Author's note: I fixed the "little" mistake, sorry, I got confused with the
German and the English name of Voldemort..
As to why the fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort isn't longer, I
intended to let them fight a little longer, but then I would have had to
explain so many things I actually wanted to explain in later chapters, I
wanted to keep some mystery. .
Minerva paced the chamber restlessly, no sound could be heard from the outside, just a small explosion now and then or some muffled voices of people screaming in the floors surrounding the chamber. She was scared, but she tried her best to hide it from the others and gave them a small encouraging smile. Not knowing what was going on was driving her mad, her mind creating the most horrible pictures. They were going to be detected and killed, they would torture Magnus and Severus, they would play games with Harry and end his life nevertheless. It was enough to make her paranoid, but Minerva McGonagall had never been a person to give up easily and even though she often was a pessimist, she tried to be an optimist in critical situations and this was indeed a very critical situation.
At the other end of Hogwarts a dark figure wandered through the Great Hall, a cruel smile on his lips, his red eyes glowing dangerously. He had waited a long time for this moment.
He reached the teacher's table and gently patted it's wooden top. Hogwarts had finally capitulated before him, his old school, that taught him so many useful things and later on brought him the most problems, was finally his to control. With Hogwarts in his hands Britain would follow soon, Voldemort was sure of this. He knew that McGonagall, Potter and some others were still hiding in Hogwarts, he felt their presence, but he would deal with them later, would let them think they were safe for a little while longer, for now he would simply enjoy his victory. His troops were still fighting with those fools of the Order of Phoenix outside the castle, but it was only a question of time till they were all defeated. Hogwarts would be his new headquarter, his new home, he would operate from here, he would take over Britain and the world form here, everyone would learn to fear the name "Hogwarts" as they feared his name.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, I somehow knew I would meet you again." Voldemort spun around and smiled disdainful at the old man in front of him: "And I knew you would come." Voldemort pulled out his wand, facing the elderly wizard grimly. They were staring at each other for a few moments until Voldemort started to laugh: "Well, so you decided getting killed by me is the better death after all." The other wizard didn't even blink: "I wouldn't exactly put it that way, but I am glad you still have so much confidence in yourself, after all you were beaten by a little baby the last time." Voldemort's smile stayed on his lips: "Yes, but I don't see any babies here, just an old fool." They were quiet again, still facing each other, wands pulled, waiting for the other to start the battle, they both knew would end deadly for one of them. Voldemort finally raised his wand: "This is getting boring, are you waiting for me to kill you? Well you can have that. Aveda Kaderva!!!" The curse left the top of his wand as a green flash of lightening, which hit his enemy with so much power that he was thrown backwards and dead in a second. Voldemort yawed, he really had expected more of such a powerful wizard, well even the best ones grew old someday.
He turned around and walked towards the head table once again. A soft sound behind him made him turn around again and to his great surprise his foe was standing again and he wasn't dead, far from it, he seemed even more alive and powerful than before. Voldemort regained his composure quickly: "Well, that was a good one, you have to tell me how you did this one day." The other wizard smiled wisely: "I'd like to, but I am afraid you won't be here to listen then." Voldemort sneered: "What are you waiting for then, my dear professor? You seem to know what you want and have to do, then why don't you just proceed and we'll see who won't be around anymore." The other wizard simply continued to stare at his enemy: "Why do you want to rush things? Lets talk about you and your plans for a while, shall we?" Voldemort narrowed his eyebrows: "You're playing on time, what are you waiting for? I don't have time to chat with you forever, well I don't know what was wrong with the first one, but AVEDA KADERVA!" Another flash of light left Voldemort's wand, hitting the opposite wizard with even more power than the first one, slamming him into the back wall of the Great Hall. This time Voldemort walked up to his victim, making absolutely sure that he was dead. When he was convinced that his counterpart would never open his eyes again, he sneered once more. Old fool!
"Well," Voldemort thought, "I have to redecorate this hall, they won't need the portrait of Dumbledore anymore and this ceiling is pissing me off, damn rain!" He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't realize the glowing from the back of the hall at first. When he finally did, it was already too late, he spun around and the last words that left his lips were: "This is impossible... .". A broad flash of clear blue light seized him, lifted him high into the air, swirled him around until he vanished slowly and then there was only bright white light and nothing more.
Minerva jumped up from the chair she had finally sat down into. She was the first one to hear the faint thunder, but soon it was swelling and doomed through the halls of Hogwarts. It sounded like thousands of thunderstorms at once and Minerva and the others had to cover their ears with their hands. Arthur and Molly Weasly with the children sitting next to them stared anxiously at the old walls of Hogwarts that shook with the thunder. They were sure this meant the end of Hogwarts, but when they looked at Minerva, they were more than surprised to find her smiling. She had heard this sort of thunder before, on April 4th 1945 in London, when Grindelwald had been defeated. She knew that it meant the death of a powerful dark wizard and so she smiled broadly, the tension finally leaving her body.
