Chapter 24:

The dark power – Ourans calls it Odium – wounded Equality, but Imagination arrived too late, and some of her power, in the form of splinters, escaped before he could restore her. Without it all, he cannot save her, and she continues to weaken. I believe this is the cause of the axial tilt. There is no other explanation I can come up with, and I fear – with her current state – that inequality will continue to spread."

From the Secret Diary of Merlinus Caledonensis; Earth, 537 Common Era

Harry grabbed Dumbledore and slammed him into the wall. The Headmaster stirred, then tried to reach for a wand that wasn't there. Fred released Ginny, standing beside his brother and pointing his wand at Dumbledore.

Voldemort? How could he be back?! She supposed that was easy. The Elixir of Life. The more important question was how was he still alive in the first place.

"How is my parents' killer still alive!" Harry yelled at Dumbledore. He raised his free hand up beside his head, and it burst into flame. Dumbledore shook his head, scanning the hallway, marking everyone's positions. Not good. Ginny called the Charge Force into her veins. She would not be caught unaware this time.

"Speak!"

Dumbledore eyed Harry, then sighed.

"Voldemort tried to kill you when you a baby. But your mother cast herself in front of the spell, dying in your place. When Voldemort tried to use the Killing Curse against you after she was dead, the magic from her sacrifice caused his curse to rebound. He should have died. But Tom had been experimenting with magic for a very long time. He knew things even I do not, though I don't know where he got this information."

"Not answering the question," Harry growled.

"I'm getting there. Enchantment is of Equality, as you know. But Equality is a power of balance. For every action, there is a reaction. At least, there should be, if the power hadn't been splintered. It's why we use wands to mitigate the backlash. Like recoil from a gun. Wandless magic is incredibly difficult for precisely that reason. But ritualistic magics like those Tom Riddle performed on himself? The price of that magic is high. It mutilates the soul. The Killing Curse is a spell that separates the soul from the body. Tom's soul was so broken by the time the curse struck him that it malfunctioned. Voldemort's essence was splintered and scattered – trapped in the Valley, the Cognitive Realm. He was effectively dead. So that was what I told everyone had happened."

"You lying son of a bitch," Sirius hissed.

"How has he rebuilt himself?" McGonagall demanded.

"His spirit web must have reformed over time," Dumbledore suggested, shrugging, "I honestly don't…" He locked eyes with Harry. "Of course. I should have guessed that."

"Guessed what?" Ginny said, stepping forward, trying very hard not to let her body start shaking.

Dumbledore started laughing, and Harry blasted the wall beside the Professor's face.

"Answer the question!"

"You!" Dumbledore exclaimed, still laughing, "How clever. The scar on your face. It was created by one of the splinters of Tom's spirit. Dead and dormant. Clinging to your own spirit web like a leach. It was partly why I hid you away at the Dursleys. To keep an eye on it. But something happened I could not foresee."

"Me," Mak whispered.

"Precisely. Remember what happened when I tried to tag you with the Trace?"

Harry clenched his jaw. "You almost tore our bond away. Yes, I remember."

"The Trace is of Equality. It reacted with your bond to Makani because she is of Imagination."

Harry closed his eyes.

"Mak bonding to me shocked the piece of Voldemort's soul free," he realised.

"And gave it the charge of magic needed to begin rebuilding itself. In a way, it's all your fault."

Harry punched Dumbledore in the face, breaking his nose.

"What was your plan for Equality? Why did you want the faeries?"

Dumbledore looked to Mak's fluttering form and grinned.

"Splinters."

"Daphne mentioned that you wanted Splinters. What are they?" Sirius asked, standing with Sammy and Remus beside Fred and George, fists clenched.

"Us," Ember muttered.

Dumbledore huffed. "All the faeries on Earth were banished when the Pact of Truth was put in place, bound to the Heart-Stone. And yet, here your creatures are. Haven't you wondered what was so special about them? Why they could cross, and no others could?"

Ginny had wondered. But Ember couldn't remember, so she had simply stopped worrying about it.

"What are they?"

"When Equality was splintered by Odium, he detonated her power across the planet, creating Witches and Wizards and seeding the world with her Investiture, her magic. But Imagination arrived before Odium could finish the job. Weakened by his fight with Equality, Odium was forced to flee, and Imagination gathered Equality's essence and built himself a shelter so he could heal her."

"The Vault of Dreams," Harry said.

"Precisely. But he wasn't fast enough. Pieces of that essence escaped his grip. At first, they were caught by the Vault, but over thousands of years they escaped anyway. Ironically, it's the same basic principle as Voldemort's death, just on a much grander scale."

