A/N: Hi, everyone, here is my late Christmas present to you!
I hope you all had a magical Christmas – I got lots of HP stuff from family and friends: three HP folders, six boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, an HP notebook and a little Hedwig made of some white stone. Really sweet.
Yesterday I saw David Copperfield on TV and Daniel Radcliffe was such a cutie in there! (he was about 9 years old and quite pudgy, LOL). Maggie Smith (McGonagall) and Zoe Wannamaker (Madame Hooch) also had a role in that film. It's funny that three actors of the HP movie had played together in another film earlier.
To your reviews: oh my! I thought I'd get less reviews for this chapter than the average 70-80, but I was wrong! You totally surprised me – in a good way! Thanks a bunch!
I have to tell you, people, that I'm an evil girl, because I actually enjoyed seeing you suffer! *bad Agi, very bad Agi!* I should be banging my head into the window-pane, like Dobby!
Thchick, vanilla and Mikey: no, of course chapter 30 wasn't the end – as you can see it, here's the next instalment!
Ariana Black: so, Snape had you fooled? Glad to hear that! Yes, it was what Dumbledore had been planning – in this chapter he'll explain everything in person :-)
veronik: but Voldie IS DEAD! I don't know why you thought he only disappeared. He died and won't come back!
English Rose: no, I won't use The Book of the Dead (though I loved that scene in the Mummy returns where they brought back Evelin – was Evelin her name? I'm not sure…)
jennaration: Ron and Herm WERE stupefied, but they woke up – I quote: "And now…" Voldemort turned back to Harry and the slowly reviving Ron and Hermione. "…you are going to see me submerge into the Potion of Eternity, the recipe of which Severus Snape had so kindly presented to me." See, they woke up. About Herm's wand – you are totally right! I made a mistake there. That happened because I re-wrote some things in the scene where Dumbledore and the others appear, just a couple of minutes before uploading the chapter, and I didn't realise that I mixed up the time a bit. Hermione got her wand back a couple of seconds later. Mea culpa. The new Hungarian lesson for you: "Mindenki boldogan él amíg meg nem hal, és január 22-én, Jenna szülinapján fogom felrakni az utolsó fejezetet." There. (though I guess I'll upload the last chapter a bit earlier.)
Tayla Riddle: you dreamt it????
Pyro Spam: yes, you'll see Draco again, since I truly like his character.
Princesswitch: of course I know everything about fairy tales. You'll witness it yourself, I promise! Btw, what is "ttyl"? And what is "jk" – not J.K. Rowling, is it?
just me: oh, so you are sorry for Voldemort! LOL!
Myr Halcyon: I get what you mean, and totally agree. IMHO Voldemort never feels right :-)
ravenclawmeg: you wrote: "that is just an awful way to end it." Hm, who said it was the end??? I don't remember myself putting "THE END" or "FIN" at the end of chapter 30.
Basilisk: another one who is sorry for Voldie! You made me laugh, really!
K-K: made you cry? Strange… I never thought I could write anything that could make people cry… not even my mom cried when she read it, which is quite remarkable, since she always cries at everything that is a bit sad or sentimental.
mountainblossom: good guess. You wrote: "you should seriously consider sending it to J.K. Rowling… maybe you'll inspire her…" – that's sweet, but I don't think SHE needs inspiring!
Bluebubblegrl: *Agi wipes the rotten fruit off herself* - you can keep bawling like a baby for about two weeks, then…
AlanSmithy: thankyouthankyouthankyou, Mitch!
D2: about your question concerning Snape and the recipe… this chapter will give you the answer (like it says in the title).
Ki-chan: oh, what a relief! I was afraid that people might think the fight scene sucked. I had serious misgivings about the last chapter, because I'm really not an action-writer – I'm much better at comedies. Glad to hear the action worked out after all :-)
star queen: I promise I'll watch Fellowship of the Ring as soon as it comes out in Hungary (only on 10th January). Anyway, I started to read the first LotR book again, just to know what I'll see… I read the three books two years ago, but I really didn't remember a thing… yeah, only one thing: I LOVED Sammie's character! (is he called Sammie? In Hungarian we got his name translated into the Hungarian version of Sam, so I don't know his original name.) About my exams: I had two up till now, the worst is yet to come… *sigh* Imagine, I had to study on the 24th and 25th December, too! At Christmas!!!
