Second Wizarding War

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured inHarry Potter: Magic Awakened. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

Second Wizarding War

TheSecond Wizarding War referred to the conflicts stemming from theDark wizardLord Voldemort's second rise to power after hisreturn in1995. Voldemort and his followers, theDeath Eaters, waged a violent campaign across both thewizarding andMuggle communities alike.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters strove to topple theMinistry of Magic, with the eventual goal of conquering the entire wizarding world in addition to theMuggle world.Harry Potter, prophesied as the"Chosen One" capable of bringing an end to Voldemort's power, took an active role in this war, alongside his peers inDumbledore's Army and the members of theOrder of the Phoenix.

The Second War technically began on24 June of that year, though was not officially announced by the Ministry unti18 June the next year, and technically ended on2 May1998 atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after thedeath of the Dark Lord, though there was one moreincident at the Ministry of the Magic later on.

History[]

Prelude(1970–1995)[]

First Wizarding War[]

Main article:First Wizarding War

The First Wizarding War was fought for approximately eleven years, from1970 to1981. It includedLord Voldemort's rise to power, the induction of theDeath Eaters, and the mass chaos that resulted in his reign of terror.

Several great wizards weremurdered in this time; brothersFabian andGideon Prewett, theMcKinnons, theBoneses, andJames andLily Potter.^[3] Others, such asAlice andFrank Longbottom, weretortured and leftpermanently injured, both physically and mentally, to the extent that they could no longer performmagic.^[1]

On31 October1981, Voldemortattackedthe home of James and Lily Potter in hopes of preventingthe prophecy regarding his downfall from ever coming to fruition.^[3] However, hisKilling Curse on their son,Harry, backfired due to theloving sacrifice Harry's mother made for him. Voldemort, having lost his physical body and magical powers, fled to a forest inAlbania as a wisp of a shatteredsoul.^[1]

The fragments of his soul stored in hisHorcruxes prevented his actual death,^[1][2] which should have occurred when the Killing Curse backfired. Death Eaters were arrested by theMinistry of Magic; others such asLucius Malfoy,Corban Yaxley,Walden Macnair,Amycus Carrow,Alecto Carrow,Avery,Crabbe,Nott, andGoyle claimed they had been enslaved by theImperius Curse. The First Wizarding War ended and peace was temporarily restored to the wizarding world.

There was much speculation afterward concerning Voldemort's survival. OnlyAlbus Dumbledore had any confirmation he was in Albania. However, some, includingRubeus Hagrid, believed he was still alive, as he "wasn't human enough to die". As Dumbledore strongly suspected that the worst was not over, Harry Potter was taken into the care of hisMuggle relatives, theDursleys.^[34] Dumbledore placed a protective charm ontheir home which would break on either:

1. The day Harrycame of age,^[3] or
2. The day Harry stopped calling 4 Privet Drive home (the day he left and never returned).^[4]

Attempted theft of the Philosopher's Stone[]

Lord Voldemort waited for his followers to find him, but he was instead located byQuirinus Quirrell. Quirrell helped him infiltrate Hogwarts so they couldsteal thePhilosopher's Stone. Voldemort first attempted to steal the stone fromGringotts Wizarding Bank, butthe vault was emptied before he had the chance.

This attempt resulted in a skirmish, which took place on4 June1992. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger battled through a set of obstacles in theUnderground Chambers. Most eleven-year-old children would find it near impossible to pass through these chambers, but they succeeded anyway.^[35] In the last chamber, Harry defeated Voldemort and kept the stone safe, with Quirrell dying in the process. This forced Voldemort back into hiding.^[36]

Second opening of the Chamber of Secrets[]

Before his first downfall, Voldemort had split hissoul into six fragments which he embedded intoHorcruxes. He did this out of his terror and paranoia ofdeath.^[2][37] One such Horcrux washis diary, which Voldemort, through his servant Lucius Malfoy (who was ignorant of the diary's true form, not recognising it as a Horcrux, but thinking it was some obscure Dark object his master had created), tried to use to regain a physical form in1992.^[38]

This time his unsuspecting victim wasGinny Weasley, who unwittingly allowed the diary to siphon life from her to the preserved memory ofTom Marvolo Riddle, Voldemort's former self.^[38] However, this plot was foiled once again byHarry Potter,Ron, andHermione, along withDumbledore'sphoenix,Fawkes.

Harry slayedSalazar Slytherin's Basilisk withGodric Gryffindor's Sword, which was acquired from theSorting Hat. After slaying the Basilisk, he unknowingly destroyed the Horcrux with one of the serpent's fangs.^[38] TheBasilisk venom destroyed the diary completely, putting it beyond the realm of magical repair. Harry was bitten by the Basilisk in the process and was an inch from death. However, Fawkes'tears healed his wound and saved his life. This also led to Dumbledore having some proof of his belief that Voldemort had Horcruxes though not fully certain of how many.^[37]

Servant returns to the master[]

In 1994, Ron's pet grey rat, Scabbers, was revealed asPeter Pettigrew. Although thought to be dead (he was believed to be murdered by Sirius Black), he turned out to have been in hiding, due to the fact he was now a Death Eater and an accomplice of Voldemort. He had been hiding in hisAnimagus form of a grey rat named Scabbers since shortly after betraying Lily and James Potter to their deaths on 31 October, 1981.^[39] He spent 12 years with theWeasley family, as their pet.

