Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and this wonderful world of imagination. It truly belongs to J.K. Rowling and I'm just having some fun with her characters.
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One Last Chance
Chapter Four: Hogwarts Can never Fall
Arthur Weasley was happy to know that he had not lost his son. He was also glad that Harry and Teddy had got back their parents, but what made him the happiest man on earth was the fact that his daughter was happy and not filled with worry about her best friend, her brother and her love. Yes, Arthur knew and accepted the fact that his daughter loved Harry Potter and he doubted that the two of them realized that they love each other. He didn't mind his daughter with another man. What made him accept this fact was that Harry was as much part of the family, as was any of his other sons.
What really made him happy was that Voldemort was no longer there to disrupt their lives. He could live in peace and happiness. He need not worry if he will or not see his one of his sons or wife or daughter tomorrow. The loss of Fred had hit him hard and he never wanted such a thing to happen again. True, he had come back to life but he never wanted to relive the pain he had felt when he realised he would never see Fred again. What had hurt more was the fact that George would have been a constant reminder of Fred.
Molly and Arthur knew that they would have to go to the burrow some time soon and the sooner the better. They had decided that Bill, Arthur, Kingsley, Charlie and the twins go and see the condition of their home after lunch that day. The return of the dead was no doubt a pleasant surprise but it was a huge shock. All their lives they had believed that no one can bring back the dead, and here they were standing, and talking, and helping them rebuild Hogwarts after a huge meal. ("I have not eaten for almost two years," Sirius had claimed.)
They were not sure if the Burrow was in good condition or not. They had to move away from The Burrow after Ron was spotted. They had shifted to Auntie Muriel, after Ron was spotted by the snatches around Easter. They were not sure if the building was standing or was damaged. It had been too dangerous to go near The Burrow.
As the day wore on the arrival of the dead had been accepted graciously by the people who had been there. What posed to be a problem was that the general public of the wizarding world would accept it or not? It had been decided that all these problems were to be put off until after the memorial service. The memorial service was supposed to take place, just after mid-night exactly a week from then.
It was decided as after mid-night as that was the time around which time the major damage to life and property had taken place. It was the time when Harry, Ron and Hermione had arrived to Hogwarts in search of the Horcrux. It would not only honour the memory of the dead, but it would also give all the families that had lost members to grieve for their loved ones and conduct a private funeral.
The Order had arranged for a meeting the following day at the Great Hall in Hogwarts. The physical damage done to the castle, was scheduled to be complete by the end of the day. Although only the Order members and very few DA members had stayed behind it would have been possible. The house elf's were also helping in the rebuilding and Lily had convinced Harry to keep the Elder wand till after the rebuilding.
This was the first time when Harry finally had an argument with his mother. He was against using the elder wand any more than it was already used, claiming one request will lead to another. It had taken Lily very strong and valid points in this argument to convince Harry. She had promised she would gather the required people capable of building very strong wards around Professor Dumbledore's tomb.
Finally Harry had given in claiming that he didn't want to fight with his mother and, she had promised to get help in sealing Professor Dumbledore's tomb such that even they could not open it. Although secretly he did enjoy this as this was his very first argument with his mother and that gave him a warm feeling that his mother viewed him only as son and not Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived or Man-Who-Defeated or The Chosen One.
Lily and Snape were allowed to teach and Slughorn happily retired again. Although, it had not become a widely know fact that the dead had returned, McGonagall had assured Lily and Severs that they could take up the job, after consulting many of the previous headmasters and headmistress.
Kingsley had used his status as Minister for Magic and pushed the Snape's trial to the day following the memorial. The Chief Warlock, had been replaced after Dumbledore's death, hence the Wizzingmot could conduct a full court session for the trials of Death Eaters that had been captured and locked up in the Dungeons of Hogwarts.
Kingsley had taken Harry and Lily's word that Snape indeed was innocent. He had only confesticated Snape's wand, so that other Death Eaters would not ask for the same treatment. Kingsley also made it clear he won't blame or take action against Snape if he found another wand to clean up the mess at Hogwarts.
