PROLOGUE: Light at the End of the Tunnel
The sun was rising over the battlefield. This battle would be long-remembered, for it was at the rising of the new moon that Harry James Potter struck down the Dark Lord, Voldemort, with the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which had been the key to winning the battle. The sword had proven to hold immense magical power beyond its metal blade, but Voldemort could not wield it. Only one of the Gryffindor bloodline could wield the sword to its true potential, or so the late Albus Dumbledore had concluded.
Standing at the center of the horizon, a figure stood alone, robed in white that covered any distinguishing features. At the moment the sun peaked over the horizon, a flash of blinding white light emanated from the white-robed figure, enveloping the landscape. When the brightness subsided, Harry Potter looked up at the horizon and saw only a golden sunrise, more beautiful than any he'd seen before. Looking out towards it, he saw no more foes on the battlefield. They had vanished.
Limping from exhaustion, Harry turned to face his former classmates and now fellow aurors, for five years had passed since he had graduated Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Looking over the battlefield, using his sword as a walking stick, Harry smiled. "It's over!" he shouted to his troops. "He's gone! They're all gone! We've won! We've won at last!" Cheers sprang from amidst the ranks, as people embraced each other in sheer joy.
Harry looked out to the rising sun, and remembered the beautiful whiteness that had swept away their enemies. It seemed almost as though Dumbledore had come back from the grave, and Fawkes had been his torch. Nothing seemed to matter now, except that the years of danger were over at last, and that what was once lost had been reclaimed. Looking up the hillside, he saw the great fortress that had been Voldemort's stronghold these past six years, but now the siege was over, and the day was won. The wizarding world would live on, and the great castle of Hogwarts, looming over its grounds and battlefield, was finally free.