The previous chapters 86 and 87 have been deleted and their content merged into this chapter. Voldemort's end, Quirrell's end, and the reactions of the Yellow Quartet to both are now all part of one chapter.
Meanwhile, while the students at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery were attending their first lessons. a MAJOR event was going down in the Wizarding World.
The Prominent unspeakable Steven Secret had recently had an idea occur to him that would prove to be a pivotal point.
While Fiendfyre had been unable to destroy the Ring Horcrux the way it destroyed the other Horcruxes, Steven had always known that the Ring Horcruxes could be destroyed if he could find another substance destructive enough to put it beyond repair.
He knew that basilisk venom was one such substance, but as basilisks were now exceedingly rare, he doubted he'd ever be able to get his hands on any basilisk venom.
But an idea had recently occurred to Steven about a substance he thought might be destructive enough, but wasn't 100% sure of.
Sometimes, you had to try things out.
This was one of those times.
Steven wondered whether the exploding fluid found in Erumpent's horns was destructive enough to destroy Horcruxes.
Erumpent horns were pretty commonly available although clearly defined as Class B Tradeable Goods. This meant that erumpent horns and the exploding fluid were classified as being dangerous and subject to strict control.
On this morning, Steven had brought both an erumpent horn and the Ring Horcrux to work with him and taken them into the Dark Magic Room.
However, Steven was not about to stab the Ring Horcrux with the erumpent horn directly. He knew he needed to stand back from the Horcrux Ring as it exploded.
Therefore, Steven retrieved his wand from his right hand pocket with his right hand and held it at the ready. He dropped the Ring Horcrux onto the floor and placed a small range nonverbal Banishing Charm on it.
Satisfied with how far away from himself the Ring Horcrux had landed on the floor, Steven prepared himself for the hard part and that was performing a nonverbal Banishing Charm on the erumpent horn with enough precision and accuracy to cause the Ring Horcrux to explode.
Taking a deep breath and concentrating hard, Steven pointed his wand at the erumpent horn still in his left hand and placed a nonverbal Banishing Charm on it.
Its aim was true. There was a colossal explosion that was louder than a sonic boom and a nanosecond later the Ring Horcrux had been reduced to white dust and debris.
It was obvious to Steven from the debris that the Ring Horcrux had no chance of putting itself back together. He now pointed his wand at the dust and debris and vanished it.
It had been a success.
Lord Voldemort's last Horcrux was gone forever.
And so was Lord Voldemort himself.
Without a body, and all the Horcruxes now destroyed, Lord Voldemort, whatever he was now, now died.
In his quest for immortality, Lord Voldemort had DESTROYED himself. Because he had no body at the nanosecond of his death, Lord Voldemort's ultimate fate had been to disappear into being nothing at all. There would be no trace of him left behind in the world.
It was completely fitting that the man who gutted himself to trying and failing to make himself immortal met this end, an end of nothingness. No body left behind, no trace, nothing.
While many mortals would go on to live long and happy lives, the man who had proactively sought out immortality had unwittingly brought about his own early death and complete disappearance from the world at the time of that death.
Lord Voldemort was literally nothing now.
He was gone forever, and so was any trace of him.
That's all there was of Lord Voldemort now:
Nothing.
...
When the last Horcrux was destroyed and Voldemort died, Quirinus Quirrell suddenly felt very weak.
All of Voldemort was now no more, including the part of Voldemort that Quirrell had agreed to share his body with.
Quirrell instinctively knew that Voldemort had left his body and that was why he had felt weak. However, he did not know of Voldemort's fate and simply suspected Voldemort of giving up on him.
As Heather had not offered Quirrell a job interview for a position at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery due to his blatant non-teaching at Hogwarts, and as he had yet to find another job, he was at home awaiting his next opportunity, which he had hoped would come when Lord Voldemort would rise again.
Not realizing that Lord Voldemort threw away his followers like wilted salad once they were no longer useful to him, Quirrell was stunned by what he thought was Voldemort deserting him.
Though Voldemort had given up on the possibility of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone when Dumbledore informed him that Flamel had removed it from Hogwarts, he had decided to leave the piece of himself in Quirrell's body just in case it could prove to still be of some use, though he never thought much about Quirrell again after the Sorcerer's Stone was removed from Hogwarts.
Quirrell wasn't worried about how weak he felt. He didn't like it, but he just figured he would have a recovery process to go through following Voldemort leaving his body.
The truth was that the long period of sharing his body with Voldemort had greatly weakened Quirrell. Voldemort had in essence stolen his energy and, in the process, stolen life from Quirrell to the point where Quirrell 's natural life had been sucked out of him by Voldemort and when Voldemort left his body through his own demise there wasn't much life left for Quirrell.
