Destroying the Conqueror

Viktor followed his fiancée to the suite of bedrooms the Malfoys had assigned to them. He caught her hand as she walked in front of him, and she turned to look up at him. "Thank you for coming to find my uncle, love. Here we were hoping that you would be given to me as a concubine, and we are engaged to be married."

"I know, Viktor. It was so much more than we could have hoped for. I feel good about things for the first time since I overheard Dumbledore demanding your uncle kill him as part of his debt. How could a man who thought he could see so far, and see so well, fail to see the basic needs of human nature. People followed him because they thought he was such a hero. Looking back on it, he was just as sadistic and evil as the Dark Lord."

Viktor hugged her close to him. "You are angry, but there is a truth in what you say. Have you decided on a boon? It appears the Conqueror is trying to appear benevolent."

"Yes. I studied a spell in the Restricted Section of the library. It causes portraits to tell the truth. I want to question Dumbledore, then burn his portrait."

"Oh, Nin. That will make the Dark Lord believe that we are surely 'converting' you to our cause."

"Yes, Vitya. You've certainly converted me. He still hasn't figured out that he didn't brand you, has he?" Hermione smiled at her consort.

"Not me, nor Theo that we know of for certain, and we should be able to protect Neville when he is called. Your charm work is impeccable. Of course, that all depends on whether or not we have a chance to see him before he is called. If we cannot, he will be truly marked."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Neville's magic would not deal well with being branded. What do you think you will be doing for him, Viktor?"

"I am going to offer to do intensive flight training for his front line forces. We can have a set of fliers who can fight from their brooms. I think he may like the idea. What do you think, Nin?"

"I think it is a wonderful idea. What will you ask as your boon?"

"I'm going to ask if he will perform our marriage ceremony. He is powerful enough, magically, to call the elements to bless the binding."

"I think he will be pleased. It should be an interesting morning."

The two snuggled into bed together, knowing they needed to be at their best to deal with the newly benevolent, yet even more frightening, Dark Lord.

*-*-*

The next morning, shortly after breakfast, Lucius was Summoned to the Dark Lord's side. He returned soon after with news for everyone. "The Dark Lord requests that we all attend a debriefing meeting this morning. There will be a press conference there, and yes, we are certainly being held up as, what did you call us, Hermione? Poster children? He was ranting about how the registration of young women is not going to plan. He'd already Crucio'd about fifteen fathers for not making sure their pureblood daughters were chaste for marriage."

Luna chimed in, "Dumbledore certainly never let Madam Pomfrey tell us girls about what would happen if we had sex prior to marriage. I don't think he believed it." If she hadn't been so serious, most of the people there would have laughed. "I mean, it isn't as though this isn't a well-known phenomenon. You would think we were asking him to allow her to tell us about what a Crumple-Horned Snorkack uses its horn for."

One of the portraits from the wall cleared his throat. Narcissa turned quickly and fired off a hex. It appeared that Dumbledore had muscled his way into the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black. "Well, Hermione my dear, you may just get your wish. Why don't you take our erstwhile Headmaster's portrait to the meeting with you?" Hermione smiled and cast a shrinking spell on the portrait and put it into her purse. She ignored the shrieking coming from the portrait.

"Are we all properly dressed?" Lucius looked around. "Good, let us go." All of the people in the house reached out to touch the Portkey in his hand.

They landed in the Atrium of the Ministry and looked around. A blue spell was cast, and the engaged girls glowed. Katie Snape did not, which made the ex-professor blush, if you knew what to look for.

"I am quite pleased with your group, Lucius. The girls who need to pass their exams are still chaste, and the new Mrs. Snape is not. Well done! I believe I shall grant you all boons." The Dark Lord never once realized that his new 'benevolence' was far more frightening than his more usual demeanor. The jovial extravagance was so unlike him, many of those watching the scene wondered what kind of potions he was taking.

Voldemort turned to Luna Lovegood and her fiancé first. "What would you ask of me, Miss Lovegood?"

