The Silent Siege

Chapter 21

The Hidden Foe

Ron shielded his eyes momentarily as a bright blue-white light suddenly filled the alcove. Just as he was beginning to adjust, he felt the Death Eater behind him shove him forward hard. He stumbled and struggled to gain his footing.

When he looked up, he was not very surprised to find himself in the original room. The faces of the Hogwarts founders on the portraits around the room and the house banners had been replaced with the large snake-shaped lanterns. Ron's eyes were drawn to the small table at the middle of the room, the table around which he and the others had guilelessly walked on their last visit. On this table sat a large cauldron over which was suspended a glowing white crystal which spun around emitting an oscillating blue and white light.

It was exactly as Ginny had described it.

And behind the table, flanked by two masked Death Eaters, one of whom seemed to fidget nervously while the other stood still, stood a short, serpentine creature with two fiery red eyes and a horribly emaciated neck. Ron had the sudden impression of an oversized eel that had just sprouted arms and legs.

Ron did not need to wonder who the creature was or however it had once been called a man. He had never spoken its name his whole life and only once, as a small child, had he seen its picture staring at him from out of an old copy of The Daily Prophet his mother had been reading before she had quickly shoved it out of his sight, a ghastly haunted look in her eyes that had frightened Ron as much as the picture itself. And perhaps it was for this reason that Ron had never forgotten that face.

Yet strangely, like a child who finds himself disappointed in finally seeing his normal-looking idol in person, far removed from the glamour and hype of his media image, Ron found that he was not afraid to stand in the presence of the most feared dark wizard in the history of their kind. For now, it seemed as though that fear had a face and a form where before, like its name, it had had none. And so, even though he had little doubt he wouldn't live past this encounter with Lord Voldemort, Ron oddly felt very little fear at all.

Ron's thoughts were interrupted when he was shoved forward again to stand much closer to the round table than he ever would have liked, almost directly opposite Voldemort and the Death Eaters on the other side. Hermione was shoved to his immediate right, but a few paces still separated him. Harry was placed on the far right of Hermione. The gap between the three friends covered nearly the entire width of the long, narrow room. The Death Eaters stood behind them training their wands against any sign of their movement.

Voldemort opened his mouth and spoke in a high-pitched hiss. It took Ron a moment to understand that the sounds he was making were actually words.

"Glorious, isn't it?" he said, looking at the crystal. "It is made from the fused heads of hundreds of Monocellate cobras, the combined psychic power of the most legiliment creatures on Earth. It channels energy, and occasionally matter, but mostly thought. It's also utterly lethal when activated, of course."

Ron looked back at Voldemort and noticed for the first time that he was holding a small torn black book in his hand. He watched him take a long thin reptilian hand and place the book back down onto the table with surprising gracefulness. As Voldemort moved slowly around the table to walk toward them, Ron realized with horror that it was his sister's old diary.

"A very special book," Voldemort said slowly, "and a very special spell. One which you broke, Harry," he added, looking at Harry as if he were a fond nephew. "But like all things Harry Potter tries to destroy, Lord Voldemort brings back to life."

Voldemort tried to smile but finished up looking like the head of a snake ever more eager to strike.

"I've been waiting for you, Harry," he said, inching his way closer to the three of them.

Harry started to grasp his scar in pain again.

"It is so fortunate that you were able to return this book to Lucius here so that he could later on leave it in my own possession again," Voldemort went on, looking at Harry as if studying his pain. "Everything leaves behind a mental imprint for those able to read it. Even after you had destroyed the diary, Harry, I was able to learn what it was it had done. And so, I was able to renew my younger self's friendship with Ginny Weasley, first only in her dreams, and then whenever she had left the castle's protection. But soon, with the help of my most faithful servant, Severus Snape, I was able to prepare a potion to reach into her thoughts even as she lay asleep in this once secure school."

Voldemort stopped inches away from Harry's face. Harry continued to writhe in pain but he did not back away.

"And now that I am here I have been able to use this diary and the crystal much more clearly and secretly than I ever did out in the forest. Ginny has been my eyes and ears, you see. Through her thoughts, I have been watching all of your words and actions since I arrived in this room this morning, Harry. I must admit I'm a little disappointed. It seems you had real feelings for the girl. I had thought a wizard like yourself might be above those things as I was, but no matter. I suppose the sorting hat really doesn't lie after all and I've long since given up hope that you might ever really join my side.

"But I am very grateful for one thing, Harry," Voldemort continued to hiss, flecks of his obscene spittle now showering Harry's face like snake venom. "For many years, I wondered how I could ever make you suffer as much as you made me. I knew you from the day you stopped me from getting the Philosopher's Stone that you weren't afraid to die - just like your mother and father before you. Torture and mind control equally mean little to you. But that I know how much you value guilt and sentimentality, what friends they are to you. Shall I repeat your own words of this morning to you?"

Voldemort's tone of voice grew even higher in a mock imitation of Harry.

