Disclaimer: There are not too many things that I own, so I expect that´s a pretty clear sign that Harry Potter is not one of them.
The Pledge of the Living
The sun was shining upon the faces of the people who had gathered just outside of the Hogwarts castle, ignoring the somber atmosphere of the crowd, smiling into their faces. Maybe it was just trying to prove that despite everything life had to go on. The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall however seemed for once not to copy the real weather, settling on a dark storm instead, in what was by many considered its own way of acknowledging those who had fallen to protect the castle. There was not much proof that twelve months had already flown by since the night of the Battle of Hogwarts and many amongst the crowd felt as if it were just mere days or even hours ago. Yet Teddy Lupin, who had grown from a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair into a walking and happily chattering toddler, who however was just as bissfully unaware of what exactly the battle had cost him as he had been a year ago, was a living remainder that a year had indeed gone by. But even the toddler seemed to sense the gloominess of those around him and instead of turning his hair into the favorite flavor of the month (orange to the horror of his grandmother) he settled on sandy brown instead and for once he did not try to imitiate the face of whoever he was the closest to, but his features remained true to the heart shaped face he had inherited from his mother.
It seemed as if half of wizarding Britain and then some more from other wizarding settlements from all over the world had gathered on this day. The bystanders however stood at a respectful distance from the large group of families and loved ones, for once acknowledging their right to privacy. On each side of the newly built memorial stone stood a figure, from the left of the stone the new Minister of Magic Kingsley Shackelbolt watched as the crowd gathered, accompanied by Neville Longbottom, who stood to the right of the stone, not watching the crowd, but seemingly interested by the dirt of his shoes.
It had never been agreed verbally that there would be no words included in this ceremony, but there was an understanding between all of them that no words were necessary on this day. Every single participant of this ritual would remember these few moments for the rest of their lives as something incredibly amazing yet utterly sad and the memory of it would send chills down their spines and push tears into their eyes even ages later when they would recount the story to their grandchildren.
Everyone´s attention turned to Kingsley as he slowly walked to the wall to the left of the memorial and lightly tapped it with his wand. As the inscription The First Great Wizarding War appeared on the wall, one by one those who had lost their loved ones to the first struggle against Voldemort stepped forward and imitated the motion Kingsley had done with his wand and the names of those lost in the colors of their house and moving pictures of something that had represented each person started appearing on the walls of the castle. Here and there Kingsley would once again step forward for those who no longer had any loved ones between the living, imprinting their names on the wall himself or to lightly tap the names of the likes of the Prewett brothers, Benjy Fenwick or Marlene McKinnon and a miniature of the bird Phoenix appeared next to their names as a nod to their participation in the famous resistance group Order of the Phoenix. At last after long hours it was time for Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived to step forward from the crowd. He tapped the wall twice gently as the names of James and Lily Potter appeared closely next to each other and he made one more motion with his wand as the pictures of a stag and a doe appeared, running around the names. He stood with his face to the wall when he felt Kingsley give a light squeeze to his shoulder. The older wizard drew his own wand again and whispered: "Together," as they both touched this side of the wall for the last time as the images of the two Phoenixes showed flying over the heads of the stag and doe. For a long while after Harry Potter returned to his previous spot, the crowd stood motionless and soundless until finally it was Neville´s turn to step towards the right side of the wall and create the mirroring inscription to Kingsley´s The Second Great Wizarding War.
Once again relatives and friends stepped forward and covered the wall with the names of their loved ones and small memorabilias of what they were like. The names of those few lost in the early struggles like Berhta Jorkins, Cedric Diggory and Sirius Black were joined by dozens and dozens others who had fallen victim to the war at its peak. Just like before Kingsley added the image of the Phoenix next to the names of the fallen Order members. Aberforth Dumbledore reluctantly made the name of his brother along with an image of a little girl, the true meaning of which would be really understood only by select few of the crowd. Kingsley himself added the name of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the image of his magical eye inspecting the crowd from inside the o in his surname.
The silence of the crowd was only broken twice during the whole ceremony. At first a surprised murmur ran through the crowd as the Hogwarts House Elf Winky stepped forward and with a snap of her fingers the inscription "Dobby A Free Elf" appeared under the names of the many wizards and witches. Unlike their names however it did not bear the red and gold colors of Gryffindor, blue and bronze of Ravenclaw or yellow and black of Hufflepuff. Later however it would mysteriously turn into the colors of Gryffindor, but noone tried to remove or invastigate who was responsible for this, all aware that the house elf had displayed bravery close to any other Gryffindor and then some more.