"If it is at all possible, sir, I would like to get a new wand. Mine was broken, and a new one would make my studies easier."

"Well thought out, my dear. Granted. Ollivander shall be to see you shortly."

"Draco?" questioned the Dark Lord.

"I wonder, my Lord, if you recovered my wand from Potter's body? If not, or if you have another use for it, I would also like a new wand."

The Dark Lord reached into his pocket and handed Draco his wand. "Here you go, young Malfoy. You are as wise as your betrothed." The snake man then turned to Ginny. "What about you, my dear?"

"I would like to see my father, sir. He did not see what happened to me yesterday, and I would like to ease his mind, if I may."

"A dutiful daughter is a joy for any pureblood. Granted." Voldemort turned to MacNair and asked him to send for Arthur Weasley.

"What would you like, Rabastan? You have always served me faithfully."

"I would like a chance to speak to my father-in-law-to-be as well."

"Very good. Family should be close."

The Dark Lord then turned to those who were listening. "Do you all see why these people were granted such boons? They are truly worthy."

"Severus, do you wish anything?"

"No, my Lord. Katie has proven to be more than I hoped for in a wife. You are wise indeed."

"As you say, Severus. And you, Mrs. Snape?"

"Was my broom recovered, my Lord? It was a gift from my father when I graduated. If possible, I would like it back, even if it cannot fly."

The Dark Lord turned to Marcus Flint, who came forward with a broken broom. Katie looked at it and nodded.

The "Chosen Ones" were living up to the Dark Lord's expectations.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Ginny's tearful reunion with her father as well as Rabastan trying his best to soothe the nerves of the man. Something in his stance made Hermione tuck a question into the back of her mind. Viktor touched her hand quietly to bring her attention back to the madman in charge.

"Miss Granger, I see you are living up to your reputation. What would you like as a boon?"

Hermione looked down, took a deep breath, then nodding to herself, reached into her bag and pulled out a small square.

"What do you have there, Miss Granger?"

"The portrait of Albus Dumbledore. He snuck out of the Headmaster's Tower through the portrait of Headmaster Black and was spying on us in Malfoy Manor. Mrs. Malfoy trapped him here, and I brought him along. I found a spell in the Restricted Section that works like Veritaserum on portraits. I would like to question him and then either give him to you to burn, or burn him myself."

"I will have to consider the best way to grant your wish, Miss Granger. It is truly devious. It will be the crowning spectacle for my news conference, I believe." Voldemort then looked at Viktor. "And you, Mr. Krum? What would you like as a boon?"

"My Lord Conqueror, when it comes time to finalize my binding to Hermione, I would like you to perform the binding."

"That is easily granted. Now, what have you to offer my troops?"

"I would like to teach them how to fight aerially. Give me those that are good on a broom, and I will make them a strike force," Viktor responded just as he had told Hermione he would.

"Excellent. I will have a group assembled for you tomorrow morning on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch."

"Miss Granger, you will come with me to my office to explain your plans for Dumbledore. I wish to know what you want him to answer." In a parody of good manners, Voldemort held his elbow out to Hermione, who took it with a wary look at Viktor. She was a bit less wary when she realized Lucius would be accompanying them.

*-*-*

That afternoon the press was gathered in the Atrium of the Ministry, ready for the conference that had been called by the Conqueror.

"Wizards and Witches of Britain, I am here to present to you the first of our true conquests: Miss Hermione Granger, a Mudblood who has surpassed her birth and become the betrothed of Viktor Krum, the trainer for our aerial fighters. She has continued to behave as a proper pureblood should and has remained chaste. Seeing as Mr. Krum has followed instructions and has been working to convince his bride-to-be that we are in the right, she requested a boon that makes me believe my vision for a united and pure Britain is achievable. We are here today to witness her questioning, under a truth spell, of the only wizarding portrait of the so-called great Albus Dumbledore. After that, we will witness his final destruction at the hands of Severus Snape, who asked for nothing."

The gathered assembly gasped as one as the portrait was unveiled.

