Black Townhouse
Susan was sitting in the meeting room. She was worrying and fretting as she looked at the door. Her betrothed was off to face the most feared dark lord in living memory. Even though he was the first war mage to be born in Avalon for a thousand years, there was still so much that could go wrong. She felt angry that he had left her on the side-lines while he went off to face his mortal enemy and worried that he may not return. Until he did, all she could do was sit, wait, and worry. She desired with all her heart that he would just walk through that door and that he would be unharmed.
Hermione, who was propped up in a nearby chair, looked up from reading a tome on runes. She noticed Susan fretting and asked, "Is everything okay, Susan?"
Susan shook her head miserably, "Harry has gone to fight Voldemort".
Hermione nearly fell out of her chair and the tome in her hands fell to the floor. "What?!" She exclaimed loudly, "and he did not tell us?"
Susan grumbled, "He was sneaking out and I caught him. I was suspecting something like this would happen".
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "What did you notice?"
"Auntie has been a bit on edge since I came home for Yule holiday. She was often time lost in thought. I thought she was having trouble at work but when she told me that I could stay at Hannah's this evening I was immediately suspicious because she has always spent Yule with me as long as I can remember. Then there was the way Harry hastily ended the dinner and left. There was the look, Padfoot and Moony shared a look with him before they disappeared, I suspected something like this was going to happen".
Hermione looked worried, "Is there anyone else with him there? He should have asked us to join him. We would have been there for him. Why did he not tell us? What can we do to help him?"
Susan shook her head sadly, "I do not even know where he is. But he did say that about 50 Aurors and Dumbledore were backing him up. I also demanded that he take me with him. But he persuaded me to stay out of it this time".
Hermione just sighed. She had been drowsy a minute ago but sleep left her at that moment. She wished Ron was there so he could have assured her how Harry was the luckiest bloke around and that he would kick Tom Riddle's scaly backside and return to them before morning. She should have noticed when Harry snuck out of the Townhouse. She decided to stay awake and sit with Susan while waiting for any news.
Just then the floo roared and Susan ran towards it hoping Harry was back. But Neville Longbottom stepped out, "Is Harry here?"
Susan threw herself into his arms, "Neville, he is gone to fight Voldemort".
Neville awkwardly patted the top of her head, "I know Sue. I know and trust me that he will be safe". He was feeling very uncomfortable with the way Susan was clinging to him and hoping for a few words of assurance. He had come to think of Susan as a sister that he did not have. She had confided all of her fears to him and he had always helped her. They had known each other since they were small children. Since they all started time together since the summer, he felt protective of her.
Hermione asked him, "How do you know?"
Neville grinned sheepishly, "Mother and father have been a little skittish since I came home for vacation. They have been showering more affection on me than they have done before. Today, father was off to some official work after our celebrations. Before he left he got real emotional telling me that he is proud of me. I kept an eye on my mother and just saw her receiving a patronus from Father asking her to come to the ministry and that the fun is about to begin. I put the pieces together and wanted to see if my theory was correct or not".
Neville pulled up a chair and they started a vigil waiting for Harry's returned or some news about him.
Ministry of Magic
Voldemort stopped in his tracks at seeing the bane of his existence before him with a grin on his face and a wand in his hand. But this was not the same underfed, runty, terrified, bespectacled child of their previous encounter. This was a man, facing him without fear. And that was no twig of holly in his hand either. Such insolence! He would crush the whelp and take the prophecy from his cold, dead fingers.
"Harry Potter" he said in his high, cold voice, "Give me the prophecy and I will let you live". Of course, the last part was a lie, but why risk damaging or losing the orb if he could bully the boy into just handing it over?
Harry had the audacity to smirk, "Fat chance of that, Tom".
Voldemort thundered, "My name is Lord Voldemort".
Harry laughed in his face, "You are a coward, a charlatan who needed a made up name to improve his social standing. You are Tom Marvolo Riddle, a pathetic half-blood son of a squib and a muggle".
Lucius who had heard the entire exchange stepped forward, red faced, "How dare you address our lord as that, Potter?"
Harry turned to him coldly, "Lucius Malfoy, has no one taught you to hold your tongue when your betters are speaking?"
Lucius tried to open his mouth again and Voldemort stopped him, "Do not forget your place, Lucius. You do what you have been told to do. I will handle the brat".
Harry meanwhile had made a great show of patting his robes to make sure that the prophecy orb was where he had put it.
Voldemort turned to him and said in a sickly sweet tone, "I offered you a choice 4 years ago, Harry. You rejected it but now I offer you one again, join me and we will rule the world together".
Harry made another great show of scrunching up his forehead as if considering the offer. Then he shook his head, "Nah, no chance of that happening. You see Tom, I am more powerful than you and even if I were to accept your offer, I would have to be constantly wary of you that you would put a dagger in my back when I am asleep or something like that. Besides you killed my mother and my father in cold blood. There must be a reckoning for that. So I think I will just kill you and be done with all the trouble that would otherwise come to me".
Voldemort gave a harsh laugh, "Kill me? You? The champion of light? What would Dumbledore say about his golden boy becoming dark?"
At that instant, there was a flash of fire and there was Dumbledore looking like something else altogether in his dark robes, his hair tied in a ponytail, fire in his eyes and the phoenix flying above his head in a circle trilling. "I think I would not care about it unless he started to enjoy it because we both agree that you need to die for the greater good, Tom".
Dumbledore's appearance had made the death eaters wary and they were starting to fidget but none ran. Voldemort was saying, "You cannot kill me Dumbledore. I am immortal".
Dumbledore had the audacity to chuckle, "Tom, you will still be the foolish boy that you were. Every one born has to die someday".
Voldemort's temper was getting out of control, "I AM INVINCIBLE".
Harry raised his sandalwood wand, "Do you really think so, Tom? I would like to test that. Let's dance!"
Voldemort gave his cold laugh spreading his hands, "you two against 60 of us. Do you have a death wish, Harry?"
Harry smirked, "Really, Tom? Would you allow your minions to interfere in a duel of honour between equals? Dumbledore is my second. Whom do you name?"
Voldemort seethed, "Equals, Potter? You dare?"
Harry shrugged, "I admit that it is very generous of me to allow that a great snake such as yourself could be my equal, but I will allow it. The challenge has been issued. How do you answer?" Speaking of great snakes, Harry took a look at the assembled ranks of the death eaters and could not find Nagini among them.
With all the cold venom he could muster, the Dark Lord answered, "SIEZE HIM!"
But before his minions could move, Harry shot green sparks from his wand. Alistair Moody's voice roared out, "CHARGE!" In that same moment, a good chunk of Voldemort's followers went down to well aimed stunners as the Aurors broke cover and began to annihilate the death eaters. None of the Aurors were so naive as to think that any of those stunned were out of combat, but it made for an impressive show. Sirius with Remus and Frank with Alice led their groups and engaged the remaining death eaters while Moody led the effort to chain the downed death eaters and send them off to Amelia's group for incarceration.
