A/N - This is an extremely short chapter. The main purpose in posting is
to tell everyone that I've decided to finish this story. (Mainly due to
requests.) I was going to post only A/N but I hate it when people do that
so here's a little something.
A/N - "Et tu" wasn't meant to be French but a play on words from Shakespeare.
Chapter 55
Hearty Homecoming
"What do you mean Harry Potter?"
Harry looked at the snake for a few seconds before answering. "I mean, what comes next? I won right? So I'm the leader now right? Is there a ceremony? Can I go back to school now? What happens to Voldemort and the Death Eater?" Can we imprison them here? They are still here right? Do we have monthly meetings?
Harry cut himself off because he was certain that the snake was laughing at him. He was only a fifteen year old boy. It wasn't his fault that he was naturally inquisitive was it? After all, it was a good thing to ask questions and learn things, wasn't it?
"You have won Harry Potter and you are our leader. What happens next is up to you. Do you want to return to your school?"
"Yes, but --- "
Before Harry could get another word out of his mouth, he felt a tumbling sensation. The feeling was getting more and more familiar and he knew exactly what was happening. Unfortunately, this time he hadn't been quite ready to return. He had other pressing matters to attend to first. He wanted to know if Voldemort and the Death Eater were still within the walls of the Order of the Serpents. After all, as their leader, he should be able to get the Order to help him capture Voldemort. This was his big chance and he was missing it. Sirius and the others would be so disappointed.
"HURRAH!" A deep male voice shouted so loudly next to Harry's right ear drum that he literally jumped in fright.
"HUZZAH!" Another male voice shouted.
"WHOOPIE!" Shouted a distinctly female voice that if Harry didn't know any better he would think that it belonged to Professor McGonagall. When he looked up to catch her eye, he found her intently studying Fawkes' cage and very obviously not looking at him.
For his part in the celebration, Remus was starting up a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." More than one person joined in the singing.
Sirius grabbed him in a fierce bear hug and was saying quite loudly comment like, "I knew you could do it." "James and Lily would be so proud." And --- "What a wonderful godfather you must have to be able to accomplish these things you accomplish."
When Sirius finally let Harry go he was able to properly look around the room. The book had returned him to Dumbledore's office. If he had cared to think on it more, he would have realized that the book returned him to the exact spot that it took it from. However, the office itself had undergone a few changes since the last time Harry was here. For starters, the large piles of books were gone. In their place was a rather large assortment of pasties and juices and butterbeers and other treats. Mr and Mrs Weasley were both in the office as well as Remus, Sirius, McGonagall, and of course Dumbledore.
"Ummm --- Excuse me." Harry interjected timidly. He didn't want to break up the festivities but he did want to know what everyone was celebrating. Whatever it was, he was sure they would stop once he told them how he let Voldemort and the Death Eater escape.
"For he's a jolly good fellow --- "
"Er --- Pardon me."
"For he's a jolly good felllllllooooooowwww --- "
"What is going on here?" He asked a little more forcefully than he intended.
Sirius and his usual tact were the first to answer.
"We're celebrating you dolt. Grab a butterbeer."
"Celebrating what?"
McGonagall jumped in this time. "Don't be silly, Potter. We're celebrating you. You and your victory."
He couldn't believe it. "What? But how could you know already? It just happened."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and Harry turned his attention towards him. With an almost exaggerated smile and the now seldom twinkle in his eyes he answered, "How could we not know Harry? You'll notice we're all in the same room and nothing has happened."
Panic flowed through Harry's body. He just realized the ramifications of what he was seeing. "WHAT??? How could you all wait for me together? What if I failed? You would all be killed! There would be no one left to stop Voldemort. How could you all wait together?" Harry was shaking slightly. Even though the task was over and he had been successful, he couldn't believe what these people had risked. "How could you risk your lives just so we could drink butterbeer together? What if I failed?"
Dumbledore, still smiling and twinkling, stepped forward and grasped Harry's shoulder before answering. "That's just it Harry. We knew you wouldn't fail. We waited for you together so you would know that you have our utmost confidence. And we wanted you to know that you have it as well."
Harry stood perfectly still letting Dumbledore's words seep in. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could they have risked so much? The Weasley's had all their children to think about. The entire wizarding world depended on Dumbledore. It just didn't make sense.
"You all --- you all did that --- for me?"
Mrs Weasley could hold back no longer. She broke through the small crowd and grabbed Harry in an enormous motherly hug. He could feel her tears falling on his head. She stood their holding him for more than a few seconds until Mr Weasley came and pried her off.
"There there Molly. He's all right. Let him get some air."
She didn't let go before giving him another tight squeeze. "Harry, dear, don't you see? What we did for you can never compare to what you do for us all the time."
Mr Weasley was the next to speak up. "Thank you Harry. Molly and I must be going."
"Yes so must I. I hate to think of what my fourth years have done to my classroom being left unattended for so long" Professor McGonagall said. Mrs Weasley bade her good byes and gave Harry one final, albeit quicker, hug. Mr Weasley clasped Harry's shoulder on his way out. Professor McGonagall bid good bye to everyone in the room and then she too left the office leaving only Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore.
After handing out rounds of butter beer to everyone, Sirius asked in a jovial mood, "So now that Harry's done saving the wizarding world --- what's on tap for tomorrow?"
A/N - "Et tu" wasn't meant to be French but a play on words from Shakespeare.
Chapter 55
Hearty Homecoming
"What do you mean Harry Potter?"
Harry looked at the snake for a few seconds before answering. "I mean, what comes next? I won right? So I'm the leader now right? Is there a ceremony? Can I go back to school now? What happens to Voldemort and the Death Eater?" Can we imprison them here? They are still here right? Do we have monthly meetings?
Harry cut himself off because he was certain that the snake was laughing at him. He was only a fifteen year old boy. It wasn't his fault that he was naturally inquisitive was it? After all, it was a good thing to ask questions and learn things, wasn't it?
"You have won Harry Potter and you are our leader. What happens next is up to you. Do you want to return to your school?"
"Yes, but --- "
Before Harry could get another word out of his mouth, he felt a tumbling sensation. The feeling was getting more and more familiar and he knew exactly what was happening. Unfortunately, this time he hadn't been quite ready to return. He had other pressing matters to attend to first. He wanted to know if Voldemort and the Death Eater were still within the walls of the Order of the Serpents. After all, as their leader, he should be able to get the Order to help him capture Voldemort. This was his big chance and he was missing it. Sirius and the others would be so disappointed.
"HURRAH!" A deep male voice shouted so loudly next to Harry's right ear drum that he literally jumped in fright.
"HUZZAH!" Another male voice shouted.
"WHOOPIE!" Shouted a distinctly female voice that if Harry didn't know any better he would think that it belonged to Professor McGonagall. When he looked up to catch her eye, he found her intently studying Fawkes' cage and very obviously not looking at him.
For his part in the celebration, Remus was starting up a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." More than one person joined in the singing.
Sirius grabbed him in a fierce bear hug and was saying quite loudly comment like, "I knew you could do it." "James and Lily would be so proud." And --- "What a wonderful godfather you must have to be able to accomplish these things you accomplish."
When Sirius finally let Harry go he was able to properly look around the room. The book had returned him to Dumbledore's office. If he had cared to think on it more, he would have realized that the book returned him to the exact spot that it took it from. However, the office itself had undergone a few changes since the last time Harry was here. For starters, the large piles of books were gone. In their place was a rather large assortment of pasties and juices and butterbeers and other treats. Mr and Mrs Weasley were both in the office as well as Remus, Sirius, McGonagall, and of course Dumbledore.
"Ummm --- Excuse me." Harry interjected timidly. He didn't want to break up the festivities but he did want to know what everyone was celebrating. Whatever it was, he was sure they would stop once he told them how he let Voldemort and the Death Eater escape.
"For he's a jolly good fellow --- "
"Er --- Pardon me."
"For he's a jolly good felllllllooooooowwww --- "
"What is going on here?" He asked a little more forcefully than he intended.
Sirius and his usual tact were the first to answer.
"We're celebrating you dolt. Grab a butterbeer."
"Celebrating what?"
McGonagall jumped in this time. "Don't be silly, Potter. We're celebrating you. You and your victory."
He couldn't believe it. "What? But how could you know already? It just happened."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and Harry turned his attention towards him. With an almost exaggerated smile and the now seldom twinkle in his eyes he answered, "How could we not know Harry? You'll notice we're all in the same room and nothing has happened."
Panic flowed through Harry's body. He just realized the ramifications of what he was seeing. "WHAT??? How could you all wait for me together? What if I failed? You would all be killed! There would be no one left to stop Voldemort. How could you all wait together?" Harry was shaking slightly. Even though the task was over and he had been successful, he couldn't believe what these people had risked. "How could you risk your lives just so we could drink butterbeer together? What if I failed?"
Dumbledore, still smiling and twinkling, stepped forward and grasped Harry's shoulder before answering. "That's just it Harry. We knew you wouldn't fail. We waited for you together so you would know that you have our utmost confidence. And we wanted you to know that you have it as well."
Harry stood perfectly still letting Dumbledore's words seep in. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could they have risked so much? The Weasley's had all their children to think about. The entire wizarding world depended on Dumbledore. It just didn't make sense.
"You all --- you all did that --- for me?"
Mrs Weasley could hold back no longer. She broke through the small crowd and grabbed Harry in an enormous motherly hug. He could feel her tears falling on his head. She stood their holding him for more than a few seconds until Mr Weasley came and pried her off.
"There there Molly. He's all right. Let him get some air."
She didn't let go before giving him another tight squeeze. "Harry, dear, don't you see? What we did for you can never compare to what you do for us all the time."
Mr Weasley was the next to speak up. "Thank you Harry. Molly and I must be going."
"Yes so must I. I hate to think of what my fourth years have done to my classroom being left unattended for so long" Professor McGonagall said. Mrs Weasley bade her good byes and gave Harry one final, albeit quicker, hug. Mr Weasley clasped Harry's shoulder on his way out. Professor McGonagall bid good bye to everyone in the room and then she too left the office leaving only Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore.
After handing out rounds of butter beer to everyone, Sirius asked in a jovial mood, "So now that Harry's done saving the wizarding world --- what's on tap for tomorrow?"