Scott, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna rode an elevator that took them down into the Department of Mysteries. The elevator came to a screeching halt and the doors opened.
"Department of Mysteries," said the voice of the elevator.
The seven kids stepped forward slowly, looking down the long, dark and empty hallway. The silence around them was eerie; the only sound was from their breathing. Finally, Harry spoke up.
"This is it," he said.
Harry led them down the hallway and through the door at the end. On the other side was a room full of shelves, each holding dozens of crystal balls on it. The room was pitch black, so Harry, Ron, Hermione and Scott each pulled out their wands and muttered "Lumos" to have at least some light as they searched the room. The room seemed deserted and the silence was greater than ever. But they couldn't help feeling that they were not alone in this room. Everyone turned to Harry for reassurance and Harry nodded at them, turning to find Sirius.
"Ninety-two, ninety-three," Harry muttered as he walked past the rows of shelves, searching for the right one. "Ninety-four." At this, he sped up his pace. "Ninety-five." Here, he stopped, pointing his wand to the ground, looking for Sirius. He searched around frantically for several minutes.
"Harry?" said Scott.
"He should be here!" Harry exclaimed.
"Harry, it's got your name on it," said Neville, who was staring up at a shelf next to him.
Harry walked back over to the group and looked up at the shelf. Indeed, there was a crystal ball with a tag attached to it with Harry's name written on the tag. He picked up the crystal ball and examined it.
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter
As Harry finished reading the tag, suddenly, the crystal ball started to speak in Professor Trelawney's voice.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Just as the room went silent again, Hermione suddenly piped up.
"Harry!"
Everyone turned to see a shadowy figure approaching them slowly. As the figure drew closer, they saw he was dressed in all black and had a mask covering his face. The figure did not speak as it inched closer to them. They all kept their wands at the ready.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry demanded.
"You know, you really should learn the difference between dreams..." said the figure, whipping a wand of the cane he was carrying and waving it over the mask, which disappeared and revealed the face of Lucius Malfoy. "And reality."
Harry gave a start when he saw Malfoy's face.
"You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see," Malfoy explained. "Now, hand me the prophecy."
"If you do anything to us, I'll break it," Harry snarled.
A woman's amused laughter echoed through the room. Scott adjusted his wand to see who it was and saw Bellatrix Lestrange walking out of the shadows and toward Malfoy.
"He knows how to play!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "Itty, bitty baby, Potter."
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville said angrily.
"Neville Longbottom, is it? How's Mum and Dad?"
"Better now they're about to be avenged!" Neville growled, pointing his wand at Bellatrix to attack her. Harry and Scott put their arms in front of Neville to stop him as Bellatrix pointed her own wand at Neville.
Malfoy put up his hands.
"Now, let's everybody just calm down, shall we?" he said amicably. "All we want is that prophecy," he added, pointing with is wand to the crystal ball that Harry was carrying.
"Why did Voldemort need me to come and get this?" Harry asked.
"You dare speak his name?" asked Bellatrix before screaming, "YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!"
Her voice echoed throughout the room they were in.
"It's all right," Malfoy said to Bellatrix, not taking his eyes of Harry and the others. "He's just a curious lad, aren't you? Prophecies can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made. Which is lucky for you, really."
Just then, Scott sensed movement to his right and pointed his wand in that direction. Another masked figure was approaching the group on that side. Scott kept his wand pointed at the approaching figure.
"Haven't you always wondered what was the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord?" Malfoy asked Harry as he and Bellatrix started to slowly walk toward Harry.
Scott glanced around and noticed other masked figures were starting to surround them on every side. They appeared to be completely surrounded.
"Why he was unable to kill you, when you were just an infant? Don't you want to know the secret of your scar? All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand. All you have to do is give it to me. Then I can show you everything."
There was a brief pause as the other masked figures closed in on the group. Each of the kids kept their wands pointed in front of them, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"I've waited 14 years," said Harry.
"I know," Malfoy replied empathetically.
"I guess I can wait a little longer. NOW!"
At that, each of the kids shouted, "Stupefy!" and sent stunning spells flying at each of the Death Eaters. Malfoy and Bellatrix lazily blocked the spells meant for them before Disapparating.
