Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket.
A twist at the end of Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid.
Chapter 13: The Tale of the Water Beetle that was not. Part 2
I don't own the Harry Potter verse. Just playing.
Summary: A twist at the end of Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. As they approach the Leaky Cauldron to leave Diagon Alley, Hagrid decides to present Harry with his gold ticket to the Hogwarts Express, while Harry was really expecting to go directly to Hogwarts with Hagrid now. Harry asks a different question.
And that changes everything. HHr NLLL T for Characters deaths.
12/12/22 Beta alix33, Thank you.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Previously.
The news of the sudden extinction of all of the Death Eaters in Azkaban had completely caught Rita Beetle Skeeter off guard. Something was happening and the return of the Boy-Who-Lived had triggered it. That was the reason why Rita Beetle was waiting outside the office of the Minister of Magic that fateful moment.
To find out what would happen next.
Rita Beetle would not be disappointed.
Seeing the Toad and Slippery Lucius with a fearful Auror Yaxley rushing to the Minister's office, Rita Beetle hitched herself onto Yaxley's hat to get a free ride into the corrupted inner sanctum of Magical Power and Intrigue. Then she hid in a corner to not be seen.
Behind the closed door of the Minister's office, Rita Beetle was astounded to hear that the late Order of Merlin holder, Peter Pettigrew, had been found alive and was not as dead as everyone had thought. And worse for Fudge, Umbridge and Malfoy, Madam Bones had the rat.
What would Rita give to be present when Madam Bones extracted all of the rat's secrets. She made a note to visit the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
The Minister sat down with his war cabinet of Delores Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy to discuss this problem. In the privacy of their 'secure' office, Fudge, Umbridge and Malfoy freely discussed the situation without any care or consideration of who else might be listening. Once Fudge was convinced that not only was Pettigrew was still alive, but a real live evil Death Eater that posed a clear and present danger if his secrets were ever to come out to Madam Bones. Who now had locked down the DMLE, and worse still, had called in the famed Dark Wizard Hunter, Mad-Eye Moody.
They didn't blink to the facts that Sirius Black was innocent of the betrayal of the Potters, and had never even had a trial due to the manipulations of the Chief Warlock Dumbledore on Barty Crouch and the late Minister Millicent Bagnold. But poor Sirius Black had been thrown directly into Azkaban and had been rotting there forgotten for ten years.
Her blood was chilled to hear that Fudge feared that they wanted him to eliminate Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.
Then she saw how angry Lucius Malfoy was, Lucius who appeared to be driven half mad by some dark magic, and hadn't slept for a month. Lucius demanded that they immediately go to Plan B, and arrest Barty Crouch and make him their scapegoat.
Rita knew that the coward Fudge would quickly agree to make Crouch their scapegoat and cover his lime-green backside.
Rita Beetle hitched a ride on Yaxley's hat back to the Office of the Undersecretary, and was not surprised to see all the many friends Lucius had summoned to help in their hour of need. There were all his fellow former Imperiused Death Eaters that had gathered together to go on another raid instead of passing the matter to Madam Bones and the DMLE. She noticed that something was off with all the former Imperiused Death Eaters as they looked drained and aggravated like they haven't slept in a month. Umbridge went to shut down the Floo network connection to the home of Barty Crouch.
So Rita Beetle left the office of the Undersecretary with Fudge, Umbridge, Malfoy, Yaxley and Co via a Ministry Portkey and landed outside the walls of Crouch Manor, only to find that Barty had been busy over the last ten years turning his home into a prison fortress for some reason. That meant that they couldn't just kick the door down, drag poor Barty out and arrest him.
So while Fudge, Umbridge and Malfoy angrily discussed what to do next, Rita flew to a tree behind them and transformed back into herself. She set up her Quick-Quotes Quill and set it to Veritas mode to accurately record everything and who said what. Then she summoned her favourite photographer. She chuckled as she overheard the problems they were having trying to arrest Barty.
Bozo quietly appeared with his camera and Rita directed him to set it up to capture the action, and start taking the magical photo.
Both Rita and Bozo couldn't believe that Fudge had agreed to Baldrick's cunningly devised plan for Lucius and his Boys to pretend to be Death Eaters. They watched them change into 'pretend' Death Eaters, and then took a step back when they heard them cheerful chant.
"MORSMORDRE!"
"Sweet Merlin!" Rita whispered to Bozo. "They just look like real Death Eaters to me."
"Bloody hell, I have a bad feeling about this, Rita! What have you got me involved in?" Bozo whispered.
"Calm down and be quiet, Bozo. We are safe while they don't know that we are here." Rita whispered. "And they really want to get Barty. This could be the photograph that defines your career!"
"Okay, Rita. But you owe me big time!" Bozo replied. "Sweet Merlin, they all look so creepy and frightening in those horrible black hooded robes, and look just like real Death Eaters."
Rita continued. "Especially the short and dumpy cackling one in pink."
"Yeah! She makes my blood freeze!" Bozo replied. "I didn't think the Toad could get that evil!"
"Never underestimate how evil that toad is!"
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Barty knew trouble was coming when his floo went dead and that gave him a moment to prepare himself. He saw them arrive and noticed those useless Aurors, Yaxley and Dawlish were with them. He cursed as Dumbledore had insisted that he forgive and allow them a second chance. He knew that was going to bite him on his behind.
Barty monitored the situation. He chuckled when they got upset that they couldn't kick his door down. He heard Baldrick's suggestion and Malfoy's smooth talking, but he couldn't believe that idiot Fudge would agree to the cunningly devised plan to pretend to be Death Eaters. He wasn't fooled and it made his blood boil to see twenty real live Death Eaters standing outside his front door. Especially the short dumpy cackling pink one.
Barty considered his options and realised that this was going to be a showdown of epic proportions, as none of them would go quietly. And to try and arrest them would only get him twenty Killing Curses to his face. But he had to try.
He was reminded of the ultimate climax of his beloved wife's favourite spaghetti western movie. He was the Good, they were the Bad, and she was definitely the most Ugly.
Barty checked his wards for one last time and noticed that beside the twenty Death Eaters, two others were hiding next to the trees behind the Mob of Evil-Intent. He recognised the names of Rita Skeeter and Bozo the Magnificent, Ace Photographer for the Daily Prophet. He chuckled at the irony. Rita had brought a camera and her poison pen to a magical firefight. He wondered which one would be mightier. He hoped they would stay safe hiding, but time was running out.
