A/N: This chapter does not end in scar, but I happen to like it a whole lot. It's probably my favorite. This is my idea of what the symbol on the spine of the UK Children's Deathly Hallows represents. Hope you enjoy! And please review!! Suggestions for future chapters are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do own two sets of Harry Potter books…but I hardly think that qualifies.

There is a branch of ancient magic which is known by very few, for it occurs under immensely specific circumstances. The result of this extraordinary phenomenon is that the power of the spell being cast is increased by a hundredfold; no Shield Charm or any other protective spell or object will stand a chance against something this immensely powerful.

The conditions are quite unusual and there are only two recorded occurrences of this particular branch of ancient magic. Every wand has a certain level of compatibility with other wands. Brother wands, or wands with cores that come from the same magical creature, have no compatibility with each other, and when spells from such wands combine, the Priori Incantatem Effect is produced, an effect that is not unlike the one that is being spoken of: the Pectovis Explesum Effect. Pectovis Explesum is the opposite of Priori Incantatem, and in order to take place, three wands, each containing one of the three major wand cores, one Phoenix feather, one Unicorn hair, and one Dragon heartstring, must cast the same spell at the same time, and aimed at the same person or thing. But the circumstances are more specific still. Not only do the three wands need to contain the three different cores, but the wands must also complete each other, something that is not as easy to determine. The wand chooses the wizard, and for wands to be completely compatible, and therefore capable of causing the Pectovis Explesum Effect, they must choose each other, as well as choosing wizards who will also choose each other. In other words, the wands, as well as the wizards, have qualities that add together to create something that is both whole, and powerfully magical.

The two recorded occurrences of the Pectovis Explesum Effect were both performed by the same three wands. The first instance was an accident, performed with a harmless spell, cast by three underage wizards, and not recognized for what it truly was until a number of years later. But the second was performed with full knowledge of what was about to happen, and with the intent to produce a spell that was powerful beyond measure.

The three wands in question belong to two wizards and a witch, together sometimes known as "The Golden Trio", but otherwise known as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

The first accidental incident consisted of three Expelliarmus spells, cast upon Professor Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack during latter part of the trio's third year. They, of course, didn't think anything of such a powerful disarming spell. The impact made the whole house shake, and sent Professor Snape's wand through the air and across the room before the teacher was thrown into the wall and left unconscious for two hours, all from a simple disarming spell that is merely supposed to part the wand from its owner…

Being ignorant and thirteen, they had no reason to suspect that anything unusual had happened, and indeed, it did seem as if nothing had. The spell performed did not require much magical ability and the casters themselves had not yet achieved their full magical potential, so the effect did not occur properly, but only created an immensely powerful spell. One person did realize that something unusual had happened, even if he didn't realize exactly what it was; his name was Remus Lupin. But he did not draw attention to the matter. He quickly put it in the back of his mind, for there were much more pressing matters to deal with that night…

With all the mayhem and the commotion of the months and years to follow, with a war steadily approaching, it had seemed that Remus Lupin had dismissed this shred of a suspicion of an unusual occurrence. Until, that is, the fateful day when Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned up on his doorstep.

The trio was being shuffled from house to house, to keep their whereabouts secret and haphazard, so as to make it difficult for Death Eaters that might be following them. Members of the Order were never told when to expect them, just to let them stay for as long as they needed whenever they called.

Remus heard the doorbell, hastened to open the door and quickly ushered them inside the small house he had been renting outside London. The three of them were shivering from the cold outside, but all had triumphant smiles painted across their faces. He gazed questioningly at them waiting for an explanation, and Harry held up a heavy golden locket by its chain. The locket was hanging open on its hinges, oddly lopsided, exposing the empty spaces where photos are usually placed. As it rotated slowly he noticed a serpentine "S" encrusted with emeralds. The last Horcrux had been destroyed.

