Chapter 14

Endgame

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Harry pressed himself against one of the many stone pillars as Grindelwald strode boldly around the room, searching for him and shouting various threats and curses. As Grindelwald neared his hiding place, he leapt forward and sent hundreds of watts of pure electricity coursing into Grindelwald. The dark wizard bellowed a curse and disappeared with a loud crack. Harry fell back against the pillar. The battle between the two had been waging for what felt like hours, though in reality they had only been fighting for twenty minutes. Harry had hurt Grindelwald badly when one of the pillars had been cracked by Harry's lightening and had fallen on him. Grindelwald, however, had returned to his machine, siphoned more Dark Energy, and used it to heal himself. Each time he absorbed the energy, Harry could swear he became more powerful. Harry chanced a quick glance around the pillar. Grindelwald was nowhere to be seen.

"Harry!" Phoebe exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "Thank God I found you. You…"

"Phoebe, you can't be here now." Harry told her.

"I couldn't leave you to face him alone." Phoebe explained. "Hermione told me she might know how to vanquish Grindelwald. She said she left a potion vial in this room…"

"I found it." Harry muttered, checking once again for a sighting of Grindelwald. "And it gave me a premonition…" Phoebe bowed her head.

"I'm sorry…"

"I can't worry myself about it now. This is too important… Where's Hermione?" Phoebe lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Harry, Hermione… she… Zankou killed her. That's when she told me how to vanquish Grindelwald." The news of Hermione's death didn't even seem to phase Harry, though Phoebe knew it was killing him.

"What did she tell you?" Harry inquired in a quiet voice.

"She said that the potion Catherine made might not react well if it exploded near the Dark Energy Grindelwald is gathering. She said the resulting explosion should be enough to vanquish him." Harry turned from Phoebe and examined the machinery around them. His eyes lingered on the two building-sized structures on either side of the main platform where Grindelwald collected the Dark Energy.

"What do you reckon those do?" Harry asked Phoebe, indicated the large cylinders.

"Well, they look like they store the Energy until Grindelwald needs it, but…"

"Good, that's what I was hoping. I've got an idea, but it might not work. You need to get back to the Order, tell them to get out of the Underworld and back to Hogwarts. If the explosion will be as big as Hermione thought, I don't want any of you down here."

"But what about you?!" Phoebe demanded. "You won't be able to orb out in time." Harry nodded.

"I know… but that's okay. I think, deep down, I always knew it would end like this."

"Then I'm staying with you." Phoebe said, defiantly.

"No, you're not." Harry told her. "I need you to go back to the Order."

"But, Harry…"

"Order of the Phoenix!" Harry said, waving his hand toward Phoebe. She orbed away.

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Phoebe reformed in the Order's main camp. It was clear that, in her absence, the camp had been attacked. Small fires burned everywhere, and each of the camp's defenders looked a little worse for wear. Ron sat near the camp's only entrance. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were alert and focused. Luna and Ginny sat together, further into the camp. Luna was nursing a large burn on her left forearm, and Ginny was filling potion vials with thick, yellowish gel from a cauldron. Piper sat with them, holding her face in her hands. Draco had apparently not made it back yet.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked quietly and motioning at Piper.

"Paige… and two dozen others in the last attack." Luna responded in a monotonous tone.

"God…" Phoebe whispered, sitting down next to Piper and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Did you find Harry?" Ginny asked, not looking up from her work.

"Yeah… I did."

"And?" Ginny pressed.

"And I told him what Hermione told me about vanquishing Grindelwald. He's battling him now…."

"You saw Hermione?" Luna asked. "Where is she?" Phoebe hesitated a moment before answering.

"She's dead…." Phoebe said, her eyes sliding closed. "along with Catherine."

"So… what's Harry going to do?" Ginny inquired, trying not to think about Hermione and Catherine.

"I… I don't really know. All he said was that he had a plan and that we needed to leave the Underworld."

"Why?" Draco asked, hurrying over to them.

"Apparently whatever he's going to do it going to cause one hell of an explosion. He doesn't want us down here when he tries whatever he's going to try."

"Let's pack it up, then." said Ron, walking over. "If I know Harry, we don't want to be here much longer."

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"Come out, come out, Potter! Come out and play!" Grindelwald taunted. Harry ignored him. He remained hidden behind yet another pillar. He'd been doing a bit of a dance with Grindelwald over the past half hour, trying to get to the rightmost building-size cylinder. For his plan to work, everything had to be timed expertly. Even the slightest mistake would be disastrous. Grindelwald turned his back on Harry's location. Harry stood and bolted toward the cylinder, not pausing to look back. He slid to a halt barely ten feet from the cylinder. He gripped his wand tightly and sent a jet of green light spiraling toward Grindelwald. Grindelwald turned, deflecting the curse lazily with a wave of his hand. Harry ducked down behind a large piece of machinery and dug into his pocket for one of the seven potions he'd brought along. Making sure not to choose Catherine's potion, he took a vial filled with red liquid. Without looking, he shot another spell across the room at Grindelwald and rolled the vial into a position between himself and Grindelwald. Perfect. Harry took another potion vial and hurled it straight at Grindelwald, who had started to advance on Harry's position. The dark wizard blasted it out of the air, but even so, it filled the room with thick black smoke. Grindelwald banished it with his wand, but once the offending substance was gone, Harry was nowhere to be found.