This had taken Snape by surprise, and he smirked at Kingsley saying Slytherin's do not share their dirty secrets. This comment had lead to the truce between them and then to the very beginning of helping Lily Potter rid her guilt.
McGonagall had taken matters into her hand and had given out orders to all those who had stayed back. All the Order members were present and some members of the D.A were also present. Denise, despite a lot of pleading from his parents had stayed back at Hogwarts to clean up the mess. There had been a loud shouting match between his father and himself. Denise had stood firm, saying that he didn't want Collin to look down upon them and realise that he, Denise, was not helping the D.A but was mourning for Collin and the other D.A members they had lost.
Finally, his father had given in and had been helped to get a room at The Hogs Head to stay at. Mr. Creevey had been devastated by the news of the loss of his elder son and wanted to stay as close to his second son as possible, fearing he might loose him too.
The day had wore on without any incidents. Harry, James, Lily and Ginny had taken to clearing up the mess near the seventh-floor corridor. The Room of Requirement had been consumed by the curse fire, Fiendfyre. It had taken a lot of work to restore it. Although they had the Elder wand, it had not been as easy as the rest of the castle. The House elf's magic had worked wonders. It had restored the castle's structure, although the wards and enchantments around Hogwarts had been affected quite badly.
The Centaurs also had helped. They had been guarding the Dungeons and the Tent where the dead had been laid until the time of burial. Each and everyone who had died in this battle or in this war, and whose body was found, were kept in the tent. The Blood-shed had been a lot and Harry had been devastated when he found out.
Lily, Hermione and James had gone into the Hogwarts library, to see if they could find anything in it that would help restore the Room of Requirement. Harry had even asked the House elf's if they knew anything about the Room.
"We is don't know, sirs and miss," Horky, the main house elf in charge of the cleaning up of the castle for the students, told Harry. "We is not allowed to tell the secrets of the Come and Go room. But if you is allowing us to look, we will see if we is able to help."
The House elf's had looked into it and had been able to extinguish the Fiendfyre, but had been unable to get the Room of Requirement to work as it had once. The patch of wall on the seventh floor which had once been just a patch of wall, now held a door to the entrance of The Room of Hidden Things. The whole room was barren and nothing hidden in it was left, everything had been consumed by the Fiendfyre.
The library, amazingly enough, had not been touched by the battle at Hogwarts. Lily found a hand-written original draft of iHogwarts, a History/i. A lot of accepects of Hogwarts had been discussed in it, which were not found in the iHogwarts, a History/i later editions. It had taken almost four hours before Hermione found the smallest article in that book. It may have been the smallest but it was the most important one.
Wards and Enchantments around Hogwarts and her Grounds
It is generally assumed that the enchantments and wards that lie, protecting Hogwarts and her students to be in control of the current Headmaster or Headmistress. While some of the Enchantments may be in control of the current head, the major wards and Enchantments are powered by a secret Room referred to the Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go Room by the house elf's.
The House elf's employed at Hogwarts also hold the Anti-disapparition wards. The Room of Requirement also powers The Quill, which enters the name of every Magical Child born, into the Hogwarts Register. The Room of Requirement also is able to provide the exact number of Bed's in each Dormitory, every year. Once a student is Sorted, then the Room of Requirement won't remove the Bed in that particular Dorm for seven years, even if the student chooses not to return once he or she is of Age.
Although the current Head can control this particular function of Hogwarts, the Castle requires a very valid disturbance for this to happen.
If anything were to happen to The Room of Requirement then only the sorting hat can help fix it.
Harry had to put the sorting hat once again in his life, requesting it to help fix the War Signs at Hogwarts. As soon as Harry put it on, he felt as if he were being possessed by the four founders of Hogwarts. He was quite aware of what he was doing. He could not fight this sudden possession and started panicking. When he heard the same voce in his head, when he had first tried on the hat in his first-year.
