Her grandfather had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilized by invisible ropes. Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay and was attempting to revive her. Behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts, and cries-Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.
There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Estella saw Kingsley, yelling in pain, hit the ground. Bellatrix turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it. She was halfway up the stairs when Estella saw that Harry had broken out of Lupin's hold, trailing after her.
"Harry!" she yelled, pulling herself from her father's hold and trailing off after him, scrambling up the stone benches. People were shouting behind them but she didn't care. She'd lost Sirius, she couldn't lose him too.
She ran past Luna, who was groaning on the floor, past Ginny, who said, "Estella- wait-?" past Ron, who giggled feebly, and Hermione, who was still unconscious. She followed Harry out the door into the curricular black hall and saw Harry disappearing through a door on the other side of the room.
She forced her way out of the lift before the gate was fully open and immediately spotted Harry, his wand pointed at Bellatrix as he yelled, "Stupefy!"
She reacted so fast Harry barely had time to duck.
"Protego!"
The jet of red light, Harry's Stunning Spell, bounced back at him. Harry scrambled back behind the fountain, his eyes widening in terror when he spotted Estella.
"Estella, go!" he yelled quickly.
"No," she snapped, running and sliding so she was next to him behind cover. "You're not doing this without me, Harry. I'm not going to let you. We've lost Sirius and I'm not losing you too."
"You didn't feel him, Es," he said worriedly. "The happiness he felt when he discovered you were the seer and could bring people back almost toppled his anger of the prophecy being destroyed."
She couldn't bring herself to care. Voldemort already had suspicions, that's why he wanted her prophecy so badly, to confirm them.
"That doesn't matter now," she said, "what matters is getting out of here alive. And we're getting out of here alive, Harry."
"I am going to give you one chance!" shouted Bellatrix. "Give me the prophecy-roll it out toward me now-and I may spare your life!"
"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Harry roared-and as he shouted it, pain seared his forehead. "And he knows!" said Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"
"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.
"The prophecy smashed when we were trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?"
"LIAR!" she shrieked, but she could hear the terror behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME-Accio Prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"
"It's not here," said Estella, smiling and laughing hard because she knew it would incense her. She waved her empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin where they were hiding and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light at them.
"Nothing there!" Harry shouted. "Nothing to summon it! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that-"
"No!" she screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying-MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED-DO NOT PUNISH ME-"
Estella froze. There was now true terror in Bellatrix's voice which could only mean one thing..
"Don't waste your breath!" yelled Harry. "He can't hear you from here!"
"Harry-" she started.
"Can't I, Potter?" said a high, cold voice.
Estella glanced between the stature and the wall.
Tall, thin, and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-sunken eyes staring...Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry, who stood frozen next to Estella, unable to move.
"So, you two smashed my prophecy and refused to pick the other up?" said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry and Estella with those familiar pitiless red eyes.
"Technically, the other one was just mine and Harry's since it didn't have your name in it," said Estella before her brain processed what she was saying.
She could be a true idiot at times.
Harry sent a sharp glance her way as Voldemort laughed.
"Technically...technically, but nonetheless my suspicions have been confirmed," he drawled with the slightest twitch of his lips. "No, Bella, he is not lying.... I can see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind.... Months of preparation, months of effort, months of trying to get around their Seer...and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter and Estella Dumbledore thwart me again..."
"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly nearer. "Master, you should know-"
"Be quiet, Bella," said Voldemort dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"
"But Master-he is here-he is below and we have found the Black Seer with the ability to save all-"
Voldemort paid no attention.
"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," he said quietly. "You have irked me too often, far too long. AVADA KEDAV-"
The spell was only halfway finished when Estella hissed "Protego," reflecting the spell backward into a random statue.
"The girl can do wandless magic, this is new..."
"Get away from my granddaughter," announced a new voice.
"What-?" said Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, "Dumbledore!"
Estella looked behind her, her heart pounding. Her grandfather was standing in front of the golden gates.
Voldemort raised his wand and sent another jet of green light at Dumbledore, who turned and was now gone in a wheeling of his cloak; next second he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand toward the remnants of the fountain; the other statues sprang to life too. The stature of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile, the goblin and the house-elf scuttled toward the fireplaces along the wall, and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Estella and Harry backward, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both.
"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," said Dumbledore calmly. "The Aurors are on their way-"
"By which time I shall be gone, and you dead!" spat Voldemort. He sent another Killing Curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flame.
Dumbledore flickered his own wand. The force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Estella, though shielded by the stone guard, felt her hair stand on end as it passed, and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gonglike note reverberated from it, an oddly chilling sound...
"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of his shield. "Above such brutality, are you?"
"We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit-"
"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort.
