Title: Welcome To Elysia
Warnings: Character Death, bullying, murder, au, ooc, misuse of religion, Americanisms, etc.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe and Make no PROFIT from this.
My name is James, and I remember when I died. I had always expected the killing curse to hurt, but it doesn't. I didn't feel anything. One moment I was alive, hearing the words spoken, and the next I was here watching my wife fight for our son's life before losing her own. Then Lily was with me and we watched Harry; we watched our son live. Together we watched Sirius arrive at our now ruined home and gently gather up our son. We watched him argue with Hagrid, who resorted to knocking Sirius out and stealing his motorcycle in order to fulfill Dumbledore's orders. We watched Sirius come to nearly a day later and take off to the Ministry in order to fight for custody. The Aurors tried to arrest Sirius but he testified under Veritaserum and in the presence of a griffin that our Secret Keeper had been Peter Pettigrew, for whom an arrest warrant was immediately issued.
The Ministry pulled out our Wills, in the Vaults Sirius told them they'd be in, and granted custody of our son to Sirius Black.
We were so happy.
It didn't take long for us to regret it.
By the time he was three Harry was undersized and had broken more bones than your average demolition derby driver. This continued throughout his life; Remus, someone I would have expected to spot the abuse and put a stop to it, believed Sirius' claims that Harry deliberately harmed himself to get attention. There was a period of nearly three years that Remus never actually saw Harry at all because of Sirius' claims that my son was grounded; his crimes were always extreme for his age, according to Sirius. Lily and I began to hate Remus as his scoldings got more and more cruel over the years.
The staff at Hogwarts, supposedly trained to spot abused children, chalked my son's injuries up to being the results of pranks gone wrong. After all, this was the child of James Potter being raised by Sirius Black. Pranking and the resulting injuries were to be expected. For the entire first three years of his schooling Harry tried to speak up and ask for help, going to every single Professor at least once. They all told him to stop being so ungrateful; Sirius had warned them that Harry didn't appreciate everything Sirius had done for him.
Harry was sixteen when he came to join Lily and me. Sirius literally beat him to death. It took over a day for my supposed friend to even realize that my son was dead. The jackass cleaned up the body and staged a Potion accident before pulling up a few tears and calling for assistance. No one noticed the discrepancy in the time of death versus the freshness of the Potion. Despite knowing for a fact that Christianity had it wrong, I began to believe that the Christians were onto something with the Witch Burnings.
The Gods came to us with a plan; during the burials of underage persons the Gods and any associated family members are invited to return to the living realm and speak on behalf of the child. It's intended to give the living peace of mind. Normally the Gods would show up, say a few pretty words, and let the relative say a few pretty words and they'd all leave.
The child in this case's parents would be traveling with the Gods, but our words would not be pretty.
When the day came, indecently quickly, we prepared ourselves to travel. The Gods decided at the last minute to allow Harry his say as well, so they cleaned him up and made him look like the fallen warrior he was. The officiant invoked us and we were suddenly there. The Gods looked exactly like a God should, while Lily and I looked like the peaceful residents of Elysia that we were. Harry was there but invisible to the human eye for now. He had his part in this, and we wanted to hear the excuses of the living before he had his say.
**Change to third person POV**
Sirius was shocked when the family members that arrived with the Gods were his Godson's parents. One of the Goddesses waved a hand and they felt pressed into their seats; clearly they were not leaving. Sirius began to get a very bad feeling about this. Then one of the Gods opened his mouth and Sirius knew he was in a lot of trouble.
"It is good that this child has left the evils of your world. Evil is all he has known, and he is truly a good soul."
The assemblage of false mourners began muttering amongst themselves; what evil was there now that Voldemort had been destroyed fifteen years earlier? Another God stepped forward and spoke.
"There are many kinds of evil. The ones that exist in your world now are far more damning than the one that this boy vanquished in his infancy."
The next God did not speak; instead he waved Lily forward to have her say. The woman stared straight into the eyes of her one time friend, whom she now despised.
"Severus Snape, you victimized and vilified my son. You forced him to bear the sins you considered his father's, despite owing James a Life Debt. I utterly despise you. You believe James to have stolen me from you, and you seem to be suffering under the delusion that if I had not married James then I would have married you."
Lily's face twisted into a mask of rage.
"I would never have been your wife. I saw you as a brother until the day my son began Hogwarts. Since that day I have seen in you only that which James hated. If I had my life to live over again, you would not be in it."
The man looked stricken; the only woman he'd ever loved saw in him what his enemies saw? She'd been the only person to whom he'd ever shared his innermost thoughts! This was cause for reflection. He brought his attention back to the God who had waved Lily forward spoke, eyes lingering on Severus.
"The evils of covetous thoughts and the assigning of false judgments."
Severus paled; coming from the mouth of a God that sounded very damning. The final Goddess waved James forward. The father let his eyes linger here and there amongst the crowd before he spoke.
