A/N: Here's the next chapter for you. I finished it a day earlier than expected. The much awaited confrontation between Harry and Voldemort takes place in this. If anyone feels I should increase the rating of the story, please let me know. A very big thank you to all those who reviewed.
Chapter Three: The Final Battle
Harry apparated to Winston Lake which was the nearest place to the Riddle House one could apparate to. The place seemed too quiet for comfort. Not even a bird's chirp or a car's engine could be heard. There did not seem to be any people around. Harry had calculated that it would take him more than an hour to get to Voldemort's headquarters. So he didn't drink the polyjuice potion yet. He wanted to face Voldemort in his real form. As he walked he saw noticed the air grew chillier. There seemed to be a slight fog. Still there was no sign of life. Finally Harry drank the potion. He felt himself transform. A small bald patch appeared on his head. It disgusted him to take Peter's form but there was no other way. He cast the disillusionment charm on Hermione's wand and kept it in his back pocket. He wore the dark robes and the mask. He hoped that he looked evil enough even though nobody could see his face. The Riddle House was now in sight.
"Alohamora!" he said quietly on reaching the door. There was no effect. Clearly Voldemort had very tight security. He knocked on the door. He waited with heart beating fast as he heard footsteps approaching.
"Care to explain why you are here and who you are?" a man asked opening the door. He too wore a mask and Harry could not see his face. His voice didn't sound familiar.
"Peter Pettigrew at the service of the Dark Lord," replied Harry.
"What! How did you escape? Surely you aren't clever enough for that," the man said in surprise.
"If I can frame an innocent person and hide away as a rat for twelve years, a stupid ministry can't stop me from escaping," Harry replied, feigning a squeaky voice like Peter's.
"Master will kill you. He already has driven Narcissa mad with the repeated use of the Cruciatus curse. You will get a worse deal. At least she had managed to escape and not spill any of our secrets. I would advice you to run away," the man said in a worried voice. Harry understood that Voldemort treated his followers with just as much cruelty as his foes. There was fear in this man's voice. He couldn't believe it but he felt sorry for the deatheaters. However this was not a time to dwell on such matters.
"How dare you! I would never turn my back on master! You should be ashamed of yourself. I did not spill any beans. I got away before they could interrogate me. And after master hears the news I have brought he'll reward me," shouted Harry.
"Very well! If that's what you want to do, go ahead. Don't tell me I didn't warn you. Show me your arm now," said the man.
"Er… Why?" Harry asked, confused.
"Surely you haven't forgotten the rules of this place during your days of captivity. I'm supposed to check the Dark Mark," the man replied. Harry felt his heart stop. The Dark Mark was a bond of blood. Of course his arm showed it but if this man did a magical check with a wand he would be caught.
"Oh right, how silly of me," said Harry nervously, extending his hand. Luckily for him the man took one glance at it before turning his eyes away. Harry sighed in relief. His plan had nearly failed at this point.
"What's all this noise and who are you?" asked a woman coming into the room. Harry recognized this voice at once. It was Sirius' murderer Bellatrix Lestrange. She looked towards Harry.
"Peter," replied Harry shortly. It took every ounce of his will power not to attack Bellatrix.
"Since when have you started calling yourself that? You were always Wormtail," she asked, not expressing any surprise on his return. Harry thought quickly. He needed to find some excuse.
"Wormtail was a name given by my stupid friends at Hogwarts. I'm way above them now. In fact only one of them is still alive. That nasty werewolf! I'm Peter from now on," Harry replied.
"That's good to hear. I always knew you'd come back. After all you framed that good for nothing cousin of mine. The fool was taunting me. I gave him what he deserved," Bellatrix laughed. Harry clenched his fist in anger. He couldn't blow it up now. He saw Bellatrix as a good source for getting to Voldemort. She seemed to have a 'soft corner' as far as he was concerned.
"Bella, though I did my best, I'm certain that master would be angry at me. After all I failed in the task which was assigned to me. Do you think you could come with me now? I want to meet him," he asked in a frightened voice.
