Kapitel 1575: 37
Chapter 37: Finally Peace?Notes:
Good morning everyone, here is this week's chapter, and yes, you'll finally got to find out who died at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts.
We jump a few years forward as you might see, and H/Hr will fill you in on how they've been. Have fun reading :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
June 1996 - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Once the bell rang, Harry and Hermione relaxed. Most other students were now freaking out and worrying, but they weren't. They had sat every single OWL exam possible, including things like Alchemy, the improved Muggle Studies, Wizarding Culture and those that weren't formally taught at school but only at home by tutors for the heirs of powerful houses. Classes like estate management or finances. Those that most students would never need in such detail.
But Harry and Hermione had written them all.
They had also decided to wait until they were in their fifth year, simply because they didn't want to create a precedent. And now, after finishing the History OWL exam, they were done. In truth, they were already working on or finishing their masteries which could be formally acknowledged after getting their NEWTs, which wouldn't be an issue either.
At school not much had changed since the battle.
The notable differences for the duo were for example the expelled students. The "Junior Death Eaters" were among them, but they got imprisoned as well. Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle all got expelled too and were in their parents' (or in this case just their mothers') custody. Ministry-supervised they were taught at home so they could pass their OWLs and then start working. Any right to higher education would only be granted if they got through the five-year probation period starting with the OWL exams.
Not much had changed when it came to the staff. Well, most of them were scarred and some had lost limbs or were suffering from long-term effects of dark curses, but they were all still here.
Professor Babbling was much less happy and joyful after the battle, she had lost an eye due to Alecto Carrow (who got sent through the Veil), but she was now one of the most respected teachers, if not witches in general, in wizarding Britain. She had duelled a young Voldemort, and that quite impressively, and later on had prevented the Death Eaters from attacking Hogwarts from the inside. Even after such an exhausting fight she joined the battle (her eyesight in the left eye already fading and just superficially healed) and single-handedly defeated two smaller groups of fighters trying to attack the castle from another side. She never got to join the group that headed for Voldemort but kept the rest of the Hogwarts grounds protected.
Professor Vector was by now engaged to Kingsley Shacklebolt, they had bonded during the battle and afterwards just didn't want to let go of each other anymore. Finding a person that would face Voldemort together with you just happened once in a lifetime.
For Professor Flitwick not much had changed, but it was at least assured that no student would ever think of the half-goblin as a weak person. He had reminded everyone why he had been a duelling champion in the international tournament for five years in a row before retiring undefeated on the international level. He was one of those teaching the "combat and battle magic" class, which one had to take at least during third year and showed the difference between duelling and an actual fight, as well as some strategies, mainly to survive. In the upper years he taught advanced battle magic to those interested after going through psychic evaluations. Despite the apparent peacetime they should never forget how to defend themselves in anything worse than a formal duel.
Professor Sprout lost a lot of her light nature, especially after the incident with Timothy Burke, but she managed rather well. Parts of her class preparation were already being done by Neville Longbottom and after his OWLs she'd let him teach some of the younger years. He would one day take over this job, that much was obvious.
Minerva was still teaching the OWL transfiguration students and was offering animagus classes to the most talented ones, Neville and his betrothed Daphne were currently among them. Harry and Hermione were already helping her with that as they had managed the transformation in the summer holidays after the third year. Hermione was actually getting good at flying, something Harry still couldn't believe, and he had found his form shortly after the battle when he was in mourning for all the losses. It was a snow leopard, and a rather big one too, bigger than Padfoot for sure. The Marauders quickly renamed Prongslet into Frosty (nope, he had absolutely no say in it) and Hermione's eagle was still unnamed as she was stubborn and scary enough to scare off Moony and Padfoot.
Aside from their growing fame not much had changed for Sirius and Remus. Well, aside from Sirius proposing to Amelia, but out of respect for the dead and the people in mourning (them included) they waited until a little over a year after the battle. Their marriage was still being planned but would happen in the summer holidays.
Sirius was one of the leaders of their political alliance, together with Arthur Greengrass. After the death of Augusta and with Arthur Weasley rising within the ranks of the ministry they were the most obvious choices. And it wasn't easy.
