Dumbledore appeared suddenly at the Walpurgis' cottage and called an immediate Order meeting with the participation of the Clique.

When Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place, everybody was sitting at the kitchen table.

Every one of them was asked to report what they had witnessed.

Snape described the chaos that had ensued when the Death Eaters had started to lose their Marks and have their personalities altered. Of the other twelve Death Eaters that had been at the cottage, five had died (Avery, Nott, Rabastan Lestrange, Crabbe and Goyle); Peter had changed into his rat form and run away; Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Dolohov, Macnair and Rookwood had Disapparated from Walpurgis. Snape was almost sure that Malfoy hadn't drunk the potion, and had fled with the others when he felt that the situation was becoming uncontrollable.

Snape admitted that he had reported to Dumbledore the plans of the Clique and had helped the Order to elaborate a supporting plan for the Clique. With Snape's description of the Clique's Map, Lupin and Dumbledore had been able to create a similar map to track the whereabouts and the movements of everybody inside the Death Eaters' hiding place.

Lupin, in his turn, reported that he had noticed Harry Potter's absence in Grimmauld Place and warned Dumbledore immediately. Dumbledore had sent the most competent members of the Order - who were already prepared to join the action at any time - to rescue Harry and give support to the Clique's attack on Walpurgis.

The other five members of the Clique, in individual or collective testimonies, narrated how, by way of the Map, they had watched the Death Eaters slaughtering one another, and how they had felt astonished when they saw Harry Potter entering the cottage. With trepidation, they had watched Harry's, Snape's and Voldemort's movements and, when it became clear that they had no other alternative, they had decided to invade the cottage and rescue Harry.

Finally, Harry reported his action from the time he had Apparated to Walpurgis until Voldemort's Disapparation.

When the reports came to an end, Snape asked permission to speak. Dumbledore conceded it.

Snape stood up, with a determined look. "Headmaster, we cannot reveal what truly happened at Walpurgis to the Ministry and the press. Those events must remain among us, as a secret."

"Severus, Pettigrew witnessed everything, and Lucius Malfoy has many contacts in the Ministry. I'm sure the Ministry will be informed sooner or later. If we don't tell the truth, we will risk being sued for treason. Especially you," added the Headmaster, in his fatherly tone.

"I don't care. If the bond between Potter and the Dark Lord is disclosed, Potter's life will be endangered. Among those who want to destroy the Dark Lord, there are unscrupulous people. Not everything is black and white, as we all know very well. There are many people who lost their families in the war, or in raids, and they live only for revenge."

Harry shook his head and stood up. "I don't want to see anybody accused of treason just to protect me! I won't take it."

Snape glared daggers at him.

"I don't know why you want to protect this Death Eater," said Moody. "He's helped Voldemort to escape not in order to protect Potter, but because he's loyal to his master."

Mr Weasley had to stop Snape, who had taken out his wand. At the other side of the table, Lupin and Tonks held Moody.

"Now, now, friends," said Dumbledore. "We have to ponder all these issues before making a decision."

But the discussion stretched into the night, and they didn't come to an agreement. Finally, Dumbledore decided to postpone the decision for the next morning, asking everybody to spend the night at Grimmauld Place.

"But Headmaster, and Hogwarts?" asked Mr Weasley. "We haven't managed to deactivate the Veneficus Trojanus yet!"

"Don't worry, Arthur. We still have two days. Filius and Axel already know how to dismantle the contraption. It's true that we don't know yet how we will be able to touch it, but Durmstrang is going to send help tomorrow."

"Albus, do you trust those..."

"Now, now, Alastor, let's take a rest. Tomorrow we'll talk about it," Dumbledore concluded, flashing one of his twinkling smiles.

~* ~* ~

Harry slid under the blankets, sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep. Bloody brilliant. He had never wanted to be a hero, but the Wizarding World had placed that burden on his shoulders. Now they would accuse him of being a coward because he had refused to sacrifice himself to free the Wizarding World of their executioner.

And Severus would probably end up kissed by a Dementor, for treason.

"Harry," Ron mumbled from his own bed, "I reckon you did well. And Snape too. He saved your life. He can be a greasy bat, but I'll be eternally grateful to him."

Harry smiled. At least now Ron was on his side. Before falling asleep lulled by his friend's words, Harry kissed the ring. Snape was in one of the upper floor bedrooms, with Lupin. So near and so inaccessible.

~* ~* ~

Snape was already in his bed when Lupin loomed over him.

"Severus, you did what had to be done. Now do me a favour: treat Harry well. If you mess with his head, you'll have to answer to me."

"Mind your own business, Lupin."

Snape turned his back to Lupin and pressed the ring against his own chest.

~* ~* ~

The meeting started as soon as they finished their breakfast. However, there were two guests that hadn't been there the previous night.

"I would like to greet Mr and Mrs Clauschee," said Dumbledore. "I asked them to come here and say a few words, giving us their insight on the subject in discussion."

Kai's parents were both in their thirties. Mrs Clauschee had high and prominent cheekbones, and beautiful amber skin. Her long, straight, silky black hair flowed down to the middle of her back. Mr Clauschee also had long black hair, tied up in a braid. His eyes, dark as coal, glowed intensely as he stood up slowly.

"Dear members of the Order of the Phoenix, I'm Bahe Clauschee, born to the Blue Bird People, born for the Mud People. And this is my wife, Glenna Yazzie, born to the Red Running into Water and for the Yucca Fruit clan. I would like to make a formal protest against the use of elements of our culture without our previous authorisation. We were not informed that an altered version of the Sandpotion would be used on the Death Eaters."

"Mr Clauschee, you're absolutely right. I take responsibility for what happened," Dumbledore declared. "A sequence of unfortunate circumstances led me to make this decision. I couldn't see an alternative. Our intentions were good. The raids were intensifying, and Harry couldn't watch the deaths of his friends passively. Furthermore, I knew about the bond between Harry and Voldemort. I knew the death of one of them would result in the death of the other."

"Headmaster, your people don't understand the fundamentals of our culture."

At that precise moment, Snape moaned. Harry turned to him immediately, and saw him seizing his left arm with his right hand.

"Severus," said Mr Weasley, who was at Snape's side, "don't tell me he's calling you!"

Snape bent over convulsively, in pain. Everybody stood up and approached him, their faces full of concern. Harry was at the other side of the table, and couldn't get near Snape. He wanted to shout to everybody get out of his way, because he wanted to see what was happening. Then he heard Snape's voice, low and hoarse, but clear enough.

"The Mark has... disappeared."

A murmur of astonishment ran through the kitchen.

"What... what does this mean?" asked Lupin.

"I had foreseen this development," said Snape, his voice even more tremulous. "I didn't want to raise false hopes, though." Then, to everybody's amazement, Snape smiled. "The Dark... Voldemort is a Squib now. Harry is safe. As Voldemort has lost his magic, the bond between them has been broken."

There was a general racket in the kitchen. Some people hugged each other, while others, incredulous, asked questions at the same time.

"Ladies, gentlemen... Let's hear Severus's explanation," asked McGonagall.

They all sat down, obedient yet restless.

"The Sandpotion B didn't make the Dark... Voldemort lose his magic immediately. However, as a side-effect of the potion, every time he cast a dark magic spell, his magic rebounded against himself, and he lost part of his powers. From the sudden way the Mark disappeared from my arm, I infer he must have cast an Unforgivable on someone," Snape explained.

"Wicked!" Ron shouted, and was followed by cheers and hoorays.

Everybody embraced each other, laughing in joy.

Except for Mr and Mrs Clauschee, who remained seated stiffly, with a puzzled look.

Dumbledore cleaned his throat. "We were very rude to Mr Clauschee. We have interrupted him. In the Navajo culture, nobody should be interrupted when speaking. Hence, if any of you wants to speak, raise your hand and wait for Mr Clauschee's authorisation."

"Headmaster, my people never interrupt a person who's speaking, but in this case, something unexpected has happened; there's no reason to apologise. I would like to explain my position to you and, in order to do it, I'll have to go back to the beginning of our interactions. When we decided to accept your offer and send Kai to Hogwarts, we had to explain to the boy that he would be entering a world very different from ours. In our world, witchcraft and witches are abhorred. But your definitions of 'witchcraft' and 'witch' are different from ours. To us, Magic is always a gift from the Holy People. Your people don't acknowledge this gift, but that doesn't make you 'evil'. I explained all that to Kai very carefully. I've failed by not telling him that there were evil wizards in your world. And you've failed by not warning us that you would use the potion against Voldemort. If I had known you were planning to do it, I would have told you that the Sandpotion wasn't the ideal medium. To fight an evil wizard like Voldemort, you should have made a potion based in the 'Enemy Way', or in the 'Prostitution Way'.

"What?" asked Ron, too astonished to repress himself.

Perhaps already accustomed to the Wizarding World manners, Mr Clauschee didn't look upset. "That's what we call the ceremony to defeat witchcraft and witches, or rather what you call the dark wizards and the dark arts. Therefore, you used the wrong potion."

Harry raised his hand. Mr Clauschee made a gesture with his head, giving him permission to speak.

"Mr Clauschee, but in the end everything went fine, right?"

Mrs Clauschee exchanged looks with her husband. "In the end you managed to defeat the Dark Lord because you three - Harry Potter, Professor Snape and my son - put your life energies into the potion," Mrs Clauschee explained. "The Sandpotion is a healing potion. In the process of creating the potion, you started to follow the 'Beauty Way'. And what you did was surprising even to us, to The People, because you've managed to cure a dark wizard."

Snape shook his head.

"Don't you agree, Professor Snape?" Mrs Clauschee asked.

