Chapter 57: The End of a Dark Lord

Ministry Headquarters, London - England

December 19th, 1992, 03:11 PM - Sunday

Erik and his wives were looking around the room of death. After having noticed the obvious veil highlighted in the room, they noticed the people waiting by the side. They were a group of five Unspeakables, Director Bones and three Aurors, and Sirius Black. The last one, possibly, here only because of Harry's part in the contract.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

Erik greeted them with a smile on his face. He walked to the group and presented the dark clothed carrier box.

"I brought the guest of honor."

Erik said, smirking at the others. The people in the room didn't find it funny. Well, Sirius Black did let out a laugh that could be confounded by a bark when he heard Erik, but he didn't count. The guy spent eleven years in Azkaban, so his sense of humor is dubious at least. Erik let out a sigh.

*sigh*

"You guys are no fun."

Erik said to them.

"I don't think that the situation that we are in is a funny one, Erik."

Director Bones replied to Erik.

"You, guys, are about to rid yourselves of one of the worst Dark Lords in British history for sure. If this is not a moment to be happy, I don't know which one would be."

Erik said and put the carrier box on top of a small table in front of the group that already had the tracking artifact on top of it and a glass orb that appeared to have some kind of milky substance inside it. Director Bones and the others didn't answer his reply, they just stood in place looking at him.

"Ok. Let's start this then."

Erik said to them and turned to the dark clothed carrier box. He then put his hand on top of it, grabbed the cloth and pulled it off the carrier box. The vision of Tom, the snake, pulled out gasps from the Aurors and Sirius Black.

"This… This thing is Voldemort?"

Sirius Black asked while looking at the snake with red eyes.

"His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Black. Voldemort is just a silly name that he came with by rearranging the letter of his name. He didn't want to be known by his father's name, and he couldn't use Slytherin's one because magic would not let him, so he invented himself a name."

Erik explained to Sirius Black, who was looking at him with an open mouth. Sirius Black then looked at the red eyed snake. He continued to look at it for a few seconds, and then, he started to laugh. Madly laugh.

"The Dark Lord who had all those dark aligned and bigoted families kneeling to him is not even a pure blood?"

Sirius Black managed to say while trying to inhale some air to breathe. He then continued to laugh madly at the idea. It took more than a few seconds for him to calm down. And when he finished, he was wiping some tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Oh… Can't wait to say this piece to my 'lovely' mother. She idolized the monster, saying that he was what the purebloods needed."

Sirius Black said. He was now smirking evilly at the idea.

"And I agree with her. The purebloods really needed this kick in their arses."

He finished saying while snickering. The Unspeakables and Aurors present didn't have any reaction to Sirius Black's comment, while Director Bones just rolled her eyes at the childish wizard and Selena and Leona let out some giggles. Erik and Joan were looking at the man with amusement in their eyes.

"Let's start this then."

Croaker said to all and walked to the small table.

"Yes, let's start this, I have my godson waiting for me at home."

Sirius Black said. Yesterday, Hogwarts had entered its winter recess and the great majority of students had gone home for the holidays. This included one Harry Potter that, for the first time, was looking forward to the train travel between Hogsmeade and London.

"You are not the only one with a teenager alone at home, Lord Black."

Director Bones said to the man. Her niece, Susan Bones, had gone home for the holidays too. While this little conversation happened, Croaker had gone to the small table and took the tracking artifact in his hands.

"The first thing that we will be destroying is the tracking artifact."

Croaker said and approached Erik.

"Lord Ravenclaw, can you use your dagger to destroy it?"

Croaker asked Erik.

"Sure I can."

Erik said to the gray cloaked wizard. He then looked at Selena.

"But I bet you that if I didn't pass this opportunity to my wife, Selena, I will never hear the end of it for the next decade."

Erik said while chuckling. Selena raised a single eyebrow at that.

"Oh! You know me too well, husband."

Selena said to him sweetly. She then walked to Croaker while retrieving a leather glove from her pocket. She then wore the leather glove on her left hand and extended her right arm to the side and made a grabbing motion with her hand. As Selena did this, the beautifully crafted silver dagger of Lady Ravenclaw appeared on her hand. Selena extended her gloved hand to Croaker, who gave her the tracking artifact. With it in hands, Selena then walked to the small table and stood in front of the carrier box that held Tom, the snake.

"Hello again, Tom."

Selena said to the snake, who weakly turned its head to her.

"I want you to watch as I destroy the last thing that anchors your mangled soul to this world."

Selna said to the snake, who was now looking at her intensely with its red eyes. Selena then, slowly, brought down the deadly dagger to the tracking artifact. The dagger stuck at the tracking artifact and penetrated it like it was a hot knife on butter, and as it did it, the few luster that the tracking artifact had was consumed by the corrosive action of the basilisk venom. With that, a wail was heard and a small puff of dark smoke escaped from some of the cracks that started to appear on the corroded artifact surface. The smoke continued wailing for a few seconds in the air until it disappeared into oblivion. Tom, the snake, was looking at all of this with helplessness, because there was nothing that he could have done about it. It then turned his head up a little and found the face of the woman that it hated so much. Tom, the snake, was now looking even more hatefully at Selena.

"Hate me all you want, Tom, but you brought this upon yourself."