"I can't promise how master will treat you but if you want moral support, I'll come with you," she said. Voldemort's supporters seemed to be a family themselves. Had they not turned to evil they could have been quite nice people. Harry nodded towards Bellatrix as they started walking. They came to a large door. Bellatrix asked him to wait outside. She herself went in.
"Master will see you in a short while. He'll call you inside. If you really have important news he'll spare you," she said, coming out of the door. Harry was again surprised. He had always thought of deatheaters as cruel and heartless. Within themselves they seemed to be very friendly. It was due to them that he had got to Voldemort so easily. He waited patiently outside the door. The effect of his polyjuice potion would be over in seven minutes. Though he had some extra in his pocket, he didn't want to use it. It would take another hour for it to wear off and he wanted to face Voldemort as Harry Potter. Things had gone really smoothly up to now. He hoped that the battle would go off as planned. Just then he felt his body changing. Also the door opened and Voldemort's hiss was heard.
"Come in Wormtail… or should I say Peter," he said.
"Master! Glad to be back with you," said Harry, careful not to give his voice away.
"So what is it you have to tell me? It had better be something big or you've had it. I've never let people who have failed me get away. You are lucky that I'm even speaking to you," said Voldemort, icily.
"Master I'm very obliged for this. I promise you when you hear the news…," started Harry but was cut off.
"Whatever you have to say, say it fast. I don't have all day. Don't think you'll get away by buying time like this," shouted Voldemort.
"I have brought Harry Potter with me, master," said Harry.
"Don't play the fool with me Peter! I've had enough of you. You're a worthless, coward, good for nothing…," said Voldemort before Harry raised his hand. Voldemort looked livid.
"Peter, how dare you raise your hand in front of me? Nobody can disrespect me. You need to be taught a lesson," Voldemort said, taking out his wand.
"But master I'm not joking. Harry Potter is right here. He will meet you whenever you wish," Harry replied trying to sound frightened.
"If you say so… I want to see him NOW!" Voldemort shouted.
"Have it your way… VOLDEMORT!" said Harry in an equally loud voice and took of his mask. This was it. Voldemort looked like he'd seen a ghost. He made no move for a few seconds. Harry was tempted to finish him right there but decided to stick to his plan. Voldemort recovered quickly.
"After I finish with you Potter, I'll have to teach my fellow deatheaters a few lessons. I'm clearly not being harsh enough with them. Very foolish of you to come like this. You may have fooled my stupid servants but honestly do you think you stand a chance against me?" he said mockingly.
"I seem to remember you teaching me to bow before a duel. Now bow and then WE DUEL" shouted Harry, bowing slightly. Voldemort laughed before giving a short bow himself.
"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort said. Harry saw a green streak leaving Voldemort's wand. In normal circumstances he or anyone else would have moved away. But today's circumstances were not normal. He was waiting for Voldemort to make this move. He carefully took aim at the green streak. The slightest of errors could have been fatal.
"Expelliarmus," roared Harry, not wanting to try a complex spell in case it failed. It had the desired effect. The red streak from his wand connected with the green one. Both Harry and Voldemort's hands started shaking violently. They both rose of the floor. Plenty of shadows started coming out of this connection. These were the people Voldemort had recently killed. Harry shuddered at the thought that Hermione's shadow could have been in front of him if Peter and Narcissa had succeeded. But he had to finish a job now. He picked out Hermione's wand from his back pocket. Since it was camouflaged, Voldemort could not make out make out what he was doing.
Harry acted quickly. He first cast a strong locking charm on the door. He didn't want the deatheaters to find out about his presence in the house. He would have a difficult time in escaping if he was chased by numerous deatheaters. Then he cast the silencing charm in the room. By this the noises within the room would not be heard outside. He took a deep breath and took aim at Voldemort's hand.
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Harry. The wand flew of Voldemort's hand. It was still connected to Harry's wand by Priori Incantatem. Harry broke the connection, before yelling, "Accio wand". Voldemort's wand floated towards him. With his seeker reflexes he had no trouble catching it. Voldemort stood, watching all this, amazed.