IloveLinkinPark222: no, I haven't read your fic that has the title "The sacrifice". I don't know whether I have read a story from you or not, since I was asked by so many people to read their fics that I simply don't know anymore which one I read and which one I didn't. But I'm sure I don't remember a fic with the title "The sacrifice." – though it sounds good, I'll read it as soon as I can.
Lady Lupin: things will work out. Have faith!
Hobbit-Feet: oh, another SW fan! Great! A wedding? *grins*
Lionheart Eternal: exactly.
HarryPotterCC1: feel free to send me a howler – once I sent one to my mom, just for fun! I wanted to send her the one screaming "you are as ugly as a troll!", but I clicked on another one by mistake!
kirky1: why? Because he was too shocked… he didn't even remember of it! But in this chapter… you'll see…
Hermione Gulliver: I'll do a sequel, but NOT about Lily growing up. In the sequel she'll only be one year old.
obi_ewan_maul_lover: glad that you liked the prophecy. I like making up things like that.
Toby Haine: did you get my instructions about uploading? I wasn't sure because you didn't answer me… oh well, I really liked – no – LOVED your review! I've never got one this long! You really made me laugh by writing: "I'm going to find the person whom I said their story is the best and tell them sorry but this is much better!" – LOL, that was really sweet! Would you be so kind and tell me whose story that was? If it's so good, I'd like to read it! So, you liked the memory loss twist? I'm happy to hear that – I was a bit afraid that people might think it made a story be like a silly Mexican soap-opera, but fortunately it didn't. Turned you into a Lockhart fan? Super! Rowling is your idol? Mine, too!!!!! You wrote that she always wrapped things up at the end. I dedicated this chapter to "wrapping up" things, I hope I succeeded, and everything will be clear. It might be a bit twisted, but hopefully everyone will understand. Thanks for saying that the battle scene was well written – I feared it might come out stupid. Yea, thinking up chapter names was real fun… my fave chapter title is "Noisy night, holy night". Yes, I also think that with no Voldemort, there's not much point in HP stories, but I hope I'll manage to find or make up another villain for the sequel – but I won't bring back Voldie, I had enough of him!
PrincezzShortie: no, your review was only the second or third longest I had ever got, but I truly appreciated it – I love getting long reviews! (my longest review was written by Toby right above you). I really hate killing characters – Ginny is dead, though. (but remember: I promised my readers a happy end, and the story isn't over yet). I'd gladly share my original story with you, but unfortunately it is written in Hungarian, and I don't feel like translating it into English.
Twink: I promise you lots of description (but even more funny dialogues). No, Lily cannot be flower girl, she's only three weeks old now!
gurlie409: you'll see Sunny again.
LisaQT3: I also like mythology, especially that of the ancient Greeks. You wrote you didn't know what to read when this story ended. Well… the sequel! (though it won't be ready until late spring, I guess. If you want, I'll write you a list of interesting stories I recommend you read, okay?)
thebiggesthpfan: thank you for your sincerity, I truly appreciated it.
erica: no fake curse and no disappointing you. Just read on!
yibble legnets: does Gandalf really die in the movie? Oh my! I have read the books, but a long time ago, and I thought he lived until the end of book three. Well, I was wrong then :-( So, was Frodo so good? I can't wait to see it!
2Coolio: what do you mean by making a "prologue"? Didn't you mean "epilogue"? Anyway, four more chapters until the real epilogue!
Harry II: the best? Really?
haanah: 4 chapters together with this one. And please, refrain from casting Avada Kedavra on me, or else I won't be able to upload the rest of the story!
Chicory Tee: thicker than Crabbe and Goyle? LOL! Thanks, I feel warmer now! :-)
X Tow Naga: sorry, I didn't get a scanner for Xmas, so you won't be able to see the pic ;-)
Afromonk: it was obvious for you, but it wasn't obvious for many people, that's why they panicked about Ginny's death.