A smile plastered itself across Remus Lupin's face as well. Lord Voldemort was no longer invincible. They were closer than they had ever been to defeating him once and for all. They were closer than they had ever been to saving the world. But Remus knew that this happiness was soon to be punctured by the realization that they would soon have to wage war against Lord Voldemort himself, not the pieces of his soul, but his actual being. And that was something that scared him, a grown man who had lived through two wars, down to his very bones. There was no certainty of living through a duel with Lord Voldemort. But that was not something to be thinking about right now. Now was the time for a little, much needed celebration.

However, celebrations with a crowd of people were not advised at such a time of danger. So instead the four of them whipped up a nice dinner and ate together, laughing and discussing carefree things, for the time when they could do such things was rapidly drawing to a close.

ooo

The trio stayed with Remus Lupin for a much longer time than they had stayed anywhere else. They needed to do research, and there was no better place to do it than in the house of a former Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor who owned an extremely large quantity of worn and threadbare, but extremely useful books. One wall of the sitting room was covered, floor to ceiling, in an old-fashioned wooden bookcase. There were books everywhere; they were stacked on top of each other, three rows deep, and even in the spaces between the tops of other books and the shelf above. And there were still more shoved unceremoniously into boxes and trunks that could be found all over the house.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with Hermione as the leader of the hunt of course, would read through any book they could get their hands on for any quantity of information that might be even the least bit helpful when they went up against Lord Voldemort. Remus would sometimes help them search through his books, but they seemed to work better with just each other, and he resorted to pointing out books that he thought might be of help. Slowly he watched them, well, what he could see of them behind the mountains of tattered books, getting more and more restless at the lack of practical information.

One day he was sitting with them while drinking his coffee, watching their heads bob in and out of the sea of pages. He liked having them in the house. It made things not as lonely as they usually were. It was very early in the morning; the sun had not even properly risen yet. Harry and Hermione were still pouring through old books with bloodshot eyes. Ron was asleep on top of a pile of four very thick volumes.

"We need something different. Something other than a spell or a curse," Hermione said in a frantically exasperated voice to Harry through a small gap in two large, teetering piles of books. Ron's eyes opened groggily at her words.

"But what else is there?" Harry answered as he slammed the volume he was reading closed and added to the top of one of the mountains.

A memory clicked into place in Remus Lupin's mind, "I have a hunch…something I remember from a long time ago…" he said cautiously as got up from his armchair, put his coffee on top of one of the mounds of books, and looked at the three of them. All three pairs of eyes were rapt with attention.

"Something…maybe…possibly…something with wands…" he muttered as his eyes spanned the length of his bookcase, his memory of that night in the Shrieking Shack playing itself over and over in his head.

"Something like Priori Incantatem?" Harry asked quietly.

All their heads turned to look at Harry.

Hermione looked confused as she looked between Harry and Remus, "What's Priori Incantatem?"

Ron goggled at her, "You don't know what that is?! Mind you, I don't know what it is either…but I thought you knew everything."

Remus looked confused as well, "Harry, how do you know about Priori Incantatem? I'm sure you would have never learned about that school…"

"We certainly did not learn about it in school," said Hermione indignantly.

"It happened to me," Harry continued slowly, "It happened between my wand and Voldemort's, the night he came back. Both of our wands have the same core, a Phoenix tail feather. The feathers both came from Fawkes..."

Remus's mind began clinking into action.

"Well, Priori Incantatem happened, and instead of our spells deflecting each other, they sort of connected and—"

"Your wand has a Phoenix feather core, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Yes."

"And yours Hermione? What's the core of your wand?" Remus inquired.

"Dragon heartstring. But that really has nothing to do with—"

"And Ron?" Remus questioned excitedly.

"Unicorn hair. But Professor Lupin, why does this even—"

"Oh, where is it? Where is it? I bought it such a long time ago…" Remus began to himself as he searched the enormous bookcase.

