Chapter Twenty Nine: The Unwinnable Fight:

The resurrected form of Lord Voldemort floated high above the Albania Forest, looking down at the petrified bystanders below. Many battle hardened Aurors looked absolutely terrified. As far as the Wizarding World was concerned, Lord Voldemort was the ultimate evil, the one that most refused to even speak his name out fear and for good reason, there was fear, as Lord Voldemort was back, more powerful than ever. He could feel the power flowing through his recently reconstructed magical essence, it was more obvious than ever and Voldemort turned his attention down onto the crowd, or to be particular, two children. Sparks flew from his finger tips as he lowered himself slightly. He had no use for a wand, he had reached the ultimate stage of magical evolution, one that was thought impossible without turning one's magic into what was basically an extremely potent nuclear weapon.

"I have returned and you weak pathetic fools will bow before the return of Lord Voldemort," hissed Voldemort darkly, as his eyes averted down.

Rufus Scrimgeour quickly motioned for his Aurors to move around, wands drawn.

"Throw everything you have at him, we have one shot, make it count!" shouted Rufus in an agitated voice and several spells, some of them potentially lethal, shot right towards Voldemort. Voldemort just stood there, not making one movement to block them, before a dark glow enveloped around his body. The magic was absorbed around Voldemort before it whipped right back towards his attackers. The power of their attacks were amplified tenfold and at least ninety percent of the Aurors were killed instantly, with all of the others dying from their injuries, as Voldemort turned his attention downwards, but Dumbledore got to his feet. The old man was thinking quickly and one thing was for certain, while he had only managed to siphon the power of half of the Magician's Orb, he was still far more powerful than he had ever been at the peak of his reign of terror.

He turned to the Potter twins and quickly realized there was only one course of action as Voldemort glided forward, magically generated winds ripping the branches from the trees and the ground shaking slightly below them.

"FAWKES!" bellowed Dumbledore and with a flash of fire, his Phoenix appeared and with a flick of his wand, Carvus was levitated off of the ground. "Elizabeth, Harry, grab on right now, for the moment you have to trust me but Voldemort will kill us all if we spare another second."

Harry and Elizabeth paused for a second but had to do as they were told for the moment, having no choice, after all, Dumbledore was unlikely to play any games at such a crucial juncture. Elizabeth held the orb, it felt warm against her and powerful, as they grabbed onto the tail feathers of Fawkes. With a flash of fire, Dumbledore, Elizabeth, and Harry, along with Carvus, had disappeared into mid air, with Voldemort blasting green bolts of magical energy at the ground.

"They've got away my Lord," said Bellatrix in a horrified voice.

"It matters little Bella, I will hunt them down soon enough and exterminate both of them," said Voldemort, as his body was enveloped with more power, it was almost he was drawing the magical energy lingering in the air into his essence. "The world will tremble once again before me, no one can dare touch me ever again."

"My Lord, they took the Orb and that fool Carvus as well," stated one of the Albanian Wizards which caused Voldemort to consider the potential ramifications, but his face just contorted into a twisted smirk.

"Ah yes but Carvus's notes on the Orb remain as do the scrolls but I'm afraid not for long," said Voldemort and two blasts of fire incinerated them immediately, leaving no trace that they had ever existed. "Whatever remaining power lingers in the Orb will be of no use to them now."

Lord Voldemort gave a cold high round of laughter, at his brilliance and Bellatrix looked excited at serving her master.

"Just give us the word, my Lord, and I'll do anything you want me to," said Bellatrix. "I've already weeded out your weaker followers, but once we crack open Azkaban, we'll have your most faithful followers at your beck and call and make all the Mudbloods and blood traitors fear us once again."

"Admirable sentiments, Bella, but there's just a bit of a problem with what you're proposing," said Voldemort softly and Bellatrix wondered what this problem could be. "With the ultimate power I have, I no longer require any followers. Good bye."

