Previously:
Kreacher held out a locket in his hands to Harry who reached over and finished what Regulus started.

"That's six." Penny said in awe.

"What's left?" Sirius asked.

"Nagini." Harry answered.

"Now, how many of you found this class to be easier than you thought?" I asked the class.

More than half of the class raised their hands.

I then turned to Penelope with a smug look on my face. I told you so written all over my face. Turning back to the sixth year class I said, "Now, remember that the exam is to come up with a spell using the Latin words you learned this year. If you need to include Arithmancy or anything else in your spell, by all means, use it. It'll get you more points on your exam. We'll see you next time!"

"Professor?"

I turned around to see that most of the class had left already. Now it was just our favorite golden trio. "How can I help you?"

Harry looked nervous. "Remember how last year, I was seeing things that Voldemort put in my head?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You haven't slacked in your Occlumency lessons, have you?"

"No!" Harry answered, eyes wide. "I only started a form of Legimency."

That stopped me short. "How?"

"Well, I thought that I would be able to poke back in his head now because he had poked in my head," Harry started. "I thought if I read his mind I could figure out what he was up to."

"And he didn't notice?" Penny asked. "He's a very skilled Legimence, you sure he had no idea?"

Harry nodded emphatically. "I tried on Hermione and then you before I tried Voldemort so I could work on not alerting the person I was in their mind."

Hermione nodded in support and Penny just narrowed her eyes.

"When this is done, we are going to have a conversation about privacy but continue." Penny said icily.

"So I tried that earlier today during lunch and I found out that he is planning on sending his Death Eaters into the school soon." Harry said awkwardly. "Malfoy has been working on a way to kill Dumbledore all year and a way to get the Death Eaters in the school and he's finally succeeded."

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "I knew about Malfoy, Albus told me after he was informed by Snape of the plan." I started, ignoring the stunned looks on the other three. "Has he felt anything about his Horcruxes being destroyed?"

Harry shook his head. "He has no idea. Hasn't actually thought about them since he made Nagini his Horcrux."

I didn't say anything to that right away. I was trying to think my way through a plan that had popped into my mind while we had been talking. "Penny, is there no way for him to lie about that in case someone was able to peak into his mind?"

Penny shook her head. "Harry is the only one to possibly have a way in and he is much too prideful to think that anyone would have this ability." She answered. "Legimency is less reading what one is thinking and more of seeing their memories. So even if you can go poking around someone's head, you won't be able to really tell exactly what they are thinking about."

"Harry, how do you still have a connection with him? The Horcrux you had is gone." I said suddenly.

Harry shrugged. "I can also still talk to snakes and since we had come to the conclusion that I had that power because of my connection to him, I can only assume that I have left over affects of a part of his soul being attached to mine."

I nodded. That made sense. "Alright, here's what we are going to do," I started. "Harry, I need you to somehow issue a challenge to Voldemort. I don't care how you do it, as long as you don't give away that you can go snooping in his head yet. We'll save that for a time we really need it."

"A challenge, Percy?" Penny said nervously. "As in to fight him? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Penny," I said. "I think we are ready. All Horcruxes but Nagini have been destroyed. He is at his most vulnerable. And if he is planning an attack on the school to kill the headmaster, we can only assume that he is not going to show up. And he plans on taking over the Ministry first."

Harry nodded in agreement. "From what I've seen of his memories of the meetings and planning he's done, that seems to be his plan."

"Good," I said. "We need to draw him here. Make him panic and make a mistake. If you let him know we've found a few of his Horcruxes, he might take the risk to come take you out before you can do anymore damage."

"We need Harry to show that his Death Eaters won't hardly be a challenge for that to happen." Penny spoke up in resignation. "Otherwise what you are thinking could potentially result in the Death Eaters being the ones sent to take him out."