"You see," he began, addressing the trio while still searching earnestly; "There's something…sort of the opposite of Priori Incantatem. Instead of the wands connecting to create the Reverse Spell Effect, they sort of join together to form one incredibly powerful spell. But, it has nothing to do with having the same wand core of course, it has to do with having different ones…ones that complete each other. You need one of each of the three major wand cores and the wands have to be compatible. And in less I'm very much mistaken you three have already made it happen once.

"You remember at the end of your third year, during our time in the Shrieking Shack, when Professor Snape intruded and all three of you felt the need to disarm him?" he asked, turning around to look at them.

They all nodded slowly, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, didn't you ever stop to think that it might have been odd that a simple disarming charm, cast by three teenagers, caused Professor Snape to be thrown against the wall and remain unconscious for two whole hours?"

The trio glanced at each other curiously.

"Oh, where is it? Where is it?! I know it must be here somewhere…"

"What are you looking for Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked, getting up to aid him in his search. She now knew the shelves almost as well as he did.

"I forget what it was called, Anicent Magick of Wands, or Magick Wands Most Ancient, something along those lines. I bought it such a long time ago…Aha!" he said as he pulled one book off the shelf to get a better look at the rows of books behind it, "Here it is. It was written by the original Ollivander, the one who opened the shop in Diagon Alley. It took me ages to find a copy…"

He flicked through the pages as the trio watched him with bated breath. At the very center of the book was a large diagram of what seemed to be a triangle, with a circle inside of it.

"Yes, here it is. The Pectovis Explesum Effect. When three wands, one of each core, choose each other and become completely compatible, and they cast the same spell, at the same time, aiming at the same target, the power of the spell will reach an alarming height," he paused to look at the shocked faces of the trio, "This is, I believe, what happened when you attacked Professor Snape that night in the Shrieking Shack. But as you were not yet fully qualified wizards, and the spell that was being cast was not an incredibly difficult one, only the power of the spell increased, the actual Pectovis Explesum Effect, depicted in this diagram, did not occur. It was only a lesser variation of it…"

"So you're saying," began Ron, looking frightened and determined at the same time, "That if we all cast Avada Kedavra at Voldemort, at the same time, this Perctoris Explainesum—"

"Pectovis Explesum, Ron," chimed Hermione with annoyance.

"Yes, that, well that will happen and Voldemort will be reduced to dust or something like that?"

"But why would we even need this effect to defeat him," asked Hermione reasonably, "surely one good Killing Curse alone would do the job…"

"I don't think one curse would be enough, though, Hermione," Harry said seriously, "If Voldemort is so afraid of death, I think he'll hold on as long as possible. He's unbelievably powerful. I think that if he really wanted to, he'd be able to survive one good Killing Curse. But if Pectovis Explesum really can occur between our wands, and create a Killing Curse of colossal power, I think there would be no way he could survive it."

ooo

And so the final battle had dawned upon the Wizarding World. Deep underground, in the tunnels and caves of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the true battle between good and evil was about to take place.

It now seemed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that whatever had occurred before this moment had passed in a haze of curses and jinxes, deflected spells, and falling bodies. Now it was the three of them, alone, against Lord Voldemort himself. He was laughing at them, that cold, high-pitched laugh that made the hairs on the back of you neck stand up and your arms erupt in goosebumps. But they knew what they had to do. For the first time, it was their side that had a plan.

And they were dueling, each member of the trio standing at a different end of the cave, Lord Voldemort in the center, taunting them each in turn. All three could feel the tempers rising, the anger bubbling to the surface, but they had to keep going until they thought they would explode from the pressure. It was the only way to guarantee that the Killing Curse would be successful.

Suddenly Lord Voldemort stopped sending spells at them, and they stopped sending them at him. They watched him rotate slowly on the spot, taking in each of them in turn.

