The change occurred the moment the Elder Wand touched Dumbledore's long, powerful hand.
Dumbledore's arm instantly turned charred black, emitting eerie black smoke. The cuffs of his robes burned away in circles, while the black smoke swirled around his arm and spread toward his heart.
Dumbledore frowned.
In pain, he had no choice but to release the wand. It flew high into the air before falling onto the yellowed, scorched grass and rolling several times.
The golden-red fiery lion instantly melted into wisps of flame, drifting away in the wind.
Grindelwald suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.
Dumbledore lay on the grass, coughed several times, and tilted his head to one side.
The wand flew swiftly back to Voldemort's side and seemed to begin cheering with delight.
Everyone had a strange feeling that the wand had eaten its fill.
It was difficult to imagine why a wand would possess such human emotions.
Then they realized that the battle had turned around once again.
Dumbledore was seriously injured, and Grindelwald seemed to have been affected as well.
The situation had returned to where it had begun.
They were even slightly worse off because their morale had plummeted.
Previously, they had faced this battle with a do-or-die mentality.
But Dumbledore's appearance had given them hope again.
Now, however, they had to face the reality that their hopes had been shattered.
The dramatic ups and downs had deeply affected everyone.
"Look at this. What kind of life-sharing magic did you use to deal with me?"
"Dumbledore, who always prides himself on being upright, would actually use such evil magic?"
Voldemort stood up from the grass in the blink of an eye and shook his wrist.
The person maintaining the spell collapsed, no longer able to sustain the magical restriction.
Voldemort revealed an extremely smug smile.
"Luck is still on my side."
"Dumbledore, you can die now."
His wand was already pointed at the headmaster, who lay dying on the grass.
The power over life and death had changed hands.
As Voldemort began chanting the incantation, a figure suddenly appeared in his crimson pupils, blocking the path to Dumbledore, who was already extremely weakened.
An overwhelming sense of astonishment arose within him.
If he wasn't mistaken, this figure should have been hanging from that wooden "cross" not long ago.
Could she have been rescued?
However, he had no time to investigate what had happened.
All he wanted was to kill her again.
The figure was Hermione, who had just arrived.
Hermione!
Hermione!
Are you all right?
Hermione had absolutely no idea what had happened to her "double."
The Vanishing Cabinet had been placed at the opposite end of the Forbidden Forest.
She had been forced to run all the way there, and when she finally arrived, she saw the scene before her.
Dumbledore had died and come back to life, only to be defeated by Voldemort?
The information contained in that scene was enormous.
But without hesitation, Hermione made a decision and immediately stood in front of Dumbledore.
This stubborn little witch was determined to protect her headmaster.
Even though she didn't know why the headmaster had come back to life or what had happened before she arrived, it was easy to determine which side she belonged to.
Voldemort casually cast spell after spell.
The witch had angered him and made him feel mocked.
Various curses came crashing down upon her.
The girl struggled to remain standing, but soon a blinding light struck her.
Fortunately, it wasn't green.
However, it was still one of the Unforgivable Curses.
Hermione hunched over in pain, bending low.
Then she forced herself upright again.
"Game over."
Voldemort bared his white teeth, coldly announcing the sentence of death.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry and Ron wanted to rush forward, but the students around them held them back.
They could only watch as the green light flew past in a strange arc.
Harry watched in despair as his friend walked toward death.
What was reflected in Hermione's eyes at that moment?
The terrifyingly swift spell, carrying the scent of death, flew straight toward her.
A soft green light appeared as a distant point, no larger than a mosquito, and gradually grew larger in Hermione's vision.
For a moment, the passage of time seemed to slow.
When a person was about to die, they thought of many things.
"Perhaps my Defence Against the Dark Arts grade isn't even considered good?"
"No, that's not right either. I've at least held on this long."
She inexplicably thought of her straight O.W.L. results.
Indeed, facing this spell now, Hermione had almost no way to defend herself.
She stubbornly raised her head, her amber eyes fixed on the distance.
This was my own choice.
Suddenly, she closed her eyes.
The shouts around her seemed to freeze.
Everything became silent.
Is this what death feels like?
She asked herself.
However, time seemed to pass for a long while, and she did not feel herself being struck.
I'm not dead?
She slowly opened her eyes.
Light entered her vision.
First came a faint golden hue.
Then a complete human figure emerged.
Hermione froze.
Her foot slipped slightly, and she took a startled step backward.
She thought she was hallucinating.
She recognized the figure from behind.
The platinum-blond hair instantly stunned her.
