Harry Potter and the Ring of Reduction

Chapter 24

The Boy Who Lived

Seven hours later, Rupert Wilmington greeted the six as they entered the Golden Dragon. "We are, of course, deeply honored to have you here," he said to the group. "The wizarding world is greatly in your debt. I refer to all of you, not only the two professors. Please, follow me."

As he led them to their table, applause started, and soon the whole restaurant was applauding. "See, I told you, those robes are a dead giveaway," whispered Ron.

"People have always recognized me fine, no matter what I wear," responded Harry, embarrassed. "Thank you," he said to the diners, hoping to get them to stop applauding. "Thank you very much." The clapping finally died down, and the group was seated at a relatively secluded table, near the one Harry and Ginny had sat at. Wilmington gave them menus, took their drink orders, and left them alone. Harry was glad that McGonagall had told the six that they were 'at liberty,' and needn't report back to Hogwarts until Sunday evening.

"Well, it look like you're going to have to get used to that, at least for a while," Ron joked, referring to the applause. "Bet it happens in all your classes next week."

"I suppose I'll just have to deal with it."

"Brave man," said Ron encouragingly. "So, when do we get to see the memory in the Pensieve?"

"As soon as you've spent an hour walking around naked at the Burrow with Hermione and I there," retorted Harry humorously.

Feigning nervousness, Ron said, "Umm, I'm not sure I want to see it quite that badly. How about just the parts where you have clothes on?"

"That, you can see," allowed Harry.

"I don't see the problem with the other thing, Ron," teased Pansy. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Would you do it?" he challenged her.

She appeared to think about it seriously. "Probably, if it was everyone and not only me. It would sort of be out of respect for what they had to do. I'm sure that wasn't easy."

"No, it wasn't," agreed Harry. "But the link helped, don't you think, Hermione?"

She nodded. To the others' surprised looks, she explained, "It let us know what the other was feeling, and we could respond to that, help each other feel better about it. One thing about communicating that way is that you can't lie. If Harry tried to send that he wasn't embarrassed, but he was, I'd get the message that he was trying to send that he wasn't embarrassed, but that he was."

"There's nothing that interesting to see in those rooms, anyway," said Harry. "And a lot of the communicating we did was with the link, so you couldn't hear it."

"Say, Harry, about that robe," said Ron, "you did put some clothes on under it, didn't you? I mean, you don't want to be in public when it just decides to vanish."

Harry chuckled. "Well, I did just to be comfortable, but it's not going to vanish."

"I mean, eventually," clarified Ron. "I know it won't for a few days."

"No, I mean, it won't vanish. It's here for good."

Ron's eyes went wide. "You can conjure things that'll be permanent? But that's... well, never mind. How do you know?"

Harry shrugged. "I just know."

Ron became more excited at a sudden thought. "You could conjure Galleons!"

Harry tilted his head in a 'well, yes and no' gesture. "He can't, Ron," explained Hermione. "Well, technically he could, but it's an energy-of-love issue. He can't, because if he did it and used them, it would be like stealing."

Ron looked incredulous. "If he made them, how is it like stealing?"

"It has to do with economics," she said. "Basically, there's a certain amount of money around. If he started conjuring money and using it, there would be more money around, but the same amount of stuff to buy and sell, so prices would get higher. Essentially, the value of the money people had would decrease because of what he did. It would be like stealing, a tiny bit from everyone that had money. So, he can't do it."

Ron looked disappointed; Harry wondered whether Ron would have been willing to take Galleons from Harry that Harry had conjured. "There is something I can do, though," said Harry. He looked into his right hand for a minute, then reached across the table and handed Ron a gold coin.

Ron looked at it and laughed. One side had two broomsticks crossed, with a Golden Snitch above where the brooms met in the center; the other had the three Quidditch hoops. At the bottom of the coin was the year, followed by the initials 'R.W.' "My own commemorative coin," he said as he showed the others. "Thanks. But why did it take so long to conjure?"

"I had to do it three times to get it the way I wanted it," Harry explained. "Just because I can conjure anything doesn't mean I can conjure great artwork. I have to visualize exactly how I want it to look."

Wilmington returned to their table. "Excuse me for interrupting, but these just arrived, and we thought you might be interested in seeing them." He passed out six copies of the special evening edition of the Prophet. Hermione thanked him, and he left again.

'Potter Defeats Voldemort,' the headline read. Ron read the first paragraph out loud: "In an awe-inspiring display of magical power, determination, and resourcefulness, Harry Potter, with the help of friend and fellow professor Hermione Granger, broke through every obstacle in his path and finally captured Voldemort, rendering the evil Dark wizard permanently harmless and handing him over to the Aurors."

"I don't think he quite captures the impressiveness of what you two did," said Ginny; Harry wondered how much of the comment was a joke.

"Wow... that's what it looked like?" asked Pansy, looking at one of the pictures on the front page, which showed Harry and Hermione walking through the eighth room.

"Do you mean the shield, or the stuff coming down?" asked Hermione.

"Both, I guess," said Pansy. "It's an amazing picture. It's so vivid, I can really imagine what you must have felt when you saw what was in the eighth room."

Ron had opened the paper, which was eight pages long; the second through fifth pages had detailed descriptions of what had happened in each room, and pictures. "How did he get pictures?"

"I showed it to him in the Pensieve," said Hermione. "He got the pictures from there."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Did he have to strip down?"

She smiled. "He offered to, mostly as a joke, because he knew I wouldn't take him up on it. But he would've done it if I'd asked him to. I decided to make an exception for him. I asked Harry through the link; he wasn't thrilled, but he understood the reason, and agreed. Hugo promised me that the pictures would be... appropriate, I guess. He said, 'The Prophet is a family newspaper, after all.'"

"Looks like he did a good job editing them," agreed Ron. "In those rooms, it shows you pretty much from the shoulders up. The one from the fifth room has your expressions when you realize your clothes are gone."

"I'm glad it wasn't of us staring at each other," joked Harry.

"There are two from the seventh room," continued Ron, "one from behind, with your hands on her shoulders, doing the Apparating." I'm glad it wasn't of me looking down, Harry sent to Hermione. Her expression didn't change, but he got the impression of a laugh in response. "The other is from when you were trying to reach Albus."

"There's a paragraph about you and Ginny," said Pansy to Neville, reading from the inside of the paper, "about how it was really difficult for you because you were both the way they communicated with the outside, and the ones with the most to lose. You're described as 'outwardly calm, but very concerned,' and Ginny as 'wearing her emotions on her sleeve.' I guess that sounds fair. Flitwick certainly found that out."

Neville and Ron laughed; Ginny managed an embarrassed smile. "He deserved it," she said defensively. "He should have known better."

Pansy explained it to Harry and Hermione. "This was something that happened when you were in the fifth room. Hermione, you asked whether it was possible to Disapparate out of a Ring of Reduction, and Flitwick said no, it wasn't. Well, Ginny practically lost it, she screamed at him. 'Are you crazy? You never tell Harry that he can't do something! He might have been able to do it, for all we know!' She was furious."

"Mainly because I was so scared," Ginny put in. "It looked like you were done for, for sure, and that seemed like a possible way out, but he took it away. I know he didn't mean to, but I thought he knew enough not to do that."

"The interesting thing," continued Pansy, "is that nobody reprimanded Ginny for doing that, even though she screamed at a Head of House. I guess McGonagall really felt for her. Nobody said anything for a minute, then Snape said to Flitwick, 'It is better not to suggest to Professor Potter that he cannot do a particular thing. He has shown himself to be highly... suggestible.'"

The others laughed, partly at the description of Harry, and partly at Pansy's imitation of Snape's voice. "You do a pretty good Snape," said Ron, smiling.

