HP8 (On Hold)

Aftermath

All Harry wanted to do now was sleep, he felt completely drained of energy. 

It wasn’t surprising really, he had been awake for a full day and night, and if this wasn’t enough to make someone tired, he had also just fought the most powerful sorcerer of the age, if not of all time.  Although he had a lot of support, he doubted if anyone had truly expected the final results, not only had Harry survived the battle, the Dark Lord, Voldemort, had died as a consequence of the fight. 

The reason why such a powerful sorcerer would want to kill Harry, is because Harry is also a wizard, part of a secret world that most humans without any magic in them are never aware of.  

The reason for this fight dated back to the time when Harry was an infant, the Dark Lord had tried to kill Harry even then.  But the curse used by the Dark Lord had failed to kill the infant and had rebounded on him, ripping his soul from his body and leaving him less then alive but not quite dead. For Harry the only sign of the curse which was made on him, was a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt.  This act made Harry famous within the Wizarding world, not only because he is the only Wizard known to have survived the Killing Curse, but also the Dark Lord had been so powerful prior to the attack that most of the world feared him too much to oppose him. 

The Dark Lord was able to survive this curse, which would have killed any other wizard, as he had split his soul many times, keeping each piece of it safe in an object called a Horcrux.  It took him thirteen years living a partial life in foreign lands, but he had finally been able to resurrect his remaining soul to a new body.  Since then he had made several further attempts to kill Harry, Harry though had either been able to escape or been assisted and shielded from these attacks.  This had enable Harry to gain enough experience during his years at the school of wizardry, Hogwarts, and the knowledge of how this conflict had arisen and the means to finally defeat the Dark Lord. 

Most of the information Harry had learnt was due to a previous headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had been an extraordinary Wizard, with more ability in magic than some say any other Wizard would ever have, but due to events in his childhood, he had devoted his life to passing on knowledge of magic to any child with any magical ability in them, whether they were descendants of witches and wizards or of non-magical parents, or muggles as wizards called these non-magical people. 

Professor Dumbledore had realised the unique connection that existed between Harry and the Dark Lord, and had used all of his knowledge of magic and the history of the dark lord to prepare Harry for the final confrontation between the two.  But Professor Dumbledore had kept a lot of secrets, mainly about himself and his family, and it became a habit, so when he learnt of the prophesy that linked a child with the Dark Lord, he kept it a secret until the time the child was ready to learn of his destiny.  He knew the value of secrets and also how fragile a secret was, the number of people who knew of a secret, multiplied extraordinarily the possibility of the secret becoming common knowledge.  Because of this, he also taught Harry the value of keeping very important facts to himself, so that they could be acted upon before others could also act upon the knowledge a secret held. 

Although Dumbledore used a little influence in guiding Harry along the path of education, he made sure that he wasn’t openly seen to favour Harry above other students, this allowed Harry to experience the normality of a childhood within the school that all other students were allowed, and didn’t subject him to even more attention than he already had due to being known as the Child who lived. 

This had meant that Harry had been involved in many adventures, achieving many feats of magic and experiencing many threats and creatures which most wizards of his age would never face and be unlikely to cope with. 

Harry had shared these adventures with his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, who although they didn’t have the experience or abilities of Harry in Duelling, did have their own qualities which had helped Harry face all of the dangers and hurdles he had needed to overcome in their adventures. 

Harry was with these two friends now in the headmaster’s office of Hogwarts.  

“I think it is time we got some rest and sleep” Harry put to the others, “I can’t wait to get into my own bed in Gryffindor dormitory.” 

“Gosh Harry, do you think we should, I agree I could do with the sleep, but there is going to be so much to do” replied Hermione, with a glance at Ron. 

Harry understood what this glance to mean, Ron’s Brother Fred, who had a twin named George had been killed that night in the wizard battle that had occurred at Hogwarts. 

Ron however was as just as tired as either of them and he just nodded, and started walking towards the door as if in a trance. 

Just then the door opened and Professor McGonagall entered, she had been their head of house for the whole time they had been at Hogwarts, and was the likely new head, following the death of the former head, Professor Snape, who had also died that night. 

“Here you all are, I have been looking all over the castle for you” she exclaimed, and she held out an arm to stop Ron from passing her, “where do you think you are going” 

“To our Dormitory for some sleep” Harry explained. 

“Ah, well now, I don’t think that is a good idea” she responded. 

 “But Professor, we are so tired, we must get some sleep before we fall where we stand” Ron yawned.

 “I agree with you Mr Weasley, but I don’t think Gryffindor tower will be the best place for you at present, there will be a lot of people wanting to speak to you soon, and you won’t get any peace and quiet there”

 “Oh, so what do you suggest Professor?” piped up Hermione.

 “Well I agree you all look exhausted and in no state to deal with what is going to be required of you today, so I think a sleep if only a short one is an excellent idea.  When you think about it we have the temporary Minister of Magic, the school teachers and some members of the Order here, so we should be able to deal with any immediate problems, but where on earth can we find you some beds where you won’t be disturbed.” mused professor McGonagall.

There was a discreet cough from one of the pictures on the wall, all looked round at the portrait of the former Headmaster Professor Dumbledore, whose portrait gave a small smile and said to them, “Perhaps I could recommend the sleeping space to the rear of this office, no-one is likely to find them there for a few hours.”  Unlike muggle pictures, wizard paintings and pictures actually moved and were able to speak to the living.

“A very good idea Albus” McGonagall nodded her thanks to the picture and led Harry, Ron and Hermione through a cleverly disguised archway into another chamber, in the chamber was just single bed, but with a sweep of her wand another two beds and a dividing sheet separating one of the beds appeared. 

Without a word all three went to a bed and laid down, not even bothering to remove their robes, all three students were asleep in a matter of moments.

Professor McGonagall paused at the door for a few moments, looking back at the three of them fast asleep, for once her normally stern expression softened, and a small smile appeared on her face.  Then with a shake of her head she passed back through the archway and was gone.

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