- Rating:
- PG-13
- House:
- The Dark Arts
- Genres:
- General
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
- Stats:
-
Published: 12/12/2004Updated: 12/12/2004Words: 2,316Chapters: 1Hits: 520
The Worthy
Eliane Fraser
- Story Summary:
- The final stand between Harry and Voldemort is in the hall of the Department of Mysteries. After Remus falls, the children charge Voldemort, and Prophecy is fulfilled. But it isn't the end; the Veil stands as Judge, Jury and Executioner for all. Through it, prices are paid, and one man finds redemption. Not a Sirius-comes-back-from-the-Veil fiction, nor is there any insight as to what is on the other side of the Veil. Contains Major Character Death.
- Chapter Summary:
- The final stand between Harry and Voldemort is in the hall of the Department of Mysteries. After Remus falls, the children charge Voldemort, and Prophecy is fulfilled. But it isn't the end; the Veil stands as Judge, Jury and Executioner for all. Through it, prices are paid, and one man finds redemption.
- Posted:
- 12/12/2004
- Hits:
- 520
- Author's Note:
- Like the summary says, this isn't a fiction about what lies on the other side of the Veil, although there are hints about it. Nor is it a Sirius comes back from the dead fiction - the dude is dead, end of story. Sirius isn't even in this story. You have been warned. Enjoy!
Death has a way of clinging to things. Its smell, sickly sweet, embeds itself into the very walls of a death room; its presence can be felt wherever Death treads. And at that moment in time, it emanated from the wands of several wizards and witches.
The Battle had begun in the streets of Diagon Alley; beyond the flimsy walls that separated the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, fierce battles were fought, the screams of the dying and the injured exploding in the air. Slowly but surely, it moved into other parts of the Wizarding World. St Mungo's lay in ruins; Hogsmeade was nothing more than a few miles of scorched earth. Hogwarts was the last point of safety, and the Order had drawn the battle away from there. In the halls of the Department of Mysteries, they made their last stand.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches
Harry stood with his wand gripped firmly. He was flanked by his closest friends. Hermione had blood pouring from a split lip, and a good portion of her wild hair had been burned off. Ron stood between her and Harry, his left arm lying limp and broken at his side. Luna had one eye swollen shut, and her right hand was bleeding severely. The freckles of Ginny's face were almost unseen by the bruises and hex marks that marred her flesh. Neville was twitching slightly, an aftereffect of the Cruciatus Curse.
"It's time to end this, Riddle," wheezed Harry, his breaths squeezing themselves from between broken ribs. Slowly, slowly, the sextet drew into a circle around Voldemort. "It's time for you to go."
born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies
"Your parents could not stop me," gloated Voldemort, holding his wand lazily. "Nor could Dumbledore, or your godfather Black, or any of them. Do you really think you and your pitiful friends could ever hope to stop me?"
and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal
"But I've stopped you," said Harry very quietly. He opened his arms up. "We've stopped you. We stopped you from getting the Philosopher's Stone. We stopped you from draining life from Ginny and killed your basilisk in the process. We stopped you from killing me my fourth year. We stopped you the last time we were here. Tom, don't you see how pathetic you are?" Behind Harry, Hermione sneered at Voldemort. Ron and Ginny chuckled, and Neville snorted. Luna merely smiled beatifically, never taking her wand off of Voldemort. "You've been thwarted, time and time again, by children. Hermione found out about your basilisk. Together with myself and Ron, we three got past the Devil's Snare. Your Death Eaters couldn't kill us. Your snake couldn't kill us. All your plans, all your cunning, were for nothing. You were defeated by children."
"SILENCE!" shrieked Voldemort. He held his wand so tightly that Harry could hear it begin to splinter between his fingers. "I will not be talked to in a such a way by foolish children! I gave you the chance to join me once, Potter. Now I will make you pay. I will take away everything you ever loved, right in front of you, before I give myself the pleasure of killing you myself!"
A tell-tale green jet of like shot from Voldemort's wand. It sailed above the heads of the students, ricocheted off a suit of armour and rebounded into a corner. The students turned around to see what had been hit.