"That still doesn't explain what it has to do with the faeries," Emily said, staring daggers at Dumbledore.

"Hogs, The Sorting Hat, was the first. How he spotted that broken piece of cosmic power as it escaped into the world I don't know. But he did spot it, and he grabbed hold – fusing with it. He came to the founders, trying to figure out what he had done. His power drew them here to Hogwarts, where they found the Perpendicularity. They built the school atop it, and Hogs bound himself to the castle – fuelling the wards with that splinter of infinity."

"And the same thing happened to the other splinters?" Remus asked, brow furrowed. Ginny glanced to Fleur, whose gaze was flickering between everyone in utter confusion.

"Nicolas captured the third splinter and the faerie that bonded to it, using them to create the Philosophers Stone. The Peverell Brothers…" Vel hissed at the name. "… captured the fourth, fifth and sixth pieces, forging from them the Deathly Hallows."

"What about the second?"

"Marilyn. The faerie companion of Merlinus Caledonensis. It is thanks to Merlin that I know any of this."

McGonagall facepalmed. "The final year of Merlin's journal. Before he went missing. He wasn't under a curse at all was he?"

"I believe not," Dumbledore said, "He found the Vault and travelled inside, where he was lost to history. Until Nicolas tracked down the Vault himself and found that Merlin had left a second journal behind, bidding the finder to gather the splinters of Equality and return them to the Vault."

"And you were going to do it to what? Claim the power for yourself?" George asked, rolling his eyes. Dumbledore ignored him.

"Merlin's journal mentions eight splinters. We had five, and one had already been returned. That left two more."

"It was you," Mak scowled, face darkening, "you were the one who tried to capture me."

"You shouldn't have interfered. You ruined centuries of careful planning," Dumbledore said, anger showing on his blood-covered face.

"And I made eight," Ember said.

"You were the one we missed. I was so busy trying to find the Chamber of bloody Secrets to rescue this foolish twit," he gestured to Ginny, "that I missed your capture of the final piece…" This time Ginny punched the old codger. A bright purple bruise had started to form around his eye, and blood was dripping from his nose and his lip.

McGonagall pushed Harry out of the way, and he almost fried the woman.

"I've heard enough," she said, voice trembling, "I Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress do hereby invoke the Right of Authority in response to these horrific acts done by a man I once called a friend." The castle trembled, and Dumbledore winced at the same time McGonagall gasped, grabbing her head and stumbling back. Harry immediately shoved Dumbledore back into the wall again, while Remus and Nylah helped McGonagall.

"What did you do?" Remus asked.

"I took emergency control of the wards," the elderly woman stated, blinking several times. "It is a lot to process."

"You can do that?" Sirius exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"In emergencies," she replied, "It will last for a week. Enough time for the board to be gathered and evidence presented. It is a last resort method." She shook her head again, trying to clear it.

Harry had ignored them all. He placed a finger to Dumbledore's forehead, electricity crackling along it.

"The only reason I don't kill you now is because I still need your ass. Why would Voldemort come back to the castle? He has the stone, why didn't he just flee?" Dumbledore didn't answer at first, though whether that was because he probably had a concussion or was thinking about the question, Ginny wasn't sure.

"I can think of only one reason," he said eventually, "the Perpendicularity."

Ginny grabbed the wall for support. She probably should have guessed that.

"He's heading for the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry threw Dumbledore into one of the cells, stunned him five times, then destroyed the door and sealed the opening.

That done, he turned to Ginny, who had about as much colour in her skin as a piece of blank paper.

"I hate to ask, but I need you to get me into the Chamber." She shivered at the word, but, to her credit, she didn't freeze up or complain. She simply took off down the corridor back towards the castle. Harry followed her, the others behind him.

"Professor McGonagall, Nylah, Remus; evacuate the school," he said, making a list and counting down each task in his head, "then call for Amelia Bones and get every single Auror she's got here as fast as possible. Even that Kingsley fellow. If we can't keep Voldemort bottled up, maybe we can overwhelm him with sheer numbers before he has a chance to escape. Sammy?"

"Yes?" the red-head asked, pushing forward. Harry withdrew Dumbledore's wand from his cloak and handed it to her.

"I can't risk Voldemort getting this. Take Fleur as magical protection and go straight to Sirius home. Grab Hogs and use the Floo to return to London. Then go straight to the Bunker. You need to get those faeries as far away from Hogwarts as you can, as fast as you can." She nodded, but Fleur gritted her teeth, so Harry turned on her.