Harry led the others past where Malfoy and Bellatrix had been standing, turning down another row of prophecies before coming to a sudden halt as Malfoy Apparated in front of them, holding out his hand and silently demanding the prophecy. The group turned around and ran in another direction as Malfoy Disapparated again.
Luna, though, turned in the wrong direction and found herself face-to-face with a Death Eater, who promptly slapped her across the face, causing Luna to fall over.
Luna quickly recovered her wand and pointed it at the approaching Death Eater.
"Levicorpus!" she shouted.
At that, the Death Eater was lifted off his feet and hung upside down for a few seconds before flying backward, far away from Luna.
Meanwhile, Scott kept running with Harry, Ron and Hermione, having been separated from Ginny and Neville. As they ran, they heard Neville yell, "Petrificus Totalus!" followed by Luna saying, "Well done, Neville."
Scott, Harry, Ron and Hermione came to a stop and heard a whooshing sound behind them. They turned, gasping and saw another Death Eater start to approach them. A second Death Eater landed in front of Harry.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried, sending a stunning spell at the Death Eater in front of him, who was able to Disapparate before getting hit. Harry then motioned for the others to follow him and they started to run down the new row of shelves.
Ron and Hermione started shooting stunning spells at the Death Eater who had appeared behind them, but the Death Eater was easily blocking their spells. Scott, thinking quickly, started waving his wand at the prophecies along the shelves and the prophecies started to fall onto the Death Eater, whose attention was distracted. Hermione saw this and started mimicking Scott. Just as the Death Eater blocked a prophecy from hitting him in the head, Scott pointed his wand at him.
"Stupefy!" he shouted.
The Death Eater, distracted by the falling crystal balls, did not have time to block Scott's spell and flew backward.
Just then, they ran into Ginny, Neville and Luna and all came to a sudden stop, looking around for more Death Eaters. They saw one Apparating toward them. Ginny pointed her wand at him.
"Reducto!" she yelled, sending the spell at the Death Eater, who seemed to disappear in a large explosion, shattering several prophecies that were surrounding him. There was a short pause before all of the prophecies surrounding the Death Eater started to fall to the ground. As they did, the shelves they were on started to collapse, sending more crystal balls to the ground with a crash. The falling shelves came closer to the group.
"Get back to the door!" Harry shouted.
Everyone turned around and started running away from the collapsing shelves. As they ran down the long corridor, the shelves seemed to be catching up to them quickly, being only one or two rows behind them as they ran. Finally, they reached a door that Harry opened and ran through. Ron and Hermione ran in after him and Scott followed them. But it wasn't the same door they had arrived in. In fact, it didn't lead anywhere, as they all started falling down.
They spiraled closer and closer to the ground of this new room and were just inches from the ground when they suddenly stopped, each of them gasping. They were then let down gently and had a few moments to catch their breath.
"Department of Mysteries, that got that bit right, didn't they?" said Ron as they all stood up.
Harry started walking toward a veil that stood in the middle of the room. Amazingly, the prophecy hadn't shattered and he was still holding onto to it, despite their fall from above.
"The voices," Harry said as he approached the veil. "Can you tell what they're saying?"
Scott glanced at the others, who, like him, seemed to have no idea what Harry was talking about.
"There aren't any voices, Harry," said Hermione. "Let's get out of here."
Luna, who was following Harry to the veil, spoke up.
"I hear them, too," she said quietly.
"Harry, it's just an empty archway," Hermione said urgently. Harry ignored her. "Please, Harry!"
There was a noise from somewhere above them. Harry turned around and looked up.
"Get behind me!" he shouted, pointing his wand up at the door they had arrived from. The others wordlessly obeyed his command and pointed their wands up, too.
Suddenly, there were several dark clouds as Death Eaters Apparated into the room. They all ducked to the ground and tried to shake off the Death Eaters, but to no avail. Within a few seconds, everyone except for Harry had been snatched and taken away.
Harry stood up, gasping for air. He glanced around and saw that a Death Eater was now holding each of his friends. Ron and Hermione struggled against their captors, but were unsuccessful.
There was a small laugh that echoed through the chamber.
"Did you actually believe, or were you truly naive enough to think that children stood a chance against us?" Malfoy asked as he approached Harry. "I'll make this simple of you, Potter," he added, holding out his hand in front of Harry. "Give me the prophecy now, or watch your friends die."
