Hey everyone,
Well, this will be one of the final chapter of the Voldemort Arc of this story and after that the story will fully focus on Harry getting ready to take the throne, the move of the Magical England to The Land Of Departure and the epilogue, which will mostly be about – well – all the kids Harry is sure to have with all his mates.
Excited, yet,

Venquine1990


Chapter 21
The Heirs Or The Nobodies

Neville's POV

Those three definitely took quite the risk with how they exposed a dark part of their own past to the people, yet while I have no doubt that some people are now relieved that neither of the three have been picked by Harry to share the throne with, are the most of them now also convinced that Harry made the right choices with Lea and Even.
Yes, now that we are all back in the Great Hall, can I clearly hear how Ravenclaw Table is buzzing with excitement over how the partner of the new Lord of their House overcame something as dark as being a Nobody and the fact that having been a Nobody gave him his powers makes things even better in many of their eyes.
Of course, the tables of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin are now a lot quieter, yet while the first two are quiet because they are wishing that Harry was also the Heir to their Houses, is most of latter – even Draco Malfoy – quiet because they can barely believe what kind of being their latest Heir has become – the Nobody Voldemort.
Yet while I feel for these often-timed bullies, does it also seem as if the discovery that the Dark Lord is nothing but an empty husk without heart or true soul has become reason for practically all of Hogwarts to feel sympathy for the House of the Snake as many of the younger years have been offered to sit at other tables.

All of those offered have taken this invitation and while I can barely believe how something this dark has turned to become the origin of House Unity, do we all get shocked when suddenly Ienzo stands up, his face still in his Lexicon, yet not deep enough it does not hide the overly pleased and confident smile that is shown on his face.
He then looks at us and says: "May I have your attention, please? I have done some research into all of this and I have discovered some good news." Everyone looks at the man and he says: "I have yet to find out how many of these Horcruxes – badly created Horcruxes – actually exist, however I have found one little spot of light.
If all of them – or at least as many as all of them – can be destroyed at the same time, while in the presence of the actual creator – the actual Nobody – then, upon said Nobody being slain down by a Keyblade, the body and soul will create the same effect as when a Keyblade Wielder were to destroy a Heartless and Nobody."

This shocks me and then Professor Snape asks: "Are – are you saying that –?" And the man nods as he says: "Yes, if we were to gather all of the Horcruxes together with Voldemort and destroy all of them before sleighing him as if he were a true Nobody, then the person he was before his first Horcrux, Tom Riddle, will be reborn."
This silences the entire hall, many of them shocked that such a thing could be possible and then Susan Bones asks: "And – and you are certain that – that Tom Riddle will not cause the same amount of death and destruction as his Nobody caused in the seventies?" And while I get her worries over this, is another nod her answer.
Yet before the Great Hall can erupt in amazed and excited murmurs over the fact that the war we are now all certain about will soon commence, does a dark and pained voice interrupt us all and does Terra say: "That sounds like a brilliant solution, Ienzo, only you are forgetting one very important factor in all of this."
Everyone looks at the new partner to the new Lord Gryffindor and many of them are shocked at how furiously dark he looks as he levels a glare of intense rage at the purple haired man and while even Ienzo seems confused, do we then all feel our hearts miss a beat as Terra says: "One of these Horcruxes – is our mate, Harry."

And instantly the sense of defeat is felt throughout the entire House, the happiness and relief that had been felt before now feeling like it's something that belongs to a very distant past and while I am sure that many of them just don't want to lose the latest heir to their throne, does my heart break at the very idea of losing my friend.
Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys, along with several people who trained under Dumbledore's Army all look just like I feel – as if we just got told that we have to put down our favorite pet or he would die a ferociously painful death – and while tears glister in my eyes, do I feel my heart shake in the same manner my hands are.

Yet Ienzo shocks us as he says: "That may be true, Terra, but we both know someone who can solve that problem for us, don't we? Someone who became the actual Twilight powerhouse he is because you were the first to recognize his true power for what it was. One who has the ability – to make a world out of someone's heart?"
And while I am shocked that someone like that exists, do these questions seem to calm the anger Terra feels and have it be replaced with relieved happiness as he says: "Good call. When do we call him?" Yet the response he gets to this seems to please him even more as Ienzo smirks and simply raises up his Lexicon once more.

Terra nods at this, yet while most of us are confused, does the answer get not even an hour later as – to my great confusion – a Keyhole made out of light seems to start to shine over the top of the doors leading to the Entrance Hall before – to all of our shock – a young man with long silver hair seems to jump out of the actual Keyhole.
He makes several flips in midair before landing on the stone floor and then stands up, asking: "Hey Ienzo, you guys need some help here?" He then looks around and asks: "Ehm, where is here?" And after a quick explanation of all that happened over the last few weeks, does the boy not seem half as shocked as I expected him.
Instead he sighs and says: "Sounds like my Mark of Mastery Exam. Okay, so who's heart do I need to cleanse here?" And instantly the hand of practically every student and teacher is aimed for Harry, who looks a little shocked before he sends an uncomfortable look at the silver-white haired boy who nods and moves over.