Then on Malfoy's orders, the creepy pretend Death Eaters cast the Reducto Curse, aka the Death Eater door knock curse, at the walls of Fortress Crouch.
While the creepy pretend Death Eaters focused on their door knock curse on the reinforced stone walls of Fortress Crouch, the music rose in his heart as Barty disillusioned himself and stepped out his front door with his trusty wand in his hand. He was still an old-fashioned Auror at heart, and was going to meet them face to face. Even if they couldn't see him, he wouldn't be able hide his spell fire, once the curses flew, and there was no blocking the Unforgivable Killing Curse.
Barty realised that their usual tactic was to raid with five Death Eaters, ten at the most, and he had twenty outside his castle. He smirked as he remembered that the DMLE had never rescinded his last order that allowed lethal curses against Death Eaters. Plural, that is more than one. He had twenty of them, and he was thinking of the most lethal curse he knew if they didn't come quietly.
The disillusioned old Auror stood in front of the Death Eaters and silently cast the Amplifying Charm (Sonorous) on his throat. and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling his castle; his voice echoed over them, booming from many sources to every corner of the property, without revealing that he was actually standing disillusioned right in front of them.
"DEATH EATERS! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST! LAY YOUR WANDS DOWN! PUT YOUR HANDS UP! AND COME QUIETLY! THIS YOUR FIRST AND FINAL WARNING!"
The Death Eaters froze at the warning and looked at each other. Then laughed in Barty's disillusioned face and cast their door knock curse against the stone walls again. Barty had tried and gave them the chance they never gave anyone else. He focused as he got ready for plan B.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
"Knock, knock, Barty, Why won't you come out to play?" Called out the short and dumpy Death Eater in pink. She was so excited she was hopping around and evilly cackling with glee. While the other Death Eaters were laughing as they prepared to cast another door knock curse.
Poor Bozo was really creeped-out. He had seen many horrendous results of Death Eater raids, but never one in the process. The most horrible thing he had ever seen was that short and dumpy Death Eater in pink hopping around. That chilled him to the bone and the evil cackling with glee terrified him and loosed his bowels as his knees knocked together.
Suddenly, there was a blinding bright white flash!
"OOOPS!"
Unfortunately, the nervous, frightened and terrified Bozo had accidentally triggered his largest AHA Blitzlichtpulverlampe flash, and it had been triple charged. It went off with a blinding flash and caused all the surprised evil masked Death Eaters to stop and turn around to face the camera.
"Oh, crap!" Rita whispered as she instinctively transformed to make herself a smaller target.
While poor Bozo froze. He became a photographer because he hated being the center of attention.
It was a callous Lucius Malfoy who removed his skull mask to see what the flash was, and automatically raised his snake head wand to cast a Killing Curse at the poor frozen fearful photographer standing next to the camera.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Damn!" Whispered Barty. He was too slow and another one has died.
While the surprised Death Eaters laughed as poor Bozo collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.
"Never again!" Barty whispered harshly as the music rose in a crescendo. An angry enraged Barty Crouch struck, and used that opportune moment to launch all hell upon the hated Death Eaters who had corrupted his only son. A son that had just died a terrible death and whom he had buried that very afternoon. And now these monsters dared to attack his home and kill another innocent on his watch.
Barty gritted his teeth as he drew deep on his Magical core and dropped the disillusion charm so he could channel all of his magic as he pointed his wand at the most dangerous Death Eater on his right, and cast!
"Fiendfyre!"
The burning white hot flames erupted from his wand and took the shape of a terrifying vengeful dragon as Barty launched it in a controlled fast moving arc. The curse building in intensity with each magical core it consumed, as it charged through the evil Death Eaters starting with the most dangerous, the partially transformed werewolf Fenrir Greyback on his right flank. The evil vicious werewolf tried to howl his pain as the flames incinerated his hairy body.
Followed by Pius Thicknesse, Walden Macnair, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle and the rest. Some desperately tried to apparate away but hit the anti-Dark Mark ward, got zapped by a billion electron volts (BEV), and fell back down into the Fiendfyre firestorm.
The Fiendfyre Dragon raced through and consumed the black robes, until the last four: DEA Yaxley, the pink Toad, the idiot Minister he couldn't stand, and Slippery Lucius Malfoy on the far left.
Yaxley was frozen to the spot like a rabbit caught in the headlights. His last thought was that this wasn't supposed to happen to him as the Fiendfyre dragon ploughed through the Death Eater Auror and turned him to ash.
Rita Beetle watched as the short and dumpy evil toad in pink forgot she was a witch, and started to storm over to destroy the camera and the incriminating evidence it contained. Totally oblivious to the firestorm behind her. But she only got two steps before the Fiendfyre Dragon caught her by surprise. She fizzled as she was so full of bile as the intense all-consuming flames touched her back and turned her to ash as the Fiendfyre consumed her pathetic piteous magical core and received a slight boost.
Fudge was another fool who though he would never be on the wrong end of a curse, and was frozen like a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights as the Fiendfyre Dragon ran over him, and fried him to ash with his silly lime-green bowler hat as the flames grew a little more from his pathetic magical core.
Slippery Lucius Malfoy was last on the far left flank, and he showed that he didn't have a single remorseful bone in his body as he proved to be the murderous evil despicable Death Eater that he had always been. He had a moment to turned back and saw that Barty had indeed come out to play. But in his focused tunnel vision, the Death Eater didn't notice that Barty was playing with fire.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A sneering Slippery just managed to cast his last Killing Curse at Barty Crouch just before he too realised in utter terror that he was about to be most painfully incinerated by the charging Fiendfyre dragon.
Barty was so focused on controlling his rampaging Fiendfyre dragon that he couldn't dodge the Killing Curse. Not even if he wanted to. He smiled as he saw the hateful sneer on the face of his archnemesis, Slippery Lucius Malfoy, change to utter dread and onwards to unspeakable consummate terror as the evil Death Eater suddenly realised that the Fiendfyre dragon had started to painfully incinerate him, just before the deadly green curse hit Barty and sent him off on his next great adventure. That smile would be forever on his face for in the end, he had won. He had gotten all of the hated Death Eaters that dare to attack his castle.
Fortunately for Rita and the camera, the magical cores of the Death Eaters had been almost completely drained through their Dark Mark link to their Dark Lord, and once Barty had died, there was not much magic left to feed the Fiendfyre and it flamed out and died with a fart.
