43: The Mirror of Erised

HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity landed in a dark chamber; the only light filtered in from the trap door above. The room was filled with vines that clung to the wall.

"Devil's Snare," Hermione said. "I'm not sure why it's acting so…skittish, though."

"Devil's Snare is the plant that hates heat and light, right?" Twilight asked. "I bet Rainbow Dash used that sword of hers to throw a few rainbows around."

"When you first mentioned a plant on our way up here," Applejack admitted, "I was half afraid Dash'd chop it all to bits."

"No!" Fluttershy gasped in horror. "What would Arbutus think?"

"Who's Arbutus?" Ron asked.

"Let's just say he's the biggest Herbology aficionado you'd ever meet in your life," Twilight answered.

The vine began to twitch. "The plant's lookin' a little more lively now," Applejack observed, her voice trembling.

"Let's go before it gets violent," Harry said, crossing the room and throwing open the door.

The group entered a new room, one that seemed impossibly high—it must, again, have been the strange and magical architecture of the castle itself that contained it. The ceiling was vaulted and rounded. This time, the light came from torches on the wall. Across the room was a door with a handle that only slightly glimmered, enough to tell that it was large and silver. Near it was propped a broomstick. Up by the ceiling, there buzzed a cloud of the strangest winged beings the Equestrians had ever seen: old-fashioned keys with wings. Brass keys with blue feathers. Silver keys with red feathers. Gold keys with black feathers.

And among these keys, Rainbow Dash was flying. She had abandoned the broomstick and was stretching her wings for the first time since coming to the school, zooming about and leaving a rainbow trail. "A-HA!" she cried from above before diving to the ground with a brass key in her hand. She galloped to the door and tried it; the key wouldn't turn. "Rats!"

"RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie rushed forward to hug her tightly.

"Hey, hey!" Rainbow Dash giggled. "What's all this?"

"You went chasing after Voldemort all by yourself!" Pinkie squealed. "We were worried! And there are all sorts of traps and nasty things down here!"

"Well, the plants were no match for the great Rainbow Dash," Rainbow bragged as her friends backed away from her. "As for this, it's hardly a trap. More like a frustration. I've caught, like, ten keys, and none of them fit this stupid door!"

"One of them up there does," Harry said. "But I don't blame you. It's hard to find."

"You know which one it is?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I've been down here before," Harry reminded her.

"I hate to sound desperate, but…can you show me?"

Harry crossed the room, picking up the broomstick. "Let's go."

He mounted the broom, and he and Rainbow Dash shot straight upward into the keys.

Harry looked around for the key from his memory, trusting his sharp eye. For a moment, he feared that perhaps Voldemort had taken the key with him through the door, or that it had otherwise disappeared. But then he saw it—silver, coated in rust, with blue wings.

"That one!" he yelled, pointing. "The rusty silver one. Did you see it?"

"I'm on it!" Rainbow Dash took off after the key. The key immediately began its escape, attempting to get as far away as possible from Rainbow Dash—but she was faster than it, clutching the shaft, taking it back down and landing with a bow.

Harry landed next to her. "Nice work. That was…admittedly faster than I got it."

"Thank you." Rainbow Dash winked. "But it's a lot easier when you know what you're looking for. Thanks for the help."

"It was nothing."

"…and then she said 'Brackium Emendo,'" Rarity was telling the others, "and his limbs just turned to rubber! It was as if there were no bones in them!"

"So that's what that incantation was," Harry muttered. "Sorry. Someone used it on me in my second year. I'd always been curious."

Rainbow Dash fitted the key to the door, and it opened.

"Just warning you," Ron said, "you're…not going to like what comes next."

"What could possibly be worse than what we've already faced?" Rarity asked. Then she stepped into the next room. "…oh."

The square stone chamber was patterned with black and white tiles. Lined up on them, on each side of the room, was a set of chess pieces—black on the side closest to the group, white on the opposite side.

"Why do I always seem to get stuck on giant board games?" Twilight muttered.

