Anna Potter and the Deathly Hollows

Chapter 26

KING’S CROSS - DAY
[Gone. All but a bright white mist. Anna lies face down. For a long moment. Finally, she stirs, sits up.]
"Aaah... What the fuck?!" Yelled Barty.
"How is she alive?" Asked Sirius.
[Touches her face. Her glasses are gone. She peers into the mist. Nothing. But somewhere, out there, in the mist, is a soft thumbing. She stands. Peers up. A domed glass roof hovers -- familiar. The thumping persists. Unnerving. Anna
squints into the mist. Moving, the thumbing growing louder.]
"Where is she?" Asked Lily.
[Up ahead, a small masd quivers. Anna slows... recoils. A thing -- like a small naked child -- lies shiddering on the ground, its skin raw and rough. Anna leans close...]
Dumbledore: You cannot help. [Anna spins, finds Dumbledore standing within the mist. At the sight of Anna, Dumbledore beams and spreads his arms wide. His hand is whole, no longer damaged.]
Dumbledore: Anna. You wonderful girl. You brave, brave woman. Let us walk.
"Ok. I'm really confused." Said James.
Anna: Sir, this, is this... I mean, you are dead, aren’t you?
Dumbledore: Oh, yes.
Anna: Then... I’m dead too?
Dumbledore: Ah. That is the question, isn’t it? On the whole I think not.
"Huh?" Said confused Remus.
Anna: Not?
Dumbledore: Not.
Anna: But I didn’t defend myself. I let him kill me.
Dumbledore: And that will, I think, have made all the difference. I suspect you now realize that you and Voldemort have been connected by something other than fate since that night in Godric’s Hollow all those years ago, Anna.
Anna: It’s true, isn’t it, sir? A bit of him lives in me, doesn’t it?
Dumbledore: Did. It was just destroyed only moments ago by none other than Voldemort himself.
"How is she not dead then?" Asked Sirius.
[Anna plays her fingers over her sternum.]
Dumbledore: You were the seventh Horcrux, Anna; the Horcrux he never meant to make.
Anna: And you knew this? That’s why you were certain I wouldn’t die?
Dumbledore: Certain? No. Little is certain in this world, Anna. Call it an educated guess.
"He betted my daughter's life on guess?!" Said angry James.
[Dumbledore smiles. Anna ponders this, then, deep in the mist, the thumping returns.]
Anna: Professor, is that -- ?
Dumbledore: Something beyond either of our help. [Anna ponders her surroundings.]
Anna: Exactly where are we, sir?
Dumbledore: I was going to ask you that. Where would you say that we are?
Anan: It looks like King’s Cross station -- only a lot cleaner. And without the trains.
"It does." Agreed Lily.
Dumbledore: King’s Cross! Is that right? Well, this is, as they say, your party. [Anna looks perplexed by this, but Dumbledore only smiles.]
Anna: Sir, why didn’t you just tell me about the Deathly Hallows?
Dumbledore: You will have to forgive me, Anna. You see... I didn’t trust you.
"Excuse me?! You make her sacrifice herself and you are the one who doesn't trust her?!" Said angry Lily.
[Anna stares at him. For the first time, Dumbledore looks troubled.]
Dumbledore: I feared that you would make the same mistake I made, that you would be intoxicated by the power the Hallows promise their possessor. But I crave your pardon, Anna. It’s clear to me now, as it should have been all along, that you are the better.
"She is." Said Barty.
Anna: Sir -
Dumbledore: You are the worthy possessor of the Hallows, Anna, not me. I was fit to own the Elder Wand, because I took it not for gain, but to save others from it. But I took the Stone because I longed to recall someone who has long been at peace and for that I paid with my life.
Anna: You were right, sir. If i had stone back than, i'm afraid i wouldn't be able to part with it. You wanted that, too, didn't you, sir? You wanted to see your sister?
Dumbledore: Yes. [Anna ponders this, then frowns.]
"I don't think anyone would be able to stand the temptation to see dead loved ones." Said Sirius.
Anna: I used the Stone as well, sir, only a little while ago when I entered the Forest. I saw my mum and dad, and Sirius and Remus...
Dumbledore: True. But ask yourself this: were you calling them? Or were they calling you?
"We called her?" Asked James.
[Anna studies Dumbledore, whose expression remains serene.]
Dumbledore: (looking her in the eye) You are the true master of death, Anna, because the true master does not seek to run away from death. She accepts that she must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world. [For a moment, they stand in silence.]
Anna: I’ve got to go back, don't I?
Dumbledore: That is up to you.
Anna: I’ve got a choice?
Dumbledore: Oh yes. We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think, should you so decide, you would be able to, let’s say, board a train.
Anna: And where would it take me?
Dumbledore: On. [Anna nods.]
Anna: Voldemort’s got the Elder Wand.
Dumbledore: True.
Anna: And the snake lives.
Dumbledore: Yes. I’ve never put much stock in miracles, Anna. On the other hand, I can attest wholly to the extensive advantages of a related phenomenon.
Anna: Which would be, sir?
Dumbledore: Luck.
"Thqt's stupid. You can't trust luck." Said Lucius.
