Scary Monsters, Super Creeps
One year later.
In a flash of green flames Harry appeared at the Burrow. He stepped out of the floo, onto the hearth and was engulfed by a cloud of red hair, scented of coffee and vanilla. He squeezed his girlfriend Ginny tightly for a moment then loosened his grip and gave an embarrassed grin at the rest of the household.
He immediately found himself the recipient of another embrace, this time from Hermione, followed by his surrogate mother, Molly Weasley, who gave him a quick hug then stepped back, proceeding to pat his shoulders as she gave him a watery smile. He knew today was going to be an emotional one for the whole Weasley clan. It was only eight am and the remembrance service wasn't until ten but he had agreed to meet the others at the Burrow first so they could travel together by portkey.
Ron clapped him on the back, "Alright mate," he mumbled. His eyes lacked their usual sparkle. Hermione had once described the red-head as having 'the emotional range of a teaspoon', but today, as he looked into his friend's eyes, Harry saw the pain reflected in their depths. One year ago, they had lost Fred and the Weasley house had changed forever.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah, can't believe it's been a year already." Hermione sidled up to Ron and rubbed his arm, laying her head on his shoulder. Harry greeted Mr Weasley, Bill and George, who waved to him from his seated position at the table. He could not fathom how this day would be for George. The Weasley twins had been inseparable – always inventing new pranks and ways to make mischief, which had led to their successful enterprise
Following the 2nd Wizarding War, the MOM had appointed Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister. His first task in office had been to reshuffle the cabinet and his 2nd had been to offer Auror Training to Harry and his friends. Ron and himself and joined as junior aurors in the Department of Mysteries. The fact that neither student had stayed in school to take their NEWTS was overlooked, given their role in bringing about the end to Voldemort's reign of terror. Hermione had accepted a more political role, in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Only Neville, Ginny and Luna had returned to school to resume their education. The Malfoys narrowly escaped jail, thanks to Harry's testimony that the pureblood family had switched their allegiance towards the end of the battle. After the series of trials, Narcissa had embraced a shocked Harry and thanked him for giving her family back to her. Harry and Draco had come to an unspoken truce. Harry had returned to his old school at weekends to help with the rebuilding, whilst Ron helped George to run the joke shop. The two Weasley brothers had become much closer since Fred's death. Young Dennis Creavey had also taken a holiday job at the store during the school holidays.
Molly placed her hands on Harry's shoulders from behind. "Sit down Harry, we are still waiting for Fleur to get the baby ready, would you like some tea? Have you had breakfast?"
"Er…" He obeyed, taking a seat opposite George.
She waved her wand and within a few seconds, a plate of toast, eggs and bacon had appeared on the table. Harry had only had cereal and it did smell good so he tucked in gratefully.
A short while later, the entire household had each placed their hand on an old, cracked leather Doctor Martin boot and Harry felt the familiar tug to his navel before being yanked, spinning through the air until he and the rest of their entourage, touched down lightly just outside the Hogwarts School boundaries. A watery sun was trying to fight its way through hazy clouds, tinging the light grey sky with a halo of pale yellow as they made their way, along with dozens of others up to the castle.
As they arrived at the school entrance hall, they met up with Neville, who was accompanied by his feisty grandmother; Augusta Longbottom and his starry eyed girlfriend; Luna Lovegood. They all made their way with hundreds of other parents and children towards the Great Hall. They were greeted by headmistress McGonagal who waited until the last person was seated before walking up the centre aisle to the front where the staff table had been transfigured into a stage. Two huge golden sheets of parchment bearing the names of all the fallen heroes from the battle were suspended in the air on both sides of the stage.
A hush descended as Minerva took her place at the front of the stage for the opening speech, commanding the attention of everyone in the hall.
"One year ago this school was a much different place than it is today," she began, her soft Scottish lilt drifting down through the hall. "As I look around, there are many absent faces – faces of students, staff and parents who should be with us today had events been different. Whilst we are grateful that so many of us survived, we shall never forget the sacrifice of those who gave their lives whilst protecting this school on that terrible day. It is thanks to those selfless individuals as well of those of you in this hall, that so many of you are able to be present today and that we can at last live in a new era of peace, free from the constant threat of evil that we endured in those dark days before the war."
