Chapter XVII

Through the Neck of the Hourglass

Take care of her, Ron," said Harry with a pleading look as he broke his embrace with Hermione. "I have to do this alone. You need to find Neville. He will need your help."

Harry started to walk, almost drifting away. He could not look back. If he did, he might collapse and not be able to continue on his mission.

Hermione tried to follow Harry but Ron grabbed her arm. She tried to shake free, but Ron held on firmly at what could be considered a last, dying request from a friend.

Harry kept walking, unable to look back as Ron maintained his hold on Hermione's arm. Hermione knew it could be the last time she saw him alive. She turned to Ron, unable to look any longer, and wrapped her free arm around him as she began sobbing into his shoulder.

"Why?" cried Hermione as Ron held her. "Why? We were going to get married. We were going to have a family. I had it all planned. All of it. It's not fair."

Ron pulled her closer. He had no words to fix things. This was more weight on top of Fred, Remus, Tonks, and all of the others. His well of emotions was dry. All he could do was be there for her.

Harry made his way down the hill and past Hagrid's hut. As he entered the Forbidden Forest he pulled the snitch he had been carrying out of his pocket and looked at it. In the dim light, he could just make out the inscription "I open at the close".

"I'm on my way to die," he murmured at it. "I think this is the close."

The snitch opened and he saw something inside. It was a cracked stone covered with etchings. He remembered seeing it before as part of the horcrux ring in Dumbledore's office. Instinctively, he knew it was the Resurrection Stone.

Remembering the story of The Three Brothers, he dumped the stone out into his hand and rotated it three times. Some lights appeared. Slowly, they turned into apparitions of his mother, father, Sirius, and Remus. They were all looking at him with gentle smiles. Their faces were all so calm as if they were totally at peace.

"We're all proud of you, son," said his father.

"Yes, sweetheart," added his mother. "You have been so brave."

"Does it hurt...uh...dying?" he asked Sirius.

"It's completely painless," replied Sirius. "It is quicker than falling asleep."

"I am so sorry all of you died because of me."

"It's alright, Harry," said Remus.

"But your son. He is an orphan. Who will care for him?" asked Harry.

"He'll be fine. Others will explain what happened," respond Remus. "One day he will understand it all."

"Will you stay with me?"

"We never left," said his mother.

"We're here," said Sirius, pointing at Harry's heart.

"All of the way until the end," said his father.

"Always," said his mother.

"Will he see you?" asked Harry.

"No," replied Sirius, once again pointing to Harry's heart. "We're in there."

Harry found a strange, comforting warmth in their words. He was not going to face Voldemort alone. It was better this way.

They all walked deeper into the forest. It was strangely quiet. Usually, the forest was full of noises of all sorts at night. But tonight, there was nary a sound from any creature, magical or otherwise.

Harry recovered himself with his invisibility cloak. The apparitions led him past the dementors surrounding a lighted area up ahead. They seemed to possess a power that the dementors could not control or penetrate.

Several minutes later they walked into the clearing where Voldemort was standing in a cluster of his closest followers.

"The hour is up," said Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I know," replied Voldemort. "I must have been mistaken. I thought he would come. He must think he can beat us. But he is wrong. He is going to be the cause of the deaths of all of his supporters."

"You weren't mistaken," said Harry, pulling off the cloak and dropping the stone as he tucked the cloak into a pocket. All of the apparitions disappeared as he faced Voldemort. He heard Hagrid holler "NO!" from the darkness outside the light. He filled his mind with Hermione's face, his lips pressing against hers as he heard Voldemort start to yell, "AVA…" as everything turned solid black as the woodsman struck the Tree of Love with his axe.

"A second, a minute, an eternity later his eyes opened. He had no way of knowing. He was no longer in the forest. He was lying on what felt like cold concrete. Everything was hazy white like the thickest of a London fog.

