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Chapter 23 EpilogueThe story concludes with these farewells.
Headmaster EmeritusAlbus Dumbledore focused his attention on the plight he would face in June 1996, when Hogwarts expelled him – politely and gently he knew – but in June, his more than fifty years at Hogwarts would end. His finances were a shambles – New Management penalized him for skimming off funds from renting elves and fostering a major drug problem (bad potions) among the wizards and witches of Magical Britain.
And worse, his magic never recovered from the poison of the Acromantula and loss of his left arm. At 138 years of age, he could barely cast the spell to summon light, even with the Elder Wand. There were no strengthening potions that could restore his magic and power. He blamed part of the problem on loss of his previous connection to the wards at Hogwarts but the bossy healer in the infirmary forced him to read several research papers about how huge ward arrays acted vampirish with elderly wizards and witches. There was no miracle for Albus Percival Dumbledore. In March, the headmaster emeritus simply gave up and went to bed. Four weeks later, he died in his sleep.
There were memorial services for the wizard remembering his bravery and contributions to Magical Britain and the ICW during the first half of the 20th century. The discovery that Gellert Grindelwald was still living and locked away by Dumbledore since the victory in 1945 tarnished Dumbledore's reputation and image so greatly that he was not buried on the grounds at Hogwarts. The elves from Hogwarts constructed a pyre in the Forbidden Forest and Aberforth Dumbledore lit the fire that burned away the mortal remains of the wizard one night just before a heavy rainstorm arrived to make certain the fire did not spread.
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WeasleysArthur Weasley was devastated by the revelation that his wife – whom he dearly loved – would contemplate using a love potion to ensnare a boy for their daughter. The DMLE questioned both husband and wife about brewing the potion and when Arthur realized that the brewing of the potion had to have occurred at Grimmauld Place, he asked to speak with Sirius Black before talking about where his wife might have – must have – brewed the potion.
"Are you in touch with Black?" asked Director Bones.
"I…yes," Arthur confessed, thinking his whole family would be sentenced to Azkaban or receive the Dementor's kiss for their association with Sirius Black.
"Thank Merlin," Amelia said. "I have been trying to find the man or send him an owl since the middle of July. We found Peter Pettigrew's corpse in June and connected him to the Death Eaters quickly. We need to talk to Black but he'll be cleared and freed easily."
That same day, Arthur visited with Sirius Black at Grimmauld Place and with the wizard's permission, brought Director Bones through the floo in the kitchen to visit. They all three returned to the Ministry for Magic where Sirius was questioned using Veritaserum and essentially cleared. Black allowed Bones to return to Grimmauld Place with a team of Aurors who quickly found the brewing room that Molly Weasley had set up in the pantry off the kitchen. The residue of love potions was embedded in the walls and furniture.
When the DMLE resident healer gave Sirius Black a physical, the man also prescribed a purging potion for Arthur. After an unpleasant night, Arthur realised that his feelings for his wife were very different. The DMLE healer confirmed that Arthur had been under the influence of love potions for more than 25 years. (Long term side effects would include a shorter lifespan and poor health in his old age. Purging now would minimize some of the side effects but not all of them.)
Arthur insisted that each of his children be screened for potions and problems. He was devastated to learn that the curse of an inability to feel empathy and love was present in all his children. Fortunately, Bill, the eldest was focused on his work as a curse breaker. Charlie, the second son was equally cursed but he'd found his calling in working with dragons and was content with that dangerous life. The third son, Percy was affected somewhat but his girlfriend Penny Clearwater had ignited a fire within the wizard that would burn through the worst of the curse. Fred and George were more influenced by the curse, but they depended upon each other greatly and if they found the proper partner(s), they would live relatively normal lives.
Unfortunately, the curse caused by the parent's use of a love potion was strongest in both Ronald and Ginevra. The youngest Weasleys were without any empathy or ability to form true friendships and emotional attachments with anyone. Molly's strict control of the two youngest Weasleys kept them in line to the present day, but they would be uncontrollable once they were adults.
