"Master?"
The Death Eaters looked at their leader in confusion.
Voldemort had suddenly stopped just as they were about to reach the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Another half mile and they would be in Hogsmeade, beyond the boundaries of Hogwarts. Once there, they could Apparate away.
"Master, what's happened?" Anthony Dolohov asked, frowning.
Moments earlier, as the Dark Lord led them in retreat, he had let out a sharp cry and nearly collapsed. Dolohov and another Death Eater had been forced to support him all the way here.
Voldemort glanced at his loyal followers. Many of them had served him for decades. Under normal circumstances, he would never abandon them.
But this time was different.
For the first time in his life, he felt the threat of death closing in—felt the end drawing near. He had to be cautious. He needed to be more cautious than ever before.
Voldemort drew a deep breath—
Then his body began to shrivel at a visible rate. Before their eyes, it withered like a corpse left to dry. A black shadow burst out from within it, shot into the sky at astonishing speed, and vanished beyond the borders of Hogwarts.
The Death Eaters stared at one another, stunned.
None of them could make sense of it. They had just killed Albus Dumbledore—so why was the Dark Lord fleeing in such a desperate state, abandoning them without a word?
"Mudblood sympathizers! They're over there!"
Behind them, Hogwarts' defenders—Aurors, professors, and members of the Order of the Phoenix—were already closing in.
If they lingered any longer, a brutal fight would be unavoidable.
Panic broke out.
Like their master, the Death Eaters scattered in all directions, fleeing wildly and without coordination.
The battlefield descended into utter chaos.
...
"It was Voldemort!" Remus Lupin said firmly. "I saw him just now—he escaped!"
Nearby, the diminutive Professor Flitwick bent down and examined a scattered heap of fragments on the ground. The Charms professor shook his head in disbelief.
"He truly cast aside his own body…"
"To cast magic of that magnitude using nothing but the soul, even after discarding the body…" Professor Sprout murmured in awe. "Dumbledore was right to call him one of the most gifted students in Hogwarts' history. But I don't understand—why would he go that far?"
No one present could offer an explanation.
If Voldemort had gone just half a mile farther north, he could have led the Death Eaters out of the Forbidden Forest, beyond the Hogwarts grounds, and Apparated away safely. Yet at the final moment, he had made such a drastic choice—severing himself from his own body.
"Where is Professor Dumbledore?" Deputy Headmistress McGonagall looked far more concerned about the Headmaster's whereabouts. She scanned the area anxiously, searching for Albus Dumbledore.
"Perhaps he can give us the answer, Professor McGonagall."
A low voice came from the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Sirius Black stepped forward, escorting a captured Death Eater alongside his cousin, Auror Tonks.
"Anthony Dolohov?" Professor McGonagall's expression tightened when she recognized him.
He was among the most infamous of Voldemort's followers. During the First Wizarding War, he had tortured countless Muggles and opponents of Voldemort. Even after Voldemort's fall, he and four other Death Eaters had brutally murdered two members of the Order of the Phoenix—Fabian and Gideon Prewett.
"Dumbledore is dead!" Dolohov bared his teeth in a grin. "The Dark Lord killed him!"
"What are you talking about?" McGonagall demanded, her voice trembling.
"Dumbledore is dead!" Dolohov burst into laughter.
"That's a lie—slander—" McGonagall nearly raised her wand, but Professors Sprout and Flitwick quickly restrained her.
"Calm down, Minerva."
A deep, steady voice interrupted from ahead.
Two more wizards entered from outside the school grounds, dragging along two Death Eaters who had attempted to flee through the Forbidden Forest.
"Kingsley?" Ron Weasley let out a startled shout. "Weren't you—"
Many present shared Ron's astonishment at Kingsley's sudden appearance, though quite a few others seemed to have known all along.
Professor McGonagall was clearly among them. She looked at Kingsley, her voice shaking.
"Does this mean… Dumbledore… really…"
"Much as I regret it," Kingsley said quietly, shaking his head, "this Death Eater may be telling the truth. Dumbledore kept many things from us. To draw Voldemort to Hogwarts, he used himself as bait."
"What exactly is going on?" several professors demanded at once.
"Dumbledore lured Voldemort here with himself as the trap," Alastor Moody said from beside Kingsley. "He sent us to destroy something extremely important to Voldemort. That's why Voldemort fled in such disgrace."
The experienced Moody recognized at once that the fragments Flitwick had gathered were the remains of Voldemort's body.
"I don't know all the details," Moody added. "But the ones who do should be back at Hogwarts very soon."
...
Harry Potter was soaked through, shivering violently.
But Jon had already taken him away from that gloomy graveyard.
They appeared on the dark road in Hogsmeade. The village was silent, the night deep and heavy. Only a few streetlamps burned, and light glowed faintly from a handful of upstairs windows.
"Harry, are you all right?" Jon asked, helping him to his feet, concern evident in his voice.
"Awful… but at least I'm alive…" Harry said through chattering teeth.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of running footsteps.
They turned to see Madam Rosmerta hurrying toward them down the dark street. She wore fluffy high-heeled slippers and a silk dressing gown embroidered with a fire dragon.
"I saw you Apparate when I closed my bedroom curtains… What happened to you?" she asked, her tone oddly stiff.
"Stupefy!"
Before Harry could answer, a flash of red light streaked past.
Madam Rosmerta collapsed onto the street, unconscious.
For a split second, Harry thought they were under attack again. He reached shakily into his pocket for his wand—
Then he saw the face of the "attacker."
Silver-white hair.
A long, thick beard.
And a pair of bright blue eyes that seemed to see straight through him.