After the death sentences and the deaths during the battle, many dark houses lost their Lords, and not all of them had children or not all the children wanted to walk in the footsteps of their parents. So sometimes lesser branches took over the Lordships, causing changes. Nott for example (Theodore, not emancipated but the heir, his grand cousin was proxy) was now allied with the Potter-Black-Greengrass-Longbottom and co. alliance, Crabbe and Goyle both gave away their heir titles (probably after being "convinced" of that by distant relatives) and both Lordships were now held by neutral Lords, though sharing Dumbledore's mindset. The Alliance had to deal with old and new Dumbledore supporters (Dumbledore's cause at least), thinking that they had acted too harshly and brutal during and after the Battle of Hogwarts, but also the remaining dark faction.
Percy Weasley, another war hero, was a rising star within the DMLE justice department, on his way to becoming leading prosecutor one day. Most of his free time he spent with Oliver Wood. The former Gryffindor keeper had lost his entire right arm to a dark blasting curse and the dream of being a professional quidditch star was gone, but the scouts had known of his talents as captain and he was a war hero too, so about half the teams in the league wanted him as assistant coach. Currently he was working with the Prides of Portree, and within two or three more years he'd probably be head coach.
Nicolas Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot and all the other teachers Minerva had employed after taking over were all still working. The only changes in staff were the retirement of Argus Filch (after being Imperiused and used to invade the castle, he decided it was enough) and the new yet old Potions professor, Horace Slughorn.
Timothy Burke had pointed his wand into the group without aiming for anyone in particular, but the killing curse would have hit either Sirius or Hermione. Harry was walking next to Mione, but on her left side, so he hadn't seen the curse coming.
The only one who was luckily looking into the general area from which the curse originated was Severus Snape. And it was only fractions of a second before impact, so he did what he had to do.
He took a step forward, pushing Sirius and Mione aside with that and took the curse himself. Yes, he had started to conjure something to block it, but it was too late for it.
And so he fell down after being hit by the curse, just as his murderer got hit with enough lethal force to kill half a dozen people, a cutting curse, a sectumsempra, a blasting curse and even a killing curse originating from Kingsley.
Within moments of the incident Minnie had rushed down to them, kneeling next to the crying Hermione and the dead body of Severus Snape.
The Great Hall was silent.
They had lost a man many had despised for years, but grown to respect and admire recently. A man that cut off his own arm just to get rid of Voldemort's mark, a man that had defended them all more than once. And he got killed by one of them, a student.
Every Hufflepuff moved away from the dead body of Timothy Burke as far as possible, while many started to cry. Most students hadn't seen any fight and death during this battle, safely waiting in their common rooms, but now, as the fight was over, the war was won, Severus Snape died.
His funeral was among the biggest of the "War Hero Funerals." And that despite the fact that many had hated him for a long time and his good reputation was a rather new development. Even Sirius had held a speech, the issues of their past had been long forgotten, but the fact that Severus stepped into a killing curse for him and Hermione was still a bit unbelievable.
In front of Hogwarts they built a monument for all the fallen, Severus Snape, the last death of the battle, was the name on top of the list. Many, including Severus, Charlie Weasley and Theodore Tonks got honoured with a posthumous Order of Merlin second class by Minister Bones.
The whole Potter-Granger family had its issues with adjusting to all the losses and to grieve. Severus' presence was impossible to replace, Andi (a frequent visitor too) was as devastated as her daughter. For Tonks it was even worse, she once had a relationship with Charlie during her time at Hogwarts and she wasn't taking that loss too well either.
They now had time to grieve Augusta too, and Neville was spending quite a lot of time with them these days. The Manor was being rebuilt, but he vowed to only return after finishing school to marry Daphne in the big hall at Longbottom Manor. So he was dividing his time outside of school between the Potters and the Greengrasses.
Sirius and Amelia were spending more time at Grimmauld Place than at Bones Manor, the Black wards were simply stronger and even with the threat gone they didn't want to take a chance. She was the Minister after all.
On those days when Susan didn't want to be with the "two lovebirds" or alone with the elves, she too went to Harry and Hermione. To her they were the siblings she never had.
And, as one might expect, this group of students (Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Neville and Susan) finished top of their class in third and fourth year and were expected to do the same with the OWLs. Only Padma could rival those five.
Hannah, despite spending quite some time with them, never came close to their success. She rather went riding on the grounds of their Manor or painted landscapes. That didn't cause a rift between those though, for all the outdoor activities and trips she was still with them.
Luna and Padma, occasionally the werwolf-scarred Parvati too, were among the usual people that visited Potter Manor or hung out with them during school too, but not as much as the others. Mostly they were on their own, especially since Padma and Luna had begun dating a few months back. Sure, a few students hadn't been very understanding of that (same-sex relationships were nearly unheard of among wizards and witches, so it wasn't intentionally homophobic but quite literally a lack of understanding), but the staff reacted quickly and discussed this topic in Muggle Studies. From then on barely anyone commented on that anymore, aside from those few that hated whatever they deemed "unnatural, not conventional and strange." Basically, the few remaining blood-purists who were also racist, homophobe and simply bigoted. Those that ended up in more detentions than the marauders and were nearly universally hated.
If his father wouldn't have told him to act nicely, then Cormac McLaggen would have been one of those too. He was still a Potter-hating bigot that hid it underneath his "light" orientation.
Lord McLaggen was one of those that tried building a functioning and strong opposition, together with the Lords Abbott, Doge, Macmillan and the new Lords Crabbe and Goyle. They were all rather light (but not when it came to reaching their personal goals), not too muggle-hating (no big fans either though, mudbloods were tools to be used, especially against the dark side) and definitely against the spilling of any magical blood. Dumbledore's "second chance" policy was very important for the "council" (the Dumbledore supporters meeting in secret). Basically, they wanted power like the Dark Lord too, but through admiration instead of fear. Much less risk of a rebellion.
And they certainly had supporters everywhere. Despite all his dark actions, Dumbledore had still been a national hero, the second Merlin. And some of those that hadn't trusted the Prophet beforehand, didn't trust it now and to them it was all just lies.
Another one who thought that all this had been lies and misunderstandings was Ronald Weasley. Yes, he had kept his head down and his mouth shut, but he was still pro-Dumbledore, other than his father and his idiot brothers. He believed in what his mother had always said, and besides, he still hated Potter for his behaviour towards him.
Studying in secret he had actually become rather smart, always ending up in the top 15 students of their year, and was even expected to end up with six OWLs. Yes, he wasn't a Hermione (not even comparable to the one from the last timeline), not even as good as Padma Patil, but not bad either. He didn't brag though (not an easy thing to do) and secretly worked on more and more combat magic, trying to be a strong wizard to support Dumbledore's cause. Thanks to overheard conversations at home he knew of the growing opposition and his plan was to reach out to them once he had his OWL results via Cormac and see if he could do anything there. And if it was just overhearing conversations and copying files at home was. He had a high-ranking department head and a ministry prosecutor at home.
And he wasn't the only Weasley doing fine. Bill was still working as the liaison between Gringotts and the Ministry, and once his Gringotts contract would expire Dirk Cresswell wanted him as his successor as Head of the Goblin Liaison Office so he could transfer into the Department of Magical Transportation. This had always been his dream, but as a muggleborn that hadn't been possible.
The twins had worked on a concept for WWW with Sirius, who would give them a loan if he became a partner in the store. They were quite brilliant after all, and working together with a Marauder was the best thing that could have happened to them. The only condition was to get as many NEWTs as possible, which they did. George in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Alchemy, Runes, Arithmancy, DADA and Herbology, Fred even did one more with CoMC. And yes, they were expected to pass them all.
Ginny had gone through the biggest changes. Her therapy had been quite long, over a full year, but once she left the Therapy Ward at St. Mungo's, she was a new person. The Harry obsession, and with it the dreams of Mrs. Ginny Potter etc. were all gone. She had her father's temper and was nearly as intelligent as her brothers (though the potions had taken her toll without a doubt).
