Harry Potter and the Final Prophecy

     --- Chapter Thirteen ---

     The Mortal Connection

Harry and Sirius exchanged guilty glances while Hermione folded her arms as if to say ``told you so". Fred and George helped their father to a low bank, where he sank down, his head in his hands.

`There was no need for you to undertake this adventure, Harry,' Dumbledore said sternly, frowning down at him. `There were already plans in place to prevent any harm coming to the Muggle population, and to rescue Arthur. Your presence disrupted those measures and could have allowed the Dark Lord's plans to succeed after all. Most of all you put yourself at risk, for no purpose. Now give me the flask.' He pointed to the bulge under Harry's coat.

Harry started to reach into his pocket, but then a disturbing suspicion struck him. He glanced at Sirius and nodded his head very slightly towards Dumbledore with a questioning expression. Sirius suddenly caught on, his eyes widening. Instead of bringing out the flask, Harry gripped his wand inside his coat and directed it at Dumbledore, hoping that Sirius would follow. `STUPEFY!' they both shouted, and red beams shot out and knocked over the tall figure in front of them.

Fred and George stared at them in amazement. `That's not the real Dumbledore,' Harry explained. As he spoke shouts came from the woods and at least a dozen Death Eaters emerged, wands pointing at them.

`Quick, up to the gates!' Sirius shouted, gesturing the others forward. The twins grabbed their father and then took out handfulls of a glittering powder from their pockets and scattered these on the ground around them. At once a towering barrier of flame and smoke sprang from the dust and enclosed the six of them together with the unconscious fake Dumbledore as they backed up against the gates.

` ``Mayhem and Distractions", ten out of ten,' Hermione whispered in Harry's ear. They ducked down as jets of stupefication spells stabbed blindly through the cloaking screen.

`Arthur, Fred, George, come here,' Sirius directed, `we should be able to open the gates, the castle has already accepted us. On a count of three ... one ... two ... three!' They all shouted `Alohomora!' and the gates reluctantly creaked apart with an agonised groaning. The gates tried to close again as Harry and Hermione squeezed in, but Sirius and the others held them open with summoning charms.

They ran across the grounds as the Death Eaters abandoned the barrier of fire still burning at the gates and spread out along the fence, aiming lethal curses at Harry and the others. Suddenly a scream came from behind them. Glancing back, Harry saw that one of their attackers had made the mistake of touching the fence and was now being steadily eaten by it, frantically trying to pull himself away as his hand disappeared into the metal.

Dozens of figures now began to emerge from the castle, including Maxwell Pendragon. The Death Eaters disapparated, leaving their colleague still screaming and writhing as he was pulled inoxerably into the carnivorous fence. A great wave of relief rose in Harry as he saw the real Dumbledore sweep out of the castle and hurry towards them, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.

They followed Dumbledore and McGonagall back to the castle. Professor McGonagall checked that none of them were injured, then led Mr Weasley away for further treatment when they reached the entrance hall. The twins went with him, exchanging worried glances at their father's still confused and disoriented state. Looking back across the grounds, Harry could see that a couple of prisoners were being brought to the castle from the perimeter.

Dumbledore ushered Harry, Sirius and Hermione into his small office. Fawkes blinked benignly at them as they sat down. Harry began to tell Dumbledore about his vision, their journey to London, and their success in rescuing Mr Weasley. He placed the flask of sinister seething black fluid onto Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore waved his wand and the substance suddenly ceased its movement and became a murky translucent liquid. `Then,' Harry continued, `we returned here and saw what we thought at first was you, waiting for us ...'

`They must have a metamorphmagus on their side, like Tonks,' Sirius said, frowning.

`I thought something was wrong when he wouldn't say Voldemort's name,' Harry said.

`I noticed he was too short,' added Hermione.

`Then when we managed to stun him, we knew it couldn't be you,' finished Harry.

Dumbledore smiled, `Well, it is fortunate that I am not so easy to imitate.'

`We've used that as a place to apparate to once too often, they knew where we would go,' Sirius said, his hair returning to its normal shape as the transfiguration spell wore off, `we'll have to think of somewhere else nearby.'