"We'll need Snape for that," I said thoughtfully. She was right. Right now, Harry is supposedly still learning and not a trouble enough for Voldemort himself to target him as a priority. Dumbledore is still the biggest threat. "Maybe if we present our plan to Albus, he'll agree that Snape's cover needs to be blown."

Penny looked doubtful. "Maybe. I would bring Hecate with you to convince him of that."

"Alright," I agreed. "In the mean time, we should get the students out of the school so if everything goes to Hades, there won't be as many casualties."

"There is a couple secret paths out of school I know from my dad's map." Harry answered. "We can lead them out slowly enough so that no one who could get word out would notice."

"Good." Penny said. "When did you say that the attack on the school start?"

"A few days from now."

"So it'll be after exams," Penny concluded. "That's good. Say what you want about Voldemort but his timing for the last six years has very nicely happened after exams or during years that don't have as much impact on your education so if exams were cancelled, it wouldn't matter much."

"Penny, no one is thinking about that right now." I sighed.

"Speak for yourself!" Hermione protested.

"Moving on," Harry said quickly. Good thing too because Ron was about to open his tactless mouth. "When do we want to issue the challenge?"

"Do it after exams tomorrow," I answered. "Maybe it'll give you enough time to think about how to do it."

Why does it now feel like asking someone to prom?

"We'll go talk to Albus and Severus," Penny said. "You should hear about if the plan is good to go sometime after dinner."

- - -

"Are you sure about this, Percy?" Albus was saying. He, Snape, Penny, Hecate, and I were gathered in his office and I had just finished sharing my idea. "There will be no going back after this. How do you know he will take the bait?"

I shrugged. "I don't. If this doesn't work, we'll have to go after him right after they attack us."

"What makes you think this would work?" Snape asked with his classic sneer. "What would you know about war? You are only barely out of school."

I turned the glare I learned from Lupa on him and he paled. "I am not going to answer that. You don't need to know the answer to those questions."

"Percy here is more than qualified to make these sorts of decisions, Severus. Trust me on this," Albus said. "I will explain after everything happens but we don't want to wipe your memory of more than necessary before you go tell Tom your part."

Snape only sent me a mild snarl that was not enough to even make me uncomfortable in my seat. It was more like a lion cub trying to be fierce. But less cute.

In response to his snarl, I stuck my tongue out in a very adult way. Penny have rolled her eyes and put her head in her hands.

"Percy," Hecate scolded. "That is not going to help things."

- - -

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!"

Screams where heard in the courtyard as Harry let out a wave of power that flattened everything within a hundred feet of him. His hands were at his sides, balled into fists. His expression was flat, showing only a hidden rage that was growing. His magic swirled around him, making his hair and robes flow as if being moved by wind. Harry was more intimidating than any student had seen before.

The students that had been in the courtyard now moved to the walls, so to get as far away from the danger zone as possible but still able to see what was going on. Students just inside peaked their heads through the doorways and windows. The only teachers present being Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall. The former getting up slowly as he kept his eye on the son of his rival from his school years. Minerva had shown up only seconds after the wave of magic sent everyone to the floor through the door on the far end of the courtyard.

"Dumbledore was wrong to ever trust you!" Harry shouted again. "What are you going to do next? Kill me?"

"No," Snape snarled back. "The Dark Lord has claimed that he will be the one to kill you. I can only hope that day comes quickly."

Harry made a furious slashing motion with his hand, a wave of magic surging in the direction of the Potions Master. His outer robes tore away from his body, some of his left sleeve coming with them. He started marching forward until he was nose to nose with his teacher. "How do you know I won't be the one to kill him first?"

"You may be powerful, Potter, but you are far below the powers of the Dark Lord." Snape refused to back down.

Harry smirked, sending chills down the spines of all those who saw it. Snape's own confident expression wavered for a fraction of a second. The crowd watching them had grown in size since the start of this show down. The students were now starting to notice the dark mark on Snape's forearm and were muttering to each other in shock.

The Boy-Who-Lived fished in his pockets and put something in Snape's hands. "This is only the beginning," Harry answered, still smirking. "Whatever power and advantage Voldemort thought he had is now being taken away from him. Soon he will be as mortal as you or me."

Snape looked down in confusion at the locket and ring in his hand. The ring looked as though there used to be a stone in the center but it was torn off. Both items looked beaten.

"What am I supposed to do with these, Potter?" Snape asked. He looked ready to throw them down on the ground but something stopped him. That something told him they were probably more than the junk they seemed to be.

"Show them to Voldemort," Harry said. Stifled screams came from the crowd around them at the second mention of his name. "He'll know what to do with them."

"You're letting me go?" Snape looked to be questioning Harry's sanity. Much like many of the students (and Minerva) around them.

"I am sending you as my official notice that I am challenging Voldemort." Harry said, holding his head high. He was still emitting power that weighed heavily on the students and teachers around him. "As you have decided to throw your lot in with him, I want you to go back to him and let him know that I will be waiting for him here. Stay away from me and my family. You will regret the day you joined him."

Snape said nothing as he dissolved into smoke and flew off of school grounds.

"Mr. Potter, I hope you have an explanation for what just happened," McGonagall said from the other side of the courtyard.

Harry looked over at her and nodded. "Professor Snape is a Death Eater, Professor."

- - -

While Harry and Snape were doing their show, Penny, Hermione, Ron, and I were getting Hogwarts students out of the school. Albus had set up a portkey system led by members of the order to get them home. We started with a few students from each house so it wasn't noticed immediately by anyone like Malfoy at meal times. Penny and I took some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to Honeydukes through the old hag statue Harry told us about. Hermione and Ron knew how to handle the Whomping Willow so they took some Gryffindors and some first year Slytherins through there.

"Now, remember, you'll end up in the basement of Honeydukes, there will be two aurors there already: Kingsley and Tonks. They will get you home from there. Everyone have everything they brought to school?" Penny said as I worked on opening the passageway. When no one said anything, I assumed they had nodded. "Perfect, take your time going through the tunnel, they won't make the portkeys until you get there."

"Bye, guys!" I waved as they left through the statue.

Two days after exams, we had so many students that had gone home, we had to come up with an excuse to the public so no one would guess the real reason. Apparently, parents were starting to catch onto the pattern for the last few years and were getting their kids home before Potter buck leaked to the rest of the school.

That night, the rest of the plan fell into place. Malfoy disappeared into the Room of Requirement, we got everyone but members of the DA out of Hogwarts (they volunteered to stay so they could help get people out) and I got a letter via my bathroom sink that Thalia and her girls were in place.

When she came to visit with Nico and Grover earlier in the year, in order to make amends for how she acted at the end of last year, she offered her Hunts' services to help win the war. I had her go back and get Lou Ellen to teach her girls some defensive of magic if they didn't know already, and told her to wait for my IM.

Now we were waiting with Albus in his office and Harry was by the Gryffin for the Death Eaters to come our way. A few members of the Order were also in the castle waiting in anticipation for the fighting to start. Hermione and Ron had been tasked with seeking and killing Nagini. Harry had gotten them each a basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets.

"Where did you say your friends were, Percy?" Albus asked.

"Thalia put some in the Forbidden Forest and some are walking around the school pretending to be students." I answered.

"Brilliant idea, bringing them in," Albus said happily. He folded his hands on his desk, not bothering to hide how much worse his hand had gotten.

"When this is over, we are going to have Lady Hecate and Madame Pomfrey take a closer look at that hand." Penny said, eyeing it shrewdly.

"Of course," Albus said pleasantly.

"Shh!" I said suddenly. I'd heard something from the door.

In the next second, Luna Lovegood walked through. "Harry told me to tell you the Death Eaters have made in and he and Voldemort are in the Great Hall."

"Thank you, Luna," I said. I stood up from my spot in front of Albus' desk, pat my pockets for my weapons and looked back at the others.