"Hello, Miss Granger. Have you decided to set aside your childish grudge and come to me for advice?" The portrait of Albus Dumbledore was smug in his self-aggrandizement.

"Oh, no, sir. I have some questions for you. Now, first of all: Vir Du Fabrica, Dico Verum!"

The portrait of Albus flinched when the spell hit him. "Now, Miss Granger, anything you ask me could be vital to winning the war. Are you certain you want to do this in this sort of venue?"

Hermione laughed. "You mean no one has told you, Albus? The war is over. We lost."

The portrait looked stunned. "That isn't possible. The last was in Harry. My plan should have worked. Didn't he give himself up willingly?"

The Dark Lord laughed. "He most certainly did, Albus. Your sacrificial lamb was quite willing to be a martyr. But why would I pass up an opportunity to finally kill him? And yes, I now live! Britain is bowing to my will and I am reshaping society. It will be a paradise, Albus, and you will have nothing to do with it."

Albus's painted face looked pained. "I was not interested in shaping society, Tom."

Hermione interjected icily, "No, not society. You were only interested in playing chess with real people as your pieces." She turned to the Dark Lord. "May I begin the questioning, sir?"

"Most certainly, Miss Granger."

Hermione turned to the portrait. "Why did you turn your back on Slytherin?"

"I needed a scapegoat."

"Why did you hurt Severus so badly when he was a student? Why would you choose Sirius over him?"

"He wasn't valuable. At the time, I thought I could influence the Black heir to give me his money as the Potter heir did."

"Why did you turn on Sirius?"

"He would never raise a martyr. I needed someone who would worship me."

"Why did you abandon Harry to Petunia?"

"Do you have any idea of his power, girl? It is the same reason I wanted you to marry Ronald Weasley. Power. When the Potter heir married that Evans girl, the match of power was huge. I could not have another child loose in the world who would end up more powerful than I am. His poor nutrition and stunted growth was necessary to keep his magic under control."

"You wanted to match me up to Ronald Weasley because my power was going to be hindered by his?"

"Of course. If you married Mr. Krum, or Harry, your children would be very powerful. I have done my best to discourage powerful matches. In that matter, Tom did a lot of my work for me. He destroyed the powerful Muggle-borns or half-bloods, ensuring that the power was muted."

A growl emanated from the Dark Lord, who realized his whole blood-purification agenda fit right into the old chessmaster's plan.

"You are despicable." Hermione was so angry, her hair crackled.

"Yes, I am."

A hissing voice interjected. "I have heard enough! Severus, do you have anything to ask this old man before you destroy him?"

"Yes, my Lord." Severus bowed to the Conqueror, then turned to the portrait. "You wanted me to die, didn't you?"

"Yes. I can't even imagine the power of your children should you procreate."

"What do you think of Miss Bell, Albus?"

"I am very glad she is interested in Oliver Wood. As with Miss Granger, it is best to keep her from a truly powerful wizard."

"What would you say if I told her she was my wife?"

"I would have to find a way to manipulate someone into killing her. You cannot be allowed to have children together, Severus. That kind of power is hard to harness."

"I truly hate you, Albus." Severus looked to his wife, who nodded at him, then pointed his wand at the portrait. "Fiendfyre!"

After the portrait burned itself out, the Dark Lord swept out of the Atrium, followed by Lucius and Severus. Hermione was instructed to return to the Manor to study.

*-*-*

Wizarding Britain was stunned to say the least. It appeared that the devastation of the last two wars was engineered by Albus Dumbledore to keep the reins of power in his hands. He had not wanted any children born who could surpass him in terms of power. The fact that the British press was nothing more than a set of gossip-mongers kept news from the rest of the world out of their hands. As the head of the International Wizarding Federation, he was able to censor any news of great power or new blood or even scientific studies out of the hands of those who might actually understand them.

Voldemort was left stunned. Here was a power far more evil than he was, and he had no idea what to do. A dictatorship cannot be run like a democracy. So more and more he turned to Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape to help him run the government. As his magical construct of a body began to decompose, he ventured into the public less and less.

