A/N This chapter is about as long as the rest put together, but it does form one continuous scene. (There was one plot point which held me up for weeks, trying to solve how to get certain characters in place to do certain things, and I'm still not satisfied with how I contrived it. See if you can guess what it was.)
SCENE: Hogsmeade. (This scene begins during the time covered by Chapters 29 and following). As in the movie version it is a vision which reveals to Harry that Nagini is a horcrux, but here he also sees clearly that it's Ravenclaw's diadem in the room of hidden things at Hogwarts. The trio have made their way to Hogsmeade – Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak and Hermione having disillusioned herself – thinking to get into Hogwarts through the passageway under the Shrieking Shack. But when they arrive at the spot, it isn't there.)
HARRY: What happened – where – did they tear it down?
RON: If they did, they would have found the passage. We've got to find another way into Hogwarts.
HERMIONE: No, wait – look, those two buildings (pointing): there, and there; why would they move the buildings together? It's here, the Shack is here, but -
HARRY: Under Fidelius, right. Got to be.
RON: Alright, but – ours or theirs?
The three pause.
HARRY: Hermione, can you send a patronus message?
She nods.
HARRY: So – we stay under until we see who comes out. And the message should be...
The trio look at one another for ideas.
RON: Doesn't much matter, does it? Anything that would make our side come take a look would make their side come out too.
The trio try to think of a way around this, but can't.
HERMIONE: Right. Expecto Patronum!
The otter appears and waits in the air.
HERMIONE: Go inside, and tell them... "We hope there are some friends of Harry Potter in there, because we're out here and we could really use some help."
The otter flies obediently towards the invisible house, and disappears. The trio wait for a response.
Ten seconds or so pass.
At last a wolf flies towards them, hovers near Harry and speaks:
REMUS/THE WOLF: What was the last thing Harry said to me when we last met?
Harry pauses and gathers himself.
HARRY: I called you a coward for not wanting to be with your son.
The wolf vanishes and the Shrieking Shack begins to spread out from its hiding place. Remus is at the door, beckoning them.
REMUS: Come on, quickly now.
The trio rush in. As the door closes behind them, the shack shrinks to nothing. The scene now shifts to the interior. Quick hugs are exchanged, including one between Harry and Remus. Harry begins to say something, presumably an apology, but Remus cuts him off.
REMUS: Well. We do have some friends of Harry Potter here. (Calling to somebody offscreen:) It's really them, you can come out.
Ginny and Neville come rushing towards the group. Harry meets Ginny half way and they share a passionate embrace.
REMUS: Better friends than I knew, obviously.
HARRY (after disentangling): Listen, we've got to make this fast. You-Know-Who is coming. We might have a half-hour, tops. We've got to get something from Hogwarts, from the Room of Requirement. I can explain more on the way, but we have to get going.
REMUS: Harry, wait, one question, just one: is this absolutely necessary? Because what we're here for -
HERMIONE: Indispensable, professor.
RON: We can't beat You-Know-Who without it.
REMUS: Alright.
They open the trapdoor and proceed through the tunnel to Hogwarts. The following dialogue takes place as all six are walking briskly through it towards Hogwarts.
HERMIONE: Harry, I think we need to give them the whole story. There's not much point in holding back on it now.
HARRY: Right. We found that You-Know-Who had made these things, called horcruxes...
The scene fades out slowly and picks up again at another place further down the tunnel; implicitly, Harry has finished the story which we don't need to hear again.
HARRY: ...so you see why, if this – well, no matter what, somebody's got to kill the snake. And maybe we'll have time for me to get down to the Chamber, to get some basilisk fangs. Ron figures that if one of them destroyed the diary, it should be able to do in the others we're carrying too.
GINNY: I'll go there while you're getting the diadem.
HARRY: It has to be me, Ginny, it can only be opened by a parselmouth and there are only two of us.
GINNY: (Hisses in parseltongue) No, there are three of us. One by birth, and two by contagion.
They all stop still for a moment, and Hermione, Neville and Remus stare at her in shock; Ron seems torn between tears and rage. Harry and Ginny both glare back at the starers.
HARRY: (Hisses to Ginny in parseltongue) Then that's just one more place where he'll bite himself to death.
They nod decisively to one another.
The scene shifts to further down the passageway. The group keeps walking briskly as they converse.
HERMIONE: Professor, what have you been doing here?
REMUS: We're helping people escape, Hermione. Think of it as the first stop on the underground railroad. For Muggleborns, opponents of the regime in general. More and more students now who couldn't take it anymore.
RON: (Looking at Ginny) Couldn't take what, exactly? What are they doing?
NEVILLE: You know the Carrows? Two Death-Eaters who teach here. Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions.*
THE TRIO: What?*
NEVILLE: Yeah. Crabbe and Goyle love it. Get 'Outstanding' regularly now. First time ever for them, I expect.*
The trio stare at Ginny and Neville, who try to shrug.
HARRY: Ginny, Neville, can you contact the rest of the D.A.? And Remus, can you contact the rest of the order?
Nods and affirmations from the three.
HARRY: Because he's coming – and if this works, what we're doing with the horcruxes... we might not get a better chance to take him down. I think – I think it's going to end today. One way or the other.
Pause, as everybody tries to digest this.
REMUS: Alright. Here's -
HERMIONE: Wait, wait just one moment. Harry, we're in the castle, couldn't Dumbledore be able to do something to help us?
NEVILLE: Dumbledore?
Hermione waves him silent. Harry remains stubbornly silent himself for a moment.
HERMIONE: Harry!
HARRY: Yeah.