With a loud blast of green light, every living thing remaining in the forest dropped dead and Voldemort rose above it, surveying the situation, a smile on his thin lips.

"The foolishly naïve are always the first to die," stated Voldemort as he turned before he made his way to lay waste to Albania. It was time to give the Wizarding World a taste of what Lord Voldemort was capable of accomplishing.

-

"What do you mean Scrimgeour took a group of Aurors to Albania without my authorization?" demanded Fudge as he looked at Amelia Bones.

"The Potter twins were kidnapped by Bellatrix Lestrange," said Amelia, choosing what to reveal to the Minister at the moment very carefully.

"I was under the impression that their home was heavily protected," said Fudge who imagined the political scandal that would occur if the Boy-Who-Lived and his twin sister were murdered. "And Scrimgeour took a quarter of our Aurors to Albania…that's where Dumbledore thinks He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is?"

"I'm afraid so, Minister," said Amelia.

"But he's dead, still Lestrange is unhinged enough to believe that and might kill one or either of those children in a sacrifice, I'm no expert but I'm sure there's a number of rituals that can be used," said Fudge before he sank into the chair and put his head in his hands in frustration. This day was too confusing for his like. Ever since Lestrange had broken out of Azkaban, it seemed like the Wizarding World had descended into what amounted to chaos and anarchy. A good chunk of the Dementors destroyed, and the others just vanishing without a trace, pureblood nobles dropping dead right and left, his own Senior Undersecretary killed in his own home.

"Minister!" shouted a voice of his magical intercom. "An urgent bulletin, word coming in from Albania…."

"Albania, did you say?" asked Fudge, who grew sick at this country being mentioned. "What is it?"

"An epidemic of natural disasters, flood, fire, earthquakes, villages burned to the ground reduced to nothing," said the voice. "Our contact at the Albanian Ministry of Magic believes it to be magical in nature…"

"I was afraid of that," stated Fudge in a terrified voice.

"Do you wish for me to connect him so he can tell you about this?" asked the voice.

"Yes, Bernard, that would be acceptable," said Fudge, who wanted nothing more than to have a large bottle of Firewhiskey and there was a sound of the communication being transformed.

"Hello, Minister," stated a soft voice over the magical intercom. "You don't know who this is, do you?"

"Of course not, you told me that you could not reveal your identity for security purposes," scoffed Fudge and the voice over the intercom responded with high cold laughter. "What is the meaning of this? You are the contact at the Albanian Ministry of Magic are you not?"

"No, unfortunately he is indisposed and I doubt you would have any further communication, Cornelius," stated the voice from other the intercom. "My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle but I think you would better know me under a different name."

"And what would that be?" demanded the Minister but Amelia was growing pale. She had recognized the voice, having only heard it once before but it was not a voice that one would forget once they had forgotten it.

"I am Lord Voldemort," hissed the voice over the intercom.

"That's absurd, the official Ministry of Magic investigation revealed You-Know-Who was dead, killed at that night that he tried to kill the Potter twins," said Fudge, whose face was going completely red. "You-Know-Who can't be alive, he's dead…"

"Dead is not a term to be thrown around loosely but the fact remains Minister, several of your little puppets have been murdered, Scrimgeour and his Aurors tried to attack me, it was quite amusing, they were murdered within seconds," stated Voldemort in a calm voice. "I'm sure you've heard a bit about what's happening in Albania, how I'm destroying everything and I'm sure you're wondering why I'm doing this. No reason other than the fact I can."

"You're a crazed wizard whoever you are and the Ministry of Magic will bring you to justice!" cried Fudge.

"Big talk for such a little man," hissed Voldemort coldly. "And I'm no mere wizard. I can perform extraordinary feats of magic beyond anyone's wildest imagination. I've taken the next step to be one someone of my stature should be."

"And what is that?" demanded Fudge.