Quirrell reasonably figured that sleep would be the solution, so he went and laid down in his bed, tucking himself in under his purple bed sheets and resting his head on his purple pillowcase.
Quirrell shut his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep a minute and a nanosecond later.
But Quirrell would never wake up again.
An hour and a nanosecond after having fallen asleep, Quirrell passed away peacefully, his life coming to an abrupt and early end due to the fact that Voldemort had drained almost all life out of him.
...
Meanwhile, after destroying the Ring Horcrux that carried the last of Lord Voldemort's life force, Steven Secret had instinctively walked from the Dark Magic Room in the Department of Mysteries to the Death Room.
Nothing happened for a little over an hour after Steven stepped into the Death Room.
Then, suddenly, out of nowhere a very bright light emerged from the ground and traveled upward.
This light was a tent of dark purple, but it was easy to see in the Death Room, which, like the Dark Magic Room, was a very dark room.
The purple light was glowing in the dark and it had formed two interlocked capital letter Qs.
Steven knew that this meant someone with the initials QQ had just died and that his death was more significant than the average death, hence the glowing to alert him to its significance.
Steven put two and two together and apparated to Quirrell's house.
When Steven found Quirrell's dead body, he put his left hand on the body and apparated back to the Death Room.
Steven made a few movements with his wand and performed a few nonverbal spells to ascertain the state of Quirrell's body.
Steven discovered that Quirrell's magical core and life force had both been completely depleted.
Putting two and two together, Steven made the connection that Quirrell had been sharing his body with Voldemort and that when the last Horcrux snuffed it and all of Voldemort along with it, Quirrell had been greatly weakened when the part of Voldemort that was inside him had left his body. Quirrell's death approximately an hour later had clearly been the result of Voldemort feeding on his magical core and life force, leaving only a minuscule amount left when his own death had occurred.
...
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah were sitting at the Yellow Quartet's table in the Eating and Meeting Hall having just finished a delicious lunch of juicy grilled chicken sandwiches with lettuce and pickles, crinkle fries, and Sprite to wash it down with when Heather approached them.
"Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah, " said Heather clearly, "Please follow me up to the Headmistress's office."
"Yes, Heather," replied Harry, Amy, and Susan while Hannah replied, "Yes, mom."
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah followed Heather into the Headmistress's office and she said quickly, "Let's get to it. This morning, I received an owl from Steven Secret explaining that he had successfully destroyed the Ring Horcrux, the last remaining Horcrux, with the use of the exploding fluid from an erumpent horn. "
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah remained silent for a minute and a nanosecond as their brains processed what Heather had just told them.
"So," piped up Harry slowly, "That means that, like Darling Clementine, Lord Voldemort is lost and gone forever."
"Voldemort, " said Heather thoughtfully, "Is more lost and gone forever than anyone, anywhere, or anything ever has been."
A few more minutes and a few more nanoseconds of silence ensued.
It was Amy who broke the quiet by shouting, "OOH!"
"What have you realized Amy?" asked Harry curiously.
"Voldemort didn't have a body when the last Horcrux was destroyed, " said Amy breathlessly, "Voldemort doesn't even have a dead body. He is literally nothing now."
"Fitting," said Harry in a satisfied voice, "The man who tried to defeat death literally ended as nothing."
"That was really wise of Steven to think to try the exploding fluid of an erumpent horn," said Susan admiringly.
"It was bloody brilliant, " piped up Hannah glowingly.
"What comes next?" asked Susan.
"Steven in currently in the process of deciding the most appropriate time to inform the Wizarding World's public of Lord Voldemort's downfall. He feels it best to let some time pass to be absolutely sure Voldemort is lost and gone forever and can never come back, though he's very confident right now. He also wants to take some time to determine and craft the explanation of Voldemort's end. Most witches and wizards don't know that Voldemort made Horcruxes, or even that Horcruxes exist. Steven does not wish to teach more people about Horcruxes as he doesn't want young witches and wizards to be tempted into making them themselves. Steven is in the process of trying to come up with a way of reasonably explaining how and why Voldemort was vanquished without educating people about Horcruxes."
"That's going to be a tall task, but Steven will be up to it," said Hannah confidently, "I take it you will not be telling the rest of the school about Voldemort's demise until Steven has declassified the information."
"Right you are, Hannah," smiled Heather, "I have informed you four of Voldemort's end because the four of you knew the whole story of how the process of getting rid of Voldemort went down. The four of you already knew what Horcruxes were, that Voldemort had made them, and when each of the previous Horcruxes had been destroyed. I brought you in here so the whole school wouldn't overhear our discussion."
"I trust Steven to make the proper judgement, " said Harry finally.
