My First Odd End.

I do have a second part to this but I had trouble finishing it so it may or may not be posted

Rated T for very disturbing themes and imagery.

Odd Ends

Purification via Nuclear Fire

Part One

The two young women – dressed in shabby and faded military camouflage and carrying well-worn British Army L22A1 SA80 Carbines they had liberated from a crashed Blackhawk helicopter several years back – walked over the blackened vitrified stone path and past the flash burnt pine trees that once led the way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Runic based Geiger Counters – having been hastily concocted many years ago by an eighteen year old Hermione Granger – clicked rapidly as they detected high-energy gamma radiation and high-speed subatomic that passed through the devices. As they moved further from the nuclear epicentre that was once Hogsmead the rate of clicking decreased from static to discernible clicks; never abating.

As the pair made it further up the path they reached the once proud swinging double gates of Hogwarts. The stone pillars on either side too vitrified, black and glassy while the winged boars that adorned their tops had slightly melted – the tips of their wings, their ears and the fang like tusks melted from the massive heat; the stonework having liquefied and run down like raindrops.

The once magically enhanced cast iron gates had already been smashed to bits by previous looters; the nuclear inferno having stripped them of their enchantments enabling them to be broken with a well-placed firm boot.

The pair simply walked through over the fragments of cast iron and into the Hogwarts grounds proper.

Here the pair found the first blackened skeleton since they had left the ruins of Hogsmead, lying in the ash and vitrified soil; just another corpse on the pile that was the unimaginable death toll that was the end of the world. So common it didn't stir anything in the two young women who walked the path.

As they continued to follow the path they passed the edge of the Black Lake, littered with bones. Clearly the radioactive soot and ash had poisoned the lake and killed it many inhabitants. The bones were probably that of Merperson and the odd Grindylow.

Across the lake Dumbledore's Tomb could be seen – the Hogsmead facing side blackened – while the tree surrounding it stood flash burnt and lifeless.

The pair moved on, giving neither of these things too much thought, instead they kept a watchful eye out for any dangers – most likely looters – that may harm them. In this world it paid to be ever vigilant; carelessness got you raped, dead and robbed.

The pair eventually made it to the charred front doors of Hogwarts, having passed many skeletons on the way. The castle had withstood the blunt force of the American made but British borrowed BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile delivering a 150kT thermonuclear weapon that had detonated above Hogsmead less than two miles away; probably because of the castles inherent heavy construction and magical reinforcements. On the other hand all of the windows had blown in and the lead roofing had either blown away or melted into metallic puddles; meaning the interior of the once lively castle was now dark and damp, it's magically enhanced long life torches having burnt out many years ago.

Inside the entrance hall the duo found more skeletons – these ones still in clothes – having survived the initial explosion and radiation burst because of the castle's thick walls. They had probably died later due to infighting, famine or disease as varying groups tried to gain control of the castle Post-End. The fact the bodies had been left in the entrance hall suggested the former rather than the latter options.

The pair ultimately didn't know why they were here; they had already seen so much death and suffering. Everyone they ever knew or loved besides each other were gone; either in the nuclear apocalypse that started it, the Nuclear Retribution or the conventional witch-hunting war that followed Post-End.

Started it.

What had started it.

That had been clear – though not until they had captured a ragged Lucius Malfoy a year into the witch-hunts.

A young enterprising half-blood Deatheater recruit had been told he had to do something amusing for Tom Riddle – Lord Voldemort – to earn his sacred mark. The recruit – seeking to one-up many in the Inner Circle – thought it would be funny to start a war between muggles that would see many die. Voldemort whole-heartedly agreed – finding the idea a good laugh.

Almost two weeks later, the Commanding Officer, the Executive Officer and the Weapons Officer of the HMS Vigilant – a Royal Navy nuclear armed submarine – launched its full payload of nuclear armed ballistic missiles at the Russian Federation while under the Imperius curse. Russia responded in kind, launching missiles at Western Europe and North America and everything snowballed from there.