"A magical god," said Voldemort in a sadistic voice. "Albania was the first to feel the full extent of my new power, I will wipe out everyone and remake the world in my own image. No one can stop me, not your pathetic Ministry, not Dumbledore, not even the Girl-Who-Lived."

"What do you want?" asked Fudge.

"Nothing," stated Voldemort calmly. "Why ask for something that I can just as easily take? The world is populated with fools and weakness, yet there will be some who attempt to oppose true power. Those will be crushed and I will triumph over them all."

With that the communication went dead as Fudge leaned forward, head in his hands, as he sighed in frustration.

"Some psychopath thinks he's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and is destroying Albania or so he says, hard to believe that someone could destroy an entire country, he might have gotten his hands on some really powerful magical artifact, who knows what's in that country, even our intelligence isn't that good," responded Fudge as he responded with a sigh.

"That was him Minister, whether or not you want to deny it," said Amelia. "But there is one piece of good news out of this entire situation."

"How can anything good come from him or someone who thinks he's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named causing havoc out of our jurisdiction?" asked Fudge as he point his hand on his forehead, rubbing his temples.

"His words seem to indicate that at least Elizabeth Potter has survived whatever ordeal that Bellatrix Lestrange has put the twins though," said Amelia and Fudge did not look relieved. He was one of those in the Ministry that subscribed to the popular theory that Harry Potter was in fact the Boy-Who-Lived and Fudge got to his feet with a bold look on his face. Amelia recognized that look immediately, it meant the Minister was going to do something foolish and there was not one word that she could say to convince him otherwise.

"We must have all of our resources descend upon Albania immediately," responded Fudge in a calm voice. "Aurors, hit wizards, everything, I need to contact the International Confederation of Wizards and try and enlist the help of others, stamp this threat out…"

"Minister, he's laying waste to an entire country, I doubt a mere army will be able to stop him," said Amelia.

"Of course it will stop him, it has to, once he's done destroying Albania, he will move onto other countries, including our own home and if we don't strike right now, he will topple the Ministry like nothing," said Fudge as he got to his feet, before he issued an all points warning to the entire Ministry of Magic.

-

"Where are we?" demanded Elizabeth, as they looked around in a sizeable but barren room with nothing but a bench.

"Relax, Miss Potter, you're perfectly safe," stated Dumbledore but the sharp look that both the twins gave him indicated that this was the wrong thing to say.

"The last time you said that, Lizzie was condemned to the Dursleys, you best have some answers now, Dumbledore," said Harry as he waved his wand threateningly.

"I hoped that assisting with your easy escape would ease some of the harsh feelings for an old man's error in judgment but I'm afraid there is still much to be done but there is little time," said Dumbledore, as he placed the unconscious form of Carvus down upon a bed. "Rest assure, you are in a place with every magical protection that I can think of. It was used as a sanctuary during the war with Gridelwald but I do hope it's withstood the test of time."

Harry just responded with a cold nod, arms folded.

"I don't know what protections you have, Dumbledore, but Voldemort will tear them down easily, you saw how easily he dispatched of an army of Aurors," responded Elizabeth with a look of warning.

"Ah, but he has to find you first Miss Potter, before he can tear anything down but I do agree his newly acquired powers are great, despite only siphoning half of the magical energy contained within the orb," said Dumbledore. "Stay here and I shall return within five minutes. I have to contact some people that I have on call for such an emergency to collect your friends and their families. I fear that Voldemort might use them as bait to lure you into a trap."

Dumbledore was transported in a flash of fire, leaving the Potter twins alone in the room to exchanged a look.

"I don't trust him one bit, Lizzie," said Harry. "After all he's put both of us though…"

"I know Harry, believe me, I'm far from trusting Voldemort, but the situation is rather grim," stated Elizabeth. "Voldemort's back and…I couldn't imagine a situation that's worse off. The way he vaporized the Aurors…and how is anyone supposed to fight that?"

