Professor Dumbledore, with Hermione following right behind him, had climbed to the tallest tower in the castle and out on to a balcony from which point they could see everything going on around them. The battle was still raging on and though it looked like their side was winning neither of them felt particularly confident that victory was assured. There was still much to deal with, including the three angry dragons that were attacking Hogwarts. Thankfully none of the dorms were immediately vulnerable but that would not be the case for long. The dragons had ripped off pieces of the roof and set fire to it in other places. Large sections of the roof were now on fire.

"Do you have something that can fight them?" Dumbledore asked as he began casting Aguamenti, sending huge amounts of water out of his wand and onto the roof where it could extinguish the fires.

"I might." Hermione replied. "I just hope the solution isn't as destructive as the problem..."

"Yes, we will hope." Dumbledore agreed. "Do it."

Hermione nodded and began the summoning process. The bracelets on her wrists glowed as she moved her arms in the elaborate dance she had done many times before. Soon a portal began to appear in front of her and as it flattened out it rose higher and higher into the sky. Finally the large portal stabilized and for a few seconds nothing happened, but then a monstrous roar came thundering out of it followed by a winged beast about the same size as the dragons.

When Dumbledore first saw the creature he thought that Hermione had simply summoned another dragon to combat the ones they were facing, but as it unfurled its wings and began to fly he realized this was no dragon. To begin with the color was all wrong: its large scales shined like pieces of bluish-grey metal. Furthermore its torso was shaped almost like a man's, except of course for the giant wings sprouting out the back. The beasts blood red eyes began to scan around for its target and soon landed on a Chinese Fireball attempting to rip a hole through the part of the roof over the Great Hall. The creature swooped in towards the dragon the two huge beasts began to fight on top of the roof. They each used their claws, teeth, and tails to attack the other but it appeared that the dragon was at a disadvantage because it could not as easily break through the summoned creature's hide. Their rooftop fight soon took to the skies as the dragon attempted to put some distance between them, but Hermione's creature was in no mood to allow that and followed the dragon to continue the fight.

"Hermione, what is that thing?" Dumbledore asked in amazement.

"I'm not sure exactly." Hermione replied. "But I do know you won't normally find them on Earth."

The dragon once again broke free and flew off, but its goal was clearly not to escape. The Chinese Fireball turned and attacked the other dragon-like creature with a jet of fire out of its mouth. Hermione's creature was forced to turn and shield itself from the flames, but once they ended roared in anger and began its own attack. However it was not flames that left this creature's mouth but instead a large beam of light that smashed into the dragon and knocked it out of the air. It crashed down on the ground below, in the process crushing a few dozen inferii, before giving up the fight and flying away. The summoned beast then turned its attention towards another of the dragons and began its attack.

"I don't think he can beat both of those dragons, Professor." Hermione said. "The fight with that other dragon seems to have taken a lot out of him."

"Then it is up to me to assist." Dumbledore noted. With all of the roof fires out Dumbledore could now focus on driving the dragons off. Hermione wasn't sure what spells the Headmaster was using but they did seem to be effective in annoying the giant dragon. After less than a minute of Dumbledore's constant attack the dragon had been blinded and forced to the ground with one of its wings seemingly injured beyond repair. Even so the enraged dragon was not ready to concede defeat and began attacking the castle walls on foot, much to the displeasure of the wizards on both sides who were still fighting there.

"My place is once again on the battlefield, Ms Granger." Dumbledore noted. "Continue the attack. Oh and Ms Granger... ten points to Gryffindor. Very well done."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione replied, laughing at the inappropriate timing of the Headmaster's statement. Dumbledore left the tower and headed back down to the castle walls. He knew that Voldemort must be getting close to starting the ritual if he had not already, and if that happened their only choice would be to evacuate the castle as quickly as possible. The portkeys, which would take the students far enough away from the castle to avoid the explosion, had already been created. All that was left was for him to lower the wards preventing apparition or portkey use and give the order for the evacuation to begin. Dumbledore hoped it did not come to that, but the safety of his students was his top priority.


"I wouldn't take another step, Potter." Voldemort warned. "Do you have any idea what will happen if I don't complete the ritual now?"

"An explosion." Harry replied. "One big enough to destroy everything for miles."

"You've done your homework, I see." Voldemort noted. "You are correct. Stop me now and Hogwarts will be nothing more than a memory, along with all your friends inside. Do you really want thousands upon thousands of deaths on your conscience?"