Rita Beetle transformed back into herself and collapsed to her knees and was almost sick as the air was thick with the smell of burnt toad and fried hairy dog. In less than ten seconds the most evil witch and wizards in all of Magical Britain had been incinerated and turned into piles of ash. She knew none of them were innocent and had used their ill-gotten gold to escape justice. Now they were all dead in the most painful way.
Rita looked sadly at the body of her favourite photographer, the last innocent victim of the Death Eaters. That evil unrepentant Lucius Malfoy didn't hesitate to cast the Unforgivable Killing Curse, and it happen so quickly that there was nothing she could do to save her friend. But she couldn't leave him behind.
Rita knew she didn't have much time as she cast her wand over Bozo and transfigured his body into a clown doll and placed him into her bottomless handbag with the camera and Quick-Quotes notes.
Rita had a final check to make sure she didn't leave anything behind, and saw the body of Barty Crouch.
"Sweet Merlin, Baldrick's crazy cunningly devised plan actually worked. Old Barty couldn't resist coming outside of his fortress for the chance of catching some Death Eaters."
Rita carefully walked past the piles of ash to the fallen former head of the DMLE. She saw the smile of satisfaction frozen on the face of Barty Crouch as though he had completed his life's work. She gently rolled him onto his back and adjusted the body to make him look more dignified and more Barty-like, with his eyes closed and his arms across his chest with his still smoking wand placed in his hand.
Standing up she paused in silence for a minute, then quietly spoke.
"I never liked you Barty, too much of a sticker for the rules, but you tried your best. I hated that Malfoy and his friends walked free on Dumbledore's forgiveness, while so many good people never got a second chance to live, and the Boy-Who-Lived was locked away from the magical world. I don't know what Dumbledore had on you to get someone like you to agree to send Sirius Black to rot in Azkaban without a trial."
Rita paused for a moment and then it hit her. "Dumbledore knew about your son, didn't he? Of course he did! He never misses a trick!"
Rita shook her head in anger. "I am sorry for the position the headmaster put you in, but he has screwed over everyone! Especially, Sirius Black and Harry Potter! To what end, I do not know?"
Rita paused and calmed down. "Well today, Barty, you more than made up for your part in this unholy crapstorm, and your quick action saved my life. I promise you that everyone will know what you did here today. Outnumbered twenty to one against the most evil witch and sadistic wizards in all of Magical Britain, and you didn't run away and hide, nor left it to others to risk their lives. Those Death Eaters were never going to go quietly. You were always very outspoken against the Dark Side, and today you put those words into action. You were magnificent and exceeded all expectations, and saved the lives of so many who will not perish because of those evil Death Eaters. Thank you, Bartemius Crouch. May you rest in peace."
Rita wiped a tear from her eye. She had a good idea of what would happen now that the dark side has been eliminated, and the changes this victory will cause for all of Magical Great Britain. She heard the arrival of a Ministry Portkey.
"Time to go. Clear skies Barty!" She whispered as she transformed to fly off in the opposite direction before she apparated back to Diagon Alley, just before the Aurors could discover her.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Mad-Eye Moody's story.
Meanwhile. Earlier that fateful afternoon.
Retired Senior Master Auror Alastor Moody, Mad-Eye to all of his friends and enemies, was absolutely bored out of his brain with his retirement and was completely lost at what to do. He had been disgusted how Malfoy and his Death Eater friends walked free after the last Blood War when he had seen so many of his friends not go home at the end of their shift.
Mad-Eye Moody had been overjoyed to receive the Code Black Communiqué Patronus from Madam Bones and he immediately grabbed his go bag and left. Madam Bones was so glad to see him and quickly explained the situation. He was to head a secret investigation of the rat, Peter Pettigrew, and find out how he was still alive, and all of his evil little secrets. This was the breakthrough he has been searching for. A living unprotected unknown and unpardoned Death Eater full of secrets. Malfoy wasn't going to walk this time.
Fortunately, Moody had been in the DMLE when he saw that dubious Auror Yaxley come in and suspiciously immediately turn around and leave. His spider senses were screaming and he would have followed him but he knew he needed to stay put to protect Madam Bones. Then a little while later all the alarms sounded that some hostiles with evil intent had breached the outer wards at Crouch Manor, home of the former head of the DMLE.
After curses had been cast sooner than was expected, Mad-Eye led the Advance team of Aurors as they Portkeyed to near Crouch Manor to avoid a Fiendfyre firestorm. The air was thick with the disgusting stench of fried toad and burnt dog hair with the delicate essence of lavender from Malfoy's blond locks. He had witness the devastation caused by Fiendfyre before, but this was a whole new level. With Constant Vigilance they spread out to secured the site and found twenty piles of ash with a burnt lime-green bowler hat, and a burnt pink cardigan and hood, all surrounded by the devastation of the Fiendfyre. And one smiling body of Barty Crouch. He realised that the body had been moved a little to look dignified and comfortable, and so Barty-like, with his still smoking wand in his hand. The small footprints in the ash that disappeared mid step, gave him a good idea who had been there. Silently he thanked her for showing such uncharacteristic care and respect. But he also realised that if the Daily Prophet already had the story, then they were running out of time.
Everyone else noticed the dignified position Barty Crouch was found in, and were touched by the care and respect shown. They paused for a moment to remember.
Mad-Eye recognised the snake head wand of Lucius Malfoy and confirmed that the Death Eater had cast two killing Curses, plus a crapload of Unforgivable Curses that would have given him life in Azkaban if he wasn't already dead. Even Malfoy didn't that much gold. Then he checked Barty's still smoking wand to confirm that he had cast the Fiendfyre Curse. He noted that the Fiendfyre Curse had damaged and burnt out the core of Barty's wand, and it couldn't reveal any other past spells. All the other wands had been burnt by the Fiendfyre.
Once the site was secured, Mad-Eye sent a Communiqué Patronus to Madam Bones with the all clear signal.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Rita went straight into the office of the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Cuffe, and announced.
"Stop the presses! The Minister is dead!"
Rita quickly explained the attack on Fortress Crouch. Barnabas noticed that Rita's face was glowing red from the Fiendfyre, and his contact in the Ministry had earlier told him the DMLE was in lockdown and Mad-Eye Moody was back, but no one knew why. Convinced that this would be the story that defined his career, he immediately called in and reassigned all the resources of the Daily Prophet to help Rita get this story done. The film was rushed through processing while others were given copies of the Quick-Quotes notes and assigned to do background research on each of the Death Eaters that had gone on the raid, plus Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and especially Barty Crouch.
Rita rushed off to write the scoop of her life. The details were so vivid in her mind that she didn't need to use her acid green Quick Quotes Quill to spin the event for all the details were true. Even she couldn't make this stuff up. The headline for tomorrow's Daily Prophet would read, Firefight at Crouch Manor. With the subheadline, The Last Stand of the Death Eaters. And the last photo Bozo had taken would fill the front page in full colour of the attack from the pretend Death Eaters, the first and last killing curse with the Fiendfyre dragon in the middle.
And she would make sure to include a large section retelling of the tale of the courage and bravery of Barty Crouch, who left the safety of his fortress to face alone, twenty of the most evil witch and heinous wizards in all of Magical Britain, and saved her life.
The words just flowed from her mind and heart, and onto the parchments.
Twenty minutes later the film processor wizard had finished and had printed enlarged copy of Bozo's photo.
"Bloody Hell!"
Everyone stopped when they heard the film processor wizard swear. He brought the enlarged copy of the magical photo that Bozo had taken. Everyone followed him into Barnabas' office to watch the magical moving picture and saw that everything Rita had said was unbelievably true. Inspired that this was the big one, they doubled their efforts to make this a special edition of the Daily Prophet to be remembered. While Barnabas told the printers to order a ton more parchment and be ready for a print run that would be three times larger than usual.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Madam Bones and the second team Portkeyed to Fortress Crouch along with five Unspeakables. Moody showed her the dignified body of Barty Crouch and gave her a hint that Rita had already been there, and they were playing catch-up. She was moved by the care and respect shown to her former boss and paused and remembered. Investigator Anna Daily started to take the crime scene photos.
Moody gave her a very quick report and showed her the unmistakable burnt lime-green bowler hat, and a burnt pink cardigan that proved that the Fudge and the Toad had abused their authority for the last time and had made they final house call. They won't be heroes today.
Croaker cast the special DoM version of the Homenum Revelio charm to confirm the identity of the piles of ash next to the lime-green bowler hat and pink cardigan. "That is definitely the remains of all of Fudge and Umbridge. They didn't escape and died here."
Madam Bones, head of the DMLE, acted on the information that the Minister of Magic was dead and immediately returned to her office to enacted the emergency protocols to secure the Ministry of Magic in the event of the death of the Minister. Leaving Moody to wrap up the scene.
Croaker, Padfoot and the Unspeakables quickly confirmed the identities of the other piles of ash as the Aurors followed them. The Aurors smiled and fist pumped when the remains of Lucius Malfoy was identified, and they cheered and fist pumped when the remains of the notorious werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, was identified.
Croaker assigned the other Unspeakables to check that there no nasty things left behind, and then he and Sirius started to carry out their own investigation to piece together from what they already knew and fill in the missing parts. They too were touched by the care and respect shown to Barty Crouch.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
When the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Cuffe, saw the last photo taken by Bozo, he decided to win some brownie points with the head of the DMLE, Madam Bones, and personally delivered a pre-publication copy of the photo of the Firefight along with a draft of Rita's article including the murder of Bozo and the bit about Sirius Black being innocent and the guilt of the real murder and betrayer of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew. With the death of Fudge and Umbridge, there was a strong possibility that Madam Bones would be the next Minister of Magic and he didn't want to get onto her bad side when this story hit the streets.
He wasn't surprised to see all the activity in the DMLE but was a little unnerved when all the action stopped as the desk Auror guided him directly through the chaos and straight into the office of Madam Bones. He also noticed that Madam Bones was sitting behind her desk waiting with her hands steepled and didn't seem to be surprised to see him. So he unrolled the giant magical moving picture on her desk and started to play.
"Sweet Merlin! Rita had your Photographer there?" Madam Bones exclaimed.
"Rita followed a story and called up her favourite Photographer Bozo to capture the action. No one would have believed her without seeing it. She had no idea how bad it would go." Barnabas replied.
Madam Bones was amazed that the detail of the giant magical photo that Bozo had taken, as you could identify everyone there. She even chuckled at Baldrick's insane cunningly devised plan was accepted. Sadly she already knew that it had actually worked. Then she cursed when they all turned into real Death Eaters with their black hooded robes and their white skull Death masks.
She dreaded to hear them cast their door knock curse, but smiled to hear Barty's voice arresting them all.
Only for the Death Eaters to laugh and cast again.
Then there was a bright flash of light and all the masked Death Eaters turned to face the camera.
"Sweet Merlin!" She said as she ducked the Killing Curse and saw the firestorm. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "That is an amazing picture. I have seen the damage done but it is another thing to watch that Fiendfyre dragon in action. I didn't realised how upset Barty still was after ten years."
"Yes, he really hated Death Eaters." Barnabas agreed. "That copy is for your records. There will be a full page photo on tomorrow's Daily Prophet."
"Oh, could I have two more copies please, Alastor would love one?" Barnabas nodded. "And could I suggest that for your front page that you blur the green Killing Curses somewhat, as it is a little too close for comfort."
"I concur. It scared the crap out of me when I first saw it. Never been that close to an Unforgivable Killing Curse!"
"Nor me, and I never want to!"
Barnabas only had two questions to ask of her. "Is it true that Peter Pettigrew has been captured alive?"
Receiving a positive nod, he asked the second question. "And Pettigrew is a Death Eater?"
Receiving a second positive nod, he whispered. "Sweet Merlin! And Dumbledore?"
"Of course he knew. He never misses a trick!" Madam Bones said with disgust. "Pettigrew was one of his boys, and he was probably trying to forgive him and lead him back to the light."
Barnabas whispered. "Sweet Merlin!"
Now it was Madam Bones' turn and she asked. "I am sorry for your loss, but we didn't find your photographer Bozo there?"
"Oh? Yes? Well?"
"I am thinking of placing Barty Crouch in the Atrium to lay in state so everyone can pay their respects. Shall I make room for your photographer Bozo?"
"I think that would be greatly appreciated. I will make the arrangements." Barnabas said.
"And could you pass on our thanks to Rita for the care and respect she showed Barty Crouch."
"Care and respect?" Barnabas wondered what Rita had done.
Madam Bones took out a crime scene photo that showed a dignified Barty Crouch lying on his back with his eyes closed and his arms across his chest with his still smoking wand placed in his hand. With the Aurors standing respectively around.
Barnabas picked up the photo to look at it. The dignified position of Barty moved him.
"We don't believe Barty would have landed like that after he was struck by Malfoy's killing curse. We are not allowed to adjust the body, and it moved my Aurors to find their old boss shown such care and respect." Madam Bones explained.