Harry takes out the card. The camera pulls in on it, and we continue looking at it as Harry speaks offscreen.
HARRY: Professor! Professor? Can you help us?
Dumbledore remains asleep.
HARRY (almost shouting): Why? Why can't you help us? What are you hiding now? (After a deep breath) It's no use. Come on.
REMUS: Well. Here's where we split up. Harry, I'll take the map; you go under the cloak. (He cuts off Harry's protest.) You say this is the most important task, and you have to do the most important part of it, that makes you the one who gets the strongest protection. Neville and I will watch your back. Ginny, Ron, Hermione: you know the way to the Chamber. We meet back here when we're finished, or at the Chamber entrance if this is closed or guarded.
They move in their separate directions, hesitantly at first and with many glances backward, then faster and straight ahead. Consulting the Marauders' Map as they go, Remus leads Neville and Harry quickly and silently through the halls until they reach the Room of Requirement. Remus gestures Harry in, while he and Neville take up guard positions outside.
Inside, Harry takes off the cloak and scrambles and turns through the mess, trying to orient himself in a way which will match up with the memory of the vision he received from Voldemort revealing the diadem's place. Items clatter down around him as his haste and frustration causes him to disturb their delicate balance.
At one point he stops suddenly short. There before him is the Mirror of Erised, and an image quickly forms on it: Harry standing over a kneeling, wandless Voldemort who is obviously pleading for his life. With a gesture of infinite scorn, Harry flicks his wand at the Dark Lord and silences him forever. Ginny dances up to him and gives him his hero's reward...
Harry closes his eyes, shakes his head, and turns his back on the scene. After some further running and turning, the scene before his eyes finally matches the one in his head. He finds and snatches the diadem, then races back towards the entrance.
Harry goes through the door and almost steps directly into a crossfire of spells. There are four opponents barely being held off by Remus and Neville, and Harry can see more running down the hall towards them. Harry enters the fray with more enthusiasm than success. Remus pivots towards Harry.
REMUS: Ave atque vale!
Everything and everybody freezes.
HARRY: NO! Take it back!
Harry seizes Remus by the collar and starts shaking him. Remus gently wards him off and awkwardly tries to pat Harry's shoulder reassuringly.
HARRY: Take it back, take it back! Take it back... (The chant loses energy towards the end, Harry realizing there is no way to take it back.)
REMUS: Ah. Well, I see I don't have to explain the spell, do I. Harry, there was no other way. Either this, or we all are killed or captured. You must see that.
Harry has slumped to the floor and is shaking his downturned head.
HARRY: What am I going to say to her?
REMUS: Just tell her what happened, how it happened. We both knew this was the – well, the most likely result. I don't think the words will matter that much in any case.
Harry looks around and sees that Neville is still frozen too.
REMUS: You'll have to carry him back when we're finished here. Look at me, Harry.
Harry nods and looks at Remus. The memories burst upon him (and us):
The child Remus playing with toys his parents levitate around him;
The child Remus running in terror from a wolf and being pounced upon;
The pain and horror of the first transformation;
Pre-teen Remus introduced to James and Sirius; their animagus transformations, and a romp in the forest;
Remus and Sirius with James, Lily singing to the infant Harry in his crib,
"Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night"
... and Remus looks on mother and child with a smile that is tinged with melancholy;
Remus kneeling at the graves of James and Lily;
Remus and Tonks with Teddy, Tonks singing to the infant child,
"Love to thee my thoughts are turning
All through the night
And for thee my heart is yearning
All through the night"
and looking up at Remus as she continues
"Though sad fate our lives may sever
Parting will not last forever
There's a hope that leaves me never
All through the night"
...and Remus looks on mother and child with joy and astonishment.
Another scene; a wolf snarls from behind bars. Tonks cautiously walks towards the cage, Teddy in her arms, still keeping a respectful distance. She is cooing and muttering to her child – we can hear "your daddy, don't be afraid" – and looking up from time to time to see if the soft words are having any effect on the wolf. It seems they are, as the growls become briefer and more subdued. Tonks comes just a little closer.
The wolf lets out a fierce snarl and tries to snatch the baby.
The infant Teddy screams, and Tonks quickly retreats, her back to Remus as she shields the child. She looks back over her shoulder at the wolf, with fear and reproach on her face.
We return to the present scene.
REMUS: I think you might understand my actions a little better now?
Harry nods.
REMUS: Goodbye, Harry.
HARRY: Goodbye, Moony. I'll think of you every time I see Dora and Teddy.
Remus offers an awkward smile and a pat on the shoulder. Harry turns to the frozen Neville, and after some false starts, finds a way to do a makeshift fireman's carry. He walks down the hall, still unable to resist turning back to Remus from time to time. Each time, Remus nods and raises his hand in a motion which could be a wave, could be a blessing.
FADE OUT
THEN FADE IN TO:
SCENE: The Chamber of Secrets. Ginny, Ron and Hermione each carry a sack of fangs. They pace nervously. A sound makes them look up towards the tunnel leading up.
HARRY (off-screen): Hehsssshahssaah!
NEVILLE (off-screen): Harry – what – Remus?
HARRY: He's gone, Neville.
The faces of Hermione, Ron and Ginny express their shock and grief.
HARRY (off-screen): We have to go down now.
After a few seconds of skidding sounds, Harry and Neville arrive at the bottom. The three others offer them hugs, Ginny's for Harry naturally lasting a little longer.
HARRY: Remus sacrificed himself for us. (He looks at the fangs.) You got them! Great work. Hermione?
