Chapter 23: Release the Soul
In the new darkness, a giant, green luminescent skull with a snake coming from its mouth loomed over Harry like a tower of death. It writhed and laughed as Harry looked up at it in horror. His eyes clouded with remorse and bitterness as the sudden appearance of the monstrous sign brought back remembrance of the vision and what he knew would already unfold.
It is the end.
Harry's legs, which were floating in nothingness suddenly touched down on something. It felt like gravel and Harry reached down and picked some of it up - it was indeed dirt. Tearing his eyes away from the neon cloud of death, he reached out and walked slowly. He could tell he was walking downhill, even though it was completely dark. Keeping his hands in front of him, he slowly waddled forward; his hand hit something - a tree! Its rough feel was easy to place. Harry walked carefully past its overhanging branches and continued on. He walked into rocks, felt grass and shrubs... it was like an invisible forest in the void.
After a few more minutes his face suddenly broke light; he shielded his eyes from the sudden glare. After taking a moment to adjust, his eyes opened to a glorious scene. Below him was the most enchanting valley Harry had ever seen. A river flowed calmly down the large, but beautiful mountain into a glen of grass and purple and yellow flowers. Large trees lined the horizon in a picturesque portrait of stunning countryside. Horses and unicorns and even a Pegasus could be seen wandering among the meadows while birds and thestrals and hippogriffs flew majestically in the sky. Harry even thought he spotted Buckbeak, but he was too far away to tell.
Harry took a quick glance back. The large skull could still be seen spewing and laughing in the darkness. The void itself rose high into the sky and peaked where the mountain would have. Lightning and red fire lit the darkness in fury. Harry turned back and continued down the mountain. He noticed he was wearing his sharp black overcoat (his personal favorite) and the rest of the attire he had worn at the Ministry Gala. They were sparkling clean and they shimmered against the sunlight that reflected off the crystal-clear river.
The river itself made Harry feel something - he felt refreshed and content. The complete opposite of what he felt on the top of the mountain in the darkness, Harry felt happy walking along its banks. He was exuberant and feel-good. It was as if something had happened that he had always wanted but had long ago decided he could never get. He shrugged away his thoughts and trekked happily down to the base of the mountain, where the beautiful flowers dancing amongst the grass greeted him in warmth. The sun was warm; despite his seemingly heavy clothing, the brisk breeze that rippled through the fields made everything seem perfect. Harry pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked around at the wonderful display of colors that met his eyes everywhere he turned.
He noticed high-reaching towers off in one direction - they peaked over the treetops and dominated that portion of the sky. Harry recognized them instantly as the towers of Hogwarts and he felt good knowing his home was so close, but he moved off in another direction. He came to an overhanging ledge where the river was swallowed up by an enormous waterfall that cascaded over into a gorge below. Harry saw an expansive world open up before him and it was the most perfect world he had ever seen. Again, he looked back. The mountain was now in the distance, its dark top a long-forgotten place in Harry's mind. He was in paradise and he didn't care what was happening on the other side of it.
Looking back over the waterfall, Harry scanned the sightlines and spotted a familiar house below... familiar, yet vague. Harry's mind tried to come up with the answer, but it blurred as the house's beauty consumed his attention.
Harry jumped over the waterfall edge, somehow knowing he was safe, and he was right: Harry floated gently down to the river bed and he walked along it, the gentle-looking house coming more sharply into view. The large Victorian was very beautiful; it was three stories of white-washed refuge, complete with a picket fence, light sunny curtains, and an oak porch with a swing. He climbed the stone steps leading up to the deck. Looking around, he noticed no one seemed to be around, but it also looked as if it were occupied.
Harry knocked on the door, hoping desperately for an answer. He didn't know why he loved the house, but he did. No one answered, but Harry felt at home - in his heart, he felt it was alright to open the door and walk in. Stepping into the foyer, he noticed a hallway that led to an expansive kitchen. Other rooms spread through the first floor.
"This almost seems like the house near Hogsmeade where I faced the Malfoys," Harry thought to himself. "But it's different somehow... a lot different now that I think of it."
Harry walked through the various rooms calling out for someone who might be around, but no one came. Reaching a large staircase, Harry climbed slowly. The steps... the familiar creak... he knew them, but he couldn't place them. He reached another set of various rooms and halls. He walked with uncertain confidence towards a room at the far end of one hallway. His heart began to beat rapidly when he faced a door emblazoned with an etching of a golden snitch that raced across the door and back again. Pushing the door open, Harry gasped.
Inside... was his room.
