Author's note: We've reached the end of this arc! Once this chapter goes live, I'll be spending the month of February building up my queue of rough drafts so that when I begin posting the next (and final?) arc, I'll have some runway before takeoff. You can expect Chapter 103 to be posted on the first Friday of March (03/07/2025), then for regular updates to resume every other Friday after that.

Can I just say how much fun it's been writing this story? I've loved figuring out where the characters and storylines take us all, but I also thoroughly enjoy interacting with the kind folks who read and comment on this fic. Y'all have been such a source of encouragement: some since I first posted those initial chapters and others who've found the story more recently. I'd like to say a sincere "Thank you!" to y'all for helping make this story happen. I've collected hundreds of your kind comments in a huge Google Doc that I'm certain to revisit whenever I need a boost to my spirits.

With all that said, I believe Chapter 101 left y'all on a bit of a cliffhanger… Shall we dive back in for a thrilling conclusion?

Mewpagano - So glad you liked it and thanks for commenting!

Foster-the-Wizards - What can I say? I love a good cliffhanger! Thanks for checking in with a comment!

Hereforhinny - Very happy that you enjoyed the chapter and that the Snape/Dumbledore conversation makes more sense. I had a great time writing Snape's reentry and I'll be interested to see what you think about the upcoming horcrux moments. Thanks for commenting, even if I can't promise that I won't leave you another cliffhanger!

duvakim - Thanks so much for the kind words! I appreciate the encouragement and hope you enjoy what comes next!

TimC - Though I don't name chapters, that's a fantastic suggestion for 102! Thanks for commenting!

scrappy8 - Thanks for dropping a comment!

Harry and Ginny on top - Super encouraging that you liked the scene! I don't like Snape, either, but he's an important character that I'm trying to write well. Turns out, writing him differently has made me like him more. I also had to ask myself who (if anyone) wouldn't survive Dumbledore's attack on Malfoy Manor, and I hope you'll like how it plays out! Thanks for the comment!

Melissa Cox - Glad the cliffhanger worked for you! Hope you enjoy the conclusion to this arc and thanks for the comment!

Chapter 102

Even as Harry's eyes widened watching the first volley of the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, the world around them and the Death Eaters was fading from view. Beside him, Sirius and Remus also strained to see the fight's beginning, even as it grew further and further away from them. Only Kingsley remained focused on Snape, despite the battle commencing.

The realization that Snape had not borne witness to the headmaster's duel tore at Harry, even as his attention was forced away when Snape ducked through a doorway into an adjoining room. The Head of Slytherin dragged his unconscious student across the floor as an explosion shook the entire manor.

A little way into the hallway, he dropped Draco in a heap. Though Harry barely heard Snape's voice call out for Mabby over the din of battle behind them, it was apparently enough to summon the House Elf. Her already huge eyes grew wider as she took in the sight of a member of the Malfoy family unconscious on the ground.

"Master Draco!" she cried out, her tiny body rushing to his side. "Mabby is being here! Mabby will help!"

"It is not safe here," uttered Snape, his voice more urgent than Harry had ever heard it. "Take him to one of the other residences, then bring Narcissa to him. Keep them there. If he awakens, Draco will surely wish to return here, but that will only be to his destruction. Do you understand?"

As if to accentuate Snape's point, the crash of some powerful spell collided with the structure of the house and shook the room violently, knocking various paintings off the walls and shattering several sculptures upon the ground. Harry thought the manor's destruction might be enough to crush the poor House Elf's spirit, but she turned away from the wreckage to bow toward Snape.

"Mabby will take both Masters to a safe place!"

With determination etched onto her terrified face, Mabby grabbed Draco under the elbow and snapped her spindly fingers. In an instant, she and her young master vanished.

As soon as she was gone, Snape rushed down the hallway with the kind of speed that Harry had only seen the man deploy on occasion during Advanced Defense. He turned left abruptly and burst through a door leading to another hallway, now moving parallel to the grand banquet hall where the group had first appeared. Despite being a good distance from the fighting, Harry still felt numerous rumbles as the two titans of the magical world faced off.

