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oakstone730) wrote2012-12-09 10:38 am
The Day After (or the Missing Chapters From the End of Deathly Hallows) Part 2/5
They opened the door to the Hospital Wing and all three of them stood looking around in stunned shock.
"Blimey," breathed Ron. Every bed was filled, some patients were resting in chairs, and additional cots had been set up in the corridor between the beds.
Madam Pomfrey stood in the middle of the room issuing orders. "No more visitors! There are far too many people..." she broke off as she realized it was Harry. "Well, Mr. Potter, I am glad not to have you filling one of my beds, although you certainly took your share of injuries while a student here. Who are you looking for?"
"Mr. Weasley thought that Professor McGonagall was here."
"She certainly is, I believe she is with Mr. Longbottom down at the end there."
As they made their way down the passageway, they had to carefully move around the beds and patients that filled the corridor. The room fell silent as they passed by, all eyes staring at Harry. A few Hogwarts seventh years were in the beds and the three nodded a greeting but didn't stop to talk.
They made their way to the last bed. Neville lay with his head carefully swaddled in gauze. His grandmother stood by his bed talking to McGonagall. "Hullo, there Neville," said Harry. "Nice job with the snake," he added with a small smile.
"Not bad at all!" said his grandmother proudly. "I couldn't believe my eyes when he escaped from the Sorting Hat and pulled a sword out of it!"
"I think you are going to go down in the books as the only person to tell Voldemort to his face that you would join him when 'hell freezes over," laughed Ron.
Neville smiled briefly and then looked over at Harry, "It made me so mad. You've been fighting Voldemort ever since I met you, and you'd never given up. Couldn't believe it when I saw you in Hagrid's arms. To see you dead, knowing you had sacrificed yourself for us-"
Harry started to protest, Neville held up his hand, "No, let me finish. When I saw you outside of the school, when you told me about the snake. I knew where you were going. You said you weren't going into the forest, but I knew you, Harry, and I knew what you were about to do," tears started rolling down Neville's face.
"And I thought, just for a moment, that maybe it was the right thing to do. Maybe, no one else would have to die. And then when he brought you out like a trophy to throw down at our feet I realized that it was never going to end until he was dead. I went a little crazy, running up to him like that. And then I somehow had the sword in my hands and I almost swung it at him, but I wasn't going to let you down. I did what you wanted me to do. I wanted to go down fighting."
Harry leaned over and grasped Neville hard into a hug, almost pulling him out of the bed. Hermione turned towards the wall as she sniffled loudly. Neville's grandmother pulled out a handkerchief from her purse and sobbed into it.
"You showed us all what bravery truly is, Neville," said Harry, when he at last could find the words, "You did us all proud - Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Gryffindor, your family."
"You truly are your parents' son, Mr. Longbottom," Professor McGonagall said, "A true credit to this school. Well, we will leave you to rest, Mr. Longbottom, Augusta and hope to see you at the ceremony tomorrow. Harry, I need to talk to you."
"Ron and Hermione are coming also, Professor McGonagall, they were as much a part of this as I was," Harry said firmly.
McGonagall eyed them all closely, "Very well. Minister Shacklebolt is waiting for us in my office." Saying their goodbyes to the Longbottoms, they left the Hospital Wing and headed down the corridor, hurrying to keep up with McGonagall.
"What ceremony, Professor McGonagall?" asked Harry.
Stopping, she stared at him. "The Burial Ceremony, has no one told you?"
"We haven't had a chance to tell him yet, Professor McGonagall," said Hermione.
"I see, well, the families of the fallen decided that the 53 brave witches and wizards who fought-"
"And magical creatures," interrupted Hermione.
"Yes, all who fought in the battle will be buried here on the grounds of Hogwarts. Their bravery and sacrifice in fighting will stand as a strong testament to future generations. And serve as a warning to those who are tempted by the Dark Arts."
"We are going to have a memorial service for Fred at the Burrow later," said Ron. "Mum wants him here. He loved it here. He always said he was going to come back as a ghost like Peeves, but don't tell her that."