Harry walked closer to Voldemort anyway. Although both of them had their wands out, neither was pointed towards the other. Harry could feel the power building in the air around him as the magic of the ritual began to gather the strength it would need to open the portal. It was oddly fascinating to watch, Harry thought, although perhaps deadlier than anything he had ever seen.

"You can still stop this." Harry said. "It doesn't have to end this way."

"And why exactly would I want to do that?" Voldemort asked. "Let me guess, if I don't stop it you'll kill me? You're a deluded fool if you think that you have anywhere near the power or skill necessary to match mine. Believe me, I know you are going to try and kill me no matter what. That is our destiny after all, isn't it?"

"If you know that much you should remember something else." Harry replied. "That I have the power to vanquish you, a power you know not."

"We're at the end now, Potter." Voldemort observed. "Why don't you just go ahead and tell me what this power I know not is?"

"Stop the ritual." Harry suggested. "Then I'll tell you."

"Oh I think not." Voldemort replied. "There is nothing you could offer me that would be worth stopping this for. Soon either Hogwarts will be destroyed or I will have the power to rule this world forever. Either way, you will be dead."

"You're wrong about one thing, Riddle." Harry smirked. "You won't live forever. I've destroyed every single one of your Horcruxes. The diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, the snake, and even the one you didn't realize you had made hidden inside my scar. You are mortal now."

"You are most troublesome, Harry Potter." Voldemort said angrily. "But there are, of course, other ways to achieve immortality. Trust me, I will find a way to live on. So, seeing as how convincing me to stop is impossible, what is your next move? Do you let the end come? Do you run? Do you challenge me and either die trying or succeed and cause everyone and everything you've ever loved to be destroyed? Truly horrific options, wouldn't you agree?"

Harry clenched his wand in his hand and felt the anger and rage rising inside him. Voldemort was taunting him and Harry realized his choices weren't good. He had hoped this moment would not come, but it had. He and Dumbledore had discussed what would be done if this should happen and so Harry knew what he must do. He would fight Voldemort and disrupt the ritual, allowing it to fail and Hogwarts to be destroyed. Meanwhile Dumbledore would lead the evacuation of the castle while Harry kept Voldemort from fleeing, ensuring that he died in the explosion. He, of course, would also probably die but it was worth it if it took Voldemort out of the world forever.

"I'm going to kill you, Tom Riddle." Harry announced. "Hogwarts will burn, but you will be dead. Some will die, but many will be saved."

"Very well then, Potter." Voldemort said as he stepped away from the cauldron and raised his wand at his opponent. "Let's see if you truly have a power I know not."

Harry and Voldemort circled each other for a moment, both waiting to see what the other did. Then, in a flash, they both launched their attacks and began their final battle.


"Neville! Harry's fighting Voldemort!" Daphne yelled as she pointed to the model of Hogwarts, much like the one found in Dumbledore's office, the Room of Requirement had provided. It showed the movements of everyone outside the castle and had just registered massive power surges between Harry and Voldemort. She knew this could only mean one thing.

"Daphne, I know you want to be there." Neville said. "But what possible help can you be?

"I can't just sit here, Neville!" Daphne replied. "Harry is down there fight for his life and for all of us. The least I can do is go down there and cheer him on. I know it's silly, but I have to be there."

"Ok." Neville shrugged. "I'm going to stay here and monitor things. Be careful, Daphne."

"I will." Daphne assured him before giving her friend one last hug and running out the door. The Marauder's Map was spread out on another table, giving them a view of what was happening inside the castle. The marker with Daphne's name on it was already headed down the stairs to the sixth floor. Neville wished her luck again before returning his focus to the rest of the battle.

In another part of the castle Ron Weasley was trying not to be noticed. The fact that Fred and George, Hermione, Neville, and Harry had never come back to the common room had not escaped him. It was clear that the castle was under attack and for some reason they were a part of it. Ron had no real desire to fight, but he did want to figure out what was going on. The sound of footsteps in the corridor ahead made him freeze. It was just Filch, he saw, running upstairs for some reason. Once Filch was out of sight Ron continued on and decided to head downstairs and away from Filch who would just try to send him back to the common room.

This part of the castle was oddly quiet, he thought. And somehow creepy as well. Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket and nervously continued on. For some reason he had a very bad feeling turning the next corner, but even so he continued on. As he neared the end of the hall a girl's scream echoed down the hall, loud and very close.