'Harry Potter, you need to relax. How am I going to heal Hogwarts if you try to fight me off?'
'What are you going to make me do?' Harry asked, his fears and insecurities suddenly surfacing his thoughts. Now that Voldemort had gone, Harry had felt as if there would be no other Dark activities, at least for some time, but here he was, being possessed.
'Do not fear Harry Potter, I will only use the Elder wand and your Phoenix core wand to cast two spell simultaneously. You may not be able to do this on your own, hence I decided to help you out a bit. I'm not possessing you.'
Harry slowly relaxed, and let the Hat take control of himself. He felt his hand dig out the two wands and clutch it in his arms, as he entered the Room. He pointed the two wands to a Rune stone, which he had not seen before and the Hat pushed his magical into his Magical core. It was not painful but the act unnerved him. It was strange to feel his Magic pulsing as if it were the very blood that flowed through out his body.
He felt the Hat pushing it to his limit, and then beyond that. Everything went out of focus. He heard the open and knew someone had entered. He felt someone calling out his name, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't see anything but he got the trace of the flowery scent which he usually associated with Ginny before blackness claimed him.
Someone was running their hand through his hair. He liked the feeling of it although he knew it was not Ginny. He knew that Ginny was holding his right hand into her chest, rubbing it lightly. He wondered who was playing with his hair as he felt so at peace.
He opened his eyes only to find that his vision was a blur of red and white. Hospital wing, he groaned, catching the attention of the others. Ginny slipped his glasses onto his face. He realised that his mother was running her finger through his hair. His father was sitting in a chair on the other side of the Hospital wing, along with the others.
"How long?" He asked resignedly.
"Few minutes, Harry," Said Ginny, bending down to give him a chaste kiss on his lips. "You did it!" she whispered into his ear, as she buried her face on his neck.
The feel of Ginny's breadth sent a pleasant sensation through out his body. He wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him, closing his eyes with a contented sigh.
"After you blacked out, the room of requirement restored it self, that is where you are. I was thing you need the Hospital wing and the room of requirement provided it to me," Ginny continued. "Ron has gone to get Madam Pomfery, he has also gone to tell McGonagall that you have restored the Room of Requirement. Hermione has gone to bring all the people who are being treated by Madam Pomfery here, into this Hospital wing so that she can treat them properly."
Ginny pulled back, the others had crowded around his bed. He wondered what happened and where the Sorting Hat had gone to. He wanted to thank it.
"What happened, Harry?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, what happened? Ginny told us that Xavier told her that you will be fine," Bill informed him.
"Xavier? Who is that?" Harry asked, looking confused at Ginny.
"The Sorting hat, silly. I hit it with the Bat-Bogey Hex as soon as you fell down," Said Ginny, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Unfortunately, he doesn't have a nose, forget bogeys, so he told me that you will be fine and that he would liked to be referred to as Xavier instead of The Sorting Hat. I believe he likes to change is name, every few years."
"oh…" was all Harry could say.
"Well tell us what happened, Harry," Sirius asked, jumping impatiently on the balls of his feet.
"Well uh…I felt as though I was being possessed, but I was quite aware of my senses and I tried fighting it, but the Hat, I mean Xavier told me to relax and he would only use the Elder wand to restore the Room, so I let him." He took a deep breadth and continued, "I…I felt my Magical Core pulsing through my veins, it's the most amazing feeling in the world," A look of pure bliss came over his features, "Then I felt quite drained out and the last thing I remembered was everything around me was blurring and I was losing my vision."
"Your seem fine, let Madam Pomfery look you up and then we'll head down to the Great Hall for the tea before we, head out to Hogsmeade for the burial of Collin, I promised Denise I'd be there for him." Ginny had turned away when Fred said this, Collin had been a great friend to her back in her first year. She had also seen him drop dead. He had intercepted a curse that was meant for her. He was bleeding and she could do nothing to stop it. She had watched on helplessly, as the life faded from his eyes.
