The next couple of weeks were very tense at Hogwarts. The students had not
been told why things had suddenly gotten stricter, and they were rather
upset that these new rules had been imposed for seemingly no reason.
Oliver's first-year flying students were excited to have the Harry Potter
helping with their flying lessons, and Oliver found that he really enjoyed
working with Harry. Harry turned out to be a pretty good teacher, so Oliver
was able to split the class into two groups so that each student got more
individualized attention.
Oliver also had more quidditch practices to oversee in those couple of weeks because the match for third place between Hufflepuff and Slytherin was coming up soon. The Slytherins had been creamed by the Gryffindors in a match just before Christmas vacation, and they were very bitter about not even making it to the championship match. Malcolm had them practicing day and night so they wouldn't lose to Hufflepuff as well. The morning before the match, which also happened to be Valentine's Day, Malcolm and Lauren were fighting over the pitch for practice time even though they were dating. They finally decided that Hufflepuff would practice early in the morning before class, and then Slytherin would take the pitch during dinner and for the early evening until curfew.
Oliver groaned internally when he heard what they'd decided. He'd been hoping to spend some time with Adrianna on Valentine's Day, but now he clearly wouldn't be able to since he had to supervise practices all day. He explained the situation to her over lunch and was very grateful that she didn't look too disappointed.
That evening while Oliver was watching the Slytherins practice, he let his mind wander and found his thoughts focusing on Adrianna. He was encouraged by the progress in their relationship since they'd made up. Adrianna trusted him again, and they were almost back to where they had been before the breakup. He wanted to spend the night by her side like he had before, but he would never be the first one to suggest it. That would happen by her invitation only. Oliver snapped back to reality when he spotted Adrianna walking across the grounds with a picnic basket in one hand. She climbed the stairs to the stands and sat on the bench beside him.
"I thought you might be lonely up here and that you would probably get hungry, so I brought us something to eat," she explained.
She opened up the basket and pulled out two turkey sandwiches, a bunch of grapes, two bottles of butterbeer, and a single red candle which she lit and then placed a charm on it so that it hovered just above them.
"I know this isn't the most romantic Valentine's Day dinner..." she began apologetically, but Oliver cut her off.
"I think it's perfect. Thank you," he said while looking right into her denim blue eyes.
They ate their sandwiches slowly and chatted while they ate. Oliver was careful to keep an eye on the Slytherin team while he had dinner.
"Chip's been acting very strange lately," Adrianna said as they were finishing off the last of the grapes.
"Really? How so?"
"He's very alert. Very restless. He hasn't slept at all for the last day or two, which is unusual. He normally naps a couple of times a day. It's like he's on edge, waiting for something to happen."
"Have you mentioned this to Dumbledore at all?"
"No. I can't imagine he'd be too interested in my pet kneazle with everything else he has to worry about."
But something was clicking in Oliver's head. "Adrianna, I think he'd be very interested. Perhaps Chip's acting like that for a reason. Maybe something is about to happen and he can sense it. Remember what the salesman said when you bought him? Kneazles can detect suspicious characters."
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I should say something to Dumbledore tonight."
But she didn't. After the Slytherins were done practicing, Oliver and Adrianna went back to his rooms and talked until they fell asleep together on the couch.
The next morning, Oliver was awakened when he felt Adrianna stirring next to him on the couch.
"No!" she cried loudly, which made Oliver very alert.
"No! No! No! No!" Each time she shouted, it was louder and more frantic.
Oliver realized that she was still asleep and tried to shake her awake.
"Adrianna, it's alright! It's just me!"
He tried to pull her close but she shoved him away and then swung at him. He ducked to avoid getting hit and realized that she still wasn't awake. He gripped her wrists and held her arms in front of her to avoid being hit by her, but she tried her hardest to pull away.
"Adrianna, wake up! It's just a dream! This is me, Oliver! It's only me!"
Adrianna finally opened her eyes and realized where she was. "Oh God. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. It was all just a horrible dream. "
She was visibly shaking. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, and this time she offered no resistance.
"What happened in your dream? Do you want to tell me about it?"
She shook her head no and leaned against him. She seemed to be drawing strength from him. After a few minutes she glanced up at the clock.
"Oliver, the quidditch match is today and it starts right after breakfast. If we don't hurry we are going to be late! I'll meet you at the Great Hall," she said, getting up quickly and leaving for her own rooms to change.
Oliver quickly dressed in his striped referee's robes, brushed his teeth, and practically ran to the Great Hall so that he would have a chance to eat before the match.
After breakfast, the entire school headed outside to watch the match, escorted by teachers of course. The stands filled quickly as Hufflepuff and Slytherin took the field. Oliver looked up into the stands and spotted Adrianna sitting with a group of Ravenclaw students. The teachers were spread throughout the stadium instead of all sitting together like they normally did. There were also lots of parents there for the match, mostly the parents of Slytherins.
