Voldemort's Last Stand

**Harry Potter**: "*I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?*"
**Lord Voldemort**: "*Is it love again? Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death …? So what will stop you dying now when I strike?… If it is not love that will save you this time, you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?*"
**Harry Potter**: "*I believe both.*"
— Harry and Lord Voldemort face off in the Great Hall[src]

**Voldemort's Last Stand**, also known as **Voldemort's End**, was the conflict that marked the end of the Battle of Hogwarts and by extension the Second Wizarding War. It took place at dawn on 2 May, 1998 in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle.

Lord Voldemort, the last of his Horcruxes destroyed and mortal once again, was confronted by Harry Potter as the second part of the Battle of Hogwarts progressed. The pair of them faced off in front of all the surviving fighters gathered in the Hall and, after a brief duel, Voldemort was defeated once and for all.

## History

### Harry's sacrifice

*Main article: Battle of Hogwarts*

> "*Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms.*"
> ― Harry coming to the realisation that he must die[source]
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In the middle of the battle, after Harry witnessed the death of Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, he took a flask of Snape's memories to Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve and viewed them. After seeing memories covering years of the professor's life, Harry realised that Snape was a loyal member of the Order of the Phoenix, and he himself was a Horcrux.

He ventured out to the Forbidden Forest alone, knowing that saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione would be far too painful. As he was passing the dementors, he opened the Golden Snitch left to him to reveal the Resurrection Stone. Using the stone, he summoned the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. They gave him strength as he went to his death. In the remains of the Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony, he found Lord Voldemort and allowed himself to be hit with the Killing Curse, destroying the Horcrux that was Harry.

### The battle

*Main article: Skirmish at the Great Hall*

> "*You see? Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!*"
> ― Lord Voldemort addresses the defenders of Hogwarts[source]
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After the hour-long armistice during the Battle of Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters took Harry Potter's believed "dead body" to the Castle to announce their victory. However, the arrival of the Hogwarts centaur herd, Grawp and the families and friends of the Hogwarts students that had stayed to fight as well as the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade made the battle restart as the fighters ran into the Entrance Hall to avoid Grawp, who had started fighting with Voldemort's giants. Neville Longbottom beheaded Nagini, Voldemort's last Horcrux with Godric Gryffindor's Sword, thus rendering him mortal once again. Harry Potter discreetly took his Invisibility Cloak and joined the fight, that was moving to the Great Hall through the Entrance Hall, while concealed.

The Great Hall became crowded with fighters. Lord Voldemort stood in the centre of the battle, striking all within reach. At this point, most of the Death Eaters were defeated: Yaxley was brought to the floor by George Weasley and Lee Jordan; Antonin Dolohov fell with a scream at Filius Flitwick's hands; Walden Macnair was thrown across the room by Rubeus Hagrid; Fenrir Greyback was defeated by Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom; Aberforth Dumbledore stunned Augustus Rookwood; Pius Thicknesse was floored by Percy and Arthur Weasley.

Voldemort started duelling with Minerva McGonagall, Horace Slughorn, and Kingsley Shacklebolt all at once, cold hatred in his face. Molly Weasley started a duel with Bellatrix Lestrange, the last Death Eater standing. Hundreds of people lined the walls, watching the two duels in awe.

When Bellatrix was killed, Voldemort turned on Molly Weasley, but Harry Potter cast a Shield Charm between the two, thus revealing himself and starting this confrontation.

#### The duel

**Harry Potter**: "*There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me now, Riddle. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good.*"
**Lord Voldemort**: "*One of us? You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?*"
— The final discussion between two mortal enemies[src]

As soon as Harry revealed himself, demonstrations of shock or joy were immediately stifled, for fear. As Harry and Voldemort began to circle each other, silence fell abruptly.

Harry said one of them was to die in that duel, and Voldemort voiced his belief that Harry would be the one because, unlike what happened to many of their other confrontations, he would not be "*crouching behind greater men and women*". Harry, however, explained that he himself had a far more powerful weapon than Voldemort. Harry explained to him that Albus Dumbledore's death had been planned between the former Headmaster and Severus Snape, so that Snape, working for the Order of the Phoenix, gained Voldemort's trust, and that the Elder Wand's power would die with him.<

By chance, however, Draco Malfoy had Disarmed Dumbledore moments before his death, making him the true master of the Elder Wand. Voldemort dismissed this by stating that he would finish off Malfoy after he finished killing Harry, but then Harry added that he had disarmed Draco months ago during a skirmish at Malfoy Manor in March of that year, making him, Harry, the true master of the Elder Wand. This prompted Voldemort and Harry to draw their wands upon each other.<

Just as the first rays of sun rose over the sill of the Great Hall windows, and both cast their spells in an almost simultaneous yell — Harry attempting to Disarm Voldemort, and Voldemort attempting to murder Harry. The two spells collided with a bang like a cannon blast and once again locked in Priori Incantatem — though it was short-lived. The Elder Wand, however, refused to harm its true master and flipped over, flying high toward its rightful master. The rebounding Killing Curse hit Lord Voldemort, and his lifeless body hit the floor, the white hands empty, dead. Harry was immediately applauded for his victory, and his defeat of Voldemort signified the end of the Battle of Hogwarts as well as the Second Wizarding War.

### Aftermath

> "*We did it! We bashed them, wee Potter's the one! And Voldy's gone mouldy, so now let's have fun!*"
> ― Peeves the Poltergeist sings a victory song[source]
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After the death of Voldemort, Harry returned the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb, kept the Cloak of Invisibility, and left the Resurrection Stone where he dropped it in the Forbidden Forest.

Voldemort's body was removed from the Great Hall and placed in another room, while his soul was trapped in limbo in a stunted form, never to return nor move on.