Chapter 21
Tom Gets his "Reward"

Still Thursday, 31 October, mid-afternoon
In the dungeons outside the Slytherin common room

After the headmistress and Madam Bones told Harry and Hermione they could leave, Harry told Greyclay to put the Invisibility Cloak back in Harry's trunk, before Greyclay elf-popped back to Potter Manor. Harry and Hermione, meanwhile, waved goodbye to Snape, then walked through the castle to the library.

Once in the library, Harry and Hermione sat down in their empty seats at the all-Houses firsties' table.

"Where did you two go?" Neville whispered. "You've been gone forever."

Harry noticed that the Slytherin firsties' expressions were no different than those of the other children at the table. Harry realised, Nobody has told these Slytherins anything yet.

Hermione replied (lowly), "You saw Professor Flitwick come in here and tell me I had to leave because of something important? That wasn't Professor Flitwick, that was Marietta Edgecombe, a Ravenclaw second-year. She and Cho Chang tricked me, then they each hit me."

The firsties hissed and snarled, hearing this.

Harry said (lowly), "But then I rescued Hermione from the bully-girls. After this, Hermione and I fought Voldemort, who's been hiding on the back of Quirrell's head, and we fought a troll that Voldemort was trying to sneak into the castle. I killed Voldemort again, whilst Hermione killed the troll."

The firsties table was dead silent. A passing seventh-year Gryffindor girl dropped the books she was carrying.

"Ri-i-ight," said Neville, after a time.

Su Li smirked. "Okay, I can sort-of believe the first part, because Chang and Edgecombe are worthless bints. But the second part? Harry, you're joking." She laughed.

Hermione glared. "He's telling the truth."

Everyone else at the table was giving Harry sceptical looks.

Harry sighed. "Anyway, Neville! I have a question about my essay on 'Plant-Watering Dos and Don'ts.' "

A few hours later, right before the Halloween Feast
At the all-Houses firsties' end of the Ravenclaw table
The Great Hall

Blaise Zabini was waiting when the all-Houses firsties walked up to the table. He pulled the Slytherin firsties aside. Harry overheard Zabini say to them, "A troll and the Dark Lord were in the dungeons—thought you ought to know."

Zabini and the other Slytherin firsties spoke together lowly as the rest of the all-Houses firsties took seats at the Ravenclaw table.

A few minutes later, when Zabini walked away and Millicent and that lot sat down, the Slytherin firsties all were giving Harry and Hermione strange looks.

Millicent said, "Harry, you told us about this in the library, and I thought you were joking."

"What are you talking about?" Parvati asked.

Two minutes later

Harry had briefly recapped what he and Hermione had done. He had made sure to brag on Hermione.

Now Harry looked into the eyes of every one of the all-Houses firsties. "I'll tell you lot the same thing I told McGonagall and Susan's Aunt Amelia. How did I know that Voldemort was a wraith, not dead, and Voldemort was possessing Professor Quirrell? How did I know that Quirrell-slash-Voldemort was leading a troll into the castle, and when and where? I won't answer those questions. Those are my secrets, and I'm not telling anybody. Except Hermione."

"How does Hermione rate?" Parvati asked, her eyes glittering in anticipation of juicy gossip. "Is Hermione your girlfriend?"

Harry grinned. "Even better, she's my soulmate. We kissed today, and we glowed."

The firsties, especially the girls, looked amazed.

Tracey said, "Brilliant!"

Justin asked, "Glowing during a kiss, is this unusual?"

Su Li said, "I predict a pair of perambulators by 1999."

Professor Flitwick, meanwhile, had been conferring with McGonagall at the High Table. Now Flitwick left his seat and walked towards the Ravenclaw table. Flitwick walked past the Ravenclaw seventh-years, then the Ravenclaw sixth-years. Seconds later, Flitwick was beside the Ravenclaw first-years—and he kept going.

Seconds later, Flitwick was standing by Harry's chair. "Mr Potter, I wish a minute of your time."

