Chapter 35: Tying Up Loose Ends
Harry knew he was in the hospital wing. The white sheets, the small bed, the lack of his wife curled up next to him, it was the hospital wing. He knew he was going to end up here; he had been using magic from the castle for far too long thanks to the injuries he sustained. He then remembered about his time with Helga, Rowena, Godric and Salazar. They told him that his magic and that of Hogwarts should have healed him completely, which it felt like it did.
He did a quick examination of himself; toes moving…check, fingers moving…check, arms and legs… check, other body parts…check. 'Ok, open your eyes Harry, let's see the damage.' When he opened his eyes, he saw that his two best friends were sitting in chairs next to him.
"How long have I been out this time?" It was the first thing he could come up, but it had its desired affect on Ron and Hermione. They both shot straight up from their chairs and looked at him in shock. Hermione, as always, was the first person to answer. "HARRY!!! On my god, you weren't supposed to be awake for a few more days at least."
Harry simply smiled at his friend and looked around the wing. It was empty except for the three of them. Harry reached out with mind and looked for Ginny; she was sitting in their office doing paperwork. 'Hello wife. Can you please inform Albus that I require a meeting with the executive committee of the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible?'
'Of course, by the way, you should really look at Godric's memories about pleasuring his wife; you'll find it very interesting.' Harry's eyes bugged out at Ginny's thought, but he pushed the innuendo away and turned back to his friends in the hospital wing.
"Sorry about that, I had to speak to Hogwarts and Ginny first thing. Anyway we have some serious issues we need to discuss. First off, what was the damage report?"
Ron, who suddenly turned all business, opened a briefcase he had un-shrunk from his pocket and pulled out a number of parchments. "Well, the school locked down, just like how you wanted, we captured Corner's cousin and nine other Death Eaters. Severus is…interrogating them as we speak."
Harry nodded his head deep in thought, and then suddenly it came to him. "How in the hell did Corner get into the school? I know for a fact the Tonks took him off the train."
Hermione spoke up, "According to little of information I have received, he was questioned under the effects of Veritaserum, only two drops though, and was released. He's been in school since then. I thought you would have seen the memo on your desk about it."
Harry shook his head, "I didn't see it, but then again there are a lot of memos that I have missed lately for some reason." Harry was quiet for a moment before speaking "Ok, Ginny is arranging…wait take that back…Ginny has arranged a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Order for…seven o'clock tonight…And we'll meet in our private conference room." Ron and Hermione knew Harry was speaking with Ginny and them simultaneously.
"Dobby! Winky!" Both elves appeared next to the bed. "We are having a meeting tonight in my private conference room. Can you please arrange dinner and escorts for my guests? They are all members of the Order of the Phoenix."
Both house elves agreed quickly and Winky disappeared, only after giving her mate a quick kiss. Dobby waited for further instructions, since he knew Harry needed something else. "You know me too well my little friend. I also need you go and get Griphook and Mackrack at Gringotts, and then Magorian of the Centaur Herd. I need them all there tonight too."
Without a word Dobby walked over to a shadowy corner and stepped thru into the shadow realm. Hermione and Ron were shocked to see Dobby shadow walk. Harry caught the looks on their faces and begin to chuckle.
"Dobby isn't capable of shadow walking without some help. Dobby has amulet that allows him to shadow walk, but it only allows the wearer so many times to step thru the shadow realm. Since I can shadow walk, I have to recharge the amulet every so often."
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Harry was released from the hospital wing later on that morning. He made his way to the Great Hall where lunch was being served. As he entered the hall, he saw that many of the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students were eyeing him with loathing. Harry knew that he had to do something about this situation and very quickly.
He looked over to where Albus was sitting with a number of 1st year students and used his Legilimency skills to speak to the Headmaster. 'Albus, do you have any suggestions on what to do about this situation?' Albus looked deep in thought for a moment, 'I would say…use your imagination, but remember do not hurt any students.'
Harry smirked and then used his magic and rose off the ground and cast a wordless and wandless sonorus charm. "Any one who wishes to try to attack myself or anyone else in this castle for dealing with death eaters may start with me right now. But you should remember this, I have fought and beat your dark lord before, and I will beat the crap out of him again. So all of you Ravenclaw and Slytherin students who were giving me loathing looks, I would suggest you drop it.