Lauren and Malcolm shook hands, Oliver threw the quaffle into the air, and the match began. Slytherin got first possession of the quaffle and scored easily. Within minutes they had a sizeable lead over Hufflepuff. Slytherin had scored 14 times when suddenly Lauren, who was the seeker for Hufflepuff as well as captain, took off like a streak of lightning across the pitch. Everyone was intently watching her close in on the snitch. It was just inches from her fingertips when suddenly, a blinding flash of green light filled the stadium.
Oliver felt like he was flying at a very high speed, but not on his broomstick. In fact, his firebolt seemed to have disappeared from underneath him. His flight ended abruptly as he hit the ground so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. He sincerely hoped that he wasn't seeing what he thought he saw, but when he pinched himself it definitely hurt.
He was in a clearing in a densely wooded area, standing in a small group of Hogwarts teachers and students. The group was surrounded by figures wearing black hooded cloaks and masks. Oliver looked up and saw a green skull with a snake coming out of the mouth hovering above the scene: the Dark Mark. He came to the realization that these cloaked figures were death eaters, and that one leading this horrible scene was none other than Lord Voldemort.
"Separate the students from the teachers. Bring Potter to me," the cold, inhuman voice of Voldemort commanded.
A group of the death eaters moved in on the group. They pulled away Ginny Weasley, Lauren Sage, Tessa Heatherly, Sofie Grant, and some other students that Oliver didn't know. They bound Harry with thick, vine-like ropes from head to toe and carried him to the feet of the Dark Lord. Now only Oliver, Adrianna, Snape and Hagrid were standing together. Voldemort left Harry lying on the ground and walked over to the group of teachers.
"Ah, Severus Snape, what a happy reunion. You do remember once being a part of the circle of death eaters, do you not?" Voldemort asked with a twisted smirk on his face.
"I am not proud of my past. The only thing good about being a death eater was that it made me more capable of fighting you when I left your service."
"You are a conniving traitor Severus, and now you will pay for your disloyalty," said Voldemort, raising his wand as he spoke. "Avada Kedavra!"
A blast of green light burst from Voldemort's wand, temporarily blinding Oliver. He heard Snape hit the ground with a sickening thud. When he regained his sight, he saw Snape lying on the ground, his face blank and expressionless. He was dead.
Voldemort left Snape's body lying on the ground and turned to Hagrid.
"I thought I'd hear the last of you after I pinned the blame on you for opening the Chamber of Secrets. You were expelled from Hogwarts. You were no longer permitted to even have a wand. But Dumbledore favored you and kept you around as gamekeeper. After that, he promoted you to teacher, and then he sent you to speak to the giants and turn them against me. For a Hogwarts dropout who is not allowed to do magic, you've been quite bothersome to me and my death eaters. More bothersome than you are worth, I daresay. You too shall pay."
Hagrid's eyes grew wide as Voldemort raised his wand. Oliver heard Voldemort shouting the fatal incantation, and another burst of green light burned through his closed eyelids. He heard Hagrid's massive body hit the ground and knew even before he opened his eyes that Hagrid was dead. Oliver instinctively moved closer to Adrianna, and she grabbed his hand tightly as Voldemort turned to her.
"I'll deal with you later, mudblood," he said with an evil glare as he walked away from the teachers and toward the students.
"Miss Weasley."
Ginny flinched as he approached the group of students.
"So kind of you to join us today. Your father is not well liked in our little circle, you know. A champion of mudbloods and muggles is hardly to be admired. But you can be greater than that. You needn't follow in his footsteps. Some of my most loyal followers were the children of important ministry officials who worked tirelessly to try to stop me. Today I extend an invitation to you to join my circle of death eaters. If you accept, you will be a part of one of the greatest causes in the wizarding world. If you refuse, you will die, and so will all of your classmates that stand here around you. The decision is yours to make. I want an answer now."
"I dreamed this," Oliver heard Adrianna whisper.
"What did you dream?" he whispered in response.
"What Voldemort said to Ginny. That was part of my nightmare. She said no and then he killed them, and then I woke up. We need to stop him. We can't let him kill all of those students. When she says no, we need to cast a shield charm around them. It might not work but it's the only thing I can think of."
They turned their attention back to Ginny, who had been too stunned by Voldemort's offer to answer right away. "My answer is no. I would never become a death eater and bring that sort of shame upon myself and my family."
"Very well then," said Voldemort, raising his wand to perform the killing curse yet again.
But this time, Oliver and Adrianna were ready. They shouted the incantation at the same time, but they weren't the only ones. Harry Potter had somehow managed to weaken his bonds and had cast the charm at the same time. Three jets of red light circled the students and formed a weak protective barrier between them and the death eaters. The strength of three charms was enough to block Voldemort's killing curse, but just barely. The shield disappeared, and the students were unprotected.
