The Finish, Part 2
Almost three months later: Sunday, 1st September 1996
The beginning of sixth year for (most of) Harry's and Hermione's former yearmates One year, 20 days after Harry's trial
At Hogwarts
Ron had to repeat fifth year, for two reasons.
Firstly, because he had failed every one of his 1995-1996 classes.
Secondly, because he had scored "Poor" or worse on every one of his O.W.L exams.
Arthur, after discussing Ron with the twins, made his youngest son come to school without his broom and without his chessboard and chess pieces.
Ron blamed his wretched marks on Hermione, even though she had been at MMA for the entire 1995-1996 school year.
****
Three and a half months later:
Wednesday, 18th December 1996; dinnertime At Hogwarts, in the Great Hall
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walked into the Great Hall. Headmistress McGonagall knew to expect them; nobody else did.
"Who are they?" the first-years asked, noting that the bushy-haired seventeen-year-old girl and the sixteen-year-old black-haired boy both were wearing Muggle clothes, and were not wearing Hogwarts robes.
The second-years answered, "Don't know who the girl is, but last year, the boy stood next to Queen Elizabeth."
Everyone third-year and older answered the first-years' question with "That's Harry Potter and Hermione Granger!"
Absolutely nobody asked, "Who?"
Amongst the Gryffindor firsties, Galina Goyle thought, Harry Potter is here?
From the fifth-year Gryffindors, Ginny Weasley's happy shout came: "Harry Potter's back!" Annoyed Hermione looked at Ginny and said archly, "Harry Potter's front is here too."
Daphne Greengrass, Ginny Weasley and Romilda Vane all looked at Harry Potter and thought, He looks yummy.
Ninety percent of all the other witches had the same thought, but also considered Harry Potter to be out of their league. The other 10 percent of witches "stirred the potion anticlockwise," and were staring hungrily at Hermione.
Meanwhile, a large number of wizards, third year and older, now noticed that the bookworm had a sexy strut to her walk.
Daphne Greengrass correctly guessed the reason: Narcissa Malfoy had advised the young woman, "When you know everyone is watching, give them something to watch."
So now, next to Harry, Hermione walked up the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables as though she were walking a Paris runway.
Fifth-year-for-the-second-time Gryffindor Ron Weasley was scowling, but nobody in the Great Hall either noticed or cared.
****
Seconds later
Harry and Hermione stood in the gap between the High Table's dais and the student tables, facing the student tables. Hermione was holding Harry's hand.
Harry said, "Sonorus. Today is the seventeenth birthday of Mr Gregory Goyle." Harry gestured towards the sixth-year Slytherins. "Please give him a round of applause."
As everyone in the Great Hall applauded blushing Goyle, Harry and Hermione, hands joined, walked westwards within the gap, soon to stand almost at the head of the Slytherin table.
Then the couple made a left turn and walked southwards between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, as the couple approached where the (few remaining) sixth-year Slytherins were sitting.
Harry continued, "Mr Goyle has never been my friend, and sixteen months ago, he was given a strong reason to want me dead. A month later, he learnt about a plot to kill me and to kill my betrothed, Hermione. Mr Goyle did not join the plot to kill me, though two other
Hogwarts students eagerly joined this plot. Instead, Mr Goyle let me know that both I and Hermione were in deadly danger. Because of Mr Goyle's warning, Hermione is alive and healthy today.
"Until sixteen months ago, Mr Gregory Goyle's father, Garston Goyle, held the title of Lord Goyle, Head of House Goyle. Then Garston's title became mine, by Right of Conquest. Other Houses, which belonged to Lord Voldemort or to his Death Eaters, likewise became mine, by Right of Conquest, either that day or a month later. But know that all the Houses that became mine by Right of Conquest, twenty-one in all, I declared to be extinct. Meaning, I refused to name an Heir for that House, nobody can claim to be Head of House after I die, and all money and property of that House will be bequeathed to my family when I die."
The Great Hall was silent. Harry saw that Daphne Greengrass looked thoughtful, whilst Gregory Goyle looked puzzled. Where are you going with this?
Harry drew his wand, and pointed it at the enchanted ceiling. "But today I amend my declaration." Harry's voice became formal: "House Goyle no longer is an extinct House; I declare that House Goyle is again a viable House. I name Gregory Goyle as Heir Goyle. So mote it be."
Light flashed in the Great Hall. The Heir Goyle ring appeared on Gregory Goyle's finger; he stared at it in shock. Meanwhile, the House Goyle crest, surrounded by three thin white circles, formed on the left breast of Gregory Goyle's Hogwarts robes.
Theodore Nott did not hide his envy.
Daphne Greengrass was looking at Harry expectantly; clearly she had figured out what would come next.
Harry's wand still was pointing at the ceiling. Again in a formal voice, Harry said, "Heir Goyle is now of age, and I, Harry Potter Lord Goyle, abdicate to Heir Goyle. Gregory Goyle now is Lord Goyle. So mote it be."
Again, light flashed in the Great Hall. On Harry's right hand, the Lord Potter ring ejected the Lord Goyle ring. Harry pulled the Lord Goyle ring off his finger and placed the ring on the Slytherin table, in front of Gregory Goyle.
Gregory Goyle, still looking stunned, put the ring on. The Heir Goyle ring disappeared as soon as the Lord Goyle ring touched it; then the Lord Goyle ring shrank to fit Gregory's finger. The House Goyle crest on Gregory Goyle's left breast lost its white circles, and the crest grew bigger.
Harry stowed his wand in his wand holster, then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a gold Gringotts key.