"'I'm not really afraid to die. I'm just afraid that he'll take away the lives of my friends because of me.'"

There was another sickening rumble around the room. The Death Eaters were laughing again.

"I'm afraid I must deny myself the pleasure of watching you see Ginny suffer, Harry," Voldemort said. "I asked Severus to kill her as soon as you left, you see. I'd be surprised if he hasn't already."

Ron swallowed and forced himself to look away. Emotion flooded back to him so suddenly it was as if someone had flicked on a switch: Rage and grief at Voldemort's dispassionate murder of his sister. Shame and remorse that he would never be able to say sorry for the horrible things he had said to her and Harry that day; and a panicked fear of what the Dark Lord had planned for the rest of them.

But Ron swept aside these feelings like a dream. If Voldemort was finite, then so was the pain he could cause. He looked over at Hermione and Harry and saw that, although they were putting on brave faces, they were still very much afraid. Ron found himself thinking back to what Professor Nevins had told him the very first day of their class. Was this what it meant to feel brave?

Ron became aware that Voldemort was speaking again.

"But I will torture your two friends right in front of your eyes and you can watch them suffer. And as you watch, you can think how I would have paid them not the slightest attention were it not for their friendship with you, Harry. And how all of your noble plans to save them ended in nothing but their own misery and despair."

Voldemort took a step toward Harry so that he was right on top of him. He held an elongated fingernail in the air like a teacher clutching a decayed piece of chalk.

"And then, Harry," Voldemort finished in a whisper. "You and I will duel. And you will have nothing - "

Voldemort traced his finger over the top of Harry's scar. Harry cried out in pain.

" - and no one - "

Voldemort traced a diagonal line. Harry screamed.

" - to stop me this time."

Voldemort ran his finger down Harry's scar to the bridge of his nose with a flourish. Harry screamed and fell to the ground, his hands clenched over his face.

The Death Eaters laughed again, this time loudly. And from their deep raucous bellows came a terrible high-pitched laughter from Voldemort's own mouth, like a serpent screaming for the kill.

Ron stepped back sharply, seized the Death Eater guarding him by the wrist and pulled down hard. There was a satisfying cracking sound. The Death Eater's laughter turned quickly to angst as he looked down in agony at his twisted wrist.

Voldemort and the other Death Eaters whirled around only in time to see the Death Eater's palm open and Ron's wand slip into his hand. Voldemort's own wand was raised in an instant. A bead of green light shot out toward Ron but Ron twisted away at the last moment and Voldemort's curse hit the floor just behind him. Rolling on the ground, Ron pointed his wand at the table behind him and cried:

"Accio Crystal!"

Before any of the Death Eaters had time to react, Ron jumped back and forth like a beetle through a swarm of hex-casting Death Eaters to a point in the room just behind Harry.

Voldemort now stood between him and the crystal. Like a guided missile, the still glowing crystal soared from the table to its summoner's new position which, exactly as Ron had intended, was blocked by the Dark Lord himself.

Several things happened in very quick succession. Ron became aware out of his peripheral vision that the Death Eater holding him had rushed toward him in pursuit and was now lunging for his wand. Ron knew that he would not move, however, and watched as the crystal flew fast toward Voldemort and seemed to all but skirt the edge of the Dark Lord's robes before he disapparated and the stone continued at rapid speed toward Ron. Ron could feel an immense heat rush over him as the crystal soared toward his face. He quickly lurched down toward the floor, knowing that the crystal would follow him. There came a tremendous flash and an explosion of light even inside Ron's instinctively closed eyes. He felt certain for a moment that the crystal had hit him but then he heard a loud scream from just beside him and in an instant before he collided with the floor, Ron opened his eyes to see that the Death Eater's lunging body had been caught between him and the crystal. For an instant, the face and singed body of Buckbeak's executioner Macnair lit up like a white firework. Ron covered his head with his arms and kept rolling on the floor as blue and white sparks raced out in all directions from Macnair.

The rest of the Death Eaters in the room just stared at Macnair, too dumbfounded to speak. Then another cry rose as an errant spark struck down the Death Eater who had originally been guarding Professor Dibble. Bellatrix Lestrange flinched and ducked behind Hermione, balancing precariously for a moment. That was all the opportunity Hermione needed to lean her weight into Lestrange's hip and send her crashing all the way to the floor.

Even Lestrange's harsh cry of surprise was drowned in the cacophony of sizzling energy and bloodcurdling screams that continued to come from Macnair. The wand she had held rolled out of her hand on the ground. Lestrange quickly got to her feet again but before she could collect her wand, Hermione had gathered it into her hand. She quickly pointed it at an astonished Lestrange and cried:

"Rictusempra!"

Lestrange twisted and turned in the air like a corkscrew and landed with a thud onto the opposite wall before sliding down to the floor in a motionless heap.