Oliver didn't know why he did what he did next. He was quite certain that he had never learned this particular spell. But he knew one thing: he HAD to get those students back to Hogwarts. He raised his wand and shouted and incantation that sounded totally foreign to him and the next moment, the group of students was gone. It seemed almost as if someone had been telling him exactly what to do, but he wasn't under the imperius curse.
Voldemort looked furious. He walked back over to where Oliver and Adrianna were standing. "Meddlesome fools! Do you really think you can stop the most powerful wizard on earth?"
"You're not the most powerful wizard on earth, and you won't be as long as Dumbledore's around," Oliver replied.
"I have powers that Albus Dumbledore will never have!"
"Only because Dumbledore is too noble to use dark magic," Adrianna retorted."
"You would be wise to keep your mouth shut, you filthy little mudblood." Voldemort raised his wand. "Crucio!"
Oliver watched helplessly as Adrianna fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. It made him feel ill seeing her suffering and knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. Voldemort lifted the curse after a few seconds. Adrianna was struggling to her feet when Oliver heard a song unlike anything he'd ever heard before. It was beautiful, and it filled him with hope and strength.
He looked up and saw a phoenix flying around above his head carrying an old, dilapidated hat: the sorting hat. The phoenix dropped the hat at Oliver's feet and hovered above him, singing its enchanting song. Oliver picked the hat up off of the ground and when he did, three weapons fell out and clattered to the ground. There was a silver sword embedded with rubies, a wooden bow and arrows with tips made of sapphires, and a dagger with a black blade and a bright yellow handle.
Just then Harry Potter, who had managed to free himself from his bonds, shoved his way through the circle of death eaters and joined Oliver and Adrianna. Harry picked up the sword.
"Choose a weapon and take aim. We have to strike Voldemort in the heart," Harry instructed. Oliver picked up the dagger and Adrianna took the bow and arrows.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" Oliver asked her.
"I happen to have very good aim with a bow," she replied as she placed an arrow in the bow and pulled back the string.
She released, and the arrow hit Voldemort straight through the heart. Voldemort looked surprised, but he did not bleed and showed no signs of pain. Oliver, not wanting to get too close to Voldemort, threw the dagger at him. It imbedded itself in his chest right next to the arrow, and though he now looked slightly alarmed he did not bleed. Finally, Harry ran straight at Voldemort with the sword and drove it into him right up to the hilt. Voldemort fell to the ground in a pool of green blood, motionless. Not only was he defeated, this time he was dead.
The death eaters surrounding the trio had a mixture of shocked and furious looks on their faces. They advanced on Oliver, Adrianna and Harry in an attempt to make them pay for the murder they had just committed. Harry grabbed Oliver's hand, Oliver grabbed Adrianna's hand with his free hand, and Harry caught hold of Fawkes' tail as he swooped down to them. Oliver suddenly felt weightless as he floated through the air with Fawkes and Harry in front of him and Adrianna behind him, up above the death eaters and then the treetops.
Fawkes took Oliver, Adrianna and Harry back to Hogwarts, where they were instantly surrounded by curious students, teachers and ministry officials. Dumbledore broke through the crowd, and Fawkes settled on his shoulder. Dumbledore led the trio through the crowd, up the stairs, through some corridors and up the spiral stairs to his office. Ginny Weasley was waiting there.
"Where are the other students? Are they alright?" Oliver asked Dumbledore.
"Calm down, everything is alright. The students all made it back just fine thanks to you. They are in the hospital wing resting right now. I will be sending the four of you to the hospital wing as well, but first I need to hear exactly what happened today. I've already heard some of it from Miss Weasley and the other students, but I assume other things happened after they came back and I need to know what those things are."
Oliver, Adrianna and Harry took turns telling Dumbledore everything that had happened earlier that day. Dumbledore listened intently until all three were finished talking. "I know you all probably have questions about what happened today. I don't pretend to know everything, but if you ask I will answer you to the best of my ability."
There was a short pause, and then Ginny Weasley finally broke the silence. "Why did Voldemort single me out? Why didn't he ask some of the other students to join him too?"
"That is an excellent question. I am not completely certain, but I believe that it was because your father is so dedicated to fighting the dark arts. Voldemort thought that if you joined him, it would be a huge blow to your father and an embarrassment as well. If you had died, it would have been a very harsh blow to your family and Voldemort wanted them to rethink their loyalties. They would not have, of course. Your whole family is very dedicated to fighting the dark arts, and nothing would change that. I also think that Voldemort saw you as vulnerable, and thought that he had half a chance at convincing you to join his death eaters. You will remember that the last time he saw you, you were a first-year writing in an enchanted diary that very nearly killed you. What he did not realize is that you are a brave, intelligent young woman who has developed into an exceedingly skilled witch in her seven years at Hogwarts."