The young Deatheater recruit clearly hadn't expected such destruction. He hadn't expected Diagon Alley to disappear with the rest of London in a blinding white flash, or most of Magical Britain's population to vanish as population centres were vaporised. Because of its underground construction, the Ministry survived the initial attack; but not for long.

Somehow the muggles got wind of what actually happened; that a magical terrorist had started a genocide that had killed billions – no one managed to figure out how though and not before the senior officers of the HMS Vigilant had be tried and shot for a multitude of crimes. What was left of the muggle world wanted blood.

The Ministry of Defence – or what was left of them – started by acquiring a nuclear armed cruise missile from the well-stocked Americans as they had depleted their own stocks of nuclear weapons. The weapon was used on the not too distant Hogsmead before the Royal Air Force dropped a hundred or so tonnes of bunker busting bombs on the remains of the underground Ministry of Magic.

Following the British example, many other countries started bombing purely magical towns and cities that had survived the atomic fire. This was followed up by conventional warfare against magicals and soon it was a crime punishable by death in nearly every country to be a witch or wizard.

What was left of Magical Britain quickly rallied around Voldemort proclaiming that the fact that the muggles retaliated was proof that Voldemort was right and that muggles are animals that need to be put down; conveniently forgetting that they had started it and killed billions.

All while this was happening, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Athena Potter were sitting in a magically enlarged tent in a remote forest in the north of Scotland; unaware of the nuclear holocaust gripping the world until they saw the flash of nuclear fire light up the horizon one night.

The group quickly came to the conclusion the world was lost and that both sides were as bad as each other – hell-bent on wiping the other out – so they decided to try gather likeminded individuals and do… something – they never managed to figure out what they would do in a barren radioactive world.

Ultimately it was futile; any intelligent magical had gone to ground while the stupid following Voldemort were fighting. Not once did they meet another magical who wasn't hostile. The closest they got were the desecrated corpses of children publically executed for witchcraft.

Over the years though their numbers whittled down; Hermione was shot in the street by a sniper after being seen performing magic while trying to gather supplies, Neville was grabbed by muggle snatchers because his pureblood upbringing stood out too much in the rundown streets in a small town in North Wales and Luna who vanished into a crowd one day and was never seen again.

Luna was the final straw for the pair so they never set foot in muggle areas again. Now their feet had led them back to Hogwarts; a castle the pair had not seen in many years.

The pair took a right, into the remains of the Great Hall; its former glorious enchanted ceiling no longer functioning due to the issue of the roof being mostly missing. The four house tables lay smashed – pieces having been used to fuel a small campfire at some point while the house points counter lay empty as someone had looted the precious gems that filled it.

Finding nothing of interest they proceeded to search other parts of the castle as a pair – going alone was what got Neville snatched and Luna missing. Finding nothing of value on the ground floor they progressed to the next floor via the no longer functioning moving staircases and began to systematically search each room. Like every other place the rooms were bare of anything valuable.

They once again proceeded to the next floor to find a mass of cobwebs occupying what was once the corridor that housed the trapdoor to the Philosophers Stone. A small number of Acromantula had begun to form a nest – probably they had split from what was left of the now ravaged Forbidden Forest nest. Athena and Ginny both brought their rifles up to their shoulders and thumbed the safety catch to 'Semi', getting a sight picture through the dusty 1.5x optics.

Only a few years ago wizards would have scoffed at the use of muggle weapons. But Post-End most magicals learnt the hard way; guns were really good for killing things. Sure, a wand might be more versatile – Athena and Ginny both used theirs every day for a multitude of tasks – but when it came to raw killing power a gun did a better job; wands had a short effective range of only fifty metres or so while even the L22A1 Carbine had an effective range of four-hundred metres. Guns could also fire hundreds of rounds per minute compared to only a spell per second or so for wands.

However, any attempts at enchanting firearms had failed. Lightening the guns with magic just caused the recoil to become uncontrollable – apparently there is a correlation between felt recoil and firearm mass, lightening the ammo meant it became ineffective as lethality depended on bullet energy and momentum which was directly correlated with mass, conjured ammo was never precise enough to even chamber in a gun let alone function, and shrinking charms on guns and ammo meant they didn't resize properly and no longer fit together properly.