"I thought he was in the hall just outside." Albus said, growing concerned.

"He was," Penny said, giving me a worried look.

"Let's go," I said, heading to the door. I tried not to think about what had happened in the few minutes that the Death Eaters had broken in. Somehow, the plan had gone wrong. They were supposed to come looking for Albus in his office. "Luna, stay away from the Great Hall. Help those fighting Death Eaters anywhere else if you must."

Luna adopted a military stance. "Yes. Sir. Percy. Sir!" She said as loudly as her soft voice could go in an American accent.

A grin escaped me and I shook my head at her antics. "Albus, I need you to go after any Death Eaters that are overpowering students. Penny, you too. Take this"—I handed her a dagger made of Stygian iron that Nico gave me—"help Hermione and Ron destroy the last Horcrux. I'm heading to the Great Hall to make sure Harry's alright."

"But Percy—!"

Penny tried stopping me but I was already down the stairs and making my way to the Great Hall.

Many of the halls and stairways were filled with Death Eaters fighting students, teachers, aurors, and hunters. The students were doing a lot better than I'd worried they'd be. They had somehow gotten their hands on the weapons I had matched them up with in last year's defense class and were using them along with their wands. Many Death Eaters were missing hands because they got too close. I heard a lot more variety of spells being shot around and I felt pride swell up inside me. I recognized some of those spells from the exams. I passed a lot that were laying on the floor with two or three silver arrows sticking out of their chest or skulls curtesy of Thalia and her hunters. I also saw several Death Eaters frozen in a stone. Medusa must be on a rampage.

I had reached the last stairway to the Great Hall when I ran into someone familiar.

"Percy!" Or maybe they ran into me. A slightly smaller form with dark hair and a silver parka rushed at me from down the hall and launched herself at me.

"Thalia?" I said just as I hit the floor.

My cousin stood up and settled back with her shield on her arm facing someone behind us. Taking a peek around her, I saw someone that looked a lot like—"Fenrir Greyback." I breathed.

"Go, Percy, I heard really loud bangs coming from the Great Hall a few minutes ago," Thalia said, propping her silver spear up. "I've got this."

Looking from her spear to the werewolf, I smirked and proceeded to run down the stairs.

I heard the cackle of electricity and pained yells come from behind me just as I reached the entrance to the Great Hall.

"...how you managed to find out." Voldemort was saying. He and Harry were circling each other in the center of the Great Hall. The tables had been blasted away to the walls, leaving plenty of room for them to face off.

"He's not as good as he thinks," Harry answered confidently. "I knew ages ago, I just needed proof."

"Not about Severus, Harry Potter," Voldemort spat. "About the locket and ring."

Now Harry smirked. "An unfortunate side affect of sharing a connection to your mind last year led to me finding out some of your secrets, Tom."

That made Voldemort mad. He slashed his wand in Harry's direction with an angry shout.

Harry let the curse hit him in the leg. I winced in sympathy when I heard the crack of his bones as he fell down. He let out part of a shout but other than that, didn't show how it affected him.

"That's gotta hurt." My cousin appeared out of nowhere right next to me. "The werewolf is dead." She told me.

"Have you seen Voldemort's snake?" I asked. "He doesn't go anywhere without it."

"It's over there," she pointed to the far corner of the room. "It looks like he's put a protection of some kind on her."

I huffed. "I need you to find Hermione, Ron, or Penny. I gave Penny the dagger from Nico."

"And she gave it to me," a new voice said behind us.

We spun around to see Neville standing with his head high and a determined look on his face. I have never seen him this confident.

"She got caught up helping Fred and George against the Lestrange brothers." He explained. "Where is the snake?"

"Here," I smiled reassuringly at him as I grabbed his arm. "I can get us over there so you can kill her. Just brace yourself."

I didn't give him enough time to say anything else because I vapor traveled the two of us across the Great Hall barely three feet away from the snake. Neville only needed a second to reorient himself before he lunged for the snake, only to bounce off the protections Voldemort had put on her. She spun around to face us and we started backing away. She hissed loudly at us and coiled back in preparation to strike.