"Can I trust you?" She paused, eyes flicking towards Gabrielle. Then she turned back to Harry and nodded.

"I will protect your friend. You 'av my word."

"Good. Fred, George, Emily, come here."

The group stopped at the exit from the dungeons and Harry placed his hands on George's chest.

"Um, thanks, Harry? But I kind of steer my ship straight…" Harry's hands blazed with white light, and George gasped as his wounds healed. He repeated the process with Fred and Emily, who both nodded their thanks. Professor McGonagall and Remus ran off in opposite directions, Sammy and Fleur not far behind them. As they did, Flitwick returned, sans corpse and sword, looking bewildered.

"What's happening?"

"Voldemort stole the Philosophers Stone and is going to try to use the Perpendicularity beneath the castle to restore his powers," Gabrielle explained blandly. To his credit, Flitwick took that in stride.

"Well okay then."

"Hey Sirius,"

"Yeah boss?" Harry couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"Still want revenge?"

"You bet your ass."

"Good. You and Professor Flitwick are with us."

Ginny led the team to a girl's bathroom on the second floor, where they were greeted by a ghost. Harry assumed there wasn't usually a giant hole in the ground where the sinks were supposed to be.

"He's already gone down," the ghost said in a high-pitched voice, "You should hurry." Then she dove into a toilet. Harry turned to Fred, George and Emily.

"If we're not back in fifteen minutes. Cave in the entrance. It won't hold him, but it should delay him long enough to evacuate the castle." Emily grabbed Harry's arm.

"You're going down there alone? He killed your parents."

"Which is why I have to be the one to finish what they started," he told her. Emily bit her lip, a tear sliding down her cheek. Then she began unbuckling her belt. She held it out to him, and Harry's eyes locked on the gun still holstered in it. He took the weapon and its holster with a nod and shifted it to his own belt.

"Please don't die," she whispered. She looked as though she wanted to say something else, but then turned away and walked over to the door.

"I don't like staying up here," Fred said sternly.

"I don't care. You're good at magic Fred. Damn good. But against him? You'll be more useful here."

"What if you aren't back in fifteen minutes?" George asked.

"Then we won't be back at all," Ginny stated, still staring at the hole in the ground. Gabrielle was beside her, rubbing her shoulders. Sirius and Flitwick stood a respectful distance away.

Harry stepped up to the girls and pulled Ginny into a hug.

"You don't have to…"

"No. I do. This is it, Harry. This is the moment I make up for all the mistakes I made. I beat him once. I can do it again." She steeled herself, then stood tall at the opening, and Harry smiled. Never had he been more proud of anyone than he was of Ginny at that moment. He took her right hand and Gabrielle gripped her left, Mak, Ember and Vel perched on each person's shoulder. Then, together, they jumped down into the darkness.

Daphne bolted upright as Remus Lupin ran into the hospital wing, heavy breathing.

She was lying on a hospital bed, her knee in a cast, her sister Astoria at her side. She'd slept for the past two hours, and Madame Pomfrey had worked her magic to heal the wounds on her face and restore her energy. But while the knee had been repaired, it was still fragile.

"What's the matter?" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, moving from the side of one of the students wounded in the explosion on the Seventh Floor (Astoria had filled her in).

"We need to evacuate the school. A…" he paused for a brief moment, glancing towards Daphne, then continued, "You Know Who is in the castle." Daphne and Astoria both froze in utter terror.

"You Know Who? But he's dead!" Madame Pomfrey said, a tremble entering her voice Daphne couldn't fault in the slightest.

"Apparently Dumbledore lied to the whole bloody world. Now he's here. Harry has gone to the Chamber of Secrets to confront him, but we need to get everyone else out!"

"Oh dear," Madame Pomfrey said, before rushing to the fireplace in her office and calling for nurses from St Mungo's to come and help. Remus fled back the way he came. In less than a minute, Mediwitches were emerging from the fireplace and rushing to move all the kids. Daphne glanced at Astoria, who looked terrified.

"Go with them. Get out of the castle," Daphne told her, throwing back the covers and standing up on her tender leg. "Find Mum and Dad. Tell them the truth."

Astoria grabbed her arm.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what I can to help my friends."

The Chamber of Secrets was just as Ginny remembered it. Dark, dank, and reeking of a smell that was part fish guts, part rat faeces. Holding in her mental terror, she led the way through the dark tunnel, avoiding the animal bones littering the ground, and the giant snakeskin discarded beside the wall.