Once she came back home she wrote letters to Harry and Hermione. Long, emotional ones, trying to find the right words to explain the shame and self-hatred she was in. It wasn't easy, but she managed it pretty well.
And after Harry and Hermione - currently doing their fourth year without a deadly tournament annoying them - got both Arthur's and the healers' assurances that she was truly fine and not deceiving them, they even met with the girl. It was strange, but it wasn't bad. And for the first time in two timelines they got to discover the true Ginevra Weasley. They would never be the closest friends, but they could have friendly conversations with her.
Ginny Weasley returned for her fourth year at Hogwarts, having studied during her time at the hospital, and even if she was met with animosity and distrust at first, she loved being back here. After a while that got better though, and she was slowly able to befriend co-students. Luna for example let her back into her circle of friends, or at least to a degree. But Ginny would never be a well-liked student anymore, that was for sure. Too much trust had been lost due to her mother.
Fudge had come out of prison after his one-year sentence, and before collecting all the money that was left (not too much anymore, most got lost to the fine, some he gave away so the public wouldn't hate him THAT much anymore. All he had left was a few years worth of pay and some money he inherited) and leaving for the Caribbean, he visited Harry and Sirius (as well as the rest of the family) at Grimmauld Place. He asked for forgiveness, because he had accepted that he had been greedy and not a good Minister, rather a pretty awful one. Fudge didn't stay much longer, didn't even wait to hear if they could forgive him, because he truly felt awful and just wanted to get away from the British Isles - permanently.
So, things were more or less looking up for Wizarding Britain.
And now Harry and Hermione had finished their OWL exams and enjoyed the last few days at school in the sun, going for walks around the lake or training with their animagus forms. The only boring thing about that was though, that no one else had managed it so far, but Minnie was pretty strict when it came to people joining this class. They didn't have many members.
Neville would probably be the next one to achieve it if he continued like he did. He had his form - a dark brown horse - but was still struggling a bit with the meditation techniques. Daphne was close to discovering her form, but she didn't even have the faintest idea to what it might be.
After becoming sufficient enough in transformation, Minnie invited Padma Patil too, but no one else from their year got invited. But well, they were just nine students over all, Harry and Hermione excluded. Two sixth-years and four seventh-years.
The Slug-Club was back too, and naturally Horace Slughorn had to invite Harry and Hermione, as well as the new Lord Longbottom and his betrothed into the club, as well as Cormac, Blaise and a few others that were part of it the last time too. For Harry and Hermione it was honestly just an annoyance, but they played nicely with the man replacing Severus.
The last day of this school year came closer and closer, and everyone was getting a little afraid. What would the Weasley twins do to commemorate their time at Hogwarts coming to an end? What pranks would happen?
And just as Minerva finished her end-of-term speech, fireworks went off. Harry was at first afraid that it might be a redo of what happened during the last fifth year when the twins left school, but that wasn't the case. It was much, much smarter.
All over the Great Hall, their slogan and the big and colourful WWW of their shop were appearing in big and flaming letters. Little fireworks went off over and over again, and as the twins got up to stand in the middle of the hall to raise their wands, it started raining WWW prank articles. Basically every student could catch one or more of their future products out of the air, attached was a small explanation of what it was.
"Dear students…"
"...dear staff…"
"...we hereby announce the opening of…"
"WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES!"
"From August first on you can find us in Diagon Alley…"
"...and hopefully soon at Hogsmeade too."
"Buy some of our finest pranks…"
"...and remind the school of the Weasley twins now that we're gone."
The last words they shouted together:
"And with that: GOODBYE!"
The Great Hall went dark for a few seconds (Harry was pretty sure that it was the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder), and then the twins were gone, having left the Great Hall once and for all.
Then Minerva got up.
"I think with these lovely words I too shall send you into the holidays, but don't forget: if you do buy some of these fabulous articles, don't cross the line here. But now's not the time to think about that. Have a great summer, we will see you all again on September first. Goodbye."