Harry glanced at the others and seemed to find there was no way out.
"Don't give it to him, Harry!" Neville yelled.
Bellatrix shushed him and put her wand around his neck like it was a knife.
Harry sighed and reluctantly handed Malfoy the prophecy. Malfoy took it and looked at it triumphantly.
Suddenly, there was a flash of white light and a man appeared behind Harry and Malfoy. The man approached them and Malfoy whipped around to see who it was.
"Get away from my godson," Sirius snarled before punching Malfoy across the face, and Malfoy fell away, losing his clutch of the prophecy, which smashed to the ground and broke.
Other flashes of white filled the room as more members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, forcing the Death Eaters to give up their captors. Once he was free, Scott grabbed his wand and looked around as Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Lupin and Kingsley all Apparated into the room.
Scott shot a stunning spell at the Death Eater who had been holding him and the Death Eater fell over. He reached Tonks, who motioned for him to follow her. Tonks led him down below where Harry and Sirius were hiding from the Death Eaters, who finally seemed to have recovered from the surprise arrival of the Order. Tonks pointed up at Mad-Eye, who helped Luna jump down into the chasm. Tonks grabbed her and ran forward as Ginny jumped into the chasm. They rushed to the lowest point of the chasm, where Ron, Hermione and Neville were waiting with Lupin, who was guarding them.
Scott looked up and watched the battle above. Harry and Sirius were dueling Malfoy and Dolohov. Sirius wordlessly shot a spell at Dolohov, who fell down. Malfoy glanced over as Dolohov fell. Using this distraction, Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy.
"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, sending Malfoy's cane flying.
"Nice one, James!" Sirius cried as he started to duel Malfoy on his own. He sent a few spells at Malfoy, all of which were dodged. Finally, Sirius waved his wand in a spiral, causing Malfoy's wand to fly out of his hand. Sirius smiled and then shot a spell at Malfoy, who went flying with a scream.
Just then, Bellatrix Apparated several feet away from Sirius and fired a wordless spell at him, which sent a jet of red light straight into Sirius' chest, forcing him back into the veil. Sirius seemed stunned by what happened and it seemed to take him an age to fall into the veil. Scott fully expected to see him reappear on the other side and was shocked when he didn't.
A few moments passed and Sirius still hadn't reappeared. Lupin rushed forward to grab Harry, who started shouting uncontrollably. It was then that Scott realized what had happened: Sirius had died. The veil was literally the veil between life and death and because Sirius had fallen into it, he was gone.
Harry freed himself from Lupin's grasp and ran out of the room, rushing after Bellatrix. When he was gone, Scott turned to Tonks.
"We've got to go after him," he said.
"Not yet," Tonks replied. "Not until we know for sure the Death Eaters are gone."
Several minutes passed as Mad-Eye and Kingsley checked the room to make sure there were no more Death Eaters. Once the room was cleared, Tonks motioned for the kids to go. Without hesitation, they all ran through the door Harry had left the room from and found themselves just outside the Ministry Atrium. Once they were inside the Atrium, they met the clear site of a battle.
Thousands of sand grains littered the room and several statues lay in pieces. In the middle of the room, Harry was lying on the ground as if in pain, with Dumbledore kneeled down next to him, looking as though he was speaking soothing words to Harry. Bellatrix was nowhere to be found.
As they entered the room, Harry stopped thrashing on the ground and looked instead at his friends. Finally, he spoke again.
"You're the weak one," he said, almost to himself. "And you'll never know love. Or friendship. And I feel sorry for you."
There was a sudden burst of dark energy from the room and Harry started to thrash again. Suddenly, it appeared that something was coming directly out of Harry and it materialized into Lord Voldemort, who was holding his wand and bent over Harry.
"You're a fool, Harry Potter," Voldemort said quietly. "And you will lose everything."
Voldemort snarled at Harry when just then, there was the sound of rushing fire. Scott looked past Harry, Dumbledore and Voldemort and saw several Ministry officials Apparating into the Atrium from the fireplaces. Cornelius Fudge took several steps forward and came to a sudden halt when he saw Voldemort, who quickly Disapparated into thin air. Fudge stared back at where Voldemort had disappeared, his face full of shock.
"He's back!" Fudge whispered.