Harry stood up, smiling at Hermione in reassurance as he did so. To Flitwick, Harry said, "Lead on, professor."

Flitwick led Harry about twenty feet away, then cast a silencing charm.

Flitwick said, "Mr Potter, earlier this afternoon, Miss Edgecombe and Miss Chang lured Miss Granger to an empty classroom and tied her up. Soon afterwards, you tied them up and sent them to my office, without notifying me they were there. This was the second time you have done this to them. But today, after you tied them up but before you sent them away, when they were helpless, you shot them each in the shoulder. Explain your actions."

"Professor, when those two told you their tale of woe, how they peed their knickers in your office and it's all my fault, did they tell you that when my house-elf and I elf-popped into that empty classroom, Cho and Marietta each were hitting Hermione? Hard enough to make her bleed?"

Clearly surprised Flitwick replied, "No, they didn't tell me this."

"Luckily for Hermione, I stopped things before those second-year bullies hurt her worse. If you're looking for evidence, it's gone—I cast Episkey to heal Hermione." Flitwick's eyebrows shot up, hearing this. "As for Chang and Edgecombe, I figured, 'You make Hermione bleed, I'll make you bleed.' And this was before Hermione and I discovered that we're soulmates."

"Soulmates?"

"Soulmates. We lit up the classroom when we kissed."

"Still, Mr Potter, you injured those two girls when they were helpless. I can't overlook this."

Harry shrugged. "McGonagall already has threatened me today with expulsion. Looks like you need to stand in the queue, professor."

Then Harry crossed his arms. "Professor, the word amongst the students in this school is that bullies never are punished. Victims, however, are punished if they do anything more than suffer in silence. I figured that if I'm going to be hung for a lamb, I might as well be hung for a sheep. Those two already bullied Hermione once, and whatever wrist-slap punishment that you gave them then, didn't turn them away from bothering Hermione today. I, however, am sure I've given those two something to think about. If they act up again, I'll react again, and now they know this."

After a few seconds of silence, Flitwick said, "I shall not punish you. And the punishment of those two, I shall make harsher."

Flitwick cancelled the silencing charm, then rushed over to where Hermione was sitting. Flitwick spoke to her, she answered, then Flitwick walked away.

Flitwick stopped at the second-years part of the Ravenclaw table and spoke briefly—whilst scowling. Then he walked back to the High Table.

Soon all the professors at the High Table were engaged in a clearly intense discussion.

Minutes later, during the Halloween Feast

The owls descended from the ceiling, with mail for many people.

A barn owl delivered a letter from the Ministry of Magic, addressed to both Harry James Potter and to Hermione Jean Granger. The letter informed them that they were soul-bonded, and would be considered magically married as soon as Hermione began menstruation.

Harry and Hermione were discussing the letter—"Do you have a problem with Hedwig flying this to my parents?"—when they heard Draco gasp.

When Harry looked at Draco, Draco was holding a black envelope and clearly was trying not to cry. "My father is dead. He suddenly died!"

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table. He saw other black envelopes, and other upset children (Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Sam Flint and Marcus Flint).

Harry spoke gently: "Draco, I'm sure that at the same time I killed Voldemort, I killed all the marked Death Eaters. Your father was a marked Death Eater. He didn't drop dead; I killed him. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you've no father now."

"But he was Imperiused into taking the Dark Mark!"

Harry again spoke gently: "No, Draco, it doesn't work that way. Whatever your father told you, he took the Mark willingly."

Justin asked, "What does 'Imperiused' mean?"

Hermione answered, "Hypnotised."

Over at the Slytherin table, Marcus Flint said something to Sam, his younger brother. Then both Marcus Flint and Sam Flint leapt up and pointed their wands at Harry across the room. Marcus Flint yelled, "You murdered our father, Harry Potter!"

At the High Table, Snape stood up and rushed towards the Slytherin table.

Harry stood up from his seat at the end of the Ravenclaw table. He replied calmly, "I offer condolences to all students who have lost a father or mother today. I, more than anyone else in this room, know what this is like."