Still looking at the photo, Barnabas replied. "Rita said that Barty's quick action saved her life. It was the least she could do."
"Please thank her." Madam Bones said with a hint to not adjust crime scenes in the future as she passed a piece of parchment for the registration of an Animagus form.
Barnabas picked up the parchment and nodded with a slight smile. Then he thought. "We are doing an in-depth article on Barty, but all our stock photos are ten years old. This would be the most recent and the best photo of Barty I have seen. Would we be able to use it, perhaps?"
Madam Bones nodded. "Please credit DMLE Investigator Anna Daily."
"Thank you, Minister." Barnabas said with a smile of encouragement as he left with the photo. He hoped Madam Bones would take the hint as Magical Britain needed a good leader for a better future.
Barnabas knew what a tsunami wave of change were coming and he rushed back to prepared the Daily Prophet to surf the crest with in-depth articles of the failure of the Death Eater trials and a certain colourful wizard who was responsible. He even printed letters to the editor and memorials to those lost.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Once the site was made more secured and safe, the preliminary investigation was soon completed. Mad-Eye cast the Stasis and Petrificus Totalus, the full Body-Bind Charm on the body of Barty Crouch.
Solemnly Mad-Eye spoke to their hearts. "He was a Wizard of Magical Britain. He answered the call even as he stood alone in the valley of the Shadow of Death, outnumbered twenty to one, he feared no evil. He was an Auror's Auror. And the bravest and most courageous wizard I know. Who will help me honour him?"
Everyone there, Auror and Unspeakable, stepped forward. Sirius was there among the eight next to the body. They put their wands away and knelt down to pick up the late former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and raised him up to their shoulders.
Unspeakable and Aurors carried the honoured warrior on their shoulders as they marched slowly off the Field of Battle and carried him home for the last time to Fortress Crouch. They laid him on a table in the living room. Two old Aurors volunteered to stay behind for the Honour Guard until arrangements could be prepared for him.
Moody sent the rest of the Aurors back to the DMLE with the remains of the Death Eaters, Fudge and the Toad in small black plastic Muggle (garbage) body-bags. The preliminary report particularly noted that Barty had taken extreme care to concentrate and focus the Fiendfyre Curse solely on the attacking Death Eaters and leaving the rest of his home and garden relatively untouched. That showed extreme skill and mastery and the control that Barty had shown all of his life.
After the Aurors left, Mad-Eye continued to investigate why Barty's response to the attack had been so devastatingly brutal. He knew Barty had been ruthless so and so, in his pursuit of the Death Eaters, but twenty in one go was a little excessive even for him. In truth, Mad-Eye was a little jealous that Barty didn't leave any for him. He would have loved to have been standing shoulder to shoulder with his old boss when it all went down. Not so much as to share the glory but to have helped his friend to have survived.
With the deaths of Fenrir Greyback, Malfoy and Fudge, Mad-Eye smirked as he realised that if he asked nicely, Madam Bones might allow him to go his own Plan B, and hunt down the rest of Fenrir Greyback's pack and finish the work Barty had started.
Mad-Eye continued to investigate inside the manor and soon found that there had been more than one living at Fortress Crouch, and he went looking and found the fresh grave of a recently deceased Barty Crouch junior. The fact that junior was supposed to have died ten years ago in Azkaban was a mystery he didn't have time for now, but the body showed signs of the Dark Mark withering disease and excessive application of the Imperius Curse with Barty senior's magical signature. Mad-Eye soon put most of it together that Barty was beside himself with grief at losing his only son when all the evil Death Eaters who had corrupted his son show up on his doorstep. That was only going to end with one result and fortunately Barty made sure it ended his way.
Mad-Eye returned to Madam Bones with his completed his report with no mention of the mystery of Barty junior. They were all dead now but something told him that Dumbledore was involved somehow.
Madam Bones rewarded him with an enlarged magical print of Bozo's Last Photo. He mounted it over his fireplace. He could name each Death Eater as the Fiendfyre Dragon ate them. Madam Bones was happy to green light Mad-Eye's plan B.
A week later, Mad-Eye return to Madam Bones with the rest of Fenrir Greyback's pack. Without their leader, they all surrendered quietly to avoid the Dementor's kiss. They were found guilty at their trials and were sent to Azkaban forever.
Mad-Eye Moody stuck around to follow his hunch about Dumbledore still being at the center of all this and will be his turn to dance soon.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Croaker quickly sent his team of Unspeakables to double-check the wards around Fortress Crouch and ensure that there no nasty things left behind, while he and Padfoot continued to carry out their own investigation. They saw that Severus' very Slytherin plan had worked far beyond all their expectations, and they were surprised how quickly Fudge, Umbridge and Malfoy were able to get it all together after their first decision to send Yaxley to eliminate Sirius and Pettigrew, had failed. They were dealing with cold-blooded murders who would do anything to anyone who would threaten them. And Dumbledore wanted to give these monsters all unlimited second chances to repent? They were so glad Mad-Eye Moody was with Madam Bones and scared off Yaxley. He would have murdered her to get to Pettigrew.
Then as expected, Malfoy decided to go to Plan B, and go after Barty Couch in a classic Death Eater raid with the Floo network shutdown. They very quickly assembled their fellow Death Eaters in the large Office of the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic.
Croaker and Sirius were shocked that it was all over before the Aurors arrived. In one foul swoop Fudge, Umbridge, Malfoy and Crouch along with all of the remaining Death Eaters in Britain had been eliminated from the game, and it had only taken one hour to complete. They had seen on their special map that Madam Bones had send an Auror to arrest Edgecombe and Hopkirk for shutting down the Floo connection to Fortress Crouch that would have prevented Barty from escaping or calling for help. Those two must have done that many times during the Death Eaters attacks ten years ago which blocked that means of escape for so many of their friends.
That left only Dumbledore as a clear and present threat to Harry and Sirius.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Meanwhile.
Madam Bones, head of the DMLE, acted on the first report of information from Moody, that the Minister of Magic was dead and immediately returned to her office to enact the emergency protocols to secure the Ministry of Magic. She sent information to the Chief Warlock only to discover that Dumbledore was indisposed and typically, he hadn't bothered to tell anyone.
Madam Bones was not surprised by the visit, but was indeed very thankful to the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Cuffe, for giving her an advance copy of tomorrow's headline story and photo, as she had seen the war zone at Fortress Crouch, and only found the dignified body of Barty Crouch and twenty neat piles of ash with a burnt lime-green bowler hat, and a burnt pink cardigan, all surrounded by the stench of burnt toad and hairy dog.