"Thanks. Then, Flitwick kind of muttered, 'Well, you can't.' McGonagall said, 'One also could not block the Cruciatus Curse, or the Killing Curse, or render giants harmless, or-' He just said, 'All right, all right, you've made your point.' I think he felt bad about it, even though he had given the right answer.

"Then, in the seventh room, Hermione asked about Apparating within a room. Flitwick looked surprised, then at Ginny, as if he was scared of her yelling at him again. He said, 'Uh, well, I suppose I couldn't say it's impossible...' Then Ginny said to you that yes, of course, you could do it. She gave Flitwick this look, like, that's what you were supposed to say. He kind of shrugged and said, 'You don't really need me, then, do you?' After you started doing it, he looked really surprised. He obviously thought it was impossible."

"It's kind of funny now, looking back on it," said Ron, "but at the time, there was nothing funny about it. When you lost your wands, we all thought that was it."

"Not Snape, though," mused Harry. "At first, I wondered if he really thought that, or if he was just trying to keep me in the frame of mind that I could do it. Being so suggestible and all. But yes, I thought so too, though I tried to stay positive. Voldemort definitely thought so, since he spent a whole room to taunt me. You know, thinking about it later, I understood the first three rooms a bit better. The first room was the one with the best chance to kill us, but with an animal, there was some element of luck involved. The second and third weren't that hard; he would have known we could do them. Now I understand the whole point was to make sure we couldn't go back, that we'd have no choice but to go forward. If he'd made the fourth room like he made the eighth room, we'd have just gone back, or used the Time-Turner. He wanted to trap us before giving us something he was sure we couldn't do. He expected the sixth or seventh rooms to kill us, but made the eighth that way just to be sure. That's what Kingsley said, anyway." Harry had talked to Kingsley a few hours before, after he'd received the report from the first Legilimens to go over Voldemort's mind since he was captured. "Apparently he was absolutely sure we wouldn't survive, and was really pleased with himself at what he'd come up with. He loved the fact that the deadliest artifact he had was one that a Death Eater bought in a shop for magical sex toys. He loved the irony of it."

"There's a whole shop devoted to that?" asked Ron in surprise. "And what was a Death Eater doing in it, anyway?"

"I asked about that. Kingsley said he thinks it was just a novelties shop, but that was just how Voldemort thought of it, because of the kind of artifact it was. Like what Fred and George have, only aimed more at adults. Funny how I was asking you earlier this year, Hermione, about whether there was anything that did that, and then it almost kills us."

"Yes, I suppose there's some irony in that, as well. But you can do that now, can't you?" she asked, wearing a mischievous smile.

"I'll let you know tomorrow," said Ginny, also smiling, as the others chuckled.

"What would I do without you guys to make fun of me," he said dryly.

"Considering how everyone else is going to be treating you for a while, you should count yourself lucky to have us to make fun of you," said Pansy.

Wilmington came to their table with a tray containing cheese and crackers, and another with six drinks. As he handed Harry his, Wilmington gave him a wink, letting Harry know that he remembered what Harry had said the last time he was there.

After Wilmington left, Harry picked up his ale. He looked at his friends, reveling in the moment, and the fact that Voldemort was gone and his friends had all survived. He counted himself very lucky indeed. He lifted his glass. "To Albus," he said.

"To Albus," they repeated, and drank. There was a silence, as if they all wanted to enjoy the moment.

Harry remembered something he'd wanted to ask Ron. "Ron, what's a 'passed pawn'? It's something that Snape mentioned just before he was finished with Voldemort."

Ron asked the context, and Harry related what had been said. Ron's eyebrows went high. "That's probably the best compliment you're ever going to hear from him. I assume you all know that if a pawn reaches the eighth rank, the other side of the board, it can become a queen," Ron explained to the whole table. "A passed pawn is one that's on the sixth or seventh rank, that's threatening to advance and become a queen, or is very likely to at some point. Snape was saying that if Dumbledore was a queen in this chess game, you were a passed pawn-that you would become a queen. Basically, that you would replace Dumbledore, that you would be like he was."

Harry felt that he would normally be embarrassed at hearing such a thing, but he felt more touched than embarrassed. No doubt having received his feelings, Hermione said, "Yes, you would usually be embarrassed, but you know that Snape knows you better than almost anyone, and he knew Dumbledore intimately. If anyone's in a position to say that, it's him. And you know he wouldn't say it unless he really thought it."

Harry nodded. He found that, for those reasons, it meant more coming from Snape than it had from anyone who had made the comparison before. It was the first time he didn't dismiss the idea out of hand.

* * * * *

"You know another thing that's great about this?" Harry asked Ginny four hours later, as they lay in the bed in Harry's quarters, getting ready to sleep. "I don't have to do Occlumency before bed anymore."

"That'll be nice," she agreed. "Especially since it means that I can talk to you anytime, if you're still awake. I don't have to worry about ruining its effect."

"All that time, something I had to do every day because of him," said Harry. "It's like this big change in my life. I remember telling Archibald last September that I just wanted a normal, boring life. Now it looks like I'll actually get it."

"No one deserves it more," she said, moving in for a kiss. "Now at least if you don't go out in public, it won't be because of the danger."

"Just not wanting to be bothered," he agreed.

"Today was pretty unusual, though," she pointed out. "People aren't always going to be like that." On their way from the Diagon Alley fireplace earlier that evening, they had stopped at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Along the way, many people had approached Harry and greeted him, thanked him, and shook his hand; he had received a half-dozen kisses from women of various ages, to Ginny's great amusement.

"I certainly hope not," he said. "But I felt like I could enjoy it a little bit, more than usual. I'm not sure why, maybe I felt like I actually deserved it this time."

"I'm glad. You definitely deserved it," she said emphatically. "You know this is going to last a while, a lot of people are going to want to get in touch with you. You should try your best to be tolerant of it."

"I'll try. I hope Hermione gets a lot of the credit too, though. She really deserves it."

"If I'd gone with you instead of her, like I wanted to, we'd both probably be dead," agreed Ginny. "On the other hand, the fifth room wouldn't have been such a big issue."

Harry chuckled. "That's one way to put it. It would've been hard to get used to, if the situation hadn't been so bad. I'm not sure if the fact that we're such good friends made it easier or more difficult."

With a teasing smile, she said, "So, if you had to compare..."

"I am not going to compare," he said firmly. "There's just no..." He trailed off and chuckled; Ginny asked without words what he was laughing at. "I accidentally sent what I was feeling," he explained. "She sent, tell her it's her, you idiot. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, and it's the truth anyway. If Neville asks, I'll tell him it's him, and it'll be the truth also."

Ginny smiled. "She knows what to say better than you do, you'll probably be calling her for help when we have fights. So, is this like it was when it was through the phoenixes? You don't send words, just feelings?"

He nodded. "If we're telling another person, we translate them into words, like I just did."

"And how did you 'accidentally' send what you did just now?"

"When we have a strong reaction to something, it's more likely that the other person will know about it without it deliberately being sent, which is also the case for how bonded phoenixes, like Flora and Fawkes, are with each other. I had a strong reaction because I didn't want to answer your question, I was afraid it would make her feel bad. It didn't occur to me that she'd feel it anyway."

"So, you have with Hermione the same kind of communication that phoenixes have when bonded to people, or to each other. But Fawkes and Flora know that you and Hermione aren't married, or partners, right?"

"Yes, that's the kind of thing they can know," he said. "They wouldn't have suggested it if our lives hadn't depended on it."