Snape sprinted forward, occasionally using his wand to blow doors open in front of him. Each of the onlookers still had to run at a quick pace to keep up with the memory's owner, even though the memory itself was rushing Harry and the others forward after the spy.

Without warning, Snape ducked left again, back toward the fray. His pace slowed as he approached a set of double doors, one of which had been blown off its hinges. The closer he got to the entryway, the more deliberate his steps became.

Not needing to employ stealth allowed Harry, Kingsley, and Remus to catch up with Snape as he quietly moved forward. A winded Sirius swore as he trotted up several moments later, but Harry was too busy peering through the gaping hole where the door had once stood to notice.

A neon orange spell struck the side of the door that was still attached to the wall, causing Harry to dive to the ground as it ignited the wood with blue flames. Before he could rise back to his feet, the door had completely disintegrated into nothing more than a heap of ash.

Snape hastily wiped away the sweat beading on his brow before reaching into his cloak. From deep within a pocket, he removed a tiny wooden chest. To Harry's eye, the tiny receptacle wouldn't have been big enough to hold even the smallest of Dudley's toys.

With the flick of his wand, Snape silently cast a spell on the chest, which began to grow rapidly. In a few moments, it had gained substantial size. The front of it was dotted with various complicated-looking locks.

"Moody's chest," asserted Kingsley, tapping Sirius before crouching down for a closer look. "I wondered how Snape would get the snake out of here…"

Despite the chaos in the next room, Snape didn't fumble with the keys as long as Harry thought he might under the circumstances. It took a good deal of quick handiwork, but lock after lock was undone until Snape finally swung the top of the chest open.

As his perception swung back toward the battle, Harry and the others finally got a chance to view the fight that had been taking place over the last few minutes. His eyes were first drawn to the fact that Dumbledore was still on his feet. Despite the incredible amount of power the headmaster must have used to go toe-to-toe with Voldemort, Dumbledore still whirled through the center of the ballroom like a deadly dancer, parrying incoming curses while firing off his own in return.

Voldemort faced down his enemy with a slashing wand and a malevolent smile. The two had been evenly matched when dueling in the atrium of the ministry, but a fight attended by his followers and so far removed from any help from Dumbledore's allies gave Voldemort distinct advantages. And from the looks of things, Voldemort knew it.

While the two traded spellfire in the middle of the room, several Death Eaters were lending aid to their master. Bellatrix cast curse after curse at Dumbledore from her position not too far from Voldemort, while her husband lay dead at her feet. Crouch and Avery had taken cover behind columns near where they had been at the start of the fight, leaving them closer to the doorway where Snape was readying himself. Crouch looked to be reveling in fighting alongside his master, even though Avery was doing little more than hiding behind his pillar. A bloodied Dolohov lay still on the ground on the opposite side of the room from the onlookers, stunned or worse in an attempt to flank the headmaster.

"Look at that!" yelped Sirius, smacking Remus' shoulder several times in rapid succession while pointing. Harry's eyes fell to where his godfather indicated.

Fenrir Greyback was attempting to crawl away from the action, using only his hands to pull him forward. The shattered stone of one of the marble columns littered the ground behind and around him. Harry didn't know for certain if Dumbledore had wielded the column as a weapon against the werewolf, but the look of fury on the headmaster's face as he fought made it seem like a strong possibility.

"But where's the damned snake?" asked Kingsley to no one in particular.

The same question gripped Harry as he scanned the room for any sign of the serpent. There was plenty of debris strewn about for it to be hiding within, but Harry worried that its master may have sent it away as a precaution.

Harry's search ceased when he saw a sickly grey spell fired from Voldemort's wand strike Dumbledore in the leg. The elderly man's cry of pain did not drown out the sound of something cracking, and Harry gasped a ragged breath when the headmaster tumbled down.

From the ground, Dumbledore rose to one knee and brought his free hand onto his wand. With a shout of exertion, he fired a thick, violet spell that flew much more slowly than most of what had been rocketing back and forth. Voldemort laughed derisively as he easily dodged the projectile, which continued on its path past him before slowing to a complete stop beyond where the Dark Lord stood.

A split-second before the spell ripped through the manor, Harry saw a flicker of fear cross Voldemort's face. Faster than Harry thought possible, a shield materialized around the Dark Lord.