Hermione sets the cup down on the ground, and Harry puts the diadem beside it. Without hesitation, and without looking at the others for consent or comment, Ginny hands a fang to Harry, who sits on the ground next to the diadem, and pulls out another for herself, sitting by the cup and facing Harry.
HARRY: On three.
They pull back the fangs to strike, and two apparitions instantly appear back to back: Lily, facing Harry; and Molly, facing Ginny. Each throws out her arms, and calls out to her mark.
HORCRUX MOLLY: Ginny, darling, you...
HORCRUX LILY: Harry, no, you can't...
Each is plainly intent on a long and passionate oration, but they never get the chance; neither Harry nor Ginny pause for a moment, or even glance away from the horcruxes at their "mothers", instead plunging the basilisk fangs unerringly at the cup and diadem. The "mothers" disappear in puffs of black smoke, and we see the ruins of the horcruxes lying on the floor of the Chamber, the fangs beside them.
Harry and Ginny wordlessly help one another up. Nobody looking at their faces now would be particularly eager to challenge either of them.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD (offscreen): Well done, all of you.
The quintet, especially Neville and Ginny, startle at the voice. Harry pulls the card out of his robe pocket. Close-up on the card.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: Harry, you are close enough now that I think it's time for me to share something with you.
HARRY: Now? You've decided it's time? Well, go ahead. I'mnot going to keep anything from my friends.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: No, it must be private, Harry. You will understand -
HARRY: Forget it. (He stuffs the card back in his pocket and turns to the others.)They're still blocking the passageway to the Shrieking Shack. We -
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD (offscreen): Harry, this is immensely important -
HARRY: Shut up! I don't have time for this!
Harry pulls out the card and flings it out into the darkness. But after a decent interval, when Harry's back is turned – and while the following dialogue is taking place – Hermione does a silent summoning spell to retrieve the card, then levitates it into one of Harry's side pockets.
HARRY(to the others, continuing the previous thought): We can try to go back and fight our way past them.
GINNY: We can get out of Hogwarts through here.
HARRY: How can...? Oh.
GINNY (parseltongue): Yes, another legacy from Tom. And then we meet up with the Order and DA in Hogsmeade. We should get moving.
They follow Ginny's brisk pace, talking as they go.
NEVILLE: And what are we aiming to do when we get there? Do we wait for Voldemort, to finish him?
HARRY: I think – yes, he – no, maybe we won't have to -
HERMIONE: Harry, let's try to make it to the Shack.
RON: And we'll all be under Fidelius then, so we can see what it looks like from there.
HARRY: OK. OK.
Cut. We pick up again with the five passing through an apparently solid rocky wall, one quickly after the other.
GINNY: The Shrieking Shack is about half a mile that way. It's – look!
We follow her gesture, and see a spell battle going on in the distance. Zooming in reveals Death Eaters vs. DA. The two sides are pretty evenly matched in numbers – the students perhaps having the advantage there – but the Death Eaters are beating back the DA. We zoom back to the quintet.
HARRY: Let's go!
RON: Wait, just a second – each of us, pick out a target to apparate behind, then stun them. Everybody got one?
GINNY: I can't apparate.
HARRY: I'll side-along you.
HERMIONE: No, Harry, you'd both need a few seconds to recover and you'd be sitting ducks.
A moment of hair-tearing frustration for everybody.
HARRY: Here! (He digs out his Invisibility Cloak and tosses it to her.) Follow us on foot.
A deep breath later, there are four disappearances. The scene shifts immediately to the spell battle, and the quartet appear again, wands out and "STUPEFY!" on their tongue. Hermione and Ron hit their targets, who go down. But Harry and Neville have both chosen the same target, have appeared almost on top of one another, and their arms collide, sending the spells astray. The target they have both chosen turns and speaks.
BELLATRIX: Potter!
The battle pauses for a split second as everyone turns to Harry. It resumes immediately, with spells flying furiously. The DA seems to take the upper hand for a moment, but the deadlier spells and deadlier skills of the older wizards – especially Bellatrix – takes its toll.
Colin Creevey is cut down by a killing curse from Bellatrix. Cries of rage and grief from the DA, chortling from Bellatrix.
Harry is pinned down by two Death Eaters and is apparently about to be defeated when he suddenly vanishes. The Death Eaters halt in confusion.
The camera reveals that Harry and Ginny are both wearing the invisibility cloak and they are serpentining away, trying to catch an unwary foe or two without giving away their location.
Fred tosses out a huge cloud of glop to distract the enemy, while George desperately conjures barriers for the rest. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Ron and Hermione are united again.
BELLATRIX: Better save your friends, Potter, you're running out of them! Come out and give yourself up. Or... maybe you think you can beat me!
Harry is beginning to get up and go over the barrier to challenge Bellatrix.
NEVILLE (pointing his wand at Harry): Petrificus Totalis!
Neville now steps over the barrier and begins walking towards Bellatrix.
BELLATRIX (laughing): Longbottom, I'd forgotten you were here! I'll get to have another kill, then.
NEVILLE (still advancing): You're not killing anybody ever again, you sick -
BELLATRIX: And how do you think -
She never gets a chance to finish; Neville disappears and then, near instantaneously, where Bellatrix was standing there is now a chaos of smoky tendrils; for a fraction of a second it seems there are limbs, torsos and heads swirling about the space.
Then there is a terrific explosion.
The sound of the explosion dies down, and we see its aftermath: the Death Eaters have borne the worst of the shock (since the epicenter was in Death Eater territory), and some are on the ground and not moving; the DA members are not quite so badly off, but still shaken and struggling to get up. The magical barrier has been destroyed, and Harry is doing a drunkard's walk, with the others (not too much steadier) trying to hold and support him.