As he stood up, he realized he was naked. Even his glasses were gone. Strangely, he could see perfectly well without them. The only noise was a strange thumping, thrashing sound from somewhere in front of him.

He felt involuntarily chilled and wished he had some clothes. A robe appeared. He quickly put it on. It was incredibly soft, warm, and comfortable. He started to walk, trying to get his bearings.

Suddenly, he saw the source of the noise. It was a small, emaciated-looking being that appeared to be dying...possibly from the results of being beaten or worse. He thought to help it, but it was too repulsive. He was forced to turn away.

"Hello, Harry," said a voice causing him to look up.

In front of him was pale-looking Dumbledore in a white robe.

"Professor," spurted out Harry, unable to think of anything else to say.

"You, brave, brave, soul," said Dumbledore. "Let us walk."

Dumbledore led them to a couple of seats. As they sat down, Harry asked if he were dead.

"I do not believe you are dead, Harry," replied the professor. "Voldemort killed the part of himself that lived within you moments ago. But the power of your mother's sacrifice lives inside you and him because your blood was used to bring him back to life. I do not believe you can die as long as he is alive."

They discussed the Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore said Voldemort is ignorant of them. He only wants the wand to kill Harry. I was seeking all of them because of my lust for power. "I wanted all three to become the Master of Death. It cost me my sister," said Dumbledore. "It caused a great fight between me a Grindelwald. I was offered the job as Minister for Magic after my defeat of Grindelwald. I turned it down and became headmaster of Hogwarts, instead. I feared what I might do with the power of the minister."

"You were an amazing headmaster, sir," said Harry.

"You're exceedingly kind," replied Dumbledore. "I like to think I did well. However, I made plenty of mistakes. I had the wand and your father's cloak. But when I got the stone, I got it for selfish reasons. Instead of destroying it, I tried to use it to bring back Ariana. The curse on it entered my hand and numbered my days. I hoped that by arranging for Snape to kill me, I could protect the wand, but that plan failed. I sent Hermione with you to slow you down, to help you grow, but you grew in a different way with her."

"So, is this really happening? Or is it just in my head?"

Of course, it is happening in your head. That doesn't mean it is not real."

"Do I go back, then, professor?"

"Yes or no, you can choose to stay here or go back."

"Where will I go if I stay here?" queried Harry, now confused about his situation.

"On," replied Dumbledore with a mysterious intonation.

"I think I have to go back and finish my quest."

"If that is your decision, then you must go," said Dumbledore as he rose and started to dematerialize.

Harry sat for a moment. His mind was a jumble of conflicting thoughts. He had always thought Dumbledore loved him, or at least cared about him a great deal. Perhaps, Snape was correct. Dumbledore had been merely raising him like a pig for slaughter. Had his trust been misplaced? Was he wrong all along?"

Then he was waking up, as if from a dream. He felt someone holding him and a voice. It was the voice of a woman.

"Draco. Is he alive?" asked the voice. He recognized it as that of Narcissa Malfoy.

He softly whispered 'yes' as his mind started to focus. The vision with Dumbledore must have really occurred. He was back in the real world. Voldemort had failed once again to kill him.

Narcissa released him back onto the ground. He heard the evil voice of Bellatrix ask if he was dead. Narcissa responded "Dead', even though she knew he was alive. Why would she do that? What should he do? How should he proceed?

Voldemort gathered his forces. "It's is time to march on the school and claim what is ours," he said. "Let that useless oaf Hagrid carry his body. It is time for them to see what remains of their chosen one and receive their new master."

Hagrid lifted the limp body of Harry into his huge arms. He walked in the front of the masses as tears rolled out of his eyes and into his beard. He had no idea that Harry was still alive.