"Such pretty words, Potter, for a murderer."

Harry calmly replied, "But with my condolences spoken, Heir Flint, it is your father who is the murderer. Everyone here who received a black envelope today is the child of a murderous, lickspittle dupe of that bastard halfblood fraud, Tom Marvolo Riddle. So Heir Flint, save your righteous indignation for those who believe it."

Snape said, "Mr Marcus Flint, Mr Samuel Flint, put your wands away."

Marcus Flint shook his head and yelled, "I challenge Heir Potter to an honour duel to the death! If I kill him, I get his money and property by Right of Conquest!"

Harry fiercely wanted to blast this trollish teenager into hamburger. But Harry had to refuse to duel Flint—not because Harry was a coward who was afraid he would lose, but because Harry probably would win. He was, after all, in truth a seventeen-year-old with combat experience. But how could a supposed eleven-year-old with a Muggle-raised background, explain beating a fifteen-year-old in an anything-goes duel?

So now, instead of accepting Flint's challenge to duel, Harry slowly drew his wand and pointed it straight up. "I refuse to fight an honour duel with Marcus Flint. I call upon Magic itself to judge a suitable punishment for me and for him. So mote it be." Harry's wand flashed.

Near to Harry, Daphne said, "Merlin, Heir Potter, are you sure you're not in Gryffindor?"

Marcus Flint was two tables away from the all-Houses firsties, but Hermione clearly heard the death-challenge that the older Flint brother yelled at Harry.

Hermione was frightened for Harry.

Then Harry pointed his wand straight up and called upon Magic itself to judge him. The wand flashed; Magic had accepted the challenge.

Hermione now was frightened for Harry for an entirely different reason.

Then both Harry and his challenger rose up till their feet were ten feet above the floor. Each boy then disappeared within a cocoon of sparkles—sparkles which changed colour from one second to the next.

Then two voices boomed out—a man's voice and a woman's voice, speaking in unison: "Tom Marvolo Riddle, who was falsely named Lord Voldemort, was a blight upon wizardry. Harry James Potter has performed a great service in ridding the world of Riddle. Potter had to act nearly alone; only Severus Tobias Snape, Andromeda Black Tonks and his soulmate, Hermione Jean Granger, gave him aid. Every other adult wizard or witch in this boy's life at best gave him no help, and at worst put obstacles in his path."

The cocoon of sparkles round Harry disappeared, and he slowly dropped to the floor, by the end of the Ravenclaw table.

Marcus Flint's cocoon disappeared, but he still was floating in the air and still was clutching his wand.

The unison-voices continued, "Marcus Salazar Flint, your judgement is severe. You wanted to pledge yourself in service to Tom Marvolo Riddle, the same as did your father. You want to murder humans you consider to be lesser beings, the same as your father did. Indeed, were you to win your so-called 'honour duel' against Potter, you planned afterwards to rape and to murder his first-generation soulmate. But make no mistake, your father and the other so-called 'Death Eaters' were murderous morons, and their deaths were justice. There is no honour in you refusing to accept this fact."

Suddenly, Flint's wand burst into flame in his hand; of course he dropped it. It took not quite a second for the wand to fall to the floor; by then, it was ash. Marcus Flint himself, meanwhile—

—zoomed sideways till he hit the wall. Hermione heard bones snap. The unison-voices said, "Marcus Salazar No-Name, today you forfeit your family name, your Heirship of House Flint and your magic. Go now and live amongst the Muggles whom you so despise, for now you and your line for ten generations all are Muggles."

At the Slytherin table, the people there were staring in shock at the crumpled, groaning boy on the floor who had been, only minutes before, Captain of Slytherin's Quidditch team. Snape had rushed over to Marcus No-Name and was conjuring a stretcher for him.