McGonagall pulled open the door to her office and they saw Shacklebolt sitting at the fireplace with his head in the flames talking to someone. "Sit down. We'll just wait for the minister to join us."
"So everyone is safely aboard the Express? Good, good. We are having Hagrid meet them with the carriages when it arrives. Yes, arrangements are being made for everyone to stay either in Hogsmeade or on the grounds here."
They listened as Shacklebolt finished the final details and finally said "Good work, Percy. We'll see you when you arrive."
At the sound of his brother's name Ron sat up. "Was that my brother?"
Shacklebolt stood up, brushing ash from his shoulders. "Ah, yes, Ron, He went back yesterday to help make arrangements for everyone who is arriving for the ceremony. Very few people in the Ministry to be trusted right now. Your brother is one I know I can rely on, now that he has recognized the difference between good bureaucracy and bad."
Nodding to the group, he sat down in the chair offered by Professor McGonagall. There was silence all around the room as McGonagall and Shacklebolt looked at Harry. Harry sat waiting for a question, trying hard not to fidget.
Shacklebolt finally asked "Why did you tell Neville to kill the snake?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Because the snake was a Horcrux," he looked from McGonagall to Shacklebolt. "The snake was Voldemort's last Horcrux. It had to die, so that Voldemort could be killed."
"A Horcrux! The last Horcrux?" choked McGonagall with horror in her voice. "Dare I ask how many Horcruxes there were?"
"Well, it depends on how you count I guess," Harry said with a quick glance towards Ron. Ron shook his head, but Harry's mind was made up.
"How would you count them, Harry?" enquired Shacklebolt.
Taking a deep breath, Harry quietly said "Seven, there were seven Horcruxes."
"Seven!"
"Seven," repeated Harry, more firmly now that he was committed to telling the whole story.
"Where were they? Where are they now? How did you?" McGonagall stumbled over the questions.
"Dumbledore told me about them last year. He had suspected that Tom Riddle had torn his soul into pieces and made the Horcruxes," taking a deep breath Harry went on. "After I found Tom Riddle's diary and destroyed it during my second year, Dumbledore became sure that they existed. He started looking for them. He found three before he died. Well, one of those was a fake, though, so there were still five more to find. After he died then it was my –our job to find the rest. "
"And that is where you were for the last year, finding and destroying Horcruxes? repeated McGonagall as if expecting Harry to deny the charge.
"Yes, basically, and avoiding get caught before we had found them."
"Where did you find them? How did you destroy them?" asked Shacklebolt.
"Well, the diary, and then a ring that Dumbledore found in Riddle's mother's home. Dumbledore destroyed it with the Gryffindor sword. The Slytherian locket - that is why we snuck into the Ministry, Umbridge had it. The Hufflepuff cup, um, that was in Gringotts."
"Gringotts!" sputtered McGonagall.
Shacklebolt looked at Harry with a faint smile on his face, "I would very much like to hear more about that one, Harry, on a different day. That is four Horcruxes."
"Right. The Ravenclaw diadem, it was destroyed in the fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement, that was five. The snake was six."
"And, the seventh Horcrux?"
Harry took another deep breath and said it quickly before he could change his mind, "I was, I was the seventh Horcrux."
McGonagall shook her head in protest and Shacklebolt drew back in his chair. "I was the Horcrux he never knew he had made. It was created the night he killed my parents. Dumbledore never told me that he suspected, that he knew, that I was a Horcrux. He told Snape. Snape shared the knowledge with me before he died."
Harry got up out of the chair and started to move around the office, unable to sit down any longer. "But I think, I think I'd realized even before he told me, it was the only thing that explained how I could see in Voldemort's head, feel what he was thinking."
"If you were a Horcrux and all the Horcruxes had to die before Voldemort, why are you still here?" Shacklebolt asked the question calmly, but his eyes were looking straight at Harry, challenging him to continue.