Lestrange had barely finished moving when Hermione heard a strangled curse from her right. Malfoy held his wand in a high flourish and was about to bring an enormous hex down on her when Harry, who had been clutching his scar on the floor in pain, rose quickly to his knees and tugged hard on Malfoy's ankle. Malfoy's face twisted in momentary surprise and he stumbled just enough to lose his aim and send a powerful curse crashing into the wall behind Hermione, removing a large chunk of wood paneling and much of the stone behind it in the process. Harry yanked harder and Malfoy went crashing to the floor.

Hermione ducked just as wand fire from the two Death Eaters who had been guarding Voldemort flew in her direction. Crouched down on the floor, she saw Harry's wand roll out of Malfoy's grip. He lunged for it but Harry brought the heel of his foot down hard onto Malfoy's fingers. With his own right hand, Harry scooped up the wand and swung around to use it on Malfoy when Malfoy grabbed his own ankle with his good hand. Harry shook his ankle away and tried to aim the wand but Malfoy jumped toward the wall and ducked behind a large slab of concrete that had been dislodged from the wall by errant sparks from the crystal.

Macnair seemed to have screamed his last. Where once had stood his body was a bright shining column of light that continued to hiss sparks all over the room bringing destruction in their wake. They were soon joined by the cracks of wand fire coming from all around them. Hermione lay flat on the floor. She looked around to see that Ron was still standing and dodging the fire from both of the Death Eaters beside the table. Hermione quickly threw her own curses at one of the two Death Eaters but she was forced to duck as a spark flew out of Macnair just singing the uppermost strands of her hair. She looked over to the other side to see Harry still in the open fiercely trading hexes with Lucius Malfoy who lay safely behind the cover of a large stone. She whirled back to see Ron's arm sending hexes between the two Death Eaters like a sped-up film. She raised her arm to try and send another hex to the table again when a bright flash of blue light from Macnair flew over her head and hit the Death Eater on the right of the table square in the chest. The impact threw him well down to the far end of the room nearly to the kitchen door.

The acrid stench of burning flesh filled the air and Hermione turned around briefly to see that Macnair's body had now completely vaporized and the crystal had burned itself out. Hermione got to her feet and she and Ron let off a volley of shots in the direction of the remaining Death Eater.

The Death Eater rolled to the floor and dived behind the piece of paneling that was earlier dislodged by Malfoy's wand fire from where he continued to fire the occasional hex at Ron and Hermione.

Ron looked around and was heartened to see that they seemed to be winning the battle. Both Malfoy and the other Death Eater were on the defensive, crouched behind their respective barricades on either side of the room's width, unable to pool forces. Harry kept trading shots with Malfoy and Ron and Hermione continued to gang up against their Death Eater. Finally, one of Hermione's hexes found its target and the Death Eater fell back to the ground with a groan. Ron and Hermione both ran over to take positions on either side of Harry and all three of them took aim at Malfoy.

Ron was certain they would overpower the dark wizard quickly but Malfoy moved with surprising agility and proved an extremely difficult target. The three Gryffindors strafed the wall behind him filling the air with splinters of wood and lung-clogging plaster. They twice blew his barricade into pieces but Malfoy always seemed to find another. Just as they were closing in on top of him and Ron was certain that one of their hexes would find its way home, there was a loud piercing crack.

"Look out!" cried Hermione and pulled Ron down to the ground.

Hermione and Ron landed hard on the floor just as four hexes hit the space they'd been standing like searchlights. Ron spun his head around in horror to see four new Death Eaters standing a few paces apart from the four sides of the table in the center. All of them were aiming at Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Standing just behind the Death Eaters on their right, a little in front of the hallway to the kitchen, stood Voldemort.

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "They can apparate and disapparate!"

Just as surprised, Harry found himself distracted long enough for a shot from Malfoy to whiz past his own ear. Harry threw himself back to the wall, just meters away from Malfoy's own position, and positioned himself behind a large slab of broken away wall just as Malfoy had done.

Ron and Hermione dove to the right as another round of shots seared the floor where they had fallen just seconds before. Ron lunged for the side of the table and steered it over to use as a screen. Hermione screamed as a hex hit the tabletop, snapped it into pieces and sent the cauldron and its evil-looking brew to the floor with a loud clatter. Hermione moved out of the way of the goo as Ron quickly positioned the remaining pieces of table to cover them in all directions. The two lovers exchanged a fleeting glance then positioned themselves on either side of the feeble barricade and shot their own defensive hexes out through the air.

Harry watched in despair as the four Death Eaters flung a barrage of hexes at Ron and Hermione's poor shelter but he himself was more than occupied with Malfoy who had moved slightly away from his own barricade and back on the offensive, his own wand in his hand. But as consumed as he was in his struggle with Malfoy, Harry could not help but notice how Voldemort stood just behind the battle, his wand out but unused, a horrible smile on his face.

***

Snape continued to point his wand slightly up in the air so that it illuminated part of his face. He stared measuredly at Ginny but did not show any other signs of movement.