Pettigrew's disguise was discovered by the part-KneazleCrookshanks,Sirius Black, who had escaped fromAzkaban in the Animagus form of a black dog named Padfoot, andRemus Lupin. Though not from lack of trying, Harry Potter failed to successfully turn Peter Pettigrew over to the Ministry of Magic, and Pettigrew escaped to return to service to Voldemort, though he later regretted it, where he made two complicated Dark potions, one of which was theRegeneration potion, torestore Voldemort to a physical body.^[1][39]

Triwizard Tournament[]

Voldemort soon learned thatBartemius Crouch Jnr, one of his loyalDeath Eaters, was alive and hadescapedAzkaban. Voldemort went in search of his servant and found him being kept prisoner inhis father's house. After a group of Death Eaterswreaked havoc at the1994 Quidditch World Cup, Barty Crouch Jnr scared them off bylaunching theDark Mark into the sky. Voldemort and Crouch Jnr then hatched a plan to bringHarry Potter directly to Voldemort.

UsingPolyjuice Potion, Barty Crouch Jnr disguised himself asAlastor Moody, who would be returning to Hogwarts to teachDefence Against the Dark Arts. Taking advantage of his position of authority, Crouch Jnr entered Harry Potter into theTriwizard Tournament, under the name of a false fourth school. During thefinal challenge of the tournament, Barty Crouch Jnr turned the Triwizard Cup into aPortkey, which then transported Harry to theLittle Hangleton graveyard. Using Harry'sblood, Voldemort was able toregain physical form and overcome the protective spell from Harry's mother. After aduel between the two, Harry managed to escape and report Voldemort's return toAlbus Dumbledore.

Voldemort's return to power(1995–1996)[]

Main article:Return of Lord Voldemort

In the beginning, there were casualties which went unnoticed by most.Bertha Jorkins, aMinistry of Magic official at theDepartment of International Magical Co-operation, was captured byPeter Pettigrew during her holiday toAlbania in summer of1994.^[40] She was interrogated for information on theTriwizard Tournament and then murdered with theKilling Curse.Frank Bryce,Muggle caretaker of theRiddle familymansion, was murdered byVoldemort with the Killing Curse on16 August1994, after overhearing Voldemort's plans to murderHarry Potter.^[41]

Barty Crouch Snr, head of the Department of Magical Co-operation at the Ministry, was murdered by his sonBarty Crouch, Jnr in May of1995.^[42] Barty had been previously incarcerated inAzkaban for the crime of taking part in the capture and, by means of theCruciatus Curse, torture of the aforementioned Longbottoms.^[43] Later, his father smuggled him out of prison to fulfil the dying wish of his wife.

However, with the aid ofLord Voldemort andPeter Pettigrew, Crouch Jnr broke free of his father'sImperius Curse and assumed the identity ofAlastor Moody. Under this disguise, he was able to take up the position ofDefence Against the Dark Arts professor atHogwarts while his father was subsequently put under the Imperius curse by Lord Voldemort, but when he escaped, he was murdered by his son before he could reveal the truth toDumbledore. However, due to Harry's escape, his identity was compromised and hissoul was destroyed by theDementor's Kiss.^[32]

On the same night, Hogwarts's champion,Cedric Diggory, was murdered by Peter Pettigrew, who used the Killing Curse on Voldemort's orders, via the usage of the Dark Lord'syew wand.^[12] Through a spell and potion, Voldemort regained his physical form, though underdeveloped, and attempted to duel Harry Potter. He failed, as the "echoes" of his previous victims, including James and Lily Potter, Cedric Diggory, Bertha Jorkins, and Frank Bryce, came to the scene at the accidental summoning ofPriori Incantatem. They held back Voldemort's spell's power, allowing Harry to escape using theTriwizard Cup as aportkey back to Hogwarts along with Cedric's dead body (per Cedric's request).^[44]

Ministry of Magic's denial[]

Main article:Campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter

Shortly after Harry emerged from the maze claiming Voldemort had returned,Cornelius Fudge, theMinister for Magic, refused to believe it, as it could compromise his position as Minister. Instead of working with Dumbledore to prepare the wizarding world for battle and try to stop the Death Eaters, he launcheda campaign to slander and discredit both Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, as Fudge was paranoid that Dumbledore was after his job. He used his influence at theDaily Prophet to convince the wizarding public that Dumbledore and Harry were crazy, attention-seeking liars and that everything was going well in the world.

