War Is Over: Chapter 16/17 - A Different Ending
It was one of those times that Harry hated to be proven right, and yet, he couldn't really complain.
As they were walking down the damp and long tunnel, he started worrying. It took them almost half an hour to get to the Ministry - much longer than he had hoped. Andromeda must have been there for at least twenty minutes already, and if he was wrong, they would have had no distraction.
But he wasn't wrong. He was the first to exit the tunnel, under his invisibility cloak, to make sure no one was around, and the first thing he heard once he entered the Ministry was Andromeda's angry voice.
" - Completely unacceptable, I have been waiting here for more than fifteen minutes!" she said indignantly. "I told you, this is a matter that cannot wait!"
Andromeda's distraction served them just right. Even from his hiding place, he could see how all eyes at the Atrium were aimed at the security wizard, and none thought to look at the small corridor. He rolled his eyes, and turned back.
"All clear," he whispered back towards the dark tunnel. One by one his unlikely co-conspirators came out: first Luna, then Malfoy, Daphne and Percy, last, an extremely doubtful expression on his face.
"Getting ready to break some rules, Perce?" he whispered, and had to stifle a snigger when Percy's face turned a nasty shade of green.
Behind them, Malfoy was already complaining. "This corridor smells! I can't believe no one's thought to check it up before! Who are they keeping on maintenance here these days? There could have been a body here, and no one would notice!"
"Malfoy - shut - up!" Harry's urgent whisper threatened to become significantly louder. He was sure Malfoy was making a face behind his back, but at least he was making it quietly.
"Alright, we need to find a place to hide," Harry muttered to the rest. They retreated to the back of the corridor, far from anyone's sight. There was a downside to their location, of course. They couldn't see what went on in the Atrium, either, and had to rely on their ears to tell them what was going on. And there was a downside to the waiting - there was plenty of time to realise that they had no plan.
"Oi, Potter," Malfoy whispered after five minutes of sitting and waiting quietly, "when are the goblins coming?"
Harry looked at him worried. He hadn't quite thought of that bit, and he had a feeling Malfoy - and the rest of them, really, perhaps except for Luna - would not appreciate the answer.
"Any moment now," he whispered to Malfoy, hoping his new found ally won't think too hard of the answer. Hs hope, of course, went unanswered, as Malfoy managed to connect the dots with Harry's previous words - or, perhaps, with Harry's slightly sarcastic tone now.
"You have no idea, do you?" he demanded with a whisper. "It could be days before the goblins show up!"
"I doubt it," Harry answered, trying to keep both his temper and volume in check.
"Why? Precious Potter asked them nicely to show up today and they obliged?"
It was getting harder and harder not to shout at Malfoy. "No, you idiot. Because they know I escaped, and even if they don't know that I overheard their previous plan, they're bound to be worried about me warning everyone. They won't give me enough time to do that, not if they can help it."
"Or, you know, they'll figure everyone's already realised you're a nutter anyway and they have nothing to worry about."
"Harry," Luna said in her dreamy voice.
"You know, Malfoy, I can't figure out why you came here if I'm such a nutter."
"Harry," Luna tried again.
"I can't figure out myself to be honest. Trying to save this Ministry is bad enough, but with you?"
"Draco," Luna now tried a different approach.
"You didn't seem to object when I saved your life - twice!"
"Harry," Percy now joined in with Luna.
"Oh, yeah, bring that one up again!"
"Will you two shut up!" Daphe Greengrass whispered urgently.
"Shhhh!" Harry and Malfoy hissed at her at the same time, ignoring that their own voices were raised only a moment ago. "They'll hear you!"
"I don't think the goblins are much concerned with this corridor," Luna said.
"The goblins? What - "
"They're here." She put her finger to her lip. Harry stopped talking at once, as did Malfoy. And indeed, now they could hear them. The angry argument with Andromeda Tonks had become something quieter - but at the same time, more sinister.
