> > June 23 -- 4th to Last Day of Term. The rumors spread unbelievably fast, of course. Some were almost exactly correct, others nowhere near. Some people were convinced that all this time Harry was Voldemort. Some had it reversed, that The Dark Lord had killed Harry. Only one person truly knew what happened, because he was the only one Harry would speak to when visited at St. Mungo's. Dumbledore knew that the entire school had to know, just like they had to know about the death of Diggory. However, this occasion was a much more happy one, except for a few things. Nobody at all even took notice of the missing Hermione Granger, save Ron Weasley and a few other Gryffindors. Ron was seriously distraught, because he had last seen Harry and Hermione together, and assumed, correctly, the worst for her. He was also, perhaps wrongly, jealous and upset because he had been in love with Hermione since around third year. He thought that Harry and Hermione were going out together, and had gone to the woods for more privacy when Voldemort found them. No matter what Ron about Harry involving Hermione, he could not help but feel extremely grateful for what he had done. Everyone in the school was. So that was why the whole school buzzed with excitement on that Tuesday after the demise of the Dark Lord. Somehow, the rumor had gotten out that everything would be explained to them that evening at dinner. Hardly anyone ate, as they were all stealing anxious glances at Dumbledore to begin, but he seemed to be absorbed in his meal. Finally, Dumbledore stood up and called everyone to attention. "By now I'm sure you've all heard different variations of the story of what happened last Saturday, but many, if not all of them, are wrong. Here, I will briefly give you a description of what exactly happened. "Harry and Hermione, for reasons unbeknownst to me, decided to drift away from the rest of the Hogsmeade goers. Apparently, a small tree served as a Portkey to transport Harry straight to Voldemort." Almost everyone shuddered. "As you may have guessed, Harry refused to go down without a fight. Surprisingly enough, Harry was winning. He fared extremely well in a battle that should have lasted 10 seconds. The Dark Lord realized he could not win, so he decided that the death of another would atone for his poor battle. Frankly, Voldemort brutally murdered Ms. Granger." A hush fell over the Hall. No one spoke, or even breathed. They waited for the next part of the story. After a few moments, Dumbledore continued. "As you may imagine, Harry became infuriated at the murder of his great friend. He used an impeccable selection of spells and defenses, and in the end, Voldemort had his throat slit. Students of Hogwarts School, Lord Voldemort is dead." There was a brief silence, followed by a roar of applause, laughter, and tears of joy. After a few minutes, they saw that Dumbledore had more story to tell them. They all quieted down. "Harry, however, was critically wounded during the battle, and has been in St. Mungo's for the past few days. He has made a miraculous recovery, and will be returning tonight." More loud applause. Then, almost as if on cue, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and in limped Harry Potter. The roar was deafening. The school was in danger of Muggles hearing this phenomenon. Harry managed a smile and wave, but winced as he tried to do so. After the rest of the school had left, Harry was invited into the room off of the Great Hall. Dumbledore was the first to speak. "Harry, at the end of your sixth year, as you may know, you receive letters from different companies who were pleased with your O.W.L. results, and/or sporting results. These letters came while you were away. You received quite a few, namely from Quidditch teams." Dumbledore dumped the sack of post that was sitting on the ground onto a table, and Harry saw such coats of arms as the Dublin Shamrocks, Stockholm Sting, and the Washington Warlocks. He had never considered having Quidditch as a full time job before. Now that he thought about it, he would like a job like that very much. "As you may or may not already know, you must enter the Quidditch Amateur Draft by the deadline of July 25th. You will be processed with the many other talented youth, and then, if everything goes well, drafted next spring, before the end of your 7th year. From what I hear, pay and allowances are very generous these days." Harry had almost no doubt in his mind now that his profession of choice would be Quidditch. Dumbledore must have reade his mind, however, because he said: "Harry, with only seven players per team, and very few players retiring each year, only about 20 of the thousands of draftees get selected. You must still concentrate on your other studies, if you would also like this profession." Dumbledore was holding a letter from the Ministry, and the envelope said Attn. Harry James Potter. Auror Information. Again, Harry's eyes lit up. It seemed like no matter what profession he chose, he would have an excellent career. Harry wandered the halls. He didn't want to return to Gryffindor Tower and find a party. He stayed outside the common room until about midnight, then went inside. Naturally, no one was asleep; they were all waiting for him. Harry was surprised a few times that night. First, he was informed of the end of year dance Dumbledore had arranged, in honor of Harry and in memory of Hermione. It would take place two days from today, June 25th, the second last day of school. Then, the asking. Every girl in Gryffindor Tower asked Harry to go with him. Except one. Lavender Brown was by far the most beautiful girl in the entire school. She had filled out nicely, and was almost perfect in every way. She was beautiful. Lavender preferred for the men to come to her. She sat in the corner of the room, talking to her friends, who could be better described as her worshippers. Harry waited for some people that were badgering him to walk off, then began to approach Lavender. She looked at him andbit her bottom lip, smiling. Harry smiled back, but then Parvati jumped right in front of him. "Hey Harry... Um... like, do you wanna go to the dance with me?" Parvati asked. Harry looked at Parvati. She looked eager, and was biting her bottom lip exactly as Lavender had. Harry could see Lavender out of the corner of his eye. He knew that Parvati was almost equally as beautiful as Lavender, so her looked at her brown eyes, smiled, and said "Sure. I'd love to take you...." he was cut off by Parvati putting him in a strangling hug. He looked over and saw Lavender, and for the briefest of seconds she looked put out, depressed. But then it was gone and she started to talk to her friends again. >