The Ministry appointedDolores Umbridge toDefence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and soon she becameHogwarts High Inquisitor, giving her enormous power over the students and teachers, as well as enforcing the Ministry's agenda at Hogwarts. Harry was further alienated by both students and friends, as they were sceptical of his claim that Voldemort had returned. This includedSeamus Finnigan, and evenPercy Weasley, who wrote aletter to his brother Ron, saying he should distance himself from Harry. Umbridge also punished Harry with sadistic, torture-like detentions for telling the truth by making him write "I must not tell lies" with aBlack Quill.

However, Harry Potter found strength from within by forming a secret organisation with his friends calledDumbledore's Army in order to prepare themselves for the war that would soon follow. As Dumbledore's Army trained, disappearances continued to occur as Voldemort gained power, while the Ministry turned a blind eye to it. TheDementors guarding Azkaban started to move their authority to Voldemort anda large break-out occurred, including the release of notoriously sadistic Death EaterBellatrix Lestrange, who was also a cousin ofSirius Black. Dumbledore was forced to flee the school when Dumbledore's Army was discovered and he took the blame for it. This allowed Umbridge to be appointed as Headmistress of Hogwarts, though she did not get much help from the other teachers in stopping the chaos that the students caused to disrupt her tyrannical regime.

The Death Eaters took full advantage of the Ministry's denial and kept a low profile, rebuilding their forces quietly and secretly. They managed to recruit bothDementors andgiants because the Ministry refused to take the suggested actions, and successfully engineered the Azkaban breakout because of this. Consistent with the denial, Cornelius Fudge suggested the breakout and occurring disappearances were the work of Sirius Black, much to the contrary. Also, due toLudo Bagman swindlinga group ofgoblins by fleeing from his debt, the Order originally feared that goblins would side with Voldemort due to a Ministry official cheating them, but they instead chose to remain neutral and refused to join either side due to their already strained trust for humans to be further damaged by this incident.

The only resistance the Death Eaters met with, at the time, was theOrder of the Phoenix, which was suppressed by the Ministry's propaganda and threat of dismissal, thus furthering Voldemort's freedom of action. Falsely-reformed Death Eaters such asLucius Malfoy andWalden Macnair remained in the Ministry's trust, subtly sabotaging the government's efficiency and gathering information on them. While Harry and several Order of the Phoenix members suggested that Fudge was acting under theImperius Curse, Dumbledore believed otherwise, which was not a lot of comfort.

Despite the Ministry's propaganda and corrupt political procedures in suppressing the truth, there are many who chose to believe Dumbledore and Harry instead, such as theLongbottom family andErnest Macmillan, who claimed that his family had long stood beside Dumbledore. When Harry provided an interview of the truth viaThe Quibbler, it riled many more people to support him, including Seamus Finnigan.

Battle of the Department of Mysteries[]

Main article:Battle of the Department of Mysteries

After theDeath Eaters made two unsuccessful attempts to steala prophecy from theDepartment of Mysteries, it was realised that only those about whom the prophecy referred could remove them from the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy. Thus, in June1996,Lord Voldemort used his connection toHarry Potter to send him a fake vision of his godfather,Sirius Black, being tortured within the department.^[3]

After leading Umbridge into theForbidden Forest where she was carried away bycentaurs after she insulted them, Harry, Ron, Hermione and fellow members ofDumbledore's Army:Neville Longbottom,Luna Lovegood, andGinny Weasley flew onThestrals to theDepartment of Mysteries within theMinistry of Magic to try to rescue Sirius. After obtaining the "Dark Lord's prophecy," they were confronted by a group ofDeath Eaters (Bellatrix Lestrange among them), who were under the leadership ofLucius Malfoy.^[3]

The D.A. students quickly distracted them, scattering throughout the Department of Mysteries, and frequently encountering and duelling with theDark wizards. Neville was kicked in the face and as a result could not perform spells;^[3] Hermione, Luna, Ron, and Ginny, including numerous Death Eaters, were all incapacitated, but there were no fatalities until five members from theOrder of the Phoenix — Sirius Black,Kingsley Shacklebolt,Nymphadora Tonks,Remus Lupin, and Alastor Moody — arrived. They battled the Death Eaters before Bellatrix Lestrange suddenlyblasted Sirius Black with her wand, causing him to fall and disappear through a mysteriousveil, killing him instantly.^[3]

Soon afterwards,Albus Dumbledore appeared and (through the use of anAnti-Disapparition Jinx) captured all the Death Eaters except Bellatrix, who ran out of the chamber while being chased by a vengeful Harry Potter, who, for the first time in his life, used and cast theCruciatus Curse on Bellatrix. However the curse was too weak, as Harry was using it out of"righteous anger" as to being furious at Bellatrix for murdering Sirius, and this only gave her a small amount of pain. Bellatrix proceeded to use the same curse back on him and scornfully taunt him about how to use anUnforgivable Curse correctly in theAtrium.

