Chapter Forty Five: The End
Both Harry and Ginny dropped down right in the corridor of the Ministry of Magic. A few seconds really drove home the point exactly how much of the Ministry had joined Voldemort either out of choice or out of fear. Still, there was a decent number of individuals left at the Ministry, enough for Harry to reveal the demise of Voldemort, so Wizarding Britain will be able to heard. Several people in the lobby had their eyes snap up, as they saw Harry and Ginny stand there. They all gasped, a few of them stepping back in fear. Truthfully, those two were among the last two they suspected to see here. Most reacted in fear, for different reasons, depending on the individual, as they looked at the bonded pair, almost not knowing what they could say to them. Still, despite this, they could feel the power that Harry and Ginny exhibited.
"You shouldn't really be here, either of you," said a Ministry official, bravely speaking up to end the silence, but even then, he was looking over his shoulder, as if he thought someone was going to jump out of the shadows and kill him. A tense look on his face preceded him to continue. "If You-Know-Who learns that you are here, we can't allow either of you to leave, until he gets here, someone might inform him for all we know."
"Then he would be informing a dead man," responded Harry calmly, but all this got him was looks of pure confusion. To elaborate, Harry had removed the two shattered pieces of Voldemort's wand, before he held them up. Many Ministry officials crowded around, others came down onto that level, looking at Harry in shock. "Voldemort's done, this time for good. I did something to him where he'd never return, no matter what, something that I won't hesitate to do to anyone else who threatens my friends and my family. Spread the word that there is no need to fear any revenge from Voldemort's followers anymore and the government will be restructured soon enough."
"So all of you can return home for right now, and if you have any students at Hogwarts, don't worry, they'll be returning soon enough" added Ginny with an encouraging smile, and the Ministry officials exchanged looks, before they took a few tentative steps towards the door.
"Now wait a minute, you can't leave here, the Dark Lord will make this little liar pay…" started a woman but Ginny quickly fired a stunning spell. The power was such that the woman was knocked backwards, causing her to crash into a desk.
"Anyone else want to doubt Harry's word?" asked Ginny in a dangerous voice, and the Ministry officials, even those who had sympathies towards Voldemort, began shaking their heads, as they moved towards the door, before Harry turned to Ginny.
"Have I ever told you how much I loved you?" asked Harry.
"Not in the last couple of hours," replied Ginny with a smile, which caused Harry to grab her by the shoulders and pull her into a long kiss. Several of the Ministry officials brushed past them, not wanting to interrupt their moment, after seeing Ginny's display of power. They broke apart, looking into each other's eyes. "However, I never doubted it for a moment."
"And neither do I," said Harry, as they looked around, to make sure everyone in the Ministry had cleared out. Quickly, they moved up to the lift, to check whether or not some had not come down when they had heard the commotion. At all times Harry and Ginny kept their wands at them. Neither of them would put it past some crazed Voldemort supporter to curse them when they had realized he had been destroyed by Harry. They reached the floor with the broadcast room to the Wizard Wireless. Exiting the lift, the two moved across the corridor, and walked right towards the broadcast room. Opening the door, Harry moved over the Rune, opening up the Ministry frequency to override the wireless.
Once he was sure it was open, Harry began to inform everyone of what had happened and hopefully answer some questions to where they would go from here.
"Good evening everyone, please state me for a very important announcement regarding the fate of Wizarding Britain," announced Harry, as Ginny sat right beside him. "Now, as you are aware, I have in fact survived when Voldemort had claimed me to be dead. He was mistaken and believe me, I regret not returning right away. Not because I thought I could beat Voldemort, but because all of the lives that were ruined when this country was at his mercy, abandoned and isolated from the rest of the world. However, that is the past, what done is done, but we look forward to hopefully moving on from this dark time, as Lord Voldemort has been finished off, this time for good."
Harry sat silently, as those words sunk in for everyone who listened on the other end.
