Chapter Sixty Four - The Aftermath
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!
A/N: Very important notice at the bottom of this chapter. I ask you read it if you like reading my written meanderings. My 'posting schedule' is about to change. It explains why.
Chapter Sixty Four - The Aftermath
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Appearing in the Potter apartment, Harry immediately dropped into the middle seat of a sofa and fell backwards onto the backrest. He felt exhausted. Hermione was quick to land next to him and cuddle in. Clearly, she'd been worried she'd lost him.
"We'll soon have almost a dozen people turn up in here," he said. "Can you ladies get things ready for them?"
Before the girls could even reply, the two adult Grangers found themselves appearing with the white flash of elvish magic in the middle of the room. And let out a gasp of shock.
"Sorry!" Harry called to them. "I told Dobby to grab you and get you out of there before people figured out who you were and gave you a hard time."
Betsy was called by Daphne and the ladies' elf popped away to bring more seats.
"That felt... odd," said Wendell. "Like... all sorts of wrong."
Harry almost carelessly shrugged. "You broke the laws of physics and I'd say your body didn't like that."
Then, before Wendell could say another word, the Delacours appeared with Gabrielle; though they weren't as surprised, having seen the Grangers disappear. Then the Greengrasses. Then Sirius. Then Moony.
"Well," said Sirius. "That was interesting. I was right in the middle of having a chat with Frank Longbottom―"
"He'll have a pretty fair idea what happened to you," said Harry. "And, if not him, then Neville. I think we can probably expect them, and others, along within about fifteen minutes."
After first having to rise again to greet folks, Harry finally received hugs off loved ones.
Dobby and/or Betsy had been busy in the kitchen. Soon, there appeared a late night snack 'spread' with a large tea serving on the coffee table.
Sirius finally asked, "How much of what you told us happened after you were portkeyed away was the truth, Pup?"
Harry smirked and replied, "I relayed exactly what the Unspeakables told me I was to relay. I didn't embellish it one whit. Other than what I told you, the Unspeakables have made the whole event a matter of security of the wizarding realm."
Sirius gave a snort of amusement and said, "In other words, probably everything you told us that didn't mean all that much, was true; but all the important points, weren't. That would be typical of those bastards."
"I can't say," said Harry. "I promised I wouldn't. I'd rather remember what happened, than have them remove those memories either by finding a way to actually accomplish what Dumbledore couldn't; or, getting rid of those memories by getting rid of me."
Sirius stared back worriedly for a moment, before he quietly muttered, "Good point."
With Betsy and or Dobby finding enough sofas and couches to accommodate everyone, Harry asked Dobby to see if they could find more and find a place for them in the room.
"More guests?" asked the little elf.
"Yep," replied Harry; "Or, at least I think so."
He was right.
The next to turn up was, surprising Harry, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry was quick to introduce him to Sirius. He came with Tracey Davis. Yet further proof they were becoming a couple.
The Longbottom three, plus their extended families that had come to see the Task, were only two minutes behind. After them, Harry decided to just leave the door to the apartment open as he knew aurors were outside to monitor who arrived. As such, no one who wouldn't be allowed would even be able to get to the door.
Finally, Madam Bones turned up with two more aurors.
By then the living room of the apartment was quite full. They'd have been overflowing if they'd still been in the previous apartment.
However, there were no others who 'warranted' getting allowed in to visit. Harry should have realised that before, but blamed it on being tired after a long night.
With Madam Bones's arrival Harry was yet again 'interrogated' about what had actually happened. He simply reiterated what he'd told Sirius.
Though annoyed and showing her displeasure, Bones didn't push it. She, too, understood what the Unspeakables were capable of if they thought they had a need to act.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After everyone not living in the apartment had left again, Harry went to bed.
He'd only been gone for about two minutes when Fleur looked to Hermione and asked, "'Ermione?"
From the look on her face, Hermione knew what Fleur was asking, paused a moment and said, "Go. I slept with him last night."
Without another word, Fleur rose and walked straight to Harry's door. After a quick knock, she quietly let herself in.
However, when she moved to the bed expecting Harry to welcome her, he was already asleep.
With a sigh of disappointment, she disrobed and climbed in to snuggle up to him. She was naked, as she both didn't bring a nightie in with her and hated sleeping in one anyway.
It was some time during the early hours of the morning when she woke up feeling almost uncomfortably aroused. Harry was apparently awake and 'playing'.
"Oh... by the Gods... Harry!" she softly moaned.
Harry looked up and said, "Ah. You're awake. Do you mind?"
"N-no," she replied. "De-definitely not."
He smiled back and, moments later, dropped his head beneath the bedding.
