Chapter Fifteen: The Graveyard
"Imperio," Barty Crouch Jr. whispered during the mayhem of the Riddle House raid, while poking his wand into Sirius Black's side.
Sirius relaxed and went still as his intentions became pliable. Barty whispered instructions into his ear.
Barty knew that Dumbledore had tried to convince Sirius to stay out of the operation, but the spirited wizard had refused to be excluded from the opportunity to bring Lily and James Potter's killers to Justice. Dumbledore had reluctantly allowed Sirius to participate, under the condition that he wore a facial disguise to prevent him from being recognized by the Aurors who were still technically looking for him.
Sirius's fellow Order of the Phoenix members had been told about his participation, but unfortunately for Dumbledore, anything he thought he was confiding in Mad-Eye Moody ended up heard by Barty Crouch Jr.
During Barty's planning meeting with Lucius Malfoy, they had decided that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin would be the perfect ones to use for the diversion. As the fugitive and the werewolf were old school friends, the Ministry might believe they had conspired together. After all, if Barty could create a wedge of distrust between the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Order of the Phoenix, it could go a long way to dividing the enemy—especially if Dumbledore would no longer be around to hold the alliance together.
Dumbledore stood over the stranger he suspected to be Voldemort. The Order's best fighters were there to back him up—Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley.
Amelia Bones, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, had brought Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour and dozens of Aurors who they felt could be relied upon. Of course, the details of the plan had been kept secret from most of the participants, but now that Voldemort, Ollivander and Pettigrew had been brought to their knees, it seemed the secrecy had paid off and the Death Eaters had not been tipped off.
"Remus, bring out Harry," Dumbledore commanded.
Lupin nodded and entered Riddle House behind the vanguard of Aurors who had gone in to secure the mansion. Moments later, Lupin emerged with a traumatized-looking Harry Potter, who nonetheless walked out on his own strength.
"Go, Fawkes." The Phoenix took off from his shoulder and flew to Harry Potter, grasped the boy and disappeared with a magical POP. Dumbledore knew that Fawkes would bring Harry back to Hogwarts where Minerva would see to it the boy was taken care of.
With Harry safe, he waved his wand to remove the magical constraint that prevented Voldemort from speaking.
"Congratulations, Dumbledore," Voldemort hissed. "You found me. How pathetic that you could only accomplish it with a fourteen year head start."
Dumbledore was not about to argue. It was a shame that Voldemort had not summoned the Death Eaters to him, as capturing them all would have ended the conflict much sooner.
"Nymphadora, the veritaserum please." Tonks brought the vial forward. Using his wand, Dumbledore forced Voldemort's mouth open. Tonks poured the veritaserum down his throat, giving him far more than the minimum three drops for total compliance.
Voldemort's eyes dilated and his muscles relaxed as he succumbed to the potion.
"What is your true name and date of birth?"
"Tom Marvolo Riddle. December 31st, 1926."
Dumbledore tried to conceal a smile that was forming. It was confirmed then—this really was him.
"How many Horcruxes did you make, not counting Harry Potter?"
"Five."
Dumbledore exchanged a triumphant look with Mad-Eye Moody. This was it! This really was the last Voldemort copy. They had done it.
Dumbledore projected his voice so all the assembled wizards and witches could hear his next question. "Tell me the names of the Death Eaters, starting with Lucius Malfoy. Was he really manipulated under the Imperius Curse as he claimed?"
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light. Voldemort's body fell to the snow, dead.
What?! No!
Dumbledore looked around for who had cast the curse and saw Sirius Black with his wand outstretched. "Avada Kedavra!" Sirius cried again, and this time Peter Pettigrew's dead body slumped to the ground.
What is he doing!?
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Kingsley Shacklebolt. Sirius' wand flew from his hand and he was thrown to the ground.
"Avada Kedavra!" cried Remus Lupin, and this time Garrick Ollivander fell over, dead.
"Expelliarmus!" Tonks disarmed Lupin and aimed her wand at him. "What are you doing, Remus?!"
Why, Sirius? Why, Remus? We had them! We had the Death Eaters at our mercy!
Scrimgeour and the Aurors surrounded the two rogue wizards. Realizing something was off about Sirius's face, Scrimgeour pulled the disguise off him. "It's Sirius Black!"
Several Aurors gasped.
"Dumbledore!" Amelia Bones shouted angrily, "What's going on?"
Dumbledore was at a loss for words.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Having taken advantage of the chaos, Barty's curse hit Dumbledore in the back, and the Supreme Mugwump fell to the snow, unmoving.
"Long live the Dark Lord!" He screamed, as he threw up a magical shield to defend himself against the Aurors' attacks.
As he blocked and deflected the incoming spells, he backed away, hoping to retreat far enough to get clear of the wards that prevented disapparation. But even if he didn't escape, his legacy was secured. He would be considered the greatest Death Eater of all time.
He would be remembered as The Wizard Who Killed Dumbledore, the one who prevailed over the greatest wizard alive. His story would be told for ages to come—how he had snuck his way into Hogwarts, fooled them all for months, paved the way for the return of the true Dark Lord!
A few dozen more paces and he would be free. The Aurors began casting killing curses, which he couldn't block. He dodged and fired back some of his own.
Just a few more meters.
From the cover of the trees in the surrounding woods, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle observed the chaos unfolding at Riddle House.
Mr. Goyle followed Barty's battle with the Aurors through his magical binoculars. Even if any of the Aurors looked their way, the stealth wards they had set up rendered them undetectable. Behind him, Mr. Crabbe waited at the detonator for his signal.
One week earlier, they had been shocked when Lucius Malfoy had given them the orders to steal the explosives from the muggle armory.
"Muggle weapons?" they had asked.
"It'll be their blind spot. Wizardkind always neglects to consider muggle devices to their peril, nor can they be detected by most magical means. Even Dumbledore will overlook it."
Stealing from the armory had been easy, with the advantage of magic. Burying the C4 under the Riddle House and its grounds without a trace and without alerting Pettigrew had been tricky, but Lucius had helped them with the setup, transfiguring all the connective wiring into place. They had forced a muggle explosives expert to help them, and they had since wiped the man's memory and left him on a backstreet in London.
The greatest shock of all was that Lucius, who usually made the most subtle, risk-averse moves, had ordered a direct attack against Dumbledore and the Aurors.
Lucius had explained it in terms of chess.
"At a certain point, a chess game stops being about positioning and turns into a game of trading pieces. Sacrificing any number of pieces is justified when it results in a checkmate."
Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle could understand trading Peter Pettigrew, Ollivander, and even Barty Crouch Jr. in exchange for Dumbledore, The Order, and the incorruptible members of the Auror Office. But to trade The Dark Lord? Wasn't he the king in the chess game? Or was that Lucius now?
Whatever reservations Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle had felt, whatever doubts they secretly held, they had no choice but to obey. Long ago, they had made their Unbreakable Vows of unconditional loyalty to Lucius Malfoy in exchange for his patronage—a magical pact on their lives that their own sons would one day make for themselves with Lucius's son Draco.
"Now!" shouted Mr. Goyle, and Mr. Crabbe pressed down on the detonator.
The Riddle House mansion and its grounds exploded, engulfing everyone present.
Once the wreckage had settled and the pieces of Riddle House had fallen back to the Earth, the two wizards rushed forward with their wands to search for any survivors.
Lucius's orders had been clear—leave no one alive.