The explosion that followed knocked every combatant to the ground. Huge cracks formed along the room's remaining columns, some of which extended into the massive new indentation in the floor. The skylight windows in the ceiling shattered, raining down glass and large chunks of the roof in all directions.

Voldemort's shield protected him from much of the explosion's force, but he did not emerge unscathed. The blast knocked him from the center of the room, where he careened into a barely upright column with a sickening thud.

His nearby Death Eaters were not as fortunate. Crouch's body was lifted from the ground by the blast and flew haphazardly into a wall before sliding down onto a pile of rubble. He coughed up some blood and let out a moan, but did not move.

Avery was shielded from some of the blast by hiding behind a pillar, but the force of the explosion nearly toppled the stonework down onto him. He tried to cast a spell to arrest the column's momentum, but couldn't manage any magic before the weight of it crashed down around him. A chunk of marble smashed into his hand, likely breaking several bones while knocking the man's wand to the ground.

An enraged Voldemort rose back up to his feet, his left arm visibly limp after taking the brunt of his impact into the column. His malicious eyes darted from Dumbledore, who suddenly looked exhausted from expending so much of his strength on the explosive spell, to Avery. The Death Eater had apparently seen enough battle and clambered across the rubble toward the door beyond which Snape and the onlookers were concealed.

With his wand still trained on the headmaster, Voldemort hissed something over his shoulder. Though the others wouldn't have understood, Harry clearly heard the order for Nagini to pursue the deserter. Emerging from a hidden place amongst the splintered remains of the table and chairs, the great serpent crossed the room lightning quick. Harry wondered if the snake had been instructed to creep up to strike Dumbledore before its master changed tactics. Trusting his creature to mete out punishment to his cowardly follower, Voldemort continued firing spells at the immobilized headmaster.

Harry sidestepped to get out of Avery's way as he fled, though the man sprinted straight through the incorporeal form of Remus while plunging through the open doorway. Harry's eyes were instead on the serpent as it pursued its prey. Despite its lack of legs, the snake moved faster than Harry thought should be possible. He only tore his eyes away from it when he heard Snape cast a spell he didn't recognize.

"Sectumsempra!"

By the time Harry turned around, Avery already lay collapsed on the floor. Blood pooled around him and Harry grimaced at the thought of what the spell must have done to the man to wound him so grievously. Snape's dark eyes were not on his victim; instead, he focused solely on the doorway from whence the man came.

Nagini slithered through the opening and into the hallway, her forked tongue flitting in and out as the snake tasted the air in pursuit of her quarry. Avery's gurgling moan indicated that Snape's spell hadn't killed him instantly, though Harry doubted the man would survive much longer, even without a deadly serpent speeding toward him.

As the snake approached, it turned its head toward Snape with a hiss. The potion master took a half step backward in an attempt to not stand between Nagini and her prey. It struck Avery once, twice, and then a third time. Each bite caused Harry to wince involuntarily as the creature's fangs sank into the man's thigh, shoulder, and back. Sirius swore under his breath as the four onlookers watched, along with Snape.

The serpent positioned itself near Avery's head, nudging the man's hair with her mouth before opening her jaws wide. A rush of revulsion overcame Harry as he realized what was about to happen. He turned away from the disgusting sight, instead focusing on the duel happening just beyond the doorway.

Dumbledore was in the same position where Harry had last seen him, kneeling on the ground with one leg severely injured. He had conjured a powerful shield that deflected many of the oncoming spells, including a few dangerous curses from Bellatrix, but from what Harry could see the headmaster was losing steam fast. Spells careened off his shield, shaking the protection even as he worked to reinforce his defenses.

Voldemort was no longer attacking with the same ferocity. He seemed to be glorying in the battle, attempting to savor the last moments before his inevitable victory. He peppered Dumbledore's shield with curses, but nothing strong enough to completely break through. The headmaster fired off a series of counterspells at Bellatrix while maintaining his shield, but she was able to nimbly dodge them with relative ease.

