The Lost Prophecy

Disclaimer: I'm not Rowling.

'He hasn't gone!' Harry yelled.

Kitty could not believe it; she would not believe it; Harry was fighting Remus with every bit of strength he had.

'SIRIUS!' he bellowed. 'SIRIUS!'

'He can't come back, Harry,' said Remus, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. 'He can't come back, because he's d-

'HE-IS-NOT- DEAD!' roared Harry. 'SIRIUS!'

There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling, the flashes of more spells. Remus dragged Harry away from the dais. Harry still staring at the archway, was angry at Sirius now for keeping him waiting-

But some part of him realised, even as he fought to break free from Remus, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before ... Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry to help him ... if Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back ... that he really was-

Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilised by invisible ropes; Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her; behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts and cries-Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.

'Harry?'

Neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to the place where Harry stood. Harry was no longer struggling against Lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on his arm nevertheless.

'Harry ... I'b really sorry ...' said Neville. His legs were still dancing uncontrollably. 'Was dad man-was Sirius Black a-a friend of yours?'

Harry nodded.

'Here,' said Remus quietly, and pointing his wand at Neville's legs he said, 'Finite.' The spell was lifted: Neville's legs fell back to the floor and remained still. Remus's face was pale. 'Let's-let's find the others. Where are they all, Neville?'

Remus turned away from the archway as he spoke. It sounded as though every word was causing him pain.

'Dey're all back dere,' said Neville. 'A brain addacked Ron bud I dink he's all righd-and Herbione's unconscious, bud we could feel a bulse-'

There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Harry saw Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain: Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it; she was halfway up the steps now -

'Harry-no!' cried Remus, but Harry had already ripped his arm from Remus's slackened grip.

'SHE KILLED SIRIUS!' bellowed Harry. 'SHE KILLED HIM-I'LL KILL HER!'

And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches; people were shouting behind him but he did not care. The hem of Bellatrix's robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming ...

Kitty made to follow Harry; she couldn't let him out of her sight, not after what happened to Sirius, but Remus had grabbed her robes.

'Relashio!' she cried and sprinted off after Harry.

Bellatrix Lestrange aimed a curse over her shoulder. A tank of brains rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within: the brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long coloured tentacles, but Kitty shouted, 'Wingardium Leviosa!' and they flew off him up into the air. Slipping and sliding, he ran on towards the door; followed by Kitty. Harry wrenched open the door into the circular black hall and saw Bellatrix disappearing through a door on the other side of the room; beyond her was the corridor leading back to the lifts.

He ran, but she had slammed the door behind her and the walls were already rotating. Once more, he was surrounded by streaks of blue light from the whirling candelabra.

'Where's the exit?' he shouted desperately, as the wall rumbled to a halt again. 'Where's the way out?'

The room seemed to have been waiting for him to ask. The door right behind him flew open and the corridor towards the lifts stretched ahead of him, torch-lit and empty. He ran ...Kitty ran after him…

They forced their way out of the lift before the grills were fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she looked back as he sprinted towards her and aimed another spell at him. Kitty darted to her right and crawled behind some statues. Harry dodged behind a fountain and the spell zoomed past him and hit the wrought-gold gates at the other end of the Atrium so that they rang like bells. There were no more footsteps. She had stopped running.
'Come out, come out, little Harry!' she called in her mock baby voice, which echoed off the polished wooden floors. 'What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!'

'I am!' shouted Harry, and a score of ghostly Harry's seemed to chorus I am! I am! I am! all around the room.

'Aaaaaah ... did you love him, little baby Potter?'

Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before; he flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed, 'Crucio!'

Bellatrix screamed: the spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had-she was already back on her feet, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again.

'Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?' she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. 'You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain-to enjoy it-righteous anger won't hurt me for long-I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson-'

Harry was edging around the fountain on the other side when she screamed, 'Crucio!' and he was forced to duck down again.

'Potter, you cannot win against me!' she cried.

He could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of him. He backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur's legs, his head level with the house-elf's.

'I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete- '

'Stupefy!' yelled Harry. She reacted so fast he barely had time to duck.

'Protego!'

The jet of red light, Harry's own Stunning Spell, bounced back at him. Harry scrambled back behind the fountain again.

'Potter, I'm going to give you one chance!' shouted Bellatrix. 'Give me the prophecy-roll it out towards me now-and I may spare your life!'

With a sudden jolt, Kitty realized that the prophecy was still clutched tightly in her hand.

'Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!' Harry roared. 'Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?'

'What? What do you mean?' she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

'The prophecy's not with me. It must have smashed by now, with all the dueling that was going on. What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?'

'LIAR!' she shrieked, but he could hear the terror behind the anger now. 'YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME!'

Harry laughed again because he knew it would incense her, the pain building in his head so badly he thought his skull might burst. He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him. Bellatrix seemed to have forgotten about Kitty crouching behind the statues.

'Nothing there!' Harry shouted.

'No!' she screamed. 'It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED-DO NOT PUNISH ME-'

'Don't waste your breath!' yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. 'He can't hear you from here!'

'Can't I, Potter?' said a high, cold voice.

Harry opened his eyes.

Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring ... Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move.

'So, the prophecy's gone, is it?' said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. 'No, Bella, he's lying ... the prophecy's still in this room. And I will have it. But first, I will kill you Harry Potter.'

'Avada K—'

'Hey!' said Kitty darting out from behind the statues, 'Looking for this?'