Now she watched what had happened and read why it happened. She was so proud of her old boss to attempt to arrest the Death Eaters first. That would shut up the Manipulative Old Fool and stop him from complaining that the Death Eaters should have been given a chance to repent.
Though to watch a sneering Lucius Malfoy in Death Eater robes casting the Killing Curse at someone just to the right of the camera's point of view was a little unnerving. Fortunately she not seen the evil green curse that close before. But she felt like cheering for Barty as his Fiendfyre dragon incinerated the toad and all the other evil Death Eaters. Though seeing Yaxley and Dawlish there answered a number of questions she wasn't allowed to ask, and she knew she had found the spies in the DMLE.
The loss of so many prominent Pure-blood wizards and the death of the current Minister of Magic will send shock waves through Magical Britain and completely change forever the Balance of Power in the Wizengamot. And she saw Barnabas hint of who he thought should be the next Minister and considered the possibilities.
The Ministry of Magic was changed forever this afternoon. A change that should have happened ten years ago but was stopped by the vested interests of a few powerful wizards and a particular hateful witch. That problem was solved by Bartemius Crouch.
The death of that horrible hateful toad was just the cherry on top. She was such a loathsome vexation of spirit.
If she could she would encourage the Wizengamot to award Barty Crouch the Order of Merlin just for eliminating the toad. Why Fudge would have such a nasty horrible hateful witch as an Undersecretary she would never know. In fact she didn't want to know.
The questioning of Etta Edgecombe and Mafalda Hopkirk explained why the Floo connection to Fortress Crouch had been disconnected, and that led to the discovery that this was not the first time such unscheduled maintenance of the Floo Network had been done. Edgecombe and Hopkirk tried to blame the Toad for all the unscheduled maintenance of the Floo Network that happened during the Blood War, ten years before. That explained why her brother was unable to escape or call for help when the Death Eaters came to his home. At least someone was going to Azkaban for the rest of their lives if they don't get kissed.
After the Unspeakables Croaker and Padfoot had delivered Pettigrew to her, she had a question that somehow they were behind the series of unfortunate events that led to the Firefight at Fortress Crouch, but that could just be a coincident as she knew the DMLE leaked like a sieve and Yaxley had discovered that the rat had been captured. So, she doubted their involvement as it was far too far a Slytherin move for either Gryffindor to pull off successfully. She wondered if there was a Slytherin in the background who hated the Death Eaters that much to come up with such a brilliant cunningly devised plan. Even Dumbledore couldn't pull off such a brilliant plan. But she knew it wasn't him simply because all the wrong wizards had died, and those deaths had also destroyed his balance of power in the Wizengamot.
So she searched her office for spying and listening hexes. The only ones she found had the headmaster's magical signature and she wondered if he was playing both sides against each other or just wanted to eliminate Barty Crouch and it blew up in his face again. Angrily she tried to remove the spying and listening hexes but found that they were permanent. So she placed a little clam shell speaker that was charmed to play Achy Breaky Heart continuously at maximum volume over the spy hexes and covered them with silencing runes.
Pleased with her the effectiveness of her ancient runes, Madam Bones wondered why this was happening now after ten quiet years, and it could be the mysterious Harry Potter Effect as everything started to happen after his eleventh birthday when he would have received his Hogwarts Acceptance Letter followed by his visit to Diagon Alley. Since then all the evil Death Eaters in Azkaban have died, and then there was a magical firestorm that destroyed the Muggle home where Dumbledore had trapped Harry for ten years. Her investigators had found the old fool's magical signature over everything and a squib who lived nearby was very happy to talk and cheerfully told her how the headmaster had been caught up in the explosion that his arrogance and stupidity had caused, and now he was unavailable for questioning. If it was ever possible to get a straight answer out of him. She chuckled at the thought of the headmaster finally getting blown up in one of his own Machiavellian schemes.
She smiled as she thought of her niece, Susan. She had been excitedly following the stories in Teen Weekly about the return of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, to the Magical World. But it seems that this return has triggered a lot of unforeseen changes.
A lot of changes for the better.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
There was pandemonium once the Daily Prophet hit the streets and overnight the British Magical World had changed. The headline of the Special Super Edition of the Daily Prophet read, Firefight at Crouch Manor. With the subheadline, The Last Stand of the Death Eaters. And the last photo Bozo had taken filled the front page in full colour of the attack from the pretend Death Eaters, the first and last killing curse with the Fiendfyre dragon in the middle.
On page two was a full page photo of a kindly smiling Bozo with his trusty camera surrounded by a thick black border and the headline in gold letters; Bozo, the last innocent victim of the Death Eaters.
Rita and all the other reporters and staff had written heartfelt tributes to their favourite photographer and these were printed in gold lettering around the magically moving photo.
"Sweet Merlin!" Sirius Black exclaimed when he saw the Special Edition of the Daily Prophet as Madam Longbottom pushed it under his nose as he arrived for breakfast.
"You wouldn't have anything to do with that? Would you?" Madam Longbottom demanded. "My Unspeakable brother won't say a thing."
Sirius glanced over to Croaker who was chuckling away with his head buried in his own copy of the Daily Prophet. He looked back at Madam Longbottom and whispered. "Sorry, Unspeakable oath."
Then Sirius quickly transformed into Padfoot and snatched the newspaper in his mouth and ran off to find a quiet corner to read before Madam Longbottom could catch him.
Madam Longbottom watched the black grim run off and chuckled. "Am I really that scary? I just wanted to find out what they did and thank them. I was there when Severus suggested this plan. I better call the old guard together as we have an awful lot of good things to discuss. But first I need to tell Governess Nymphadora to find somewhere to hide Harry for the day."
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
The black grim scrambled up the stairs and headed for his bedroom and on to his balcony. Seeing he was clear, he transformed back and laid the paper flat on the table and studied the full page magical moving picture that showed in great detail what had happened at Fortress Crouch the afternoon before. He touched the photo with his wand to turn up the audio and watched and listened as the tragedy unfolded. Then he read the tributes to Bozo followed by the article written by Ace Reporter Rita Skeeter.
Firefight at Crouch Manor.
The Last Stand of the Death Eaters.
By Eyewitness Ace Reporter Rita Skeeter.
Yes my dear readers, you read that correctly. The Death Eaters were back and thanks to the courage and bravery and devotion to duty of the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, they are gone for good. These evil Death Eaters will never be given any more second chances.
