they make their moves.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
The sound of a cannon broke through the hall, and then two lights erupted from both wands, blinding the entire crowd. I shield my eyes from the glow, until finally after a few seconds, it ceases. I open my eyes and through the spots of blurring vision, I see Harry Potter catch a second wand in his free hand. You can almost hear all of the eyes of the Great Hall shift at once from Harry to Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord's eyes roll to the back of his head and he collapses to the floor just like his right-hand woman before him.
I held my breath; I know I wasn't the only one. In one second it seemed like the world was frozen, I could practically hear Courtney's heartbeat next to me. Then we scream. The entire Hall is shaking in the applause and jeers coming from every student, teacher and every other ally, creature and wizard alike. Tears welled in my eyes, it was all over. All I could think of was Isaac and how I wish he could have seen this very moment: everyone swarming the boy-who-lived, magical creatures fighting side by side with wizards and witches. This is what he had hoped for and it pains me to know he'll never be able to charish this moment. Soon the numbness begins to flood back despite the amazing mood ensuing around me, but then I spot her. I hadn't even noticed she moved from my side.
Courtney stands just a few feet in front of me, tears stream down her now rosy cheeks. She holds the hands of another Ravenclaw girl who is bruised from battle. They jump up and down in excitement and embrace. I can't help but stand in awe. Even going through hell and back, losing a friend and crying tears of joy, the way the sun lights her worn face she still stands just as beautiful as the day I fell in love with her. The Ravenclaw student leaves her for another friend; Courtney stands still and turns to me. Her face continues to display falling tears and soon I can feel the small drops that filled my eyes topple over my eyelids and run down my cheeks, but I smile wide. Courtney gives the biggest, illuminating grin I have ever seen on her face, the sunlight shimmers the stains of streaking tears as she charges me in a full sprint.
I take a firm step forward as she makes one big jump into my arms. Her arms wrap around my neck and her legs coil around my waist as I lift her from under her thighs, and then, she crashes her lips down onto mine. I kiss back fully and feverishly while maintaining a tight grip on her legs as I carry her during the entire kiss. Our lips pull on each other in need before we break apart, our foreheads leaning on one another. There is an entire victory celebration going on around us, but it feels as though it's only us in the Great Hall. We're both panting, but smiling bigger than before. I don't let her go, I don't set her down.
The repairs and cleanup of the school are already being made an hour later. People roam around the Hall in celebration and remorse for the fallen. Courtney and I walk out to the front lawn again, hand in hand as we watch the sun continue to rise. I hold both mine and Isaac's wand in my hand, deciding what to do with them. Courtney looks down at them and then back up at me.
"You should keep it," she says, her voice tired and weak.
"His family will want it," I reply, still looking onto the forest. She leans up and kisses me on the cheek.
"You heard what Harry said, 'the wand chooses the wizard'. Maybe it's now chosen you," she says sweetly with a smile. I can't help but blush and smirk.
"I'll decide later," I say, wanting to push anymore sadness from my mind. I turn to Courtney, snaking my arm around her waist, "For now, let's think about the future." Courtney smiles sweetly and bites her bottom lip.
"I would rather enjoy that," she breathes out. Courtney leans closer and raises herself on the tip of her toes, "to a new life in peace," she toasts.
"To a new life in peace," I state through a grin and press my lips lightly to hers.
There we have it :) I hope those that read liked this story as much as I did writing it. We have an epilogue coming in a week or so, so watch out for it. PLEASE review! Anonymous is enabled for the shy and account-less. Thank you SO much everyone. Means a lot! Go check out that FAQ at the end of chapter one.
_=Left4Hunger=_