AMYCUS CARROW (to his fellow Death Eaters): They're crazy... They're crazy! Fall back to the forest; the Dark Lord will settle them!
There is a mass disapparation, and the DA is left in possession of the field.
HARRY: What happened?
HERMIONE (her voice shaking): Neville apparated directly into Lestrange. They couldn't – you can't have two bodies in the same place. That's what caused the, the -
HARRY: So... he's splinched? Let's put him -
HERMIONE: No, Harry, no. You can't – nobody can survive that. They were both – it was like a small nuclear explosion.
HARRY: But... then how are we going to bury Neville?
Ron, Ginny and Hermione look at Harry, then at one another. Around them, the other DA members are gathering themselves, and they seem to be looking to this group for further instructions.
HARRY: I mean... like Dobby, if I can't save him, at least I can bury him. We have to bury Neville, and Colin too of course.
GINNY: Harry, I think you're in shock.
HERMIONE (after waving her wand over Harry's head): And concussed. We have to -
GEORGE: Look, I think we ought to head to the Shack, and treat him there. The Order is probably still clearing Hogwarts of Death Eaters.
FRED: In fact, in one of those marvelous ironies of war, we have them to thank for sending that lovely bunch in our direction.
RON: They're right, we should get going towards the Shack.
FRED AND GEORGE: Oh, well if General Ron confirms the order...
RON: Yeah, get stuffed. It's good to see you, by the way.
There is some awkward hugging and other greetings, and the group begins marching to the Shrieking Shack.
After a few moments, Harry grips his scar. We see Voldemort's face in Harry's vision, and hear:
VOLDEMORT (offscreen): Harry Potter. Harry Potter, I speak directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest, If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour. *
The DA surround Harry with questions and concern, but show no sign of having heard Voldemort's message. Harry has no opportunity to explain, for now SNAPE apparates within yards of Harry.
SNAPE: Expelliarmus!
Harry's wand flies out of his hand, and Harry is thrown back.
Snape pursues the fallen Harry, but simultaneously Ron, Hermione and Ginny are covering Harry and dragging him further away, and the rest of the D.A. recover themselves and start attacking Snape.
Snape is shielding and deflecting most of the spells, and trying to get closer to Harry, but with the element of surprise gone, and with so many opponents to fight off, his progress gets slower.
Inevitably a spell gets through, it's not clear from whom: a cutting curse which leaves a trail of blood on his left arm. Snape gives a wince and a quick glance, but tries to continue.
Another curse opens up his left side.
PADMA: Outstanding!
Some laughter and cheers greet this sarcastic allusion to the disciplinary measures under Headmaster Snape. Snape only gets a step further before another cut slices a deep scar across his forehead, and blood starts to pour into Snape's eyes.
ERNIE, SEAMUS, OTHERS: Outstanding!
More cheers. Snape tries to heal his cuts, and a barrage of spells hit his legs, leaving them shredded. Snape falls to the ground.
THE DA, IN CHORUS: OOOUUUT-STANDING!
Now it's open season. DA members are coming up on Snape and hitting him at point-blank range, as the cheers continue: OUTSTANDING, OUTSTANDING! Harry, Ginny and Ron are joining in too, though Hermione looks sick.
The DA finally cease fire and stand back. Snape is riddled with long, bleeding cuts and scarcely moving or breathing. He clearly does not have long to live unless treated immediately, and nobody is volunteering.
Harry now tears himself out of the grasp of his 'guardians' and gets in Snape's face.
HARRY: Are you happy now? You're going to die a murderer and a slave, and -
SNAPE (barely able to raise his wand and speak): Ave atque vale!
The DA members freeze, many still in postures of celebration.
Harry quickly snatches Snape's wand out of his hand and stuffs it in his pocket. He then turns his back on Snape, who is quivering and gasping on the ground.
HARRY: You can't be serious. You think I'm going to be your, soul-guardian?
SNAPE: Potter!
HARRY: Or is this – you're going to show me all the people you've killed and tortured...
SNAPE: Potter! Look at me!
HARRY: ...as a going-away present? Forget it.
SNAPE: Potter, in the name of your blessed mother, look at me!
HARRY (turning to Snape in shock and outrage): WHAT did you -
And as he turns to look Snape in the eye, the memories come, as in "The Prince's Tale":
Snape and Lily as children.
Snape and Lily at Hogwarts.
Snape begging Dumbledore to protect her and her family.
Snape sobbing in grief.
Dumbledore plotting his own death with Snape the executioner. And...
MEMORY DUMBLEDORE: Now listen closely, Severus. There will come a time after my death when Lord Voldemort will come seeking for Harry, with mad desperation even greater than his usual hatred. When that time comes, you must tell Harry.
MEMORY SNAPE: Tell him what?*
MEMORY DUMBLEDORE: Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul latched itself on to Harry. And while that fragment remains, Lord Voldemort cannot die.*
MEMORY SNAPE: So the boy... the boy must die?*
MEMORY DUMBLEDORE: And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.*
MEMORY SNAPE: I thought... all these years... that we were protecting him for her. For Lily. I have spied for you, and lied for you, everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter?*
MEMORY DUMBLEDORE: But this is touching, Severus. Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?*
MEMORY SNAPE: For him? Expecto patronum!*
The silver doe bursts from his wand; she lands on the office floor, bounds once across the office and soars out of sight.*
MEMORY DUMBLEDORE: After all this time?*
MEMORY SNAPE: Always!*
The memory fades, and we return to the present. Harry at Snape, then kneels on the ground beside him. Snape is motionless, and his eyes are closed; he does not quite seem at peace, though.