Death's fragrance filled the air. Remus Lupin lay motionless on the ground, his eyes closed in peace. Silence filled the air for several moments while Voldemort smirked. He eyed the backs of the students heads, relishing the thought of their grief and guilt stricken faces.
Hermione was the first to turn around. Something flickered in her eyes.
"That was the last one, Riddle," she breathed. She tucked her wand into her blouse.
"The last what, Mudblood?" purred Voldemort. It would be the last words he ever spoke.
Hermione ran at him, shrieking at the top of her lungs. Her friends tensed as Voldemort brought up his wand, ready to strike her down. Without thinking, Luna launched herself at Voldemort's knees, making his legs buckle and causing the shot to fire off too soon. It bounced off the ceiling and disappeared into the next room. Hermione continued to shriek as she charged. The rest of the students leapt at Voldemort, understanding what Hermione intended to do. Harry clutched at the back of Voldemort's robes.
Arthur Weasley skidded into the room just as Hermione ran bodily into Voldemort. He screamed.
but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not
The children surged backwards, backwards. Arthur began to run towards them, a beseeching hand raised. No words could come from his throat. Molly and Severus ran in after him, screaming as the children began to fall. The children screamed with anger at Voldemort, for daring to take one they loved so much away. Their anger, and their love for Harry, Remus, and one another, spurred them on as they fell backwards, backwards.
and either must die at the hand of the other
Harry was the first to go through the Veil. His knuckles were white as he dragged Voldemort through the tattered entrance.
for neither can live while the other survives
Molly fell to her knees. Ron and Ginny had their arms looped around Voldemort's, pulling him in as they tumbled through the opening.
The One With The Power To Vanquish The Dark Lord Will Be Born As The Seventh Month Dies.
Neville fell in right after Ginny, his chubby arms wrapped around Voldemort's torso. Hermione and Luna were the last to fall in, their arms and legs fastened around Voldemort's legs. As the edges of Luna's robes disappeared into the Veil, a bloody curdling scream came from it. It was distinctly Voldemort's, and it was a cry of fear and anguish and horror.
Molly began to wail and ran towards the Veil, only to be stopped by Severus. "They went willingly, Molly," he croaked. "They knew what they were doing. None return from the Veil."
Molly fell to her feet. And wept.
None noticed until later that Voldemort's body had been flung back from the Veil, tattered and broken.
------
The Wizarding World rioted with joy at the news of Voldemort's defeat. People flocked in the streets, throwing up copies of the Daily Prophet and other papers as they celebrated their release from fear. A few people, however, kneeled in a small room in the Department of Mysteries, silently crying. Molly, Arthur, Severus, Tonks, Minerva, Kingsley, and the rest of Weasleys sat around the Veil. Behind them, the remnants of the Auror division and the rest of the Ministry stood behind them, all giving their last respects to the six children who died on that very ground.
"I wish they were around to see the last of the trials," whispered Molly. "I know that they'd all like to be present at the Lestrange's trial."
"I just can't believe they're gone," whimpered Tonks.
A faint whisper came from the Veil, as it often tended to do. Kingsley's ears pricked up.
"What did it say?" he asked hoarsely. He pushed his way closer, coming face to face with the tattered cloth. "What did you say?"
"Death," whispered the Veil. "Death is but the next great adventure... we aren't as gone as you think."
"What?" shouted Molly, leaping to her feet. She bowled Kingsley over onto the ground in her attempt to get closer. "Are you coming home, children? When? Where? How?"
The Veil was silent for a moment. "We are home," came a voice very much like Ron's. Molly's face was soaked with tears. "We cannot come back. We will not come back. But we have one task left, before we may sleep."
"What?" asked Severus, almost inaudibly.
"To see them pay," said a voice that sounded like Neville.
"To make them pay," whispered the ghost of Harry.
"To watch them pay," crooned Ginny's spirit.
"To show the world that they will be punished for their crimes," murmured a voice like Hermione's.
"And to bring the others home," sang Luna's voice.
