Ouroboros
By Andrew J. Talon
Disclaimer: I do not and probably never will own Harry Potter or any other copyrighted works mentioned in this story. I am not writing this for profit.
A lot of fics use the fanon of wards-Charms and spells that function as defenses or essentially automated spells that, in their usage, echo computer software. The wards need math (arithmancy) to function, a power source, and can become degraded, damaged, or malfunction over time. Spells to remove protections could be akin to computer viruses. Curse Breakers are akin to black hat hackers, Warders (experts in that magic) are akin to white hats and IT specialists.
So being an IT specialist myself, I decided to write an alternate take on the end part of Year 7 taking that trope to a logical conclusion...
Well, logical for me, anyway.
The Trio had made it to Hogwarts as part of their quest to destroy the Horcruxes, and ended up in the Room of Requirement. Neville was commanding a resistance there, but the situation was looking grim.
"You-Know-Who is out there right now with his army, and we can't hold them off," Neville said, "the castle defenses are just not up to it!"
"How is this possible?!" Ron demanded, "Hogwarts is basically a gigantic magical fortress! It was built to withstand sieges! Why the bloody hell is everything falling apart? Didn't McGonnagal get rid of Snape?! She's the Headmistress now!"
"If only we could see the defenses of Hogwarts, what's going on with the wards," Harry sighed.
In an instant, a table rose from the center of the room, scattering several students. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron walked up to it. Hermione's jaw dropped when she saw blue, red, green, and golden arithmancy arrays and lines of runes running all over the glass top.
"A ward interface! It's just like a computer!" Hermione gasped. She looked over at Harry. "Harry! For some reason, the room responded to you! Quick! Ask for a user's manual or-or something like that!"
"Right, uh, what she said, Room?' Harry asked. A large, ancient leatherbound book appeared, bearing the crest of Hogwarts itself. Harry blew some dust off of it, and opened it.
"It's blank," Harry reported.
"Try asking it about the ward control system!" Hermione insisted.
Harry did so, but only a few squiggles appeared on the pages. He frowned.
"Speak the right tongue to hear with your eyes?" He muttered.
"That's what it says?" Ron asked, frowning, "all I see are squiggles!"
"Parseltongue!" Hermione gasped, "it's in Parseltongue! Ask it if it knows how to repair the wards!"
Harry hissed out a question, and more text appeared.
"It looks like a lot of complicated instructions," Harry admitted, "so much... Urgh... Basically, from what I'm reading, the ward control system is supposed to be arranged neatly and orderly. If there are too many more charms, wards, and curses added into it, it will start to break down and, well, malfunction. Each section of the Ward Schema was handled by one of the Four, and they were supposed to work together... But..."
They looked at the table. The runes and ritual arrays were in chaos. So many interfering with one another, crossing over each other.
"Yeah, that would explain all of this," Hermione said, "the Shielding Charms could withstand a good sized asteroid impact, but there's so much magical interference and so many curses eating away at it, it's going to fall soon!"
"Has it always been this bad?" Ron asked desperately. Harry hissed some more at the book, and read before he answered.
"No. It's just that a lot of rituals and upkeep haven't been done for centuries... And a lot of other charms and wards have been added over time. They're all conflicting with one another! I think the system might collapse at any second-!"
The entire castle shook, and runes that glowed brightly in warning were all over the glass table. Neville and Ron held onto the table, while Hermione nearly fell onto it. Harry had managed to stay steady, if only just.
"So, what? How do we fix it?!" Ron asked urgently.
"Can we get rid of the interfering wards and charms?" Lavender asked.
"It'd take too long!" Hermione replied, eyes scanning over the ward arrays, "there's just way too many! We'd have to pull the whole thing apart to get it to work properly-!"
"Ouroboros," Harry muttered. Everyone stared at him.
"Ouro-what?" Ron asked.
"The Ouroboros Rebirth Spell," Harry clarified. At the continuing blank looks, he went on, "it's a last ditch procedure Slytherin and the others created. If necessary, you could use a massive burst of magic to excise all the wards, spells, and anything else you didn't want from the castle and start fresh."
"A reboot?" Hermione asked, in disbelief.
Ron shrugged.
"Well, Bill's found that in some ward schemes. Lets you return everything to how it was, to fix any mistakes, yeah?"
"How do we do it?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked up at the ceiling.
"I need the Sorting Hat," Harry said, and the Hat appeared. He put the Hat on his head.
"Ouroboros, huh?" The Hat asked, "about time! I've needed a good de-Thaumaturgizing for centuries! Let's see... Ah! Okay. You're going to have to think fast, kid, if you're going to take over."
"Take over what? The wards?" Ron asked. "Can we do that?"
"We'll be wiping everything and starting over, we need to put someone in charge," Harry explained. "So we need to do it now, and in the best possible way. The Hat can tap into the ward system, and whoever's wearing it can take over!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wouldn't that be a huge amount of magical power?" Neville asked, "I mean, right into your head? Not to mention information!"
"Yeah, that's the problem," Harry admitted, "but I'm willing to do it-"
"Potter," the Hat sighed, "you're truly brave... But you don't have the brains for this. You need to be able to do arithmancy equations in your head... And there's only one person here who can do that. I know. I've sat on her head before."
All eyes turned to Hermione. She sucked in a deep breath.
"Hermione, you don't have to-" Ron tried.
"I do though," Hermione stated, "I'm the only one who can."
"It'll be dangerous," Harry tried, but Hermione scowled.
"Voldemort's about to charge in here with an army! Dangerous is relative! And do we have any other choice?!"
There was silence. Save for an injured student's whimpering. Harry slowly nodded, and pulled off the hat. Hermione took it, and carefully put it on her head. She took several deep, calming breaths. She took hold of Harry and Ron's hands.
"All right," Hermione said, "how do we start the ritual?"
"I need the central anchor stones," Harry spoke, and another stone table rose from the floor. This one with four large, glowing stones: Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.
Harry nodded to Neville.
"Neville, take the red stone. Luna, take the blue stone. Susan? Yellow. And me?"
He took the tome over, and stood in front of the green stone.
"Everyone, take hold of your stone," Harry ordered, and they obeyed. Harry struggled a bit with holding the thick tome, so Lavender quickly grabbed it and held it up, "all right... North. South. East. West. Sun. Moon. Earth. Sky. The lion roars, the snake slithers, the badger digs, the raven flies, all consumed in the flame of the phoenix. BE REBORN!"
The castle began to rumble, as raw magical power began to surge through the stonework. Outside, Voldemort's army paused as the lights of the castle flickered violently, and the very earth shook and shuddered underneath them.
"BE RESTORED TO THE IDEALS OF THE FOUNDERS!" Harry roared, his eyes glowing with Eldritch energies. "EVERYONE! PULL OUT YOUR STONE!"
Neville, Luna, Susan, and Harry all pulled the stones out... And the Room went dark. All across Hogwarts, the lights went out. The colors on everything became far more muted. The portraits froze. Everything became as silent as the grave.
A central stone on the table vanished, replaced with an hourglass. Harry turned it over, and nodded to his companions.
"Back in, slowly," Harry ordered. All four stones slipped in, and began to glow with light once more. The hourglass sand burned brightly, quickly funneling down into the bottom half... Before the lights went back on, the colors returned, and the castle seemed to come back to life.
"I hereby grant all rights as Headmistress of Hogwarts, Defender of the Castle and the Students, Bound by the Charter, to Hermione Jane Granger!" Harry shouted. The Sorting Hat turned from a withered, battered old thing back into a sleek, black silken hat. Hermione's eyes glowed. Ron held her hand tightly, as she breathed hard. The ward display glass beneath them glowed with new, vibrant light, and the arrays were clean and well organized. Hermione took deep breaths, eyes now glowing.
"I accept!" Hermione cried. "All Hogwarts Defenses-Online! Target: VOLDEMORT AND DEATHEATERS!"
A white wave of pure magical energy leaped from the Room of Requirement, and spread throughout Hogwarts. It passed by all the students and teachers unaligned with Voldemort. Those who were vanished instantly, not even having a chance to scream or run.
Harry Potter himself fell, a shadowy scream leaving his forehead scar as the light went on its way.
The diadem of Ravenclaw, in its hiding place, was engulfed in this magic and purged. The piece of the Dark Lord within screamed and faded away.
The light blossomed outwards like a gigantic flower, forming into wings that stretched from either side of the castle. In its wake, the stone walls of the castle were polished and gleamed even in the dim light of the night sky. The torches burned brightly, fully restored. The wood, the tapestries, the portraits-All were made like new, and the portraits especially reveled in it.
The wings spread, a truly tremendous sight... Before they exploded into showers of shooting stars.
Every star homed in on a Death Eater like a missile, and when they were struck, they instantly vanished into nothing. Fenrir Greyback, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange-All of them were wiped away as though they had never stood there at all.