"Um, quick question?" Gabrielle whispered, though her voice echoed anyway, "Did Dumbledore actually get rid of the Basilisk in the end?" That was an excellent question indeed.

"Yes," Flitwick said, and Ginny couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. "Professor Dumbledore, Snape and I came down here after Ginny escaped and used a rooster to kill the beast. We harvested the corpse and used the money to repair the damage to the school. Then we burned it."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Gabrielle whispered.

The snake carved doorway at the end of the tunnel had been wrenched open and discarded, the hinges mangled and rusted. Harry had used the Charge Force to create a sphere of light for illumination, and it stopped at the doorway. A dull rumbling echoed from the other end of the hall.

"Follow up question," Sirius said, "The axial tilt. Its orientated to evil at the moment, isn't it?"

This time they all nodded.

"Excellent. Just wanted to make sure."

Ginny climbed the rusted ladder into the opening and exited the other side into the Chamber proper.

The snake effigies were still here. The giant statue of Salazar Slytherin still dominated the room. The stone was the same glossy black. The water in the two fountain ponds alongside the walkway remained still as glass. And on the far side of the room, beneath the domed roof, was the pool of light. The Perpendicularity. In its centre was a figure in robes of the purest black; white, hairless head creating a frightening juxtaposition. He stood with arms thrown wide, absorbing the flecks of rainbow energy that rose up from the pool's surface. The silver metal contraption she'd seen last time had been removed from the pool and discarded. She supposed it was probably Aluminium.

Harry grabbed Ginny's shoulder and pressed something into her palm. She glanced down and started slightly when she realised it was Flamel's aluminium knife. She locked eyes with Harry, and he nodded softly to her. Then he pulled ahead of the others, stalking down the pathway, Mak fluttering beside him.

"Tom Riddle," he called. Voldemort lowered his arms and turned around, a sick smile crossing his pale lips.

"Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. From what I hear, people have developed quite the opinion of you." His voice was cold and high pitched, but his words were lined with a sense of malice Ginny couldn't describe. With Gabrielle at her side and Flitwick and Sirius behind her, the foursome moved forward after Harry.

"I don't suppose we can let bygones be bygones, can we?" Harry asked, "I mean, you killed my parents, I killed you, then I accidentally helped bring you back to life. I'd say we're even. I'll let you finish… doing whatever it is that you're doing, you agree not to go around killing nice folks – you're more than welcome to the assholes – and we can both go on our merry ways. Deal?"

Voldemort studied Harry for a second, then stepped out of the pool, bare feet glistening with rainbow light. His eyes were a deep, blood red. This was Tom Riddle? No. This wasn't the thing that had poisoned Ginny's mind. That charismatic, charming boy was dead. This was the monster he'd become.

"An interesting proposition. But, unfortunately, I'm afraid I will have to decline. You see, I left a great work unfinished. Now that I have returned, I intend to see it fulfilled." He smiled then, a chilling expression that sent shivers right down to Ginny's bones. She tore her eyes away from Voldemort and cast her gaze around the pool. There! A glint of light reflected off a red stone lying near the lip of the pool. The Philosophers Stone.

"However, I am impressed with you, Harry Potter. You have come further than I could have ever dreamed when I intended to kill you that night. Perhaps I was in error. Perhaps, instead of killing you, I should have taken you. Groomed you to use your power with wisdom and precision. I intend to remedy that mistake now. Join me. I have seen your power. United, none could stop us. The muggles deserve to be destroyed. They are poisoning the Earth, tearing away her resources and violating her most sacred places. We can do better, you and I. We must do better." Voldemort's eyes gleamed just a little.

"I will even allow you this gift. Specify your terms, Harry Potter. Do you wish me to pardon the blood traitor families? A harem at your beck and call? Or maybe it is the muggle-borns you wish spared? I am willing to learn from my mistakes, and my blind hatred of them has tempered over the years. They have potential to offer. Together we can nourish it!"

Ginny blinked in shock. What? It was a trick, surely. Ginny glanced to Ember at the same time Harry looked to Mak. Both faeries were in similar states of astonishment. Then they nodded. He was telling the truth?! What the actual fuck?

Voldemort followed Harry's gaze.

"Ah. So that is your price," he said, "Very well. Join me, Harry Potter, and I will undo the Pact of Truth." Harry, Ginny and Gabrielle all flinched in unison.

"That's impossible," Harry breathed.