His last words had been, "Hope Harry finishes them and comes back to you, Ginny."
She had tried not to remember that, but now that his funeral was in few hours, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She had driven him out of her mind, lost in Fred's death. His return had made her so happy that she had forgotten about Collin.
Madam Pomfery had arrived and checked over Harry, she healed most of his wounds. She was unable to heal the oval shaped burn kind of a mark at the centre of his chest or the Slytherin's Locket mark. Hermione on seeing the burnt patch of skin, in an oval shape burst into tears, sobbing hard onto Molly's shoulder, while Ron sat down heavily onto a chair, staring at that wound. There were tears leaking from his eyes but he sat staring at it without blinking his eye.
Harry and adamantly refused to answer what these marks were to Madam Pomfery, who had huffed that she won't be able to cure it, if he didn't tell them what it was.
"They can't be cured, Poppy," Lily had stated, softly, staring at her son's scars. "They will stay that way for life. It's nothing to worry about. It doesn't hurt him." She absently rubbed her heart while James rubbed his chest.
Harry turned grateful eyes onto his parents, silently mirroring some sort of understanding between them.
"Hermione," Harry called out softly, "Please come here."
She broke free from Molly, and her sobs had subsided but there were tears still running down her cheeks and her nose was also leaking. She conjured herself a kerchief and blew her nose onto it, not bothering to wipe her tears she sat down carefully next to him.
Harry, lifted her hand and made her touch the wound, "It doesn't hurt. Not anymore. It was like an ironhanded punch, but not anymore." He let her remover her hand and turn away. "Look at me Hermione, please," he pleaded.
She shut her eyes tightly for a second letting her tears drop and turned to face him as she opened her eyes. "This," he said, pointing at the scar, "is just a reminder a mark, of what we faced the past year. It won't go and I never want to forget what happened this year. This will always remind me why you are like a sister to me, why Ron is like a brother and why Ginny is the reason that I'm here with you today."
"I don't ever want you to remember how I got it, but I want you to remember why I was willing to get it."
Hermione broke into fresh sobs as she buried her head in his shoulder. Harry was feeling quite uncomfortable as Hermione was crying onto his shirtless chest. He was patting her back trying to soothe her, but he turned a helpless eye towards Ron who, although was crying had a faint smirk on his face trying to tell him 'you got this onto your self, who asked you to get all emotional with her?'
Lily saved Harry from further embarrassing himself, by nudging Ron to take Hermione and console her.
"Holey pass me some potatoes."
"Please Fred I don't want to be called Holey by everyone."
"Then you should not have told us you were holey!"
Harry cracked a smile hearing Fred and George's banter. He knew they were trying to lighten the mood around them, but it was not working.
The Order was currently sitting in the Gryffindor table, huddled close to each other. The D.A was also sitting close by. It was the time for the funerals to take place and no one was in a mood to do anything. The D.A was unusually quite. They had lost many members and a lot of classmates were also dead.
The Order members were also exceptionally quite. Many of them had lost relatives and fellow Order members were killed in this battle. The school as a whole was very subdued, more so than it had been before Dumbledore's funeral.
The dead were laid in a tent on the grounds so that they can rest for one last time on the soil the lost their lives fighting for the cause for a better tomorrow.
All the bodies were to be carried from Hogwarts to the cemetery in Hogsmeade, that was about a mile walk from the Gates of Hogwarts.
A there were so many dead and many bodies recovered from the depths of Malfoy Manor a well as various other buildings around Britain. It had been rough on Remus, Andromeda, Sirius and Tonks when they were supposed to recognise Ted Tonks body. They had found him relatively easy, but the shock was that his body was a mass of dried blood and flesh. His lungs were protruding from his broken ribs and one of his kidney's was pushed into his stomach. His face was perfect, no damage at all, except the look of extreme pain. It looked as if there was a preservation charm set on him. His right leg was broken at the knee and his left leg was just bone, the flesh was not present. His right thigh had the words 'Bella will never forgive traitors', written in blood.
