The Last Two Chapters

The Last Three Chapters

Third Last Chapter: The Boy Who Lived Again

Harry sat in his dormitory with Neville and Ron on their beds beside him. It was April 22^nd. Professor Dumbledore had predicted that Voldemort would approach him before the end of the school year over six months ago. He yawned. He didn't mind. The Dark Lord could take as much time as he wanted. Harry wasn't in much of a mood to see him.

'Owww...' exclaimed Harry, a bit louder than he would've liked.

'What is it, Harry?' asked Neville.

'Nothing.' That was a lie. It was his scar. Oh well. Harry ignored it. It must've hurt because he was thinking about Voldemort.

Harry's hand twitched. The pain was intense. His stomach turned over.

'Ron! Neville!'

'Uh huh,' the two other boys said in unison.

'Get out now,' Harry whispered.

'What? Why?' asked Ron.

'Just get out,' he said quickly.

Neville and Ron looked puzzled.

'I'll explain later.'

Neville and Ron walked out of the room, extremely puzzled, looking at Harry over their shoulders.

Harry grabbed his wand.

'Are you there?' he asked. 'I know you are.'

He spun around nervously.

*

Ron and Neville walked down to the common-room, where most of the other Gryffindors were reading or talking.

'That was weird,' said Neville.

'What?' asked Colin Creevey.

'Harry just told us to leave the dormitory without telling us why or anything,' said Ron.

A few minutes later, half of Gryffindor was standing in the stairwell, listening for and talking or noise.

They heard Harry's voice. 'Show yourself! I know you're there.'

'Who's he talking to?' Ginny asked. 'Dobby?'

'No,' said Ron. 'Let's listen, and we'll find out.'

'How did you know I was here?' said a sinister voice.

'I felt it,' said Harry, disgusted.

Hermione's eyes opened wide. 'Is it...'

Ron nodded. 'I think so.'

'Who?' asked Colin.

'He Who Shall Not Be Named,' whispered a fifth year.

Harry's voice continued. 'How did you get in here? There's no fireplace.'

'Invisibility cloak,' said Voldemort.

'I see.'

'Now be quiet so I can make your death less painful.'

Hermione gripped Ginny and Ron's hands.

'You're not going to kill me,' said Harry.

'What makes you think that?' said Voldemort.

'You know.'

'That scar is of little use anymore, Potter.'

'Not my scar,' said Harry. 'My eyes.'

'Your eyes.'

'My mother's eyes.'

'Oh, shut up! Everyone thinks sweet little Harry's protected by his mother's love,' said Voldemort horribly. 'Your mother is dead.'

'You shut up,' said Harry. 'You are not going to murder me.'

'Shall I demonstrate?'

'You are not going to kill me.'

'Watch me!' he said bitterly. 'Avada Kedavra!'

Several of the people in the stairwell began to cry.

'You dodged that one, Potter, but you can't dodge this!'

'Avada Kedavra!' yelled Harry and Voldemort in unison.

There was a brief silence. Then they heard voices. The students in the hall listened horribly as they heard the voices of many people who were presumed dead.

The students in the hall were surprised to hear the voice of Cedric Diggory.

'Harry, don't let go. I know you can do this!'

Then a voice was heard that only Ron, Neville and Hermione recognized.

'Sirius,' Ron whispered.

'Just concentrate Harry, think deeply. You can overcome this.'

'Harry! I'm so glad to be seeing yer again. Don' worry about us, we're fine,' said Hagrid happily.

'Hate it when that happens,' said Voldemort coldly.

'Why do you want to kill me?'

'Power, Mister Potter. Above all, I desire power, and you can give me that power.'

'Really?' said Harry. 'Avada Kedavra!'

'You can't kill me!' exclaimed the Dark Lord.

'You were lucky that time,' said Harry, much braver than he felt.

'Imperio!' screamed Voldemort.

After a minute, Voldemort spoke again. 'You are much more powerful than I thought, Potter. You may be able to defy the Imperius curse, but what about... Crucio!''

Harry screamed. Neville closed his eyes, whimpering. Voldemort let out a high, cold laugh.

