A few more chapters and I'll wrap this up. I'm planning to write another fic so on the last chapter, I'll tell you guys where it is. Read and Review. Thanks.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

PANIC AND DEATH

Hermione was now standing on a dark, big hall. She looked around and saw giant rows of thick books labeled with bronze plaques. She was intimidated at first but got a hold of herself. She must not panic and collect herself.

She walked near the shelves, looking for the letter P on the labels. She reached the far end of the silent hall and saw the shelf labeled P. She then looked into the books contained in the said shelf, apparently looking for a specific thing. Book after book, she searched. Labels such as "Paranormal activity", "Pagan rituals", "Potion discoveries" were found but still, she kept on searching.

Minutes later, she took out the thickest, oldest book and opened it. The title page read "Prophecies."

"Okay, relax Hermione." whispered Hermione to herself. "We'll start here, in the prophecy book. One at a time."

She looked at the index and searched for the words "Harry Potter." She found it and opened to the page with prophecies relating to Harry.

"Potter, Harry" read Hermione.

"Harry James Evans Potter:

Recorded with two prophecies also indexed in 'The Dark Lord,' 'Voldemort,' and 'Riddle, Tom.'

The first prophecy: predicted by Sybil Trelawney and witnessed by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.'"

"Wait" whispered Hermione to herself. "According to Harry, Dumbledore said that he has powers Voldemort doesn't know of and doesn't have. He said it was from some locked room by the Department of Mysteries. Maybe I can use that to find a way to help Harry."

She went to the shelves again, searching for an archived list of rooms and blueprints of the entire Ministry building. She went to the "Architecture" shelf and grabbed a wide book. She opened it and searched through the pages. The book had the entire floor plan of the Ministry of Magic. She searched for the map of the Department of Mysteries.

She finally found it! She then laid it on the floor as she sat to look at the page. The map was there as she saw the illustrations of the circular room with the dais, the aquarium with brains room, and the hall with the prophecies. She traced her fingers to the lowest part of the page and saw a door that led to a room they were not able to go through before. She got excited. She turned the page to see where that door would lead to but when she did, she saw that where the door led to wasn't indicated.

"How can this be!" said Hermione loudly in frustration. She knew well that that could be the door that led to the room that had what Voldemort knows nothing of. She walked around, trying to rationalize. She checked the book and saw that no page was torn out since the page numbers indicated so. It seems that the author intentionally did not include the place that secret door led to.

"Unless" she said to herself as she walked to the shelves again with a weak smile on her face. She thought that maybe that door would lead elsewhere outside the Ministry. The book didn't include where that door led to maybe since it only had maps that showed areas within the building. Maybe it led to some annex of the Ministry or something. Besides, that book was old. Changes may have been made and new rooms might have been built after its publication.

She went to the same shelf where she got the floor plans and selected a newer looking book. She opened it and looked for the correct page. She smiled as she read the page. She found what she was searching for.

Harry gazed out of the magical bars that trapped him. It has been three hours since Voldemort left and Harry did not know what to do. He did not know what to expect. He hoped that Hermione was making some progress to rescue him. He was not ready to die.

Minutes passed and suddenly, he heard footsteps growing louder. Harry looked out to see who it was though inside, he knew exactly who was coming. Soon, Voldemort was standing outside Harry's "prison cell."

"Harry" said Voldemort. "Still fighting the good fight? The side of goodness… Never worked for me. Evil is my calling."

"You want to kill me, I know you do." said Harry.

"Yes, I do" answered Voldemort. "It just astounds me how stupid you are. You really thought that you would be able to save Sirius? Well, when your Dumbledore pushed me into the veil, I saw your dear godfather. He was frail and ill looking but he was still alive then. You heard me? I saw your godfather. And also, Crouch was with me. Crouch and I formed this little plan of setting a trap to get you, Potter. To get your trust was what we wanted. Once we have it, we would reel you in like a fish biting on bait. We killed Sirius, who bravely fought against us I must say, and I took his physical appearance for my own to fool you. Crouch strategically left clues for you to think your dear godfather was still alive. Even though you used Veritaserum on him, I was still in control of him so he never told you our plan. Pretty smart huh? And look at what you did. You are the dumb one. You believed our little joke."

"Shut up!"

"By the time Crouch had his body back through Flesh, Blood and Bone with a help from your Magda, I got excited. I knew I was going to return. Don't think that I needed someone to help me escape the Dementors' Realm. I could have done that myself but it was not part of the plan. When you helped me escape, thinking I was your godfather, I gained your trust and after that, you became such a ridiculously easy target. Now, you will die for your stupidity!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP!"

"Ah, screaming at me, aren't you. Well, scream all you want because you will die soon, just like your godfather, mother, and father. You're all going to be one big happy dead family!"

"I'm not listening!"

"Then don't." Voldemort whispered "Accio wand" and Harry's wand came zooming in to Voldemort's hand. He waved it at Harry and said "Avada Kedavra" and a green light hit Harry, making him slither and wriggle. He felt as if lightning was striking on him. It tortured him until his heart stopped. He dropped to the floor immediately.

Back at Ron's house, Mrs. Weasley walked into the living room to call her husband. As she passed by, she saw the magical clock she owned with the hand labeled "Harry" pointing to "Dead."

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX