Harry slips on his Cloak in the confusion and sends curses
at the Death Eaters. Voldemort holds McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn
at bay, while Bellatrix faces off against Hermione, Ginny, and Luna.
Mrs. Weasley steps in, duels Bellatrix by herself, and kills her, infuriating
Voldemort. Harry casts a Shield charm to protect Mrs. Weasley from
Voldemort, then takes off his cloak, revealing himself to be alive
for the first time.
The room goes silent as Harry and Voldemort circle each
other. Voldemort tries to insist that Harry has only ever succeeded
against him by accident or because greater men and women were shielding him
and pulling the strings. In reply, Harry observes that by laying down
his life for all those at Hogwarts, Harry has put a protective charm
on them like the one his mother put on him, so that all of Voldemort’s
curses keep sliding off of them. He tells Voldemort that he knows
many important things Voldemort does not know.
Harry informs Voldemort that Voldemort actually did not
have Dumbledore killed, because Dumbledore had planned and orchestrated
his own death months before. Harry tells Voldemort that Snape was
Dumbledore’s spy almost his entire career, having loved Lily Potter
since he was a child. Most important, Voldemort is not the master
of the Elder Wand because he still hasn’t defeated the Wand’s most
recent master. That master was not Snape, because Snape did not
defeat Dumbledore but merely helped him die. The one who defeated
Dumbledore, without ever knowing it, was Draco (in Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince). The Elder Wand had recognized
Draco as its master, though Draco never knew this or took possession
of the Wand, and the Wand was buried with Dumbledore. Harry recalls
that he himself disarmed Draco weeks before, and that if the Elder
Wand is aware of this fact, Harry is the Wand’s true master. He
invites Voldemort to help him test this hypothesis.
Voldemort fires his Killing Curse, and Harry simultaneously sends
a Disarming Curse, and the two curses meet in the middle, with Voldemort’s
rebounding and killing him and the Wand coming to Harry’s hand.
All of Hogwarts erupts in victory and begins to celebrate.
At the first opportunity, Harry puts on his Cloak and takes Ron
and Hermione with him to the headmaster’s office, where the portraits
of former headmasters and headmistresses applaud him. Harry speaks to
the portrait of Dumbledore, announcing his intentions to leave the
Stone where it fell in the forest, to return the Wand to Dumbledore’s
grave in the hope that Harry will die a natural death and end its
power, and to keep his Cloak. Dumbledore approves.
Summary: Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later
Nineteen years later, Harry stands at the train station,
waiting to send his younger son to Hogwarts for his first year.
Harry is married to Ginny, and they have three children: James,
who attends Hogwarts already; Albus Severus, who is just starting;
and Lily, who is still two years away from going. James is taunting
Albus that he might be selected for Slytherin House.