And so Harry and Hermione's fifth year at Hogwarts ended, the second one in a row to be without any trouble whatsoever. Ronald and Ginny weren't causing any problems, Voldemort and his Death Eaters were gone (the two that hadn't been real bigots but just power-hungry excluded, but they hadn't been seen in over two years) and Dumbledore was dead too. Their biggest problem was the old meddler's legacy in the Wizengamot, but that was just politics.
A world in which political differences were their biggest issues.
Oh, and parents too, of course. They were a couple for over two and a half years now, bonded for over two years, and Harry was nearly sixteen, Hermione was of course sixteen since the past September. Obviously the two of them had sneaked away during some of their prefect rounds (Daphne and Blaise were prefects for Slytherin, Padma and Terry for Ravenclaw and Susan and Justin for Hufflepuff) to snog or get their hands under each others robes (okay, they had done most of that the year before too with the help of the map), but at home things weren't always so easy. Dan and Emma didn't have an issue with that, they were mature teenagers, but they teased the kids mercilessly, for example as Harry and Hermione fell asleep reading and cuddling on the couch of Harry's bedroom. They weren't woken up, no, just tucked in together and they made very cute pictures.
Now, in the upcoming summer holidays they might even try to cuddle and fall asleep next to each other a few times, if no one would be preventing that. More than cuddling and a bit of feeling each other up probably wouldn't happen, but they still wanted to do it. Not just because it would be comfortable and nice, but because physical contact made their bond feel much more energetic and lively, while at the same time calming them.
The trip back home was as comfy as always, this time Hermione even fell asleep despite the book in her hands, while Harry went for a reread of Lord of the Rings. Neville, Daphne, Susan, Luna and Padma were with them, and they had a fun trip, though everyone was just glad that their OWL year was officially over.
At King's Cross it were Sirius and Amy that picked them up, all three of them. Neville would spend the first few weeks of the summer with Daphne, so it would just be Susan, Harry and Hermione. By now she was, as she realised during the trip back, barely at Bones Manor anymore. She would one day move there, yes, but now, still a minor, she'd stay with the lovebirds (Sirius and Amy) or…well, the other set of lovebirds (Harry and Hermione). But honestly, the Potter Library was positively insane and Dan and Emma were just the nicest people she had ever met. And then there was Remus, and Andi with her daughter Dora, Minnie (she was calling the headmistress Minnie by now too!!) and all the others that always came by. One very big and confusing yet lovely family.
And apparently that family would just get bigger.
When they were having their "welcome home" dinner, Sirius and Amy both got up, because they had something to say. Something so important that Auntie Amy had apparently even forgotten to grab her usual glass of wine she had on special occasions like that. Every last dinner before school, the first one after school, birthdays and Christmas, every major political win (or before that a arrest or conviction). She always had a glass of expensive red wine, that was a tradition and she never forgo…oh.
Susan wasn't the only one picking up on that, Harry and Remus actually were the first to realise, but probably rather because of Sirius' facial expression, confirmed by Amy's behaviour.
"Oh Remus, look at what the mutt has done now!"
"Yes, I told you we should have castrated him. That happens when you invite stray dogs into your home."
Everyone burst out laughing as Remus leaped forward and hugged his best friend, Harry joining them just moments later and making it a group hug of three crying men.
Hermione and Susan were just as enthusiastic with Amy, while Dan, Emma, Minerva and Filius just sat and smiled, ready to give a toast to Amy and Sirius, future parents of a child which would be born into a better world than any of them were.
A world which had changed so much within the past few years, and despite all the bloodshed they had in the past, a world which was peaceful.
And this time around it was not just Harry thinking that this summer would be a great one.
Notes:
So, that's it for this week. Yes, I'm cruel and killed off Severus. I thought we might need a death of a main character now that we've ended the Voldy Arc. Did think about Hermione, but that I couldn't do, same with Minnie (she was off-limits from the very beginning, I didn't even consider that), Sirius was a possibility too, but he and Amy deserve peace, then it was down to Remus and Severus. Hard call, but I had my struggles seeing Severus in the fight with Dark Lord Albus and so it was him who had to go.
The next few chapters will show us what Albus did the past two years before we'll slowly go towards a final showdown. I hope you'll enjoy it. Please let me know in the comments what you think, until next week :)
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein