VIII.

Sirius and Harry took a couple of days off to just enjoy the break. They took the whole group to the cinema one afternoon after threatening the twins with bodily harm if they acted up. Sirius had been working with them on the sly to help them get their store off the ground. He had made a deal with them to sponsor them, but they both had to get a minimum of five NEWTS. The twins thought that was doable and were happily planning their product line. They'd gone to see Dracula: Dead and Loving It and laughed at the portrayal of Dracula until Hermione explained about satire and comedy. They'd then stopped for pizza, which had been another unique experience for the wizard-raised.

On New Year's Eve, Sirius received a letter from Bloodslayer asking him and Harry to come for a meeting at two in the afternoon. It would be a planning meeting for the end of Voldemort. Amelia would bring a group from the Ministry including both Aurors and Unspeakable Number One. Gringotts would have their curse breakers and Captain of the Guard there as well. Harry was hoping this would be the beginning of the end. Everyone had been given portkeys to Gringotts' high security portkey area. It would have drawn a considerable amount of attention for Amelia and a group of Aurors to be seen going into Gringotts.

Harry and Sirius were the first to arrive. While they were waiting for the others to arrive, Griphook provided Harry with a vial for his memory of the basilisk chase. Harry figured they'd probably laugh at him for trying to outrun the snake, but at twelve years old, that was about all he knew. As Professor McGonagall would have put it, it was only due to "sheer dumb luck," and Fakes that he'd made it out alive.

Amelia arrived with Rufus Scrimgeour, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the Unspeakable. Bloodslayer brought in the Tracker who had been watching Nagini, the Captain of the Guard, and his head wardsmith.

Bloodslayer opened the discussion, "We are here to plan the final end to Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. We have acquired all of his horcruxes with the exception of the snake. Our Tracker has discovered its usual hunting pattern and we can plan around that. Once the snake is gone, we can then kill all of the remaining horcruxes and then Riddle will be fully mortal. Lord Potter, if you would explain your part of this, please."

Harry stuttered for a minute, then got his confidence back, "Before I was born, there was a prophesy made about Riddle and me. It can be interpreted in several ways, but one of the things it says is that "either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." Now the Unspeakables think that it doesn't have to be literally by my hand for him to finally die. I can appoint proxies to act in my stead. Those of you who were at Hogwarts the other day heard my request to Madam Bones and to King Ragnok asking them to act as my hand to end Riddle. I've already stood against him three times, not counting when I was a baby, so I'm hoping you can help me out with this."

From there the planning began in earnest. The goblin wardsmiths had analyzed the wards around the Riddle house. While it had the standard anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards, it also had a detector ward that alerted him if someone came within ten feet of the ward boundary. Using a projection pensieve, they showed the Riddle house and the location of the wards. The Tracker talked about Nagini's movements and that her favorite hunting spot was a small stream that ran along the property boundary. She would hunt at night around two in the morning.

The guard captain thought if they placed a few warriors nearby they could kill her fairly quickly. Harry had to explain about the horcrux and it being linked to Voldemort. It would put up a fight for sure. Harry suspected that the only way to kill her was with the Sword of Gryffindor. After a short discussion, the others were swayed to that line of thinking. Sirius would accompany Harry and the goblin cohort to that area for backup.

The ward master talked more about the wards and what it would take to bring them down. He felt that while the wards were strong, they were sloppy. He'd found a couple of places where the wards were weak. Place a ward buster at each of these places and setting them off simultaneously should bring them all crashing down.

The next question was how many people could they expect to be there at any given time. The most the goblins had seen at ant one time was ten. Usually there were only one or two there.

Amelia said, "Then we need to plan raids on the key players at the same time we're attacking Voldemort, don't we?"

The Unspeakable said, "Maybe not. We're not sure if the Dark Mark will kill them all when he goes or not. We've tried to study it, but we haven't had much luck."

Bloodslayer said, "Let's concentrate on Voldemort first. You will have time after he's been dealt with to take down his followers."

The discussion continued for several hours as a plan took shape. The first part would be killing Nagini. Once that was done, word would come back to Gringotts who would then destroy the remaining horcruxes. Word would then be sent back to the ward busters who would then set them off and bring down the wards. With the wards down, they would put up their own anti apparition wards. The Aurors would take over from there.

