Lucius Malfoy

I know Narcissa lied to Tom that Harry was dead but if that's enough, it should only be enough for her. And then for Draco, he was a child and backed out and didn't do anything that significant to get him to go to Azkaban, I guess. But what about Lucius?

He escaped from Azkaban and did a lot of significant stuff fighting on Tom's side. In the first Wizarding war and the second. I think he should've.

Also if Hermione is Minister of Magic, shouldn't she probably realize that and have a hearing about it? But idk I'm not completely sure.

Anyone who has seen the Hobbit movies or The Labyrinth should know who the top two are.

Of course everyone here knows who Lucious Locks Lucius is.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Unpopular opinion!

So I think Draco Malfoy sucks. And this is why I hate him.

Alright so first of all, he has ABSOLUTELY ZERO character development. Like where is the character development y'all are talking about? WHERE? He only changed because of Astoria Greengrass/Malfoy. Second of all, he's a b*tch. I don't mind liking evil characters as long as they aren't unlikable asf. But like... This character is so unlikable I don't understand how some of y'all like him. Third of all, alot of the Draco Malfoy stans only like Draco because of the actor who played him (Tom Felton) I'm not throwing shade to Tom either though, he played the role pretty well. Last of all, the other people who like Draco are DEFINITELY Slytherins. I do kind of feel bad, as there is barely any likable characters coming from that house. J.K Rowling really messed up there. Really reminds me of this meme called "There are 4 houses, Brave, Yellow, Smart, and EVIL." Slytherin house is the Evil one.

Well, that's my opinion on Draco Malfoy. If you do like him, well I'll respect that. But don't go so far as to ship him with characters that make ZERO sense to be shipped with Draco. (E.G: Hermione and Harry) Nor should you make excuses for liking him. What I mean by that is people trying to say he was "Misunderstood" or he "Changed". Well, I'm out. Bye

dRaCo'S pErSpEcTiVe. I made this a few years ago when I was really into writing :))). I think it's Chapter 7 if I'm counting right.

_______________________________________________

Christmas

Ever since Potter had won the quidditch match, Draco had been in a terribly bad mood. To make him feel better, he taunted Potter often. It gave him the satisfaction of seeing Potter get angry.

In one Potions class he had said, “I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they’re not wanted at home.” His gaze was pointed at Potter. “I think a wide mouthed tree frog will replace Potter as Seeker.”

But no one except Crabbe and Goyle sniggered because they were impressed from the last match. Boiling with anger, Draco made fun of Potter having no family. Yes, it was cruel but he couldn’t let Potter get too proud of himself.

When the class had ended, he went out and into the corridor.

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Draco’s drawled coldly from behind Potter and Weasley who were talking to Hagrid. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." He laughed.

Weasley had dived at Draco just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

He let go of the front of Draco’s robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

Draco was grinning. He was finally going to get justice, Snape would favorite him and not Potter.

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past them, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

The next day Draco and his friends left for the Holidays on the Hogwarts Express, leaving Potter at Hogwarts. He would finally get some peace.

In Malfoy Manor, he went to bed that night but not before looking at his presents. To his dismay none of them were broom shaped packages or parcels. So there was no chance of him getting a Nimbus Two Thousand like Potter.

The next morning Draco got up early to find even more presents. He then heard footsteps. It was his father.

Draco silently watched his father come down the stairs of their manor. “Father,” he began, hoping his father would be in a happy mood.

“What?” he said menacingly

Draco flinched and stepped back out of fear. “Nothing, Father,” he mumbled. Who wasn’t happy on Christmas day?

His father arched an eyebrow when Draco’s mother came down the stairs.

“Now, now, Lucius. It’s Christmas,” Draco’s mother said, who had clearly been observing earlier.

Draco tried to put on a smile. “Happy Christmas, Mum.”

She smiled back. “Why don’t we open presents?”

Draco’s father sneered and just sat down in a chair, not even caring to watch. His parents had gotten him Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and more sweets. They gave him fifty galleons for spending and new quidditch balls for practicing as well. They also gave him silver rings with the Malfoy crest on a few and one with a snake on. He slid the snake one on his right hand’s ring finger and smiled.

“Why don’t we have our feast?”

Even during the feast, Draco’s father didn’t talk and had barely eaten, his eyes vacant. He didn’t care at all that it was Christmas. Draco just finished up the last of his roast turkey and asked to be excused.

His mother gave him a short nod and Draco left the room, looking for Dobby the house elf. He wouldn’t call Dobby his friend, considering he was a servant to them, but he was really the only one to talk to.

“Dobby!” he called in a hushed tone.

“Sir?” Dobby answered.

The house-elf was jamming his ears in the oven. Draco opened the oven door quickly and pulled Dobby away.

“What are you doing that for?” he questioned.

“Master reminded Dobby to give himself punishment, ” Dobby asked.

“Well, I guess you have no choice,” mumbled Draco. “I don’t want you to do that, at least not when I’m around.”

Dobby started crying, tugging on Draco’s robes. “Thank you, sir! But Dobby will not stop himself,” the house elf squeaked.

“I wish there was more I could do. Now, stop crying!” Draco demanded, his ears in pain. “Father will hear.”

“Dobby seriously doubts it, sir.” Dobby raised one of his ears.

Draco could hear his mother quietly scolding his father in a hushed whisper.

“It’s Christmas! The boy is still young, do something for him. You know I got him all those presents but all you know how to do is give him galleons,” she muttered.

Draco’s father stayed silent. He walked into the room, hoping to take advantage of the situation.

“Can you get me the new Nimbus Two Thousand? Harry Potter got one because he’s the new Gryffindor Seeker,” Draco growled, contempt bubbling from the insides of his stomach.