But the voices of Magic had more to say: "Samuel Abraxas Flint, notice that your older brother has lost his Heir Flint ring but you have not gained it. Who has it? Harry James Potter has it, though he did not ask for it. Vincent Segundus Crabbe, Gregory Gamaliel Goyle, Draco Lucius Malfoy, Theodore Cobracus Nott and Pansy Juliette Parkinson, you also have lost your Heir rings to Harry Potter.

"Why has Magic done this? Your fathers, and other Heads of House besides, pledged their obedience to Tom Marvolo Riddle. They gave him whatever money he demanded, whenever he demanded it. They let him use their property, and they accepted his punishment. Your fathers let Riddle brand them like cattle. In short, your fathers who were Heads of House submitted themselves to Tom Riddle as slaves, and so they made your Houses become Tom Riddle's property. Tom Riddle's property has become Harry James Potter's property, by Right of Conquest. Harry James Potter is Heir Gaunt, Heir Slytherin, Heir Crabbe, Heir Flint, Heir Goyle, Heir Malfoy, Heir Nott, Heir Parkinson and more. So Magic declares."

In the silence of the entire Great Hall, Draco asked in a shaky voice, "Is it true, Heir Potter, that now you have my ring? It's gone from my hand."

Harry commanded the Heir Malfoy ring to appear on his hand. It appeared. Harry invisibled that ring, then tried to show the Crabbe, Flint, Goyle, Nott and Parkinson rings. They likewise appeared on Harry's hand when he called them.

Harry replied, "Draco, it seems I'm Heir Malfoy now."

Harry looked across the Great Hall at Snape and said, "I'm at a loss for words. I wasn't expecting this."

After dinner
In the Ravenclaw common room

Harry was sitting on a settee with Hermione. Hermione was leaning against Harry as she wrote a letter to her parents that tried to explain that A, she and Harry were soul-bonded; B, as soon as Hermione's baby-factory opened for business, she and Harry would become magically married; but C, her parents should not get excited, because she still planned on a church wedding in June 1998. At the moment, Hermione was leaning towards a colour-combination of lilac and periwinkle for the wedding breakfast (wedding reception).

Whilst Hermione wrote her letter, Harry was staring into space.

Harry had achieved the main task that he had come back in time for: He had killed Voldemort and all the Death Eaters. He had not killed the Death Eaters by any of the three ways that had been spelled out in his seventeen pages of notes and plans, but he had indeed killed them all—whilst finding a way to keep Snape from dying. Harry felt pleased with himself.

Both Harry's father and Salazar Slytherin, during the planning session, had mentioned that after Harry killed Voldemort, Harry could claim the Headship of House Gaunt and of House Slytherin by Right of Conquest; and both James Potter and founder Slytherin had urged Harry to make these claims.

Fine. Tonight or maybe tomorrow, Harry had planned to say the words I claim House Gaunt and House Slytherin by Right of Conquest.

But today, Magic had not waited for Harry to claim those two Houses before giving them to him; and furthermore, Magic had given Harry sixteen other Houses by Right of Conquest.

Wow. Harry had not expected anything like this; his seventeen pages mentioned no possibility of this.

A little over three months ago, Harry was living in a cupboard under the stairs at the Dursley house. Now Harry was the closest thing to a duke that Wizarding Britain had.

The next morning
Friday, 1st November

After Charms, Harry said to Hermione, "Come with me and I'll show you the most amazing thing."

Harry led Hermione to the seventh floor, to a certain tapestry of a wizard (Barnabas the Barmy) trying to teach trolls to dance ballet.

Harry said, "Okay, walk back and forth three times in front of this tapestry, whilst thinking over and over, 'I want a room that looks exactly like my bedroom back in Crawley.' "

Hermione gave a shrug, then obeyed. Ten seconds later, Hermione stopped pacing, gasped and stared when a blue door appeared in the previously blank wall opposite the tapestry. "That's my bedroom door!" she blurted. "It's even periwinkle blue like my door."

Hermione walked over to the door, opened it, and gasped when she walked into the room.

Harry walked in behind her. He looked about and said, "I'm not surprised that you have a poster of Jane Austen on your bedroom wall."