"I don't know how many of you will believe he's gone, he's returned before after all, but I will tell you this, the spell that I used on him ensured that he will never return and no doubt people will frown on this spell as well had they knew the specifics, but if it saves lives, it will be worth it," said Harry calmly, as Ginny gripped his hand for support. "The battle of Hogwarts had several followers of Lord Voldemort captured. Now, many of these followers might not have joined Voldemort willingly. The American Wizarding Government is trying to sort this entire mess out. Be patient, several people may be returning home to rejoin their families soon. If they are found guilty of willingly join Voldemort…I don't know what to tell you. They must live with the choices they have made."
Harry paused, telling no doubt several worried parents about what had happened to their children was not going to be easy. Taking a deep breath, Harry decided to explain this.
"Now, your children, that was tricky, what Voldemort done was appalling, he had all the students of Hogwarts put under the Imperius Curse, using them as cannon fodder to fuel his armies against the attempts to liberate Hogwarts," said Harry grimly. "Thankfully, the symptoms were recognized and all the effected people were just subdued with a minimum of injuries. They are currently being treated and I don't know any more specifics, but I think they'll be released when we are sure that there are no more after effects of the Imperius Curse."
Harry took a deep breath. It was difficult to explain the future, when he did not know exactly how the Ministry would be salvaged.
"The future of the Ministry of Magic is uncertain at best, but once the undesirable and corrupted elements have been purged from this government, it will be rebuilt, perhaps better than all," theorized Harry as he took a deep breath. "I encourage all magical governments around the world to help, but only if they don't have their own agendas. If you use the weakened state of Britain as an excuse to place your government in a better standing, it will do this country no good and will actually put the rest of the Wizarding World in a worse place. This is the center and once the center is obliterated, the rest of the world collapses around it. Remember, no matter what happens, it is in your hands rather it's a new beginning or the beginning of the end. I'm hopeful that in time, Britain will rebuild itself to be something better than it was and it can be done without my help. Remember, remain patient, more information will be given about the future of the Wizarding World in the coming day. Good bye and good night to everyone."
Harry deactivated the connection to the Wizarding Wireless, before he rose to his feet, with Ginny doing the same. The two walked towards the door, out of the Ministry of Magic. No doubt the world would be recovering from Voldemort for years to come, but Harry hoped for its sake that it would recover in time. In the meantime, Harry made plans to distance himself from Wizarding Britain. It would have to learn to stand on its own, without Harry having to bail them out of every situation.
Outside the Burrow some time later, Ginny and Harry arrived, now joined by Ron, as they walked up to the doors. Many others had slowly returned to Britain to help seek out family members, holding out hope that they had managed to fall underneath Voldemort's radar during his reign of terror. Moving forward, Ginny raised her arm and knocked on the door three times. Behind the door, there was no answer.
"Mum, Dad?" questioned Ginny, as she pushed the door open, before she stepped inside, walking into the house, where footsteps were heard. They moved forward, all three of them holding their wands up, as a tired and worn looking form of Arthur Weasley walked forward, holding his wand, but his expression brightened slightly when he had seen his two youngest children alive, after not seeing them for quite some time.
"Ginny, Ron," said Arthur in a relieved voice, but he looked rather tired and worn down. "I had always hoped that you managed to get out alive, Molly always held out hope until the end and Harry…I understand what you had to do, others might not, and it did work out in the end. You-Know-Who is gone, I just wished it was a long time ago, before all of the losses."
"What do you mean, Dad?" asked Ginny but she had an idea what he was talking about and knew how badly her mother had taken what happened to Bill, the thought that there was a chance that she lost two more of her children. "She's…."
"Yes, Ginny, just a few months ago, she tried to remain strong for us, but living every moment of our life in fear that something would happen, we were watched over by Death Eaters, just in case any of you returned," explained Arthur. "Fred and George had tried to rebel, they just barely made it out of the country, no one really knows where they are but that was about all that Molly could take. She stopped eating, stop care about life, living in misery before her death. Granted, she was not the only one who had given up, others did, but she always hoped that one day this country would be safe enough for you to return."