"Someone's going to have to," stated Harry, deciding to lightly dance around the very obvious fact that it would be Elizabeth that would have to deal with the problem that was Lord Voldemort. He had wished this was not the case, but Voldemort was likely to not allow anyone who would be considered a threat to live. "Not that it's going to be that pleasant of a task and until then…"

"Everyone's going to be killed and Voldemort will rule over everything," said Elizabeth in a horrified voice. "We barely escaped, I can just imagine what would have happened if he had siphoned all of the power from the orb. Only half like Dumbledore said and he's like this…"

"Not exactly all that pleasant, Lizzie, but there's going come a time where we have to face this…" stated Harry. "Sorry, but there's no dancing around the subject, Voldemort will want to kill you from defeating him the first time and…I'm not letting you tackle this alone."

"Harry, you don't have to do this, I can handle this myself," stated Elizabeth but she looked uncertain and Harry just gave her a stern look. "Okay, no one can handle this but still, there's no need to put yourself in…"

"I have a feeling if our roles would be reversed, we'd still be having the same conversation and I'd try to convince you to stay out of this, but no matter what, we have to deal with this together," said Harry. "I'm not sure how much I enjoy what's to come either but unfortunately, if I'm right, we have no choice in what's at hand."

Elizabeth responded with a nod but her eyes snapped up when she looked at the orb in her hands.

"Voldemort has half of the orb's power that means half is still here!" yelled Elizabeth as a look of triumph appeared on her face. "I can…"

"No!" shouted Harry firmly. "Absolutely not, even if it was the only way to defeat Voldemort, no, there's just something about this entire Magician's Orb thing that unnerves me. The power, it's unnatural and besides, exactly how are we going to get it open? The only person who could tell us anything is currently unconscious."

"Just a thought," said Elizabeth in a deflated voice as she moved back into her usual state of hopelessness but her eyes flicked to a bookshelf off on the side of the shelter and quickly she bounced up to her feet. She moved over and pulled out a book from the shelf and flipped it open, leafing through it eagerly. "Magical texts…some of them look very advanced and borderline dark…maybe there's something in here that can help us defeat Voldemort. Grab one Harry and help me research them."

"Too little too late maybe," muttered Harry but never the same, he grabbed another one of the texts. When the others had gotten here, maybe they could help. Still, even if they did find some amazing, out of this world spell that would spell Voldemort's end, Harry doubted very much that Elizabeth, even with her ability, could master an advanced spell soon enough.

-

Dumbledore appeared with a light pop just outside of the Albania borders. The old crowd was in the process of rounding up those closest to the Potter twins, but Dumbledore had more pressing issues on his mind. He was not perfect contrary to popular belief and he made two big mistakes. The placement of Elizabeth Potter at the Dursleys and not nipping the Voldemort situation in the bud when he had the opportunity. Now that Voldemort had more power than ever before, Dumbledore had to face his biggest mistake, even though it was evident that it might be a mistake in itself. While just as powerful as ever, Dumbledore was a few steps slower than his prime and not as sharp in thinking on his feet. He had hid behind careful plans for a bit too long.

He looked over, to see that he was in fact not alone and he saw a small army of Aurors, Hit Wizards, and assorted others walking towards the border, with Cornelius Fudge in the background, bold as ever, and he looked at Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" demanded Fudge.

"I could ask the same of you, Cornelius," said Dumbledore.

"Some imposter claims he's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and has used a magical artifact to lay waste to Albania, we're intending to shut him down before it gets too out of hand," said Fudge.

"No imposter Cornelius, it is Voldemort," said Dumbledore as he took a step back, before quickly adding. "I'm afraid I have no time to explain, as time is of the essence."

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore slipped inside and a large dome of magical energy was encased around Albania. Several wizards tried to tear it down but considering Dumbledore had put it up, it was difficult for them to even bend it.