Voldemort was stunned. He had acted in his arrogance and walked straight into a trap. There was Sirius Black leading a column of the Aurors from one side of the Atrium. His group had the most experienced Aurors like Dawlish, Williamson and even the werewolf Remus Lupin was a part of it.
There was another led by the Minister and his wife. Tom seethed internally. He had tried to kill them no less than three times but they had escaped his clutches. Today, it looked like he would kill all of his enemies together.
Meanwhile, the sandalwood wand spoke as Harry raised it against him and sent a powerful bludgeoner at Voldemort knocking him flat.
But Voldemort stood up almost instantly sending a killing curse at Harry who had already conjured a flock of canaries which collided with his spell.
Harry goaded him, "Is that all you can do, Tom? I fear you will have to do better than that to get the best of me".
Voldemort was immediately enraged. He spun on his heels in an attempt to disapparate and to appear behind Harry but he went nowhere. For the first time in his life, Tom Riddle panicked. The ministry had laid anti-apparition wards over the atrium. In that moment, he also understood why the floo network was down. He and his followers were trapped like fish in a barrel to be shot at will.
Knowing there was only a slim chance to escape for him and his followers, he sent two more killing curses at Harry in rapid succession.
Harry conjured a stone wall which crumbled under the killing curses. Harry had the audacity to goad him again, "Tom, what happened? How did you become the dark lord when all you know are unforgivables? Even Lucius knows more curses than you".
At that moment, Tom came to two realizations, the killing curse takes a lot of energy and it was going to tire him rapidly if he kept using it and he had to shout the incantation at the top of his lungs, announcing what he was doing, giving the boy far too much time to react. He changed tactics. He gave a guttural cry and lashed out with non-verbal blood boiling curses, entrails expelling curses and the likes.
Harry started to side step them. He was also leading Tom away from the others so that his stray curses would not kill an Auror.
Sirius had directly engaged Lucius. He saw Lucius, bellowed and ran towards him, "Lucius, today you will pay your reckoning".
Lucius had his wand out and sent a curse at Sirius but the Marauder had side stepped it the moment he saw the wand flick. It was a little trick he had learnt after watching Harry do it so many times. While he was not as fluid as Harry, he could ward off the likes of Lucius Malfoy. As Lucius's spell went astray, Sirius started raining down bone- breakers, bone crushers and bone exploders on him making him hide behind a shield however Sirius was unrelenting and kept him under fire. When he realized Malfoy would not come out, he took another leaf out of his son's book and sent a shield-breaker and a cutting curse in quick succession. As Lucius's shield shattered, the cutting curse severed his wand hand and his wand was cleaved in two. Lucius stood, stunned for a moment, trying to understand why his hand no longer obeyed him before the pain hit him and the blood started pulsing from the severed stump of his wrist. He fell to the ground, trying to stop the bleeding from the stump where his hand had been. Sirius had just shot a bone breaker straight at him but at the last moment, Lucius was banished to the side by another death-eater thus saving him. Sirius turned to find that one under his mask and in a moment of fury at having his prey snatched from him, Sirius sent a cutting curse at him which the man could not defend against as his wand hand was cleaved in two. He followed up by sending a bone-breaker at his temple which stove in his skull, killing him instantly.
Sirius turned to Lucius again who was fidgeting with a quill and a back-up wand. Sirius again hit him with a bone-breaker which broke the bones in his other arm and Sirius menaced, "If I did not care so much about not making Narcissa a widow that would have been your last breath. Now you will live the rest of your life in Azkaban". Leaving Lucius in pain and agony, Sirius went in search of another.
Frank and Alice were standing back to back in the Atrium and fending off three at once. They both had known each other's moves since forever and could communicate through their actions without talking. It was easy enough for them to fight together with three to four at once.
Frank had sent a nasty red coloured spell at his opponent who failed to dodge and a gaping hole was open in his body which anyone could see through. Alice meanwhile was directing her opponents curse away from her with a flick of her wand and raising a shield to protect herself and Frank from any curses which he could not see coming at them. Her opponent had been relentlessly casting at her but he was a novice whose casting speed was nowhere near her own. She kept deflecting his curses. When he sent a blood boiling curse at her, she raised a reflector shield at once and suffice to say, her opponent could not even see when he fell victim to his own curse.
Dumbledore meanwhile was protecting the Aurors from nastier spells or disabling those who tried to sneak up on the fighters. He had not fired a lethal spell yet but was ready to fight if Harry needed some assistance. He had stunned a couple of them and even disabled a couple who were trying to sneak up on the Aurors but he was yet to actively engage himself in the tactics.
Rufus was fighting two of them and was enjoying it. One of his boys had fallen to a bone breaker and Rufus stepped in to engage his opponent too. He was fighting with grim determination and as they fought, he kept them on their toes. When he saw his opening, he sent a reductor at his opponent which he could not shield against in time and with the well aimed curse in the lower portion of his body, there were only pieces to be cleaned up with a mop later. The other who had blanched at such a gruesome death found himself with a bombarda which blew open his chest.
Moony had already killed one and was fighting two more. His power which came to him due to being a werewolf was enough to give him leverage against his enemies. He was casting at a faster rate than others and his opponents could not dodge in time. Truth was that they were never trained in battle and certainly they never expected to find themselves in a trap. Remus finished one with a spear through his heart when the other sent a bone breaker at him which hit him in the ankle shattering his ankle instantly. Remus let out a howl and Sirius who had seen the werewolf falling sent a cutter at the foe decapitating him at once.
Moody, having ordered five of his men to continue the clean-up effort was having the time of his life. He had fought these vermin all his life and had a lot of grudges from the past war. He wanted to engage snake-face himself but the lad had taken it on him. Moody was himself engaging four of them at once. He had the protego maxima erected with his staff as a precaution, while he was blasting his foes away with his wand. His prosthetic leg was working better than he could have ever hoped and he was dancing out of the way of the spells.
Similarly others were engaged in different duels and the number of enemies was getting reduced. There were only a handful remaining who were otherwise cornered and being hit by spells off to one side and falling to the assault they were facing. The Aurors were superior to them in strength, in spell repertoire and they were admittedly better duellists after being put through the gauntlet for months now.
Finally as Frank finished his opponent with the nasty red spell, everyone turned to the last pair of fighters still engaged with each other. Moody roared out some orders and the Aurors started picking through the bodies of the fallen, looking for survivors. A number of Aurors were injured, but no fatalities.
Harry and Voldemort were still fighting with each other, circling and watching each other's move. Voldemort was still firing spells at him. Harry neatly side-stepped everything while taunting him continuously, "What's the matter Tom? Looks like you can't hit the broad side of a castle". Yes, Harry was humiliating the big, scary dark lord and that was with a single wand and without even having to properly dodge, never mind resort to the slippery fish.
Voldemort raised his wand and roared, "Fiendfyre" and the burning hot fire spewed out of his wand taking on the appearance of his slit-like face and racing towards Harry. Harry was standing casually. He chanted something in a language none recognized. A jet of fire erupted from his wand, this one even hotter than fiendfyre and taking the form of a leopard, it started attacking Voldemort's fire. At that moment, it became a battle of wills between the two wizards. The two fires were fighting for some time before the Leopard took a little step back and pounced upon his enemy. He had it under his mighty paw, the fire crackling as if the animal was roaring. Suddenly Voldemort staggered and the fiendfyre vanished. The leopard ran towards Voldemort but Harry ended the spell before it could run through him because it was starting to tax his magic. This was family magic of the Rosier family which Harry had learnt and saved for this occasion. He had substituted Sanskrit words in the incantation for this one.
Voldemort was still dazed and Harry roared, "Krishanu" and the mighty fire whip erupted out of his wand and Harry started swinging it to lasso Tom but Tom was artfully avoiding capture by conjuring objects to block Harry's fire whip. Harry realized that the whip would do no good and shutting it off, he yelled 'martandam'. A huge ball of fire left his wand and encircled Voldemort who was starting to scream in agony from being roasted alive. But somehow he was able to come out of the ball of fire by overpowering the spell with one of his own.
As Voldemort stumbled out, Harry roared again, "Taditam". A lightning-bolt erupted out of his wand and would have smote Voldemort. In an impressive show of fortitude, the dark lord at the last moment was able to raise a mage-shield which made a horrible sound of, "CLANGGG" and the spell was ineffective. Harry started sending bolts of fire at the Dark lord but he was maintaining the shield for a good 5 minutes. Harry knew that Voldemort had already spent a major portion of his power duelling him and would not be able to keep the shield up for long. So he was casting to wait him out and then he would take him captive.
Voldemort had severely underestimated the young mage. He had gone for the quick and spectacular kill, using his energy recklessly early in the battle. Being forced to raise that mage shield had nearly finished him. He wondered why his followers were not attacking, but one quick look around confirmed that he was the last one standing. And there was Dumbledore, standing by even if he (Voldemort) did somehow manage to gain the upper hand and would have no problem in subduing him if he somehow overcame the brat. It was time to escape if he was going to have a chance to repay this insult. But the boy had the prophecy. This was his last chance to obtain it or he would never hear of it again. It was time to pull a trick or two.
Meanwhile Harry chanted a spell none had heard and all the water in the fountain of magical brethren erupted to trap Voldemort taking the shape of a cage. Due to being trapped like this, Voldemort's concentration was broken and he dropped the mage shield. Harry instantly ended the spell, started peppering him with 'pavakam' setting his cloak on fire and scorched him more than he was already burnt from when Harry was trying to roast him alive.
Tom had little fight left in him but he knew that if he was captured then it would be the end of his life and his campaign. Gathering all his strength he somehow was able to stand again and sent Crucio at Harry. But the spell hit nothing but a big piece of conjured stone, rendering it ineffective. In that moment Tom finally slumped to the floor, exhausted, burned, bloody, defeated.
The duel had gone on for over two hours. Even Harry, after duelling with high-powered spells for that length of time, was feeling tired and it was only his practices that he could still fight. Feeling victorious, Harry walked cautiously toward Tom's prone body. When Harry was close enough, Tom fired a non-verbal bone breaker from under his cloak which struck Harry's off-hand.
Harry hissed in pain but neatly side-stepped the follow-up bone breaker that would have cracked his skull. Voldemort had levitated back to his feet as he cast and fired a third bone-breaker at Harry's wand hand. That was a mistake because Harry caught the spell on his wand and sent it back at Tom's shoulder with an additional boost. The impact shattered the bones in Tom's shoulder, making his off-hand and arm hang uselessly. Any ordinary man would have passed out from the pain, but the dark lord was not an ordinary man. He was swaying and in a bad state, but still up.
Harry peppered his opponent with a rapid series of bone-breakers, forcing him to dodge and roll out of the way. Some of the spells found their mark and did their damage. Voldemort was not faking it. He was too exhausted to raise a shield. He tried catching some of Harry's spells on his wand and sending them back the way they came, but he did not know how. If this kept up much longer, Voldemort would either pass out from his injuries or exhaustion or be unable to move because too many bones were broken. Finally, as there was a lull in casting Voldemort disappeared.
Dumbledore had seen this before and tried to alert him, "Harry!"
In that moment, Harry heard a cold voice in his head, "Think you can defeat me Harry?"
Harry had fallen due to the sudden attack but during this, he had let the prophecy roll away out of his robes. Harry could feel Voldemort attempting to enter his mind. He continued to lay prone on the floor of the atrium while very carefully letting the invader think he was getting the upper hand and rifling through Tom's mind for his most important secrets: Where is his headquarters? Where is the lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Where is Nagini? All this behind his shields while he let Tom explore a diversion, a collection of meaningless, childish pranks and endless castle corridors. As it turned out, the headquarters and the snake were at the same place. But for the diadem, he found an image of a huge, dusty, cathedral-like space, filled with mountains of junk.
By that time, the invader was getting wise to what Harry was doing and started his attack in earnest. He could feel Tom trying to enter his mind and it was very hard to keep him out of it. Harsh had taught him this art by invading his mind again and again but he never used brute force like Tom was doing at that moment. However Harsh had taught him what to do if he could not throw someone out of his mind.
Harry decided to play him, "You want to see my secrets, Tom? Welcome to my world".
In that moment, Harry started pulling up memories full of love, empathy and compassion of the people around him. Of his friends who loved him, of Sirius who was always there for him and had become his father, of Moony who had been there for him but never asked anything in return, of Dumbledore who had started to love him as his grandson, of Susan who loved him more than anything in the world.
This was all too much for Tom Riddle, who had scorned love as a weak feeling. He was facing true agony now while Harry experienced those memories, happiness, giddiness and love flowing through his veins. Tom started roaring in pain as if he was being boiled in a vat of acid and tried to escape but Harry held on to him. He said to him in his most menacing tone, "What's the matter, Tom? Let me show you my secrets".
When he released his hold of Tom, he was standing in front of the Hungarian Horntail who let out a stream of the hottest fire that Tom had ever seen. That was the final straw. Tom could feel that his consciousness was being erased and he would die if he remained there for a second more. Harry released him at that moment knowing that he could not keep up the torture for much longer in his own mindscape. To have been able to do that for as long as he did was a feat in itself. Tom hastily made his retreat.
Tom was thrown in a heap on the floor of the ministry and by some luck the prophecy was just a hand's breadth away from him. With his final bit of strength, he performed a non-verbal, wandless 'Accio'. The orb rolled into his nearly nerveless left hand. With a final twist of his ring, the dark lord vanished from the atrium and letting go of his iron will, let darkness engulf him.
Before anyone else could figure out what was going on, Tom Riddle was gone.
"Where did he go?" asked Frank, bewildered.
Harry said, "He must have had a goblin made portkey on him".
Croaker who had just come up from the Department of Mysteries, said, "But we laid wards similar to Gringotts".
"He must have a goblin made portkey which he made with all his power to overpower the wards and take him back to whatever hole he is hiding in", Harry said.
Just then Sirius came levitating a quill with him, "All of them had a port-key on them but I suppose theirs were not able to work past our wards and take them away".
Harry lunged to Sirius hugging him fiercely, "Are you and Moony okay?".