Oliver thought back over the events of the day and remembered that this whole thing had started at the quidditch match, even thought that seemed like it was ages ago. He realized that he had no idea how they had ended up in the woods surrounded by death eaters and decided to ask Dumbledore about it.
"Another good question. You may have noticed that there were several parents of Slytherin students in the stands today watching the match. Only they weren't just there to watch the match. They were death eaters, and they cast the Dark Mark in the sky and then used a bit of old magic to transport all of the people that Voldemort wanted and themselves to that spot in the woods."
"How did I send the students back to Hogwarts?" asked Oliver. "I mean, I didn't even know the spell that I was saying. It just sort of happened."
Dumbledore smiled. "It was the same bit of old magic that the death eaters used to take everyone away from Hogwarts. How you managed to successfully perform it I don't know, but I'd be willing to bet that you are a better wizard than you give yourself credit for. Perhaps you internalized that spell when it was cast on you without even realizing it, enabling you to use it when you needed to."
"Why did Fawkes come to help us? And how did he know where to find us in the first place?" Adrianna inquired.
"Fawkes, being my pet phoenix, comes to the aid of those who show me loyalty in the face of danger. Phoenixes posses very strong magic. They can disappear and reappear at will, their song gives strength and courage to the people they sing to, and their tears have healing powers. It doesn't matter how he found you, only that he found you. He brought you the sorting hat, and the sorting hat gave you those weapons that you used to defeat Voldemort."
"What were those weapons?" asked Harry. "I recognized the sword of Godric Gryffindor, but I'd never seen the others before."
"Take a look at them for yourself," said Dumbledore. He pulled from behind his desk the ruby-imbedded sword of Godric Gryffindor as well as the bow with the sapphire-tipped arrows and the yellow and black dagger.
Oliver took the dagger and examined it carefully. The yellow citrine handle gleamed in the light of the setting sun that shone in the window. Engraved in the iron blade of the knife was the name Helga Hufflepuff. He glanced over at Adrianna, who was looking at the bow.
"Rowena Ravenclaw," she said, running her fingers over the letters carved into the outside of the wooden bow. "But I don't understand," she continued. "I mean, Harry was a Gryffindor, so it makes sense that he would use the Gryffindor sword. But Oliver wasn't a Hufflepuff, and I never even went to Hogwarts. How did we end up with those weapons?"
"Over a thousand years ago, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw, the founders of this school, handpicked the young wizards and witches that came to Hogwarts. At first they worked quite harmoniously, but after a while Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more selective. He only wanted students from all-wizarding families, saying that students from muggle families were not trustworthy. The other founders didn't agree with him, differences arose, and after losing favor with the other founders, Slytherin finally left the school. Lord Voldemort was the last heir of Slytherin. He also favored pure bloods even though he himself was only a half blood, and he took pleasure in killing and torturing muggles, muggle-borns and any other witch or wizard that tried to help them. My suspicion is that the only way to truly defeat him was with the power of all of the founders, working together to protect the rights of muggle-borns to learn and practice magic. In order for those weapons to work on Voldemort you did not need to be an heir of a founder, or be sorted into their house, or even attend Hogwarts as a student," said Dumbledore, looking from Harry to Oliver to Adrianna. "You simply needed to believe in and uphold the ideals of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and face the heir of Slytherin just as they faced Salazar Slytherin those many years ago."
"Why was Voldemort's blood green?" asked Oliver.
"Before Voldemort came to power, he underwent many magical transformations that enhanced his powers and abilities. One of those transformations stored power in his blood and made him more resistant to magical and physical attacks. Those transformations likely affected the color of his blood. You may have noticed that Voldemort is often associated with the color green; his Dark Mark was green, the light from the killing curse is green, and then of course he is the heir of Slytherin, whose colors are green and silver."
"What will happen to the death eaters now that Voldemort is really gone?" asked Harry.
"Many of them have already built respectable reputations within the wizarding community, and they will blend right back into society. The only way they can really be caught and convicted is if they are caught by an auror or if one of you were to identify them. However, seeing as they were all masked and cloaked in your presence and Voldemort never mentioned them by name, it isn't very likely that you will be able to identify them. Of course the aurors will be looking for them, but it is not likely that they will be caught," Dumbledore finished with a resigned look on his face.
"But they can't just get away with all of the stuff they did! I distinctly heard both Draco and Lucius Malfoy laughing!" Harry cried.
"Yes, and I was certain I heard Marcus Flint!" Oliver added.
"That may very well be," said Dumbledore, "but hearing them laugh and seeing them are two completely different things. Nobody is going to believe you in a court of wizards' law if you try to identify them by claiming to have heard them laugh, but did not see them. And now, if there are no further questions, I will escort you all to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey see to you."
Ginny, Harry, Adrianna and Oliver followed Dumbledore out of his office and through several corridors until the arrived at the hospital wing. Poppy directed each of them to a hospital bed and poured them each a large, steaming cup full of some sort of potion.
