94 hp Diagon Alley

He saw Voldemort standing a little ahead of him, stroking Nagini's head with a pale finger.Harry closed his eyes again.

"No!"

"No!"

"Harry! Harry!"

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's voices were more piercing than McGonagall's.Harry wanted to yell at them, but he forced himself to lie still.Their shouts were like detonators, and the survivors rose up, cursing the Death Eaters at the top of their lungs.

"You're lying—" George yelled, "get your Death Eater bastards out!"

"He won't run away!" Gwen and a few Gryffindor students cried through tears.

"Quiet!" Voldemort yelled, and there was a bang and a flash of light, and they were all forced into silence: "It's over! Hagrid, put him at my feet, he only deserves to stay here!"

Harry felt himself being lowered onto the grass.

"See?" said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding back and forth beside him. "Harry Potter is dead! You blinded ones, see now? He's nothing at all, just A little boy who depends on others to sacrifice for him!"

"He beat you!" Ron shouted, and the spell was broken, and the defenders of Hogwarts roared and shouted again.A second later, there was an even more earth-shattering bang, and they lost their voices again.

"He was killed trying to escape from the school," said Voldemort, seemingly flattered by his lying, "killed trying to escape himself—"

But Voldemort couldn't finish his sentence, and Harry heard a scuffle, a shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and a moan of pain.He opened his eyes a little slit.It turned out that someone broke free from the crowd and rushed towards Voldemort.Harry saw the figure disarmed and slump to the ground, and Voldemort threw the challenger's wand aside with a laugh.

"Who is this?" He said in a soft, snake-like hiss, "Who took the initiative to defy the law and let everyone see what will happen if you continue to resist after defeat?"

Bellatrix smiled happily.

"It's Neville Longbottom, master! The boy who caused so much trouble for the Carlos! The son of the Auror couple, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember." Voldemort said, looking down at Neville.With his bare hands and no cover, Neville struggled to his feet and stood in the clearing between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you're a purebred wizard, aren't you, my brave boy?" Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands clenched into fists.

"So what?" said Neville loudly.

"You have shown courage and determination, and you are of noble birth. You will make a rare Death Eater. We need someone like you, Neville Longbottom."

"I'm not going with you until hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army!"

"Very well," said Voldemort, and Harry could hear more danger in his smooth voice than the cruelest spell. "If that's your choice, Longbottom, we'll just have to go with the plan. Let it," he said softly, "fall to your head."

Still through eyelashes, Harry saw Voldemort flick his wand.A few seconds later, a strange bird-like thing flew out of one of the smashed windows of the castle.It flew out of the dim light and landed in Voldemort's hands.Voldemort shook the musty object by its prongs, and it hung empty and limp: the Sorting Hat.

"Hogwarts School needs no more Houses," said Voldemort, "no more Houses. The coat of arms, shield and banner of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, to all of you Suffice it to say, isn't it, Neville Longbottom?"

He pointed his wand at Neville, who immediately froze and remained motionless.Then Voldemort pushed the hat on Neville's head so hard that the brim slid under Neville's eyes.There was commotion in the crowd watching this scene in front of the castle, and the Death Eaters raised their wands in unison to prevent the Hogwarts rebels from approaching.

"Neville is going to show everyone what happens to those who foolishly continue to defy me." Voldemort said with a wave of his wand, and the Sorting Hat immediately burst into flames.

Shouts ripped through the dawn sky, and Neville was on fire, but was pinned in place, unable to move.Harry couldn't take it anymore, he had to act—

Then, many things happened at the same time.

"I insist that Hogwarts needs four houses." A calm and familiar voice came, drowning out all the shouts.The fire on the Sorting Hat went out, and Dumbledore came out of the castle. "Tom, because my students have different but equally valuable qualities."

The crowd automatically parted a road for him, and all the students and professors exclaimed, as if their endless prayers had finally won Merlin's mercy.

Voldemort's complacent expression was cracked with shock.