Harry laid the gold key on the table in front of Gregory Goyle, as Harry loudly told the room, "Because Mr Goyle's timely warning saved Hermione's life, I also give Lord Goyle the key to a vault with ten thousand galleons in it.
"Please give Lord Goyle another round of applause. Quietus." The Headmistress, the professors and four tables applauded.
Harry bowed deeply to the shocked-looking, beefy boy with the posh new ring on his hand. Meanwhile, Hermione curtsied to Gregory Goyle whilst she said, "Thank you, Lord Goyle, for what you did. Happy seventeenth birthday!"
Suddenly Harry was being hugged by a crying, blond, first-year Gryffindor girl. "Thank you, Lord Potter, for doing this for Gregory and us!"
This was how Harry and Hermione met Galina Goyle.
****
Not quite a month later: January 1997 At MMA
By now, Hermione was a sixth-year (by Hogwarts reckoning), and she was in sixth-level Computer Literacy. Hermione was immensely proud of this fact.
Hermione came back to MMA from Christmas holidays—nobody at MMA called the holiday Yule—with an ambition: to write HTML code that could carry out a runes-sequence. This would enable an internet website to do magic.
Hermione had no idea if such a thing were even possible; though she knew for sure that nobody was doing it now. But undaunted, Hermione ploughed ahead.
The first technical problem was converting a runes-sequence into something that could be embedded within HTML code so a computer could run it.
It took Hermione three days to figure out that any and every runes-sequence would fail to work when it was called from within the Computer Literacy building, because the outside walls of the Computer Literacy building had magic-suppression runes carved on the inside. Duh.
Finally, after three wasted days, Hermione figured out that she needed to transfigure a shed and to put it outside the Computer Literacy building, to run an electrical-power cord from the Computer Literacy building to the shed, then to run the computer (and peripherals) within the shed. Hermione felt like a "moron" for taking three days to figure out something so "obvious."
So now Hermione could finally address the problem of getting a computer program to run a runes-sequence. Hermione finally solved this problem by converting the Elder Futhark runes to a table of one-byte numbers that were preceded by the byte 0xe7 (equals the number 231 in Base 10; equals 3 x 7 x 11, making this number arithmanceally powerful).
****
Two months later: March 1997
When Hermione finally figured out how to get the HTML page to call the runes-sequence, the casting of magic within the computer fried the computer. Whoops.
Fortunately, unplugging the computer and casting Reparo Technologio quickly put the computer to rights. Interestingly, at Hogwarts, neither Professor Flitwick nor Professor Burbage, who was the Muggle Studies professor, ever had mentioned this charm.
It took Hermione two months to figure out how to make a computer cast runes-magic without damaging itself. The trick turned out to be creating a runes-sequence shield-bubble inside the computer, before the computer did any other magical work.
****
Two months later: May 1997
By May, all the problems were solved. Hermione could write a runes-sequence in Elder Futhark, convert the runes into a series of eight-bit numbers that an HTML page could call, then a computer could run that HTML page without the computer being magically damaged.
****
Two months later: July 1997
A new *.co.uk website came online: HERMIONE'S SITE. It was a site for cat-lovers, supposedly. But to become a member, a wannabee-member had to go through a brief join-up procedure, which included touching a grey square on the screen.
If a potential member clicked on the grey square with his or her mouse, nothing happened. If a potential member hit the Enter key or the Escape key, nothing happened.
For a potential member to get his or her membership completed, he or she had to touch the grey square.
For 99.983 percent of the people on the planet, if they touched the grey square, they then would be allowed to post photos of their cats and would be allowed to tell funny cat stories.
However, for 0.017 percent of the people on the planet, if any of them touched the square, they would become members of the world's first website for computer-literate magicals.
For every English-speaking country but one, Hermione's Site was a game-changer for magicals. However, in Wizarding Britain, the Daily Prophet gave the website one mention in one issue of the newspaper—on page 7.
****
Two months later: September 1997
What the wizard-raised magicals in Wizarding Britain noticed was that suddenly the young Muggle-borns in Britain were amazingly well informed, and could coordinate mass-actions
quickly and effectively.
The Dark faction of the Wizengamot learnt this new reality the hard way. Whenever the Dark faction proposed a pro-Pureblood or anti-Muggle-born bill, Chief Warlock Greengrass would postpone voting on the bill till the following session; during the next Friday's Wizengamot session, the public galleries now filled with people in Muggle clothing, who were there to applaud those seat-holders who rose to speak against the bill.
Also, the words "Never again!" started being heard from the public gallery during Wizengamot sessions, whenever Pureblood seat-holders started talking especially Pureblood-
The wizard-raised in the chamber had no idea what the Muggle-borns' words meant, beyond This bill the Purebloods want to pass today, we Muggle-borns will fight with our blood and our treasure to not let pass.
What did this mean for the Dark faction of the Wizengamot? They could no longer claim that their proposals had "public support." Even worse: Since Minister Bones often gave speeches against them, and Harry Potter, "Lord EveryHouse," often voted against them—politically, the Dark seat-holders were banished into the wilderness for the foreseeable future.
****
One year, nine months later: Wednesday, 9th June 1999 At MMA
One month and three weeks before Harry's nineteenth birthday, which was when MMA would have banned Harry from its campus (and required him to finish his classes as correspondence courses), Harry completed seventh level in all his nonmagical courses. Harry already had completed seventh level in all his magical courses.
Harry now was done with school! Except possibly uni.
The only reason Harry had managed to walk out of MMA before he was thrown out, was because for four years he had worked like a dog, rather than shame himself in front of Hermione.
Hermione already had completed all her magical seventh-levels and her nonmagical seventh- levels, a year earlier and before the wedding, and now was attending Oxford.
Justin Finch-Fletchley, as the only other former Hogwarts fifth-year, was in the same situation as Harry: He had beaten MMA's age-nineteen deadline, but just barely. Once Justin had completed seventh-level in all his courses, he and Daphne Greengrass set the date for their wedding.
****
Five weeks later
Wednesday, 14th July 1999, dinnertime
Harry and Hermione have been married 11½ months
At the home of James and Bonnie Taylor, in West Sussex County James Taylor is one of Hermione's first cousins
Twenty-two-year-old Beverly Pickford had been, four years ago, a kidnap and rape victim. But thanks to the psychologist whom Cousin Miney's betrothed-now-husband Harry had paid for, Beverly no longer was frightened to be near young men. Indeed, Beverly had a sort-of boyfriend now.
Still, after the horrid events of 1995, Beverly more enjoyed spending time with family than she had enjoyed such a thing, prior to her kidnapping. Family was safe.
As a result of her family-first attitude, this night Beverly was visiting with her cousin, James Taylor (who was named after James Bond, not the musician), James' wife Bonnie, and their seven-year-old daughter Penny (whom James and Bonnie had named after Miss Moneypenny).
The four relatives were gathered at the dinner table, where there was drama: Penny was refusing to eat her peas and carrots—
"I want mint ice cream, Mummy. Why can't I eat the mint ice cream in the freezer now?"
Bonnie said patiently, "We'll have mint ice cream for afters—meaning, after we all eat our regular food."
James took over: "Meaning, you shall eat your peas and carrots, young lady, before you get any mint ice cream."
Beverly said to Penny, "I know I'll enjoy afters much more if I've cleaned my plate beforehand."
Penny said, "I don't care! I don't like peas and carrots! I don't want peas and carrots! I want"—her little fist hit the table—"mint ice cream!"
The green peas and orange carrots on Penny's plate melted together, changed colour, and became pale-green mint ice cream.
"Finally," Penny said with a huff, and picked up her spoon. "Am I tripping?" James asked.
Bonnie said, "How did—? That isn't possible!"
Beverly recalled stories that Aunt Emma and Uncle Dan had told her during the last four years, about how Miney had shown she was magical before the old lady had come and had told the Grangers that Miney was magical. Miney had done "accidental magic" whenever she had been angry, afraid or she had really wanted something—
Like Penny really wanted mint ice cream tonight. Now Beverly asked Penny, "May I take a taste?"
Penny considered it, then said, "Okay, but just a taste. This is mine. And they can't have any, because they're being mean."
"Penny!" Bonnie rebuked.
Beverly took half a teaspoon of the mint ice cream(?) and put it to her lips. "Well?" James said.
"It's mint ice cream," Beverly said in wonder. "Cold mint ice cream." "Of course it is," said Penny. " 'Cuz that's what I wanted."
"I think," said Beverly, "we need to ask Cousin Miney and her husband to come over tonight and to explain what happened with Penny."
"Excellent idea," said James. "Hermione is a swot who's read everything about everything."
"Actually, that isn't why I want her to talk to you. But I'll let her explain why I'm asking her to come here tonight."
****
Beverly had become much closer to Aunt Emma and Uncle Dan in the past four years, so she had their telephone number memorised. Once Beverly rang up her aunt and uncle, it was less than a minute's work to get Miney's telephone number, especially after Beverly told Aunt Emma, "Penny did accidental magic tonight!"
Luckily, a few minutes later when Beverly was talking with Cousin Miney on the telephone, Miney said she and Harry had no firm plans for the evening, so would be over at the Taylors' house "quite soon."
Less than a minute after Beverly ended the telephone call with Cousin Miney, the doorbell rang.
James and Bonnie looked at each other in puzzlement. "Who could that be? We're not expecting anyone."
At the front door, the visitors turned out to be Miney—visibly pregnant—and Harry. Even Beverly was surprised to see them; she said, "Don't you live in Wales? How did you get here so fast? Oh, I get it, you were carrying a mobile phone in your beaded handbag."
Miney immediately replied, "We don't own a mobile phone."
Beverly was confused how the Potters could have made the trip, impossibly quickly. Miney replied mysteriously, "A little friend brought us here."
By now, Penny had left the dinner table to see who was at the door. She said, "Why are you here, Aunt Miney? It isn't Christmas and it isn't my birthday."
Miney smiled at the girl. "Today you turned peas and carrots into mint ice cream, which is
almost like your birthday!"
All eyes were on Miney and Penny, so only Beverly noticed: Harry pointed his index finger at Penny. Right afterwards, Penny announced, "I'm sleepy," climbed onto the sofa and was asleep within seconds.
****
With Miney and her husband in the house and with Penny asleep, the explanations began—
James and Bonnie had not imagined the transfiguration into mint ice cream; it truly had happened. James and Bonnie should expect Penny to do similar things in the future. Penny was not an alien, or a mutant, and Her Majesty's government would not kidnap Penny to experiment on her. Magic was real, and Penny could do magic—just as Miney and Harry could do magic. The existence of magic was super-secret, so James and Bonnie could not tell anyone who did not already know; fortunately, Miney's parents and Granny Connie were in the know. Aunt Emma and Uncle Dan had been in James' and Bonnie's situation, beginning in 1984. (In 1984, four-year-old Miney had called a book to her hand from a high bookshelf. Little Miney had thought this was brilliant; Miney's mum had freaked out.)