"We have to play to the other side," Ron said. "You only get across if you put white in checkmate. But if you get captured…well, it smarts. You probably won't be getting across at all."

"None of the six of us can get captured," Applejack asserted. "We need all six Elements to be present to fight Voldemort. Which reminds me…Rainbow Dash, how come you couldn't take care of him on your own?"

"He had this weird black blood," Rainbow Dash answered. "He could turn it into weapons. It was stronger than everything I could do!"

"That doesn't sound right," Hermione thought out loud. "Voldemort's never had…well, then again, nothing's been as expected lately."

"So, Hermione," Rarity interrupted, "I take it you have our passage across this room secured?"

"Actually…" Hermione replied. "Ron's the one with the mind for chess. Not me."

"Thank you for the credit," Ron huffed.

"Oh," Rarity said sheepishly. "I do apologize…"

"So, Ron." Twilight turned to him. "None of us can get captured. How do we get to the other side of this room?"

Ron thought about it. He stared at the black pieces. "All right," he said eventually. "Here's what I'm going to try. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, you three are the new pawns on the left. Twilight, you're the king's castle. Rarity, you're the king's bishop, and Applejack, you're the king's knight. Harry, Hermione…we're going to try for a repeat success. Harry, you're queen's bishop; Hermione, you're queen's castle; I'm queen's knight."

All the pieces named perked to attention and walked off the board. They were immediately replaced as per Ron's assignment.

"White goes first," Ron said.

A white pawn moved out two spaces.

"Right," Ron muttered. "Pinkie Pie! Forward two spaces!"

"Righty-o, sir!" Pinkie replied before hopping forward two spaces.

When the first black pawn, one not replaced by a member of the group, was captured, Twilight felt a catch in her throat. The white knight drew a sword and swung it at the pawn until the stone shattered. She didn't want any of her friends to be on the receiving end of that.

That fear, paired with her pre-existing knowledge of chess, caused a slight altercation between her and Ron. "No," she said to one of his commands. "I DON'T think Rarity should move diagonally to the left. I think Applejack should go forward and to the right."

"I know what I'm doing," Ron hissed at her. "Rarity moves diagonally—"

"Yes, but don't you see how that opens up Fluttershy?"

"Yes! That's the point! It's a trap! The knight moves forward, thinking it can take Fluttershy in two moves, and that's when we capture it—"

"It's going to have thought that out! It's a MAGIC CHESS SET, for Celestia's sake!"

"Well, if you move Applejack and leave Rarity where she is, that puts you in the open."

"No, you're not looking at it right. I'll be fine."

"No, YOU'RE not looking at it right. The queen—"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Rainbow Dash shrieked.

Twilight sighed. "Okay…fine. Ron, you've played this game before. I'm going to trust you. Rarity, do what he says."

The decision was wise; Hermione was able to capture the white knight. She just touched it, and it toppled before rolling off the board.

Later, Ron found himself lost. "I think I botched it," he moaned. "Either Pinkie or Rarity has to be taken—"

"No," Twilight rebutted. "Not if you have Rarity go back three spaces."

Ron calculated the move in his head. "How didn't I see that?"

"Even veteran chess players make mistakes," Twilight replied, though she felt quite smug.

As time went on, however, it became harder to preserve the pieces. At a crossroads, Hermione realized she had to be captured.

"I'll be fine," she promised. "Just don't let any of the Elements get taken!"

"But…" Twilight couldn't voice her worry. The great sword. Shattering stone.

"It isn't as bad as it looks!" Hermione insisted. "Let me be taken!"

"Hermione…" Ron looked directly into her eyes. "I…I don't want to order you to do that."

"You see it! Twilight probably sees it! It's the only move we can make!"

Ron bit his lip.

"Ron! I'll be fine!"

Ron sighed. "All right."

The move was made. The white queen approached Hermione, drawing a sword.

"NOOOOOO!" Twilight shrieked.

