On Saturday, April 16th, 1994, a week after Harry's euphoric triumph in the Quidditch Final, Hogwarts convened in the Quidditch stadium again, this time for a special ceremony.
The students hadn't been told exactly what to expect, only that a special ceremony was taking place on the Quidditch pitch at 10 A.M. Hogwarts time.
Colin, Ginny, and Hermione took the same three seats they had for the Quidditch Final the previous Saturday. But, as the students weren't required to sit by house today, Colin, Ginny, and Hermione were also joined by Luna and Susan.
Harry wasn't there, but Colin, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Susan weren't worried about him because he had warned them the night before that he might be late to the ceremony.
Several guests had come to Hogwarts for this ceremony, including Madam Bones and Arthur Weasley.
As 10 A.M. approached. the students saw that headmaster Remus Lupin was making his way to the center circle. Lupin was carrying a large purple megaphone he had borrowed from Professor McGonagall. Also heading out towards the center circle were Sirius Black and Harry Potter.
"Harry?" said Luna dreamily, "Harry Potter is going to be the one honored today?"
"Maybe, " said Hermione, "Or maybe Sirius is the one being honored and maybe Harry is going to help with the presentation."
"That seems more likely, " piped up Ginny.
"Perhaps Lupin is the one being honored and both Sirius and Harry and going to help with the ceremony, " suggested Susan.
""Somehow, someway, I just don't think any of the three are actually being honored, " guessed Colin, "I'm guessing that some kind of dedication to James Potter is taking place and James's son and two besties are here to do it."
The very nanosecond that 10 A.M. hit, Lupin spoke into the megaphone.
"Good morning, Hogwarts, " said Lupin warmly, "Today, we are gathered here to grant a long overdue honor to a great Quidditch player and even greater man, James Potter."
"Told you so!" smirked Colin to Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Susan.
"James Potter, " said Lupin fondly, "Was the greatest chaser to ever set foot on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. Had he played for the national team, he'd have gone down as the best chaser England ever had."
There was a smattering of polite applause from the crowd.
"However, " said Lupin seriously, "James had bigger fish to fry after his graduation from Hogwarts."
At this, Sirius's face turned tense, knowing what must be coming next.
In the stands, Madam Bones's face tensed as well. She had lost several family members in the war.
"Upon graduation from Hogwarts, " explained Lupin, "James devoted his life to fighting Lord Voldemort. In fighting Lord Voldemort at the height of his powers, James Potter showed the kind of courage and bravery that Godric Gryffindor himself would be proud of."
Lupin paused to allow the crowd to give James some applause for his bravery.
"James escaped Lord Voldemort three times, " continued Lupin after a minute and a nanosecond, "But, sadly, James paid the ultimate price the fourth time he came across Lord Voldemort. Now, as James was a great Quidditch player who loved the game and an even better man who lost his life fighting the worst dark wizard of all time, James deserves to have his legacy preserved forever. Therefore. I have deemed it fitting that from now on, the Quidditch Pitch at Hogwarts shall be known as the James Potter Quidditch Pitch. And who better to help me dedicate this pitch as the James Potter Quidditch Pitch than his bestie, Sirius Black, and his son, Harry Potter."
There were much louder cheers now, especially from Hermione and Ginny, who knew what having the pitch dedicated to his dad would mean to Harry.
"Sirius, Harry, do the honors, " smiled Lupin.
Sirius raised his wand and did a few movements with it while performing a few nonverbal spells. After he had finished, the words James Potter Quidditch Pitch were burnt into a section of grass inside the center circle.
Harry stepped into the center circle and blew a kiss at the word James.
Harry both smiled and shed a few tears at the same moment.
"Are you okay, pup?" Sirius asked Harry.
"This is so bittersweet, " said Harry honestly, "On one hand, being present for this dedication has filled me with pride in my dad. I'm proud of what a great Quidditch player he was but I'm even prouder of how bravely he fought Voldemort. But, by the same token, this ceremony has in some ways reminded me of what I lost when dad died. What wouldn't I give for dad to have seen me off to Hogwarts at King's Cross station? Or to have had him see me playing Quidditch. Or to have had him see my wand choose me in Olivander's. Or to have raced brooms with him. Or even to have spoken with him at all."
Both Remus and Sirius pulled Harry into a tight hug and he cried into their shoulders for a few minutes as he released his emotions.
When Harry had regained his composure, he stood right by the name James and said, "I only hope I can live up to being the man you were."
Sirius was feeling extremely guilty now. Why, oh, why, had he told James and Lily to use the fucking traitor as their secret keeper. James and Lily had wanted Sirius to be their secret keeper. He should have just done so instead of outthinking himself.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Ginny had tears streaking down her cheeks as she was feeling a quite different kind of guilt.
"Ginny, are you okay?" said Colin gently.
"No, " said Ginny sadly, "I feel terrible. You see, when Harry was staying at the Burrow prior to his second and our first year, we went to Gringotts. When I saw the contents of Harry's vault, I thought about how he had it so much better than me. And when I saw Harry come to Hogwarts with firsthand robes and books while I had to wear secondhand robes and use secondhand books, I actually started to see myself as unlucky because I was poor and because of what that meant. I was never jealous of Harry, but I did see him as having it much better than me and myself as unlucky by comparison. I see now how wrong I was. I'm the lucky one. I may have been poor all my life and never had much, but I'm the lucky one because I've had both my parents alive and loving me my whole life. I'm lucky because I've had mom and dad see my off to Hogwarts from King's Cross. I'm lucky because mom and dad actually got to see my wand choose me. I'm lucky to have tasted my own mom's cooking. I could go on, but you get the point. I can't believe I ever thought Harry had it better than me."
"Ginny, " said Hermione seriously, "You've been a very good friend to Harry and Harry himself would tell you that to your face. Sometimes we all get a bit of a reality check. But you were never a bad friend to Harry. You just didn't have everything in perspective."
Ginny felt a little better after hearing that.
"I lacked some perspective too, in a different way, " acknowledged Colin, "I was a terrible fanboy last year. I won't rehash that. But even as I got over that, I still thought it would be "cool" to be Harry Potter. I was never jealous of Harry's fame and attention like that asshole Ron is, but I always thought it would be "cool" to have that fame. I see now how terrible it is to be Harry Potter."
Down on the pitch, Remus told Harry, "Your mother isn't getting short shift here. We have a separate tribute planned for Lily at a later date."
"Thanks, " said Harry weakly.
"Now, " said Lupin, "Let's have a final round of applause for the great man that James Potter was."
There were several minutes of loud cheering and when this faded Lupin declared the ceremony over.
After the ceremony, Harry went over to greet Colin, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Susan and Arthur also came over.
"Hey, everyone, " said Arthur with a smile, "I have some good news. Let me first inform you that Ron Weasley will NOT be staying at the Burrow this summer. Molly and I have decided as parents that Ron will be spending this summer with his Great Aunt Muriel. "
Ginny smirked.
"Now, " said Arthur cheerfully, "The good news is that I have procured tickets for the Quidditch World Cup Final to be held in England on Friday, August 19th. So, the good news is, you are all invited to go to the Quidditch World Cup with me. I have cleared it with it all your parents and guardians. Should you accept, you would be staying at the Burrow from the morning of August 17th until the morning of September 1st when Hogwarts resumes."
Everyone accepted the invitation immediately.
"Why would we come on August 17th?" asked Harry curiously, "Why not August 19th?"
"Well, " smiled Arthur, "Since Ginny can't have a birthday party on her actual birthday, I thought we'd throw a late birthday party for Ginny at the Burrow on August 17th!"
Ginny's heart leapt
"Seriously, dad?" said Ginny, hardly daring to believe it.
"Of course, Ginny, "said Arthur warmly, "You and Colin were only half right. Having the same birthday means that only one of you can have a birthday party on your actual birthday. But there's no reason you can't have an early or late birthday party. Plenty of people have birthday parties near rather than on their birthdays for various reasons. I chose late because in this way all the guests can just stay for the Quidditch World Cup."
Ginny beamed.
"You know, " said Ginny thoughtfully, "Things often have a way of working themselves out. This actually works out perfectly."
"This is awesome, " said Harry happily, "Within a few weeks in August I get to go to Colin's birthday party, Ginny's late birthday party, and the Quidditch World Cup.. With so much to look forward to in August, I almost wish we could skip over May, June, and July and go straight to August. But I don't. Remember that Madam Bones transferred my guardianship to Sirius. I'm really looking forward to July and being able to live with Sirius."
Arthur smiled at Harry, "I'm so happy for you that you now have the opportunity to form a proper relationship with your godfather."
"Knowing he was the man mom and dad preferred as my guardian carries a lot of weight with me, " said Harry matter of factly.
About a minute later, Madam Bones came over with some more serious news.
"Peter Pettigrew's sentencing will occur on Monday, " Madam Bones informed Harry.
This quickly got the attention of Harry, as well as Sirius and Remus, who both came to join the fray.
"What are your expectations of the sentencing?" asked Harry as Sirius growled.
"I will send you an owl informing you of the results as soon as Peter has received his sentence, " replied Madam Bones, "I can't actually talk about the sentencing until after it has happened, other than to inform you that the sentencing will occur on Monday."
"The fucking traitor had BETTER pay for what he did to James and Lily, " said Sirius menacingly.