AT PEACE
J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.
Chapter 1 – Several Last Straws
It had been a beautiful day and Roddy Owens had just finished putting most of his garden to bed for the season. There were still a few root vegetables that were growing and some that he was leaving to go to seed so he would have seeds to plant next year but for the most part the garden would shortly go to sleep for the winter.
He had been working on this for several days as he had a rather large garden in comparison to his medium-size house. There was also a greenhouse in the very back of the property hidden from view where he grew some "special things" for his own use. No the greenhouse wasn't for growing pot or whatever you wanted to call it, just certain plants from his life of so long ago.
Well actually it wasn't so long ago just a mere seven years but to the man it seemed like a lifetime had passed since the day he was obliged to leave the world he once belonged to. You see Roddy Owens was not his real name. He never thought about his real given name anymore as he had legally changed his name to Rodrick Patrick Owens. Rodrick had been the middle name of his maternal grandfather and Owen had been the man's first name.
Patrick he took as his new middle name after the Patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, because he had first moved to that land. Roddy would be the first to tell you that he had little in common with the revered saint except for perhaps one special act they did share slightly. There was a legend that St. Patrick had cast out all of the snakes from Ireland. Roddy had destroyed a rather powerful, wicked Snake and had saved Britain. St. Patrick was a well-loved, honored and revered individual for the many good things he did – he was made a saint after all and green was the color most associated with him.
Roddy was also associated with the color green as his Snake had claimed that lovely hue as his own and Roddy himself looked out on the world with eyes the color of emeralds. But unlike the saint, Roddy was reviled, shunned, slandered, abandoned and had to flee to live a life of his own choosing.
Rodrick Patrick Owens had once been known as Harry James Potter. His Snake had been known as Lord Voldemort. Thanks to a prophecy which only the late great Albus Dumbledore had heard in its entirety, the Snake had ruined Harry's life, killed his parents, doomed him to a miserable, abuse-filled childhood (well actually Dumbledore had done that but let's still blame the Snake), had made the six years of the boy's education filled with danger, abuse, slander and loneliness, saw the boy witnessing the horrible death of a classmate, the stupid, foolish death of his godfather and the next year the contrived death of his supposed mentor.
All that alone would have made any life miserable and unhappy. However, according to the prophecy - which only the late great Albus Dumbledore had heard in its entirety – the boy with the dreadful life was destined to be the savior of the world which had used him so ill and had cared for him so little.
The mentor had never really trained the boy, and it could be said that he went out of his way to see that the boy had as little training and knowledge as possible. There had been no logical reason for this until the boy realized after the mentor's death that there really was a reason – he was to be a martyr, the sacrificial lamb, to live a wretched life and die a hero's death, but leaving the triumph and laurels to be given to others such as the mentor. All this due to a prophecy - which only the late great Albus Dumbledore had heard in its entirety – and finally told to the boy when he had been at his lowest point as well as being in shock.
Unfortunately, the mentor who always had everything planned down to the smallest detail had made many mistakes, although he would never admit to them. The last and most deadly had been putting on the Snake's cursed ring and thus dooming himself to certain death. Only the quick action and talents of another pawn had extended the mentor's life for another year.
Anyone as altruistic as the mentor was proclaimed to be should have confided in his experienced associates all of the knowledge he had gained concerning the Snake and all of the plans that he had made and the ways and means to destroy the cursed objects and then how so that the Snake could be defeated by anyone when they were finally destroyed.
Of course, the mentor had originally planned to be that one. He would hunt down the Horcruxes, those evil containers which housed pieces of the Snake's soul, and then the boy must fulfill his destiny and die as alas he too was one of the containers. Then once all the containers and the boy were destroyed the plan had been for the mentor to swoop in and once again save the day.
After all his many accomplishments, especially his defeating of the century's other Dark Lord, the defeat of this even worse Snake would ensure his fame forever. He would go down in history as a new Merlin.
All the others, all the deaths, the ruined lives, the pawns made, played, used and then discarded, it would all be worth, as it was for the Greater Good and the end justified the means after all. The main pawn, the boy, had already had his moment of glory as the Boy-Who-Lived and managed to gain a few more titles, although much more pain, continual abuse and living a pathetic life. At the end, if he was lucky, was brave enough and managed to die in public and with glory, he would have again been called a hero and would have a paragraph or two in the grand and future biography of the mentor. What more could a doomed pawn ask for?
