Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Epilogue

Three days later a very disgruntled Harry Potter was released from the Hospital Wing. His friends and even many of teachers had visited him regularly but none of them had told him anything about what had happened, under the strict orders of the school mediwitch. Finally the Headmaster had promised to tell him everything once he was out. He walked down the corridor holding hands with Ginny, with Sirius and Remus walking behind them.

"Where to?" he asked as they climbed the stairs.

"The Headmaster's office," Sirius replied from behind him. "He thought that might be the best place."

Harry nodded they walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they got there, Harry had to endure a round of hugs from most of the people in the office before he could sit down. He looked around and saw that apart from Sirius, Remus and his Battle Guard, the others in the room were the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Tonks, Nhean, Jun'ko, Tien, Ichiro, Fred, George and Tonks.

He sat down with a sigh on the couch next to Ginny and leaned back.

"So can I get my questions answered now?" he said with exasperation.

Chuckles ran around the room and the Headmaster looked at him with his eyes twinkling.

"Of course, Harry. Where would you like us to start?"

"Hang on," Sirius objected before Harry could say anything. "I want to know what happened to Harry first."

"As do I," Snape said archly.

Harry sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. Okay, I suppose that's a bit more important, isn't it?"

"Only if you wish to tell us, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry was silent for several minutes as he marshalled his thoughts then he spoke quietly.

"I have a vague memory of waking up in the middle of the night with Wormtail leaning over me then I smelt something kind of sweet then I...I think I fell asleep again."

"Dormira potion," Snape said neutrally. "Very similar in action to the Muggle drug chloroform."

"Oh," Harry said. He was silent again for a moment then continued. "I woke up in that room you found me in. I think I was lying pretty close to that pillar thing and...well, this is the odd thing. Pettigrew had brought my cane along and he'd placed it so I was lying on it and no one else could see it."

"The life debt," Hermione said quietly. "He still owed you a life debt so he obviously brought the cane along to try and help you as best as he could."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I guessed," Harry said with a quick look at her. "Anyway, Voldemort...or Draco...or...well, both of them...started...taunting me. I knew you'd all be looking for me so I decided all I really had to do was try and stay alive. He...used the Cruciatus on me a few times and then..." Harry paused and shot a look at the Weasley twins. "Then Fred and George came in."

"You saw them?" Tien asked curiously.

Harry shook his head. "No but I heard them. And I understood the message. Copycats."

"That was a stroke of genius, if I do say so myself," Fred said smugly, burnishing his nails on his shirt.

"Of course it was," George replied. "I thought of it."

"You?" Fred said indignantly. "I think you'll find it was me."

"It was both of you," Ron said with a roll of his eyes. "Now shut up and let Harry get on with it."

"Yes, O honourable ickle brother," Fred and George said in unison with wicked grins.

Harry laughed then continued. "So that was when I knew you were all there. The Death Eaters used the Killing Curse on the illusions of Fred and George and that seemed to dispel them."

"It was an interesting experience," Fred said sotto voce.

"Tell me about it," Hermione said dryly.

Harry flashed them a grin and continued. "Voldemort seemed to think it was something I did, maybe because of the last time, when I was using the illusion. Anyway, he tried the Cruciatus again then the illusions of Sirius and Remus and then my Battle Guard, Master Nhean, Jun'ko and Tien arrived. I was able to use the distraction to get away from the spell sphere and then Voldemort and I duelled for a little bit. But when the illusions all got destroyed I got a little outmanoeuvred. Then Voldemort got me with an Impedimenta and the Death Eaters surrounded me." He shuddered. "I thought I was dead until Tien arrived with the other Night Warriors." He looked over at the Vietnamese man. "How did you do that? I gathered that it went pitch black in there just before you arrived."

Nhean, Jun'ko and Tien all laughed.

"An old trick, Harry," Nhean replied. "And one you'll learn in the next few years. It's a simple but effective spell that induces darkness. Unfortunately it only has a limited life. I think it failed shortly before Sirius got into the room."

Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. I remember thinking Pansy could see us just after I killed Draco."

"So what happened after the Night Warriors arrived?" Dumbledore asked.

"They took the Death Eaters and I took Voldemort," Harry said grimly. "Voldemort was at a bit of a disadvantage because he couldn't see but I still could with the Oversight. But I knew I couldn't kill him. That only Draco could cast him out. I...kind of took a risk that Draco could hear me and I told him what he needed to do. I guess he heard me and cast the spell because he suddenly stopped moving and in the Oversight I saw this black, sort of oily smoke ooze out of Draco. He collapsed to the ground and I...well, I tranced down." He shrugged. "I'm not sure why I did that except it felt right."

"You've made quite the career of relying on sheer, dumb luck," McGonagall said with amusement.

Harry smiled wryly. "I guess I have. Anyway, when I tranced down I could see these...threads reaching out from the cloud towards any magical source they could find. I grabbed one and realised they were very similar to the ones that made up that trap of Pansy's so I figured I could do the same thing with these ones as I did with those. So I put up the shielding Master Nhean taught me and started. Voldemort must have realised what I was doing because he tried to stop me. The...cloud itself couldn't get through the shield but more of those tendrils could get through. They started choking me so I kind of made a desperate move. I put the end of the thread I was working with near the pillar and saw that the pillar just sucked the energy right out of it. It only took seconds."

"And overloaded the obelisk," Tien murmured. "I'd wondered how that happened."

"What?" Harry said.

"Nothing," Tien replied quickly. "We'll tell you in a minute. So what happened next?"

Harry gave him a look then continued. "I was in the middle of monitoring the last part of the process when my side started really hurting. It pulled me out of the trance and I realised Draco was right next to me. He stabbed me again and I brought my sword around as hard as I could. I...think I made the injuries worse doing that but all I could think of was protecting myself." He shrugged and looked slightly uncomfortable. "Then I collapsed and passed out. I just remember thinking it wasn't fair that I'd actually managed to kill Voldemort and both of us weren't meant to die."

"I think that if Draco attacked a Night Warrior...and he must have had some idea of what you are and what you're capable of...then he deserved his fate," Nhean said quietly. "You defended yourself instinctively. You were perfectly entitled to do so."

"Yeah," Harry breathed, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I know. I just...wish I hadn't had to do it."

"Mr Malfoy chose his own path," Snape said soberly. "He made his own choices."

Harry considered that for a moment then nodded. "Yeah. So what happened with all of you?"

There was a moment of silence as they all looked around, trying to work out where to start.

Finally Ron rolled his eyes and explained about how he'd woken up to find Harry gone but had thought he was merely downstairs. But when he'd gotten down to the common room to find it empty, he'd known something was wrong. He'd then told how he'd gone immediately up to the office they were currently in and told the Headmaster as well as Professor McGonagall and Snape. He told how Snape had worked out about the Dormira potion and that everyone had gathered in the Guild classroom to try and work out what to do next.

"We had three likely places you could be but didn't know how to find out which one was the right one," Ron continued. "Then Hermione worked it out."

"Dobby," Hermione said, picking up the thread of the story. "He was the Malfoy's house elf so he'd know Malfoy Manor. I thought that he'd at least be able to either confirm you were there or rule one option out. But underestimated how much he likes you. When he heard what had happened he took it upon himself to go to all three. He said he knew them all. I guess Lucius Malfoy must have taken him. He came back and he'd been hurt badly. He said you were at Riddle Manor."

"Is he alright?" Harry asked urgently.

Hermione smiled. "I've been down to see him everyday. He's fine. He's thrilled that he was able to help and that you're okay. The other house elves have been having a difficult time keeping him in bed."

"He's as bad as you, Harry," Sirius said roguishly.

Harry mock-scowled at his godfather then asked, "So what did you do next?"

