Duel in the Ministry Atrium

The duel in the Ministry Atrium was a critical duel fought between Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic at the end of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in June of 1996. It was almost certainly one of the greatest duels of the generation.

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, who had been chasing Bellatrix Lestrange from the Department of Mysteries and was then in the Ministry Atrium. Dumbledore, following Harry, intervened as Voldemort was about to kill Harry. Enchanting the statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to protect Harry, immobilise Bellatrix, and warn important Ministry officials, Dumbledore proceeded to take on the Dark Lord. Voldemort responded by Apparating near the fountain pool and firing a curse at Dumbledore, which missed.

After Voldemort missed hitting Dumbledore, he then sent a powerful spell at Voldemort, that the Dark Lord was forced to block with a Silver shield; the spell did not harm the shield, but made a deep gong-like sound as it was deflected. Voldemort realised that the nature of the spell was not meant to kill him, and, surprised, tried once again to kill Dumbledore; this time, the centaur statue intercepted the curse and was destroyed. Dumbledore then set a ring of fire around Voldemort, which he turned into a snake and sent after Dumbledore. Voldemort again disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the fountain, sending another Killing Curse at Dumbledore. The Headmaster could not block the spell, as he was getting rid of the snake, but Fawkes the phoenix sacrificed himself, taking the full force of the spell and bursting into flames.

Dumbledore then formed a dome around Voldemort using the water from the pool. Voldemort Disapparated from inside and attempted to possess Harry, in the hopes that Dumbledore would sacrifice him to kill the Dark Lord. However, the power of Harry's love made it impossible for him to possess Harry, and he fled, taking Bellatrix with him, but not before he was seen by Ministry officials who had just Apparated into the Ministry. The duel was over, Harry was saved, and the Ministry could no longer deny the fact that Voldemort had returned.

Ministry Duel, film version
"You're the weak one. And you'll never know love. Or friendship. And I feel sorry for you."

- Harry breaking Voldemort's possession over him.

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after Harry chases Bellatrix, he attempts to use the Cruciatus Curse on her. The spell knocks her down, but doesn't cause her prolonged pain. Harry stands over her with his wand pointed at her, while the Dark Lord's voice whispers to him to kill her. Voldemort apparates and Bellatrix laughs. Harry turns on Voldemort, who disarms him with a slashing wave of his hand. At that moment Dumbledore appears from one of the fireplaces. He tells Voldemort he was foolish to come to the Ministry, that the Aurors are on their way, but Voldemort tells him that by that time he (Voldemort) would be gone and Dumbledore would be dead. Voldemort performs a curse which manifests in a jet of green light (which could be Avada Kedavra), which Dumbledore counters with an unknown spell (possibly Expelliarmus or Stupefy) in the form of a cord of red light. He pushes Harry back as both spells collide and the two wands connect in a manner similar to Priori Incantatem. Voldemort attempts several times to direct his curse at Harry, with lightning-like tendrils popping off from the main beam, but instead the dark magic merely destroys part of the wall. With Dumbledore slowly advancing, Voldemort slashes his wand to break the connection, but as the smoke clears he conjures his next assault: a huge, flaming serpent. Dumbledore repels the creature with a slash of his wand, before gathering the fire around him and hurling it at Voldemort. Voldemort defends himself, and the flames disappear. Dumbledore then launches his first counterattack, and levitates the water from the Fountain of Magical Brethren. He compels the water to surround Voldemort akin to a "cocoon of molten glass". Voldemort is visible inside the enchanted sphere of water, trying to break free. He makes a slashing motion through the water, while Dumbledore pushes Harry back, away from the battle. Voldemort breaks free of the water and casts a large torrent of dark energy towards Harry, but Dumbledore holds him off with a powerful charm. Voldemort apparently realizes that he cannot get past Dumbledore's charm and gathers the magic into a ball of incandescent light; he releases it with a dramatic scream, sending the energy in all directions. The sheer force of the spell explodes outwards and destroys the atrium, knocking over Dumbledore and Harry. All the windows shatter. Voldemort then goes to perform his last attack.

He levitates the shards of broken glass and hurls them at Dumbledore and Harry. Dumbledore conjures a transparent blue shield (possibly an unusually powerful Protego or the Silver shield) which causes the glass to revert to sand. Voldemort gives a laugh of victory, which becomes a hiss of anger as Dumbledore rises to his feet, unharmed. The Dark Lord then conjures a small whirlwind which whips up the sand around him. As it falls to the ground, the Dark Lord is shown to have Disapparated. However, he then attempts to possess and torture Harry. Harry tries to fight back, but is unable to do so until his friends enter the hall. He is reminded of all the happiness he has had with the people he loves, and as he fills with emotion he is able to eject Voldemort from his body with the words "You're the weak one. And you'll never know love. Or friendship. And I feel sorry for you."

Voldemort is unable to maintain his hold over Harry and materialises above him. He advances on him and tells him he is a fool, and will lose everything because he feels love. At that moment the Minister and his Aurors arrive in the fireplaces in time to see Voldemort Disapparate in another whirlwind of sand. The duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort ends in a stalemate as Voldemort fled. Harry and Dumbledore were vindicated, Fudge was forced to admit that he was wrong about the Dark Lord, and the Second Wizarding War begins.

Ministry Duel, game version
In the video game Dumbledore arrives and duels with Voldemort. There are four stages for the player to complete. The player as Dumbledore duels Voldemort using the spells learned in the game in Stage 1. Then in Stage 2 Voldemort can absorb any spell that the player casts at him and then throws it back at Dumbledore. Stage 3 is the same concept as Stage 1, but this time Voldemort will be floating chairs and tables against the player. Stage 4 the player becomes Harry forcing Voldemort out of his mind. After Voldemort has been dealt enough damage a cutscene happens with Harry telling Voldemort he'll never know love or friendship or true loyalty and he feels sorry for him (exactly what he says in the film). The Aurors appear and so does Fudge and they must admit Voldemort has returned.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)