Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 53. Fifth Year, Part 10. 1996.
Harry looked at the door they'd just gone through. He was sure on the other side was a furious battle that would no doubt be loud.
Then it hit him. All the doors in the Department of Mysteries had to be portals, which was why it chilled him as he passed through it. He was sure the entire department would not fit together if they were normal doors. But the last detail was the complete lack of sound. They weren't soundproof. Physically, he was far further away from Fleur than only a few metres.
Harry shook his head and turned away from the door. He saw Hermione checking if Neville was okay, while Ginny did the same with Ronald.
They were in the circular entrance hall, the room with a dozen doors.
Harry wondered how the room worked, but figured he could ask his mother later. If they both made it out of this alive.
The thought gave him pause, but he shook his head to clear it.
'Exit.' Harry commanded the room and the door in the six o'clock position opened.
Harry nodded to himself and moved to the now open door.
'Quickly, lets get out of here.' Harry said and followed the group of four once they all passed him.
They ran up the corridor toward the lift and once inside, Hermione pressed the button to take them back to the atrium.
The elevator gave a soft chime and Harry saw four figures rush out of the Department of Mysteries entrance hall, running toward them.
Harry's eyes narrowed as Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, Rodulphus, and Rabastan Lestrange closed the distance between them.
Harry put up a powerful shield that protected them from a rain of Stunners and other low-powered spells. He frowned and wondered why the Death Eaters weren't using anything lethal.
The doors to the elevator closed, and they sped upward.
Harry released his shield and let out a deep sigh. He turned to the others in the lift.
Neville's face was pale and covered in sweat. The boy struggled to catch his breath.
Hermione looked to be trying to use Occlumency to calm herself while Ginny's eyes darted throughout the lift, looking for more threats.
Ronald scowled at the door.
The elevator slowed to a stop.
'Atrium.' The elevator's soft voice said in a pleasant tone, at odds with the situation.
Harry ran out of the lift, his wand out in front. He first ran toward the apparition point, but changed direction when he realised he likely couldn't apparate the four out with him in one go.
He ran toward the floo stations.
Harry heard a faint voice from behind them.
'Atrium.'
Harry spun to see the four Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, rush toward them.
'Get to the floo. I'll hold them off.' Harry growled.
He slapped away two spells and dodged the other two. He fell back a step as the four Death Eaters drew nearer.
Lucius and Dolohov broke away from the Lestrange brothers and went toward the floo area.
Harry fired a Bone Breaker at them but was forced to dodge out of the way of a Killing Curse from one brother.
Harry tried to keep an eye on Malfoy and Dolohov while he defended against the Lestrange brother's spells.
Another Killing Curse sped past Harry, who avoided the bolt of green onrushing death with a smirk.
They weren't going to play with him. It was the others that they wanted to capture for some reason.
He was fine with that.
Harry focussed on the brothers Lestrange and monitored the low scale duel between Lucius and Dolohov against the four teens.
Harry let loose. He knew that the other two Death Eaters would not kill the others, which gave him time to deal with the Lestrange's. Idly, he wondered how Fleur was doing with Bellatrix.
Another ding echoed through the cavernous room.
'Atrium.'
Another Killing Curse sped by him, missing him by centimetres, and Harry moved closer to the Lestrange's.
Harry conjured a cloud of black smoke a few metres away from the brothers and both conjured a powerful wind to clear the smoke.
But that was all Harry needed as both brothers dropped their guard for a moment.
Harry fired a Ardenti Lux beam from both his wand and his off hand, piercing the hearts of both brothers at once.
Before the two brothers even hit the ground, Harry spun and rushed toward Lucius and Dolohov.
Harry felt something crash into his side, something large.
He hit the ground and waved his off hand toward whatever had hit him, it flew through the air a moment later from his wandless Banishing Hex.
Harry growled and stood, he turned and saw Fenrir Greyback recover in mid-air, and as soon as the beast landed, it launched itself at him with inhuman speed.
Harry fired an Ardenti Lux at the werewolf who avoided the condensed beam of light and covered the distance between them in moments. Harry sidestepped the hulking man's lunge and fired an Expulso Curse at him. The werewolf dodged with unnatural speed.