Harry opened his mouth but couldn't find the words. It was too raw. He looked to Hermione for help.
Hermione continued for him, "It was because what happened during the Triwizard Championship. Peter Pettigrew used Harry's blood to perform the incantation that brought Voldemort back into his body. So part of Harry was living in Voldemort. Dumbledore knew that Voldemort would have to kill Harry, and when he delivered the killing curse in the Forbidden Forest, Voldemort actually killed his own Horcrux. Harry didn't die because Voldemort was still alive."
McGonagall and Shacklebolt just sat and looked at him for a minute.
"How did Dumbledore know that you wouldn't die?" McGonagall looked at Harry, who had sat back down was looking down at a crack in the floor.
Harry looked up briefly up at her, "He didn't, not for sure. But he did what he had to do, just as I did. I would have done anything to prevent more people from dying."
"Yes, but, Potter...to offer yourself up as sacrifice..." McGonagall couldn't finish the sentence.
"The Potter family has always done whatever is necessary to protect their family." Shacklebolt said, "Are you sure he is really gone from you?"
"I'm positive." said Harry, "There isn't a doubt in my mind. I would very much like it if this never leaves this room. If you have to write up an official report, say there are six. If anyone asks me under oath or not, I'll deny it."
"I can assure you that this will never leave this room. I don't want any hopeful dark wizard in the future stumbling across any report about Horcruxes," said Shacklebolt.
"It scarcely seems possible that three 17-year olds would be able to not only discover, but destroy such evil magic," said McGonagall.
Without a word, Harry walked over to McGonagall's desk, from his robe's pockets he pulled out the diary, locket, ring, cup, diadem and set them down on the desktop.
"It took us ten months," he said, with a nod towards Ron and Hermione. "But we found and destroyed them. We couldn't tell anyone about the Horcruxes. If Voldemort had discovered that we knew about them he would have made it impossible for them to be discovered."
"Dumbledore gave his life hunting for the Horcruxes," said Harry, "His injured hand was caused by the cursed ring. Dumbledore was dying. Dumbledore told Snape to kill him. They both knew that he was dying from the curse and it was only matter of time. I don't think they realized that Draco would get the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, but they stuck to their plan: Dumbledore wanted Snape to do it, and he did."
"Snape truly was on our side, Dumbledore was right to trust him," said Harry firmly.
"Snape's body has been recovered from the Shrieking Shack, it is in an ante-room near the Great Hall," responded McGonagall. "Because of his last year here, there are quite a few hard feelings about his role with the Death Eaters, and how punishments were dealt to the students. It is important that we explain, carefully, to the families affected that he was actually on our side.
"When we were hiding out, we didn't know how we were going to destroy the Horcruxes," said Ron. "Snape delivered us the Gryffindor sword. Of course, we didn't know it was him at the time. The sword is one of the few things that can destroy Horcruxes."
"If Snape hadn't delivered it, Voldemort would still be alive," insisted Harry.
Shacklebolt and McGonagall both stared at the dead Horcruxes on the table.
"Where is Voldemort's body now?" asked Harry.
"It was removed to one of the storerooms and is under guard," said Shacklebolt. "We haven't decided where or how to dispose of it."
"A place to consider is where he placed the locket," suggested Harry. "There is a lake filled with Inferi. It is extremely remote and would be impossible for anyone to find it there."
"That would seem very fitting," said McGonagall. "Harry, we would like to talk about the ceremony tomorrow."
"What about it?"
"There are many people traveling in for the ceremony. To honor and mourn those who died, but they are also looking for closure, Harry. The last year was been a reign of terror by not only the Death Eaters and Voldemort, but the Ministry itself."
"There is little trust left in the Ministry," said Shacklebolt. "It will take months, years to repair all the damage was done to the Wizarding families throughout the country. Families were torn about, the innocent were sent to Azkaban, people were tortured."