Needless to say, Andromeda and Tonks had gone into shock and the iCalming Draught/i didn't help. Andromeda went into a shell and stared off into space, not even crying. Madam Pomfery had to force down her throat a Dreamless sleep portion. She had refused to talk or even react when Narcissa had come over to help her.
Andromeda had looked into her eyes and then blinked once, her face emotionless, her eyes dead, and she had gone back to staring into space.
The Dreamless portion helped her come to terms that she had lost her husband and she had shed tears. It was a testament how the loss she had felt when she had realised that she had lost everyone except her grandchild that she mourned for her husband and rejoiced for the return of her daughter and son-in-law, that she put everything behind her and looked forward to spend days as a grandma.
She was a strong women, she had gone against her family's wishes and married Ted and she had been torn when her sisters had refused to speak to her. She had brunt the hate then, she could so it now. Ted had been always by her side, but now there was another Ted in the form of her Grandson.
The funerals took all evening. McGonagall, Kingsley, The Weasleys and Potters all insisted that they were present for all the Funerals. There were so many dead that it was well into the night when they returned to the Gryffindor tower, for some rest. No one was in any mood to eat food.
Ginny had been unable to stop crying after Collin's funeral. It had taken a toll on her and she had crumbled into a heap on one of the armchairs in the Common room and cried herself to sleep. She had not allowed anyone to go near her. The memorial was to take place the following morning in the Great Hall, where Voldemort had died.
Tom Riddle's body was also Buried in the Hogsmeade graveyard, on Harry's insistence.
"He was a human being, and I even put a mark on Dobby's grave. He may have gone twisted but he also did have a mother who was ready to postpone her death after his birth. He was once loved. His death eaters were wrong but did follow him all the same."
Harry had stood his ground and said that it would be better if they gave Tom Riddle a respectful funeral. "Don't mourn him, I'm not asking you to, all I'm asking you to do is leave some space in the graveyard so that he also can be buried. Let's not put a marker, but let us not discard his body as it were the dirt on the sole of your feet. That would make no difference between him and us."
So the Order members and D.A had stayed a little longer to burry Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort.
The following day, a subdued group of people came pouring out of the Gryffindor tower, dressed in plane black robes. They made their way down seven floors to the Great Hall, There was a huge podium erected instead of the High Table and the four tables were missing, instead there were rows and rows of chairs. Behind the stage was a huge black cloth hung, with the names of all those who had died in this second war. The names were hand written in white colour ink by the family members.
Kingsley, McGonagall and Snape disguised as some Muggle were seated on the stage. The Great Hall filled in quietly. There was no air of cheerfulness that was usually accompanied by the students when they filled in for the breakfast or dinner or lunch.
McGonagall stood up and the few who were whispering came to a sudden halt. McGonagall's eyes were red and puffy, she had been crying and was evident that she was still crying.
"I wish that this was a happier time, but alas that is not so. He-Who-..." She smiled slightly, and took a deep breadth and looked directly into Harry's eyes and continued, "Lord Voldemort also know as Tom Riddle, can no longer plunge our world into darkness." She ignored the grasps of horror from the assembled crowd and swept her eyes across the whole Hall.
"We are gathered here to mourn for those who gave their lives so that we could stand here today and look for a brighter tomorrow. I would love to ask each and everyone of you, those who lost someone dear to your heart, in this war, to come up and tell the world how that person could have made a difference had they been alive; but they won't like it. They gave their lives for us. They would want us to look for the brighter day, and remember their essence of life."
"Small things that made them who they were, incidents you could never forget because they made it so, their infectious laughter, their smile, their love for you, and I could go on, but they chose this and today I'm sure they are all very happy, where ever they are."
McGonagall had fresh tears in her eyes and she gave everyone a week, sad smile. "It's not easy to live without them, but birth and death is part of life. Once someone is born they die one day. It's only a physical thing, because the dead we loved ever truly never leave us. We will always recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble or great happiness. They are always fond inside us in some form or the other."
