The moment Rose Potter touched the prophecy orb, everything changed.
The cold glass sphere felt strangely warm in her hand. For a brief second, nothing happened. Then suddenly a familiar voice exploded inside her mind.
Professor Trelawney's.
The dreamy Divination professor's voice echoed through Rose's consciousness as the world around her seemed to fade away.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..."
The Department of Mysteries vanished from her awareness. The shelves disappeared. Only the prophecy remained.
"Born to those who have thrice defied him..."
Rose's heart hammered in her chest as images flashed through her mind. Her parents. Godric's Hollow. The graveyard. The Triwizard Tournament.
"Born as the seventh month dies..."
"The Dark Lord shall mark her as his equal..."
Rose tightened her grip on the orb.
"But she shall have power the Dark Lord knows not..."
Her thoughts immediately drifted toward the people who mattered most. Hermione. Ron. Neville. Sirius.
Helios.
"And either must die at the hand of the other..."
A chill ran through her entire body.
"For neither can live while the other survives..."
The final words echoed through her mind like distant thunder.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall be born as the seventh month dies."
Then everything went silent.
Rose blinked.
Reality returned.
And she immediately realized something was very, very wrong.
People surrounded them.
Black robes.
Silver masks.
Raised wands.
Her breath caught as she spun around.
Death Eaters.
Every direction she looked revealed another masked figure. Twenty at least. Perhaps more. All of them had their wands pointed toward the small group standing among the prophecy shelves.
The orb nearly slipped from her fingers.
Beside her, Tonks already had her wand out.
Moody looked like an old soldier making his final stand.
And with sudden horror, Rose realized that might actually be true.
The veteran Auror reacted instantly. His wand slashed through the air and a massive silver shield erupted around Rose. The magical barrier shimmered brightly as Tonks moved closer, positioning herself protectively at Rose's side.
"Stay behind us," Tonks ordered sharply.
Rose nodded, her heart pounding.
Then the crowd parted.
A tall figure emerged from between the shelves.
Black robes.
Pale skin.
Red eyes.
The temperature in the chamber seemed to drop.
The Death Eaters immediately lowered their heads as Lord Voldemort stepped forward.
His eyes locked onto Rose.
A smile appeared on his face.
A predator's smile.
"So."
His voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"You came for the prophecy."
Rose tightened her grip on her wand but said nothing.
Voldemort continued walking forward.
"But I did not come for the prophecy."
His red eyes gleamed.
"I came for you."
The words sent a shiver through everyone present.
He stopped only a few yards away.
"Today may finally be the day I kill you."
Every instinct screamed at Rose to run.
Voldemort's gaze shifted toward the prophecy orb.
"But before that..."
His voice softened.
"I wish to hear it."
A shadow crossed his face.
"The first time I heard only part of it."
A mistake that had cost him everything.
"I wish to know what else was spoken."
Slowly, Voldemort extended one pale hand.
"Give me the prophecy."
The Hall of Prophecy fell completely silent.
Rose looked around.
There was nowhere to run.
Twenty Death Eaters.
Only Moody and Tonks beside her.
Even if she fought, she would lose.
Then another voice echoed in her memory.
Helios Black.
"Never be a hero."
"Survival comes first."
"If you survive, you can fight another day."
Rose swallowed.
For the first time, she seriously considered giving him the orb.
Not because she was afraid.
Because it was logical.
If surrendering the prophecy would keep everyone alive, perhaps it was the right choice.
Slowly, she began raising her hand.
Voldemort smiled.
Then a thunderous crash exploded from the entrance.
BOOM!
Everyone turned.
A dozen figures rushed into the Hall of Prophecy.
The Order of the Phoenix.
Leading them was Albus Dumbledore himself.
The elderly wizard moved with astonishing speed, his robes billowing behind him. Kingsley Shacklebolt followed close behind, along with Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Hestia Jones, Daedalus Diggle, and numerous others.
Even Voldemort looked surprised.
Dumbledore's eyes immediately found Rose.
Then they found Voldemort.
