This is one of those chapters that is less something that should have happened and more of a missing moment of something we know did happen. This chapter explores Harry NOT returning to Hogwarts for a seventh year affer the end of the Second Wizarding War.
A few months after the Battle of Hogwarts had ended the Second Wizarding War as Harry Potter had finally truly defeated Lord Voldemort and Harry and Ginny had settled into a new place in Godric's Hollow.
One evening, Harry's BFF, Hermione Granger, who also got along decently enough with Ginny even though she'd never been very close to her, had come round for dinner.
Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were peacefully and pleasantly enjoying a delicious dinner of boneless chicken breasts with sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and biscuits along with Coca Cola Classic to wash it down with when Hermione revealed something that Harry and Ginny had just assumed would be the case.
"I'm going to return to Hogwarts when the fall 1998 semester begins," said Hermione proudly, "I want to complete my education and pass my N.E.W.T.s."
"That means you'll be in my year this year," realized Ginny, "I know studying has to be our biggest priority, but we might be able to spend some time together here and there and get to know each other better. Luna's in my year as well. Maybe on some Sunday we can spend some time together with her by the Black Lake."
"I wouldn't mind getting to know you better and forming a friendship with you," Hermione told Ginny, "We've always gotten along well with each other, but we're basically casual acquaintances at this nanosecond. But, yes, academics have to be priority number one. N.E.W.T.s are EXTREMELY important because they substantially affect the kinds of career doors that will open to us. The better we perform on our N.E.W.T.s, the more doors open and the more choices we have."
"I am taking my academics very seriously," Ginny told Hermione matter of factly.
"Are you going to return to Hogwarts for your seventh year, Harry?" questioned Hermione.
"No, Hermione, I'm not," said Harry seriously, "I'm ready to move on."
"What factors are motivating your decision not to return to Hogwarts?" Hermione grilled Harry.
"When I first arrived at Hogwarts?" explained Harry, "It felt like home. The first place that had ever felt like home to. Despite some ups and downs of life, I continued to feel this way through my first four years. The Umbitch experience soured me on Hogwarts. "
"Has that sourness turned into bitterness?" inquired Ginny.
"To a degree," acknowledged Harry, "But either way that is not the main emotion driving my decision. I have so many feelings and emotions when I think about both the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and the Battle of Hogwarts. The fear. The death. The destruction. My own final battle with Lord Voldemort after these years. "
"You feel like returning to Hogwarts would put you in a position of having to deal with these emotions constantly?" piped up Hermione.
"I don't feel that I know that," confirmed Harry, "In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, I spent several days and several nanoseconds grieving and processing all the emotions. I grieved for Remus, Tonks, Fred, Colin, and everyone who we lost during that fateful battle. "
"Your associations with Hogwarts are different now," realized Hermione.
"Exactly," confirmed Harry, "After all the battles, fear, death, destruction, and grief, I faced my emptions and dealt with them. Now that I have dealt with them, it's best if I stay away from Hogwarts. Under a certain interpretation, you can even say that I myself literally died at Hogwarts. Particularly once that last fact is added in, Hogwarts would be a place of great heaviness for me if I were to return. I need to get from it all. I need to stay away from the place where I experienced all of those things. Yes, every student had to deal with those things, but my case is different. Under aa certain interpretation, Lord Voldemort literally killed me at Hogwarts. I can no longer roam the lands where I literally died. It's just too heavy a thing for me to deal with. I need to get away from that and stay away from it. "
"Seventh year might be more enjoyable for you with Umbitch gone, Voldemort dead, and the war now over," suggested Ginny.
"I cannot return," said Harry, "I have been too deeply hurt. It must be said that sometimes some people must give some things up so that others may enjoy them. Hogwarts has been saved. But not for me. I truly hope that the end of the Second Wizarding War will bring some much needed changes and improvements to Hogwarts. But I cannot pick up the threads of an old life. My wounds are too raw, too deep, and too painful. In fact, the healthiest thing I can do is stay away from Hogwarts. I wish none of this had happened. I wish I had never been linked with Voldemort. But that was not for me to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
At this, with no trace of embarrassment, Harry openly wept at the dinner table, letting his tears flow. Ginny and Hermione remained silent and kept their distance. They knew Harry didn't need hugs or kisses. What he needed was space and silence so he could expel his emptions.
When he had let it all out, Harry looked at Ginny and Hermione and said, "I have made my decision. I am moving on from Hogwarts. Hermione, I support your decision to return and I wish both you and Ginny as well as Luna well in your seventh years. Luna knows, and you both know as well, that I will always stand by you come hell or high water to our world. I will be living alone while you are away at Hogwarts, but you all know that I have an open door policy. You may write to me or visit me at any time for any reason or for no reason. "
"Harry," said Hermione gently, "I understand why you feel the way you do, especially considering that part about how you literally remember yourself dying at Hogwarts. However, I must ask: are you worried about career opportunities without taking your N.E.W.T.s?"
"Harry being who he is, he could those requirements waved in a trillionth of a heartbeat," said Ginny bluntly.
"Exactly," said Harry uncomfortably, "I don't like my fame, but I'll use it to my advantage in that case. Either way, I NEED to stay away from Hogwarts for the sake of my mental and emotional health."
"I respect that, Harry," Ginny in acceptance, "I guess we can start properly living together as a couple once I've graduated from Hogwarts?"
"Of course, Ginny," Harry assured her with warmth in his voice and a glowing look on his face.
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