chapter 43 : The Trap
They left for Dumbledore's office where Harry was already waiting with the tiara and all the horcruxes except Nagini had been collected.
Ron had contacted the entire Order of the Phoenix and they were sitting in the office waiting for his plan.
Ron: The last Horcrux we are looking for is with Voldemort himself, it is his snake Nagini. The best way to get it is to bring the enemy here.
Nymphadora: How?
Ron: You certainly know why Voldemort hasn't yet made any big moves on the Ministry or other areas right?
Molly: He fears Dumbledore will get in his way.
Ron: 200 points for Gryffindor!! Well done mom! That's right, he fears Dumbledore and can't afford to be careless in his confidence. The only way he'll move and let his guard down-(interrupted)
Dumbledore: I'm dying.
Ron: You were almost there. Not that you'll die, but rather that he thinks you are dead. There are ways in magic to make someone appear truly dead. The simplest means can be very effective, the enemy is arrogant.
Charlie: A deep sleep spell might do the trick.
Ron: Not convincing enough even if that's the idea.
Snape: A living death extract would do just fine, I still have some in my office.
Ron: Perfect! Moreover, you'll be an essential element in the plan and unfortunately, you will have to give up your retirement in your role as a double agent. You are the one who must answer to him, I will implant false memories in your mind that you will willingly show him. You'll remember that Dumbledore and I were severely weakened by destroying these items and you killed him. As for me, although exhausted and injured, I managed to escape.
Snape: Weasley, I don't doubt your skills after all these... years but I don't think your skills are-(interrupted)
"Legilimen" Ron said pointing his wand at him and he probed the fragments of his memories (it does not allow you to read thoughts as some believe but to probe the layers of experience or memories) and he temporarily modified one of Snape's most recent memories before emerging from his mind.
Snape:…
Dumbledore: Severus...
Snape:…
Dumbledore: SEVERUS.
Snape's eyes regained some clarity before looking at Ron.
Snape: Weasley...you...what have you done?! HOW-(interrupted)
Ron: What colors are your clothes, professor?
Snape: You got into my head! How...did you...dare (walks forward slowly, pointing his wand at him)?
Ron: You didn't answer my question.
"What would be the point of-(stopping)" Snape stopped to look at the shaft of his arm and saw that his clothing was black.
Snape: Weasley, were you the one who changed the color of my clothes in addition to using legilimens on me?! You will return them to their original whiteness...or I swear to you...that your punishment...will be atrocious.
McGonagall: What are you saying?! Dear one, your clothes have always been black. You only wear this apparent color.
Dumbledore: Severus, the child successfully changed your memories, you believe you wore white because he created the memory for you.
Snape:…
"Fenite incantatem" Ron stopped the spell and Snape remained silent for a moment.
Ron: Are you okay, professor? Sorry for this uncomfortable demonstration.
Snape: What kind of monster are you, Weasley?
Ron:…
Snape: I don't know what you're hiding or what the secret of your…logic-defying talent is but…don't ever do that again without my permission, you monster.
Lupin : Gently Severus.
Ron:…
"Call my son a monster again and you'll see he's not the only monster in his family, Severus." Molly said as Arthur, Bill and Charlie had already sat up.
Ron: He's right, I'm a monster. I've sort of seen myself like this since I was a child and I accepted it many years ago. I am able to understand anything and everything almost instantly, my memory is perfect and my magic is powerful. I'm not a normal boy and I had to grow up with the nightmare that my parents might think I was better than my brothers, thank heaven we were all loved at the same intensity by them. But you are absolutely right professor, I am a monster. Now we have a plan at least.
"(looks at Harry) Tomorrow night we're going to perform the extraction ritual, be ready mate..." he said before turning around and leaving.
Harry: Ron...
Snape:…
McGonagall: Be very careful next time about the words you use when addressing one of my students Severus. God only knows how many innocent people have fallen victim to this fate at your hands and worse. The child has only modified a fairly simple memory. It's largely thanks to him that things are going so well while in the darkness you-(holds back)
She looked at him before leaving too.
Harry: He'll be fine, a good night's sleep and tomorrow he'll be born again. It's always been like that with him.
Bill: I see you know him well Harry.
Harry: He's also my brother, that's normal.
Ron walked briskly with a heavy heart and flew towards the Forbidden Forest to go see the Thestrals and feed them.
Luna found him there afterwards because of the ring, she was able to feel a little of the pain he had inside him and she was quite shocked because Ron had never shown this kind of emotion.
She asked him what was weighing on his heart, he took them to the bedroom and he told her a little about what happened and the impression of himself that he had accepted since childhood .
They talked and he asked her if she also thought he was some kind of monster but he remembered that Luna was getting bullied because she was mentally different from the other kids.
"My life would have been lonely and very unhappy without you, I would have been in my own world but I would be alone. I too have been treated like some kind of monster and there would only be another monster to make me happy so please be my monster. My monster that I love." She said as they both lay with her back against Ron's chest who had her in his arms.