"If you're going to kill me," said Ginny, "why not just get it over with?"

Snape snorted.

"Why does he want to keep me here anyway? I would have thought he would want to torture and kill me right in front of Harry, just to make him suffer."

Snape stared impassively at Ginny.

"You don't have to say anything. I know he's afraid of me. He doesn't want me in that room with him. I just wish I knew why. I'm sure you do."

"You're awfully talkative for a young girl who often seemed incapable of speech in my Potions lessons. But, of course, the famous Gryffindor courage." Snape smiled cruelly.

Ginny merely fixed him with a cold stare.

"Perhaps - " Snape began but then froze.

A loud unnatural scream erupted from somewhere down the corridor ahead of them. The scream was followed by a kind of hissing and spitting sound. Snape looked at Ginny and for the briefest of moments she could sense he was as much in the dark as to what had just happened as she was.

And then the air was filled with the unmistakable cracking sounds of wands in combat. Ginny felt her pulse quicken. She found she had almost closed herself off to hope. But could it be that her friends were now fighting back and that they really did stand a chance after all?

She took greater heart when Snape's own eyes widened and his tight-lipped smile fell fast from his face, replaced by a look of great anxiousness. Seeming to forget about Ginny altogether, Snape took out his wand, opened the door that led down the corridor where the others had vanished, and stood hesitantly on the threshold straining his ears to hear the sharper sounds of what was now unmistakably the storm of battle.

Ginny was about to make an acerbic remark about Snape's abrupt change in demeanor when she saw that his back was turned to her and his lit wand rested idly in his hand, forgotten in the rush to more important matters. Thinking back what now seemed a very long time ago to her Defense Against the Dark Arts classes this term with Professor Nevins, Ginny rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, then sprung like a tiger for the wand in Snape's hand.

Ginny's hand landed on Snape's arm. With a vicious grunt, he turned around to confront her. Ginny winced as she felt the hot tip of the wand touch her palm and Snape's bony hands squeeze hard onto her fingers. Ignoring the pain, she pulled down hard, freed herself from Snape's grip and came away with the wand in her hand.

His face contorted in a mixture of fury and surprise, Snape's right hand lunged for Ginny. Before he could connect, however, she jumped a step backwards, raised the wand in both hands, and cried out hysterically:

"Expelliarmus!"

A bead of blue light shot out from the wand and quickly covered the narrow distance between them. It hit Snape's chest and seemed to spread out across the front of his body. The would-be headmaster staggered backwards from the impact and Ginny was sure that the wand had done its work but then Snape straightened himself and looked down at Ginny, his arms folded, and the smuggest of smiles on his face.

Ginny stared down at the wand in her hands in shock.

Snape took a step toward Ginny. She felt his menacing breath on her face. She had the sudden impression he was about to try and strangle her with his bare hands.

"Did you really think an O.W.L. student would have the ability to match herself against a fully-trained Death Eater?" he snarled bitingly.

Ginny folded her arms in defiance.

"Actually, yes."

Without warning, Ginny brought her knee up hard into Snape's groin.

Snape's mouth opened wide to let out a soft moan of agonized surprise as he bent over in pain. Ginny quickly ran around to the other side of him and pushed hard against the small of his back. Snape fell awkwardly to his knees at the spot where the door to the hallway met the floor. Ignoring Snape's ineffective groans of protest, Ginny turned heel and ran down the hallway to follow the others, Snape's illuminated wand in her hand. She tried hard to ignore her anxiety as the walls seemed to quickly close in around her with the narrowing passageway. She had run perhaps forty meters when she heard from somewhere in the darkness behind her that Snape was now lumbering after her. All the time, the cracks of wand fire grew louder and louder although the sounds of screaming had ominously stopped. She knew she didn't have the luxury to stop to think about whether it was any of her friends who had cried out.

Ginny was running so hard she almost collided with the doorway. She pointed her wand at the brass handle and screamed loudly:

"Alohomora! Alohomora!"

The door did not budge. Panting hard, Ginny listened to Snape's footsteps echoing nearer and nearer off the walls around her. In desperation, she grabbed the brass knocker with her hand and shoved hard. Such was the force with which she pushed against the already unlocked door that Ginny tripped and fell right into the original room.

"Ginny, look out!" cried Ron's voice.

Ginny briefly saw Ron and Hermione huddled behind a makeshift barricade of what remained of the table that had once stood at the room's center fighting off Death Eater fire from all four corners of the chamber when she became aware that two of the firing Death Eaters now flanked her on either side and both of them had turned to aim their wands at her. Ginny ducked to avoid one hex but the Death Eater to her immediate right quickly took aim with another.

At Ron's words, Harry spun around to see Ginny flatten herself to the ground at the entranceway. He forced aside his relief at seeing her safe and alive. He knew she wouldn't remain that way for long if he did not act quickly. Spurred by a rush of urgency greater than that of his own survival, Harry anticipated Malfoy's next move and before the Death Eater could fire, he ended their long duel with a nasty hex to Malfoy's forehead. Malfoy fell back against a hard stone and appeared to lose consciousness. His wand flew out of his grasp and rolled along on the floor behind him.