"Explain how I'm seeing this," she said. "It's my bedroom, down to the tiniest detail."

Harry explained that this was the Room of Requirement, and demonstrated its abilities. He took Hermione's hand and pulled her by the door; then he changed her bedroom into the Ravenclaw common room, the other three common rooms, then back to the Ravenclaw common room—but coloured purple and silver.

Then Harry told Hermione the rules: anything that the Room conjured for her would disappear when she carried it out of the room; and whilst she theoretically could conjure food and water in the room, they had no nutritional value, so she should instead ask a house-elf to bring food from the Hogwarts kitchens.

Hermione said, "I'm still stuck on 'Here in the ROR, you can conjure a copy of any book in the world, magical or Muggle.' This is truly true?"

Harry grinned at her. "It is."

Hermione used both hands to grab the front of Harry's shirt, yanked him towards her and snogged him mightily.

Still in the Room of Requirement

Harry said, "When Voldemort's body was destroyed on Halloween night in 1981, everyone naturally presumed he'd died, though no corpse was found. But actually, he didn't die, he got turned into a wraith—because he'd made horcruxes."

Harry explained about horcruxes; Hermione was horrified.

Then Harry told Hermione that Voldemort had intentionally made five horcruxes by 1981, that Harry was the unintentional sixth horcrux, and that Voldemort had made a seventh horcrux in 1994.

Harry then said, "When I was sent back in time to 23rd July, I arrived with no horcrux in my scar. Three other horcruxes, I've destroyed because I knew exactly where they were. The 1994 horcrux hasn't been made yet. This leaves only two."

Hermione asked, "So now you're going to hunt them?"

"Well, one of them, I don't need to hunt at all. Remember The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and the story of the three brothers meeting Death? The story, it turns out, is true. The three objects are known together as the Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore's high-powered wand is one of the Deathly Hallows, the Potter-family Invisibility Cloak is the second, and something called the Resurrection Stone is the third. Alas, evil Voldemort attached a horcrux to the Resurrection Stone; but Thanatos told me that the horcrux would be destroyed when I summon the Stone. Here goes."

Harry drew his wand and said, "By the authority granted to me by Thanatos, I summon the Resurrection Stone, which is part of the Head of House Gaunt ring, and I summon the Elder Wand."

The Gaunt ring and the Elder Wand appeared on a table in the purple-and-silver Ravenclaw common room. Immediately a black mist rose from the Resurrection Stone. The black mist made a human scream of agony, then disappeared.

"One horcrux left to go," Harry said.

Thanatos had promised Harry that picking up the Resurrection Stone would remove all the evil magic attached to it. Harry had been feeling a compulsion to put the Gaunt ring on; but when he picked up the ring (but did not put it on any finger), the compulsion stopped. Harry felt no evil curse, and his hand looked no different after he picked up the ring, though this same ring had withered Dumbledore's hand quickly in the previous lifetime.

After Harry picked up the Gaunt ring, he then called for Greyclay. Harry ordered Greyclay to put the Gaunt ring and the Elder Wand in Harry's school trunk.

Harry said to Hermione, "The last horcrux is in Malfoy Manor. In the plans that my advisors and I made, we decided to try and buy the horcruxed item, which is a diary that once belonged to Tom Riddle, from Narcissa Malfoy. I also was going to buy from Narcissa a house-elf named Dobby, who was my friend in my previous lifetime. But now that Magic has made me underage Head of House Malfoy, I can carry out a simpler plan."

Harry said, "I call House Malfoy house-elf Dobby."

Pop. Dobby appeared. His tea-towel clothing was dirty and torn, and his green-tinged skin had bright-green bruises on his arms, legs and face.

"Oh, you poor thing," Hermione said.

Meanwhile, Dobby was looking at Harry in confusion. "You are Dobby's master, but Dobby has never seen Master before. Who is Master?"

Harry said, "I'm Harry James Potter—"

Dobby gasped.

"—and this is my soulmate and future wife, Hermione Granger."

