The victory procession marched onto the open field, and after some time. They finally arrived.
"Halt," Voldemort ordered, and Hagrid was forced to stand still.
Then, with his magically amplified voice, designed to carry across the school grounds, resonating in everyone's eardrums, he proclaimed, "Harry Potter is dead. He was struck down in full flight, trying to save himself while you offered your lives for him. We bring here his corpse as proof that your hero no longer exists."
That never happened, but he didn't need to know the truth.
"The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and The-Boy-Who-Lived is finished. The war must cease. Whoever continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be exterminated, along with all members of their family. Leave the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters, shall live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."
Silence fell over the gardens and the castle.
"Come," Voldemort ordered, and Hagrid was compelled to follow.
Nagini was finally free from the cage, and Cassi followed closely, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Harry," Hagrid sobbed. "Ah, Harry... Harry..."
When they reached the front of the castle, Voldemort spoke again.
"Stop."
The Death Eaters halted and began to disband, forming a line in front of the open doors of the school.
"NO!"
The cry was filled with anguish, and Cassiopeia shuddered. She had never imagined Minerva to be so desperate.
Her face bore a cut on her cheek, tears streaming down as she fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Just a second passed, and she saw the entrance start to fill with people as the survivors of the battle stepped onto the steps, to face their conquerors and see with their own eyes the reality of Harry's death.
Voldemort stood a little ahead, caressing Nagini's head with a white finger.
"No! - No!"
"Harry! HARRY!"
The voices of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were worse than McGonagall's.
Hermione also fell with a thud as she screamed. Ginny was hunched over as if in physical pain, and Ron was struggling to breathe between sobs as he held his sister back from advancing towards the Death Eaters.
The survivors started shouting in response, the crowd of survivors joining them, shouting and hurling insults at the Death Eaters until...
"SILENCE!" Voldemort exclaimed. Then, a crack, a strong flash, and silence fell upon everyone.
"It's over! Put him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"
Cassi stood a bit apart. It would be difficult to get the wand to Harry.
"See?" Voldemort said, pacing back and forth. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, you deluded fools? He was nothing. He never was, just a boy, confident that others would sacrifice themselves for him!"
"He defeated you!" Ron yelled, and the spell broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts resumed shouting and insulting until a second, louder crack silenced their voices once more.
"He was killed trying to flee the castle grounds," Voldemort said, and there was pleasure in every word. "Killed while trying to save himself..."
However, Voldemort was interrupted:
Neville lunged forward, and Voldemort quickly pointed his wand at him, a red flash and a groan of pain.
Voldemort took Neville's wand, tossing it aside, and began to laugh.
"And who is this?" he asked with his hissing tone. "Who is volunteering to demonstrate what happens to those who persist in fighting when the battle is lost?"
Yaxley laughed in pleasure. "It's Neville Longbottom, my lord! The boy who's been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"
"Ah, yes, I remember," Voldemort said, looking down at Neville, who struggled to stand, unarmed and unprotected, standing in no man's land between the survivors and the Death Eaters.
"But you have pure blood, don't you, brave lad?" Voldemort asked Neville, who stared back, empty-handed with clenched fists.
"And if I do?" Neville replied loudly.
"You show spirit and courage, and you come from noble lineage... You would make a valuable Death Eater. We need people like you, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over! Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted, and from the crowd, cheers erupted in response, seemingly beyond the reach of Voldemort's Silencing Spells.
"Very well," Voldemort said, his voice hissing with danger.
"If that's your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. The blame will be all yours," he said calmly.
Voldemort waved his wand. Moments later, from the shattered windows of the castle, something resembling a misshapen bird flew in the semi-darkness and landed in Voldemort's hand. He shook the object by its beak, letting it hang empty and torn: the Sorting Hat.
"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," Voldemort declared. "No more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for all. What do you say, my dear?" He turned to Cassiopeia with a terrifying smile.
She didn't speak, remained motionless. This made him laugh.