These murderous Death Eaters were led to the home of Bartemius Crouch by the late Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and his Undersecretary, Delores Umbridge, who proved to be an unknown pink Death Eater. Along with You-Know-Who's right-hand man and unrepentant UN-Imperious Cursed and Notorious mass murderer, Lucius Malfoy, plus seventeen of Malfoy's closes friends. Most of whom were also cleared at the absurdity that was the Death Eater trials a decade ago. See the following articles on the catastrophic failure of the Death Eater Trials due to gold, greed, corruption and the Greater Good of You-Know-Who. (Not him, the other colourful one!)
Death Eater Lucius Malfoy sent Madam Umbridge to Magical Transport and order Madam Edgecombe to do an emergency unscheduled maintenance shutdown of the Floo connection to the home of Bartemius Crouch that would have prevented anyone from escaping or calling for help. How many times had that happened ten years ago during the Death Eaters attacks? The shutdown of the Floo would have blocked that means of escape for so many of our friends.
When Umbridge returned they all touched the Ministry Portkey and left. Ready for trouble with their wands out.
Sirius snorted when he read how the Death Eaters arrived at Crouch Manor only to find that Barty had turned it into a prison fortress over the last ten years, and the idiots were stuck outside and left to argue amongst themselves to decide what to do. The article went on to explain the action in the magical moving picture moment by moment, and emphasized that Barty tried to arrest the Death Eaters. Sirius nodded as Barty would do that and it moved him that Old Barty didn't stoop to the level of Death Eaters, and Dumbledore couldn't complain.
Then the article emphasized the unfortunate tragic murder of the Ace Photographer of the Daily Prophet.
Ace Photographer, Bozo, bravely came and set up his camera so you my dear readers may witness the overreach and abuse of power of Minister Fudge who led this unlawful attack on the home of the former head of the DMLE, Bartemius Crouch. Sadly Lucius Malfoy and his friends showed their true colours and it is black. Along with their black hearts when they cheerfully transformed into their hated Black Death Eater Hooded Robes and evil bleached bone skull masks. You, my dear readers, were not fooled like that idiot Cornelius Fudge. These evil wizards and witch were real live Death Eaters. My poor Bozo wanted to leave the camera and hide, and no one would blame him. But he was always the professional and courageously stayed by his post.
But it was the short and dumpy Death Eater in pink that was hopping around evilly cackling with glee, that frightened poor Bozo so much that he accidentally triggered his largest AHA Blitzlichtpulverlampe black powder camera flash, that for a moment made the shy Photographer the center of attention.
All the evil Death Eaters stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Bozo. It was the Notorious mass murderer, and confirmed Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, who removed his skull mask so he could see clearly to cast the Unforgivable Killing Curse at my dear friend Bozo, the Ace Photographer of the Daily Prophet.
And the evil Death Eaters all laughed as poor brave Bozo fell to the ground, dead.
The article went on to praise the action of old Barty that saved her life at the cost of his own. He was moved by the words Rita said to thank and say goodbye to the fallen hero. Then the article got serious and asked the important questions.
And why did Bozo die?
It only took a moment for Lucius Malfoy to decide to brutally murder my friend, as they wouldn't want any witnesses to their evil actions.
Bartemius Crouch had courageously come outside his Fortress alone to face twenty of the most evil Death Eaters, and courageously, he tried to arrest all them like the old-fashioned Auror he was. If Bartemius hadn't hesitated to follow the rules and give all these Death Eaters the chance they never gave anyone else. Then my friend Bozo would still be alive.
But once the green Unforgivable Killing Curse was cast, Bartemius didn't hold back and immediately reacted to put them all down hard and cast that Fiendfyre Curse that took the shape of an Avenging Dragon that eliminated all those Death Eaters, and directly saved my life. And the lives of so many other innocents who would have perished if these evil Death Eaters were given yet another second chance from Albus Dumbledore.
Sadly, the evil Notorious mass murderer, Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater to his very end, and his last moments were focused on casting the Unforgivable Killing Curse at the brave and courageous Bartemius Crouch and ended his long and distinguish life of service.
And why did this tragic Firefight happen?
It happened because something we were told by Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore ten years ago, was a lie!
After the tragic murder of James and Lily Potter, Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore called an emergency session of the Wizengamot, and wanted them to ignore the last will and testament of the Potters, and instead appoint him the sole Magical Guardian of young Harry Potter. He told them that the Potters were hiding under the Fidelius Charm, and that Sirius Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper that betrayed James and Lily to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
This was an absolute lie!
Sirius Black was not the Secret-Keeper that betrayed James and Lily Potter. The actual Secret-Keeper that did was their other friend, Peter Piper Pettigrew. It was Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters and even led He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to the very door of their hiding place.
Sirius Black was not and has never been a Death Eater! But Peter Pettigrew is a Death Eater! And the traitor in Dumbledore's secret private militia called; Order of the Phoenix!
Sirius Black didn't murder Peter Pettigrew and those poor unfortunate Muggles ten years ago. But it was an innocent Pure-blood wizard was sent directly to Azkaban without a trial, and left to rot for ten years haunted by Dementors.
We know this because Peter Pettigrew has been found alive, and he has the evil Death Eaters' Dark Mark on his left arm. And he has been given to Madam Bones for questioning. Questions that Cornelius Fudge, Delores Umbridge and especially Lucius Malfoy did not want to be answered.
Sirius added in his mind. 'And Dumbledore, especially Dumbledore!'
Madam Bones showed that she is a courageous and competent leader and realised the importance of Death Eater Peter Pettigrew being found alive. She immediately ordered the few remaining highly skilled and trustworthy Aurors, including the famed Dark Wizard Hunter, Retired Senior Master Auror Mad-Eye Moody, to report to her for duty. She was ready to act when the time came.
I sadly say the few remaining highly skilled and trustworthy Aurors, because over the last ten years Minister Fudge under the encouragement of his friend Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, had been cutting the budget and funding to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Reducing the number of Aurors and their training.
Now we know why Fudge and Malfoy were defunding, undermining and weakening the DMLE. The Death Eaters never went away and were still active amongst us!
Why Sirius Black?
Sirius Black was appointed by James and Lily Potter to be the Godfather of their son, Harry Potter, and Sirius stood between Harry Potter and the absolute influence and control of Albus Dumbledore!
Sirius Black is also the Black Heir, and stood between the greedy Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, and the Black Family Fortune!