McGonagall gave a week chuckle, "Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!" She gave an un-lady like snort and was over come with laughter which turned into sobs, as she sat down next to Kingsley over come with grief.
Harry was also laughing and so were most of the students who had heard that. There were a bitter sweet memories that everyone were recollecting. McGonagall's sobs were controlled as she stood up once again, "All of us have lost someone, be it a friend or a brother or a sister or a parent, all of us at least have so many out here to share our grief."
She looked around, trying to see how many were missing, trying to count the number of students who were not there today. "Always remember, share your grief and it halves, share your happiness and it doubles."
She looked around once again and said, "I request all of you stand up and observe a moments silence for the dead."
As everyone stood up, Harry looked in the front row where the Weasley's sat, his eyes were focused on one particular red-head. She would be his home, he felt he owed it to everyone who had died that this is what he was supposed to do. Live on, live with the memories of those who had died but not be obsessed with them. Let them be a part of your heart but not to let them take over it.
Lunch that day was more pleasant, the Great Hall was filled with parents, teachers and students all alike. No one had announced the return of the dead as yet. They wanted things to quite down a bit and then break the break the news to the public, gently.
Harry was seated between his mother and Ginny, opposite him sat Ron and Hermione. The Weasleys, Potters (disguised heavily), Blacks, Lupins and Snape were seated closely.
They ate in comfortable silence remembering the five minutes they had observed silence for the dead. Kingsley was busy with the ministry rebuilding and was there. Arthur had chosen to go in later along with Percy and Charlie.
Harry was watching Ginny out the corner of his eyes, as he ate. Ginny noticing this turned to him and gave him a small smile. He turned to face her, "Ginny, I want to talk to you about everything today, after lunch, will you-" he left his spoon and took her left hand, "Will you come with me for a walk round the Lake after a visit to Hagrid with Ron and Hermione?"
"Sure, Harry. I'd love to," Ginny replied, giving his had a squeeze, and then she turned back to her food.
"Harry, do you mind if James and I join you?" His mother asked, overhearing him. "We would like to meet Hagrid, it's been almost seventeen years since the last time we saw him."
"Sure, mum."
"Harry," said Hermione. "You go ahead. I need to do something, and Ron and I will join you at his hut."
Soon after lunch everyone left with brighter sprits, but the Order members and a few D.A members stayed back, to finish up the rebuilding of the Astronomy tower. Harry set down towards Hagrid's hut to help him fix it, as well as to meet him.
Harry, Ginny, Lily and James headed to Hagrid's hut. Lily and James were a few steps ahead of the other couple.
As they were walking down to Hagrid's hut in comfortable silence, Ginny turned toward Harry
.
"What?" He asked coming to a halt in front of her.
She gave him a smile and stepped closer to give him a hug. Harry put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer.
"I'm really glad you are not dead Harry. It was the worst thing ever."
"I know, it was difficult for me to act I was dead when I could hear your cry. All I wanted to do was get up and tell you I was fine. But I had to wait. Nagini was not yet killed."
"Why ever did you have to wait for that snake to be killed for?"
"I was hoping I could tell all that to you today after we met up with Hagrid."
Ginny broke the embrace to look into her eyes. She had felt him tense up. The expression on his face was 'I want to tell you, just bare with me till then.' She smile up at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Well come on then," She said tugging on his hands. "Don't you want to meet Hagrid and help him also?" She took his hand in hers and pulled him towards Hagrid's hut.
Lily and James were already inside the Hut and by the look of things, Hagrid had managed to repair the damage to his hut.
The door was left open for them and they could smell the boiling tea.
A/N: Sorry I deleted this by mistake and I had to re-update it. Also, please ignore the mistakes, Em- my wonderful beta is a lil busy at the moment and so am I, so my updates won't be very frequent. This is not edited, so I hope you enjoy it. Once it is edited I will repost this chapter!
Do leave a rewiew!