Why is he here?
Hermione's feet suddenly felt heavy.
Dobby's limbs were twitching as he clung to her legs, his eyes rolling back in his head while he muttered something under his breath.
The person standing before them, with his back turned to them, was none other than Draco Malfoy.
Hermione, however, had believed that Malfoy should still have been unconscious in that dark cellar.
And how had he gotten here?
She had destroyed the Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts precisely to prevent him from following her.
One question after another appeared in her mind.
But none of them was the most important.
Because an absurd reality had been laid bare before her.
Had Malfoy just shielded her from the Killing Curse?
Wasn't this the curse that symbolized certain death?
Why?
A sudden, electric shock-like shiver spread from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
It was as though the shackles around her memories had been sliced open by a sharp blade, cracking apart inch by inch.
Suddenly, a turbulent surge of emotions welled up in her mind.
Those dormant memories were instantly awakened.
This scene felt so familiar.
His life was still hanging by a thread.
The box containing her memories was breached by a raging flood.
In the pitch-black, deep, sealed chamber, a huge Basilisk slithered rapidly across the dark floor.
A man with a ferocious expression commanded the Basilisk in vengeance.
Then the soul gradually dissipated.
A boy stepped in front of the Basilisk just as it was about to bite her, decisively using his wand to pry open its menacing fangs.
Everything felt so familiar.
She remembered everything.
Except…
She woke up in a pristine white hospital bed.
"Forget everything!"
The boy's voice rang out.
Even Dumbledore could not stop the boy from casting the Memory Charm.
In the time that followed, anticipation and doubt, heartache and numbness constantly clashed within her.
She tried to convince herself.
But ultimately, she shamefully chose to run away, pretending not to care.
A feeling of terrified trembling and profound despair welled up from the bottom of her heart.
And those hazy, repressed emotions…
The emotions she had desperately suppressed because of their opposing positions were rekindled.
They intertwined with the turbulent emotions brought about by the recovery of her memories, surging like a tidal wave.
Oh?
Was that what he had meant by "cooperation"?
Hermione suddenly remembered everything that had happened not long ago.
Then she remembered the boy's helpless, emotionless eyes.
But the harsh reality quickly pulled Hermione out of her thoughts.
She heard Professor McGonagall's worried shout.
The boy stood before her.
She instinctively screamed in a piercing voice:
"Draco! No!"
The mournful cry echoed throughout the Quidditch pitch.
The green light was blocked.
But it came at the cost of someone's life.
At that moment, Hermione desperately wished that everything were a nightmare.
She wished she would never remember those sealed memories again.
That way, perhaps he wouldn't have to…
"Don't want?"
"What do you not want?"
Malfoy waved his wand, flicked his wrist, turned his head, and smiled at Hermione.
"By the way, remember to be gentler when you use the Stunning Charm next time. I'm still a little sleepy."
"You'll have to pay for the damage to the Vanishing Cabinet."
Malfoy yawned at just the right moment and squinted his eyes before fixing his gaze on the formidable enemy before him.
"I didn't have a choice before."
"Now I want to be a good person."
He raised his wand high and pointed it at Voldemort.
"It doesn't seem quite right to use it here, but it's enough to express my feelings."
Malfoy turned his back once again, facing the most powerful Dark wizard on the battlefield, and extended his wand.
Hermione stared blankly at the scene before her.
Her brown eyes were now veiled by a thin layer of mist, and glistening tears streamed down her face.
At the same time, a slight smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
It gradually widened.
She covered her lips with her hand, and it was impossible to tell whether she was laughing or crying.
Malfoy was oblivious to all of this.
His entire attention was now focused on Voldemort.
Meanwhile, the Dark Lord remained in a state of extreme shock.
What exactly had happened in that split second?
The supposedly invincible Killing Curse had been deflected so easily?
Everyone present was completely stunned.
Even the most powerful wizard would require extraordinary skill to counter such a curse.
After an unknown amount of time, Voldemort finally seemed to understand what was happening.
He asked in a low voice, filled with resentment and disbelief:
"You betrayed me too, Draco?"
"No."
Malfoy replied firmly.
Everyone around them gasped.
"Because I have never been loyal to you. How can I be accused of betrayal?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than another deadly curse appeared before him.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Voldemort roared, swinging his wand with tremendous force.
His pale, slender wrist contained incredible strength, and the wand in his hand unleashed an immense surge of magical energy.
Malfoy didn't even chant a spell.
He merely turned his body slightly and gently raised his wand.