"Nothing is impossible. You of all people should know that. Think of it, Harry! Faeries, free to roam the Earth once more. A new generation of Imagineers to inherit a clean Earth!"

Harry stood deathly still for a few precious moments, before placing a hand on his hip and sighing.

"You have a really good sales pitch, you know that?" he said, nodding to himself. Sirius stirred behind Ginny, but Ember hissed at him, and he said nothing.

"I want the Pact of Truth eradicated, and the people I like spared. You can kill the rest, they all just annoy the shit out of me really. Oh, and I want the harem. That sounds like fun." Ember giggled, which was about the only thing that stopped Ginny from screaming at Harry and asking what the hell he thought he was doing. Sirius was under no such qualms.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he bellowed, trying to run forward. Flitwick and Gabrielle grabbed him, holding him back.

"Haggling, duh," Harry said, throwing a look over his shoulder. Mak laughed out loud, though it appeared that Voldemort couldn't hear her. That was good at least. Harry stepped up to Voldemort and held out his left hand. The right remained on his waist.

"Deal?" Voldemort actually looked shocked at Harry's proffered hand. He glanced at Sirius, who looked about ready to murder his godson, then smiled at Harry and took his hand.

"Deal."

Six individual "CRACKS!" like apparation bursts echoed through the Chamber, and Ginny lifted her hands to her ears. But she stared, stunned, as Voldemort jerked backwards violently, falling to the ground and coughing up blood. Ginny rushed forward, the others beside her. Harry had pulled the muggle weapon from his belt with his right hand and pumped six bullets right into Voldemort's gut.

Just as Ginny reached Harry's side, Voldemort screamed, releasing a shockwave that blasted everyone backwards.

(It should be noted that for about five minutes we totally 100% planned for Harry and Voldemort to take over the world and exterminate all the stupid people on the planet. Not so easy for Coronavirus to spread when everyone crazy is dead! We may have also, just for kicks, wrote like one-thousand words detailing how Harry assassinated a certain world leader who shall remain nameless then became God-Emperor of Earth. One can only wish. *sighs dramatically)

Harry had doubted his plan would work, but, well, it had been worth a try. He summoned the Fusion Force, though it felt more sluggish than it should, and came to a stop in the air above Voldemort. The others weren't so lucky. Ginny flew backwards into the fountain water. That had to be gross. Gabrielle slammed into the wall, Flitwick backflipped several times before conjuring a fluffy pillow to land on. Sirius went skidding along the hallway on his ass, before he too fell into the fountain pool.

Harry dropped back to the ground and called lightning into his fingers.

"You lied to me," Voldemort hissed as he cast a healing charm on his abdomen and stood up slowly, "I'm impressed."

"If it's any consolation, I agree with most of the things you said. Except the genocide part… okay so basically I disagree with all of it. Is that harem still on the table though?"

Voldemort fired the Killing Curse at Harry, and he moved to catch the spell. He pulled the Fusion Force into his hand, and tried to repeat his actions with Malfoy. Only his powers were dragging, as if moving through a filter. Harry was forced to dodge sideways, the spell narrowly missing him. He slammed his foot into the ground, and a wave of stone spikes broke away from the tiles, sharpened to points, and shot towards Voldemort. He deflected them with ease. What the hell was wrong with him?

"You don't think I expected you to find me down here?" Voldemort snapped, stalking towards Harry, a bone-white wand in his hand. "This place is saturated with Equality's power. The pool is made of power. Your ability to draw on Imagination is diminished here, while my powers are merely fuelled!"

Ginny crawled out of the fountain pond and rushed towards the side of the Perpendicularity pool. Flitwick and Sirius rushed up behind Harry, and Mak moved sluggishly in the air beside him.

Harry growled, pulling the Charge Force into his body – or as much of it as he could – then fired lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Voldemort. Flitwick and Sirius began flinging spells of their own. It did nothing. Voldemort moved faster than Harry could believe possible without the Strength Force, dodging and shielding everything they threw at him. Then he retaliated. Dozens of spells lit up the air, and Harry tried his best to forge a shield of Division. He absorbed most of Voldemort's attacks, but the shield faltered at the end of the barrage. A severing charm caught Sirius in the arm, and Harry was blasted backwards by a reductor. He slammed into one of the snake statues and heard his shoulder shatter. He screamed in pain.

That left Flitwick, master duellist, alone against Voldemort.

Ginny grabbed the Philosophers Stone from its place beside the Perpendicularity. She had tried to use the Fusion Force to catch herself when the shockwave hit her, but the power had resisted her. She'd felt that only once before. When she'd tried to push it through her wand. Equality and Imagination rebounding off one another. It must be the pool. The closer one was to it; the weaker Design was. She supposed that made sense. But right now, it meant Voldemort was beating Harry easily.

