"Just a projection of Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded happily.

"So... Voldemort's last Horcrux disappeared?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's there," Dumbledore pointed in a direction, and Harry was startled. A baby-like monster covered in crimson curled up in the grass, looking terrifying. "Voldemort's killing curse brought it here with you. I came here before you, so I wandered around. It didn't take long for you to come here. To be honest, it's a bit noisy. Let's go, let's go somewhere else." Dumbledore led the way and left

here, and Harry followed immediately.

They walked on a country dirt road, with green bushes and wild flowers growing wildly on both sides. No one took care of it, but it was very lush. They walked down from the height, and the buildings in the village were in full view. Harry was more and more certain that this was a fictional scene-the more modern houses he and Sirius had seen when visiting the graves were now all gone.

Dumbledore pointed his finger in a direction, and Harry was surprised to find that it was covered with a white light.

"What is that place?" he asked.

"You know," Dumbledore said with a smile, "you've seen it many times."

Harry couldn't see what was in the white light, but he could roughly judge it based on the location. He widened his eyes: "Your home?"

"Yes, we will separate there." Dumbledore said in a deep voice.

"Separate?"

"Oh - I'm sorry, Harry, you can only go back alone. My life has come to an end, and I think I will continue to go." Dumbledore said, looking at the white light in the distance thoughtfully. Harry didn't know if he saw something that he couldn't see.

"Life is coming to an end? You, Professor Dumbledore,..."

"I'm glad you finally realized it. I'm going to die, oh, maybe I'm already dead." Dumbledore said, looking at Harry's wide-eyed expression, smiling slightly: "Don't feel sad for me, Harry, I chose this ending myself and realized it step by step. My life is long and wonderful, especially the last year, which made up for many regrets."

They walked forward for a distance. Harry was in a state of confusion at this time. He mustered up the courage to ask: "Is it-is it because of me? To solve the soul fragments in my body."

Dumbledore stopped, paused, and looked at Harry, "Of course this reason is included."

"I would rather die myself." Harry murmured.

Dumbledore showed great tolerance and understanding. He said consolingly: "It happens that I think so. And-Harry, you are one of the reasons why I did this. Even without you, I would make the same decision, but if I can solve your problem by the way, it will be more cost-effective for me."

"But what about school?" Harry said sullenly.

"Have you forgotten? I have already submitted my resignation," Dumbledore said with a blink, "Minerva and Felix will run the school. I believe they can do a good job."

"Speaking of Professor Happ--" Harry suddenly thought of another reason, "He believes that the exposure of the wizarding world is inevitable, and Sirius and Ms. Bones also agree with this view. Everyone is preparing for this."

"You are right." Dumbledore agreed.

"Only you can appease everyone-I mean, when the news is made public." Harry said bluntly.

"I dare not take on this reputation," Dumbledore shook his head, "In fact, facing that future, I am as helpless as you. Felix, Amelia, and even you will do better than me."

"Me?" Harry said in astonishment.

"Yeah, will you tolerate wizards abusing Muggles?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head.

"What about the other way around, letting Muggles enslave wizards?"

Harry shook his head again.

"Look, isn't this good?" Dumbledore said with satisfaction, "Remember your choice at this moment. Even if this road is not easy to walk, you will never regret it because you are doing the right thing."

Harry was a little confused. He followed Dumbledore into this somewhat familiar village. Then he found the 'abnormal'.

"Albus." A short and fat middle-aged Muggle woman wearing an apron greeted him warmly. Harry thought her eyebrows and eyes looked a bit like Mrs. Weasley.

"Mrs. Brenda." Dumbledore stopped and said with a smile.

"Little Bart wants to have dinner at your house. He likes magic too much." The woman said.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said happily, and the wrinkles on his forehead relaxed. "Ariana likes children very much. She has prepared a lot of programs for the bonfire party."

"Oh, I know, she is always so kind, but I think it's too much trouble for you..." Mrs. Brenda said a little embarrassedly. She took out two apples from under her apron and stuffed them into Dumbledore and Harry. "I baked some honey cookies and asked little Bart to take them over in the evening."