The old wizard's expression hardened.
"Tom."
The name echoed through the chamber.
Voldemort's face twisted.
"Dumbledore."
For a brief moment, the two most powerful wizards in Britain simply stared at one another.
Then chaos erupted.
"DOWN!" Moody roared.
His wand exploded with magic.
The protective shield surrounding Rose expanded violently, blasting outward in a wave of force. Several prophecy shelves collapsed. Glass spheres shattered by the hundreds, and ghostly voices erupted from the broken orbs.
Predictions.
Warnings.
Destinies.
Thousands of whispered prophecies filled the air.
The Hall descended into madness.
Death Eaters charged.
Order members countered.
Green curses flashed through the darkness.
Red spells answered them.
Blue shields rose.
Golden barriers shattered.
Shelves exploded.
Glass rained from the ceiling.
The floor trembled beneath the force of unleashed magic.
Tonks grabbed Rose and dragged her behind a fallen shelf just as a curse blasted overhead. Stone exploded where she had been standing moments earlier.
Arthur Weasley exchanged spells with two masked Death Eaters.
Kingsley fought three at once.
Remus Lupin dueled viciously nearby.
The entire Department of Mysteries had become a battlefield.
Yet through all the chaos, through every spell and explosion, two figures continued moving toward one another.
Dumbledore.
Voldemort.
Neither seemed to care about the battle raging around them.
Even Death Eaters fighting for their lives stole glances toward the center of the chamber. Order members desperately defending themselves did the same whenever they found a spare moment. Everyone understood the truth.
The future depended on which one of those two men fell first.
Voldemort fought like a force of nature.
There was no hesitation, no restraint, and certainly no concern for collateral damage. Green flashes erupted from his wand repeatedly, Killing Curses racing through the chamber one after another. Whenever one missed Dumbledore, it smashed into the shelves behind him, causing entire rows of prophecies to explode. Glass rained everywhere, and several Death Eaters barely avoided being struck by their master's attacks.
Voldemort never even looked at them.
To him, they were expendable.
Dumbledore fought differently.
Calm. Precise. Controlled.
When a Killing Curse raced toward him, a shattered shelf transformed into a marble wall. The curse struck the stone and vanished. Another curse followed, and Dumbledore transfigured broken glass into a flock of silver birds that intercepted the spell before it could reach him. A blasting curse came next, only to be absorbed by a wave of conjured water.
The contrast between the two men could not have been clearer.
Voldemort fought to destroy.
Dumbledore fought to protect.
Several times Voldemort's attacks threatened nearby Order members, and every single time Dumbledore redirected them, blocked them, or absorbed them. Even while dueling the most dangerous Dark Lord in modern history, he refused to let others suffer for it.
The strain was beginning to show.
Yet Dumbledore never stopped.
Rose witnessed everything.
At first she had been terrified. Surrounded, outnumbered, facing Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.
But that panic had faded.
Training had taken over.
Months of training. Months of Helios correcting every mistake. Months of endless sparring sessions.
Now her wand moved almost automatically.
A masked Death Eater charged toward her.
Rose sidestepped smoothly.
"Frangere Os!"
The bone-breaking curse struck the man's wand arm. A loud crack echoed through the chamber and the Death Eater screamed as his wand fell from nerveless fingers. He collapsed to the floor clutching his shattered arm.
Out of the fight.
Not permanently injured.
Just finished.
Exactly as Helios had taught.
Never waste time with Stupefy in a battlefield.
Never waste time disarming someone who can simply pick up another wand.
Break the arm.
Move on.
A second Death Eater rushed her.
Another bone-breaking curse.
Another scream.
Another opponent removed from the battle.
Soon Arthur Weasley noticed.
Then Kingsley.
Then Remus.
The tactic spread rapidly through the Order.
Instead of Stunning Spells, they began targeting limbs. Broken arms. Broken legs. Cracked ribs. Injuries that could be healed later but made it impossible to continue fighting now.
One by one, Death Eaters began dropping.
The momentum slowly shifted.
Then Voldemort changed the battlefield.