He knew it... he felt it. Every part of his body leaped in joy with the familiarity of something he never knew could possibly exist. He could see a large four-poster bedecked with forest green covers that were unmade and messy. This made sense to Harry because he hated making his bed. Various posters of the Chudley Cannons and the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team hung on his walls. One was even signed by Viktor Krum himself. Harry read it excitedly.
Congratulations on your seventh straight Quidditch title at Hogwarts, Harry. You will make a fine seeker for the English team someday. I look forward to future matches with you.
Harry moved silently across his room, looking at all the wondrous things he always knew he could have but never knew existed. His Nimbus Two Thousand and his Firebolt stood propped up against a wall, shining brightly from a new polish. Pictures were framed on his dresser and Harry looked on them fondly. One picture showed him as a first year. He was bundled under large robes but he smiled and waved. Hagrid came up to him and picked him up, putting Harry on his shoulders. They continued to wave happily and made their way over to the first years' boats.
Another picture was of himself with Ron and Hermione. They seemed to be in their fourth year and they were watching the Triwizard tournament happily from the stands. They hugged each other and smiled for the picture and went back to enjoying the task.
A third picture showed Harry and Ron shaking hands. They were in graduation robes and had honors' hats donned. They smiled before Ron knocked off Harry's hat and pulled him into a headlock; they laughed as they wrestled around before finally getting up from the ground and shaking hands again. Sirius, who looked healthy and happy, came and clapped them on the back and they smiled one last time.
The second to last picture showed him with his parents... a single tear trickled down Harry's face as he looked fondly at it. He was in the overcoat he was wearing now, except his under shirt was a sharp blue vest. The high collar and silver pins of his sleek overcoat made him look flashy and powerful, but his loving parents behind him made him look like a young wizard who was responsible and well brought-up. James and Lily hugged their son as they posed for the portrait.
They seem so proud of me.
The last picture on his dresser instantly commanded Harry's complete attention. It was a picture of the North Tower. Harry was there, looking passionately to Hermione, who was leaned up against the wall, looking coy. She placed her hand on his chest as he came up to her and she said something the Harry watching couldn't catch. Looking into each other's eyes, they finally kissed. Hermione suddenly pulled apart for a second, flushed, putting her hands to her lips. She smiled and said something Harry still couldn't catch, but they kissed once more, Harry's robes flying in the wind.
Harry sighed and tore his eyes away from the beautiful portrait after watching it a dozen times or so. The room was a mess, but not too bad. It looked like someone picked up after him every now and then. There was no doubt, however; he was standing in his own room and this house... was his house. He looked out the window and suddenly recognized the area. He was in Godric's Hollow. He was in his house... the one destroyed by the explosion.
The explosion? Was there an explosion? This is so real that everything else seems like a dream, so what I am thinking about? Maybe I'm just babbling. I need to go find mum and dad.
Harry walked out of the room and down the stairs, completely familiar with everything. He knew what had happened: everything had come rushing back to him. This world was different than the one he knew before. He was cursed... his parents were dead. Voldemort was his bitter enemy and Harry...
"I died by his hand," Harry said with sudden realization as he stepped out onto the porch of the house again. He knew it - he knew he had died in the Lomboc Spire, but he didn't feel bad or sorry for himself. Somehow, this felt right. He didn't ever want to let go of what he had at that moment. He ran as fast as he could down the beaten path towards where he had visited his parents' graves in his previous life. There didn't used to be a path, but Harry knew it was the one.
Finally arriving where the juxtapositioned tombstones should have been, he was met by the most wonderful sight he had ever seen. James and Lily Potter - his parents - stood there before him - the tombs were gone. They smiled and held each other. Harry walked slowly towards them, but stopped cautiously. He held out his hand timidly towards his mother.
"We're not going to bite, son," James suddenly said, making Harry jump. His toned features and well-aged look offered comfort and Harry rushed into their arms. Harry was much taller than his mother now, but he didn't mind. He hugged them and breathed them in, laughing and crying at the same time. They never parted, but just stood there and allowed him to hold on as long as he wanted.
Harry finally parted just a bit, but stayed in their arms.
"It's been such a long time, Harry," Lily told him happily, her green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "We have been waiting so long."
"I didn't know if I would ever want to be here," Harry replied, hugging his parents again and breathing them in. "But now I don't ever want to leave."
"Harry you fought so bravely against Voldemort! Your father and I were very proud of you!"
"That's right!" James chipped in. "We were watching the whole time. I rather do think you passed your old man in short time!"
"But I failed," Harry replied soberingly. "I should have finished what I started to do. Didn't I let all those people down?"