"You are very polite, Mrs. Brenda." Dumbledore said politely. They separated and he and Harry continued to move forward.

Harry felt strange, but Dumbledore was obviously in a very good mood. He could feel the overflowing happiness from him. He took a bite of the apple and hummed some slightly funny country tune. Many people came to greet him along the way. Among these people, there were both wizards and Muggles, but what they had in common was that they all knew the existence of magic, but did not show any surprise. On the road,

a wizard dressed as a hippie leaned against the wall to perform magic tricks for a group of children.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry listened to the whole tune, put down the half-eaten apple, and asked impatiently: "Are these people also dead souls?" He clearly remembered that Dumbledore said that this was the gap between life and death. In theory, only wizards could come here, right?

"I don't think so." Dumbledore said.

"Then-" Harry paused. Was it Dumbledore's imagination?

"When I first got here, there was fog everywhere. This environment was obviously not suitable for conversation. The moment I thought of this, it automatically became like this." Dumbledore said, "It may be related to me."

They chatted like friends. Dumbledore talked about the prophecy he saw from Grindelwald, "Skeeter played an important role." He

talked about Felix again:

"I am optimistic about him - young and promising, not greedy for power, and clear-headed enough. Of course, he has been very independent since he was a child, and sometimes I think he is too mature. I can't educate him like I educated you - I can only use other people to restrain him, such as you, Severus, Miss Granger, the Niffler, Sirius, Remus, Neville... Unknowingly, there are already so many people."

Later, Dumbledore mentioned the prophecy he heard in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic.

"I think I am the lion in the prophecy - glorious, but now old. I am a Gryffindor."

"Why can't it be a firebird?" Harry asked breathlessly, "The phoenix is ​​immortal, right? And you have Fawkes, maybe the prophecy implies that you will be reborn in the fire like a phoenix..."

Dumbledore laughed.

"Oh, Harry, you can't expect an old man who is about to die to love the world more than the young people of the same generation. I did dream of changing it. I left all the passion, vision, enthusiasm and desire in my life in that summer, in my era. You are more willing to make the world a better place than I am, and I - look, they are waiting for me!"

Harry raised his head, and they walked to the place where the white light was unknowingly. He couldn't see anything before, but now his eyes caught some figures, that is Dumbledore's father, mother and sister, they are holding hands and looking at each other tenderly.

"Is this true? Are they true?" Harry said hurriedly, he wanted to remind Dumbledore in this way. Perhaps his family, like the visions he had seen before, existed because of Dumbledore.

"I know I will be going alone, but I will not refuse to fill my stomach before embarking on a new adventure." Dumbledore said softly, and Harry knew that Dumbledore was awake and determined. He watched Dumbledore walk towards the white light and towards his family. "

I wish you good health, Harry."

Dumbledore said at last, and then the white light engulfed him.

...

The headmaster's office. In the mirror, Felix saw Harry open his eyes, and his face had returned to his own. Felix exhaled lightly, and he knew that Dumbledore had succeeded. Fawkes made a short and sad cry, and Felix stood up and dragged his half-crippled arm to Dumbledore. He seemed to be asleep, and the resurrection stone ring on his hand flickered, as if breathing.

"Crack!"

A clear shattering sound. A crack appeared on the surface of the Resurrection Stone, which was like a black gemstone, followed by a burst of dense clacking sounds. The cracks were like spider webs, and at a certain moment, the Resurrection Stone turned into fragments.

Countless firefly-like light points gathered in the air and danced. Felix seemed to see a vague figure, but it was fleeting. Dumbledore's hand dropped, and Felix grabbed the cold hand and placed it on Dumbledore's knee.

A wand fell from his sleeve.

It was the Elder Wand.

Felix hesitated for a moment and stuffed the wand back into Dumbledore's hand.

"Harry." He turned around and faced the mirror and said clearly.

At the same time, Fox spread his wings, looked back at Dumbledore who was sitting quietly, and flew into the mirror. The sad sound of the phoenix rang in the ears of Felix and Harry at the same time. Harry struggled to sit up. He was in pain everywhere. But after hearing the professor's shouts and Fawkes's cries, he grabbed his glasses that had tilted to the side and put them on, looking up at the firebird circling above his head.