*-*-*

Six months passed quickly. The Ministry held the NEWTs for those sixth and seventh years who had not taken the tests during the war. When the results were posted, Hermione was at the top of the list. Her scores rivaled those of Severus Snape himself.

She was contacted by the Department of Mysteries to begin work as an Unspeakable. When she arrived that morning, she was quite surprised to find Arthur Weasley was her boss.

"Arthur, you are the Head Unspeakable? I would have never guessed."

"No one is supposed to guess. Your assignment is to the Department of Magical Creatures, as a liaison to the goblins. Your work with charms, especially the false Dark Mark, has intrigued the goblin ward-makers, and they have offered you an apprenticeship. This is a great honor."

"So then you want me to appear to be the beleaguered Ministry drone trying haplessly to make changes, all the while I will be apprenticed to a goblin Ward-Master?"

A gravelly voice rang out from the shadows. "Exactly. My name is Roklag, and I will be your master. You show great promise, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, sir. I just need you to know that I am to be part of the state wedding celebration on Saturday. Will that affect anything?" Hermione worried. She had just grown more wary since Dumbledore's betrayal and Harry's death.

"Not at all. We understand your value to the new regime." There was a world of knowledge in that small statement.

*-*-*

Hermione smiled. She thought back to the last six months of her life. After Dumbledore's portrait was burned, everything started to change. Lucius was made Minister, with Severus as his Chief Consultant. No one could buy Lucius, and Severus, well, it was amazing how much power the Headmaster of Hogwarts held.

Viktor made such headway with the aerial strike force that Voldemort demanded he be sent to Hogwarts to teach flying. His betrothed was required to go with him.

Muggle-borns and their parents were required to sign a contract stipulating not only their willingness to learn Magic, but that they understood their talents were required to stay in the Wizarding world. With Narcissa Malfoy and Augusta Longbottom teaching classes in deportment and traditions, as well as Percy Weasley teaching History, by his request of all things, Hogwarts was beginning to reflect its true existence as the best school of Wizardry and Witchcraft in Europe.

The not-so-Underground managed to clear the whorehouses very quickly. A marriage law was passed, and most of those girls were paired off with Muggle-born or half-blood wizards. Voldemort took credit for the increase in powerful, magical babies born in Britain. In reality, Viktor had off-handedly mentioned a program like that in Russia to Severus at a meeting, and the rest was history.

NEWT and OWL scores were improving rapidly.

General contentment was also growing. Voldemort was more and more relegated to being a figurehead. But Lucius was a master of making The Dark Lord feel as though he were the instrument for change.

There were still a few stupid enough to voice their desire for a less regimented, Dumbledore-like Ministry, and they were used as examples. Dean Thomas lost his life that way, wishing he could play football out loud. He had gotten too comfortable.

Those that could never be part of Voldemort's world, those that married Muggles, were rescued by Viktor, who would go out to do "reconnaissance" and use charms that Hermione and Luna had developed to mask the magical signatures. Many of the new Muggle-borns were really half-bloods, but those numbers and records were kept in a special place in the Department of Mysteries.

It was discovered by Ginny Weasley that Harry was never a Horcrux. She had become a confessor of sorts to Voldemort, due to their connection through the diary Horcrux. He told her about the others, explaining that Nagini was the sixth. He could not have created her if Harry had been a Horcrux. He was mortal again, but since his body was a magical construct, once it was completely degenerated, he just needed a new one. No one thought his current body would last long past the weddings on Saturday, and that was when they had decided to put an end to him once and for all.

*-*-*

The third Saturday in December dawned, a beautiful, cold, Winter Solstice day. All the chosen couples were dressed in their winter finery, fur-lined robes for all, and flowers in the hair of the young women. Ginny, Luna, Daphne and Hermione all looked like a child's version of winter princesses, ready to marry their princes.