His father finally looked up. “Harry Potter?” he questioned. “I thought I told you to get on his good side!”

Draco winced, surprise sparked inside him but quickly died down. “Well… things d-didn’t go as planned. He turned me down.”

His father sighed disappointedly.

“And stupid Potter is friends with Mudbloods and he himself is a Half-blood! Surely you don’t want me to befriend someone who’s friends with the Weasleys?” Draco asked defensively.

His father stood up. “The Weasleys? Like Arthur Weasley? The Blood Traitor?” His voice was a snarl and his eyes that were glaring at Draco were cold.

Draco took a step back. “Y-yes, Father.” He started explaining to his father more and more about school, all of the red haired Weasleys and Mudbloods, and Potter. Stupid Potter.

While on Pinterest I found this and don’t even have words for how good I think this is.

So I was thinking about the death eaters and this drawing and I thought, “Barty, Bella, Voldy, Lucy, and Sev” 🤣

I think if they were all in the same year they’d be an amazing friend group (probably better than marauders)

Now I feel like writing a fanfiction about them lol

First half of book:

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003829962

Previous Chapters:

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003833123

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003838588

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003840013

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003841380

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003842029

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003842653

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003843726

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003844089

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003844089/r/4400000000017564493

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003844352

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003844924

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003845391

Tags:

@SaphireStark @Missy Clara Oswald @CatsAndRoblox @Pervaza972 @Mega.mind.harry.potter

(I think the last chapter didn't publish quite correct, so if you haven't read the chapter about Harry finding Theodore and the gang finding Ravenclaw's diadem please read that chapter first, a lot happens in it.)

Chapter Thirty-One: The Elder Wand

The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms? Harry’s mind was in free fall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the impossibility, because Nymphadora Tonks could not be dead, the evidence of all his senses must be lying—

And then there was an explosion and the exterior wall collapsed on top of them, and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads.

‘Get down!’ Harry shouted, as more curses flew through the night: He and Allison had grabbed Theodore and Tracey and pulled them to the floor. Allison then tried to go to Tonks, so move her body away from any further harm, but Harry had to shout at her to stop.

‘Allison, come on, we’ve got to move!’ Harry said while grabbing her arm, holding her back.

She shook her head, she tried to twist herself free.

‘Allison!’ Harry saw tears running down her spot covered face, as well as Theodore and Tracey’s, and Harry knew he was probably crying to, but he knew they couldn’t stay there. He tried to pull Allison again but she would not budge. ‘There is nothing we can do for her now, Allison! We’re going to—‘

Tracey screamed, and Harry, turning, did not need to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall. One of Aragog’s descendants had joined the fight.

Tracey and Harry shouted together; their spells collided and the monster was blown backward, its legs jerking horribly, and vanished into the darkness.

‘The whole family is here!’ Theodore called to the others, and glancing through the hole in the wall Harry could see it was true. More giant spiders were climbing the side of the building, liberated from the Forbidden Forest, into which the Death Eaters must have penetrated. Harry fired Stunning Spells down upon them, knocking the lead monster into its fellows, so that they rolled back down the building and out of sight. Then more curses came soaring over Harry’s head, so close he felt the force of them blow his hair.

‘Let’s move, NOW!’

Pushing Tracey ahead of him with Theodore, Harry stooped to seize Tonks’ body under the armpit. Allison, realizing what Harry was trying to do and helped: together, crouching low to avoid the curses flying at them from the grounds, they hauled Tonks out of the way.

‘Here,’ said Harry, and they placed her in a niche where a suit of armor had stood earlier. He could not bear to look at his cousin a second longer than he had to, and after making sure that the body was well-hidden, he took off after Tracey and Theodore. The corridor was now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long gone from windows, he saw many people running backward and forward, whether friends or foes he could not tell. Rounding the corner, Allison let out a bull-like roar warning:

‘DOLOHOV!’ and sprinted towards Harry.

‘Alli, Harry, over here!’ Theodore screamed.

She and Theodore were behind the tapestry, and a second later Harry and Allison’s joined them. Allison was practically fuming and she looked as though she was about to explode.

‘It was Bellatrix! I’m going to make her pay for all the pain and death she’s caused! I’ll going to kill all of the Death Eaters!’

‘Alli-‘ Tracey tried, but she choked on her words.

‘Allison! You listen to me right now!’ shouted Harry.

Her face was contorted, smeared with dust, smoke, and tears, and she was shaking with rage and grief.

He knew how she felt, they all just lost a caring and loyal family member who was always there for them, Harry wanted revenge as well, but they couldn’t do so yet. They had to finish the mission so that no one else would get hurt.

‘Allison, Jaanu, only the four of us can end this fighting! Only the four of us can kill the snake! Allison—Please!’ Harry begged.

Her breathing steadied slightly, but she still seemed engulfed in rage.

‘To get to the snake we’ll have to go through waves of Death Eaters, vile monsters you can take out, but you can only do so if you come with us,’ said Theodore, his voice raspy.

This seemed to bring Allison back, and her rage settled beneath the surface but did not cease. She turned to Harry.

‘You have to find out where Voldemort is now, as the snake will be with him. Open your mind to his, look inside of him Harry!’

Why was it so easy? Because his scar had been burning for hours, yearning to show him Voldemort’s thoughts? He closed his eyes on her command, and at once, the screams and bangs and all the discordant sounds of the battle were drowned until they became distant, as though he stood far, far away from them…

He was standing in the middle of a desolate but strangely familiar room, with peeling paper on the walls and all the windows boarded up except for one. The sounds of the assault on the castle were muffled and distant. The single unblocked window revealed distant bursts of light where the castle stood, but inside the room was dark except for a solitary oil lamp.

