A/N2: Ok so I'm editing the posted chapters while writing the new ones also. Beta edited chapters will have a 'be' before the title now.
A/N: Ok so, this first chapter is basically a reminder of book seven. It's the trio telling everyone about the last ten months and what they were doing. It's kinda long and every time I edited it, it got longer, so I'm leaving it as it is. If you don't want to read this whole chapter sized version of DH, please at least skim it. There are parts that are not DH review. Personally I like re-reading these kinds of things cuz it refreshes the memory after reading so many fanfics. I'd like to also add that my stories will be covering the Nineteen years between the final chapter and the Epilogue. It may be several stories but it should cover the nineteen years. I'll also extend after the nineteen years in my own kinda-AU sort of thing. I will update twice a month (or try too.) I also wrote several chapters before posting so each chapter is ready to post. Reviews are cause for motivation to post faster, hint hint. Enjoy my take on the HP world JKR has left for us to play in!
SPOILER WARNING!! THIS CHAPTER AND STORY CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS TO DH! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE CANON BOOKS DO NOT READ THIS. Now I add, if you haven't read DH, why the bloody h are you reading fan fiction? Get your butts in gear and read the canon dummies! Or at least tell me why you'd read ff and not canon…
Disclaimer: I own it all!! No, wait, please don't sue, please! I give, it all belongs to her! JKR is the queen! And I am green.
HPDH (749 JKR): "And quite honestly, I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."
'be' Prologue: Their Story
Harry turned and began to head to the door of the office. The others followed him down the spiraling staircase. At the bottom he stopped and turned to them.
"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm tired, I think I'll head up to Gryffindor Tower and get some sleep. Good night," muttered Harry. "See you in the morning."
"Harry, wait! After everything that has happened tonight, you're just going to bed? I mean, you defeated Voldemort! Don't you want to celebrate?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione, I just spent the better part of a year chasing after a man – no, monster, and I'm tired. I don't think I have ever wanted sleep more in my entire life. I just want to sleep. Please, just let me have this. Tomorrow is going to be hell, and if I don't have some rest, I'll likely murder more people tomorrow. So please…just let me be." Harry finished with a whisper. Harry turned and walked away, he luckily passed no one on the way to his dormitory, but when he arrived he realized he did not know the password. He looked up to the fat lady's portrait.
"Mr. Potter? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the Great Hall?" she asked him inquisitively.
"I'm tired and I just wanted to sleep, this is the only place I will probably be able to get some quiet. But no one told me the password." As Harry mumbled the last few words he turned away. He heard a click and looked back and saw the portrait hole opening up.
"The Gryffindor hero won't need a password for this night. Don't worry, I wont tell if you won't." With that and a wink from the Fat Lady, Harry climbed into the hole and walked through the empty common room, memories assailing him at every turn.
Over there was the spot where Harry frequently lost games of chess to Ron; and over there was his first kiss to Ginny. That was the armchair Harry had been sitting in when he was told he was a Parselmouth; and that corner over there was where Ron, Hermione and Harry talked to Sirius in the fire when Umbridge almost caught his hair. There were so many memories in this one room. After standing and reminiscing for a short while, Harry went up the spiraling staircase to the seventh year dorm and found his bed. Since his duffel bag was no where to be found right now he laid down fully clothed and stared at the canopy of his four poster for a long time before drifting off into the first real deep sleep he had had in years.
Harry woke up a few hours later to a hoarse voice whispering in his ear.
"Master? Master?" croaked Kreacher. Harry bolted upright looking around with his wand pointed out, "Whozair?" he shouted.
"Master, please forgive Kreacher! Kreacher did not mean to startle Master Harry! Bad Kreacher, Bad!" The small shriveled house elf reached a fist up to slam it into his forehead before Harry grabbed the small fist in his own and said, "Kreacher, I forbid you from punishing yourself."
"Thank you master! Thank you! Kreacher does not deserve such kindness," the pitiful looking house elf replied.
"Yes, you do Kreacher, you deserve kindness just as much as any person. Now, not to sound rude, but, what did you wake me up for?" Harry asked.
"Well, sir, Kreacher was asked by a group of Weasleys at the portrait door to Gryffindor to come in and wake you since no one can get in, sir." Kreacher bowed.
"Why can't they get in?" asked Harry getting up, as he started to walk towards the door to the staircase.
"Well, sir, the Fat Lady won't let anyone in. She said, sir, that you needed rest and asked that no one be let in." Kreacher wheezed as he ran to catch up to Harry.
"What? I never said that!" exclaimed Harry, who sped up even more to get to the portrait hole. As he neared it he heard a multitude of voices all yelling different words. He pushed open the portrait and looked outside just as the voices all stopped yelling. He climbed out and looked at the Fat Lady.
"When exactly did I say not to let anyone in?" he asked her with a frown.
"Well, I believe your exact words were, I'm tired and I just wanted to sleep, this is the only place I will probably be able to get some quiet. So, I decided that you needed some undisturbed peace and quiet." She said with a smirk. Harry turned and looked at the group of people behind him. It consisted of all the Weasleys, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that she'd lock everyone out just for me," he said quietly. Hermione stepped forward.
"Harry, it's all right. We knew you were in here and sleeping, so actually, it's a good thing she didn't let others in, and that way we knew you were safe. Professor McGonagall only just got here when you opened the door. We were just going to have her make the Fat Lady open up," she said in a rush. "We were actually trying to guess the new password and Ron and I remembered Kreacher, so we tried calling him to us, and it worked!"
"Ok. I guess we can all go back in now." Harry turned to walk back into the common room when someone cleared his or her throat. Harry turned to see Professor McGonagall looking a little put out.