Ron tried his hardest to hold back tears.

The sword connected with Hermione, and she was thrown against the floor hard, falling unconscious. The queen tossed her limp body to the side of the board.

"HERMIONE!" Rainbow Dash cried.

"She's all right!" Harry assured her. "They don't kill live players!"

"I've been taken before," Ron said softly. "It will just take her a while to come round, that's all…" He stared over toward her. "We have to keep going."

Then Harry needed to be put in the line of fire. "It's all right," he assured the others, "though a little humbling that I'm not going to be the one to make it through to the end this time."

The white queen knocked him out, throwing him next to Hermione. Fluttershy whimpered. From that distance, she couldn't tell if either Harry or Hermione was breathing. For all she knew, they could have been dead.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT!" she shrieked, moving to step out of her square.

"NO!" Ron yelled. "No. If you step off the square, the game is forfeit, and Voldemort can kill us all!"

Fluttershy stayed where she was.

At last, Ron met his own end. "If I let myself get captured by the white queen," he said, "Rarity can capture her."

"But what about after that?" Applejack asked. "What do we do then?"

"I guess you do your best," Ron replied. "Twilight. You're in charge of directing everyone now."

Twilight swallowed hard. "Okay."

Ron stepped into position. The white queen pounced on the opportunity, unsheathing her sword.

"One more thing!" Ron yelled, suddenly remembering. "The potion that takes you ahead is-!"

He was knocked out midsentence, skidding across the floor. A line of blood trickled from his forehead.

"Rarity," Twilight said immediately. "Take the queen!"

Rarity galloped toward the white queen, drawing her bow and firing a single crystal arrow into the queen's stomach. The great white statue absorbed the arrow's energy, then slumped over, rolling off the board.

"What now, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"I don't kn—" Twilight looked ahead. "Wait. I DO know. Pinkie Pie!"

"Ready for command, general Twilight!" Pinkie saluted.

"With the queen out of the way, you can move into the back row," Twilight stated. "That turns you from a pawn into another queen. You'll be safe. When you get the extra mobility, I'm going to arrange you, Rarity, and myself to corner the king!"

"Okie-dokie-Loki!"

"Then MOVE OUT!"

Pinkie hopped into position. "WOOHOO! I'm Queen Pinkie Pie now! My first declaration as ruler of the chessboard is CUPCAKES FOR EVERYPONY!"

"Very good!" Twilight replied as the white pieces responded accordingly. "Now fall back next to me!"

The white pieces struggled to come up with a move; they answered.

"Rarity! Two spaces up! Cut off the king!"

Rarity moved in. The white pieces took so long to move, Twilight thought for a moment they had completely broken down. However, a move was made to block the space between Rarity and the king, leaving just one path open for the king to escape.

Twilight stepped directly into that path. "Checkmate," she stated proudly.

The king bowed.

"Let's GO!" Twilight commanded, and she, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie ran for the door.

Fluttershy hung back, moving instead to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "They're still breathing…" she muttered with a sigh of relief.

"Hey, c'mon," Rainbow Dash urged. "They'll be okay. They're alive. Just knocked out. We gotta go get Voldemort. For them, okay?"

Fluttershy nodded. She followed Rainbow Dash into the next room.

The skeleton of an enormous troll, seven years dead, lay sprawled out on the floor. "Yeah, I think we dodged an arrow on that one," Rainbow Dash remarked.

Once the six passed into the next room, blue flames erupted to cover the door through which they'd come. "Well, that's rather ominous," Rarity remarked.

The door ahead was covered by black flames. The room itself was rather small, containing only a shelf with seven bottles of varying shapes and sizes upon it. A scrap of parchment lay on the table near the bottles.

Pinkie Pie picked it up. "It's a poem!" she squealed. "Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind! Two of us will help you, whichever you would find, one among us seven will transport you ahead—"

"That's not a poem," Twilight realized. "It's a riddle! Pinkie! Can I see that?"

