A/N: A non-humor interlude. Oh, look, is that the apocalypse?

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#8 - our own world

And Isn't It Ironic?

- in which we learn a thing or two about endings -

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The spell was discovered sometime during the war. Afterwards, no one could say exactly where it was found, or by whom. All its origins were lost to the world. There were rumours, of course - there always are - but no one could say anything for certain.

But by then, the world had turned into a place where it was very difficult to find anything at all you could be certain about.

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Ronald Weasley grew up in the wizarding world. This was always completely natural to him; it wasn't anything he ever even bothered to think about. It was just how things were, kind of like how the grass was green and the sun rose in the east every morning.

Neither his father's obsession nor his two best friends origins ever really got him to think much about the Muggle world, either. Ron was the kind of person who preferred the here and now to anything else, and the here and now was the wizarding world, and the distant and abstract Muggle world didn't really have anything to do with it.

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It was some time after the defeat of Voldemort that the Ministry of Magic took up the discovered spell for discussion and decided that it should be used. The enormous destruction that the latest war had caused and the chaos the wizarding world was in at the moment served as a reminder, and if there really was a spell that could stop so much dark magic to condense in one witch or wizard again, what reason could there possibly be not to use it?

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Pansy Parkinson was brought up to be a witch and to be very proud of the fact. She was always very aware of the Muggle world. She didn't like it or know much about it, but a small part of her mind always reminded her of the fact that it existed and that she was not part of it.

Pansy Parkinson grew up secure in the knowledge that she was special.

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The spell was enormously complicated. It took years for a team of expert witches and wizards from all over the world to research it, and then even more years to prepare it and to finally cast it.

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Pansy Parkinson always knew she was special.

Ron Weasley never really thought there was anything especially outstanding or extraordinary about him.

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Of course, there are no spells that can stop dark magic. Magic is neither dark nor light, and what it is used for is nothing but an individual choice.

The spell did still serve its purpose, though.

If all the magic of the world is sucked away and gone, there won't be a chance for a new Dark Lord to rise, will there?

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Surprisingly enough, it was much easier for Ron to adjust to a world without magic than it was for Harry or Hermione. It took some time for him to learn how to use microwaves and telephones, computers and Muggle money, but once that was over with he got along quite well.

Harry and Hermione were already used to the practical aspects of Muggle life, but other than that, it was less easy for them. They spent a lot of time researching, trying to find some way to bring back the magic. They met up with other former witches and wizards frequently to dream and remember.

When Ron met people who he had known in his other world on the street or in a store, he greeted them politely and exchanged a few words, in the same way you would greet any old friend if you met them.

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There were attempts to make official investigations of how it was possible for magic to just disappear, but since there were neither officials to to make the investigations nor magic to make them with, it was a hopeless task.

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Ron Weasley met Pansy Parkinson again for the first time since their time together at Hogwarts on King's Cross station.

He was on his way home one day when he noticed the commotion. A bunch of people gathered around something. Making his way to see what exactly that was, he found that what had captured the attention of the people was a young woman, who was banging her fists on the barrier in front of her, oblivious to the people around her. Let me in, she was repeatedly telling the barrier, Ron realised as he got closer. Let me in, I belong there.

And then he realised that he knew her, and that he was standing by the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

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The Ministry of Magic had been very reliant on magic for everything they did. The attempts to reform it as a representative for former witches and wizards were all unsuccessful, the people it was supposed to represent too scattered and unable to find each other now.

So they had to accept what half-hearted help they got from the Muggle authorities, and none of them were too keen on helping them form any authorities of their own. To them, all they were now were just regular Muggles like everyone else.

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It wasn't until many years later that Ron and Pansy went to look at the place where Hogwarts castle had once stood. All that was left now were some ruins, covered in grass. Hogwarts, too, had been built with so much magic that without it, it fell and became visible to anyone.

"I wonder what happened to the house-elves," Pansy asked in a high-pitched voice after a long silence. And then, she burst into tears.

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A long work entitled The Rise and the Fall of the Wizarding World that spread among former witches and wizards in later times proclaimed that it was pride, not a wish for peace, that caused the fall. The belief that the future could be formed by a spell alone and that choices could be made for others by magic, the author argued, was what was behind it.

In later times, the work would be considered one of the great works of fiction of the early 21st century.

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"We can have our own world right here," Ron told Pansy the first time he kissed her.