----
"Bellatrix Lestrange, you have been charged and found guilty of the following charges : Use of the Imperious Curse, the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, murder on many accounts, breaking the statute of Wizarding Secrecy, and plotting to and carrying out the destruction of the Wizarding World."
Bellatrix merely sneered. "This isn't the end," she declared. She knew that the Wizarding World did not carry out executions. There would be another imprisonment in Azkaban, and she would escape again, to carry out her Lord's work.
She marched imperiously to the center of the stadium, where a large bundle sat, covered in gold and silver worked black cloth. She looked down her nose at it, alternately staring at the fools who sat in the stadium benches.
"Your punishment has been decided," continued Amelia Bones, the Mistress of Magic. "Remove the covering."
The cloth was removed, and Bellatrix stared, a twinge of uncertainty flickering in her heart. Before her stood the Veil she had sent her cousin Sirius in. She gasped when the Aurors forced her to her knees, pulling her hair taut and forcing her to stare directly into the gloomy entrance.
"You have been found guilty," a voice whispered, caressing her ears. Her eyes bulged; it was the voice of the Longbottom boy. "And thus you must pay. Only the worthy may pass through the Veil, unharmed and unhampered, never to return. What say you?"
Bellatrix gathered her courage and laughed. "I am worthy, you miserable little cretin," she wheezed, her pride getting the better of her. "And when I come through, you will pay through a million deaths."
"So shall it be," chimed the voices of Hermione and Luna. "Judgment has been passed; let the accused test her strength. Only the worthy survive."
Bellatrix threw herself in, eagerly awaiting the chance to watch the survivors suffer at her hands. The crowd watched as she disappeared with a triumphant smile on her face.
An earth shattering scream erupted moments after she disappeared. Several Ministry officials knelt and vomited as the cries of pain intensified. It lasted only a minute.
Bellatrix Lestrange came hurtling out of the Veil. She rolled over, her face contorted in a rictus of pain. She was breathing shallowly. Her eyes were crimson, as if every blood vessel in them had burst, and her teeth rattled, loosened like many of her victims after she had Crucioed them for long periods of time. Every nerve in her body was shot. The crowd watched as her breathing slowed down, and then stopped.
"Only the worthy survive," came the voice of Harry Potter.
"And only the worthy may stay," continued the voice of Ronald Weasley.
"Judgment has been passed; Bellatrix Lestrange did not pass the test, but all who cross the Veil must die, whether here or there. So shall it be."
-----
Rookwood wept when they started him towards the Veil. He attempted to run, but two arms covered in ghostly blue freckles pulled him in fiercely. The crowd listened as he howled for mercy.
"No mercy is shown to those who have none," sang Luna's voice. "You have been tried justly and found justly; all things have a price."
He came back bloody and torn, covered in the same hex marks as the one Hermione had once been covered in. One by one, all the Death Eaters were led in. Some went kicking and screaming; others went in with their heads held high. None were allowed to know what happened to those before them. And every single time, they screamed in pain, and were shot out of the Veil, often covered in blood and hex marks. Lucius Malfoy came back without his skin; Rabastan Lestrange had every bone in his body broken. None were kept back. "Only the worthy may come through," the voices rang again and again. "Only the worthy survive; so shall it be. All things have a price, and you will pay for yours. Judgement has been passed, and you have been tried. So shall it be."
It was time for the last one. Severus Snape marched into the stadium, his face as blank as fresh parchment. He said nothing as his crimes were listed; he said nothing as the Order of the Phoenix tried to bargain for his freedom. He had come to the realisation that he could never make up for his past. He only hoped that whatever happened in the Veil would be relatively quick. He had readied himself for it.
"You have been found guilty," said Ginny Weasley. "Now you must pass through, have you anything to say?"
"Fifty points from Gryffindor," he drawled. The Veil shook with ghostly laughter at Severus' remark, and he couldn't resist a genuine smile. He would miss the days of terrorising students, if nothing else.
"So shall it be," whispered the trio together. Severus turned and nodded towards the Order, then fell into the Veil. Molly's shoulders shook as she wailed, burying her face into Arthur's shoulder. Kingsley blanched, steeling himself from the shrieks that would come.