Suddenly a silver falcon flew in through the small window and deposited another cryptic letter tube on Harry's lap, glaring haughtily at Fawkes before speeding away in a flash of shimmering wings.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry as if completely aware of the significance of this delivery, which Hermione and Sirius still seemed unable to see. `I must thank all of you, and Fred and George Weasley, of course, for what you have achieved today. You have all demonstrated tremendous bravery and skill, and you have struck an important blow against Voldemort and his plans. However, it would have been preferable if you had thought to discuss this with me before setting out, it would have reduced the risks ...' He looked sharply at Harry.

`I'm sorry,' Harry mumbled, `I should have thought ... it seemed to make sense at the time, to do it on our own ... and it did work out,' he finished defensively.

`Yes, indeed. And time cannot be undone, in any case.' He contemplated the letter in Harry's hand. `Sirius, Hermione, could you excuse us, there are some things I must discuss now with Harry. Sirius, you need to return to your post, events there may soon move very fast. Hermione, I'm sure Ron and the other students will be very interested in an account of these events.' Sirius nodded curtly, clearly displeased at yet again being excluded from some of the many secrets that Dumbledore maintained within the order. He clasped Harry's shoulder as he left, telling him to take care and that he'd see him again soon.

When they had gone, Dumbledore sighed deeply, staring out through the small square of the window up at the grey afternoon sky. But then, Harry thought to himself, the sky here is always grey, it makes no difference if it's morning or afternoon, May or November ...

`Harry,' Dumbledore said gravely, `I must ask you to perform a rather unpleasant task. I believe you know by now how to enter Voldemort's mind at will, while keeping him unaware of your presence?'

Harry nodded resignedly. `Good,' Dumbledore continued, `so could I ask you now to find out his reaction to this morning's events, and his consequent plans?'

Harry steeled himself and cautiously tuned in to Voldemort's mind, but was unprepared for the raging torrent of anger that immediately filled his head. Voldemort was furious beyond words or rational thought, a thousand images of revenge against Harry, and against the inept guards of Mr Weasley, were streaming through his mind. Harry extracted himself as quickly as possible from this maelstrom of madness.

The calm surroundings of Dumbledore's office came back into focus around him. Dumbledore was watching him carefully, checking, Harry guessed, for any sign of possession. `What did you see?' Dumbledore asked.

`He's, er, very angry,' Harry said inadequately, `and he plans to try again. He's told Snape to repeat the process that produced the first batch ...' Harry recalled Voldemort's incandescent fury at Snape's reluctance to do this.

`So ... we have at most a few days before another attempt will be made,' Dumbledore said, `it would have been preferable to have more time, but it seems we will be forced to act ...' Harry went over again everything that he'd seen in his brief access to Voldemort's mind. As always, he gradually became aware of more and more feelings, thoughts and memories that were hidden in the apparantly incoherent overwhelming mass of impressions that arose in even the briefest vision.

`Where was Voldemort?' Dumbledore asked.

`In the same place as usual, I think,' Harry said, trying to remember, `an old house ...'

`Yes,' said Dumbledore, `that is to be expected. Well, Harry, that is all, please try to get some rest now, and good luck for this evening.' He nodded towards the letter.

Harry went immediately to the sick bay to check if Mr Weasley had recovered yet. Mrs Weasley and Ginny were sitting beside his bed, together with the twins and Ron and Hermione. Mr Weasley was sitting up and seemed to be almost back to normal, although still very pale. `Oh Harry!' Mrs Weasley exclaimed, standing up and hugging him, `that was a wonderful thing that you did, rescuing Arthur like that, it was so brave ...'

Harry freed himself with difficulty, and noticed Ginny smiling at his embarrassement, the first time he'd seen her smile since the attack on Beauxbatons. `Well I had to do it,' he said, `anyone would have done ... Fred and George, and Hermione and Sirius did just as much as me, more really.'

`All I did was get myself knocked out cold,' Fred disputed, `that didn't take much skill, even Ron could have managed that.'