He was rolling his wand between his fingers, watching it, his thoughts on the room in the castle, the secret room only he had ever found, the room, like the chamber, that you had to be clever and cunning and inquisitive to discover…He was confident that the boy would not find the diadem…although Dumbledore’s puppet had come much farther than he ever expected…too far…

‘My Lord,’ said a voice, desperate and cracked. He turned: there was Lucius Malfoy sitting in the darkest corner, ragged and still bearing the marks of the punishment he had received after the boy’s last escape. One of his eyes remained closed and puffy. ‘My Lord...please...my son...’

‘If your son is dead, Lucius, he did so trying to fulfill my commands, you should be honoured. That of course is if he is loyal and did not decided to befriend Harry Potter?’

‘No—never,’ whispered Malfoy.

‘You must hope not.’

‘Aren’t—aren’t you afraid, my Lord that Potter might die at another hand but yours?’ asked Malfoy, his voice shaking.

‘Wouldn’t it be…forgive me…more prudent to call off this battle, enter the castle, and seek him y–yourself?’

‘Do not pretend Lucius. You wish the battle to cease so that you can discover what has happened to your son. And I do not need to seek Potter. Before the night is out, Potter will have come to find me.’

Voldemort dropped his gaze once more to the wand in his fingers. It troubled him…and those things that troubled Lord Voldemort needed to be rearranged…

‘Go and fetch Snape.’

‘Snape, m–my Lord?’

‘Snape. Now. I need him. There is a—service—I require from him. Go.’

Frightened, stumbling a little through the gloom, Lucius left the room. Voldemort continued to stand there, twirling the wand between his fingers, staring at it.

‘It is the only way, Nagini,’ he whispered, and he looked around, and there was the great thick snake, now suspended in midair, twisting gracefully within the enchanted, protected space he had made for her, a starry, transparent sphere somewhere between a glittering cage and a tank.

With a gasp, Harry pulled back and opened his eyes at the same moment his ears were assaulted with the screeches and cries, the smashes and bangs of battle.

‘He’s in the Shrieking Shack. The snake’s with him, it’s got some sort of magical protection around it. He’s just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape.’

‘Voldemort is hiding in the Shrieking Shack?’ said Theodore, outraged. ‘He isn’t even fighting with his dying army?’

‘He doesn’t think he needs to fight,’ said Harry. ‘He thinks I’m going to go to him.’

‘Why would he—‘ began Tracey.

‘He knows I’m after Horcruxes—he’s keeping Nagini close beside him—obviously I’m going to have to go to him to get near the thing—‘

‘Correct,’ said Theodore, ‘so that is why you shouldn’t go, he’s expecting you, it’s a trap. You should stay here and maybe one of two of us go under your Cloak—‘

Harry cut Theodore off.

‘No, you three stay here, I’ll go under the Cloak and I’ll be back as soon as I—‘

‘I’ll go, I need to fight something!’ said Allison.

‘No one should go by themselves,’ said Tracey.

Before Harry or anyone else could argue any further, the tapestry at the top of the staircase on which they stood was ripped open.

‘POTTER!’

Dolohov and another masked Death Eaters stood there, but even before their wands were fully raised, Tracey shouted ‘Everte Statum!’

And the Death Eaters were flung backwards several feet and then fell down the rest of the stair.

‘We have to run!’ she cried, and without arguing the began sprinting down a different corridor away from the first two Death Eaters.

A moment later the four of them ran into another set, and curse started flying over their heads.

‘Ebubio!’ shouted Allison and one of the Death Eaters became trapped in a large bubble. Theodore used the Full Body-Bind curse on another, and Harry cast the Incarcerous Spell on the final Death Eater in the way.

They could hear something coming, and so Allison shouted, ‘Get back!’ before she, Harry, Tracey, and Theodore hurled themselves against a door as a herd of galloping desks thundered past, shepherded by a sprinting Professor McGonagall. She appeared not to notice them. Her hair had come down and there was a gash on her cheek. As she turned the corner, they heard her scream, ‘CHARGE!’

‘Harry, it should be you who uses the Cloak,’ said Tracey. ‘The rest of us will—‘

‘But he threw it over all four of them; large though they were he doubted anyone would see their disembodied lower legs through the dust that clogged the air, the falling stone, the shimmer of spells.

They ran down the next staircase and found themselves in a corridor full of duelers. The portraits on either side of the fighters were crammed with figures screaming advice and encouragement, while Death Eaters, both masked and unmasked, dueled students and teachers. Dean had won himself a wand, for he was now the one face-to-face with Dolohov, Terence with Travers. All four friends raised their wands at once, ready to strike, but the duelers were weaving and darting so much that there was a strong likelihood of hurting on of their own side if they cast curses.

Even as they stood braced, looking for the opportunity to act, there came a great ‘Wheeeeeeeeeeee!’ and looking up, Harry saw Peeves zooming over them, dropping Snargaluff pods down onto the Death Eaters, whose heads were suddenly engulfed in wriggling green tubers like fat worms.

‘Argh!’

A fistful of tubers had hit the Cloak over Theodore’s head; the damp green roots were suspended improbably in midair as Theodore tried to shake them loose.

‘Someone’s invisible there!’ shouted a masked Death Eater, pointing.

Terence made the most of the Death Eater’s momentary distraction, knocking him out with a stunning Spell; Dolohov attempted to retaliate, and Dean shot a Confundus Charm then Stun Spell at him.