"Drink all of that. It's a dreamless sleep potion. You're going to need it after what you've been through today," she said, and she began fussing over them as she had a tendency to do.
Oliver downed the potion and felt himself falling fast asleep within seconds.
Oliver also had more quidditch practices to oversee in those couple of weeks because the match for third place between Hufflepuff and Slytherin was coming up soon. The Slytherins had been creamed by the Gryffindors in a match just before Christmas vacation, and they were very bitter about not even making it to the championship match. Malcolm had them practicing day and night so they wouldn't lose to Hufflepuff as well. The morning before the match, which also happened to be Valentine's Day, Malcolm and Lauren were fighting over the pitch for practice time even though they were dating. They finally decided that Hufflepuff would practice early in the morning before class, and then Slytherin would take the pitch during dinner and for the early evening until curfew.
Oliver groaned internally when he heard what they'd decided. He'd been hoping to spend some time with Adrianna on Valentine's Day, but now he clearly wouldn't be able to since he had to supervise practices all day. He explained the situation to her over lunch and was very grateful that she didn't look too disappointed.
That evening while Oliver was watching the Slytherins practice, he let his mind wander and found his thoughts focusing on Adrianna. He was encouraged by the progress in their relationship since they'd made up. Adrianna trusted him again, and they were almost back to where they had been before the breakup. He wanted to spend the night by her side like he had before, but he would never be the first one to suggest it. That would happen by her invitation only. Oliver snapped back to reality when he spotted Adrianna walking across the grounds with a picnic basket in one hand. She climbed the stairs to the stands and sat on the bench beside him.
"I thought you might be lonely up here and that you would probably get hungry, so I brought us something to eat," she explained.
She opened up the basket and pulled out two turkey sandwiches, a bunch of grapes, two bottles of butterbeer, and a single red candle which she lit and then placed a charm on it so that it hovered just above them.
"I know this isn't the most romantic Valentine's Day dinner..." she began apologetically, but Oliver cut her off.
"I think it's perfect. Thank you," he said while looking right into her denim blue eyes.
They ate their sandwiches slowly and chatted while they ate. Oliver was careful to keep an eye on the Slytherin team while he had dinner.
"Chip's been acting very strange lately," Adrianna said as they were finishing off the last of the grapes.
"Really? How so?"
"He's very alert. Very restless. He hasn't slept at all for the last day or two, which is unusual. He normally naps a couple of times a day. It's like he's on edge, waiting for something to happen."
"Have you mentioned this to Dumbledore at all?"
"No. I can't imagine he'd be too interested in my pet kneazle with everything else he has to worry about."
But something was clicking in Oliver's head. "Adrianna, I think he'd be very interested. Perhaps Chip's acting like that for a reason. Maybe something is about to happen and he can sense it. Remember what the salesman said when you bought him? Kneazles can detect suspicious characters."
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I should say something to Dumbledore tonight."
But she didn't. After the Slytherins were done practicing, Oliver and Adrianna went back to his rooms and talked until they fell asleep together on the couch.
The next morning, Oliver was awakened when he felt Adrianna stirring next to him on the couch.
"No!" she cried loudly, which made Oliver very alert.
"No! No! No! No!" Each time she shouted, it was louder and more frantic.
Oliver realized that she was still asleep and tried to shake her awake.
"Adrianna, it's alright! It's just me!"
He tried to pull her close but she shoved him away and then swung at him. He ducked to avoid getting hit and realized that she still wasn't awake. He gripped her wrists and held her arms in front of her to avoid being hit by her, but she tried her hardest to pull away.
"Adrianna, wake up! It's just a dream! This is me, Oliver! It's only me!"
Adrianna finally opened her eyes and realized where she was. "Oh God. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. It was all just a horrible dream. "
She was visibly shaking. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, and this time she offered no resistance.
"What happened in your dream? Do you want to tell me about it?"
She shook her head no and leaned against him. She seemed to be drawing strength from him. After a few minutes she glanced up at the clock.
"Oliver, the quidditch match is today and it starts right after breakfast. If we don't hurry we are going to be late! I'll meet you at the Great Hall," she said, getting up quickly and leaving for her own rooms to change.
Oliver quickly dressed in his striped referee's robes, brushed his teeth, and practically ran to the Great Hall so that he would have a chance to eat before the match.
After breakfast, the entire school headed outside to watch the match, escorted by teachers of course. The stands filled quickly as Hufflepuff and Slytherin took the field. Oliver looked up into the stands and spotted Adrianna sitting with a group of Ravenclaw students. The teachers were spread throughout the stadium instead of all sitting together like they normally did. There were also lots of parents there for the match, mostly the parents of Slytherins.