Pinkie handed the parchment over. Twilight read it through. "Okay," she stated. "So, from this, it looks like these bottles each have different things in them. Two have wine, three are poison, one is a potion that takes you back through the blue fire, and one is a potion that takes you forward through the black fire."

"That must've been what Ron was tryin' to tell us before he got knocked out!" Applejack realized. "The answer to the riddle!"

"But Twilight can figure out any riddle," Rarity pointed out. "We wouldn't have needed his answer anyway. Isn't that right, Twilight?"

Twilight felt sweat collecting on her brow as she looked at the parchment, then up to the bottles. "Sure…"

"What, you're nervous?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Three of them are poison," Twilight reiterated. "If I get this wrong, it could just end up being harmless, but it could also mean that one of us…dies."

"But the amulets!" Rainbow Dash pointed out. "They keep our souls! I was able to walk off a ton of black blood spikes!"

"That was just a physical injury," Twilight rebutted. "Poison would shut the body down, and with nowhere to go, the soul might stay trapped in the amulet. I mean, that is a worst-case scenario…we might recover from poison too…but I wouldn't know that unless we tested the effects, and I am NOT going to test the effects."

"You won't get it wrong," Fluttershy assured. "You're smart. We know you have the answer."

"Okay." Twilight looked at the bottle array. "I think…I think it's this one." She lay a finger on a tall bottle containing a yellow liquid.

"Great!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the bottle, uncorking it and lifting it to her lips.

Twilight read the parchment one more time, ever the one to double check her work. "No! WAIT!"

Rainbow Dash lowered the bottle. "Yeah?"

"Rainbow Dash, I was wrong!" Twilight moaned. "Don't drink that! It's the poison!"

Rainbow Dash put the bottle back down where she'd found it.

"I'm sorry," Twilight gushed, "I'm just under a lot of pressure—"

"You can do this," Applejack stated. "Just think about it."

Twilight took a deep breath. "It's that one," she said, pointing to the smallest bottle, filled with black liquid.

"Okay!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the indicated bottle.

"WAIT!" Twilight yelled again.

"Poison?" Rarity asked.

"I'm…not sure," Twilight admitted. "That should be the right one, but I don't want to mess up!"

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, "here's the thing. You checked your work, you double checked your work, I trust you, and I'm going to drink this."

"RAINBOW—"

Rainbow Dash knocked back the potion in one swallow. She shuddered. "It's COLD."

"You're not dead," Twilight breathed. "That's…a good sign."

"Now let's test this." Rainbow Dash put her hand in the black flames. She waved it back and forth. A wide smile broke out across her face. "I think we have a winner!"

"Well, how are we supposed to all go through when you done drank it…all…" Applejack picked up the tiny bottle. "Well, I'll be. It's full again!"

"It's a Refilling Charm," Twilight guessed. "It would have to be in order to let multiple people through. Otherwise only one person could ever get to the next chamber."

"See you on the other side!" Rainbow Dash charged through the black flames. Shrugging, Applejack took a swig from the bottle and followed. One by one, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie followed suit.

When Rainbow Dash passed through the dark flames, she entered a spacious chamber. She stood atop wide, flat stairs; in a sort of valley below, Voldemort stood with his back to her, staring into a tall, ornate mirror with an engraved golden frame. Rainbow Dash felt the presences of her friends join her in the room. "Hey, YOU!" she yelled at Voldemort. "You better stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW! Um…what are you doing?"

Voldemort turned from the mirror. He'd just been trying to figure out the strangest vision. For the most part, it seemed to be him, deathless, immortal, living through years and years…but every now and then it flickered, and all he saw was his own self, grinning madly. Sometimes it didn't even look like his own face, but that of a red, horned demon. He had no way of knowing at that time that his vision of his heart's desire—immortality—was being interrupted by the madness of the black blood, which craved nothing more than what it already was. Yet it was both Voldemort's true self and the black blood that answered Rainbow Dash when he turned to face her and her friends. "I was merely waiting," he said. "Waiting for you to come so I could kill you."