HARRY (voice shaking): I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Professor. You miserable bastard, I'm sorry!
Harry gets up and looks around. All his friends are still frozen.
Ron. Hermione. Ginny.
Harry looks at them all, for a long while, and turns at last to Ginny. Her expression is caught between fear for Harry and blazing anger at his stupidity in going up to Snape like that. Her arms are out, as she was trying to pull him back, and they look like they're still trying to pull him back from where he knows he needs to go.
Harry shakes his head. He turns and begins walking away, towards the Forbidden Forest.
FADE OUT
THEN FADE IN TO:
SCENE: The Forbidden Forest.
Harry continues walking.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD (offscreen): So you have discovered the truth.
Harry is startled for a moment, then takes out the card and addresses it. walking.
HARRY: Yeah. You did a good job of hiding it. Secrets and lies, like your brother said.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: I am sorry, Harry. If I could have thought of any other way, for you or for poor Severus, I would have seized on it.
Harry stops walking, and sighs.
HARRY: Yeah. I actually do believe you about that.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: As little as I deserve that trust, I am grateful for it.
The two remain silent for a while. Harry manages a half-smile to Dumbledore, and seems about to put the card away.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: Harry, I was made with a purpose, in addition to that of finally revealing the need for your death. I can help you find some measure of comfort in facing it. It should be in sight momentarily.
In the distance a tiny fluttering object appears in the sky near Hogwarts. It flies closer and reveals itself as a Golden Snitch.
Harry snatches it and smiles bemusedly.
HARRY (softly): 'Potter's got it, the match is over. Gryffindor wins.'
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: What you have, Harry, is not just the snitch – which you caught with your accustomed skill – but something much rarer within.
The snitch opens, revealing a smaller object inside. Harry looks at it.
HARRY: This is the stone in the ring you were wearing last year. And – (he looks now at the Dumbledore Card) – this is the Resurrection Stone, isn't it?
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: It is, Harry. And it was my mad fury to possess it which - well, nothing is more tedious than a twice-told tale.
Harry marvels at the stone for a little while.
HARRY: Thank you, professor. You know, a thought occurred to me; what would happen if I used the Ave atque vale charm on Voldemort?
'Dumbledore's' eyes open in surprise.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: Do you know, Harry, that is a thought which simply never occurred to me. Since we have already seen how excruciating Tom finds any contact with your mind, to place your memories there permanently... But I have to advise against it. The consequences would just be too unpredictable.
HARRY: I suppose so. (After a slight pause.) Goodbye, professor.
THE DUMBLEDORE CARD: Au revoir, Harry.
Dumbledore closes his eyes, and becomes a still-life.
Harry closes his eyes and turns the stone three times. There is a sound of rustling leaves and light footsteps. Four figures step into the light. Harry stares at them greedily.
LILY: You've been so brave.*
JAMES: You are nearly there. Very close. We are... so proud of you.*
HARRY: Does it hurt?*
SIRIUS: Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep.*
REMUS: And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over.*
HARRY: I didn't want you to die. Any of you. I'm sorry. You'll stay with me?*
JAMES: Until the very end.*
HARRY: They won't be able to see you?*
SIRIUS: We are part of you. Invisible to anyone else.*
HARRY (to Lily): Stay close to me.*
They walk on. The sounds of voices become louder. The camera shifts to the source of those voices, Voldemort and his servants.
DOLOHOV: No sign of him, my Lord.*
VOLDEMORT: I thought he would come. I expected him to come. I was, it seems... mistaken.*
HARRY (loudly, offscreen): You weren't.*
The camera turns to Harry, who is still accompanied by the four revenants.
Death Eaters rise, cry out, some laugh. Voldemort stands, frozen, staring as Harry moves towards him.*
LILY (singing): Slumber my darling, thy mother is near.
Guarding thy dreams from all terror and fear.
VOLDEMORT (raising his wand): Harry Potter.
LILY (singing): Daylight has passed, and the twilight is gone.
VOLDEMORT: The boy who lived.
LILY (singing): Slumber my darling, the night's coming on.
VOLDEMORT: Avada Kedavra!
The green light swallows Harry, and he falls. Close-up of his face on the ground, eyes closed.
We CUT instantly to a well-lit scene, Harry's face in exactly the same position.
Harry's eyes open.
He lets out a cry of shock and reaches up to his scar, to swat at a horrible-looking, baby-sized homunculus frantically clawing and biting there and making inhuman noises.
The homunculus, looking much like the baby-thing Pettigrew carried in Goblet of Fire, is flung away, but rapid-crawls back to try to get at Harry, who has now scrambled to his feet.
The homunculus is halted by someone else's hand, and lifted away. We follow the arm and find that it belongs, of course, to Professor Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE (smiling broadly): Harry. We meet again.
HARRY (first puzzled, then with growing heat):Professor? What are you doing here?
DUMBLEDORE: I am here to explain, Harry, so please -
HARRY: Where are my parents?
DUMBLEDORE: Please listen, Harry, time is -
HARRY: I WANT MY MOTHER -
DUMBLEDORE: Harry!
HARRY: AND MY FATHER! What have you done to them?
DUMBLEDORE: HARRY! Surely you can't imagine that my influence extends this far?
Harry considers this, finally shakes his head.
DUMBLEDORE: The first thing that needs to be established is, that you aren't dead.
HARRY: What?