"As for Michael Corner and his associates; they attacked Professor Tonks and then attempted to kill the Headmaster, Professor Lupin, myself and my wife using multiple killing curses. They will be sent to prison for the rest of their lives. They will not be heading to Azkaban Prison; they will be heading to the new facility in the arctic. Thank you for your time." Without another word, Harry lowered himself into a chair at the table where Ginny, Neville, Luna, and a few second years were eating.
After lunch, Harry grabbed Ginny and headed outside to the stables. Since the animals had arrived, they had made it a point to get to know the animals that now lived on the grounds very well. Today they were going to ride Gryff, the Alpha Male Griffin. Gryff was a matured Griffin with tan hair and a golden mane. His wings were gold with red tips and hints of lack on the bottom side of the wing.
After arriving at the stables and saying hello to all the animals, Harry and Ginny settled onto Gryff's back, Gryff began to walk around the paddock before he took off into air. From the air, Hogwarts looked so peaceful. The lush green forests and grounds, the stone gray of the castle, the Giant Squid was lazily pushing across the surface of the water. It made Harry remember why he was fighting not only Voldemort, but everything that wrong in this world. Harry wanted a future that is better then the present, nor only for him and Ginny and their children, but for many, many generations to come.
As Gryff flew near the castle, they saw Albus and Minerva sitting on their patio, overlooking the grounds. After asking Gryff to return to his stable, Harry and Ginny jumped off of him in mid air and transformed into eagles and flew to Albus' patio where they changed back.
"Harry, Ginny, please join us for tea. It has been to long since we have had a chance to 'shoot the breeze' as you youngsters call it today." And so for the next hour that is exactly what they did. They talked about married life, school, tales from when Albus and Minerva were younger, anything but the war. It was very relaxing and also very liberating in a number of ways.
Soon it was dinner time so the foursome made their own to Harry and Ginny's private dining room where they were soon joined by the members of the Order of the Phoenix who lived in the castle: Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Filius, Severus, Hagrid, Charlie, Molly, Remus, Tonks, Alastor, Arabella, and Penelope Clearwater.
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At 7:00pm exactly, the portal between Gringotts and Hogwarts activated and thru it walked a ten humans, followed by a squadron of Goblin Guards. These were no ordinary soldiers though; these were the Blackhawk Elite, the personal bodyguards for the leader of the Goblin Nation. After checking the entrance hall, the squad leader nodded to the humans who made their way to the stair case where they were escorted by Winky to where they would be dining this evening.
After they left, the squad leader turned to the Portal and spoke in clear booming voice, "I am Slothhook, Captain of the Blackhawk Elite Guard, we are ready for the Chairman." Suddenly the entire squad stood at perfect attention as two Goblins and one human stepped out of the portal.
The older looking of the two Goblins, wore formal dress robes in black and red, while his companion wore robes in similar design and color, but not as fancy. The older goblin looked around the entrance hall and spotted a number of students looking at him from the Great Hall. Dobby, who had been waiting for their arrival, stepped forward.
"Mackrack, Leader of the Goblin Nation, and Chairman of the Board of Gringotts, I is Dobby Potter, the Chief Stewart of Lord Gryffindor, and I bid thee welcome on behalf of all those whom dwell here. You and your party are considered friends and honored guests of the High Lord of Hogwarts."
"Thank you Chief Stewart, for you warm greeting. May I present Griphook, First Vice Leader of the Gringott Clan and of the Goblin Nation; along with the Minister of Magic for Great Britain, Madam Amelia Susan Bones."
"Vice Leader, Minister, you are considered friends and honored guests welcome to Hogwarts." As Dobby finished speaking, blue auras surrounded Mackrack, the Minister, and Griphook. A moment later, the auras diminished.
"Hogwarts Castle now recognizes you as a friend and will allow you to enter." Mackrack, Griphook and the Minister all knew the ritual Dobby had just used. It was used when a visiting Head of State arrived first arrived in a new land. This gave the head of state diplomatic immunity and access to certain government facilities like private conference rooms and secure floo connections.
This was a requirement of all governments and institutions that were members of the International Confederation of Wizards. Even though Hogwarts was the official school of Great Britain, it is still a sovereign school and required any Head of State to be recognized before entering.
As Dobby began to escort the three visitors out of the entrance hall, the Blackhawk guards positioned themselves outside the main doors to the school and at the portal opening. The students who were had been able to watch the exchange between Dobby and the visitors started asking many, many questions. Pomona Sprout knew she had to talk to Harry and Albus about what happened and explain to the students.