"I trusted you all, but none more so than my so called friends. I have watched my son be tortured and abused verbally and physically by the one I entrusted him to because he lived while I died. My death was made a mockery of by someone who claimed to love me as a brother."
Sirius opened his mouth, undoubtedly to defend himself, but the Goddess waved him silent and nodded for James to continue.
"I watched my son be tortured and abused mentally by the staff of what they claim to be the finest school in the world when he went to them and begged for help. I watched people I held in high regard belittle my son for not being grateful for the care he received, based on the words of his abuser."
The staff of Hogwarts was pale, many shaking. When it was put that way (particularly by a dead man), it was nearly verbatim from their training classes on identifying abused children. James continued.
"Perhaps the most disappointing is you, Remus."
James did not elaborate, but Remus did not need him to. He knew what he'd done. The final Goddess spoke.
"The evils of murder, abuse, torture, and complacency."
The first God spoke again.
"All of these and more are daily occurrences in this world you consider to be superior to all others. Perhaps the most damning to you all is that your evils were perpetrated against one whom has always been favored amongst the Gods."
Even the students became afraid at that; the friendless boy had been bullied with the Professors tacit permission. Only one person had ever been friendly with him, and even then it was only in secret. He was the only true mourner amongst them, but he felt the weight of the Gods judgment as fully as any other; he had never stood up for his only true friend. The first Goddess spoke, staring into seeming nothingness.
"What is your judgment?"
Harry Potter shimmered into sight and they knew they were damned. When the boy spoke it was with the quiet subservience they all remembered.
"Those who bullied me with glad hearts shall spend one year in purgatory for every year they sent me there."
The students began crying and begging for mercy but the second God waved them silent by taking their voices and encouraged Harry to continue.
"Neville Longbottom, even though it was in secret you were my one salvation. I have always understood that you had to protect yourself in order to provide what protections you could to me. For this I invite you to join me in Elysia immediately upon your death, which shall be only after a very long and happy life."
Neville tried to deny the invitation; he felt guilty just as much as the rest of the students, but Harry merely shook his head fondly.
"Silly Neville, don't you understand? You showed me that there was good in the world, and made sure that I knew I was never alone. You knew what they would do to you if they ever found out that we were friends, yet you made time for me nearly every single day. You tended those wounds you were able, and you gave me someone with whom I could just be a child. You are a good man, Neville Longbottom, and deserve to be honored more than I am capable of at this time. Do not forget me, my friend, but do not live your life as though it were mine. Remember that you are your own man, Neville, and your future is in your own hands and no one else's."
Harry's eyes slid to Neville's right, where his grandmother was sitting, and his knowing gaze seemed to pin her to her seat.
"Frank's spirit has passed, Lady Longbottom. He and Alice reside in Elysia beside my parents and me. He has asked me to tell you that they are happy there and you should let them go. They have tried several times over the years to reinhabit their bodies only to get Neville away from you. Neville is not Frank. Neville will not be Frank. Your attempts to make Neville be Frank are…disturbing to all involved."
The Lady's eyes filled with tears but she nodded. If this was her son's final wish then she'd honor it, even if she did not see things that way. Harry's eyes slid to the Hogwarts staff and he spoke again.
"You betrayed not only my trust and the trust of those who have passed; you have betrayed the trust of the parents of the students under your care. By allowing them to bully and victimize and ostracize as you have for so many, many decades, you have taught them that there are those beneath them. You have taught them that not all rules apply to them, not taking the time to realize that breaking school rules to bully a yearmate can become breaking laws to torture that same person. For this breach of trust you shall each serve one month in purgatory for every law broken because of your teachings."
The staff nodded jerkily, thinking that they'd gotten off fairly light; not one of them believed the dead boy was finished with them. They were right.
"The broken laws shall be tallied at the time of your death and you will be given the number at that time. For your complacency and indirect assistance in my murder you shall spend one year in a new ring of hell that has been constructed for this purpose for every time I came to you and specifically requested your aid."
There the staff paled dramatically; they could each remember no less than five instances that fit the boy's criteria. The boy turned to Remus next, who had started to cry softly.
"You betrayed me, so afraid of losing a friend that you knowingly allowed the man to abuse a child. How many times did you say that Sirius' explainations didn't sound anything like me? You knew what was happening yet you refused to acknowledge it so that you wouldn't have to do anything about it. You swore over my crib when I was a baby that you would protect me and love me; you betrayed that oath. For that you will spend eternity amongst the betrayers, never to advance to Elysia."
Remus looked striken and began to sob harder. Betrayers were given the opportunity to advance to Elysia by making amends for their betrayal; by denying his right to advance, Harry was saying that Remus could do nothing to make amends. Even if the man was going to spend an eternity trying. Finally Harry turned to Sirius.