By the way, Harry and Miney had used magical travel to go from their manor house (in Wales) to the Taylor house (in West Sussex County) in only seconds. Harry had put Penny to sleep so she would not hear any of this information, then chat round the schoolyard what she had heard. What James and Bonnie were being told today, Penny would be told on her tenth birthday. Then on Penny's eleventh birthday, the Taylor family would have a big decision to make: where to send Penny to school.
****
Right then, the five adults heard knocking on the front door. Bonnie asked, "Is something wrong with our doorbell?"
Harry said, "Let me get the door. If I do, I think things will go smoothlier." " 'More smoothly,' " Miney corrected.
The visitors turned out to be Aurors wearing long red robes. Miney and Harry explained to James and Bonnie that the Aurors—"magical police"—had detected magic where magic never had happened before, which meant either a child's accidental magic or—
The Auror in charge looked at Harry meaningfully, then said to the Taylors and to Beverly, "Or else it means wizards misbehaving."
Beverly hissed. She had experienced "wizards misbehaving."
Meanwhile, Miney had taken a spiral notebook and a Biro pen out of her beaded bag, and was in the process of writing down the names of everyone in the house (except for the Aurors), including everyone's middle names. As Miney tore the top sheet out of the notebook
and handed it to the Auror in charge, Miney said, "Please be sure to add 'Penny Barbara Taylor' to the 'Likely to Do Accidental Magic' list."
Harry said, "And add James, Bonnie and Beverly to the 'Do Not Obliviate' list." Harry then explained to James and Bonnie, "If you're a nonmagical person and you see magical stuff when you're not supposed to, you'll be Obliviated—this tiny part of your memory will be erased."
Beverly said fervently to the Aurors, "My name should already be on the 'Do Not Obliviate' list." Hearing this, James and Bonnie each raised an eyebrow.
The Aurors left then, after a short and cordial visit. They took Miney's write-down of the six names with them.
James said to Harry and Miney, "I can't thank you enough. If you hadn't come here, I would've lost the plot after the mint ice cream. Then when the magical police showed up, I would have been frazzled even more. I'd be ready for the madhouse by now!"
Harry replied, "Don't thank us, thank Beverly. It was she who immediately figured out what the mint ice cream meant, and she immediately rang us. Because she telephoned us immediately, we were able to give you longer explanations, and it meant that when the Aurors showed up, we were here to explain things in words they understood. All the credit for tonight goes to Beverly."
Miney walked up to Beverly and said, "You deserve a hug. Harry is right, you are tonight's hero."
By the time Miney finished the hug, Beverly's face was blushing hot.
****
Four years later: 2003
In 1996, Ron Weasley had had to repeat his fifth year, and had been forced to sit his OWLs for the second time in 1997. Two years later, in June of 1999, he had sat his NEWTs, and had passed only one of them (an EE in DADA).
Once Ron had left Hogwarts, the only job he could get was in his twin brothers' joke shop. When Fred had caught Ron stealing, the twins had sacked Ron. This had been four years ago.
Afterwards, Ron never had gotten another job—except for brief work in Knockturn Alley that Ron evaded answering questions about.
Now in 2003, Ron could not afford to rent a flat, so he lived with his father and stepmother— and would, for the rest of his life.
(The Weasley sister, like the rest of Ron's brothers, lived elsewhere. In 1999 Ginny, with the ink still wet on her NEWT scores, had been signed by the Holyhead Harpies as their Reserve Seeker. Three years later, in 2002, Ginny had been promoted to Starting Seeker. Now in 2003, at least once a month Ginny said or did something scandalous or even lewd—always
with Michael Corner—that rated a euphemistic mention in Witch Weekly. Ginny at twenty- two had a spacious flat with brand-new furniture and with brand-new clothes in her wardrobes, and she had a well-filled vault. Ron hated his sister, almost as much as he hated Harry and Hermione.)
Ron was infamous at age twenty-three, and for the rest of his life, as the former friend whom Harry Potter had not killed Voldemort to protect.
****
Two years later: Thursday, 25th August, 2005
For the first time in ten years, Molly Prewett was taken from her Azkaban prison cell by Aurors. She was escorted to Azkaban's boat dock, where she was put on a boat. After crossing rough seas, Molly eventually was standing on solid ground in Scotland.
Waiting for her were Fred and George, who were now beginning to show their age at twenty- seven. They both were scowling when they saw her.
"Where are your children?" Molly demanded. "You brought no grandchildren for me to meet?"
A twin said seriously, "We need—" "—to talk," continued the other twin. "Mum," the twins said in chorus.
Seconds later, Molly was side-along Apparated to Madam Malkin's. The twins paid for three value-priced witch's robes, plus shoes and undergarments to go with the robes.
Once outside Madam Malkin's, the twins walked Molly towards the Leaky Cauldron, to drop off in her room the new clothes that Molly was not wearing now.
"What room?" Molly asked, confused.
The twins told Molly that they had rented her a room at the Leaky for seven days, with three meals a day provided.
Molly snapped, "I expected to be staying with one of my children! Or in your case, two of my children!"
"No way."
"Not happening."
"Explain," Molly demanded loudly.
"Come with us," the twins said. They walked through Diagon Alley, not waiting for Molly to decide to follow them.
The twins and their angry mother went directly to Room 3 at the Leaky. One of the twins unlocked the door, tossed the new clothing onto the bed without a word, then handed the key to Molly. Angrily the twins strode away down the corridor—Molly realised with a shock that the twins had been small children, the last time they had dared to show such fierce anger in her presence.