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GREAT HALL, HOGWARTS CASTLE.

"Anything?"

"No, Ron… nothing."

"Damn. We need to go back."

"We can't," Phoebe said. "Harry told me to…"

"Phoebe, if Harry failed to vanquish Grindelwald, then it's our job to try to do it ourselves." Ron told her.

"When just need to give him more time…"

"Phoebe," Ron said in an exasperated voice. "just guarding that infernal camp exhausted us. Harry's been fighting Grindelwald for over two hours. What are the chances he's still fighting?"

"I know… please, just give him a little more time. If anyone can do this, it's Harry."

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Harry sat atop the rightmost storage cylinder. The smoke potion had distracted Grindelwald just long enough for him to get into position, and get some rest. The battle had completely exhausted him. He was starving, dehydrated, and more tired than he had ever been in his life. Grindelwald continued to prowl the chamber in the area Harry had last been. He had passed the potion Harry had left six times in the last half hour and hadn't spotted it, for which Harry was thankful. His plan required that potion to remain intact. When developing his plan, he had continually told himself to 'think like Hermione'. He had to admit, his plan was remarkably Hermione-like. He hoped she would be proud. Harry tensed as Grindelwald passed the vial once again. He had barely moved three feet passed it when Harry acted. With a wave of his hand, Harry made the potion shoot into the air and shatter on Grindelwald's robed back. The potion had been one of Hermione's best, and the result easily proved that perhaps only Catherine could mix a better potion, and that would depend on whether Hermione was blindfolded or not. The explosion illuminated Grindelwald for a moment. Fire blazed in all directions, blasting a deep crater into the ground where he stood. Flesh on fire and screaming in agony, Grindelwald withdrew to his machine and began to collect more Dark Energy, hurriedly healing himself. It had worked so completely well that even Harry was surprised. With Grindelwald attempting to heal himself, Harry had what he needed: time. Harry took out another potion and examined the top of the cylinder he stood on. In the very center, a large clear tube extended into the ceiling. What Harry now knew must be the Dark Energy the towers were collecting above ground flowed through it, filling the storage chamber beneath him. He prayed the potion was powerful enough… He backed to the very edge of the cylinder and tossed it. The vial impacted the clear tube, shattering it. Thick, black clouds of Dark Energy spilled out into the chamber. Harry orbed from the first cylinder to the second and repeated the process, causing even more of the Dark Energy to flow out of the storage chambers. Harry then orbed down to the floor, right in from of Grindelwald. The dark wizard smiled.

"Do you mind telling me precisely what it is you are doing?" Grindelwald asked, watching billowing masses of Dark Energy swirl around his body. Harry stared at him.

"Was it worth it? Everything you've done?" Grindelwald chuckled.

"It will be, Harry. You shall see." Grindelwald blasted Harry off his feet with a fireball. He landed hard on his back, twenty feet away. "Fool. Without the Power of Three, you cannot hope to defeat me. You know that I killed your daughter, and though I regret I could not do it myself, I was delighted to hear Ms. Granger met her very timely end." He formed another fireball in his hand. "And now it is your turn." He tossed the fireball… at the same time the last of the potions Catherine had made left Harry's grip. The fireball hit the potion, shattering it. Harry smiled slightly.

"Actually, I think it's both of ours." The potion ignited. The explosion blasted through both Harry and Grindelwald, through the entire chamber, even through the chamber walls, ceiling, and floor. The Dark Energy continued to fuel the explosion. The towers kept gathering more Energy, providing a continuous fuel source. The explosion expanded, burning through tunnel after tunnel in the Underworld. The rocky walls began to cave in upon themselves. Above ground, earthquakes raked the planet. Volcanoes erupted and the explosion beneath the surface caused even the mighty oceans to ripple as the fiery torrent passed under them, causing Tsunamis to form. Fire continued to burn through the entire Underworld. Grindelwald's machinery was instantly destroyed. His towers soon collapsed to the ground. When the fire finally exhausted its fuel and died away, the Underworld was no more. Harry had not only destroyed Grindelwald, but the entire Underworld and all the demons in it, leaving nothing but total silence.

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GREAT HALL, HOGWARTS.

As one of the many earthquakes that had shaken the globe subsided, Phoebe stood shakily. She watched as the others climbed to their feet, looking around hesitantly as though certain the ground was no longer moving.

"He did it." Phoebe said, smiling. "Harry did it!"

"Yeah," said Ginny. "I think he did."

"So, is that it? It is over?" Luna inquired, tearing her gaze away from the hundreds of Order members filling the Hall.

"I'd say so." Ron said, sweeping some debris off the Book of Shadows. "It's finally over."

"Yeah, well, we said that last time." Piper muttered.

"And the time before that." Luna added.

"That had to be Grindelwald being vanquished." Draco said. "What else could it have been?"

"I do believe that was intend the end of this terrible conflict." Dumbledore said, striding over to them. "Rest assured, I will be investigating the area where this originated as soon as I can." Dumbledore left them, gathering several Order members, and left.

"What do we do now?" Phoebe asked.

"Go on with our lives, I suppose." said Ron. "What's left of them, anyway."

"But let's not forget the cost…" Phoebe said softly. "Whatever we do, we can't forget the price of victory."