Lauren and Malcolm shook hands, Oliver threw the quaffle into the air, and the match began. Slytherin got first possession of the quaffle and scored easily. Within minutes they had a sizeable lead over Hufflepuff. Slytherin had scored 14 times when suddenly Lauren, who was the seeker for Hufflepuff as well as captain, took off like a streak of lightning across the pitch. Everyone was intently watching her close in on the snitch. It was just inches from her fingertips when suddenly, a blinding flash of green light filled the stadium.
Oliver felt like he was flying at a very high speed, but not on his broomstick. In fact, his firebolt seemed to have disappeared from underneath him. His flight ended abruptly as he hit the ground so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. He sincerely hoped that he wasn't seeing what he thought he saw, but when he pinched himself it definitely hurt.
He was in a clearing in a densely wooded area, standing in a small group of Hogwarts teachers and students. The group was surrounded by figures wearing black hooded cloaks and masks. Oliver looked up and saw a green skull with a snake coming out of the mouth hovering above the scene: the Dark Mark. He came to the realization that these cloaked figures were death eaters, and that one leading this horrible scene was none other than Lord Voldemort.
"Separate the students from the teachers. Bring Potter to me," the cold, inhuman voice of Voldemort commanded.
A group of the death eaters moved in on the group. They pulled away Ginny Weasley, Lauren Sage, Tessa Heatherly, Sofie Grant, and some other students that Oliver didn't know. They bound Harry with thick, vine-like ropes from head to toe and carried him to the feet of the Dark Lord. Now only Oliver, Adrianna, Snape and Hagrid were standing together. Voldemort left Harry lying on the ground and walked over to the group of teachers.
"Ah, Severus Snape, what a happy reunion. You do remember once being a part of the circle of death eaters, do you not?" Voldemort asked with a twisted smirk on his face.
"I am not proud of my past. The only thing good about being a death eater was that it made me more capable of fighting you when I left your service."
"You are a conniving traitor Severus, and now you will pay for your disloyalty," said Voldemort, raising his wand as he spoke. "Avada Kedavra!"
A blast of green light burst from Voldemort's wand, temporarily blinding Oliver. He heard Snape hit the ground with a sickening thud. When he regained his sight, he saw Snape lying on the ground, his face blank and expressionless. He was dead.
Voldemort left Snape's body lying on the ground and turned to Hagrid.
"I thought I'd hear the last of you after I pinned the blame on you for opening the Chamber of Secrets. You were expelled from Hogwarts. You were no longer permitted to even have a wand. But Dumbledore favored you and kept you around as gamekeeper. After that, he promoted you to teacher, and then he sent you to speak to the giants and turn them against me. For a Hogwarts dropout who is not allowed to do magic, you've been quite bothersome to me and my death eaters. More bothersome than you are worth, I daresay. You too shall pay."
Hagrid's eyes grew wide as Voldemort raised his wand. Oliver heard Voldemort shouting the fatal incantation, and another burst of green light burned through his closed eyelids. He heard Hagrid's massive body hit the ground and knew even before he opened his eyes that Hagrid was dead. Oliver instinctively moved closer to Adrianna, and she grabbed his hand tightly as Voldemort turned to her.
"I'll deal with you later, mudblood," he said with an evil glare as he walked away from the teachers and toward the students.
"Miss Weasley."
Ginny flinched as he approached the group of students.
"So kind of you to join us today. Your father is not well liked in our little circle, you know. A champion of mudbloods and muggles is hardly to be admired. But you can be greater than that. You needn't follow in his footsteps. Some of my most loyal followers were the children of important ministry officials who worked tirelessly to try to stop me. Today I extend an invitation to you to join my circle of death eaters. If you accept, you will be a part of one of the greatest causes in the wizarding world. If you refuse, you will die, and so will all of your classmates that stand here around you. The decision is yours to make. I want an answer now."
"I dreamed this," Oliver heard Adrianna whisper.
"What did you dream?" he whispered in response.
"What Voldemort said to Ginny. That was part of my nightmare. She said no and then he killed them, and then I woke up. We need to stop him. We can't let him kill all of those students. When she says no, we need to cast a shield charm around them. It might not work but it's the only thing I can think of."
They turned their attention back to Ginny, who had been too stunned by Voldemort's offer to answer right away. "My answer is no. I would never become a death eater and bring that sort of shame upon myself and my family."
"Very well then," said Voldemort, raising his wand to perform the killing curse yet again.
But this time, Oliver and Adrianna were ready. They shouted the incantation at the same time, but they weren't the only ones. Harry Potter had somehow managed to weaken his bonds and had cast the charm at the same time. Three jets of red light circled the students and formed a weak protective barrier between them and the death eaters. The strength of three charms was enough to block Voldemort's killing curse, but just barely. The shield disappeared, and the students were unprotected.
Oliver didn't know why he did what he did next. He was quite certain that he had never learned this particular spell. But he knew one thing: he HAD to get those students back to Hogwarts. He raised his wand and shouted and incantation that sounded totally foreign to him and the next moment, the group of students was gone. It seemed almost as if someone had been telling him exactly what to do, but he wasn't under the imperius curse.