Daphne had not been paying close enough attention she realized too late. She had been running through the empty halls on her way downstairs, barely watching where she was going, when all of the sudden a dark shape the size of a dog had appeared in front of her and before she could slow down she had tripped over it and fallen to the ground. She hit hard before rolling to a stop after hitting the wall. She lay on the ground for a moment, making sure she was ok, before attempting to get back up. That was when something heavy jumped on her back and forced her back to the ground. She rolled hard and threw it off before scrambling away from it. It was then that she saw the thing that had attacked her was giant spider, and it was not alone. In all there were a half dozen acromantulas positioned around her. Daphne screamed as she pushed herself back up on her feet and the acromantulas closed in on her.

When Ron rounded the corner he almost screamed, too. There was nothing in the world he feared more than spiders, in fact that was the form boggarts took around him. He had seen spiders like these years before when he and Harry had been in the Forbidden Forest. The scream he had heard came from Daphne Greengrass, he saw, who was now fumbling for her wand to defend herself.

"Stupefy!" Ron yelled. His stunning spell hit one of the spiders and seemed to make it dizzy, but did not knock it out as he had expected. Its most obvious effect, however, was that the large spiders' attention was now focused on him. "A little help?"

"Reducto!" Daphne said. Her spell blasted one of the acromantulas apart and Ron, seeing the spell's effects, began copying her. Soon all six of the acromantulas were dead and both Ron and Daphne were safe again.

"I HATE spiders." Ron said, still shaking from the encounter. "I really do."

"Thanks Ron." Daphne said. "Really, I appreciate the help. You should get back to your dorm."

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, knowing that her answer would not be to the Slytherin dorms.

"Harry's fighting Voldemort." Daphne replied. "I need to be there."

"Oh. He'll be fine, you know. Harry's fought You-Know-Who loads of times and always makes it through." Ron said. "Why should this be any different?"

"I hope so." Daphne said before turning and continuing her trek through the castle. As she was about to take the next flight of stairs she heard Ron calling out to her again.

"Hey Daphne!" Ron began. "I never should have bothered Harry about being with you. You're good for him. A better friend than I ever was."

"You're not so bad, Ron." Daphne smiled. "I bet you things will work out ok in the end."

Ron nodded and watched as Daphne ran down the stairs and out of view. He stood still for a moment, unsure of what he should do, before deciding that if Harry was fighting Voldemort than he should watch. But not from too close. A classroom with a window overlooking the fight would be close enough. Ron carefully began making his way through the hallway and prayed he wouldn't see any more spiders.


As Dumbledore stepped out onto the castle walls, ready to rejoin the fight, he saw that the thing he had feared the most had come to pass. Voldemort had indeed begun the ritual. The battle between his forces and Voldemort's was quickly coming to an end, with the Aurors and Order of the Phoenix emerging as the victor, but Voldemort had never really cared about that battle or any of the people fighting and dying in it. To him it was a success because it provided him the time he needed and that was all that ever mattered.

Dumbledore looked out over the battlefield at his allies who were still fighting, most probably believing they had just achieved the most significant victory of the war. Unlike the students, they would have to stay behind in case Harry failed and Voldemort completed the ritual. For them, he feared, the most dangerous part of the day was still ahead.

Dumbledore turned and walked back in the castle on his way to the closest dorm which happened to be Ravenclaw. As he walked through the halls he hoped it would not be the last time he had this chance but feared it would be. If Hogwarts fell a thousand years of history and knowledge would be lost forever. Magical Britain, which had sent its sons and daughters here for a millennium, would never be the same. Hogwarts was the only home Dumbledore had known for decades and he wished there was something more that could be done, but they had searched for some way out of this situation and found nothing. There was nothing left to do but get the students out and hope for the best.

When he got to the door to the Ravenclaw dorm it opened automatically and he stepped in to see dozens of frightened students huddled together in the common room. They clearly were aware that a battle was being fought just outside and were justifiably worried that they were in danger. Gasps of shock followed by cheers erupted in the room when they realized that the Headmaster, long thought terribly ill or even dead, was alive and well and there to help them.

"Professor!" one student yelled. "What's going on?"

"Voldemort has attacked." he answered honestly. "Even now he and his men are doing battle with Aurors from the Ministry and your teachers. Now, everyone gather round."

The Ravenclaws obeyed his command and began huddling around him. Dumbledore smiled warmly at them, hoping to lessen their fears somewhat, before reaching out with his magic and lowering the anti-portkey and apparition wards around the school. It was only then that he realized something was very wrong. As soon as the Hogwarts wards fell a new set of wards was raised and on these Voldemort's dark magical signature was easily identifiable. As long as Voldemort lived there would be no escape from Hogwarts. There was simply not enough time to evacuate the castle in another way and with a battle still raging outside it was not safe for them there. Their best option was to wait and hope that Harry was able to kill Voldemort before the ritual failed and destroyed Hogwarts.

