The War of Shades

Chapter 62 The Harry Potter Show

Harry then got more serious. "Remus, can I talk to you about something? I have a concern, and I want to ask someone who has known pain. I'm afraid that one of these days, I'll lose my nerve, that I'll look at someone who really needs help, and my mind will say 'I really want to help that person,' but there'll be this nagging doubt about taking the pain, and I won't be able to do it. I've got to be able to freely accept it all to make it work."

All of a sudden, there were gales of laughter behind Harry, from both Luna and Ginny.

"That'll be the day!" cackled Luna.

"Poor ickle Hawwy Potter, afwaid to be a hewo!" added Ginny, giggling.

That was more than enough for Harry: he stood, lifted Ginny up and tossed her into the lake. However, he hadn't realized that she had grabbed hold of the hood of his robe, so he was pulled in face-first as well. They fell together, then bobbed up waist-deep laughing. They tried to walk up the muddy lake-bottom, but Ginny slipped and grabbed Harry's robe again. This time they fell holding each other. And when Harry lifted her up, she was standing so close that her body, in her soaking Hogwarts robe, was right against his. They were no longer laughing.

They looked at each other a few seconds, then Harry said, "Erm, would you, ... do you have your wand?"

"It's right here," she said distractedly, patting near her left shoulder, causing some jiggling in her noticeably feminine body. "Do you?"

"Erm, no." said Harry, patting around. "Accio wands" he said without a second thought, and they rose from about ten feet away and leapt into his hand. The surrounding witches and wizards goggled at his wandless wand retrieval, but Harry wasn't paying attention.

"Alrigh' now, you two," said Hagrid, laughing and stepping into the lake with one leg in its enormous boot so he could lift them out in turns by their shoulders, "The show's supposed to be over the lake, not in it."

As Hagrid set them on the bank in turns, Tonks dried them with a quick charm. Just then fireworks figures that looked just like Fred and George, except for glowing and being over 100 feet tall, came striding out over the lake. It was like something between a muggle laser show and a well-drawn cartoon, thought Harry, except the figures were three dimensional and moved more naturally. The stars, moon, and mountain made an awe-inspiring backdrop. One of the twins was using the Sonorus charm to amplify his voice.

"Muggles and magicals, beings of all types and species, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is thrilled to present for your evening entertainment the following fireworks show, based on the exploits of our favorite wizard not named Weasley. This entire show may be purchased as a box set, ready to activate by charm for display, in various sizes: room, backyard, field and WOW, and may we say it would be the perfect display every year on THIS day, which we recommend be named Potter Day.

"However before we begin the main event, we have a special tribute to another good friend. His name is Remus Lupin. He fought brilliantly alongside all of us yesterday and today. He has just this day learned that he has been cured of lycanthropy. That's right, folks, he's no longer a werewolf, and consequently, he no longer fears a full moon. So Remus, we have a question for you - if you're not afraid of ONE full moon, how about TWO full moons?"

And with that the fireworks Fred and George turned around, bent over and dropped their trousers, waving their twenty-foot wide bare ends in a coordinated waggling routine. Almost the whole crowd began to roar, none more so than Lupin. The one holdout from the amusement was soon heard over the entire tumult, as Molly Weasley's voice was heard shrieking, "I'll kill them!"

The fireworks twins then peeped between their legs and said, "Oh, hi, Mum. So without further ado, we present to you The Adventures of Harry Potter." Then the fireworks twins faded away.

"Oh, no!" said Harry, aghast. "I need this like I need flobberworm earmuffs."

"Ooooh!" squealed Ginny, Luna, Tonks, and Hermione, laughing. "Our hero!"

"Oh, shut up," said Harry, not harshly, but a bit exasperated.

"Quiet, you lot," said Ron. "I want to see how this comes out. No spoiling the ending, hear?"

Just then the main show started. It began with a modified version of the Dark Mark - even the twins were not so cheeky as to make the actual sign. But it was near enough to cause scattered screams amongst those who had lived through the horror of Voldemort's reigns of terror.