"Actually Mr. Potter, Kingsley, well I should say the Minister, would like to see you, and Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, also. Please follow me." She turned and walked away.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other shrugged and followed. The rest of the Weasleys in turn followed suit. The walk to the headmaster's office was relatively short, and when they walked in they were surprised at how many people could fit into the office. It looked like half the Order, all of Hogwarts staff; the minister and a small amount of the Auror division were all crowded into the now seemingly small room. All-in-all there was around fifty people in the room. McGonagall sat down behind the large desk and waved her wand, suddenly everyone had a wooden hardback chair sitting behind them except the trio.
"Please sit everyone." She clapped her hands and ten house elves arrived, each with a teapot and platter of cookies above their heads. "Please serve our guests with tea and biscuits. Everyone please be quiet." She shouted over everyone. "Harry, Ron, Hermione will you three please come over here next to my desk." They complied. "We would all like to know where you three have been for the last ten months. What have you been doing? Where have you been staying? And how in Merlin's name did you manage not to get caught the whole time?" she asked them quickly.
Harry glanced at the other two and then looked back at the previous headmaster's portrait. "Professor Dumbledore is it all right to tell them?" he quietly asked the painting.
"Hm, I guess now that the problem has been remedied there should be no problems answering their questions, within reason of course." He aimed a meaningful look at Harry before continuing, "But I will ask that everyone who is not a senior Order member, a Weasley, or a staff member please leave the room. Kingsley if you feel it necessary to keep a few guards go ahead but pick carefully." Dumbledore sat back in his painted chair and twiddled his thumbs and stared out to the room. Kingsley decided that he was safe enough in a room full of Order members that he didn't need a guard. Many people got up from their chairs grumbling about being invited in and then being made to leave. After five minutes, the room had almost emptied the only people left were all the Weasley's, Professors Sprout, Slughorn, Sinistra, Flitwick, and McGonagall, Madams Pomfrey and Hooch, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Dodge, Aberforth Dumbledore, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. When everyone was seated Dumbledore said, "You may ask away Minerva." She turned to look at Harry and opened her mouth, but before anyone could speak another voice spoke.
"I know you all are here to hear this amazing story, but it's not. I just want to ask that you remember that we are, all three of us, human. We did as we were asked by not telling anyone else, and we want you to know that it was for your own good that we didn't tell you. Ok, ask away." Hermione blushed as she finished speaking, but looked everyone in the eye as if daring them to object.
"Well, I will go first then. Where were you?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"Well, we stayed somewhere different almost every night. There were a few times we stayed a week somewhere, but mostly we changed areas daily. When we first left the wedding, we went to Tottenham Court Road where we changed our fancy clothes to something more muggle—" she broke off when a voice interrupted.
"How did you change? When you left you weren't carrying any bags!" asked Bill.
"That's actually a good question. Hermione did some really fancy wand work and took her beaded bag she was carrying at the wedding and expanded the inside to fit a load of stuff. A tent, all our clothes, a library of books, and so much more." Ron said proudly, making Hermione blush.
"Anyways, we were in a small coffee shop when we were attacked by two more Death Eaters. Harry was…well, he took care of them before we even realized they were there. Then, we went to the old Order Headquarters." Hermione was unsure if she should say the name of the building they stayed at for fear of everyone in the room learning the secret of Grimmauld Place for not everyone in the room had been told the secret by the original secret keeper. "We stayed there for a while before we were forced to move on…"
"Why were you forced to move on?" asked Molly Weasley.
"Well, um, Harry?" Hermione looked to Harry to answer the question.
"We got caught sneaking into the Ministry," was all Harry said to cause the uproar from the entire room. Shouts of 'What?' and 'What were you thinking?' assaulted the trio, who surprisingly were all smiling. They waited calmly for everyone to quiet down before Harry spoke again. "We had to go into the Ministry to get a Dark Artifact that was in the possession of Delores Umbridge. Do you all remember the great cleaning of Headquarters? When we cleaned out all the dark stuff from all the cabinets? And we found a necklace that no one could open? That necklace was important—" Harry was interrupted by a snort from his right.
"Understatement of the year," interrupted Ron, causing Harry to snort. He looked to the portrait of Dumbledore.
"Um, sir, is it ok to just tell them? About what the…dark artifacts were?" Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment and looked about the room.
"I dare say, Harry, that everyone here is trustworthy enough to know. The danger is past, you no longer need to worry about Voldemort finding out you know about his artifacts. But it should be known that what you hear today should be left here, for if another rising dark lord learns of these objects we could very well have another Lord Voldemort to deal with. Continue Harry." Everyone in the room gulped and glanced around.
"Ok, it was very important. Has anyone here heard of…Horcruxes?" there was a collective gasp from a few in the room, but most looked politely confused. "A Horcrux is an object that holds a piece of someone's soul inside it. You all know the story of Voldemort killing my parents and then coming after me and how he 'died' after trying to curse me? Of course you have, what was the point of me asking that? Anyways, the reason he didn't completely die was because he had ripped apart his soul and created a Horcrux before coming to Godrics Hollow. If you have a Horcrux and you are killed, your separate piece of soul will continue to live. If someone does the required magic with it, it restores you to a body. All through my sixth year Professor Dumbledore had been showing me memories of Tom Riddle before, during, and after his schooling. Tom Riddle for those of you who don't know this was Lord Voldemort. I Am Lord Voldemort was an anagram for Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle was also a half-blood. This is just an FYI though. The memories he was showing me were to help me understand Riddle a little better. If I understood him I might be able to locate his Horcruxes, for he not only made one, he made seven." A gasp shivered through the room. Before anyone could say anything Harry continued. "Yeah, seven Horcruxes. Although by the time that he told me about them a few were already destroyed. The first one was the diary. Tom Riddle's diary, the one that opened the Chamber of Secrets. I destroyed that one in my second year with a Basilisk fang. The only things that can destroy a Horcrux have to destroy it completely with no chance of repair, even magical repair. Basilisk venom is one of only a few things that destroy things irreparably because the only antidote is Phoenix tears. The other Horcrux destroyed was Slytherins' Ring. Voldemort had this idea that he'd be more invincible if he used the magical number seven. He also thought that using something from each four founders was very appealing. We knew that Voldemort was the last piece of soul we had to kill, but we were unsure of what the other four pieces were. We knew of the appeal of the four founders, so we had to try and find Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors artifacts first. We also figured that the snake Nagini, being as she was always near Voldemort, was also a Horcrux. This is all the information that Dumbledore told me before he died. He also told me to keep all this to myself, and only tell Ron and Hermione. That's why we couldn't tell any of you." Harry stopped there to take a sip of water, and Hermione looked over and saw Mrs. Weasley open her mouth.
