Here it is the last chapter in my very first fanfic Return of the Squib Son. I am very proud of it and of the fact that I can be counted among the very small number of authors that have finished a wrong boy-who-lived fic. I know many of you want to get right into it and read the ending but first I want to thank a few people. First off is the awesome J.K. Rowling, without whom we would never have Harry Potter and I wouldn't have written this story. Second, I want to thank my beta reader LPlover93 who has read through many of my chapters before I posted them and corrected some of my horrible grammar and spelling. And finally I want to thank you, the readers. Without all of your support and patience I could have never finished this story, you all are wonderful.
Harry lay there, for how long he didn't know. After some point he was aware that he must still be alive as he felt the ground beneath him, or was he still able to feel in death. Sitting up, Harry became aware of two facts; one, that he was naked. Two was that his surroundings were very weird; they had a white cloudy mist look that hadn't yet form into something solid. Standing, Harry wished he had some clothes, even though he was alone, or was he. As he pulled on the clothes that suddenly appeared in front of him, he heard a thrashing and whimpering sound coming from his left, someone in the mist.
He followed the sound until he reached a bench. Underneath was something completely revolting; a small, childlike form whose skin was rough, raw, and flayed-looking. It was shuddering about, struggling for breath. Harry didn't want to touch it but at the same time, he deeply wanted to help it. Not sure what to do, Harry slowly reached out his hand towards it until a person stopped him.
"You can't help it Harry Soleil."
Harry turned around to see four witches and wizards standing behind him. The moment he saw them he knew who they were as he had seen many photos and portraits of them. On the far left was a short, round woman with short brown hair and wearing a yellow dress. Next to her was a tall man with thick, long auburn hair and beard wearing orange robes. On his left was a tall, aristocratic looking woman with long, straight black hair who was wearing dark blue robes. Lastly, stand just behind the blue woman was the tallest of the four; a bald, monkeying looking man with a long white beard and forest green robes. Somehow, Harry was looking at the Founder of Hogwarts.
Godric Gryffindor stepped forward, repeating his words. "You can't help it Harry."
Harry was stunned. "Why am I here? How are you here? Am I dead?"
The ever smiling Helga Hufflepuff now stepped forward. "No Harry, but it was a very close thing."
Rowena Ravenclaw then spoke. "You are here because we wish to help you, as well as give you some necessary information."
Harry then turned to Salazar Slytherin. "Help me, you? Why do you want to help me, I would've thought you would have wanted Voldemort to succeed?"
Slytherin spoke with a sneer that reminded him too much of Draco Malfoy. "Although I do wish to see all Muggle-borns gone from Hogwarts, oomph!" Ravenclaw had just elbowed him in the gut. Slytherin continued, glaring at Ravenclaw, "My descendant's methods are reprehensible, those foul Horcruxes should never have existed."
Ravenclaw continued to glare at Slytherin for a couple seconds before turning back to Harry. "Those Horcruxes are also the reason why you are here Harry. When Voldemort attacked you as a baby, his soul was unstable. Then, when his body was destroyed, a piece of his soul was blasted off and attached itself to you."
"Then, I have to die for Voldemort to be destroyed, don't I? That's why I'm here, for you to explain it to me."
Hufflepuff sighed. "Not yet Harry, you're not dead yet."
"But how?"
"When Voldemort stole your brother's blood two years ago, he linked you to life like him. Although it wasn't you blood, your brother's blood was close enough to yours to protect you from death."
"But what about the piece of Voldemort's soul in me?"
"Gone Harry, it is gone for good." Gryffindor explained.
"So, what happens now?"
"Why, you go back of course. Unless you wish to join us in the next great adventure?"
Harry immediately thought of Hermione, and shook his head. He swore he saw Ravenclaw smirk.
"Very well then, it's time for you to go back and remove that vile monster from our school."
"But I can't defeat him just yet, I still have to destroy your Cup Miss Hufflepuff."
She just waved her hand at him. "It is of no matter, you have the power to destroy Voldemort for good right now."
"What?"
Ravenclaw spoke up. "And I thought you were in my house! What has your mother taught you about your lineage, what has Dumbledore said Voldemort's greatest weakness was? Use them both and the being styling himself Lord Voldemort will be gone for good!"