The depiction of Voldemort's attack on Harry's family was not exactly as his memories had it, as he had never described all the details he remembered, but was quite dramatic. The whole crowd gasped as Harry's father fought with Voldemort and was killed, and then his mother pled with Voldemort and was killed. The real Harry put his forearms across his knees and rested his forehead on them, while Remus put an arm around his shoulder and whispered, 'It's alright, Harry, let it out; it gets to me too,' and Ginny and Tonks rubbed his back. Then the firework Voldemort turned to baby Harry. The wizards and witches in the audience knew what had to happen and many were jovially shouting "No! No!" Despite their protestations, a bolt of green light shot at the toddler's head, but it bounced back and the firework Voldemort became a silvery wisp and then disappeared. The magical folk in the audience cheered, knowing that this meant the first downfall of Voldemort, but the Grangers were appalled.

"Oh, my word," said Mrs. Granger, aghast. "Bad enough he attacked those adults, Hermione, but an infant!?"

Quietly Hermione responded. "Mum, that child was Harry."

The Grangers glanced over toward Harry and then just stared upwards in shock, as the tiny lightning bolt scar on baby Harry's head grew and grew till it was the only light in the show. Then the twin's voice boomed out again.

"Ten years passed, and Harry came to Hogwarts, where the Philosopher's Stone of Nicolas Flamel had been moved from Gringott's for safekeeping. Headmaster Dumbledore had been reading the signs and knew that what was left of You-Know-Who was seeking it. Harry and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, (figures of the three appeared in fireworks battling a troll - or more accurately dodging a troll) figured out that an attempt was going to be made to steal the stone."

The firework figures then passed through a door which had appeared and were confronted with the giant three-headed dog.

"My word, Hermione!" exclaimed Mr. Granger loudly. "You fought Cerberus!?"

"No, no, Dad, that's Fluffy, one of Hagrid's pets." (Mr. Granger glared at Hagrid, who grinned proudly at him). "And we didn't fight it: we played music to make it sleep."

And sure enough, first fireworks-Harry, then fireworks-Hermione played a flute and the dog slept, as the three figures dropped through the trapdoor into the Devil's Snare. The crowd cheered as fireworks-Hermione conjured a fire to make the plant retreat, and the Grangers beamed with pride. The key chase was absolutely stunning with thousands of swirling glittering lights like a school of herring being first chased by and then chasing the three figures. They darted through a door which appeared.

The narration then returned. "Luckily the next hazard, a troll, had already been disposed of by the wizard whom Voldemort - sorry folks, we've learned to say it and especially now that he's gone, we're not going to stop - had possessed. Then they faced a life-size wizard's chess set, only they had to play the roles of pieces. Luckily Ron Weasley is quite the chess whiz - Way to go, little Bro!"

Then figures of an entire wizard chess set appeared above the lake, with the figures of Ron, Harry and Hermione taking the places of three pieces. The game was quite spectacular, as wizard chess played at high speed in fireworks must be, and when fireworks-Ron sacrificed himself, wincing as the queen's blow came down, so that fireworks-Harry could gain a checkmate, the whole crowd gasped and applauded. The real Ron stood and bowed all around, until Hermione kicked his legs out from under him.

More narration: "Next was a barrier of potions and logic which would make a nice read, but quite a poor show, so we just show some bottles flying around their heads and give due credit - Hermione Granger solved the logic puzzle. But only one could go on. Hermione returned to help Ron and try to get help for Harry. Harry then proceeded."

The fireworks then showed the whole confrontation with Professor Quirrel, the unwrapping of the turban (everyone screamed very nicely) and the final fight, with the fireworks-Quirrel screaming in pain as it touched Harry. It ended with fireworks-Harry standing alone, holding up the Philosopher's Stone. Harry groaned at that, knowing he had been knocked out by the fight, but he had to allow for dramatic license.

"The next year," the narration continued, "Voldemort's 16-year-old self was released through the medium of an enchanted diary and opened the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. Several students were petrified by the monster released, including Hermione Granger (and with this the fireworks-Hermione was shown going flat as a board, then floating down like a leaf to rest on the surface of the lake), but not before she figured out that the monster of the Chamber was a thousand-year-old basilisk. Armed with this knowledge, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter entered the Chamber with Gilderoy Lockhart when our sister Ginny Weasley was taken by the diary-Voldemort into the Chamber so that he could become a physical being."

The figures of Ron, Harry and Lockhart appeared, with fireworks-Harry hissing at the loo sinks to open the Chamber and the three of them sliding down. The real Ginny had her face covered with her hands, but looked through her fingers at the show.