Harry 'did something' and she moaned before she gave a little 'Eep' sound. "Oh... oh... Ohh... OHH... OH, MON DIEUX!"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The next morning, once Harry and Fleur came out of his room, the other two girls were waiting for them both. They no longer even batted an eye, let alone smirk, when the other two saw one of the others come out of Harry's room.
Daphne asked, "We ready?"
Harry replied, "We are. Betsy was kind enough to bring a change of clothes for Fleur over from her room."
"She does that for all three of us, Harry," she said. "Whenever one of us spends the night with you."
He nodded, but appeared distracted.
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione
He sighed and said, "You know all the staring is going to start again this morning, don't you?"
She shrugged and said, "I thought you'd be used to it by now."
"Used to it, yes," he replied; "Comfortable with it, no."
After picking up the Longbottoms and Justin, the seven of them headed down to the Great Hall. Surprisingly, Tracey was waiting for them one floor up on the grand staircase.
"It's a bit of a madhouse in there, at the moment," she explained. "I'd rather have waited for you out here than in there on my own. You just know I was going to be bombarded with questions."
Almost unconsciously, she slipped into step beside Justin and even took his elbow. Harry wondered if either of them noticed.
Even Harry nodded back at Tracey's words. "And... now, since none of us were in there first, we'll be sitting together to field those questions."
"Spreads them out a bit," she smiled back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When the now nine walked into the Great Hall, it seemed people were waiting for them - or, rather, Harry - to appear. Because it was like a ripple of stillness suddenly be-spelled the Hall. It was a ripple that almost directly centred on Harry and quickly radiated out.
Ignoring it, the nine went and sat at the Hufflepuff table. The small contingent of Durmstrang were sitting at the Head table end of the Slytherin table, again; and the small Beauxbatons contingent were sitting at the Head end of the Ravenclaw table. That's why they decided to sit at the Head end of the Hufflepuff table.
As soon as the nine sat, they began building their own breakfasts and were ignoring the blatant staring at them that involved, what appeared, almost all the other denizens of the Hall.
Finally, most turned back to their own breakfasts.
Just before the owls flew in, Cedric walked up the table from the other end and caught Harry's attention.
"Cedric?" Harry quietly asked.
"Really, Harry?" the other boy exasperatedly asked right back. "A broom?"
Harry smirked back and said, "Cedric. You're the seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. You've held that position for... what... four years?"
"Five, including this one," the other boy muttered back.
"Five," said Harry with a nod. "I should be asking you, 'Really Cedric? You didn't use a broom?'"
Diggory gave a sigh and said, "No. You're right. I should have thought of it. But, daaaamn, Harry!"
Harry grinned and just shrugged his shoulders.
When the mail came in, Harry received the usual nonsense, but was more interested in the Daily Prophet that morning, anyway.
Opening it up, the main story was, of course, his winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament by simply reading and understanding the rules of the Task, just as he did with the Second Task. Then went into detail about what he did as soon as he was allowed to begin, how fast it took him to get to the Cup to win and his subsequent disappearance.
For that part, Bagman had apparently declined to answer questions on the event, which turned out to be damned foolish of him; because the new bloke from the DIMC laid the entire blame onto both Bagman and his own predecessor, Crouch Sr. And the new Director went on to congratulate Harry for finding and understanding the 'loopholes' in the rules of the Tournament and utilising them.
The second part to the story, written by another reporter, was about what had supposedly happened to Harry when he reached the Cup. It reported 'faithfully' what Harry had told everyone and, unusually, was backed up by the Unspeakables. It was also reported that the Unspeakables rarely released information to the press, so them supporting Harry's claims made the claims 'obviously the truth'.
Harry was then starting to skim through the paper when he spotted another article about Bagman. Apparently, not minutes after Harry and company had disappeared, Brunt had publicly sacked Bagman for 'incompetence'.
What did come as a surprise that morning, was Brunt walking into the Great Hall with a small following of reporters. He directly approached Marchbanks and clearly asked to say a few words.
After being granted permission he moved to the lectern, gave his throat a little clear as the reporters and photographers set themselves up and then gave a short speech about how the Tournament was designed to, once again, bring the three schools together in a competition of camaraderie.
That had both Harry and Fleur give snorts of amusement.
Then Brunt said, "I now call on the latest winner of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Lord Harrison Potter, to come forward to accept his one thousand Galleons winnings."
Harry sighed, gave himself a little shake, stood and walked over.
"Up here, please, Harry," said the Minister.
Harry was going to berate the man for using the diminutive of his name, plus chide him for not addressing him as Lord Potter, but decided to let it slide because he had at least referred to him as Lord Harrison Potter during his little impromptu speech.
Harry stepped up onto the dais alongside the lectern as the Minister stepped away from it, too.