The thunder ended as quickly as it had begun and she was able to explain the Weasleys what she suspected just happened. Harry stared at her: "Does that mean, that Voldemort is dead? Someone killed Voldemort? But who is so powerful?" His eyes widened when realization struck him and Minerva simply nodded: "Yes Harry, just one man, it has to have been Professor Dumbledore." At this moment Sirius Black stormed into the chamber, he was smiling, even though he was bleeding from a wound on his forehead and his shirt was torn in some parts: "Follow me, we have reason to celebrate!"
The Great Hall was filled with people, many of whom Minerva recognized as members of the Order of Phoenix. Molly Weasley threw her arms around her two sons who stood in the middle of the hall, both dirty and tired, but smiling proudly. Harry instantly hurried to Remus and Sirius, hugging both of them happily. Minerva scanned the room for Albus' face, but couldn't find him. She guessed there were about eighty people assembled in the Great Hall, all of them appeared to have fought only a few minutes earlier. Minerva finally made out Magnus in the middle of the hall, she still had no answers to her many questions and if she wasn't going to get them soon, she was pretty sure she was going to explode. Magnus smiled at her, when he saw her: "Minerva, I am glad you are all right." She simply smiled in return: "And I can't tell you how glad I am that you are still alive, but Magnus, what happened, tell me, I have to know, what happened to Albus?" Magnus patted her arm, still smiling: "Calm down, Minerva, it's a bit complicated, you may want to wait for Albus to explain it all." Her head snapped up: "So it's true, he is alive and well?" Magnus nodded: "He has been all the time." She didn't know what to answer or think. She stared at Magnus blankly, but before either one of them could say something the door to the Great Hall opened once again and a smiling Albus Dumbledore stepped through them. Conversation stopped and all eyes turned to him, before the wizards and witches broke into applause. Minerva saw Remus and Sirius stepping forward, shaking his hand and Magnus hugging his older brother. Minerva simply stood in the background and watched. Albus was so busy getting hugged and receiving praise, he didn't even notice her. She noticed tears building up in her eyes, she didn't know where they or the sadness she suddenly felt came from, but she didn't intend to share them with the others, so she quietly slipped out of the Great Hall, forgotten were the needed answers. She would deal with her feelings alone, as she always had and she had quiet a lot to deal with this night.....
Minerva paced the chamber restlessly, no sound could be heard from the outside, just a small explosion now and then or some muffled voices of people screaming in the floors surrounding the chamber. She was scared, but she tried her best to hide it from the others and gave them a small encouraging smile. Not knowing what was going on was driving her mad, her mind creating the most horrible pictures. They were going to be detected and killed, they would torture Magnus and Severus, they would play games with Harry and end his life nevertheless. It was enough to make her paranoid, but Minerva McGonagall had never been a person to give up easily and even though she often was a pessimist, she tried to be an optimist in critical situations and this was indeed a very critical situation.
At the other end of Hogwarts a dark figure wandered through the Great Hall, a cruel smile on his lips, his red eyes glowing dangerously. He had waited a long time for this moment.
He reached the teacher's table and gently patted it's wooden top. Hogwarts had finally capitulated before him, his old school, that taught him so many useful things and later on brought him the most problems, was finally his to control. With Hogwarts in his hands Britain would follow soon, Voldemort was sure of this. He knew that McGonagall, Potter and some others were still hiding in Hogwarts, he felt their presence, but he would deal with them later, would let them think they were safe for a little while longer, for now he would simply enjoy his victory. His troops were still fighting with those fools of the Order of Phoenix outside the castle, but it was only a question of time till they were all defeated. Hogwarts would be his new headquarter, his new home, he would operate from here, he would take over Britain and the world form here, everyone would learn to fear the name "Hogwarts" as they feared his name.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, I somehow knew I would meet you again." Voldemort spun around and smiled disdainful at the old man in front of him: "And I knew you would come." Voldemort pulled out his wand, facing the elderly wizard grimly. They were staring at each other for a few moments until Voldemort started to laugh: "Well, so you decided getting killed by me is the better death after all." The other wizard didn't even blink: "I wouldn't exactly put it that way, but I am glad you still have so much confidence in yourself, after all you were beaten by a little baby the last time." Voldemort's smile stayed on his lips: "Yes, but I don't see any babies here, just an old fool." They were quiet again, still facing each other, wands pulled, waiting for the other to start the battle, they both knew would end deadly for one of them. Voldemort finally raised his wand: "This is getting boring, are you waiting for me to kill you? Well you can have that. Aveda Kaderva!!!" The curse left the top of his wand as a green flash of lightening, which hit his enemy with so much power that he was thrown backwards and dead in a second. Voldemort yawed, he really had expected more of such a powerful wizard, well even the best ones grew old someday.