Sirius nodded, "He has a broken ankle. He'll be fine by morning. Are you okay?"
Harry nodded, "Just a bone-breaker to my off-hand. I can't believe that I fell for the old playing possum trick. I suppose I could heal it myself, but right now, I'm just too tired to care".
Harry turned to Moody, "Master Auror, was I good enough to be one of your Aurors?"
For the first time, Harry heard the Master Auror guffaw, "Good enough, he says? Lad, if you were out of school, I would have signed you up straight away".
Remus came hopping up to them in that moment and Harry pulled him up in a hug with Sirius, clutching them fiercely.
Dumbledore who had been silent till then turned to Frank, "Minister, if it is alright with you, I will take Harry and Remus off your hands. You tend to your men in the meanwhile and see to it that your injured are looked after". He turned to Sirius, "Return to Grimmauld Place. Harry and Remus will be spending the night in the Hogwarts infirmary. I presume Miss Bones and Miss Granger are at Grimmauld Place and will be worried. Tell them he is fine".
Hogwarts
Before Sirius could say anything, Dumbledore had caught Harry and Remus's arms and whistled to Fawkes. The Phoenix swooped in and Harry caught his tail. A moment later, they were in the Hogwarts infirmary where Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall were waiting. She levitated Remus to his bed while Minerva escorted Harry to his.
Madam Pomfrey cast some diagnostic spells while looking at Harry disdainfully, "Could you not spend a year away from the infirmary?
Harry gave her his lop-sided grin, "I tried very hard but an idiot named Voldemort got me with a bone-breaker".
She clutched her heart and even Minerva gasped for once. Then she turned to Albus, "Does that mean that he is now out in the open?"
"He has certainly been exposed. There can be no doubt now that Harry and I have been telling the truth all along". Then Dumbledore turned to Poppy, "What is the diagnosis, Poppy?
"He has broken bones in his left hand and his magical core is quite badly depleted. Other than that, he appears to be fine. I'll fix up that hand and with a good night's rest, he will be good as new by dawn. If anything else managed to hit him, his armour absorbed it". She healed the broken bones with some wand work, then handed Harry a set of pajamas to change into as she erected a screen around his bed.
Harry cheekily asked her, "Are you sure you are not saying that because you missed my company?"
She whipped her wand out and levelled at him menacingly, "Say that again and I will keep you here for a week".
Harry cringed, "Sorry and please don't keep me here for a week or the parade that will go through the infirmary will make this place look like King's Cross station".
She looked after Remus's broken ankle with hardly more trouble than a muggle would take to bandage a cut finger while Harry removed his armor and robes, then put on his pajamas. Then, threatening Harry at wand-point, she made him lie down on his bed and shoved a vial of dreamless sleep potion down his throat. He dozed off almost instantly.
When Remus tried to leave straight away, she tied him to his bed and took his wand away telling him that he would get it back when he was discharged in the morning. Remus wanted to leave because the Full moon was only two days away but knew it was useless to fight against Poppy Pomfrey.
Ministry of Magic
Healers and trainee healers were in the atrium, tending to the Aurors and the death eaters. Most of the injuries to the Aurors were minor. They were treated on the spot and sent home. Some Aurors were not so lucky. They had been hit with dark curses that required more treatment. They were being moved to St. Mungo's. Most of the death eaters were dead. A few who were not dead but injured were being tended to. Malfoy had lost his wand hand. His other hand was broken with a bone-breaker. The healers were confident that they could re-attach the severed hand. After all, even muggle surgeons could do that. The injury to the other hand was no more than a nuisance. A dose of Skelegrow would take care of that. Mr. Malfoy's real problem was a one-way trip to Azkaban. There were very few death eaters who were caught alive and most of them were members of what was called "Voldemort's new inner circle".
As they were being rounded up, Frank turned to Moody, "Alastor, report".
Alastor stood straight looking proud of the performance of his boys who were exemplary, "We have lost none. A few are critical. If they live through the night they will survive. We managed to ship five of the death eater scum in chains to Amelia's team early on. Of the rest, ten of the Death eater scum are alive, most of them grievously injured. Can we not toss them through the veil and be done with it?"
Frank shook his head, "No Alastor. Since the International Wizarding Convention of 1608, we can't do that without emergency powers and some form of a trial. I'll call an emergency session of the Wizengamot tomorrow if Lord Peverell and Regent Potter are up for it. I have no doubt that we will be able to invoke the Emergency War Measures Act with more than 50 eye witnesses to Voldemort's return and a raid on the ministry itself as a blatant act of declaration of war".
Moody grinned, "Harry was something, wasn't he? He made that maniac bow to his will".
Sirius puffed out his chest, "He is my son after all".
Alice rolled her eyes, "Get your head out of the clouds, Sirius. He is my godson".
Leaving the minister and others to look after the business in the ministry, Sirius left for the Townhouse to face Susan and Hermione and to tell them that everything was fine.
Black Townhouse
Sirius stepped out of the floo to find the three passed out in the chairs they had been sleeping in. He wondered how Neville came to be here but decided that the three did not need to wake up at this hour of the night. Besides he was tired and wanted his rest before he faced these three.
"Kreacher, Winky" he called softly and the elves appeared, "What we bes doing for Master?"
"Take Heir Longbottom to the guestroom and Heiress Bones to the other guest room. After you are done doing that take Hermione to her own room and try not to wake any of them up".
After sending them to sleep, he floo called at the ministry to inform Alice and Frank that Neville was at Black Townhouse tonight. With that done, he strolled up to his room to crash in his bed thinking of Emmeline who was with Amelia on duty tonight. She would be grumpy that all she got to do was store a few pre-packaged death eaters.
Weasley Manor
Arthur was just getting ready to go to the ministry this morning. Percy had returned with them to the manor last evening and it had been the best thing so far. They had given Percy a room of his own and told him to move in this evening.
Arthur was sitting at the table when Molly joined him, yawning, "Morning Arthur".
Arthur grunted in reply and turned to breakfast which was being served by the family elf when the owl with the morning newspaper flew in. The Elf brought the paper in and handed it to him.
Arthur had just picked up his cup of tea when his hand shook badly and the cup fell to the floor shattering.
Molly rushed to him, "Arthur, what happened? What did you read?"
With a shaking hand, Arthur pointed out the front page news to her. There on the front page was the headline in bold, "You-Know-Who Returns" with a photo of Harry Potter and Voldemort engaged in a duel with Harry peppering him with fire bolts while Voldemort was writhing in agony. Underneath the photo was written, "Harold Peverell engaged in a duel with Voldemort".
Molly let out such an inhuman shriek that it brought all her children to her at once. They all looked concerned and the twins had their wands in their hands, ready to begin casting if needed.
Arthur showed them the news and the twins whistled in appreciation while Ronald muttered something underneath his breath which sounded like, "Wicked!" Ginny was shocked with the photo. She was impressed and worried for the boy at the same time.
The story was an account of praises, over-done at times that painted Harry as the Merlin incarnate for making you-know-who look like a child.
You-Know-Who Returns!
