Chapter 23: Eeman-i

Note – Second to last chapter. Thinking about a possible sequel to take place a few years later.

"Let's find the room first," Hermione said in her take charge way, as the children met very early the next morning near where the Room of Requirement door should be located. Harry and Ron had gotten up somewhat reluctantly this morning, willing to wait until a bit later. However, they had agreed early morning was the ideal time because it had been discovered that Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, slept in most mornings, being so tired from patrolling the halls of Hogwarts most nights. Neville had roused them quietly, to not wake Dean and Seamus. Hermione and Draco had roused themselves.

Hermione directed Harry, based on the directions from Remus, and on his third attempt a door opened.

He peaked in cautiously. The Room of Requirement was the Room of Lost Things! It was exactly what they needed to find. He waved the others in. After several gasps, they began to roam through the large space. There were old things, and lost things. Most likely old lost things, Harry was sure. Neville found his Remembrall near the door, which he had last seen before Christmas. He thought his memory was improving anyway, although he put it in a pocket of his robes. Hermione found piles of all sorts of books.

"Look, Harry! Look at all these books. After this, we've got to get back into this room, just to look over the books! This is incredible!"

"Look at all the Quidditch stuff," Ron said, his mouth hanging open, staring into a far corner of the room in disbelief. "How do you lose Quidditch stuff?"

"There are potions here," Draco said as he was drawn to an old cabinet. "They look old. Do not touch them. They're most likely unstable." He looked very satisfied with his finds even as he issued the warning.

Meanwhile, Harry seemed to be the only one searching for Ravenclaw's diadem.

"Guys, come on then. We need to find the Horcrux, then we can look at everything else!" Harry called out, trying to get them all going. They all looked over at him and nodded, and they began looking carefully in earnest, trying not to disturb things too badly. Hermione knew a spell for clearing away dust, so she made the dust disappear as she searched. Harry was pleased as too much dust seemed to set off his asthma.

They all knew what they were on the hunt for, as Hermione had found a picture of a diadem in a book, but no one had seen Ravenclaw's diadem in many, many years. It was rumoured to no longer exist. However, Harry agreed that it must be the diadem as Slytherin's locket was one of the Horcruxes as was Hufflepuff's cup (one that Dumbledore had recently retrieved, although he would not say where he found it.) The Sword of Gryffindor would be used to destroy the remainder of the Horcruxes. It made logical sense for the diadem to be the final Horcrux.

It was Neville who found the diadem, more than an hour later. He had been poking around in a small nook where there were lost plants. He liked herbology the most of his classes, and these were very sad-looking plants. Neville suspected they were muggle in nature but charmed to remain green and alive many years before. If the charm were to be lifted, they would crumble to dust. As he touched the leaves of one plant carefully, he noticed something shiny catch his eye from below the leaves.

"I think this is it!" he shouted to the rest of the room. The others picked their way through the cluttered room to join him with the odd plants that none of them, not even Harry or Hermione, could name. There, they all saw the mildly shiny diadem.

"Great job, mate," Harry murmured to Neville, and Neville grinned because now he really felt a part of the group. The five friends looked warily at each other after that, wondering what to do next.

"I have my dragon skin gloves," Draco finally announced, pulling them from a pocket in his robes. He put them on and lifted the diadem from around the base of the plant.

"I have a sack," Hermione said, shocking Harry when she pulled the charmed item from her robes. When had she had time to procure one of these? She held it open and allowed Draco to drop it inside. She closed the sack immediately as soon as it had hit the bottom.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked rather nervously. "Look at the old Quidditch stuff?"

"I think we take it to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape," Harry said, feeling anxious in a way he had not felt in some time.

"Of course," Draco said, removing his gloves, folding them gently, and pushing them back in his robe pocket.

"We'll try to get in again sometime, Ron, so we can all look at our favourite things," Hermione said and patted his hand with the hand that was not holding the charmed sack at arm's length away from them.

"I want to try to bring these plants back to life, after I identify them," Neville said.

"I'll go out first," Draco said. "I need to keep up my cover for a bit longer." They nodded in understanding and watched their friend exit the room. After a few more minutes, the four of them slowly left the room behind, hoping that they would be able to enter it again soon.

Harry hoped Minerva would be in her office when they arrived. It was still so early it was not even time for breakfast yet, but he wanted all the anxiety about this to be eliminated as soon as possible. It was so close!