"Um…I'm starting to think coming down here was a mistake," Fluttershy whimpered.

"You mean this whole time," Twilight reiterated, "you couldn't do anything unless we…came and tried to stop you…"

"That is correct," Voldemort said. The grin took over his face. "But now I can end you here. I was so hoping Potter would be the first death. It would have been quite fitting. But the end of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony will be much more useful to me." He raised his wand. "Time to die."

"Start powering up," Applejack whispered. The sphere of light engulfed the six; their amulets glowed.

Rarity in particular was afraid that Voldemort would kill them outright with the Killing Curse. Perhaps, she pondered, it could pierce the sphere of light. She didn't know how strong it was. But the black blood took over. Voldemort turned his wand upon himself, creating incisions in his own skin. The black blood bled. It trickled down to the ground in snakes, then curled up, solidifying into whips with pointed ends.

The rainbow burst forth from the six at the same time that the spears of black blood shot toward them. The two forces clashed, a wave of rainbow pushing against a torrent of obsidian.

Twilight could feel the force of the black blood pressing against the powers that she and her friends emitted. It felt strong, almost as much as Jafar's power had been, she thought. But at the same time, she felt stronger.

It was Rarity who recalled that they were all still in the garb of Mahou Shoujo, who noticed with her sharp eye that the colors of the rainbow were just a little brighter than they'd been before.

The rainbow forced the black blood backward, taming it, making it weaken. It dripped away, and the multicolored lights moved toward Voldemort, ever closer.

Then he was engulfed in light. In frustration, he cried out: "NYAAAAAGGGHHHHHH—"

The wounds healed over…mostly. One cut remained, the one Rainbow Dash had given him upstairs. The blood that dripped from it was decidedly red, with not a trace of black to be seen.

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash felt a surge of pride, having beaten the black blood.

Voldemort drew his wand, a difficult action as the rainbow lights surrounded him. However, as he lifted his hand, the wand cleared an area of darkness. Perhaps it was possible for him to summon the strength to outpower them. After all, despite the fact that some strange fog had lifted, that he felt he was regaining his true senses for the first time since his battle with Rainbow Dash and with that, something was missing, he was still a master of darkness, and most certainly, he had it within him to face these six mere girls—

But he didn't have to.

The light sphere shattered. The six tumbled to the ground, dazed. Not missing his opportunity, Voldemort cast the curse he'd been building over them, a wash of darkness.

"What…" Rainbow Dash muttered. "What happened…"

"Quirinus," Voldemort said softly.

Quirrell lowered his wand. "That light was difficult to break into," he said, his voice quivering. "It took me twenty shots."

"I must thank you." Voldemort smiled, though it was not the crazed grin of the black blood. "You have delivered to me exactly what I wanted."

"You'll only need one of them for the Horcrux," Quirrell pointed out as the six struggled to get to their hooves. "Which one would you have it be?"

"The one with the rainbow hair," Voldemort answered. "She's given me enough trouble."

"OH YEAH?" Rainbow Dash shot back. "I'll give you more than—" She swung her hands down through the air, only to find that they clutched nothing. No sword. She was dressed once more in Hogwarts robes—all six were.

"I've taken the liberty," Voldemort informed them, "of reverting you to your prior states. After all, I do know much more magic than that taught here." He looked to Quirrell. "Let us begin."

The two wizards raised their wands, ready to begin the kill.

"BRACKIUM EMENDO!"

Quirrell shrieked in horror. He dropped the wand. He crumpled to the floor, his legs bending at odd angles. His arms went completely limp. All four limbs were without bones.

As Quirrell collapsed, Voldemort could see who was behind him, who had cast the curse. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie looked that way as well. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all had wands drawn, pointed at where Quirrell was; they'd said the curse in unison. They turned their wands upward to Voldemort.

What happened next surprised them all. Voldemort faltered, his wand hand shaking. He appeared momentarily confused. Then he turned his wand back to the Mirror of Erised. It shrank, and he stuffed it in his pocket. Then, with the swiftness of an owl, he ran. He paused briefly before Quirrell, and no one quite saw the exact moment when Voldemort picked up his comrade, but Quirrell's body was slung over Voldemort's shoulder and the Dark Lord continued to run.

"AFTER HIM!" Ron yelled, and the nine gave chase. Voldemort was as a blur, even with the burden of an extra body in one arm, and they were hindered momentarily, for they each had to drink from the purple bottle in the potion room before they could keep going, through the chess room where the white pieces and black pieces were inexplicably reset and let them pass, through the key room, through the room of the Devil's Snare, which was stymied when Voldemort cast a bright flame in the center of the room—

Quirrell was thrown up out of the trap door first, giving a cry as he landed on the floor of the room that had once been home to Fluffy the three-headed hellhound. Voldemort was then in the room with him, nearly flying out of the labyrinth entrance.

The door to the room burst open. Quirrell twisted his neck as best he could with no arms to give him support, and he could see that, of all people, it was Alex Russon who'd arrived.

"Hey!" she yelled. "I got a Portkey! You got the thing?"

"Yes," Voldemort growled. "Now give the Portkey here!"

Alex nodded, dumping a book out of a black bag onto the floor. "Let's blow this pop stand!"

Rainbow Dash flew up out of the trapdoor in time to witness Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alex vanishing. "NO!" she cried.

"What happened?" Harry asked, climbing out of the trap door.

"They got away," Rainbow Dash growled. "How could they do that? I wished!"

"But we're all safe," Hermione remarked as soon as she was in the room.

"Lucky thing, too," Twilight added. "Turns out Voldemort was actually just waiting for us to chase him."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Let's all get in the same room first," Hermione suggested. "Then we'll exchange questions and answers."

When Harry, Ron, Hermione, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack all stood in the same room, Harry began. "What do you mean, he was waiting for you to chase him?"

"He was going to kill us," Rainbow Dash answered. "Actually, he wanted you, but I think we made him…mad. Anyway, he was going to use us for a…thingamabob!"

"A Horcrux!" Hermione realized.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash confirmed. "That thing."

"He wanted to split his soul by killing you," Hermione stated, "and start building his Horcruxes again…of course, he's only a mortal now…"

"He wanted to make it out of the mirror," Harry added. "That must have been why he took it! It makes sense. That mirror was there when I stopped him from getting the Philosopher's Stone. It helped me and not him!"

"But how did you get there?" Rarity asked. "We left you quite unconscious in the chess room!"

"Well…we woke up," Harry answered. "Just in time to see that someone else was finishing playing a game. Quirrell. He didn't see us. The game reset itself, so we played the quickest match of wizarding chess in history."

"Beat it in three moves," Ron boasted.

"And you made quite good use out of the bone removal spell," Rarity stated.

"So I guess that clears things up," Twilight summed.

"But there's something I still don't understand," Hermione said. "Why did he run? Why not kill us and make the Horcrux then and there?"

"Well…I think I might know…" Fluttershy said softly. "When I fought Quirrell…he didn't beat me. I let him go."

"YOU WHAT?" everyone else cried.

"He and Voldemort seemed…attached!" Fluttershy defended. "Even bad guys need friends, right? Quirrell was doing everything for Voldemort! They needed to be together!"

"So both of them could attack us at once?" Ron asked incredulously. "So Quirrell could stab you in the back like he did? So the two of them could kill us all—"

"Except they didn't," Hermione pointed out. "Voldemort was in the position to. But he ran."

"I think Voldemort thinks about Quirrell in the same way Quirrell thinks about him," Fluttershy suggested. "They're both very evil and mean, but…I think they care about each other, if only a little bit. Or at the very least, Voldemort respects how loyal Quirrell is. We outnumbered them. Yes, Voldemort could have started killing us, but then what would have happened? I'm sure we would have tried to take Quirrell prisoner. Those of us that were still alive. Plus, you'd already hurt him with the bone removal spell. By putting them together, we gave them something else to care about."