"Once we knew where you were, the planning wasn't that difficult," Dumbledore said. "I suspected that Tom would be too distracted to notice us coming through the wards but we still had to find you in the house. Dobby was merely able to tell us you were there, not your precise location. That's why we sent the illusions in first. As I'm sure you remember from when you used it, I made an alteration that allows you to see and hear what your illusion sees. Fred and George were able to locate you and the rest sent their illusions in to distract Voldemort and to give us time to get to you. I kept Remus with me to protect me while I dealt with the wards. I didn't trust Tom not to have some kind of traps in the area and I needed full concentration to deal with the wards so that the Ministry would be able to get through. The others went after you."

"We went in first," Tien said. "Nhean cast and held the darkness spell and the rest of us went in. Your friends weren't too happy about that but they had to admit that in the dark we have the advantage. You reacted well when we came in. We weren't sure what kind of condition you were in but you could see how easy it was to deal with the Death Eaters when we change the odds a little."

"The rest of us waited outside," Sirius picked up the story this time. "So we were ready when those Death Eaters came running out. They were caught because of the Night Warriors behind them, so they fought pretty hard. That's why it took the rest of us so long to get to you. I was the first to get to the doors and I came in just as Bella and Pansy Parkinson apparated out. I'll admit I didn't much care about them. You...you were in a pretty bad way. I sent Ginny to get Severus and Poppy."

Harry stared at his godfather. Sirius had called Severus by his first name. What was going on here?

Sirius apparently ignored his reaction as he continued. "That's when we ran into another problem. We couldn't move you until Poppy could stabilise you. You'd lost a lot of blood and your lung had collapsed."

"And by feeding all of Voldemort's life force into the obelisk, you'd badly overloaded it," Tien added. "It was a good solution to the problem. You couldn't have known how close to the edge that obelisk was. We had to get everyone out of there but you couldn't be moved. Hermione suggested we shield you. All of us all at the same time. With any luck the shields would hold."

"Good one, Hermione," Harry said with a smile and Hermione blushed. "I take it the shield worked."

"Yes," Tien replied with relief. "I wasn't sure they would but they held...just."

"Once that was over, we brought you back here and ...well, I think you know the rest," Sirius concluded.

Harry nodded and silence fell in the room and everyone considered the stories that had been told.

"So what now?" Harry asked, feeling a little lost. "I...I don't really know what to do with myself. It sort of feels like my whole life has been about Voldemort."

"I believe you have NEWTs to prepare for and a Tyro to consider," Snape said in reply. "I would think that was enough for now."

"We still have to do our NEWTs?" Ron asked with a tragic expression.

"Of course, Mr Weasley," Professor McGonagall said in a scandalised tone as the others laughed. "You have your future to consider."

Ron sighed miserably. "I was hoping they'd be called off in the celebrations."

Harry laughed at his friend then gave Sirius a curious look.

"Why are you suddenly calling Professor Snape by his name?" he asked bluntly.

Sirius shrugged uncomfortably. "He saved your life. I didn't know what to do and he did. I guess it's hard to hate a man who saves your family."

Harry nodded and smiled at his godfather. "Good." He then looked over at Snape and grinned impishly. "And I distinctly remember you calling me Harry. What's going on there?"

"I believe you must be mistaken, Mr Potter," Snape replied, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"Oh no, I remember that much," Harry said. "You called me Harry. And more than once."

"You are definitely delusional," Snape replied with arch amusement. "Harry."

The others laughed as Harry looked triumphant.

"So...NEWTs and the tyro," Harry said comfortably when the laughter died down. "I guess I can handle that for now."

"Yeah, NEWTs, the tyro and Ginny is enough to keep any sane person busy," Ron said with a grin.

Ginny leaned over and whacked her brother on the arm as Harry laughed. It was over and he'd won. Voldemort was dead and so was Draco. His family was intact and it seemed he had a future to look forward to. Life had never been better.

The End