Then the man handed him to his left hand the bag of galleons, before immediately grabbing him by his right with his own right and shaking his hand. "Smile for the cameras, please, Harry."
"You mean, smile for the cameras, please, Lord Potter; right, Minister?" he shot back, while also smiling. "Or would you prefer I just refer to you as 'Gabby' in front of the press, just as you're referring to me as 'Harry' in front of the same and my school mates."
While the man's smile didn't leave his mouth, he did at least blush and quietly said, "Sorry, Lord Potter. I won't let it happen again."
As they pulled apart again, Harry more clearly said, "Thank you, Minister Brunt."
Harry gave the man another nod and walked back to his friends at the Hufflepuff table.
Sitting down, Harry moved onto his mail. He hadn't even realised one of the owls he received was Sable, Sirius's owl, because he'd received a letter from Sirius.
Quickly opening it, he read.
~ # ~
Pup,
Ted Tonks and I have to make an emergency trip to Perth - the one in Australia, not the one in Scotland - and may be a few days. It's nothing for you to worry about; just House business for Black.
I'll take my communications mirror with me so, if you or Hermione need to get hold of me, you can do so. Just, please be aware of the time difference. Perth is eight hours ahead of Hogwarts. That means, if it's 8.00am at Hogwarts, it's 4.00pm in Perth. So, if you want to contact me, try to contact me in the morning, your time.
I'll let you know when we arrive back in wizarding Britain, so you won't continue to think I'm on the other side of the world.
Can you please give Hermione the same information?
Padfoot
~ # ~
Wondering what was going on, but knowing not to ask even if he could, Harry quietly handed the letter to Hermione.
After she read it, also frowning in some confusion, she looked back and asked, "Any ideas?"
"None," he replied. "And, that's so unlike him. However, if he wanted either of us to know, he'd have told us."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons contingents left almost immediately at the close of breakfast and just before everyone had to head off to class.
However, when Harry was making his own way out, he received a note from Marchbanks asking him to pay her a visit in her office.
Not as annoyed as he would have been if it was still Dumbledore in that office, Harry made his way up to the Head's tower. He went on his own.
When he got up there, passing through the gargoyle as he knew the password and it was unchanged, he knocked on the door and waited.
"Enter," he heard called.
He walked in to find Marchbanks sitting at her desk and doing parchment work.
"Hello, Lord Potter," she quietly said, sliding what she was working on aside. Then indicated the chair just on the other side of her desk. "Please, sit."
"Headmistress," he returned, taking that seat and sitting back.
When he was comfortable she said, "Thank you for coming alone."
He gave a slight shrug and said, "Unlike that manipulative old... so-and-so that used to sit where you now do, I have no concerns you intend to do me harm."
"Thank you for you trust," she nodded. She hesitated a moment before she said, "The reason why I asked you up here, was for you to see something."
"Mmm?" he asked
With a slight smirk, she raised her wand and waved it at one of her office walls. When he turned to look he could see a portrait fade into existence. It was Dumbledore and it was active.
By the way the portrait appeared annoyed and was trying to speak, but no sound was heard, he could tell a silencing ward had been placed on it.
"Dumbledore?" he asked. A moment later he realised what it meant and snapped his surprised expression back to Marchbanks.
She chuckled and said, "Yes, Lord Potter. It means Albus Dumbledore is dead."
"But, that would mean―" he began.
"That would mean the Unspeakables killed him; yes," she replied.
Glancing back at the portrait, which was trying to rant and rave now, before he turned to look at her again, he asked, "How long have you known?"
She smiled and replied, "I knew from the moment that portrait appeared. That was the day before you met with young Saul... Unspeakable Croaker... here, in this office.
"Once it appeared, with Dumbledore still asleep at the time, I erected a disillusionment and silencing ward over it."
"Did Mister... sorry, Croaker know?" he asked.
"Yes," she gave a firm nod. "However, I also told him I had no intention of allowing that portrait to be seen by anyone, but a select few, until the Unspeakables were ready to make it public that Dumbledore was dead. I have been assured they'll be doing that either later today or tomorrow."
She then leaned forward and said, "I'm also aware that the ritual, last night, was successful in resurrecting young Tom Riddle. And that Croaker's boys and girls... reversed that state, yet again."
Harry gave her a quizzical look and asked, "And how would you reach such a conclusion?"
She returned, "Because Croaker will be here in about five minutes to take you to the Department of Mysteries to carry out a small task for him. He would not be doing that unless I'm right about last night.
"Before you ask, though, I have no idea what that task actually is; but I have a fair idea. I believe he is going to ask you to do something so he is assured that a certain prophecy is, indeed, complete."
Harry looked back at her for a moment before his light smile turned into a full blown smirk. "You, Lady Griselda Marchbanks, are not a daft moron."