"It was, but way too late," stated Harry in a grim tone of voice. "I just wish I had been able to beat Voldemort sooner, he hadn't made it exactly easy…"
"There are always things that we wish we had done differently, Harry," interrupted Arthur, waving up Harry's protest. "It's all in the past, we need to look forward to what happens next. Nothing we do can change what happened."
"At least he's gone," said Ron calmly, with Harry and Ginny nodding in agreement. "He won't be able to hurt anyone else again, I suppose, but we'll have to live what he did for the rest of our lives."
"Right Ron, we're still sorting out exactly who willingly joined with him and who was black mailed, coerced into doing so," responded Harry. "It's going to take sometime, before it's found out who can trust to be rebuilt. The government as it was failed to work. Centuries ago it did, but it became stagnant, and with that, Voldemort took control. It has to change, no question about it."
The representatives of several magical countries from around the world stood around in the chambers of the International Confederation of Wizards. They awaited the representative for the American Wizarding Government to arrive. The rumors they heard ranged from the plausible to the ridiculous, a wide variety of accounts coming out of Britain. Potter's message on the Wizengamot indicated that Voldemort had been defeated once and for all, but over seventeen years ago, there had been word that had happened as well and he had returned. They were not going to take anything regarding his demise without proof, he had managed to cheat death before and could once again.
Alexandra walked into the chambers, mentally preparing herself to deal with a great number of politicians, many of which who had their own agendas. She personally thought that Harry handled himself well enough, after what was certainly a draining encounter with Voldemort. Her Auror departments were working overtime, transferring guilty parties to their secure holding facilities in the Artic, to pay for their crimes. Many of them would be executed, had they been citizens of the American Wizarding Government, but now they could only be held.
"The International Confederation of Wizards acknowledges the presence of American Wizarding Government Madam President Morgan," stated a voice as several sets of eyes fixed themselves directly towards Alexandra, who stood their, nodding. "We require all of our questions to be answered, do you understand?"
"I will do the best I can with the information I have," said Alexandra. "However, I must echo the statements given by Harry Potter. You did what you had to do, by isolating yourselves from Britain, even though it condemned the people to be under Voldemort's thumb. However, with Voldemort gone, Britain needs your help now more than ever. Since we're independent from the International Confederation of Wizards, the American Wizarding Government will help reestablish Britain to a workable government. I do hope that you help Britain as well, not out of your own personal agendas, but an effort to better the Wizarding World as a hole."
"Why should we help them, though?" asked the Russian representative roughly, as he looked at Alexandra and the others with distaste. "That Voldemort would not have survived in our country, we would have wiped him out when he began to threaten us. If you ask me, we should just leave them to whither and die, it is the price for their weakness."
"I say the Americans have no right to hold prisoners," remarked the Albanian representative. "The Dark Lord was in charge of the country, they did nothing illegal. In fact, invading the country was illegal, I say we lock up Harry Potter and all of his followers for the assassination of the Dark Lord and for war crimes against the Wizarding World."
"Lord Voldemort had no right to the country, he wasn't fairly elected, he committed murder," argued the French Representative, shaking his head towards the Albanian representative, who looked at Alexandra with a cold look, but she did not back down. "All Harry Potter did was remove the tyrant from the country and it was the old government's fault that the country fell into the despair it did. The citizens shouldn't be held accountable; they never could have fought off Voldemort with the Ministry corrupted. The French Ministry of Magic has agreed to do what is necessary to restore the British Ministry to a state that will benefit everyone. Even if it means withdrawing from the International Confederation of Wizards, it is all we can to preserve Britain."
Several of the representatives of the government seemed to nod their heads, agreeing, as France was among the most powerful governments in the world. If they had withdrew, the International Confederation of Wizards would lose a great deal of power and standing in the Wizarding World. Alexandra stood, before the Albanian representative turned to her, with an accusing look etched in his eyes.