"DUMBLEDORE TAKE DOWN THAT BARRIER THIS INSTANCE OR I SWEAR I'LL HAVE YOU ARRESTED!" shouted Fudge but his yelling fell on deaf ears as Dumbledore continued to step forward. An entire country and there was little clue on where he could find Voldemort.

One thing was for certain, Voldemort was definitely there. Most of the grass had been burned from the ground, the sky was red, there was no trees, and the buildings around him looked like a tornado and a hurricane hit them simultaneously. Not to mention there was the foul stench of dark magic in the air. Dumbledore looked up, as he saw a cyclone of magical energy appearing. The face of Voldemort appeared right in mid air.

"Albus, nice of you to show, I've expected you," said Voldemort calmly. "It just shows you how pathetically predictable you are, old man."

"Hello Tom, I wonder if you can do your old teacher a favor and face me," said Dumbledore. "Unless you sacrificed a physical form to become the personification of ultimate power and had forsaken your humanity in a misguided attempt to satisfy your lust for power."

"On the contrary, Albus, I have so much power that I can take on any form I wish!" taunted Voldemort, as his voice echoed all around the area and a loud pop, before the mist around Voldemort dissolved and Dumbledore was face to face with Voldemort. He looked less human than ever before, with chalk white skin and sinister red eyes with red rings around them. His skin was pale, with claws and the putrid smell of dark magic circled around him. "I hope this is to your liking, Albus."

Voldemort flickered a forked tongue towards Dumbledore as Dumbledore stood his ground. A flash and a sickly blue light shot right towards Dumbledore. Avoided just narrowly, but Dumbledore watched as the crowd he stood had been completely wiped out. There was nothing but a smoking crater in the ground.

Dumbledore clenched his hand over his wand and began to fire. Spell after spell, a multitude of lights assaulted Voldemort. He was digging deeper than he should have tried and he threw pretty much any spell at Voldemort, in an attempt to weaken him just enough to contain him. Dumbledore stepped back, breathing heavily but Voldemort just stood there, unflinching, as he stared Dumbledore down.

"Are you quite done yet?" asked Voldemort, before he flicked his wrist. A loud crash and Dumbledore was launched several feet into the air before he crashed down. It was like several Hippogriffs had trampled him and Voldemort walked forward, the ground turned black underneath his feet, the very air space that he occupied was polluted with the disgusting stench of dark magic. Voldemort gave another motion and a loud sonic blast echoed and wiped Dumbledore completely out. Any other wizard and he would have been dead, but Dumbledore managed to instinctively block most of the assault. "They say I feared you? They said you are the greatest wizard that ever lived? The vaunted leader of the light, the mighty Albus Dumbledore? Pathetic, weak, old, useless, I've become the thing that you could have but did not have the guts too."

"It takes more courage not to take the easy route for power, Tom," started Dumbledore but Voldemort sent another blast of magic. Dumbledore was launched off the ground. Several bones cracked and both of his shoulders had been ripped from their sockets. Blood splashed to the ground, his arms were hanging on by a string yet somehow, Dumbledore still lived, albeit in pain and tried to by some miracle pull himself to his feet. Voldemort held his hand in the air and several black balls circled around it. It was almost like Voldemort had summoned pure dark magic from some demonic realm unknown to this world.

"Time to put you out of your misery, Dumbledore," said Voldemort coldly as his wand arm glowed with pure demonic dark magic. "Good bye, old man, I will miss the amusement you offer me by your pathetic efforts."

Voldemort prepared to send the final fatal magical attack right towards Albus Dumbledore but a flash of fire signaled the arrival of Fawkes as the Phoenix gave his song with all of his might. The song struck fear in the hearts of most dark magic users but Voldemort was unaffected. Rather he just blasted Fawkes right with the same dark magic attack he intended to use to eliminate Voldemort.