Waldomier: Morticia is Gomez Addams' wife in Addams Family. I just thought she totally looked like the witch who was described in the Pensieve.
Jared and Ze Vondor: thanks a lot!
Jeanine DR23: you misunderstood me! I didn't mean the island in America – I meant the Dominican Republic next to Cuba! I told you I WAS good at geography! You couldn't practically mention a country that I don't know where it is! I know most of the small island-states in the Pacific Ocean, too (without a map). I used to spend lots of time studying maps when I was younger because I found them fascinating. Strange, huh? People think I'm off my rocker when I open my school-books during the summer holidays as well. (Well, maybe this is why the "Harry Potter personality test" told me I was a lot like Hermione, lol)
Meatball Head: I also like eggnog, but especially coconut and peach liqueur :-)
Anna: I most definitely had nice holidays, though I needed to study all along *pout* - I'm going to have my next exam on 27th December, so I HAD to study. Anyway, we celebrate Christmas.
serenity: no, the Snitch is worth only 150 points, not 180.
Oh my! My replies to your reviews got almost as long as the next chapter!
I feel I need to warn you that this chapter needs great attention! For me it was the most difficult chapter to write (I re-wrote it at least 20 times), because it was so complicated. If you read it carefully, you'll surely understand everything – I tried by best to make this chapter perfect with the help of my wonderful mom who noticed smaller mistakes and made suggestions how to correct them. They are corrected now, and hopefully it won't be hard to understand.
Chapter 31
Questions answered
While wizards and witches throughout the globe were celebrating, showering the skies with fireworks, sending express owls, falcons and all kinds of birds to let each other know about the Dark Lord's final defeat, the Burrow was as silent as a grave.
Deep, deadly silence hung in the air, heavy with muffled sobs and sighs. The Weasley family was mourning Ginny, whose corpse was lying on a bier, surrounded by flowers and hovering candles that made her fiery hair shine in an eerie glow, as if a halo had encircled her head.
Molly was soundlessly crying, bending her head on her husband's shoulder. Arthur's grief was deeper – he couldn't shed a tear. Bill and Charlie tried to comfort Percy, who kept repeating that he and their little sister had been on bad terms before she died. He simply couldn't forgive himself for not having reconciled with Ginny while it was possible.
Fleur was standing in the background, holding Lily, trying to make herself useful, but her grief was almost as great as that of the dead girl's parents and brothers – she and Ginny had become very close friends.
Not even the twins could think of anything to cheer the family up a bit. There was nothing to be cheery about.
Ron was inconsolable, but didn't cry – neither did Hermione. They had been there at Stonehenge, seen Ginny's sacrifice and understood it better than the rest of the family.
"It's… it's time to go to sleep." Arthur whispered. "Come, Molly."
"No…" the woman sniffed, "I want to sit up for her… like Harry does." she pointed at the boy, kneeling beside the bier with a stony face that didn't show any kind of emotion. He still couldn't grasp what had happened: Voldemort was dead… so was his one and only love.
It was too much for him to comprehend.
He was kneeling there until dawn, having lost track of time.
"Harry." he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "I've come to explain everything."
The boy turned around to see Albus Dumbledore.
"Explain? What?" he rose to his feet. "There's nothing to be explained… Ginny's dead."
The old wizard shook his silvery head. "You're mistaken. There's lot to be explained. Come… the family is waiting."
Dumbledore led him into the living room, where all the Weasley, plus Hermione, Sirius and Lupin were present.
"Sit down." the ex-headmaster said very softly.
"I'd rather stand." Harry replied, taking a look round, examining the expressions of the gathered people. Grief and anticipation mingled on their pale faces.