Then he pointed the wand at Neville, who stood rigid and silent, then forcefully pushed the hat onto the boy's head, causing it to slip down over his eyes. The crowd watching from the castle gate stirred, and in unison, the Death Eaters raised their wands, intimidating the defenders of Hogwarts.
"Neville will now demonstrate what happens to those foolish enough to continue rebelling," Voldemort announced.
With a flick of his wand, he set the Sorting Hat on fire. Screams cut through the dawn, and Neville burst into flames, pinned to the ground.
A clamor rose from the distant outskirts of the school, as if hundreds of people were scaling the walls beyond everyone's field of view, rushing towards the castle and shouting triumphant battle cries.
At that moment, Hagrid's giant brother appeared around the corner of the castle and bellowed, "HAGGER!" His cry was met with roars from Voldemort's giants, and they surged toward him like thundering elephants. Then came the hooves, the vibration of bows being drawn, and arrows suddenly rained down among the Death Eaters, who broke ranks, shouting and surprised.
Her mother emerged from the ranks and threw something to Madame Rosmerta and some other Hogsmeade residents who had just joined. As soon as the woman caught it, explosions sent some giants and Death Eaters flying.
So, that's what she had been planning?
Amidst the chaos, Cassiopeia took her chance and approached the fallen Harry, placing the wand in his hand and covering him with the Invisibility Cloak.
Bellatrix stood in front of her, beside Narcissa, shielding them from view.
With a swift and fluid motion, Neville broke free from the Body-Bind Curse that immobilized him. The burning hat fell from his head, and from its depths, the boy pulled out a silver object with a hilt studded with rubies.
Godric Gryffindor's sword.
The sound of the silver blade cutting through the air couldn't be heard above the approaching crowd's clamor or the giants' clashes, or the sudden rain of centaur arrows. However, it seemed to capture everyone's attention.
With a single swing, Neville severed Nagini's head, and it spun in the air, glinting in the light streaming from the entrance hall. Voldemort's mouth opened in a roar of fury, inaudible to all, and the snake's lifeless body thudded at his feet...
Bellatrix raised the protective shield around Neville before Voldemort could lift his wand.
He looked at her in shock, blind rage screamed the killing curse in her direction. But before it reached her, Cassiopeia, Minerva, and Noctua lunged forward, conjuring a shield so strong that some people were thrown back by the impact.
"Professor?" Bellatrix asked, astonished.
"You've helped more than once tonight," Minerva stated simply. "It's good to see my Bella back."
Then, rising above the screams, roars, and the heavy stomping of battling giants, Hagrid's voice boomed louder than everything.
"HARRY!" He cried out. "HARRY... WHERE'S HARRY?"
Chaos reigned. The centaur charge scattered the Death Eaters, everyone fled from the giants' footsteps, and, drawing closer, reinforcements thundered in from an unknown origin.
Large winged creatures, Thestrals and Buckbeak the hippogriff, circled over Voldemort's giants, scratching their eyes, while Hagrid's giant friend pounded them. And now, the wizards defending Hogwarts, as well as Voldemort's Death Eaters, were being pushed back into the castle.
Narcissa ran after Cassi's push to protect herself. She was wandless, defenseless.
Cassiopeia pushed Lestrenge to the ground,forcibly took his wand, and sent him flying into a row, knocking down ten Death Eaters at once.
"10 points for Slytherin," she murmured to herself and felt her hair ruffle as a spell impact hit beside her. Someone had just saved her from a Killing Curse. The shield came from something invisible by her side. Voldemort shouted in shock.
"Harry! Now!" he cried, and just a second later, Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off, and the two sent Voldemort flying through the air with a Stunning Spell.
Voldemort remained stunned, looking at them, still fallen and unsure of how this had happened.
Cheers erupted from his fellow students, teachers, and friends in emotional celebration.
Whispers and shouts from all sides: "Harry's alive!" and "It's not over yet."
Harry pulled her behind a beam, running towards the castle as fireworks were launched at the two.
Voldemort's screams were heard as he shouted in fury, searching for Narcissa.