Sirius had offered the use of his two-way mirrors. Bloodslayer would have one and Sirius would have the other. Once Nagini was down, he'd fire a red flare. Once the horcruxes were destroyed, he'd fire a green flare. Once the green flare was seen, that was the signal to bring down the wards.

The decision was made to do this in three days' time. This would give them time to hone their plans and find any loopholes. The Tracker would spend more time at the Riddle house to gain any further intelligence. Shacklebolt volunteered to spend some time with the goblin so that he could get some hard intel of his own. He had other things he needed to know before they took down Voldemort for the last time.

- YAGP -

By mutual agreement, they'd decided to limit those members of the Order who would know about the planned raid. Shacklebolt, Tonks, and Moody were included because of their tie-in with the Aurors. Bill was aware due to his work with the goblins and the horcruxes. Remus would be involved, but it place was still being evaluated. Sirius would tell Arthur to keep everyone behind the wards of Grimmauld Place. Sirius had also talked with Minerva and she agreed to raise the war wards beginning at curfew until she was given the all-clear by a trusted person (Sirius, Remus, Amelia, or Moody).

Harry had put forth the idea of having some folks on brooms who could monitor the situation from above. Harry and Sirius both planned to bring their brooms (Sirius had gotten himself a Nimbus 2001 – the Firebolt was too much broom for him). Once the snake was down, they could watch for escapees from the house. Also, Sirius was prepared to cast Fiendfyre from above if they needed to flush Voldemort from the manor.

The goblins, Sirius, and Harry would be in place at midnight in case Nagini came out earlier. The aurors would be in place about one. Then it was anybody's guess when things would begin to happen.

Amelia and Rufus planned to recall all aurors at ten. Once everyone was there, they would go on lockdown. They'd already broken down the auror force on paper into assault teams. Their job would be to assault several of the key players' houses. She had the list from Harry's memory of the resurrection so she already had signed warrants for their arrest. Gringotts had promised a ward breaker for each of the ten teams who would go out when given the signal.

Molly knew something was going on and kept trying to get information, but all involved were keeping quiet. The fewer people in the know, the better chance of capturing the majority of the Death Eaters.

The Unspeakables had a theory that with the demise of Voldemort, he would take his followers with him. Since this was an unknown, they had backup plans to capture as many of Voldemort's followers as possible. Amelia was ready to implement Martial Law to ensure all Death Eaters were tried with Veritaserum. Nobody was going to pay their way out this time. Sirius had tipped Minerva off on this issue since Snape was affected.

Harry and Sirius decided to spend the afternoon together out at a muggle arcade. They needed something to keep their minds off of the evening's events. The goblins had presented Harry with a sheath to keep Gryffindor's sword in that he could wear on his back. Harry had practiced drawing the sword from the sheath multiple times to get used to it. They had a fun time playing inane games and forgetting about what they were about to do. They ate an early dinner and then both took a short nap.

Just before ten, Harry and Sirius took a portkey to Gringotts and met up with the rest of the scout team from Gringotts. The Tracker's assistant would take them to the spot they'd been watching Nagini from. Ragnok came to the hall where his warriors and ward specialists were waiting.

"Greetings Warriors! Tonight, we go forth to rid this world of the so-called Dark Lord Voldemort. This is a momentous day in the history of wizard and Goblinkind! Tonight, the Ministry and Gringotts will work together to end our world of this scourge. May this be the first of many cooperative ventures!" The goblins present were beating their halberds on the floor or banging their swords against their armor. It was a glorious time to be a goblin!

"Before we go into battle, there is one presentation I must make. Harrison Basiliskkiller come forward!"

Harry looked at Sirius in confusion, but stepped towards Ragnok.

