Duel in the Ministry Atrium

The Duel in the Ministry Atrium was a duel fought between Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic at the end of the Battle at the Department of Mysteries in June of 1996.

The Duel
The duel began when Voldemort entered the Ministry to find out if the Prophecy was destroyed and to try once again to kill Harry Potter. Dumbledore however intervened making the gold statue of the wizard from the Fountain of Magical Brethren come alive and protect Harry. Voldemort realizing that Dumbledore was there tried to kill him, but Dumbledore vanished to reappear behind Voldemort. Dumbledore then brought the other statues to life, the Witch who pinned Bellatrix Lestrange to the ground, the house-elf and goblin that scattered to the fireplaces and the centaur which began charging at Voldemort. Voldemort vanished and reappeared by the pool of the fountain, Dumbledore approached Voldemort calmly, and Voldemort again tried to kill Dumbledore, though he missed hitting the security guard's desk and setting it aflame.

Dumbledore then sent a spell at Voldemort that the dark lord blocked with a silver shield, the spell while not harming the shield made a deep gong like sound when it was deflected. Voldemort surprised that Dumbledore did not come to kill him, tried once again to kill Dumbledore this time the centaur intervened and was destroyed by Voldemort’s curse. Dumbledore then set a flame around Voldemort, which Voldemort turned into a snake and sent after Dumbledore. Voldemort again disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the fountain and sent another Killing Curse at Dumbledore. Dumbledore got rid of the snake and Fawkes the phoenix took the Avada Kedavra.

Then Dumbledore made the water in the pool surround Voldemort, and it seemed that Dumbledore had won. However, Voldemort disappeared and tried to possess Harry and make Dumbledore kill him. Voldemort was driven out of Harry by Harry's love for his godfather Sirius Black, and Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix and disappeared, but not before, he was spotted by members of the ministry of magic. The duel was over, and the ministry could no longer deny Voldemort's return.