Dumbledore watched in horror as his beloved familiar had been blasted into a shower of blood and feathers. There were no ashes for Fawkes to reborn from. Voldemort had corrupted himself s much that the Phoenix song had no affect on him whatsoever. He was so powerful that he killed a phoenix, something that could not be done. Though the grief, Dumbledore felt an emotion for the first time in a long time.

Rage, Dumbledore bounced off and threw several curses at Voldemort. For the first time, Albus Dumbledore was done playing games, done making plans, now was the time for action, decisive action, even if he had to break his own code to take down the monster that he inadvertently enabled in the first place. Curse after curse, with Dumbledore ignoring the immense pain though his body, he had to end this once and for all. Pinning all of hopes on a thirteen, almost fourteen year old girl was not going to cut it, especially when Voldemort had done this. Using all of the magic, he sent the most powerful curse that he could muster that was not Unforgiveable.

The dust cleared and Voldemort stood there, a giant gaping hole in his chest, but he calmly waved his hand and what was technically skin had healed and Dumbledore dropped to the ground, completely exhausted and the horrifying realization was that he had failed to defeat this monster.

With no final word, no last cutting remark, Voldemort shot a deadly curse towards Dumbledore with a mere gesture. His head snapped back and seconds later, his head ripped right off his shoulders. Blood splattered everywhere. Two slashing motions and Voldemort tore Dumbledore's body to shreds, before the head levitated right into the palm of his hand. Voldemort looked at the head with disinterest, before the Dark Lord ripped the skin from the skull and then crushed into dust.

Without another word, Voldemort walked off, disinterested as if the grisly demise of Albus Dumbledore was an every day occurrence in his life.

-

"At least, the barrier is down!" shouted the leader Auror.

"Finally, Dumbledore will be arrested for this treason!" cried Fudge but a wave of dark magic shot towards them and seconds letter, the entire group was turned right into stone, as the wave continued to move across the Albanian countryside on its journey to Wizarding Britain.

Revenge was the only thing Voldemort had craved. No foolish girl would make a mockery out of him and live to tell the tale.

-

Harry sat, as he looked at the sunrise, with a book on his laugh. So peaceful, so tranquil, so calm, the world outside.

The world that could end at any moment.

The shack had been rather crowded. Harry thanked his lucky stars that Molly Weasley was too hysterical about the return of Voldemort to take control. The research effort was making some progress but mostly dead ends. The books had several power boosting rituals in them but none of them would get Elizabeth up to the level that she needed to have a chance in surviving a duel with Voldemort and a great many of them would need several weeks for her body to assimilate.

Harry doubted they ever had even hours. Most of the others had drifted off to sleep, even Elizabeth had fallen asleep, due to her frantic research effort. She was so tired, worn down, Harry did not have the heart to wake her up, she looked so peaceful. Yet, Harry pushed on, because its what he had to do.

"Harry?" yawned Ginny as she approached him. "You're still up?"

Harry just responded with a nod, as he had raised his wand and shot a jet of cold water into his face, a measure to keep him up and alert.

"You know the vow that I made a long time ago, to protect Elizabeth no matter what the cost was," said Harry as he looked though the book but it was another dead end and he was rapidly running out of options. "I'd like to keep my word on that one…"

"Harry, this is out of your hands," said Ginny, trying to reason with her friend but there were some times where Harry was just so stubborn. "I mean what are going to do, fight Voldemort?"

"Not the worst option," muttered Harry to himself.

"Dumbledore might have beaten him by now," said Ginny hopefully but Harry just responded with a purely skeptical look, as if he was not willing to entertain the notion.

"Dumbledore for all of his faults, and there are many, is a powerful wizard," said Draco as he walked over. "I don't know Harry, You-Know-Who…"

"That could have been me, that should have been me," muttered Harry as Draco and Ginny looked at him strangely. "If Voldemort would have pointed left instead of right, I would have been the Boy-Who-Lived and Elizabeth would have had the happy childhood, with no cares and this would be my problem to deal with."