Sirius marvelled at the amount of information Rita had and all of it was true. And she absolutely eviscerated Dumbledore, Fudge and the Death Eaters.
The article went on and on. Encouraging readers to pay their respects and thanks to Bartemius Crouch and Bozo, who will be honoured by lying in state in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic.
The article concluded with.
My dear readers, you will no doubt be amazed and horrified of the events of yesterday afternoon. But will be comforted that we have amazing brave and courageous wizards just like Bartemius Crouch. There is the famed Dark Wizard Hunter, and Retired Senior Master Auror Mad-Eye Moody who was ready and able to do what was right. But most of all we have the amazing brave and courageous Madam Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who showed her brilliant leadership and immediately acted to save lives and secured the Ministry of Magic after the death of that failure, Cornelius Fudge.
If Madam Bones stands for the position of Minister of Magic, she already has my vote!
Sirius couldn't believe what he was reading. Even though he knew it was all true. For ten years it had been his dream of freedom to be with his Godson. Now it was coming true.
The Special Edition contained more articles that were written by every reporter it had, and each article was full of supporting details of the firefight and why it happened with major in-depth articles on the career of the courageous and brave Barty Crouch, the Series of Unfortunate Events of Sirius Black and the undeadness of Peter Pettigrew, followed by detail articles on each of the Death Eaters who died, and Minister Fudge and the evil cackling pink Toad.
The article on the former head of the DMLE had a half page photo that showed a dignified Barty Crouch laying on his back with his eyes closed and his arms across his chest with his still smoking wand placed in his hand, and the Aurors standing respectfully around. Everyone who saw the photo was moved to pause and remember Barty Crouch who was a true Auror to the very end.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
That morning Remus Lupin travelled to Godric's Hollow to purchase supplies in preparation of the coming full moon. He was looking forward to this full moon as it might be the first one where he doesn't go all wolfie. When he got there he saw a strange sight of wizards and witches gathered together reading the Daily Prophet and talking excitedly about Barty Crouch, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. He decided to purchase his own copy only to find out that he would have to wait half an hour while the special edition of Daily Prophet for that day was republished for the fifth time. He finished shopping and bought his copy and was amazed to read of the Death Eater raid on Fortress Crouch and it shocked him to see that werewolf Fenrir Greyback being incinerated by Fiendfyre.
Remus didn't know how he felt to see that monster who turned him was finally dead and couldn't infect any more innocents. Then he read the articles to discover that his best friend Sirius Black was innocent and it was Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed James and Lily, and framed Sirius for murder. And so many important officials were involved in the cover up. Particularly Albus Dumbledore.
Remus always knew Sirius could never betray James and Lily, but he had no proof that could stand up against the word of Albus Dumbledore. And the headmaster didn't make it easy for the werewolf, and would never say where Harry was and blocked all attempts to visit him for fear of the Death Eaters and werewolves that the headmaster had set free.
Remus needed to see his friend but had no idea where to find him. His only clue was that Sirius would have found his Godson. So he wrote a letter and called Princess, and asked her to deliver the letter to Sirius or Harry.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Bozo was laid in state in the Atrium next to Barty Crouch in a glass casket for a week, for everyone to pay their respects. While former Aurors and many battle-scarred survivors of the Blood War volunteered to serve in the Honor Guard. The Daily Prophet supplied a giant copy of the Last Photo of Bozo to stand in the background. The green Killing Curse wasn't blurred out as everyone had learnt to duck and dodge the curse when they heard the dreaded words.
For many, paying their respects to Barty Crouch and Bozo brought closure of a very difficult time.
Sadly for the families of the Missing, it was still not over. Madam Bones instructed Head Investigator Connie Hammer and Anna Daily to go through the memories of Peter Pettigrew to find the remains of those listed as Missing. They set up a large wall chart next to Bozo and Barty, and displayed photos of the missing. There were so many. They mounted a large bell on the wall chart that they would ring at noon and then read out the names of the missing that had been found that day, and the remains were returned to the families. Giving them a belated closure.
With the fall of the Dark Side, an unexpected miracle happened as some of the missing and those thought to have perished in the hatred of the Blood War, came out of hiding or returned to Britain to pay their respects to Barty Crouch and Bozo. There were a few tearful reunions with Mad-Eye Moody getting the biggest surprise when his first love from Hogwarts appeared. They had been on the wrong sides of the Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry and as punishment she had been married off to a future upstanding Pure-blood Death Eater. A Death Eater that perished in the firestorm at Fortress Crouch. She had been missing for thirty years and was believed to have been murdered by her husband. You can imagine how hard Mad-Eye rang that Bell of the Missing when one came back alive as her photo was removed from the wall chart.
While Sirius Black didn't know what to feel when his great-aunt Cassiopeia and Alastor Moody were finally free at last to continue a love affair that started in the halls of Hogwarts, while he was still single. Even Harry had a girlfriend.
Barty Crouch and Bozo had an enormous funeral with full honours, and all of Magical Britain came to say goodbye.
Bozo's Last Photo brought back memories of dark times and family and friends lost. But as it was the bad guys who lost this time, there came a feeling that many had not felt for such a long time.
The feeling of hope.
Hope for a better future.
Subsequent editions of the Daily Prophet in the following days carried articles supporting the information regarding the innocence of Sirius Black and his lack of a trial. Then there so many letters to the Editor that they filled most of the pages. Letters to the Editor remembering Bozo, and friends and family lost, and hopes for the future. Then there were the letters to the Editor expressing support for Sirius Black and wondering why they ever thought that he could have betrayed James and Lily. Then there were letters to the Editor for Harry Potter. Madam Longbottom sent a letter to the Editor which was printed in full, stating that it was the rat, Peter Pettigrew who had led the Lestranges and betrayed her family that terrible night. She expressed her thanks to Potions Master Severus Snape for the rare and priceless potion that cured her Frank and Alice and she was overjoyed that they were making a full recovery.
It was like the Magical World was waking up to a brand new day of hope, joy, goodwill and love.
Rita couldn't help but attribute the change to the mythical Return of the Boy-Who-Lived.
But, you, my dear readers, know that the true catalyst was Love.
The Love of a boy who tried to save his not nice aunt from the scary black wraith of the evil wizard who had murdered his parents.
Sometimes, all you have left is Love.
And sometimes Love is all you need.
For Love joins two to make one.
And together with Love, you are never alone!
Quoted from HPatUT.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -
Thank you for reading.
- Harry Potter and the Unwanted Ticket. -