In a bizarre turn of events yesterday it was revealed that what Dumbledore had been saying since last summer about you-know-who returning last June was true. Yesterday, you-know-who better known as Lord Voldemort was seen alive and back in action in the atrium of the ministry engaged in a duel with the boy-who-lived.
It is rumoured that the boy-who-lived had arrived there to pick up a prophecy from the hall of prophecies when he was ambushed by Voldemort. The contents of the prophecy are not known but most sources suggest that it may have been about the boy-who-lived being the chosen one to defeat Voldemort for good.
Eye-witness accounts state that the duel between them was fierce and the boy-who-lived kept Voldemort on the defensive for most of it while the Aurors forces led by Senior Aurors and the Minister of Magic himself engaged his followers in duels. Out of approximately 60 death eaters who followed Voldemort to the ministry, only 15 survived the battle. Five more succumbed to their injuries during the night. Five more are undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the battle. All of the survivors will be tried as death eaters for multiple counts ranging from treason, acts of terrorism, murder and coercion. It is also reported that an Auror John De Vant succumbed to his injuries early this morning.
With Voldemort being back, it is possible that the minister will call an emergency session of the Wizengamot to assume emergency powers for what can clearly be perceived as another war on the door step.
The minister was quoted as saying, "It is true that the terrorist otherwise known as Lord Voldemort has returned to Wizarding Britain and is operating among us again. The ministry had got a tip-off last night that he was going to raid the ministry to seize power. We acted to pre-empt the attack because there was no way that we could not be certain that he was back again. But the ministry had seen some signs well in advance. The attack last night dispelled all doubts. That is why we have been making preparations to this effect. I assure the wizarding world that we will not bow down to that megalomaniac and his terrorist followers.
With all the chaos and destruction that is sure to come in the coming days and the entire wizarding world looking to the boy-who-lived who is being proclaimed as the chosen one by some, we can only hope that the blood-shed and violence will not set back our society which has just started to heal from the last war.
We tried to speak to Lord Peverell or Chief Warlock Dumbledore but they were not available for comment before this printing.
After Arthur finished reading the article, he turned to Molly who looked pale and shaken. He gently took one of her hands in his and started to caress it lightly. Percy brought her a cup of tea mixed with some fire whisky. While she sipped the tea, he kept speaking to her in a low, soothing voice, "Molly, Harry is fine. We will go see him now".
Percy headed off to the ministry with haste. Frank may need him and it was a moment where he could absolve himself of his guilt of having worked for the idiot Fudge and following him.
Hogwarts
Harry woke up early in the morning to find that Remus was also up but was tied to his bed and chortled, "Did she get you too, Moony?"
Remus made a sour face before saying, "Yes, she got me too. She seems to be an expert at it after having done it to all of us and now you too".
Harry grinned, "Yeah, sure. But I'll bet that you don't have a personal bed, do you?"
Remus raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know that you liked it so much. May be I can convince Dumbledore to name the infirmary after you?"
The revulsion on Harry's face was enough to set him off laughing bringing Madam Pomfrey out of her office, "Oh good! You both are up.". She cast some diagnostic charms at them and then set a light breakfast before them. She muttered under her breath, "You can be off as soon as you finish it. The Headmaster warned me that the infirmary might be overrun if I kept you here for too long of a time".
Wolfing down the breakfast as soon as they could, they finished it and then flooed out of her office to the Black Townhouse (Poppy told him that Dumbledore had arranged a one-time floo connection from the Hospital Wing to the Black Townhouse).
Black Townhouse
Harry almost fell on his face when he exited the floo. There were so many people in the meeting room that Harry was astounded. There were the Tonks's, Augusta and Neville, the Weasley's, Susan, Hermione, Hannah Abbott, many of the order members and Dumbledore. They all were clapping and cheering for him however Harry knew that some of them would be going to have a go at him later. His eyes searched out Susan and found her wanting nothing more than to be with her and to bare all his feelings to her but restrained himself when he thought of the company present.
Molly Weasley hugged him muttering, "Oh Harry, I was so worried. I hope you are fine, dear".
He gently extricated himself from her embrace, "Mrs. Weasley, I am fine. I am not even hurt".
Susan lunged for him and gripped him in a hug with all her strength as if to squeeze him while murmuring, "Do that again and I will kill you. Damn it, Harry. I was so worried".
Hermione looked on the verge of tears, her eyes watering but she also looked proud of him.
Neville and Ron were beaming at him looking proud for his deed.
After that Harry sat all of them down to a heavy breakfast and they made idle chatter while everyone had something to say about the news in the papers. Kingsley was grumbling that he was kept under the command of Amelia when he wanted to be in the thick of things. Hestia was miffed that she was stationed in Diagon Alley on Auror Patrol.
After breakfast, Dumbledore convened a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix while the students were sent out of the meeting room. Augusta had returned to Longbottom Manor after she made sure that he was fine.
When the meeting started, Harry asked Dumbledore, "Headmaster what are we going to do now?"
"The minister has plans to call for an emergency session today and I suppose we will be getting notified of that shortly. In the meanwhile, 10 seats of the dark faction will be vacant because the heads of house for those seats are in Azkaban or dead. I suppose they may appoint Regents for them but that will not be until the regular session in January. Also, the new wards that will identify and disable those branded with the Dark Mark were made active yesterday just an hour after the skirmish. As many as 40 employees of the Ministry of Magic were found branded and have been taken in for questioning or have already been charged with treason or espionage. I have also received credible information from one of my spies among his followers that Voldemort is greatly inconvenienced from the injuries that he sustained in the battle. It is reported that he is being kept on a potion regimen of up to 20 potions every day and being tended to by some healers. Ever since he returned from the ministry, he has been unconscious. If an ordinary man had sustained injuries like that, he would not have survived. He may remain out of commission for a long time, giving us time to find his links which enable him to exist".
Harry adopted a grim demeanor, "Sounds like I gave him something to remember me by. As to those links, while he was trying to invade my mind, I turned the tables on him. I have a fairly clear image of the castle that he with his followers are using for headquarters. The snake, Nagini is there. I was also able to confirm that the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw is the last artefact we are looking for. It is hidden in a cathedral-sized room that is very dusty and filled with small mountains of junk. I'll know the place when I see it. In that room is a cabinet that looks like it was burned with acid. The diadem is hidden in there".
Everyone in the room just stared at Harry in stunned silence. Clearly, even Dumbledore was impressed, "You rifled Voldemort's mind and discovered his most closely guarded secrets?"
Harry stared directly into the Headmaster's eyes, "When Tom was so foolish as to try and invade my mind he opened the door and invited me in. He made it easy".
Dumbledore looked away first. He had seen what Voldemort could do to people who lied to him or he just wanted to torture. With the exception of Dumbledore and Snape himself, nobody had ever been able to resist a mind attack from Voldemort. But, Dumbledore also remembered what happened the last time Snape tried Legilimency on Harry. The boy was telling the truth.
Dumbledore asked, "Can we use this insight to locate and destroy the final two horcruxes?"