Voldemort looked furious. He walked back over to where Oliver and Adrianna were standing. "Meddlesome fools! Do you really think you can stop the most powerful wizard on earth?"
"You're not the most powerful wizard on earth, and you won't be as long as Dumbledore's around," Oliver replied.
"I have powers that Albus Dumbledore will never have!"
"Only because Dumbledore is too noble to use dark magic," Adrianna retorted."
"You would be wise to keep your mouth shut, you filthy little mudblood." Voldemort raised his wand. "Crucio!"
Oliver watched helplessly as Adrianna fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. It made him feel ill seeing her suffering and knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. Voldemort lifted the curse after a few seconds. Adrianna was struggling to her feet when Oliver heard a song unlike anything he'd ever heard before. It was beautiful, and it filled him with hope and strength.
He looked up and saw a phoenix flying around above his head carrying an old, dilapidated hat: the sorting hat. The phoenix dropped the hat at Oliver's feet and hovered above him, singing its enchanting song. Oliver picked the hat up off of the ground and when he did, three weapons fell out and clattered to the ground. There was a silver sword embedded with rubies, a wooden bow and arrows with tips made of sapphires, and a dagger with a black blade and a bright yellow handle.
Just then Harry Potter, who had managed to free himself from his bonds, shoved his way through the circle of death eaters and joined Oliver and Adrianna. Harry picked up the sword.
"Choose a weapon and take aim. We have to strike Voldemort in the heart," Harry instructed. Oliver picked up the dagger and Adrianna took the bow and arrows.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" Oliver asked her.
"I happen to have very good aim with a bow," she replied as she placed an arrow in the bow and pulled back the string.
She released, and the arrow hit Voldemort straight through the heart. Voldemort looked surprised, but he did not bleed and showed no signs of pain. Oliver, not wanting to get too close to Voldemort, threw the dagger at him. It imbedded itself in his chest right next to the arrow, and though he now looked slightly alarmed he did not bleed. Finally, Harry ran straight at Voldemort with the sword and drove it into him right up to the hilt. Voldemort fell to the ground in a pool of green blood, motionless. Not only was he defeated, this time he was dead.
The death eaters surrounding the trio had a mixture of shocked and furious looks on their faces. They advanced on Oliver, Adrianna and Harry in an attempt to make them pay for the murder they had just committed. Harry grabbed Oliver's hand, Oliver grabbed Adrianna's hand with his free hand, and Harry caught hold of Fawkes' tail as he swooped down to them. Oliver suddenly felt weightless as he floated through the air with Fawkes and Harry in front of him and Adrianna behind him, up above the death eaters and then the treetops.
Fawkes took Oliver, Adrianna and Harry back to Hogwarts, where they were instantly surrounded by curious students, teachers and ministry officials. Dumbledore broke through the crowd, and Fawkes settled on his shoulder. Dumbledore led the trio through the crowd, up the stairs, through some corridors and up the spiral stairs to his office. Ginny Weasley was waiting there.
"Where are the other students? Are they alright?" Oliver asked Dumbledore.
"Calm down, everything is alright. The students all made it back just fine thanks to you. They are in the hospital wing resting right now. I will be sending the four of you to the hospital wing as well, but first I need to hear exactly what happened today. I've already heard some of it from Miss Weasley and the other students, but I assume other things happened after they came back and I need to know what those things are."
Oliver, Adrianna and Harry took turns telling Dumbledore everything that had happened earlier that day. Dumbledore listened intently until all three were finished talking. "I know you all probably have questions about what happened today. I don't pretend to know everything, but if you ask I will answer you to the best of my ability."
There was a short pause, and then Ginny Weasley finally broke the silence. "Why did Voldemort single me out? Why didn't he ask some of the other students to join him too?"
"That is an excellent question. I am not completely certain, but I believe that it was because your father is so dedicated to fighting the dark arts. Voldemort thought that if you joined him, it would be a huge blow to your father and an embarrassment as well. If you had died, it would have been a very harsh blow to your family and Voldemort wanted them to rethink their loyalties. They would not have, of course. Your whole family is very dedicated to fighting the dark arts, and nothing would change that. I also think that Voldemort saw you as vulnerable, and thought that he had half a chance at convincing you to join his death eaters. You will remember that the last time he saw you, you were a first-year writing in an enchanted diary that very nearly killed you. What he did not realize is that you are a brave, intelligent young woman who has developed into an exceedingly skilled witch in her seven years at Hogwarts."
Oliver thought back over the events of the day and remembered that this whole thing had started at the quidditch match, even thought that seemed like it was ages ago. He realized that he had no idea how they had ended up in the woods surrounded by death eaters and decided to ask Dumbledore about it.