"That's what you three have been doing all this time? Destroying pieces of You-Know-Who's soul? That's so…so…I can't believe you three, running off doing the work of…of…Dumbledore!" She turned around and pointed her finger at the man trying to shrink into the back of his portrait. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! SENDING OFF MY CHILDREN TO FIGHT THE MOST EVIL MAN IN THE WORLD ON THEIR OWN, AND NOT LETTING THEM TELL AN ADULT! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! YOU WERE THEIR HEADMASTER; YOU ARE THE PERSON SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING OVER THEIR WELL-BEING WHEN THEIR PARENTS AREN'T NEAR! THIS IS THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE THING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF YOU DOING! IF YOU WEREN'T DEAD I WOULD CURSE YOU RIGHT NOW!" As she took a breath to continue, Mr. Weasley stepped forward and affectionately put his hand on her shoulder. At this tender show of warmth she broke down sobbing on his shoulder. "All that time, we worried and wondered. Where could they be? Are they ok? Are they alive? We were only left with a pathetic excuse; Dumbledore told us to do it, and to not tell you. How were we supposed to react? How could you do this?" She pleaded with the portrait with tears in her eyes. Dumbledore's image looked at the weeping woman being led to a seat by her husband before she collapsed from sorrow.
"Molly, I can only say I am so very sorry that you had to live in constant worry for so long. I could not allow them to tell anyone, for if someone was captured, we could not afford Voldemort finding out that we were on to him and his Horcruxes. If he were to find out we knew and there was someone destroying them, he would have started to make more, or put up guards around the ones he knew were still in their clever hiding places, and if that were to happen Harry, Ron, and Hermione would never have been able to destroy the others. It was crucial to the movement that the secret were not to be let out." He looked so forlorn, almost pleading with her to understand why he did what he did. "I only did what I thought was necessary to keep them safe while on their journey. Please forgive me, Molly, Arthur."
"Albus, I completely understand why you did what you did. I forgive you, and thank you. You are right, if any of us had known, we may have been tortured into telling. Since we didn't know, not only did you protect the three of them on their voyage but it protected us as well. Thank you." Arthur had stepped forward and spoke quietly to the representation of Albus. Dumbledore nodded his appreciation before looking to Harry.
"Harry, I think you should continue with your tale of adventure." The painting suggested causing Harry to snort.
"Adventure? More like tale of boredom. Half the time we sat and talked or thought or went through our research for the millionth time." Harry shrugged and looked at his two best friends. "I think it might be easier if I just tell about everything that happened. I'll start at the beginning. Interrupt if I miss something, but if not than should I just tell it?" he asked.
"Harry, if anyone should tell this, it's you. We'll be quiet, or I will, Hermione might not—" Ron stopped abruptly when Hermione smacked him upside the head. He looked at her repentantly, but she merely glared. Harry chuckled and turned to the group in front of him.
"Well, the day before the wedding we were visited by Rufus Scrimgeour because Professor Dumbledore's will had mentioned us. He had come to give us the stuff that Dumbledore left us. One thing he left me was Gryffindor's sword. Because it was a founder's artifact the ministry wouldn't allow me to take possession of the sword. But the thing is, the sword had absorbed the basilisk venom from when I killed it and was one of the only objects that could destroy the Horcruxes. He left Ron his Put-outer, which was able to find Hermione and me when we said his name. He left the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard to Hermione, I'm not sure why." Harry glance at the wizened old wizard in the painting, who then winked. Harry smiled. "He also left me the first snitch I had ever caught. I guess because it was sentimental.
"Well, we left the wedding after Kingsley's patronus warning and ended up in Tottenham Court Road. We were in a café and two death eaters showed up, we took care of them and obliviated their memories. After that we decided to go to my house." He stopped to take another sip of water, when Kingsley finally spoke.
"Did you know that the secret could have been compromised by Snape? That Moody had put up precautionary jinxes and spells in place there?" He had been wondering this since Hermione had spoken up about the old headquarters a quarter of an hour earlier, but as the topic of conversation had been changed he didn't ask then.
"Yes, and yes. We knew that Snape could have told the location, but we needed a place to go and fast. We knew that the jinxes had been put up but didn't know what they were. I've got to say they gave us quite a fright. But Hermione did a spell that told there was no one else there. The next morning I woke up and decided to explore. I found Sirius's room, and then I saw, as we were leaving his room, his brother's door." Harry remembered something and turned to look at his former headmaster's picture and said, "Sir, did you know about the locket? That night, we thought we found Slytherin's locket, it wasn't the real one." Dumbledore looked at Harry shocked to his oil based core.
"It wasn't real? What do you mean?" he whispered.
