TITLE: Harry Potter: A Life Less Ordinary
AUTHOR: Allocin
SUMMARY: A 'brief' account of how Harry's life changed the wizarding world after Voldemort's last stand.
RATING: G
CATEGORIES: Biography/Drama/General
CHARACTERS: HP
TIMELIME: Future
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Opened this, having forgotten about it, and was shocked to find two pages of text! Wowwie.
TECHNICAL: Imagine it's an extract from Hogwarts, A History.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'Harry Potter'. Don't sue.
INSPIRATION: Hell if I know.
The war was over. At the Battle of Meade Hill, where the last remaining wizards and witches fought against each other on the grassy knoll outside Hogsmeade, Lord Voldemort, bane of wizardkind, was struck down. Harry Potter, the victor of the powerful duel, burnt the body to cinders before re-entering the battle. Fighting with a bitter intensity in their hope for a swift death were the Death Eaters, fearsome and desperate without their Master. They had nothing left to live for.
They were overcome, of course. In a sea of blood, with bodies scattered around like driftwood, the last remaining Dark Wizards bowed to each other and died in an act of mass suicide. The Aurors and drafted soldiers cheered.
Of course, the clean up afterwards quashed all sense of joy at the end of the war. There were corpses to identify and bury, and injuries to heal by too few Medistaff. They had lost so many good people. It was Harry who directed the entire operation, organising groups and arranging shifts so that everyone got their rest, even though he himself worked tirelessly. It was long before he consented to treatment, and the Mediwizard who treated him was shocked and amazed by his stamina to withstand such debilitating curses and weeping wounds.
At seventeen, Harry Potter saved the world, in more ways than one. With Albus Dumbledore missing, presumed dead, and the wizarding world unfit to help itself, it was he who took charge. No one else would step up to the task of sorting out the mess that wizarding Britain had fallen into. He reopened Hogwarts and became acting Headmaster, reinstated the Ministry of Magic and was acting Minister (as well as taking on practically every other office); he expanded St. Mungo's to accommodate the hundreds of wizards who would never be able to take care of themselves or their families again; he created The Lily Estate, a huge orphanage especially for wizarding children whose parents had either perished in the war or were now sheltered at St. Mungo's; the reconstruction of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade was organised entirely by him, as was the re-warding of every important establishment in Britain, and the relocation of Azkaban prison, and new diplomatic relations with foreign countries who had isolated Britain while Voldemort raged.
He did it all without complaint, going for days without sleep, often forgetting to eat in his haste to get their world back on its feet. Reams of paperwork, books of spells, mountains of finance information, lists of names, files of requests; Harry spent his days trying to keep things together while others fell apart. Thanks to his time, his effort, his money, the world slowly righted itself and things began to resemble normality. His trusted friends, those who had commanded troops in the war, slowly came round. Roughly half had perished, but others that he favoured had been badly injured. In dribs and drabs they regrouped, returning to him to continue their work. Harry, single-handedly running every office of importance in the country, began dishing out duties.
At eighteen, Harry Potter was exhausted. Thankfully, Albus Dumbledore chose that time to reappear from the ether, cheerful and benign as ever, despite his imprisonment at the hands of the Death Eaters. The mantle of Headmaster was returned to him, and though Harry had done much to the school system in order to cope with the change of circumstance, he was eager to be rid of one office. Hermione Granger, finally revived from a deep coma, was quickly given Minister of Magic; there was no election, but the public trusted Harry and let it pass. The running of the orphanage went to the newly healed Susan Bones and her select group of Hufflepuff carers. Harry's other duties were hastily yet carefully scattered amongst those he trusted. Young as they were, he knew they would not fail him and would hold their offices for many years to come, ensuring stability. His iron grip on the world relaxed, bit-by-bit, and when it did not fall apart Harry let go completely.