The Ravenclaws were still waiting for him to say something, Dumbledore realized. Comforting them was perhaps the only useful thing he could do right now.

"Let me tell you something children, there's no need to fear." Dumbledore began. "The best witches and wizards in the world are here fighting to protect you. And I will be here to ensure your safety as well..."


As their fight continued Voldemort was forced to admit to himself that he had vastly underestimated Harry Potter. He had no idea what this 'power he knew not' could be but it would take a fool to not see that Harry Potter was a powerful and talented wizard. With a couple of more years training, Voldemort thought, Potter might even be comparable to himself. That, of course, could not be allowed to happen. It was a shame that there was no hope of ever convincing Potter to join him; together they could conquer to world much quicker than it would take him to do it alone. But Potter had to die now before he could grow into an even bigger threat to his hold on power than he was.

Potter's weakness, as far as Voldemort was concerned, was his unwillingness to embrace the dark arts as he had. Today, Potter would die because of that failure. Neither combatant had landed any strong blows in the battle thus far but that was about to change.

"It's a pity there is so much about magic you'll never learn, Potter." Voldemort laughed. "Like this."

The spell Voldemort cast created a bright flash of light that caused Harry to momentarily look away and shield his eyes. When he turned back a moment later he was surprised to see Voldemort had made copies of himself and now there were three of them. It struck him as odd that Voldemort would boast of creating illusions, which was not considered a dark art or extremely advanced magic. The three Voldemort began spreading out and encircling Harry while he waited for one of them to cast a spell, revealing himself as the true Voldemort.

Suddenly the Voldemort on his left sent flesh eating curse at his head which Harry quickly shielded against. Harry smiled and turned his focus to that Voldemort, ignoring the others. But just moments after his attack began Harry sensed two spells flying at his back, cast by the versions of Voldemort he had thought were just illusions. Not having time to raise a shield, Harry threw himself to the ground and the spells flew harmlessly over him. By the time he scrambled back to his feet he could hear all three Voldemort's laughing at him at the same time, and when he spoke it came out of all three mouths.

"This is no mere illusion, Potter." Voldemort said mockingly. "This is power that old fool Dumbledore would never teach."

Harry's eyes darted back and forth, waiting for the next attack. Voldemort was right about one thing, he had never heard of a spell like this. But he did know a few things about the magical principles the spell must adhere to, and one of those was that it was impossible for Voldemort to split himself into three pieces and have each piece be as powerful as the original. Additionally he still only had one brain to control three bodies, meaning his reaction times would probably be slower.

Harry started running at one of the Voldemorts, trying to get close to him and away from the others. All three began firing spells at him, but just as Harry thought none of them were as good as Voldemort by himself was. Certainly still good enough to take out most wizards without a problem, but then again Harry was not most wizards. When he was within mere feet of Voldemort his magical senses let him know that there were two spells headed right at him but again he was able to duck underneath them. This time though they did not fly harmlessly over him, instead they both hit the version of Voldemort Harry had been running towards, causing him to vanish in a puff of smoke. Harry turned back to face the two remaining Voldemorts and saw that they wore identical angry looks on their faces.

"Neat trick, Riddle." said Harry. "What else have you got?"

The two Voldemorts walked towards each other and fused into one as the touched, leaving only one Dark Lord standing in their place. Voldmort knew that the ritual was still building power and it would be at least another ten or fifteen minutes until he needed to activate it, meaning he still had plenty of time to kill Potter. Voldemort didn't reply to Harry's question, he simply began his next attack. Dark smoke began coming out of the end of Voldemort's wand and for a few seconds it did nothing, but then when there was enough smoke it began forming into a shape. Predictably, the smoke became a snake and began slithering through the air towards Harry.

Harry sent a fire spell through the snake, hoping that would get rid of it, but the spell passed harmlessly through it. He kept trying but nothing he did seemed to work and every second the snake was getting closer to him. He could see Voldemort watching and laughing as he struggled to figure out what to do. When the snake finally reached him it began curling around him, but even so Harry couldn't feel it and began to wonder if it was nothing more than a distraction. Then the smoke began to solidify and constrict around his body, pinning his arms to his side and crushing the air out of him.

"How's that, Potter?" Voldemort asked. "You were a fool to challenge me now; this might have been close in a decade or two."

