The Beginning of the End • Tom Riddle

Chapter 40 - Epilogue 2

The mighty shield that glowed blue began to crack, turning the color of flames as it eroded away, leaving Hogwarts castle defenseless to the attackers that stalked closer and closer to the main doors. Within moments hundreds of clouds of black smoke were flying through the night, headed for the castle.

The roars of giants could be heard, along with the screams of the victims they mercilessly wiped away with their clubs. The courtyard went up in flames as parts blew up, the shrapnel raining down on students and Professors as they ran for their lives.

Death eaters deliberately smashed through turrets, rubble falling and more flames erupting. The courtyard was in total chaos, an array of horrid beasts roamed, including giants, dementors, and acromantulas that were pushed out of the forrest by the death eaters. Witches and wizards bravely fought against them, giving all they had to defend their home, many going as far as to give their lives.

The quidditch pitch could be seen burning in the distance, towers crumbling one after another. The covered bridge blown up, only a small portion having managed to escape the blasts. The night began to fade into dawn as the battle played out.

A lone woman walked separate from it all, hiking her way up the mountainside. Though her joints ached with old age, she continued on, winding through the trees. She eventually reached her vantage point, long red hair whipping in the wind as she surveyed the ruins of the place she spent so much of her childhood in.

A bright crash could be seen as he who must not be named and the boy who lived dueled, green against red, each fighting for dominance. A sudden break was shortly lived as the two remained standing, good and evil determined to fight until the bitter end. Red overtook green and a small object flew through the air.

It was the elder wand, for its allegiance was only to the witch or wizard that beat its previous owner. The boy who lived caught it in silence.

A tortured scream escaped the woman's throat as the final piece of his soul was torn from her. How cruelly ironic that the only soul who would hesitate to kill such a man unknowingly put the last nail in his coffin. Her skin began to crack and flames raced around her body as the light blue of her iris seeped out of place, a supernatural glow developing.

The entire valley set ablaze, winds whipped at 100 miles per hour, uprooting trees and sending them flying as if they weighed nothing. Dangerous dark clouds flooded in, crowding the skies as it began raining at a unnatural speed, quenching the hellfire below. Thunder cracked and lightning struck down with deadly power, illuminating the sea of darkness. And then, all was silent. That morning would never be explained. Some added to her legend, most refused to believe it could be true. That one woman could be that powerful.

She was.

The scream, filled with such powerful emotional magic, set a curse on the land that day. Every year at 5:32 am on May second, the whole valley stilled as her scream would rip through the dawn, sending shivers down countless spines.

Infinity would know her name, as Toms would fade. His quest for eternal glory turned into her legacy of eternal pain.

For now an eerie silence settled in the valley, the suns rays cutting around the ruins as pieces of his body floated up into nothingness. The most powerful dark wizard of all time disintegrated like paper set aflame.

The woman fell to her knees, unable to take the immense strain any longer. All those years, the well of emotions had been threatening to overflow, only now, over 5 decades later, to go dry. The beams of sunlight had finally broken through the clouds and reached the woman as she kneeled alone on the mountainside.

Warm rays hit her face though she was unable to feel their heat. They illuminated her fair skin, the fading dark mark on her left wrist providing contrast. They brought out every rich red and gold in her hair as it gently swayed with the breeze. She breathed in slowly, taking in the new world that surrounded her. And then, after a few moments, her lashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.

That's when she heard it. The silvery voice caressed her soul before being carried away with the wind. The very same thing he told her all those years ago, when their fates first aligned.

"I got you."