At nineteen, Harry Potter left. No one but his closest knit of friends knew about it until one morning when they woke, and his many letters were not answered. When he was not spotted doing his normal work around the country, they began to panic. Reassuring words from Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Granger allayed their fears, but they kept watch for his return. Soon they ceased to observe, however, and instead bought the Daily Prophet for its stories on his whereabouts. Harry was, apparently, travelling abroad. Tales of his adventures in distant countries intrigued and excited the public, and they snapped up all available prints. There were rewards for snapshots of their elusive hero as he explored lands most had never heard of. His travels were the chief gossip item, and the Great Hall at Hogwarts was definitely one of the biggest rumour-mill. To those who knew Harry well, it seemed he could never escape the two traits that had dogged him all his school life: unending fame, and a knack for drawing trouble to himself. No matter where or when or how, Harry ended up defeating one scourge of evil or another. Vampires in Hungary, Chimaeras in Greece, trolls in Norway, Nundu in Kenya, Hydra in New Zealand, Lethifold in Thailand, Dark Wizards in Denmark, cults in Mexico; there was always a rescued wizard or two to interview. His penchant for contradicting luck lasted, much to the relief of the Hogwarts teachers who feared he would never return home.
One soggy evening in February, aged twenty-one and change, Harry Potter came home to Hogwarts. His shaggy black hair was plastered to his head with rainwater, and his green eyes shone out of the dark, drab appearance he presented. The students gaped at him, the staff did the same; even Dumbledore was blindsided. "Sorry I'm late for dinner," he announced into the echoing silence. Immediately students began to shout, cheering his return while simultaneously discussing his adventures with each other. His friends leapt from he staff table, racing down the hall between house tables and embracing him in one mass hug. Older staff members, like Snape and Dumbledore, looked on in varying stages of relief. Their wizarding saviour was safe at home, at last.
After dinner, which he managed to eat in a civil yet famished fashion, Harry retired to his rooms and was not seen again for several days. His friends, who visited him once or twice, reported a few new scars from his travels and lots of paperwork - Hermione and Dumbledore had been covering his correspondences, but there were some things even they couldn't answer. A week later, Harry reappeared at meal times. It soon became a common sight to see him wandering around the castle and grounds, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. He became a permanent fixture of the school, and the students felt doubly secure: between Dumbledore and Harry, nothing could go wrong.
If Harry were not at Hogwarts, he would invariably be at Lily Orphanage with sweets and toys to hand out to the Wards of State there. Susan always welcomed him, as did the other carers, and the children loved him like a close uncle. He handled their finances, which Susan had been struggling with, and began careful expansion. Susan was in charge of the care of the children, but teaching them was a whole other matter.
Having returned, Harry began to implement other ideas of his, all for the better. New sections in the Ministry, reforms to existing departments, new classes at Hogwarts, foreign exchange programs using his connections abroad; it became apparent Harry had developed a talent for manipulation greater than even Dumbledore possessed, and he used it wisely.
Life continued in the same vein for many decades afterwards. The most shocking news to the wizards was often a toss up: that Snape and Harry proclaimed their undying love for each other, or that the Chudley Cannons actually won the National Cup twice in sixty years. After Dumbledore's death (after a very respectable 165 years on earth), the country entered into a stage of heavy grief, lightened only by Harry's public reminder to them that Dumbledore would have laughed at them for wearing so much grey (the wizarding colour of mourning).
There was no one to comfort them on the Wizarding Wireless Network when, aged a horrifically young 75, Harry Potter passed away. It was completely unexpected, shocking the wizarding world into a temporary stasis. The public outcry afterwards could not be abated by any soft words, not that anyone tried. The grief consumed all, making them all unable to function for several days. Life in wizarding Britain ground to a halt.
The Boy-Who-Lived was cremated, as per his wishes, and his ashes scattered on a windy hill to be swept wherever fate took them. A pillar was erected on Diagon Alley in his honour, a place for people to leave their wreathes and prayers. His friends lived long afterwards, carrying on his work diligently, but it was long before the name of Harry Potter ceased to be mentioned nightly in pubs and homes across the country. He had left a permanent mark on magical life, and his contributions would never be forgotten.