"He lost his powers. I don't consider this a cure."

"Nevertheless, he can recover his powers," said Mr Clauschee. "As long as he doesn't use them for witchcraft. For evil purposes, I mean."

A murmur of surprise spread through the kitchen.

"My son," proceeded Mr Clauschee, "is too young. When he identified Voldemort as Winter Thunder, he made a great mistake, from the point of view of our culture. He should have noticed that the lightning mark could only have been imprinted by an evil power. However, what he said it would happen had become reality: Harry Potter and Professor Snape went to Voldemort and made a deal with him. I'm sure they had to have the support from the Black God and the Bat to do it, as Kai predicted."

Harry had raised his hand again, and Mr Clauschee let him speak.

"Kai taught me the Stalking Way song, and I sang it to myself before entering the Walpurgis' cottage."

Mr Clauschee smiled. "Kai is an amazing kid. I would never have thought that this could work. There are some Navajo stories that even my son doesn't know about. One of them tells how the First Man turned to the Evil side. He destroyed and recreated himself, and that's how he got the powers of evil. I see a similarity between Voldemort and this myth. I would never have thought of him as the Winter Thunder. In our way of thinking, the only way to destroy evil is turn the evil around. The Dark Wizard is destroyed by his own evil. But you three defeated the darkest wizard as if you were killing a holy being. 'With beauty before us, we come together. / That my arrow may free its sacred breath. / That my arrow may bring its death in beauty.' The purpose of this song is to put hunter and prey in harmony. It puts one in harmony with death." Mr Clausche shook his head, astonished. "With all its flaws, in the end, Kai's interpretation was crucial to the positive outcome. My son has probably inherited the Seeing powers of my wife," concluded him, looking at his wife with evident affection.

"We wouldn't like, however, to have our culture publicly associated with these events. Because many of our people wouldn't understand," Mrs Clauschee concluded.

"Very well, friends. We will do as you wish," said Dumbledore. "As we have many tasks to fulfil, I think it's time to finish this meeting. Kingsley, Arthur and Nymphadora should go to the Ministry and try to gather information about how Voldemort has lost his powers. Professor Snape and I will go to Hogwarts and help in the Veneficus Trojanus deactivation. Professor Lupin and the children should stay here."

The "children" grimaced and sighed.

~* ~* ~

That evening, the Wizarding World exploded in owls and shooting stars like sixteen years before: Voldemort had been defeated... again. Mr Weasley arrived at Grimmauld Place from the Ministry with an extra edition of the Daily Prophet sporting the headline: "Neville Longbottom defeats You-Know-Who."

Mr Weasley read the article to Lupin, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. It described how You-Know-Who, after confronting Harry Potter and the members of the Order of the Phoenix at Walpurgis, had gone after Longbottom. According to Longbottom, You-Know-Who was convinced that he needed to eliminate him because of a prophecy.

It hadn't been difficult for You-Know-Who to Apparate at the Longbottoms', petrify the grandmother and find the boy. However, when he had cast Avada Kedavra, You-Know-Who had left Neville only unconscious and, apparently, lost his own powers.

Neville now had a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and You-Know-Who, now a Squib, had managed to flee. Nobody knew his whereabouts.

~* ~* ~

The next day, Dumbledore arrived by Floo at Grimmauld Place and, after gathering in the kitchen all the Grimmauld Place occupants (the Clique, Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin), informed them that the Veneficus Trojanus had been deactivated and Hogwarts's defences restored, thanks mainly to Axel Lescaux's work.

"Headmaster, do you know why Voldemort went after Neville?" asked Harry.

"Harry, my guess is that, after knowing that you wouldn't be able to kill him without dying, he became convinced that the prophecy referred to Neville and not to you. When Riddle found out about the bond that linked you to him, Professor Snape told him that the second part of the prophecy could refer to that link ('and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…') But you know... This interpretation is rather contrived. I bet Riddle didn't buy it at all... he pretended to you and Professor Snape that he believed that, or perhaps he had second thoughts about it later... He concluded there was a third party involved, and that this third party was Neville. So, he thought Neville was 'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord', 'born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies', and that, because you and he were bonded, both of you would die at the hand of Neville."

"And in the end... was that prophecy right or not?" Harry inquired.

The Headmaster answered with another question. "Well... is this really the end?"

~* ~* ~

During the next week, Harry, Snape, the Clique and the leaders of the Order of the Phoenix had to explain all the events to the Ministry.

Classes would restart on Monday.

On Saturday night, when Harry could finally rest after all those testimonies, hearings and strong emotions, he told himself that he would have to talk to Severus. It was he, Harry, who had sent him away; probably he would have to be the one to take the initiative of reconciliation.

He pressed the ring strongly against his chest. The next day, he would think of how to approach that stubborn and irritating man whose absence created a deep void in his life.

On Sunday morning, Harry woke up with strong arms wrapped around him.