There was no sound.
The crowd gaped. "Impossible!" murmured several prominent members; as they saw it, Severus should have been screaming for mercy.
"Severus Snape," whispered Harry's voice, "you have been judged, and you have been found worthy. Only the worthy survive, through they may not cross back."
"Severus Snape," chimed Hermione's voice, "you have survived. Now tell me whether I passed my Potions NEWT!"
The following silence was shattered by the laughter of the Order. Though the others did not, and would not understand, they did; the Veil had welcomed Severus home.
___________________________________
The children surged backwards, backwards. Arthur began to run towards them, a beseeching hand raised. No words could come from his throat. Molly and Severus ran in after him, screaming as the children began to fall. The children screamed with anger at Voldemort, for daring to take one they loved so much away. Their anger, and their love for Harry, Remus, and one another, spurred them on as they fell backwards, backwards.
and either must die at the hand of the other
Harry was the first to go through the Veil. His knuckles were white as he dragged Voldemort through the tattered entrance.
for neither can live while the other survives
Molly fell to her knees. Ron and Ginny had their arms looped around Voldemort's, pulling him in as they tumbled through the opening.
The One With The Power To Vanquish The Dark Lord Will Be Born As The Seventh Month Dies.
Neville fell in right after Ginny, his chubby arms wrapped around Voldemort's torso. Hermione and Luna were the last to fall in, their arms and legs fastened around Voldemort's legs. As the edges of Luna's robes disappeared into the Veil, a bloody curdling scream came from it. It was distinctly Voldemort's, and it was a cry of fear and anguish and horror.
Molly began to wail and ran towards the Veil, only to be stopped by Severus. "They went willingly, Molly," he croaked. "They knew what they were doing. None return from the Veil."
Molly fell to her feet. And wept.
None noticed until later that Voldemort's body had been flung back from the Veil, tattered and broken.
------
The Wizarding World rioted with joy at the news of Voldemort's defeat. People flocked in the streets, throwing up copies of the Daily Prophet and other papers as they celebrated their release from fear. A few people, however, kneeled in a small room in the Department of Mysteries, silently crying. Molly, Arthur, Severus, Tonks, Minerva, Kingsley, and the rest of Weasleys sat around the Veil. Behind them, the remnants of the Auror division and the rest of the Ministry stood behind them, all giving their last respects to the six children who died on that very ground.
"I wish they were around to see the last of the trials," whispered Molly. "I know that they'd all like to be present at the Lestrange's trial."
"I just can't believe they're gone," whimpered Tonks.
A faint whisper came from the Veil, as it often tended to do. Kingsley's ears pricked up.
"What did it say?" he asked hoarsely. He pushed his way closer, coming face to face with the tattered cloth. "What did you say?"
"Death," whispered the Veil. "Death is but the next great adventure... we aren't as gone as you think."
"What?" shouted Molly, leaping to her feet. She bowled Kingsley over onto the ground in her attempt to get closer. "Are you coming home, children? When? Where? How?"
The Veil was silent for a moment. "We are home," came a voice very much like Ron's. Molly's face was soaked with tears. "We cannot come back. We will not come back. But we have one task left, before we may sleep."
"What?" asked Severus, almost inaudibly.
"To see them pay," said a voice that sounded like Neville.
"To make them pay," whispered the ghost of Harry.
"To watch them pay," crooned Ginny's spirit.
"To show the world that they will be punished for their crimes," murmured a voice like Hermione's.
"And to bring the others home," sang Luna's voice.
----
"Bellatrix Lestrange, you have been charged and found guilty of the following charges : Use of the Imperious Curse, the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, murder on many accounts, breaking the statute of Wizarding Secrecy, and plotting to and carrying out the destruction of the Wizarding World."
Bellatrix merely sneered. "This isn't the end," she declared. She knew that the Wizarding World did not carry out executions. There would be another imprisonment in Azkaban, and she would escape again, to carry out her Lord's work.
She marched imperiously to the center of the stadium, where a large bundle sat, covered in gold and silver worked black cloth. She looked down her nose at it, alternately staring at the fools who sat in the stadium benches.
"Your punishment has been decided," continued Amelia Bones, the Mistress of Magic. "Remove the covering."
The cloth was removed, and Bellatrix stared, a twinge of uncertainty flickering in her heart. Before her stood the Veil she had sent her cousin Sirius in. She gasped when the Aurors forced her to her knees, pulling her hair taut and forcing her to stare directly into the gloomy entrance.
"You have been found guilty," a voice whispered, caressing her ears. Her eyes bulged; it was the voice of the Longbottom boy. "And thus you must pay. Only the worthy may pass through the Veil, unharmed and unhampered, never to return. What say you?"
Bellatrix gathered her courage and laughed. "I am worthy, you miserable little cretin," she wheezed, her pride getting the better of her. "And when I come through, you will pay through a million deaths."
"So shall it be," chimed the voices of Hermione and Luna. "Judgment has been passed; let the accused test her strength. Only the worthy survive."
Bellatrix threw herself in, eagerly awaiting the chance to watch the survivors suffer at her hands. The crowd watched as she disappeared with a triumphant smile on her face.
An earth shattering scream erupted moments after she disappeared. Several Ministry officials knelt and vomited as the cries of pain intensified. It lasted only a minute.
Bellatrix Lestrange came hurtling out of the Veil. She rolled over, her face contorted in a rictus of pain. She was breathing shallowly. Her eyes were crimson, as if every blood vessel in them had burst, and her teeth rattled, loosened like many of her victims after she had Crucioed them for long periods of time. Every nerve in her body was shot. The crowd watched as her breathing slowed down, and then stopped.
"Only the worthy survive," came the voice of Harry Potter.
"And only the worthy may stay," continued the voice of Ronald Weasley.
"Judgment has been passed; Bellatrix Lestrange did not pass the test, but all who cross the Veil must die, whether here or there. So shall it be."
-----
Rookwood wept when they started him towards the Veil. He attempted to run, but two arms covered in ghostly blue freckles pulled him in fiercely. The crowd listened as he howled for mercy.
"No mercy is shown to those who have none," sang Luna's voice. "You have been tried justly and found justly; all things have a price."
He came back bloody and torn, covered in the same hex marks as the one Hermione had once been covered in. One by one, all the Death Eaters were led in. Some went kicking and screaming; others went in with their heads held high. None were allowed to know what happened to those before them. And every single time, they screamed in pain, and were shot out of the Veil, often covered in blood and hex marks. Lucius Malfoy came back without his skin; Rabastan Lestrange had every bone in his body broken. None were kept back. "Only the worthy may come through," the voices rang again and again. "Only the worthy survive; so shall it be. All things have a price, and you will pay for yours. Judgement has been passed, and you have been tried. So shall it be."
It was time for the last one. Severus Snape marched into the stadium, his face as blank as fresh parchment. He said nothing as his crimes were listed; he said nothing as the Order of the Phoenix tried to bargain for his freedom. He had come to the realisation that he could never make up for his past. He only hoped that whatever happened in the Veil would be relatively quick. He had readied himself for it.
"You have been found guilty," said Ginny Weasley. "Now you must pass through, have you anything to say?"
"Fifty points from Gryffindor," he drawled. The Veil shook with ghostly laughter at Severus' remark, and he couldn't resist a genuine smile. He would miss the days of terrorising students, if nothing else.
"So shall it be," whispered the trio together. Severus turned and nodded towards the Order, then fell into the Veil. Molly's shoulders shook as she wailed, burying her face into Arthur's shoulder. Kingsley blanched, steeling himself from the shrieks that would come.
There was no sound.
The crowd gaped. "Impossible!" murmured several prominent members; as they saw it, Severus should have been screaming for mercy.
"Severus Snape," whispered Harry's voice, "you have been judged, and you have been found worthy. Only the worthy survive, through they may not cross back."
"Severus Snape," chimed Hermione's voice, "you have survived. Now tell me whether I passed my Potions NEWT!"
The following silence was shattered by the laughter of the Order. Though the others did not, and would not understand, they did; the Veil had welcomed Severus home.
___________________________________