CHAPTER 27:

A SMALL TRIUMPH

The rest of the school year, thankfully, was relatively uneventful. Rumours began spreading about Harry, Ron, and Hermione being involved in trying to stop Quirrel from stealing the Philosopher's Stone. For good or ill, Voldemort was never mentioned, and it was probably good that Flamel's true identity was never discussed, though he and his wife, a beautiful woman with a magnificent mane of red hair, were seen publicly in the school.

Hagrid was, understandably, somewhat inconsolable when he learned of the demise of Fluffy. While Harry privately thought that Fluffy was very much a danger to students, he also knew how attached the giant man was to the Cerberus. The 'Golden Quartet', as Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione became known, along with the Weasley twins, Aerith, Jenova and Cait Sith, were frequent weekend visitors to Hagrid's hut, keeping the man company.

On less frequent occasions, Harry, Aerith, and Jenova took tea with Snape. The relationship between Snape and Harry was growing more positive. Snape could never completely let go of the grudge against James Potter and the Marauders, but he was now beginning to see Harry as his own person, even if his comments about Gryffindors and his continuing attitude to Neville (albeit lessened) was still a problem. Deep beneath the dark, acerbic and bitter man was a man who yearned to learn new things and experience new things, and whose loyalty to his few actual friends was as strong as any Hufflepuff. And a man of not inconsiderable bravery, considering his time as a spy within the Death Eaters. He also didn't begrudge Jenova for teaching DADA, partly because Jenova actually consulted with him for help. His main annoyance with Harry was that, thanks to his performance in the Quidditch Cup, as well as his ability to avoid losing House points, meant that Slytherin was about to lose its winning streak for the House Cup! And to Gryffindor, which was especially appalling! Jenova's response was a sarcastic, "Oh no, what a tragedy", delivered in a flat, deadpan monotone.

For the rest of the year, Jenova taught the DADA classes singlehandedly. While somewhat intimidating and certainly unconventional, Jenova's qualities as a teacher were undisputed, even by the vast majority of the Slytherins (with only the core of the Potter-baiters, including Malfoy, being the main holdouts). DADA teaching had been, understandably, spotty over the decades, since the supposed curse was first placed. Dumbledore confided to Jenova that he couldn't promote her from assistant to teacher, because he didn't want to risk losing her to the curse.

He did have someone in mind as a replacement DADA teacher, though. Already, he was putting out tentative feelers for interested parties. Only one seemed to be truly enthusiastic: one Gilderoy Lockhart, and Dumbledore had been making plans about him for some time. A former, prominent alumnus of Hogwarts, Lockhart had made something of a name for himself as a monster-hunter and adventurer, but Dumbledore suspected strongly that many, if not all, of the man's exploits were taken from those of other wizards and witches. He personally knew two of them, who had somehow forgotten their own exploits. Dumbledore suspected a Memory Charm was at work. It was one of the few things he had been particularly good at: the man's skills were largely devoted to fuelling his own narcissism.

Dumbledore's word had some weight, but Gilderoy Lockhart was one of those people whom it would be hard to disprove, if only because he had oodles of fame and money, and would take umbrage to any perceived slight. Instead, Dumbledore intended to manoeuvre Lockhart into a position where his fraudulence would be exposed, and given Quirrel's unfortunate fate, he now had the opportunity. And with Jenova being the assistant teacher, he needn't worry about the quality of the education going down. She could pick up the slack, of which there would be a considerable length, if Dumbledore was any judge.

Bringing down a fraud did have a certain appeal to Jenova, although she pouted when Dumbledore said that she couldn't eat him. "You're no fun at all," she had groaned. She had then looked at the picture of the immaculately-coiffed Lockhart, and remarked, sardonically, "Probably just as well, though. With all those hair-care products he obviously squanders his money on, I'd get a bad case of indigestion."

Despite the macabre nature of the joke, Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle.

During the lead-up to the end of year exams, Hermione had worked Ron and Harry like a slave-driver, though she was considerably more gentle with Neville. And while Harry was grateful for some of the help, he was also intelligent enough to get by on his own. Especially now he was free from the pressure to underachieve that the Dursleys had put him through. Hermione meant well, and she did dial it back when Harry pointed out she was getting back to her more bossy habits. She still tested them on their knowledge on a frequent basis.

The Weasley twins were awestruck when Harry discussed the Marauders with them. They were astonished to learn that he was the son of James 'Prongs' Potter, that Sirius Black was Padfoot, and Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail. They hadn't actually met Lupin, but Harry told them about Moony, though he was coy on what Animagus form Lupin took (namely because he was a werewolf instead of an Animagus, not that Harry was going to tell them that). They showed him the Marauder's Map, and Harry resolved to introduce the twins to Sirius and Remus. He'd love to see how they'd, in Jenova's words, 'fanboy out'.

The biggest fly in the ointment, then, was Malfoy being a dingus. He hadn't forgotten his defeat at Harry's hands in the duel earlier in the school year, and it seemed he wouldn't forgive it. He seemed (barely) content to restrict himself to snide remarks and scarcely-veiled provocations, to which Harry rarely responded. Verbally, anyway. Occasionally, however, he'd let his hair and eyes transform, and gave him a cold, calm glare even Sephiroth would have been proud of. On a couple of occasions, he even let the wing sprout from his back. That was enough to get Malfoy to back off, though not without calling him a freak, something that Harry was going to give Malfoy a beatdown for, sooner or later.