Harry struggled against his bonds but they held tight. He could still use his wand but none of the spells he used against this piece of dark magic seemed to be having any effect. He looked up to see Voldemort laughing at with his wand pointed in his direction. A moment later a dark red spell was heading towards him and Harry knew that he could not let it hit him or all hope would be lost. Using his wand Harry triggered a blast at his feet that sent him flying through the air and out of the path of the spell. It was a drastic and painful move, but he was still alive so it was worth it. Now, however, he had been knocked to the ground and still couldn't move.

"You can't keep that up forever!" Voldemort taunted. "Perhaps I was wrong to expect more from you."

Harry turned his head to try and look at his foe, but in his current position he couldn't see where Voldemort was. He could, however, hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. Harry kept struggling and was able to roll slightly; from here he could see not only Voldemort but the castle behind him. And there, on the castle walls watching him was Daphne.

'No!' he thought desperately. Daphne was supposed to have left by now, as were all of the Hogwarts students. But instead she had chosen to stay with him until the end; just like he would have done for her if their situations were reversed. Harry had to do something, he knew, if he wanted her to survive. But before he could save her, he had to save himself. An idea finally came to him, a dangerous one to be sure, but this was no time to play it safe.

Harry began focus on gathering his magical power as if preparing to case a very difficult spell; this had been something Kingsley had worked with him on for a long time. He kept focusing his power but never provided it with an outlet, causing it to grow unstable. Voldemort sensed what was happening and stopped, curious at what his opponent was doing. From his point of view it almost seemed as if Harry was trying to blow himself up. Finally, when Harry could stand the stress of the technique no more, Harry completely let go and the magic blasted out of every pore in his body all at once in an explosion strong enough to even knock Voldemort back a few steps. But when the dust cleared Harry was still alive and now free of Voldemort's magical bonds. His body was covered in blood and scratches, an unavoidable result, and his clothes hung off his body in tatters but even so Harry was pleased with the outcome.

Harry knew his only option was to keep up the attack and hope something worked. With a wave of his wand a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck right in front of Voldemort. Frustrated he had missed Harry summoned another and another until Voldemort was forced to raise a shield over his head to protect himself. In an instant Harry changed his strategy and fired a spell right at Voldemort which hit him in the chest and exploded in a shower of sparks and fire. Voldemort roared in anger and Harry knew he had finally hurt the Dark Lord.

Voldemort responded with a flame whip strike that Harry narrowly avoided by jumping to the side and casting his own spell which turned the ground at Voldemort's feet into quicksand, limiting his movement. Voldemort attempted to vanish the quicksand, a move Harry knew would not work. This gave him the chance to attack again, this time with the electricity curse he had learned from Moody over the summer. Even though Harry was putting all of his power into it the Dark Lord made no sound and simply solidified the sand around his feet and exploded it, finally freeing him. Now free to attack, Voldemort seemed to breathe a giant ball of fire that surrounded Harry before imploding on itself. Harry was able to cast a flame freezing charm on himself and only suffered mild burns from the move, but the move had distracted him enough to leave him open to a blasting curse which sent him flying backwards and tumbling across the Quidditch pitch.

As Harry slowly pushed himself to his feet he used his free hand to wipe his face of the blood and sweat that covered it. He knew that he must look like a complete mess but his magic and the adrenaline was keeping him on his feet and still fighting. Thankfully Voldemort didn't look much better. His robes too had mostly been burnt and blasted away during the fight and he was bleeding in several places.

Suddenly Harry froze and his jaw dropped open in surprise. He looked at his hand, covered in blood. Then to Voldemort's chest and shoulder, also covered in blood. Behind him the whirlwind in the cauldron continued to swirl as more and more power was built up in preparation for the ritual. Harry raised his wand and smiled as a renewed sense of hope was born within him. His change in attitude was so drastic that even Voldemort noticed it.

"Happy, are you Potter?" Voldemort laughed. "Ready to accept your death then?"

"No. I'm going to kill you and save Hogwarts." Harry replied. "And in way, it's all thanks to you."

"What are you talking about?" Voldemort demanded to know.

"You used your blood in the ritual, that's how it knows you are the one performing it." Harry explained. "But you must have forgotten that you used my blood to resurrect yourself. It's MY blood flowing through your veins, and my blood controlling the ritual. So it turns out that you aren't the only one who can stop it. I can, too."

Voldemort growled as he processed what Harry was telling him, angry when he was forced to agree with Harry's interpretation of the situation. Either of them could seize control of the ritual and open the portal or shut it down completely. His mistake had put all his plans and hard work in jeopardy.

"All you are going to do is die!" Voldemort yelled as he launched another attack and the battle between them continued.


Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who suggested ways for Harry to get out of this situation, but believe me I had it figured out before I posted the last chapter. Almost to the end now!