For a time, all Kendis knew was darkness. A pitch-dark oblivion surrounded her. She had no body, no arms or legs. Kendis was just a single thread of consciousness in a never-ending shadow. The darkness then vanished, and Kendis opened her eyes to a bright glaring light.

Then she saw a faint mist, ghostly pillars, and then vacant train tracks. 

Kendis recognized this place instantly. It was hard not to when it played such a pivotal role in her life.

 King’s Cross.

Kendis closed her eyes and sighed. Her memories came back to her in short snippets. Chester Coil, the killing curse on his lips, and all too sickeningly familiar flash of bright green light.

‘I’m dead,’ Kendis realized as she opened her eyes. Her gaze traveled around the spectral station. Yet, there was no Dumbledore there to greet her this time.

Kendis didn’t regret their decision. They knew that dragon hide armor probably wouldn’t block the killing curse when she jumped in front of Tony. Dragon hide could block a lot of dark and nasty spells, but it couldn’t stop the killing curse at all.

Kendis didn’t have the chance to offer her life for Josefa. Chester had simply ripped her away from her. But now she had the choice. A choice to save someone she loved, and if that meant giving her life to save Tony?

Kendis was content to go to her death.

“It’s a noble gesture, but you were always the self-sacrificing type.”

With a heavy sigh, Kendis looked over to find Death standing next to her. The entity looked the same way it did the last time they met.

Bald head, skin a smooth obsidian black, and those fathomless eyes that were jarring pearl white. The only variation was the long black lace dress they wore, which scarcely covered their private parts.

“What do you want?” Kendis asked tiredly.

“Not too long, we discussed the great crucible of the war that is coming.”

In that moment, all of Kendis’s calm acceptance disappeared as she suddenly remembered that without her, Tony would face the crucible on his own. Kendis knew a thing or two about the toll it took to carry the weight of a prophecy on her shoulders.

Kendis would rather burn to the ground than see Tony face that same fate. Still, by saving Tony and giving her life, did she just leave him to fate’s whim?

‘I did the right thing, right?’ Kendis panicked. Tony was alive, but for how long? Even if he survived what Chester had in store for him, would he survive the crucible?

“This is the last time you will have this choice,” Death told Kendis. “Either accept your own destiny or accept Anthony’s fate.

Suddenly, a loud horn blared, followed by a burst of steam. A moment later, the Hogwarts Express thundered down the tracks and stopped in front of her.

Though Kendis yearned to board the train once the doors opened, she was unable to.

Kendis’s eyes welled with unshed tears as she cursed Death, the Creator, and fate that kept putting her in these situations.

Kendis had longed dreamed of growing old and seeing everyone she had lost once more. What kept her going even through the darkest of times was the hope that she might one day reunite with her family and Josefa again.

“Will I ever see them again? My family— “

“I can’t guarantee it,” Death said, “You would have to truly master the powers of death and learn how to travel the realms. You could use my ring— “

“But those are only shades,” Kendis said, in despair. Her loved ones would only be thin facsimiles of the people she knew. And she would be disturbing their rest for her own gain. 

It all boiled down to this: Josefa and her family were gone. Yet, Tony was alive and still needed her.

Death pursed their lips and shrugged. Kendis wanted to wrap her fingers around their throat and squeeze.

Yet what was the use of fighting Death?

In the end, Kendis knew it was a no-win situation. There was no choice she could make that wouldn’t chip away at her soul, even in death. She had known what she had to do.

Kendis turned to face Death, her eyes meeting theirs, and she stood up as tall as she could.

“I, Kendis Black, accept the mantle of Master of Death.”

Death’s mouth split into a wide, triumphant smile, and they bowed.

“I live to serve, my Master.”

The Elder Wand slapped into her right hand as the Resurrection Stone slid onto her left. Then there was a cool brush of fabric as the invisibility cloak materialized around her shoulders.

Kendis only had a moment to feel wonder at feeling the deep thrumming of the Hollow’s power all around her before the world around her shook and splintered apart—and once again, there was only darkness.

***

It was so cold that she felt as if her entire body had been encased in ice and there was no trace of the hallows on her. And then Kendis felt warmth from the touch of someone’s hand as they traced her cheekbones.

However, the touch didn’t comfort her. It felt wrong, and she wanted to pull away from it, but she couldn’t move. Kendis could hear something, but she couldn’t quite parse the words.

Then with a sudden roar a rush of power went through her entire body. Dark and electrifying and lighting up her every pore. She gasped, but instead of this strange new power scaring her, Kendis was quick to embrace it.

Chester jumped back as her eyes snapped open. Kendis stood up swiftly, fixing him with a glare.

“Harry— “

“My name is Kendis,” Kendis replied through gritted teeth. “And this ends now.”