Harry shook his head, "He is crafty. I did not get anything like a clear location. The entire castle is hidden under a Fidelius Charm and Tom made himself the secret keeper. As for the hiding place of the diadem, I only know what the room looks like. I have no idea where it is".
Sirius spoke up, "All right then. Lets' get your best artist's rendering of what these two places look like. Then we'll get everyone to have a look and tell us if they have ever seen anything like them. We'll track them down and destroy them".
"Until then, we make no direct move to attack Voldemort directly?", Harry asked.
Dumbledore answered, "My boy, it would not be wise to try. For one, he is not likely to underestimate you again. For two, he will remain impossible to kill until his tethers to this plane are destroyed. For three, until we receive our commission from the ministry, it would be illegal. He is hiding in his secret lair, licking his wounds. He is not likely to fall for another trap. Next time, we shall have to meet him in force. What you can do is to get ready and may be contact some friends of yours to bolster our numbers because I feel that when all is said and done, we will need more wands at our side. I believe you made some friends during the tournament".
Remus asked Dumbledore, "Albus what are we going to do while we wait?"
"We will continue to live, smile, love and do what we have been doing. A war on our doorstep is not a reason to stop living" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.
Just at that moment, a few owls swooped into the meeting room and sat in front of their intended recipients. Harry noticed the seal of the Ministry of Magic and untied his while others did the same with theirs. The letter was about an emergency meeting.
"Dear Lord Peverell
It is under the authority of the Ministry of Magic that I am sending this letter to you to invite you to an emergency session of the Wizengamot this afternoon at 12:00 in light of the recent event where the long thought dead terrorist Voldemort was found to be alive in the premises of the Ministry.
Percival Ignatius Weasley
Senior Undersecretary to Minister of Magic"
Harry read the letter and turned to Dumbledore, "It looks like the minister is not one to wait and watch but rather act".
Dumbledore dismissed the meeting because it was already 10:30 and they all needed to be ready for the session ahead.
The Wizengamot
When Harry flooed to the Wizengamot with others he noticed how things had changed in just the last few hours. Instead of taking him directly to the chambers of House Peverell, the floo routed him to the Atrium of the ministry. To his amazement, all evidence of the carnage from last night's battle was gone. Everyone had to queue up and go through wand check and blood identification before they were cleared for the Wizengamot. The ministry employees were forced to come through designated entry points fixed for them by the ministry which had prohibited apparition and floo entry for them within the ministry. Every one irrespective of their status was forced to come through the same entrances and was going through the same security check. The officials of the ministry could floo directly into the ministry but all of them were forced to go through the same security checks. The members of the Wizengamot could use the floo but all the floos were redirected to spew them into the Atrium.
There was an unspeakable with an Auror manning one desk where the Auror was registering their wands while the unspeakable would take a drop of their blood to ascertain that they were who they claimed to be and give them a thorough check with the secrecy sensor to see if they were concealing anything. The employees of the Ministry were forced to queue in a line which was quite long already and made to go through the security checks. Another shorter line was for the Lords manned by another unspeakable and an Auror. Whenever one was cleared to go ahead, they were given a parchment slip with green or black writing on it. They were warned to hang on to their parchments because they would be escorted back to the check point if they ever failed to produce them. The writing gave the name of the witch or wizard, stated that they had passed through the inspection and had the names of the Auror and Unspeakable signed on the bottom. None of them thought to question as to why the inks were different colours.
Harry joined in the line behind Lord Greengrass and Daphne who had come to attend the emergency session. Cyrus beamed at him, "Harry, I must extend my congratulations to you on the duel. I have heard from people that you were truly terrific and even the Senior Aurors were dazed at your performance".
Harry gave him a bow, "Thank you for the appreciation Cyrus but everyone played his part. Voldemort just walked into the trap by himself".
Daphne gave him a wide smile which he returned but before he could say anything, she was cleared to go by the unspeakable. Anyone once cleared was proceeding to the lifts where one lift was set apart for the Lords and the Department Heads. Other lifts were for the employees of the Ministry.
After he was cleared to go ahead, he got on a lift with Remus and Sirius. When they arrived in the assembly hall, Harry noticed that the chamber was quiet for the Wizengamot. Now that Harry looked properly, a lot of seats in the dark faction were empty. He supposed most of them were in the skirmish last night.
Finally when the session convened, most of the dark faction was absent. A few of the lords from the neutral faction were also missing.
Dumbledore walked in to his seat at the proper time and ascended to his position. He took his place on the dais and rapped his gavel, "Close the doors".
The doors closed and he started speaking, "Let this emergency session of the Wizengamot begin. The agenda for this session is as follows: firstly we will hear a report from the minister about the skirmish which took place last night in the heart of the Ministry of Magic. Then Minister Longbottom will be presenting a motion to invoke the Emergency Powers Act".
Frank stood, "The ministry has been receiving credible information since the beginning of this summer that the terrorist otherwise known as Lord Voldemort has returned from the dead and is operating among us again. We are not yet sure what he did to achieve this but it is rumoured that he used some very dark magic to this effect. Since he was keeping a low profile, it was not possible for us to find out what he was doing except that he intended to pick up where he left off in the previous war. When I assumed office, I was told of the dire conditions in which the ministry was and how we had no resources or numbers to fight back if he moved to seize power so the ministry has been augmenting its strength for months now. A few days ago, we received information that he was going to raid the ministry sometime in the winter when the ministry would be empty and so I entrusted Master Auror Moody with the duty of preparing an ambush for him. Yesterday, he raided the ministry with the intention of obtaining some sort of weapon from the Department of Mysteries. He ran afoul of Lord Peverell who was visiting the Department to get the authenticity of one of his family heirlooms tested. I do not know where the rumours of a prophecy came from".
As Frank sat, Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "Minister Longbottom has called this session to assume emergency powers- To assume the title of General of the forces of the ministry. To give him unbridled powers in connection with dealing with death eaters. In addition to the proposition of assuming emergency powers, he has also proposed to make it a criminal offense for anyone to bear the dark mark which will be punishable with imprisonment in Azkaban. The Emergency Powers Act authorizes the ministry to form a war tribunal with selected members of the Wizengamot serving as the judges to deal with and pronounce judgment upon those found to have the dark mark or indulged in any war crimes. He will speak for the motion first followed by anyone who wishes to present opposite views".
Frank stood and started speaking, "As many of you know, during the last war, I served the Ministry of Magic as an Auror. For many years, we were not allowed to use lethal force against the death eaters. So we kept losing and many esteemed members of our society lost their lives in the war, entire families were wiped out of existence. The Emergency Powers Act was created to deal with those instances where the minister would need unbridled powers to act in defense of the wizarding world without having to bring every action to the Wizengamot for approval. This Act also authorized the Aurors to use lethal force against Voldemort and his followers, recognizing them as the army of the ministry with the minister being the General of this army. While these powers are not to be casually assumed but only in the direst circumstances but Voldemort having returned from the dead certainly qualifies.