Now there were many more, many more people bursting onto the entrance stairs, Slughorn leading the families and friends of each Hogwarts student who had stayed to fight, accompanied by shopkeepers and Hogsmeade residents. The centaurs Agouro, Ronan, and Magoriano stormed into the hall, just as the door to the kitchen was ripped from its hinges.
A flood of Hogwarts house-elves streamed into the hall, shouting and brandishing their blades and knives. Leading them, with his father's locket hanging from his neck, was Kreacher, with Dobby at his side, raising a knife. His deep voice was audible over the din:
"The fight! The fight! The fight for my master, defender of the house-elves! The fight against the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! To battle! FOR MASTER Regulus!"
"ALL FOR HOGWARTS!" Dobby fiercely yelled, and the elves roared in a war cry. They cut and stabbed at Death Eater ankles and shins, their little faces contorted in fury.
Tears streamed down Cassiopeia's face.
"For my father, you bastard!" she screamed as she joined Minerva and the other professors in a united cry, forming a shield between the students and knocking down the Death Eaters attacking.
And wherever she looked, the Death Eaters were succumbing to the superiority of numbers, overcome by spells, pulling arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by the elves, or simply attempting to flee, only to be swallowed by the invading horde.
However, the battle was not yet over. She saw Harry dart among the duelists, pass prisoners struggling, and enter the Great Hall behind Voldemort, who was looking around, bewildered.
A spell barely grazed her face as she looked to the side in shock. There was Yaxley, laughing manically at her.
"Not my daughter, you son of a bitch!" Noctua's voice echoed in fury.
She knew her mother was powerful, but the rays emanating from Noctua's wand like a whip, knocking down five Death Eaters at once and obliterating Yaxley before he could react, left her stunned.
She saw Ron and Neville take down Fenrir Greyback, Aberforth stun Augustus Rookwood, Arthur and Percy bring down Pius Thicknesse, and Lucius and Narcissa rushing through the crowd, shouting at the top of their lungs for Draco.
But then Carrow advanced towards Narcissa, and Cassi ran in her direction.
However, before she could do anything, Narcissa pulled something from her cloak and blew the brilliant black powder in Alecto's face.
The witch stopped abruptly before convulsing and falling to the ground.
Narcissa blew again towards a group of Death Eaters, and they all fell, white foam spilling from their mouths.
Many who were around stood still, shocked and bewildered by what had just happened.
"The Devastating Shadow! It was you all along," Amicus shouted furiously.
Bellatrix also looked at her sister in shock.
"You cunning blondie!"
Before Narcissa could respond, Amicus lunged to avenge his sister, and Bellatrix killed him before he could even raise his wand. The green light emitted from her wand slowly fading away.
Narcissa screamed in shock, and Cassi embraced both of them, breathless, handing Dolohov's wand to the trembling blonde's hands.
"Mother!" Draco shouted from behind them.
"Father!" He exclaimed as he ran towards them, embracing them tightly.
"Are you both alright?"
"Draco," Narcissa cried, hugging him tightly.
"Come on, Mother, we need to fight," Draco exclaimed, wielding a wand, likely taken from a fallen Death Eater.
Lucius was stunned, still without a wand.
"Help the fallen," Cassiopeia instructed, and he nodded, puzzled, pulling Bill Weasley, who was slightly ahead with an injured leg, behind a beam.
The group ducked as debris narrowly missed their heads.
Voldemort was now dueling with McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley simultaneously, his face betraying a cold hatred as he watched them weave their magic and protection around him, unable to bring him down.
Voldemort let out a cry, and in slow motion, Cassiopeia saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn thrown backward, writhing and contorting in the air, by Voldemort's fury. He raised his wand again towards Minerva, and Cassi acted instinctively, casting a Protego towards her godmother.
Draco, Cassi, and Harry held their wands aloft, shielding all the professors around them, and Voldemort turned in shock towards them.
"I don't want anyone else to try and help," Harry said loudly, and in the utter silence, his voice rang out like a trumpet. "It has to be like this. It has to be me."
Voldemort hissed. "Potter isn't serious," he said, widening his red eyes. "This isn't how he acts, is it? Who will you use as a shield today, Potter?"