Snape and Dumbledore filled Harry's mind as the procession made its way out of the forest and up toward the entrance to Hogwarts. He had been mostly wrong about Snape his entire life. Snape loved his mother so much he put his life at risk every day to protect her, him, and his father...the man who had bullied him through all of his years at Hogwarts. It was obvious that he lacked true teaching skills, but his toughness had a reason now. He was trying to prepare all of them for what was now upon them. Snape was not trying to cheat when he refereed the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. He was protecting him from Quirrell's desire to harm him. Even though he was a potions genius, he wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to prepare them for Voldemort's inevitable return. His brutal Occulmency lessons helped him limit Voldemort's intrusions into his mind. As headmaster, he probably limited the damage and cruelty others, such as the Carrows, could mete out. He may have even slowed Voldemort's advance on the school.

His feelings about Dumbledore were still raw. The revelations from Snape's memories gave him an entirely different view of the man he had so admired. Dumbledore was a man fighting a lifelong lust for power. He had guided Harry on a carefully constructed course of his own making. Even his search for the horcruxes was flawed. He had found the ring with the resurrection stone in hopes of using it to bring back his sister, Ariana. The curse on the ring shortened his life and caused the creation of the plan for him to be killed by Snape at the appropriate time.

He finally rationalized his feelings about Dumbledore as they reached the entrance to the castle's courtyard. Despite his desire not to die, he realized that if his death was the only way to stop Voldemort and to save his friends, then he needed to die.

Harry peeked through the tiny slits of his eyelids as they entered the castle grounds. He could see a mass of people amidst the destruction. He could make out Neville, Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, and a few others. They were shouting and cursing at Voldemort as he entered with Nagini, who had been released from her protective sphere, slithering beside him. Then, Voldemort cast a silencing charm that quieted the crowd and he almost pranced forward like a showman getting ready to speak to his audience.

"HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!" he shouted with a grand gesture aiming everyone's attention at the lifeless body in Hagrid's arms. Hermione tried to charge forward, but Ron grabbed her and held her back. His army launched into laughs and cackling taunts as Voldemort reaped into the shock coming from the members of Hogwarts.

Harry maintained his charade as Voldemort ranted and raved about everyone putting their faith in him from now on. Finally, Neville Longbottom stepped forward in response to Voldemort's offer of rewards for those who would join his ranks. But Neville refused Voldemort's offer of a senior leadership possession. He was there to fight.

Voldemort took the sorting hat, which he had called useless because everyone was going to be a Slytherin from here on, and placed it on Neville's head before setting him on fire. Neville pulled the Sword of Gryffindor from the hat and cut off Nagini's head with a single stroke before extinguishing the flames.

As the smoke from the destruction of Voldemort's final horcrux cleared, chaos erupted with the breaking of the silencing charm. It was now, as the battle broke out that Harry choose to return to life. Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and started firing curses without revealing himself as the battle moved inside.

Before long, the Great Hall was the site of a battle royale. It was going to end here. As he watched and fired curses, Harry saw Voldemort dueling with McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn. Across the room, he saw Hermione, Ginny, and Luna battling Bellatrix.

He knew how dangerous and devious Bellatrix could be. He moved to go to their aid as a killing curse shot by Ginny, narrowly missing her by inches. This enraged Missus Weasley. She pushed Ginny, the daughter she had endured the birth of six sons to have, aside and stood in front of Bellatrix with her wand at the ready.

Molly launched a curse that Bellatrix easily deflected with her cackling laugh before returning fire. From there, they started hurling faster and harder curses until the unthinkable happened. Molly hit Bellatrix squarely in the middle with some sort of constricting spell that grabbed her and literally squeezed her like a tube of toothpaste. As Bellatrix's face register the shock of what had just happened, Molly unleashed a blasting spell that caused Bellatrix to explode into a cloud of black bits of paper.

Harry knew Missus Weasley had a wicked temper when she was riled. He had heard plenty of stories of it from Ron and Ginny. However, he never imagined it at the level that allowed her to exact this kind of carnage.