"I will not surrender my weapon, wizard," they could hear the low voice of a goblin.
"This is the Ministry of Magic," the security wizard at the entrance smirked. "What do you need weapons for? Do you think someone's going to attack you here?"
"No, human. I am quite aware no one will attack me."
"Then what d'you need this thing for?"
"To do this."
They couldn't see what the goblin did. They could only hear the screams.
Harry jumped to his feet. The goblins had now infiltrated the Ministry, they had to stop them, they had to -
"Sit down, you ridiculous buffoon!" Malfoy pulled him back, causing his knees to smash on the marble floor.
"I don't care if you're a coward, Malfoy, we need to go help these people and - "
Malfoy's palm suddenly blocked his mouth. "And shut up and listen!" he whispered urgently, angrily in his ear.
Harry removed the palm with force and anger. What did he do that for? What was so important in listening to innocent people screaming, dying in the other room, when they could stop the goblins, when they could help -
"No one's using magic!" Malfoy kept on whispering in his ear, probably assuming - correctly - that Harry was on the verge of getting up and charge the Atrium again. "No one's stopping them! Wizards can stop goblins in seconds! Something's going on there! Getting there now would only mean getting ourselves killed along with everyone else!"
"We can't sit here and let them die!"
"Go ahead then, die with them! But if you want to save the Minister, you better start getting your priorities straight!"
Harry hesitated for another second or two, and then got up on his feet again, giving Malfoy a meaningful look. No. He wasn't going to abandon these people, not when he had the chance to help them. Malfoy rolled his eyes, and pointedly remained seated. That was alright - he didn't mind. In fact, it was better that way. If he was risking his life for nothing, it was better not to take chances with anyone else's. That thought was on his mind when Luna got up as well, and he shook his head.
"Malfoy's right," he whispered, "we don't know what they're doing. Stay here, I'm going to see what's going on."
But he didn't get to take three steps before he stopped - two voices could be heard in the Atrium, on the other side of the small corridor and carried out by the great hall.
"You think Potter was here and got away?" asked one of them - a goblin, by the sound of it.
"I doubt it," said the other voice, and Harry perked up - it was that centaur, the one who guarded him at the camp. "The wizard said the sphere would affect everyone in its line of sight - including wizards under invisibility cloak. If Potter were here under his cloak, he'd be now screaming and shaking just like the rest of them."
"Shame," the goblin sounded almost disappointed.
"Nevermind that. The sword is all that matters."
Harry tip-toed towards the end of the corridor, until he had the Atrium within eyeshot.
There were wizards and witches on the floor, writhing in agony. Some didn't move at all. None of them were screaming anymore. At the end of the Atrium, near the security wizard's desks, stood at least a dozen goblins and centaurs. The familiar centaur, his guard, was now trotting towards the group, holding a device in one hand - a perfect sphere, reflecting the light of the atrium from its shiny silver surface. Harry had never seen anything like it before. But at the same time, his mind was already working - the centaur and the goblin talked about a wizard, a wizard who explained to them how this weapon, whatever it was, worked.
Were there wizards there, too? He scanned the room but couldn't see anyone but the centaurs and goblins. The goblins were now dividing weapons between themselves - short swords, daggers, even axes. No wands, he noted, and didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad one.
The centaurs did not take up swords or daggers; instead, they all carried bows and arrows on their backs, much like the centaurs had in the Forbidden Forest. Every once in a while, a goblin would offer a spare dagger to a centaur, but the centaur would always snort and reject the weapon with disgust. It was apparently beneath their honour to carry such weapons. Just not beneath their honour to attack the Ministry, Harry thought angrily.
If the goblins' ways made the centaurs uncomfortable, the wizards and witches made them downright angry. Harry could see that all of the centaurs were looking in the same direction - at the newly restored water fountain in the middle of the Atrium, at the statue of the magical brethren. The statue that depicted them, the centaurs, as the adoring half-witted creatures most wizards considered them to be, looking up to the wizards and witches.