[Anna studies Dumbledore’s face, then peers back into the mist again. The thumping continues, more faintly.]
Dumbledore: Do not pity the dead, Anna. Pity the living and, above all, those who live without love.
"Wise words." Said Regulus.
Dumbledore: (a smile) I’ll be going now, Anna.
Anna: Professor. [As Dumbledore stops, Anna gestures vaguely.]
Anna: Is this real? Or has this been
happening inside my head?
Dumbledore: Of course it is happening inside your head, Anna. But why should
that mean that it is not real?
Anna: You can never give straight answer, can you? That reminds me, Sir, were you and Grindelwald lovers?
Barty and Sirius chuckle at Anna.
[Dumbledore has sad look in his eyes.]
Dumbledore: Yes. [Anna smiled.]
Anna: I knew it! Rose owns me ten galleons. [Dumbledore looks amused as the mist thickens around him, then swallows him altogether...]
Narcissa: (O.S.) (in a whisper) Are they alive...?
FORBIDDEN FOREST - CLEARING - NIGHT
[Anna lies facedown, glasses askew. She opens her eyes a millimeter, finds Narcissa’s face swimming in the dawn’s
muted light, eyeing her with a strange intensity: the question, she realizes, was posed to her. Across the clearing, Voldemort rises shakily. The Death Eaters watch, stirring uncertainly. Voldemort glances toward Narcissa, toward Anna.]
Voldemort: The girl. Is she dead?
"Don't. Please don't." Said Lily.
[Anna’s eyes shift, meet Narcissa’s once again. Something in her expression... She closes her eyes. She places her fingers over her heart, whispers:]
Narcissa: Are they alive? Cassie? Theo?
[Anna hesitates and then... nods -- so subtly it’s barely perceptible. Narcissa withdraws her hand, turns to where Voldemort stands. Nods.]
Everyone looked at Narcissa shocked.
"You lied to Voldemort." Said Sirius, who was probably the most shocked.
"Seems like it." Said Narcissa. Sirius smiles at her and now it's Narcissa's time to be surprised.
[The Death Eaters cheer. Hagrid howls in misery. The news seems to rejuvenate Voldemort. A fierce glint returns to his eyes. His stature grows. He eyes the Elder Wand... and smiles.]
COURTYARD - NIGHT
[Neville, battle-scared and weary, perches atop a fallen statue in the chill morning air. Reaching into his pocket, he removes his wand, holds it to the light... and watches the tip drop like the head of a drowsy child. Broken. He tosses it away.]
Lily looks at him worried
NEW ANGLE - NEVILLE - NIGHT
[Neville kicks through the rubble. One could reconstruct the history of Hogwarts from the detritus before him: spell books, trophies, potion boxes. But Neville’s expression remains stoic, unsentimental. He’s seen too much in the last 12 hours.]
He was supossed to be a child. All of them should." Said Narcissa.
[Close on the peak of hat– Neville crouches down, studies it. Reaching out, he wiggles it free, slaps it against his thigh to chase the dust.The Sorting Hat. He ponders it, regarding its ragged surface, singed and torn, then pops it on his head, a beaten jester. Again, his face remains blank. He squints, peering vaguely into the distance. As he gaze falls on the bridge, he stops.  An odd procession approaches.]
VIADUCT - CONTINUOUS ACTION - NIGHT
[Hagrid lurches forward awkwardly, clutching a body in his arms, ropes extending in three directions from his neck as a duo of Death Eaters -- one in front, two behind -- jerk him along like a tethered beast.]
Everyone glares at death eaters duo.
[From Hagrid, Neville’s gaze drifts to Narcissa and then to Voldemort himself -- dark, fierce -- before settling on the most unnerving sight: a giant wending snake.]
COURTYARD - CONTINUOUS ACTION - NIGHT
[Suddenly a whisper fills Neville’s ears.]
Sorting hat: Don’t despair,Longbottom. I put you in Gryffindor for good reason... [The Hat coughs then, raining dust over Neville’s brow and he whips it off, studies it warily.]
Rose: (O.S.) Who’s that? [Neville turns, sees that Rose has come out onto the
broken steps and is staring at the procession.]
Rose: ... Hagrid’s carrying? [Neville just stares, mute. Her eyes shift then, to him,
and he sees they are glistening faintly. Her voice, when she speaks, nearly gets lost in the morning breeze.]
Rose: Neville, who is that?
People look at Rose empathetically.
[Before he can answer, others begin to spill out of the castle. Ada and Alex. Luna and Seamus. Cho. Arthur Weasley.]
Arthur Weasley: What’s going on here, Neville? [Neville starts to speak but falters and then, simply because he can’t bear to look at Rose’s face and the faces of the others looking to him for something, anything, he turns his gaze to the Hat dangling in his hand. And as he does, something glints within. As he stares...]
VIADUCT - PROCESSION - CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAWN
[... Voldemort and the others, moving with them, as they draw near. Voldemort surveys the ruins of the castle and the beaten posture of the throng assembled upon its steps. He smiles faintly, with cruel satisfaction.]
Voldemort: Behold, Nagini. Our work is done.