Searching for Harry and Bellatrix. Dumbledore then came across Lord Voldemort himself. The two engaged ina ferocious duel of epic proportions which left theFountain of Magical Brethren in ruins, with Dumbledore taking the upper hand and eventually incapacitating Voldemort with anorb of water.^[3] Unable to defeat Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort attempted to possess Harry in the hope that Dumbledore would sacrifice the latter in order to kill Voldemort. When an army ofAurors, including Cornelius Fudge, arrived, Voldemort hastily fled, thus ending the battle. Having seen Voldemort with his own eyes, Fudge finally believed Dumbledore and Harry's claims about the Dark Lord's return.^[3]

Open war(1996–1998)[]

Upon their reactivation being no longer secret, the Death Eaters resumed their modus operandi: terrorism, abduction, and mass murder. There were numerous casualties of the war in1996. When MinisterCornelius Fudge refused to surrender the Ministry, Voldemort destroyed theBrockdale Bridge^[5] drowning many Muggles. House prices inHogsmeade crashed as its annual decreased.^[45]Florean Fortescue andGarrick Ollivander both went missing andOllivanders was emptied, but there was no sign of struggle.Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour showed evidence of a struggle or fight, but no sign of him was ever found.

A man namedOctavius Pepper disappeared in the early spring.Igor Karkaroff was found dead in a shack with aDark Mark cast over the building a year after he deserted Voldemort.^[17] Order of the Phoenix memberEmmeline Vance and Head ofMagical Law EnforcementAmelia Bones were murdered by unknown assailants.^[5][16] These events allowed Head of theAuror OfficeRufus Scrimgeour to replace Fudge as the newMinister for Magic.^[10]

During this time, Voldemort also gathered the strengths of thegiants,Dementors, andwerewolves^[4] to his cause. Because of the Ministry's denial, Voldemort was able to rebuild his forces unhindered, which led the Ministry to fall too far back behind by the time they finally accepted the truth. Now forced to admit that he couldn't defeat his old teacher, Voldemort also seta plan in motion to assassinate Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the resistance against him, striking a crippling blow against the wizarding world's morale as well as removing Harry Potter's strongest defender and mentor.

Unfortunately for the Ministry, even with the consequences of Fudge's denial as an example, it did little to change their preference of reputation over true security; Fudge attempted to request Harry to lie to the public how the Ministry was doing a great job in their defence against the Death Eaters, which would have led to more false sense of safety that would endanger them. Although Harry refused, Minister Scrimgeour attempted to do the same and also created many cover ups such as Azkaban breakouts and arresting random suspects to make it look like progress.

Harry found thepamphlet distributed by the Ministry to be not so helpful in regards to basic defensive strategies against the Death Eaters. This campaign of corruption and false security would cause the Ministry's defence to drop further, as Death Eaters were able to cast theImperius Curse upon high-ranking officials, who in turn would take control of others, leading to a network of powerful conspirators, and eventually, the Ministry would pay for its folly in 1997.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower[]

Main article:Battle of the Astronomy Tower

At the close of the Hogwarts school year in June1997,Albus Dumbledore was slain bySeverus Snape's Killing Curse in theHogwarts Astronomy Tower.^[18] He had been previously sickened to the brink of exhaustion by theDrink of Despair. After convincingDraco Malfoy to forgo his plans to murder him, Severus Snape and four other Death Eaters came to the scene. Snape took over the task of killing Dumbledore.

Among the Death Eaters present were siblingsAlecto and Amycus Carrow,^[18]Corban Yaxley,^[46]Thorfinn Rowle^[47] andGibbon,^[4] along with werewolfFenrir Greyback.^[18] On the side of Hogwarts were siblingsGinny,^[48]Ron,^[49] andBill Weasley,^[48]Hermione Granger,^[49]Luna Lovegood,Neville Longbottom,Remus Lupin,Nymphadora Tonks,^[48]Minerva McGonagall,^[47] andHarry Potter.^[18] Bill Weasley was attacked by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and received scars on his face, but because Greyback was not fully transformed at the time of the attack, Bill sustained only minimal lycanthropic symptoms.^[48] On the Death Eaters' side, the only death was Gibbon, killed by a strayKilling Curse cast by Thorfinn Rowle. The Death Eaters were noted to be prepared to fight to the death, resulting in aggressiveness that overwhelmed the Order.^[48]

The Death Eaters were forced to retreat once their task was accomplished. They were pursued by Harry, who duelled with Snape but was unable to prevent the Death Eaters' escape.^[47] Much of the luck of the Hogwarts defenders can be attributed toFelix Felicis, liquid luck, which was used by the students who were present.^[48] Now that Voldemort was finally rid of Dumbledore, the only wizard he ever was afraid of, he could turn his attention tooverthrowing the Ministry and finally murdering Harry Potter.