Despite the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Harry chanced a look over his shoulder at Nagini and Snape. The great serpent was nearly halfway through gorging itself on Avery's lifeless body; its already huge form grotesquely misshapen from its meal. A wave of nausea almost overcame Harry as he started to turn away from the sight, only for Snape to make his move.

With a silent spell that Harry identified as an Immobilizing Charm, the potion master froze the serpent mid-meal. The horrific scene was enough to cause each of the four onlookers to grimace, and even Snape's look of concentration was marred by revulsion as he carefully levitated both the snake and her half-eaten prey into the open chest. Once both were fully within the confines of Moody's borrowed container, Snape slammed the top closed as the locks magically secured themselves.

Even though Snape had done well to maintain a look of dispassionate determination while completing his earlier tasks, Harry could see the pressure and barely-contained frustration beginning to break through. With the flick of his wand, Snape returned the chest to its miniature size and pocketed it.

Standing in the hallway, Snape drew in deep, slow breaths. Harry wasn't sure what was happening for a moment until he realized that the spy was preparing himself with the same kind of Occlumency practices the man had taught Harry more than a year prior. It took nearly a minute of concentrated effort for Snape to quell any semblance of emotion from his face, which seemed like ages compared to how quickly the man's complete mastery usually manifested. Once finished, the spy contorted his face into a look of disdain and fury before darting out of the hallway and into the grand banquet room where the fight was still raging.

Sirius, Remus, Kingsley, and Harry followed behind Snape as he entered. The damage to the manor was immense, with entire walls crumbling and the roof ready to cave in at any moment. Voldemort stood atop a fallen pillar, looking down on his injured foe.

The Dark Lord fired off two more curses that clanged off the headmaster's shield before crying out "Crucio!" The unforgivable shredded through what was left of Dumbledore's defenses. The aged man collapsed to the ground under the weight of excruciating pain as the light of the spell illuminated the faces of all who looked on. The shattering scream of his mentor cut through Harry's heart as he felt hot tears streak down his face, but he refused to look away.

Voldemort relented after what felt like an eternity. The headmaster lay in a heap on the ground, wincing and twitching as the remnants of the curse continued to wrack his body.

"My Lord!" called Snape as he scrambled over the wreckage to approach Voldemort from the side, his wand trained on Dumbledore.

"Ah, Severus! What excellent timing you possess!" A look of manic glee spread across the Dark Lord's face. "Before I rid the world of this pathetic excuse for a magician, I think it only right to reveal what the old fool was too myopic to see all along. Would you care to enlighten your former employer? Perhaps provide him with a parting gift before I end his wretched life?"

"With pleasure," Snape replied with a dastardly smirk. "I have only served one master these many years. Your trust in me was always going to be your downfall."

Dumbledore gasped for breath. His half-moon spectacles had been lost at some point in the battle, so there was nothing to obscure the look of betrayal and terror in his blue eyes as he stared up at his spy.

"Severus, please…" he choked out, a trickle of blood dribbling down the corner of his mouth. The headmaster's words cut through Harry, causing him to look away. Instead, he focused on the potion master to see if the man gave away anything with his response. Yet any trace of humanity or empathy had been thoroughly scrubbed from Snape's visage, replaced only by a look of utter loathing.

"Crucio!"

It was too much for Harry. He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could and covered his ears with his hands, trying in vain to muffle the sound of Dumbledore's cries. When it finally ceased, Harry forced himself to look back at the unfolding scene.

The headmaster was now on his hands and knees, heaving shallow breaths into burning lungs. From Voldemort's right, Bellatrix approached with confidence as a crazed look glimmered in her wild eyes.

"You cannot win," gasped Dumbledore weakly, unable to look up from the floor. "Others will rise- Rise up against you…"

Voldemort's high, cold laugh rang out into the room, echoing out the holes in the ceiling into the inky, starless sky.

"Well, the old fool is half right," retorted Voldemort with delight that made Harry shudder. "I'm certain there will be others who attempt to defy my rule. But you think any who stands against me can succeed where you have so utterly failed? Impossible! I cannot die!"

Harry felt the surge of power before the curse could even be spoken. Dumbledore cried, "PESTIS INCENDIUM!" and a wave of heat crashed over Harry as Dumbledore's wand issued immense flames directly toward Voldemort.