Harry spun back around toward the entranceway in time to see both of the Death Eaters take aim at Ginny. He heard a stream of hexes coming from the direction of Ron and Hermione's makeshift shelter but he was sure they had missed their targets because both of the Death Eaters remained standing. Ginny raised her own wand but she didn't seem to know at which Death Eater to point it. Then, with a poise borne of necessity, Harry aimed his wand at Ginny and cried out:

"Levitatus!"

Ginny screamed as she rose in the air, her arms and legs flailing haphazardly at precisely the same moment both Death Eaters struck. One managed to duck but the other was hit in the torso with his fellow's killing curse. The Death Eater who had struck the curse staggered backward for a moment in a shock at what he had done, then aimed his wand furiously at the now falling Ginny.

But that moment was all Harry needed.

"Stufepy!" he cried.

And the Death Eater fell to the ground followed closely by Ginny's own landfall and unnatural cry of pain.

Harry ran down to the far end of the corridor ducking and weaving through wand fire still coming at him from the opposite side of the room. He ran up to Ginny who lay on the floor wincing in pain.

"What the hell did you do?"

"I saved your life - again."

Ginny moaned.

Harry grabbed her up to her feet.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Ginny tested her feet gingerly.

"I think I'm all right. It was just - "

Both Ginny and Harry ducked as another hex flew in their direction.

"Harry! Ginny! Look out behind you!" Hermione cried into the din.

The two Gryffindors whirled around in time to see Snape appear in the entranceway to the corridor directly behind him. They stared at each other for a moment. Then Snape raised a wand in his hand that Ginny recognized as her own. Harry grabbed Ginny and pulled her over to one side. Before Snape could utter a curse, however, two enormous hexes whizzed through the air from Ron and Hermione's position. Snape ducked but the hexes hit home on the stone wall just above him.

There was a large rumbling sound. Snape tried to move out of the way but two very large chunks of stone landed hard on his legs pinning him to the ground. Snape yelped in pain and writhed on the floor desperately trying to dislodge himself. He then covered his arms with his head but was unable to stop a smaller rainstorm of rocks from peppering his body. One slightly larger chunk fell on his head.

Ginny watched as his alarmed eyes slowly drifted into unconsciousness. Then she reached out and grabbed her own wand from Snape's hand and immediately started firing hexes at the two Death Eaters at the other end.

There were now four of them against two, not counting Voldemort himself, of course, who continued to stand there unmoving, letting his Death Eaters do all the work. Harry felt certain they had a good chance against the remaining Death Eaters and they could worry about Voldemort later. Nonetheless, neither of the Death Eaters seemed to find it difficult to hold off their hexes and each got a considerable number of their own in as well.

All of a sudden, another loud crack shattered the air around them. Harry spun around, looking at the room from all sides. He knew that someone had apparated or disapparated but he couldn't see -

"Harry!" cried Ginny.

Harry was still spinning around when Ginny landed a hex from the far corner at the Death Eater who had just apparated directly behind Harry. He fell to the floor immobilized. Harry turned around quickly, picked up his wand, and snapped it in two.

"That's one wizard debt," muttered Ginny to herself.

There was now only one Death Eater left fighting yet he continued to fly hexes at all of them while fending off their own. Harry and Ginny were moving closer together as stray wand fire continued to break away pieces of wall behind them.

"Ginny," said Harry. "We've got to separate. Give him two targets!"

"I know."

Harry poised himself to leap into the far corner but just as he was about to move, he felt Ginny snake her arm around his waist. He felt like he had been unexpectedly splashed in the face with a sensuous rush of warm seawater as Ginny pulled him into a brief but passionate kiss and then pushed him away just as suddenly.

Harry looked down at her, sure that she had stopped his racing heart between beats.

"Just in case," she said.

Harry and Ginny hurled themselves to either side as a hex flew straight down the center of the room to the spot they had both been standing less than a second before. They both straightened and began firing back.

There was another loud crash and Hermione and Ron's makeshift shelter exploded into pieces. The lone remaining conscious Death Eater raised his wand to fire at Ron and Hermione again who now lay exposed in the center of the room. Hermione and Ron ducked to either side to avoid the hex; it missed its target but in the shuffle, Hermione's wand fell out of her grasp and she inadvertently kicked it away further down into the room. Harry and Ginny let off another hail of hexes that each missed the quickly moving Death Eater but gave Ron and Hermione enough time to reach either side of the room's width in safety. Ron found a safe boulder to lodge himself behind and started to fire at the Death Eater along with the others. Hermione was not so lucky, however, but she pressed herself against the wall on her side and held her out her hand.

"Accio Wand!"