"Okay," I said. "Element of surprise has been lost. Now what?"

"Do you know what spell he's used to protect her?" Neville asked.

"No," I said, ignoring the two dueling wizards in the center of the room was proving to be distracting as I tried to think quickly.

Not quickly enough. Nagini had chosen that moment to lunge forward. Out of reflex, I spun the ring Tyson gave me on my finger and my trident rose up to meet her. The spell around her shattered and her head got stuck in between the prongs on the trident.

"Now, Neville!" I shouted, catching the attention of the other two most powerful wizards in the room.

Neville raised the Stygian dagger in both of his hands and brought it down on the base of Nagini's neck. Most of her body detached from her head. She ended up looking like a snake version of St Nicholas with only a piece of skin keeping the two pieces together.

"No!"

Neville and I snapped our heads over to see Voldemort staring in dismay as his last Horcrux was destroyed right in front of him.

"I know what you wanted by coming here tonight, Riddle." Harry said calmly.

Voldemort whipped his head around to face his chosen rival. "And what is that, Potter?"

"This." Harry held up the wand he'd been using. "The Elder Wand. Also probably to kill Dumbledore and I but none of that is going to happen tonight."

"How do you have that?" Voldemort's snake-like pupils contracted to thin slits. "That wand is Dumbledore's."

"No, it is not." Harry answered. "By now, I know you have read up on the Tale of the Three Brothers. You know about the Hallows."

"Of which, none are more powerful than the Wand." Voldemort said. "How do you have that?"

"You might also have noticed that my power has only gotten stronger so this must mean I am the true master of the Elder Wand." Harry continued, ignoring the Dark Lord in front of him. "Your plan has taken a lot of twists in the last few days, Riddle. Your Horcruxes have all been destroyed, I cast out your spy before you expected it, I am the master of the wand you wish to own, and I am going to unite you with the rest of your soul pieces tonight."

"How?" Voldemort asked. His power was starting to leak. His robes swirling around him as if the wind were moving them. Every step he took as he and Harry circled each other dented the stone floor.

"Before I explain this, I'd advise you to think about what you've done...Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle..."

"What is this?"

This, more than anything, shocked Voldemort. The monster faltered in his pace around the room.

"This is your last chance," Harry said. "It's all you've got left...be a man...try...try for some remorse."

"You dare—?" Voldemort said.

"Yes, I dare," Harry said. "It's not just that I have come to possess the Elder Wand. If you truly understood the Tale of the Three Brothers, you would know that to possess all three, is to be the Master of Death. At least to the understandings of us mere mortals. But...I am not a mortal. Not like you."

"You dare—?" Voldemort said again.

"Yes, I dare!" Harry said. "I am the Master of Death! I have achieved what you have dreamed of achieving for the entirety of your life in the wizarding world! I have been chosen by Death to hold the balance between the mortals and the immortals of the world. You looked in the wrong direction for immortality, Riddle."

Voldemort could only seethe in anger.

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" Harry whispered. "You, a man diminished to a fragment of a soul, and me. The one who would send you to the Underworld where you should have gone when you attacked me 16 years ago."

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry batted away the green spell with his bare hand and took advantage of the shock that Voldemort was in because of that by marching right up to him. He smiled unnervingly at him before reaching up and grabbing at his heart. He made a claw like motion with his hand against his chest and pulled. A grey mist came with his hand. The look of shock was frozen on Voldemort's body even as it swayed and fell backwards. Without waisting a second, Harry waved his other hand through the mist and it disappeared.

"Well done, Harry!" I said, throwing my hands in the air. "You know what this means?"

"Don't say it," Harry dropped his head in his hands.

"Vol—"

"Voldy's gone moldy!" Peeves had popped his head through the wall closest to me.

I grinned and pointed to him triumphantly. "Yes!"