"After you died, I went up to your body and found the necklace next to you. Inside was a piece of paper. Basically it said that the owner of the fake locket found out about Voldemort's secret and found the real locket and intended to destroy it, in the hopes that Voldemort would be one step closer to death when he came upon his match. It was signed R.A.B. We searched for so long looking for someone with those initials, but no one we found fit the description we had come up with. Until that day at…my house. R.A.B…Regulus Arcturus Black. The note also said that R.A.B. didn't expect himself to be alive much longer. We assumed that since someone had found out Tom's secret, R.A.B. had to be close to Tom, as in a death eater. As soon as we realized that R.A.B. was Sirius's brother, I called Kreacher to me. I talked with Kreacher and learned his story. Basically, long story short, Regulus found out and got Kreacher to go to the island with him and he sent Kreacher back home with the order to destroy the locket." Harry was getting winded so he paused for another sip of water.
"So, Kreacher destroyed one of the…Horcruxes?" asked Ginny clearly taken aback by this new piece of information about the house elf they all despised.
"No, he couldn't. He didn't know how to open it. He was sure that was how to demolish the jewelry, but he couldn't open it. So it was placed in a cabinet, shoved behind a bunch of dark things to help protect its location. We found it later and threw it out," Another collective gasp escaped everyone. "But I had remembered Mundungus Fletcher nicking a bunch of junk to sell. I asked Kreacher to find Dung and bring him back. While we waited, Remus came and told us about Tonks being pregnant." At this Harry stopped to take a breath and had to blink away the tears. "I yelled at him, told him he was a coward for leaving his wife and child, and for the stupid reason that he was a Werewolf. He said my father would have wanted him with me, but I think my father would have wanted his friend to be at home with his wife and child and not…not risking his life for me unnecessarily." Harry finished with a whisper. Everyone had tears in their eyes at the sight of Harry's sorrow. "No parent should have to leave their child willingly, and Remus was being reckless. He pulled his wand on me and shot a spell at me and left and went back to Tonks."
"He pulled his wand on you? Seriously!? Sweet, calm, patient Remus cursed you?" Minerva was dumbfounded. Harry chuckled.
"It was one of the last times I saw him, except for after Teddy was born and he asked me to be Godfather to his son. And right before the battle." A moments silence occurred while everyone remembered Remus and Tonks. Harry had gotten up and walked to a window and was silently fighting the battle to keep from crying. He did not trust himself to speak again yet.
"What happened to Kreacher? Did he come back?" someone asked from the back of the room. Hermione looked to Harry who hadn't pulled himself together enough to continue so she decided to let him take his time.
"Well, Kreacher showed up later with Mundungus. We got Mundungus to admit to nicking the locket and trying to sell it, but a ministry worker confiscated it. We asked who…and it was…"
"A woman who looked like a toad." Finished Harry from his corner.
"NO! That horrid Um-bitch woman took it!?" shouted Ginny.
"Ginny, language." Mrs. Weasley muttered, although no one really heard her. When Ginny announced who had the locket a massive explosion of doubt and suspicion erupted from everybody. It seems that no one liked the toad-woman.
"Yes, Umbridge had the Horcrux locket. That was when we decided to break into the ministry to see if she had it there. We took to skulking around the entrance under an invisibility cloak learning as much as we could, which happened to be a lot. After about a month we decided to go in, we had taken Moody's supply of Polyjuice Potion after he died. We took the identities of Reg Cattermole, Mafalda Hopkirk, and Albert Runcorn." For each name he pointed at himself and the others to show who acted as whom. "It was a long hour, but we ended up getting split up. Hermione was brought to the court rooms with Umbridge to be the court scribe for the blood trials of the day. Ron was intercepted bya death eater, named Yaxley who said that his office was raining and that if it wasn't cleared up fast Reg's wife, who was in for a blood trial that day, would be found guilty a lot faster. I was left alone as Runcorn. Who apparently wasn't well liked, right Mr. Weasley?" Harry smirked.
"That was you who gave me that warning that day; 'Arthur, do you know that they are watching your every move?' That was YOU wasn't it!?" Mr. Weasley looked stunned.
"Yep. Sorry, I didn't realize I was impersonating someone so…horrible. It kinda helped though, if I had impersonated someone who wasn't trusted, it would have made my job a bit harder. I had to break into Umbridge's office to search for the locket. It wasn't in the office so I decided to go looking for the other two and get out of there. I went to the lifts and went to the court rooms. Hermione was there near Umbridge behind a Patronus shield. I ended up stunning Umbridge and the other court dunce and shouting my Patronus at the Dementors. Hermione did a recreation of the locket and grabbed the original and we left with a bunch of innocent muggle-borns. We got to the Atrium and met with Ron. We ended up being cornered and somehow we all escaped. But at the last secondYaxleygrabbed onto Hermione's arm and apperated with us to our hideout. Immediately, Hermione apperated us away from there, but in that process Ron got Splinched." At this comment the Weasleys all flinched or gasped. "When we landed again, we were in a forest. Hermione tried healing him the best she could, and then placed several protective charms around our campsite. We stayed there in that forest for a week while Ron recovered.
"We had gotten the real Horcrux that day, but we had no idea how to destroy it. So we worked on how we could destroy it and where the others could be. It took a few months of moving around either nightly or weekly, depending on how safe we felt there. Well, after a few months we were getting pretty irate with each other and one thing led to another and Ron ended up…leaving." Harry stopped there and looked to his friend for approval to give the answer to the question being asked. Ron looked at him for a short moment and nodded his consent. Harry nodded back his thanks.
"Ron thought that I had more of a plan, and he was upset that we didn't have regular meals. You know Ron; he could eat a Hippogriff in one sitting if he really tried." The room chuckled. "We had also not heard much about anyone for quite a while, and then heard some people who were hiding out in the forest near where we were saying things like how Ginny, Neville, and Luna had tried to get Gryffindor's Sword from Snape's office. Ron was worried about his family, and I completely understand that, I was worried about all of you also. When he heard that about Ginny, and the kind of punishment they had been giving out at the school, well, he needed to see someone from his family. So he left, and went to Shell Cottage.