The founders lined up again and pointed there wands at him. "Now go Harry," Gryffindor spoke before they all fired a yellow, red, blue, and green spell at him. As he felt himself leave whatever place he was in, he thought he heard Slytherin mutter 'Good luck'.
Harry felt wetness on his cheek. Slowly, everything came back to him. He felt someone's arms around him as water continued to fall on his face. In the background he heard bangs and spell work. He also heard Hermione crying. With a start Harry realized that it was she that was holding him, crying over his supposed dead body. Shifting, Harry removed himself from Hermione's arms and stood up.
"Harry? Harry! You alive!"
Harry smiled at the still crying Hermione kneeling on the ground. Looking around he saw that all of the other Death Eaters were either lying on the ground or bound with ropes. Amelia Bones and no less than thirty Aurors were standing with members of the Order watch a duel going on behind Harry. He turned and saw Dumbledore struggling to stand up from where he was blasted aside while Daniel and Voldemort dueled. Running over to the aged headmaster, Harry helped him stand up while a look of shock and triumph passed over Dumbledore's eyes. Dumbledore then moved to prevent anyone else from joining the battle while Harry moved towards Voldemort.
Neither Voldemort nor Daniel had noticed that Harry was still alive.
"Once I kill you Daniel Potter, my victory will be complete. Dumbledore knows that without your brother that he can't defeat me."
"You'll never beat me Voldemort, I'll beat you like I did as a baby, and then the Wizarding World will love me again and forget all about my useless brother."
Voldemort laughed and blasted Daniel on his back, his wand flying from his hands and landing feet away.
"You really think you could've beaten me? It was your brother that defeated me all those years ago and now I've just killed him. You don't stand a chance. Good-bye Daniel Potter."
"Expelliiarmus!"
Voldemort's wand flew from his hand and joined Daniel's for away. The Dark Lord turned in fury to the fool who would dare attack him. When his eyes found Harry's, the look of fury turned to absolute horror.
"Impossible."
"I'm not dead yet Voldemort, and you won't be leaving here; alive."
Voldemort silently summoned a fallen wand to his hand. "You think you can kill me? I have studied further into the Dark Arts than anyone, I'm immortal."
"You're not immortal, just a fool. Your Horcruxes won't save you now."
Voldemort's eyes once again filled with horror before narrowing. "We'll see. Avada Kedavra!"
"Reducto!"
The two spells met in midair. It was a repeat of the Ministry duel, both spells fought against one another, neither giving up. Voldemort's anger, raw power, and the killing curse's unstoppableness was having trouble beating Harry's power-upped Reductor curse. With the stalemate initiated, the Death Eaters incapacitated, and Dumbledore preventing anyone else from interfering, Harry was free to use his last power. Finding Voldemort's eyes was easy, locking onto them was slightly harder but once he did, Harry forced his way through. Voldemort's Occlumency shields were powerful, but were swept aside by the power of Animavidecy.
The moment Harry entered Voldemort's soul he was assaulted by darkness. Every dark deed the wizard did filled Harry's being, it was all he could do to not be overwhelmed. He also felt a searing heat, a heat that was best described by a burning hatred but cooled by a frosty fear. Opening his eyes, Harry almost chocked at the sight of Voldemort's mutilated soul. It was small, torn, and ragged, a sign of Voldemort's attempts to make six Horcruxes. The soul itself was a glowing black and Harry was just able to see it past the dark background in which he and a fearful Voldemort were in.
Now that Harry was finally in Voldemort's soul, he didn't know how to proceed. He focused on Ravenclaw's words but couldn't see how love would help him here. He knew that Voldemort was completely incapable of feeling love but he didn't know how to use that to his advantage. Dumbledore had said that when Voldemort had tried to possess Harry's mind at the Ministry, it had gotten a terrible taste of what love was like for him, so maybe he ought to fill Voldemort's soul with love. But how? Harry floated around, searching for some answer. Suddenly he found something that felt like it was being blocked off. Focusing on it, Harry tried to unlock it. He got a glimpse of something dark pink before he was violently forced from Voldemort's soul.
Harry opened his eyes. He was on his knees again, wand at his side. Across from him was Voldemort, but something was wrong. He was clutching himself, moaning.