"See how much time it took me to disarm you. Now it'll take me even less time to finish you off. Prepare to die," said Harry coolly. To his surprise Voldemort laughed.
"That was quite a plan Potter. I'm impressed. Had you been on my side, you could have been a great strategist. But however good you maybe, you wouldn't have kept this in mind," said Voldemort. To Harry's horror, Voldemort disappeared and in his place stood a short black snake. It was a king cobra.
Harry had certainly not kept this in mind. He had no idea that Voldemort was an Animagus. The king cobra was deadly with its highly poisonous fangs. Worse still, it was immune to almost all the curses, spells and hexes. The snake slithered towards Harry, showing its fangs. Harry had to run. One by one by he started throwing every spell he knew at the cobra. They had absolutely no effect. Only Expelliarmus threw it back a couple of feet but didn't seem to cause any pain.
Harry was getting tired with all the running. He had to periodically cast the disarming spell to make the snake stay away from him. Since none of the spells were working, he decided on trying the unforgivable curses. He first tried the killing curse. The green light just vanished as it touched the snake. Harry grew nervous. He was panting. If he didn't think of anything soon, it would be curtains. Hoping for better luck he tried the Imperious curse. Again the snake's body seemed to absorb the curse. Now Harry was frantic. The unforgivable curses seemed to be useless. He didn't see any sense in trying the Cruciatus curse. Probably the snake would just eat it up like rest of them. However it was his last hope. With his speed slowing down he looked back. The cobra had gained a lot of ground.
"Crucio!" Harry screamed, as he fell to the floor totally drained out. He was prepared for the worst. He expected the cobra to bite him all over. When he felt nothing, he looked towards the cobra. It was absolutely still. Before Harry had a chance to think, it started writhing. Clearly Harry's curse had worked. Seeing the agony of the snake made him realize that the Cruciatus curse affected a snake worse than humans. Probably this was the reason Voldemort transformed back to himself.
"Petrificus Totalus," shouted Harry as soon as he saw Voldemort in his original form. He had done it. Voldemort was petrified in his human form. He could no longer transform. All Harry needed to do was to say the two words with hatred. This was when doubts starting coming to his mind. If he said 'Avada Kedavra' he would become a murderer. Though Voldemort was evil, Harry couldn't help feeling this. As far as he was concerned only dark wizards killed using Avada Kedavra. The only instance he knew of somebody from their side using the killing curse was Dumbledore, who had killed Grindelwald. Dumbledore was a great wizard. Harry wondered if he was great enough to kill somebody. Was he great…was he great…was he great?
------Begin Flashback----
It was Harry, Ron and Hermione's first year at Hogwarts. They thought that Snape was going to try and steal the Philosopher's Stone. They decided to go after him. They had got past Fluffy, the three headed dog, Devil's Snare, the flying keys, McGonagall's chessboard and had reached the seven bottles containing potions. Ron was injured in getting past the chessboard. Hermione was quickly able to infer which bottle contained the potion to go ahead and which one had the one to go back. It was now time for Harry and Hermione to part ways. It was decided Harry would go ahead while Hermione would go back. Hermione was extremely worried for Harry. He was taken by total surprise as she suddenly dashed and threw her arms around him.
"Harry you're a great wizard, you know," she said.
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she finally let go of him.
"Me! You think books and cleverness means great. You have so much more than that Harry. Gryffindor's courage, Ravenclaw's wisdom, Hufflepuff's loyalty and Slytherin's desire to succeed. You have it all in you. No wonder the sorting hat had such a tough time with you," Hermione said, still sounding worried.
"Thanks for the words of encouragement. But really I'm not that great. I couldn't help what happened with Voldemort last time," Harry replied.
"Whatever it is, you are a great wizard Harry. Just remember that and you'll be okay," said Hermione, firmly.
