Harry Potter and the Book of Impossibility

Thanks to: Sara T, for being my official beta reader. Veronik and Sandrex for encouraging me to continue this story and being my non-official beta readers. LilBean is also thanked for checking my story for mistakes after it is publiced.

 

Chapter 19 – Reward.

It was total chaos at Hogwarts for the remainder of that terrible day. But that terrible day had just ended with the best news anyone had heard for more than fifty years.

Everyone was confused. Do they, *could* they celebrate such a paradoxical day? Or should they mourn instead? Dumbledore decided both. First they remembered the murdered child, and all of the terrifying past events. After dinner, there would be a large celebration, but during dinner Dumbledore introduced the newcomers from the past, and everybody welcomed them. Everybody except the Slytherins. Harry noticed that many Slytherins weren’t even there. Suddenly he remembered.

“Professor Dumbledore!” Harry yelled. Everybody looked up to see why Harry Potter suddenly called the headmaster.

“The Slytherin students, we imprisoned them in their own common room, they were working with the Death Eaters. They are still there, locked up!” Harry yelled to Dumbledore from the other side of the Great Hall.

“What? I’ll go there immediately. Alastor, go get a Veritaserum specialist. Minerva, Filius, Flora, come with me.” Dumbledore said.

Harry wondered who Filius and Flora were. But his questions were answered when he saw McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout stand up.

“I wonder why someone named Flora, decided to dedicate her life to flora.” Harry said. Only Hermione laughed. Ron and Karlien had no idea what was funny about that statement.

“Flora are plants.” Harry said simply. Ron and Karlien started laughing too, now that they understood.

The Head Boy and Girl were put in charge, and they continued dinner. They were forced to wait in the Great Hall until Dumbledore arrived back. When he did, it was obvious from across the Great Hall that the Headmaster was not pleased with what he had seen. Albus Dumbledore asked for silence, and the entire Hall grew still. All eyes were fixed on him.

“We found 45 Slytherins, and one Gryffindor in the Slytherin common room. They all confessed to working for the Death Eaters. This is an immense disappointment to me, and your other professors, who hoped that Hogwarts would have been able to provide a relatively strong barrier against temptation and the consequences it inflicts upon not only others, but yourselves. As I am only headmaster, it is not for me to decide whether these children, who were, or are your friends, should spend life imprisonment in Azkaban, or face the consequences of their choosing in life by some other means. 500 points will be taken from each of those students, the points deducted from their house. They will also be expelled, and it has been decided that they will go to a special wizard prison for children. When they are eighteen, there will be a trial for each of them, and then it will be decided what to do with them for the remainder of their lives. For the non-quick mathematicians in this school, Slytherin will lose twenty-two thousand and five hundred points, and Gryffindor five hundred. The points of these two houses will go on next year, and the year after that and so on. Until the youngest students amongst these 45 Slytherin, and one Gryffindor, would have been finished with school. The Gryffindor student I am talking about is in his last year, so Gryffindor’s score will just as always be zero at the start of the new school year. The youngest Slytherins however, are only in their third year. That means that Slytherin’s score won’t be restarted for four years. Except when Slytherin begins to prove themselves and end a year with a score above zero. New class schedules will be made when we find ourselves a new Potions professor. Until then, school is cancelled, and you can celebrate as much as you want,” Dumbledore face suddenly lit up, “Starting now.”

Everybody except the Slytherins cheered. Harry and his co-heroes wondered who the seventh year Gryffindor was.

“The only one I seem to miss is…” Fred said, and he clapped his hands on his mouth.

“What?” George said, and then he saw too, “Oh my god! No! It can’t be true!”

“Who is it? Fred, George, tell us. *Who is it*?” Ron demanded.

But Harry had already noticed. Lee Jordan was the only seventh year not there.

“I would never have thought that Lee would go Dark.” Harry said.

“Lee Jordan?” Ron screamed.

“Yeah.” Harry murmured. Suddenly he remembered Dumbledore tell him that here was a traitor in there midst, but that he didn’t know who. That mystery was solved now too.

Fred and George were both close to tears, and Angelina and Hermione tried to comfort them. It didn’t help. The twins were devastated, Lee had been their best friend, and he had been working against them of his own free will? They wanted to be alone, and left the Great Hall, to their dorms, in silence.

All the other students and teachers were celebrating the final fall of Voldemort, and none of Harry’s friends could resist not to party too. So soon, everybody was celebrating. Hagrid arrived later that night. Harry welcomed him, and told him the whole story.

“Your parents would have been proud of you. No... wait… your parents are here. They are proud of you.” Hagrid said.

The six heroes were taken to Dumbledore’s office later in the night to explain everything that had happened.

* * * * *

Next day, at lunchtime, Harry and his friends entered the Great Hall. They had just woken up from a late night. Everybody, including the teachers, had skipped breakfast. They didn’t seem to have slept much though. The whole Great Hall was decorated. The Head table was gone, and instead of that, there were only chairs for the teachers. A large stage was set up at the place where normally the Head table was.

Once everybody had taken their seats, the large entrance door of the Great Hall was opened, and a magical red carpet rolled itself out from the door straight to the stage.

Dumbledore entered the Great Hall, accompanied by Arthur Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody, a man Harry didn’t know, and at last, a large group of journalists.

The journalists didn’t enter onto the stage, but the others did.

“I would like to ask Harry James Potter, Karlien Esther Laura van Voorthuizen, Hermione Stephanie Granger, Ronald Weasley, George Weasley and Fred Weasley to come up here.” Dumbledore pronounced.

The three Weasley turned as red as their hair, Karlien and Hermione were only a bit nervous, and Harry felt nothing. The whole school had stared at him enough times by now, so it didn’t bother him anymore. They walked up to the stage, and it was only then that they noticed that not only the teachers were there, but also the rest of the Weasley family excluding Ginny, who was at the Gryffindor table. Karlien’s parents were also there, and Hermione’s parents could be seen in some sort of a mirror, at their background Harry saw the living room of the Burrow. Harry thought it was the same sort of thing as in fireplaces. Hermione’s parents were also just looking at a strange mirror, Harry guessed. Muggles can’t see Hogwarts, so it’ll have to be this way. All of them looked very, very proud.

Once the heroes were on the stage, Dumbledore spoke again.

“Welcome everybody.” He said, and all the journalists started taking pictures and writing notes.

“We are all gathered here to say ‘thank you’ to these students.” He began.

“These people have shown true bravery, and fought against a group of 45 Death Eaters, and defeated them. They’ve weakened Voldemort’s army a great deal, more than they know, and more than ever done before, and most importantly, defeated Lord Voldemort himself. They’ve made clever use of things designed for pranks. Thanks to these ‘pranks’ they gained the upper hand over their enemies and survived, and therefore I award Fred and George Weasley with a Special Service to the School Award, and 200 points for Gryffindor, each.” Everybody applauded, and tears started rolling down Mrs. Weasley’s cheeks.

“For discovering very useful, secret passageways, and for fighting a few Death Eaters, I award Mr. Ronald Weasley another Special Service to the School Award,” Ron turned if possible even redder. He’d forgotten about his second year award. “And 250 points to Gryffindor.” Everybody cheered and applauded again. Mrs. Weasley was now openly sobbing, with a beaming Mr. Weasley at her side.

“For searching for, teaching, and then assisting in implementing a number of very useful spells; for the courage that is needed to fly into the Great Hall with two dozen Death Eaters right here on this spot and for defeating a few Death Eaters, I award Miss Hermione Granger a Special Service to the School Award and also 250 points to Gryffindor.” The Great Hall once again cheered and applauded. Harry noticed Hermione’s parents beaming in the magical mirror.

“For defeating, and Apparating the fallen Death Eaters outside the grounds and for getting books from the library that provided them with curses that helped them to victory, I award Miss Karlien van Voorthuizen a Special Service to the School Award and 500 points to Gryffindor.” The cheers and applause was louder than ever before, especially at the Gryffindor table.

“And last, but certainly not least, Mr. Harry Potter. He took the lead in defeating the Dark Lord’s forces. He kept his head clear, and instead of just sitting in his room to do nothing than being scared, he fought back. He made use of every little gadget he owned. He defeated Death Eater after Death Eater. He made very clever use of the Imperius curse, which he used to force two Death Eaters to disarm many other Death Eaters. He has proven himself time after time that he is a very important member of the wizarding community. All our lives would have been worse, if it wasn’t for him. Therefore I give him 500 house points and, yet another, very well earned, and very much deserved Special Service to the School Award.”

A sound-blast of cheers exploded in the Great Hall but Mr. Weasley, the Minister of Magic, called for attention with his magically amplified voice, and the cheers subsided.

“Can I have your attention please?” His voice boomed. “Professor Dumbledore may be finished with his speech, but I am not.”

“For the same reasons as the Professor just stated, I would like to give Mr. Potter a few more things. First of all, Mr. Potter will get an Order of Merlin, First class.”

Mr. Weasley opened a little jewellery box, and got a beautiful decoration out of it. It was pure gold and beautiful calligraphic words said: ‘Order of Merlin, first class’. He pinned it to Harry’s chest and they shook hands.

Cameras with magical purple flashes popped out everywhere, sending clouds of purple smoke into the Great Hall. Harry and Mr. Weasley held each other’s right hand like presidents hold hands when a treaty is signed. They both grinned widely.

“Secondly, I will ask Mr. Potter’s permission to create a new award. The award will be given to people in the future who accomplish great things against the Dark Arts, like Mr. Potter did. The award will be called ‘Potter’s Knights’, so people will be ‘Knights in the Order of Potter’. Mr. Potter, will you agree to this?”

“An award for those who fight against the Dark Arts, and whoever lives by the Dark Arts? Named after my parents, and me? It’s a good idea, and so I agree.” Harry said.

“Very well” Mr. Weasley said, “Monica, if you would please give Mr. Potter here the decorations, then he can award his friends with it.”

A young woman in posh clothing entered the stage carrying a purple cushion with a lot of fringe. On it were six green (like Harry’s eyes) decorations with a lightning bolt on it. Harry picked up the first one and saw Karlien’s name on it. He walked towards her and pinned it on her chest, where it is supposed to be, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to do this with Hermione?’ Harry thought. The next one was Ron, after they had shook hands Harry turned to Hermione. Karlien noticed him hesitate and quickly thought to him: “Just do it Harry, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind on this occasion.” That reassured him, and soon he was finished with the others, and there was only one left, his own. He asked Mr. Weasley to do it, but he said that only other Potter Knights could do it, so Karlien did it.

“Harry, have you prepared a little speech?” Mr. Weasley whispered in Harry’s ear.

“What? I’m supposed to give a speech, and no one told me?! I’m not a natural born orator, thank you very much!” Harry stopped ranting, thought for a bit, then whispered nervously to Mr. Weasley, “Am I going to have to answer questions too?”

“I’m afraid so, but it doesn’t have to be long,” Mr. Weasley replied, “You don’t have to do it alone, you and Karlien can do it together, just like Fred and George, and Ron and Hermione.”

Harry was glad about that.

“Hello teachers, students, reporters, Ministry staff and parents. We are Gred and Forge, of the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, soon to be opened in Hogsmeade.” They said together. McGonagall gave a loud cough, indicating that the twins couldn’t advertise right now.

“Right, professor. We would like to say to our mother that pranks CAN be handy, as shown in this attack. Further we would like to thank all our partners in crime with the development of those highly recommendable articles.” They both bowed very deeply and elegantly. Harry was amazed that they didn’t fall off the stage.

Hermione and Ron thanked their parents, and Fred, George, Harry and Karlien.

Then it was Harry and Karlien’s turn. Karlien began, and told the names of some Dutch friends who helped her greatly during her magical study there, and some Hogwarts friends, such as Harry.

When she was finished, Harry got the magical microphone, and the reporters’ hands flew into the air to ask questions.

“Hello everybody, I have a few things to say, before I answer your questions,” Harry began, “I want to make it clear right now, at this very moment, that the Potter Award is not only named after me, but a large part belongs to my parents. Not the parents at the table there right now,” he pointed his hand to the Gryffindor table, “but my parents who died, the parents who raised me for a brief time. Without them, I wouldn’t have survived Lord Voldemort’s first downfall, and they deserve the Potter Award as much as I do. I will also dedicate my Order of Merlin to them and to the five people who helped me so much during these attacks. And now, who has a question?” As soon as he said that, all hands shot up again, and Harry pointed to a very posh looking man in front.