A large centaur trotted towards the water fountain, cruelly stomping over the wizards and witches on the floor. Most of his victims didn't made a sound, and Harry found himself wondering in horror whether they were already dead, all dead. They can't be, he thought desperately. Not all of them. Not one of them. Not a specific one of them - not Andromeda. She had gone there because of him. She put herself in danger, so that his plan had a chance. She can't be dead now. She can't have died - not because of him. He sought her desperately with his eyes, but there was no way of telling one wizard from the other, not from this distance, and he couldn't go looking for her, not with the Atrium still crawling with goblins and centaurs. There was nothing he could do, nothing but watch as the centaur arrived at the fountain and kicked it, just at the base.
The stone parted, the gold covering dented. The centaur kicked again - and Harry now saw his face, and realised that he was familiar to him. It was Bane. The hatred on his face was unmistakeable - almost as awful as his glee. With three or four more well-aimed kicks, the statue was down, to the cheers of the rest of the centaurs.
"Well," said one of the goblins dryly, "if you've all finished having fun, maybe it's time we go and take care of the rest of the Ministry?"
Bane huffed. "We're still waiting for the wizard," he said.
"Why?" argued a second goblin. "We don't need wizards for this! I thought the plan was to get rid of the wizards!"
"There will be plenty of time yet to get rid of this wizard," Bane's voice boomed throughout the Atrium. "Right now, we need him. Later..." he didn't finish his sentence, but instead started laughing an ugly laughter.
Harry looked at them, completely lost. What wizard would help them destroy the Ministry?
"Must be a Death Eater," he heard a whisper next to him and almost jumped in surprise.
"Malfoy - don't - do - that!" he whispered through clenched teeth. Malfoy didn't respond, but kept on scanning the Atrium with his eyes. "You think the free Death Eaters would go this far to attack the Ministry? They despise the goblins and the centaurs!" he pointed out to Malfoy.
"I never said they think it's some great alliance. But if the Death Eaters want to bring down the Ministry, they'd see them as tools. Let the goblins take care of Shacklebolt and Jones and the rest, and then they'd take over."
"But that's ridiculous! Once the goblins manage to do that, who knows what they'll do?"
Malfoy shrugged. But a thought came to Harry's mind, that maybe this was exactly why the Death Eaters would cooperate with the goblins and centaurs. They were bound to underestimate them.
"Look," Malfoy said all of a sudden and pointed towards the goblins' tunnel. Harry could see it too - a human figure. A wizard.
Selwyn.
"About time," the goblin muttered. Bane and the rest of the centaurs, however, weren't keeping their displeasure with the wizard to themselves.
"You're late, wizard," Bane spat.
"Had some things to take care of," Selwyn said and smiled a toothless smile. "Besides, what difference does it make to you? Attack them now, attack them in five minutes, who cares? I promise you - by the end of this day, our dear Minister will be dead."
"Your Minister," said Bane angrily. "We've never recognised your sovereignty."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Selwyn had stopped paying attention to him at all, but instead was looking back at the tunnel - and now, that Harry was looking at it as well, he could see more wizards coming out. More Death Eaters. Two, four, six... when at last the last of the Death Eaters had come out, Harry swore. Seven Death Eaters had just joined the other side.
"Language, Potter," Malfoy said next to him.
"There's twenty of them now, in case you haven't noticed. Or maybe you can't count."
"I can count, Potter, enough to be able to tell that there's twenty-two."
Harry didn't reply. He didn't have the heart to make a snide comment or a sarcastic pass at Malfoy's chitchat. They were outnumbered four-to-one, and he had to assume these Death Eaters were at least somewhat competent, as they had managed to avoid being captured so far; not to mention the dozen or so goblins and centaurs, who after centuries of hatred and oppression by the hands of wizards, had nothing but bloodlust remain in them, the lust for wizards' blood.