------End Flashback----
This memory gave Harry the confidence he needed. Hermione thought that he was a great wizard and that was good enough. The doubts he had, left him. He took one last glance at the frozen Voldemort. With hands firm, he spoke the final words putting every bit of hatred he felt into them.
"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. Voldemort's body fell to the floor.
"Nando!" he screamed again. The spell seemed to have worked. Normally immediately after the Avada Kedavra the body became cold. However Voldemort's body was still warm. Harry wanted to sigh in relief but he knew that the job was only half done. He had to return to Hermione's house and kill Voldemort's soul. He took out some blood from Voldemort's body. This was part of his plan. Then he shrunk the body using a shrinking charm. It was small enough to fit in his pocket. With the blood he wrote a message for the deatheaters.
Gone to teach Wormtail a lesson. Anybody who comes after me will be dealt with harshly. He has been a fool. I do not forgive. Beware!
It would seem to the deatheaters that the message had been written with Peter's blood. So they would understand Voldemort's fury and let him be alone. Now Harry cast the disillusionment charm on himself. He walked out of the room slowly. The main door of the house was locked. As he'd seen before 'Alohamora' didn't work on it. So he had to wait until somebody opened the door and he could slip out. Since it was late in the evening, it was unlikely anybody would get out. He waited.
An hour passed… two hours passed. Harry was getting frustrated. The deatheaters had read his message and seemed to have taken it seriously. If he didn't get out by the next morning they would get suspicious about Voldemort's disappearance. He had to think of a plan again. After forty five minutes he was able to think of a vague procedure for escape. It was certainly worth a try. Making sure nobody was around he banged on the door.
The same man who had answered the door for him came to open it again. Harry cast the silencing charm on his legs. In this way his footsteps would not be heard. The man opened the door. Obviously there was nobody outside.
"Who's there?" he said aloud. Harry took this chance to slip out of the door. He didn't move in case his shoes made any marks on the ground. The man waited for a minute before finally shutting the door. Harry started walking back to Winston Lake. He wanted to run but his legs ached from all the running he had done with the snake. It took him almost ninety minutes to reach there. Once he got there, he apparated immediately.
Hermione had fallen asleep in the sofa. She had waited for Harry but the day's exertion had taken its toll on her. Suddenly she was awakened by a loud crack. She wondered where she was. She looked around. To her joy, she saw Harry standing in her living room.
"Harry! You did it! I was so worried. I wish I could help you. Please tell…," she stopped midway and hugged Harry tightly.
"You did help me. If it weren't for your memory I wouldn't have been able to kill him. I'll elaborate later. First things first. Do you have Horcrew ready?" Harry asked, hurriedly.
"Yes, it's in the kitchen," replied Hermione. Both of them walked to the kitchen. Hermione lit the fire as Harry took the shrunken Voldemort's body out of his pocket and threw it into the potion. Harry told about his adventures to Hermione while the potion boiled.
"You were extremely clever in planning your escape. We should have thought about that before. The cobra must have been a total surprise. You did well with him too. If you paid attention in class you would have known that the Cruciatus curse is the only curse which affects the cobra. Mad Eye Moody or whoever he was told that to us very clearly," she said.
"Well I can't remember everything. I don't have a brain like yours. We couldn't have done anything about my escape. We didn't know anything about the security system of the Riddle house," replied Harry.
After an hour and fifty five minutes of talking they went to back to the boiling potion. It was orange in colour now. Hermione was positive that she had made the potion correctly. So there was no reason for soul burning to fail. Still both their hearts were thumping. This was such a big thing. Exactly as the second hour ended, the potion stopped boiling. Some noises came out of it. Finally with a small pop everything was quiet. Harry and Hermione looked inside. The vessel was full of blood.
"It's over. Voldemort is gone forever," said Harry simply.
"I'm glad he's gone but there is just one problem," Hermione pointed out.
"What's that?" asked Harry, scared for a moment.
"We are the only two people who know about this. With your reputation as a storyteller, how do plan to make people believe that you've finally eliminated him," said Hermione.
"By this," said Harry and held up Voldemort's wand.