Well the mentor died leaving nothing really worthwhile for the boy and his arranged for friends to go on. It had only been the true bravery, self-sacrifice and pure dumb luck of the boy (along with some research by his bossy, know-it-all- issued-by-the-mentor friend) that the Snake had finally been able to be defeated.
But at what cost? So many people with lost or ruined lives, destruction, despair, grief for the dead, a ruined economy, the exposed foolish reputation of Magical Britain on the world stage for the world to laugh at (tsk-tsk) and to use of an example of how not to run a government.
A scapegoat was needed and was one of the greedy, unscrupulous, cowardly government officials chosen? Fudge would have done nicely as that description fitted him to a tee. Any living Death Eater with brains, a glib tongue and lots of gold in Gringotts (Malfoy) also managed to evade such a fate. So who was it then? Why the boy, the pawn, the savior, the true hero.
He was an orphan with money (most of which he didn't know he had thanks to the mentor) and had committed a crime by stealing from Gringotts a dark object which they knew they had and shouldn't have hid it but had anyway, but which dark object HAD TO BE DESTROYED TO SAVE THEIR WORLD.
They lost a dragon also and the building was damaged so the hero could be prosecuted since he had money in their bank. Of his two accomplices one had no vault (being a Muggleborn) and the other had a family vault but no money in it (and a brother who worked for the bank) so they were absolved from all guilt as the hero had more than enough money to satisfy the Goblins' greed.
It had been the Ministry, led by someone who the boy had respected and trusted, who had told the boy that for the "Greater Good" his fortunes would be confiscated to prevent another Goblin uprising. The damage that his robbery had caused would be paid for and thus the boy would not be killed by the Goblins for the outrage and atrocities he had committed against the Goblin nation.
The rest of the inheritance he didn't know he had, was already out of his reach as, he found out via the Minister of Magic, that the mentor, "acting as your magical guardian, used money from the main Potter vault to finance the Order of the Phoenix as he knew your parents would have wanted it so used and if anything was left over, it was to go to Hogwarts if the school needed financial assistance. It seems your parents didn't leave a Will."
Actually the boy's parents had but the Will had been sealed and some under the table greasing of palms had been done between the mentor and a Goblin and thus the Potter vault had been raided. Apparently his trust vault had been emptied some time before his attack on Gringotts and a lot of money from the Black Family vault which he had inherited from his late godfather had also disappeared.
The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had "comforted" Harry with the news that "Since you probably aren't going back to finish your education at Hogwarts (says who, thought the boy), I will get you and Ron Weasley into the Aurors – you earned the right. Right now we are in very bad straights here at the Ministry, but as soon as we can scrape together some money in a few years, you will get your well-deserved Order of Merlin, which comes with a nice amount of money. See kid, it will all work out in the end," the smiling Minister had told him.
But Harry Potter had decided he didn't want to be an Auror now that the war was over. He actually did want to go back to Hogwarts and even if it took him a few extra years to do it in, he wanted to actually learn some things. The more he thought about it the more he considered being a healer. He would have to find someone to actually teach him the right way to brew potions, but he could do it given a chance and nobody was around to sabotage his work.
He had always held back due to his being forced not to outdo Dudley, and he had goofed off and held back so as not to lose Ron as a friend. That was a big mistake and he knew it as soon as he walked into his Divination class. He should have taken Ancient Runes as that would have been much more useful. Perhaps it was not too late.
Harry had been shocked when McGonagall had denied him a seventh year. "After all Mr. Potter, you chose not to take the classes which you want to take now and your utter lack of dedication to your studies in the past lead me to think that you would not do so now. Besides you have been offered a job at the Ministry to become an Auror and you will be getting paid while you are learning. Your future is already settled whereas we need all the funds we can get to rebuild the school and give other children, especially orphans, a chance of getting a good education."