"You didn't fail Harry," James answered with a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. "Like Albus did, you gave Voldemort a chance to recognize a greater power - a magic you and your two dear friends adhered to when it mattered most. For that, you three fulfilled what you had set out to do and did what everyone not only expected, but also hoped for."
"Exactly," Harry's mother finished.
"So, killing Voldemort never had to be an aim..." Harry struggled with his parents' words in his head as he spoke out loud. "As long as my battle fought alongside those people that I loved... came to a conclusion of... giving everything I had for something greater?"
"Sharp as a tack," James commented happily in his wife's ear. "He gets that from my side." They hugged Harry again and he finally seemed to conclude that peace could be found at last.
"So what happens now?" Harry asked.
"Well, I suppose you have your entire future to make of it what you will," Lily replied in a soft manner. "And I must say Harry; it was about time you and Hermione got your acts together. Your father and I cringed at watching your horrible attempts in romance when clearly Hermione was the one for you. When you go back, you will have to let her know how much your father and I absolutely adore her!"
Harry stepped back, utterly confused.
"Go back? What do you mean?"
"Well I mean when you leave us and go back to finish the battle, of course." Lily looked strangely at Harry for the first time since they reunited.
"But... aren't I... you know... dead?"
"Oh Heavens, no!" Lily replied, shooing her hand at what was apparently a ridiculous assumption on Harry's part.
"I don't understand. If I'm not dead, what happened in the battle? I was done for and Voldemort cursed me! Didn't he?"
"Harry you're supposed to be my son!" James laughed. "Don't you understand what Albus was trying to drill into your head? Love conquers all! Voldemort is in for a bit of disappointment."
"So, then… where am I?" Harry's face grew dark with fear. "Are you not real?"
"Oh we are very real Harry. You can see and touch us, can't you? We have always been with you and you with us."
"You see, sweetheart..." Lily began to explain. "You are in a world on the crossroads of three souls - three lives that have been intertwined since you were a year old. Yours... mine... and Voldemort's. This is a place where the three are met, causing the conflict you have had your entire life."
"You mean the scar?"
"The scar and your eyes, Dear." Lily smiled as if it was plain as daylight. "When you were born, you had green eyes, but not my eyes exactly as you do now. When Voldemort came and killed us, a powerful magic of love was united in you and the curse Voldemort used to kill you backfired, killing him instead. In that moment, our three souls were united into this kind of world where conflict arises. It should have disappeared with the death of Voldemort, but his soul remained because of his own magic and ever since, the conflict has remained - a connection so binding that the prophesy was inevitable. One would have to destroy the other... it was unavoidable."
"So I received your mark in my eyes and Voldemort's mark in the scar," Harry reasoned. "And this world is the conflict between the three of us."
"I am here," James put in. "Because Lily and I are so strongly connected. You see that mountain?" he pointed towards the mountain Harry had descended. "That mountain is the representation of Voldemort's soul in this world; full of hatred and spite, it dwells in darkness but the void has grown smaller and smaller as your world and ability to love has grown larger and larger, overtaking the conflict that resides within you."
"I want to believe you," Harry felt uneasy. "But this all seems so real and my defeat seemed so real."
"What can we do to show you, son?"
Harry suddenly remembered something and he reached into his pocket. Pulling out a crinkled and worn piece of parchment, he smiled and opened it. Reading Hermione's letter, he knew.
We need you Harry. I need you.
Folding the letter gently, Harry faced his parents. "I'm ready to finish this," he said confidently.
"We know," James replied proudly. "We love you son."
"Very much," Lily finished for her husband once again. "And we will always be with you."
Light shined gently down on Harry and the vision of Heaven-past slowly disappeared. The valley, the house, the mountains and flowers and sun were gone and darkness overshadowed him once more. He could feel himself rising. He felt... unconscious.
He opened his eyes.
He looked up at an angered and frightened Voldemort who was pointing his wand at Harry who still lay on the ground. Right in front of Harry's face was a vicious-looking green skull with a snake coming from its mouth - it was struggling to move forward. Harry knew what it was: it was the Avada Kedavra curse Voldemort had cast to kill him, but for some reason, the green curse could not reach him - Voldemort's hand shook as he tried to keep himself steady against some kind of invisible barrier. He was driving to push his killing curse towards Harry, but he was unsuccessful.
Harry, himself, felt good; very good, in fact. He couldn't feel any pain whatsoever when he thought about it. He looked to his right and he saw Ron smiling at him. To his left, Hermione was also awake and looking confident. They were still holding Harry's hands; the power running through them was infinite.