"If you ask me, this government harbored Harry Potter, not telling the world that he remained alive, perhaps something would have been done about Britain, had the Dark Lord not had free reign," said the Albanian representative. "Even then, why did they not help us when they could have? They just sat back, not giving a damn about the rest of the world, until the Dark Lord threatened their own security."
"I'll tell you why," responded Alexandra firmly, as she looked at the members of the International Confederation of Wizards, to show that she was not going to allow herself to be intimidate. "The laws that the American Wizarding Government were founded on prevented us from taking a more assertive stance on the Voldemort, that prevented us from getting involved in matters that didn't benefit the magical people of the United States of American. Only when Voldemort declared war on us is when we could fight his forces. Did we wish that something could be done sooner? Of course we did and we would have, but the laws didn't really allow us to do so."
"What about the students of Hogwarts?" demanded another member of the International Confederation of Wizards. "What's with the rumors that Voldemort had them put under the Imperius Curse to use them to keep his hold of Britain?"
"What Harry told you all was what happened," responded Alexandra. "Many of them will be sent home within the next day, others will be kept under observance, getting the help they need. None were killed, which is a small miracle in itself and we regret the necessity that we had to fight them, but Voldemort proved himself to be desperate enough to do anything."
"A final question, Voldemort was said to be destroyed but managed to bring himself back to life before, what is stopping him from doing so again?" asked one of the representatives skeptically. "In another ten years, what's stopping him from returning, to attempt to take control all over again?"
"He's gone this time, he managed to keep himself alive by making Horcruxes," said Alexandra and several representatives looked confused, the one's knowing what she was talking about looking absolutely appalled at the lengths Voldemort would go to remain alive, to avoid certain death. "For those who don't know, Horcruxes require a murder to properly split the stole. Half of the split soul could be stored in a container, called a Horcrux. No matter how much damage the physical body would undergo, Voldemort couldn't be killed. Doing this multiple times allowed Voldemort to grow even more powerful, increase his chances of immortality. In the end, the soul was split into seven pieces, including the final piece in Voldemort's physical body, the piece that was in exile all of those years."
"So, he's gone then, Potter just managed to track down all of these Horcruxes," stated the Russian Representative roughly and Alexandra responded with a nod.
"Yes, he did, he found them all, the soul was pieced back together, making Voldemort mortal once more and allowing Harry to finish him off," said Alexandra in confirmation. "I know that Harry wouldn't have told you of Voldemort's demise, had he not had ample reason to believe that he was killed. So, yes, Voldemort's gone this time, for good."
"What gives you the right to hold the alleged followers of the Dark Lord?" asked the Albanian Representative, in a confronting manner. "I believe they should be returned to Azkaban, until the Ministry is restored and then they can be tried once a proper Ministry is established. Holding them against their will is wrong, they have a right to a proper trial..."
"They will be getting a trial, but right now, there is no Ministry, so the American Wizarding Government will be taking the responsibility of ensuring that the followers of the Dark Lord don't get put back on the streets and threaten lives again," said Alexandra calmly, not losing her cool. "Returning these disruptive forces to Britain would be the last thing they need. I don't know that much about your countries, but I know enough that you don't have the facilities to hold a vast number of fugitives like we do."
"Madam President Morgan is correct, France has a decent prison, but nothing like Azkaban or the rumored American Wizarding Government facilities," said the French Representative. "On behalf of the French Ministry, we extend our blessings to the American Wizarding Government to hold the disgraced ex-followers of Lord Voldemort, atoning for their crimes."
"Russia also agrees with this and also suggests for the motion to be passed for execution of these vile criminals," stated the Russian Representative roughly, having no sympathy whatsoever for the Death Eaters.
"We can only extend our influence so far on these British citizens, we did in fact sanction the country, refusing to acknowledge them as a legitimate part of the Wizarding World," stated a voice. "Now, we must put this matter to a vote. All representatives of the International Confederation of Wizards in favor of joining the American Wizarding Government in reconstruction Wizarding Britain raise your hands and let it be known."