Voldemort was left alone, facing the majesty of his beloved castle. Fully restored to its beauty, forming yet another barrage of angelic wing-like projectiles, and glowing like the full moon over a still ocean...
And could only really say one thing before every single magical missile sought him out and fell upon him like the Wrath of God.
"Well. Bugger."
Back in the Room of Requirement, Harry was slowly helped to his feet by Luna and Ginny.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Luna asked. Harry managed to nod, breathing hard.
"Y-Yeah... I'm all right... I'm okay," he said. "Hermione? What happened?"
"Uh, mate?" Ron said. He pointed over at the far end of the Room of Requirement. A throne had appeared, and atop it sat Hermione. Her eyes still glowed with magical power, and she was still wearing the Hat.
And, worst of all... She was smiling.
"There is no Hermione, only me," Hermione declared, her voice distorted as though said by Hermione and a thunderstorm, "the throne of the World has sat empty for too long."
She sucked in a deep breath, and angel wings glowed into existence behind her.
"I shall bring order and peace to this world! I shall rule, and bring justice! Men, Magic, Creature-All shall be under my dominion!"
Hermione now stood, a dress of the finest Acromantula silk appearing on her as the wind picked up. Her entire body glowed as she smiled confidently, radiant and sure.
"Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!"
Almost all of the rest of the students were now cowering or pissing themselves-Or both. Ron had rather unmanfully hid behind Neville, who was the only one not on his knees... Aside from Harry.
"Yes, yes. Very scary, Galadriel," Harry said.
Hermione focused on Harry and pouted, which was very strange with her still glowing. "Can't I have a little fun, Harry?"
Harry smiled back.
"Isn't it more fun when someone is there to get the joke?"
"Yes, but not if he spoils it immediately."
Hermione stuck her tongue out at Harry as the glow faded away. Everyone in the room began to breath more easily.
"So... You're not going to rule over the world as an immortal god queen?" Ron ventured.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No Ron, I'm not."
"Oh thank Merlin! That would have fucked the world right proper," Ron said cheerfully. "Five minutes, tops."
Hermione scowled.
"I can still smite you, you know!"
Harry discretely tapped a few rune arrays on the display table, and Hermione's glow and voice vanished.
"And your account is disabled," Harry said cheerfully. "Good thing I asked the Hat to make me Headmaster before you."
Hermione's clothing and form returned to normal, the wind died down, and the light show ceased.
The Sorting Hat chuckled, as Hermione drooped.
"Oh come on! Can't you take a joke?" Hermione demanded.
"Not when they're bloody terrifying!" Ron shouted.
Harry cleared his throat.
"So, what about Voldemort and-?"
"Oh! They're all taken care of," Hermione said cheerfully, "I sent them all into a pocket dimension of expanded spacetime, and then collapsed it. Nothing left of them but maybe a few neutrinos."
"Brilliant! ... Whatever those are," Ron said, as the rest of the students began to cheer, cry and celebrate.
"Oh! And I took care of the last two Horcruxes!" Hermione said. "One in the Diadem of Ravenclaw, and one in your scar."
"My scar?!" Harry gasped. "How did you-?!"
"I was an omnipotent god queen, Harry-You know these kinds of things when you are," Hermione said dryly. "Or were..."
She gave him a sweet smile.
"Do you think I could have another go at it? Now that we know how I react, we can take precautions and-"
"No."
"Just for a little while-?"
"NO."
Hermione maturely stuck her tongue out at him. She shook her head. Harry frowned.
"What?"
"I was just thinking that... Muggles really have it sorted out."
"How so?"
"Well, suppose we have to fix the Wards again," Hermione asked, "what then?"
Harry smiled, as the rest of the Hogwarts students kept celebrating.
"I think I know how to make it easier," he said, putting the Sorting Hat back on.
She and Harry walked over to the power pedestal. Harry read from the grimoire. A moment later, a stone button appeared in the center, with a symbol and some writing on it. Hermione shook her head.
"Are we sure this isn't sacrilege? Doing this to such an amazing piece of magic-?"
"You want to go through all this again if there's a next time?"
Hermione hummed, and shrugged.
"Good point."
They headed off to celebrate. Leaving a round button with the appropriate symbol on it:
Eighty percent of a circle, with a straight line jutting out from the center between the two unconnected tips.
Forever after known... As the power symbol.
And this is why you should always be nice to IT specialists over the phone...