They were picked up gently by an unknown force but with such strength that the hall was filled with an electric clout of force. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hovered gently in front of Voldemort who stared wide-eyed at the three. Then, Hermione was turned around Voldemort, encircling him until she was joined by Ron, who took her hand. They began to spin, slowly at first.
"What is happening? What is this?" Voldemort shouted as the three of them picked up a quicker pace. In seconds, they were a blur - Voldemort reached his hand out, but he was forced back violently. He could only watch as the blur of black rotated swiftly around him in a torrent.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going so fast, that had their clothes and hair not swirled about, they would have assumed it was Voldemort and the room around them that was actually spinning. They held tight to each other - Harry nodded to Ron, who looked to Hermione. She winked at him and turned to Harry. They felt wonderful and they all knew... it had happened a third time. The magic they kept invoking at crucial moments had been summoned. They watched as the cuts on Harry's face and neck closed up and disappeared. The blood and dirt on their faces was swept away as they spun like a tornado around a trapped Voldemort. Like the previous times, they were vibrant and felt brilliant inside.
They let go of each other, but they continued to blaze around Voldemort, who was on his knees, fearful of what was happening. A torrent of hot wind picked up and lifted into the opening in the roof, releasing into the sky. Faster and faster they spun as they spread out. Still holding their hands out, a sharp streak of fire caught between their connection and grew until it had engulfed their revolutions in a ring of combustion so great that Voldemort screamed in pain; but they felt nothing - only warmth met them as they continued to spin. They spun around him only faster still until the entire arena was a whirlpool of wind and fire. The red streak flashed and grew white, the color as pure as a unicorn.
Faster and faster and then a flash and an explosion; the entire roof of the arena blew its top, raining rocks around the mountain. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were stopped and they were lifted near the doorway and gently set down. Ron put his arm around Harry's shoulder and Harry took Hermione into his arms as the haze around where Voldemort had stood began to clear. Dust and rock still lightly fell from the now open rooftop, but the wind gradually lifted the debris and it finally cleared.
Voldemort stood, still shaking, but apparently unaffected by what had happened. His wand lay helpless on the ground in front of him and his eyes were weak with fear and exhaustion. Surrounding him… was some kind of bubble or pinkish-clear dome. Almost gelatinous in form, it completely engulfed Voldemort.
"Amor Immensus!" Harry whispered. Hermione and Ron heard him and it hit all three of them at once. What they had just witnessed was the same magic Slytherin had fallen victim to. Lord Voldemort… was imprisoned.
There was a crash and the large stalactite barrier surrounding the entrance to the arena was crushed and blown aside. A large number of wizards and witches rushed past the unconscious Death Eaters strewn across the ground and came to Harry's side, led by Mad-Eye Moody, Arthur Weasley, and Remus Lupin. They pulled up to the trio and gazed at Voldemort as they did, watching as the dark wizard gained his senses. His eyes narrowed in fury.
"This isn't over Potter!" he shouted as he picked up his wand. His expression melted away however. He looked around him as if he was expecting something, but it never came.
"Trying to apparate Riddle?" Harry asked quietly.
"What have you done?" Voldemort replied, looking around nervously. "What is this?" Voldemort reached out and touched the barrier around him. It was smooth to the touch - he waved his wand, but it didn't respond. It might as well have been a stick - he waved it again and again, but nothing happened. "WHAT IS THIS?"
"Adesdum," Ron quietly commanded. Harry's staff flew to his hands, the glass shards around it and still in its basin tinkling with the movement. A small pure white crystal of light hovered above where the orb had been destroyed. It glowed brightly, illuminating the area around it. Ron handed the staff to Harry, who pulled Rowena Ravenclaw's wand out of the opening. Handing it to Hermione, Harry pulled out his own wand and pointed it at Voldemort.
Voldemort backed away in fear as Harry approached.
"Riddle, the prison you are now in is the working of Amor Immensus - a magic that, until recently, I didn't know I had the capability of using."
"Amor Immensus?" Voldemort growled, his hands shaking. "There is no way a wizard of your puny talents could have summoned such a deep magic!"
"You may be right. The three of us," Harry said, referring to Ron and Hermione. "Summoned it. And now, you are trapped and there is nothing you can do. It's over."
"Nagini get out of here!" Voldemort suddenly screamed. The snake had been creeping away, but Ron had spotted her. They, however, did not chase after the snake that began to slither to the far end of the platform. They only waited.
Nagini suddenly stopped and began to writhe in pain. Everyone, including Voldemort, watched as Nagini seemed to burn from the inside out. It hissed and flailed, but after a few moments, it had disappeared in a flash of flame and in its place lay Worthwhile, while above him hovered another shard of light that was much more drab and dark than the one that had come from the orb.
