Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not ours because there's two of us and only one J.K. Rowling so obviously we can't both be her. In fact, neither one of us is, which is why we're writing this useless disclaimer to begin with. Thank you and have a nice day.
(A/N: The only events out of the Harry Potter books that happened in this particular AU were up through the fifth book.)
Prologue
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Memorial Site
A newspaper fluttered in the breeze, caught in the slightly rusted metal gate of the cemetary. On further inspection, Harry Potter noted it was as old as the graveyard itself, brown and cracked with age, its heavy black print barely readable. YOU-KNOW-WHO DEFEATED FOR THE LAST TIME; HARRY POTTER TRIUMPHS. He gave it only a cursory glance before crumpling it in his fist and tossing it into the garbage bin. He'd read the article a thousand times before, and had finally concluded that it was all a load of waffle. The Order of the Phoenix defeated the Dark Lord…dark and light powers came head to head in an epic battle worthy of true legend… Harry Potter, though only fifteen years old, embraced his title as the Chosen One fated to cull evil from the wizarding world… Potter has finally fulfilled his destiny and the wizarding world celebrates his heroic endeavor with him…
The text blurred in front of his eyes. The graveyard was suddenly too warm and too bright, and everything was moving too fast and Harry couldn't focus. He would have given anything at that moment to be able to just go back up to Gryffindor Tower and curl up under his bed and sleep. Stone memorials faded into the corpses of his memory and he thought somebody screamed behind him. His eyes darted over the devastation of the battlefield around him, his brain unable to comprehend the surreal scene, knowing that against Voldemort, he may as well have been that same helpless infant back at Godric's Hollow seventeen years ago.
And suddenly his enemy materialized before him, just as he had so long ago. Green eyes met red ones, and then Voldemort raised his wand. Harry pulled out his own.
The ground beneath him jolted, sending both Voldemort and Harry to the ground. It took Harry a long minute to realize that it wasn't death that tripped him, but an actual tremor in the earth. He gasped, trying to catch his balance as the world shook again.
"HARRY!" someone was yelling behind him, and Harry twisted from his position to see the stones of Hogwarts, a place that had always been as solid and comfortingly unmovable as the mountains themselves, falling to the ground. It hung there, suspended in midair for only a moment before the enitre castle collapsed on itself.
No.
No.
That was impossible.
Hogwarts couldn't just... couldn't just die like that.
Harry blinked in stunned disbelief. Hogwarts had stood for... centuries. For it to collapse was the equivalent of watching the entirety of England sink into the Atlantic. It wasn't supposed to happen like that... it couldn't happen. It wasn't happening now.
And as rubble and dust sprayed Harry Potter's face, the last tears he would cry for years streamed down his cheeks and soaked into the bloody rags of his robes.
Of course, Harry knew now that his emotions had been ridiculous. Without the loss of Hogwarts, Voldemort would have been invulnerable. The collapse of the castle had opened his enemy's one weakness. It had to happen. Hogwarts was just another sacrifice of the war, and should not have merited tears when so many of his breathing friends and allies had given their lives for the cause.
And as he always did, Harry Potter took a deep breath and soldiered on.
He swung open the creaky gate. He'd been at the cemetery so many times his path had been worn into the grass—not that he needed it to know where he was going. He walked mechanically to the first grave, front and center, just as he had asked for.
Ron Weasley
1989-2006
Died bravely fighting in the Second War
His sacrifice will always be remembered.
Harry stared at the crumbling stone grave as he reached into his pocket. The cemetery was well cared for, he made sure of that, but nothing could stop the passage of time from taking its toll. His fingers closed around a slim piece of newspaper and he took it out, setting it against Ron's gravestone.
"Chudley Cannons go to the World Cup," he read aloud. "You knew they'd make it some day."
The paper fluttered slightly in the breeze as Harry looked back sadly at the grave for a moment, murmuring, "Thank you, Ron. I... I owe you so much. You shouldn't have... the Curse was meant for me." He drew a shaky breath. "You gave your life for mine, Ron. So thank you. I hope I... I tried to make it..." Harry looked away, unable to continue. "Thank you," he murmured again before continuing on his set course to the next grave.
Albus Dumbledore
1881-2006
One of the greatest headmasters of Hogwarts
Had his name and picture on a Chocolate Frog card
Harry smiled slightly as he read the epitaph again, running a slightly shaking hand through his hair. He had no words to describe what he wanted to say to Albus Dumbledore, his teacher, his mentor, and his friend. After a minute, he walked away, staring down at his worn shoes.
At the end of his path was the monument itself. His eyes scanned the miniature castle, noting the perfection of the stone replication. It was Hogwarts at its height. Harry half expected to see a small Dumbledore come walking out the doors or for students to be passing through the halls, but the sculpture was still and alone. His eyes found the gold plaque as the early morning sunlight glanced off it.
Under the great Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's leadership, the Order of the Phoenix and the student organization Dumbledore's Army met Voldemort's forces here in the final battle of the Second War.Although the Light side won the battle and the war, it came with a tragic price.Most of the Order was killed in this terrible battle, namely Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Bill Weasley, Arthur Weasley, and Ronald Weasley.
The war would not have been won without the contributions of Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape, who both died as Death Eaters but will always be remembered as supporters of the Light.Their efforts were critical to the death of Voldemort.
Countless other innocents who aided the Light war effort were tragically killed. While their names are unlisted here, they shall never be forgotten.
May those who bravely gave their lives for the cause of the Light rest in peace.
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Glowfish36
~Signing off~
greenjelly signing off too. Lowercase first letter is intentional.