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As the doors to the dining room opened, Harry turned his head to see his friend and Chief Stewart standing at attention, ready to announce his three VIPs. With a quick nod from Harry, Dobby spoke in a strong loud voice. "Lord and Lady Gryffindor, other honored guests, may I present Mackrack, Leader of the Goblin Nation, and Chairman of the Board of Gringotts; Griphook, First Vice Leader of the Gringott Clan and of the Goblin Nation; And the Minister of Magic for Great Britain, Madam Amelia Susan Bones."
As the three individuals entered the dining room, Harry and Ginny stood. A moment later, everyone else stood as well to welcome three newcomers. "Welcome to Hogwarts, please be seated." Harry motioned to three unoccupied seats at the table. He them turned to Dobby, "Dobby, please fetch your mate and join us."
"Of course Harry Potter sir. You truly are a great wizard." With a small 'pop', he was gone, only to return a moment later with Winky. After everyone was seated, Harry stood up once again to address the group of diners.
"Thank you everyone for coming. We have a great deal to discuss tonight, I do believe that everyone should know everyone here except for a few people. About midway down on my left side is Professor Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House here at Hogwarts, and almost directly across from him is Professor Firenze, who teaches Divination. Firenze is also the official representative from of the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. If no one else has anything to say, then let's eat."
With a wave of his hand, the table began to groan under weight of the food. There were many different types of food to cover the many different tastes. From Goblin cuisine to Veela, and everything in between, it was an interesting dinner.
Conversation was relaxed between everyone. Minister Bones could not believe how easily all these different types of people could get along. Amelia her self was discussing the finer points of why the Chudley Cannons were doomed too lose the British Quidditch Cup again this year with their number one fan, Ronald Weasley. It turns out that Amelia too was a huge Cannons fan, but knew that as long as Puddlemere had Oliver Wood as their starting Keeper, everyone was doomed.
Albus, George, and Fred were discussing the finer side of practical jokes. Albus told a few stories of when he was in school. The story about Albus and his brother turning the transfiguration into a brothel was by far the most amusing. By the time he was done, everyone at the table, including Mackrack and Griphook were laughing.
As the desserts cleared, Harry suggested everyone move to the sitting room so that they could get started with their meeting. Once drinks were served, Albus made his way to the podium. "Good evening everyone, and thank you for coming tonight, I hereby call this meeting of the Executive Board of the Order of the Phoenix to order." As Albus said this, an enchanted quill and parchment rose from a table and began to take notes.
"Tonight we welcome a number of people to this meeting. Existing Order Members Mr. William Weasley, Mr. Charles Weasley, Mr. Rubeus Hagrid, Mr. Filius Flitwick, Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Madam Arabella Figg, Messers Fredrick & George Weasley, Miss Alicia Spinet, and Miss Angelina Johnson.
"We also have a number of new members joining the Order tonight: Mr. Neville Francis Longbottom, Miss Luna Marie Lovegood, Madam Fleur Delacour Mr. Percival William Weasley, and Miss Penelope Clearwater.
"We are also honored to have with us tonight Mackrack, Leader of the Goblin Nation, and Chairman of the Board of Gringotts; Griphook, First Vice Leader of the Gringott Clan and of the Goblin Nation; The Minister of Magic for Great Britain, Madam Amelia Susan Bones the centaur Firenze, who speaks on behalf of the court of Magical Brethren and finally Mr. & Mrs. Dobby Potter."
Albus paused as the enchanted quill caught up with him. Once it was done, he continued, "At this time I will turn this meeting over to Lord Gryffindor, Harry James Potter."
Albus sat down as Harry rose and made his to the podium. As he walked up, Dobby handed him a stack of parchments, Harry's notes. "Thank you Albus. I have called this meeting tonight to bring all interested parties up too speed on what is happening regarding Tom Marvolo Riddle and his Death Eaters.
"As of three days ago when I checked my link with Tom, he is still unconscious, but is very close waking up. I would say within the next month at most. Severus, what did you learn from the trespassers in the Shrieking Shack?"
Severus rose and moved to where a pensieve sat on a table. "I was able to learn that the Dark Lord felt it would be better if I had plausible deniability in regards to any Death Eater attacks so after he arrived in South America, he activated one of his sleeper agents, Mr. Corner's cousin, Machiavellian.
"This Machiavellian, was under the Imperious Curse, but in a very unusual way. He was placed under the Imperious Curse and then had a Memory Charm placed on him so that he would act like a regular upstanding supporter of light. However, once he was activated, the Imperious Curse was lifted and with it the Memory Charm. It was really quite ingenious.