Fireworks-Lockhart tripped fireworks-Ron and then tried to curse fireworks-Harry, with the wand backfiring and collapsing the tunnel between them. The cave-in was awesome in fireworks. Fireworks-Harry went on and found the unconscious fireworks-Ginny. The real Ginny began sobbing openly. Harry put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. The fireworks showed the entire confrontation with Tom Riddle and the basilisk.

"Cor, mate," said Ron. "Was that beast really that big?"

Harry glanced up again as the twins' representation of phoenixsong was heard (nice, but nothing like the real thing) and the fireworks-Fawkes pecked out the eyes of the basilisk. "Actually a good bit bigger."

Ginny kept sobbing as she peeked up at the show, becoming more rapt as the fireworks-Harry thrust the sword through the roof of the basilisk's mouth, then withdrew with a fang in his arm, followed by Fawkes's healing tears and Harry's destruction of the diary with the fang. As the fireworks-Harry comforted the fireworks-Ginny and helped her up, the real Harry did the same.

"C'mon, Ginny, that's all of this I can take, too. Let's have a walk."

Harry had his arm around her and she continued to sob as they wended their way through the seated crowd. Most recognized Harry and waved or gave a thumbs-up, which Harry returned with his free hand. Luckily all were so enjoying the show they chose not to pester Harry. He and Ginny made their way back up to the castle and found a secluded bench to sit on.

"Harry, I hadn't thought much about that over the years. I mean, sometimes, I gave some thought to being possessed, and whether there was any lingering damage, but, well, when I woke up in the Chamber, there was just a bit of the basilisk visible and you were there - a right sight. I was too shaken up that evening to remember what you said. I had no idea what you had faced. For me!"

"Yeah, well, you know, I had to give it a go. I couldn't just walk away."

Ginny threw her arms around his neck. "Please don't ever leave me," she cried.

Harry hugged her back, and then pushed away a bit to look in her eyes. "Ginny, I don't want a life with someone because she's afraid, or grateful, or pities herself or me. That won't last and we'd end up miserable. You're quite the fighter now yourself. You don't need to be taken care of."

"But Harry, ..." she began and he quieted her.

"I've sort of been avoiding you since the battle. You see, there's something I need to confess. I know I had promised never to use legilemency on my friends, but when we were on the island, I wasn't in control when Riddle made me read your minds. I fought it, but had no strength. In addition to seeing the foolishness of the guilt you all felt, I saw how you really felt about me. I had never felt such relief or joy in my life as when I saw how much you really cared."

"Oh, Harry, why would you have been in doubt about that?"

"Well, the way Hermione made it sound yesterday morning, it was all part of the plan - you volunteered, you got detentions so you could study Occlumency to hide your mind from me, you got roped into exploring the caves with me, you knew when I was going to be most vulnerable and then you came to me willing to be my support and share your eyes and, well, all the things we've shared. She showed how it was all a piece of the plan and it sounded like it was just a job you had to do to make the plan work. I thought you had been remarkably convincing, and I was terribly hurt, angry and confused. I just accepted it, though, as part of what I deserved, as the guy who made all the bad things happen, but was key to putting a stop to it. I can't begin to tell you how overjoyed I was to find that all you were hiding was the plan, and that you really did love me."

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry that you had to be put through that, and a bit annoyed that you ever doubted, but I am glad that you've seen the truth. Of all people, I can certainly forgive doing something while under Voldemort's control. But don't you dare look in my mind ever again - that excuse is gone!"

Harry laughed. "I won't."

"Well!?"

"Well what?"

"You know how I feel about you. We've been very close and affectionate, but you haven't really said how you feel."

"How about if I show you?"

Ginny smiled on one side of her mouth. "Do you think I'm the sort of turnip who'd fall for a line like that?"

"I didn't mean to show you that way. I meant with a kiss."

"Well, we've kissed plenty, Harry, but if you think you can make it more special, I'll let you have a go."

Harry looked deeply in her eyes. He bent down and, putting his entire concentration and powers into his feelings for her, he began to kiss her. After a long kiss, he said very quietly, "I love you, too."

Ginny gasped, and responded quietly, "Lucky for you, buster: you can't give a girl a kiss like that and just walk away."

"I have no intention of walking away."