Voldemort, having seen his number one supporter disintegrated, sent forth a rage spell that toppled Kinsley and the two professors over backward. He turned to face Molly as she grinned at the girls.

Harry knew that now was time. He pulled off his cloak to reveal himself as he placed a shield charm between Molly and Voldemort. It was time to settle this for good.

All of the other fighting in the room ceased. Everyone watched as Harry and Voldemort circled each other in preparation for what was to come. Voldemort tried to taunt Harry with claims he had only managed to get here today through a series of accidents, luck, and the help of others greater than him. Harry responded by saying that he had already laid down his life for his friends, and by doing so, he had given them the same protections his mother had given to him on the night in the nursery. He was destined to lose. He just did not realize it.

'You didn't have Dumbledore killed that night on the Astronomy Tower, Tom. It was all planned in advance by Dumbledore and Snape. Dumbledore was already dying from the curse on Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Snape merely hasten Dumbledore's death in order to deceive you."

"Impossible," said Voldemort. "Snape works for me."

"That is another thing you failed to know. Snape was working for Dumbledore all along. He made a deal with him before you killed the only person he ever loved...my mother, Lily. He spied on you for years."

The look in Voldemort's serpentine eyes got angrier and angrier. "No matter," he snarled. "Snape is dead and I have his wand...the Elder Wand. And now, I am going to use it to dispose of you as well."

"And that is your final mistake. The final thing you never figured out. Don't know. That wand was never Snape's to use or lose. Draco disarmed Dumbledore on the tower that night. From that night on, the wand belonged to Draco. Too bad he never knew it.

Voldemort recoiled. He began looking for Draco. He would be an easy target. Then the wand would really be his. But Draco had long since left with his mother and famously coward of a father.

"It's no use looking for Draco," said Harry. "It won't help you. I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor. The wand is mine."

"Ridiculous," bellowed Voldemort as he raised his wand in preparation for what he expected to be a grand coup de grâce. "This is all a lie. You are the product of lies. And now, you are going to die a lie."

"Try me," said Harry as he raised his wand.

"Avada Kedavra" yelled Voldemort with a flourish of his wand that launched a thick beam of green light at Harry.

"Expelliarmus," shouted Harry with a simultaneous swish of his wand that sent a bright red light in the direction of Voldemort.

The two spells crashed together in the middle of the room. Voldemort's spell rebounded, hitting him square in the chest as the Elder Wand flew out of his hand and into Harry's. Voldemort crumpled on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut as the woodsman who wanted to cut down the Tree of Love suddenly disappeared.

Seeing the fall of Voldemort, his remaining supporters surrendered and were moved to the dungeon until they could be moved to the Ministry for trial.

Once the forces of Voldemort were securely locked up, the school erupted in celebration. After a short while, Harry gathered Ron and Hermione. They left Lavender to celebrate with Ginny, Molly, and several others as he covered them with his invisibility cloak. They made their way up to the headmaster's office where the portraits all applauded them. Harry told the portrait of Dumbledore that he intended to leave the stone where he had dropped it in the forest. He also said he had used the Elder Wand to repair his old holly wand. He was going to rebury it with Dumbledore and hope that he would now be able to live a long life whereafter the wand would die when he did. As for the invisibility cloak, he said he planned to keep it. Dumbledore was very pleased by his decisions.

Voldemort's body was moved to a separate chamber away from the fifty or so fallen members of Hogwarts. A few of the bodies of the dead Death Eaters were eventually claimed by their families. The others were buried in an unmarked mass grave in the forbidden forest. Only the centaurs are said to know the true location.

The fifty-plus fallen members of Hogwarts were eventually returned to their families. They were buried with honor in various plots and graveyards throughout the UK.

Voldemort was eventually buried in a secret location to prevent any sort of unwanted attention to be paid to it. All of those who knew the location voluntarily had their memories altered so they could no longer remember it.

The supporters of Voldemort who surrendered eventually found new homes in Azkaban.