"His orders were to gather younger supporters and to gather anything that might be considered valuable information."
Alastor spoke up, "What did he learn so far Snape?"
"He mainly learned that Hogwarts is guarded by the Goblins and that Potter has erected a number of wards to prevent people from entering the school without detection. He chose Lupin's 'Den' because of the stories about it being haunted. They had only been there a few days. As for the attack on Tonks and Albus, Machiavellian knew that Michael had been identified as a Death Eater sympathizer and so ordered Corner on a suicide mission. He assumed that we would kill Corner and his accomplices."
Harry retook the podium and continued "Thank you Severus; Alastor, when are we planning on handing these people over to the Ministry for trial?"
"We have all the information we need, I wasn't sure if we were turning them over to the MLE or the ICW."
"I think that the Ministry would like to deal with them, isn't that correct Minister?" With a brief head nod, Harry continued on, "Hermione and Filius…What is the state of our research on how Tom planned to make himself immortal?"
Hermione and Filius moved up to the podium and enlarged a number of parchments and used sticking charms to place them on the wall. Hermione was the first person to speak. "Thank you Harry…As many of you are aware, we have been attempting to discover what Tom Riddle has done to become as close to immortal as a human being can go.
"As you know, over the years, as more and more spells are used on or by a person, their signature grows and changes. If a person studies these signatures closely, they will discover every spell ever used. The problem is that there were no known devices for recording a magical signature and storing this information for later analysis.
"A group made up of me, Remus Lupin, Bill Weasley, and Fleur Delacour, were tasked with creating something that will record and store someone's magical aura. Thanks to some rather…interesting endeavors, we made some rather interesting discoveries.
"As we all learn from an early age, magic is, in its simplest form, a form of energy. It is similar to muggle electricity, so we hypothesized that the muggle world might hold the answer to our problem. We built a scanner that will record the magical auras of people and things. Once the scanner was built and tested, all that we needed to do was get Tom into a place that we could scan him without him knowing.
"Than answer came to us when Severus informed us that Tom was still recovering from his duel with Albus in the Atrium of the Ministry. Even though he was recovering, Severus believed that if there was a large enough target, Tom would risk exposure. So we laid out a very elaborate plan which included the Ministry, Gringotts, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Death Eaters.
"Thanks to superb planning, we were able to record not only Tom's aura, but many, many other Deatheaters, Order Members, members of the MLE, and the general public. It was because of our plans that Tom has been…out of commission for a while."
At this point, Filius took over, "Now that everyone has the basic facts, here is what we have discovered. Tom Riddle has undergone 70 different rituals and over 200 different spells with many more potions. Here are the highlights on some of what he has done: Tom Riddle removed many different body parts including his eyes, tongue, and his testicles. He has used blood sacrifice from many different sources; virgin men, women, boys and girls; snakes of different sorts; Deatheaters and of course forcefully removed from his foe, Harry Potter.
"According our research Tom Riddle's magical power has grown exponentially since his graduation from Hogwarts. According to schools records, Riddle's power was rated at 92. His power is now approximately 329. To give you some prescriptive on power, the average Hogwarts graduate's power level is between 80 and 90. Albus Dumbledore is 340, Nicholas Flammel was 400, Merlin was rumored to be 500. Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were confirmed to be in the high 200's. Harry Potter's level is off the scale. It stops at 500. We assume that Harry is approximately at 800. This is due to his bond with Hogwarts and his soul bond.
"We have devised a way to reverse all of the work Tom Riddle has done to himself. Unfortunately it is not just one spell, but a series of spells, 25 separate spells to be exact. Once the last spell is cast, Tom Riddle will be reduced to an abomination with somewhat above average power. However, he will still have over 60 years of magical knowledge, most of that time was spent entrenched in the dark arts.
"Due to the amount magic involved, we suggest the final duel between Harry and Tom Riddle to be here at Hogwarts. Hogwarts gives Harry the advantage and with the proper back up, we can succeed."
Filius paused and let this information sink in for a moment. "Now we have made other discoveries that will help us in our fight. Taking the idea of integrating magic with muggle technology, we have designed huge canons that will fire a concentrated pulse of magic. The magic will come from a magical storage unit which can be charged by a number of witches and wizards.
"We have also designed small hand scanners that are tuned to detect the dark mark. These will be given to Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic to scan anyone who attempts entrance."