She gave him a serious look. "It's all right. I'm not trying to be critical, or to give you a hard time. I know there was no choice, and I know you're worried about how this is going to affect me." She sat up in the bed, and took his hand. "I just don't know. So far it really doesn't bother me. Maybe it's because I thought for sure I was going to lose you, and I'm deliriously happy I still have you, much happier than I am that Voldemort is defeated. All I can say for now is, we'll just have to see how it goes. If it causes problems, we'll deal with them as best we can. Let me ask you, does it disturb you that this is permanent? Or is that something you shouldn't think about because it might upset her if the answer is yes?"

"First of all, it's starting to occur to me that I'm not going to have many secrets from her. It's not like she's going to know my every feeling, of course, and we may get better at not sending things accidentally. But I feel like just having the idea of wanting to keep something secret from her makes it more likely that I'll accidentally send it.

"About your first question, no, it doesn't really disturb me. The only thing that disturbs me at all is the idea that it might cause problems between you and me. I think she and I both have to adjust to it too, a bit." He paused, then added, "She says, yes, we really do. She's trying to have a conversation with Neville, and because you and I are talking about this, she keeps getting stuff from me, and it's distracting."

Ginny smiled. "Tell her to tell Neville that we're sorry, and we'll go to a different topic."

"Neville says, don't be silly, you should talk about what you want. Maybe Hermione and I should be talking about it."

"Did Hermione send her own feelings with that, or was it just Neville's answer?"

"Her mood comes through with what she sends," said Harry. "She thinks it's... I don't know if there's a word for it, sort of funny and nice, a little of each. One interesting thing about communicating like this is that you realize that when we speak, when we say we feel some way, sometimes it's not exactly right, it's just the closest word we could think of."

"I know what you mean," she agreed, lying down on the bed and putting an arm around him. "It's like, when I say that I adore you, and that I'm incredibly happy to have you... it's not exactly what I mean, but it's as close as words can come."

Happiness flooded through him as he held her. "I've had the exact same feeling."

They kissed. Then, with a gleam in her eye, she asked, "Did she get that?"

"Loud and clear," he reported. "She says that now she knows how the phoenixes feel. One of the things they like about being bonded to humans is when we feel like that, they get to feel it too. She's happy we love each other so much."

"So am I," she said, and kissed him again. "Now, how about that spell that we talked about at dinner?"

He smiled, and with a wave of his hand, the room went dark. Seconds later, he heard a sigh of mock annoyance. "I meant you, not me."

Another pause. "That's better."

* * * * *

In the phoenix place, Harry happily embraced Dumbledore. "That was a very nice toast earlier," Dumbledore joked as he let go of Harry.

"Well, you deserved it," said Harry as they sat by the stream. "You saved me, you saved us, you helped stop Voldemort from coming back."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I know this will come as quite a surprise to you, but I was not the one who spoke to you today."

Harry blinked; surely he'd misheard. "What?"

"I was not the one who said the words you heard earlier, when you were trying to reach me," repeated Dumbledore patiently.

Baffled, Harry was sure there was some miscommunication. "Of course it was you, I saw you, I heard you."

"It was an image, since I do not exist in physical form; my current appearance may cause you to forget that from time to time. But it was not me."

"If it wasn't you, then... who was it?"

"Peculiar as it will sound, it was you." Again, Harry was sure he'd heard incorrectly. "Not you in the sense you normally think of yourself," explained Dumbledore. "I have explained before that the consciousness in which you normally exist is but a part of your whole... entity, one could say. There are other, more spiritually based, parts of your... soul, but again, words are imprecise in matters such as this. There is a greater entity, which is you; your waking consciousness, which you think of as you, is only a part of you, the part that operates in the physical world. The part of you that is spiritually based-some refer to it as the 'higher self', let us use this term for the sake of simplicity-has a great deal of knowledge which is not normally accessible to your waking consciousness. In reaching the state that you did, you were able to access it.

"Your higher self helped you assemble the memories you saw. Only in a state of deep relaxation and focus did you see the connections, and your higher self provided the final insight which put it all together. As you pointed out immediately afterwards, the clues had been there all along, though even if you had put them together before, you would not have accepted the conclusion they led to. Your normal waking consciousness believed what it had been told about what was possible and what was not; a moment of great clarity was required to convince you otherwise."

Harry had been listening with great interest. "It really was amazing how everything fit together. And you're right, even though it did fit, I wouldn't have believed it. But then... if that was me, or a part of me, why did it look like you?"

"I cannot say for certain," said Dumbledore. "The likeliest answer is that my appearance was given because it was I that you were seeking. The other possibility is that it was because you knew that you would be more inclined to accept the information if you believed that it came from me."

"You mean... that my higher self did the same thing that Ginny did-say that something came from you when it really didn't, so I would believe it?"

"It may have," said Dumbledore with amusement. "We cannot know, of course."

He shook his head in amazement, then chuckled. "Ginny will love this, when I tell her. She'll probably say it means she's in tune with my higher self. Well, at least it's done, Voldemort's gone. But let me ask you... like the part of Professor Snape that stayed here for all those years, there's a part of Voldemort-maybe we can just say that it was Voldemort, since I think of Voldemort as being the 'pure evil' part-that couldn't stay in that mind after I did what I did. So, what happened to it? Did it die? Did it come up here, to move on to the next place? Can it do that?"

"That is a difficult question to answer. However, there is no particular time by which you must wake up tomorrow, so I will take whatever time is necessary to answer. This will involve concepts for which there are no precise language equivalents, but I will do my best.

"Tom Riddle was inhabited by... a malevolent entity, let us say for now. It did not take him over; he welcomed it, accepted it by choice. He was already powerful, but it made him more powerful than he had been or ever would be, by giving him ambition and focus. This entity is what you drove out, never to return.

"The nature of this entity is difficult to explain; some background is required. As I have said before, good and evil do not exist as such, universally speaking. It is more accurate to say that there is love, and there is... we could say fear, or ignorance. Ignorance in this context simply refers to a total lack of understanding of love; fear has roughly the same meaning. In the spiritual realm, there is only love; in the physical realm, there is both love and fear. There is a great deal of love in the world, and a great deal of fear; almost everyone experiences both at times throughout their life. Love is very strong in some, fear in others. There is a spectrum, with more people in the middle than near either end of it. It is humanity's journey, the journey of all physical beings, to progress from a state of fear and ignorance to a state of love.

"We are highly creative beings, and we can create fear as well as love. The malevolent entity of which I spoke could be considered to have been created by our mass consciousness, by an accumulation of human fear. It does not know love; it cannot imagine that such a thing exists. It knows only fear, a total lack of love-what most people would call 'evil.' Since there is plenty of fear in the world, it will always find a home, a being willing to accept it and what it offers. Tom Riddle experienced a great deal of pain and fear in his early life, and sought power as a way to be in control. He made a fateful decision at a young age-a decision to embrace the entity which made itself known as Voldemort."

Harry often had difficulty following Dumbledore when he spoke about spiritual matters, but he understood this well enough. "So, this entity... it didn't die, because it doesn't have a physical body?"

"It did not die, because there is still fear in the world, which created it and supports it," said Dumbledore. "Thousands of years from now, or however long it takes humanity to evolve to its destiny-a complete understanding of love, and the nature of existence-this entity and others like it will no longer be supported, because no one will be creating it with their fears. As love grows, it will become weaker and weaker. But no, in the here and now, it did not die. It will simply look for a new host, someone who wishes to embrace what it will offer, and give themselves to it."

"Then, did I really accomplish anything?" asked Harry, suddenly dispirited. "If it's just going to go find someone else?"