"We don't stand a chance," Malfoy spoke the words that Harry was thinking, was trying to avoid thinking. Something in hearing them spoken aloud - especially out of Malfoy's mouth - changed things. All of a sudden, Harry made his mind.
"Well, I've heard that one before. We didn't have much chance against Voldemort, either. We steal defeated him." He ignored Malfoy's expression, which clearly asked who exactly were these 'we' he was speaking of. "A couple of pathetic wizards, too many goblins for their own good and some centaurs? We can defeat them. Easily."
"You really lost it," Malfoy said, too much in awe with Harry's new found madness to show anger or fear. "You've truly lost your mind. You had one lucky streak after the other when you fought Voldemort! You had Dumbledore, planning everything from the get go! We're here with no plan, no army, against a bunch of vicious creatures!"
"It wasn't as planned as you think it is," Harry pointed out. "And besides, who's to tell we won't have luck now, too?"
"We don't need luck, we need a miracle! Look, Potter, I get that you can't help wanting to be the hero, but I don't think the rest of society will forgive me if I let you get yourself killed over this nonsense, so if you don't mind, I - "
"This isn't nonsense." Harry looked at Malfoy coldly. "This is it, Malfoy. If we don't do this, there won't be a rest of society. There won't be a wizarding world. If we go against the goblins, if we go against the centaurs, if the Death Eaters win - either way, it's war, and war will consume us now. This is our one chance to stop it. This is your chance. Prove that you're a hero, Malfoy. Not a coward. Show that the ancient house of Malfoy can still be relevant. That you're not just around to do the bidding of egomaniacal Dark Lords. That you can be a part of society, too."
"That's not fair."
"Life's not fair," Harry said mercilessly, with a matter-of-fact voice. "So, what will it be? Malfoy the Coward? Or Draco the Hero?"
Now it was Malfoy's turn to swear, and Harry's to tut at his choice of language.
Malfoy looked from Harry to the Atrium. "Let's do it, then," he said grimly.
"That's the spirit."
The strategy they came up with was simple enough - corner as many goblins and centaurs as possible, and Stun them all. As for the Death Eaters, Harry looked at them and said darkly, "We'll just have to wing it."
Percy swallowed. Daphne paced nervously. Malfoy became even paler than usual.
Only Luna seemed unconcerned.
"You know something we don't, Lovegood?" Malfoy challenged her.
"Well, the floors of the Ministry are full of Nargles, my father always said. It shouldn't be a problem to overcome the Death Eaters - there's been plenty of time for the Nargles to settle in their brains."
"Shut it, Malfoy," Harry said preemptively, before Malfoy could insult Luna.
"Wasn't going to say anything," Malfoy told an obvious lie.
"C'mon," Harry muttered before they had the chance to start another round of thinly-veiled insults. "Let's do this."
They were less than organised - there wasn't much point in being organised, at any rate. The room was full of goblins, centaurs, and Death Eaters, and any one of those who would get from the Atrium to the lifts would be a danger. They had to stop them from entering the rest of the Ministry.
At the beginning, the general chaos worked in their favour. No one knew what was going on, no one knew they were there, and so when Malfoy and Harry started sending one Stunning spell after the other towards the Death Eaters and hit goblins instead, the fragile alliance between the groups seemed to falter - the goblins shouted "Traitors!" and started running towards the Death Eaters; some of the centaurs, who had also been hit with spells, this time Luna's, reached the same conclusion, while others were accidentally hit by the goblins' short swords and hurried to execute their own retribution; the Death Eaters had to fend off both goblins and centaurs. And all the while, Harry and his little group cast one spell after the other, continuing the spirit of utter chaos and trying to take down as many of their opponents as possible while they were at it.