The second time a shocked collective murmur ran through the crowd was when once again Harry Potter stepped forward joined by an another house elf, creating the inscription of Regulus Black in the red and silver colors of Slytherin. Technically, Regulus had died long before the second war started, but it had been agreed to add his name here as his achievemens helped to win the second war in the end. It also had been agreed that Harry would join Kreacher for this part of the memorial. It was clear for everyone that he was trying to make a statement and as he turned back to the crowd his look silenced the whispering. It was as the others had expected, noone would dare to doubt the judgement of the Boy Who Lived.
Just as with the fallen of the first war the crowd was once again motionless for a while after the last name was added to the long list of the victims of the second war. Kingsley and Neville shared a look and both stepped towards their part of the wall and tapped it gently to add the final inscription: And countless unnamed but no less mourned wizards, muggles and magical creatures.
Then the attention of the crowd turned towards the memorial stone, dedicated to those who had given their lives in the Battle of Hogwarts. Dennis Creevey was amongst the first who had stepped forward to honor his older brother. As his whole body shook, he was joined by Neville, who helped him put Colin´s name on and just like Kingsley had done with the members of the Order, he tapped the names of former D.A. members and the picture of a golden galleon appeared next to their names, the message of the last time the D.A. members had gathered shining on it.
Harry Potter once again stepped forward, holding the fussing toddler Teddy Lupin in his arms together with Andromeda Tonks. As the name of Nymphadora "Tonks" Lupin appeared before Andromeda could tap it one more time with her wand, the toddler reached out from Harry´s arms and touched the name of his mother lightly causing it to constantly change all kinds of colors instead the yellow and black of Hufflepuff. The toddler let out a small happy squeal at his own achievement, which send an uneasy fealing into the pit of the stomachs of the majority of the gathered who were not as oblivious as little Teddy Lupin to the fact that he would never get to know his mother in his life. Just like with Lily and James Potter, Harry made Remus´ name appear next to Tonks, this time making sure that Teddy could not reach from his arms and that he colors would stay Gryffindor red and gold. With a soft painful smile he tapped the stone one last time as he made images of soles of shoes as those on the Marauder map appear next to the name of his fathers´ friend and his godsons father. Unlike with Dobby and Regulus there was no shocked murmur when professor Slughorn stepped forward to add the name of Severus Snape in silver and green to the list. By now the tale of the courage the potions master had shown was well known to every single member of the wizarding world. It was the least that Harry Potter could do for the man who risked eerything to protect him. Even though the potions master had not really died in battle, they had agreed that he deserved the same honors as of those who did.
George Weasley was the last one to step forward and while he was looking just as pale and torn as he had every day since the battle there was a ghost of a smile on his face as he added Fred´s name to the bottom of the list, the W in the surname copying that from the logo of Weasleys´ Wizzarding Wheezes. As both Neville and Kingsley tapped Fred´s name to acknolwedge his involvement in both resistance groups the reason for George´s smile was explained as he set off a Wildfire Whiz-bang and the crowd answered with faint laughter in what everyone would later agree was an appropriate way of saluting the lost Weasley twin. Neville and Kingsley did not join in the laughter as they once again shared a look and together they gave the memorial one last tap and Neville´s inscription of Dumbledore´s Army, Still Recruiting was joined by Kingsley´s Order of the Phoenix, Fighting ´till the very end.
As the laughter slowly died down everyone´s eyes turned to the Boy Who Lived who had once again drawn his wand sending sparks of red and gold into the air. People all around him followed his example and the sea of Gryffinfor red and gold was joined by blue and bronze of Ravenclaws, yellow and black of Hufflepuff and here and there they were joined by sparse sparks of Slytherin green and silver. Finally as all the sparks joined in the air an amazing picture to never forget of the Hogwarts logo was created. The lion, the eagle, the badger and the snake all united around the large letter H. For a moment the image soared in the sky until it flew into the memorial stone revealing one last inscription under the image of the Hogwarts logo. This time however it was not a nod to the dead, but rather a promise of the living: We hereby pledge to protect the better world you sacrificied your lives for.