"You do know I'm going to kill you, don't you?" A smirk slid its way onto Lord Voldemort's face, giving him an even more maniacal look than ever before, "First I shall take the Mudblood," he said turning towards Hermione, his back facing Harry and Ron. Her cheek was bleeding, and her robes were torn, but she stood her ground. He turned away to look at Harry and Ron, his back to Hermione now. "And you two will watch as I do it. Then," he turned toward Ron, whose face was dirty with a mixture of grime and blood, "I shall take the boy, the pureblood traitor, Harry Potter's best friend" As he said this he turned to face Harry, glasses broken and scar burning. "And you, Harry Potter, you will watch as I torture and kill your best friends, and then, I will kill you," he finished, his cold laughter echoing around the walls of the underground cave.

And that was when it happened. All three drew their wands to the level of where Lord Voldemort's heart should be and shouted "Avada Kedavra!" He stopped laughing, but the hair raising laughter continued to echo, mixing cacophonously with their own shouts, fueling the curse that each member of the trio was casting. But the curses did not collide with their target. Instead, as though some invisible, spherical barrier was placed around Voldemort, the jets of green light strayed off course and formed a circle of eerily glowing green light, growing brighter and brighter as the three curses combined. But the green light kept pouring out of each of the three wands, a continuous supply, feeding the circle, and making each wand vibrate. Suddenly, the light that connected each of the wands to the circle split into two and moved away from each other, the angle between each pair of lights growing steadily larger until each light connected with the one of its neighbor. Harry's left jet of light connected with Hermione's right, Hermione's left connected with Ron's right, and Ron's left connected with Harry's right, forming a triangle that surrounded the circle of glowing green light that illuminated the cave.

Lord Voldemort was looking around at the three of them, stunned senseless, watching the curse grow steadily stronger around him.

Then, at the exact same moment, each of the three wands produced two spheres of what could only be pure power. Each wand produced different colored spheres. The spheres emitted from Harry's wand were red, Hermione's were black and Ron's were white. They glanced at each other; they hadn't expected this to happen.

But Harry, who had experienced something similar with Priori Incantatem, thought he knew what was going on.

"Push them towards me!" Harry exclaimed. It was getting harder and harder to hold on to his vibrating wand, but he knew that he had to. The two red spheres ricocheted off in two different directions, as did the two black ones from Hermione's wand, and the two white ones from Ron's. One red sphere collided with a black sphere at the same time as the other red sphere collided with a white one. When they collided they spun around the glowing green path like corkscrews traveling in opposite directions before they again came into contact with the green light. Hermione's and Ron's spheres made contact with Harry's wand while the red spheres continued along the triangular pathway, one changing course as it hit Hermione's wand, the other changing its course at Ron's. The remaining black and white spheres crossed each other and proceeded along the circle before they made contact with Harry's wand as well. The red spheres that had changed direction collided across from Harry, directly in the center of the line connected Ron and Hermione's wands. They too branched off from the path of green light to form an alternate, corkscrew path before they continued to opposite points of the circle, changing course at the two points of the triangle and continuing until they finally made contact with Harry's wand as well.

All six spheres were now connected to Harry's wand, one black, one red, and one white, on each of the two jets of green light. His wand was vibrating so hard and he was holding on so tightly that he felt his fingers growing numb.

Lord Voldemort turned to face him, his laughter still echoing indistinctly around the cave. They glared at each other, Voldemort surrounded by a Killing Curse more powerful than he could ever imagine himself conjuring, and Harry with the upper hand at last.

Lord Voldemort laughed for the last time. He laughed his high, cold, heartless laugh that had plagued Harry's dreams for years and years. The laugh that made Harry Potter push the spheres toward their target, moving at lightening speed and melting together to radiate the brightest green light they had ever seen. The thick jet of vivid green passed through Lord Voldemort as though he were not even there, and collided with the point directly across from Harry where the triangle and circle met, the same point where his two red spheres had met and collided…

And while his laughs echoed sinisterly around the cave, Lord Voldemort was reduced to nothing more than a pile of dust. The vivid green light glowed dazzlingly as the light stopped pouring from the three wands, and then slowly faded, leaving the Golden Trio alone in the cave, with nothing except the reverberating cackles of the now vanquished Lord Voldemort.