She let loose a loud laugh.
It took her a few moments before she calmed enough and replied, "No, Lord Harrison Potter, I am not."
"You knew about some of the little things that almost all magicals seemed unaware of and I made known, didn't you?" he asked.
"You mean; such as using the house elves to side-along apparate someone or something through or within anti-apparition wards?" she asked. "Yes. I've known of that for many years."
He gave a little snort of amusement.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When Croaker turned up via the floo, he asked Marchbanks, "He's aware?"
"He's aware Dumbledore is dead and that his portrait appearing here proves it," she replied. "And he's aware you are taking him back to the Department of Mysteries to accomplish something that will finish young Tom Riddle for good."
Croaker gave a nod and turned to Harry. "Ready to go, Lord Potter?"
Harry gave a nod and stood. "Ready when you are. Let's get this done."
After stepping Harry through what he needed to do to floo into the DoM, Harry followed the man through to an office deep within the department. Once there, Croaker led him through the corridors until they came to a room that had a ring of stone tiers leading down to a floor that held a low stone dais in the centre. On the dais and set back a bit was a stone arch that had what appeared to be a tattered filmy dark grey curtain hanging across the face of it.
Before that was a body lying on a table, draped in a black sheet, with it's feet pointing towards the arch.
There were four other hooded Unspeakables in the room. One stood either side of what was the body; and two stood either side of the stone arch.
As he and Croaker walked forward from one of the doors leading into the room, Harry asked, "Riddle?"
Croaker hesitated just a jot before he softly replied, "Indeed."
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"How good are you at the Banishing charms?" asked Croaker.
"Depulso?"
"That one will do, yes."
"If I need to banish that," he said, indicating the body of Riddle, "Through that arch, I believe I'm more than capable."
As they'd reached the dais, Croaker said, "Then, please do so." And gave a flick of his fingers telling Harry to go right ahead.
Harry gave a nod back, drew his wand, made sure he was lined up properly and firmly cast. "Depulso!"
Surprising even him - as he only aimed at what, from the shape, was the head - the body, its covering sheet and the table all shot away from him and directly through the middle of the arch.
He blinked in surprise when nothing appeared from the back of the arch.
"And... done," said Croaker, as the four Unspeakables all stepped forward with wands drawn and cast diagnostic charms over the arch. "From your expression it appears you didn't realise the table was hovering about an inch off the floor."
"Errr... No," replied Harry.
Croaker smiled and said, "Runes carved into the base of each leg of the table that caused it to maintain a constant repulsion from the floor."
"Ah!" muttered Harry. "Clever. I was also surprised to not see the body and table appear out the other side of the arch."
"That's because the arch is one way only," explained Croaker.
He then waited a few moments before one of the Unspeakables turned back and said, "No leakage. No sign of a spirit of any form."
Croaker nodded back and turned to Harry. "That's it. No more Voldemort, ever again."
Harry gave a sigh and quietly, but vehemently, muttered, "Thank God."
Croaker then led him to his office and placed a small crystal ball on his desk. Harry immediately recognised it as the prophecy sphere he'd shown him in Marchbanks's office back in early March, but it was now a dark grey.
"You can have that, if you like," said Croaker. "It's your personal proof that Voldemort is done and dusted."
Harry was going to refuse, but finally said, "What the Hell." Then reached out, picked it up and dropped it into a pocket of his robes.
Croaker asked, "Before I take you back to the school, do you have any questions for me?"
Harry thought for a bit before he replied, "Yes. When are you going to make it public that Dumbledore is dead? I'd like to get rid of my coterie of human-shaped attack dogs Madam Bones has saddled me with. The ones she doesn't know I know about."
Croaker chuckled and replied, "We'll be informing her and the Minister before lunch. We'll then work with her and the Minister on when to make it public. At that time I'll also be informing them as to the truth of the final disposal of Tom Riddle.
"I cannot say, however, when she is likely to withdraw your auror guard. She may decide they need to remain in place for a while."
Harry gave a nod and said, "Please ask them not to make it known my part in all this that isn't already public knowledge."
Croaker nodded back and asked, "You wish to avoid the fame?"
Harry gave a snort and firmly replied, "Hell yes!"
"Then I shall do so," grinned the Unspeakable. Then his expression harden a little and he said, "Now, as a... reward... for your actions last night, I have some information for you. A lot of it we gleaned from Dumbledore and it's going to be a little shocking for you."
Harry also firmed up, nodded back and said, "Let's hear it then."
Croaker was well over an hour telling Harry information he thought the boy should know. For Harry, it was both shocking, as expected, and unsurprising.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry flooed directly back to the Headmistress's office. She'd left the floo open for him to return.
"All done?" she asked.
"Yes," he immediately replied. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, the one known by the nom de guerre of Lord Voldemort, is no more. There is no coming back for him, now. It's over."
She gave a pleased smile back.
"Headmistress," he asked. "Would you mind removing the disillusionment and silencing wards on Dumbledore's portrait? I want to show him and explain to him something."
She smiled, gave a nod and silently waved her wand at where Harry now knew Dumbledore's portrait to hang.
Turning to it he saw Dumbledore realise he could be seen again. But, before the old man could speak, Harry got in first.
"Hello, you manipulative old coot."
Dumbledore spluttered and said, "Now... Harry, my boy―"
"I'm not your boy," Harry cut in. "I asked Headmistress Lady Marchbanks for this few moments to speak with you to bring you up to date on a few matters. If you want to know what's going on, shut the Hell up."
Dumbledore spluttered again, but didn't interrupt.
Harry then drew the prophecy orb out of his pocket and showed it to the portrait. "Recognise what this is, you old twit?"
Dumbledore looked shocked.
"I see, you do," said Harry. "It's a prophecy orb... a completed prophecy orb."
He then used his wand to tap it to activate it.
Once it played out, he said, "As you can see, it's the prophecy orb for the prophecy you've been using as an excuse to manipulate my life. That it is dimmed tells you that the prophecy is completed. It's over! Done!"
Dropping it back into his pocket he said, "I personally sent the corpse of the very recently revived Tom Riddle through a certain archway in the Department of Mysteries less than an hour and a half ago. Unspeakable Croaker has also informed me that his experts on prophecies and divination are utterly assured the prophecy is complete.
"So, you bastard, your manipulations were pointless. You screwed over my life for nothing!
"And now it's time I get my revenge on you."
When Harry fixed an evil grin on Dumbledore, the old man said, "Now... Harry, my boy―"
Harry cut in and roared, "That's 'Lord Potter', you rude and ignorant white-whiskered wanker!"
Dumbledore immediately shut up.
"My revenge on you, I believe, will be both righteous and reciprocal," said Harry. It was time to start to make use of the information Croaker had only just recently given him.
"I am having cause to be written and printed a book all about you," he started to explain. "I'm having history experts go back through your entire life. There are still quite a few people alive, including Headmistress Lady Marchbanks here, who personally knew you when you were a child. Two others, I believe, are Bathilda Bagshot and Elphias Doge. I'm sure my researchers will find more.
"Once they've collected all that information, I will find a ghost writer to write the entire sordid tale of your life down. It will include how you and Gellert Grindelwald were lovers. It will include how you killed your sister, when she became an Obscurial. It will include how you and Grindelwald planned to take over the world. It will include your separation and why. And, it will include all your plans to take over the wizarding world, then the muggle world, by working behind the scenes; through manipulation, blackmail, lying, deceit and every other dark method you employed.
"And, once it is all written down, I will have it published. And, once published, I will ensure that book will be distributed world-wide. There will not exist a magical community, anywhere, which will not receive plenty of copies of the book.
"In other words, there will not exist a single wizard or witch across the planet who, before very long, will not already know or have ready access to the knowledge of you to have been a vicious Dark Lord. I swear it!"
If it was possible for a portrait to pale and have a heart attack, by the look on the face of the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, this one would have.
"So, Dark Lord Albus Percival Dumbledore - yes, I know about that, too - I hope you're currently enjoying your next great adventure... by currently burning in everlasting agony in the fiery pits of Hell."
Not even waiting for the portrait to respond, Harry spun back to a smirking Marchbanks and said, "I'm done with this fool. I'll never wish to speak to it, again."
Without a word, Marchbanks raised her wand.
"No! Wait!" cried the portrait of Dumbledore. That was as far as he got before he was again silenced and disillusioned.
That then had the other portraits openly laughing, snickering or chortling.
Portrait Phinneas Black called, "Well said, grandson!"
"All that was true?" asked Marchbanks.
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "Croaker just got through explaining it all to me."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
By the time Harry had finished, the time was getting on to morning tea. So, he made sure he had his potions supplies for the double of Potions immediately after the short break in his satchel and made his way down to the Great Hall. He'd left it in the Headmistress's office when he went to the DoM. Of course, he also escorted the Headmistress down and she allowed him to escort her in via the staff entrance.
On entering he found the other Heirs were already there, sitting at the Ravenclaw table.
Joining them, he plonked himself down on the end, next to Fleur. "Though I'm stating the obvious," he immediately said, "I'm back."
"You were gone a while," said Hermione.
"Yep," he replied. "I'll explain, once we're back in the Lords' Quarters and there's no chance of anyone listening in."
That stopped any questions being asked.
"But, your business is concluded?" asked Neville.
"Yes," he firmly replied.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
That afternoon after classes and back in the apartment, Harry explained what he could of what happened. He even pulled out the prophecy orb again and played it for them.
When Neville went white, Harry calmly told him, "Yes, Neville. It meant it could have been you. However, Riddle chose me when he attacked my parents, first."
With Riddle now permanently dead he had no problem telling that to Neville without his parents present.
"However, Dumbledore always had in the back of his mind that you were the 'alternate'," he went on. "If anything fatal was to happen to me, he believed he had you ready to step in to deal with the situation."
"But," said Neville, "He didn't mark me."
"Not yet, Nev," Harry calmly replied. "Not... yet."
"It no longer matters, though," said Daphne. "As Harry has shown us, the prophecy is complete. That means it was him."
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"So, what happens now?" asked Hermione.
"We put it behind us," replied Susan. "It's done. It no longer plays a role in either Harry's or Neville's life, from this point on."
"Well said, Susan," said Harry, smiling at her. "That's exactly what it means."
Then he went on to explain how Dumbledore was actually dead; and not just an escapee from justice.
"Does Auntie 'Melia know this?" asked Susan.
"She will, by now," he replied. "Croaker told me he'd be going to inform your aunt and Minister Brunt of just that before lunch.
"Then, the three of them would figure out how to make it all public. I figure we'll see news of that in the Daily Prophet, very soon; probably tomorrow or Sunday."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As reasonably expected, the next morning the Daily Prophet had the stories.
~ # ~
DUMBLEDORE DEAD
In surprising news released by a combined media statement of the Minister, Lord Gabriel Brunt, and Director of the DMLE, Madam Amelia Bones, comes news that Albus Dumbledore is dead. While information as to the cause of that death is unknown, representatives of both the Minister and the Director inform us it is confirmed 'at the highest levels of government', writes Samuel Clemens, political reporter for the Daily Prophet.
Madam Bones informed us, "Albus Dumbledore, whose true full name was Albus Percival Dumbledore [no middle names of Wulfric or Brian] is deceased. His body is not available for burial, as the manner of his death has not left one."
Minister Brunt added, "Citizens of wizarding Britain can rejoice that the Ministry has finally dealt with the threat that was the once-revered Albus Dumbledore. He will trouble you, no more."
Rumour from with the DMLE and the Minister's office has it that Dumbledore was legally declared a Dark Lord some weeks before his disappearance. However, that rumour is unconfirmed. When we attempted to confirm it, we were met with hostile responses. This leads us to believe the rumour to be true.
So, for those worried Dumbledore might attempt to harm or otherwise injure them in their homes, you can now live safe in the knowledge he can no longer do you or yours that harm.
The life story of Albus Dumbledore, page 3.
The fall from grace of Albus Dumbledore, page 3.
'Dark Lord or Misunderstood?' An opinion piece, page 4.
~ # ~
'Hmm...' thought Harry. 'Just enough to answer the question without going into too much detail.'
~ # ~
'YOU-KNOW-WHO' WILL NOT BE 'HE-WHO-CAME-BACK'
In a surprising development, details of which were released through the combined offices of the Minister and the Department of Mysteries, it has been announced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will certainly not be making a surprising comeback, writes Samuel Clemens political reporter for the Daily Prophet.
The Minister announced, "Some members of our community believe that the Dark Wizard, Tom Marvolo Riddle, who went by the sobriquet Lord V*******, will one day return. This is not true.
"Through the good offices of the Department of Mysteries, their experts have now proven to me, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Mister Riddle is gone for good. Apparently, the very dark necromantic ritual that attempted to resurrect him [two night's ago] on the night of the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament failed so spectacularly that there is no longer any chance at all of him returning. The spirit of the dark one was utterly destroyed in the attempt."
We can now all breathe a deep sigh of relief that the darkness that enveloped our world right up until the night our very own Boy-Who-Lived and now Lord of his Noble and Most Ancient House, Lord Harrison 'Harry' Potter (15), first destroyed him will never return.
Opinion has it that Lord Potter played more of a role in what happened that night of the third task of the Tri-Wiz than is being made clear. However, both the Minister and the Unspeakables refute that; as did Lord Potter on the night.
A history of the truth of Tom M Riddle, page 4.
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"Hmmm, clever," muttered Harry. "Hopefully, that way some idiot is not going to see if they can learn what the 'dark ritual' was and try to recreate it."
"Pardon, Harry?" asked Hermione, sitting next to him again.
Harry just passed her the paper and pointed to the article.
After she read it she sighed and quietly said, "As you said, clever. Hopefully, no one's going to try it again."