"What have I done, what have I done? NOOO!"
Voldemort started shaking uncontrollably before screaming horribly. His arms thrust out, his head looking towards the sky as he slowly, from the stomach out, disintegrated into ashes. Soon, all that remained of the Dark Lord was a pile of ashes and a borrowed wand. On March fifteenth, just before midnight, Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka, the Dark Lord Voldemort, died. Miles away, hundreds of feet below the earth in a high security Gringotts Vault, a golden cup started shaking. Slowly at first, then violently before fall of the shelf it was placed on. Once it hit the ground, a black mist left the cup and it moved no more.
Fireworks exploded outside Hogwarts, shooting stars rained down over London. All across Great Britain, the Wizarding World was celebrating the final death of Lord Voldemort. Up in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, a group of individuals meet to discuss how it happened. Behind the headmaster's desk sat Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, looking as if he had a couple more years added to his life. In front of him sat Garrick Ollivander, the famed wand-maker, out at last of hiding. Beside Ollivander sat Amelia Bones, Minister for Magic, and Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Auror in charge of defending Hogwarts. Also present were the Potter and Soleil families and Hermione Granger, who would not let go of her boyfriend for one second.
The Minister started the meeting. "What I want to know, Albus, is how Death Eaters got into Hogwarts itself when you placed some of the most power wards over the school."
"So do I Amelia. Is there something I missed that the Death Eaters exploited?"
Daniel spoke up. "It was Draco Malfoy. I've been spying on him all year. He was repairing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. The Death Eaters must have the other one."
"At Borgin and Burkes, I saw it. Mr. Borgin had to let the Death Eaters into his shop or he would be killed."
"Well, that explains that, but how many Death Eaters are left out there."
Once again, Harry had the answer. "None. Voldemort called all Death Eaters to him for this assault. He wanted to kill me and Dumbledore, as well as capture Hogwarts in one stroke. With Hogwarts in his grasp, he could force the Ministry to give him control or risk the lives of all the students."
Everyone nodded, that was a secure plan and one that most likely would've worked as they had the element of surprise. They were also pleased that there were no more Death Eaters out there. Ten Death Eaters had attacked Hogwarts along with Fenrir Greyback. Three Death Eaters had been killed along with two Aurors who were guarding Hogwarts from the start. The seven remaining Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange and Greyback were now on route to Azkaban where they would await trial along with all the other Death Eaters captured. It was widely believed that most, if not all, would be killed or receive the Dementor's kiss.
"One last question, what happened to Voldemort. One second Harry and Voldemort spells were locked together, the next, Harry was on his knees and Voldemort was screaming bloody murder."
Harry explain the best he could what he did and saw. Lily and Hermione looked sick at the mention of Voldemort's soul while Amelia, Kingsley, and Ollivander were shocked at the fact that Voldemort made six Horcruxes and what they were. Dumbledore looked thoughtful as Harry talked and when he was finished, all eyes turned to him for an explanation of what happened.
"Voldemort, is, or was, a creature incapable of feeling the wondrous thing that is called love. What I believe Harry did was unlock the part of Voldemort's soul that was responsible for love. Once that happened, for the first time in his life, Voldemort's soul knew love. With all of the actions he took as a dark lord along with what he'd done with Horcruxes, his soul was unable to take it all and fell apart. It did not matter if Voldemort had one or a hundred Horcruxes left, his soul was unable to deal with all the feelings and destroyed itself. He is indeed, gone for good."
The celebrations lasted for days. Hogwarts found itself playing host to the largest celebration it had ever seen. People kept showing up to get confirmation personally from either the Minister or Dumbledore that Voldemort was really gone, make sure their children was safe, or just to catch a glimpse of Harry Soleil, the defeater of Voldemort. The dementors were forced to leave Azkaban, and many of the Death Eaters were killed for their crimes, like the Lestranges, while some, like Lucius Malfoy, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Much to Daniel's displeasure Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape were allowed to roam free. Malfoy had been found hiding a few feet from Ron's unconscious body crying. Unfortunately for Daniel as well, the entire Wizarding World forgot all about him.
Don't forget to read my epilogue and happy holidays everybody!