“Impedimenta!” 

 Chester’s spell bounced right off her dragon armor. The armor might not stop the Killing Curse, but jinxes like impedimenta were no problem.

“What! “

Kendis smirked. “Nice try.”

Chester’s eyes went wide with shock. “How?”

Kendis lifted her hand, and suddenly Chester’s dagame wood wand was flying through the air and smacking right into her palm. With no wand or words spoken, Chester’s wand turned to ash in Kendis’s grip.

“No!” Chester shouted in disbelief, and his eyes filled with fury. Kendis just stayed put, didn’t even flinch when Tony yelled, muffled by the gag.

Chester screamed and lunged at her. His hand landed hard across her cheek, but she didn’t flinch. Kendis didn’t feel the pain; it only added to the growing flame of her own rage. She turned slowly and bared her teeth at him.

“You made a mistake,” Kendis replied quietly. She swiftly crossed the stage in three strides and punched him in the stomach. The impact folded him in half with a wet, breathless grunt.

Before he could fall, Chester’s head snapped back from her uppercut, snapping his head back so hard his teeth clacked together.

Blood poured down his nose as he shot an incredulous look back at Kendis. Immense satisfaction washed over Kendis as she saw raw terror in the eyes of the man who had tormented her.

To his credit, Chester managed to land some blows, but then she kicked him in the stomach, launching him backwards.

Chester tried to crawl away, but Kendis was already there.

She kicked him again in the stomach with her heavy combat boots, driving the air from his lungs, then planted her boot on his head and stomped. The stage shuddered as dust rained from the rafters as she kicked him over and over again.

Chester screamed in obvious agony at the impact. His pale face was now bleeding and littered with bruises. But if Chester thought Kendis was done with him, he was sadly mistaken.

She grabbed Chester by the hair and hauled him upright, her grip iron and relentless. Kendis punched him again and again, each blow measured and merciless as she targeted his face, chest, stomach, and legs. Kendis relished the impact of her fist on his skin and the sound of his bones breaking under the sheer force of her rage.

This was not simply vengeance; this was justice. Justice for Josefa, for Tony, and most importantly for herself. This man tried to break her down to shove her back into the prison of being the biddable little icon of the light.

Kendis Black was no one’s toy, and she would no longer let this insignificant man run roughshod over her life. Tonight, Chester will feel every inch of her wrath.

Kendis didn’t let up on the volley of kicks and punches until Chester’s body finally sagged to the ground. His eyes were glassy as his blood splattered all over the theater’s floorboards.

Chester was dying.

Kendis caught her breath; she didn’t want to face the horror or the disgust that was probably on her husband’s face. She knew from experience that few people could deal with the darkness that lay inside her. Kendis had been running from it since the war, terrified that it made her the same monster as Voldemort.

Kendis realized now that she had to embrace that part of herself. But she worried that this would be too much for Tony. ‘Did I do all of this just to lose him, anyway?’

Kendis saw movement in the corner eye and turned to see that the theater had gotten darker and the shadows grew in the dim gloom of the stage and audience seating beyond.

She could see the shadows writing up the walls, creeping closer. They slithered across the floor like living things. She felt their cold, eager touch on her skin as the shadows whispered to her.

Kendis couldn’t understand them. The words were ancient and beyond her comprehension. But she might not have understood what they were saying, but Kendis still got the gist of it.

The invisibility cloak suddenly wrapped around her neck as the resurrection ring appeared on her finger. Kendis tightened her grip around elder wand and smiled.

“H—Harry,” Chester wheezed as his eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t—“

Kendis could only laugh. Despite his brilliance and arrogance, Chester still refused to acknowledge she was no longer Harry Potter.

“Harry Potter is dead. He’s been dead from the moment Voldemort hit me with that killing curse. The naïve little Gryffindor you idolize is long gone,” Kendis shrugged. “And I am nowhere near as forgiving as he used to be.”

Kendis heard a noise from behind her and turned to finally meet Tony’s eyes. She expected to see disgust or horror, but instead, she saw worry and, above all, a deep understanding in his brown eyes.

He nodded, and Kendis felt a relief at his acceptance of what she had to do.

“Avada Kedavra!” Kendis spoke, and a green light struck Chester. His body instantly slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Her eyes went wide as a thin, transparent specter emerged from Chester’s body. Chester’s soul tried to say something but she couldn’t hear it. But then his silent shout turned into a horrified scream, Chester’s eyes widened in terror as the shadows, no longer content to watch, surged forward.

 They detached from the walls, from the ceiling, from beneath the stage, forming clawed hands and long, reaching tendrils.

His spirit thrashed when they grabbed him, and the shadows tightened, pulling him backward into the darkness as they dragged his soul under the stage and into the underworld, where his ultimate jua