"You accomplished a great deal," Dumbledore assured him. "The reason it chose Tom Riddle is that he was the strongest and most talented wizard of his generation. Such an entity will always seek the being which gives it the greatest potential for power. You have deprived this entity of the best home it could possibly have. It will find another, but very likely someone not nearly as powerful, or capable of as much damage. By defeating it, you have also secured an increase in the potential for love in your community. Such entities feed on the damage they cause, as Bellatrix Lestrange tried to do to you when she provoked you two years ago. They wish to create more fear, to make themselves stronger. Had he gained power, Voldemort could have created a great deal of fear, by ruining people's lives with violence and terror. The only true way to fight fear is with love, which is what you have done. You will continue to spread that message."

Dumbledore's last seven words sounded very right, and gave Harry a flash of understanding about his future. "It sounds like a good way to spend a life."

"A very good way," agreed Dumbledore. "Be aware, Voldemort's defeat and your newfound magical abilities will not guarantee you an easy and stress-free existence. You will be the most prominent person in wizarding society. That you will be so different from others will cause its own problems. Some will envy your abilities and seek to create difficulties for you, difficulties that cannot be easily fixed with magic. You will still have challenges; they will simply be different, and less intense, than those which you have experienced until now."

"I understand," said Harry. "I see your point... I guess I just feel right now, like, anything's bound to be easy, compared to what I've just been through."

"Very understandable, of course," said Dumbledore. His expression becoming more somber, he added, "On another matter, I would like to apologize for whatever part I played in your childhood having been as trying as it was. I know that I do bear some responsibility for that."

Puzzled for a moment, Harry finally realized what Dumbledore was talking about. "Do you mean that stuff that Sirius said?"

"It was not truly Sirius, of course," Dumbledore reminded him. "It was your mind, supplying your worst fears. Most had to do with you, the responsibility you felt for the dead in the struggle against Voldemort, but that part had to do with me."

Harry jumped in before Dumbledore could continue. "I don't really think that. I don't blame you for that."

"Some part of you does, Harry," said Dumbledore gently. "If that were not so, that 'Sirius' would not have said what he did. You see similarities between how I treated you and him; you feel that with both of you, too much attention was paid to your safety and not enough to your mental and emotional well-being. I am aware that you understand both sides of that situation, and 'Sirius' only discussed one side. I was not planning to go into detail in defense of my actions; you already know my reasons for what I did, and they must stand or fall on their own. I am aware that I could have taken greater risks, which would have led to a happier childhood for you had they paid off. But as you know, I chose to err on the side of caution. I also misread the Dursleys; I did not expect that they would treat you like their own son, but I did not think they would treat you nearly as poorly as they did. Had I known... I cannot say with certainty what choice I would have made, but it would have been more difficult.

"I also wish to say that I am pleased and flattered by two indications of your regard for me which we have discussed tonight. That you would unconsciously choose my image to provide information which it was crucial that you accepted... and that seeing me in such a negative light would count as one of your worst fears, sufficient to cause it to be brought forth by the artifact in the sixth room."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," admitted Harry.

"By the way, we have a visitor," said Dumbledore. Harry looked up and, to his great surprise, saw Blaise.

"Blaise! What are you doing... oh, have you decided to move on?"

Blaise nodded. "I've spent some time talking to Albus. I wish I'd got to do that more while I was alive, it would've been helpful. I realized that there wasn't much point in staying around. But Albus said you would be here, and I just wanted to say goodbye, and thanks for trying to help me. It was hard for me to tell you, but I appreciated it."

Harry couldn't think of anything to say in response. He stood and hugged Blaise, then simply said, "Goodbye, Blaise."

Blaise gave Harry a small smile. "Please say thanks, and goodbye, to Neville for me." He was suddenly gone.

Harry resumed his seat next to Dumbledore, who said, "Keep in mind that in this place, thoughts can be known without the need for words. Blaise knew what you would have liked to say, even if you could not find the words."

"I'm glad. But I'm wondering, why did he decide to leave now? It seems like a real coincidence, the day after Voldemort is defeated."

"It is no coincidence, of course," said Dumbledore. "I said before that some stay as ghosts because they feel they have unfinished business. Blaise himself was not sure why he had stayed, but after you defeated Voldemort, he suddenly understood the reason. He simply wanted to see what would happen."

"Is that a common reason for staying?"

"No, it is not. In a way, this is connected to what we were talking about earlier, about the effect of fear and ignorance in a society. The more power is in the hands of what the wizarding world calls Dark forces, the more people suffer. Some suffer by losing loved ones. Blaise suffered in a different way, by being constantly exposed to those strongly influenced by fear and ignorance. His character made him particularly vulnerable, and he suffered greatly because of it.

"I believe that when he died, he looked back and wondered what the point of it was. He felt that he never really had a chance, and in a way, that was true. This is the influence that beings like Voldemort have, to cause suffering in many different ways. This is the cancer that would have spread over wizarding society had you not stopped it. You and those who have supported you have prevented many others from suffering Blaise's fate.

"In any case, Blaise eventually recognized the source of his difficulties, that he had been caught up in the path of evil. He stayed because he felt a compulsion to know the result, how the struggle that destroyed him would end. It has ended; he is content, and so has moved on."

Harry shook his head sadly. "I just feel bad that his life was like it was."

"He will have other lives," Dumbledore assured Harry, "in which his circumstances will be far better. We all live many lives, with a variety of experiences."

Dumbledore's last sentence reminded Harry of something he'd rather not have thought of. "And now that Voldemort is gone, your purpose for being here is done. You'll be moving on, too."

"Yes, but not completely. It will be gradual, as I explained last June. I will see you again in a week, then a month, then three months, then a year, and so forth. Perhaps a few dozen times over the remainder of your physical life. The last time I see you, you may well appear as old as I do now. But I will accelerate my perception of time, so that no time will seem to pass to me in between visits. To me, it will be no more than a day or two."

"I'm glad," said Harry. "It's nice to know that you'll still be around, even if I won't get to talk to you so much." He stood, and so did Dumbledore. "Thank you so much for doing this, Albus. It's meant so much to me. Like I said to Ginny before bed, I don't have the words to tell you how I feel about you. But I know that you know."

"Indeed I do," said Dumbledore, smiling. "I will see you again, soon." The phoenix place dissolved, and Harry was asleep again.

* * * * *

Harry enjoyed the day on Sunday, which it seemed to him was over far too quickly. He and Ginny made a trip into Diagon Alley, and at Ginny's request, he made a conscious effort to enjoy and appreciate the reactions he got. He wanted to wear the rainbow robes, but knew they would make him far more conspicuous than he already was. The next time they went, Harry said, he would create a spell that caused passersby to think his face was that of someone they didn't know, and leave him alone.

Bright talked to Harry the day after Voldemort's defeat, first having some fun at Harry's expense by pretending to take seriously a proposal to put up a statue of Harry in Diagon Alley. Harry suggested that if someone was so keen to put up a statue, they should put up one honoring the people who were killed by Voldemort or the Death Eaters. Bright said he'd mention the idea the next time the subject came up. He also told Harry that the ARA would be rescinded within the next few days, which would not affect any other Hogwarts students, but would mean that Harry could soon Apparate anywhere he chose.

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry was greeted with applause first in the Gryffindor common room on Sunday night, then by all students in the Great Hall when he showed up for breakfast on Monday morning. To his surprise, he was then applauded by both of his first-year classes, all of whom had surely joined in the Great Hall applause, he thought.

Harry and Hermione walked into the staff room after lunch. They got hugs from Sprout and a few handshakes from the rest of the staff, but no round of applause, for which he was grateful.

"So, Hermione," asked Sprout casually, "what's Harry feeling right now?"

Hermione laughed as Harry thought, ah, they're going to tease me about the link. I knew it had to be something. "He figures you're going to tease him, he just doesn't know about what. And he's happy that no one applauded."

