Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

The three's flying brooms eventually landed outside the House of Requirement, and the door was closed by Crabbe and Gould.

"...Why did you come here? And what's the deal with Li Huo?"

Harry tried to soften his tone to avoid the young master starting to act pretentious again.

“…I received a letter from Thea a few hours ago…”

Draco straightened his disheveled robes, but didn't notice the black ash that had accidentally smeared on the side of his face.

“She said it would all end here, she mentioned the ‘Ravenclaw tiara,’ and told me to come here, find it, and then destroy it with Fiendfire—”

"Merlin, that's Ravenclaw's crown! You just went and destroyed it so easily?!"

Ron looked at Draco with disbelief, his eyes wide with more astonishment than if he had seen a troll.

"Otherwise what? If I don't believe her, am I supposed to believe you?"

Draco's tone was so matter-of-fact that when he told them to move aside, they naturally made way.

"Potter, are you going to stop me?"

Draco looked at Harry blocking his way with a half-smile.

"While I still have a shred of gratitude for your rescue, now get out of my way!"

"I need to know what's in the letter; it's very important!"

Harry refused to back down, staring straight into Draco's eyes.

Seeing the savior's self-righteousness, Draco laughed in anger and pointed outside:

"Who do you think you are? A savior?"

"Everyone else is fighting desperately, and you're the savior hiding behind the scenes?"

"You don't need to try to provoke me, it won't work."

Harry remained calm, but his tone left no room for argument.

"At the very least, I need to know what you're going to do?"

“...kill the snake,”

Draco struggled to control his breathing.

"I don't know if Thea is doing well now, but this is the last thing Thea asked me to do."

"I have to do it right!"

After saying that, Draco strode away, with Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind, looking frustrated as if they wanted to get closer but dared not.

From the moment he heard the word "kill the snake," Harry became lost in thought.

A snake? Nagini? A Horcrux?

Harry figured out the final answer almost instantly, but it didn't answer all his questions. Instead, it made him feel even more uneasy.

Did Black have Draco kill Voldemort's Horcrux?

So, which faction did Blake belong to?

Harry was completely bewildered, unaware that he would receive the answer within two hours—in an incredibly tragic way.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"I... I really don't understand, what good would killing me do you?"

"I'm alive, and I can give you so much more!"

Voldemort became increasingly agitated as he spoke, but in stark contrast to this was his gradually slowing reactions and his incessant use of spells.

So what is Thea thinking now, as Voldemort's adversary?

She had long since given up hope that the savior could achieve a swift victory, and even the passage of time was making her begin to feel disoriented:

How long did she hit it?

How much blood was lost?

How many curses did he suffer?

There are too many to count.

But her goal remained clear:

Hold Voldemort back and wear him down!

It seems that she is about to achieve her goal.

but………

A sudden pang of regret rose in Thea's heart:

I feel like I won't see the dawn...

Blood trickling down her forehead wet her eyes, which she roughly wiped away with her hands. But after doing this several times, her vision was shrouded in a red mist.

It's unclear when or which curse struck Voldemort.

He seemed to be badly injured.

This curse was probably the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Before Thea could even process her sluggish thoughts, she rushed forward to deliver the final blow.

Avada Kedavra!

"Pfft!"

A beam of green light struck him.

Soon, Thea rushed forward, and the flexible tip of her staff pierced the man's chest with force.

"thump--"

The man fell backward, and Thea released her grip, letting the wand pierce his chest.

Blood splattered high, even reaching Thea's lips.

Thea instinctively curled her tongue, her mouth filled with the taste of blood.

It's exactly the same as her blood.

Bitter, astringent, and fishy.

"It's so hot—cough cough cough!"

Thea was about to sigh when she suddenly coughed up blood uncontrollably.

She is going to die.

Thea was acutely aware of this.

Ultimately, the sins buried in our blood must be washed away with blood.

Thea turned back and stared blankly at Hogwarts, like a traveler returning home with longing.

The dizziness made it hard for her to see clearly, but she was already satisfied.

She turned and slowly knelt down, her hand reaching out to Voldemort's neck.

The wind blew even stronger, and the stench of blood that had filled the island in the middle of the lake also spread out along the protective barrier.

Harry's heart suddenly pounded as he reached the top of the castle. He instinctively looked into the distance and saw a lonely island slowly taking shape.

Lake island!

For some reason, Harry felt his blood run cold.

He instinctively yelled:

"Rocket crossbow, here we come!"

Harry's eccentricities naturally did not escape Hermione and Ron's notice.

Hermione rushed to stop them:

"The enemy and friend outside are unclear. If you suddenly go out, what if you're ambushed..."

Hermione didn't say what she was going to say next, because she saw the look in Harry's eyes—

Undeniable.

A second later, two identical flying spells rang out.

Twenty seconds later, the three of them plunged down from the tower.

At the same time, Daphne on the other side of the tower also moved, Zabini in the monitoring room ran out quickly, and Draco was even faster, already stepping onto his flying broom.

Their goal was clear—the island in the middle of the lake.

The strong smell of blood, the moment when they were just slowly appearing, the missing Thea, and... Voldemort.

More and more people joined this massive flight formation without knowing why, but no one could give a clear explanation.

Perhaps it was a sudden feeling of heaviness in my heart.

Or perhaps the strong smell of blood was simply ominous.

"Oh!"

The loud explosion on the island in the middle of the lake was much faster than the speed of the air force.

At the same time, several shouts of "Thea!" rang out, interspersed with a few "Blake!"

Before the people at the back of the line could react, several more explosions rang out in quick succession.

Immediately afterwards, the person at the very front of the group plunged straight into the lake and then—dive headfirst into the water!

They didn't even care about the explosion, they just plunged straight in!

To put it in Muggle terms: it's like boiling dumplings.

Those who were behind and hadn't seen what happened were completely bewildered: "???!!!"

crazy!

They've gone mad!

Without their leader, the group helplessly circled on the lake, while the island in the middle of the lake, now only one-third of its original size, emitted thick smoke, as if it were a signal of victory.

Voldemort is dead.

Hannah was in a daze. She was one of the last to fly over; she was still on the playground when Harry and the others set off.

If it weren't for the thick smoke, she would be cleaning up the battlefield right now.

Just as he was considering whether to go back or what to do, he heard Professor Dumbledore's voice from beside him.

Hannah: "!!!"

Hannah was stunned for several seconds before she realized what the professor was saying. She was so excited that she couldn't speak coherently:

"So, we... won?!"

"………Um."

Dumbledore spoke gently, but Hannah sensed an unspeakable heaviness in his voice, a heaviness that even affected her.

Dumbledore also rode a flying broomstick, and apart from saying that Voldemort was dead, he didn't say anything more, just slowly flew around the island.

Is this your choice, Thea?

The fish, yearning for freedom, ultimately drowned in the water.

A complete and utterly ironic tragedy.