Chapter 9

Harry lay on his face in silence, in solitude. Before long he realized that there was a surface under him, and he opened his eyes to light. Everything seemed full of fog, but as he looked around it was as if the very act of trying to see created what he saw: something like the King's Cross train station, but bright, clean, and empty. He wearing no clothes and no glasses, but it didn't seem to matter.

Under one of the seats there was something moving and squawking. He came nearer and saw something like a baby, horribly scarred and with almost no skin. Something about it repulsed him. He wished he had clothing; as soon as he did, white robes appeared a short distance away. He put them on, wondering if this place was like a giant Room of Requirement.

"Am I dead?" he asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

"That's a good question, my boy. On the whole, I think not."

Harry turned around and there was Dumbledore, looking just as he had when summoned by the Ring of Resurrection, except much happier.

"How can that be?" Harry said. "I should have died... I meant to let him kill me."

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "And that makes all the difference. Self-sacrificial love is a potent magical force. After doing all you could to destroy two of his other Horcruxes, you gave yourself to destroy a third."

"Did I do it? Is it gone?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, that piece of Voldemort's soul is gone now," said Dumbledore. "One other thing helped save you. You know what Voldemort used to rebuild his body, don't you?"

"A drop of my blood," said Harry.

"Blood that your mother blessed by her sacrifice for you. By keeping part of you alive, Voldemort tied you to life."

"You knew this might happen!" said Harry. "Why didn't you tell me? I nearly lost my soul by taking the way the Three Brothers offered me. If I had known about this..."

"Then it wouldn't have worked," said Dumbledore. "It wouldn't have been self-sacrificing love on your part if you had that hope. That's why I didn't tell you, and I didn't tell Severus, either."

"I guess I understand now," said Harry. "I still don't really like how secretive you've been, but now I see why you had to be that way."

The thing under the chair gave another painful wail.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"It is beyond our help," said Dumbledore.

"Where are we, anyway?" asked Harry.

"It's your show," said Dumbledore. "You tell me."

"It looks like King's Cross," said Harry.

"Fancy that," said Dumbledore with a chuckle. "I suppose if you chose to wait here, a train would arrive and you could go on. But you can also go back."

"What about the Elder Wand?" Harry asked. "Am I still its master, or is Voldemort?"

"It's a close call," said Dumbledore, "But I think from the wand's point of view you were in the middle of a wizard's duel and you chose to switch weapons to the sword. It can't read your mind. It will think you were defeated, and it will give its loyalty to the one who defeated you."

"Oh no!" said Harry. "With the Elder Wand, Voldemort will be unstoppable!"

"Not so much as you think," said Dumbledore. "As I said, self-sacrificing love is a powerful force. You gave yourself to save others from him, and that will blunt his attacks from this point on."

"But the Elder Wand breaks through all defenses," said Harry.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Without mastery of the Elder Wand he would now be nearly powerless to harm others. With it he's still dangerous, but no more than he was before."

"I was a fool to go after the Hallows," said Harry. "They've only made things worse."

"I fell into the same trap," said Dumbledore. "I too wanted to be Master of Death. Now we both see where it leads. But you are a better and wiser man than I. You asked Cadmus a good question, out of love, and it saved you."

"I have to go back now, don't I?" asked Harry.

"You have a choice. If you do, there's a good chance he'll be finished. I don't promise it, but remember that you have less to fear from coming here again than he does. Fewer families will be torn apart, fewer innocents will suffer, if his reign of terror ends. If that seems a worthy goal to you, then let us part for now."

"One more thing," Harry called as the station began to fade. "This was all in my mind, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was all in your mind," said Dumbledore. "But why on earth should that make you think it wasn't real?"