Dobby was bouncing with excitement. "Dobby has heard of brilliant master, Harry Potter! Dobby is glad to serve Master Harry Potter and Miss Herminny Grangey! Dobby will be a gooder than good elf for youse!"

Harry said, "Before we do anything else, let me give you some of my magic so that you can heal yourself." Just as Harry had done with the Potter elves after he first had met them, Harry pushed magic from his magical core into Dobby until the house-elf's bruises began to fade.

Next, Harry said, "Dobby, I have an important task for you. Somewhere in Malfoy Manor is a book with a black-leather cover, with 'T M Riddle' stamped on the front. If you get close to it, it feels evil. The book may be in a hidden place."

"Dobby knows the book! And yes, it feels evil."

"I want you to go to Malfoy Manor, transfigure some rubbish into a lead box, levitate the book into the box, then shut the box. Don't touch the book! When you've put the book in the box and shut the box, bring the box to me."

Pop—Dobby vanished.

Seconds later: Pop. Dobby returned with a lead box at his feet that was about the size of a shoebox.

Harry reconfigured the Room of Requirement to be the same as two months ago, when Harry had used Salazar Slytherin's ritual to destroy the horcruxes in Ravenclaw's diadem and in Slytherin's locket, without destroying the vessels themselves. Now Harry repeated Slytherin's ritual, with Hermione and Dobby assisting. The horcrux was removed from Tom Riddle's diary and was destroyed, without damaging the diary.

Harry immediately vanished the now-harmless diary.

Harry looked at Hermione and said, "Now all of Riddle's horcruxes are destroyed, and his body is destroyed. 'Lord' Voldemort, a.k.a Tom Marvolo Riddle, is finally dead."

Meanwhile, in a timeless place

Tom Riddle was confused.

Some unknown amount of time ago, he had been leading the Confundused troll through the dungeons that were outside the Slytherin common room. He had been certain that there had been nobody else nearby, and he had been especially sure that there had been no Disillusioned person nearby.

But then he had heard the sound of a wand firing a Stunner—though the Stupefy incantation itself had not been spoken.

Fine, so he had been Stunned. When he had been revived, he was sitting in a chair in front of a big desk. On the desk were two heads, back to back; of the head whose face he could see, the lower face had flesh on it, but the nose-triangle, the eye sockets and the braincase all were bare bone.

Behind the desk sat a dark-skinned man with his head shaved bald, and he was wearing leather armour. Beyond the man, a wooden shield, well used, had been hung on the wall, along with a bronze sword. Next to those, a cowled black robe hung from a peg. Leaning against a corner of the room was a sharp, steel scythe? Had a farmer Stunned him?

Where am I? Tom wondered. What's going on? Why was I brought here? Did this man behind the desk bring me here, or does he have minions serving him?

Tom Riddle demanded, "Are you who Stunned me?" The head on the desk that was facing the man behind the desk, spoke foreign words with Tom's voice. At the same time, Tom's right hand flew to the wand-holder on his left forearm, so that he could Crucio this fool—

—except that his wand was not where it was supposed to be.

Seize my wand, will you? Tom thought. He did a wandless Summoning charm: "Accio my wand!"

But his wand did not come to him.

The man behind the desk said (in translation), "Stop, Tom Marvolo Riddle, you are only wasting my time. You've heard the expression, 'You can't take it with you'? It's true. You're dead and you're here, but your two wands are not here."

"I, dead? You lie! Where is 'here'? Who are you? What are your plans for me?"

"Is there a problem," a serene female voice asked, "with this client, sir?"

Tom had not heard the woman approach. Completely surprised, Tom spun about in his chair to look at her. Then his surprise doubled.

The woman was wearing a white robe, and she had white wings coming out of her back. The wings were big enough that their wing-tips almost brushed the floor. Tom recognised the form as an angel, from storybooks he had read at the orphanage. Tom wondered why, if a witch were going to put a glamour on herself, she would choose to be seen as an angel.