"So do I," agreed Heather, "Now, I know I can trust you four not to talk about Voldemort or his fate to the rest of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery until such time as the information is declassified. I won't insult your integrity by asking for Unbreakable Vows, but I wish the four of you to give me your word that you won't discuss Lord Voldemort or his final fate to the rest of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery until the information is declassified."
"We promise," chroused Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah.
"Good, " said Heather calmly.
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah sat silently taking in and processing what Heather had just told them.
They were glad that Voldemort was gone and that they didn't have to worry about his potential return anymore.
They could now focus on their lives and education.
A big obstacle was now out of their way.
But there was now one more thing Heather needed to share with them.
"There's something else you four should know, " said Heather clearly, " Quirinus Quirrell died about an hour after Voldemort met his end. He had been sharing his body with Voldemort and Voldemort had been stealing from his magical core and life force. When the part of Voldemort that was inside him left his body due to all of Voldemort being eliminated when the last Horcrux was destroyed, he only had a very minuscule amount of both left and died shortly thereafter."
"Serves him right," said Susan harshly, "He got what he had coming to him. That's what he deserved for sharing his body with Voldemort."
"Exactly, Susan," agreed Hannah fiercely, "When you side with evil, you deserve an early expiration date."
"You could try being a little more compassionate," said Amy softly, "Voldemort is literally the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time, even more so than Grindelwald. And Quirrell was a very young man."
"Not even twenty five quite yet," confirmed Heather, "He would have turned twenty five later this month on September 26th."
"So," continued Amy in a quiet but clear voice, "I think Quirrell was seduced by Voldemort. I don't believe Quirrell was acting of his own free will, at least not in the crudest or strictest sense. If Quirrell met Voldemort on his travels, it was probably easy for Voldemort to take him in and seduce him. Quirrell, being as young and inexperienced as he was, was likely understandably gullible and easy prey for Voldemort, especially depending on what kind of promises Voldemort might have made to him. Older and wiser witches and wizards have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Voldemort himself got what he deserved. Quirrell is a different matter entirely. I think we should take a minute to grieve for a life that was cut tragically short because an innocent young man crossed the path of the most terrible Dark Wizard of all time."
"I think of Quirrell's family here, especially his parents," said Harry in a low voice, "Numerous families have been torn apart by Lord Voldemort since he first rose to power and the Quirrells are the most recent case of such. Clearly Quirrell didn't expect Voldemort to steal from his magical core and life force. He just thought he was giving Voldemort a storage area. Voldemort took advantage of him in the coldest way possible and Quirrell didn't realize it. That was exactly Voldemort's intent."
"Harry is exactly right," said Amy sadly, "I know we were all very critical of Quirrell's non-teaching after we had that one class with him during our ever so brief stay at Hogwarts and I think it was fair of us to be critical of him then based on what we knew at the time. I now suspect that Voldemort either ordered or seduced Quirrell to not teach us proper Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"That makes a lot of sense," nodded Harry.
"Quirrell was still old enough that he should have known who Voldemort was and been able to refuse him," said Susan coldly.
"Indeed," agreed Hannah in an icy voice, "Quirrell knew what he was doing and now he's reaped what he sewed."
"It's easy to say that sitting here," Harry defended Quirrell, "But there are probably very few witches and wizards who would be capable of defying Voldemort if they were in Quirrell's position. Regardless of that, it's clear that Voldemort didn't exactly tell Quirrell the truth about his intentions. Even if he technically made a wrong decision, Quirrell is a victim here."
"Harry gets it," nodded Amy somberly, "Quirrell had a whole life in front of him and Voldemort took that from him."
It's worth noting," added Heather, "That Quirrell had previously been the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts before switching to Defense Against the Dark Arts for the 1991-1992 academic year. I wonder now if Voldemort orchestrated that move somehow to ensure students would not be taught actual Defense Against the Dark Arts by controlling Quirrell from within."
"it's a definite possibility," said Harry matter of factly.
"Quirrell is Voldemort's final victim," said Amy in a voice with a clear tent of melancholy, "Let's not bash an innocent young man for falling prey to Lord Voldemort."
At that, everyone fell quiet.
Susan and Hannah had blazing looks in their eyes while Harry and Amy had tears forming in theirs.
As their tears fell, Harry and Amy instinctively hugged each other and somehow found an unexplainable comfort in each other's touch.
Susan, Hannah, and Heather stayed quiet and gave Harry and Amy their space.
When they broke apart, both feeling significantly better than they had before the hug, Amy spoke up and said, "Goodbye, Quirinus Quirrell, your time was cut far too short."
Harry nodded.
"That's all I have to tell you for now," said Heather clearly, "But please promise me that you won't tell anyone else at this school about Quirrell without permission."
'We promise," chorused Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah.
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