A New Beginning (Sequel to A Different Beginning)

Chapter Thirty - Summer's End

It wasn't until the end of the summer that the ceremony was called. It took place outside by the lake at Hogwarts. The ceremony was very public, and was as much of a way to mourn the dead, as to celebrate the victory.

Harry was making his way down the aisle to take a seat at the front when a hand touched his shoulder and he grinned up at Kingsley. "Good morning."

King smiled back. "An incredible morning."

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

His question was answered when Mira ran towards him and then behind him and into Ron's arms. She was wearing pretty black wire rimmed glasses on her face.

"She can see." King said quietly.

"What?" Harry asked, his eyes widening. "How?"

Ginny took his hand in hers as she smiled up at King. "Did this just happen this morning?"

King nodded as he wiped tears from his eyes. "Yes. I don't know, she woke up and came running down the stairs. She said she could see everything but it was blurry. We brought her to the optometrist at St. Mungo's and he said she was healed. She'll never have perfect vision and needs glasses but ... it's a miracle."

Ginny watched as Ron's face lit up while he talked to his goddaughter. "The castor."

Harry nodded in understanding. "That makes sense."

King glanced between them. "The castor?"

Ginny nodded. "Voldemort did a spell to remove her sight. It failed and blinded her but now that he's dead ... I bet the spell wore off. He damaged her eyes still but the spell wore off enough that she can see again."

King grinned. "Thank Merlin. It's the happiest day of my life, seeing those beautiful brown eyes again."

Harry grinned at him. "I bet it is. How has she been doing?"

"She's been amazing. Well, I better go steal my daughter back from Ron as the ceremony looks like it's about to start. Good luck you two."

Harry watched King walk away and he grinned at Ginny. "That's brilliant! I'm so happy for them."

Ginny wiped tears from her eyes. "Me too. Let's go sit down."

Harry took her hand and kissed it softly before they took a seat in the front row. A beautiful woman by the name of Selina Gellar stood at the podium in front of them all. Behind her, in a tiny black vase were the ashes of Voldemort.

Selina smiled warmly at the crowd. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to welcome all of you for this wonderful day." She picked up the vase and held it up above the crowd. "Voldemort is dead!"

Applause erupted in the audience along with loud cheers.

Selina grinned broadly. "We cremated his body, proving that he has once and for all been truly destroyed. This war has been going on for most of our lives. Very few of us can remember a time when the looming darkness was not upon us. Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, was the darkest wizard to cast a shadow over our world since Grindelwald. He created havoc and chaos, brought us nothing but death and fear. But one month ago today, one man changed that. The night of the final battle, Harry Potter led a group of students, from a secret club known as Dumbledore's Army, down to an old castle built by Grindelwald in the first war. Voldemort was using it as his headquarters, just beyond the northern end of Hadrian's Wall. A secret organization that had been formed during the first war by Albus Dumbledore himself, called the Order of Phoenix, was also present in this battle. From the information that I have gathered, every single person that fought that night, fought hard, and fought to win. The ones that died, died fighting as heroes. I know that you have lost some fellow students. I know that some of you have lost relatives and friends as well. This battle changed everything. For the first time, almost every single Death Eater has been taken into custody, with the exception of Severus Snape, who was in fact working against Voldemort as a spy from the inside. But the real miracle of that night was that Harry Potter once and for all destroyed the darkest wizard of all time."

Harry felt his skin heat up and Ginny leaned over and kissed his cheek, rubbing her thumb over the palm of his hand. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Harry knew what she meant by it.

"Now from what I understand, it was Harry's ability to love that hurt Voldemort the most, because Voldemort had become so evil, so consumed by hate, that he could not feel any emotion. This is what ultimately destroyed him; love was too strong of an emotion to be denied. But I'm sure that our hero can tell the story much better than I can. Mr. Potter, will you please come up to the front."

Whispers floated around the crowd at his name. Ginny poked Harry lightly and got him to stand up. He took a deep breath as he looked out above the crowd.

"This man defeated Voldemort exactly one month ago. This man saved us all." Selina repeated as Harry made his way up to the front.

Applause broke out again and Harry blushed a bit. He hated being up there. He hated being the center of attention for any reason but he knew that this was important. He had to get it out.

