Harry's Choice SCENE CHANGE: After Vacation

"Where have you been?" Dumbledore demanded of Sirius and Harry while the Weasels consumed the food shared for tea.

"Was it Rome?"

"No, Madrid. There were bullfights," replied Harry.

"I thought we went to the beaches where everyone walked around starkers the whole time?"

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "I would have remembered that Sirius!"

"You went where?" screamed Molly, pausing from biting her bread and jam. "Starkers with muggles?"

Dumbledore massaged his head as a new howler was delivered from two feet away. "Dumbledore! That dog took that innocent boy to a beach where the muggles ran around without any clothing! What has he seen? What are you going to do about this?"

"Molly…"

"No. I demand you do something! You're his headmaster!"

Arthur had retreated to the far side of the kitchen table, watching his children eating muggle biscuits when they'd had no other food that day. His magic and concern as a father allowed him to burst through the compulsion charms.

"I want to go home," he announced.

Dumbledore replied, "Arthur, it isn't safe. Voldemort and his Death Eaters are out there."

"And they got run off from Azkaban by three Aurors. I read the DMLE report you hid from the Wizengamot. The Dark Lord is weaker than Dolores Umbridge ever was – his body is dying. Remember Alastor doesn't have a liver or kidneys and the Dark Lord may not have them either."

"But we'll be killed if we go back to the Burrow!" screamed Molly.

"And we're going to starve here," Ron replied. "Let's go home, Dad."

The Weasley trunks appeared magically packed and shrunken down beside the floo. Arthur hurried out the door to apparate to the Burrow and ignite the fire in his fireplace. It was only a few minutes before his head appeared in green flames and said, "Weasleys come home!"

Molly found her pots and pans packed in a box beside her at the table and her spice rack was shrunken in her pocket. Fred and George led the way followed by Ron, Ginny, and finally Molly. She never said anything to Dumbledore, Sirius, or Harry as she left.

"That was a terrible thing, you just did, Harry," Dumbledore said. "The Weasleys may very well die at the Burrow."

Sirius leaned over the seated wizard and said, "Then follow them and put the Fidelius on their home. Make Molly their secret keeper – she never goes anywhere. And they'll be safe from Death Eaters and ministry officials who want to investigate why their children grew so thin this summer."

"If you opened your vaults, they would have been well fed."

"Get out," growled Sirius.

"What?" asked the incredulous Dumbledore.

"Get out! Leave!"

"Sirius, I am the secret keeper for the Fidelius charm here that keeps you protected."

"But I only need protection from the Order of the Phoenix!" argued the Animagus.

Sighing mournfully, Dumbledore shuffled to the floo, threw in some powder, and called out, "The Burrow."

When he stepped into the flames, his body was ejected and landed hard on the stone floor. It took a moment before the headmaster cleared his head, but then Albus looked up and declared, "They are under attack! They're already under attack!"

"No," replied Sirius. "You tried to access a floo that's been closed. As soon as Molly went through, Arthur probably drenched the fire with water."

"Why would he do that?"

Harry spoke up, "For some quality time with just the Weasels? If they can have any, that is."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Molly's probably already screeching about dust on her table and chairs."

"Shame they never took on a house elf," Harry said as the kitchen at Grimmauld Place was cleaned of the tea, spills on the floor, and spoiled food and potions.

"Albus, you should have the matron at Hogwarts check your head. You hit it pretty hard when you fell on the floor," suggested Sirius. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to the leader of the Order of the Phoenix."

"No, no. You're right. I'll come back later, and we can discuss this situation again."

Once the headmaster was gone, Harry drenched the flames in the fireplace while Sirius pulled a large metal platter off the mantel. He fitted the large metal dish into grooves in the fireplace. It provided a flat surface almost two feet above the stone hearth."

"No more visitors," Harry said before he walked up several flights of stairs looking for Hedwig. She was waiting in the owlery with two letters for Harry. First was the letter with his exam results from the previous year and the book list for the upcoming term beginning 1 September 1994.

The second letter was a note from Hermione with news of her pleasant vacation with her parents, and questions about Harry's homework.

Looking around the kitchen, Sirius said, "What say we go back to that hotel near Andi's place? We've got separate rooms in that suite, and we can get to Diagon Alley with an apparition."

"Okay, but where are you going to live when I go back to school?"

"We own a house in Hogsmeade. The renters moved out and Gringotts hasn't placed anyone there. I'll move in and get a new elf."