'I'll kill you yet, Potter!' shrieked Voldemort. 'Just you wait! Avada Kedavra!'

But he was too late. Harry had uttered the same words. Ron gasped as the Gryffindors heard a thump, and a long pause.

Finally, they saw the knob turn. They ran into the common-room, unsure of who would be stepping out of the room.

'What if it's - him?' whispered Parvati.

The frightened children cowered and awaited whatever was to emerge from the stairwell.

The Gryffindors grinned and cheered as a blood-soaked Harry ran out of the room, out of Gryffindor tower, and down the hall. The Gryffindors all followed him out into the hall, watching him run too Dumbledore's office.

'That's the boy who lived,' said Dean, smiling. 'That's Harry.'

*

'Professor Dumbledore!' Harry ran into the Headmaster's office, drenched in sweat and blood.

'Harry?' he said, surprised. 'What in the name of...'

'He's gone,' said Harry.

Professor Dumbledore smiled. His eyes twinkled.

'Harry Potter. I don't know what to say.' He smiled. 'To the infirmary with you!'

Harry walked down the hall, quite dizzy. He had killed someone. Not just someone, but Voldemort. He realized this, and then fainted.

*

Harry woke up a few hours later in the infirmary. The first thing he saw was a pair of moon-shaped glasses.

'Professor Dumbledore?' mumbled Harry. 'Whattimesisit?'

'It has been ten days since you - since this happened.'

'Ten days!'

'We had to perform a series of charms to keep you alive, but, my boy, you're doing quite well.'

'Professor Dumbledore? Am I going to be expelled?' asked Harry.

'Expelled? Of course not!' the old man smiled. He looked away briefly, and his smile faded. 'Actually, it is not up to me, it's up to the Ministry - nut I'm sure you'll be fine.' Harry noticed a note of worry in his voice.

'But I performed an Unforgivable Curse...'

'You did,' said Dumbledore. 'And we're all very proud of you.'

Dumbledore moved to the side and revealed Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin, both smiling and beaming. Their eyes were full of tears. Harry smiled at them.

'Oh, and I almost forgot! Your young friends are also here to visit. They've been quite worried.'

The adults stepped out of the room and Ron and Hermione appeared from the corridor.

Harry sat up. 'You don't know how happy I am to see you!'

Hermione ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. She then stepped in and kissed him. Harry blushed, but Hermione showed no signs of embarrassment at all.

Ron grinned and squeezed Harry around the middle. 'I knew you could do it.'

*

'Come on, Harry!' said Ron, leading Harry down the hall. 'Everyone's waiting for you!'

Harry was nervous. He had no idea how this would turn out. Would the students be proud, or frown upon him and call him a murderer? He could just imagine Parvati Patil saying, 'You're just as bad as him.'

They walked quickly to the Great Hall doors. Harry's stomach was in knots.

Hermione seemed to read his mind.

'You nervous?'

Harry nodded. Hermione and Ron pushed open the doors. Harry broke out into a cold sweat. He took a few steps in. Hermione and Ron sat down. He went to sit, but he was interrupted by a sound.

The Great Hall burst in an uproar of clapping and cheering. Harry just stood there, embarrassed. He looked over at the Slytherin table. Even Crabbe and Goyle were clapping, despite dirty looks from Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy looked around. He realized he was the only person in the hall (besides Harry) who wasn't clapping or cheering. He looked around, embarrassed, and began to unenthusiastically put his hands together. He let out a cheer of 'Yeah, Potty!'

Harry caught Malfoy's eye and grinned. He grinned back.

After nearly fifteen minutes, the clapping died down and Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, grinning.

Dumbledore set off a few dozen fireworks from his wand.

'Quiet!' he bellowed. He continued, 'Today, in case any of you have not heard, Mister Potter defeated his greatest enemy. Shall I hear you all call out his name?'

The crowd went silent.

'He's mad,' whispered a third year.

'It's all right,' said Dumbledore. 'Come on, say it!'

The Slytherins quietly called out, 'Voldemort!'

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs followed, calling out, a bit louder, 'Voldemort!'