Then suddenly, something happens that shocks me senseless as, without barely making any sound, Lea moves behind Harry and hits him in the back of the head with the flat side of his hand, knocking the boy out before he lies him down gently in his chair, the magic of Hogwarts changing the chair into an actual recliner seat.
"What you'd do that for?" Hermione screams in shock and Lea says: "Riku has a better chance of cleansing Harry's heart of Darkness if Harry himself is not in any way able to resist or fight him as the consciousness of this piece of Heartless might just work alongside Harry's own if he were to be awake. Got it memorized?"
And while I understand the man and his reasoning, can I tell that my female friend does not entirely approve and while I have no doubt that Lea will be in some trouble with Harry once the boy awakes, do I have no doubt that Harry himself will want to do anything that is possible to get this form of Darkness out of him.

Then the boy who just arrived shocks us as he summons what looks like a blade that very much resembles a red-colored bat's wing with black colored outer wing and with black lines striped through the blade itself and with a blue colored eye where the handle meets the blade, while an angel's wing is halfway up the blade.
The boy summons this out of thin air and then stops at the Owl Stand before grasping the blade with both hands, his face a visage of pure determination and deep concentration as he looks at how Lea turns Harry's recliner in such a way that the black-colored tip of the man's blade is aimed straight at the young royal's heart.
This makes many people look clearly worried, even though we just heard that this man has the ability to cleanse someone's heart of Darkness, and then the tip starts to light up before – to our shock – a globe with all kinds of spear-like spikes sticking out at practically every part of the globe appears in front of Harry.
The light that shines from the tip of the blade then suddenly shoots a beam of light that hits the globe and once this happens, does the light turn inward, surrounding first the blade and then the wielder before, slowly but surely, the boy turns transparent and disappears, the light then retreating itself all the way into the globe.

This makes many of us look at each other before we look back at the globe and, after a few minutes, do we see something that makes me feel confident that the boy named Riku is doing exactly what he should do as, while the globe had been dark green when it appeared, it is now slowly but surely turning into a lighter shade.
Then the globe again gets surrounded by a bright light before this shoots off yet another beam of light and from this the same boy appears, first transparent and then solid yet again, just like he did when he vanished and while the boy was crouching down with his eyes closed when he appeared, does he stand up and open his eyes after.
He turns to Harry and says: "There were a lot of Heartless in there, but – I'm sure I defeated most of them and I know I defeated the Nobody. Though I got to admit, I never fought one like that one before." The others look at him and he says: "It's the same one Roxas fought when he first got his Keyblade in the Virtual world."

The other mates from the other worlds look shocked at this and Riku says: "I can only assume that it's just supposed to be the designated Nobody for people previously touched by darkness, whereas the giant Heartless Sora and I both fought on Destiny Island and the Castle Oblivion version of the Islands is the designated Heartless for them."
The others nod and Lea asks: "Are you sure? After all, the first time that Heartless appeared was when Sora fought him on the Islands. Doesn't that make him the designated Heartless for the Island's heart?" Yet Riku shakes his head and says: "I'm pretty sure, Lea. Sora and I both fought that thing in similar circumstances.
I had to fight it while Zexion tried making me believe it was the Heartless that was living inside me and Sora fought it back in the Datascape, which was created out of the Heartless he had become after sacrificing his heart to free Kairi's and had been kept within the heart of the journal after Naminé completely cleared it."

Yet while I am shocked to hear what this young man and his friends have gone through – and worry for this person named Sora – do I suddenly realize something and ask: "Wait, are you saying that someone can sacrifice himself without dying?" To which, with many shocked gasps following me, does the boy say:
"Yes, only it was only able to be done once because the Keyblade –." Here he raises his own blade as an example before he says: "Needed for this to happen had to be created out of the power of several Pure Hearts and that has long since been returned to said Princesses, so the Keyblade is just no more and neither is the method."
This makes me feel a little downtrodden as I had actually played with the thought that, if Riku had actually failed, we could have used this method to free Harry of his Darkness, but then I remember what Riku had told us right after returning from the globe which represents Harry's heart and with sheer hope, do I ask:

"So, back on topic, Harry's heart has been freed of the Nobody that is Voldemort's Horcrux?" The boy nods and says: "There are definitely still some small Shadow Heartless that are inside his heart, but they seem more to represent dark parts of his past than really the darkness of his own heart, so I'm sure he can overcome them himself."
To this many of us nod and then everyone who had come with Merlin from the other world stands up and while Lea turns to Daphne with a clear look in his eyes that tells her to look out for Harry, does he then say only two words: "Let's go." And while all of them nod, do they then all dash for the entrance making me wonder who will win.

The Heirs or the Nobodies.


Okay, that's it.
I know, I know, it's not really a long chapter and it's mostly from an outsider's POV, I just felt I had done the whole Cleansing Of Harry's Heart from the Main POV enough times to go for a twist on the whole subject and so I picked one of Harry's closest friends. Close, yet not close enough to have a really main role.
Now, the next chapter will be about the end of the year, Harry returning home with Daphne and the two of them waiting for Lea and the others to return – hopefully with all of the Horcruxes or maybe even with Voldemort having been destroyed and turned back into Tom Riddle – yet I cannot say which of the two it will be in the end.
Let's see, shall we,

Venquine1990