"Well, that was a few weeks before Christmas. We didn't know where he was, but we couldn't spend all that time in one spot waiting for him to return, besides, with all our protective spells in place he would never find it unless we brought them down or him to us. While he was gone we went to Godrics Hollow to visit with Bathilda Bagshot but it seems that Voldemort got to her before we could, she was dead and his snake was there. We barely escaped with our lives, but in the escape Hermione let off a spell and it connected with my wand and broke it. We got back to our tent safely, but we didn't learn anything at Godrics Hollow, except for seeing the house, the graves, and the sign…we stayed in the forest for awhile." Harry took a drink of water and ate a cookie before continuing.
"Well, after a few weeks I was on watch duty for the night. Hermione was sleeping, and I was sitting in the door to the tent. I saw something in the trees and when I looked closer, it was a Patronus, a doe. I didn't know whose it was, but I didn't feel any…bad feelings toward it. I knew it was friendly. So I…I followed it." Harry chuckled at everyone's shocked expressions.
"Did you learn nothing from Moody? Constant Vigilance! What were you thinking? Did you at least wake Hermione?" Ginny looked furious at Harry for doing something to put himself into harms way.
"Yes, I learned constant, never ceasing, vigilance, and no, I did not wake Hermione. It was moving quite fast and if I was going to follow it I needed to hurry. I followed it to a small hollow that had a small pond in it, and that's where the doe disappeared. I was left alone and, like an idiot, couldn't remember my way back.
"Well, anyways, when I looked into the pond, low and behold, there was Gryffindor's sword. Under the water and ice. I knew I had to get it and fast. So…I undressed and cracked the ice with a Diffindo spell and jumped in. I know, I know! What was I thinking? I was thinking, that sword was the only thing we could use to destroy the Horcruxes." At this remark many people were in awe at the depth in which the story was going. If the three of them hadn't lived this adventure they were sure no one would have believed it. "I jumped in foolishly wearing only a few articles of clothing and the locket, and as I neared the sword, the necklace fought back trying to choke me. I thought I was a goner, but suddenly I was being pulled out of the water and the necklace was yanked off me. I looked up and there was Ron." Harry chuckled. He was actually kind of enjoying watching the faces of everyone when he shocked and surprised them around every twist and turn. Ron and Hermione were obviously enjoying it also.
"I got dressed and warmed up a bit. He had also, conveniently, grabbed the sword when he was saving my life. So now we had the means to destroy the damn thing. I decided that since Ron had pulled it out of the water he should have the honors. I opened the Horcrux and it let out its defense, which was to bank on the fears of the destroyers mind. Ron had been worried, well I won't go into detail but it played on his fears. Finally, he brought the sword down onto it and…demolished it. We walked back to the tent and Hermione ended up trying to kill Ron for a few minutes, and then gave him the cold shoulder for a few weeks.
"Since we had finally ruined the locket and the Horcrux was gone, we focused on finding the next Horcrux. For a few weeks we spent time researching our notes and Ron tried to get that radio show about me on, since he had missed the last password, he had to guess, and it took him a few weeks. Finally he got it one night. It was so heartening to hear that we weren't the only ones rebelling, it made us work harder.
"But one night everything almost came to an end." Harry stopped for a drink, and also, a little bit for dramatic effect.
"The night you all came to Shell Cottage," answered Bill.
"Yep. We were sitting in our tent and Ron had told us about the taboo on Voldemort's name, but I accidentally let it slip anyways. Suddenly we were surrounded by Snatchers. Hermione hit me in the face with a stinging hex, and then we were brought outside. I was unrecognizable and so I used the name Vernon Dudley. Yeah, lots of brains it took to think that one up, but lucky me they had a Dudley who worked in Ministry, so it bought us some time. Hermione used the name Penelope Clearwater," Percy looked up at this with a look of shock and horror. "And Ron tried to use Stan Shunpike. But the snatchers were also Death Eaters, so they knew he wasn't Stan. Eventually, they figured out who we were, and we ended up in Malfoy Manor." Stunned silence reined long and clear for several moments, before Slughorn asked, "How'd you get out of that one alive?" Harry paused before answering.
"Dobby," was his answer. He looked forlornly at Hermione and she took over the story.
"Snape had sent the sword to be kept in the Lestrange's Gringotts vault after the near loss of it to some students." Ginny looked guiltily at them. "Bellatrix was there that night and saw the sword. She thought we had broken into her vault and taken it, she wanted to know how we got in before she would let them call Voldemort. In the group of captives the snatchers had gotten was Griphook the Goblin. So she sent Harry, Ron, Griphook, and Dean Thomas, who had also been captured with Griphook, to the dungeons. They decided to keep me out and torture me to get me to answer how we got the sword. They decided to bring Griphook up to answer them if it was the real one, because I had said that it was a fake. Surely a goblin would tell them if it was the real one or not. Harry had made sure that Griphook knew not to tell them the truth. So he lied and…well, everything after that happened so fast, I'm not sure how we escaped." She looked to Ron and Harry. Ron glanced at Harry before continuing the story.
"Well, I had some lights in the Put-outer left over so I released them so we had some light. Then all of a sudden Dobby was there. Harry had Dobby take Dean, Olivander and Luna, who were both already in the dungeons when we got there, to Shell Cottage and then come back for us. He did, but before he came back Pettigrew came down, when he saw the lights on and the others missing he grabbed Harry by the throat and began to choke him. Harry said something and it made Pettigrew hesitate and his silver hand turned on him and killed him." The room gasped. Harry moved slightly.
"So, Pettigrew is dead, finally?" Molly Weasley asked quietly. Ron looked at her and nodded.
"He died because he had a life debt owed to me because I saved his sorry arse from Sirius and Remus the night he was revealed." The room was shocked that Harry had saved the man who had aided in his parents' murder but Harry didn't offer any more information so they didn't ask. Ron looked around before continuing.