"Ladies, gentlemen, I would like to thank you for the kind applause but I don't deserve it," Harry said honestly. "I did something that I had to do, and I had help doing it. Seventeen years ago, there was a prophecy made about someone who would one day be the downfall of the Dark Lord. It wasn't me until Voldemort chose me by coming after me, that night so many years ago. He chose his own enemy. That doesn't make me great, and it surely doesn't make me a hero. I had to destroy him before he destroyed me. I had a lot of help with what I did. My beautiful wife, Ginny ... I couldn't have done it without her. My friends ... my parents ... the Order ... the DA ... all of these amazing people that deserve more praise than I do. They fought by my side to make this world a better place." The room was silent as he spoke and he took a deep breath. "I only plan to tell this once. If I'm going to do it right, I would like for my wife and my two best friends to be up here with me. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, can you come up here?"

The three of them made their way to the front. Ginny slipped her hand into Harry's as Ron and Hermione stood hand in hand on his other side.

Harry cleared his throat. "These three people have been through everything with me. They've been through more than my parents, and more than anyone else I know. It's because of me, because of my connection with Voldemort that I've led them into more trouble than they would have been in. Tom Riddle has been in my life for longer than I can remember. It all started with a prophecy that was made by Sybil Trelawney proclaiming that a baby would be born at the end of July to parents who had three times defied Voldemort, and this child would be able to destroy him. Severus Snape, a faithful Death Eater at the time overheard it, but he only heard that part as he was caught and taken away. He told Voldemort about the prophecy and they were forced to wait and to see who the child would be. Funny thing about the prophecy, I learned it may not have applied to me. Two children were born at that time whose parents had three times defied Voldemort. Me, and Neville Longbottom." There was a gasp in the crowd as Neville nodded at Harry. "Nev, come on up here."

Neville blushed as he made his way to the front and on Harry's urging gulped before he began to continue the story. "When Harry told me that this prophecy might have applied to me, my first thought was, 'Thank Merlin, it was you.' I don't think I could have handled half of what Harry has in his lifetime. Voldemort made the right choice in choosing Harry. Harry was the one who destroyed him in the end, bringing peace back to our world." Applause came from the audience again and Neville smiled. "Harry will now continue his story, I think."

Harry grinned. "Thanks Nev. This prophecy that was made, I learned from Professor Dumbledore at the end of my fifth year. I was angry. I was so terrified at learning this and I didn't understand why my father had kept this from me. I didn't know who I was more angry at, my father or Professor Dumbledore. I demanded to know why they didn't tell me before. I wanted to know how they could have kept something so huge from me. I understand now, though. Da never wanted me to have to live with the world was resting on my shoulders but even before I heard the prophecy, I knew on some level that I was going to have to destroy Voldemort. But I was still so angry. I wanted to know, why me? Why had Voldemort gone after me and not the Longbottoms, and if it had applied to Neville too, then why did I have to destroy Voldemort? It was because Voldemort chose me, as Neville said. The other half of the prophecy, the part that Voldemort did not hear, said that he would mark his equal. For some reason, he chose me over Neville. When he tried to kill me that night, sixteen years ago, my mother sacrificed herself for me. By doing so, she placed a protection over me that Voldemort could not penetrate ... love. Therefore, when he tried to kill me, it backfired and I was landed with this scar on my forehead."

The crowd was silent now and Harry knew that most of them were waiting to find out what happened next. None of them knew the story of what had happened to him. Rumour and speculation were finally being realized. He squeezed his wife's hand gently and Ginny continued for him.

"Voldemort didn't work hard enough that night. James and Lily Potter never died. But Lily was injured so badly that she didn't remember anything about her life or who she was. James had to take care of her and Dumbledore convinced him to leave Harry with his mum's sister and her husband until Lily was better. You see, Lily was a danger to herself and others and Dumbledore was worried that Harry might get hurt. James agreed with this decision because the severity of the situation with Lily. Harry lived with his muggle relatives for four years before James managed to bring him home. It was from James that Harry learned of being a wizard and of defeating a dark wizard when he was only eighteen months old. But being so young, he didn't really understand what that meant."

Harry smiled at his wife before he picked up the story again. "When I entered the magical world, everyone knew my name but they didn't know me. I was Harry Potter, Earl of Glasgow, future Duke of Draíochta or I was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. When I started school, Da warned me that I might get a lot of people staring at my scar and I did. It wasn't what I wanted but I learned how to ignore it. Besides, I soon learned that there were other things for me to worry about. For example, in my second year at school, I discovered that I could speak Parseltongue. Dumbledore told me that he believed that I could speak it because Voldemort could, and that when he gave me this scar he must have unintentionally also given me some of his powers. This scared me. My first thought was well then I must have dark powers like him, but Dumbledore assured me that it was our choices that dictated our life, and that I didn't have to worry."

Hermione grinned from beside Harry. "Of course, Harry worried anyway. He was constantly worried that maybe he was evil like Voldemort. Ron and I worked hard to convince him that it wasn't true."