Snape and McGonagall exchanged a glance. "So, now he expects applause every time he walks into a room," observed McGonagall.

"Quite an ego he's developing," agreed Snape. Harry grinned, since this was the first time Snape had ever teased him in the staff room. Come on, help me out, he sent to Hermione.

"Well, it's understandable. It's happened four times since he got back last night," she said, as she sent the message, I'm not always going to do this, just this time. "I should know, I get a burst of embarrassment every time it happens."

The teachers chuckled. "I suppose you've had a lot of that over the past two days," said Sprout. "How is that link working out? It sounds fascinating."

"It... takes some getting used to," said Hermione with what Harry thought was great understatement. "It's strange, often feeling emotions that aren't your own. I'd get it sometimes from Flora, of course, but phoenixes are less emotional than people. I've told Harry I think I have the better end of this, considering how emotional I can be. He'll have to put up with my feelings coming through all the time." She paused, then chuckled. "Now he's sending that he doesn't agree with that, but at least a good point is that I won't do things to try to embarrass him, since I'll feel it too. Although he realizes that it tends to be Ginny and Pansy who do that to him, not me. As for me, I'm going to see if I can work on helping him not be embarrassed so easily, since I'll be getting it all the time."

"See, I told you I didn't have the better deal," he pointed out humorously.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you, when you start crying for no reason," she joked.

"That's not really going to happen, though, is it?" asked Sprout.

"No, it isn't," said Hermione. "We won't confuse each other's feelings for our own. It's strange, but at least we had some time to get used to the idea when Fawkes and Flora were sending things back and forth. This is just a more intense version of that. But like you said, it is fascinating, since it's a type of communication that humans usually can't do. It makes me wonder how our lives would be different if everyone could communicate like this."

"You could write a term paper about it, if Hogwarts had a sociology class," commented John. "But you may actually want to consider writing a scholarly article about it. I have a feeling the International Wizarding Journal would be interested in it, if it covered both your actual situation and your thoughts on what it would mean on a wider scale." Seeing Harry's blank look, he added, "It's a monthly journal that's published worldwide, very serious. It's roughly the equivalent of a Muggle medical or law journal."

"See, that's another interesting thing about this," said Hermione enthusiastically. "As soon as you mentioned it, I figured Harry wouldn't have heard of it, and I thought of sending him an explanation, like the one you just gave. But that's not the kind of information that we can send, because it's so... factual."

"That makes me wonder, Harry," said Dentus, "I've been told that you're uncertain whether your new ability can be taught. Can't you teach it to Hermione, just by sending it? Or is that information you can't send?"

Interesting question, thought Harry. "The problem is, it's not so much information as it is... just knowing. It's hard to explain. I'm pretty sure that part of what's required to know it is the sort of spiritual stuff that Albus has been telling me for the past year. If I hadn't known all that, been really sure of it, one of the pieces of the puzzle would have been missing. Having Albus tell me about that, directly from where he was, is pretty different from me telling Hermione through the link. But I don't want to say that I can't do it, because I just don't know. I don't have the impression that sending is going to do any more good than speaking."

"Do you mean, then, that you do not think this is teachable?" asked McGonagall.

Uncertain, Harry thought for a minute. "If there's one thing I learned from what happened, it's never to think that something is impossible. But right now, I don't know how I would do it. It feels like the kind of thing you have to... like I said, just know, and I think I could tell people, but they couldn't change their beliefs so quickly. Maybe we need to work on helping people focus as much as I was, but even there, I was only able to do that because of Hermione helping me through our link, and that's unique to us two. We'll just have to see what happens. One thing I do think is that only people who can use the energy of love are going to have any chance at this."

"I do see your point," said a resigned McGonagall. "Well, we will have time to consider this in the future. As with many other things, I suspect your intuition will guide you in this."

"Also, I think if I was going to get it from him through the link, I'd have got it when it happened," added Hermione. "I was getting some of his images and feelings, and I got this... I can't describe it, this amazing feeling when it all came together for him. But I only got the feeling, not the information. I knew something huge had happened, I just didn't know what it was. Some things just can't be sent, and I think that was one of them."

Feigning irritation, McGonagall said, "By the way, Harry, do you realize how many changes will have to be made to the Hogwarts curriculum because of this?"

"Fortunately, Potions should remain unaffected," said Snape in the same vein.

Harry smiled at the compliments. "I only wish that was the case. It would be great if everyone could do this."

"I'm wondering, Harry," asked Sprout, "does what you discovered explain why your magic worked in spite of the lutas, and the Four Corners artifact? Is there some fundamental difference between energy-of-love magic and normal magic?"

Harry hadn't thought about that since his revelation, but discovered that he knew the answer anyway. "Yes, it's kind of like... energy-of-love magic is kind of a more pure form of magic. Wizards have the ability to do magic, but they're not using magic to its fullest potential. Magic is, basically, tapping into the creative ability that's provided by the spiritual realm. Focusing on love creates a kind of a shortcut, or a bridge, to the spiritual realm. When you're properly focused on love, that energy is more pure, or concentrated, so it overcomes the effect of things like lutas. Of course, this is why phoenixes aren't affected by lutas-their natural magic is very much like the energy of love, which makes sense because they're such calm and peaceful creatures. And it explains why they'd be especially attracted to humans who can use the energy of love, since it's a state that's a lot like their own."

Very impressed, Sprout nodded her understanding. "I can see where that makes sense. In all seriousness, I think that what you just said would be the basis of an excellent article for the International Journal of Wizardry; perhaps Hermione could help you with it. People should be able to read about this, in a more lengthy and detailed way than the Prophet would allow. And just for me personally, you can count me as officially interested in learning the energy of love. If you start any new classes for adults, like you're doing with the Aurors, I'd like to join."

Pleased that a teacher had finally made such a request, Harry nodded. "I'll keep it in mind, I promise."

The staff room was silent for a few seconds. Dentus said, "It's ironic that you used that power to defeat Voldemort, and that's exactly the power he always lusted after, would have used to rule the world if he could have."

"In that case," responded Harry, "it's even more ironic that no one could use this power to rule the world, because as soon as whoever had it decided to use it that way, it would go away. You have to understand the spiritual part to use it, and part of the spiritual part is that people have to have free will. Or, as Albus always said, 'we all must make our own decisions.' Even if someone decided they wanted to take over the world with the best intentions, to make it a peaceful paradise, they'd lose the ability to do it, because they'd be interfering with people's ability to make their choices."

"Why is that so important?" wondered Sprout.

"Well, first of all, remember that Albus talked to me for a half hour a night, almost every night, for almost a year. This was one of his big themes, but for me, it goes all the way back to my second year, after I went into the Chamber of Secrets. 'Our choices define who we are,' he said then. He said at night that we have to make choices to learn, and learning is why we're here. Apparently, spiritually speaking, the fact that we have free will is incredibly important. This power can't be used to take that away."

"There are still things you could do, though," suggested Sprout. "You can conjure permanent things, which you could do good with without taking over. If you wanted to, you could conjure raw materials, food, energy supplies, in huge quantities, helping people who are homeless and hungry. You could probably single-handedly do a lot to clean up the environment that the Muggles have ruined..." She trailed off as Harry shook his head. Confused, she said, "Why not? I thought you could do anything that could be done by magic. Those things could be done."

"I wish I could," said Harry sadly. "I'd love to. But I'm pretty sure I can't do anything that would have that big an impact. I mean, not that I can't, but I shouldn't."