Ron glared at him. Harry guessed that Ron was still feeling very annoyed at being left out of the rescue, and at being outdone once again by Hermione.

`Are you ok?' Harry asked Mr Weasley.

`Yes, Harry, but I still feel a bit out of things, you know, like I've just come out of a drugged sleep or something, but they say it'll wear off in a day or so ... that was a very powerful Imperius curse they used on me ... probably You-Know-Who did it himself.'

`Yes, he did,' Harry recalled, dredging this fact up from his mind's copy of Voldemort's memories for the first time, `you fought him very hard once you realised what he was telling you to do ...' The others all looked at him strangely, so he explained how he'd learnt to get deeply into Voldemort's mind and extract information from it, as if the thoughts, feelings and memories were his own. `I could even tell you what he had for breakfast yesterday,' he added.

`Something with snake venom in it,' suggested George.

`It couldn't be worse than what we get here,' Ginny complained, `I found a mouse wishbone in my cereal this morning.'

`Now, Ginny, we shouldn't criticise the school,' Mrs Weasley said, `they've been very good to take us in, and they're trying their best.'

`Yeah, they're trying their best to freeze us or poison us,' muttered Fred.

     *

Harry returned to the common room with Ron and Hermione and Ginny, and was promptly bombarded with questions from the other students who'd heard rumours about the rescue. Finally he managed to get away and sat down on his bed in the dormitory and opened the parchment case. The letter, as he'd expected, confirmed that his initiation into the Fellowship had been successful, and invited him to attend the formal election tonight, following the same procedure as before. As the letter vanished into thin air, he collapsed exhausted onto the bed, still fully dressed.

He woke in a panic, with no idea of the time. The sound of the other students sleeping came from all around him, the lights were out and it felt like the middle of the night. He fumbled urgently for his watch, squinting at the fuzzy figures until he could make out that it was ten minutes to midnight. He ran frantically out of the dormitory and down the corridor of the mirror, arriving just in time to see the surface transform into impenetrable darkness. He stepped through and was immediately swept up in a torrent of light and then ejected onto the floor of the fellowship's initiation chamber.

The chamber seemed even more full than before. Looking round while hastily trying to untangle his hair and clothes, Harry was startled to see Mr Ollivander sitting high up in the topmost row, staring down at him with his eerie wide pale eyes. A sharp rap of a staff on the stone floor brought Harry's attention back to the rostrum of the stadium, where Dexter was standing, now accompanied by two assistants, old wizards carrying scrolls and obscure instruments.

`Welcome back, Mr Potter,' Dexter said in his slightly patronising voice, `I am pleased to confirm that we have accepted you as a novice member of the Fellowship. This level of membership does not permit you access to any of the secrets of the Fellowship, however after ten years of novice membership, provided you have followed our precepts and rules of behaviour, you will be eligible for election to the advanced novice status, entitling you to share in some of the esoteric knowledge we have accumulated over the centuries.' He took a scroll from the assistant on his left and began to intone a series of mystical texts in incomprehensible languages. Harry noticed that several of the old members of the Fellowship were nodding vaguely, with glazed eyes, as if they too had never learned what these passages meant. He knew he was supposed to feel impressed by all this ceremonial ritual, and grateful for being accepted, but he couldn't help but wonder if the secret lore of the Fellowship was really worth ten years of celibacy ...

Dexter finally finished the scroll and took a golden garment from the hands of the assistant on his right, unwinding it to reveal a sash emblazoned with symbols of stars, the lightning rune, a flail, a crook, and a cat which bore a strange resemblance to Mrs Norris. Dexter muttered further incomprehensible incantations before draping the sash formally around Harry's shoulders.

`Henceforth you will be a noviate member of the Fellowship, level one, Mr Potter,' Dexter announced, `and I hope you will remain a member, corporeally at least, for a long time to come ...' Harry noticed that the rows of wizards were all looking down at him rather sadly.

He returned again through the conduit of light into the deserted dark corridor and fell fully clothed into bed, where sleep immediately overtook him.