Ronald focused on food and Quidditch while Ginevra's focus had been completely directed on the fictional Boy-Who-Lived. To help Ron (after he was expelled at the beginning of the winter break in December 1995), the Ministry for Magic snapped his wand, bound the wizard's magic and obliviated all memory of his family and magic. Happily, Ron was rehabilitated by a program for disadvantaged youth and became an excellent cook in a hotel in Birmingham.
Ginny was underage, so she wasn't tried for attempting to deliver a forbidden potion to the heir of an ancient and noble family (line theft) but Hogwarts expelled her nonetheless. This meant her wand was snapped, magic bound, and memory modified to forget all about Hogwarts and Harry Potter. Ginny was placed in a community of squibs who specialised in helping persons expelled from Magical Britain adjust to life in the real world. She was able to adjust and enrolled in drama classes in London. Eventually Guinevere Bristol became a successful, sought after actress appearing on the BBC.
Molly refused the offer from Amelia Bones to plead guilty to attempted line theft. The offered plea deal came with a sentence of ten years in Azkaban which the witch refused to accept. When the DMLE added the charge of proven line theft for giving the love potion to Arthur Weasley for 25 years, Molly's court appointed solicitor begged the witch to accept the sentence of life imprisonment in Azkaban for the two charges.
"What happens if I go to trial?" Molly demanded to know.
The witch in legal robes explained, "If the swots in the Wizengamot are feeling generous, they'll sentence you to the Dementor's kiss there in the courtroom."
"That's generous?" Molly asked, horrified. "What's worse than that?"
"They can sentence you to ten to twenty years in Azkaban and specify you receive the Dementor's kiss at the end of the term."
Determined to speak her mind before the Wizengamot, Molly was tried in the Wizengamot where Albus Dumbledore was absent because of illness. She spoke of only wanting to provide her beloved daughter with the perfect husband. There might have been some sympathy for the witch but then she quoted Albus Dumbledore; "I only did it for the Greater Good."
Angered by that hated phrase, the Wizengamot sentenced Molly to the Dementor's kiss. The sentence was carried out immediately and the next day, the Daily Prophet included a photo of Molly Weasley on an interior page under the headline 'Suicide by Invoking the Greater Good.'
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Sirius Black and Remus LupinFreed from the threat of the Dementor's Kiss, Sirius Black contacted with his cousin, Andromeda Tonks. He wanted to renew his relationship with his godson but when he came to visit the Tonks family during the winter break, Padfoot discovered himself locked in the lounge with the visiting portrait personas of James Potter (disappointed and angry) and Lily Potter (incandescently furious). After an hour of their curses for his complete failure as a godfather, Sirius left the house and didn't bother Harry Potter again.
The next visitor in the room was Remus Lupin who only lasted five minutes before he burst out of the room through a window and fled in the night. Lupin never spoke to Dora Tonks again. Within a week, both wizards vanished from Britain and Gringotts reported to Andromeda that they relocated to Las Vegas in the USA where an active magical community participated in the nightlife.
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Dusting the Goblet of FireOn Halloween, Harry and Hermione completed their patrol at prefects without finding any students outside their dorms after curfew. The Marauders Map gave them an edge on finding couples who lingered too long in closets and deserted classrooms when they needed to be in their beds. And unknown to Hermione, closet doors magically unlocked and opened ten minutes before curfew, so couples learned to vamoose before prefects discovered them.
New Management insisted that all students be safe inside their dorms before curfew.
"Did you see that book on charms that do the laundry?" Hermione asked as they walked toward the library.
"Laundry? Are becoming domesticated" Hermione Granger?"
She smacked his arm playfully. "Prat! No, the incantation is very similar to Apparition…at least in the beginning movements of the wand."
"Cleaning clothes involves 'moving' dirt so that makes sense," Harry agreed as they reached the doors to the library. "And we all need to know those charms. When you graduate, you'll not have the house elves to do your laundry."
Aggravated to be reminded how useful house elves proved themselves time and again, Hermione said, "Wait here. I'll check with Madam Pence, and you check anyone who tries to slip out of the library with a book that's not checked out."
"And now you're channelling the librarian from your primary school!" teased Harry as his friend vanished inside the library. With the appearance of so many new books this autumn, the library was busy every day, almost the entire day.