With that said she had basically dismissed him. He stood there rooted to the spot until his anger would not be controlled and through gritted teeth he shouted at her. "In case you so conveniently forgot, most of the money being used to rebuild this school was mine – until Dumbledamn helped himself to it without my knowledge or permission. And since you also have conveniently have forgotten I happen to BE AN ORPHAN IN NEED OF A GETTING A GOOD EDUCATION – UNLIKE THE ONE I HAD HERE!"
McGonagall froze in the middle of her paperwork before looking up at him with what seemed like hatred in her eyes. She then exploded.
"HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU INSULT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! HOW DARE YOU INSULT THIS SCHOOL!"
She stopped to take a breath before continuing her rant. "You wasted your time here. You told me you wanted to be an Auror. Had you not committed ROBBERY you would not be in the financial situation you now find yourself in. Your parents WOULD HAVE WANTED Albus to use that money to fund the Order and rebuild the school and he had every right to use it as he saw fit. You are an ungrateful, egotistical, immature, fickle, lazy…"
She was stopped in mid-rant when Harry spelled her off her chair and onto her ass.
"YOU BITCH. YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TALK. YOU WERE THE WORST HEAD OF HOUSE AND STOOD BY AND LET ALL THE SLANDER, HURT AND HORRORS HAPPEN TO ME FOR THE SIX YEARS I WAS HERE. THE DADA TEACHERS WERE THE PITS – EXCEPT FOR REMUS LUPIN AND A DEATH EATER - BINNS IS A TOTAL WASTE, TRELAWNEY IS A JOKE AND SNAPE – WELL SNAPE WAS SNAPE."
He might have continued letting out his feeling but he noticed McGonagall going for her wand and his reflexes kicked in automatically. He cursed her again and then tied her in magical ropes, conjured an apple which he stuck rather forcefully in her mouth, uttered some rather nasty afterthoughts and then turned heeled and left her office.
Once he was in a part of the hall where there were no pictures or ghosts lurking about he called out, "Kreacher" and the elderly elf had popped in front of him. "Please take me to 'home' and then the elf popped him out of Hogwarts.
"Home" was not Grimmauld Place. Harry truly never wanted to return there ever again, not only for the bad memories it held, but although he owned it, it was really not his. It seemed that Dumbledore and the Weasleys knew that the pantries were magically refillable, ordered and paid for by the House of Black estate. That was how Kreacher had survived all those years with never having left the house after Mrs. Black died. The Order had lived off the bounty while the house had been its Headquarters. Mrs. Weasley had taken advantage of the situation once the war had ended. Harry hadn't stopped her as what was his was the Weasleys also, or at least it had been until two days ago.
Since the news had come out that Harry had basically lost his fortune, the Weasleys had become a bit cool towards him. At first he chalked it up to the fact that they were still in mourning for Fred and maybe they had, like so many others, blamed him for it. Harry had felt guilty for every death which had happened since Dumbledore's death. He really shouldn't have as if anyone was to blame it should have been Dumbledore. Had he acted years before perhaps Voldemort would not have risen again or could have been taken down sooner, but he hadn't and nobody really knew it except Harry.
After all this was Albus Dumbledore! He could do no wrong, made no mistakes and was the Leader of the Light. He also had the good fortune to have died before the war had turned into the hell which it became. He now had the title of "martyr" added to the list of his many accomplishments and despite the nasty biography Rita Skeeter had written about him (which had been taken off the shelves at the first opportunity), he had become an even greater legend.
Harry only acquired another notch on the scapegoat belt as it seemed that many grieving people had to blame somebody for their loss. It was especially those people who had not defended themselves, had not fought back, had just gone along with the horror until they were saved that shouted their outrage aloud the most.
Apparently it was all Harry Potter's fault that their loved ones had died. If he had only acted sooner instead of going off doing whatever it was he was doing then their family and/or friends would still be alive.
There were also nasty rumors going about that Harry had made a run for it and Ron Weasley and his Muggleborn girlfriend had chased after Harry until they found him and dragged him back to fulfill his destiny.
Harry didn't have to wonder how that rumor had started as Ron had spent the last few weeks giving interviews as to what happened during the war. Naturally Ron's role in the war grew to greater proportions than what it had actually been. His desertion of Harry and Hermione during the Horcrux hunt was not mentioned.
Witches were swarming all over him and he couldn't walk down Diagon Alley without being mobbed. For some reason he was seen walking down the Alley every day – sometimes two or three times a day. His picture was in the Prophet every day and he had started to do endorsements.
Harry would never deny Ron his moments of fame. All during their time at Hogwarts every time one of their "adventures" had ended Harry was usually in the infirmary (unconscious) or just didn't want to talk about it. Ron did and he always saved the "best parts" for when Harry and Hermione were not around to hear the "real story." His exploits grew larger every time he told the story. Most people didn't believe him or at least not the large role Ron had played in the story. First years were usually impressed but as the years passed and they grew to know Ron Weasley better, they learned to take his words with a grain of salt.
However, most of the British public didn't go to school with Harry and since Harry would not give any interviews, they had to get the "real story" some way. Enter Ronald Bilius Weasley one of the Golden Trio members who was ready, willing and able to tell exactly what happened.
Hermione had gone to Australia to look for her parents and just returned the day that Harry had the interview with Kingsley. Hermione had gone directly to the Burrow as Hogwarts was still being repaired. She had not received as warm a welcome as she would have liked as Molly Weasley was in the middle of cooking a huge dinner for the exulted company that would be dining at their home that night. Molly had not even had the courtesy or concern to ask if Hermione had found her parents. Instead she ordered the girl to "pop over to Grimmauld and see what is taking Ron so long to get the supplies I need."
Hermione did not know about the refilling pantry situation but she went over there anyway thinking that perhaps the Weasleys had left some of their provisions there. She apparated to the house which she hated almost as much as Harry and did not like what she found.
Ron was there all right but he was not alone. Instead there were several of their classmates – Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and several other females which Hermione was not acquainted with. They were older witches, probably in their early or middle twenties, who Hermione did not recall ever seeing at Hogwarts. They were dressed rather vulgarly – all right they looked like sluts!
It seemed that Ron had been sent by his mother to "pick up a few things from Grimmauld Place" but he had better things to do until it occurred to him that he should take a few friends – old and new – to the house and have a bit of a party of their own. None of the people with him had been granted access to the house but Ron just had everybody hold onto his robes as he flooed them over to the house one at a time. Then the party started. Ron ordered the best booze and snacks available, a lot of drinking was done and more was planned until Hermione showed up.
Ron hadn't wanted Hermione to go looking for her parents, but she had. He tried to talk her out of going while she had tried to convince him to go with her and then the two of them could have a well-deserved holiday while looking for the Grangers. Ron had not wanted to go because he was lazy, didn't want to spend money (even though it would be Hermione's money they were spending) and didn't want to "share" Hermione with her parents.
But now he was having too much fun at home, especially after she had left and the fame, money, interviews, women, partying, etc. had started happening. He had decided that if she never came back, he would survive, and survive very well.
But there she was and the fight had started. It was during the middle of the very loud row that Harry had innocently returned home. Hermione was not doing too well as their fellow Gryffindors were all drunk and razzing the girl. The sluts were looking on and laughing much like Pansy Parkinson had done when Draco had said something "funny."
Ron was being verbally abusive and when Harry came in it looked as if he was about to get a bit physical as he shakily drew his wand and it looked like he was going to curse Hermione. Naturally she saw him and easily disarmed him and this only made him furious. He jumped up and leaped towards her but fell flat on his face much to the laughter of the others.
But Harry knew Ron all too well and knew what the fool was going to attempt. This was when Harry stupefied and bound his "best mate" and the laughter stopped when everybody saw the look on Harry's face.
Everything happened quickly then. The unauthorized guests quickly left, with Seamus and one of the sluts each grabbing as many bottles as they could grab before leaving. Hermione briefed Harry about her return and why she was there. Harry left Ron bound and asked "What the hell is going on in my house?"
Ron was embarrassed and angry and being very drunk didn't help matters at all. Harry ascertained that Hermione still had her bottomless bag with her possessions in it and invited her to stay at Grimmauld while he picked up Ron, still bound, and pushed him through the floo yelling at him "Don't come back until you are invited."
With Kreacher's help, Harry was in the middle of resetting the House wards changing the access codes when a very angry Molly Weasley came out of the floo. Naturally she had her mouth in gear and had insulted both Harry and Hermione within about 15 seconds with no intention of stopping anytime soon.