     *

For two days nothing untoward occurred, but at lunch on Friday Harry noticed Professor McGonagall sweep urgently into the dining hall and whisper rapidly to Dumbledore, whereupon they both hurried out of the hall.

`Today's special: fried Grindylows,' Ron announced sarcastically, poking the thick rubbery strips of the mysterious green substance on his plate, which looked like it had undoubtedly once been alive, but possibly a long time ago ...

As lunch finished, Professor McGonagall returned to the hall and came up to their table and asked Harry to follow her. He shrugged as the others gave him questionning looks, but his heart was pounding in apprehension. `You have to see Professor Dumbledore,' McGonagall said quietly, when they had left the dining hall. She took him to Dumbledore's office and ushered him in, closing the door behind her as she departed.

Dumbledore clasped his hands together on his desk and regarded Harry somberly before speaking. `Voldemort is at Hogwarts now, Harry. It is a trap we have been preparing for many months, to lure him away from the protections at his grandfather's house. He has been very cautious about confronting you since he discovered the complete wording of Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy, but now he will be unable to avoid this. I must ask if you are ready to join us in this final battle, in order that you may fulfill the prophecy concerning you.'

`Which prophecy,' Harry asked, `the first or the last?'

`Both,' said Dumbledore gravely, `but I cannot tell you the details of the final prophecy until after the events it describes have come to pass, otherwise your knowledge may prevent its fulfilment.'

Harry felt a sudden rush of hope at the implications of this statement. `So I will survive?' he asked.

`I believe that is possible, yes,' Dumbledore said carefully.

     *

When Harry returned to the common room he was amazed to see that Hermione was still trying to revise, a stack of books open on the table in front of her as she worriedly consulted her revision planner.

`What's wrong?' he asked, sitting down beside her.

`I'm very behind with Transfiguration,' she said, hunting through the pile of parchments on the table, `I lost a couple of hours when we went to rescue Arthur.'

Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry from behind Hermione and shook his head in disbelief.

`Well, you may be able to sit your exams at Hogwarts after all,' Harry told her quietly.

She looked up at him in astonishment. `Why? What's happened?' she asked.

`Dumbledore plans to retake Hogwarts, today, he's asked me to join them. I have to go right away, I just felt I had to see you both to say, well ... goodbye ... that is, possibly, before I went.'

They stared at him in amazement. `How are you getting there?' Ron asked.

`We'll use Fawkes, I guess,' Harry said, wondering where Dumbledore planned to materialise.

`So I could go too?' Ron suggested, eagerly.

`Maybe,' Harry said reluctantly, `we'd have to ask Dumbledore ...'

`No, Ron, don't go!' Hermione said. They both stared at her.

`I have a very bad feeling about this,' Hermione said hesitantly, `I'm afraid that, if you go, you won't come back.'

`So it's a tragedy if Ron dies, but if I die, that's just my destiny?' Harry said angrily. Ginny and Luna saw them arguing and came over.

`I didn't mean that!' Hermione exclaimed, `I meant that obviously Dumbledore has planned this, so Harry won't be at unecessary risk, but there's no need for you to go, Ron, and it's bound to be very dangerous, isn't it?'

`Where are you going?' Ginny asked.

`Hogwarts,' Ron said shortly, `not that it's any of your business.'

She glared at him. `Excuse me, but I rather think it is my business if you go off and get yourself killed, though why I should care less, I don't know. Why are you going, anyway?'

Harry explained, feeling panic and fear rising unsurpressably inside him as the time for departure came closer.

`We'll all go,' Ginny said determinedly.

`No,' Harry insisted, `there's no need for any of you to put yourselves at risk. I have to go ... ever since Voldemort killed my parents I've had no choice but to work to defeat him ... I can't be free, I can't really live, while he still exists. And this is our chance to destroy him for good.'

He noticed Luna was gazing at Ron with a peculiar expression, a mix of admiration and sadness, as Ginny and Hermione continued to argue with Ron. Finally Harry said `I have to go now. I'll ask Dumbledore if Ron can come, but that's all.'

