Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

"That's… that's good," Neville said with a shrug. "I just wish we could be of more help, you know. Harry's been fighting off V-v-voldemort by himself for as long as I've known him, and it feels wrong to just let him take all the burden of doing the fighting, you know."

Snape took a while to respond to that. "I know, Longbottom," he finally said. "And you're right; it isn't fair that a child has to clean up after the entire British wizarding world. However, you're wrong in that you're letting him face adversity by himself. Your support and the support of the Legion has been invaluable, maybe not in combat, but in giving Potter peace of mind. Also, should we succeed in defeating the Dark Lord, you and the Legion will have a more important task."

"What's that?"

"You are the future, Longbottom. Your generation grew up between these wars, and you know the truth about most of what happened. You've seen the destruction it brings, the death, the fear. When all of us are gone, it will be up to you and your classmates to make sure that, should another dark lord rise, the wizarding world will face him united. You've seen what resulted from the complacency and division of our world in this war with Voldemort. You make sure it never happens again."

The two fell into an awkward silence for a moment, mulling over what the other had said.

"You don't think he can do it, right?" Neville asked, after a few minutes.

"What are you talking about, Longbottom?"

"Harry." Neville leaned back in his chair. "I mean, he's a brilliant duelist and all, but-"

"But he's still just a boy, and his opponent is the most feared dark wizard in centuries," Snape finished. "Voldemort is arguably the most powerful wizard in the world right now, and his magical power and skill know no equal. Is that about right?"

Neville nodded mutely. "Yeah."

"I agree." Snape turned to stare into the dancing flames again. "There is no way an ordinary boy who is only half-trained in magic and hasn't even finished schooling yet can defeat the dark lord, no matter how gifted a duelist he is. Talent and power only go so far, and they need time to be properly cultivated. Without experience and time, there is no way for anyone to defeat the Dark Lord."

"What about Professor Dumbledore?"

Snape shrugged ever so slightly. "Albus is old, Longbottom. It's true that at the height of his power during the first war, the only wizard Voldemort feared was Albus Dumbledore. However, in the years between then and now, Voldemort has been reborn, and gained more power and more followers, while Albus has aged. The headmaster is slowing down ever so slightly, but even that tiny bit can mean the difference between life and death in a duel between two wizards of their power. While it's true that Albus can match him in skill and magical power, his body isn't getting any younger, while Voldemort's is sustained by rituals and dark magic going back hundreds of years. It'll probably be decades before he loses his edge."

"So there's no way to win, is there?"

"Like I told you before, Potter has the potential to be more powerful than the Dark Lord, but he needs time to grow into that potential. The fact that Voldemort recognized Potter as a threat to him tells me that he is sure that Potter will be able to surpass him one day. He'll do everything he can to make sure that day never comes." Snape glanced back at Neville's poorly-hidden expression of fear, and sighed almost inaudibly. "However, we're talking about Potter here. That boy has managed to pull a miracle out of his sleeve more than once when it counted. Keep that in mind before you decide that the war is already lost."

Having said his piece, Snape stood and left the room, leaving Neville to his thoughts. It was only minutes after Snape had left that Neville remembered what he'd wanted to tell the man, and that he had an urgent message for Harry. Now that Snape had left, he scrambled to find an owl to send the message with.

...

"Any luck?" Harry sat down next to Bella in the library room of Nair'icaix. He was rather familiar with the room, having spent hours with his wife searching for useful combat spells that she could later drill into him in preparation for his battles with Voldemort. Now both Bella and Hermione were sitting by a window, and three tables they had pulled up next to them were groaning under the weight of a veritable mountain of books and tomes.

"Not so far," Bella admitted, before pulling out a piece of parchment from her robes. "But your friends at Hogwarts managed to get us a lead."

"Really?" Harry took the parchment and instantly recognized Neville's messy scribble.

No mention of the item by name, but "Hogwarts, A History" indicated the Founders were looking for a magical artifact that fits the description, supposedly hidden on a stormy island north of the British Isles. Hope it helps.

"When did this get here?" Harry asked, looking up from the note.

"About ten minutes ago," Bella indicated all the books they had gathered around themselves. "We got started on pulling all the history books dealing with the old wars and the Founders as soon as we got it."

She was covering her exhaustion well, Harry realized, but he could hear it in her tone that she was tired. They all were, having worked non-stop since their war council in the hopes of ending the war as quickly as possible, but Bella was pregnant. He gently took the book she was rifling through from her hands and put it on the table next to her.

"Hey! I was reading that-"

"You need some rest."

"I do not!"

"Do, too!"

"Do no!"

"Do, too!"

"I do not - I can't believe I'm having this argument with you!" Bella glared at her husband. "You made me argue like a four-year old!"

"Me?" Harry pointed at himself incredulously. "You were the one who started arguing!"

"Well, if you hadn't taken the book from me, then I wouldn't have said anything in the first place!" Bella shot back.

The two stared at each other silently for a moment before breaking out into laughter. Across from them, Hermione was carefully hiding a smile behind the book she was reading. When they had calmed down, Harry placed a hand on Bella's arm. "Seriously, you need some rest. You look dead on your feet."

"Well, that's why I'm sitting down."

Harry blinked as he digested that argument. "I can't win with you, can I?"

"Sure can't." Bella leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "However, I'm feeling a bit hungry, so I'll go see if I can find something to eat in the kitchen."

"And you'll take a nap, too," Harry insisted. "Please, Bella."

"Oh, all right. Just a quick one." Bella sighed. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay." Harry watched as Bella rose from her chair and left the room. He stared at the door for a while longer, before settling himself in the armchair she'd vacated and picking up the book he'd taken out of her hands. The next half hour or so passed in silence, only interrupted by the rustling of pages and the creak of old tomes. The lines of text he was reading through began to blur in front of Harry's eyes as he skimmed over passages telling the gruesome details of the wizarding wars of the past.

In the quiet of the library, the sound of a book slamming closed sounded like a thunderclap, startling Harry into looking up. Hermione had given up and tossed the tome she had been reading on the table in frustration, and was now rubbing her eyes as she leaned back in her armchair.

"Something wrong?"

...

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