Sprout and a few other teachers still looked confused; Harry was about to explain when, to his surprise, Snape did. "The situations which you would have Professor Potter remedy are those caused by collective choice, the result of millions of individual choices. If it were collectively wished, no one would starve or be without shelter, the environment could be protected. A vital part of free will is the freedom to make poor choices; those choices are effectively nullified if their consequences are removed." Snape certainly knows the bit about poor choices from personal experience, Harry noted through the link; Hermione sent her agreement, and noted that Snape had known Dumbledore's mind intimately, so he would understand this kind of thing better. Harry reflected that he had removed the long-term consequences of Snape's poor choice, but not before Snape had proved his desire to make new choices, many times over.

"But the people who are starving and homeless didn't choose to be that way," protested Sprout, looking at Snape as though he were being callous and indifferent.

"Unfortunately, he is right, Pomona," said McGonagall. "No, they did not individually make that choice, but that is part of the Muggle community's collective choice. As Professor Snape said, they have more than ample resources to deal with the problems if they truly wished to. If Harry created huge amounts of resources for the purpose, they would simply devote less to it. Not to mention, of course, that it would shatter wizarding secrecy. Alas, it seems that while Harry has discovered a source of staggering power, there are many restrictions on how he can use it."

There was another silence as everyone digested McGonagall's point. Then Sprout asked, "Well, what about on a small scale? Suppose some poor wizard, maybe who just lost his home in a fire, comes up to Harry and asks him to conjure him a few dozen Galleons. Can he do that?"

"Well, I can't be conjuring Galleons in the first place," said Harry; he then gestured to Hermione, who told the teachers what she'd told him about the topic.

Dentus shook his head. "I don't think that's quite right, Hermione. If it were paper money, like British pounds, then you'd be right. But Galleons are actual gold; wizarding money is worth almost exactly what it would be worth if it were melted down. So there would be more Galleons in circulation, but they could be melted down and traded for Muggle money and resources. They have intrinsic value, in a way Muggle paper money doesn't. Now, you can make the same argument about Muggles that you just did, but consider the fact that Muggles mine for gold all the time. They're essentially creating new resources; they're just finding it, rather than literally creating it, as Harry could do. Why, then, is that not wrong? Granted, if he created enormous amounts of gold, he could drive world gold prices down. But a few Galleons here and there, or even a thousand Galleons here and there, seems utterly defensible."

Harry was about to point out that he didn't need more money, then he realized that it was more the theory than the practice that was being discussed. "Perhaps," said McGonagall, "but one could argue that if a thing is wrong on a large scale, it is wrong on a small scale."

"I'm not even sure that it would be 'wrong' if the price of gold was cut in half," argued Dentus. "Who's to say that one value for gold is right, and another isn't? Granted, since the wizarding economy is based on gold, it would affect our purchasing power vis-à-vis Muggles, but that could be compensated for. I'm not saying that I advocate Harry producing millions of Galleons, of course. I'm just saying that even on a large scale, the impact is less than clear, so there should be no small-scale problems."

"Perhaps Harry should sit down with an economist and an ethicist, and work it out," said McGonagall half-seriously. "In the meantime, I suppose he will just have to do what he feels is right."

"I must say, Harry," said Dentus, "that if I were you, I'm not sure I'd let it be known that you can conjure permanent items. Enough people are going to be wanting a piece of you as it is. If everyone knew, half the people you ran into in public would ask you to conjure something for them, and they might not understand the kind of reasons not to that we've been discussing. People might think you were being selfish, not to share your good fortune with everyone when it would be so easy for you to do so." Harry recalled that similar considerations had led Hugo not to disclose how Harry had healed Hermione, and suggest Harry not do so himself; there would be enormous demands on Harry to do the same for anyone seriously ill, and Harry didn't know that it would work for every situation. Hugo had urged Harry to tell only Healer Haspberg, and get her guidance on exploring how and whether it could be used to help seriously ill patients.

Sprout looked at Harry sympathetically, then said to Dentus, "I don't have to be linked to Harry, Archibald, to know that you just gave him a good scare. It's not as though he needs more people stopping him in the street."

"Yes, but now I can at least control that if I want to," said Harry. "One spell I've discovered I can do makes people in public think I'm just some average person, so I can walk through Diagon Alley and not be bothered. As for the conjuring thing, I'm not sure I'd feel right about hiding something like that. I feel as though people should know what this can do, since I hope other wizards will be able to learn to do it. Hugo said he wants to do a follow-up article in which he gives more detailed information about what I can do; I said we should put it off for a bit while I find out what it is. Maybe if I explain it then, and at the same time explain why I can't run around doing it all the time, people will understand."

The teachers exchanged doubtful looks. "No doubt some will," said Dentus, "but the... spiritual dimension of this isn't easy to understand. I think what it may come down to is people simply taking your word for it. Even so, I guarantee you that there will be a substantial number who won't understand, who won't look past the words 'can conjure permanent items.' And a certain number of those will be in the Ministry. It wouldn't happen soon, because your standing is so high right now, but there would come a point when resources are needed to do something, and some politician would suggest that you conjure the resources to do it. The first one would probably be very reasonable, but it'd be the foot in the door. If you did it once, they'd ask more and more. Everyone wants to get something for nothing, politicians most of all, and they're in a position to make your life less than pleasant if you don't do something popular that they ask you to do. Seriously, Harry, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that you shouldn't make this public unless there's a compelling reason to do so. As it is, some people will be jealous of your ability, not understanding the spiritual part of it. If they know about this... I can think of many ways it could be distorted, made to make you look selfish, arrogant, and so forth."

Harry sighed, then said, "Well, that's all pretty depressing. I don't suppose anyone here disagrees with Archibald?" After a few seconds of silence, Harry nodded unhappily. "Didn't think so. Okay, I suppose you've convinced me." I bet Albus would have let it be known, Harry sent to Hermione. He'd have just dealt with the consequences.

Not at age seventeen, she sent back. Give yourself a break, give yourself a chance to get used to it. You can always change your mind later if you really want to. We don't know what Albus would have done, anyway. If he thought it was best not to say anything, he wouldn't have. And we who care about you don't want you to be a public target.

Harry sent his acknowledgment through the link, and his appreciation for her concern. As Sprout asked Hermione about what had happened to her since going into the Ring, Harry's thoughts drifted. He wondered what Dumbledore would have done, and realized with sadness that it wouldn't be so easy to ask him anymore.

* * * * *

On Saturday morning, he walked out to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the team for the last match of the year; the day's match would be against Hufflepuff. There was no tension, as they had already more or less clinched the Quidditch Cup, and Harry felt a kind of nostalgia, knowing it would be his last time on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch as a player. He imagined himself thirty years in the future, saying to students, "I used to be a Seeker, you know." It seemed like a very sad thought. As he walked, he got a message from Hermione: Look at it this way, you may not be able to play Quidditch then, but you'll be able to sleep in the same bed as Ginny every night. The thought cheered him up considerably, and he sent his thanks. He realized, too, that he would be able to play friendly matches with other former Hogwarts students; he was sure that Ron would look into it after they graduated.

Their match would be first, followed by Slytherin-Ravenclaw. As they approached the pitch, Ron asked him, "So, how do you feel about this being our last match?"

Harry sighed. "About the same as the other three times you asked me."

Ginny giggled. "It wasn't three times," protested Ron, annoyed. "Twice, maybe. I just wondered if you felt differently. I'm just going to try to savor it, enjoy it as much as I can. Don't be in too big a hurry to catch the Snitch, Harry."

"What if we fall behind? We are using the same brooms they are, after all."

Ron grunted. "I don't know why I let you talk me into not using our Firebolts. You must have been using the Imperius Charm."