"I'm more hoping some of those masked idiots out there are going to accept he's gone, but believe I had something to do with it. I want them thinking I got rid of him again, so they won't try to have a shot at me, themselves."
"Because, if you can kick the bum of their dark lord, then you won't think them much of a trouble to do the same to them?" she asked.
"Precisely," he nodded.
Hannah, sitting opposite, caught their attention and flicked her chin towards the Slytherin table. She was sitting facing that way. "They appear devastated."
Turning to look, Harry could see quite a few who were looking distraught at what they'd read. However, he also noticed quite a few who looked downright relieved and were trying to hide it. Surprisingly, Pansy Parkinson was one who was relieved and definitely wasn't trying to hide it.
Parkinson had broken down the night of the Third Task, when Harry announced Malfoy the younger was dead. However, she was almost right as rain the next morning.
When he quietly asked Tracey why, she carefully replied, "Parkinson hated Malfoy's guts. She was very unhappy to have been locked into a betrothal contract with the little ferret."
Harry frowned and said, "She used to hang off him like a handbag, when we first got to the school."
She nodded back and said, "That changed within days of that little fffu-ferret getting old enough he could get his dick to stay hard for long enough. He forced himself on her; enough she had to spend the night in the Infirmary.
"From that moment on, she only gave the appearance she was with him. In truth, she wanted him dead - horribly, painfully and gruesomely."
"When did you find this out?" he asked.
"The night of the Third Task, when we all left your apartment," she quietly replied. "When I got back she was in our dorm, blubbering on Millie's shoulder in relief and telling the other girls all about it. Alana told me what was going on."
Harry remembered Alana Runcorn to be the fifth girl in his year in Slytherin; which made her a dorm mate of Tracey and Daphne. He also remembered her to be the quietest of them all, never hearing her speak unless specifically called upon in class to answer a question.
"Apparently, Malfoy ordered her not to speak of it with anyone," she continued. "And, something in the contract made her unable to. With the death of the little... well, the conditions of the contract were rendered no longer applicable. So, she could talk about it."
Harry nodded and was thinking how glad he was that Malfoy the younger was now dead. However, he also felt a little ashamed of how he'd interacted with the girl in the past. It was now clear her actions were not entirely her own choice.
He was absolutely appalled the so-called dark families allowed such contracts to be written regarding their daughters. So, while he was feeling a little guilty about Pansy, his thoughts of her father and Lord were quite murderous.
'Fucking purebloods,' he thought.
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―==(oIo)==―
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That night, Daphne climbed into bed with him.
Before anything happened, he asked, "Did Tracey tell you about Pansy?"
She sadly nodded back.
"Is that part of the reason why you're in here, tonight?"
She hesitated a little before she, again, nodded back.
Firmly, he said, "Daphne. Please don't ever think I'd ever do something like that to you."
"I know you won't, Harry," she replied.
With a sigh, he pulled her in for a cuddle and a short snog.
Pulling away he rolled onto his back and gently pulled her until her head was lying on his chest. "Even when you come in to sleep with me, it doesn't mean you have to have sex with me, alright?"
"I know," she said. "But, what if I want to have sex?"
Harry smiled and said, "Well, if it's what you want... who am I to say no?"
Daphne lifted her head, smiled at him, flicked back the bedding and lowered her head again. This time, lower down his body.
A moment later, he muttered, "Oh... sweeeeet. Merciful. Merlin!"
Twenty minutes later, Betsy was throwing up a silencing ward over Harry's bedroom door.
"Betsy wishes they'd get on with it and have babies," she tutted and muttered. "Betsy wants little ones to look after."
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―==(oIo)==―
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With school restarting after the weekend, the Third Task 'incident' quickly left the minds of students and staff. They had exams.
Hermione almost had a panic attack when she realised she hadn't been studying as religiously as she did in the past. And then dedicated time to that.
On the third night of a very late night for her, Harry stunned her, carried her to bed with him, stripped her and laid her down. Then he quickly cast an enervate and a sleeping, rather than stunning, charm on her and climbed in alongside her.
When she woke in the morning, she ranted and raved at him for a while until both the other girls verbally slapped her down for it.
"You, Miss Granger," said Daphne, waggling a firm finger at her, "Were on your way to either a nervous breakdown or mental collapse brought on by a severe lack of sleep. Harry did the right thing and you will not berate him for it."
Fleur added, "I just wish I 'ad thought of it, first. Too much study and too little sleep is just as bad as not enough study. You must give your mind a chance to relax. If you do not, you will not be at your best for the eexams."
Hermione cooled and blushed in shame. Looking down in embarrassment she softly muttered, "Sorry."
Harry gave a sigh of relief and said, "Hermione. I hereby restrict you to no more than four hours study a night. Each night you exceed that... no sex for a month."