The Gryffindors all looked at Harry, and, grinning, they bellowed, 'VOLDEMORT!'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'I believe I told Mister Potter back in first year, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Am I right?'

The students all nodded.

'So now, all together,' Dumbledore said.

'VOLDEMORT!!!' the entire school screamed. Harry didn't, though. He was too busy laughing.

Last Chapter: Home at Last

In the quiet of his dormitory, Harry opened his eyes, and again saw Professor Dumbledore's moon-shaped glasses.

'We've got to stop meeting like this,' he grinned.

Dumbledore laughed. 'I have his wand, Harry. If you'd like to do the honours.'

Harry looked at it, smiled, and snapped it in half. He removed the single, beautiful phoenix feather and placed it on the table beside him.

'Whoa,' said Harry, as the feather burst into flames, much like Fawkes did on a burning day.

'Pity,' said Dumbledore. 'Those make great quills.'

*

'Two weeks left,' said Hermione. 'It's good exams are only starting next week.'

'Don't remind me,' groaned Ron.

'I'm so proud of you, Harry,' said Hermione. 'We both are.'

Ron nodded.

'Let's go have dinner,' said Hermione.

'All right.'

The three best friends walked up to the great hall, their arms around Harry's shoulders, very slowly. Harry walked into the Hall. He didn't know what to expect. Nothing happened. Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, a bit stunned, and began to eat. No one spoke to him, or to each other. When they had finished eating, Dumbledore stood up to make a speech.

'Ahem. As you all know, killing a dark witch or wizard is one of the most challenging things anyone can try to accomplish. Killing one of the most powerful is near impossible. Now, as you know, using one of the Unforgivable curses is extremely illegal. The punishment for a student would be to expel him and to spend his life in the Prison of Azkaban.'

Harry's muscles tightened.

Dumbledore continued. 'One student has killed a wizard with the Avada Kedavra curse' - he looked at Harry - 'this student is Mister Harry Potter. If it was my decision, of course, this would be overlooked, but it's up to the minister to decide - so, what do you think, Arthur? Should we make an exception?'

Harry noticed that Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley was sitting at the High Table as well.

'I think so,' he said, grinning.

Ron grinned at his father. Arthur winked.

'Dumbledore began to clap. The teachers and Minister followed suit. The Gryffindors began to clap, followed by Draco Malfoy, who was calling out, 'Yeah, Potty!' The students all began to applaud and cheer. The teachers stood up. The students did the same.

Harry was shocked. Five minutes ago, he thought he would be expelled. Now, he was getting a standing ovation.

'Go, Potty!'

Harry laughed and grinned. It was over. It was finally over. For good.

*

'I guess this is goodbye,' said Harry as he stood with his two best friends at King's Cross Station.

'Not forever,' said Ron.

'I'm sure we'll see each other soon,' said Hermione, and she burst into tears.

'What's next for you?' asked Ron.

'I'm going to find somewhere to live!' exclaimed Harry. 'What're you guys doing?'

'Nothing,' said Ron.

'Absolutely nothing,' said Hermione.

'I'll be right back,' said Ron. He ran to his family's new, enchanted car, an old Volvo van.

'I'll miss you,' said Hermione, squeezing him round the middle. 'A lot.'

'Me too,' said Harry. He hugged her tightly.

'Ron! What're you doing?' asked Harry, confused. Ron still had his trunk with him.

'Coming with you, of course.'

'Wait for me!' squealed Hermione, as she ran to say goodbye to her family.

'I guess we won't have to miss each other,' Harry said, as Hermione ran back.

*

'So... London or Devon?' Harry asked his friends. They were sitting in the Knight bus, trying to decide where they would buy their first home.

'London, definitely.'

'It's 'Arry Potter,' someone whispered behind them.

'Is it?' asked a woman.

'I wonder if your scar had anything to do with you defeating Voldemort,' said Ron.

'Maybe, but it's probably just a link that bound us.'

'It's probably still useful,' said Hermione, pulling back his fringe.

Ron and Hermione gaped.

Hermione gasped.

'Harry, where's your scar?'