Her wand started to stir from its position on the floor but it just as it began to roll toward her, a sharp streak of green light flew out of a wand at the far end of the room and the wand was incinerated. Hermione looked up in surprise and saw Voldemort look down at his handiwork in brief satisfaction before replacing his wand in his robes, content to let his outnumbered Death Eater continue to fend off the others' hexes. Hermione realized he was only toying with them. She knew he allowed the battle to continue only for his own perverse curiosity, righting things only when they became too unbalanced against him. But she forced herself not to think of this. She knew that they had to keep going; it was all they could do. If Voldemort wanted to kill them, they would just have to make sure he had to do it himself.

"Hermione!" Ron cried suddenly.

Hermione turned around in time to see Ron throw his own wand across the room to her. She caught it instinctively.

"What about you?" she cried across the din.

"I've got cover. I'll manage!"

Ron ducked quickly behind his new barricade just as a well-placed hex blew a hole in the brass snake on the wall just above him. Hermione started to fire back at the Death Eater, desperate to divert his attention away from the defenseless Ron.

Ron took a quick peak out to see Lucius Malfoy's wand on the floor just inches away from where his stunned body lay near Ron. Ron thought of making a move for the wand but as a hex hit the floor just near him, he decided against it and continued to duck behind the wall on his side, hoping the others would succeed in carrying the battle to the Death Eater.

Ron could not see but heard another ominous crack and knew that more Death Eaters had arrived. He looked back quickly to see that three more Death Eaters had now appeared clustered closely around Voldemort and the other Death Eater. They began to fire. The sounds of wand fire grew more intense as the three Death Eaters and Harry, Hermione, and Ginny fired back and forth across the length of the room.

Ginny looked across to Harry and saw his attention fully fixed on throwing hex after hex at the Death Eaters. She slowly edged her way up the wall on her side hoping he still wouldn't notice.

She had seen the wizard who had once been Tom Riddle standing near the door that led to the kitchens at the far end, watching them as though seeing a far-away fight. He was hardly taller than she was however he had stood in her dreams. She knew that his poise and calm was only a façade, a face he wore like the masks of his followers to trick others as much as himself into believing in the fantasy of his power, just as he had tried to trick Ginny.

But he wouldn't trick her again. Suddenly oblivious to the hexes flying around her head, Ginny made her way toward the center of the room, just behind where Hermione was now firing frantically at the Death Eater behind her. She still did not look over at Harry; she hoped he wasn't looking at her and if he was that he said nothing. She was now as certain as she'd ever been that Voldemort was afraid of her. He hadn't meant for her to get this far. Ginny didn't know what power it was she possessed that frightened him so deeply but she did know that while Harry, Hermione, nd Ron could handle themselves against the Death Eaters, it was only she who could take out Voldemort. She didn't know quite how but she knew she had to try the only way she knew.

Ginny could swear she saw the eyes of the Death Eater to Voldemort's right widen as he watched her approach but the Dark Lord himself continued to look out to the center of the room. Finally, the Death Eater threw a hex in her direction. It flew toward Hermione first and she ducked. The hex flew over her head and skimmed just over Ginny's but the younger Gryffindor did not falter. She kept running, leaped over Hermione who was still lying on the ground, and ran straight into the path of the three Death Eaters who stood around Voldemort at the far end.

"Ginny!" cried Hermione in amazement.

Harry turned around and saw with horror what was happening.

"Ginny, no!" he cried.

But Ginny ignored them both. She kept running hard and dodged two more closely struck hexes. A broadside of shots came from Harry and Hermione at the two Death Eaters nearest her. They both flinched and ducked and at that moment, Ginny saw a clear shot to Voldemort.

And the Dark Lord turned around, looked at her, and froze.

Ginny raised her wand to strike but just as the curse reached her lips, she stopped. And in that moment she finally understood why she could not afford to take her shot. She hesitated, still staring at Voldemort, her wand in front of her, not sure what to do. And that extra moment of hesitation proved very costly.

The three Death Eaters standing next to Voldemort recovered their balance quickly and each flung a killing curse at Ginny. Ginny threw herself to the floor at the last minute but the curses flew hard into the wall behind her. Large chunks of stone and a brass snake rained down on top of where she was lying. She threw her arms over her head and hoped it would be enough.

"NOOO!" cried Harry.

He watched helpless as the space where Ginny had been standing a moment before was buried in rubble. A large cloud of thick plaster filled the air but when it was gone, nothing stirred underneath.

Harry stared at the spot in disbelief, his wand hanging limply to his side. He did not hear Hermione cry out a warning or notice until it was too late that a hex had been sent in his own direction. A sharp pain suddenly stung his hand and his wand broke into pieces even before it had hit the floor. Harry looked down at his hand and saw it had turned a horrible shade of purple. A sticky, hairy fungus-like substance was sprouting painfully from his palm and spreading quickly up his arm. Harry felt like someone had lit a fast-spreading fire underneath his skin.