A white light flashed.
It collided with the eerie green light.
The white light scraped against the green, creating a strange arc before flying straight into the air and gradually fading into nothingness.
A deathly silence fell over the battlefield.
Only the howling wind remained.
The first time, perhaps it had been a mistake by the Dark Lord.
Perhaps everyone had simply misunderstood.
But the second time, it was no coincidence.
"The wand…"
Voldemort felt a chill run down his spine.
"There must be something wrong with the Elder Wand."
Or perhaps some problem had been caused by its alteration, preventing it from fully utilizing its magic.
Only then could this be explained.
He was nothing more than a despicable traitor, a laughable worm.
How could someone so easily block his almost certainly fatal spell?
Had the Elder Wand malfunctioned again?
He couldn't help wondering.
Yes.
Potter was no match for him now, so there was no longer any need for restraint.
He could use his original yew wand without any problem.
A surge of powerful magic vibrated around him, causing ripples to spread through the air.
The yew wand emerged from the green mist-shrouded void.
Voldemort stretched out his pale right hand and grasped his first wand.
"The mighty Dark Lord, completely obsessed with the power of external things."
"Isn't that ridiculous?"
The boy raised his eyelids slightly, then narrowed his eyes again, trying to speak calmly.
"The problem lies with you."
Malfoy pointed out Voldemort's current flaw.
"Me? What problem could I possibly have?"
The Dark Lord sneered, speaking with disdain.
"Because the Horcrux you have isn't actually the problem."
Malfoy pointed toward the Elder Wand in Voldemort's left hand.
"Horcruxes?"
Voldemort's pupils contracted sharply in shock as he stared at Malfoy.
"What do you know?"
Most of the students were bewildered when they heard this sinister word.
Only Slughorn's expression suddenly became fearful and filled with self-reproach.
He was being supported by his students.
The shockwave from the explosion had sent him flying through the air before he crashed to the ground.
Fortunately, he had cast a Levitation Charm on himself, preventing an even more serious injury.
"What problem could I possibly have?"
"I, the great and omnipotent Dark Lord, who conquered death itself—what problem could I possibly have?"
He seemed to be questioning Malfoy.
But he also seemed to be questioning himself.
"Look at your steadfast guardian, the hypocrite who once sang the praises of love, now lying on the grass and dying helplessly."
"When a dragon that lives by doing evil loses its evil intentions, even for a moment, its power will crumble."
Malfoy spoke calmly.
Voldemort did not understand his words.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The hearts of everyone nearby instantly leapt into their throats again.
The curse bounced off once more.
If they hadn't known that the person standing before them was the infamous Voldemort, they might have thought that the green light was not the supposedly Unforgivable Curse, Avada Kedavra, but merely an ordinary spell with a different colour.
"Why?"
Voldemort's expression twisted into indescribable frenzy.
"That's because you gave up your last source of pride."
Malfoy spoke calmly, as though merely stating a fact.
He then fell silent.
That capital was the ultimate evil.
That was the price.
A very high price.
"Let me think about it."
Malfoy deliberately tapped his forehead with his index finger, pretending to be deep in thought.
"The Hufflepuff Cup."
Malfoy raised one finger.
"Slytherin's Locket."
Another.
"Another heirloom of the Gaunt family—the Marvolo Gaunt Ring."
Two fingers were raised again.
"Ravenclaw's Diadem."
"And the diary you gave to my father."
"I destroyed them all."
With every word he uttered, Voldemort's expression darkened further.
"So you killed Nagini too?"
"Is that right? Just now?"
Voldemort's voice was chilling.
"That was merely a vessel for one of your Horcruxes."
"It isn't anymore."
Malfoy calmly stated his deduction.
"You should be holding the last fragment of your soul in your hand."
"That is why Dumbledore was so badly injured."
"Nagini."
"Did you kill her?"
"Did you?"
"It was me."
Malfoy nodded.
"After the mental shock you left behind rushed into my mind, it caused me to share a portion of her memories."
"I saw it…"
"The most brutal Dark Lord in the world actually did such a thing."
Malfoy spoke sarcastically.
"I'm going to make you die in the most painful way possible!"
Voldemort roared.
His pale face contorted with rage, the veins on his cheeks bulging.
Snape's betrayal had not severely damaged his confidence.
Even Dumbledore's "resurrection" and Grindelwald's assistance had failed to extinguish his surging fighting spirit.
He had dealt with the two old men.
But now, a strange sense of panic was surging within him.
"Voldemort has escaped!"