Hearing the conversation, Dobby popped into the room with a bedraggled-looking little elf that needed a new family immediately. With some introductions and instructions, Dobby and Winky popped off to Hogsmeade to prepare the new home for Sirius Black and Harry Potter.

"I need to go to the bank," Harry reminded his godfather. "There are papers I need to sign as the XXXXXXXX."

"Yeah, that thing you are that I don't know about," quipped Sirius with a grin on his face.

"Maybe."

"Come on, I'll apparate us to the steps, and then we can get some food."

"And books and things for school. Might as well do it all this afternoon."

The two left No.12 Grimmauld Place and spent twenty minutes inside Gringotts. The economy of Magical Britain had finally recovered from the shock of the previous summer and with investments in the muggle stock exchanges, the bank, and the Black vaults continued to grow. While they were in Flourish and Blotts, a disturbance began outside.

The Dark Lord and four Death Eaters apparated into the alley and began casting spells at random shoppers. Multiple wizards and witches ran away but equal numbers stayed to fight. And more poured out of the shops, joining in the fight. Sirius kept Harry at his side as they began firing shields around the people who'd already fallen to the cobblestone street. The Dark Lord was dressed in dirty robes, his hair was unkempt, his boots were scuffed, and his voice was high-pitched and grated on everyone's hearing.

And his spells were not powerful. In fact, they were weak. He was unable to cast any of the unforgivable curses or even a strong bombard. Three of the Death Eaters were already on the ground when Lord Voldemort spotted Harry Potter and declared, "I see you, Harry Potter! Today you die…"

The Dark Lord never finished the sentence because Harry had cast his most powerful Finite Incantatem at the magical construct that was the Dark Lord. In less time than needed to take a breath, Tom Riddle's homunculus fell apart. The final Death Eater fell dead on the cobblestones, and everyone took a moment to think about what they'd just seen. Working together, they'd fought off the Death Eaters and let Harry Potter destroy the Dark Lord.

CHANGE SCENE: Reflected Spell

The party atmosphere spread throughout Diagon Alley, and then the Ministry and Hogsmeade. However, the news never reached Hogwarts before the headmaster decided to return to Grimmauld Place and talk some sense into Sirius Black and Harry Potter.

'And if it takes a good compulsion charm, I'll do it,' Dumbledore told himself without speaking aloud. He glanced toward Fawkes, but the temperamental bird squawked and flamed away.

Approaching the floo, Dumbledore found that the flames would not allow him to return to the house in London.

'They extinguished the fire! Those thoughtless boys!' he fussed and thought of the spell needed to remotely begin a fire in another floo – it only worked if the caster had been in the floo earlier that same day.

'I'll overpower the spell just a bit and singe the entire kitchen with the ignition,' he decided. With the powerful Elder Wand in his hand, Albus Dumbledore began the incantation. The single clue that something was amiss was when his face grew very warm as he thrust the Elder Wand forward.

The metal platter in the chimney at Grimmauld Place was above the hearth and the shiny surface reflected the spell back at the caster, several hundred kilometers to the north in Scotland. Hogwarts was able to contain the fire to the headmaster's tower, but all the portraits of former heads of the school were incinerated along with the furniture, robes, and ancient books stored on shelves in Dumbledore's office. The flames consumed everything not made of stone, including a magical wand and Albus Dumbledore.

The Aurors who were summoned to investigate the fire determined that something ignited a very high-temperature but short-lived fire inside the confined space of the office.

"The headmaster didn't suffer. The fire was so hot, he died instantly."

The Daily Prophet speculated that the attack by the Dark Lord in Diagon Alley was actually a diversion to allow the real attack to occur at Hogwarts. No one really questioned that theory and the DMLE closed the books on the murder of Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore at the hands of Tom Riddle.

EPILOGUE

It was a week before Sirius Black and Winky ventured into Grimmauld Place for some plates, bowls, teacups, and silverware for the house in Hogsmeade. The renters had made off with the towels and kitchen utensils when they left the house in Hogsmeade. In the kitchen, Winky was distressed when she noticed the salver that had been dented in the fireplace and Sirius ignored it. But after another day passed, Sirius took the time to consider what the bent metal signified. Laughing, the man kept the secret for many years and hung the bent platter over the mantel in every home he lived in.

Harry returned to Hogwarts for his fifth year but left with all the students after only one week. The turbulent atmosphere with the death of Dumbledore and the confusion of who should succeed him as headmaster or headmistress increased with each day. When everyone else had to ride the train back to London, he simply walked the path to Hogsmeade to his new home with Sirius.