He looked up, his vision blurred even underneath his glasses, and what he saw made him feel even worse. Lucius Malfoy had woken and was reaching for his wand. Ron was still crouched behind and could not see him. Harry tried to cry out, even as he felt the rash start to consume the right side of his body, but no sound could come out of his mouth. He watched in horror as Malfoy reached for his wand and closed in right on top of Ron. The other Death Eaters could see what was happening and concentrated their fire on Hermione who desperately tried to fend off three hexes at once.

Ron felt a hand reach over and pick him up from the ground. The next thing he knew he was looking right into Malfoy's face.

"Mr. Weasley," Malfoy hissed. "Won't your father be proud?"

Malfoy raised his wand.

Harry looked over and saw that Hermione was still in no position to help. He was certain Ron had less than seconds to live if he didn't do something immediately. Without realizing he had even thought of it, he reached awkwardly with his remaining good left arm into his right hand pocket. He took the Space Catcher gingerly in his hand and flung it as hard as he could toward Malfoy.

"Avada Ke-"

Malfoy's face twisted briefly in shock as he felt something soft land on the back of his head and then sensed the world pull away in front of him. Before Ron's astonished eyes, both he and his wand vanished into thin air.

Harry tried to grin but his mouth seemed to twitch uncontrollably. His eyes smarted and blurred and he fell to the ground as his legs went numb. He heard the faraway sounds of intense battle and was briefly aware of something large and brown half-running, half-diving before him. He heard a muffled voice, felt a flash of light and then suddenly everything was clear again and Harry could see three hexes streaming hard at him. He ducked and felt Hermione land on top of him.

"Just try and do your Herbology better next time, Harry!" came a frantic voice.

He and Hermione untangled themselves as another hex landed in the spot where they had been sitting. Harry saw Hermione throw her wand back to Ron and run dangerously back to the corner of the room to grab another from a fallen Death Eater. Harry could see she was about to move to get yet another for Harry but two well-placed hexes made Hermione duck to the far corner of the room again. It was obvious she had been spotted and couldn't try anything more. For the time being, Harry was defenseless.

Harry's eyes darted around quickly for another wand as another hex found its way in his direction. Looking just ahead of him, he could see that another of the fallen Death Eaters, the one who had stood to Voldemort's left when they had entered the room was now beginning to stir. His eyes widening, he could see that the Death Eater's wand lay inches away from his hand. He looked up to see Ron and Hermione continuing to battle the Death Eaters who stood around Voldemort. He knew that neither of them had seen the Death Eater stir, nor could they afford to break away from their own fight to knock the Death Eater out again. Yet Harry could also see that it wouldn't be long before the Death Eater completely regained consciousness and recovered his wand and when he did, Harry would have no means of defending himself.

In three long strides, Harry darted away from the wall, hoping that Hermione and Ron could keep the other Death Eaters occupied for long enough. He dived for the fallen Death Eater's wand but before he could close his hands over it the Death Eater came to life and grabbed hold of his ankle hard.

The room tumbled before Harry's eyes as he stumbled to the ground, unable to break his fall. Ignoring the unpleasant sensation of trickling blood down his chin, Harry looked up to see the Death Eater reach the wand first and raise it up toward Harry but he was still a step too slow. Before he could strike, Harry grabbed his wrist and twisted it to the side. The wand rolled to the floor again to the Death Eater's right. Harry tried to reach for it but the Death Eater blocked his path and Harry's hand collided with the side of his head instead. As he did so, the Death Eater's mask came away from his face.

Both of them stopped immediately.

"You!" Harry cried, surprised at the savageness in his own voice. "You!"

As soon as he had turned around to see Bellatrix Lestrange holding Hermione in the alcove where they had first been ambushed by the Death Eaters, Harry had found his mind consumed with how he would avenge himself on her for Sirius' death but as he stared down at the maskless Death Eater in front of him now, he found that a far, far greater vengeance and hate rose from within him. Without this Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange would still be in Azkaban prison; Voldemort would have never returned; Cedric and Sirius would still be alive.

And so would Harry's parents.

Then when the vengeance had boiled inside him to such an extent that Harry was sure he would burst if it wasn't released, he grabbed his hands around Wormtail's neck and squeezed.

Wormtail squealed like a pig, his eyes opened wide in fear. He tried to move his arms and legs but found they were frozen. Harry just squeezed even tighter.

"I should have stopped you when I had the chance!" cried Harry hoarsely. "I should have let them kill you!"

Harry dug his nails further into Wormtail's neck, oblivious to the further sounds of battle all around him. He found himself starting to wonder how far he would actually go when suddenly his hands were clutching nothing but air. He fell to the floor. For a moment he was certain Wormtail must have disapparated but then he felt something scurrying underneath his chest. He looked up, his eyes darting back and forth frantically, before he spotted a small rat, its pulse pounding away in its sore neck and a missing paw on its toe.