The exams came and went, with Harry and his friends relieved that it was over. Not only that, but the result of the last Quidditch match Harry played in not only guaranteed the Quidditch Cup, but also the House Cup would fall to Gryffindor for the first time in a long time. Snape wasn't happy, but he took consolation in the fact that Slytherin's winning streak had been the longest it had been for a long time. And while she did shoot triumphant glances at Snape, McGonagall was certainly more gracious in victory than Snape had ever been.

Oliver Wood was ecstatic, having won the Quidditch Cup for the first time, and in his fifth year. He could die happy now, though he wouldn't say no to another Cup or two won.

It was a relatively small triumph, Harry knew, compared to what had happened. They had failed to trap Voldemort, and it had nearly cost the lives of two of his friends. Luckily for Hermione, she only ended up with a minor concussion, while Ron was fortunate that Harry used the Phoenix Materia in time.

For Harry, it was a sobering experience. For his friends, even more so. They had barely survived an encounter with the most evil wizard in this world, or at least the most prominent evil wizard. But they had grown stronger, and they all celebrated at the end-of-year feast. They had to celebrate the triumphs they did have.

Afterwards, they received their marks. Of course, Hermione was top of the class. Harry was surprised at how good his marks had been. Neville managed to get a barely passable grade in Potions, but Herbology more than made up for it.

On the train home, the Golden Quartet sat with Jenova and Aerith, Cait Sith sitting in Hermione's lap. "You know…" Hermione said, "when I'm on holidays, my parents usually take me abroad. But…I'd love to see another world, like the Planet."

Aerith and Jenova shared a look, before Aerith smiled. "I'll see what I can do. We'll be staying around on this world for a few days before we leave. Your parents will be at King's Cross, won't they?"

Hermione nodded. "Do you want to talk to them?"

"Sure. We need to arrange for them to be able to travel to the Planet, but…have you mentioned it to them at all?"

"Yes, I did. I mentioned in my letters. I also told them it was amongst the secret stuff they'd have to be quiet about and all that. I didn't tell them about you, Jenova. I said you were an alien, but not an ancient monster who was once a goddess." Hermione sighed. "I didn't tell them about the troll, or Voldemort either. Please don't. They might want to withdraw me from Hogwarts."

"My lips are sealed," Jenova purred.

Dan and Emma Granger(1) were surprisingly amenable to a holiday on another world. Having a daughter who had magic had pretty much redefined the boundaries of the possible, and besides, Emma Granger was a science fiction nut, and so could accept the concept of another world in a parallel universe far more easily than the existence of magic.

Arrangements were made for the Grangers to come to the Burrow in a few days time. They would tell their friends that they would be travelling to a place where they had few phones. Neville Longbottom was also going to ask his grandmother to come, while Ron, the twins, and Ginny were planning to make the trip over, with Lupin (who was helping with the arrangements) assuring Molly that he would chaperone them to the best of his abilities. Luna also decided that she wanted to come to the Planet, with her father deciding to take a holiday, as well as the opportunity to document life on the Planet (and hoping that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack was actually a creature from the Planet).

The Flamels would also make the trip from the Burrow. It was time for them to disappear into myth and legend on Earth, they decided, and to make a new life on the Planet. Even Snape thought it was time for a holiday: he was bored of spending much of his off-time in Hogwarts as well as his home at Spinner's End. The Planet had opened up possibilities for him to potentially enjoy himself for a break. Sirius and Lupin were also heading back to the Planet, and Sirius, having gotten his family money back, was looking to buy a permanent residence on the Planet: he had his eye on a beachside villa in Costa del Sol that had once belonged to President Shinra. Lupin also was looking to set up home on the Planet, and while reluctant to accept Sirius' charity, he did so anyway.

Before the trip back to the Planet, however, Harry had one last errand to run the next day. Well, not so much an errand as a much-needed expurgation. Jenova and Aerith wondered why he wanted to at first, until they realised he wanted to lay to rest at least one ghost from the past.

The houses were uniform, even dreary, despite being superficially cheery. Jenova detested it. Aerith merely thought it bland. Cait Sith joked about them cloning houses in a vat. Harry's expression was carefully schooled. Once, he had called this place home, even if only of a sort. But now, it was just a place. A place that he had come to to bury part of the past.

"Are you ready to do this?" Aerith asked.

Harry sighed quietly. "As ready as I ever will be. And Jenova…please refrain from eating anyone, even if they annoy us."

"You and the old goat are just the biggest killjoys in the world, you know that?" Jenova complained with a sigh. "Besides, I've never eaten a horse, or a walrus."

Aerith facepalmed. "No cannibalism during the catharsis, Jenova. Please."

Jenova pouted, but behaved as they walked up to the door. For a moment, Harry hesitated, before he knocked. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Not long afterwards, the door opened, and a thin, gawky woman with equine features peered out, only to have her eyes widen upon seeing the three people and the cat robot present. "Y-y-you…"

"Hello, Aunt Petunia. May we come in?" Harry asked.

CHAPTER 27 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here we are, wrapping up the school year at Hogwarts, as well as laying the groundwork for the next interquel, Holiday. The next chapter will be Harry and Aunt Petunia saying one last farewell.

1. I like this fan convention of naming the Grangers after the first names of Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. So I thought I'd keep it going.

CHAPTER 27 SOUNDTRACK:

Arrival Back at King's Cross: Holding My Thoughts in My Heart (FTG)