A student suddenly shouted.
Voldemort did not rush toward Malfoy, nor did he cast any unnecessary spells.
He intended to make a comeback in the future.
Apparition was still impossible.
But he could still fly.
His wide black robes were swept by the rushing air, making a rustling sound, like a giant black bat gliding with its wings spread.
The Dark Lord moved swiftly beneath the night sky.
Then Voldemort suddenly felt a wave of nausea that made his heart pound.
Despair, greed, anger, jealousy, and fear—
All of these negative emotions were amplified endlessly in an instant.
He raised his wand and looked around.
He quickly stopped, roared, and slashed his wand fiercely, sending sharp blades of wind flying through the air.
Glistening silver flakes of fabric fell from above, resembling a shattered Milky Way against the dim sky.
"That's the Invisibility Cloak we made!"
Fred and George said in unison, struggling to sit upright on their stretcher so they could see clearly.
Both had been injured by the explosion they had created.
Of course, the explosion had taken out even more Death Eaters.
A terrifying and shocking scene unfolded.
It was beyond their comprehension.
At least a thousand Dementors were floating in the sky.
They were cloaked and hooded, their bodies concealed beneath Invisibility Cloaks.
The Dementors had actually been missing for more than a year.
No one had seen them during that time.
Yet today, they had all appeared before their eyes.
And, more importantly, they seemed to be on Hogwarts' side.
Subconsciously, everyone felt that these monsters were a better match for Voldemort.
Of course, that was merely a thought.
In any case, it was always better to have more allies than more enemies.
"Even the best glue can't withstand Voldemort's magic."
Malfoy shook his head.
For a long time, he had been covering the Dementors with Invisibility Cloaks.
But now it seemed that Voldemort's spell was still extremely powerful, quickly destroying them.
Voldemort no longer had time to wonder why so many Dementors were here.
He needed to leave quickly.
But another problem confronted him.
He didn't know the Guardian Spell.
"Get out of the way!"
The man remained suspended in mid-air, roaring furiously at the group of dark creatures.
But the Dementors remained unmoved.
They seemed to feel no fear.
After all, the only thing Dementors truly feared was the Patronus Charm.
These Dementors seemed completely indifferent to everything.
More precisely, they barely had any physical form.
Most of what could be seen were merely bodies and illusions created beneath their black cloaks.
The powerful winds made their forms bulge and swell, as though they had expanded several times in size.
In reality, apart from their withered hands, which possessed physical form, their bodies were almost empty.
One withered hand stretched forward.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The man roared and swung his wand.
A series of green lights burst forth uncontrollably.
They seemed to strike the Dementors, passing straight through their bodies.
Yet the Dementors floating in the sky did not fall.
The eerie green light pierced through them, flew toward the horizon, and eventually dissipated like shooting stars whose power had been exhausted.
These were not ordinary living beings.
Avada Kedavra could not kill them.
Moreover, the power of Voldemort's spells had now been greatly reduced.
Voldemort reached this conclusion.
Then his body tilted slightly to the right in mid-air, dodging a spell launched from the ground.
Beneath him, the tabby cat with lace-like markings around her eyes continued dragging her agile body in hot pursuit.
The old woman's Animagus form displayed agility unimaginable to ordinary people.
Flitwick and Slughorn continued running across the grass, firing spells into the sky in an attempt to hinder Voldemort.
Fleur's treatment had helped them recover some of their fighting ability.
Voldemort continued flying through the sky.
Then, suddenly, he seized an opening and rushed through.
The only gap in the entire Dementor encirclement.
A gap had appeared in the otherwise orderly formation.
"Filius!" Professor McGonagall shouted.
"Stop him!"
If Voldemort escaped today, who knew when he might return?
This was a golden opportunity.
Voldemort no longer had the ability to kill them.
Flitwick continued firing spells into the sky, while Voldemort spread his "wings" and dodged the dazzling spells.
The Dementors seemed to have no appetite.
Perhaps they sensed that he possessed no joyful or worthwhile emotions for them to consume.
He wasn't doing anything worthwhile for them.
It was a thankless task.
Malfoy simply watched in silence, observing Voldemort's escape with cold eyes.
He even closed his eyes.
Hermione stood behind him and noticed that his wrists and calves were trembling slightly.
She then remembered that he seemed to have been seriously injured.
Her heart skipped another beat.
"Help me up."
Malfoy raised an eyebrow at Hermione.
Hermione paused for a moment before realizing that Malfoy's body seemed to have weakened to its limit.
