Harry shakily stepped over the table and knelt beside the skeleton. He stared at it in wonder, and stood up. He brought his foot down on the skull, smashing it into several pieces. "We need to make sure he doesn't get a decent burial." Harry said angrily, then his anger left him. He had done it, he had saved England from another magical civil war, he had fulfilled his life's purpose. He stumbled backwards into a Gryffindor table chair. He had done it. He had done it. The enormity of it hit him. He had avenged everyone. Everyone who died as a result of Voldemort's vile, treacherous work. All the conflict was finished. Harry's life had climaxed, a culmination of his resentment of the Dursleys and hatred of Death Eaters had all been sucked out of him when he killed Voldemort. He felt... hollow. His raison d'etre had been completed.
What more was there to do in his life? Go back to school? A different school, because Hogwarts was no more? And then follow some career, working hours to make a living?
No, he realised. The rest of his life didn't have to be as pointless as that. He could become an Auror, fighting people who had the same malice as Voldemort for the good of everyone. It was not a happy thought, continuing to fight evil until the day he died. But he felt that if he could kill the most terrible wizard of all time he would be essential in the fight against evil. This cheered him up very slightly.
He was barely aware of the conversation held by the others, outlining their plan of what to tell the Ministry wizards, who probably still didn't know about the whole fiasco because they hadn't shown up at all. Then Hermione mentioned that they should find Shepherd and thank him. So everyone performed Summoning charms on their brooms, Harry joining in without paying attention. They all mounted up and Harry followed, grateful that someone else was doing the thinking for a change. They flew out the mangled front doors and gained altitude, hoping Shepherd had found his way out of the Forest and was waiting for them.
Harry came back to reality somewhat when he saw that Shepherd was encircled by attack helicopters. He noticed a couple of Hippogriffs flying past.
"Hey!" Ron shouted at them conversationally. "The man down there is the one who lifted the curse on you! Let's go help him!"
Incredibly the Hippogriffs understood. Powerfully they flapped towards the helicopters, and not even Harry's Firebolt could keep up because they were moving so purposefully. He stopped trying to catch up and dropped back to join the others on their Cleansweep Sevens. The Hippogriffs came up to helicopters by flying in their blind spots (the two attack helicopters were side by side, and the bubble helicopter had landed near Shepherd and disgorged three people, two of whom were definitely soldiers and one of whom definitely wasn't). Then the Hippogriffs suddenly swung round in front of the helicopters and smashed through the windscreens with their talons, killing the pilots, causing the helicopters to spin out and crash. One of the Hippogriffs managed to dodge away from its helicopter, the other one was chopped into fish food by the unforgiving helicopter rotors.
Harry heard faint gunfire and looked down; either Sean or Shepherd had just shot both of the soldiers and was pointing his large machine-gun into the helicopter. Harry couldn't see Brian and calmly assumed the soldier was dead. Harry and friends flew down to meet to meet the two remaining soldiers.
"Hey, Harry!" Shepherd greeted. "From what this asshole says - " here he gestured at the politician, "- I'm guessing you succeeded in killing Lord Voldemort!"
"Damn right." Harry said without much enthusiasm. "I got him. The wizarding world is at peace once more."
"This prick wanted to deport me to somewhere 'where I could do no possible harm', probably some top-secret prison." Shepherd called, changing the subject upon seeing the sorrowful look on Harry's face. "What should we do with him? This helicopter here is his only way out of here."
"Kill him." Ron said indifferently. "Ungrateful bastard."
"Ron!" Hermione cried, shocked. "Corporal, just leave him here. The wizarding authorities will pick him up, if the creatures don't get him first. You force the pilot to take you to some obscure country where you can disappear. I'm really sorry you can't go back to society now that you're a hero."
"What are you sorry for?" Shepherd laughed. "It's not your fault. Hey, Harry, are you sure you're OK?"
"What?" Harry asked. He hadn't paid attention to any of the conversation. "Oh, yeah, great."
"Well, I hope we see you again, but I doubt it." Shepherd called to the wizards and witches hovering in midair, as their griffin rejoined them. He gave the politico a good hard kick before getting on the helicopter, with the muzzle of the Desert Eagle pressed into the pilot's neck, and the rotors started turning.
"They're going to have to lie low in some third-world country if their own government wants them dead." Hermione said morosely. "And after going above and beyond the call of duty, too. Poor Sean and Shepherd."
"Do we wait for the Ministry now?" Dean asked, still clutching his retrieved MP5.
The surviving Hippogriff flew up alongside Harry. The two stared at each other. The Hippogriff seemed to sense his mental anguish. Unblinking, Harry bowed as best as he could while sitting on a broom. The Hippogriff nodded gracefully. Harry reached out and stroked it.
"Yes." Hermione replied to Dean simply.
"We won't have to wait long." Harry assured everyone. "Look, here they come now."
A knot of Aurors and other wizards Apparated onto the Hogwarts train platform near the lake, expecting to be attacked straightaway, judging by their circular formation and offensive stances. They fanned out, then started running up to the castle. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dean swooped away to greet them, explain how the situation had been resolved, and sort out the rest of their lives.
The end.