"My poor Ronnie told me what you two….horrible people…did to him and I WON'T STAND FOR IT. You will come back to the Burrow and apologize this instant and I want the supplies I sent him here for. When I think of all of the things we have done for both of you and this is how you treat us…"
Both Harry and Hermione could guess just what Ronnie had told his mother, all of it lies and Molly Weasley hadn't even bothered to tell them what Ronnie had said just that they had treated him horribly and she, of course, would never stop to listen to anybody defending themselves by telling their side of the story.
The ranting abuse just got worse and worse, louder and louder and only stopped for the few seconds that it took Molly to throw a list at Kreacher yelling "get these things for me NOW" before going back to her ranting.
It was then that something inside of Harry snapped and he found himself finishing the ward resetting resulting in Molly Weasley being thrown out into the street in front of Grimmauld Place. He and Kreacher quickly finished the resetting.
"Oh Harry, you are in for it now," said an unhelpful Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley is going to be so angry at you that you will probably have to crawl on your hands and knees and beg to be allowed back to the Burrow."
He looked at her coldly before saying, "What makes you think I ever want to go back to the Burrow?" Hermione was shocked speechless (a true patronus worthy moment thought Harry to himself), and he took the opportunity in the lull to update Hermione on all that had been happening while she had been away. It was very enlightening and Hermione remained quiet while she actually listened for once without interrupting Harry.
When he was finished he took the time to ask "Well did you find your parents?"
"What? On yes, yes I did and they were very angry with me and it took me days to convince them that what I did was for their own good. They were still angry with me when I left and as it stands now they are deciding if they will even consider coming back home as they really like Australia."
They talked for a while and Kreacher made them a simple dinner after he had cleaned up the mess Ron and friends had made. Hermione spent the night in the room she had stayed with Ginny while Harry tossed and turned in the bed he had claimed for himself.
He had never wanted to share a room with Ron at Grimmauld and Sirius said he could have his own room but Molly Weasley had put her foot down and informed Sirius that "Harry will be sharing with Ron and that is that."
Harry had noticed that Sirius was going to argue but then changed his mind. Harry had lost some respect for Sirius at that moment. It was his ancient house and he was its lord and master yet Dumbledore sat at the head of the table and ordered everybody around, especially Sirius, while Molly ran the house with an iron fist and a tornado of a mouth.
The next day Harry was awaken by Kreacher informing him that someone was trying to break the down the wards. It seemed that an irate Molly Weasley had badgered her son Bill, the curse breaker, to bring a team and break down Harry's wards. Harry tried to talk to Bill, as he was a sensible man, a good, brave man and a great friend. All Bill would say to Harry was "I'm sorry Harry, Mum is in a horrible mood and is screaming that she wants these wards down and you on your hands and knees begging forgiveness."
"And you are doing this highly illegal thing why?"
Bill did have the decency to look ashamed, especially when Harry had told him what had really happened but all Bill said to that was "I'm figured it was something like that considering it was Ron doing the whining. I know what he has been going around saying and doing and while I don't approve of any of it…well you know how Mum is and Ron has been….well you know how it is."
"Oh yes, I do 'know how it is' so that is why I am saying that you WILL STOP THIS NOW OR I WILL CALL THE MINISTRY."
Bill sighed before saying, "Harry, Kingsley gave us permission to do this as Mum gave him some song and dance…well he approved it because Mum has threatened to have it blasted all over the Prophet if…"
It was then that Harry stopped the conversation, called Kreacher and Hermione, informed her that he and she were leaving within the next 5 minutes so to grab her stuff and then Kreacher would place the house in permanent lock down. In the next 5 minutes Bill and his staff were thrown across the road into the small park.
Hermione was told to go to Hogwarts where he would catch up with her and to tell McGonagall he was going to come back for his seventh year. Harry then stormed off to the Ministry, barged through the door to Kingsley's office and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not going to be an Auror and left. Just to be thorough, Harry flipped Kingsley the universal finger signal for disrespect as he left the office.
He then apparated over to the Daily Prophet, demanded to see the editor and after the editor gave his word to print exactly what Harry said in the interview, Harry Potter would give his one and only interview.