Selena said after having noticed the way that the snake was looking at her now. She then let go of the dagger in her hand, and it disappeared in thin air. Selena then turned and walked back to Erik's side while slowly taking out the glove of her left hand.

"Did I lose something? Why does Lady Ravenclaw spite the snake so much?"

Sirius Black asked everybody and nobody in particular. It was Director Bones who decided to answer the man.

"One of the items that Tom transformed into one of his trinkets was a Diadem that belonged to her twin sister, Helena Ravenclaw. Lady Ravenclaw was furious when she discovered the item hidden inside Hogwarts."

Director Bones explained to Sirius Black, while remembering that fearful moment where Selena Ravenclaw had let her fury mix with her magic. Sirius Black nodded his head at that.

"Thank you for your help, Lady Ravenclaw."

Croaker said to Selena, who didn't answer him and just hugged one of her husband's arms as she reached him. Croaker then walked back to the small table. As he reached it, he took the carrier box that contained Tom, the snake, by its handle and lifted it from the table. Croaker then walked up the platform where the veil of death was while holding the carrier box. He walked a little more and soon stopped at the center of the veil. Croaker stood there for a moment before launching the carrier box through the veil in one swift movement. And just like that, with no last words or more complications, one of the worst Dark Lord in British history met its end.

A few tense seconds passed after the throw, and then one of the other Unspeakables that had stood by the small table spoke loudly.

"Death confirmed. The prophecy was fulfilled."

Croaker, who was still on the platform let out a sigh that he didn't know he was holding and then started to walk back to the group.

*sigh*

Erik and Selena turned to look at the Unspeakable who had spoken and saw that the glass orb that before had a milky white color on its inside, now had a dark gray color. They recognized the item for what it was now, an orb of prophecy, and the dark color inside it signified that it was fulfilled.

"Good!"

Sirius Black said.

"Yes. Just want to go home now and hug my niece."

Director Bones said. She, like a lot of people in the British Isles, had lost family for the last Dark Lord. The entire group shared their feelings, everyone wanted to go back home and share the rest of the day with their loved ones. With that in mind, the group quickly wrapped everything up and parted from the room of death while being guided by the Unspeakables.

Now again in the Ministry atrium, Erik bid his goodbyes to everyone and he, together with Selena, Joan and Leona traveled back to Hogwarts, this time using a blue transportation magic circle and disappearing in the middle of motes of blue light.

Hogwarts Castle, Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands

December 19th, 1992, 03:31 PM - Sunday

Erik and his wives opened their eyes as they appeared inside the owner's chambers in Hogwarts as blue motes of light faded around. The group went to the lounge area and three of them took a seat in one of the sofas. Erik sat in the middle of it while Leona sat at his left, and Joan, after trading her metallic armor for some comfortable clothes though a shine of white light around her body, sat on his right side.

"I will search for Helena and deliver to her the news."

Selena said to the three of them before turning and walking out of the owner's chamber in search of Helena. Just as she exited the chambers, a house-elf popped after being called by Leona.

"A house-elf, please."

*pop*

"How can Tisty help Lady Vinci?"

The house-elf asked Leona.

"Can you bring us some tea and biscuits, please, Tisty?"

Leona asked the house-elf and it disappeared after a soft pop.

*pop*

"So, dear husband, what is really behind that veil?"

Joan asked Erik the question that was in her mind since seeing the veil.

"Noticed that, heim?"

Erik replied to Joan.

"Please, Erik. We had been to enough realms ruled by different gods of death to know that the thing behind that veil was not a gate to any of those realms."

Joan said to Erik as a matter of fact. Erik chuckled at it.

"You are right, the thing behind the veil is not an entrance to any realm of death. The fun thing is that the veil of death had nothing to do with death at all."

Erik replied to them. At this moment, Titsty, the house-elf, came back into the chambers with a set of tea and a plate of biscuits for the group. Leona served the tea for each of them and put the plate of biscuits on Erik's lap, to make it easier for her. Erik sipped his tea calmly and continued Joan's reply.

"Don't get me wrong when I say that the vail has nothing to do with death, because anything that passes through it encounters certain death. After all, there were very few beings that could survive the Dimensional Gap with their own power."

Leona and Joan did a spit take hearing that. Erik smirked at that and lazily waved his hand and cleaned the mess that both the girls made.

"You mean to say that the veil of death is a passage to the Dimensional Gap?"

Leona asked the question that Joan wanted to ask too.

"Yes. But it is an entrance only passage."

Erik replied with calm.

"And how do you know that?"

Joan asked dangerously.

"I researched it a long time ago. The 'veil of death' is not the only passage into the Dimensional Gap in the planet. And just like this one, each of them is hidden by their own protectors. It just happens that the one in England is 'controlled' by the magical government."

Erik replied to Joan and took a sip of his tea.

"But then, why do they call it the veil of death and use it to execute criminals?"

Joan asked Erik.

"It's simple. They don't know that the veil is an entrance to the Dimensional Gap. Damn, most of them don't even believe that something like the Dimensional Gap could exist. They just know that everyone that passes through the veil dies, and they are content with only that knowledge. This kind behavior is one of the reasons that their community is slowly dying, and I will not correct them about it. The world is too big."

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