Ron smiled from beside them. "It wasn't only that either. Over the course of our school years, Harry was constantly finding himself in situations beyond his control such as the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"During the Tri-Wizard Tournament, I received much ridicule. Barty Crouch, Jr. had added my name to the cup, presumably under a different school. People spent the rest of the year calling me a cheat, a liar, and other names that I will not repeat here. At the end of the maze, Cedric Diggory and I both grabbed the cup together. Cedric was killed, and I was left to be forced to watch as a dark ceremony was enacted to give Voldemort a new body. I fought him, and somehow managed to escape with Cedric's body in tow," Harry said with a sigh. "I tried, many times, to convince Minister Fudge that Voldemort was indeed back. For my efforts, I was, once again, ridiculed and called unbalanced. All of this was because the Minister did not want to concede to the fact that an evil wizard had returned."

Hermione sighed before she continued. "The next year, we got stuck with Umbridge as our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. She refused to teach us any practical defence. I came up with this idea for Harry to teach people defence. At first, he thought the idea was crazy, but then he realized that quite a few people were interested. Hence, Dumbledore's Army began. We met many times over the year and Harry taught us as much as he could, getting lots of help from Sirius, James, and Remus Lupin, who taught Harry spells to teach us. It turned out to be a good thing that we had started this defence club."

"It was that year that I learned I had to kill Voldemort, or he had to kill me. The prophecy stated that both of us could not exist together and one of us had to kill the other. I was fifteen years old, and I had just learned that my life was either going to include murder or end in murder. It wasn't exactly comforting," Harry said, gulping.

"It was that next summer that Harry really began to train with his magic. James worked with him to make sure that he could even do wandless magic. It was later on in the year, after we learned of Aberforth Dumbledore's capture, that I heard what was really going on. This is when Harry and I found out about the dark artefacts." Ginny stated. "Dumbledore had many theories about which dark artefacts Voldemort might have used, but we had no idea where they were or if the ideas were even the right ones. The Order then began to continue on Dumbledore's search. We weren't allowed to participate. James insisted that Harry was still only sixteen, and not old enough. My parents agreed. After the Battle of Hogsmeade, minds changed. We were involved in this war whether our parents liked it or not."

James grinned at them from the audience and Harry grinned back. "This year was the hardest on all of us, because three more prophecies were made all pertaining to the final battle. We knew that this would be the year for the final battle with Voldemort and his minions."

Ginny smiled now from beside Harry. "Harry and I had both been touched by Voldemort at a very young age. This connected us and it made us understand that together we were more powerful."

"Soul mates," Hermione whispered from next to them. "Harry and Ginny are in every sense, soul mates."

"Not too long after the battle started, Harry scared Voldemort enough into thinking that he was going to lose. We're not sure still how it happened but Voldemort made to leave, and Harry tried to stop him. The connection they have ignited at the impact and between Harry and Voldemort they ended up transporting everyone fighting in the castle to Voldemort's destination. Within seconds, we all arrived in the Chamber of Secrets. No one really noticed anything because it happened so fast and the fight continued." Ginny explained. "One of the main turning points of this battle was enacted by Sirius Black. He killed Bellatrix Lestrange. We believe that Voldemort felt something for her, even if he never really understood what love was. The shock that he received from Bellatrix's death is what gave Harry the chance to plunge the sword of Excalibur, one of the dark artefacts that Voldemort had used, into him. However, it did not have the desired effect we were hoping for."

Harry nodded. "I had thought at that moment that it was finally over. But then I realized that his wound was bleeding way more than it should be, and that he wasn't getting weaker but stronger. He pulled the sword out of his chest and started duelling me with it. The power of the sword had made him immortal. I don't know how and I don't know why, but it did."

Ron smiled. "I was told that I was Phoenix. What that means, I'm still not sure about. I seem to have some good magical powers and I used them to save the life of James Potter and a few more people that night."

Hermione grinned at her husband. "By doing this, Ron allowed for Harry to do the last part of the battle."

Harry nodded. "I used the sword of Gryffindor, a sword that I had once been given from the Sorting Hat when I fought a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny. I stabbed Voldemort again, this time with both swords together. Ginny used her power earlier to drain the evil from the sword of Excalibur and fill it up with emotion. It was too much for Voldemort. He could feel the love and all of that wonderful stuff that we take advantage of. Voldemort had no idea that love could be so strong, he had always called it a weakness. It was love that destroyed him. He was finally dead."

Selina started to clap and soon the entire audience was clapping loudly. She stood up and smiled. "You may not want to be a hero, Mr. Potter, but you are one." The clapping continued and once it died down, Selina smiled. "As the spokesperson from the Ministry of Magic, we would like to present you with an Order of Merlin, First Class as our way of saying thank you."