Professor Happ's voice seemed to come from the whole sky:

"Harry, Dumbledore left Voldemort to you. Can you handle it?"

Harry looked not far away. Voldemort's fingers moved and he was about to wake up. He muttered, "Leave it to me." He stayed where he was, watching Voldemort get up from the ground quietly, watching the expression on his face change from shock to realization, hatred, and finally only panic.

"You disguised yourself as Snape to destroy my last Horcrux?" Voldemort screamed. He grabbed his wand, looked around nervously, and shouted to the air: "Dumbledore! Happ! Where are you? Come out!"

Harry looked at the hysterical Voldemort and lowered his eyes.

"Stop shouting, I'm the only one here."

"Only you?" Voldemort looked at him in astonishment, then understood in an instant, "They asked you to kill me? How dare you, how dare they--" He suddenly stopped talking, and a trace of pity appeared in Harry's eyes.

"Voldemort, you are alone, and behind me stands all the people who love me." Harry said, but his words only made Voldemort more angry.

"Harry Potter!" Voldemort shouted the name in the most resentful tone.

"Tom Riddle." Harry said calmly.

There was nothing more to say, at this moment, everything became clear. The same thought flashed through their minds: only one can leave here alive. The red light collided with the green light, and golden flames shot out from the intersection of the spells. Both of them tried their best.

The phoenix made a high-pitched cry, like the drumbeat of war, which gave Harry more confidence. The red light completely overwhelmed the green light, reflecting Voldemort's face in a miserable green, and his eyes revealed a light of fear. The green light was forced back into the wand, and Voldemort's body froze, and the fear on his face condensed.

His wand was thrown into the air, swirling toward Harry, but Harry did not reach out to catch it, but let it fall to the ground. He stared at Voldemort, knowing that it was all over.

Felix closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his pale blue eyes and said, "You are tired, Harry. Fawkes will take you to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey examine you. And--" He hesitated, "Don't tell anyone about Dumbledore's death yet. Keep it strictly confidential. I will find time to explain it to you tomorrow."

The mirror image disappeared, and Felix stayed in the dark. For him, the night was far from over. He continued to dismantle the magic that belonged to Dumbledore in his arms. The spell resisted passively, but it could only tremble slightly under Felix's suppression.

...

The horizon was gray-green, indicating that dawn would come in a few hours.

Nurmengard Castle.

A stiff body was thrown into a cell.

Grindelwald hit the ground heavily like a tattered bag, and his body did not rise or fall at all.

"He's not dead, is he?" a member of the law enforcement team asked.

Then, Grindelwald heard the rustling sound of shoes scraping against the ground, a pair of feet stopped beside him, and then a finger reached under his nose. Grindelwald let out shallow, even breaths.

"He's unconscious."

The footsteps were completely far away from him, and Grindelwald waited quietly. The door was locked, and then there was a "sizzling" sound, which was the sound of the cell's defensive magic being activated; then the footsteps and voices became fainter, but he kept waiting, holding his breath, not missing any tiny echo - finally, from a distant place, there was a sound of the door closing.

Grindelwald raised his head with empty eyes. There was no one in front of him.

He grinned and laughed silently, then made a sound, the laughter became louder and louder, echoing in the narrow cell, and finally he began to retch. He coughed and retched, his expression was extremely painful, and tears flowed uncontrollably. Finally -

a bloody mirror was vomited out and spun on the ground.

"Thank you for your kindness, Longbottom, for not destroying that hair."

Grindelwald said in a hoarse voice. He took out the "Tales of Beedle the Bard" from his arms and put it in the corner. Now was not the time to look at it. He returned and picked up the mirror from the ground. Strands of magic flowed out of the mirror, and then the magic turned into a blazing blue flame, lighting him into a burning torch.

Suppressed groans of pain came from the cell.

After an unknown amount of time, a low incantation came from the blue flame, and a blue firebird took off.

...

Tonight is destined to be a long night.