He would just have to get through the destruction of the Horcruxes.

_

Where would they do this that was safe from the rest of the school?

After they had gathered in Professor McGonagall's office, sans Draco, Professor Snape had been summoned. He agreed, too, that the diadem was indeed a Horcrux. The discussion turned to the ideal location for the destruction of the Horcruxes. Both professors had ideas about where this should be done that they had discussed with Dumbledore, and they seemed good ideas, Hermione agreed, but she had a different idea.

"Since we can get into the Room of Requirement, let's try to access a room that will be safe and protected, and will have everything we might need for the destruction," she stated, calm and reasonable in her manner. "I've been doing a lot of reading, of course, and last evening I read about what is and is not able to be done in the Room of Requirement. I believe we can make it what we require."

"Well, it would be the safest location inside of Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said, agreeing readily with the child. The locations they had been debating had been located outside Hogwarts, but there was always danger of discovery.

"I would prefer to stay inside Hogwarts myself," Harry said, the anxiety that had been building up inside now making him tremble slightly. "It's safer in here," he whispered. He sat limply in a chair near the desk. His friends gathered around him, giving some words of assurance.

Professor Snape looked at the group, noticing Draco's absence, and assumed Draco was at breakfast protecting his cover. It would seem the Gryffindor students needed breakfast as well, as Ron's stomach rumbled. Snape looked at Professor McGonagall, and she called through the Floo to the kitchens to send up breakfast for them all.

"I will agree that if one of you can get the Room to open an appropriate space," Snape said, "then it will be the ideal location. I am quite sure Professor Dumbledore will agree. This begs the question, then, about when we shall carry this out."

Before anyone could answer, a large platter of food appeared on Professor McGonagall's small tea table. The table was just large enough to hold the platter.

Ron and Neville prepared plates for themselves, and Hermione decided, glancing at Harry, that she ought to fix a small plate for Harry. He would eat if she told him to eat, but he was more anxious than she had seen him since last summer. So, she placed a bit of scrambled eggs, a piece of toast, grapes, and a chocolate scone for a treat, on his plate, and handed it to him with a napkin and utensils. He looked up at her and asked silently if he had to eat. She nodded in the affirmative, and then went to get herself some food so she could sit down for a moment.

"I want Mum to be here," Harry said after a few bites and a swig of pumpkin juice. "Let's check with her schedule."

"It needs to be a time that Professors Snape and Dumbledore and myself are available as well. I suggest Saturday morning," Professor McGonagall said. She took a quick look at Harry, to see what he thought of the idea of waiting and getting prepared. As she expected, he did not quite like the idea, and then he remembered that Sirius might like to be here for this.

"I don't think I can wait much longer," Harry said, placing his half-eaten plate of food on the desk. "Professor, couldn't we do this sooner? Today or tomorrow?" The act of killing the Horcruxes was making him feel very uneasy, and extremely anxious, even though he understood why it needed to be done. He even felt he understood why he himself must do it, and it was no joke. He must rid the world of Voldemort once and for all, and he had help from his friends and from the professors. Minerva had told them some months ago that the adults should truly be taking care of this, but apparently, according to Snape, it would be the easiest and most effective if Harry destroyed them. Dumbledore seemed to support this based on the prophecy. Harry had hashed this out again with Hermione over their spring holiday. It all needed to be over so he – indeed, all of the wizarding community – would be safe again, and free to enjoy the remainder of his very busy school years ahead (busy, because after all, he was planning to learn all of the 'muggle' curriculum as well!)

"Can you ask Sirius to come, also?"

Professor McGonagall turned and leaned into her Floo to call their mum, to see if she was available to speak with them. She sent what she said was a Patronus out to Sirius, letting him know to floo to her office. She sent messages to Dumbledore and Draco, to let them know to come to her office as soon as breakfast in the Great Hall was over.

Snape sighed and took a seat after helping himself to more scrambled eggs, secretly one of his favourite foods. He supposed he could cancel his morning classes if need be, he thought, eyes on Harry. Harry was shaking, nearly imperceptibly, but he saw it clearly.

"Mr. Potter, I have a Calming Draught," he said as he pulled it from one of his robe pockets. He often kept his pockets stocked, just in the case a student needed such help. "It will help immensely."

