MINISTRY OF MAGIC, DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES, DEATH CHAMBER

Darkness. We hear the sounds of battle — spell casting, whooshing sounds, explosions, pained voices. And then silence.

Lights come up on the Death Chamber, the dark and immense room with long benches surrounding a sunken pit with a stone dais. Upon the dais, we see a freestanding archway covered by a ragged black veil that moves as if by a tender wind. The eerie tranquility of the chamber is broken by the sound of heavy footfalls.

HARRY enters at a run, out of breath. He looks over his shoulder and slows his pace. He descends the high steps and walks hastily to the stone dais. A chorus of voices are heard, singing a steady, melancholy march, punctuating his every step. HARRY stops at the archway. He stares at the veil, chest rising and falling, his focus unwavering. And we realize why HARRY has come, as he gently reaches out to touch the veil. HARRY planned the invasion and used The Tempest so that he could slip away to the Death Chamber alone, all for the purposes of killing himself.

The wait is agonizing, as HARRY considers stepping past the veil. And then DELPHI enters.

DELPHI: There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere...

HARRY continues to stare at the veil.

HARRY (serenely): And now you've found me.

DELPHI walks evenly down the steps, her expression alert.

DELPHI: We need you. The Tempest has breached Level Two. The criminal register was destroyed, they ravaged the Auror Headquarters. Our department — Harry, the department was decimated.

HARRY: I know. I was there.

DELPHI: Then why aren't you fighting back? What are you doing here?

HARRY: Atonement. For my sins.

DELPHI: Harry, I hope you're not —

HARRY: This is still Voldemort's world. And I am done with it.

HARRY looks at DELPHI, then back at the veil, dismayed. DELPHI approaches him.

I can't become what I've seen...

DELPHI: Then — of course — we need to destroy the Time-Turner. You understand? We'll destroy it together. But I won't let you throw your life away. You have a future.

She takes HARRY by the arm and turns him.

So here I am, making a future — with you.

HARRY kisses DELPHI. The moment is long and passionate. HARRY pulls away. He looks down.

HARRY: I can't quite believe I did that.

DELPHI (brightly): I can't quite believe you did that either.

She moves forward to kiss him back. HARRY resists.

HARRY: No. I shouldn't have. I'm confused.

DELPHI: Well, I'm not.

DELPHI is more forceful this time. They start to kiss until HARRY throws her off, tearing her cloak at the shoulder. DELPHI's cloak has loosened. A tattoo is visible on the back of her neck. HARRY tilts his head curiously. She looks at him and her expression changes slightly.

HARRY: On your back. I hadn't noticed it before. The wings.

HARRY looks closer. Then he understands. It is the Dark Mark. The tattoo of the Augurey — right where DRACO said it would be. HARRY looks up. A slow smile grows on DELPHI's face. She is a great liar.

You...

DELPHI: Oops, you caught me. And I was trying so hard to hide.

HARRY takes a step back, horrified. DELPHI is compelled to him. This is the moment she's waited for her entire life.

There's a reason we feel this way, Harry — a reason we found each other, you know?

HARRY: Delphi, you're the child of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort?

DELPHI: Should I bow now or will a curtsy do?

HARRY steps further away.

Listen, I know who you are, so it's probably only fair you know who I am. (beat) Harry. I am the new past. I am the new future. I am the answer this repressed world has been looking for. The one who will sit at your side. Just as it was prophesized.

HARRY: Stay away from me.

DELPHI: I am — the AUGUREY — and I am ready to give all that I have to serve you.

HARRY (repulsed): To torment me, you mean.

DELPHI: No, I have come to save you. I've watched you for a long time, Harry Potter. Studied to be worthy of you! Every day of my life. Yes, I thought, even though he is the supreme wizard of all time, he will be proud of me. I've got quite good at playing the virtuous girl. From the age of ten, I'd check the Daily Prophet first thing every morning. I knew I had time — a lot of time — to seduce you. Because Harry Potter is going to take years to persuade.

HARRY looks scared.

I know you better than my father did. Together, the power we could wield...

HARRY: You planned... all of this?

DELPHI: We hoped we could improve you — build you — make you a Lord. But then you improved me. You taught me. I have tried to follow the path you set. And now, the future is ours to make. Don't you understand?

HARRY still doesn't take his eyes off DELPHI. He's still scared of her.

HARRY (fierce): A lot of people have tried to kill me — but my wife... my son! You dare take away my family?!

DELPHI: Albus was not my choice. Rodolphus forced my hand. I know what he meant to you. And Ginny was Percy's failing.

HARRY: WHY?! Why would you make Albus do that?

DELPHI: To convince you that Voldemort was still alive. In you.

HARRY looks away, then back at DELPHI, everything falling into place.

HARRY: How much of this was a lie?

DELPHI: Your scar...

She adjusts her torn cloak. HARRY touches his forehead.

It doesn't hurt you. Not in the way you think.

HARRY: What did you do?

DELPHI: Each time you allowed me to fix your hair, I cast a second spell on your scar. Nothing serious, just a touch of the mildest Torture Curse. Sporadic, unexpected pain. Something that would mimic the burning you used to experience.

HARRY: Why?

DELPHI: So you would accept the truth that you remain intact, as a living Horcrux of Lord Voldemort.

HARRY (looking disgusted): It was all lies. How much have you orchestrated?

DELPHI (with reluctance): I never saw a future version of you. You never came to rescue me. The letters — I wrote them.

HARRY: But they were in my handwriting...

DELPHI: You don't remember giving me the quill. It was a gift from Ginny years ago, as a way for me to help complete your paperwork. It matched your handwriting perfectly.

HARRY: You tricked me into thinking I was a murderer. That I was willing to torture those people.

DELPHI: I was merely guiding you. Showing you the way! Together, we will succeed where my father failed.

HARRY: Cheating death?

DELPHI: Breaking the chains of power. And with the one thing my father was never able to understand — LOVE. Through our love, the wizarding world will be freed!

HARRY: That will never happen.

DELPHI: You saw my Patronus, Harry. It was a stag — same as your father's — because I have loved you nearly all of my life, from the time I was a child.

DELPHI casts her Patronus. A radiant, silvery stag floats across the chamber and into the wings. HARRY looks conflicted as his stomach turns.

HARRY: No. No. You've done that deliberately.

DELPHI: I've done bad things, but my love is true. So is yours.

HARRY: You could never replace Ginny.

DELPHI: I'd never try.

They begin to pace around the dais, staring each other down.

It took me a long time to discover your weakness, Harry. I thought it was pride, I thought it was the need to overcome your past. It wasn't until you revealed your heart to me that I knew it was love.

HARRY: It's because you tricked me, Delphi. I'd never abandon them!

DELPHI: You destroyed your friendships — you pushed your family away — because of what you felt for me.

HARRY: I hate you!

DELPHI: No, you don't, and that's what you hate!

HARRY: NO!

HARRY screams, raising his wand at her.