Fenrir leapt at Harry, his claw-like hands outstretched toward Harry's face.
Harry's memories of when he was a child flashed to the forefront of his mind, when Fenrir had held Harry above the floor and his head had felt like it would pop in the monsters grip.
'I remember you. I remember that look in your eye boy. You won't escape from me this time.' Fenrir growled.
Fenrir rushed toward Harry, who gritted his teeth.
More memories rushed through Harry's mind of his first year at Hogwarts, when he learned he could transfigure objects into silver, and how he trained for months in the Room of Requirement for this exact situation.
Harry moved his wand in a circle, starting at his thigh and in a clockwise direction.
Fenrir was three meters away.
Harry's wand was above his head.
Fenrir was two meters away, and Harry could see the scar tissue that covered most of the beasts face.
Harry's wand closed the circle, then he stabbed it toward the monster in front of him.
A hundred silver arrows materialised out of thin air, conjured with a single overpowered spell.
Fenrir's bloodshot eyes widened.
'Oppugno.' Harry growled.
The silver arrows rained down on Fenrir with such force that some passed through his body entirely, then burrowed into the marble floor of the atrium. The remaining arrows pinned the werewolf to the floor as the silver poisoned the savage man.
Harry glared at the creature who made him the man he was, who had put him on the path he'd walked ever since that day in the Quidditch shop when he was a child. A part of him almost wanted to thank the beast, the rest of Harry just wanted it to die.
Harry turned from the soon-to-be corpse of his childhood nightmare, and back toward the floo station.
Harry's eyes widened as Dolohov fired a purple zigzagging spell at Hermione.
The purple spell crashed into a marble tile torn from the floor in front of the bushy haired witch.
Harry glanced behind him to see Fleur running toward them from the lift.
Dolohov turned to face Harry as Fleur drew nearer.
Lucius ignored them and leered at Neville. The Malfoy Lord held out his hand toward Neville.
'Give me the Prophecy boy, or your friends will die.' Lucius hissed, pointing at Harry.
Harry and Fleur moved to either side of Dolohov. He knew how the man duelled; Flitwick had shown him memories of as many of the Death Eaters' fighting styles as he had access to.
Dolohov was a world class dueller, like Flitwick himself was, so Harry had seen the man duel many times.
Harry fired a Bone Breaker at Dolohov, drawing the man's attention. While Harry fought the man, Fleur distracted the world class dueller with Tripping Jinx's and the like.
Harry smirked as the man ignored most of Fleur's spells after a few seconds of useless prank spells. Once Dolohov turned his focus on Harry, Fleur hit Dolohov with a Cutting Curse and removed his wand hand.
The man screamed and drew another wand, holding it in his off hand, only for an Ardenti Lux beam from Harry burnt a hole where his heart had been.
Harry let out a breath and turned to face Malfoy and Neville. Fleur stood beside him.
'Ready?' Fleur asked and Harry nodded.
Neville screamed and cradled his head in his hands. He writhed on the floor while both Hermione and Ginny tried to restrain him.
Ronald stared, white-faced, as Voldemort appeared in the atrium in a burst of shadows that appeared alive.
Harry followed Ron's gaze and saw Voldemort.
Harry turned his wand on the monster and Fleur followed suit, her face pale at the sight of the Dark Lord.
Lucius reached down to the writhing Neville. He ignored the two girls and plucked the Prophecy orb from him.
The blonde man stalked across the atrium toward his Lord while Harry watched, unwilling to begin a fight with the most powerful Dark Lord Britain had ever known.
Even if he had defeated a shade of the man a few years earlier.
Harry watched as Voldemort took the offered Prophecy orb from Lucius and Neville's screams echoed louder in the atrium.
Voldemort narrowed his eyes at Harry.
'Harry Potter, I once thought the Prophecy to be about you. But then I lost my body at the Longbottom Estate so long ago.' The flat-faced man hissed.
Harry eyed the man's slit like nose with a deep sense of revulsion.
Voldemort's mouth split open with a disturbing smile, too-wide to belong on a human face.