DUMBLEDORE: The second is that you may entirely trust what I tell you, because it is impossible to lie here. Test it if you must. Try to say, oh, that you have no reason to feel I have used and manipulated you grievously.
HARRY: I have no reason to... no reason... no...
DUMBLEDORE (smiling in vindication): You see. You can't say that, because of course you have much reason. Everything worked exactly as I had planned, astonishingly enough; and with all that, if you were to say you wished to curse me into nonexistence, I could not find it in me to protest.
HARRY: I don't want to curse you into nonexistence!
DUMBLEDORE: I know, Harry; I've known for some time that you are the better man. Now I want you to understand, Harry.
All the while this dialogue has gone on, the homunculus has been struggling to free itself. Its struggles are becoming feebler, though.
DUMBLEDORE: I tried to arrange for you to meet Voldemort's killing curse, because only a curse from a wizard with power like his could have dislodged the horcrux. But the killing curse separates a soul from a body. Only one can be taken. You, and this fragment, are now engaged in a struggle to see which leaves the earth forever and which returns to your body. The outcome is not in doubt. How are you feeling, Harry?
HARRY: Good. Really good. It seems (he takes a deep breath) like the air is really... rich?
DUMBLEDORE: A million pass through here every day, and I don't think there would be another in a hundred years who would find the atmosphere quite so filling. But as for the piece of Tom here, as you see, it has nothing to sustain it. Who is there on earth who ever thought of him with love? Well, perhaps poor Bella in her way.
HARRY (angrily): Don't tell me about "poor Bella"!
DUMBLEDORE: What was she ever rich in, Harry, besides poisons? But to continue -
The homunculus takes a hideous gasp and seems to pass out.
Instantly, the scene shifts. Harry now finds himself back in the forest, surrounded by chortling Death Eaters. He is unable to stop himself from opening his eyes for a fraction of a second. Nobody notices, though.
VOLDEMORT: Rowle, Yaxley: levitate him ahead of us. We'll let his friends at Hogwarts see him first.
The violent levitation starts, and Harry visibly braces himself for it.
Then he is suddenly back with Dumbledore. The homunculus pants for breath.
DUMBLEDORE: I'm sorry, Harry, I should have warned you about that. As you see, Tom's horcrux is losing his hold. When he completely gives up the ghost, so to speak, you will find yourself back in your body.
HARRY: But sir, then what? Am I gaining any special power here that would make me any more a match for him?
DUMBLEDORE: Not in the standard sense of 'power', no.
HARRY: Well then... What do I do? I haven't even been able to keep them alive – were they just here? Did you see Remus? Professor Snape? Colin? Neville? God, Colin and Neville thought I was some kind of hero.
DUMBLEDORE: And you aren't, of course.
HARRY: Of course I'm n- I'm n-... (He is, of course, unable to speak the falsehood.)
DUMBLEDORE: Well, I think we may regard that as a settled question. Harry, you must understand -
The homunculus gives another shuddering gasp, and again the scene instantly shifts. Harry is being bounced about in the air in front of the boisterous Death Deaters, and now is in sight of Hogwarts.
DUMBLEDORE: Not too much longer. I don't know how much I am permitted to say, but... Harry what you have been through is without question most terrible. But in a sense it is also quite wonderful. Do you not see a pattern in these things? How every single step you have taken, that has brought you closer to vanquishing Voldemort, has been made possible by the devotion of parents for their children, or children for their parents, or friends for their liberator, and by the bonds both of magical debt and of deep gratitude towards you, Harry, for your bravery and generosity of spirit?
HARRY: I see a lot of people giving up their lives. My parents and Sirius and Mr. Diggory and Dobby and Remus and Professor Snape and Neville.
DUMBLEDORE: And who else, Harry?
HARRY: Sorry; you too, sir.
DUMBLEDORE: No, I mean... who else in this present convocation? Who willingly walked into a killing curse, for the sake of his friends and countless strangers?
HARRY: Oh. I guess, me.
DUMBLEDORE: It's important that you acknowledge this; that you see that you have earned the right to invoke the others who -
A peal of thunder rolls in from above. Dumbledore looks upward and places his hand over his mouth in joking "now I've done it" mode.
DUMBLEDORE: Oh, dear. I believe I will be serving detention for that.
The homunculus is once again gasping.
DUMBLEDORE (hurriedly): It may take you some time to get your breath back there, so don't be in a hurry to jump up and start dueling. And don't be in any hurry to come back here, Harry. Earth's the right place for love. At least I don't know where it would go better. And you'll think of me from time to time, won't you?
HARRY (smiling): I don't think I could help it, sir, even if I wanted to. Au revoir, then?
Harry embraces Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE: Till next century, my dear boy.
The homunculus shudders, and falls still.
Harry instantly finds himself on the ground, just outside the gates of Hogwarts. The Death Eaters are jubilant. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the rest of the Weasleys, many others, are either crying or fighting back tears.
The sides (unlike in the movie) are evenly matched in numbers, but the Death Eaters have many Dementors with them, and of course the power of Voldemort himself. Still, some dozen or so of the goodies have started to advanced and aim spells at the baddies. With a wave of the Elder Wand, Voldemort tosses them aside like chaff.
VOLDEMORT: Enough! You see now that your champion is dead. The fight is over. I have no desire to spill more wizarding blood. I am giving you the chance to consider whether you will be rational, or whether you will die as blood traitors and traitors to your leader. For now, I am calling a truce. One of you may retrieve Potter's body. I swear by my magic that none of my men or women will harm you. Let us see now; (he pauses, and smiles) which of you loved him best?
Ron and Hermione each start off towards Voldemort and the body, and each immediately begins fighting to restrain the other.