Harry winked at Worthwhile, who nodded back.
"I saw our future, Riddle," Harry taunted. "I saw Nagini swallow up my trusted friend Worthwhile, so instead of trying to avoid that fate, we worked with it and cast a very rare curse on him. Once Nagini had swallowed Worthwhile, it went to work, destroying her from the inside out!"
Worthwhile worked his way out from under the Horcrux and, lashing his tail quickly, he struck it and the piece of Voldemort's soul was shattered. Voldemort instantly shrieked in pain, falling to the floor and clutching at his chest. Harry felt nothing this time - his mind was beyond Voldemort's control and the conflict was dying. He walked over to Worthwhile and knelt down.
"It was a good idea, my friend," Harry lauded the snake proudly.
"I am just glad I could help you defeat him. The idea may have been mine, but the magic was yours." Worthwhile crawled up Harry's arm and onto Harry's shoulders. Voldemort was still gasping on the ground inside the bubble prison. Harry produced a glass jar with his wand and went over to where Slytherin's Horcrux floated. Taking it gently into the jar, he closed it up and walked back over to where the others stood.
Voldemort slowly stood up, gasping and heaving, his eyes blazing furiously.
"You have been so fortunate Potter, but don't think I will let you succeed. My hatred for you will exist forever. Even if you turn your wand on me and destroy my last piece of soul, I will still haunt you forever. My memory... my successful victories over your pathetic parents... all will hunt you into insanity until the day you die!"
"I'm not taking your last Horcrux, because nonexistence is too good for you," Harry replied quietly. "Dumbledore once told you that there are things far worse than death and I am going to show you just how right he was. I am going to show you exactly how I respond to the suffering you have placed on me and my friends..." Harry flicked his wand slightly and Voldemort's wand zipped into his other hand. He threw it over the platform edge, where it was consumed instantly by the lava pit with a flash of green smoke. Harry tipped his wand again and the ground where Voldemort stood was separated from the platform with a crash and it was lifted up, bubble prison and all.
"What are you doing?" Voldemort shouted, putting his hands up against the barrier. "What are you going to do with me?"
Harry guided the large chunk of platform out of the arena, intent on his destination.
A breeze from an unknown source fluttered through the group of people who were watching Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry was standing in front of them with his back turned, his wand held up; he was keeping Voldemort's prison levitated in the air. Harry looked boldly into Voldemort's eyes, which looked fearfully back at him.
"You can't do this. Potter... just... kill me. Don't do this."
"I am not going to be responsible for another death. This is your final doom Riddle - and the fault is yours alone." Harry's steel-cold eyes struck through Voldemort's false emotions.
"I HATE YOU!" Voldemort screamed, pounding on the barrier. "I WILL KILL YOU POTTER! DIE, DIE, DIE!" Voldemort raged within his prison, but there was nothing he could do.
He turned fearfully towards his fate.
The veil stood daunting before him, voices within mercilessly calling out for his soul. Voldemort pounded on the bubble-like walls in panic, but there was no way out. Harry slowly pushed the prison towards the archway housed by the Ministry of Magic; its archaic and austere presence domineered over the prison that flowed toward its fate. Minister Scrimgeour, as well as the entirety of the Order of the Phoenix, watched on as Voldemort glided ever-slowly to his final destiny.
Voldemort turned towards Harry and looked at his enemy one last time as he slipped past the tattered curtains into the abyss. Malice gave way to nothingness and the one known as Lord Voldemort… was gone.
Harry continued to watch the graceful curtains flow gently, almost half expecting Voldemort to appear suddenly, but in a matter of time, Harry knew. The war was over and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was vanquished.
"What do you think will happen to him?" Ron asked next to him.
"If whatever is beyond that veil can get past the barrier, then he will simply die, but if they can't - and I assume they can't - then he will wander the unknown forever."
"A scary thought."
"It was necessary. I couldn't kill him... I just couldn't take another life by my own hands. Even with him, it would have been unbearable."
"We know, Harry. We all know."
"To fulfill the prophesy and end this for good, there needed to be resolution. I guess Dumbledore was right in the end: there is indeed a fate worse than death." Harry held up the jar holding Slytherin's Horcrux. "And Tom Riddle, the murderer, will suffer it."
END Chapter 23
Author's Note: And there it is. That was my vision of how JK planned it… putting it all together. There's still two more chapters, so plenty more to read (I have to go into explanation and resolution or course! What kind of book would it be without a proper ending? Haha Lots of H/Hr goodness.)
Thanks for all your great reviews. Enjoy the last two chapters I put up in the next week.
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