After a grueling session and constant editing and revising, the interview was ready to be printed. It was very late at night and Harry had actually slept at the Prophet's office. With a pre-distribution copy of the paper in his hand, he apparated to the one place he thought no one would look for him.
It was to the home of Andromeda Tonks that Harry had referred to as "home" after the disastrous interview with McGonagall. The morning before when he had showed up at her home she had gladly let him in.
They had become rather close as he was little Teddy's godfather. He had originally planned to set up a trust vault for the boy but then he had been "robbed" as he called it. She was one of the few people who had never blamed him for the death of her daughter or her husband, Remus Lupin. She actually blamed Dumbledore and when Harry heard this he had confided to her all of the manipulations Dumbledore had done to everyone.
When everything had come crashing down on the poor boy, she gave him comfort and advice. "You might consider leaving Britain for a while. If you need some money I might be able to arrange…"
"Thank you but no, I did manage to empty my trust vault before I left on the 'quest' and I stashed it in a safe place. There isn't much to provide for Teddy at the moment, as I will have to find some way to continue my education and get a job. Hopefully by the time he is ready for Hogwarts I will be able to contribute some funds if not all – depending on what kind of job I get."
When the interview came out, reactions were mixed. Harry didn't write about his childhood abuse or about the abuse he had suffered at Hogwarts. He did tell the truth of his adventures there, citing Ron's real contributions and including Hermione. He defended himself and told briefly about being on a quest and stated in the paper that Ron Weasley was an outright liar about most of what he said. Oh he gave him credit where it was due but he refused to have his name slandered by his once "best mate" who he now considered an enemy.
Harry had gone so far as to tell what had happened at "the House of Black estate," including the Weasley's helping themselves to the expensive food and drink. He told how Ron had violated the trust given by sneaking in people who were not allowed on the premises and them all getting drunk and Ron attempting to attack Hermione, as well as Molly Weasley's behavior and outrageous demands, including Bill and the team showing up. He then via the Prophet interview officially ended his friendship with ALL the Weasleys.
Andromeda had been horrified to read that he actually told the whole story and in print. He informed her he just couldn't take it anymore and knew in advance that the interview he would be having with McGonagall would not go well but he had to try.
"I would like to think that someone would actually take my side and give me if not comfort, at least a chance to prove myself and to have the opportunity to make something of myself and show people that I am Harry, just Harry and not just the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One or whatever name of the week they are calling me."
Harry didn't know if it had been the newspaper article or something else that had caused McGonagall to be such a bitch to him. Then again, he had been right when he told her that she was the worst head of house and stood by and let all the slander, hurt and horrors happen for the six years he was here.
He had found out too late that she had never given him the information given to all Muggleborns especially when she knew that he had been raised as a Muggle. He did mention this little fact in the article as well as Hagrid being the one to "rescue him and introduce him to the Magical World. She was the last chance he was giving the Magical World and she had blown it.
When he went back to Andromeda's house he sent Kreacher with a letter to deliver to Hermione at Hogwarts. She would have already read the article yesterday and he had been surprised when she hadn't tried to owl him with either a "good job" or "what the hell were you thinking." Maybe she had apologized to the Weasleys on his behalf or something stupid in an attempt to smooth things over.
He knew she liked Ron, although why he would never know considering all the hurtful things he had said and done to her during the years. Even after the incident of the other day would she choose Ron, as a love interest over him as her real best friend? He would never know because as the letter would tell her, "he was done, finished, gone and never coming back to these 'freaks' who have used, abused, slandered and hurt me so, over and over again. He had "served his purpose and done his duty which he hadn't really 'owed' to these people, so goodbye to all the fools and the 'freaks' and may they all have the lives they truly deserve."
Hermione knew just what the word "freak" meant to Harry and for him to use it to describe wizards and witches showed his scorn for them. Harry advised her to leave Britain, perhaps go back to Australia and make her parents' decision easier, but either way she "SHOULD LEAVE BRITAIN AS NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE."
"Even though you are the most brilliant witch of your age and a war hero to boot, you will always be seen as just a "Muggleborn" and truly nothing more. Don't try to change it as it will kill you if not physically it will still kill your soul and you deserve to have a good life."