The vast majority of hands of the representatives rose their hands into the air. Alexandra stood, nodding, for a few seconds, she had worried that the American Wizarding Government would have had to taken this endeavor on their own and thus not had been able to devote the full attention to their people. However, once the vast majority had agreed to help, a tremendous weight was lifted off of her shoulders. In retrospect, she had gotten off rather lucky with the amount that she had to do as the Head of the American Wizarding Government. Trying to pick up the pieces of the Ministry of Magic was more difficult than everything else she had to deal with combined and she also felt some understanding towards Harry, after all he had done to attempt to fight Voldemort. And it was not even his job to do so, he had no duty, no obligation, but he did it. The least she could do was to help pick up the pieces and secure a better future for generations to come. Harry set the ball in motion by finishing off Voldemort, now Alexandra had to follow through.
"Very well, the International Confederation of Wizards will do all that is necessary to help rebuild the Ministry of Magic," concluded a mysterious voice that helped run the Confederation. "Motion passed, we encourage you to return to your respective Ministries, to enlist the aid of the governments to make this work."
Harry sank down into the chair in the Potter Residence. Ginny and Ron were spending time with their father, in hopes that their brothers would return, once word at reached them of Voldemort's heat. Absent mindedly, Harry had the wand of Salazar Slytherin in his hand, looking at it. It really made the difference in the end, despite his discomfort that the wand was controlling him, rather than him controlling the wand.
"Harry, didn't hear you come back," said Lily as she entered the room, Harry's eyes snapping up, when he saw his mother, who nodded towards his direction, with a smile. "You finally did it, Voldemort's done and gone, the world is a lot safer place as well and most importantly, you can finally rest."
"I'm glad that he's gone," replied Harry. "I thought for a minute that no matter what I tried, he would still keep coming back, haunting me for the rest of my life but…it's over. I don't know if I could ever do anything like that again…"
"You never will have to again," interrupted Lily, raising her hand to silence Harry, before she looked at her son's face for the first time. "Harry, did you notice that…"
"My scar's gone, yeah, it was Voldemort's unintentional seventh Horcrux, when I was hit with a Killing Curse, it was released, fused right back into Voldemort's main soul," explained Harry casually and Lily looked a bit mortified that Harry would actually take a Killing Curse, mostly because it was something that she would have done had she been in that situation. "Dying actually isn't very painful at all, it's just coming back that's the painful part, but I digress. There is something that I want your opinion on."
"Of course Harry," encouraged Lily, as Harry placed the wand on the table.
"This wand, in the heat of the battle, it was knocked out of my hand and Voldemort picked it up, he tried to use it, another Killing Curse in fact, and it jumped out of his hand, back into mine," said Harry slowly and Lily nodded, showing that she was following him. "The wand worked well for me, but why wouldn't it work for Voldemort? It's almost like it didn't see him worthy, but even wands that are normally not owned by the wizard using it still work, not well, but they work. And certainly, once it's used against the owner, it doesn't behave that way."
"The myth of the wand of Salazar Slytherin was the wand could never be used by anyone intending to perform acts of evil," said Lily thoughtfully. "Whether or not it's true, I really can't say. Given what you told me, it's highly plausible that the wand refused to acknowledge Voldemort's right to use it and recognized him as intending to commit evil acts with it. It knew you were the one in the best position to be able to stop those acts, so it returned back to you. It's really strange when I think about it, but we know that Salazar Slytherin was one who made sure no one really came across his secrets, unless they were worthy. Voldemort found the Chamber of Secrets, but you found the library, a greater treasure and one that could be more dangerous. The locket was just a mere heirloom, you pulled Slytherin's Blade from the hat, a greater treasure and more useful when it comes down to everything."
"And the fact that partially speaking, I'm a reincarnation of Slytherin also helped matters," responded Harry but at this statement, Lily looked extremely skeptical.