"You are quite wrong," said her grandfather, still closing upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. "You could ask my son, but indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness-"
Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time it was the one-armed centaur, galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had drawn back his wand and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield, and all. Or a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold upon Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore.
Voldemort vanished. The snake reared from the floor, ready to strike-
There was a burst of flame in midair above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool where so recently the five statues had stood.
"Look out!" Harry yelled.
But even as he shouted, one more jet of green light had flown at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake had struck-
Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide, and swallowed the jet of green light whole. He burst into flame and fell to the floor small, wrinkled, and flightless. At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one, long, fluid movement-the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass-
For a few seconds, Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass-
Then he was gone, and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.
"MASTER!" screamed Bellatrix.
Sure it was over now, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Estella's hand was taken by Harry and she was partly pulled out from behind the statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed, "Stay where you are, Harry! Let Estella go!"
For the first time, she heard her grandfather sound frightened. Estella couldn't see why. The hall was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped under her statue, and the tiny baby Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor-
And then Harry sank to the floor beside her, pulling her down with him.
"Get away from him, Estella!" Dumbledore yelled.
She tugged her hand from his tight grip, frantically moving away from a twitching Harry. Hands pulled her back, shielding her from Harry as her grandfather moved closer to him.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
"Yes," said Harry, shaking so violently he couldn't hold his head up. "Yeah, I'm-where's Voldemort? Did he get Estella? Where is she? Who are all these-what's-"
Harry frantically moved to rise to his feet, stumbling on his way up. Estella moved into his vision.
There was a visible look of relief on Harry's face and he raced toward her, pulling her into his arms, in a tight, deadlock-like grip.
"It's okay, Harry. I'm here, we're okay," she said quickly, pushing the fallen hair from his eyes.
"He knows everything, Es. He's gonna-he's gonna take you-"
"That won't happen, Harry. You think my dad's going to let me out of his sight now?" she said, laughing lightly to lighten the tension.
She forgot why she was mad at him earlier, it seemed so trivial now-now, now she was just glad they were alive.
The Atrium was full of people. The floor was reflecting emerald-green flames that had burst into life in all the fireplaces along one wall, and a stream of witches and wizards was emerging from them. As Estella moved back from Harry, she saw the tiny gold statues of the house-elf and the goblin leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward.
"He was there!" shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped moments before. "I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear, it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!"
"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pajamas under his pinstripe cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. "Merlin's beard-here-here!-in the Ministry of Magic!-great heavens above-it doesn't seem possible-my word-how can this be?"
"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, apparently satisfied that they were all right, and walking forward so that the newcomers realized he was there for the first time (a few of them raised their wands, others simply looked amazed; the statues of the elf and the goblin applauded and Fudge jumped so much that his slipper-clad feet left the floor), "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparition Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."
"Dumbledore!" gasped Fudge, apparently beside himself with amazement. "You-here-I-I-"
He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him, and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, "Seize him!"
"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men-and win again!" said Dumbledore in a thunderous voice. "But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong men for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!"
"I-don't-well-" blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping somebody was going to tell him what to do. When nobody did, he said, "Very well-Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see...Dumbledore, you-you will need to tell me exactly-the Fountain of Magical Brethren-what happened?" he added in a kind of whimper that Estella found truly pathetic, staring at the floor, where the remains of the statues of the witch, wizard, and centaur now lay scattered.
"We can discuss that after I have sent Harry and Estella back to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore.
"Harry and Estella?"
Fudge spun around and stared at the two, who were still standing together against the wall beside the fallen statue that had been guardian them during Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel
"They-here?" said Fudge. "Why-what's all this about?"
"I shall explain everything," repeated her grandfather, "when Estella and Harry are back at school."
He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard's head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Portus." The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.
"Now see here, Dumbledore!" said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry and Estella carrying it. "You haven't got authorization for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister of Magic, you-you-"
His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him over his half-moon spectacles.
"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "You will reinstate Aspen Dumbledore and remove the Aurors that watch his house. You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you..." Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and glanced at it, "half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will find me."
Her grandfather was the baddest bitch she knew who truly did not have a single care who he was talking to; there was a reason he was hunted for so long and a reason, as to why, Voldemort is scared of him.
Fudge goggled worse than ever. His mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled gray hair.
"I-you-"
Dumbledore turned his back on him.
"Take this Portkey."
He held out the golden head of the statue, and they placed their hands upon it, past caring what they did next or where they went.
"I shall see you two in half an hour," said Dumbledore quietly. "One...two...three..."
Estella felt the familiar sensation of a hook being jerked around her navel. The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath her feet; the Atrium, Fudge, and her grandfather had all disappeared, and she was flying forward in a whirlwind of color and sound...
Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter even though it's a bit short! Vote and Comment!
Double update ya'll!