"So you're saying that Voldemort cared more about Quirrell than killing us," Harry reiterated.

"I think so."

"But that's impossible," Harry said, shaking his head. "Voldemort doesn't care about anyone or anything except making his own life longer."

"Maybe he's changed," Fluttershy suggested. "Or maybe you're wrong."

"Perhaps it's just a mystery," Hermione said to put an end to the discussion. "The long and short of it is, we're all safe. Given that we could all turn up, I'm guessing that we won the invasion. And while Voldemort may have the Mirror of Erised, at least he has no one to kill for—"

"Hermione," Rainbow Dash said somberly.

Everyone looked at her expectantly. Rainbow Dash was silent at first. She didn't know how to break it. She took a deep breath. "The Carrows took a prisoner with them. Voldemort had them hold him. He's back there with the rest of the Death Eaters now."

"Well, who—" Hermione stopped midsentence. She remembered who'd gone with Rainbow Dash, and only one of them was male. "No…"

"They got Ricksmith," Rainbow Dash stated, her voice catching.

"NO!" Twilight cried. "NO, NO, NO!"

"But Voldemort only makes Horcruxes out of special kills," Ron said. "There's hope, right? Ricksmith never did anything to him. They never even met—"

"Except that Ricksmith has the position that Voldemort always wanted at this school," Harry pointed out. "It doesn't matter who it is…the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would be a special kill to him. Maybe…maybe that's part of why Voldemort ran. He had a failsafe, and he knew it."

"We're going to have to tell everypony else," Fluttershy realized.

"Not to mention make sure that we've actually won the invasion and everything's safe," Harry added. "Well…I suppose there's no sense in putting it off."

The nine turned to the door, to leave the room.

"By the way," Hermione asked, "how are your amulets holding up? You spent a lot of time as Mahou Shoujo."

"Before Voldemort took us out of the transformation," Twilight grumbled. "He has otherworldly powers now. At least we got rid of that weird black blood. I think." She took off her amulet to get a good look at it. "…oh."

Upon hearing Twilight's tone, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity each took off their amulets to get a good look. The gems didn't shine as they once had. They were cloudy, full of mist. Rainbow Dash's was even gathering a sort of black mist in the center.

"We have to be more careful about using these," Twilight said. "We have to conserve whatever power is left in the amulets until we know exactly what happens when it runs out." She refastened it around her neck, and the others did the same.

Then they left the room to survey the results of the battle.

RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH

"YOU DID WHAT?" Voldemort roared at Medusa.

"A mere experiment," Medusa said calmly. "Did it not make you stronger, almost enough to combat the Elements of Harmony themselves?"

"Without my permission," Voldemort growled, raising his wand.

"Come now," Medusa said. "Would you truly kill me? Especially after the strength I gave you. Only I have that knowledge. Would you risk losing it?"

Voldemort lowered the wand. "It took away my mind," he said sternly.

"A side effect," Medusa replied. "Some would call it worth the trouble. For me, it was enlightening. I have never injected it into one so…ordinary as yourself."

"I AM NOT ORDINARY!"

"In the grand scheme of the cosmos, no. You are one of the most powerful Dark entities there is. Not even you realize your full potential. But the black blood was meant to create new Kishin. Candidates for that are even more rare than Dark sorcerers of your caliber. You must understand." Medusa gave Voldemort's last open wound a disapproving look. "I see that the black blood can in fact be negated by the Elements of Harmony. This will require further study. Hopefully a flaw I can correct."

"In the future," Voldemort snarled, "you will report all of your research to me."

"I will do what I feel like doing, Voldemort. But you knew I would say that." She turned and stalked away, noiselessly on bare feet.