"But what about you Harry?" asked Ginny gently.

"It's not about me anymore, I've failed her once before," said Harry. "She was condemned to that place for all of those years…"

"Harry, you were eleven, you couldn't go up against Dumbledore!" argued Ginny.

"I could have tried to harder to get her out of there, sooner," said Harry.

"I'm going to go over here until you're down angsting, Harry," said Draco as he walked over, as there were others stirring but none seemed to get up, as Elizabeth raised her head up, shaking it.

"Why did I have to doze off?" demanded Elizabeth in a groggy voice as she slid the book she was reading.

"Calm down Lizzie, you were only out for three hours," said Harry in a pacifying voice.

"That was three hours I could have been researching for someway to win this battle," argued Elizabeth as she stepped forward and got right into Harry's face. "Or are you trying to isolate me from this battle Harry, because you think I'm too weak? After all, Lizzie listened to a talking diary, Lizzie allowed herself to get abused by her Muggle relatives, of course she can't handle this!"

"No, nothing like that," said Harry. "You're not too weak, it's the fact that Voldemort's too strong!"

"Oh, that helps a lot, thank you Harry," said Elizabeth sarcastically.

"Guys, please, calm down," said Ginny as she stepped in between the twins, fully aware that it would be bad if they started to hex each other.

"I'm as calm as you'll ever see me, as you're right, I can't defeat Voldemort, because Dumbledore wasted ten years of my life by sticking me at the Dursleys!" screamed Elizabeth as she had kicked an opened book against the wall and it landed with a thud.

"We'll think of something, Lizzie," said Harry with a sigh. "Don't lose hope, it's not over yet."

"Yeah, there's always Dumbledore," said Ron who had just joined in as several other Weasleys had just awakened as well at the sound of shouting. "Dumbledore can beat You-Know-Who! There's no way Dumbledore can let us down!"

Elizabeth just responded by gnashing her teeth.

"This just in, the Wizarding Wireless has received a special report involving a force of pure nature that is tearing its way through Europe and on its way towards Wizarding Britain," said the voice as the Wireless had kicked on. "I'll…"

A loud cackle was heard and several blood shrieking screams echoed throughout.

"Hello, children, this is Lord Voldemort," hissed the voice of Voldemort. "For those who are fool enough to face me, let me remind you of this. Moments ago, I utterly annihilated Dumbledore and I'm cutting a path of destruction as everyone and everything that stands in my way will be eradicated. There is no hope, only annihilated. But I'll give the citizens of Wizarding Britain a quick demise, under one condition. Deliver me Potter. You have one hour and instructions will be given at that time that will need to be carried out immediately. Otherwise, this country and its rich civilization of magic will be no more. Have a nice day."

"Deliver him Potter," muttered a voice, Harry was not quite sure who at this point nor did he really care.

"If he wants Potter, than he can have him," said Harry firmly with a determined look on his face as he walked forward, towards the front door but Elizabeth grabbed his wrist.

"Harry, you and I both know that's not what he means," said Elizabeth but she turned around, as Percy Weasley stood, wand in hand pointed towards Elizabeth's head but quickly Ginny managed to knock her brother off his feet and he crashed to the ground.

"Anyone else want to do something stupid?" asked Ginny but Molly looked at her daughter completely appalled before she started in as only Molly Weasley could.

"GINERVA MOLLY WEASLEY!" shouted Molly. "HOW DARE YOU CURSE YOUR BROTHER LIKE THAT! THAT IS NO WAY TO ACT…."

Molly was suddenly struck silent, mouth moving but no sound coming out. Luna stood there, whistling innocently.

"Well someone had to do it," said Luna before she grew serious. "What are we going to do?"

No one had an answer. The sands of time began to slip away and Voldemort was on his way. The defenses would hold for only a short amount of time. An atmosphere of utter hopelessness filled the room.

What could they do?