Albus unsheathed the sword of Gryffindor, its silver beaming light almost blinding Astor, who stumbled back as the blade was held aloft. He waited for his doom, knowing he had failed, and took solace only in knowing that Albus hadn't long been left on this Earth. He closed his eyes and awaited his doom. For several seconds, he held his breath, but nothing came, nothing happened. Astor was on the floor cowering from the sword of Gryffindor, but when he opened his eyes, Albus was still there holding his strike. It took a while for Astor to see what was going on. He looked down into the torso of the Lord of the castle and saw the black point of the basilisk spear jutting out. It was covered in crimson blood. Albus dropped the sword of Gryffindor by Astor's feet and stumbled back before falling to the ground. As he fell, Astor could see the wielder of the spear. Kreacher looked up at him, his hands now free of the Basilisk tooth he had just used to kill a God.No word was uttered between the two, just a look of understanding before the dwarf vanished again into thin air, back to the depths below the castle where his kind lived amongst the spiders and graves. Astor didn't know what to do. He had achieved what he intended but not by his own hand. The victory felt hollow, but it was a victory all the same. He got up to check if the Lord of the Castle was really dead, but as he got up, the mirror of Erised caught his eye. James, the brother trapped in the mirror, had a strange look as if he was about to say something, but his lips wouldn't move. Instead, the dishevelled oracle reached inside his robes and pulled out a dazzling ruby gem. It was the philosopher's stone, undoubtedly. James held it aloft from his kneeling position so Astor could get a good look. As he moved closer to the mirror, the stone started to turn translucent before vanishing altogether. Then, in the same manner, James also disappeared, leaving only a reflectionless mirror. Astor's toe caught on something solid. He looked down to see the same ruby stone that was previously trapped in the mirror. After checking that Albus was really dead and finding his way out of the chamber, Astor left the castle, now the owner of the philosopher's stone.