Harry blushed as Selina placed the medal over his heart. She presented one to Ginny as well and then gave Ron and Hermione an Order of Merlin, Second Class. Everyone clapped loudly.

Selina smiled as they took their seats. "I would like to call Aurors Potter and MacGregor to the front now to discuss the punishments for those involved."

James and Ian made their way to the front and James cleared his throat. "We believe that we have managed to contain all of the Death Eaters. There are still three men left to interrogate, but we're pretty sure that they don't know much else. Most of the Death Eaters were killed in this war, fighting for a cause that they believed was right, or they were just too lost in Voldemort's mind games to realize what was wrong."

Ian nodded. "We know that some families lost members to Voldemort's cause. Many of them became Death Eaters and the family didn't agree with their decisions. We are now going to make public the names of every Death Eater who was killed in this war." He pointed his wand at the back wall and a list appeared.

Deaths
- Lucius Malfoy
- Narcissa Malfoy
- Vincent Crabbe
- Gregory Goyle
- Walden Macnair
- Pansy Parkinson
- Maria Lacroix
- Bellatrix Lestrange
- Alecto Carrow
- Amycus Carrow
- John Avery Senior
- Jack Mulciber
- Damian Nott
- Peter Pettigrew
- Evan Rosier
- Doris Yaxley
- Doreen Angleson
- Dolores Umbridge
- Fenrir Greyback
- Allison Sanders
- Damien Ross
- Roger Addison
- Diana Borderland
- Antonin Dolohov

Imprisoned for Life
- Victor Crabbe
- Gordon Goyle
- Rudolphus Lestrange
- John Avery Junior
- Hank Jugson
- Rabastan Lestrange
- Augustus Rookwood
- Trenton Travers
- Lawrence Gibbon
- Ludmilla Kristopherson

James nodded once the list had been read. "These men and women made horrible decisions. They murdered our families and our friends, and are the cause of a lot of chaos that erupted in the world in the last thirty years or so."

Ian nodded. "We fought back and we lost many brave men and women who were willing to give up their life to give us a better one. We would now like to honour the following people who lost their lives fighting for our cause."

Martyrs
- Cedric Diggory
- Demelza Robbins
- Victoria Frobisher
- Jack Sloper
- Dennis Creevey
- Andrea Donald
- Padma Patil
- Orla Quirke
- Anthony Goldstein
- Michael Corner
- Dominique St. Clair
- Morag MacDougall
- Su Li
- Lisa Turpin
- Eddie Carmichael
- Hannah Abbott
- Laura Madley
- Owen Cauldwell
- Eleanor Branstone
- Kevin Whitby
- Rose Zeller
- Ernie Macmillan
- Justin Finch-Fletchley
- Malcolm Baddock
- Graham Pritchard
- Theodore Nott
- Theodore Tonks
- Daphne Greengrass Zabini
- Tracy Davis
- Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody
- Dedalus Diggle
- Elphias Doge
- Albus Dumbledore
- Aberforth Dumbledore
- Olympé Maxime
- Alicia Spinnet
- Oliver Wood
- Mundungus Fletcher
- Hestia Jones
- Sturgis Podmore
- Emmeline Vance
- Bartholomew Flitwick
- Ellie Douglas
- Duna
- Gotto
- Matata
- Je d

"We lost too many good people who were also just innocent victims." James continued. "And many good fighters were wounded."

Wounded as Heroes
- Colin Creevey - lost his left arm
- Percy Weasley - lost his left foot
- George Weasley - lot his left eye
- Sabrina Snape - lost her mother, Petunia Dursley
- Joseph Zabini - lost his mother, Daphne Greengrass Zabini
- David and Drusilla Nott - lost their father, Theodore Nott
- Dean Thomas - paralyzed from the waist down

"The list goes on and on," Ian replied. "All of these people fought hard for what they believed in. They suffered because of it. We would now like to turn the floor back to Selina."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. It was hard to hear all of that, a list of the dead and wounded ... to know just how many people suffered in such a war. He turned his attention back to Selina as Ginny squeezed his hand gently. He was so grateful that she was there at the moment.

Selina smiled as she stepped up. "I'm opening the floor up to any questions now. Reporters and journalists may ask whoever they like the questions they deem to be important. Mr. Potter can head the discussion."

Harry nodded at her as he stepped up to the front.

Hermione stepped in front of him for a moment. "By the way, we've placed a spell on all Quick Quotes Quills so if you have one, it will not work so I suggest you write properly. Thank you." She gave Harry a sweet smile before she stepped back to the side.