"I've asked you all to give me a chance to clear everything up. You might think that it isn't the proper time for explanations, but I do feel that you deserve to know why things happened the way they did." Dumbledore began. "Everything started with Voldemort getting to know about Cassandra's prediction and understanding the meaning of those mysterious lines. He understood that Harry was destined to be his undoing. That is why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry from the moment of his birth. After he had done away with James, he shouted Avada Kedavra at little Harry. However, he left it out of consideration that Lily could sacrifice herself in order to save her son, this way decreasing the effect of the killing curse. Not only did Harry survive with nothing but a lightning-shaped scar, but Voldemort's curse fell back on its originator, making him lose his powers and body. As you all know, he didn't die. He knew that Harry started Hogwarts at the age of eleven, so he possessed Quirrel's body to have an opportunity to kill Harry and get the Philosopher's Stone. Harry, however, thwarted him. Quirrel, on the command of Voldemort, tried to kill Harry. The Dark Lord didn't know that the green lightning of the Avada Kedavra had made Harry similar to a lightning, that is to say, the originator of the curse could not touch him. Quirrel was burnt by the pure touch of Harry's skin, as though a real lightning had burnt him." Dumbledore looked around – everyone was listening with bated breath. "After the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone," he carried on, "my friend, Nicolas Flamel invited me to spend the summer holiday at his place. He told me about the journeys he had made in his youth and let me in on secrets that he, and only he in the whole wizarding world knew about.
Once he had met an extremely old warlock, living on an island that was completely separated from the rest of the world. They became friends and the old warlock told Nicolas about two unique recipes, which no one else knew about. One of them is the recipe that gives the body back to a wizard who has lost it, and the other is the recipe of immortality." Dumbledore took a deep breath and continued. "Nicolas never told anyone about these two recipes, not even his wife. No one knew that Voldemort somehow got to know about the first recipe… When Harry came back by portkey after the third task, his first words were: "He's back. Voldemort." I immediately knew that the Dark Lord must have got to know about the recipe that gives one back the body they had lost… Later on, Harry mentioned that Voldemort used his blood for his resurrection, and he was able to touch Harry thereafter. The only way he could touch the boy without getting burned was through Harry's blood…" Albus heard Sirius cough nervously. He carried on. "When Harry told me that Voldemort wanted to kill him, I knew at once that the Dark Lord didn't know about the second recipe, according to which only those can gain immortality, who have their enemy's blood flowing in their veins… And only one way: if they prepare the Potion of Eternity using the blood of the same enemy's direct line descendant…
Voldemort believed in Cassandra's prediction and expected Harry to attack and murder him… but he was on the wrong track. Harry really became his undoing… but only indirectly." he glanced around, his stare stopping on the Weasley couple. "It was Ginny who caused his death, when sacrificing herself to save Harry."
Molly burst into tears again.
"Your daughter, Molly, died a heroine… and will be revered by the whole wizarding society until the end of times." Albus carried on with a soothing voice. "Her sacrifice changes the history… it had to change it. I had always known it would."
"You knew it?" Harry looked up from the floor that he had been examining for minutes. "You knew that she would die?"
Albus saw the outrage on the boy's face, but only nodded. "Partially."
"Partially? Explain!" Harry growled with clenched fists.
All the others' faces mirrored his expression of anger and confusion.
"Yes, I did know it… not that it would be Ginny… All I knew was that a woman, deeply in love with Harry would save him from Voldemort at the expense of her own life…" he fell silent for a minute, then continued. "At first I expected it to happen only decades later… I never though it would come true this soon – I never thought you'd have a child this soon…" before Harry could ask what his child had to do with all this, Dumbledore continued. "I also have to admit that I expected Ms. Chang to be the saviour, since I knew how much Harry fancied her. But when I saw that she didn't reciprocate his feelings, I got aware that someone else would be the girl who would... When I got to know that Ginny was pregnant with Harry's baby… well, I knew it had to be her."
"And you kept it a secret?" Sirius cut in.
"I had to." the old wizard replied. "No one but me and Professor Snape knew about it."
"Snape?" Hermione glowered at him. "How did he become involved in all this?"
"Severus… well… the night Voldemort got his powers back," he turned to look at Harry, "…the night of the third task, I sent Severus to accomplish a secret mission. No one knew that I sent him to Voldemort, to give the recipe of the Potion of Eternity to the Dark Lord."
"What? YOU gave out that recipe? Deliberately?" Ron gasped, along with the others.
"Severus had to ingratiate himself with Voldemort again." Dumbledore replied. "He had once been a death-eater who lost the Dark Lord's trust after he sided with me. However, he needed to get close to Voldemort once again, and what else could have conciliated Voldemort better, than a former servant of his giving him the recipe he desired the most?"
