"The saddest day in the history of the Wizarding World," that's what people are calling it. That's not what it is to me. This may be a day of loss, yes, but to me, this is the day someone who had gone through too much and deserves to be free, is finally so. To me, this is the day that we see someone who was caring and brave and loyal, finally gets away from the pain and the loss he has had to endure for his whole life.
Sitting here in the front row, with all these people around me, I realize why mother didn't want to be here: too many tears, too many sobs, too much grief. She said it was a good thing this happened. Now, she says, he can be free.
I look around and see Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione walk in, Uncle Ron leaning heavily on his cane. They both look sad too, but not as much as you would think. Behind them come Rose and Scorpius and their children, my cousins, and Hugo and his wife and their child. They are crying. I guess no one told them what daddy always told the rest of us.
Uncle George and Aunt Angelina walk in, Fred pushing Uncle Aunt Angelina in a muggle wheelchair. Behind Fred, his two kids and their wives are also walking in, slowly. Victoire and Dominique are behind them, and Louis. Seeing Louis made me think f Uncle Bill, and his and Fleur's funerals. I remember that day. They had been found in their bed, dead, obviously, but looking peaceful, calm, as though asleep. I notice Teddy's not here. I guess it was too hard for him to come here today, understandable of course. Al almost didn't come too, but I made him. I couldn't stand being here with Mum without him.
I hear my Mum whisper to Uncle Ron that she wished Grandma and Granddad were here. She says he would have wanted them here. But of course they've been dead for years now. No point in wishing for something you can't have, as Uncle Percy used to say. But I understand why she would want them; moral support, I suppose.
I look through the crowd again, looking for James. Last I saw him he was sulking in the corner, staring at the coffin in the back. He's going to be a pall bearer, along with me, Al, Rose, Hugo, Fred, and Victoire. Teddy would have done it instead of Victoire, but he wasn't here, so Mum asked her. Daddy was always very fond of her.
Everyone gets quiet all of the sudden, so I look around to the front of the room. I see the Minister of Magic, opening the ceremony. Daddy always liked this Minister. I liked Minister Longbottom too.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of one Harry Potter…" he starts. I stop listening after a few seconds. We all do, I think. I'm not even sure the Minister knows what he's saying.
I look at the picture of my father they have sitting up next to his grave. Daddy was always very handsome, like James and Al, but was never obnoxious about it like James was. Daddy said that was the James Potter charm showing through, and would always smile whenever he did. I loved the way Daddy's eyes looked when he looked at me and said I looked like a combination of Mum and Grand mum Lily. He says I got the best of both of them.
I feel tears prickle at the corner of my eyes. I really don't like crying, but I think this is appropriate. Mum and Uncle Ron never like crying, but they are now too, so I suppose I can.
"And so let us remember Harry Potter, not for his accomplishments, but for his soul. For his personality," the Minister paused to clear his throat. "Remember Harry Potter for the brave, caring, loyal man he was, who would do anything for his family and for his friends. Remember not what he was, but who he was, as a person, as an individual. But most importantly, remember that Harry Potter was just like each and every one of us: human. As in the words of Albus Dumbledore, "Though we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one." Harry Potter was a friend to us all, everywhere. Remember Harry Potter. Remember him, not his scar or his fame. Remember Harry Potter, and he shall never have truly died."
That's when it ended. Everyone in the room was sobbing, some loudly, others softly, as they lowered my Daddy's body into the ground. For some reason, my tears wouldn't come anymore. Maybe it was because I had been crying so much since we found his body in his bed, dead in his sleep next to Mum. Or maybe it was because I knew Daddy. He wouldn't want me to be sad.
As we all walked out of the graveyard, back home to Grimmauld Place, I kept hearing my Daddy in my head, saying the comforting words he said to me many years ago when Grandma and Granddad died:
"Those who love us never really leave us. And besides, *to the well and organized mind, death is but the next grand adventure."
*Line From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, US Edition, pg.297