Molly felt like yelling at them—and would have, had the three of them been someplace less public than the Leaky Cauldron. Instead, she locked the door and hurried to follow them.
Soon Molly was standing in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Molly decided that either Albus Dumbledore or Xenophilius Lovegood had decided on the shop's outdoor colour- scheme; her eyeballs hurt.
The twins used some sort of two-person, password-protected Alohomora to unlock the front door. A sign on the front of the door said, "Closed 25th August, sorry. Please come back tomorrow."
Molly was puzzled when, as soon as she was inside the shop and the door was locked (with a two-person, password-protected Colloportus), Fred and George each put up Silencing Charms.
The twins gave Molly a tour of their shop. At one point, the twins were showing off their potions for sale. They looked at their mother and said meaningfully, "Harry and Hermione convinced us not to sell love potions—even 'joke' love potions. As Hermione put it, 'A love potion is rape in a bottle.' "
Molly started to argue. Instead of listening, the twins walked on, continuing the tour.
For all of the tour except for the part about "We don't sell love potions," the twins' faces showed happiness and pride. However, Molly was unimpressed by everything she saw.
She said, "Everything you've made here is silly. If you'd spent the past nine years working at the Ministry, just think of all the serious and important things you could've invented."
The twins looked at each other. "She's done it again," said one twin.
"Disrespected our choices," said the other. "Disrespected our work," the twins said in unison.
Then the twins looked at Molly and said in unison, "Why the bloody hell should we be
gormless enough to work for the Ministry?"
Even as Molly gasped in shock, the twins ping-ponged again— "We each bank more in one month—"
"—than Dad does in three months."
"We each bank more in one month than does everyone—" "—at the Ministry except for Minister Bones."
"Plus, we don't have the Wizengamot—" "—deciding how we're supposed to do our jobs." "We now have shops in Diagon Alley—"
"—in Sydney and in Los Angeles."
"If we're being 'silly,' then more and more—" "—people every day like our sort of 'silly.' "
Then the twins, both their faces angry, said in unison, "Mum, I think it's time we walked you back to the Leaky."
"NO! I haven't met your families!" Molly snapped. "Nor will you," said one of the twins.
"WHAT?"
The twins then told Molly that they lived above the shop, in two space-expanded flats, along with their wives and children. However, the twins had no intention of Molly meeting those children anytime soon, and all the entrances to those two flats had been warded against Molly entering them.
Molly screamed, yelled and tantrummed, but the twins simply stood there, arms crossed, and waited her out. The twin on the right glanced at his watch at one point.
After a while, Molly asked, "Why are you stopping me from seeing my grandchildren?"
The twin on the left said, "We're disgusted by the rotten person that Ron has become, and you raised him to be just like you. We've spent Christmases with Angelica, Alicia and Hermione, and their parents; so we've seen loving families where the parents respected the children. You don't respect George and me, you never have. You don't respect us even now, when we're each earning more than Dad earns."
Molly scowled. "But—"
The twin on the right said, "You yell at the top of the lungs whenever one of your children isn't doing exactly what you want them to do, when you want him to do it and how you want him to do it. For the past ten years, our life has been peaceful—which, we've figured out, is because you weren't in it. But now you're back, and the holiday is over. Do you think either of us wants his children to grow up with your head games that we've grown up with? Do you think we want our kids going deaf from your yelling? Or you telling our kids whom they should marry, and whom they shouldn't marry? No way."
"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HOW I'VE RAISED—"
Molly was hit with a Silencing Charm that she could not dispel.
Left twin: "Nor do we want the scandal of reading in the Prophet that some 'worthy' boy loves my daughter, or some 'worthy' girl loves George's son—"
Right twin: "—because you've been brewing love potions again."
Left twin: "You aren't really our mother. You potioned Dad away from Ruby, who should have been our mother."
Right twin: "We two picked you up when you left prison, we've clothed you, and we've paid for a week's food and lodging. We twins' 'family duty' to our 'mother' is hereby complete."
Left twin: "Speaking of 'a week's food and lodging,' we've given you a week to figure out where you'll stay next."
Unison: "But the two of us, plus our wives, don't want you living with any of us, and neither do Bill and Fleur."
****
Molly was then basically dragged back to the Leaky Cauldron. Only when she was in the public room of the Leaky Cauldron was the Silencing Charm lifted from her.
****
During the next week: 25th-31st August 2005
Molly spent much time Floo-calling and hiring owls, trying to browbeat members of her family into letting her live with them.
First on her "Let me live with you" browbeat-list: Charlie and Percy. They said no.
She sent Charlie and Percy each a Howler. They still said no.
Molly then tried to browbeat Bill and Fleur into letting her live with them. They said no.
She sent a Howler. They still said no.
The twins did not wait for Molly to Floo-call them or to send a Howler to them; the twins sent a preemptive Howler to her. The twins' Howler to their mother arrived when Molly was
eating breakfast in the Leaky.
Molly did not like being publicly humiliated.
Aunt Muriel preemptively sent a letter—but fortunately, not a Howler—to Molly that said, "Don't bother asking. You're a disgrace to the family."
Michael Corner replied to Molly's demand with a polite "No." Ginny Weasley-Corner replied to Molly's demand with all the impolite words she had learned in the Holyhead Harpies locker room.
By now, Molly was running out of days and was running out of relatives she thought she could browbeat. She sent a letter to her ex-husband Arthur, declaring that Ron, who was living with Arthur, needed his mother in his life.