"I get it," said Harry impatiently. He knew that if he had been able to act faster that fewer people would have been hurt. He could still hear the terror in the Mary Cattermole's voice as she was being questioned by Umbridge, about to be separated from her family for life for the crime of being Muggle-born.
"Shacklebolt is going to speak as Acting Minister of Magic and other dignitaries. But we know what everyone needs to hear is from someone that can assure them that Voldemort is dead. That he won't return. Someone who they will believe, someone who is not part of the Ministry."
Harry looked between the two of them with dawning horror. "Me? No. I can't do it."
"Can't or won't, Potter? If you had asked me a year ago if you three could find and destroy Horcruxes I would have told them you didn't have a chance. But you could and you did," said McGonagall.
Harry got up and started pacing around the room again. "I have gone through the last seven years of my life with people staring at me, never being able to hide because of this." he jabbed at the jagged scar on his forehead, "People either wanting to like me because of it, or hating me for it. The Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived."
He spoke bitterly, "And now, it is over. It is over. The pain from the scar has stopped, the visions, the nightmares, the voices have stopped. For the first time in years I don't have to worry about whether I can live up to everybody's expectations. I don't have to worry that I am turning into Voldemort. It is finally over and I just want everyone to forget about me."
Silence filled the office. McGonagall and Shacklebolt looked at each other. After a moment McGonagall looked like she was about to speak when Ron started talking from where he stood by the windows.
"Harry, look at them," Ron pointed towards the steady stream of people that were walking up the drive towards Hogwarts. "The newspapers were telling them lies, the Ministry was telling them lies, and whispered secrets could have got them sent to Azkaban. They were waiting for someone to save them. They were listening to Potterwatch - POTTERwatch, Harry, hoping to hear that there was a glimmer of hope. And all of the sudden, they are supposed to believe it is over?"
"Haven't I done enough? I killed bloody Voldemort. Isn't that enough. It's over!" retorted Harry, angry that Ron, the one person in the room that he thought would be on his side, was against him.
Ron nodded his head towards the window, "It's over for you, mate, but not for them. I know better than anyone what you have been going through. Iwas by your side, most of those times. I've heard your nightmares every night. But, other than Hermione and me, no one knows what you have been through."
"I can't stand up in front of hundreds of people and tell them about everything," ground out Harry with gritted teeth. "I just can't."
"You don't have to tell them everything, Harry. We actually don't want you to tell them everything," said Shacklbolt with a glance at the Horcruxes. "But a simple explanation and reassurance. Do you believe that it is over?"
"Yes!" shouted Harry. "It is over!"
"Then tell them that, but maybe use a few more words than that," said McGonagall dryly.
"I’m not--" started Harry.
"He'll think about it," said Hermione quickly interrupting him. Harry nodded angrily and turned away from them. He didn’t want to think about it, he was done thinking about everything that had happened.
"Thank you. That is all that we ask. Kingsley, it is time to meet the inspectors for the damage report on the castle. Hermione, I would very much appreciate it if you could meet the Hogwarts Express when it arrives this afternoon and help direct people to the accommodations. Check with Professor Flitwik he will be able to tell you what to do. Ron, I'm sure you will be with your family, but if not perhaps you could help as well."
McGonagall and Shacklebolt headed towards the door. "What about those?" asked Harry, with a nod towards the Horcruxes,"What shall we do with those?"
Shacklebolt and McGonagall looked back at where they were on the table. "Yes, yes of course," McGonagall went over to the brick wall behind her desk. Tapping a pattern on the bricks caused them to shimmer and disappear revealing a cavity in the wall. She placed the Horcruxes inside the cavity and with a swipe of her wand the wall reappeared. She nodded to the three of them and headed out the door behind Shacklebolt.
Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as the duo went down the passageway. Harry turned back to look at Ron and Hermione, waiting for them to speak.
"I think Ron is right, Harry, people want to hear from you, need to hear from you..." Hermione started, putting her hand on his arm but Harry brushed it off angrily. "I'm going to go find Ginny" said Harry stalking away from the couple.Part Three
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