Hermione and Filius both sat back down as Albus stood at the podium. "Thank you Filius and Mrs. Weasley; you have given us the key to defeating Tom once and for all. Thanks to information Severus obtained from Tom's mind before he fled to South America, we have begun to raid all of the safe houses Tom and his followers have used. Besides money, we have obtained a number of dark artifacts, potions, weapons, and paperwork detailing plans and lists of sympathizers and previously unknown Deatheaters.
"On top of all of this, we have also discovered many young women who have been used as sex toys for Tom's followers. They are currently at Saint Mungo's receiving treatments."
Everyone was sickened by what they had just been told. Deatheaters were sick creatures by nature, but this went for and beyond normal sickness. This was vile and…just wrong. After a few moments of private thought, Harry stood up once again and took his place behind the podium.
"The reason why everyone is here tonight is plan out a strategy to lure Tom here so that I can fulfill the damn prophecy and live happily ever after. Ginny and I want to start a family, but we want to do it after Tom is gone for good. So here is what we are planning…"
Over the hour, Harry with the assistance of Ron and Remus, laid out the battle plan for Tom final defeat. With most of his forces killed, and no money or safe houses left, he would no choice but to attack either the Ministry or Hogwarts. With Albus and Harry 'away' at an ICW meeting, and with his faithful servant Severus Snape on the inside, Tom would fill it was a safe bet to take Hogwarts.
However, in reality, Harry and Albus would remain in the castle, but use their astral projection abilities, and make it took they left. Once Tom was on the school grounds, Hermione would activate one of their new inventions, the automatic spells caster, which in this case would be charged by Harry himself. Fred and George's portable swamps and instant quicksand kits would be set up in strategic locations to funnel any of Tom's followers to their doom.
The centaurs, who agreed to fight for Harry, would use their swords and bows to strike down the enemy while many of the other creatures of the forest would help too.
The goblins would be charged with not only the protection and evacuation of the Hogwarts student thru the portal and into Gringotts; but also with the safety and security of the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo's, Azkaban, and Diagon Alley. Mackrack also offered the Blackhawk Elite and 2 more battalions to serve as front line fighters at Hogwarts.
The Ministry would deploy all the Aurors they had to Hogsmeade and serve as a back wall, to effectively trap Tom's troops. The Ministry's job was somewhat lighter then the others, this was because they actually had fewer people. Any of Tom's supporters who are caught would be handed over to Ministry. Those who are convicted of being a Deatheater would then be sentenced to the ICW's new prison fortress in Siberia.
It was a bold plan, but at the end of the night, it was the best they had. After getting confirmations from the Goblins, the Ministry, and the magical creatures of the forbidden forest, everyone headed home or to bed; there was much work to be done and not a lot of time to do it in.
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As Harry crawled into bed, he saw his wife watching him closely. Upon further inspection of his wife, he noticed that she was completely starkers, which was not uncommon for them, under the covers of their bed. "Harry dear, did you mean it when you said you wanted to start a family with me?"
Harry looked at his wife for a moment before responding, "Yes I did Gin. I want to have babies with you, watch them grow up and have families of their own. Do you want to have babies?"
The look on Harry's face broke Ginny's heart. Even for as powerful as Harry was now, in many ways he still that lost little boy who didn't know how to get onto Platform 9¾ all those years ago. She pulled the covers down, exposing herself to Harry and pulled him into hug. It took a few minutes Ginny to realize that Harry was sobbing.
He was sobbing for the family that he never had. His mother and father were taken from him, then he was sent to live with the Dursleys thanks to Peter Pettigrew. Then to find out his had a godfather, and then lose him too soon. As Harry continued to cry, Ginny stroked his back and spoke into his ear. "Harry, the only thing I have ever wanted since I was a little girl was to be your wife and have your children. Once Tom is good and gone, we can have our family ok."
Harry just nodded and began to relax in his wife's embrace while she poured all the love she had for him thru their bond and her skin. When Harry stopped sobbing, Ginny felt something hard pressing into his thigh; with an evil smirk he flipped her husband onto his back and straddled his hips.
"Lord Gryffindor, I do believe that before we can have children we need to practice making them, don't you?"
Harry smiled at his as he slowly entered her, "Yes Lady Gryffindor, I do believe we need lots and lots of practice."
Outside the door, two small elves had been listening to the conversation. They looked at each other then smiled. Their friends were going to be ok, they knew it. With a quick kiss, Dobby and Winky Potter disappeared from the room and headed for a well deserved rest. They knew they would need it in the weeks to come.