Ruby Weasley, the second Mrs Arthur Weasley, was who replied to Molly—with a Howler. Ruby Weasley's Howler arrive at the public room of the Leaky Cauldron just as Molly was eating dinner.
Molly still did not like being publicly humiliated.
****
On Day 7: Wednesday, 31st August 2005
Molly had tried every person she could think of, who might give her a place to live, rent-free. No one had agreed.
So this left Molly with one choice: renting a flat or a house. But to do this, she needed money from her vault. Which meant a trip to Gringotts.
As Molly climbed the white stairs to the Gringotts lobby, she was thinking so hard about how to talk the goblins into not charging a high price for getting a new key made for her vault, Molly forgot something important about Gringotts—
Since August 1995, Gringotts had a warrant out for Molly's arrest, for stealing G512 from Harry's trust vault that Molly could not repay.
Thirty-one minutes after Molly walked into the Gringotts lobby, she was beheaded. Gringotts dutifully notified by owl-mail, Molly's relatives (Muriel, William, Charles, Percival, Frederick, George and Ginevra) who had Gringotts vaults. (Arthur had a Gringotts vault, but Gringotts no longer considered him a relative of Molly's. Ronald had no job and no Gringotts vault.)
****
Twelve years later: Friday, 1st September 2017, 10:50 a.m King's Cross Station
Sirius and Amelia Black were on Platform 9¾ to watch their school-age children board the Hogwarts Express. Arthur and Ruby Weasley, and Michael Corner and Ginevra Weasley- Corner, were there too, for the same reason.
But none of the school-age magical children who were related to Harry or Hermione Potter
—"V.V" (Vincent Vernon Dursley), Danny Potter, Emmalille Potter or Felix Taylor—were boarding the Hogwarts Express. Instead, all four magical children had portkeyed to Manchester Magical Academy two hours earlier.
As for Harry, even though this was a right ordinary day for him (other than this being this year's first day of school for Harry's two children), Harry, for some reason, paused during this day to reflect—
Harry's forehead scar had not pained him for twenty-two years. On the other hand, Harry's shoulders and back still stung a bit, from Hermione passionately scratching him last night.
The last person whom Harry personally killed was Dolohov in Azkaban Prison, twenty-two years ago; and the last people whom Harry ordered to be killed were Cooper, Crabbe and Parkinson outside MMA, twenty-two years ago. All was well (except for Dolohov, Cooper, Crabbe and Parkinson, and fifty-one others).
****
Almost two years later: August 2019
An American Squib, who did not know he was a Squib, discovered the magical world and revealed it to nonmagicals through a blog post. By the next day, thousands of nonmagicals knew about the magical world; by the day after this, millions of nonmagicals knew about the magical world.
No country's Obliviators could put things back like they had been before; no nation's Unspeakables could put things back like they had been before. So nonmagicals knowing about the magical world was the new reality.
In Wizarding Britain, wizard-raised magicals felt panic.
In Wizarding Britain, Muggle-borns felt relief—no more would there be awkward Christmas- dinner conversations with relatives not in the know.
Sixty-seven-year-old Emma Granger took this thought one step further.
****
Four months later: Christmas Day, 2019
The Granger house, Crawley, West Sussex, England
Emma invited her sister Elizabeth, her brother Fitzwilliam, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to "an extra special Christmas dinner, in which I will make an important announcement."
At the Christmas dinner, Emma said, "I'm sure that you've read or heard that magic is real, and that magical people are real. In fact, all of us here, not counting spouses, are descended from a magical man, Ramses Malfoy. Ramses Malfoy had a nonmagical son, Stefanus Malfoy, and Ramses sent Stefanus away like he were rotting rubbish. Stefanus Malfoy went into the nonmagical world, changed his name to Stephen Moffitt, married and, X years later, here we are."
Elizabeth stared at her sister. "Emma, are you saying you can do magic?" "No. I can't, but several people in this room can."
Hermione spoke up: "I've done magic since I was four. Harry does magic too, as do Danny and Emmalille. Those 'special schools' I went to when I was a teenager, and that Danny and Emmalille went to, later on? Those schools' purpose was to teach us how to do magic."
Immediately Emma's grand-niece, twenty-seven-year old Penny Taylor-Somerton, announced to the rest of the family that she, her husband and her children also were magical.
Penny's teenaged younger brother Felix said, "Me too."
Emma's niece Beverly Pickford confessed then that she was not magical, but a magical man
—a "wizard"—had kidnapped her in 1995, and he and his magical son both had raped her. But Beverly's story did not end there: Harry and Hermione had rescued her.
Now Beverly looked at the stunned faces amongst her relatives. "I've met evil magical people. I've been hurt by evil magical people. Our magical ancestor, Ramses Malfoy, was at least a bit evil. But there are no evil magical people here tonight."
Hermione Granger-Potter got out of her chair at the table, rushed over to where Beverly was sitting, and hugged the blonde. "I'm glad I've you in my life, Cousin Beverly," Hermione said.
****
The next day (Thursday, 26th December 2019) Malfoy Manor
Harry, acting as Lord Malfoy, invited all the descendants of Ramses Malfoy who had attended the Grangers' Christmas dinner, to Malfoy Manor.
Of course Danny and Emmalille Potter were eager to see the place. Not only was Ramses Malfoy an ancestor of the Potter children, but Malfoy Manor was where Mum and Dad had killed Voldemort.