"So, we left through the door Pettigrew had left open and went upstairs. Just as we got there we heard Griphook say the sword was a fake. Bellatrix calmed down and pressed her dark mark. We ran in and disarmed a bunch of people. I grabbed Hermione and apperated away while Harry grabbed Griphook and the sword just as Dobby showed up and whisked Harry away. But before we had completely left, Lestrange threw a dagger and it hit Dobby. By the time we got to Bill and Fleur's Dobby was too far gone to save. He died in Harry's arms. Harry dug the grave himself, and we buried him there." Once again a moment of silence for their lost friend was silently agreed upon. Harry had composed himself and he turned to the group once again ready to tell his tale.
"We spent the time at Shell Cottage planning with Griphook our next foolish mission: Breaking into the Lestranges' vault in Gringotts." At this comment the group looked shocked and amazed that the three could be so stupid as to break into the Goblin bank. It was pure madness.
"I know, I know, madness, I know. Believe me, I knew the dangers. But we had a goblin in the house and with the way Bellatrix was acting about how we had supposedly gotten into her vault, I thought there might be something we needed there. So after Griphook was better and our plans were settled, we set off. Hermione was disguised as Bellatrix and she even had her wand, she had disarmed her right before we left the Manor. Ron was transfigured into looking Romanian, and Griphook and I were under the invisibility cloak. We got to Diagon Alley and suddenly this Death Eater named Travers was talking to Hermione as Bellatrix, and was coming with us to Gringotts. At the doors I had to confound the guards so that they didn't notice the disguises go through the doors. I also had to Imperious a goblin and Travers before we could get down to the vault. We got through the doors to the tracks and heard a commotion in the lobby. We knew they knew something was up, so we had to hurry. We got in a cart and left the death eater there at the door still under the spell." Harry took a deep breath and continued. " I remember the first time going to Gringotts. 'Thief you have been warned beware; Of finding more than treasure there. We went through this waterfall thing that erased Hermione's and Ron's disguises. We got to the vault it was guarded by a dragon and there was a spell on everything so that if we touched anything it burned and multiplied."
"The Gemino and Flagrante curse," Bill said in awe.
"Yeah, that's what Griphook said. Anyways, I saw the Horcrux sitting above our reach and reached for it with the sword, somehow a bunch of treasure exploded into our space and burned us all and kept multiplying. I grabbed the cup and we spilled out of the vault at Death Eater and goblin feet. We all fought and I broke the bonds holding the dragon down, we jumped on and it flew out with us on its back." Charlie looked so exited he was practically jumping out of his seat. "We flew on the dragon till it got close enough to a lake for us to jump in. When we got to the shore I had a vision and I knew that Voldemort had been told about our escape and knew that we took the Horcrux. To say he was furious would be the understatement of a century. He decided to think about the locations of the Horcruxes, we didn't know where the last one was so I paid attention to his thoughts. He thought of the island in the cave, the Gaunt house, the diary he knew was destroyed, the vault, and…Hogwarts." Shouts of 'Where?' and 'Here?' from various people. Ginny looked at the group of storytellers.
"That's why you came here. It was the diadem, wasn't it?" she asked.
"Yep. Ravenclaw's lost diadem. I needed to find it here so we apparated to Hogsmeade. And the Caterwauling charms went off. We hid but I ended up sending off a Patronus to protect us from the Dementors that were called. Suddenly, we were dragged into a building and told to be quiet. Aberforth Dumbledore convinced the death eaters that it was his goat Patronus and not a stag they saw, idiots. Anyways, he called Neville through his sister's portrait and Neville came and brought us to the Room of Requirement. Well, Luna brought me to see the bust of Ravenclaw in the Ravenclaw common room. I saw it and immediately knew where I had seen it. Last year, I had to hide my potions book so I ran to the Room of Requirement and paced thinking of a place to hide something. I opened the door to fine mountains of junk and forbidden items in a cathedral sized room. I had run through looking for a place I could remember and placed my book in a cabinet with the bust of an ugly, old warlock on top and to make it even more distinguishable I place a wig and an old tiara on top of it.
"When I saw the diadem, I knew it was the tiara I had seen in that room. So I knew where I had to go, I just needed Ron and Hermione. So, when Professor McGonagall and the other professors knew I was there and they ran one way to protect the castle and to get the students out. I knew Voldemort was coming and Snape had left, so it was up to them to get the students out. I went the other way to find Ron and Hermione. They had found a way to destroy the cup we stole while I was gone so we only had to fins the diadem and destroy it, then destroy Voldemort's snake. We got everyone in the Room of Requirement out, and then we went into it again, to the new appearance of the Room of Lost Things. We were searching for it when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle showed up. We dueled and Crabbe sent off a Fiendfyre spell which killed him. Ron grabbed Hermione and Goyle on a broomstick, and I grabbed Malfoy and the diadem. The Fiendfyre touched the diadem, which coincidently destroyed it. We got out safely enough and Malfoy and Goyle ran off, Crabbe wasn't so lucky.
"We knew the snake was with Voldemort and I used our connection to locate him. He was in the Shrieking Shack. So we went to the Whomping Willow and went down the passage to the shack. We watched as Voldemort spoke to Snape and then had his snake attack Snape and kill him. Voldemort left the shack and I went over to Snape before he died. He told me to take his memories, and to look into his eyes. As he looked into my eyes…he died. I went back to the castle after Voldemort called off his minions for an hour. I watched the memories. I won't go into them all, basically, when Professor Dumbledore kept saying that Snape was on our side and he trusted him with his life, he was telling the truth. Snape really was on our side the whole time." The crowd scoffed and loudly disagreed, reminding Harry that it was Snape that killed their leader.