As they are dragging one another to and fro, Ginny passes in front of them, walking steadily on. Neither Ron nor Hermione notice her until she is more than halfway towards Voldemort and Harry.
Ron and Hermione now cry out to her to stop, and each now attempts to run and drag her back; but this just results in another wrestling stalemate.
Ginny walks on until she arrives near Harry. (Voldemort is somewhat in back of both)
Harry's 'body', conveniently, is layed out at an angle where he could see both Ginny and Voldemort if he opened his eyes. He now does open them a crack, and is breathing rapidly and with difficulty through his nose.
We see Ginny, from Harry's point of view, and we can see – as Voldemort clearly cannot – that behind her back she is holding a basilisk fang.
VOLDEMORT: Ginny Weasley. An old acquaintance of mine.
A flash of surprise and fear shows for a moment on Ginny's face.
Nagini slithers towards Harry's body.
VOLDEMORT: You may recall that I swore none of my men or women would interfere with you in retrieving the corpse. I said nothing about my pet, though; and she is hungry.
Nagini is coming closer to Harry. Ginny walks briskly to intercept her.
Voldemort chortles.
Nagini rises up and draws back to strike at Ginny.
Molly and the others cry and wave their wands trying to draw a bead on the snake, but Ginny is too close to it.
Voldemort laughs and leers in anticipation.
Ginny's magical player – let us say that the tension in the air is so palpable that it is triggered without the usual hand contact – sings out the verse from "Oh Mary Don't You Weep":
THE PLAYER: Old Mister Satan, he got mad; He missed that soul that he thought he had.
In one motion Ginny dodges the snap of Nagini's jaws and plunges the basilisk fang into her side.
Nagini contorts, hisses in agony, and collapses.
Voldemort stares in stupefaction for a moment, then rages and points his wand at Ginny, who looks at him with ferocious satisfaction. He opens his mouth to curse her -
HARRY (offscreen): TOM! TOM! Here, Tom, over here!
And there he is, standing up with his wand pointed at Voldemort. (An attentive viewer will see or recall that he is carrying Snape's wand now. He never disarmed Draco, so was never in any sense the master of the Elder Wand.) Shouts and cries of "Harry!" "He's alive!" Voldemort turns to stare.
VOLDEMORT (to the onlookers): It's not him. It's not Potter. Somebody has switched with his body. (He is trying to sound certain, but it isn't quite working.) I killed Potter with Avada Kedavra.
HARRY: Well, we both know that's not as infallible as it's made out to be. (To Ginny) You are brilliant! But you need to get back now, it has to be me.
Ginny goes backward and forwards, and finally complies.
A pause, and a staring contest between Harry and Tom.
VOLDEMORT: If you are Harry Potter, how did you survive this time? Who was the fool this time, the one who gave up their life to let you put off your death for a little while, like your mudblood mother did all those years ago?
HARRY: In a funny way, Tom – it was you. A piece of you anyway.
Harry lifts the hair from his scar. After a moment Voldemort gets it, and his face lights up at understanding the trick. He begins to laugh.
HARRY: And if you could have seen it, what you had done to yourself – I think even you might have some second thoughts.
VOLDEMORT (ignoring Harry's comment:) What luck, Potter! (laughing) What incredible luck -
HARRY: Quite a bit of luck in it, yeah.
VOLDEMORT: - to fall on such a weak wand and such an empty head! By telling me how you survived, you've just lost any possible chance that I would hesitate to kill you. What possessed you to tell me the truth?
HARRY (pausing a moment to consider:) I think I still have some of the next world stuck in my throat.
Voldemort stares at him for a moment, trying to puzzle this out, then returns to 'contempt' mode.
VOLDEMORT: Well. You have your wand up. Shall we? You must have some idea of what you want to do. How are you going to fulfill the prophecy, Chosen One? How will you vanquish me?
Harry pauses to consider the question, and then answers it with quiet conviction, without a hint of irony:
HARRY: I think you're going to tell me.
After a second of complete incredulity, Voldemort goes into a wild rage.
VOLDEMORT: What do you take me for? WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? A fool like you?A mindless fool like you who goes walking up to his enemy and begs for a killing curse? Do you know what I will tell you, Potter? I will tell you TWO – WORDS!
HARRY: I know. It wouldn't matter whether I had told you how I survived or not. In the end you'd decide to use that curse no matter what, because you think hating and killing are invincible.
VOLDEMORT: And what do you expect to save you from them: LOVING AND DYING?
Pause.
Close up on Harry.
Harry's eyes open to their widest with the shock of realization. Voldemort really has told him.
Harry looks down at Snape's wand, and flashes back to Snape using it to cast the doe patronus.
Harry's eyes begin to water, and he starts to shake.
Voldemort's rage turns instantly to glee, and he throws out his arms to his followers, commanding them to laugh it up as well. Of course they follow.
RON, HERMIONE, GINNY: Harry! Don't give up, Harry! You can beat him!
LUNA: You don't think he's crying out of fear, do you? That doesn't seem like Harry.
Voldemort still "conducts" the Death Eaters in a chorus of gloating, and cackling and cawing, but we don't hear any of his words either here or in future cuts to the Death Eater side.
We see Harry, head down, eyes closed, wand raised close to his mouth, and hear him whispering:
HARRY: Mom, Dad, Sirius, Remus, Mr. Diggory, Dobby, Neville, Professor Snape, stand with me now.
A white mist begins to swirl around Harry's head and enter Snape's wand. We see flashes of Harry's memories of those he invokes.