Harry, knowing that Professor Snape would never give him something bad, drank it immediately, almost spilling it over himself with the tremors in his hands. He felt it circulate through his body, and two minutes later he was much calmer, and could hold his hands still. In fact, he felt he could eat again, so he picked up his plate and utensils.

Hermione watched all this while Ron ate a second helping and groaned. Neville glanced nervously at Ron for having the audacity to do this in front of the teachers, but Ron grinned back at him, and looked at Professor Snape, and said,

"I apologize for my rudeness, sir."

"Apology accepted, Mr. Weasley" Snape said. "Although, after this is over, I believe I will have you and Mr. Longbottom come to me for tutoring once a week. You are both improving, but you could still use some assistance."

"You'll help us, sir?" Neville asked in disbelief. He had honestly thought Professor Snape would never like him or offer to help him.

"Mr. Longbottom, Professor Sprout tells me you are an excellent student in Herbology and learning Potions well will only help you improve your skills. Of course, neither of you will be permitted to share what we do together. You will say that you had to scrub cauldrons, naturally."

"Yes, sir," Neville said.

"Naturally, sir," Ron said with a grin.

"Your mum is coming through," Professor McGonagall finally said, backing out of the Floo. A moment later, Taraneh was there and hugging Harry and Hermione. Snape wanted to groan now, but he held his council, acknowledging that he was a little bit envious of Harry, because he himself never got a chance with a second mother.

Harry was so incredibly happy to see his mum. He had just seen her yesterday morning before their trip back to Hogwarts on the train, but it suddenly felt like ages ago. This helped to calm him down even more. He was suddenly feeling rather more confident about the destruction of the Horcruxes.

"Are we doing this now?" he asked her. She glanced at the professors and nodded.

"I don't need to be at hospital until mid-afternoon, and if the professors have the time, then yes. Joon, I know you want to complete this task," Taraneh said softly in his ear. "And I'd rather not need to worry about you, your sister, and your friends quite so much anymore. I want you to feel safe. Eeman, coochooloo."

"Eeman-i," Harry murmured.

The floo flared to life again, and Sirius stepped out. He looked very serious, as the occasion called for. His long hair was neatly pulled back this time, Harry noticed. The previous week, it had been wild.

"Hello, everyone! Harry, Taraneh, Hermione, seems like I just saw you! And these must be your friends?" Harry introduced his friends. Sirius shook hands solemnly with Ron, told Neville that he met him when he was a baby, and stared at Draco when he arrived.

"You're my little cousin," Sirius stated. "Harry told me that he knew you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Black," Draco said, drawing on his upbringing. He held out a hand, which Sirius took and shook heartily.

"Call me Sirius, Cousin Draco. You are going against your father, and indeed, against most of the Black family as well. I applaud your efforts. We'll get to know each other later," Sirius said.

As he finished speaking, the office door opened to admit Professor Dumbledore.

"Mum? Have you met Professor Dumbledore yet?" Hermione asked, glancing at her mother.

"No, I have not, even though I have been coming into and out of this office for months! I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor, although you are someone Harry is still not particularly fond of, as you got him into the Dursley situation, sir."

"I sincerely regret that now, my dear lady. At the time, I did think it was the correct thing to do," Dumbledore said, rather taken aback. Minerva tried to hide a smile.

"While I do question your judgement, sir, I also feel it is in Harry's best interest to end this this matter today so he, and we, can all move on," Taraneh said. Everyone in the room, Dumbledore excepted, wanted to cheer her on. Instead they all looked to Dumbledore for his agreement, which he reluctantly gave. He had tried to use Legilimency on her, which she had blocked quite naturally, unaware she had done so.

"Please allow Severus and I rearrange our morning schedules," Minerva said. (Somehow, she had become Minerva again, Harry realized suddenly.)

"No need. I already announced your classes as cancelled this morning in the Great Hall," Dumbledore said. "Severus, please accompany me to my office to collect the other items." Snape nodded.

"Well." Minerva looked at Harry, who sat on the edge of his seat, flanked by Taraneh and Sirius. "Are we all ready to go to the Room of Requirement?" They all looked at each other with wide eyes, and stood up, ready to follow their professor.

_Break_

Thirty minutes later, the ten participants were gathered in a relatively sparse room, although the walls looked as if they were surrounded by forest. Minerva had tested the wards on the room the moment Harry had been able to open the door. She was quite impressed that her young student had been able to do such a thing, for the second time in the same morning! He had managed to require a room that would provide for safety for both they and the remainder of the castle. It was ideal. Harry was quite proud of himself, although he tucked those thoughts away for the time being. He needed to focus on what came next.

