Chapter XXIV - A Change of Hart
Harry watched the scene before him, unable to move. On one side Bellatrix lay pinned to the ground by a statue, Voldemort watching Lauren walking calmly toward Dumbledore on the other side.
In an instant Lauren whipped her wand out of her robes, a spell shooting toward Dumbledore. Dumbledore did not break his gaze from her, but deflected the spell and waved his wand toward the statues. The statues advanced on Voldemort, keeping him occupied. Lauren shot another spell at her former headmaster.
Dumbledore countered the spell with a Stunning spell of his own, which she deflected with ease. Still she advanced on him, her face expressionless.
"Lauren," he said calmly. "The Aurors are on their way. We will have you safely home soon."
"She doesn't want to go home, Dumbledore," Voldemort taunted. As if to agree, Lauren shot another spell at the Headmaster. "She rather likes the comforts I have provided her."
Lauren paused in her spell-firing, then suddenly shot another toward Dumbledore. It was laced with fire, which twisted and crackled along the bolt. Dumbledore dodged it a little more slowly than the last.
"This is not you," he said. "You are more than a puppet."
His words went unheeded, and still Voldemort taunted. "My control is absolute, Dumbledore! Now your precious phoenix is mine, reborn from the ashes of your neglect!"
Lauren's spells were becoming more precise, rippling with the flames that engulfed them.
"Do you see your sister in her, Dumbledore? Do you see your failure?"
"You are more than this..."
"Do you see where I have won?"
Lauren brandished her wand like a whip, the resulting spell a boiling jet that skimmed the hem of Dumbledore's robes in the split second before he deflected it.
Voldemort let out a triumphant laugh as Lauren advanced once more, very steadily, flames growing out of the floor around her as she went. No longer concerned with the statues around him, Voldemort turned to Harry, wand poised...
In an instant Dumbledore knocked the spell that issued from Voldemort's wand off course. The Dark Lord wheeled, shielding himself from a jet of silver Dumbledore sent his way. "The boy!" Voldemort yelled to Lauren, whose advance on Dumbledore had stopped, and cast another spell Dumbledore's way. "Kill the boy!"
Harry, who had been watching the scene rather helplessly, groped for his wand as Lauren now rounded and advanced on him. Dumbledore and Voldemort's spells became vigorous and fierce, but still Lauren approached. The doors on the far end of the room burst open and in poured familiar faces, both from the Order and from Harry's own friends, but still Lauren approached.
Harry knew he had to do something.
Patronus, he thought suddenly, as if a little voice had whispered it in his ear. Use the patronus.
In what seemed like an eternity, Harry turned his wand upon the woman walking steadily toward him and mustered the happiest memory he could bring to mind.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Both Voldemort and Dumbledore turned to see a bolt of silver erupt from Harry's wand, and as if out of nowhere a great stag materialized, landing gracefully on the floor. It faced Lauren, who stopped in her tracks, entranced by the sight of the creature.
Time stood still. The stag stepped forward, as light as air. It stopped just short of her, and then as gently as a feather alighting on water it lowered its head. Its outermost tines touched a single point at the middle of her chest.
Suddenly, there was a spark of white light and the faintest of noises, and Lauren collapsed, clutching the point at which the stag's antlers had touched her.
Slowly, very slowly, the stag lowered its head just near her ear. Breath flared its nostrils, ruffling her hair lightly.
Harry wanted to speak out, but his voice was caught in his throat. What was going on?
Fury and a lack of understanding boiled inside Voldemort, who turned, wand pointing straight for Lauren. "Get up!" He snarled at her.
Lauren rose, head drooped, red hair hanging loose in her face, still clutching at her chest. She opened her hand and out of it slipped the amulet, which fell to the ground and shattered with the volume of a train wreck in the silent hall. Little flames leaped up from the pieces that scattered the floor.
"Kill the boy!" Voldemort shouted in desperation.
Without warning, Lauren whipped around to face Voldemort, a jet of liquid flame shooting from her wand. Voldemort let out an angered cry as the jet morphed and grew into a tremendous phoenix. It hurtled toward him and the pair exploded in a whirl of flame.
As the fire raged, no one moved. The stag reared and dissolved into a thin layer of fog, which carpeted the floor before dissipating entirely.
A noise sounded from all around and people poured into the hall, but everyone present stood fixed on the flames, which roared quieter and quieter. Finally the flames died and in their center stood Voldemort, whose gaze flickered from Lauren to the people who had just arrived- the Minister of Magic among them. He moved toward the still-pinned Bellatrix... And then, like whirling smoke, Voldemort vanished.