Chapter 49

“I want to help!” Dobby said after a moment.

“Dobby, we have a more important task,” Skoll said, his eyes on the rain-soaked battlefield. “I need your help in a moment. I have to make sure the timing is precise, the angle perfect, any mistake could harm others.”

“Dobby understands,” the elf nodded. “Helping Skoll accomplish the more important task.”

Time passed slowly. Skoll didn’t check his watch or speak. He held his wand, and a parchment floated in the night air. He waved his wand continuously; faint white letters flashed across the parchment, disappearing almost as soon as they appeared.

One parchment filled up, and then another appeared. Words, and more words, flashing and disappearing.

By the third sheet, the message was clear.

“Dobby, take me to the side hall of the Great Hall.”

With a faint pop, Skoll and Dobby appeared in the empty side hall. The door was tightly closed, but muffled sounds came from the Great Hall: shouts, cries of pain, frustrated yells.

“Why save them? I don’t understand—”

“Pfft, you don’t get it. This is called knighthood,” Skoll muttered.

He set down his backpack, opened it, and waved his wand. Four oak barrels flew out, hovering in the air.

“Good thing Dumbledore cast a weight-reducing charm on my backpack. Otherwise, lifting these four barrels of wine would have killed me,” he murmured.

A checkbook flew into the air. Skoll quickly wrote three bearer checks. Then he pulled out two leather pouches filled with prepared Galleons, one hundred in each pouch.

“All right. Back to the Astronomy Tower, Dobby.”

He raised his wand, casting an umbrella charm that formed a large protective shield against the rain.

Not long after reaching the tower, the Order seal in his pocket vibrated.

He pulled it out. Silver letters formed a message: Found it! At the Room of Requirement, on the way to destroy it. Are you safe?

A faint smile curved Skoll’s lips. He replied: Safe.

Less than two minutes later, a booming voice echoed through the air:

“Harry Potter is dead!”

Skoll glimpsed figures moving down the sloping grass in front of the castle.

“Dobby! Quick! Take me to the nearest tunnel!”

Dobby grabbed Skoll’s hand, and they Apparated.

A swirl of darkness, and then another. Skoll crouched in the tunnel, a rectangular hole above him. He peered through, but the night obscured everything. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the area, but the angle was awkward.

He hadn’t considered this perspective inside the tunnels.

“We’ve won! Stop resisting! Your ‘Chosen One’ is finished!”

The battlefield seemed to pause.

Skoll’s mind raced. Dobby froze, stunned by the news of Harry Potter’s death.

Then, an idea struck.

“Mirror, now!”

A small rectangular vanity mirror flew from the backpack.

“Shatter!” Skoll tapped the mirror with his wand. It broke into pieces. He held the largest shard out the hole and tapped again. “Fix it in place!”

The mirror shard stood upright.

A faint light glimmered at the wand tip.

Skoll held another shard, angling it precisely. Once the angle was right, he used a hovering charm to position it in midair.

“Dobby, don’t worry. I promise, Harry Potter isn’t dead. He’s lying!” Skoll reassured him, sending the prism through the hole. Voldemort, coiled around by Nagini, was approaching the castle, roughly twenty meters from Skoll’s position.

The battlefield erupted again.

“Don’t trust him! He’s lying! I saw Harry leave with Skoll, they must have a mission!”

“Remember what Skoll said!”

“You don’t believe me?” Voldemort stopped, roughly fifteen meters from the hole. Several Death Eaters were nearby, though the rain made it hard to distinguish them. Whoever held Harry seemed to be Snape.

Perfect.

Skoll carefully raised the prism to avoid detection, sending it forward.

Voldemort ignited his wand, his immense power making him visible even through the rain.

Damn it!

Skoll had to adjust the prism’s height again.

“Snape! Come here! Drop Harry Potter so they can see!”

Snape hesitated, then took a step forward.

Faster!

Finally, the prism hovered above Voldemort.

Skoll steadied his wand in one hand, the Order seal in the other.

Step by step, Snape approached the danger zone. Skoll sent a casual message.

Snape paused.

Skoll knew the moment had come.

Almost simultaneously, a white beam shot from the hole, striking the prism. It exploded.

“Dobby, take me to the headmaster’s office!” Skoll commanded. Dobby grabbed his hand, and they Apparated.

Snape vanished into the rain, Harry in his arms.

Pop! Skoll landed on the office carpet.

Then, the entire Hogwarts grounds echoed with a terrifying scream.

“No!”

Before the echo faded, another high-pitched witch’s scream pierced the air.

“No!”

Skoll rushed to the window, but the rain blurred his view. He couldn’t see what was happening outside.

“What’s wrong?” Dobby asked urgently.

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