Voldemort stopped in mid action.

'I knew if I tried to kill Harry Potter, the prophey would reveal itself.'

Voldemort stepped towards Kitty.

'Don't take a step forward, or I smash it,' said Kitty holding the prophecy high above her head.

Voldemort snarled and raised his wand. Kitty did not have time to think. She flung the prophecy on the floor, where it smashed into a thousand glass fragments. Voldemort gave a thunderous wail of fury, and charged towards Kitty, with his wand raised. Harry yelled and stepped in front of Kitty.

'Crucio!' screamed Voldemort.

But the headless golden statue of the wizardsprung alive, and leapt between Harry and Kitty and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest as the statue flung out its arms to protect them. The sound that was coming from the shattered glass orb was drowned.

'What-?' cried Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, 'Dumbledore!'

Kitty looked behind her, her heart pounding. Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates.

Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of green light streaked at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak. Next second, he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand towards the other statues which sprang to life. The statue of a witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile, the other statues scuttled towards the fireplaces set along the wall. The headless statue thrust Harry and Kitty backwards, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort.

'It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'The Aurors are on their way-'

'By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!' spat Voldemort. He sent another killing curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flame.

Dumbledore flicked his own wand: the force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Kitty, though shielded, felt her hair stand on end as it passed and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like note reverberated from it-an oddly chilling sound.

'You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?' called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. 'Above such brutality, are you?'

'We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,' Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk towards Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. 'Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit-'

'There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!' snarled Voldemort.

'You are quite wrong,' said Dumbledore, still closing in upon. 'Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness-'

Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield, which Dumbledore blocked with a flick of his wand. Dumbledore waved his wand as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold on Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore.

Voldemort vanished; the snake reared from the floor, ready to strike-

'Look out!' Harry yelled.

But even as he shouted, another jet of green light flew at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake struck-

Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide and swallowed the jet of green light whole: he burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled and flightless. At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one long, fluid movement-the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; and the water in the fountain rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass.

For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass-

Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

'MASTER!' screamed Bellatrix.

Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed: 'Stay where you are, Harry!'

Kitty followed him, determined, that she would stay with him, even follow him into death, if fate demanded…

Then Harry's scar burst open and he knew he was dead: it was pain beyond imagining, pain past endurance-

He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creatures began: they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape-

And when the creature spoke, it used Harry's mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move ...

'Kill me now, Dumbledore ...'

Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again ...

'If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy ...'

'Harry! What-' cried Kitty, grabbing his shoulder. Harry grabbed Kitty's hand tightly, with strength Kitty never knew he possessed and twisted it. Kitty's face contorted with pain, and she screamed. Dumbledore waved his wand at Harry who released Kitty at once.

'Don't touch him,' said Dumbledore to Kitty.

Let the pain stop, thought Harry ... let him kill us ... end it, Dumbledore ... death is nothing compared to this ...

And I'll see Sirius again ...

And as Harry's heart filled with emotion, the creatures coils loosened, the pain was gone; Harry was lying face down on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood ...

'Harry, wake up!' Kitty said, shaking him vigorously.

She heard voices echoing through the hall, more voices than there should have been. Large numbers of people flowed into the Atrium... the fireplaces along the wall had burst into flames and people were emerging from them. Kitty tiny gold statues of the house-elf and the goblin, leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge opened his eyes.

'Are you all right, Harry?' Dumbledore was saying.

'Yes,' said Harry, shaking so violently he could not hold his head up properly. 'Yeah, I'm -where's Voldemort?'

'He was there!' shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped only moments before. 'I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!'

'I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!' gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. 'Merlin's beard-here-here!- in the Ministry of Magic!-great heavens above-it doesn't seem possible-my word-how can this be-?'

'If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, 'you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them.'

'Dumbledore!' gasped Fudge, beside himself with amazement. 'You-here-I-I-'

He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, 'Seize him!'

'Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men-and win, again!' said Dumbledore. 'But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong man for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!'

'I-don't-well -' blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping somebody was going to tell him what to do. When nobody did, he said, 'Very well-Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see ... Dumbledore, you-you will need to tell me exactly-the Fountain of Magical Brethren-what happened?' he added in a kind of whimper, staring around at the floor, where the remains of the statues of the witch, wizard and centaur now lay scattered.

'We can discuss that after I have sent Harry and Kitty back to Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore.

'Harry-Harry Potter?'

Fudge wheeled around and stared at Harry, who was still standing against the wall beside the fallen statue that had guarded him during Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel.

'He-here?' said Fudge, goggling at Harry. 'Why-what's all this about?'

'I shall explain everything,' repeated Dumbledore, 'when they're are back at school.'

He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard's head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, 'Portus.' The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

'Now see here, Dumbledore!' said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry carrying it. 'You haven't got authorisation for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister for Magic, you-you-'

His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially over his half-moon spectacles.

'You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore. 'You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you ...' Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it...'half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me.'

Fudge goggled worse than ever; his mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled grey hair.

'I-you-'

Dumbledore turned his back on him.

'Take this Portkey, both of you.'

He held out the golden head of the statue and Harry and Kitty placed their hands on it.

'I shall see you in half an hour, Harry,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'One ... two ... three ...'

Kitty felt the familiar sensation of a hook being jerked behind her navel. The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath her feet; the Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore had all disappeared and she was flying forwards in a whirlwind of colour and sound...

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