"Why on earth did you send him that recipe?" Hermione pushed. "And why not send him a fake-one?"
Dumbledore replied the second question: "It WAS a fake one, Ms. Granger. As for your first question, I sent it to him because of the last ingredient."
No one seemed to understand him.
"The last ingredient was the life of Harry's child." Albus explained. "In order to perform the immortality-ceremony properly, the mother had to be there, too… I knew if Harry had a child, and Voldermort had the recipe, he would kidnap both the child and the mother, to do everything properly."
The listeners still didn't understand a word, so the old wizard kept talking: "I knew that only a woman's love for Harry could destroy the Dark Lord. Voldemort didn't know it… Cassandra's prophecy had originally seven verses… while Voldemort knew only about the first five. Merlin, who had been in possession of the whole prediction, erased its last two verses before Mim could steal it from him. This way the evil witch translated an incomplete prophecy."
"What was in the last the verses, professor?" Hermione asked.
"I just wanted to get down to it." Dumbledore replied. "So, the remaining two verses… they tell us about a girl who, deeply in love with the 'boy with the hair of soot', will cause the downfall of the Dark Lord by sacrificing herself for the boy… Voldemort had no idea that the prediction he knew was incomplete, thus he had always believed Harry to be his undoing… And now back to the baby…" Albus paused for a second. "I was aware that Voldemort would never capture a woman without having Harry's child – so the woman needed to have Harry's child to give Voldemort a good reason to kidnap her. By sending Voldemort the recipe with Severus, I gave him a reason not to kill Harry until he hadn't fathered a child. This way I managed to protect Harry for a while… I really didn't expect you to become a father this soon." he looked at the boy, who suddenly understood why Dumbledore hadn't punished him back in November… Harry still remembered what Dumbledore had looked: not angry, not scolding… but almost elated. Back then Harry didn't understand the headmaster's strange behaviour, but now he did: Dumbledore was actually happy about the arrival of the child, because he knew what it meant: that Voldemort's defeat was close… or at least its possibility.
"Does that mean," Hermione interrupted, "that you gave out the recipe to You-Know-Who, so that he'd capture Harry's sometime child and its mother, this way giving the child's mother a chance to sacrifice herself for Harry, causing You-Know-Who's death?"
"Brilliant comprehension, Ms. Granger." Albus nodded.
"Geez… that's confusing." Fred voiced his opinion.
"And how!" George nodded sullenly.
"But professor…" Hermione continued, "What about Harry? He also needed to be there, didn't he? What if he hadn't been at Stonehenge yesterday dawn?"
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "You have touched the most delicate point… I knew that if the child's mother was kidnapped, Harry would go after her. This is why I was so scared when Harry disappeared without leaving trace. I left this chance out of consideration…"
"What?" Sirius burst out. "Are you aware that Voldemort would have killed Harry's daughter and would have gained immortality if Harry hadn't arrived at Stonehenge in time???"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Sirius. Voldemort couldn't have gained immortality, since I had made a small change to the recipe – a change concerning the last ingredient. In the real recipe the last ingredient was the blood of his enemy's living offspring. I re-wrote the recipe, so that it contained the blood of the enemy's dead child. Had Voldemort used the recipe before we arrived at Stonehenge, the baby's death would have been my fault." Dumbledore hung his head. "Not to speak about the incredible wrath of Voldemort when he realised that the potion didn't work… he would have avenged himself on the whole wizarding world. You have no idea, how much the sheer though of this worried me. There were too many unsure factors… it wasn't even sure that Harry would ever have a child. Yes, I did risk a lot when I gave Severus the recipe to deliver it to Voldemort… but I had to risk that much."
"RISK – THAT – MUCH???" Arthur Weasley howled. "You dared to risk everything, putting all your eggs into one basket??? Holy heavens, Albus! You could have brought terror on the whole wizarding world!"
"I don't deny it." Dumbledore replied. "But I was aware that if Voldemort didn't use this recipe then he'd find another sooner or later… it was only a matter of time. Since giving him my recipe was the only way to rid the world of the Dark Lord, I thought it was worth a try."