"Many of you have had the opportunity to view this young Lord's battle with a basilisk the likes have never been seen before and, hopefully, never again. With no forethought to his own life, he stood up to this monster with only a sword. A sword he had never used before. He slayed the beast, mortally injuring himself in the process. He lives only due to the timely arrival of a phoenix. With his dying breath, he had the presence of mind to take the fang embedded in his arm and use it to destroy the artifact responsible for calling the basilisk forward. Today I present him with a goblin's personal weapon – a dagger – the hilt made from the very fang that tried to end his life. All hail Lord Harrison Potter Gryffindor Slytherin Peverell. From henceforth let his name be said with reverence in these halls – Lord Harrison Basiliskkiller!"

Harry was totally embarrassed, but held his head up and gratefully accepted the dagger from Ragnok. Everyone in the hall rendered him the goblin honor of getting down on one knee with their right fist over their heart.

Harry bowed to Ragnok, then said, "Thank you, King Ragnok, for this honor. I will wear this proudly in the days and years to come."

Ragnok then said, "The time has come to assume our positions. May you all return safely, but if not, know you will be honored as a hero! Dismissed!"

Harry and Sirius went with their party and were the first to portkey out. The portkey took them about a half-mile from the area they would be waiting in. It was a quick walk, which helped Harry center himself. If the assistant hadn't known where he was going, they would have missed the Tracker's location.

"About time! No sign of the snake, but several humans have been in and out. There appears to be at least four humans in there with the Dark Lord. The snake hasn't been out yet."

Harry had given this some thought and put his plan forward, "What do you think about putting out some scout snakes to alert us when Nagini starts moving?"

"Where do you plan to get them? There are no other snakes in this area. They are afraid of that one. It's hard for her to find prey as well."

Amelia had given Harry a waiver to the Underage Magic law, so he called softly, "Serpensortia!" four times. Four black adders were there.

Harry said, "SS Welcome honored serpents! Could I trouble you for some assistance? SS

SS A Speaker! How can we help you, Speaker? SS asked one of them.

SS In the house over there is a great serpent who has been taken over by some very dark magic. She is a disgrace to all serpents. I plan to rid the world of her, but I need some help. I need at least one or two of you to keep an eye on the house and let me know when she comes out to hunt. It should be in the next few hours. SS

One of the other snakes asked, SS What do we get for helping a human? SS

Harry replied, SS I'm sure I can get several tasty mice for each of you. SS

The snakes hissed between themselves. While Harry could understand them, he didn't feel he needed to translate. They were arguing about getting a rabbit or even a cow. Harry laughed at that.

"What are they saying, pup?" asked Sirius.

"They're trying to see if they can up the ante to a cow," Harry smirked.

Finally, one said, SS We will help you for three fat mice each. SS

Harry said, SS I will have them waiting for you. Be aware there is another speaker in the house. Do not listen to him! He is the evil one we are trying to end. SS

The four snakes slithered off. Harry called Dobby and asked him to get a dozen healthy mice and have them ready when he called.

Once that was done, they all settled down to wait. At midnight, Sirius got a call from Bloodslayer letting him know they were in place and ready to cleanse the horcruxes when he gave the signal. They continued to wait until one of the snakes came back at half two that Nagini was on the move. She had smelled the other snakes and was planning to make a meal with them, but they were faster. They were leading her down to where Harry was hidden. They all went on high alert.

Harry thought he could hear the grass rustling more than it had been, then he heard Nagini in the distance, SS I smell prey! Prey worthy of me as they actually move. I will catch them and show them how great I am. SS

Harry could hear them moving closer and closer. Harry wasn't worried about her smelling them as they all had silencing and scent neutralizing spells on them. Suddenly two of the asps slithered past him and between heartbeats, Nagini was on them. Harry had the Sword out of its sheath already and as soon as Nagini came by, Harry swung the sword down, chopping her neatly in two. Both humans and goblins saw the black mist that rose up and said, "Harry Potter! You will die! I am immortal and I will kill you!" Harry looked at the apparition and laughed, "In your dreams, Snakeface!" and the apparition burst apart.

That was the signal to go. Sirius called Bloodslayer to relay the news while Harry sent up red sparks to let the others know to get ready. About fifteen minutes later, Sirius received the call from Bloodslayer that all of the horcruxes had been destroyed. Voldemort was now mortal!