‘LET’S GO!’ Harry yelled, and he, and the other three gathered the Cloak tightly around themselves and pelted, heads down, through the midst of the fighters, slipping a little in pools of Snargaluff juice, toward the top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall.

There were more duelers all over the stairs and in the hall. Death Eaters everywhere Harry looked: Yaxley, close to the front doors, in combat with Flitwick, a masked Death Eater dueling Kingsley right beside them. Students ran in every direction; some carrying or dragging injured or dead friends. Harry directed a Stunning Spell toward the masked Death Eater; it missed but nearly hit Neville, who had emerged from nowhere brandishing armfuls of Venomous Tentacula, which looped itself happily around the nearest Death Eater and began reeling him in.

Harry, Theodore, Allison, and Tracey sped down the marble staircase: glass shattered on the left, and the Slytherin hourglass that had recorded House points spilled its emeralds everywhere, so that people slipped and staggered as they ran.

A body fell from the balcony overhead as they reached the ground. Looking up Harry could see the quick blur of the animalistic Fenrir Greyback.

‘No!’ Harry heard Canini howl in emotional turmoil and then she yelled 'Duro'.

And within seconds the body of Greyback had turned to solid stone. Harry thought Canini's attack would end with Greyback's petrification, but then he watched in shock as she shoved Greyback's stone form off the balcony, sending it to the ground below where it shattered. He couldn’t understand this action until he saw that the body below her next to the rubble that used to be Greyback was that of Remus Lupin.

‘Remus…’ Harry heard Theodore whisper.

‘Harry!’ yelled Allison in warning before she forcibly shoved his head down. A bright white crystal ball flew over where his face had been a second before and hit a Death Eater right on the top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground and did not move.

‘I have more!’ shrieked Professor Trelawney from over the banisters. ‘More for any who want them! Here—‘

And with a move like a tennis serve, she heaved another enormous crystal sphere from her bag, waved her wand through the air, and caused the ball to speed across the hall and smash through a window. At the same moment, the heavy wooden front doors burst open, and more of the gigantic spiders forced their way into the front hall.

Screams of terror rent the air: the fighters scattered, Death Eaters and Hogwartians alike, and red and green jets of light flew into the midst of the oncoming monsters, which shuddered and reared, more terrifying than ever.

‘W-we have to get out of here,’ Harry mumbled, but in reality he wanted to go to his sister who was currently suffering alone.

‘But how?’ yelled Tracey over all the screaming, but before either Harry, Allison, or Theodore could answer they were bowled aside; Hagrid had come thundering down the stairs, brandishing his flowery pink umbrella.

‘Don’t hurt ’em, don’t hurt ’em!’ he yelled.

‘HAGRID, NO!’

Harry forgot everything else: he sprinted out from under the cloak, running bent double to avoid the curses illuminating the whole hall.

‘HAGRID, COME BACK!’ But he was not even halfway to Hagrid when he saw it happen: Hagrid vanished amongst the spiders, and with a great scurrying, a foul swarming movement, they retreated under the onslaught of spells, Hagrid buried in their midst.

‘HAGRID!’

Harry heard someone calling his own name, whether friend or foe he did not care: He was sprinting down the front steps into the dark grounds, and the spiders were swarming away with their prey, and he could see nothing of Hagrid at all.

‘HAGRID!’

He thought he could make out an enormous arm waving from the midst of the spider swarm, but as he made to chase after them, his way was impeded by a monumental foot, which swung down out of the darkness and made the ground on which he stood shudder. He looked up: A giant stood before him, twenty feet high, its head hidden in shadow, nothing but its treelike, hairy shins illuminated by light from the castle doors. With one brutal, fluid movement, it smashed a massive fist through an upper window, and glass rained down upon Harry, forcing him back under the shelter of the doorway.

‘What the H—!’ shrieked Allison, as she, Tracey, and Theodore caught up with Harry and gazed upward at the giant now trying to seize people through the window above.

‘Stop!’ Tracey yelled, grabbing Allison’s hand as she raised her wand. ‘If you make him fall he could fall on the castle and—‘

‘HAGGER?’

Grawp came lurching around the corner of the castle; only now did Harry realize that Grawp was, indeed, an undersized giant. The gargantuan monster trying to crush people on the upper floors turned around and let out a roar. The stone steps trembled as he stomped toward his smaller kin, and Grawp’s lopsided mouth fell open, showing yellow, half brick-sized teeth; and then they launched themselves at each other with the savagery of lions.

‘RUN!’ Harry roared; the night was full of hideous yells and blows as the giants wrestled, and he seized Allison’s hand and tore down the steps into the grounds, Theodore and Tracey bringing up the rear. Harry had not lost hope of finding and saving Hagrid; he ran so fast that they were halfway toward the forest before they were brought up short again.

The air around them had frozen: Harry’s breath caught and solidified in his chest. Shapes moved out in the darkness, swirling figures of concentrated blackness, moving in a great wave towards the castles, their faces hooded and their breath rattling…

Allison stood by his side and Theodore and Tracey closed in beside them as the sounds of fighting behind them grew suddenly muted, deadened, because a silence only dementors could bring was falling thickly through the night, and Tonks was gone, as was his last remaining parent, and Hagrid was surely dying or already dead...

‘Come on, Harry!’ said Allison’s voice even though it sounded very far away. ‘Cast your Patronus, we need you!’

He raised his wand, but a dull hopelessness was spreading throughout him: How many more lay dead that he did not yet know about? He felt as though his soul had already half left his body…

‘HARRY!’ screamed Tracey.