Harry just shook his head as hands began to fly into the air. He chose at random.

"Hi, Mr. Potter. I'm David Reynolds from The Daily Prophet and I was wondering exactly what you meant by "dark artefacts"?"

Ginny squeezed her husband's hand before she answered. "That information has been deemed confidential and is being explored at the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries by the Unspeakables. The only thing we are allowed to say on the subject is that these artefacts were used in Voldemort's attempt at immortality."

"Mr. Potter, I'm Wendy Sage from The Daily Prophet and I was wondering if you could explain what you meant by saving your wife in the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry nodded. "Well, I won't go into a lot of detail but when I was in second year, Voldemort managed to possess Ginny through a diary. She was taken down into the Chamber at the end of the year through the possession, which had made her instruct a giant basilisk to attack students in the school. Voldemort had managed to become corporeal through the diary and through possession of Ginny. I ended up getting the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, which Dumbledore's phoenix had brought me. I killed the basilisk and destroyed the diary, therefore saving Ginny."

A frizzy-haired red head raised her hand from the crowd. "Mr. Potter, I'm Doris Donnelly from Witch Weekly and I was wondering if you had anything you wanted to tell your fans about your honeymoon?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed slightly. "I believe that our honeymoon was private, and it is going to stay that way, thank you."

Harry nodded. "I agree. Does anyone have any questions relating to the final battle?"

"Mr. Potter, I'm Roger Austin from The Evening Prophet. Do you think Voldemort will ever rise again?"

Harry shook his head. "No, he is without a doubt gone. There is no way for him to come back to life, not this time."

"Mr. Potter, I'm Anna Dumas from The Russka Journal. Where did you get the sword of Excalibur from? I heard it was a legend."

Ron nodded from beside Harry. "It was a legend that turned out to be partly true. We believed that Voldemort was going after it because he knew of the power it had. We found it and used it against him. It didn't work as well we wanted, as it did make Voldemort stronger, but it turned out to be the right decision in the end. Between Harry and Ginny they used both swords to attack Voldemort, ending the battle."

"Mr. Potter, I'm Karen Smith from Which Broomstick. What are you and your wife going to do now that you're done school? Is it true that you'll be playing for Portree?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I plan to play for Portree. Ginny will be working as a healer and going to school at the St. Mungo's Academy for further training in her speciality of choice."

"Mr. Potter, I'm Clemetine St. Pierre from the C'est La Vie Chronicle. Do you and your wife have any plans of having children anytime soon?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We would like this conference to strictly relate to the battle. If it doesn't then please don't bother asking questions, as we won't answer them."

"Mr. Potter, I'm Anita Stock from Business Wizard. I was wondering if the final battle affected your decision to play for Portree under MacDonald?"

Harry shook his head. "It did not. I plan to start playing in September. Since no one seems to have any other intelligent questions to ask, I think I'll turn the floor back over to Selina."

There were groans from the crowd and a few people yelled out questions.

"Was it traumatic?"

"Why was the body burned?"

"Why did you lead the attack?"

Harry took a seat with Ginny next to him, his hand in hers as Selina managed to quiet down the crowd.

"The questioning is over. If Mr. Potter wants to answer questions later on that will be his decision." Once the crowd silenced, she smiled. "I would now like to hand out the appropriate awards to the people involved."

Selina handed out all of the appropriate awards individually. Harry was asked to hand out the awards when the people came to the front. A picture was snapped after every award but Harry held a genuine smile on his face because he knew each person deserved it. Everyone from the Order and the DA received an Order of Merlin, Third Class. The hardest part was handing out the awards to the families who had lost people.

Once the last award had been handed out, Selina walked across the stage and pulled a sheet off of a huge memorial. It was people made of bronze and marble with wands held high.

"This monument was built as a memorial and as a tribute to all of those who died fighting. Now I would like to call for a moment of silence." Selina said quietly.

The entire courtyard was silent.

Selina smiled, tears in her eyes as she spoke. "Now, I would like to call up our new Minister of Magic to say a few closing words. Minister Weasley, if you please."

Harry's grin widened as he looked at Ginny. "Did you-?"

Ginny shook her head no as she laughed. Her father was making his way up onto the stage and his ears were as flaming red as his hair. "He kept it a secret!"

Arthur Weasley smiled. "I accepted the post of Minister only this morning. It's not something I ever would have thought of doing before today, but I know that I can make a difference. We need to rebuild our community and to get back up on our feet after such a devastating loss. We've all suffered, now it's time to build it up as character, honour our dead, and celebrate life."

Cheers erupted around him. Harry held his wife's hand tightly and as Arthur spoke his final words he knew it was true.

"The war is over."