As he tried to leave Ginny rushed up to him and flung her arms around him. `Come back, please come back,' she sobbed into his shoulder.

He could see Ron grinning in triumph, but Harry just felt an overwhelming sadness and regret that he might never have the chance to fulfill this possibility of love.

Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Lupin had already arrived in Dumbledore's office when Harry returned with Ron. Lupin gave Harry a wan smile, but he looked even more exhausted and ill than usual, Harry realised that the full moon had just ended. He explained to Dumbledore that Ron wanted to come as well.

Dumbledore regarded Ron gravely, `you must realise the risks that we are taking in this endeavour,' he said, `I cannot guarantee your safety, and I rather suspect that if Arthur or Molly knew of your intentions, they would not approve.'

`I am of age,' Ron insisted defiantly, `and I know what the risks are, I just want to help Harry, and help the order.'

`Perhaps it would be best if he did not come with us, Dumbledore,' said Kingsley in his sombre voice, `given how critical this is, and we may not get another chance ...'

`He has a right to volunteer, to make the decision to risk his own life to support Harry. I'm sure Sirius would have done the same for James,' Lupin said gently. Tonks nodded her assent.

Dumbledore crossed the room and Fawkes flew from his perch onto Dumbledore's shoulder, fluffing up his golden feathers as if in preparation for a long journey. `Harry must be allowed to confront Voldemort, without assistance from any of us, and any interference by Voldemort's Death Eaters must be prevented,' Dumbledore explained, looking at each of them in turn. Harry was again struck by how old and tired he seemed, as if this might be his final effort, his ultimate attempt to defeat the sources of evil in the wizarding world. Dumbledore turned to Harry and Ron. `You must both act as if you do not know the prophecy, otherwise the prophecy may not be fulfilled, do you understand?'

A loud CRACK sounded in the corner of the office and Dobby materialised, with a look of mingled terror and determination on his face, his green tennis-ball eyes bulging larger than ever. He bowed to Dumbledore and said `It's safe to go now, sir, there's no wizards in the kitchen, only house elves, and they're all still loyal to you, sir.'

Dumbledore lifted Fawkes from his shoulder and held him out to all of them. `You have only to touch a feather,' he said to Harry and Ron.

Harry took his wand from his pocket and reached out and clasped part of Fawkes's tail, the plumage was strangely hot and a sense of lightness and displacement spread through him as he touched the phoenix. The others also put their hands on the bird. `Now,' said Dumbledore, and the office disappeared into a cascade of golden fire, which felt as if it was streaming through Harry's body, sweeping him across unknowable distances and spaces. Abruptly the flames vanished and the familiar huge hall of the Hogwarts kitchens shimmered into solidity around him. A circle of house-elves were watching them and began to quietly applaud. Harry noticed that several of them bore the signs of recent punishments, with bandaged hands and ears. A second later, Dobby reappeared and led Dumbledore to a strange tubular instrument set in the wall. `The Orders Pipe, sir,' he explained, `this is where we hear any request the staff makes for a house elf, anywhere in the castle. But I've set it so it listens to your office only, sir.' He opened the end of the tube and at once Harry could hear Voldemort's icy contemptuous voice, sounding as angry as he had been after the failure of his first attempt to wipe out Muggles.

`Snape, you have but one use to me, your skill as a potions-maker. That is the only reason you are still alive. Nevertheless, if I find that you are still in contact with Albus Dumbledore, you will be killed.'

`I have no wish to contact that Mudblood-lover,' Snape said venomously.

`No, you believe you will be able to overthrow me on your own, together with your traitorous friend Malfoy here, don't you.'

`My Lord,' came Lucius Malfoy's oily obsequous voice, `I am no friend of Muggles, but taking such measures as you propose will only lose us the support we have gained within the wizarding world ...'

`Your concern is misplaced, Lucius,' Voldemort retorted, `Muggles are no more than filth and vermin, they have persecuted the wizarding race through all history, and it is time now to take revenge. You simply lack the courage to do what is necessary.'