A hundred dementors were advancing, gliding toward them, sucking their way closer to Harry’s despair, which was like a promise of a feast…

He saw Tracey and Theodore’s silver monarch butterfly and grass snake burst into the air, flicker feebly, and then both expired; he saw Allison’s doe leap in midair and fade, and his own wand trembled in his hand, and he almost welcomed the oncoming oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling…

And then a silver hare, a boar, and sparrowhawk soared past Harry, Tracey, Allison, and Theodore’s heads: the dementors fell back before the creatures’ approach. For a moment Harry mistook the hare for a jack rabbit and thought Tonks had saved him, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the case.

Three more people had arrived out of the darkness to stand beside them, their wands outstretched, continuing to cast Patronuses: Luna, Ernie, and Terence.

‘That’s right,’ said Luna encouragingly, as if they were back in the Room of Requirement and this was simply spell practice for the D.A., ‘That’s right, Harry…come on think of something happy…’

‘Something happy?’ he said, his voice cracked.

‘We’re with you all the way, Harry,’ said Terence. ‘We’ll fight by your side to the very end.’

‘Harry, I love you,’ whispered Allison.

There was a silver spark, then a wavering light, and then, with the greatest effort it had ever cost him the stag burst from the end of Harry’s wand. It cantered forward, and now the dementors scattered in earnest, and immediately the night was mild again, but the sounds of the surrounding battle were loud in his ears.

‘I am so grateful you all showed up,’ said Tracey shakily, looking at Terence in particular.

‘Yes, you all just saved our lives,’ said Theodore to Luna, Ernie, and Terence.

With a roar and an earth-quaking tremor, another giant came lurching out of the darkness from the direction of the forest, brandishing a club taller than any of them.

‘RUN!’ Harry shouted again, but the others needed no telling; They all scattered, and not a second too soon, for the next moment the creature’s vast foot had fallen exactly where they had been standing. Harry looked around: Tracey, Allison, and Theodore were following him, but the other three had vanished back into the battle.

‘We should get out of everyone’s range!’ yelled Theodore as the giant swung its club again and its bellows echoed through the night, across the grounds where bursts of red and green light continued to illuminate the darkness.

‘The Whomping willow,’ said Harry, ‘go!’

Somehow he walled it all up in his mind, crammed it into a small space into which he could not look now: thoughts of Remus, Tonks, and Hagrid, and his terror for all the people he loved, scattered in and outside the castle, must all wait, because they had to run, had to reach the snake and Voldemort, because that was the only way to end it—

He sprinted, half—believing he could outdistance death itself, ignoring the jets of light flying in the darkness all around him, and the sound of the lake crashing like the sea, and the creaking of the Forbidden Forest though the night was windless; through grounds that seemed themselves to have risen in rebellion, he ran faster than he had ever moved in his life, and it was he who saw the great tree first, the Willow that protected the secret at its roots with whiplike, slashing branches.

Panting and gasping, Harry slowed down, skirting the willow’s swiping branches, peering through the darkness toward its tick trunk, trying to see the single knot in the bark of the old tree that would paralyze it. The other three caught up, Tracey so out of breath that she could not speak.

‘S—so, how do we stop it from murdering us?’ gasped Allison, catching her breath. ‘My cat is still with Tulip—‘

‘We don’t need Shabaz,’ wheezed Theodore, bent double, clutching his chest. ‘We know way more spells now than we did then.’

‘Right—sorry—‘

Allison looked around, then directed her wand at a small rock on the ground and said ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’

The rock flew up from the ground, spun through the air as if caught by a gust of wind, then zoomed directly at the trunk through the Willow’s ominously swaying branches. It hit exactly at its target of a place near the roots, and at once, the writhing tree became still.

‘Great job,’ panted Tracey.

‘Wait.’

For one teetering second, while the crashes and booms of the battle filled the air, Harry hesitated. Voldemort wanted him to do this, wanted him to come...Was he leading his three closest friends into a trap?

But the reality seemed to close upon him, cruel and plain: the only way forward was to kill the snake, and the snake was where Voldemort was, and Voldemort was at the end of this tunnel…

‘Harry, I know how much you have lost, and how desperately afraid you are of losing anyone else, but we are with you for all of this,’ said Allison in a soothing tone. Her face then let loose some of her pent up rage. ‘Now let’s go bash in that snake’s skull!’

Harry wriggled into the earthy passage hidden in the tree’s roots. It was a much tighter squeeze than it had been the last time they had entered it. The tunnel was low—ceilinged: they had had to double up to move through it nearly four years previously; now there was nothing for it but to crawl. Harry went first, his wand illuminated, expecting at any moment to meet barriers, but none came. They moved in silence, Harry’s gaze fixed upon the swinging beam of the wand held in his fist.

At last, the tunnel began to slope upward and Harry saw a sliver of light ahead. Theodore tugged at his ankle.

‘The Cloak!’ he whispered. ‘You should put the Cloak on!’

He groped behind him and he forced the bundle of slippery cloth into his free hand. With difficulty he dragged it over himself, murmured, ‘Nox,’ extinguishing his wandlight, and continued on his hands and knees, as silently as possible, all his senses straining, expecting every second to be discovered, to hear a cold clear voice, see a flash of green light.

And then he heard voices coming from the room directly ahead of them, only slightly muffled by the fact that the opening at the end of the tunnel had been blocked up by what looked like an old crate. Hardly daring to breathe, Harry edged right up to the opening and peered through a tiny gap left between crate and wall.

The room beyond was dimly lit, but he could see Nagini, swirling and coiling like a serpent underwater, safe in her enchanted, starry sphere, which floated unsupported in midair. He could see the edge of a table, and a long-fingered white hand toying with a wand. Then Snape spoke, and Harry’s heart lurched: Snape was inches away from where he crouched, hidden.

‘...my Lord, their resistance is crumbling—‘

‘—and it is doing so without your help,’ said Voldemort in his high, clear voice. ‘Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there…almost.’

‘Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please.’

Snape strode past the gap, and Harry drew back a little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini, wondering whether there was any spell that might penetrate the protection surrounding her, but he could not think of anything. One failed attempt, and he would give away his position…

Voldemort stood up. Harry could see him now, see the red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of him gleaming slightly in the semidarkness.

‘I have a problem, Severus,’ said Voldemort softly.

‘My Lord?’ said Snape.

Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, holding it as delicately and precisely as a conductor’s baton.

‘Why doesn’t it work for me, Severus?’

In the silence Harry imagined he could hear the snake hissing slightly as it coiled and uncoiled—or was it Voldemort’s sibilant sigh lingering on the air?

‘My—my lord?’ said Snape blankly. ‘I do not understand. You—you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand.’

‘No,’ said Voldemort. ‘I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand…no. It has not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago.’

Voldemort’s tone was musing, calm, but Harry’s scar had begun to throb and pulse: Pain was building in his forehead, and he could feel that controlled sense of fury building inside Voldemort.

‘No difference,’ said Voldemort again.

Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face. He wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying to find the right words to reassure his master.

Voldemort started to move around the room: Harry lost sight of him for seconds as he prowled, speaking in that same measured voice, while the pain and fury mounted in Harry.

‘I have thought long and hard, Severus…do you know why I have called you back from battle?’

And for a moment Harry saw Snape’s profile. His eyes were fixed upon the coiling snake in its enchanted cage.

‘No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me find Potter.’

‘You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I knew his weakness you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will come.’

‘But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by someone other than yourself—‘

‘My instructions to the Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends—the more, the better—but do not kill him. But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable.’

‘My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But—let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can—‘

‘I have told you, no!’ said Voldemort, and Harry caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of a snake, and he felt Voldemort’s impatience in his burning scar. ‘My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!’

‘My Lord, there can be no question, surely—?’

‘—but there is a question, Severus. There is.’

Voldemort halted, and Harry could see him plainly again as he slid the Elder Wand through his white fingers, staring at Snape.

‘Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?’

‘I—I cannot answer that, my Lord.’

‘Can’t you?’

The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through Harry’s head: he forced his own fist into his mouth to stop himself from crying out in pain. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was Voldemort, looking into Snape’s pale face.

‘My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another’s wand. I did so, but Lucius’ wand shattered upon meeting Potter’s.’

‘I—I have no explanation, my Lord.’

Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its protective sphere.

'I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore.’

And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape’s face was like a death mask. It was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes.

‘My Lord—let me go to the boy—‘

‘All this long night when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here,’ said Voldemort, his voice barely louder than a whisper, ‘wondering, wondering, why the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for its rightful owner…and I think I have the answer.’

Snape did not speak.

‘Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen.’

‘My Lord—‘

‘The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine.’

‘My Lord!’ Snape protested, raising his wand.

‘It cannot be any other way,’ said Voldemort. ‘I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last.’

And Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand. It did nothing to Snape, who for a split second seemed to think he had been reprieved: but then Voldemort’s intention became clear. The snake’s cage was rolling through the air, and before Snape could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue.

‘Kill.’

There was a terrible scream. Harry saw Snape’s face losing the little colour it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor.

‘I regret it,’ said Voldemort coldly.

He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would now do his full bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room without a backward glance, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere.

Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes; He had drawn blood biting down on his knuckles in an effort not to shout out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor.

‘Harry!’ breathed Allison behind him, but he had already pointed his wand at the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up into the room.

He did not know why he was doing it, why he was approaching the dying man: he did not know what he felt as he saw Snape’s white face, and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and looked down upon the man he hated, whose widening black eyes found Harry as he tried to speak.

Harry bent over him, and Snape seized the front of his robes and pulled him close.

A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape’s throat. ‘Take...it...Take...it...’

Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed form his mouth and his ears and his eyes, and Harry knew what it was, but did not know what to do—

A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his shaking hand by Tracey. Harry lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand. When the flask was full to the brim, and Snape looked as though there was no blood left in him, his grip on Harry’s robes slackened.

‘Look...at...me...’ he whispered.

The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

James and Harry exited Madam Malkins to see Lucius and Draco walking out of Flourish and Blotts and heading off in the other direction. At Flourish and Blotts, Harry was was intrigued to check out the various types of spellbooks. James had to drag him away from Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more), saying that it was dangerous and he needed a lot more experience before attempting those spells.

Finally it was time to get what Harry was most excited for. His first wand. His father and him headed to Olivanders after they had gotten everything on his school list, including his books, cauldron and potion ingredients. They arrived just in time as Sirius and Remus showed up outside Olivander's.

When they entered Olivander's, an old man Harry assumed to be Garrick Olivander arrived at the counter. Harry found his silver eyes to be a little creepy.

"James Potter. Pleasure to see you again ... It seems like only yesterday that you were in here buying your first wand. Eleven inches, mahogany and phoenix feather, wasn't it?" said Olivander.

"Yes it was, sir," said James.

"Good wand. Pilable and excellent for transfiguration," Olivander added

He noticed Sirius and Remus beside James and stated their wand components just like he did with James.

"Harry Potter. I anticipated meeting you," said Olivander.

Mr. Olivander touched his lightning scar and said that he sold the very powerful thirteen and a half inches wand made of yew that gave him the scar. Even if there was remorse in his words, Harry couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

He measured Harry's arm and gave him various wands to wave but none seemed to have the desired effect. After saying something about Harry being a tricky costumer, he brought a wand that he said was an unusual combination. It was eleven inches and made of holly and phoenix feather. Olivander claimed the wand to be nice and supple. Harry felt a warmth in his fingers and a stream of red and gold sparks came out of his wand when he waved it. He could tell the Marauders were elated and relieved beside him.