Throughout the year, parents withdrew their children from Hogwarts due to the Death Eaters' activities becoming increasingly brazen due to the lead they had; families preferred to stick together during these challenging times despite the school being a safer place due to thepowerful magical protections.^[50] However, it was only when Draco successfully allowed Death Eaters into the fortress that the community was struck with the horrific realisation that there was no longer anywhere safe from Lord Voldemort and his army, resulting in many more families rushing to gather together.^[48][51]

Battle of the Seven Potters[]

Main article:Battle of the Seven Potters

Also known as the Battle over Little Whinging, this battle occurred when theOrder of the Phoenix was ambushed while attempting to removeHarry Potter from theDursley home at4 Privet Drive just before Harry's seventeenth birthday. The "seven Potters" includedHermione Granger,Fleur Delacour,Ron,Fred andGeorge Weasley, andMundungus Fletcher, who all tookPolyjuice Potion to take on the disguise of Harry Potter.Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody,Bill andArthur Weasley,Remus Lupin,Nymphadora Tonks,Kingsley Shacklebolt, andRubeus Hagrid acted as escorts to various "Potters" to confuse anyDeath Eaters who might try to prevent them from reaching their destination ofThe Burrow.^[20]

Immediately after takeoff, they were ambushed by at least thirty Death Eaters, includingSeverus Snape,^[20]Bellatrix Lestrange,^[21] andLord Voldemort.^[20] FletcherDisapparated as soon as he sensed danger,^[21] andHedwig andMoody were both slain byKilling Curses.^[20][21]

All others safely arrived at The Burrow, with onlyGeorge Weasley sustaining a great injury with his ear which was accidentally caused bySeverus Snape'sSectumsempra curse. Harry, however, was devastated by the death ofhis loyal pet owl.^[21]

Fall of the Ministry of Magic[]

Main article:Fall of the British Ministry of Magic

On1 August1997, theMinistry of Magic fell under the control ofLord Voldemort. The coup was described as "swift and quiet", but asMinister for MagicRufus Scrimgeour was murdered, this is disputable. Before Scrimgeour died, he was captured and interrogated by Voldemort, who used theCruciatus Curse try try to obtain information on Harry's whereabouts; despite his knowledge, Scrimgeour's last act was to protect Harry from Voldemort and refused to disclose any information. As a result, Voldemort finished him off with theKilling Curse.^[22]

Many of the Ministry's top officials were under the influence of theImperius Curse when this battle took place, includingHead of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Pius Thicknesse,^[22] who became Voldemort's puppet Minister after the take-over. Voldemort himself did not declare open leadership, instead choosing to use secrecy and confusion to maintain the public's distrust for each other, thus preventing rebellion. WhetherDeath Eaters actually entered the Ministry and fought in person is not known. Regardless, some Death Eaters, such as Yaxley,^[46]Travers,^[52] andSelwyn^[2] became employees in the new regime. They also quickly placed theTaboo on Voldemort's name as a way of spreading fear and locating enemies which later played an important role in the capture ofHarry Potter,Ronald Weasley, andHermione Granger.^[25][26][53]

The Order was informed of the coup byKingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus, which arrived atThe Burrow during the reception forBill Weasley andFleur Delacour'swedding.^[54] Death Eaters arrived as HermioneApparated herself, Harry and Ron toTottenham Court Road. There, after unwittingly breaking the Taboo on Voldemort's name,^[55] they were ambushed byAntonin Dolohov andThorfinn Rowle. After theLuchino Caffe Duel, Hermione wiped their memories. Harry, Ron and Hermione then took to hiding in12 Grimmauld Place.^[22][55][56]

Meanwhile, Death Eaters interrogated those at The Burrow as well as other locations affiliated with the Order.Dedalus Diggle's house was burned down,^[22] though he was not there at the time, andTed andAndromeda Tonks weretortured for information.^[22] The Death Eater regime soon established theMuggle-Born Registration Commission to round up and imprisonMuggle-borns on charges of "stealing" magic. The new regime also asserted control overHogwarts, attendance at which became mandatory, and installedSeverus Snape as Headmaster. Despite the seemingly absurdity of these new policies, Voldemort's effectiveness in spreading confusion to maintain control made the citizens to accept the changes.^[22]

Infiltration of the Ministry[]

Main article:Infiltration of the British Ministry of Magic (1997)

Thetrio learnt of the location ofSalazar Slytherin's locket fromMundungus Fletcher and planned accordingly. On2 September1997, Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrated the Death Eater-controlled Ministry under the disguise ofPolyjuice Potion. They disguised themselves asAlbert Runcorn,Reginald Cattermole,^[46] andMafalda Hopkirk, respectively. They were looking for the locket, which they believed to be in the possession ofDolores Umbridge.^[22]

Not only did they manage to reclaim the locket, but Harry Potter also liberatedAlastor Moody's magical eye from the front of Umbridge's office door. In addition, they assisted severalMuggle-born wizards in escaping interrogation and quite possibly saved their lives in the process.^[52] There were no known deaths or permanent injuries. However, they were forced to abandon12 Grimmauld Place as a safe house afterYaxley forciblyDisapparated with them by grasping Hermione's arm, who was only able to escape his grip using aRevulsion Jinx and Disapparating again..^[23]

Attack at Godric's Hollow[]

Main article:Attack at Godric's Hollow (1997)

On Christmas Eve of 1997,Harry Potter andHermione Granger made their way toGodric's Hollow, both to visit thegrave of theformer's parents and to see ifBathilda Bagshot knew anything about the symbol on a book left to Hermione byAlbus Dumbledore, and if she possibly hadGodric Gryffindor's Sword.^[57] At the grave of the Potters, Hermione conjured a wreath of flowers for Harry to put at the foot of their headstone. On the headstone was the inscription "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death".

After visiting the graves ofJames and Lily Potter, Harry and Hermione were spotted by Bathilda, despite being under Harry'sinvisibility cloak. Harry found it odd that Bathilda sensed them, and connected it to Dumbledore, as he too could sense the presence of others. They followed her back to her home, where Harry saw a picture of a young wizard he later learnt was Bathilda's nephew,Gellert Grindelwald.^[58] Bathilda beckoned Harry to follow her upstairs, and Hermione reluctantly remained on the lower floor.

Upstairs, Bathilda asked if he was Harry Potter; he was not aware that she asked this in Parseltongue. When he confirmed that he was, he felt his scar burn — Bathilda had in fact been dead for some time, andNagini was actually in her animated corpse.^[24] She signalledVoldemort and then attacked Harry, biting and coiling herself around him. Hermione came running upstairs and tried to curse the snake while Harry felt Voldemort approaching. Hermione repelled Nagini from Harry using aBlasting Curse that also ended up breakingHarry's wand. Both jumped out of the window andDisapparated just as Voldemort arrived. Hermione managed to heal Harry's bite, but they had to shareher wand untilRon Weasley returned to them, with aspare wand taken fromSnatchers.^[59]

Ambush at the Lovegood House[]

Main article:Ambush at the Lovegood House

On30 December1997, shortly afterRon Weasley returned to the hunt and his friends. Ron destroyed thelocket Horcrux using Gryffindor's sword.^[59]Hermione Granger expressed a desire to visitXenophilius Lovegood in order to question him about amysterious symbol somehow connected toThe Tales of Beedle the Bard,Albus Dumbledore,Gellert Grindelwald, andGodric's Hollow. It was also the symbol Xenophilius had worn to the wedding atThe Burrow in the summer.^[54]

In spite ofHarry Potter's scepticism, the trio went to theLovegood House. There, Xenophilius told them about the legend of theDeathly Hallows. They began to grow suspicious, however, when they saw a copy ofThe Quibbler that was no longer supportive of Harry and theOrder of the Phoenix,^[60] and when they deduced thatLuna Lovegood had not been home for a long time. Xenophilius admitted thatDeath Eaters had taken her hostage against his good behaviour, and that he had alerted them to Harry's presence in his home.^[60]

Xenophilius tried to hold them there, but ended up causing theerumpent horn in his living room to explode. The trio hid asSelwyn andTravers arrived and started to beat and torture Xenophilius,^[60] thinking he had been lying to them. Hermione then engineered their escape so that the Death Eaters caught a glimpse of her and Harry but not of Ron, who was supposed to be home withspattergroit. That way, Ron's alibi was preserved and the Death Eaters would not punish Xenophilius or Luna.^[25]

Skirmish at Malfoy Manor[]

Main article:Skirmish at Malfoy Manor

The small but bloody skirmish ofMalfoy Manor occurred afterFenrir Greyback capturedHarry Potter,Ron Weasley,Hermione Granger,Griphook, andDean Thomas after Harry broke theTaboo on Voldemort's name. Greyback and fiveSnatchers descended on their location aroundEaster of1998 when Harry accidentally broke the Taboo.^[25][26]

Opting to take Harry directly to Voldemort for the large reward, theyApparated to his headquarters at Malfoy Manor. Though Voldemort was elsewhere, theMalfoy family,^[26]Bellatrix Lestrange,^[26]Lucius Malfoy,Narcissa Malfoy, andPeter Pettigrew^[26] were present. Bellatrixstunned the Snatchers for their "lack of respect" towards her and orderedDraco Malfoy to take all the hostages down to the cellar. Once in the cellar Harry and Ron met withLuna Lovegood andGarrick Ollivander.

Bellatrix kept Hermione upstairs and brutally tortured her with theCruciatus Curse for information on how they were able to getGodric Gryffindor's Sword fromher vault and at one point threatened to run her through withher dagger. In spite of her great suffering, Hermione was able to concoct a bogus story, claiming the sword was a fake.^[26] Harry overhearing Hermione say the sword was a fake convinced Griphook to back up her claim.

Dobby thehouse-elf was sent to Harry's aid fromAberforth Dumbledore.^[61] Harry requested that he evacuate Dean, Ollivander, and Luna using the elf's special brand of Apparition magic. Dean and Luna were both reluctant to leave Harry and protested. The noise was overheard in the house above, and Peter Pettigrew was sent to investigate. He was ambushed in the cellar when Harry and Ron tookhis wand and briefly battled him hand-to-hand.^[26] However, when Harry reminded Pettigrew that he had saved his life, Pettigrew hesitated to murder Harry. Despite Harry and Ron's efforts to stop it, Pettigrew's Voldemort-madesilver hand turned against him and strangled him to death for the tiny, merciful impulse that Wormtail felt.^[26]

The two boys then stormed the room where Bellatrix was holding Hermione. When Dobby reappeared, the group — Harry, Ron, Hermione, Griphook, and Dobby — Disapparated to the cottage ofBill Weasley andFleur Delacour. It was only then that they discovered Bellatrix had thrown her knife and stabbed Dobby, who died soon afterwards. Dobby was buried in the garden ofShell Cottage with the epitaph of"Here lies Dobby, A Free Elf."^[27]

Gringotts break-in[]

Main article:Break-in of Gringotts Wizarding Bank (1998)

While staying atShell Cottage, Harry, Ron, and Hermione planned to break intoGringotts Wizarding Bank in order to stealHufflepuff's Cup from theLestrange Vault, as they suspected from Bellatrix's earlier panic that it was one of Voldemort'sHorcruxes.^[27] Using hair that had fallen onto Hermione's sweater when Bellatrix was holding her atMalfoy Manor, the trio brewedPolyjuice Potion so that Hermione could disguise herself as the Death Eater. She thentransfigured various aspects of Ron's appearance and he took on the alias of "Dragomir Despard",^[62] a foreign wizard. Harry and Griphook followed under theinvisibility cloak.

With Griphook's help, and Harry usingConfundus Charms and theImperius Curse on Death EaterTravers and various bank employees, the trio got into the Lestrange vault. There, they struggled to get Helga Hufflepuff's Cup as the treasureturned hot enough to burn them and multiplied when touched. Just as they obtained the Cup, Griphook tookGodric Gryffindor's Sword from Harry and deserted them. Harry, Hermione and Ron escaped by flyingthe half-blind dragon that had been guarding the vault out of the bank.^[62][63]

Malfoy Manor massacre[]

Main article:Massacre at Malfoy Manor

On the same day as the break-in, Voldemort was informed by several goblins from Gringotts that theTrio had robbed theLestrange Vault. This caused Voldemort to panic, and when he was informed thata small golden cup had been stolen, he flew into a rage. Realising at that moment that Harry was hunting down his Horcruxes, Voldemort murdered many of the goblins and Gringotts employees within the bank using theElder Wand whileNagini watched and the rest of the witnesses fled, includingLucius Malfoy and evenBellatrix Lestrange pushing others aside in their haste.

The Dark Lord smote eachgoblin on the floor in their turn,^[63] includingGriphook who collapsed holding theSword of Gryffindor,^[29] until he was left alone amongst the dead with his followers, who were slowly and fearfully approaching the carnage.^[63]

Battle of Hogwarts[]

Main article:Battle of Hogwarts

Following the massacre, Lord Voldemort warned the Carrows that Harry might go to theRavenclaw Tower and ordered a massive attack onHogwarts Castle, where his HorcruxRowena Ravenclaw's Diadem was hidden. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went into theRoom of Requirement, followed close behind by Draco Malfoy,Vincent Crabbe, andGregory Goyle. Duringa small battle in there, Crabbe set offFiendfyre, burning everything until Harry, Ron, and Hermione rescued Draco and Goyle and flew from the Room onbroomsticks. Crabbe was unable to escape and perished.^[7] The Diadem Horcrux was also destroyed in the process as Fiendfyre was capable of destroying Horcruxes.

Hogwarts fortified itself for the attack. Voldemort demanded that Hogwarts hand over Harry Potter but, despite his threats, they remained in support of Harry and refused.^[7] Eventually, having been convinced to hand himself over by Snape'smemories,^[28] Harry surrendered himself to Voldemort in theForbidden Forest, convinced that his death would destroy Voldemort as well, for a piece of Voldemort's soul attached itself to Harry's soul when theKilling Curse backfired in 1981, turning Harry into an accidentalHorcrux.

Voldemort's use of the Killing Curse on Harry merely sent Harry's soul into aLimbo where he had a brief conversation with Dumbledore before reawakening in the forest.^[11][64] To maintain his safety, Harry feigned his death. Ordered by Voldemort to confirm Harry's demise,Narcissa Malfoy discovered that Potter was in fact alive, but kept it secret in exchange for information from Harry concerning the welfare of her child Draco^[11] (she and Lucius no longer cared who won, they just cared whether or not Draco was alive and well).

Rubeus Hagrid was forced to carry Harry back to the Castle, where the Hogwarts community believed he had been murdered and Voldemort claimed that he had been caught trying to escape and save himself. In the ensuing commotion, Harry concealed himself with the invisibility cloak, and witnessed Neville beheadingNagini, Voldemort's last remainingHorcrux, thus finally stripping him of hisimmortality. Morale renewed by Longbottom's bravery, the final battle included thehouse-elves, the residents ofHogsmeade; the friends and families of every remaining student, a few returningSlytherins, a flock ofThestrals, a herd ofcentaurs, and the outlaw HippogriffBuckbeak.^[11] Death Eaters were either cut down or forced to surrender.

In theGreat Hall of Hogwarts, the crowd congregated around Voldemort battlingKingsley Shacklebolt,Minerva McGonagall andHorace Slughorn all at once, and "his last, best lieutenant,"Bellatrix Lestrange, fightingHermione Granger,Ginny Weasley, andLuna Lovegood. After Bellatrix nearly murdered Ginny,Molly Weasley stepped in,killing the Death Eater.^[11] Voldemort blasted his three opponents away from him and turned on Molly, but Harry Potter revealed himself at that moment.^[11]

Voldemort's Last Stand[]

Main article:Voldemort's Last Stand

The crowd retreated and watched then as the two great enemies, Voldemort and Harry Potter, bantered and circled each other. Harry dared Voldemort to feel remorse,^[11] to which Voldemort responded by shooting aKilling Curse from theElder Wand. Harry simultaneously cast his ownsignature spell, theDisarming Charm, usingDraco Malfoy's wand. However, because the Elder Wand rightfully belonged to Harry, the Killing Curse rebounded andended Voldemort's life once and for all, restoring peace to the wizarding world. Harry then, shortly after, used the Elder Wand torepair his own broken wand, and then placed it back in Dumbledore'stomb, hoping the wand's power would die with him.^[11]

The Second Wizarding War was over with a decisive victory for theOrder of the Phoenix andDumbledore's Army.^[11] Few members of the Order survived, but most of theDeath Eaters and allies were either killed or imprisoned after the war, except theMalfoy family.^[11][11][65]

Battle at the Ministry[]

Following the Battle of Hogwarts,Dolores Umbridge escaped from hertrial in theBritish Ministry of Magic headquarters. A battle ensued, where theTrio eventually defeated Umbridge and her Death Eater allies, returning her to captivity.^[66]

Aftermath(1998–)[]

After the defeat ofVoldemort, twenty or more Death Eaters were killed. The rest were imprisoned, with the exception of theMalfoys. Approximately fifty-five defenders ofHogwarts were killed in the final battle.^[11]Kingsley Shacklebolt was named interimMinister for Magic, and later took the position on permanently.Minerva McGonagall becameheadmistress of Hogwarts. Celebrations were held in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

In the years following the Second Wizarding War, Minister for MagicKingsley Shacklebolt led a massive reform of theMinistry of Magic in order to put an end toprejudice based on blood status and to better combatDark wizards in the future. In addition to the reforms,Harry Potter andRon Weasley revolutionised theAuror Office andHermione Granger helped advance the rights of magical creatures and eradicated the old pro-pure-blood laws from high up in theDepartment of Magical Law Enforcement.^[67]

Ron Weasley later went on to join his brother George atWeasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which became an enormous money-spinner. Harry was later promoted to be the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Hermione became the Minister for Magic.

Sometime after the death of Voldemort and the reformation of the Ministry of Magic, former Head of theMuggle-Born Registration Commission,Dolores Umbridge, was arrested and brought toWizengamotCourtroom Ten pending trial, however a group of surviving Death Eaters (Corban Yaxley,the Carrows, andWalden Macnair) managed to break her out of imprisonment. Harry, Ron, and Hermione managed to stop them from stealing aTime-Turner and foil their plot to restore Voldemort's dictatorship.

Known casualties[]

Also among the dead were 20-40 Death Eaters and theFallen Fifty.

Behind the scenes[]

• Although the deaths ofQuirinus Quirrell,Bertha Jorkins,Frank Bryce, andBarty Crouch Snr can all be directly attributed to either Lord Voldemort himself or his Death Eaters, they all died before the Second Wizarding War officially began with Voldemort'srebirth.
• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, theMillennium Bridge was shown to be attacked in lieu of theBrockdale Bridge. The events of the story occurred in1996, when the bridge had just begun being built, meaning it was unlikely that people were allowed on it, however, the film does not explicitly state the time the events took place.
• Barty Crouch Jnr technically wasn't killed in the Second War, but he was given theDementor's Kiss by aDementor bodyguard brought byCornelius Fudge.
• InHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, several extra deaths happen that didn't seem to have happened in the book:
  • Hermione'sStunning Spell sendsFenrir Greyback off theViaduct Courtyard to the ravine below and to his death after he was discovered maulingLavender Brown. As this contradicts the events of the novel, it cannot be consideredcanon to the book (in which she does blast him away from Lavender but clearly not off a cliff, as he turns up again in the final part of the battle).
  • Scabior led the Snatchers into theWooden Bridge, where he briefly duelledNeville Longbottom before the latter cast a spell making the bridge collapse, Scabior attempted to get to safety, but inevitably fell to his death into the chasm below.
  • Pius Thicknesse is ruthlessly killed by Voldemort in frustration after he interrupts his concentration on the destruction ofRavenclaw's Diadem (one of hisHorcruxes) with an unwanted interjection.

Appearances[]

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child(Mentioned only)(Appears in analternate reality)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child(Mentioned only)(Appears in analternate reality)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Harry Potter
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Motorbike Escape
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened(Appears in flashback(s))

Notes and references[]