Ginny drew her wand and circled towards Gabrielle on the far side of the room. She had struck her head on the wall and was now lying unconscious where she'd fallen. Vel was silent in her pocket. Ginny placed the stone in Gabrielle's hand, then turned back to the battle.

She couldn't see Harry, and Voldemort was now duelling with Professor Flitwick. The Professor had actually managed to force Voldemort back towards the pool. He may be more powerful, but he hadn't been in a magical duel in fifteen years. He was bound to be rusty. Even as she had the thought, Voldemort shot a lance of darkness from his wand, while at the same time he raised his hand to the roof and used wandless magic to dislodge a stalagmite from the ceiling.

Ginny gasped in horror as she realised the danger, and she raised her wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Voldemort moved on her before she even finished the spell. He spun with unnatural speed and fired a red spell she didn't recognise at her. She conjured a shield as she ran, and Voldemort's spell shattered it. It struck Ginny's chest, and an agonising pain wracked through her entire body at once. She screamed in utter anguish as her body seized with pain and she was flung across the room. She heard the stalactite smash into something, and a cry of pain from beyond, but her brain barely registered it. All she felt was the pain. She reached blindly for her link to Ember and was rewarded by a tiny wisp of the Life Force trickling into her body, dampening the electrifying pain.

Disorientated, her whole body screaming, she forced her eyes open and struggled to her knees. Flitwick had managed to dodge the stalactite, judging by the fact it wasn't sticking out of his chest. But the distraction had worked all the same. Voldemort had caught Flitwick with a spell, and judging by the fact he lay prone on the stone walkway, unmoving, it was most likely the killing curse.

As Ginny struggled to her feet, Sirius charged at Voldemort, throwing a half dozen reductors as he ran, left arm limp. Voldemort absorbed three with a shield, redirected the fourth and fifth into the ceiling again, causing an earthquake that showered debris and dust all throughout the Chamber. The sixth took him in the shoulder, and he stumbled backwards slightly, grunting.

"Avada Kedavra!" Sirius screamed, firing the green curse at Voldemort. He lifted the ground up, absorbing the Unforgiveable Curse. The ground exploded, and Voldemort transfigured the debris into metal and flung them back at Sirius. Three jagged pieces of metal slammed into his chest, and another one sliced through his right arm. He cried out in agony as his arm ripped clean away from his body, then he slumped to the ground.

Ginny looked around frantically for her wand, lost in the fall, and her eyes were drawn towards the pool. It had begun to ripple outwards from the centre, and… was that a green tint to the waters, or was she imagining it? No, the light was definitely green now instead of the rainbow refraction it should have been.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Voldemort said in that whispering voice, "I offered you power, and you betray me. I'm hurt. I really am."

Harry crawled out of the fountain water and stood with his wand in his left hand. His right shoulder was a bloody mess. Despite his lack of power and what had to be an incredibly painful wound, he still stood between Voldemort and the exit. To Ginny's right, Gabrielle began to stir.

"I already have all the power I need."

The green light had begun to collect atop the pool's surface, and the ripples were growing stronger. Could it be? It had to. It was the only thing that made sense. Ginny began slowly making her way around the edge of the room, trying her hardest to be as silent as possible. She drew the silver dagger with her right hand.

"Is that so? Look how well it did you. I have killed all your friends in a few minutes, and now you stand here as weak as you were when you were a child. You don't have your filthy muggle mother to save you this time!"

Ginny placed herself at an angle between Voldemort and the pool, then she looked to Ember. The faerie had tears in her eyes. The light had begun to reflect outside the pool, casting the Chamber an eerie green.

"Then I'll die making her proud," he said, then raised his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The two spells shot towards one another and Ginny made her move. She bolted forward, running towards Voldemort at the same time the spells collided. Both Harry and Voldemort flew backwards. Harry in the direction of the door and Voldemort back towards the pool. The green light in the pool detonated, a blinding flash surging through the Chamber as the axial tilt shifted from evil back to good. Ginny jumped at Voldemort with a scream, ramming the knife into his neck. They collided in mid-air, then crashed together into the Perpendicularity.

Rainbow light exploded around her, and Ginny screamed as she was pulled down into an abyss. Water surged over her head, drowning her, but she didn't let go of Voldemort.

Together they sank into the blinding light, and Ginny knew no more.