As the saying goes, never say never. When the situation had worsened to the point that James had tried to bewitch him, Harry assumed that things could not get any worse. Well, he was convinced, but the fact was that when that old manipulator saw that this plan had also failed, he decided to carry out what was perhaps the vilest act that a Hogwarts Headmaster could do: abuse his power as a director to achieve his personal goals.
It happened in November, just a month after the attack that uncovered the truth about the teenager, when the old man, tired of not achieving his goal, decided to carry out such a despicable act for the first and last time in his life.
Taking advantage of a moment when he knew that everyone was busy enough not to see what he was going to do, he went to where the young apprentice's rooms were. They were rooms where he had never been despite being the director for so many years. In fact, she hadn't even known of their existence until a few months ago when the boy had appropriated the rooms.
He knew the young man was inside because Severus had had to leave Hogwarts that morning due to his duties as a spy, and he hadn't returned yet. So he made use of something that he should only use in case of extreme urgency, but if this wasn't, he didn't know what it would be. He used his power as the schoolmaster to gain access to the room so that he could bewitch him to listen to him.
So it was a surprise when Hogwarts did not obey his order, but seemed to rebel at the very idea of doing so. His attempts to cajole the castle into doing what he asked of him were of no use, he did not obey him… and what was worse, he warned the boy of his intentions who opened the door wand in hand and made in a fury.
"Give me just one more reason, Dumbledore," growled the furious teenager. "I'm sick of all this chase."
"My boy, you have to understand…"
"First of all, I'm not your boy, nor will I ever be, and second, I don't have to understand anything. In the eyes of the Ministry, I am of legal age, and I do not have to obey him. I…"
The next thing he was going to say died on his lips when a mysterious acoustic signal was heard throughout the old building, and apparently the old man knew what was happening, because he turned dramatically pale.
"We are under attack. One or more people with bad intentions towards the students have penetrated through the first barrier of protections." The old man said very seriously. "Voldemort has not waited any longer. He's coming for Hogwarts."
The next few minutes were exceptionally chaotic, as the students, who were scattered throughout the school, had to be rounded up and rushed to their common rooms. The teachers were reunited in order to protect both the students and the school. Then the chimneys of the school did not stop bringing members of the Order of the Phoenix who came to defend the symbol of freedom and security par excellence, and not for nothing had it been standing for more than a thousand years and still had to be conquered by all those Dark Lords who had wanted to take over Hogwarts and who had not succeeded.
Harry, for his part, had seen all the preparations with all the tranquility that others lacked; it was the tranquility of those who faced something for which they had prepared all their lives or that they knew was their destiny. He didn't know what was going to happen in the next battle; fate hadn't allowed it, but he was hopeful that he would come out safely; after all, he didn't think that Ginna had gone through all the trouble of teaching him to control his own power, and then die in battle.
Almost lazily, he left the supposed "mature" adults and began to leave for the school lands. They could run around like headless chickens, but he wasn't going to allow them to behave like that.
When he was outside, he could see that nothing had changed for the moment; the school lands were still without any visible Death Eaters, although he knew that they would not be long in coming. He could feel their auras through the forest, making their way to where years ago they had learned almost everything they knew about magic.
At the same time, he could see how the Order was ready and coming to where he was. At that rate, the members of the Order would arrive earlier, but he didn't care; he didn't follow orders from anyone. Also, there was the small detail that while they would fight the Death Eaters, he would take care of the head… Voldemort.
"Harry! How do you get out like this, with no one to protect you? What you have done has been very irresponsible!" exclaimed Lily Potter as soon as they left, but a look from the boy made the rest of the speech stop.
"I must agree with your mother, Mr. Potter, you shouldn't have gone out like this, without the members of the Order who could protect you."
"From my point of view, it was I who protected the Order and not the other way around."
At this comment, there were several murmurs about the insolence and ego of the boy, to which he replied angrily.
"Let's make things clear: you need me, I don't need you. So I'm not going to take orders from anyone, is that clear?"
If Dumbledore thought that now that they were under attack, the boy was going to take the orders he gave, he was quite disappointed, although it is true that he knew how to hide it very well. Of course, those who did not know were the subordinates of the director.
The next thing they knew, and before anyone could say anything else, was that dozens of men hooded in black and white masks appeared in the forest. It was clear that they knew they were going to be found, because they didn't even bat an eye at his presence. And not far behind, Voldemort advanced in all his horrifying splendour.
"I must have guessed, Dumbledore, as soon as you noticed that we were breaking through the protections, you called all your allies. Although it is a surprise to me to see a teenager among your ranks."
"What's wrong?" Harry asked sarcastically before the Headmaster could say anything. "Haven't your loyal Death Eaters told you about me? Not even your beloved Bellatrix? Was it too embarrassing that they had been defeated by a 'mere' teenager?"