"Of course, we all owe a great debt to all of you, but there are several people for whom I would like to give a special mention."
"To Professor Dumbledore who loved this school and thought of each and every one of his students as his own children. His presence will be greatly missed for many long years to come. If I have only half of the respect and influence of that man, I shall be very happy. I have a momentous task to follow in his footsteps as headteacher of Hogwarts."
"To Professor Snape whose unwavering courage and bravery didn't even come to light until after his death." Her voice faltered slightly. "His final year at Hogwarts must have been horrific – despised by most of the staff and students, considered by many to be a traitor and if it wasn't for the memories he gave to Harry Potter as he was dying, none of us would ever have known."
She paused, taking the moment to gather her composure, before continuing. "To Remus Lupin, our former Defence against the Dark Arts Professor who fought so valiantly at the side of many others and perished, along with his wife and mother of his baby son. And of course not forgetting the valiant deeds of our own Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom who I am happy to have here with us in the audience. I am so proud to say that they were students in my own House of Gryffindor." Harry gave an embarrassed grin and tried not to notice if anyone glanced at him, whilst Ron tapped him on the thigh with the back of his hand.
The Headmistress carried on, naming other heroes, some alive and other deceased, who had all played their integral part in the war. She gave thanks for the many benefactors who had pledged both money and time to assist with the rebuilding of the school and helping the families of all those effected. Harry scarcely heard the words that were spoken over the roaring in his ears. After she had finished speaking, she handed over the stage to others who had prepared their own tributes.
Suddenly Harry heard his voice mentioned and realised that he was being ushered to the front.
"Go on mate, you'll be brilliant," Ron clapped him on the shoulder as Ginny squeezed his hand. Hermione, Molly and George all whispered words of encouragement as he rose from his seat.
Harry felt as though a baby hippogriff was flying round in circles and doing loop-de-loop in his stomach as he approached the steps that lead up to the stage. Every footstep that he took seemed amplified, echoed on the dark mahogany wood as he walked across to the middle of the platform. He cleared his throat, nervous about the thought of every eye in the room was now locked on him. He tried to remember all that he had learned in auror training about remaining calm and composed.
"I'm not used to public speaking so I hope you'll forgive me if I…" his green eyes swept from one side of the hall to another, looking to his friends for reassurance. His gaze drifted to the back of the room where a young man with light blond hair sat with his mother, looking decidedly out of place - Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. He noticed the absence of Lucius.
His lowered his gaze back to the front and taking a deep breath, resumed his speech. "Everyone refers to me as some kind of hero – the saviour of the wizarding world, but I'm not special. I just did what I needed to do – and I was terrified. When I – I faced…" he paused, he was so used to everyone wincing whenever he had previously mentioned the dark wizard's name. "You-know-who, I thought I was going to my death. I was more scared in that moment than I had ever been in my entire life, but I saw my parents, Remus Lupin and my godfather Sirius Black, and they gave me courage and strength. They were with me then, and I know that they are with me now – my mum told me, they are with me always. And everyone else who you all loved, that love doesn't die, it stays with you, in here." He placed his hand over his heart. "They will be with us now, in this room, watching over us even now, Fred Weasley is probably making wisecracks about all the long faces" The tinkle of light-hearted laughter drifted up from the audience. Harry was glad to have relieved some of the tension in the room. "Professor Snape will be watching all the first years and cursing them for adding the wrong ingredients to their potions." Again he heard laughter.
All of us suffered greatly in the war a year ago. It doesn't matter whether you were in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Huffepuff or Slytherin. We all lost people. My hope for the future of Hogwarts is that, if we have learned anything from the mistakes of the past, it is that we should all try to get on with each other, no matter which house we were sorted in, whether you are pure blood, half blood or muggle born. After all, if anyone cuts us, do we not all bleed the same?" He paused and a murmur went round the audience. "We are told after we are sorted, that your house is like your family but we should remember that we are also all part of the bigger family that is Hogwarts."