When he was alone outside the doors, Harry spotted an alcove that he'd not noticed before. Casting luminous with his wand, he stepped closer to investigate. He grinned when he saw the Goblet of Fire sitting on a plinth in the alcove. A house elf popped into the alcove with a rag to dust the goblet by hand instead of using magic.
Before the elf could begin, Harry asked, "Excuse me. Do you use a rag to not stimulate the magic in the goblet with charms to dust?"
The elf nodded, handed the rag to the young wizard, and then popped away. Remembering when he dusted the shelves and knick-knacks at Privet Drive, Harry took the soft cloth and began running it over the goblet's metal surfaces.
Without any shame to be talking with an ancient, magical artefact, the Boy-Who-Lived confessed, "I was scared of you last year when they forced me into the tournament. But I think you helped me survive. I mean all three champions died in the first task but suddenly my mum's magic was there."
"I met her and Dad's portraits at my family home last summer and we talked about magic a bunch. She remembered what she planned to do to protect me from that nut job. And we decided someone poured more magic into those protections."
"Dad wondered for a couple minutes if it had been Dumbledore, but everybody else's portraits yelled 'No!' so loud it embarrassed him," Harry explained. "And then I remembered you. My five greats Grandfather Andrew Potter told me that he attended the Triwizard Tournament in Milan in 1778. He talked about how powerful your magic was and how the judges all died when a manticore escaped from the underground maze in the last task. But your magic grabbed the monster before it could reach the spectators."
Noticing the many runes carved into the outside of the goblet, Harry studied a couple rows, recognizing a few of them from the extra books Grandmother Euphemia forced him to read that summer.
"Rules…confined," Harry translated a couple while he finished dusting the exterior of the goblet. Wanting to do a complete job and clean the inside of the cup, he carefully laid the goblet on its side and focused the light of his wand on the inside the well.
"Blimey, more runes!" After carefully dusting the well, he stood the goblet up and whispered, "You're covered with runes."
He searched around the plinth but didn't find a single rune carved into the top or sides. Harry admitted, 'The stand is too heavy for me to topple over and look at the bottom by myself. But the cup! What about the bottom of the goblet?'
Very carefully, he again moved Goblet of Fire onto its side and used the luminous spell to highlight the bottom of the base where he found rows of runes – unfamiliar figures but they were carved in rows and surrounded by a thing called a cartouche from Egyptian times.
Moving the Goblet of Fire back into the upright position, Harry made certain it was centred on the plinth before he stepped back. He used the laundry charm to clean the rag that he stuck into his pocket. He studied the goblet for several more minutes, trying to decide how to proceed.
"Harry? What are you doing?" asked Hermione who appeared at his side while the Head Girl followed the genius from Gryffindor out of the library and shut the door for the final time that evening.
"Just admiring the Goblet of Fire," he replied. "It's pretty remarkable… don't you think?"
As the pair walked back to Gryffindor dormitory, Hermione repeated the detailed history she'd researched early last year about the mysterious origins of the goblet and how it regularly disappeared for a century or more before suddenly reappearing.
Just outside the portrait entrance to the dorm, Harry asked, "Can I borrow your textbook for the first class on runes? I've got some catching up to do."
New Management was pleased and decided to advance Mr Potter's studies with additional books and scrolls. If Miss Granger proved trustworthy, the pair would be translating the command runes before the end of the winter term.
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Harry and HermioneHarry Potter and Hermione Granger did eventually translate the command-and-control runes on the base of the Goblet of Fire before taking their OWLS in June 1996. They spent the summer in heated arguments about what to do with the information and discovered that snogging sessions of snogging helped them recover from being angry with each other. They found themselves thinking and learning to compromise.
After much debate, they only removed the conflicting sets of rules from the different Triwizard Tournaments in September 1996. New Management appeared to mature beyond adolescent once the multitude of rules for the contest were vanished. Hogwarts continued to improve with each passing year, and the Goblet of Fire remained in the alcove outside the library.
Harry and Hermione married after university, and as Mr and Mrs Potter, they helped move Magical Britain into the next century with modernization and reasonable political reform.
THE END