At once there were shouts from outside the office and Harry heard the door being opened and a voice he recognised as Bellatrix Lestrange's apologising in a panic as a gutteral male voice shouted `There's an attack on the castle, Master, coming from the forest, the Dementors are being driven back!'

`This is your doing, Snape,' Voldemort snarled murderously, `Bellatrix, stay here and make sure he does not escape. Rabastan, Malfoy, come with me.'

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, who was nodding, deep in thought. `It is time,' Dumbledore said, `we will try to intercept Voldemort. Harry, you must be ready at any moment, you may only get one chance, do you understand?' He waited for Harry, who felt unable to speak with the weight of nerves and apprehension pressing in on his mind, to nod in acknowledgment, and then led the way to the entrance of the kitchens, Fawkes gliding and swooping above him.

They went silently along the broad corridor decorated with paintings of food, which Harry remembered wistfully from his fourth year and Hermione's attempts at trying to raise the awareness of the house elves. It all seemed such a long while ago, a completely different life and a carefree existence, although he knew at the time it had felt anything but.

They did not follow the stairs up to the entrance hall, but instead entered a secret passageway concealed behind a tapestry of ale-swilling monks. A narrow spiral of stone stairs led crookedly upwards. As he ascended the staircase he heard voices, apparently inside his head, saying `Don't be afraid Harry, we'll be with you.' After a moment he realised these belonged to his mother and father.

The stairs ended in a corridor dimly illuminated by recessed arrow-firing slits in the stone walls. Through these he could see running battles taking place across the lawns, flashes of spells from duelling wizards, and roars and bellows of unidentifiable beasts as centaurs, unicorns and acromantulas fought against the hordes of dark creatures Voldemort had set around the school.

Harry walked on silently along the corridor, and suddenly realised that he was shivering violently with tension, as if he was holding himself together through fear alone. Dumbledore turned to him and asked, very quietly, `do you know what you are going to do, Harry?' Harry nodded and Dumbledore gave him a small smile.

They continued along a series of further narrow hidden corridors and steep stairs, but did not encounter anyone. A strange sense of desolation and emptiness hung over the castle. Harry realised that there must be very few students left, and that it was anyway still the Easter holidays. Finally Dumbledore motioned them to halt. They had reached the corridor with the gargoyle gaurding the entrance to the headmaster's office. There was no sign of Voldemort, but there were two Death Eaters patrolling in front of the gargoyle, one of them Harry assumed was Crabbe senior, since he had the same pudding-basin haircut and gorilla arms and face as his son. Dumbledore flicked his wand slightly towards them, and the next second they were suddenly halted in mid-step, frozen into the forms of gargoyles at least as grotesque as the door-keeper statue. Only Crabbe's eyes were moving, shuttling helplessly back and forth, as he keeled slowly over and crashed onto the floor with a resounding thud. His companion remained upright, suspended in a bizarre posture as if by a trick of gravity. Harry and the others followed Dumbledore stealthily to the hidden doorway. The gargoyle moved slightly, Harry could see it was grinning in its twisted fashion down at Dumbledore, and at his gesture it leapt aside, revealing the moving spiral stairway up to the headmaster's office.

Dumbledore asked Kingsley and Tonks to remain behind, and then strode forwards onto the stairs, Fawkes sweeping through the air above him. Harry followed, but as soon as he took one step over the threshold of the entrance the stairway disappeared and he felt himself hurtling down into a pit of darkness. He landed painfully on a cold stone floor but quickly got to his feet, wand at the ready, alert for any trap. A mocking laugh came from behind him and he spun round, prepared instantly to utter the critical spell. But it was not Voldemort who stood sneering at him from the other side of this strange dark chamber with its black undefinable walls, it was Snape.

`What are you doing?' Harry said angrily, `we need to act quickly to stop Voldemort!'

`You can never defeat the Dark Lord, Potter,' Snape said contemptuously, a strange fanatical obsessive look in his eyes.

`I'm the only one who can,' Harry retorted furiously

`Always so arrogant,' Snape sneered, `just like your father, he always thought he knew best as well, refusing to take anyone's advice, and see what happened to him. But this time, Potter, you will leave such matters to those who understand them, you will stay here while I sort ...'