"No, Antonia, all is well," replied the man behind the desk. "But stay close; this one might yet try to cause problems."

Tom, meanwhile, stared into the eyes of the man behind the desk and whispered, "Legilimens." Tom knew his wandless Legilimency was weak, but he was one of the few wizards who could cast wandless Legilimency at all. Tom tried to discover what the man behind the desk was thinking—

—and heard nothing. It was as if he were a Muggle trying to cast the spell.

Meanwhile, the man behind the desk was glaring at Tom. "Who am I? You may call me Thanatos. Or"—now his laugh was cruel—"Le Mort. Don't try to fly from me; you won't escape."

"You're a liar!" Tom yelled, blustering to cover his fear. "And I'm leaving!" He jumped up, strode two steps—

—and was yanked backwards into the chair. Antonia the "angel" said serenely, "If you try to leave again, I'll use chains."

Thanatos said, "Now to business, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Normally a soul's file is judged by a Grim Reaper, one of my subordinates; and normally it is that soul's Grim Reaper who sends the soul to either Department 1 or Department 2. I interview a soul only when the soul is half good and half evil, when the soul is saintly, when the soul is black evil or when the soul has been the subject of a prophecy. Congratulations, you're in two of the four categories."

Tom was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

Thanatos continued, "A Grim Reaper's job is to review the soul's file and to determine whether the soul's good deeds outweigh the soul's bad deeds. We can skip that part, since your good-deeds list is a blank sheet. No, Riddle, I have a special judgement planned for you. Antonia, suit up."

Seconds later, Thanatos said to Tom, "I hope you enjoy oil-painting or violin music. One of your new neighbours is an inept oil-painter, whilst another is an inept fiddler. Antonia is ready for you now. Rise, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and receive your 'reward.' "

Quite involuntarily, Tom stood up and turned to face Antonia the "angel."

Back when Tom had used Fiendfyre to burn down Wool's Orphanage, he had watched the results. Some of the Muggle firefighters who had gone into the building had been dressed in head-to-toe padded, shiny suits that had a brown, rectangular visor in front of their eyes. Now Antonia was wearing a similar outfit—even her wings were enclosed in padded, shiny cloth.

Thanatos laughed cruelly. "An angel, to do his or her job, must be able to fly a soul into the fires of Hell and to emerge unscathed. But even an angel needs protective clothing to fly where you're going. Goodbye, 'Flight-from-Death.' "

Back at the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts

After Harry removed the horcrux from Tom Riddle's diary, Harry ordered Dobby to elf-pop him and Hermione to the Hall of Prophecies. But they quickly found out that the Department of Mysteries had wards on it, so what the three actually did was to elf-pop to the entrance to the Department of Mysteries, then to walk a bit.

Soon the three arrived at the Hall of Prophecies and Harry talked to an Unspeakable. Soon afterwards, Dobby floated Harry up so that Harry could grab the Prophecy's glass ball and remove it from its stand. The glass globe looked like it was filled with frozen black smoke.

Once Harry was back on the ground, he played the Prophecy for Hermione, Dobby and their Unspeakable escort. Harry asked the Unspeakable, "Do you officially agree that this prophecy is fulfilled?"

The Unspeakable nodded his/her head. "The prophecy is fulfilled. Since you clearly are alive, this means that You-Know-Who is dead."

"Forever," Hermione said.

Harry grinned at the Unspeakable. "Pass the word about: Go have a party."

Then Harry picked up the glass globe and looked at Dobby. "Let's go pay Madam Bones a visit." Pop.

The two children and one house-elf appeared outside the office of Madam Bones. She was not in, so Harry handed the glass globe to the receptionist. "Tell Madam Bones that Harry Potter stopped by, this is the genuine Prophecy and it's fulfilled. Voldemort is officially dead."

That afternoon, after afternoon classes
At Hogwarts

Harry and Hermione stopped off at the library. He told their all-Houses friends, "Hermione and I will miss some or all of our library time before dinner. I've some things to do, and I want Hermione there with me."