And then, Harry made a mistake. Seeing a familiar Death Eater, he moved away from the shelter of the hidden corridor, trying to make is aim as accurate as possible. It was a false hope to begin with - with the mayhem at the Atrium, there was little chance that any curse would find its rightful target. But Harry had to try - he couldn't ignore all the people already down, all the wizards that were hurt by the Death Eater's device, that now may still be alive. But doing so, he was seen.
"It's Potter!" someone shouted. Immediately, the mayhem ceased, and goblins, centaurs, and Death Eaters all looked in his direction.
"Potter - you idiot!" Malfoy shouted, but it was too late for reprimands. There were still great numbers of their opponents, and they were all going their way now.
"Impedimenta!" Harry shouted, hoping to stop the oncoming wave. "Protego! Impedimenta! Stupify!" He wasn't aiming anymore, just sending curse after curse.
Luna was the first to join him - he didn't even see her, but could hear her voice as she threw more Stunning spells forward.
"Get to the lifts!" he shouted at her, at Malfoy, at everyone. "We can't let them make it to the lifts!"
They walked on backwards, their backs to the lift, casting spells all the while. The numbers they had to deal with were down considerably by now. The mayhem at the beginning had played its role, as did the direct attacks by Harry and Luna. But they still had Death Eaters to battle, and as Daphne and Percy were trying to fend off the remains of the furious centaurs and goblins, Harry, Luna and Malfoy found themselves duelling with four or five Death Eaters.
"Stupify!" Harry shouted, as Malfoy, next to him, cast some curse Harry hadn't seen before. The Death Eater in front of Malfoy went down, a surprised look on his face.
But the next person to go down was Luna. She managed to save Harry from a curse, casting a well-aimed full body-bind curse at a second Death Eater that was creeping up in Harry's direction. "Thanks," he muttered, and she smiled at him, but that momentary loss of concentration allowed another Death Eater to send a different curse in her direction.
"Luna!" Harry shouted, when he saw her body crumple to the floor. "Malfoy - cover me - something - Luna!" he shouted again, and crawled towards her. She was breathing, she was still alive. Her eyes were closed, but her breath was easy, and it didn't look as if anything was wrong with her. Perhaps she had just been Stunned, Harry dared hoping, even when he knew how unlikely it was for Death Eaters to Stun their opponents.
But there was no time to stop and take care of Luna. Malfoy was battling one Death Eater now - while a second, Selwyn, sneaked past him. He was getting to the lifts.
"Percy!" Harry shouted. "Take care of Luna!" And immediately he got up and started running after Selwyn, casting on curse after the other. He can't get there - he can't - Stupify! - Impedimenta! - he can't - no - Selwyn entered the lift with a victorious squeal, and closed the doors behind him. The lift went up and into the Ministry.
Harry ran into a second lift. He couldn't seen where Selwyn was going, but he had a pretty good idea.
"Come on, come on, come on!" He shouted at the lift, that insisted on travelling between the floors at a leisurely pace, and stop at each and every floor. "I don't care about the Department of Magical Cooperation, move it!" he ordered the lift, but the lift gave no indication that it heard him. Or that it cared.
At last, the ride was over. "Have a nice day," the lift wished him when it opened at the right floor, but Harry didn't even stop to mutter what he thought about the lift and its nice day before rushing into the corridor. It was empty.
For a moment, he wondered if he was wrong. He had to make a choice, after all - Kingsley's office, in the first floor, or Will Jones's, in the second. Was it possible that Selwyn preferred a different floor, a different target for his plans? Was he going after Kingsley after all? With a pinch to the heart, Harry thought of the Minister of Magic, who had always been loyal to him. And now, that he had the chance to warn him, he had chosen a different option. He had chosen to save - no, to believe he had to save - Will Jones.
He knew that if this was wrong, he would be too late. There was no way he could get to Kingsley in time. Doubt started engulfing him. All he could hope was that Kingsley, an ex-Auror, heard the mayhem downstairs, was aware something was going on, that if Sewlyn came by his office, it would not be a complete surprise. That would have been their best contribution, in the end - they made so much noise, someone was bound to notice.