'Now I have the Prophecy in my hand, we shall all hear what it says.' Voldemort said.
Voldemort glanced at Neville, who stopped screaming and slumped boneless to the floor. The snake faced man crushed the Prophecy orb in his hand and Professor Trelawny's ghostly voice echoed through the atrium.
'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 his 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...'
Voldemort grinned as the ghostly voice faded and turned to the motionless Neville and laughed.
The Dark Lord fired a sickly green Killing Curse at Neville's prone form.
The curse exploded against a marble tile, ripped from the ground by a flick of Harry's wand.
Splinters showered Neville and the others around him, leaving them with dozens of tiny shards of stone buried in their flesh.
'You won't be killing anybody else, monster, this ends here.' Harry snarled.
Voldemort only smirked and fired another Killing Curse at Harry, who conjured a flock of birds to take the curse.
Harry ran through the cloud of birds and fired a handful of curses at the Dark Lord. Fleur ran right beside him, matching Harry spell for spell.
Voldemort deflected and shielded every spell from Harry and Fleur and fired back just as many.
The air between the three grew hot as a steady stream of spells flashed in a narrow triangle, each spell fatal.
A flash of fire burst into existence beside Harry and Dumbledore stepped out of it while Fawkes flew up into the rafters to watch the oncoming duel.
Voldemort fired another Killing Curse at Neville, only for it to be blocked by another chunk of the floor torn up by Fleur. Another wave of stone shards drew gasps of pain from Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.
Dumbledore stepped toward Voldemort.
'Tom, please, stay this madness. There is no way for you to win here tonight. You know the Prophecy now, stand down. You can be redeemed.' Dumbledore urged, and Voldemort sneered.
Voldemort fired another Killing Curse at Dumbledore, which was blocked by an animated statue of a golden House-Elf from the fountain of magical brethren.
Lucius stood to the side, watching as Dumbledore joined the fight against his Lord.
Harry noted Dumbledore was trying to restrain Voldemort, while he and Fleur worked to kill the man.
Beside Neville, Ginny, and Ronald watched the fight while Hermione pulled thick splinters out of her arms. None of them noticed as Neville forced himself to his feet.
'STUPEFY.' Neville shouted, his voice ringing out through the atrium.
The red beam of light rushed at Voldemort, who slapped it away with contempt.
With a smirk toward Dumbledore, Voldemort burst into a cloud of black smoke which rushed toward Neville.
Neville screamed, his hands on either side of his head for a few seconds.
Then fell silent.
Neville looked up to Dumbledore, with eyes as red as Voldemort's.
A smirk played across his features and his crimson eyes glittered.
'You've already lost Dumbledore. The moment young Neville stepped foot into the Ministry, he was doomed. Not even the back-up Chosen One and his half breed could protect the Boy-Who-Lived.' Neville said, his voice sibilant and full of victory.
'Neville, break free of Tom's control, think of those who rely on you, your family and friends.' The Headmaster urged.
Harry sighed and fired a Stunner at Neville, who sluggishly moved his wand to deflect the weak spell. But Neville's hand hesitated before the spell hit him and he flopped to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The black smoke reformed into the Dark Lord, he stood behind the stunned Neville. Voldemort's yew wand pointed down at Neville and fired a Killing Curse at point blank range.
The bolt of green light hit Neville before anything could intercept it and Voldemort looked up to Dumbledore with a too-wide smirk.
Ginny and Hermione screamed.
'Is that it? The Chosen One defeated with no genuine effort? Pathetic.' Voldemort laughed.
Harry and Fleur rushed forward, both unleashed a stream of curses as Dumbledore hesitated, his eyes wide as he stared at Neville's still body.
Voldemort waved his wand and a pulse of energy burst out from it, it carried Hermione, Ginny, and Ronald, as well as Neville's body away from Voldemort like rag dolls.
Neville's body flew past Harry, who had eyes only for Voldemort.
Harry deflected a series of dark spells before a golden statue of a centaur leapt in front of him and took a Killing Curse, which tore the statue in half.
Dumbledore fired a handful of powerful spells that Harry didn't recognise at Voldemort, who evidently did.