Rose felt it before she saw it.
The Dark Lord raised both hands.
His red eyes glowed.
And suddenly blood appeared.
Tiny crimson streams emerged from wounded fighters throughout the chamber. Drops from cuts, scratches, and bruises floated upward into the air. Even old wounds reopened.
Everyone froze.
The blood gathered around Voldemort.
Thousands of droplets spinning together, growing larger and larger until they formed a massive sphere of crimson.
The temperature dropped instantly.
"What is that?" Arthur shouted.
Even Dumbledore's expression darkened.
Then Voldemort completed the spell.
The blood sphere exploded outward.
A crimson wave swept across the battlefield.
Rose barely escaped it. Tonks had dragged her behind a collapsed shelf moments before impact.
Many others were not so fortunate.
Kingsley staggered.
Remus collapsed to one knee.
Arthur dropped his wand.
Several Order members and many deatheaters screamed as dark veins spread visibly beneath their skin. They convulsed violently as though their own blood had turned against them.
Daedalus Diggle crashed into a shelf.
The Hall erupted with cries of agony.
Rose stared in horror.
"What did he do?"
Tonks looked pale.
"I don't know."
Dumbledore reacted instantly. Golden magic erupted from his wand as he attempted to counter the curse.
But Voldemort had anticipated it.
"STOP HIM!"
Death Eaters surged forward.
Focusing entirely on Dumbledore.
For the first time in the battle, Voldemort's followers acted with perfect coordination. Dozens of curses flew from every direction.
Suddenly Dumbledore found himself fighting Voldemort and an army at the same time.
The remaining Order members moved immediately despite their injuries. The battle became desperate.
Then everything changed.
Aurors.
Hit Wizards.
Ministry security teams.
More than fifty armed witches and wizards flooded into the chamber.
And then they stopped.
Because they saw him.
Everyone saw him.
Voldemort.
The Dark Lord himself stood inside the Department of Mysteries.
For one brief moment, the entire room fell silent.
The Aurors stared.
The Hit Wizards stared.
The Ministry employees stared.
There were witnesses now.
Too many witnesses.
The secret was over.
Voldemort had been seen.
And he knew it.
His red eyes swept across the new arrivals.
The Ministry could no longer deny his return.
The Daily Prophet could no longer deny it.
The war was no longer hidden.
For a brief second, Voldemort looked furious.
He made his decision immediately.
"Retreat."
His voice echoed throughout the chamber.
Several Death Eaters panicked. Others immediately began fleeing through the maze-like corridors of the Department of Mysteries. Dozens of doors and countless rooms offered escape routes.
Voldemort himself dissolved into darkness.
Shadow erupted around him. His physical form vanished completely, the darkness shooting upward before disappearing.
Several Death Eaters followed.
Some escaped.
Some were captured.
Some vanished into unknown sections of the Department.
No one knew how many would ultimately get away.
The battle ended almost as suddenly as it had begun.
The aftermath was worse.
Order members lay scattered across the floor. Several still convulsed from the blood curse. Others were unconscious. Broken shelves and shattered prophecies covered the chamber.
Unspeakables arrived moments later and froze in horror at the destruction.
"Healers!"
"Get the healers!"
"Secure the Hall!"
"Move the wounded!"
Chaos resumed.
Only now it was the chaos of rescue rather than battle.
Tonks immediately grabbed Rose by the arm.
"Listen carefully."
Rose looked at her.
Tonks pulled an Invisibility Cloak from inside her robes.
"Put this on."
"What?"
"Now."
Rose obeyed instantly.
The cloak settled over her shoulders and she vanished from sight.
Tonks lowered her voice.
"No one can know you were here."
Rose wanted to argue. Wanted answers. Wanted to know why.
But one look at the dozens of Ministry officials pouring into the chamber convinced her otherwise.
This was bigger than she understood.
Far bigger.
And as she followed Tonks out of the ruined Hall of Prophecy beneath the Invisibility Cloak, one realization echoed through her mind again and again.
The prophecy was real.
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