There was a small wooden chopping block sitting in the centre of the room. Apparently, that was what was required to destroy the objects with the sword and the venom. There was a table to the side of the room where Harry saw Dumbledore and Snape placing the items carefully on the table while wearing gloves. He wondered if he should wear gloves as well, and apparently looked concerned, because Draco brought his gloves over to Harry. Harry took them gratefully and placed them on his hands before eyeing the Sword of Gryffindor. Would he be able to lift the sword? Would his balance be enough?

He watched as Snape ever so carefully coated the tip of the sword with venom, which appeared to be slightly sticky in nature. Snape brought it to Harry and placed it in his hands. It was much lighter than Harry had imagined, but he also wondered if it was the Room of Requirement making it so, just for him.

Everyone else stood back as Dumbledore brought the first Horcrux to the chopping block. It was a ring. How am I to do this? Harry was slightly panicked, but then from the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione gesturing something. She was miming putting the sword tip straight down through the middle of the ring. Ah, maybe that would work!

He pulled up the sword by the handle, and drove the tip down to the wood, through the ring. There was a brief burning scent and a but of smoke as the venom burned and suddenly cracked the ring into pieces, allowing a small stone to fall out. A faint scream echoed in the room for a moment, and then silence.

Harry took a very deep breath. One was done; five more objects to go. He glanced over at Hermione and his friends, and they tried to give him some nervous reassurance.

"Mr. Potter, I believe you may keep that stone," Professor Snape said, looking to Dumbledore for confirmation. "It's safe to touch now." Professor Dumbledore nodded with a slight smile. Harry picked it up and placed it in a pocket for safekeeping. He would ask Sirius about it later.

One by one, each item was placed on the chopping block. The book was by far the easiest to stab with venom blood, although the scream emitted was rather ear-piercing compared to a few of the others. Others seemed to go somewhat quietly. Between each item, Professor Snape stepped forward to brush additional venom onto the tip of the sword. Harry felt the calming presence of his family and friends, which helped him to keep as calm as possible.

Hufflepuff's cup, its former location unknown and Dumbledore unwilling to share where he found it, was the final horcrux before the last piece of Voldemort that had been living in Quirrell's body. Harry was exhausted now, and even though the sword felt light, the depth of what he was doing suddenly became heavy. Last year at this time, he was in a Muggle hospital with no idea what the future held. He'd had no reason to imagine this! And except for killing the Horcruxes and stopping the return of an evil wizard, this life was rather grand. It was certainly exciting!

He brought the sword down on in the centre of the cup, and the scream emitted caused Harry to drop the sword with a clatter. He clapped his hands to his ears as did everyone else in the room. It lasted a full ten seconds before Snape cast a silencing spell. They all panted with relief as they released their ears.

"Well," Professor McGonagall said from beside Harry's Mum and Sirius. Evidently, that was all she could say at moment. Sirius looked stunned, although there was no evidence of a stunning spell.

"Indeed," Snape said and picked up the sword from Harry's feet, added more venom and passed it to Harry. Dumbledore removed the shattered remains of the cup. Harry looked at the other children, his friends, rather afraid. If the cup screamed that badly, would the piece of Voldemort's soul that had so recently 'lived' scream even louder? Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking, and nodded her head in agreement, that it would be even louder.

"Excuse me, professors, but may we have a volume buffering spell first? Just in precaution?" Hermione pleaded.

"Oh, yes, my dear," Dumbledore mumbled, and cast a charm silently.

Harry was impressed because it now felt and sounded like he was surrounded by fog, but the room remained a clear forest. Focusing on his task at hand, he raised the sword to destroy the last portion of Voldemort's soul.

His arms trembled a bit, but he felt steady otherwise. He took in a deep breath, held it a moment, and then brought the sword down as hard and quick as he possibly could, this last time. He, and their magical world, would be free from Voldemort's terror.

Dark wispy smoke spiralled away as a glass-breaking scream rattled the room and its occupants. Fortunately for them all, the charm made the sound dwindle to faint within a second. They all listened until it was gone and there was simply silence.

Harry felt his legs (even his prosthetic leg) turning into jelly, and then his mum's arms were around him.

