Dudley watched as Neville collapsed onto his hands and knees. He was clearly in no position to fight.

Dudley could feel the petrificus totalus spell lifting a bit. He felt sure he could move his head now. He hesitated for a few seconds, thinking hard. He was going to die. That was clear. Voldemort was going to kill Neville and then kill him. But maybe, he could buy Neville time. Give Neville time to recover and he might have a chance of getting away.

Dudley took a deep breath. "Fight me first!" Dudley shouted. "I stopped you from stealing the stone—I punched you in the face! I helped kill your serpent!"

"Silencio!" Voldemort snarled and Dudley found himself unable to speak. "Your time will come Mudblood—first you will watch me kill your friend. Then, I will kill you ... slowly. Soon you will be begging to die."

He turned his attention to Neville. "Stand, Longbottom."

Neville slowly got to his feet and brushed his hair out of his face. His face was pale, but he had a determined look on his face now.

"Lucius, hand him his wand."

The arm-armed Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and passed Neville his wand. "You're dead," he sneered before stepping back into the circle.

"You have been taught to duel, I expect," Voldemort said, circling Neville.

Dudley wished he could speak. He could urge Neville to attack now—strike first. Maybe, just maybe he could catch Voldemort off guard. But Neville was waiting, watching Voldemort warily like a mouse watching a snake.

"I have," Neville said, giving a small nod.

"Good, we are going to duel, Longbottom." Voldemort took a place 10 yards from Neville. "First, we bow—the niceties must be observed."

Voldemort bent a little, but kept his snakelike face turned towards Neville.

The Death Eaters were laughing now.

"No!" said Neville.

"No?" Voldemort repeated in a dangerous voice.

"I said no. I'll only bow to people I respect!"

Dudley wished he could have applauded. Go Neville! He thought, admiringly.

"I will teach you respect! Crucio!"

Neville screamed as the spell hit him. He curled up in a trembling, twitching ball. The Death Eaters laughed. Neville screamed. Dudley wished he could cover his ears. He wanted to look away, but he wanted Neville to catch his eye. He wanted Neville to know he wasn't alone.

Voldemort lifted the curse.

"Do you respect me now?" he asked. "You can make the pain stop, Longbottom, very easily."

Neville mumbled something.

"Speak up," said Voldemort. "Sonorus!"

"I said! No!" Neville's voice boomed.

Voldemort removed the sonorus spell with a wave of his hand and pointed his wand at Neville again. Once more Neville screamed. Dudley knew how this curse felt. It was pure agony.

"One more time, Longbottom," Voldemort said. "Do ... you ... respect ... me?"

Neville didn't speak. Dudley didn't think he could speak. He was moving though. Through sheer force of will, Neville was pushing himself to his knees.

"I ask again, Longbottom," Voldemort said. "Do you respect me?"

Neville didn't answer. Instead, he raised his fist.

"What's this?" Voldemort hissed.

Neville extended his middle finger.

Voldemort's red eyes burned with fury.

"Avada Kedavra!" he screamed. The spell hit the kneeling form of Neville, hitting him in the chest and blasting him backwards. His body rolled once and lay unmoving. His hand was froze in his last gesture of defiance.

"Noooooo!" Dudley screamed, breaking through the silencio charm.

"Release him!" Voldemort said, and Dudley felt somebody cut through his bonds.

Dudley fell to his knees, sobbing. He knew it was coming but still he couldn't believe it. His friend was dead.

The Death Eaters laughed and Voldemort smiled.

Dudley crawled over to Neville and cradled his friend's head, he was unable to stop the tears from falling. Neville standing up to Voldemort had been the bravest thing he had ever seen. Now, it was his time.

Dudley closed his eyes and took a deep breath to compose himself. He got to his feet. Neville went out defying Voldemort and standing up to him. Dudley would go out fighting. It's what he did best.

"My wand!" he said in a cold voice.

Voldemort looked amused. "You think you can give orders?" he laughed, but he gave a nod to Lucius Malfoy who hurried forward.

