Chapter 767: He Is Dead!!
On the grounds outside the castle, Voldemort stood with the Death Eaters, facing Hogwarts.
The castle itself was silent.
Not a single voice answered him.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Voldemort didn't seem to care.
His gaze shifted to Hagrid.
"Come forward," he said calmly. "Stand in front. I want them all to see."
---
Darren opened his eyes just a fraction.
Enough to see—
Nagini had already been released from the cage.
She coiled near Voldemort, her body glinting faintly in the firelight.
Hagrid's shoulders shook as he sobbed, but he still obeyed. He carried Darren forward and stood at the very front, facing the castle.
Darren stayed still.
Now wasn't the time.
With Voldemort right here, no one could move against Nagini yet.
And Voldemort still hadn't looked closely at his face.
He was cautious.
Even now, he didn't fully trust what he saw.
So Darren waited.
He knew—
Harry would come.
---
The Death Eaters advanced slowly.
Closer.
Closer to the castle.
Inside, footsteps echoed.
More and more of them.
Until finally—
someone stepped out.
---
It was Harry.
His face was pale.
His eyes… hollow.
And the moment he saw Darren in Hagrid's arms—
something in him broke.
This time was different.
This wasn't like darren falling beyond the veil.
This wasn't something uncertain.
This was final.
Darren was dead.
Truly dead.
Gone.
---
"No—!"
Professor Minerva McGonagall cried out, her voice tearing through the silence.
It sounded like something breaking.
Like grief given form.
Behind her—
laughter.
Wild and Uncontrolled.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
---
Harry let out a hollow, broken laugh.
He stepped forward unsteadily.
Each step heavier than the last.
---
"Silence."
Voldemort's voice cut through everything.
"It's over."
"He's dead."
"Harry Potter—"
His words stopped abruptly.
Because Harry had stepped fully into the open.
Voldemort's eyes narrowed.
"…Darren?"
"You disguised yourself as Harry Potter?"
---
Harry almost laughed.
Almost.
"You can think he disguised himself as me…" he said hoarsely.
"Then why don't you look properly at him?"
---
Voldemort turned sharply.
For the first time—
he really looked.
Hagrid lowered the body.
Darren's face—restored.
Clear.
Visible.
---
For a moment—
Voldemort didn't move.
Didn't speak.
It was as if something inside him had simply… stopped.
He had always thought of Darren as something secondary.
A useful piece.
A brilliant creation.
But now—
that piece was gone.
And something unfamiliar spread through him.
A hollow pain he couldn't quite understand.
---
"The Sorting Hat—!"
Harry's voice suddenly rang out.
The Sorting Hat flew out from the castle.
Harry caught it and placed it on his head without hesitation.
This time—
it fit as if it had always belonged there.
The Sword of Gryffindor appeared in his hand.
Harry didn't hesitate.
He moved.
A single, clean strike—
Nagini's head was severed.
---
For a second—
no one reacted.
Then Harry dropped to his knees.
Laughing.
Crying.
Both at once.
"Darren…!"
---
From the castle, people rushed out.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
No one cared about the battle anymore.
Cries filled the air.
Someone shouted.
Someone screamed.
---
Darren almost got up.
Instinct.
But then—
he saw them.
Albus Dumbledore
And beside him—
Gellert Grindelwald
Darren immediately went still again.
…Right.
If those two were here, then things were far from over.
So he stayed where he was.
Perfectly motionless.
Dead.
Waiting to see what they would do next.
---
"Hagrid! Give him to me—don't let anyone step on him!"
Voices overlapped.
Hands reached forward.
---
Harry finally seemed to wake up.
He staggered to his feet, trying to push through the crowd toward Darren—
but chaos had already erupted again.
Spells. Movement. Noise.
---
And Voldemort—
still stood there.
Unmoving.
As if the world around him had nothing to do with him anymore.
---
Then—
a single tear fell.
From his snake-like eyes.
---
"Looks like you finally understand what love is."
Dumbledore's voice rang out.
Calm and Clear as always.
---
Harry looked up sharply.
The crowd followed his gaze.
Gasps spread instantly.
Shock and Disbelief.
Because standing there—
alive—
were Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
---
"Why aren't you dead?"
Voldemort's voice had finally changed.
There was something sharp in it now.
Suspicion.
"And you…"
"…Horcruxes?"
---
Dumbledore smiled faintly.
"No."
Then, as if it were nothing at all, he continued:
"When I first learned that Darren had your blood… I was quite surprised."
"But after investigating further, we discovered something interesting."
---
He looked around at the stunned faces.
"Darren doesn't just carry your bloodline."
"He carries Lucius's… Narcissa's…"
"And quite a few others."
"Mine. Gellert's. Severus's…"
"Even traces from other Death Eaters."
---
The silence deepened.
People stared at him.
At Darren.
At each other.
Trying to process it.
---
Even Voldemort looked shaken.
"How… is that possible…?"
---
Dumbledore spoke gently, as if explaining something simple.
"When Lily was attacked, the child she carried lacked magic to survive."
"Something… unusual happened."
"Harry, perhaps because of his own condition, unconsciously began drawing in magic—bloodlines—from those around him."
"When it became too much, he rejected the excess."
"And those fragments… gathered."
---
He paused.
"Severus's intervention… completed the process."
"And so…"
"A child was formed."
---
Dumbledore looked at Voldemort.
"So yes—you can say Darren has your blood."
"But he is not your child."
---
A faint smile.
"He could just as easily be Gellert's… or Severus's… or anyone else's."
---
Around them—
people stood frozen.
Unable to respond.
---
Remus Lupin lowered his head, covering his face.
"…It doesn't matter," he said quietly.
"…He's gone."
---
The words hit harder than anything else.
Because they were true.
No matter what Darren was—
he was dead.
---
Dumbledore didn't argue.
He simply looked back at Voldemort.
"As for us…"
"We needed you to believe we were gone."
"To grow more reckless."
"To act without restraint."
"So that Harry and Darren could destroy your Horcruxes."
---
He folded his hands behind his back.
"We've been watching."
"And now…"
"It's time to end this."
---
Harry didn't laugh.
Didn't react.
He just felt something inside him collapse.
So Dumbledore had known.
All along.
---
He covered his face.
Then slowly—
step by step—
he walked toward Darren.
He didn't care about the battle anymore.
Didn't care about anything else.
---
All the Horcruxes were gone.
Everything was over.
---
And the only thing left—
was to go back.
To him.