Hermione had however been working on a runic aiming system that used illusions to create video game style crosshairs but her death left it unfinished.

Regardless, with accuracy taught by life-or-death experience the pair opened up with single shots – only requiring two or three rounds per acromantula; the bullets passing unimpeded through one side and out the other of the dog sized spiders. Half a magazine later each and the acromantula were quickly becoming distant memories as they continued to work their way systematically through the aging school.

Floor after floor they searched until the pair passed a stone gargoyle on a pedestal in an alcove. Realising it was once Dumbledore's office Athena considered that this might be the place they were supposed to go to.

The gargoyle however no longer functioned, even then they wouldn't know what the password was set to by the school's last Headmaster; Snape. So the pair removed their wands from the holsters on their belts, stood back and each cast a blasting curse at the statue with calls of 'Bombarada!'

The statue was quickly reduced to rubble but the stone door behind it stood firm against the initial round of curses. So the pair simply cast again, and again – until the door was reduced to powder and the pair could walk through to the – now static – escalator staircase.

The pair made their way up the stairs to the heavy oak door that marked the entrance to the Headmasters office and pushed it open.

Inside were the battered remains of what was once the office of countless headmasters. Being at the top of the tower meant that the roof had been cleanly taken off and directly exposed it contents to rain, snow and sunlight. On the opposite side of the room was four semi-circle holes that were once windows that overlooked the grounds and in the distance the remains of Hogsmead.

The blinding flash of light of nuclear weaponry had burnt a silhouette of the windows onto the opposite wall and door; leaving vitrified black shinny glass and charred door in its wake. Much of the contents of the office had clearly caught fire; destroying Dumbledore's old trinkets and the many portraits – any that had survived had subsequently succumbed to mould and mildew.

The pair broke up and individually began to examine the room for anything that had survived the fire and subsequent exposure to the harsh Scottish elements.

Athena took the once magnificent and now charred heavy desk, decided to shuffle through its many draws. She cast a simple spell with her wand designed to detect magic; the spell couldn't tell what the magic did but it was a starting point for the more complicated diagnostic spells. Finding nothing substantial she felt it was safe to begin pulling open draws only to find them locked with a very old fashioned lock. By muggle standards the lock was horribly antiquated but magicals backed up such antiquated locks with many enchantments; Enchantments focused around the lock itself.

Not bothering to disable the enchantments, pick the lock or track down the key she retrieved a large knife from the sheath on her belt and forced it into the gap between the draw and the desk – the point where the brass lug would be that locked the draw in place. Athena then retrieved a slightly burnt piece of wood off the floor and gave the knife a good whack; forcing the knife through the brass lug and breaking it. Removing the knife and leaving it on the desk the draw now slid freely enabling Athena to begin shuffling through it.

Meanwhile, Ginny pursued the bookshelf covered walls; looking for any books that might be salvaged or possible hidden doors. Many of the books were so thoroughly ruined by damp that mushrooms had actually begun to sprout on them and the shelves were falling apart – only standing because the books now supported the shelves above them.

Finding nothing Ginny moved onto the ruined portraits.

"Hello there," said Ginny, breaking the pressing silence – the only words she had uttered since their arrival in Hogsmead besides a few spells.

Removing the ruined portrait and unceremoniously dumping it on the floor, she found a small recess in the wall where a number of leather-bound handwritten journals lay haphazardly – each marked with a starting and end date in loopy cursive; '1899 to 1923', '1923 to 1945', '1945 to 1968', '1968 to 1981', and finally '1981 to'.

Athena, having heard Ginny speak had followed; peaking over Ginny's shoulder and gaped at the diaries.

"Are those Dumbledore's?" she gasped, seeing that the dates matched – approximately – with Dumbledore's life.

So there you have it.

I basically started this with the thought of what would happen if Hogwarts had been hit by a nuclear weapon and a sort've expanded on it while doing my usual of having Fem!Harry and Ron being seen as an arse.

This was also my attempt at describing scenery. A lot of people write dialogue but nothing else so here I attempted to describe the wider world

My current chosen name for Fem!Harry is Athena (duh)