"You are dead, Dumbledore," he said.

"You've been dazzled by your own desires, Tom." Dumbledore shook his head regretfully, "I'm standing right in front of you, living a good life."

Voldemort sneered, and raised his wand, "I don't need to argue with you, Dumbledore. Because I could kill you again."

"Your magic is far less powerful than you imagined." said the aged headmaster, "On the contrary, the power we possess is incomparable to you and your followers."

"Really?" Voldemort was irritated, but he quickly thought of a good way to fight back, "So you have been hiding like a mouse for a year? Let your subordinates die for you and sacrifice for nothing? How touching, Dumbledore."

"He protected us!" Hermione's crying voice came suddenly, "His magic keeps us from being harmed in the war!"

"Thank you, Miss Granger." Dumbledore bent slightly, "Indeed, it is an ancient magic, similar to the magic that Lily Potter used to protect her son more than ten years ago, and it requires the wizard's willingness to use it to protect her son." Death beliefs to protect those they love. But there are limitations, like I can't cast this spell on someone with the Dark Mark - so I have to enlist the help of others to protect some great, hidden You see, this is what Mr. Tom Riddle doesn't understand. He doesn't believe that people are willing to sacrifice for others, or that there is an emotion higher than the pursuit of fame and fortune, which is precisely the greatest magic... ..."

"Love?" said Voldemort sarcastically. "Then, Dumbledore, let us see what dire consequences so-called 'love' can have on you."

A series of red and green lights shot at Dumbledore and the crowd behind him, and the Death Eaters rushed over.

At this time, there was commotion from the school boundary wall in the distance. It seemed that thousands of people mighty and mighty climbed over the wall out of sight, shouting loudly and rushing towards the castle.At the same moment, Gropp wobbled around the side of the castle, shouting, "Hagrid!" and Voldemort's giants roared back.They charged at Glop like bull elephants, making the earth tremble.Then there was the sound of horseshoes and the sound of drawing a bow. In the blink of an eye, sharp arrows shot among the Death Eaters one after another.They cried out in surprise and lost their feet.Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his robes and draped it over his body, jumping up from the ground, when Neville moved too.

Neville straightened up, and the Sorting Hat slipped off.From it he drew something silver, with a gleaming handle set with rubies—

In the roar of the swarming crowd, in the slaughter of the giants, in the hooves of the swarming centaurs, no one could hear the sound of the silver sword cutting, but it seemed to attract every pair of eyes.With one blow of the sword, Neville chopped off the serpent's head, which spun high into the sky, shining brightly in the light spilling from the hall.Voldemort opened his mouth to let out an angry cry, but no one heard it, and then, with a boom, the snake fell heavily at his feet—

Harry, hiding under the cloak, cast the Iron Armor Charm between him and Neville before Voldemort could raise his wand.Then, over the whoops, howls, and heavy feet of fighting giants, Hagrid's yell rose above everything else.

"Harry!" yelled Hagrid, "Harry - where's Harry?"

The whole scene was chaotic.The centaurs charged into battle, chasing the Death Eaters into flight, each fleeing from the giant's trample, and reinforcements came from nowhere, coming closer and closer.Harry saw the huge winged Thestrals and the hippogriff Buckbeak hovering above Voldemort's giant, grabbing their eyes, and Gropp's fists on their faces.At this time all the wizards, whether it was the defenders of Hogwarts or Voldemort's Death Eaters, were forced to retreat to the castle.Harry hurled jinxes and spells at every Death Eater he saw, and they collapsed without knowing who or what animal had attacked him, before their bodies were trampled underfoot by the retreating crowd.

Still under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was pushed into the hall by the crowd.He was looking for Voldemort, and then saw Voldemort across the room, still shouting orders, waving his wand and firing spells in all directions as he retreated into the Great Hall.Harry cast a few more Iron Armor Charms, and Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, who were narrowly missed by Voldemort, hurried past him into the Great Hall to join the already