"Let me finish, please. Dumbledore and Snape made an agreement that since Dumbledore was dying from the curse on his hand he wanted Snape to kill him if the opportunity arose. His death was all planned out by himself. Snape was supposed to keep a low profile but still keep supplying the Order with stuff. The idea to get me out of the Dursley's was actually Snape's idea. He told Dung and made Dung say it was his idea for the seven Harry's. Then Snape went back and told Voldemort the night we were moving, but not the whole plan. The other memories were about my…mother. He, Snape, was in love with her. The doe Patronus belonged to Snape, he brought the sword—"
"Wait, he was in love with your mum!? When did that happen?" McGonagall was baffled.
"Well, he grew up near my mum and aunt when they were little. He was kind of her friend and he told her about being a witch before she got her letter. He also told her about Hogwarts, and Dementors and things. They stayed friends through school until one day he was in a fight with my dad and his friends and Snape called her a mudblood. She said she didn't want to be friends with an up and coming Death Eater. He loved her and never told her and he never stopped loving her. He died wanting to look into her eyes… that's why he made me look at him as he died." Everyone looked taken aback at the truth about the man they all despised.
"So he was working for us all along? And we never…we never knew." Professor Sprout looked disheartened. "He died with everyone in the world hating him…" she and McGonagall both looked like they were going to cry. After yet another moment of silence for their fallen comrade Harry started once again.
"Well, I'm not sure the significance of it but when he showed his doe patronus to Dumbledore, it made Dumbledore positive of his innocence." Harry stopped and looked at the portrait when the occupant cleared his throat.
"Harry, I can answer that question. Your mother's patronus was a doe. At first Severus's patronus was a large bat." At this Ron snorted. "You see Severus and Lily both had a strong desire to learn the Patronus charm, so, like you Harry, they both learned, or started to learn it, in their third year. I believe they made their first Corporal Patronus in their fourth year. After Lily stopped talking to Severus in their 5th year, his patronus changed to a doe to match your mothers. His never went back to the bat form it began as, but stayed as the doe even after Lily died." Dumbledore sat back and picked a lemon drop out of his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
"That's how he got the sword to us. He put it into the pond, and had me follow the doe to the pond…" Harry paused, but was interrupted by Ginny.
"Wait, he caught us trying to take it and punished us for it, yet he just gave it to you? Why!?" asked Ginny.
"Don't you remember, he wasn't alone when he caught you? One of the Carrows was with him. He also only gave you detention with Hagrid. You got off lucky, besides the one you almost got, was a fake. The real one was hidden." Harry told her. She looked shocked.
"How'd you know so much about that night?" she asked him. Harry shrugged.
"I heard from Dean what happened. Then I saw a memory about the sword from Snape. Anyways, to continue the story, one of the last memories, was one of Dumbledore telling Snape that I was a Horcrux and not to tell me until it was time to face him." At this new breakthrough, gasps, shouts, and sobs rose through the room.
"Does this mean that since your still here that You-Know-Who could come back, again?" Percy asked skeptically when the room calmed down.
"No, I took care of it. No, let me speak. This is hard, so please, no interruptions. When I learned this information, I knew I had to…die." Many tears were being shed at this, for no one believed that Harry could have been so selfless. "So I left the school. I was under the invisibility cloak the whole time and I didn't stop to talk to anyone inside the school, because I knew that if I told someone, they would either try and stop me or try and follow or I would be able to pull myself away from them. The only person I spoke too was Neville. For some reason I felt like he should know that we had to kill the snake. Someone besides Ron and Hermione needed to know. I didn't tell him why, just that it needed to happen. So I covered back up and went into the forest. I followed some death eaters to the Acromantula cove. I placed my invisibility cloak and wand in my robe, and showed myself. He then proceeded to execute me." Harry finished this part of his tale in a quiet, monotone voice.
Hermione, Ginny, Fleur, Molly, Minerva and several others were openly crying. The rest were staring at Harry as if they had never seen him before. Harry, hearing their gut-wrenching sobs, knew that if he sat there under everyone's scrutiny he wouldn't be able to continue so he got up and walked to the window once again. He knew he was so close to breaking down and crying at that moment, he didn't know how to stay in control of his emotions. The last thing he wanted to do was to cry in front of what seemed like everyone in the whole world who mattered to him.
Suddenly, Molly stood up and walked over to Harry. She turned him to face her and enveloped him in a motherly hug; tears falling from her face were dampening his shoulder. He suddenly had to fight very hard to control the ever-growing lump in his throat from bursting forth and making him break in front of everyone. She held him this way for several moments, before breaking away and looking into his watery, emerald eyes.
"Harry, you are as much my son as any of them. I love you as my child. I can't believe that you would sacrifice your life to give all a chance. It's the most selfless thing I have ever heard of. Why you would do that, when half of the country was out to get you and treating you the way they did, I have no idea. You didn't have to do anything yet you almost gave your life for us all. How could someone be so…noble, so altruistic…" She stopped and looked at him with eyes that held so much love in them. He had never felt more loved by anyone than at that very moment. She hugged him again and whispered in his ear, "Thank you." At those two, heart-wrenching words, his resolve broke and tears poured down his face as he sobbed into his surrogate mothers arms. He had never had a mother's shoulder to cry on, and he found that it felt good.
She held him as he wept, for he wept for those who were lost. Fred, Remus, Tonks, Colin and so many more gave their lives just as he had, yet he had lived. He wept because the world was cruel this way. He did not weep for himself, but for those he knew were gone. He knew that what he had done was the ultimate sacrifice and that the loved ones he had lost would never be there for him again, to make him laugh, cheer him up, or just annoy him as only a good friend can do. He cried harder than he had in his entire life because he was alive, and they weren't. They would never laugh, or rejoice in their child's laughter. Colin would never become the famous photographer he had aspired to be. Remus would never watch his son grow old, the son he had been so exited for when he was born. Tonks would never get to watch her baby boy grow up and use his Metamorphmagus skills to get himself into trouble at school. Fred would never prank anyone ever again or see the joy in a child's face when a prank was accomplished. Harry wept for them all, and for a long time. His sorrow caused everyone in the head office to break down that day.