“You used the unforgivable curses more then once, how come you haven’t been punished for that?”

“We got permission to use them.”

“Who gave you permission?” The man asked.

“One question only. You there, what’s your question?”

“You have had some unpleasant experiences with us, reporters. Why are you behaving so nicely now?”

“I have only had some nasty experiences with one reporter, and I think you know who I mean. She won’t write anything nasty about anyone anymore, a friend of mine made sure of that. She is going to hold her tongue… Quick Quotes Quill for a while. As you may know, I don’t really like publicity, but I’ve been thinking, and I think the best thing to do is just satisfy you when I can, like now. So that other times, when I really don’t want something to be in the papers, I can more easily ignore you. Except for a few bigheaded reporters who don’t know what privacy is, but I will personally make sure that those people will be sorry for that.”

“Rumours are saying that Miss van Voorthuizen is pregnant, are those rumours true?”

Harry and Karlien were shocked, where did that rumour come from?

“No, they are not true.”

“Hello. This question is for Miss van Voorthuizen. I’m from the monthly magazine Naughty Wizard. I can pay you 4 million Galleons if you pose for us when you become of age, 17 in wizarding world. I will also pay you 3 million in advance, if you promise not to go to any other magazine, making 7 million Galleons total.”

“WHAT????” Harry screamed in his head to Karlien.

“Let me handle this, Harry.” Karlien said.

”Of course not. Further questions, or invitations, will not be answered so nicely. Harry and my relationship is private, and that is how it is to be. Only raise your hand if you have decent questions to ask.”

Surprisingly enough, all remaining hands went down, and Harry was relieved that it was over.

“Thank you all,” Dumbledore began, “Before I dismiss you, I want to tell all students that though lessons will start again on Monday, Potion lessons will be beginning on Wednesday. Thank you all.”

Slowly the Great Hall emptied until only the six ‘heroes’, their parents, and McGonagall were left.

“I want to say thank you again, but Harry, I must ask you to fill in some paperwork for casting the Killing Curse on young Malfoy. Nothing much, since you got permission, but the Ministry likes to register those things. Also it would be very convenient if you registered yourselves as Animagi, being unregistered might cause some problems in the future. They all know of it now, and forgave you, but maybe you aren’t so lucky next time.” Dumbledore said.

All of them nodded, except Fred and George who weren’t Animagi.

“May I ask you how you achieved being an Animagus in such a short time?” Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

“Harry’s father and his friends were Animagi, as you probably now know. They’ve written a very useful book about it, and we followed that step by step.” Karlien said.

“Then I’m afraid I will have to claim that book because…” McGonagall began, but Professor Dumbledore cut her off: “Of course not, Minerva. That book is property of Harry, and I see no reason to keep it from him. He’s wise enough to decide who can use it, and who can’t.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, but she didn’t seem to agree with it.

Professor Dumbledore handed Harry two piles of paperwork, one for the Killing Curse, and one for the Animagus registration. Hermione, Ron and Karlien got the last one too. “Fill these in, and give them to me tomorrow. You know the way to my office.”

Once outside the common room, their family awaited them.

Molly hugged all them, and beamed at them. She seemed to have forgiven Fred and George for their joke-shop plans.

Suddenly an owl entered the Great Hall, and flew straight to Percy.

“Penelope has gone into labour! I must leave this instant!” He yelled.

“Wait dear, I’m coming with you! Arthur, please stay away, too many people will not be good for Penelope right now. I’ll notify you all when it is born.” Molly said.

That night, Harry and Hermione finally finished the Werewolf chapter of the Book. After reading it, they felt like screaming on the top of their longs of happiness. There was a cure!

“When is Remus’ birthday?” Karlien asked, “Then we can give him this for his birthday.”

“I don’t know, let’s ask young Remus, he must know since he’s the very same person. And if it works on Remus senior, it can work on Remus junior. You’re right about giving it to him and let him do it. It could only cause trouble if we do it. He’ll probably go to Dumbledore with it, and I’m sure he can do it.” Ron said.

Remus’ birthday was, most coincidentally, in two days. So they all wrote a birthday greeting on a card, wrapped the pieces of parchment with the Werewolf chapter on it, and went to the kitchen to order the house-elves to give it to Remus on his birthday. Dobby promised to take care of it himself.