"Is this all right?"
Hermione quickly stepped behind Malfoy and gently supported the swaying boy.
"Not bad."
Malfoy smiled and continued gazing at the dim sky.
Voldemort himself could sense that the power from Hogwarts restricting Apparition was growing weaker and weaker.
He began to laugh triumphantly, returning to his previous arrogant and domineering demeanour.
His pale face contorted sharply, and his slit-like nose seemed unusually wide for a moment.
It was indescribably eerie and cruel.
He was about to break through the encirclement, escape the Anti-Apparition barrier, and leave Hogwarts.
Even without the Horcruxes, as long as he himself remained alive, everything was fine.
He still had endless opportunities.
Horcruxes were certainly not the only path to immortality.
He was the greatest wizard.
Nothing could stump him.
In the end, he had won this battle.
Maybe?
His laughter echoed wildly throughout the Quidditch pitch, sending chills down everyone's spine.
But the turning point came so abruptly.
The hoarse, wild, triumphant laughter suddenly stopped.
The echoes gradually faded from everyone's ears, disappearing into silence.
Then everyone standing on the ground witnessed a horrifying scene.
Voldemort's rapidly flying figure suddenly stopped in mid-air.
Half of his body disappeared.
It simply vanished into thin air, as though something had swallowed it.
He had seized the opportunity and left.
"Apparition!"
The students breathed sighs of relief before exclaiming in surprise.
No matter what, the formidable enemy was gone.
He might return someday.
But at least they had survived today.
"Hogwarts doesn't allow Apparition!"
"That place is still within the school grounds!"
Professor McGonagall continued waving her wand.
She had been switching between her Animagus and human forms to keep up with Voldemort on the ground, since a cat was much more agile.
At this moment, she had reached the highest point of the Quidditch stands.
A group of students on the pitch pointed toward Voldemort, who was suspended in mid-air.
Voldemort's entire body froze, as though he had actually collided with something.
It was as though he had been sliced apart by a sharp blade, with the other half swept into another dimension.
Many people quickly realized that it wasn't Apparition.
During Apparition, the caster gradually disappeared.
Their entire body would slowly become transparent, like clear ice, before vanishing completely.
Then a shimmering silver fabric slowly drifted down from the sky.
Its silvery glow appeared and disappeared in the dim light.
Unlike the mass-produced garments they had just seen, this one possessed a far more dazzling silver sheen.
Harry stared blankly at the scene.
He knew it all too well.
It was his Invisibility Cloak.
The most powerful and practical of the Deathly Hallows.
Voldemort's vanished half reappeared.
Furthermore, in mid-air, they saw a Dementor unlike the others.
It pulled down its hood, revealing its ugly "mouth"—or rather, an ugly suction cup.
The Invisibility Cloak had concealed the Dementor from Voldemort's sight.
In mid-air, Voldemort's upper body crashed directly into the Dementor's "mouth."
The Dementor's withered, decay-covered arm seized him tightly.
Voldemort had no chance to struggle.
He seemed completely helpless.
For a Dementor, absorbing a soul was merely a matter of moments.
Then it opened its hands and released Voldemort's body.
It shook its head in an almost human manner.
It seemed to have completely devoured his soul.
And it didn't seem particularly delicious or interesting.
The once-invincible Voldemort had defeated Dumbledore, defeated Grindelwald, escaped the Killing Curse he had brought upon himself, and risen once again from the darkness.
Yet in the end, he died at the hands of a creature he considered inferior.
He died because of his own carelessness.
Or perhaps because of someone's carefully orchestrated scheme.
It had to be said that it was deeply ironic.
Countless Dementors wearing poor-quality Invisibility Cloaks existed solely to create the most effective trap.
The Dark Lord's corpse fell from the sky.
The impact was not particularly severe.
The soft grass absorbed much of the force, preventing his body from being smashed apart.
The Hogwarts students began to cheer.
They had guessed at least part of what had happened.
Of course, the truth remained largely unknown.
Malfoy smiled.
Although the outcome had deviated somewhat from the plan, it had still been a success.
"Next time you use the Stunning Charm on me, be gentler…"
He turned back toward the girl and spoke with his final breath.
Then, under Hermione's horrified and worried gaze, he swayed several times before collapsing onto the soft grass.
"Draco!"
His last conscious thought was Hermione calling his name in panic.
"All right."
After the battlefield had been cleaned up, Dumbledore, who had been lying on the grass, suddenly stood up and raised his hand.
A dry but sincere smile appeared on his tired face.