Even if this corridor was completely quiet. Even if it seemed that the second floor of the Ministry of Magic was completely undisturbed. Even if it looked like everyone here was completely oblivious to the battle downstairs.
He had to hope.
And then his heart leapt. He heard footsteps - running. "Hey!" he shouted, running after the noise, hoping beyond ope that it was Selwyn, that his shout will get someone's attention, even if only Selwyn's. Anything to slow him down.
A jet of green light came his way. Definitely Selwyn, he thought, but for some reason he wasn't quite as comforted as he thought he'd be as he ducked and evaded the curse. The wall next to him shook when the stream of light hit it. He picked up the pace, trying to catch up with the Death Eater - and there he was, he could see him, running forward in the corridor, forward towards Will Jones's office.
"Stupify!" Harry shouted, trying to catch the fleeing Death Eater. He missed, and Selwyn had gone around a corner and dodged the spell in the last moment. Harry continued after him - only to be hit by something as soon as he came back in the line of sight of the Death Eater.
He fell. His wand flew out of his hand from the force of the fall, and rolled on the floor, exactly in the wrong direction. Harry had no way of getting it in time. And Selwyn was now getting closer, a look of pure bloodlust on his face. Harry tried to get up, but couldn't, the force of the spell was still too strong for him to overcome. He was helpless.
"Well well well," said Selwyn, an evil glint in his eye. "The great Harry Potter. All helpless, right in front of me."
"That's what your pal Voldemort thought!" Harry shouted, improvising widely. It was his only chance, to convince Selwyn that he didn't want to kill him. "And it still didn't help him! What makes you think you can succeed where Voldemort failed?"
Selwyn paused. Harry allowed himself a mad moment of hope - it was working! Selwyn wasn't going to kill him! But then, his opponent seemed to make up his mind, and started progressing again towards Harry. "I think I can take that risk," he said, and smiled an ugly smile as he saw Harry trying to get out of the way.
And then - someone came running and paused, right behind Harry.
"Draco!" Selwyn called in delight. "At last, some help! Care to finish the job?" he gestured at Harry.
Harry could hear footsteps - Malfoy's footsteps - as he walked across the corridor, from behind Harry to Selwyn's side.
"He's the reason we lost everything," Selwyn whispered. "Without him, we would have won."
"Yeah," Malfoy said, and Harry stared at him in shock and disgust. No - it can't be -
"We can end this now," Selwyn continued talking. "A proper end to the war. Harry Potter's dead body. And right here, in the Ministry of Magic!" His laughter sounded almost delighted. "How appropriate."
"It would be, wouldn't it," Malfoy nodded.
"So what do you say, Draco?"
Malfoy paused for a moment. "I say what they've been saying since May, Selwyn. The war's over." Harry didn't even realise which spell Malfoy used, but the next moment, Selwyn was on the floor, his eyes closed.
"Is he - " he started asking.
"No," Malfoy looked in disgust at the Death Eater - and his expression hadn't changed when he turned to look at Harry. "Just stunned."
"Thanks," Harry said, and only now realised he was holding his breath the whole time. He let out a long breath, a sigh of relief. "For a moment there I thought - "
"Yeah. I know what you thought."
Malfoy walked towards Harry now, towering over him, as Harry tried unsuccessfully to pull himself up. "So, I reckon now you owe me one?" he asked, and there was a hint of hope in his voice, hidden somewhere between the jokey tone.
Harry sniffed. "I guess we can call it even," he said.
"I guess so," Malfoy said, and sounded just a tad bit disappointed. "So do me a favour, Potter. Next time you get the urge to play the hero and save the world, get Granger and the Weasel to play the sidekick. I don't think this is for me."
Harry chuckled. "Done. Now help me up, will you?"
Malfoy hesitated for a moment, and then stretched his hand to Harry, ready to pull him up. Harry took it without a second thought.