Harry Potter and the Scar of Fate

Chapter 17

Dead Man's Folly

Harry Potter woke up to see Albus Dumbledore bending over him solicitously.

"Where is he?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"Gone. You won, Harry."

Harry looked around. He was still lying in the Chamber of Secrets. He could see Voldemort's body lying a few feet away.

"What happened? Is he - is he dead?"

"Yes."

Harry stood up, shaking, and went over to his grandfather's body. The red eyes had become green, and stared ahead, unseeing. The chalk white, snake-like face had reverted to their original features, which were rather similar to Harry's own. The black robes had torn from the front, revealing a lightning bolt shaped scar on the chest. A tear rolled down Harry's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and was pulled into a tight hug. He sobbed, letting out all his grief and guilt. It was only after he had stopped crying that he realised it was his Headmaster who was hugging him.

"Thank you, sir," he said quietly.

Dumbledore smiled at him.

"What happened?" Harry asked again.

"I'm not sure, my boy. He cast the Avada Kedavra on you, which got reflected by your shield and hit him instead. Both of you were down on your knees, screaming. I am not sure what caused the pain, the curse or the connection. Then suddenly, your scar emitted a white light in the shape of a lightning bolt and hit him. He died. I am not sure, but I think that it was the power of your love for others which drew that from you. He underestimated that power again. That proved to be his undoing. I believe that the love you held for your grandfather was responsible for the reversion to his original features. Lord Voldemort has been defeated, child. Come, let's go."

"He wanted to be cremated..."

"We will arrange it. Come, your friends will be waiting for you."

Fawkes the phoenix floated in front of them. Dumbledore caught hols of his tail and was about to grab Harry's hand when Harry said, "Wait! Where is his wand? Where are the cores we dispelled?"

"They all merged into your wand, Harry. I have not doubt that your wand is the most powerful wand since Merlin's staff."

Harry gave his hand to Dumbledore and they appeared in the Great Hall. A silence fell as people saw them.

"Lord Voldemort is dead," said Dumbledore.

After almost a minute of shocked silence, the hall broke into cheers and applause. Within an hour, the entire magical world was celebrating, unaware of the fact that their saviour was sitting alone in the Room of Requirements, wallowing in guilt.

Harry looked up as the door creaked open. Severus Snape stood at the threshold, looking unsure. When he saw Harry looking up at him, however, he walked inside and sat down next to the boy he had loved to hate not so long ago.

"What did you do to Granger and Lupin?"

"Nothing much. I just put a spell on all of you so that if you got hit by any of the Unforgivables, it would be redirected to me. I can cast them away almost immediately without spending a lot of my power. Better me than you all."

Snape stared at him in shock.

"Foolish boy! How could you jeopardise the mission so badly. If you hadn't been lucky and the curses had hit you at the wrong moment..."

Harry held up a hand.

"They didn't, Professor. In fact, Voldemort didn't even notice when I got the Imperius."

They both fell quiet for a moment.

Finally, Snape said quietly, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah."

"Come, people are waiting. The cremation ceremony is to be performed."

Harry followed him quietly. Only Dumbledore, Remus, Snape, Ron and Hermione were present at the cremation. It was quickly done. The ashes were buried in the graveyard next to Lily's grave.

"You made a mistake in going after immortality, Grandpa," said Harry softly, putting some carnations on the mound, "you could have been the greatest wizard ever."

Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, while the others were standing a few feet away.

"Come Harry," she said softly and squeezed his shoulder. Harry smiled at her, a sad smile, but a smile nevertheless.

Hermione returned it with one of her own.

"Thank you for saving the world, Harry."