The Board of Governors attempted to place their choice in the role, but the man didn't step foot in the castle before he vanished. He landed on the roof of the Hogsmeade Tavern.

Cornelius Fudge foolishly thought he could appoint a lackey to the position but found himself and the man in chains before the goblins after stepping foot over the threshold of the castle.

Disturbed that she was not automatically selected as the new headmistress, Minerva McGonagall resigned and walked away with her trunks following behind on transfigured cat's paws.

It was a confused Remus Lupin who found himself with an invitation to become the new transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor House. A woman arrived from Holland with an invitation to take the position of Potions Professor (Snape vanished the same day that Dumbledore died, and no one ever knew if he chose to leave or if the castle merely sealed him away in the dungeons). Professor Septima Vector took on the role of head of Slytherin House.

Finally, two days later, a retired dueling master from Australia, Andrew Carter arrived at Hogwarts and took over as headmaster with a five-year contract signed by the school herself.

The headmaster and professors called on every family to invite the children back for the new year beginning on 1 October. The floos were open and apparition points were established outside the school. The muggle-born arrived via port-keys from their homes – Aurors brought them to the school, often with a parent accompanying them for a short time. Almost every parent proved to be a squib and able to see Hogwarts before returning to their homes with the same port-key.

At Hogwarts, Harry Potter and his good friend Hermione Granger began their fifth year as prefects for Gryffindor House. In a strict compromise to keep Potter and Weasley from having to deal with each other too closely, Katie Bell was selected captain of the Quidditch team, and she kept George and Fred away from Harry. Ron was the reserve keeper but seldom played. Harry set new records for dodging bludgers and the quaffle when it seemed the Weasleys took pot shots at their own seeker.

Nevertheless, Harry caught the snitch in every Quidditch match he played at Hogwarts that year and gave each snitch to Hermione after the game. At some point that autumn, Hermione became Harry's girlfriend and he spent part of each day making her smile with kisses or joining her for extra study hours. (Sirius paid for the snitches lost from the Hogwarts inventory).

Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts was quiet and allowed him to find the areas of magic that interested him most – charms and transfiguration – like his parents. The examination results from his OWLS pleased him and his godfather. Hermione remained the number one student in their year, but Harry rose to the top five before taking his NEWTS at the end of his seventh year.

In their sixth year, Harry and Hermione found themselves without Ron's company in their classes – he'd failed all of his OWLS and was expelled from Hogwarts. After a year of home study, he managed to pass the Charms and Divination examinations to keep his wand. He went to work at the ministry in maintenance and worked at night after everyone else had gone home.

Harry and Hermione attended university together after Hogwarts and married only after that second graduation. Their careers were fulfilling, and their family included four children who were well-loved and happy.

In all the remaining years of his life, Harry Potter never spoke to or acknowledged the presence of Mr or Mrs Weasley in any hallway, ministry function, or business setting. No one ever invited a Weasley to any private home if they expected the Potters or Blacks to appear. Bill Weasley was careful to never deal with any Potter vault at Gringotts if he was in London and eventually immigrated to Australia. Charlie Weasley grumbled because the parseltongue Potter never came to speak to the dragons. Percy accepted the misnomer of Weatherby in the Ministry to provide him some anonymity from his infamous family. After graduation, the twins set up a stand in Diagon Alley to hawk their wares successfully to children and mischievous adults. Within a year, they'd moved to the United States where there were more wizards and witches and a thriving mail order business, but they steered clear of Britain once they married and grew wealthy.

Molly never reconciled herself to the obscurity that settled upon her children. The wound on her head never completely healed and gave her headaches all the remaining years of her life (thanks to vengeful elven magic and an unhappy owl). Her daughter graduated from Hogwarts, married a wizard from Scotland, and settled in Edinburgh where they blended into the muggles. Arthur allowed Ron to live at the Burrow, so Molly always had someone to clean up after and cook for. She hardly ever heard from her other children and seldom saw any of the various grandchildren born to her other sons and daughter.

CHANGE SCENE

In the Department of Mysteries, there were many experiments conducted on wizards and witches who'd run afoul of the Unspeakables. The experiment that lived the longest was Lucius Malfoy, and in 2094, the lump of flesh finally expired while undergoing the three hundredth experiment involving transplantation of animal organs or grafting plants into his body. The Unspeakable who was experimenting on the lump reported the remains of Malfoy's face tried to smile for one moment but then began trying to scream. Fortunately, the Unspeakables had removed Malfoy's vocal cords in 2062 when they tried (unsuccessfully) to use them in magical wands.

End Scene