Voldemort gritted his teeth. She was right. The black blood was a benefit to them both, and she was doing a wonderful job of keeping herself valuable by refusing to share the knowledge of how it was created. She also knew much more about the Kishin than any other, and probably a fair bit about Morgana le Fay. Voldemort had no choice but to shrug it off.

He turned to face Alex, who stood behind him with her arms folded, waiting for praise. "So?" she prompted. "I did good, right?"

"Bellatrix has informed me that you destroyed most of the Portkeys."

"Hey, man, I didn't want to. That girl I already killed? She was there. Well, another one of her. She put me under that mind control spell and made me destroy all the books. But I got you and Quirrell out, okay? And you got the mirror."

"Without you," Voldemort admitted, "that may not have been possible. Very well, Alex. You will not be punished…but you will not be rewarded."

"Fine by me," Alex said with a shrug. It really wasn't, but she knew that given the stakes, it was better to break even than to be tortured or killed.

The Carrows and Crouch entered the room at the same time. "Bartemius," Voldemort began. "Tell me of Quirinus."

"He's been laid up in your bed as you asked," Crouch said. "I've started him on the Skele-Gro. He's going to have a long and painful night."

"And I am to understand that the death of Karkaroff was an accident?"

"Unfortunate, wasn't it?" Crouch's tongue flicked nervously, but his eyes sparkled. "You've got young Malfoy to thank for that one."

Voldemort turned his attention to the Carrows. "And the mirror?"

"Exactly as you wanted it," Amycus said gleefully.

"Good. I will finish my business with it." Voldemort stalked out from the room.

"Accident," Alecto hissed, looking toward Crouch.

"These things happen," Crouch replied. "It also happened to Pettigrew and Scabior. Though I think that's good riddance to bad rubbish."

Voldemort entered a room that had been stripped bare of furniture but for two adornments. One was the Mirror of Erised, returned to full size. It glimmered, and Voldemort's reflection in it was no longer marred by any wide grins or red demons.

The other was Ermond Ricksmith. Bound by ropes and gagged in a similar manner Crouch had done to Veronica Aardman, he struggled, and his eyes betrayed panic.

"You had the audacity," Voldemort told him, "to take the honor that was mine. I do hope you do not consider your time as professor wasted, for you had so little of it."

Ricksmith shook his head, whimpering.

Voldemort lifted his wand. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

There was a flash of green.

When all was done, the Mirror of Erised shone a little differently. The glass was slightly warped. Voldemort's reflection was simply that of himself rather than any desire of his; he stared into the eyes of his own soul, the first piece he'd transferred outside himself since his resurrection. Satisfied, Voldemort left the room.

Ricksmith's corpse lay on the ground for the others to dispose of.

Chapter 43:

· I always did wonder if anyone at Hogwarts was surprised that Ron was a better chess player than Hermione.

· I thought about reviving the troll somehow, but decided that I didn't have a logical way to do it (NOW is when I decide that logic takes precedence over who should be alive in this story). Plus, I really didn't want to do that battle.

· It only makes sense to me that after one goes through the chambers of the Philosopher's Stone (I've been calling it by the British name just because I feel it's more in character for the British characters to say, and also because that's how it's referred to in other media), the bottles refill and the chess game resets. Otherwise the first book would have been Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking through a chess graveyard and getting trapped in a room with no potions left.

· The red devil Voldemort sees in his black blood reflection is a reference to Soul Eater. That thing lives in the heads of whoever gets too "high" on black blood.

· I thought about researching if there was a shrinking charm in the Potterverse, but you know what? Voldemort travels worlds. He's a threat on multiple planes. In this story, he obviously knows more magic than just Potterverse magic, and so I also gave him the liberty of being able to undo the Mahou Shoujo transformation.

· Would Voldemort really drop everything to help Quirrell? I honestly don't know how in character that is, but it's what I wanted to build up to. It fits the theme of the entire story, and it goes with my ship.

· It's possible to beat a chess game in three moves. It kind of requires the opponent to be an idiot, but it's still possible.

· Ricksmith's dead. He's not coming back.