The next day, they were all gathered in the chamber of secrets opened by Harry once again and in the large room with the statues, there was on the ground a rather large pentagram in a magic circle where on each of the points one of the five horcruxes present was posed including Harry himself who was plunged into a deep sleep.
Alastor, Dumbledore, Snape and Arthur stood aside and ready to intervene if necessary when Ron who was sitting in the center of the circle began reciting incantations for at least three minutes before going into a trance.
Suddenly, the objects on the ground began to vibrate and Harry convulsed before a thick black mist came out of his mouth just as it also came out of the other objects.
The mists began to form a large swirl as several five screaming Voldemort faces were formed within it.
The screams were shrill, and the pressure of dark magic that was released actually took a toll on everyone.
Upstairs, the weaker students suddenly lost consciousness due to the pressure and the voices in their heads and even from Malfoy Manor, Voldemort knew what was happening even if he strangely couldn't see anything .
Ron immediately came out of his trance in the center of the dark and doomed whirlwind, he raised his wand upwards despite the great fatigue he felt and closed his eyes.
"Animae incendium obscura" He said and black flames burst from his wand to begin to violently burn the mist to completely destroy it under the screams of the faces embedded in it.
Suddenly, the fire took the shape of a funnel, spinning around to be absorbed into Ron's wand.
"It's over...I did it..." Ron said in a heavy and exhausted voice.
Dumbledore: We have no more time to waste. Quickly, Severus and Ronald in my office.
Ron: Dad, take Harry away from here, I'll meet you at home later.
They all separated and in the office, Dumbledore already had the filter vial in his hands.
Ron: You will only come back when we give you the cure, I prefer to warn you now professor.
Dumbledore: I have faith in you, I know you will do things right.
They watched him take a sip of the living death filter before he collapsed to the ground and his body gradually took on a cadaverous appearance.
Ron looked at him and cast a spell on the inert body to freeze him in time, he won't need to be fed, hydrated or anything else as his body has been entirely frozen in time.
Ron: It'll probably take months to bring him back. (To Snape) Now it's your turn, are you ready? The spell cannot be undone on your own easily because you will not even have any idea that these memories are false. I'll put a souvenir that will get you out of there in a month.
Snape: (looks down slightly)
Ron: Don't apologize professor, I told you that I already accepted who I was since I was younger than now. Ready ?
Snape: Do it.
Ron extended his wand towards him and the last thing he saw was a flash . When he regained consciousness, he had his wand in his hands and Dumbledore's body was limp on the floor.
In his last memories, he saw Dumbledore and Ron completely exhausted in the room. He took the opportunity to kill Dumbledore and injured Ron who was still able to escape with Harry.
Severus immediately took a deep breath before walking out of there. On the way, he came across McGonagall in one of the corridors and they looked at each other without saying anything.
The woman knew about the plan and knew by the look in her eyes that everything was done.
Snape leaving displayed the Dark Mark in the sky and very late that evening, Dumbledore's lifeless body was found in his office by McGonagall who informed the entire teaching staff and the shocking news spread throughout the school.
This news was paired with Ron and Harry's disappearance from school the next day.
McGonagall declared that it was certainly the work of a death eater who had certainly infiltrated the school to attack Dumbledore by surprise because one of their masks was found in the office in addition to the dark mark seen by everyone. people in the evening the day before.
The press was quick to arrive in large numbers to question the students who were still shocked and sad about the event.
In no time, the entire country was informed of the sad news of Dumbledore's death as well as the disappearance of Ron and Harry.
Of course, Ron's little team was informed of the plan and knew that at this very moment, he was in his parents' mansion.
Because of all this, the school year was cut short by almost two months after Dumbledore's funeral and the children were taken home because the parents were plunged into worry.
Ron and Luna hadn't seen each other for almost two weeks out of security when she arrived at the manor and Harry was totally fine too, he was very happy to have been freed from his bond with Voldemort.
A month after the children returned home, Ginny was helping Luna at the Weasley Mall when two people walked in front of them in black clothing that covered their faces.
By reflex, the two girls already had their wands ready but the two strangers showed their hands to show that they were not coming as enemies and they were already in the protection enclosure, if they were still there it is that their intentions are not bad.
"We really need your help, they are after us" A woman's voice was heard under one of the cloaks and that intrigued the girls.
Ginny: Who are you?
The other stranger showed his face and it was Draco Malfoy whose face was disfigured with bruises and bruises.
Luna:…
Ginny: YOU...!? WHAT DO YOU WANT ?
"We have come to seek asylum from the Weasleys, if you reject us then we will be killed for sure. Please…" Narcissa said as she took off her hood next to her son.
The girls looked at each other before guiding them into Arthur's office where they found Ron sitting there drinking tea with Harry, a silence reigned as they looked at each other.
Ginny quickly went to call her parents at the store and Cedric took over for them to manage. A discussion took place in this office to find out why the mother and son had left the other camp.