It is certain that there will be violence of the magnitude that we saw in the last war and our world cannot sustain violence of such magnitude again without bringing about the ruin of our world. Therefore I beseech you to grant this motion to unleash the full might of the ministry. To combat, defeat and eliminate this enemy that threatens our way of life and in fact our very existence!" Frank paused while the assembly broke out into applause. Nearly all were cheering. Some were clapping, some were thumping the table in front of them and others were shooting coloured sparks into the air with their wands.
But Frank was not done. He was still standing and looking grim, "We learned from interrogation of the death eaters who were captured during the thwarted attack last night that no one can take the dark mark while under the Imperious curse". Again, Frank paused while all the implications of this sank in with the members of the Wizengamot. He continued, "This means that no witch or wizard has been branded in this manner unless it was by their own free-will and choice. For this reason, I am repealing amnesty for all death eaters who claimed the Imperious curse as a defense when they were tried for their crimes. Additionally, it is an offense to bear the dark mark. Finally, there will be many offenders brought in when these measures take effect. Trials before the Wizengamot are costly and time consuming. For this reason, we will establish war tribunals, as needed, to process these offenders quickly and efficiently. To avoid any repeat of the miscarriage of justice such as what happened with Sirius Black, all of these proceedings shall be a matter of public record except where matters of war-time secrecy are involved, in which case the sensitive information shall be redacted in the public record."
When Frank sat, Dumbledore started to address the assembly again, "Is there anyone who wishes to speak to the motion?"
Lord Rolando Lestrange raised his hand. Rolando Lestrange was the father of the infamous Lestrange brothers, Rudolphus and Rabbastan Lestrange and former father-in-law of the infamous Bellatrix Nameless. He was not a marked death eater, but it was well known that his sympathies leaned toward Voldemort's ideals. He usually did not participate much in the proceedings of the Wizengamot but today, there was no one else who could speak for the dark faction in this meeting. Lucius Malfoy was cooling his heels in captivity and a few more lords were with him. Many more marked followers had come with Rolando to the Wizengamot today but they all seemed to have been redirected somewhere between the atrium and the assembly hall. So it was upon him to represent their interests.
Dumbledore said, "Lord Lestrange, you have the floor".
Rolando started addressing them, "I agree with the minister's assessment that our society needs to be saved and that another war would tear our world apart. But, I ask you, is it really necessary to give the minister unbridled power? The Aurors are better prepared and greater in number than they have been for over 14 years. The outcome of the battle last night clearly shows that our Aurors are far more effective in combat than the death eaters. I dare say that we are already well enough prepared to meet this threat and defeat it. Every witch or wizard is entitled to due process. Should we really allow a tribunal to toss some of our own into prison? Maybe one of you will be next. Furthermore, I ask the minister if he has any evidence that is more credible than the word of a death eater to verify this latest intelligence regarding the dark mark. The previous administration looked into this and found that these people were acting under the Imperious curse".
When Rolando sat down, Amelia raised her hand, "Chief Warlock, I would like this opportunity to answer his statement".
Dumbledore nodded, "You have the floor, Madam Bones".
Amelia stood, "Lord Lestrange pointed out that we are better prepared but he conveniently forgot to mention that the real confidantes of Voldemort are not ordinary wizards but those adept in dark magic. Even his sons were incarcerated in Azkaban after they were found guilty for their role in torturing the minister of magic and his wife so much that they had to be kept in St. Mungo's for 14 years for recuperation. Most of the members of his inner circle who are incarcerated in Azkaban as of this moment were adept in dark magic and wrecked havoc with their knowledge. We lost a lot of families who dared to defy Voldemort and fought for their rights in the last war. I daresay that those who love their freedom and do not want to live under the rule of a megalomaniac will not surrender to him so there will be an all out war. As to the ministry being better prepared, we hardly have enough to fight a war if it comes to our door and as such, we need something on our side so that we can even these insurmountable odds. Now as far as the dark mark is concerned, if he feels that we need to show more to convince the Wizengamot then we can bring in the said death eater and question him using Veritaserum".
When she sat down, Dumbledore asked again, "Does anyone else want to speak for or against the motion?"
When nobody raised their hand, Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "Very well then. We will now vote on the motion".
Rolando Lestrange stood at his place, "Chief Warlock a lot of members of the Wizengamot are not present in the chamber today so we are not properly represented for such voting".
Dumbledore turned to Percy, "Court Scribe, do we have quorum?"
Percy stood, "Chief Warlock, we need to have a minimum of 51% of the total strength of the Wizengamot to have quorum. This would be a minimum of 82 seats. Since there are 102 seats represented by their lords or properly appointed regents today, we have quorum".
Dumbledore turned to Lestrange, "Your objection is overruled, Lord Lestrange. We have quorum. We will now proceed to vote on the motion".
It is said that fear is a strong motivator. Many of the wizards and witches sitting on the Wizengamot were old enough to remember the havoc Voldemort and his followers wrought in the last war. The lack of action on the part of a very passive ministry had cost them the lives of many loved ones. They were not willing to live through that again. Here was a minister, a war hero, who was willing to do what it takes to protect his people and put his own life on the line to do it. All he needed was permission from the Wizengamot to "Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war" and he would put a stop to the dark lord before he even got his campaign properly rolling. The vote was 82 in favor with 20 opposed and none abstaining.
When the votes were counted, Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Congratulations General Longbottom. We are in your hands".
With the motion passed, Minister Frank Longbottom was now also General Longbottom, supreme commander of all of wizarding Britain's military forces. In addition to his emergency powers, this motion also made it an act of treason to be branded with the dark mark. Due process for suspected death eaters was suspended. They would be heard before a war tribunal instead of the Wizengamot and the death penalty was very likely. The vaults of convicted death eaters would be seized and used to fund the war effort. The first tribunal would consist of Minister for Magic and General Frank Longbottom, The Head of DMLE Amelia Bones and Chief Auror Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody and they were not likely to go easy on people branded with the dark mark.
With the voting over and the Emergency War measures act in force, the session was adjourned. The members of the Wizengamot began to file out of the room, lead by the new war tribunal.
What many of the members did not know was that several ministry employees who were branded with the dark mark were stunned on arrival at the ministry that day. They were promptly rounded up and moved to the Auror floor where they were being held for trial. The members of the Wizengamot who arrived by floo were checked for the dark mark at the security check with purpose-built secrecy sensors by the unspeakables. The ones who were found to be branded with the dark mark were issued a pass written with black ink. The people with passes written in green ink were allowed to proceed to the assembly hall. The people with passes written in black ink were sent to the Auror floor where they were stunned the moment the lift doors opened. Three Auror trainees cheerfully volunteered for this assignment while a few senior Aurors backed them up. Once the suspects were stunned, Alice tore back their sleeves to double check for the dark marks and make sure that no mistakes had been made. She was standing in for Moody on this detail because the Chief Auror was busy "interviewing" the prisoners. The death eaters who were captured this morning would be the first to be tried by the new tribunal.
Teams of Aurors had been dispatched to round up those who were suspected death eaters and had not come in to work today. Those who had been heard voicing pro-Voldemort sentiments were also rounded up and brought in for questioning. To quell Kingsley's whining that he missed on the fun, Amelia had sent him to capture 'the mole'.