After Harry and Hermione walked out of the library, Harry got the Spirit of Hogwarts to give him directions to the room under the kitchens where the Master Wardstone was buried.

Once Harry and Hermione were in the wardstone room, Harry and the Spirit went to work, restoring the wards at Hogwarts to what they once were—meaning, what they should have been. No more would Dark Lords, Death Eaters, anyone with evil intent, animagi in animal form and Polyjuiced people be able to stroll into the castle.

The Spirit of Hogwarts knew much about wards, but had no authority to change the castle's wards. Harry had the authority to change the wards, but did not know how. Together Harry and the Spirit made a good team, whilst Hermione watched and listened to them work, her face aglow.

A ward against Dark Magic, a ward against evil intent, a ward against Disillusioned persons or persons under an (ordinary) invisibility cloak, and a ward against an animagus in animal form—all these wards were activated again. Vampires, trolls, giants and Dementors were blocked from the castle.

After Harry restored the wards, he and Hermione were elf-popped to the (currently empty) DADA classroom.

Harry used the founders' knowledge from the planning session to find the tiny runes that had been carved into the classroom-door doorjamb. These runes, carved by Tom Riddle, had put a curse on the DADA teaching position. Now Harry used a conjured knife to scratch out those runes.

Then Harry ordered the Spirit of Hogwarts to tell Headmistress McGonagall, "The wards have been restored to what they once were, before Headmaster Dumbledore cancelled some of the wards. Also, the curse on the DADA teaching position has been lifted." Harry ordered the Spirit of Hogwarts not to tell McGonagall how these two actions had been performed, or by whom.

After Harry and Hermione had found the Prophecy orb, had confirmed that the Prophecy had been fulfilled, had passed the Prophecy orb to Madam Bones, had restored the Hogwarts wards and had ended the DADA curse, Harry presumed that they would head back to the library to study with the other all-Houses firsties.

Not so. Hermione said, "Harry, I need to do something important. Follow me."

Hermione led Harry out of the castle to the courtyard. To be more specific, Hermione led Harry to the part of the courtyard that had five burial slabs and headstones.

Harry blurted, "Hogwarts has its own cemetery?"

Hermione said, "This is where they buried students and professors who died at school, who had no family to claim their bodies for burial elsewhere."

"Makes sense," Harry said. He saw that three of the five headstones gave the deceased's surname as "No-Name."

Hermione added, "I read about this in—"

"Hogwarts: A History," Harry said, grinning. Then his smile vanished. "Hermione, why are we here? We don't know any of these people."

Instead of replying, Hermione asked, "Have you given a thought to the relationship you and I will have, in the future?"

"Not really, no."

"Outwardly, you and I are the same age. But I'm twelve; and except for being bullied by Muggle girls and witches, and killing a troll, my life has been easy. You're seventeen, you've fought Voldemort five times in your other life, you tell me you've watched me almost die twice and you've fought in a war."

"All right, we're different ages and we've had quite different experiences, but I still want to marry you someday."

"But what kind of marriage can we have? I can't ever hope to be your girlfriend, Harry; the best I can hope for is to be your adorable kid sister. But I don't want to be your kid sister!"

"Hermione, this is a problem, I agree, but I have no idea how to fix it. And how does this explain your bringing me out to the Hogwarts graveyard?"

"Thanatos sent your memories back in time; and I figure Thanatos hangs out where dead bones are. I'm hoping he can put 1998-Hermione's memories into my head."

"This is why we're here? You want to speak to Thanatos?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Hermione Jean Granger, born 1979," said a baritone voice. "Why do you call for me? Your appointed hour is not for years yet."

Now standing on one of the burial slabs was a man's skeleton, dressed in a cowled black robe. Two fleshless hands were gripping the wooden handle of a scythe that had a long, sharp steel blade.

Harry had seen this same scythe in Thanatos's office. Harry thought, In Thanatos's office, this scythe looked harmless. It doesn't look harmless now.