"Let's take you to hospital wing, Harry joon," she crooned. Hermione was trying to hug him, and the other three boys were congratulating him. Sirius still looked Stunned. Snape wandered over to stand by him half in anger, and half in amusement.

"It's over," he sneered while he covertly scanned Sirius for any stunning spells. As he finished, Sirius shook himself.

"Yeah?" Sirius asked. He shook his head again. "It's really all over? Finally?" He stared at Snape in disbelief and then reached out and hugged Snape across the shoulders. Snape now felt stunned as well. Sirius, his old bully, was hugging him.

"Thank you for helping Harry, and I'm sorry for bullying you," Sirius said gruffly, gratefully, quickly, and let Snape go. They both smoothed their robes and then shook hands briefly. Snape would accept this apology for now, long overdue from their own school years.

Professor Dumbledore walked over to Professor McGonagall and gave her a welcome hug.

"Well, Minerva, thank you for helping me to see other ways to solve this task without going to war again," Dumbledore said. "Thanks to you, as well, Severus, for your help. Children, I award fifty house points to each of you, and Harry, for your bravery and accuracy with the Sword, I award you 100 points. Severus, will you please show us your Dark Mark?"

Snape glared at Dumbledore as if asking 'must I?' Dumbledore chuckled.

"Of course. I would like to see if my theory has proven correct," Dumbledore said. Everyone except Harry and Taraneh turned to look at Snape, and with a little noise of irritation, he pulled up his robe sleeve.

The Dark Mark was faded, but not entirely gone. It was like a ghost of itself. Faint. Hardly visible. Dumbledore smile rather gleefully at Snape.

"I did not think this would ever happen," Snape said, not sounding like himself at all, staring at his arm.

"I wonder if my father's Mark has faded, too," Draco said. Hermione, Ron, and Neville looked at him in disbelief.

"What? My father was a Death Eater, also. He doesn't let his Mark show in polite company, but I've seen it. I never wanted to get one, so it is one reason I wanted to help destroy Voldemort for good. But my father can't ever know."

"We promise not to share, right, everyone?" Hermione touched Draco's shoulder briefly to lend her support. Ron and Neville agreed, although Ron particularly was surprised because he thought Draco would want to take all the credit and fame, despite having gotten to know Draco better over the term.

"As a matter of fact, I will place a charm on us all that we will remember what happened today, but we will find it very difficult to talk about the specifics to others beyond those of us in this room," Dumbledore pronounced.

Harry had very little idea what was happening around him. He felt extremely tired and was already half-asleep. Much later, Hermione would share her memory with Harry of the handshakes and what Dumbledore said, as he had only a vague recollection of events until he awoke a few hours later in the hospital wing surrounded by his family, friends, and teachers. There was nothing specifically wrong with him, but the exhaustion from the morning's events.

As no other patients occupied the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey was quite willing to allow a small lunch party to celebrate this success. The House Elves sent up Treacle Tart a la mode (with chocolate ice cream) just for Harry, in celebration, at Professor McGonagall's request. The others found the combination entirely too sweet, although Ron did not dislike it. Harry just laughed, and then insisted that Snape try some of it so that he could finally begin working on effective pain potions that tasted good. Everyone laughed at Snape's disgusted expression as the flavours together flowed over his tongue, and as he spit it out. Sirius fell to and rolled over the floor in laughter, and Harry joined him. Moments later, Ron, Draco, and Neville gave in and were rolling on the floor as well, each one giggling. This made Harry laugh harder, as he had not imagined that someone with Draco's upbringing would giggle!

Hermione managed to look uncertain while all the time laughing, because it just was not sensible, and she had no idea why she was laughing, except that she felt relieved. Her mother nudged her shoulder and gave a look that gave her permission to join the boys on the floor. She slowly sat on the floor, and then Harry egged her on to try rolling, so she did. And it felt so good to feel silly for once.

Taraneh, Minerva, Madam Pomfrey, and Albus watched on in pure enjoyment, while Snape muttered words under his breath. When the other adults glanced at him, he finally could not hold it in any longer, and burst out with a snort of laughter, years overdue.

Harry noticed this and laughed in relief. It was over now. A year before he had been in hospital with no idea what his life might look like in the future, and now he had found out he was a wizard, gained more family and friends than he had ever thought possible, and helped defeat the evil wizard who had murdered his biological parents.

Life was close to perfect.

Note: Eeman-I means Safety.
One more chapter, probably an epilogue.