"Eleven inches and phoenix feather just like yours," Remus said to James.

Olivander was excited too but his excitement didn't last long as his face turned serious again.

"Curious ... curious indeed," they heard him mutter.

"Sorry, but what's curious sir?" asked Harry.

"A wand chooses it's wizard, Mr. Potter. It's curious indeed that you were chosen by this particular wand," said Olivander. "The phoenix feather in this wand came from a phoenix that gave only two feathers. The other feather resides in the wand that gave you your scar."

Harry felt an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach as the Marauders exchanged apprehensive looks. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means you and You-Know-Who have twin core wands," said Olivander.

Harry wasn't used to hearing Voldemort being referred to as You-Know-Who. He was raised by James, Sirius and Remus who were all bold and defiant enough to pronounce Voldemort's name. He knew that the wizarding world mostly referred to Voldemort as You-Know-Who out of fear, but he didn't see a reason to fear pronouncing a name.

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Harry apprehensively.

"That depends entirely on the situation, Mr. Potter. You both can't do any actual harm to each other with your wands. This may or may not work in your favor," Olivander said matter-of-factly.

They exited the shop after James paid seven galleons for his wand.

Harry and the Marauders headed to the Platinum Hotel, a luxurious hotel where Sirius' wedding reception was to be held in December. They were to have lunch there with Sirius' fiancée, Miranda. As they headed into the hotel's restaurant, they saw a family of three blondes heading out. The father and son resembled each other as much as James and Harry did.

"Sirius"

"Cissa"

Both cousins greeted each other with disdain. Harry almost forgot that Draco Malfoy's mother was Sirius's cousin.

"Heard your wedding's the social event of the year," Naricssa sneered.

"I would have sent you an invitation, except you've blatantly told me that you didn't want anything to do with anyone that was burnt off our family tree," said Sirius sarcastically.

"Are she and her husband invited?" asked Narcissa in reference to her sister, Andromeda and brother in law, Ted Tonks. She said the word husband with added disdain as she had nothing but contempt for her muggle-born brother in law.

"Of course," said Sirius.

Narcissa crinkled her nose. "If those are type of people attending, my family and I wouldn't show up even if you sent us ten invitations."

Sirius controlled himself from saying that she wouldn't be receiving even half an invitation.

"There, there Narcissa. It's not for us to judge who your cousin invites to his wedding," said Lucius.

The Marauders knew Lucius was just attempting to be polite with an ulterior motive of liaising himself with the family of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Well, at least you're marrying a pureblood. Lucius, Draco, let's go." Narcissa lifted up her chin in the air as she walked away with her husband and son.

They entered the restaurant to be enthusiastically greeted by Miranda who gave the four of them a kiss on the cheeks each. Harry noticed that the gorgeous brunette in the her late twenties wore a dark blue dress that complemented her eyes.

"Happy Birthday Harry! I arranged for a special Birthday cake for your party later"

"Thanks Miranda," said Harry gratefully.

They had lunch which consisted of the special dishes that Miranda wanted to sample for her wedding.

Almost ten years had passed since Lily's death and a now eleven year old Harry Potter had grown up in a loving home, albeit one without a maternal figure. His Uncle Sirius was carefree and fun-loving, his Uncle Remus was firm but fair and flexible and his dad, James was a balance between both. Various pictures of him and the Marauders from over the years hung around the walls of Potter Manor.

A tall, healthy and well-cared for Harry came down excitedly on the morning of his eleventh Birthday and entered the Potter Manor living room to be greeted by three cheerful Marauders. There was an assortment of presents in the living room from the Marauders and close family friends.

"Happy Birthday son!" James exclaimed as he embraced Harry.

"Thanks dad," said Harry, hugging his father back.

Sirius and Remus took turns hugging and wishing the birthday boy after father and son had pulled away. Harry looked at his pile of presents and one package in particular caught his eyes. He knew what was in the package. He had begged his dad for a Nimbus Two Thousand when he saw it on display at Diagon Alley. So far, he only owned a Comet Two Fifty. He opened the package from James with glee and stared slack jawed at his new broom, his eyes shining with awe as he stroked it. He remembered his manners when he noticed the amused Marauders admiring his antics.

"Thank you so much dad," said Harry as he gratefully hugged his father.

"I'm glad you like it," James grinned.

"May I please take it to Hogwarts with me?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Sorry son, but first years aren't allowed to bring brooms," said James.

"I can sneak it in," said Harry cheekily.

"Harry, breaking minor rules is one thing, but breaking a major rule stated in your acceptance letter would be pushing it a little too far," said James. "At least that's what your grandfather told me when I wanted to sneak my broom into Hogwarts during my first year," he added as an afterthought.

"I guess I can wait for my second year," said Harry thoughtfully.

"Come on Prongslet, you've got other gifts to unwrap," said Sirius.

Harry saw a cage with a snowy owl.

"Hagrid sent this," said Remus.

Harry had never met Rubeus Hagrid, but he had heard a lot about the kind and lovable half-giant who was the groundskeeper of Hogwarts from the Marauders. He read the note from Hagrid which said that he couldn't wait to meet him at Hogwarts. Harry dug into the rest of his presents, including the ones from Sirius and Remus and gratefully thanked his uncles. James reminded him that he would have to send out thank you notes to those who had sent him gifts.