"Maybe, but think back to the Prophecy, the line that spawned Voldemort was disgraced, the line that we came from was considered to be the more worthy of the two, and the wand would act accordingly," said Lily before she shook her head. "Of course, I could be just explaining something that really has no explanation. I've learned enough to know that magic can be far from logic."
"Well, at least we have something to go on," said Harry and Lily responded with a nod, along with a small smile, before a noise echoed from the basement. Quickly, Harry got to his feet, and he saw the figures of his four brothers rising up the stairs. They looked at Harry, with approving smiles, a bit strained, but the fact that the killer of their sensei had been brought down had caused them to be in a slightly better mood.
"Harry, we just heard the news, congratulations," said Don.
"Yeah, way to make Voldemort pay for what he did," added Raph.
"You sure showed him Harry," continued Mikey and Harry just nodded, as Leo stepped forward.
"I think I can speak for all of us, and yes Master Splinter as well, that we are proud of you and hope that you never have to do anything like that again," added Leo, as they nodded in agreement, looking at Harry with an approving look. "We'd really love to stay and get the full story of what happened, but…"
"I know," said Harry as he rose up to his feet, but Raph and Mikey shook their heads.
"We know you want to help us Harry, but you just defeated the most dangerous Dark Lord that ever lived, you deserve some rest," stated Mikey firmly and the others agreed. "So savor the moment, if anyone deserves to not do anything you do."
"Yeah, trust us bro, if we need any help making the arrangements, we'll be sure to get in touch, good bye and once again, congratulations," said Raph as the others waved Harry off.
"Okay, good bye everyone," said Harry, as now without Voldemort to occupy his mind, the full extent of the death of Master Splinter sank in. Harry felt an empty hollow feeling, much like he did when Daphne and Theodore had been killed, but he could almost here Master Splinter lecturing him in his ears about not letting this get to him and Harry was not going to. He would pay his last respects to his mentor, his sensei, his adoptive father once the time had come and try to live, because that's what Master Splinter would have wanted him to do.
"I know he would have been proud of you as well, we all are Harry," said Lily calmly. "Now why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep, let someone else take care of things for a change."
Harry rose to his feet, about to say that he was not tired, but a yawn betrayed that motion. He moved up the stairs, towards his room, ready for a good long rest. His adrenaline had just worn off, the combined efforts of Draxxor and Voldemort had taken more out of Harry than he thought he even had, but both had been finished once and for all.
Several hours later in the twilight of the evening, Harry and Ginny walked around the city of New York, just enjoying each other's company, the thought of being together without the constant shadow of Voldemort looming over their shoulders. Briefly, Ginny had stated that Charlie, Fred, and George had returned to the country, once word had reached them that Voldemort had been eliminated. Percy was still missing and it was hard to tell if he would ever make amends with his family or rather evnen if he was either alive. Harry stopped, before he turned into the alleyway.
"Here is the spot where Dursley left me," responded Harry in a calm voice, pointing inside the alleyway. "I should really thank him for it. After all it helped set me on the path to where I am today. It allowed me to have a proper family, make friends, fall in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, and save the world from Voldemort."
"Everything worked out, Harry," said Ginny, as she leaned against Harry, as they watched the sun set in the distance. "I think with Voldemort gone and his Death Eaters imprisoned it's the beginning of a bright new world."
"I hope it is Ginny," said Harry, as they turned slightly, kissing each other as the sun set on one era of Wizarding history and would rise the next day on a brand new era.
Harry had come a long way from the scared little boy who had been abandoned in that alleyway all those years ago. For years to come, many would argue exactly who and what Harry Potter was. He had the Heart of the Warrior, the Soul of Fire, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, and the defeater of Lord Voldemort many times over, marked by the lightning bolt scar, to those who studied his exploits in the history books. Only those who really knew about Harry, they knew him as someone who would do anything to help out his friends and family, loyal and caring, but would not back down for a fight when pushed, especially when it threatened the ones he loved. To them, Harry Potter was defined as something much more, something greater than all the titles he was given and the long faded scar.
The End