"Worth a try?" Molly clenched her fists. "How did you dare to chance my… daughter's and granddaughter's life?" she burst into tears again, but deep in her heart she knew that the old wizard was right. The death of two persons was nothing compared to the death of millions.
"Molly…" Lupin stepped to her. "Albus did the right thing. I understand your grief, but be proud that your daughter – only your daughter – could destroy Voldemort. She died a heroine, and the whole wizarding world is extremely grateful to her."
"She wasn't your child." Molly replied accusingly, wiping her tears with her apron.
"No." Remus shook his head. "But I would have been proud to have a daughter like her."
"Mom…" Fred spoke up, "We all miss Ginny terribly, but don't forget that we still have Lily."
"Yes…" Molly tried to smile, glancing at the baby, who was peacefully sleeping in Fleur's arms. "Harry, son, you won't take her from us, will you?"
Harry turned to look at the baby. Since Ginny died, he hadn't even thought of his daughter… had never even seen her close up… hadn't held her, either.
He walked over to Fleur, taking the tiny being into his arms. The baby was so beautiful, so perfect… finally the long-withheld tears came flowing down his cheeks. This child was all he had left of Ginny – the fruit of their love.
The baby stirred, opening her eyes – her emerald green eyes… green… so green…
"The torch!" Harry breathed.
"What?" Ron frowned, afraid that grief had driven his friend crazy.
"What date is today?" Harry asked.
"10th July." Hermione replied. "But why?"
"10th July… one day left… one day…" Harry muttered.
"One day? What are you talking about?" Sirius cut in.
"I can save Ginny!" Harry stated, handing Lily back to Fleur.
"Save her?" Percy gaped.
"Dead people can't be saved!" George pointed out.
"But they can!" Harry replied, his face not showing sadness anymore, only excitement and a great deal of hope.
"You can't change the past, Harry." Dumbledore admonished him.
"I don't intend to, professor." the boy answered. "But I can bring her back! I know I can!"
"How?" Molly sniffed.
"No time to explain now. I have to hurry! If I don't return within 24 hours, then you can bury her…" Harry cast a last glance at Ginny and with a pop, he disapparated.
The family stared at the place Harry had stood a second earlier.
"He's gone crazy." Sirius mumbled.
"We'll see." Dumbledore replied, knitting his snow-white eyebrows.
"Professor?" Hermione turned to him.
"Yes?"
"Professor… I fear I have a piece of the puzzle missing."
"Then go ahead and ask, Ms. Granger."
"Okay. So, how did you know that we were to be found at Stonehenge?"
Dumbledore smiled sadly. "According to the receipt, the ritual could only be performed there, at sunrise. As for the timing… back at Christmas I sent a watch on a chain to Ginny with the warning that she should never take it off. It was a watch connected to mine." he reached into his pocket, taking out his very special golden watch with the little planets moving around the edge. It had twelve hands. "I wrote Ginny that whenever she should get into trouble, she had to flick the lid of the watch open and push a small button hidden in it. When she got kidnapped, she did so. Since nothing else could happen to her, I knew at once it had to happen… the only thing I feared… which I knew would come: Voldemort had kidnapped her and the baby. It took a bit of time to inform Remus, Sirius and Bill, since Remus was in Finland, Sirius and Bill in Egypt. Lucky that I knew where to look for them. This way we arrived at Stonehenge right at sunrise."
"Did you know that You-Know-Who would already be dead by the time you get there?" Ron asked.
"No. I was in the belief that Harry was still missing. I feared that by the time we'd get there, Voldemort would have killed Lily, which fortunately didn't happen..." his voice faltered as he turned to Molly and Arthur. "Forgive me for exposing your daughter to Voldemort…"
"Not your fault." Molly shook her head. "You did the right thing – you risked a lot, but your plan worked. It's no use wondering what could have happened if Harry hadn't arrived there in time… Only one thing counts: my Ginny was destined to cause You-Know-Who's death, and she fulfilled her destiny. We'll always be proud of her."
A/N2: see, I'm not that evil, really… you can start hoping again :-)