Once Kreacher returned, Harry had his trunk filled with all his worldly goods, or at least the ones he wanted, kissed and hugged Teddy and Andromeda goodbye and left to start his new life.
Ron was getting the fame he had always sought and with Percy acting as his manager, he was getting endorsements, book contracts and even speaking engagements. The money was rolling in. In fact, the day of the breaking of relations between Harry and the Weasleys, Molly was cooking one of her famous dinners as Percy had invited some "wheelers and dealers" over to discuss Ron's flourishing career. Percy said this dinner could make or break Ron's career, hence Molly sending her son over to get some expensive foods and lots and lots of expensive wines and liquors.
Due to the fight, the dinner had to be cancelled and hopefully rescheduled while Molly "straightened things out." But then the article appeared in the Prophet and all hell broke loose. Molly had indeed complained to McGonagall demanding that if "that lying, bullying, cowardly, no-good bastard showed up at Hogwarts, Minerva was to contact Molly immediately so she could get her hands on Harry Potter.
Harry would never know it, but this was the one time McGonagall had sided with and protected him. She had been stern and even cruel to the boy so that he would be forced to take refuge in becoming an Auror as Kingsley could protect him from the Weasleys' wrath.
Ginny was going to be doing her seventh year and it would be a disaster for the two of them to be in the school at the same time. Other than Arthur (who truly did like Harry) there were no other Weasleys working at the Ministry. Ron had already refused the Auror job as it would take too much time and effort to become an Auror and with all the endorsements and books deals, he would now be making real money until he decided to sign up with one of the Quidditch teams. Why should he risk his life at a dead end, unappreciated job (especially since the war was over) when the world was now his for the taking?
Yes, in her own cowardly way McGonagall had been trying to protect Harry, but per their usual history, she had failed miserably. Her indifference and cruelity to be kind had only driven the final nail in the coffin and Harry had left Britain for good.
The Weasleys would never let Harry get away with this. Percy enacted a quick damage control denying all of the things which had happened at Grimmauld Place. Harry had never mentioned the names of the other people who could act as witnesses as he didn't want to draw his former classmates' name through the mud and he hadn't been introduced to the sluts. Therefore it was his word against Ron's word.
Hermione had refused to side with Ron and "his version of what really happened" as Harry had told the truth. She had been too quick for Ron when he had drawn his wand and tried to actually cast the Imperious on her. It was then she decided to take Harry's advice.
She had left Ron stupefied and magically bound, and since she really hadn't unpacked, she simply wrote a letter to McGonagall advising her of what had really happened and what Ron had tried to do and said she decided to follow Harry's example and leave Britain. Therefore, she would not be returning to Hogwarts and Ron could be found lying in an alleyway outside of Diagon Alley if anybody wanted to retrieve him.
Hermione had used Muggle transportation to return to Australia and since nobody other than Harry had asked her if she had found her parents, she had lied to McGonagall saying her parents had died in a diving accident and she would now be starting over in another country as there was nothing left for her in Britain.
With the only two people who could take Veritaserum to prove they were telling the truth about everything now permanently out of the country, the Weasleys had a field day. Percy announced that "Ron will be writing a book telling the REAL story of what had gone on in Hogwarts during the years the Golden Trio were there and exactly what had REALLY HAPPENED on what "that lying coward Potter called the 'quest'."
If Harry had thought he had been slandered before, it was a good thing he wasn't around to read and hear what was being said about him now. However, he wouldn't have cared anyway as he knew from experience that nothing he ever said or ever did would win him any sympathy, let alone respect, and now he would be starting a new life.
All the Weasleys, McGonagall, his former classmates, the Order, the Ministry and all the sheepeoples in Magical Britain could go #*&#& &&* * themselves. He was out of there and would remain so.
He was wrong in some respects. McGonagall had been inconsolable when she found out that Harry had left. Hermione leaving in quick succession had been almost too much for her to bear. Neville, Luna and many of Harry's classmates were also stunned and sadden to hear about these events.
Anybody who knew Ron Weasley, who had listened to him brag and bellow for six years and who had witnessed his behavior since the end of the war knew that he was a lying weasel. But now there was nothing they could do except to grieve at Harry's loss and wish him well and to have a life in which he could finally be happy.