by
Catherine King
Harry was sitting in the hospital wing, Professor Dumbledore standing above him.
“Wha?” Harry asked, sitting up and staring around. “The house - my will - and what happened to Voldemort?”
“Harry, Harry, calm yourself,” said Dumbledore, gently. “There is no house. You do have a will, but it is at Gringotts.”
“OK,” said Harry, sinking into his pillow. At least the will existed. “But what about Voldemort?”
“Ah, as for Voldemort, he is dead,” Dumbledore replied.
“Dead?” Harry repeated, feeling slightly dazed.
“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “You choked him to death. His power would prevent a magical curse, but not a Muggle’s choking process. You were found, knocked out cold, by Mister Weasley, after he heard shouting.”
“Tell Ron I said thank you. And what did they do with Voldemort’s body?”
“It vaporized itself. Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will not be able to visit you right now, as it is 5:00 in the morning.”
He started for the door.
“Wait!” said Harry. “In my first year, I asked you why Voldemort would want to kill me. You said, ‘when you are ready, you will know’. Now can you tell me why Voldemort would wanna kill me?”
Dumbledore chuckled. “You have a good memory, Harry. You know that Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin hated each other. And Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin. Well, if you traced your father’s family back far enough, it would lead straight to - ”
“ - Godric Gryffindor!” finished Harry.
Dumbledore laughed. “Yes, you are right. That is why Voldemort wanted to kill you. You are the heir of Gryffindor. And now that you killed Voldemort, people are sure to call him that, and not You-Know-Who. Do you want to know an interesting tidbit, Harry?”
“Sure.”
“Voldemort loved fear. He grew stronger from it. And when people refused to call him by his proper name, he simply became more powerful from it.”
Harry tried to think of it, but his head hurt, and he gave up.
“By the way,” said Dumbledore, “you have a visitor. And it is not Hagrid.”
He stepped away, and in the doorway was an extremely pretty Asian girl. It was Cho Chang, Harry’s crush.