Some of the Dementors start acting nervously. Voldemort goes on conducting.
HARRY: Mom, Dad, Sirius, Remus, Mr. Diggory, Dobby, Neville, Professor Snape, stand with me now.
The mist – color and texture suggesting a mix of the patronus and the pensieve memory liquid - grows brighter and fuller, swirls faster around and into Snape's wand.
The Dementors begin pulling back, and some of the Death Eaters show fear at this. Voldemort goes on obliviously conducting.
HARRY: Mom, Dad, Sirius, Remus, Mr. Diggory, Dobby, Neville, Professor Snape, stand with me now.
The mist and the wand are now blindingly bright.
The Dementors fly off in all-out retreat. Voldemort finally notices and stares uncomprehendingly at them.
He turns to Harry to see if he could be causing this somehow, but all he sees is a sniveling schoolboy kneeling and shaking on the ground – from his p.o.v., the bright light is invisible.
Voldemort returns to a state of smug certainty.
VOLDEMORT: Do you wish to say any final words to your friends, Potter?
Harry picks out Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna. He smiles to them, and in a wavering voice, he sings:
HARRY: "Though sad fate our lives may sever..."
LUNA: Oh, yes! Let's all sing, please?
HARRY AND LUNA: "Parting will not last forever..."
VOLDEMORT: Enough! ONE!
HARRY, GINNY, HERMIONE, LUNA, RON: "There's a hope that leaves me never..."
VOLDEMORT: TWO!
HARRY, GINNY, HERMIONE, LUNA, RON: "All through the night!"
VOLDEMORT: THREE! AVADA KEDAVRA!
HARRY: Expecto Patronum!
The doe, much larger than life-size, leaps out of Harry's wand.
The doe meets the killing curse, and extinguishes the green light like a flood washing over a candle.
The blindlingly bright patronus engulfs the black-cloaked man, who violently jolts about. We can't be sure if he is shuddering in horror and nausea, or if the patronus is shaking something out of him.
After a second or two, the light departs. Voldemort recovers himself, examines himself quickly, and – seeing no harm done – laughs and points his wand at Harry.
Harry sits defenselessly, obviously too exhausted even to look up.
VOLDEMORT: AVADA KEDAVRA!
A tiny, pale green light flares for a moment from the tip of the wand, then goes out.
Voldemort stares at his wand in astonishment and tries again
VOLDEMORT: AVA -
His mouth is open, but no further sound comes out. Voldemort clutches his throat and turns around wildly to see what might be happening. The camera follows his p.o.v, which stops when it sees:
The doe is raising up and stamping on the last homunculus, which a close-up shows to be even more twisted and unnatural-looking than the last.
The last soul fragment tries in vain to dodge the hooves which are crushing it. It's cries grow weaker.
Voldemort tries to make his way over to it, but gets only a few steps before clutching his chest and falling to his knees.
The doe delivers one last blow, and the thing lies still.
Voldemort topples over, dead.
Harry is still bent over. The doe comes up to Harry and nuzzles against his cheek. Harry looks up at her, smiles and leans into the side of her face.
HARRY (sobbing): You did it. You did it. You beat him again.
Harry gets up and walks over over to Voldemort's body. We see Voldemort's hand, still clutching his wand partly upright.
The wand drops down, in what might be simply the effect of the loss of grip in death, or might be the Elder Wand bowing to its new master. Harry takes it and pockets it.
Most of the spectators, on both sides, are looking on in shock. One of the astonished Death-Eaters makes a hesitant, threatening move with his wand.
HERMIONE: Expecto Patronum!
The otter flies to the Death-Eater's arm and invades his dark mark, causing him to drop the wand and scream in pain.
General surrender.
Harry makes his way over to Ginny and embraces her. Her hair is wild, her face is grimed and tearstained, and she is almost entirely covered with snake blood and guts.
HARRY: God, you're beautiful.
THE PLAYER: Brothers and sisters, don't you cry;
There'll be good times, by and by;
Pharaoh's army got drownded,
O Mary don't you weep.
O Mary don't you weep no more,
O Mary don't you weep no more,
Pharaoh's army got drownded,
O Mary don't you weep.
FADE OUT
FADE IN to GRYFFINDOR TOWER, NEXT MORNING.
Harry looks down at the Invisibility Cloak, folded into triangular shape. On it he places the Elder Wand, and on that the Resurrection Stone.
Harry looks at the icon come to life.
He picks up the objects and begins walking by himself down the halls. Portraits occasionally call to him in congratulations, and he smiles, thanks them, and moves on, finally entering the Room of Requirement's room of lost things.
He now folds the Cloak around the Wand and the Stone, and all three vanish. Harry places the invisible Hallows in a nook of a cranny of a mass of debris and turns back to exit the room. As he turns, there once again is the Mirror of Erised.
A scene begins to congeal of parents and child. It looks at first like the scene of Harry with James and Lily, which so entranced the eleven-year-old Harry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. But after a moment we can see the differences: it's an older Harry and an older Ginny with their arms around their children. Harry stares for a long while at the mirror with a stupid smile on his face, then finally shakes himself and leaves.
The scene in the mirror does not dissolve, though. We zoom in on it and see that behind the adult Harry and Ginny is a small wizarding photo of James and Lily, and Lily is singing – the same tune she sang to Harry in the Forbidden Forrest:
LILY: Sweet pleasures attend thy sleep
Fondest, dearest to me;
While others their revels keep
I will watch over thee.
END
Dumbledore's "Earth's the right place for love; at least I don't know where it would go better" is from Robert Frost's poem, "Birches."
Thank you for reading!