Finally, after Harry had cried all his tears away, he pulled away from Molly and stood up. He looked out the window for a few moments before turning to the room.
"I need to finish this. It's almost done, so I hope you can bear with me for a few more minutes." A murmur of consent rippled through the room. "When I died…or whatever had happened, I went to a place, it sort of looked like Kings Cross Station. I was standing there and Professor Dumbledore showed up. He told me what had happened and then told me that…I had a choice. I could go on, where I do not know, or I could come back and finish the fight. Then he said something I'll never forget: Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present. I decided that since so many families were already torn apart, so many were already dead, that I owed it to all of you to come back and finish it so that no more had to die.
"I woke up only a moment after the curse had hit me, I didn't move and I barely breathed. I was worried he would come over and check me. But instead he sent over one of his underlings to check me. Fortunately for me he sent Narcissa Malfoy. She was worried about her son, who was up at the castle. She asked me if he was alive and I said yes, she turned around and announced that I was dead. They all cheered and what-not. Voldemort levitated me and bounced me around and slammed me into things. Then he made Hagrid carry me out to the school. The rest you know." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Now that you all know this, I will ask one thing of you all. Please, stop saying You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Professor Dumbledore always said fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. Voldemort is dead. If you find you can't say his name, call him Tom Riddle, it was his name also. It's childish and stupid to call him by those silly names, yes we all know who he is, but it would make you sound braver if you just said Voldemort. It was just a name. Now, Ron, Hermione, and I will answer any questions you may have."
A few people raised their hands slowly. Harry looked at his friends, sighed, and looked back at the crowd. He pointed to Dedalus Diggle.
"Yes, Mr. Diggle, go ahead." Harry said.
"When you were fighting You-Know—"
"Damn it! What did I just say? Say-his-name! I refuse to answer anyone's question unless you all say his name before your question. Ron and Hermione won't answer them either. If you have a question you'll have to say his name. Now, go on Mr. Diggle. Say his name then you can ask your question, and if your question has his name in it say it then too." Harry burst out.
"Very well, V-Vol," the Dedalus sighed, "Voldemort." He shuddered.
"Very good, continue." Harry said in a calmer tone.
"Well Mr. Potter, When you and…V-Voldemort were fighting, you were both saying things about a wand of Elder. What exactly was that all about?" Dedalus blushed when he saw Harry scrutinize him.
"Well, I will tell you now, there were a few things I left out of this whole story, for everyone's safety. The origins of the Elder wand for one thing. The Elder wand is the Wand of Destiny, or more commonly know as the Deathstick. It has a history lasting a very long time. It is passed from wizard to wizard by being won in a duel. In this case, it was Dumbledore's, who right before he was killed, was disarmed by Draco Malfoy. When Dumbledore was buried it was there with him. Voldemort had heard of the power of this wand and knew it was Dumbledore's, who had won it off Grindelwald. So he went to the tomb of Dumbledore and broke into it and stole the wand. Since Snape had killed Dumbledore, Voldemort thought the wand recognized Snape as its wielder so he killed Snape to become possessor. Problem was he didn't know about Draco disarming Dumbledore, nor me disarming Draco. So I am the true wielder of the Elder wand, and it would not fight against me. That is how I won the battle. You all should also know that I intend to break the cycle of this destructive piece of history. If I die of natural causes it will not be able to be passed on, which stops its powers. I used it to repair my own wand and will either destroy it myself or hide it and make myself its secret-keeper. Next question." Harry knew that to tell everyone about the deathly hallows would be disastrous, so he decided to not tell anyone, outside of his closest friends. Hestia Jones timidly raised her hand. Hermione pointed to her and told her to ask her question.
"Um, well, I was wondering what the three of you will be doing now that he's gone?" she asked. Harry looked at her curiously.
"Well, I'm not quite sure yet. It only happened, what, eight hours ago? I'm not sure what I want to do anymore. Hermione, Ron, do you guys know?" he asked them. They both shook their heads.
Questions went on for another quarter of an hour before they tapered off. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up and looked at everyone.
"Well, now that you all know the whole story, know this…after I speak with the minister about this, I will probably have to give a press conference about what we have been doing so," at this he looked toward Kingsley who nodded at him. "I will tell people what they need to know. So please don't talk about what we just told you. Particularly about the Horcruxes, if that information were to get out to a new rising dark lord, we could be in very big trouble." Harry turned to McGonagall and said, "We would like to go back to a quiet place with the rest of the Weasley's please. We want to spend some time with them." She nodded and said, "Go ahead. The Gryffindor common room will be kept just for you guys and anyone you say can be let in for a few days. Anyone left over can share with a different house. You may go now, tell the Fat lady what I said and a short list of people who can come in if you want. Would you like me to send some house elves up with dinner?"
"Er, well, I think Kreacher can handle it tonight." Harry responded. They all got up to leave the room. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione made it to the door, they heard clapping. They slowly turned around and saw the Order, staff, and the portraits all applauding them most with tears in their eyes. Embarrassed, they left the room hurriedly and with bright red faces.
Any quotes are from the cannon of Harry Potter books 1-7 by J.K. Rowling. No copy write infringing intended.
A.N: Well, tell me what you think…wait, maybe you should wait until a few chapters have gone by to judge it…oh heck, tell me anyways. Just remember, this was only a review chapter to refresh your memories! It does get better! thanks to Aliey for bettaing my first chapter! Yay for betas!