By the time the emergency session ended, the rest of the Ministry was already on a war footing. The department heads got on with the business of securing sensitive information and re-organizing their staff with fewer people. Most of the employees knew that their missing fellow workers were death eaters and would be tried. A press note was being written to be sent to the Daily Prophet today.
Harry had made up his mind to expose Tom's identity to the Wizarding World. Harsh had told him to compose an article on him and send it to the premier publications so that the entire Wizarding World could know about his original identity. For that purpose, he had the perfect person in mind to put his words on paper and which publications to publish it in addition to the Daily Prophet.
When he returned to the Black Townhouse, he would write a couple of letters inviting two of those people to come to the Black Townhouse and he would give them a story. The story which would be the biggest story of the year and perhaps would shatter a lot of perceptions.
Black Townhouse
By the time he returned to Black Townhouse after meeting every Lord who wanted to congratulate him, his friends at Hogwarts who were heirs or scions to houses and many of the ministry employees, Hermione was gone to Weasley Manor where she had promised to spend a part of her vacation. Remus was at the Rosier Estate in Dorset. Sirius was yet to return from the Ministry. With everyone being so busy, he was beginning to doubt if he and his friends would get a chance to go to Ireland for the holidays they were planning.
That evening, Susan finally had a talk with him before Amelia dragged her home. She had found him in the Lord's study working on some papers. She took a seat across from him.
"Harry", she said firmly, "we need to talk".
"Yes Sue, I am listening", he said while not looking up from what he was doing.
"I did not like the fact that you left me here and went to face that monster alone. It was not right. We are together now so it means that you have to include me in everything that you do. It does not work this way where only you are making the decisions and I have to follow you. If you get another insane idea such as this in your mind, you need to confer with me first. In fact, all of our friends are miffed that you did not call upon them when we have been training so hard for this opportunity".
Harry took a deep breath before facing this woman he had come to love, "Sue, I know that you would have stood and fought by my side if I had allowed it. Even though we achieved complete surprise, many of our top Aurors suffered severe injuries and one of them lost his life in that battle. Those were Aurors, not students. It is a very dangerous business and I did not want you or any of our friends to get hurt. I would not have been there myself if anyone else had a chance of taking on Voldemort. You have seen what I can do. Even with my formidable skills, he still managed to break my hand and wear me out. That is why I did not come straight back here when the battle was over".
Susan's eyes grew wide as she tried to comprehend how any spell could have found its mark on Harry. Then she stammered, "B-b-but if it is so impossible to fight them, why are we training at all?"
Harry said firmly, "I can think of two reasons for that. First, good training is never wasted effort. I would be happy to match any one of you against one of his followers and be sure that you would come out on top however I could not have said that six months ago. And second, as I have promised, when the final confrontation comes, you and all the rest of our friends will be there".
She glared hard at him, "You would do well to remember that. I do not want to spend another night waiting for you or news of you to come. I want to be there with you and help you every moment of it".
He nodded, "I will remember that, my lovely girl friend. On a different note, I wanted to ask if you would come over tomorrow."
She gave him a bright smile, "Of course I will. Auntie is so busy now that she would hardly notice that I am gone".
As she was leaving, he pulled her into a deep kiss and they broke it when someone cleared his throat behind them. He looked up to see Neville in the door way who was looking quite uncomfortable and said meekly, "I always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, am I not?"
Susan walked out while elbowing him and muttering, "Bloody Gryffindor".
Unknown Castle
Severus Snape had been in the castle since last night when Voldemort had summoned him through the dark mark before he went to storm the ministry. 60 death eaters had followed him to the ministry and Severus had a moment of vicious pleasure thinking of what awaited Voldemort at the ministry. If he could make a guess, Voldemort would not be very happy with the outcome. What followed was worse than what he had thought would happen.
After more than two hours, Voldemort returned but none of his 60 followers returned with him. The dark lord collapsed unconscious to the ground, bloodied, the tattered remains of his robes still smoking. The smell of blood and burnt flesh filled the air. The snake faced man lay crumpled where the portkey had stopped pulling him by the main entrance to the castle.
Snape was the first to find him. He conjured a jet of water to stop the burning as he yelled for medics. By the time the medics arrived, Snape had already stopped the burning, vanished the charred tatters of robes that remained and wrapped the dark lord in bandages soaked with a potion for healing burns. As the medics levitated their dark lord into a stretcher, one of them ran diagnostic spells.
She asked, "What happened to him? He looks like he has been in a fight with a dragon".
Snape intoned in his slow drawl, "I know not. But, if you value your life, you will heal him with a minimum inconvenience of pain".
They levitated him inside on a stretcher and the healers went to work on him immediately. Seeing the condition Voldemort was in, Severus felt a moment of pity for him but banished that thought at once when he remembered the crimes that he had perpetrated, the murder of Lilly Potter included.
He looked like someone had worked him over with all the curses and jinxes that they could think of. His body looked charred as if someone had repeatedly burnt him, panic and horror was etched in the expression on his face. When the healers finished diagnosing his injuries, one of them turned to Severus, "The dark lord is unconscious due to a combination of someone torturing him mentally, disabling his consciousness and magical exhaustion. He has about 100 broken bones. He has 2nd and third degree burns to over 70% of his body. You were right to treat them right away. We can heal most of the physical injuries in a couple of days if all four of us work around the clock. But with the damage to his mind and magical core he won't wake up for at least a week and he will not be fully healed for about a month. He will need a massive regime of potions, including some necromantic potions to treat the injuries to his mind". She wrote out a list and handed it to Snape, "You are the Potions Master in residence. Here's a list of what we need".
Severus nodded, "Do as you see fit, Healer. I daresay he is not going to object to it".
Severus wished to but knew he could not kill the Dark Lord because the castle was teeming with death eaters and it would be a fool's errand to try and finish him when there was a possibility that he could return to life. He could again use whatever means he had used previously to return to a body and then they would not know if he returned. He had only one option that being to resume the Dark Lord's duties in his absence until the school holiday was over. Then he would have to delegate the duty to someone else.
He had also wondered what happened to the 60 death eaters that accompanied the dark lord on his raid until he read the morning edition of The Daily Prophet. He was in awe of the teen who gave Voldemort the thrashing of his life. He could understand how Voldemort had got those injuries. He also winced when he read that all 60 of the death eaters were either dead or in captivity. Greyback had sent word that he would be returning post-haste to rein in the followers of the Dark Lord who might attempt to dessert while the dark lord recovered. Severus knew that no one who once entered his service could escape unless the dark lord was dead which he was not.
He had also retrieved a prophecy orb from Voldemort's clothes and had to resist the temptation to try and listen to it. This was the wretched thing that had taken Lily away, the same wretched prophecy that had brought him to the predicament he was now in. He could easily listen to it and know what was in it but then it would make him a target because Voldemort knew he had the prophecy with him. He decided to let the wretched thing be kept in safety till the Dark Lord woke up. He gave it to Parkinson, "Keep it safe till the Dark Lord wakes up. Guard it better than your life and he may reward you for your efforts. If you fail, I will send flowers to Pansy with my condolences".