"Welcome," Albus Dumbledore proclaimed, "To the funeral of Harry James Potter. We have gathered here today to celebrate his life, and to mourn his death."
Everyone was silent, but the silence was different to that of when he would be announcing something in the Great Hall, it was an eerie silence.
"Today, six people will be talking about Harry, his life, and his death. I will be the first to talk about this." He looked around the Hall, and began.
"Roughly 17 years ago, I stood on this exact same spot to talk about Lily and James Potter. Now, the time has come for me to talk about their son...
"Harry led a trialing life, all of us could see that. He lost his parents at the small age of one, earning fame and the title of the Boy-Who-Lived.
"He, however, did not know of this fame until Rubeus Hagrid explained it to him on his 11th birthday." He chuckled, but nobody else saw the joke. "The Saviour of the Wizarding World did not know he was!
"He started Hogwarts, and this was the beginning of the end for Lord Voldemort." Members of the congregation visibly flinched, still fearful of the name. Dumbledore pretended not to notice. "He managed to thwart him in his tracks for the second time in his life.
"In his second year, he was accused of being the 'heir of Slytherin' because he spoke parseltongue. He was not, but had to again thwart Voldemort – the memory of him – for a third time.
"In his third year, Harry did not face Voldemort, but instead, was suspected to be the target of Azkaban escapee Sirius Black, who killed all those people all those years ago - " People began to protest at this, wondering why the headmaster of Hogwarts was reverting back to the old lie. " – but was actually framed." Albus carried on. "Harry learned that Sirius was indeed innocent of the crime he had been imprisoned for, but that he had intended to kill Peter Pettigrew for betraying the Potters.
Sirius was still on the run from the Ministry of Magic, and Harry and Hermione here helped him to escape when he was almost in their clutches." Hermione let out a sniff at this, remembering her and Harry riding on Buckbeak. Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic look, and then carried on with his speech.
"In his fourth year, and the summer before it, Harry saw many bad things. He saw the Dark Mark in the sky for the first time, and was almost killed by Voldemort for the fourth time. Cedric Diggory however, was not as lucky. I believe Voldemort's words before Cedric died were: "Kill the spare." He really was a person devoid of any care or love.
"Harry saw Voldemort rise, was part of the ritual, but our old Minister of Magic – Cornelius Fudge – did not believe him, just like he did not believe him about Sirius' innocence the year before that. He was a stubborn man, and it showed.
"Harry became more hormonal and argumentative in his fifth year. He threw many a fit, but his friends stuck by him, no matter what mood he was in." He looked over to Ron and Hermione, who smiled weakly. "Harry became more powerful magically and physically, even though he was taken off of the Gryffindor Quidditch team after a fight with Mr Malfoy." Draco smiled at the memory. So many years of hate they'd had, but it had dissipated when Draco had declared he was against Voldemort.
"Harry's fifth year brought him his worst loss of them all – Sirius Black, killed by his cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange. Harry took this to heart, and felt it was his fault that Sirius had died.
"Maybe then I shouldn't have told Harry about the Prophecy, but I knew that at whatever time I told him, he would be angry about it. He carried it as a large burden, as he did Sirius' death. And so his sixth year began in a depressed way, and mood rarely lightened in the next two years.
"Two years full of harmed friends and death, but Harry knew that no matter what, he had to kill Voldemort, or be killed by him, or so he thought.
"The prophecy about the two of them said: "neither can live while the other survives." Even though Harry killed Voldemort, I think Harry felt that he still survived within him – within his very soul. Maybe this is the reason that Harry did what he did, but I guess we will never know. It is now – and always will be – a mystery." Dumbledore looked down at Harry's coffin. He then looked around the room, at every person's down cast faces.
"Remember the happy moments you had with Harry. It does no good to dwell on bad memories." And with that, he stepped down from the podium and looked to Molly Weasley – the next person to talk.
Molly moved towards the podium nervously. Now was the time for her speech, the speech she knew she'd never be able to finish.