With help from the Malfoy house-elves, the group of Ramses-descendants Muggles (which were most of Hermione's relatives, including Beverly), Squibs (the Granger parents, and James and Bonnie Taylor), Muggle-borns (Hermione, Penny and Felix), and magical children of Muggle-borns (Danny and Emmalille, and Penny's children) all were brought to Malfoy
Manor. Within minutes, the Ramses-descendants were met by Narcissa. Narcissa was a gracious hostess (though, Harry suspected, an unwilling one).
The first stop on the Malfoy Manor tour was the gold-door bedroom, a.k.a the Master Bedroom. Judging from the different decorating, Narcissa had reclaimed the bedroom. Harry and Hermione told everyone else the story of how they (and an adult wizard) had killed Voldemort in this room. The Granger parents, the Potter children, Beverly Pickford and the magical Taylors all listened in fascination. Narcissa listened in silence, then said, "I'm sorry you didn't make him suffer more. A Cruciatus Curse or twenty would have been the perfect punishment for him."
All the magicals in the room looked at Narcissa in shock.
The next stop on the tour was Draco's bedroom, because Hermione wanted to see it. Draco's bedroom was the bedroom to the right of the gold-door bedroom. On the wall in Draco's green/silver bedroom was a magical photograph of Lucius again and again putting his hand on the shoulder of Slytherin firstie Draco; Narcissa was nowhere in the photo.
Once the group left Draco's bedroom, Hermione casually(?) gestured towards the bedroom that was across the corridor from the gold-door bedroom. Hermione casually(?) asked, "Whose bedroom is that normally?" Narcissa's eyes narrowed a bit, but she answered the question.
It turned out that where Hermione had beheaded Walden Macnair was the bedroom reserved for the Malfoy eldest daughter (if the Malfoys had had a daughter).
During the walk through the manor house, Harry and Hermione mentioned that the same day they had killed Voldemort, they and two others also had killed thirty-two of Voldemort's minions. Neither Harry nor Hermione gave details (to Danny Potter's disappointment).
Nobody but Danny wanted to see the "torture dungeons." Which was just as well, because Harry told Narcissa not to lead the tour down there. Harry told his disappointed son, "I'm thirty-nine, and many things that I've seen down there disturb me. Believe me, I'm saying no to protect your innocence."
Hermione's relatives who were nonmagical had no idea what to think about Malfoy Manor's duelling room, ritual room, or potions laboratory.
Malfoy house-elves prepared a light meal for the visitors. The nonmagical visitors could not decide what to think about the house-elves.
The last stop on the tour, at Harry's request, was the Portraits room.
****
The Portraits room erupted in noise when Harry, his family, and his wife's relatives walked in.
At Harry's prior order, the portrait of Lucius Malfoy was covered with a black cloth and was silenced. Nowhere was there a portrait of Draco.
"Narcissa," a blond portrait-man in old-style robes demanded to know, "what are Muggles
doing here? Throw them out."
"Silence!" Harry yelled. The portrait-wizards looked shocked when they were compelled to obey.
Harry, who had "not one drop of Malfoy blood in" him, explained to the portraits how Lucius Malfoy had lost his life and his House to Harry in August 1995, and explained how Lucius's son Draco lost his name, then his life, a few weeks later. "...So, portraits, House Malfoy as you know it has come to an end. You may speak now."
A blond portrait-man with a French accent said, "Your words say that there is a way that House Malfoy"—he gave it the French pronunciation, Malfoi—"can go on, in a form of which we are not aware, but you are aware."
Harry made the rocking-hand gesture. "I've declared House Malfoy extinct. Meaning, no Heir. And when I die—au revoir, House Malfoy."
The portraits did not like hearing this.
Harry continued, "But if I did intend to name an Heir, 'Lord Malfoy by Right of Conquest' means I'm not bound by any of your prior family rules about who is a suitable Heir. I could name a ginger-haired Weasley as Heir Malfoy."
The blond portrait-man with the French accent looked confused by those words, but some portraits yelled angrily.
Harry said, "May I know your name, elder Lord Malfoy? I am Harry James Potter, and I am also Lord Potter, but not by Right of Conquest."
"I am Luc Malfoy, the founder of House Malfoy of Great Britain. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Potter-Malfoy." Luc bowed in his frame.
Harry bowed back to Luc, then turned to smirk at the loudmouth portraits. "We were discussing a hypothetical Heir Malfoy. If I were going to name a Malfoy Heir, the person I would choose is actually related to you lot. Which of you is Ramses Malfoy?"
A reedy tenor voice sneered, "I am Ramses Malfoy, upstart."
Portrait-Ramses turned out to have blond hair that was combed back in a pompadour, and he was wearing an ascot. When Harry and the relatives of Hermione all were gathered in front of his portrait, he sneered, "What can I do for you, 'Lord Malfoy'?"
Harry was sneering back. "Hermione? Kids? Penny? Felix? Show Ramses Malfoy what you can do."
Seconds later, the five named people had each conjured bluebell flames above an open hand.
"Splendid," Portrait-Ramses said sarcastically, "some of the Muggles are actually mudbloods. Am I supposed to be impressed?"
Harry laughed scornfully. "Considering whom they're related to—yes, you should be impressed. Everyone you see here, except for Bonnie Taylor, my father-in-law Dan Granger and myself, is descended from Stefanus Malfoy, your Squib son. My Muggle-born wife Hermione, as the eldest of the magical descendants of Stefanus Malfoy, could be Heiress Malfoy, if I so chose."
Luc Malfoy asked, "There are no uncles of Lucius left alive? No cousins?"