"Yeah," said Ginny, still catching her breath, 'you say that, but you'll be off at auror school or some-such next year, forgetting all about schoolgirls."

Harry shook his head. "I'll be here next year as instructor. I'll be working with Dumbledore on research and skills. It'll give me some time to figure out how to live life without someone trying to kill me. One of the great attractions of that arrangement is that you'll still be here."

They spent a nice long time, just holding each other. They hugged, made meaningless conversation, just enjoyed being together. After a time they noticed the sounds of people moving in the area and realized that the show must have ended. Soon they heard a deep voiced man pointedly clearing his throat to catch their attention. Harry turned to him.

"May I help you?" offered Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I'd like to talk to you about appearing on our famous wizard cards, the ones that come with chocolate frogs," explained the wizard, dressed in robes and grossly oversized tam, both bright orange and covered with images of chocolate frogs, which were actively hopping and crawling all around them.

"I never would have guessed: not exactly subtle, are you?" said Harry, indicating the robes, at which the man just grinned. "Ginny, Professor Dumbledore told me to expect this. I need to do a bit of negotiation here. Will you be okay?"

Ginny smiled mischievously at him and pointed her wand at the sky, shouting "Valentina!" Red sparks shot from the tip of her wand, erupting into an enormous red

heart in the sky which lingered, pulsing.

"Don't be too long," she said, walking off.

The man grinned and jerked a thumb toward the display in the sky. "Like love potions - all the witches pick that one up by third year, and we wizards haven't got a clue."

Harry and the man went into the entry hall and talked, working out the details. After settling the terms, the man took some fresh pictures. Harry then saw Ron and

Hermione getting a butterbeer. He called them over, put his arm around their shoulders and said "Shoot." The man took a picture.

"What was that about?" asked Ron.

"Oh, that was your picture for a Chocolate Frog card."

"What!?" cried Hermione. "My hair's a fright."

"How else would you be recognized?" laughed Harry. "Listen, there's going to be a series of 'Harry Potter' cards with different things I've gotten into. There had to be at least a couple with you two also. I couldn't have survived without you."

"That's cool," said Ron. "Any gold in it for us?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "I'm getting 6 knuts for every Potter card, except the ones with the three of us - we each get 2 knuts for those. You'll be owled a contract and release next week. They plan the new cards to be released in a couple of weeks."

"Well, you know me, Harry," said Ron, "I don't mind a bit of gold coming in."

"Do we get to review what the card will say?" said Hermione. "I don't want it to make me out to be some Harry Potter flunky, or worse, a groupie."

"Oh, do I have groupies?"

"Actually, Harry, there have been a number of times that girls have fairly thrown themselves at you, and not just the ones who were at training camp," said Hermione, with Ron nodding. "We couldn't tell for sure if you were too noble or too dense to take advantage."

"Erm, let's go with the first explanation" said Harry, and they all laughed.

As they laughed, Remus and Tonks came in.

"Out all this time," said Ron, suggestively smirking, "what have you two been up to?"

"Now, now, Ron." said Remus. "Actually, the moon's just now gone down. I couldn't tear myself away. I've always been afraid before and now to be able to look at it, it's just beautiful."

"Yup, that's right!" said Tonks with unmistakable disappointment and annoyance in her voice. "That's all he was interested in."

"Say," said Lupin, after a glance and smile at Tonks, "I didn't get to tell you three my other big news. Now that I'm no longer a werewolf, Dumbledore wants me back as Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher. Maxime is returning to Beauxbatons; unfortunately it looks like Hagrid will be going there, too. Anyway it seems I had good recommendations from some students Dumbledore really respects. Ah, finally, a real job I should be able to stick with."

"Great," said Harry, "I'll be here coaching the DA and teaching flying and apparation. We can coordinate Defense lessons with DA practices - get the theory and the practice together. Not worried about the jinx, are you?"

"Nope. I have a feeling a lot of old problems are melting away now," said Lupin with a broad smile.

"Hey, Remus," said Ron, "let's go find a boggart!"

Lupin laughed. "Now why would we want to do that? I might need them for classes next year."

"Aah, but now that I like spiders and you like the moon, we don't know what to be afraid of. The boggart'll show us what we really fear now."

Lupin thought a second and said, "You know, Ron, that's not a half-bad idea. It should be fun, in a weird way. Let's go."