Harry dived for the rat but it scurried away underneath a pile of rubble. He started to tear the stones apart but the loud crack of wand fire hissed just over his head and exploded the rubble right into his eyes. Harry turned around hard as he felt pinpricks of pain erupt all over his face. There was a large crack in the front of his glasses through which he could see that one of the other Death Eaters had moved forward to attack him. In a rush of unfulfilled fury, Harry quickly snatched up Wormtail's wand and landed a hex squarely on his stomach before he could fire another shot. The Death Eater cried out and landed hard on his back.

Flattening himself against the wall, Harry turned around again as a cry of victory went up from Ron. He looked down to see that the Death Eater to the right of Voldemort was now knocked out on the floor. Another tried to run to take his place but Hermione and Ron landed a hex on him at the same time and he fell also.

Now there was one left again. Voldemort remained just in front of the door that led back to the kitchens, still unmoving. Harry watched warily as Ron and Hermione broke out from their hiding places and tore hard at the Death Eater at the same time, as if they had made up their minds that Voldemort himself might as well not be standing there. Not sure at all of their tactics, Harry nonetheless ran in himself behind their cover, hoping desperately to see a stray wand on the ground. The Death Eater fended off one curse but the others kept coming too close and too fast. Finally, a curse from Hermione hit him in the forehead and he bounded hard against the wall.

All of the Death Eaters had been taken out.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione quickly threw three hexes that hit Voldemort at the same time. His wand quickly raised in his hand, the Dark Lord deflected each of them with the grace of an artist brushing a painting on canvas.

None of the three tried to fire a second time.

"I really must congratulate you, Harry, and your friends," Voldemort said calmly. "It seems you have left me without the defense of my Death Eaters."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not believe this for instant and each of them continued to look around the room, certain that a fresh group of Voldemort's supporters would apparate behind them at any moment.

"But I think three against one is hardly fair," added Voldemort.

Harry felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. He tightened his grip on his wand and was about to open his mouth to speak when Ron cried out:

"If you want to kill us, go right ahead. But I'm not leaving this spot!"

"Neither of us is afraid to die for Harry!" added Hermione stridently.

Harry wanted to open his mouth again but his throat seemed to have dried up completely.

Voldemort turned around to look at Hermione with the patient regard of a teacher whose ill-mannered student has just spoken out of turn.

"Is that so?" he declared. "So be it then."

Voldemort pointed his wand at the ceiling and flicked it across like a knife.

Hermione and Ron's hands flew to their ears as an ear-splitting crash echoed throughout the room.

"Look out!" cried Harry. He ran forward, his wand pointing to the ceiling.

Ron and Hermione looked up just in time to see three large cracks slice through the tall ceiling from just to their end of the central candelabra right to the edge of the wall underneath which they now stood.

"Run! Run!" cried Harry.

Hermione and Ron stared up the ceiling for a moment longer and then ran forward toward the center of the room just as it began to collapse above them.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw that the chunks of rock which had supported the ceiling were nearly as thick as the height of a grown man. Chairs, tables, and cauldrons plummeted down after them from the Potions classroom high above. Harry watched as Hermione and Ron sprinted toward him but he could see in horror that they would never make it in time. He took aim with his wand at one enormous slab of rock headed straight for Ron's head but Voldemort deflected his beam harmlessly to the side. He could see his two best friends shouting and pointing their wands at the rock but it didn't seem to have an effect.

And above the din of falling stone Harry could still make out the horrible high-pitched laughter of the thing that killed everyone that had ever loved him and that he himself had ever tried to love.

With a final ear-splitting roar, the ceiling crashed to the ground. A thick dust rose from the ground and choked Harry's lungs. When most of it settled, a few moments later, Harry looked out through a thick haze to see that where his friends had once stood there was now only a tall pile of rubble that covered the ground of what had once been an entire third of the room. He didn't see how anyone could have survived under that.

For one last hopeful moment, Harry wondered if Voldemort might have been trapped also but then the Dark Lord emerged through the dust like a horrible monster coming out of the foggy shadows of a nightmare to horrible to consider in waking thoughts.

Voldemort absently brushed a thick cloud of plaster away from his robes and walked slowly toward Harry, his wand outstretched. He stopped a safe distance from the rubble.

"Raise your wand now, Harry," he said. "And tell me the truth. I prefer it this way, don't you? Just you and me, Harry Potter. Just you and me."

But no sooner had Voldemort finished speaking than the sound of shifting rock emerged from somewhere to his left. Harry looked up at Voldemort, expecting another ruse, but he found that if appearances could be trusted, Voldemort seemed just as surprised as he. Both of them looked over toward the sound, each seeming to wonder whether friend or foe would emerge.

Ginny Weasley squeezed out of the last of the large slabs of stone that had pinned her to the ground. She stood up, flecks of white plaster streaking through her long red curls and took in the scene from all of the dreams that the Dark Lord had given her.

Ginny did not say a word. Without hesitation, she walked into the center of what remained of the room, stood between the two combatants, and then turned around and pointed her wand straight at Voldemort.