"Watch," Voldemort said to his gathered Death Eaters. "While I demonstrate pure blood supremacy over the Champion of Mudbloods!"

Dudley glanced around, trying to think of everything he had been taught by Lockhart about dueling—it hadn't been much. He shifted his stance sideways to present less of a target.

Suddenly, Lockhart's words of advice came to him. Sometimes it was better to run away. Better to avoid conflict. If he died here tonight, nobody would know that Voldemort was back. As much as he wanted to show the same bravery Neville had shown in defying Voldemort, would running be better? If he could flee, get back to Hogwarts, then he could alert Professor Dumbledore about Voldemort's return. That, Dudley decided, would be the ultimate act of defiance—spoil Voldemort's plans.

But how could he escape?

Fumos—he decided. He would cast the smoke summoning charm to clog the battlefield. Then, he would run. His eyes set on a small, scrawny little wizard who reminded him of Piers Polkiss. He was the weak link. He would charge him. Knock him out and try to get to safety. He wished he could apparate. Hang on, apparate ... Dudley smiled. He suddenly knew what he was going to do.

"We will skip the bows," Voldemort said. "I don't bow to mudbloods."

"We duel on three ..." said Voldemort.

Yeah, right, thought Dudley. He bent his knees ready.

"Three ..." said Voldemort.

Dudley took a deep breath.

"... two ..."

"FUMOS!" cried Dudley, immediately, a cloud of thick, blacki, choking smoke filled the area.

Dudley didn't wait. He charged head down to where the scrawny wizard was.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort howled. The spell missed.

Dudley burst out of the smoke and threw his famous right hook as hard as he could at the wizard. It taught him on the jaw, knocking him sprawling.

A wizard grabbed at his robes.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort's spell, fired blindly, struck the masked Death Eater, knocking him to the floor.

Dudley didn't wait, he ran towards a large, flat tombstone and dived behind it.

"See! Mudbloods are nothing but cowards!" Voldemort shouted. He had gotten rid of the smoke with a wave of his hand and stepped callously over the body of the fallen Death Eater.

"Come out, Dudley! You can't run, and you can't hide. The more I wait, the more painful it will be for you," Voldemort said.

"Dobby ..." whispered Dudley. "Your master needs you."

Dudley remembered the lesson about House Elves. They were very magical. They could apparate anywhere, even inside Hogwarts grounds, and they could be summoned anywhere. Dudley hoped this work.

There was a sharp crack.

"Master summoned Dobby ... how can ...

"Apparate!" Dudley begged. Voldemort must have heard the crack.

"Where ..."

"Hogwarts!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Dudley was just aware of a jet of green light blasting apart the tombstone before everything went black.

He emerged in the Hogwarts grounds and fell to the floor sobbing.

"Master ..." Dobby began.

Dudley threw his hands around the elf and squeezed him in a tight hug. "Dobby ... you saved me. Thank you!"

He felt Dobby's hands pat him on the back. "Dobby saved Duddy Durzy?"

"Dobby did," said Dudley.

"Dudley?" Dudley looked over at the voice, his wand raised. He was near the entrance to the castle. He lowered his wand. It was Lockhart.

"Dudley, what happened?" Dumbledore has all searching the grounds ... after you didn't emerge. It's been a state of panic. Where have you been? What's ..."

"Voldemort is back!" Dudley cried.

"What? No? Come now, Dudley ... you must have hit your head."

"I'm not crazy! He killed Neville! He's back ... he ... he was going to kill me! Professor ..."

Lockhart paled and knelt down next to him. "Dudley ... are you sure? Look at me?"

Dudley took a deep breath and stared into Lockhart's blue eyes. "Voldemort is back. I saw him. Dobby ... he rescued me."

Lockhart's gaze glanced down at Dobby and a peculiar expression came into his eyes as if he was coming to some sort of decision.

"Relax Dudley, Dobby ... it is all over now. You're safe," said Lockhart. "Obliviate!"