The look of triumph upon Voldemort's face flashed to fear as the Fiendfyre rocketed forward toward him. He dove to the side while casting a powerful shield, only for the flames to eat through his magical defenses as if they were nothing. Fire leaped from Dumbledore's wand, igniting debris as it charged. Harry could see the terrible forms of beasts emerge from the flames, pushing forward to consume anything and everything.

Voldemort's robes were set ablaze by the inferno, searing the pale skin of his leg as the flames attempted to engulf him. When his panicked shout of "Finite Incantatem!" failed to extinguish them, he apparated across the room. The ashes of the bottom of his robes were still floating to the floor when he appeared on the far side of the banquet room, away from the rampaging fire beasts.

"Arrogant fool!" cried Voldemort, rage radiating off him as his shoulders heaved with adrenaline. A swipe of Voldemort's hand wrested the wand from Dumbledore's weak grip. "Instead of perishing by my hand, you can die by your own!"

On the other side of the room, some of the Fiendfyre creatures had begun consuming the walls and rampaging through doorways into other sections of the manor. They grew in magnitude and ferocity as they consumed their surroundings, leaving blackened ash and charred wreckage in their wake. Others turned back toward where the combatants were standing.

"Death Eaters!" he yelled over the sound of fiery destruction. "Let us free those who would celebrate this victory with us! To Azkaban, unless you would watch this broken and beaten old man return to the dust!"

From the rubble, a terribly injured Crouch, Jr. raised his wand. Harry thought the man unlikely to be able to apparate safely in his condition, but he tried desperately as the flames bore down on him. Harry averted his eyes as the terrified Death Eater failed to apparate, only to have a fiery beast claim him.

From across the room, Greyback had pulled himself up onto a broken pillar. He disapparated with a feral cry of pain, followed by a squelching sound that turned Harry's stomach. Left behind was Greyback's arm, torn from his body at the shoulder.

Dolohov scrambled across the floor, reaching out a bloody hand for Bellatrix's robes. She recoiled in disgust at his gurgled plea for assistance, only for her master to make a sound of disapproval. All hesitation fled her as she hoisted him up by the back of the neck, positioning his limp head forward to watch what was next.

The fiery beasts rampaged forward, covering the distance between their blazing heat and Dumbledore rapidly. Voldemort and his Death Eaters stood ready to apparate at a moment's notice, but all kept their eyes fixed on the huddled mass of robes curled up on the floor in front of them. The beasts became more massive by the moment, their size and fury growing from every bit of fuel they consumed. Voldemort's eyes grew wide with anticipation as one of the largest drew closer; its gaping maw open hungrily as it rushed forward.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore raised his head as the beast approached. His blue eyes searched for Severus, meeting the potion master's cold stare. The headmaster closed his eyes a moment before the fiery beast struck.

~RLM~

"Is something wrong?"

Harry's previously calm face winced. Even while unconscious, his look of pain was unmistakable. A dark hand cautiously brushed against his furrowed brow.

"I dunno," whispered back a second voice. In the dim light of the early morning hours, her face was lined with deep worry. "His breathing is ragged and he's all sweaty…"

The first voice swore quietly, fumbling for a cool, wet cloth in the darkness. When he found it, he tossed it with a quick call of, "Heads up!"

The second person caught the thrown rag and pressed it against Harry's forehead in one smooth motion. She cast a weak lumos to illuminate her patient, whose face strained at whatever was happening in his head. With her wand gently glowing on the coffee table, she slipped her hand into Harry's.

"Should I get help?" asked the first voice.

The question hung in the air for a few moments.

"I don't think so. Looks like he's calming back down."

Sure enough, the look of pain appeared to be subsiding. Though Harry's face wasn't exactly peaceful, he was no longer wincing.

Angelina released a long, weary sigh as she brushed some of her friend's hair out from beneath the wet cloth. Keeping his hand firmly in hers, she repositioned herself on the coffee table.

Without saying anything, George pulled a chair around so that she could continue her vigil more comfortably. He planted a kiss on her forehead before retreating to the kitchen to brew them some more coffee to help them keep watch through the warm Mexican summer night.