In was a warm, sunny day as Harry and Marauders walked around Diagon Alley. They were there to spend Harry's birthday and get his school supplies. The Birthday boy was the most excited about getting his first wand and spell books. He was recognized and greeted by witches and wizards that he had never met. He had only been to Diagon Alley four times before as his dad usually preferred shopping at muggle stores, mostly to avoid the unwanted attention the Boy Who Lived received when they shopped in the wizarding world.

They parted ways as Sirius went off to meet his fiancée, Miranda who urgently needed his assistance to sort out a problem with their wedding planner. The couple was set to get married during the Christmas holidays. Remus who was a successful author of fiction books that were quite popular in the wizarding world had to quickly meet his publisher for something. He also occasionally wrote non-fiction books. In the meantime, James and Harry headed to Gringotts.

At Gringotts, father and son ran into large man with kind eyes and unkempt hair.

"Hagrid!" James greeted Hagrid cheerfully.

"James!" Hagrid greeted him just as cheerfully. "It's so good to see yeh,"

"It's so good to see you too Hagrid."

"And this young man must be little Harry," said Hagrid fondly. "Yeh were just a baby the last time I saw yeh."

"It's really nice to meet you Hagrid," said Harry as Hagrid beamed. "And thank you very much for the owl. She's amazing," he added gratefully.

"Oh, it's nothing," Hagrid patted him.

Harry and James were right behind Hagrid in line, so they heard him tell the goblin something about a letter from Dumbledore and a very secret Hogwarts business involving "You-Know-What" in Vault 713. Harry wondered what was in Vault 713. After getting their money from Gringotts, he saw Hagrid carry a small package which he knew was the "You-Know-What". The half-giant quickly but politely bid them goodbye and said that he was in a hurry before hurrying off. Harry thought this was odd as James held his hand and led him out of Gringotts.

"What's 'You-Know-What' in Vault 713, dad?" he asked.

"No idea," James shrugged. But Harry could tell his dad was also curious about why Hagrid was acting strangely when he had the package with him.

Harry was left at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to get his uniform while James had to get something at the shop next door. Madam Malkin stood him on a stool next to a pale, blonde boy with a pointed face and began fitting him. Harry and the boy recognized each other. They had met three times before; once during Sirius' mom's funeral, once during the previous Quidditch World Cup Finals and once at a social event where the boy's father, Lucius Malfoy had invited Harry and the Marauders to one of his parties. James had declined the invitation. Despite having seen him three times, he had never spoken to the boy before. But he had overheard the Marauders say that Lucius was one Voldemort's Death Eaters who came back to the light side and claimed to have been bewitched.

"You're ... Harry Potter aren't you?" Draco eyed him with interest. Madam Malkin perked up with interest too but chose to remain quiet.

"Yes, you're ... sorry I never got your first name," said Harry.

"Draco. Draco Malfoy", said Draco pompously as he held out his hand and Harry politely shook it. "Where's your dad?"

"Next door, getting something," said Harry.

"My dad's next door at Flourish and Blotts. Mum's at Olivanders. Do you own a broom, Potter?" asked Draco.

"My dad just got me a Nimbus Two Thousand for my birthday," said Harry.

"Cool! I was planning on getting father to get me one after this. It's annoying that first years aren't allowed to bring their own broom, don't you think?" asked Draco.

"I know. It's a stupid rule," Harry agreed.

"I think I'll get father to agree to let me smuggle mine in somehow," said Draco.

"I tried to get my father to let me sneak mine in, but he says it would be pushing it too far to break such a major rule," Harry shrugged as they both sniggered.

"Fathers. They're great but it's annoying when they enforce rules," said Draco knowingly. "My father says it's a crime if I'm not chosen to play for my house."

"My dad's hoping I'll play for my house too," said Harry.

"Do you know which house you'll be in yet?" asked Draco.

"I'm hoping to be in Gryffindor like my parents and most of my father's family," said Harry.

"I guess most people prefer to be sorted into the house their family was in. I know I'll be in Slytherin. My whole family has been in Slytherin," said Draco. "You might want to consider Slytherin too though."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"That's the house that usually doesn't have any muggle-borns. You and I come from ancient wizarding families. You don't want to be mixing with that sort. They weren't brought up to know our ways. I don't think Hogwarts should let their kind in, do you?" asked Draco.

Harry felt a surge of anger but controlled it.

"My mum's muggle-born," he said indignantly.

"That's alright. At least your dad's pureblood," said Draco, clearly missing his tone and oblivious that he had touched a nerve.

Harry didn't know what to make of this boy. Talking to him about Quidditch and brooms was nice but he was also arrogant and bigoted towards muggle-borns.

"You're done Mr. Malfoy," said Madam Malkin.

James came in just as Draco hoped down from the footstool.

"Good day Mr. Potter," Draco said politely.

James looked a little taken back.

"Good day, umm ... Lucius Malfoy's son right?"

"That's right," said Draco proudly. "I'll see you at Hogwarts, Harry".

"See you at Hogwarts," Harry replied as Draco exited the shop.

James and Harry exchanged puzzled looks.

"You're done too, dear," said Madam Malkin to Harry before father or son could say anything.

"Your Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus will be meeting us at Olivander's. We'll get your books and school supplies first," said James.

They exited Madam Malkins after paying her and headed to Flourish and Blotts next door.

Soooo, my dad is saved in my contacts on my phone as "my father that will be hearing about this"

Any ideas of what I can name my friends, mom, and brother that are harry potter related?

So Dobby was set free when Lucius Malfoy brought him along on his visit to Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts....but why did Lucius bring along Dobby in the first place? Just to humiliate him? Dude probably wouldn't have lost his servant if he hadn't done that. Plothole?