They walked slowly to a clearing on the Hogwarts grounds that hosted a circle of standing stones. There, the Dark Lord awaited them, along with a ring of family and friends. Only the closest of family was allowed to be within the warded circle, as the closest witnesses to the binding. The rest were held back by the magic innate to the stones. There was a large outpouring of magic around Voldemort, which really added to the power of the day. Only those closest to the snake-man knew he was essentially holding his body together by sheer will and magical strength.

Once they arrived, they walked to the center stone. "Welcome, my chosen ones! You have proven that my vision for Britain was true. Pureblood, half-blood, Mudblood, you all share in the beauty of power and magic. I call upon Magic to finish the binding that began six months ago. You have fulfilled my requests and pleased me greatly." With a flourish of the Elder Wand, ribbons of magic wound themselves around each couple, resulting in beautiful marks on their left arms.

All of the couples began to chant, calling on the elements to help them bind their binder. Voldemort saw what they were doing and tried to send magic into the Dark Marks to stop his servants from harming him. He began to panic when he realized that nothing was happening.

Once he was bound up against the center stone, he asked, "How is it that you are not reacting to my Mark?"

"What mark, Tom?" Viktor asked, showing his arm, free of any Dark Mark. Neville, Draco and Rabastan did the same.

"How? Who did thisssss?" The panic caused Voldemort to hiss markedly.

"I did," Hermione answered. "You killed an innocent boy for no reason. He was my family. I swore revenge on both you and Dumbledore when he died. I figured out how to remove the Dark Mark. Since you told Ginny this construct housed the last piece of your soul, we decided to destroy you today."

"Britain needs me! You will never find the peace and happiness you have now without me." The Dark Lord was desperate. He could feel his hold on the construct was loosening.

"No, my Lord. That is not true. Severus and I have set up the government to run the way we feel it should. No one will fear for their lives or sanity for expressing an opposing opinion." Lucius stepped up to the circle.

"You, Lucius? And you too, Severus? How could you betray me like this?" Voldemort wasn't expecting an answer, at least not a verbal one.

Out of the corner of his eye, the construct of magic that was once Tom Riddle saw Viktor Krum raise his wand and call to the heavens. He felt the chill of the single Dementor that was awaiting him. As he began to laugh at the irony of being done in by one of his most faithful servants, all of the Malfoys, the Krums, the Longbottoms, the Lestranges and the Snapes pointed their wands at Voldemort, and in honor of Harry, cast Expelliarmus. Under the force of so many simultaneous and powerful spells, the Elder Wand seemed to spontaneously combust. Once it was destroyed, so too was Voldemort's body. The Dementor swooped in and sucked up the soul, at which point Viktor cast his Patronus, followed by another spell in Bulgarian. The Dementor fell in a cloud of sparkly dust.

Viktor turned to his wife. "It is over, my love. We can finally live our lives as we wish." Hermione turned to him, and he swept her up into his arms, kissing her passionately and swinging her around in a circle.

They were in danger of forgetting they had an audience when a deep voice came from the shadows. "Not quite. You still have five years left on your teaching contract. I expect you back after the winter holidays." As those surrounding them laughed, one emotion filled the air, one not felt for many years: hope.

The Minister turned to the reporters who were clamoring for a statement. "We have been working to free Britain from tyranny since the days of Dumbledore. Those of us here in this circle have worked tirelessly to reach this point. You will find some new laws, or re-writing of old laws in the coming months. Now, please honor the fact that before we conquered the Conqueror, there was a wedding or four, and it is time to celebrate."

And so they did.

*-*-*

A/N: This is the final chapter. I have written a sequel; it is currently with my beta, and I will get it up once it is ready.

Many thanks to sempra for the beta. I appreciate all she did. Kyria was my alpha reader and cheerleader, and I don't think anyone could have done that better.

This was loosely based on a prompt from La Muse Amusant who said that Viktor was somehow related to Snape, but it was a secret.

I just used a Latin translator, sorry if these aren't good:

Illustro Insons Insontis: (Illuminate Innocence)

Vir Du Fabrica, Dico Verum!: (Painted Man, tell the truth!)