Voldemort blocked the spells with a golden shield that rang like a gong.
A searing pain erupted in Harry's shoulder as something hit it, the force sent him sprawling to the floor. Harry rolled on impact with the ground and on impulse saw Lucius Malfoy aiming a wand at him. Harry fired a Defodio Hex mid-way to his feet, and the spell struck Malfoy's hip and created a deep gouge in his hip. Blood burst from the wound and the blonde man dropped to the floor with a scream.
Fleur fired a Confrigo Hex at the fallen Malfoy Lord and it struck his chest, which exploded in a shower of gore.
Harry finished his roll onto his feet and thanked the Basilisk hide armour. It was likely he would have lost his arm, or worse, without it.
Harry returned to the fight, only having lost a few seconds because of his painful distraction.
Voldemort stepped back a few steps, struggling under the combined attacks from his three opponents.
A shout from the other end of the atrium revealed Interim Minister for Magic Timothy Dunn.
Minister Dunn pointed at Voldemort.
'Capture Voldemort.' The Minister ordered.
The dozen red robed Aurors around the Minister, including Amelia and Nym, rushed toward the fight with wands drawn.
Voldemort sneered at Dumbledore and pulled a portkey out of his robes.
'Pure-' the Dark Lord began before his hand fell away from his body, separated by a Cutting Curse from Harry.
Voldemort's hand fell to the floor with a wet thump.
'-blood.' Voldemort finished, and the hand disappeared.
Fleur removed Voldemort's wand hand with another pinpoint Cutting Curse and Harry bound the Dark Lord in chains.
Voldemort fell to the marble floor, struggling, and glared at Harry.
Harry smirked before he fired a Stunner into the Dark Lord's face.
With the Dark Lord unconscious at his feet, Harry looked up to the Minister as the dark-skinned man came near.
'Minister, is there a way to dispose of this man? Everyone thought him dead when I was a baby. I would like to make sure the job is done.' Harry asked.
Silence filled the atrium.
Harry turned his gaze toward Fleur, then down at the stunned Voldemort.
'I suggest the Veil of Death? Wasn't it used for executions like this in the past?' Harry asked.
Minister Dunn blinked at Harry, then looked to Dumbledore, who let out a sigh.
Dumbledore stared down at Voldemort and nodded.
Minister Dunn gave a single clap.
'Aurors, lead the way to the Department of Mysteries, there may be more Death Eaters around.' The Minister said and half a dozen Aurors rushed toward the elevator and took it down.
Harry looked over at Neville and blinked in surprise as he saw Neville standing.
'Uh.' Harry said, and Fleur turned around and gaped at Neville.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all ran toward Neville and pulled him into a group hug.
Harry turned to Fleur.
'How do you suppose that happened? How did he survive another Killing Curse?' he asked, and Fleur gave an exhausted shrug.
'I do not know, my love. But we should follow the Ministry people.' Fleur whispered and Harry turned to see the Minister watching him with a faint look of awe.
Harry shook off the uncomfortable feeling and levitated the stunned and bound Dark Lord.
Harry walked over to the wand hand of Voldemort and picked both it and the wand up. A feeling of revulsion coursed through him as he held the cold hand. He placed them both in a pocket inside his jacket.
He tried to ignore the whispers of the Aurors who had formed a ring around them as they made their way to the lift.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Fleur stood beside Dumbledore in the Chamber of Death, the same room where Fleur had duelled Bellatrix Lestrange.
A few metres away lay the broken body of Bellatrix, her robes torn and burnt. She bore a hole in the middle of her forehead. Her wand lay discarded a few metres away from her body.
Behind them, on the raised seating that surrounded the Veil, sat dozens of Aurors, the Minister and most of the Order of the Phoenix who had dealt with the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries while Harry had been fighting in the atrium.
The Minister turned to Dumbledore.
'Would you do the honours Headmaster Dumbledore?' Minister Dunn asked.
Dumbledore turned to Harry and Fleur.
'Would you finish this? I don't think I have it in me, I'm afraid.' Dumbledore said with sorrow in his voice.