Hermione's head snapped up and stared at him in shock. "Y-you wouldn't!"
"I will if I have to," he firmly said right back.
"Th-that's―" she tried.
"A fair punishment," said Fleur, smirking.
"And four hours is even more than I'd allow you," said Daphne. "This isn't our OWL year, Hermione. And these are not our OWL exams. The results of these exams will not appear on our permanent records. You can panic about exams, next year; not this year."
Hermione sighed and nodded. The message was understood.
Harry said, "We go home on Saturday, Hermione. Pace yourself. Now, I believe we've got exams to get to. What's up first?"
"Transfiguration," she immediately replied.
"Then, we'd best get to it," said Harry.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
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Once exams were out of the way, where Hermione did restrict herself to a bare few minutes shy of the four hours allowed per night, the next day they were on their way back to London on the Express.
Because of the Third Task, all the exams for the non OWL and NEWT years were all crammed into the final week. This meant they did not receive their summer assignments in the final week, as they should have.
When Headmistress Marchbanks stood for her final announcements, she mentioned that holiday break homework assignments would not be issued, that year, due to the shortened break. Hermione was almost devastated at the news.
Daphne, seeing her reaction, leaned over and said, "That does not mean you cannot engage in independent study, Hermione."
Fleur added, "And you can help me study for my NEWTs in three weeks."
That perked the girl up again.
Also received during the week was an owl from Sirius. He was back in London and had important news for both Harry and Hermione.
He also asked that they meet with him on the second day of their break at 'The Kennel'. (He still called it that, although Remus was against it.)
The train ride turned out to be quite relaxing. No Draco Malfoy coming to 'visit' to taunt them. No Ron Weasley immediately jumping up and retaliating. No doe-eyes from Ginny Weasley. No getting bothered by others.
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―==(oIo)==―
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Arriving at Kings Cross, the four Potters, the three Longbottoms, Tracey and Justin all disembarked as one group. With nine their compartment would have been a little tight, if it wasn't for the girls occasionally sitting on laps - that included Tracey occasionally sitting on Justin's lap.
The poor boy, when it first happened, didn't know what to do with his hands. Tracey solved that by firmly wrapping one of his arms around the small of her back and placing the other across her thighs to hold onto the outside of her off-side leg. Justin blushed, but firmly held her.
As they disembarked various family members met with them. There were the Grangers, the Greengrasses, the Delacours, the Longbottoms, the Abbotts, the Davises, the Finch-Fletchleys, Amelia Bones and Remus. They made quite the large group and everyone else gave them a bit of room. Harry barely noticed Sirius wasn't there.
By prior agreement, the 'Potter' group all split.
Fleur went home for the week to France to spend time with her family. Harry and her had made sure she was 'recharged' the night before, so she'd have no problems with the Veela life-debt bond during that time.
Hermione went with her parents to her home, although she really didn't want to go. Harry reminded her of the floo and said she could 'drop by' whenever she wanted to; especially while her parents were at work. That brightened her up again.
Daphne had calmly stated she'd be returning to Green Fields and spending the time with her family. But, she did make this big production of it by coming to Harry in submission and begging, "With my Lord's permission, of course." From where he was sitting on the sofa at the time, studying for his Charms exam, Harry threw a wad of parchment at her and followed it with a loud raspberry. That had all three girls laugh.
As for Harry, he and Remus went to Pottermore. Once there, the first thing Harry did was adjust the wards with adding the full names of those from his now extended family to full visitation rights. Daphne and Fleur were added as full-time residents.
And there were five names Remus asked him to add as temporary visitors. Harry gave him a look, but said nothing and just did it. It was clearly a family of five.
Once he was done he let Remus know.
"It's not a good idea to allow so many people to have full access, Harry," he warned.
Harry nodded and replied, "I know. However, these people are all people I consider 'family'.
"Now, are you going to tell me who those other five are?"
"Sorry, no," replied Remus before he smirked.
If it wasn't for the smirk, Harry would have turned around, gone back down to the basement and removed them again.
"Alright," he drawled. "Why not?"
"That's news Sirius has demanded he be the only one to tell you about," replied Moony. "He's the one who's been investigating... this particular issue. That is, he's the one who paid for the investigation."
Harry gave a pained sigh and grumped, "Fiiiiinnne."
Harry then called the Pottermore house elves and had them bring the manor out of 'stasis' for an extended stay of a few days.
Willy said, "Yes, Master Harry. We be gettings it done, already."
"Thank you," he replied.
Moony said, "Don't forget, Harry. You need to visit Sirius tomorrow."
"I won't," he replied.
"Then, I'll leave you to re-familiarising yourself with your rightful home."
He was gone less than a minute later.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
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