Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Timothy Zahn.

Harry Potter sleeps at his quarters at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters, where he dreams of being home, at Surrey.

Enter the ghost of Sirius Black.

Ghost. Harry.

Harry. Hello, Sirius. It's been a long time.

Ghost. It has indeed. And I'm afraid that it will be longer still until the next time. I've come to say goodbye, Harry.

Harry frowns, uncertain.

No, I'm not a dream. But the distances separating us have become too great for me to appear to you in any other way. Now, even this last path is being closed to me.

Harry. No. You can't leave us, Sirius. We need you.

Ghost. [smiles] You don't need me, Harry. You are an Auror, strong in the Magic. At any rate, the decision is not mine to make. I have lingered too long already, and can no longer postpone my journey from this life to what lies beyond. It is the pattern of all life to move on. You, too, will face this same journey one day. You are strong in the Magic, Harry, and with perseverance and discipline you will grow stronger still. But you must never relax your guard. The Dark Lord is gone, but the dark side is still powerful. Never forget that.

Harry. I won't.

Ghost. You will yet face great dangers, Harry. But you will also find new allies, at times and places where you expect them least.

Harry. New allies? Who are they?

Sirius's image begins to fade.

Ghost. And now, farewell. I loved you as a son, and as a student, and as a friend. Until we meet again, may the Magic be with you.

Harry. Sirius.

Sirius vanishes.

[aside] Then I am alone. I am the last of the Aurors.

Ghost. Not the last of the old Order, Harry. The first of the new.

Exit Sirius.

Harry awakes. Clipping his lightwand to his belt, he heads upstairs, studying the landscape of London.

Harry. [aside] I argued strongly against moving the center of the Wizards' Council here to London . . . argued even more strongly against setting up our fledgling government in the old Ministry Headquarters. The symbolism is all wrong, for one thing, particularly for a group which already has a tendency to pay too much attention to symbols.

Enter W-PRC (Percy).

I'm over here, Percy.

Percy. Hello, Master Harry. I'm terribly sorry to disturb you.

Harry. That's all right. I just wanted some fresh air, that's all.

Percy. Are you certain? Though of course I don't mean to pry.

Harry. I'm just a little depressed, I guess. Putting together a real, functioning government is a lot harder than I expected, harder than most of the Council members expected, too. Mostly, I guess I'm missing Sirius tonight.

Percy. He was always very kind to me . . . and also to Hedwig, of course.

Harry takes a drink of hot chocolate.

Harry. You have a unique perspective on the universe, Percy.

Percy. I hope I didn't offend you, sir. That was certainly not my intent.

Harry. You didn't offend me. As a matter of fact, you might have just delivered Sirius's last lesson to me.

Percy. I beg your pardon?

Harry. Governments and entire regions are important, Percy. But when you sift everything down, they're all just made up of people.

Percy. Oh.

Harry. In other words, an Auror can't get so caught up in matters of galactic importance that it interferes with his concern for individual people . . . or for individual droids.

Percy. Oh. I see, sir. [concerned] Forgive me, sir. But may I ask what that is that you're drinking?

Harry. This? It's just something Dean taught me how to make a while back.

Percy. [disapproving] Dean?

Harry. Yes, but in spite of such a shady origin, it's really quite good. It's called hot chocolate.

Percy. Oh. I see. Well, then, sir. If you are indeed all right, I expect I should be on my way.

Harry. Sure. By the way, what made you come up here in the first place?

Percy. Princess Hermione sent me, of course. She said you were in some kind of distress.

Harry. [smiles] Show-off.

Percy. I beg your pardon, sir?

Harry. Hermione is showing off her new Auror skills, that's all. Proving that even in the middle of the night she can pick up on my mood.

Percy. She really did seem concerned about you, sir.

Harry. I know. I'm just joking.

Percy. Oh. Shall I tell her you're all right, then?

Harry. Sure. And while you're down there, tell her that she should quit worrying about me and get herself back to sleep. Those bouts of morning sickness she still gets are bad enough when she isn't worn-out tired.

Percy. I'll deliver the message, sir.

Harry. And tell her I love her.

Percy. Yes, sir. Good night, Master Harry.

Harry. Good night, Percy.

Exit Percy.

[aside] This place is strong with the dark side. Albus said that of the cave on Mould-on-the-Would, the cave where I engaged in a duel with a Severus Snape who turned out to be myself. For weeks afterward the memory of the sheer power and presence of the dark side haunted my thoughts. Only recently have I finally realized that Albus's primary reason for the exercise had been to show me how far I still had to go. Still, I often wonder how the cave came to be the way it was. I wonder whether perhaps someone or something strong in the dark side once lived there. . . . as the Dark Lord once lived here. . . . Stop it. Certainly Hermione would never have agreed to come anywhere near this place if she had any doubts herself about it. [via Sonorus] Hermione.

Harry breaks the connection, then returns to sleep.

Exit all.