"Nope," Harry said cheerfully. "They all let themselves be branded like cattle, becoming the murderous lackeys of the half-blood illegitimate fraud Tom Riddle—'Lord Voldemort' to you Purebloods. Well, in August of 1995, the day after I killed Lucius and was handed the Lord Malfoy ring, Hermione and I and two others killed Riddle, plus we killed Lucius's friends and relatives who were Voldemort's minions, called 'Death Eaters.' By September of 1995, Hermione and I had killed all the Death Eaters. So much for the myth of Pureblood superiority! I've checked with Gringotts—Hermione is Lucius's closest living relative!"
This made the portraits mutter.
Luc Malfoy sighed. " 'Extinct.' So Malfoy Manor will stand only so long as you live, then the House I founded shall be gone."
"Not even that long. When Narcissa dies, I'll send the goblins in, to grab everything magical that can be sold off, to vanish everything else magical, to take down the wards, then to sell Malfoy Manor to Muggles."
The portraits acted horrified by this plan. Narcissa, surprisingly, was smiling. "Why would you do that?" Luc Malfoy asked, looking shocked.
"Why? Why? I'll tell you why. Ramses Malfoy had at least two sons. Stefanus, the son who wasn't magical, was thrown away like broken eggshells. Any man who would do this to his own son is no superior human, even when he can make a feather float! So Stefanus was cast out, because Ramses refused to act like a father, then generations passed. Three generations after Stefanus, Hermione was born and she could do magic, to her complete surprise; four generations after Stefanus was born, Penny and Felix were born, who could do magic without knowing why. Thanks to Ramses Malfoy being a Pureblood pillock, Hermione, Penny and Felix hold no loyalty to the Malfoy family, so neither will I."
****
Thirty-seven years later: 2056
Narcissa Black Malfoy died. During her funeral, a team of goblins, who were fulfilling a contract with Harry Potter, went to Malfoy Manor.
The first thing the goblins did was to find and to destroy everything Dark in the manor house and in the manor house's torture dungeons. The goblins found many Dark items in Malfoy Manor. Next, the goblins completely filled the torture dungeons with packed dirt.
One goblin dealt with the portraits of Malfoy wizards. The portrait of Luc Malfoy was placed in the Potter family vault, but all the other Lord Malfoy portraits were destroyed on site. The portraits of Lucius Malfoy and of Ramses Malfoy were destroyed first.
The goblins did not need to deal with white peacocks. Long before 2056, Harry had donated Lucius's white peacocks to the London Zoo.
The items in Malfoy Manor that were goblin-made were reclaimed by the goblins. The goblins found many such items. Everything else in Malfoy Manor that was magical and that had value, was taken to Diagon Alley to be sold; magical junk and everything nonmagical in the manor house were vanished. Malfoy house-elves became additional Potter house-elves.
The wards and the Fidelius Charm on Malfoy Manor were ended, and the wardstones removed.
When there was nothing in or by Malfoy Manor that could violate the Statute of Secrecy, the nonmagical subsidiary of Gringotts held an auction. Malfoy Manor and its grounds were sold to the highest nonmagical bidder.
Within a week after Narcissa's funeral, a Muggle land developer bought the property, and Malfoy Manor was demolished flat.
Meanwhile, Luc Malfoy's portrait had been removed from the Potter family vault and had been placed in the portrait room of Potter Manor. When Portrait-Luc asked why he had been spared from portrait-death, Harry let Hermione answer—
"I'm the mother of the next generation of Potters, and you're my ancestor, thus you're an ancestor of all the Potters who come after Harry. Also, you're the only Malfoy we know who isn't a foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach."
Harry said, "Let me point out something to you, portrait of Luc Malfoy. Except for you, a magical portrait, House Malfoy of Great Britain is gone completely—the Malfoy bloodline is ended, no one alive carries the Malfoy name, the manor house and grounds are sold off, and the House is, for all practical purposes, extinct. When I die, House Malfoy shall be officially extinct. How did all this happen? The process started in August 1995, when Lucius Malfoy tried to Avada me in Courtroom Ten."
****
Thirty-nine years later: December 2095
After Albus Percival Dumbledore's secret treason trial in 1995, the Elder Wand wound up in the basement of an Edinburgh courthouse. The Elder Wand was stored in the evidence locker, in the section for "high-value evidence"—such as kilograms of drugs or satchels of banknotes.
Only two courthouse employees, both of them Muggles, had access to what seemed to them to be a cooking chopstick. Both were puzzled how a cooking chopstick could be consider "high value"; but neither of them moved the "cooking chopstick" to a less secure part of the evidence locker, nor would either of them have been willing to sell the "cooking chopstick" to whomever offered to buy it. The two people who worked in the high-value-evidence part of the evidence locker were proud of the trust that they had been given, so they were not about to do anything dodgy. Nor did they ever talk—even to relatives, friends and neighbours
—about the specific high-value evidence for which they were responsible, lest they be robbed of it.
It took about twenty years after Dumbledore's trial for a dark wizard to suspect that the Elder Wand might have been taken into evidence when Dumbledore was arrested by the Muggles' British Army. But what happened to the Elder Wand then? One theory was that the Royal Wizard in London now owned the Elder Wand; another theory was that Harry Potter, living in Wales, now had the Elder Wand. In either case, good luck, Mr Dark Wizard, stealing the Elder Wand! But no dark wizard guessed that the Elder Wand actually was in the basement of a Muggle courthouse in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In December 2095, the courthouse destroyed all of its 1995 evidence (except for banknotes and coins). The Elder Wand was burnt to ashes with no ceremony, and with only one bored witness.
****************