A cry of `STUPEFY!' interrupted Snape's words, but Snape instantly conjured a shield to deflect the spell and spun round, blasting his attacker with a seething violet light which burned and crackled as it shot through the air, partly blinding Harry so that for a moment he didn't realise that it was Ron who had tried to stun Snape, and who now was hurled back into the misty blackness around them and remained crumpled and motionless on the ground.

`STUPEFY!' Harry yelled, and this time Snape did not react in time and was blasted off his feet by the force of Harry's spell and lay motionless at the edge of the darkness beyond Ron.

Harry ran over and knelt beside Ron, who seemed ominously rigid and cold, his skin bleached white by the curse. Heart racing with terror, Harry struggled to lift the body and pull back the sleeves of Ron's cloak. Surely that was a pulse, he thought, please let it be ... But he couldn't tell, and putting his hand in front of Ron's face he could feel no breath. He turned to the unconscious figure of Snape, feeling a violent hatred more extreme than anything he'd ever felt before. He knew he would have used the killing curse on Snape, if he'd known it. Instead he muttered `Incarcerous' to imprison the body with cords, and pocketed Snape's wand.

He probed cautiously into the blackness at the point where Ron had emerged, and suddenly felt himself caught up in a vortex, spinning and falling uncontrollably, yet looking back at the chamber where Snape and Ron lay unconscious, he could see he was actually motionless. He forced himself to ignore the illusion that had been placed on his senses, and took a step forward. Now the darkness folded completely around him and the false sense of movement grew even stronger. Stretching out his arms he touched rough-hewn stone and suddenly the darkness and sensation of falling disappeared, and he found himself emerging apparantly out of a solid wall back into the corridor of the gargoyle.

The passageway floor was covered with smears and footprints of blood, and with bodies, which Harry couldn't tell if they were dead or simply stunned: Tonks, Kingsley, Dobby, Malfoy, Crabbe, Rabastan, and three others that Harry didn't recognise.

The shouts and crashes of a violent duel came from round the corner of the corridor. Without stopping to think, Harry ran towards the sounds of Voldemort and Dumbledore's battle. He arrived to see Voldemort launch a killing curse which Dumbledore only just avoided. But before Harry could counter-attack, his mind was suddenly imprisoned in a black cage of pain and he staggered and collapsed onto the floor, feeling unbearable agony as if a red-hot wire was being pulled through his skull as Voldemort tried to possess him.

Harry concentrated, fighting with all his strength against the black coils of the serpent which was attempting to crush his mind out of existence, to destroy him with pain. He thought of Hermione and Ginny, the love he felt for them, and of Ron, who was surely not dead ... The snake's coils weakened and collapsed and the surroundings of the spell-scorched corridor came back into focus. As Harry overcame and drove out the possession, he could sense Voldemort's fear.

Through his pain-blurred vision Harry saw Dumbledore wield his wand like a whip and a spell of collosal force swept towards Voldemort, who parried it and deflected it to crash against the wall, pulverising a stone column into dust. Voldemort sent another killing curse against Dumbledore, and as Harry watched in horror, this time Dumbledore did not move fast enough and it made contact, hurling him to the floor. Yet he did not immediately die, but instead struggled to raise himself on one arm as Voldemort advanced on him. Dumbledore looked past Voldemort and stared straight into Harry's eyes. `Harry ...' he managed to utter before the last light of life was extinguished from his face and he collapsed motionless, dead.

Harry felt numb with horror and loss but also absolutely determined not to fail, now that everything depended on him ...

As Voldemort whipped round, pointed his wand at Harry and shouted `Avada Kedavra!', Harry whispered `Nexus submuto' and suddenly he was looking down at himself out of Voldemort's eyes. At the same instant Voldemort found himself watching out of Harry's eyes as his own fatal curse hurtled towards him. He realised in a fraction of a second what was happening, and fought desperately against Harry's incantation to return to his own body and its protections against death, but it was too late ...