"Another good question. You may have noticed that there were several parents of Slytherin students in the stands today watching the match. Only they weren't just there to watch the match. They were death eaters, and they cast the Dark Mark in the sky and then used a bit of old magic to transport all of the people that Voldemort wanted and themselves to that spot in the woods."
"How did I send the students back to Hogwarts?" asked Oliver. "I mean, I didn't even know the spell that I was saying. It just sort of happened."
Dumbledore smiled. "It was the same bit of old magic that the death eaters used to take everyone away from Hogwarts. How you managed to successfully perform it I don't know, but I'd be willing to bet that you are a better wizard than you give yourself credit for. Perhaps you internalized that spell when it was cast on you without even realizing it, enabling you to use it when you needed to."
"Why did Fawkes come to help us? And how did he know where to find us in the first place?" Adrianna inquired.
"Fawkes, being my pet phoenix, comes to the aid of those who show me loyalty in the face of danger. Phoenixes posses very strong magic. They can disappear and reappear at will, their song gives strength and courage to the people they sing to, and their tears have healing powers. It doesn't matter how he found you, only that he found you. He brought you the sorting hat, and the sorting hat gave you those weapons that you used to defeat Voldemort."
"What were those weapons?" asked Harry. "I recognized the sword of Godric Gryffindor, but I'd never seen the others before."
"Take a look at them for yourself," said Dumbledore. He pulled from behind his desk the ruby-imbedded sword of Godric Gryffindor as well as the bow with the sapphire-tipped arrows and the yellow and black dagger.
Oliver took the dagger and examined it carefully. The yellow citrine handle gleamed in the light of the setting sun that shone in the window. Engraved in the iron blade of the knife was the name Helga Hufflepuff. He glanced over at Adrianna, who was looking at the bow.
"Rowena Ravenclaw," she said, running her fingers over the letters carved into the outside of the wooden bow. "But I don't understand," she continued. "I mean, Harry was a Gryffindor, so it makes sense that he would use the Gryffindor sword. But Oliver wasn't a Hufflepuff, and I never even went to Hogwarts. How did we end up with those weapons?"
"Over a thousand years ago, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw, the founders of this school, handpicked the young wizards and witches that came to Hogwarts. At first they worked quite harmoniously, but after a while Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more selective. He only wanted students from all-wizarding families, saying that students from muggle families were not trustworthy. The other founders didn't agree with him, differences arose, and after losing favor with the other founders, Slytherin finally left the school. Lord Voldemort was the last heir of Slytherin. He also favored pure bloods even though he himself was only a half blood, and he took pleasure in killing and torturing muggles, muggle-borns and any other witch or wizard that tried to help them. My suspicion is that the only way to truly defeat him was with the power of all of the founders, working together to protect the rights of muggle-borns to learn and practice magic. In order for those weapons to work on Voldemort you did not need to be an heir of a founder, or be sorted into their house, or even attend Hogwarts as a student," said Dumbledore, looking from Harry to Oliver to Adrianna. "You simply needed to believe in and uphold the ideals of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and face the heir of Slytherin just as they faced Salazar Slytherin those many years ago."
"Why was Voldemort's blood green?" asked Oliver.
"Before Voldemort came to power, he underwent many magical transformations that enhanced his powers and abilities. One of those transformations stored power in his blood and made him more resistant to magical and physical attacks. Those transformations likely affected the color of his blood. You may have noticed that Voldemort is often associated with the color green; his Dark Mark was green, the light from the killing curse is green, and then of course he is the heir of Slytherin, whose colors are green and silver."
"What will happen to the death eaters now that Voldemort is really gone?" asked Harry.
"Many of them have already built respectable reputations within the wizarding community, and they will blend right back into society. The only way they can really be caught and convicted is if they are caught by an auror or if one of you were to identify them. However, seeing as they were all masked and cloaked in your presence and Voldemort never mentioned them by name, it isn't very likely that you will be able to identify them. Of course the aurors will be looking for them, but it is not likely that they will be caught," Dumbledore finished with a resigned look on his face.
"But they can't just get away with all of the stuff they did! I distinctly heard both Draco and Lucius Malfoy laughing!" Harry cried.
"Yes, and I was certain I heard Marcus Flint!" Oliver added.
"That may very well be," said Dumbledore, "but hearing them laugh and seeing them are two completely different things. Nobody is going to believe you in a court of wizards' law if you try to identify them by claiming to have heard them laugh, but did not see them. And now, if there are no further questions, I will escort you all to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey see to you."
Ginny, Harry, Adrianna and Oliver followed Dumbledore out of his office and through several corridors until the arrived at the hospital wing. Poppy directed each of them to a hospital bed and poured them each a large, steaming cup full of some sort of potion.
"Drink all of that. It's a dreamless sleep potion. You're going to need it after what you've been through today," she said, and she began fussing over them as she had a tendency to do.
Oliver downed the potion and felt himself falling fast asleep within seconds.