Harry knew Ron was just complaining for fun. "No, as I've said, it's because we're playing Hufflepuff. You know, fair play, and all that. Besides, it's almost an empty gesture on our parts, since the only way they can win the Cup is to beat us by nine hundred points. I trust you won't let that happen."

"I'll do my best," said Ron sarcastically. "I haven't been taking any Keeper lessons from Corner, so we should do all right."

"Well, we did have a huge broom advantage-"

"And Hufflepuff pasted them pretty good in the second match, if you recall," countered Ron. "I'll be rooting for Slytherin today."

"Still holding a grudge, I see."

"Maybe he apologized to you, but he didn't to me, for that crack about my schoolwork. Just because he's a Ravenclaw..."

Ron was still muttering as they walked onto the pitch, the crowd in their seats. Harry looked around, savoring the atmosphere, sorry in a way that the match wasn't important to the Quidditch Cup. Strange, he thought, the last time I could really concentrate on a match that would win the Cup was third year, and I was too nervous then to enjoy it. Last year, I couldn't concentrate because I'd just found out that Albus was going to die, and this year, it's already decided. Well, I'll do my best anyway.

"Captains, shake hands," said Madam Hooch, and Ron exchanged a friendly handshake with William Perkins, a Hufflepuff fifth year. Harry often remembered, on hearing Perkins' name, that Professor Binns used to call him 'Perkins.' At least he wasn't impressed that I was Harry Potter, he couldn't even remember my name, thought Harry. He mounted his broom and started focusing on the Snitch. He knew that Ron wouldn't mind if the match lasted a while, but he also knew that he had to do his best to catch the Snitch as soon as he could. Being unsportsmanlike against Corner was one thing, but it was different against Hufflepuff.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and Harry took off, heading in the direction he thought the Snitch would be. Focusing hard on it, he was astonished when it suddenly flew into his hand. Madam Hooch blew the whistle again, stopping the game, as Colin shouted, "Potter has the Snitch, in... three seconds! Unbelievable!"

Harry couldn't believe it either, as Ron flew over. Nobody had flown very far, and everyone started heading down, as if there had been some mistake. Ron gave Harry a questioning look; Harry shrugged in response. Suddenly it dawned on Harry what had happened, and he had a sinking feeling. I don't believe this, he thought. Seeing Perkins, he shouted, "William! Come over here!"

A confused Perkins followed Harry and Ron to Madam Hooch, and they all landed. "What's going on?" asked Perkins.

"I made a mistake," said Harry, feeling awful. "I was focusing on the Snitch, thinking about getting it. I didn't mean to, but I..." He paused, deeply embarrassed, then continued. "I accidentally Summoned it." Ron, Perkins, and Madam Hooch wore equally surprised looks. "I'm sorry, Ron."

This deepened Ron's confusion. "Why are you sorry?"

Now Harry was surprised; the answer was obvious. "Because not only do we have to forfeit the match, but we didn't even get to play."

"We don't have to forfeit, Harry," said Ron. "We still win."

"Of course we don't! You can't Summon the Snitch! It would be stupid if you could!"

Ron gave Harry his most tolerant expression. "All the rules say is that you can't use artifacts, and you can't use a wand. The rulebook didn't anticipate wandless magic." He gestured to Madam Hooch, seeking confirmation.

Looking slightly bewildered, she said, "Mr. Weasley is right. I know the rules backwards and forwards, and this is not covered. It's an obvious violation of the spirit of the rules, but not of the rules themselves, and I have to go by the rules. I must consider this a Gryffindor victory, by the score of-"

"You must be kidding!" burst out Harry, drawing a reproving glance from Madam Hooch. "I don't want to lose this way, but I sure don't want to win this way, either. Can't we just do it over? Call it a... I don't know, a mistake? Start the match over?"

"There is no provision in the rules for that, Mr. Potter," said Madam Hooch sternly. "The result stands, that is all."

Harry turned to face Perkins. "I'm really sorry."

Before Perkins could respond, Colin asked, "Harry, could you come up here, please?" Oh, great, thought Harry. I guess he's got no choice but to pick me, but still...

Harry flew up to where Colin was sitting, and took the seat next to him. "Capturing the Snitch in three seconds, the-"

"Colin," interrupted Harry, "whatever you do, please don't use the phrase 'Star of the Match.' I feel stupid enough as it is." There was some scattered chuckling in the crowd.

Taken aback, Colin tried to recover. "Umm, okay... for the post-match interview, Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter. Harry, what happened?"

"I'm obviously not used to the fact that I can do wandless magic now," explained Harry. "Without meaning to, I Summoned the Snitch. It was the last thing I wanted to do, it just sort of happened. And before you ask any more questions, I want to apologize to the Hufflepuff team, both for the fact that they didn't get to play, and for how they lost. I feel especially bad that it happened against them. Hufflepuffs are about fair play, and what happened is about as unfair as it can get. Just because it's not against the rules doesn't mean it's all right."

"You weren't using your Firebolts today. I understand that was because you were playing against Hufflepuff, is that right?"

"Yes. After beating Ravenclaw like we did, we wanted to use the same brooms as Hufflepuff was using, so that if we won, it would be fair. Kind of ironic to think of that now, but that was the idea. That was why I was at Seeker; we all decided to go back to our usual positions. If I'd known this was going to happen, I'd have traded places with Ginny."

As Colin was about to ask the next question, Perkins flew up, obviously intending to speak into the microphone. He sat on Colin's other side; Colin said, "And this is Hufflepuff captain William Perkins. Was there something you wanted to say, William?"

"Yes, thank you, Colin. Firstly, I want to tell Harry he shouldn't feel bad. He didn't mean to do it, and he asked Madam Hooch to start the match over, but she refused. He couldn't do any more than that. I also want to point out that one week ago, he walked through all kinds of certain death to get rid of Voldemort, so I think we can forgive him a mistake like this." To Harry's further embarrassment, the crowd roared its approval of Perkins' comment.

"That's very good of you, William," said Harry sincerely. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. I also just talked to Ron, and we agreed on something. The result of the match is final, but we didn't get to play. We agreed that after the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor will play. It won't count, and Madam Hooch may or may not choose to officiate, but it would be nice to play anyway. What do you think?" Again, the crowd cheered.

"That sounds great, William. I'd love to do that. Thank you."

Colin wrapped up the interview, and Harry headed down to the sidelines, landing between Ron and Ginny. "Thanks, Ron. That made me feel a little better."

"It was his idea," said Ron. "But yeah, I thought it was a good one. I mean, really, the match almost didn't count anyway, since Slytherin isn't going to pick up nine hundred points on goal differential. It will be nice to play. Like you said, you'll just have to switch with Ginny."

"I wonder if people will think I'm using magic now, even at Chaser."

"You worry too much," said Ginny, grabbing his arm and holding onto it. "C'mon, watch the match."

Harry didn't have the animus towards Corner that Ron did, but it still didn't displease him to see Slytherin score frequently off of him, their Nimbus 2001 brooms superior to Ravenclaw's brooms. After twenty minutes, Augustina got the Snitch, and Slytherin won by a healthy margin. "Looks like they're going to be the team to beat next year," commented Ron.

"Yeah, it seems as though someone taught them how to fly pretty well," said Ginny accusingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," protested Ron with a grin. "Ready for the match, Harry?"

"You bet," Harry agreed. "But we thought I was going to be a Seeker, I've never practiced at Chaser on a slow broom."

"Think of it as a challenge," suggested Ginny. "You're going to do really well; Albus told me."

Harry laughed. "Oh, okay. You must be right."

"Wow, he really is suggestible," put in Ron.

