Final Chapter: Destruction.

The reason Dumbledore didn't go after the wrath of the dark lord was that he didn't have the means to capture or destroy it. As a result he failed to notice that when he teleported Harry to the hospital, the seemingly intangible wrath of the dark lord was captured by Kent.

Dumbledore was also preoccupied with other thoughts like the existence of the philosopher's stone for it had outlived its purpose.

He needed to talk to Nicholas Flamel — the owner of the philosopher's stone.

So, after leaving Harry in Madam Pomfrey's care, Dumbledore headed back to his office with the philosopher's stone.

Hermione, on the other hand, had already got the signal from Kent and called all the professors.

After getting reprimanded for risking their lives, and escorting Ron off to the hospital ward, in the same time, checking if Harry was alright, Hermione returned to the Gryffindor dormitory.

When she entered the common room, she saw Kent waiting by the fireplace.

"He has been captured," Kent said while staring at crackling fire.

Hermione was relieved, but suddenly remembered a very important fact. Her face was horrified as she asked, "but, what about the horcrux in Harry's scar?"

Kent looked at her and smiled, "I have a ritual to glue Voldemort's horcrux back to one, whole soul."

"But, as far as I know, Voldemort have to grieve and be truly remorseful of his actions to undo the horcruxes," Hermione wasn't surprised, and pointed out. "And, I don't think he is capable of feeling remorse."

"Yeah, I know," Kent chuckled and said. "But, even the ancient artifact like 'goblet of fire' can be manipulated using enchantment, so why can't Voldemort be manipulated to feel remorseful."

"He isn't immune to magic, you know," Kent added, but, Hermione was still doubtful.

"Well, there's no harm in trying. If it doesn't work, then we'll look for other solutions," Kent said to his unconvinced sister.

Hermione reluctantly nodded after hearing that.

...

The fact that the DADA professor had met with an unfortunate accident failed to surprise the majority of Hogwarts for it had become a norm that any professor who teaches Defence Against Dark Arts are generally prone to accidents during or after their tenure.

The position was cursed. Everyone knew it. But, there were people, who still do not believe in such unproven facts and take up the position.

Professor Quirrell wasn't particularly popular either and wasn't very fond of interacting with the students which prevented any emotional bond from forming between him and his students.

As a result, the news of his death failed to make any substantial impact on the students' life.

The students had already forgotten about the death of the professor by the time of farewell feast. They enjoyed the end of the school session with relish.

The Gryffindor's table was particularly cheerful for it had won the house cup. The stoic head of Gryffindor house – Professor McGonagall, who rarely smiled looked very happy.

Many students subconsciously attributed the credit to Harry Potter, the Boy-who-lived, for he was awarded fifty points during the ceremony by headmaster Dumbledore, a well thought move by the headmaster. But, they failed to notice that it was Hermione, who had earned the most points, albeit sporadically during the past year.

Hermione wasn't sad. She was indifferent to the house points system, and the house cup which had no other purpose but to encourage competition. It was moot for her because she was an adult inside, she had already lived the life of a little witch who would've cared about this things.

The day after the feast, the students headed off to their respective homes. Kent and Hermione were no exception.

Journey back home was a novel experience for many students, especially the first year's.

After an year long stay in Hogwarts, they were finally going back.

When the train stopped at the King Cross Station, it was already evening.

The Granger siblings walked out of their compartment and saw that their parents were already waiting.

They grinned and waved their hands.

"Mom! Dad! Here!" They shouted.

"Boy, keep your freaky things inside the trunks. I don't want any of these freaky things to touch my Dudley." A grumpy voice attracted the attention of the siblings.

Hermione turned toward the source of the voice and saw a short, obese man rudely rebuking Harry.

She recognised him – Harry's horrible uncle.

Hermione instinctively was about to throw a silent curse at that Obese person whom Harry called as 'Uncle', but, she was stopped by Kent at the last moment.

At that time, their mother had already walked up to them.

"Be patient. It will be alright pretty soon." Kent whispered to her.

"What will be alright?" Asked Mrs. Granger.

"It's her results, mom. You know how worry wort she is about her marks," Kent lied with a straight face. "I am sure she will do good!"

Mrs. Granger nodded with agreement and said, "Don't worry. We are proud of you anyways."

"And you too, Kent," added Mrs. Granger looking at her son.

"Let's go, we'll be late, otherwise!" Mr. Granger called out, interrupting their conversation.

"Coming!" the mother, her son and her daughter responded together.

Hermione took a secret glance at Harry. The past Harry was so different from the future one that she couldn't quite accept the fact that they were same person. It was hard for her to forget all her memories of him(future Harry) and start anew.

"What happened, Hermione? What are you waiting for?" Her mother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Nothing mom." She turned and quickened her steps.

...

"Be careful on the road," Mrs. Granger said as Kent and Hermione walked out of their home.

"Ok mom." The Granger siblings walked toward the direction of the public library, at least that's what it seemed.

As they walked along the road, the pedestrians, under the influence of some 'charm', didn't seem to pay any attention to them at all.

After walking for a few minutes, they stopped and took a sharp turn and entered an empty alley.

"Let's go," Hermione said. Kent put his hand on her right shoulder and nodded.

With a 'pop', they vanished, spiralling into a dimensionless point.

When they appeared, it was in front of an old house. The structure looked very fragile and worn out.

"Is this the Gaunt family estate?" Kent asked.

Sometimes, human unnecessarily states the obvious.

"Yes, it is the Gaunt Shack. Tom's horcrux is buried here." Hermione said with anger, not hiding her true emotions.

"Okay then." Kent produced the miniature version of the box which trapped the apparition of the dark lord.

With a wave of his wand, he enlarged the box and put it in the ground. There was a constant muffled shrieks of something coming out of the box.

Kent tapped on the middle portion of the lid.

Suddenly a word that read "κατατροπώνω" emerged with bright yellow flash. The glow dimmed in the next moment.

The muffled screams that was coming out of the box also stopped.

"What was that?" Hermione asked. It was the first time she had seen such an obscure rune.

"It was to amplify my magical power," Kent answered, while staring intently at the box as if he was waiting for something. "My power–"

He stopped and moved his ears closer to the box. Hermione did the same.

"What have I done?" Soft, high pitched sighs could be heard from the box with occasional sobbing.

Hermione's eyes widened. She was intelligent enough to understand what was happening. It was something that she never thought, was possible.

Voldemort was remorseful for his actions.

"Don't worry. It is only under the influence of confounding charm," Kent's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Hermione nodded absentmindedly.

Kent again tapped his wand on the lid, and just like the previous time, the word "κατατροπώνω" emerged on the surface with a flash. When the glow dimmed, a loud shriek sounded from the dilapidated house and, in the next moment, an apparition that looked very similar to the one trapped inside the box emerged out of the house.

Kent and Hermione moved back from their positions as the wrath was sucked into the box. It was only the start though, as more and more, similar looking apparition arrived and just like the first one, they were sucked into the box.

The process stopped only after the sixth one was captured.

Then, suddenly Kent's acute danger sense screamed of impending danger as he instinctively created a red, spherical shield around him and his sister. The moment he did so, the box quivered and exploded into countless pieces.

Thanks to the shield around them, they remained unharmed under the barrage of sharp chips of wood.

As the dust settled, the Granger sibling saw a translucent sillouhette of a man. Hermione was gripped with an instinctive fear as she recognised the man. It was Voldemort.

He looked angry, very angry.

"Don't worry. He is a soul without a body. And a soul–"

Voldemort translucent figure suddenly exploded into formless smoke.

"–cannot exist independently unless magically anchored." Kent remarked.

~fin~

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