"You will go to hell. You will work your way through the rings and start all over again. Your soul is so tainted by evil that there is no hope for redemption."
Sirius snarled instinctivly.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?"
The final Goddess cut him off, voice full of powerful anger that swept through the Hall.
"He is our favored, and the one to whom we defer for your judgments. You have committed acts of unspeakable evil upon a child and we gave you time to change your ways. You stripped his skin from his body, punctured his internal organs, and have broken every bone at least once; and this was all before the age of eight. If he had allowed any mercy for you we would have overridden it; you are truly one of the greatest evils on Earth."
The first God spoke the final words of their damnation.
"You will be unable to kill yourselves or be killed by another. Your mind cannot be altered by any substance, and you will not receive the luxary of insanity. You will live until you reach the natural end of your life, and you will always know what is coming. For all save two of you there is hope for redemption, so I would be careful how you live the rest of your life. Neville, of course, has nothing to fear at this point and we do not see that changing for he is truly a good man."
All of the sudden the dead teen's head snapped up and he looked at the God questioningly. The God nodded and the boy spoke.
"There is another that I nearly forgot, and I apologize for that. I'm afraid that I do not know her name but she would warn me about impending attacks whenever she could, and I would occassionally receive packages that I believed to be from her because they contained food or Potions. I would like to invite her to Elysia, as well, but I do not know what to call her."
Lily stepped forward and gave her son a hug.
"Her name is Luna, but she is not here today. Some of the other students locked her in a cupboard; they are nearly as cruel to her as they are to you, though worse than they are to Neville."
Harry nodded and looked up at the God imploringly. The God laughed and gave the boy a hug as well.
"Yes, Harry, Luna and Neville shall join you in Elysia."
The first Goddess nodded and the group of Gods and the dead gathered together. The Goddess' voice rang out and they disappeared.
"You have been judged."
**Conclusion**
Neville and Luna became friends. After Hogwarts they traveled into Europe where they met their spouses. They lived happy lives full of love and laughter. Both had many children; each named their youngest son Harry. Their children and grandchildren all heard the story of Harry Potter and were told about his funeral; these children banded together in love of the one they claimed as Uncle though had never met. Several studied the law as they aged and finally, when Neville and Luna were in their fifties, drafted a law of their own. It was passed and the family rejoiced.
Potter's Judgment, as they'd named it, ensured that no child would ever again be subjected to such evil.
Luna and Neville died three years apart but were reunited with one another and the one who had so blessed them in Elysia. There were no doubts that their children would join them.
The rest of the Hogwarts students lived out their lives as well. Some were afraid, jumping at the smallest thing as though it were there to kill them and send them to purgatory. Some were arrogant, convinced that they could somehow get out of Potter's judgment for them. Some accepted their fate as their due and lived the rest of their lives in atonement; these were the fewest in number. The largest in number were those who blamed Potter for everything that went wrong in their lives.
Many of them wound up in Hell after purgatory. Of the several hundred students judged, only three (not counting the two already blessed) ever made it to Elysia.
The staff at Hogwarts did not make sweeping changes, though they would have liked to say that they did. For the most part they fell back on the complacency that had served them so well for so long. Pomona Sprout was the only Professor to ever make it to Elysia; ten years after Harry Potter's death she saw a first year student who reminded her of him quite a bit. She made some discrete inquaries into the Muggleborn's home life and discovered that the little girl was getting 'the devil exorcised out of her'. Pomona stood up for the child and fought for the little girl, eventually helping her find a new home with a middle aged couple whose children had already grown. After that she kept a much closer eye on her students from all houses, and became honored in society as the Children's Savior. She always denied the title, but kept up the work.
"I failed one student, and it cost him his life. I will die in their place before I allow it to happen to another."
Though he'd been judged with the other Professors, Severus Snape never forgot what Lily had said. Instead of using this as inspiration to become a better person he allowed his anger and grief at her disgust to push him fully down a dark road. He followed Potter's judgement but spent the rest of eternity traveling the circles of Hell…in Sirius Black's company.
Remus Lupin fell into a deep depression. He was ostracized even further than he had already been for being a werewolf. When he tried to kill himself and nothing happened, he turned himself in to the Ministry to be put down. After the third failed attempt the Ministry workers learned that he'd been judged by the Gods and sent him away, telling him to live with the consequences of his actions. When he died and went to the betrayers, he started working hard in hopes of redeeming himself in the eyes of the child he'd so wronged.
It never happened.
Sirius Black was arrested three days after his Godson's funeral. He was sentenced to Azkaban, and would have received the Dementor's Kiss except the Wizengamot did not wish to anger the Gods. He spent the next 125 years in the same cell, blaming his Godson for his imprisionment. When he died he was sent to Hell and an eternity with Severus Snape.
Harry stood with his friends and his family and watched as the world ended. Every soul was accounted for and it was time now for them to live an eternity of peace and harmony. At least in Elysia.