Sirius sent up the green sparks to set off the fireworks. As soon as the snake had been killed, the two goblins had portkeyed away. Sirius and Harry mounted their brooms and took to the skies. They could see quite well as it was only two days before the full moon. The Gringotts ward breakers didn't need very long to bring down the wards. The next thing they heard was an enhanced voice that said, "Voldemort! You are surrounded. Surrender now, or we will be forced to attack! You have ten minutes to surrender!"

Four Death Eaters flew out of the doors to take on all comers. Voldemort sent them out to buy him some time to summon the remainder of his loyal followers. He hadn't anticipated them putting up their own anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. As the Death Eaters tried to apparate to their Lord's side, they bounced off the wards and were stunned. This made it easy picking for both Aurors and goblins to put goblin-made portkeys on them and send them to the depths of Gringotts for now.

When he realized help was not forthcoming, He strode out of the manor ready to attack.

"Who dares trespass on these grounds? Whoever you are, prepare to die!" and he began throwing curses wherever he saw something or someone move. Harry and Sirius had discussed this before. If Voldemort's attention was forward, he wouldn't notice anyone coming at him from above. Harry's Wronski Feint was about as good as they come. Harry picked out his starting point and down he went. He was coming up behind Voldemort and leveled off in time to send a piercing hex straight through Voldemort's torso.

Voldemort was surprised when he realized what had happened, but it didn't take but two more seconds before he was dead. Really, truly and sincerely dead this time.

Harry was back up at altitude before anyone realized what had happened. The remaining two Death Eaters tried to portkey out, but couldn't. The time it took them to activate their portkey and fail was enough time for the Aurors to stun them and put portkeys on them and send them off.

Harry and Sirius landed near where Rufus Scrimgeour was. Rufus sent a Patronus to Amelia letting her know that Voldemort was no more and to send a clean-up team. The goblins took down their anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards and put up strong muggle repelling wards. Harry and Sirius hugged each other.

Harry was crying, "It's over! It's finally over! Voldemort will never bother me again!" He and Sirius danced around in a circle crying and laughing. Harry was finally free of Moldyshorts forever.

Amelia and Unspeakable Number One apparated in with a forensics team. She sent them into the house to secure it first and confirm there were no others hiding. A Hominem Revelio showed it empty, but you could never be quite sure with Voldemort.

The Unspeakable analyzed the scene and confirmed what they already knew – no more Voldemort. Amelia sent an Auror to the Daily Prophet to wake someone up and get press coverage. She didn't want this hidden away. She wanted everyone to know what was happening. While they waited, Rufus went back to the Ministry and executed the second part of the plan – take down the Death Eater network, or what was left. The goblins had already sent a list of those currently in their cells which narrowed their list to just a few that hadn't made it to the manor yet.

After giving their statements to Rufus and a hearty thanks from Amelia, Sirius took Harry home. They decided to make as much noise as they wanted dragging in. Who cared if it was half four in the morning?

Molly came out of her bedroom door building up a head of steam, "Sirius Black! What do you mean dragging in with Harry in the wee hours of the morning? You can't have been up to any good!"

Sirius stopped her, "Molly, Voldemort is dead. DEAD dead!"

Doors started opening and people poked their heads out. They all piled into the newly refurbished sitting room. Harry and Sirius still had a lot of adrenaline coursing through them, but confirmed for everyone what Sirius had told Molly.

Harry went over to Hermione and pulled her up and starting dancing around in a circle saying, "Ding! Dong! Voldy's Gone!" Hermione picked up on it and they finished the song with improvised lyrics. Remus staggered in about that time. He'd been at Hogwarts to give Minerva a hand securing the castle. He'd gotten Sirius' Patronus and passed along the good news, despite waking Minerva up at this ungodly hour.

The elves decided a feast was in order and started cooking up a storm. Pretty soon Cindy popped in and invited everyone to the dining room (they'd quit using the kitchen when the dining room had been fixed up. There was a lot of laughter and frivolity.

At seven, Sirius sent the elves out with messages for all of the Order members to meet at Headquarters at eight. He knew that Moody, Shacklebolt, and Tonks would be tied up with their duties for a while, but They wanted to get the information out before the Daily Prophet printed what they thought might have happened.