He swallowed, trying to quell his rising nerves – then clasped his hands together and resumed his speech. "Once, there was a young boy whose mother was a witch and his father, a muggle. He referred to himself the Half Blood Prince. He always felt like he was alone, growing up in the muggle world but being able to do magic. One day he saw this girl in the park and he realised that she was just like him. The girl was teased by her sister and called a freak. The boy approached her and they became friends – best friends and spent a happy summer together. She was muggle born, but he didn't care about this. They vowed to be friends always but then they came to Hogwarts and the girl was sorted into Gryffindor, whilst he was placed in Slytherin." He paused for a moment, then unclasped his hands and let his arms fall to his side. "Although they maintained their friendship for the first few years, others didn't like it. The Gryffindor boys picked on the Prince and his own Slytherins mocked him for being friends with not just a Gryffindor, but also a muggle born witch. He didn't care about her blood status because she was his best friend and he loved her. One day, the Gryffindor boys played a cruel trick on him. The girl tried to help him, but feeling humiliated, and pressurised by the other Slytherins, he told her that he didn't need help from a filthy 'mudblood'. He didn't mean it, but it was too late. She never forgave him and ended up dating one of the Gryffindor boys. The Half Blood Prince, now totally alone, ended up getting more involved with death eaters and joined Voldemort." There was a gasp from the audience. "It's ok, you shouldn't be afraid to say his name now – I know he's gone because," he raised his right hand to his forehead, "my scar doesn't hurt anymore.
"Anyway," Harry continued. "A few years later, there was a terrible prophecy that fortold of a child who could stop Voldemort and realising that this involved his best friend from school and that her family were in danger, the Half Blood prince begged Professor Dumbledore to keep them safe, and in return he promised to spy against Voldemort. Dumbledore hid the family, but they were betrayed by someone they thought of as a friend. Her life was snuffed out in an instance, along with her husband; the Gryffindor boy she had dated in school, but her child survived. Filled with remorse, the Half Blood Prince, vowed to protect the woman's son, and avenge her death. He put himself in danger, spying on his former master, playing a double agent, keeping the boy safe and tragically, sacrificed his own life so that the Dark Lord could be defeated. I know, because I am the child who survived. The Half Blood Prince, was Professor Snape and the girl was my mother, Lily." He paused, no one in the audience moved. Harry felt as though someone had cast a massive petrificus totalis spell over everyone in the hall.
Harry inhaled deeply then expelled the air from his lungs slowly on the outbreath. He glanced out at the audience, deeply gratified to find that he still had their full attention. "We have all been guilty of demonising the Slytherins. But at the end of the day, it was a Slytherin, who saved my life time and time again and helped bring about the end of you-know-who and the person who betrayed my parents – Peter Petigrew, I'm ashamed to admit; was a Gryffindor! Also, I was almost sorted into Slytherin myself on the first day, but I had heard that only dark wizards were in Slytherin so I asked for another house. Just imagine that – the 'Chosen One' in Slytherin House instead of Gryffindor!" He deliberately placed emphasis on the word 'Chosen'. "Would things have been any different I wonder? Would I have been any different had I been a Slytherin? I would like to think not!"
He paused for a long moment, giving the audience time to consider his last statement, before continuing. "In the end, it wasn't me who defeated Voldemort, it was love – love of a woman for her child, so strong that the killing curse rebounded." He swallowed, trying to will away the snitch sized lump in his throat. "It was the love of a man for his childhood friend, who put himself in mortal danger every day to protect her son and provide vital information about Voldemort's plan. It was the love of another woman for her child. A woman who, when asked to check if I was really dead, lied to Voldemort to protect her son. If she had been discovered, she and her whole family would have no doubt suffered horrible consequences." He glanced to the back of the hall, where Narcissa Malfoy sat wide eyed in astonishment. "And finally, the Love of a great headmaster; Professor Dumbledore, for all his students as I know he thought of like his family. So as we remember and celebrate the lives of all those who should be sitting in the seats besides us," he made a sweeping gesture across the audience. "We should remember that it was the greatest magic of all that defeated darkness – love and a bit of help from Neville Longbottom with the sword of Gryffindor!" Neville's face turned as red as the Gryffindor banner as everyone turned to look at him.
Harry turned to step down from the stage as the audience burst into a roaring applause. He noticed that many of the people around him were dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs and he coloured slightly.