Harry and Fleur shared a glance and nodded.
Harry held Fleur's hand, and both levitated the stunned and bound Dark Lord toward the inky blackness of the Veil.
Once Voldemort touched the inky blackness of the arch, it seemed to reach out to envelop him.
Harry felt his Levitation Charm break, and Fleur blinked as hers failed as well.
But Voldemort woke and his chains faded, as though all spells on the snake faced man were expiring on contact with the Veil.
'No, I will return.' Voldemort screamed as the inky blackness of the Veil consumed the Dark Lord.
Harry looked down at his pocket and drew the Dark Lord's severed hand and wand from it. He tossed them both into the Veil, which greedily devoured them.
Dumbledore gave a soft clap and looked down at Harry and Fleur, whose hands tightened around each other's.
Harry turned to see the Minister behind him.
'I'm glad to meet you sir.' Harry said with a tired smile.
Minister Dunn smiled.
'What can I do for you two, the Heroes of the hour?' the man asked.
Harry smiled.
'Would it be at all possible for me to take my NEWTs soon? I have a lot of work to do, and it can't begin until I finish at Hogwarts.' Harry said.
Dunn looked at Dumbledore, then back at Harry.
'Why haven't you taken your NEWTs yet, you look the right age to have graduated already?' the Minister asked.
Harry rubbed the back of his head.
'I had a bit of a growth spurt, but I'm in my fifth year, well, kind of sixth, but completed my OWLs early in the summer.' Harry said.
The Minister blinked.
The Minister looked Harry up and down.
'How does next week sound?' he said, and Harry nodded.
'That sounds brilliant Minister.' Harry smiled.
Dunn returned the smile.
'Its only a minor thing to help one of the Heroes who defeated Voldemort.' Dunn said and turned to Fleur.
'What can I do for you, young lady?' Dunn said, his eyes a little glazed over.
Fleur smiled and after a moment of concentration, the Minister's eyes refocussed.
'I have everything I need, Minister. Perhaps a small favour in the future?' she asked.
The Minister smiled at her.
'Of course, young lady. Now I must be off. Paperwork waits for no man, it seems, especially paperwork detailing this mess.' He waved a hand around the Chamber of Death.
Harry and Fleur smiled.
'Thank you Minister.' They chorused, then smiled at each other.
Dumbledore gave them a weak smile.
'It will be a sad day when you leave the school Mister Potter, but you have had an eventful time at Hogwarts, haven't you?' Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded.
'Every year was something new, Headmaster. Now, is it possible for me to return home until sitting my NEWTs? I would like to come by on the weekend to talk to my friends, but I think it best to spend some time with family at the moment.' Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded. His twinkling gaze went from Harry to Fleur and back to Harry again.
'Of course, my boy. I do hope you'll stop by my office for a chat on the weekend.' Dumbledore said and without further word, turned and walked away toward Neville and the others.
Harry and Fleur stood alone in front of the Veil.
James and Lily stepped down from the raised seating and pulled them into a tight hug.
'I'm so proud of both of you.' Said Lily and kissed both on the cheek.
'I can't believe you two beat the Dark Lord. What else can you do?' James asked as he let them go.
Fleur smiled.
''Arry is taking his NEWTs next week, by allowance from the Minister.' She boasted, and Lily beamed at him.
James sighed.
'You really don't know how to relax, do you?' he asked, and Harry shrugged.
'No, not really.' Harry admitted.
James laughed.
'But once you graduate, you can take on the Lordship. This is brilliant.' James grinned and Harry rolled his eyes.
'Yes dad, I'll take it off your hands. Seeing how eager you are to get rid of it, I almost don't want it.' Harry said.
Sirius stepped down from the raised seating and joined them, grinning.
'If Amy would let me, I would have you be my proxy for the Black seat too.' Sirius said.
Amelia slapped the back of his head.
'You will do no such thing. You will be a proper influence for Orion. The boy is already taking after the three of you Marauders. I don't want him or Charlus to get any worse.' Amelia growled.
Harry grinned at the sight and squeezed Fleur's hand.
It was a good start to their plans.