Chapter Nine: The First Battle of Hogwarts

A voice rang out. Everyone recognized the cold hiss from the terrible tales they had been told. The voice of Lord Voldemort.

"Surrender. Now. Most of you will survive with no injuries, although, of course, Hogwarts will be subject to the orders of the Ministry of Magic. But if you wish for me to leave and for you to survive, you must all comply with my demands. Hand over Severus Snape. Hand over Pomona Sprout. Hand over Hermione Granger. And hand over Albus Dumbledore

"No," said a voice. It was Albus Dumbledore, raising his wand. "We will not surrender you Hogwarts and the lives of innocents."

"Oh, really, Albus?" questioned Voldemort. Hermione could just hear the smirk in his voice. It was quite easy after having been around Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy for so long. "I believe perhaps I could persuade you to surrender yourself! A hostage exchange… you will be given to me, and I give you…" He turned. "Bellatrix! Show him!"

Bellatrix Lestrange, laughing cruelly, raised her wand. She rose a figure, gagged and bound, into the air. "Your brother," concluded Voldemort. Albus's eyes widened as he saw Aberforth.

He yelled in shock. "No! Don't!" Bellatrix cackled.

Voldemort smiled grimly and glanced towards Bellatrix. "You know what to do."

Bellatrix laughed once more and yelled "CRUCIO!" Instantly everyone heard Aberforth's screams and groans of agony.

"NO!" roared Dumbledore. "STOP! NOW!" Bellatrix stopped, very reluctantly, and looked expectantly at Dumbledore. He pointed his wand at himself and stuttered, "Br- br- br- brach- Brachiabindo." He was bound in ropes except for one arm. With this arm, he hurled his wand to Aberforth, who immediately freed himself with Emancipare and escaped.

Voldemort laughed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Dumbledore tried to roll to the side as the jet of light arrived, but he found he could barely move. He was defenseless. No one could help him in time… there was no countercurse.

Professor Flitwick ran forward. "Finite Incantatem!" he cried. The green jet of light turned dull and almost clear. Green still, but barely. It struck Dumbledore.

Flitwick broke the ropes. "What did you-" began Severus as he ran down.

"It works as a temporary spell against the Avada Kedavra curse," squeaked Flitwick. "He now will live for- well, until- until midnight. Then he will… well…"

Aberforth threw Albus his wand back. Albus pointed it at Voldemort and roared, "Repelluntur!" With a blast of power, Voldemort was thrown off his dragon into the Forbidden Forest. His dragon caught him, but he was injured. He flew away.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at Bellatrix. "Repelluntur!" She was thrown through the air too. The Death Eaters all fled, and so did their dragons and the dementors.

Two Death Eaters stayed behind. Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. "ACCIO DRACO MALFOY!" yelled Lucius. Draco flew out of the school onto Lucius's dragon. Narcissa pointed her wand at Dumbledore and said, "Expelliarmus!"

Dumbledore jumped out of the way. "Repellun-"

"Silencio!"

Dumbledore was unable to speak, and even he was unable to use nonverbal spells while weakened by the reduced Avada Kedavra. He pointed his wand at himself, but by the time he could speak again, the Malfoys were gone.

Dumbledore turned to Severus. "Severus, I am about to die. I must tell you information vital to our cause. Tell Hermione and the other teachers. Until Voldemort is dead- which only I know how to do, though I will tell you- send Hogwarts students off to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

"But the most important part to defeating Voldemort? He has two Horcruxes. The locket of Salazar Slytherin, in Cave Tromos, as well as the ring of Marvolo Gaunt, in the Gaunts' shack. Both must be destroyed for him to die.

"But something else is very important for you to know." Dumbledore reached into his robes and took out a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "Read The Tale of the Three Brothers, please."

"Fairy tales? Now?! It'll only take an hour for them to escape!"

"Do it now. You must do it while I am alive. It's already 9:37. I die at midnight."

Severus picked up the book, turned to The Tale of the Three Brothers, and began reading.

There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across.

However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

And Death spoke to them.

"Dumbledore, how is this helpful in any way?" asked Snape. "And Death spoke to them… it's a useless fairy tale."

"Read!"

"Okay." Snape resumed.

And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

"This is getting ridicu-"

"Severus, read."

…that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts. In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.

The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed.

Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.

That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay upon his bed, wine- sodden. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.

Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself…

"Should kids really read Beedle's writing?" asked Snape. "I mean, this, and The Warlock's Hairy Heart, and-"

"READ IT!" roared Dumbledore.

…driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself to as truly to join her.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him.

It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.

"So?" asked Severus. "Why am I reading fairy tales when it's…" He checked his watch. "9:42?"

"Because," said Dumbledore, still seemingly irritated, "of the fact that it is partly true."

"What, is it true that Death is a physical person? Dumbledore, it's not Hallow's Eve, so don't say such nonsense! Or am I supposed to believe that this wand of elder wood and this stone and this Invisibility Cloak are real? Ha!"

"Yes, you indeed are to believe that they are real," replied Dumbledore.

"WHY?!"

"Because they are real," said Dumbledore simply.

"Why should I believe that nonsense?!"

"Because they are real."

Severus gaped at Dumbledore. "It's impossible! How could it be?! And DON'T say that it's 'because they are real!' The cloak could easily be real, and I think it would be possible for the wand to be real, but the stone! No magic can bring people back from the dead!"

"They are not brought back," said Dumbledore. "Merely shadows of them return to speak to us. Not their true physical forms. Not fully solid, but more than ghosts. Much more than ghosts."

"But-"

"I understand, Severus, that it is very confusing. But you must trust me."

"But how-"

"The Elder Wand, the Invisibility Cloak, and the Resurrection Stone are real, Severus. The trio together will make the owner the Master of Death, and they are known as… the Deathly Hallows."