He turned around and walked towards the head table once again. A soft sound behind him made him turn around again and to his great surprise his foe was standing again and he wasn't dead, far from it, he seemed even more alive and powerful than before. Voldemort regained his composure quickly: "Well, that was a good one, you have to tell me how you did this one day." The other wizard smiled wisely: "I'd like to, but I am afraid you won't be here to listen then." Voldemort sneered: "What are you waiting for then, my dear professor? You seem to know what you want and have to do, then why don't you just proceed and we'll see who won't be around anymore." The other wizard simply continued to stare at his enemy: "Why do you want to rush things? Lets talk about you and your plans for a while, shall we?" Voldemort narrowed his eyebrows: "You're playing on time, what are you waiting for? I don't have time to chat with you forever, well I don't know what was wrong with the first one, but AVEDA KADERVA!" Another flash of light left Voldemort's wand, hitting the opposite wizard with even more power than the first one, slamming him into the back wall of the Great Hall. This time Voldemort walked up to his victim, making absolutely sure that he was dead. When he was convinced that his counterpart would never open his eyes again, he sneered once more. Old fool!
"Well," Voldemort thought, "I have to redecorate this hall, they won't need the portrait of Dumbledore anymore and this ceiling is pissing me off, damn rain!" He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't realize the glowing from the back of the hall at first. When he finally did, it was already too late, he spun around and the last words that left his lips were: "This is impossible... .". A broad flash of clear blue light seized him, lifted him high into the air, swirled him around until he vanished slowly and then there was only bright white light and nothing more.
Minerva jumped up from the chair she had finally sat down into. She was the first one to hear the faint thunder, but soon it was swelling and doomed through the halls of Hogwarts. It sounded like thousands of thunderstorms at once and Minerva and the others had to cover their ears with their hands. Arthur and Molly Weasly with the children sitting next to them stared anxiously at the old walls of Hogwarts that shook with the thunder. They were sure this meant the end of Hogwarts, but when they looked at Minerva, they were more than surprised to find her smiling. She had heard this sort of thunder before, on April 4th 1945 in London, when Grindelwald had been defeated. She knew that it meant the death of a powerful dark wizard and so she smiled broadly, the tension finally leaving her body.
The thunder ended as quickly as it had begun and she was able to explain the Weasleys what she suspected just happened. Harry stared at her: "Does that mean, that Voldemort is dead? Someone killed Voldemort? But who is so powerful?" His eyes widened when realization struck him and Minerva simply nodded: "Yes Harry, just one man, it has to have been Professor Dumbledore." At this moment Sirius Black stormed into the chamber, he was smiling, even though he was bleeding from a wound on his forehead and his shirt was torn in some parts: "Follow me, we have reason to celebrate!"
The Great Hall was filled with people, many of whom Minerva recognized as members of the Order of Phoenix. Molly Weasley threw her arms around her two sons who stood in the middle of the hall, both dirty and tired, but smiling proudly. Harry instantly hurried to Remus and Sirius, hugging both of them happily. Minerva scanned the room for Albus' face, but couldn't find him. She guessed there were about eighty people assembled in the Great Hall, all of them appeared to have fought only a few minutes earlier. Minerva finally made out Magnus in the middle of the hall, she still had no answers to her many questions and if she wasn't going to get them soon, she was pretty sure she was going to explode. Magnus smiled at her, when he saw her: "Minerva, I am glad you are all right." She simply smiled in return: "And I can't tell you how glad I am that you are still alive, but Magnus, what happened, tell me, I have to know, what happened to Albus?" Magnus patted her arm, still smiling: "Calm down, Minerva, it's a bit complicated, you may want to wait for Albus to explain it all." Her head snapped up: "So it's true, he is alive and well?" Magnus nodded: "He has been all the time." She didn't know what to answer or think. She stared at Magnus blankly, but before either one of them could say something the door to the Great Hall opened once again and a smiling Albus Dumbledore stepped through them. Conversation stopped and all eyes turned to him, before the wizards and witches broke into applause. Minerva saw Remus and Sirius stepping forward, shaking his hand and Magnus hugging his older brother. Minerva simply stood in the background and watched. Albus was so busy getting hugged and receiving praise, he didn't even notice her. She noticed tears building up in her eyes, she didn't know where they or the sadness she suddenly felt came from, but she didn't intend to share them with the others, so she quietly slipped out of the Great Hall, forgotten were the needed answers. She would deal with her feelings alone, as she always had and she had quiet a lot to deal with this night.....