"I must assume from your words that you are the white phoenix?"
"Suppose what you want, only that I was the one who screwed up your last attacks. If you want to call me that for that reason, go ahead."
Voldemort's expression turned tempestuous at what he correctly assumed was being mocked. And that was how the battle began, since he angrily cast the first curse on the boy.
What happened next left people dumbfounded, because a rock wall came out of the ground making a magnificent barrier against the unforgivable, which crashed into it and dissolved into nothing.
The next thing that happened was the most fantastic magic demonstration that many had ever seen in their lives. Powerful and also seemingly extinct magics made a sight that few of those present would ever be able to forget. For every dark spell Voldemort cast at him, Harry would either reject it or return it with a grace and majesty that more than one would like to be able to have at some point in their lives.
Despite what might appear, the boy did not know what he could do to defeat the psychopath in front of him, and all he had done was follow his instincts. He had not realised what had happened around him; he had not even noticed when the Order and the Death Eaters had begun to fight each other, or when one of the Death Eaters turned against him, showing himself to be Snape, the spy of the Order and the target (if caught) of more than one malicious curse.
Since he moved on instinct, he was not surprised when he found himself slowly manipulating the earth around him so that the granite around him just below the supposed Heir of Slytherin was concentrated. Or he wasn't surprised until he realised that it was what he could do to defeat him. Granite was not united to the minerals that least conducted magic, almost considering it an insulator. If he wrapped it in granite, nothing and no one, not even him, could free it, defeating it in the end. It wouldn't be easy, but since he was using the element of earth and not magician magic, he could pull it off.
While he continued to distract him with curses and spells, he concentrated him in such a way that when he was about to attack, he was so fast that he could do almost nothing to prevent it.
Voldemort was enjoying the chaos he created with his mere presence, when he suddenly noticed that he was unable to move his feet. He quickly looked down to see if he could undo the curse without much thought, when he saw how what seemed to be a granite stone emerged from the ground beneath him, which was enveloping him as if it were a caterpillar cocoon. In a movement almost invisible because of how quickly he did it, he tried to remove the rock that was enveloping him little by little, but inevitably.
Frightened, he looked up and saw to his dismay that the teenager was showing a smile full of triumph, and that was when he understood. The boy was the one who was carrying it out. He waved his wand ready to cast a certain curse on him, or he tried to, because by that time it was too late and the granite had already trapped part of his arms. He could do nothing about what he knew would be his end, because even if his magic allowed him to stay alive, he would only do so for a number of years, and then nothing could stop death. Who would have thought that his end would come at the hands of a simple teenager.
The people present watched as the stone enveloped the most feared dark wizard of the last three hundred years, and while the Order and the Aurors who had arrived rejoiced and almost celebrated, the Death Eaters watched in despair as they could escape. The war was over, and contrary to their predictions, they had not won.
"That's it," said the boy. "It's finally over."
====== Epilogue ======
Time passes much faster for the human mind when we have fun, it's a proven fact, and that's exactly what happened to the wizarding world. Three years had passed since that day Voldemort was defeated, three years of peace and reconstruction.
The atmosphere was generally festive, since finally, after twenty-five years, they could enjoy the tranquility of someone who knows that their family and friends were safe. People were gradually rebuilding a future, but above all, learning from the past to prevent such a thing from happening again.
The laws for the protection of the magical child were formed in such a way that the government would ensure that no magical child suffered any kind of abuse, whether by Muggle guardians or by magicians. At the same time, decrees were made to protect and even reintroduce certain pure-blood traditions, so that they would not feel threatened by the new blood… or many other measures that would ensure that the same situation that had caused the previous war would not occur again.
Harry, now seventeen years old, was very proud to say that many of those changes had been promoted by him, against the most liberal people, such as Dumbledore, not understanding how it was necessary for there to be a balance between both sectors, but not only that… at seventeen, he was the youngest Potions Master in history, and his old underground business (due to his age and lack of renown) was now much more prosperous; he no longer had to hide to make them, and his title of Master Potter had a strong weight in wizarding society.
Now, after all that had happened, he could look back and be proud: he was no longer invisible, but an important member of society. What more could I ask for?
========================== THE END ==========================
THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS THOUGHS:
Yes, another chapter... And we have finally finished this story. It's been a long journey and I have to thank all of you who have been with me since the beginning so many years ago. In this time my life has been changing progressively and in many cases, this hobby has been put on the back burner... But it is finally finished, and I must admit that the epilogue has been a last-minute decision, not that it was not written... but to put it here with the final chapter... But it seemed to me that after all you've had to wait for, it wasn't fair that you were missing these last paragraphs for as long as it took to update. So, I say goodbye to all of you and we continue to read each other in my rest of the stories. THANKS A LOT.