"Nobody," Harry replied simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. Just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave forever..."
"One of us?" Voldemort sneered, his entire body tense and his red eyes alert, a coiled snake ready to strike.
"You think it will be you, don't you, the boy who survived by chance and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"
"Chance, was it? When my mother died to save me?" Harry challenged. They continued to move sideways, the two of them in a perfect circle, maintaining the same distance between each other.
"Chance, when I chose to fight in that graveyard? Chance when Narcissa Malfoy blatantly lied to your face to protect me? Chance when I survived and came back to fight?"
Countless people sighed, so astonished that they didn't move a muscle.
"Chances!" Voldemort shouted, yet still didn't attack, and the bystanders remained still as if petrified. Among the hundreds in the hall, no one seemed to be breathing except for the two of them.
"Chance and luck and the fact that you hid and cowered behind the skirts of those superior to you, letting me kill them in your place!"
"You won't kill anyone else tonight," Harry said, as they circled each other and locked eyes, green and red.
"You won't be able to kill any of them, ever again. Don't you understand? I was willing to die to keep you from hurting these people..."
"But you didn't die!"
"But I meant to, and that's what made the difference. I did what my mother did. I protected them from you. Haven't you noticed that none of the spells you cast on them are lasting? You can't torture them. You can't harm them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"
"You dare..."
"I do dare. I know things you don't, Tom Riddle. Important things that you're unaware of. Want to hear some before you make another big mistake?" Harry responded, and they continued to circle.
Cassiopeia was getting dizzy with this spinning around.
Voldemort didn't reply, continuing to circle Harry.
"Love again, is it?" Voldemort sneered, mockery in his serpentine face. "Dumbledore's favorite solution, love, which he claimed could conquer death, though love didn't stop him from falling off the Tower and shattering like an old wax statue. Love, which didn't prevent me from killing your filthy blood-traitor mother like a cockroach, Potter, and no one seems to love you enough to step forward this time and take my curse. So, what will stop you from dying now when I attack?"
"Just one thing. The very thing you despise saved me more than once. Love saved me more than once," Harry turned to Narcissa with a smile. "In this case, a mother's love."
"If it won't be love that saves you this time," Voldemort retorted, "do you think you know more magic than I do? Than I, Lord Voldemort, capable of magic even Dumbledore never dreamed of?"
"-Ah, he dreamed, yes, but he knew more than you did, knew enough not to do what you did."
"You mean he was weak!" Voldemort shouted. "Too weak to dare, too weak to seize what could be his, what will be mine!"
"No, he was smarter than you, a better wizard and a better man."
"I caused Albus Dumbledore's death!"
"You think you did, but you were wrong."
For the first time, the watching crowd shifted as hundreds of people around the walls collectively held their breath.
"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort spat the words at Harry as if they could cause him unbearable pain. "His body is decaying in the marble tomb in the gardens of this castle. I saw it, Potter, and he will not return!"
"Dumbledore is dead, yes," Harry replied calmly. "But it wasn't you who ordered his death. He chose how he wanted to die, chose it months before he died, planned it all with the man you thought was his servant."
"What childish dream is this?!" Voldemort exclaimed, but still he didn't attack, his Voldemort's eyes and nostrils swelling.
"He asked you to spare her life, didn't he? Naturally, that's what Snape told you, but he became Dumbledore's spy the moment you threatened her, and from then on, he worked against you! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape killed him! Severus Snape was not your man. Snape belonged to Dumbledore, from the moment you started hunting my mother. And you never realized it, because of what you cannot comprehend. You never saw Snape conjure a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"
Voldemort didn't respond. They continued to circle each other like two wolves about to tear each other apart.
"Snape's Patronus was a doe," Harry said. "The same as my mother's, because he loved her almost his entire life, since they were children. You should have realized."
"He desired her, nothing more," Voldemort sneered. "But when she was gone, he agreed there were other women, of purer blood, more worthy of him... It doesn't matter!" Voldemort screeched, following
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