The unofficial Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match went roughly as Harry had expected the real one to go. He felt he wasn't as good a Chaser as Ginny, but he scored more than his share of goals, and Ron had an excellent match. Gryffindor was leading, one hundred and sixty to fifty, when Ginny caught the Snitch. After the match, Harry sought out Perkins and thanked him for giving them the opportunity to play.

Soon after the match, people in the crowd were starting to leave. "Just a moment, everyone, there's one more thing," announced Colin. "There will now be a surprise exhibition for anyone who wants to stay to watch it. This exhibition is a match between a professional Quidditch team, Puddlemere United-" Colin paused as he was interrupted by cheers-"and a team composed of current and former Hogwarts Quidditch players, most of whom have the last name 'Weasley.'

"Entering the pitch now, please welcome Puddlemere United!" The crowd cheered again, more loudly, as Colin introduced each player. Harry was amazed; he had forgotten all about the idea of the match. It had clearly been kept quiet. "And joining three current members of the Gryffindor team, four former members," as the four joined them on the sidelines. Harry shook the hands of the Weasleys and gave Angelina a hug. "The Weasley All-Stars lineup: at Beater, Fred and George Weasley!" The crowd roared, with even more applause than the Puddlemere team had received; Fred and George exchanged looks of pleasure. "At Chaser, Angelina Johnson, Harry Potter, and Ginny Weasley! At Keeper, Ron Weasley! And at Seeker, Charlie Weasley!"

They walked back onto the pitch. Ron shook hands with the Puddlemere captain, clearly very pleased to be doing so. As Madam Hooch blew the whistle to start the match, Harry thought, if this is because I'm Harry Potter, I suppose I can live with it.

* * * * *

Several hours later, Harry knocked on the door to Snape's quarters. The door opened, and Snape put down the book he was reading. "Professor, please come in," said Snape pleasantly, gesturing Harry to a chair. "How was your... re-match against Hufflepuff?"

"You didn't stay to watch?"

Snape casually shook his head. "I have always tended to leave after the Slytherin match ends. Nothing personal, of course; I simply have never been very interested in Quidditch."

I wonder if that's because my father was so good at it, thought Harry, that Snape probably decided it was stupid and didn't matter. "There's another thing you have in common with Hermione, besides having been really good students," Harry joked.

"Considering her highly emotional personality, I suspect the similarities end there," observed Snape.

"I guess so. Anyway, we won, and I had a pretty good match. Turns out I'm a fairly good Chaser even if I don't have a Firebolt. And that even if I do have a Firebolt, I'm not really a match for the pros." To Snape's quizzical look, Harry went on, "Didn't you know about the Puddlemere thing?" Snape shook his head. "Sorry, I guess that after all that time of your viewing my memories, I got used to the idea that you knew everything that was going on with me. Oliver Wood's the Puddlemere Keeper, and he got their team to come here and play an exhibition against the five Weasleys, Angelina, and I."

"No doubt they wished to test themselves against Mr. Weasley's legendary goalkeeping skills," smirked Snape, though Harry felt that even Snape's smirks were much less nasty than they used to be.

"Ron said the same thing, actually. No, I know it was probably me," agreed Harry. "Not Oliver, but the rest of the team, I'd imagine. Anyway, I managed to avoid using magic, and... well, I didn't embarrass myself, anyway. We were getting beat, a hundred ninety to a hundred ten, when Charlie got the Snitch. So we won, but they were obviously the better team. They should be, of course. Ginny was great, she got most of our goals. And I did manage to get off a couple of blind passes. I didn't think we'd be able to, since it should only work if we know the person will be open for sure, and both teams were using Firebolts, so we couldn't know that. But a few times, Hermione let me know through our link that Ginny was open, and where she was. It was kind of cheating, but it was fun." Seeing Snape's reactions, Harry added, "I know you're not that interested, you're just being tolerant, letting me go on about it."

"No, it is interesting enough. I was just thinking that I have not quite forgiven Miss Weasley for making me sit through that interminable Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match in February. I devoutly wished that Slytherin had played first that day, so I would not have been subjected to it. It was abundantly clear that she was exacting retribution against Mr. Corner, but I felt as though she were exacting it against me as well."

Harry laughed, wondering if Snape had intended for him to do so. "I'd have thought you didn't know enough about Quidditch to be able to tell."

"I do not have to know about Quidditch; I merely have to know Miss Weasley, which I do through having viewed your memories. Unlike you, she has a... perhaps 'killer instinct' is too strong a phrase, but it is along those lines. Your conscience would trouble you if you did such a thing, but hers would not."

Hesitantly, Harry said, "Speaking of that, I wanted to ask you about something." He almost added, 'You don't have to answer if you don't want to,' but realized that Snape would do just that whether he said it or not. "I wanted to ask if, since your Cleansing was reversed, your conscience has bothered you, about the things you've done."

Snape glanced at Harry sharply, then looked past his shoulder, thinking. After a minute, he said, "I know you well enough to know that you would not ask without a good reason, and I feel that having surrendered your privacy as you did, you are entitled to an answer. I would still, however, like to know your reason for asking."

"I just got back from visiting... I was going to say Voldemort, but I feel like I should say Tom Riddle, since whatever made him Voldemort is gone. It's been a week, but he's still not really capable of talking. It's as though this part of him, the only part I left him with, has been buried for so long, and so underdeveloped, that it can't operate on its own. I did Legilimens on him, and from what I got, it wouldn't surprise me if he was never able to function again. For him, it's as though he's waking up from a long, horrible nightmare, and the fact that I took away his capacity for normal negative feelings only makes it harder for him."

Snape gave Harry a look, the one so familiar to Harry, that made Harry think Snape was looking through him. "You did what you had to do, and you were far more merciful than he deserved. He chose to allow the Voldemort entity to consume him, and is responsible for its consequences; I have no more sympathy for him than I do for myself. It is because of him that you asked?"

"Partly," said Harry. "I was also thinking about Pettigrew, wondering what to do. The last time I talked to Bright, he said they hadn't decided what to do with him yet; he's been kept as a rat since he came back. I think now that Voldemort's gone, that spell wouldn't work anymore. I wondered how much his conscience would bother him if I reversed his Cleansing."

"My answering your question would tell you nothing about that," said Snape. "Everyone is different. We all have mental constructions to help us justify things we have done that we are not proud of. He might be guilt-ridden, or he might never give it another thought. You could find out, of course."

"I suppose I could," agreed Harry. "I'm seriously considering just leaving him as a rat for the rest of his life. Somehow it feels right. I can't accept approving his being killed; if I could do that, I would've let Sirius and Remus do it four years ago. But considering what he did, reversing his Cleansing and letting him go free, or even be under a kind of house arrest, seems way too good for him. And not reversing his Cleansing just to punish him seems... I don't know, deliberately cruel."

Snape looked as though he were trying to be tolerant; Harry knew Snape would be far less merciful than he was being. "I cannot really advise you, of course. As for... Riddle, let us say, his feelings will be much different from mine. In part because he has done so much more, and because you have removed his capacity for any negative feelings at all. I will still answer your question if you wish, however."

Appreciative of Snape's offer, Harry shook his head. "You're right, it won't do me any good. I don't need to know."

Again, Snape gave him that penetrating look. "You are curious, but you do not consider that to be sufficient reason to ask." Snape was silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, he said, "As for Pettigrew, I clearly cannot give you any guidance with that, either. It sounds as though what you need is to know what it is like to live as an animal for a long period of time."

Harry nodded. "I understand. I'll talk to Professor McGonagall."

"I would like to go with you," said Snape, standing. "There is something that needs to be discussed."

They left Snape's quarters. Snape turned left, heading for McGonagall's. "No, she's in her office," Harry corrected Snape.

"How do you know?" asked a curious Snape as they walked.

Harry summoned an image of the three-dimensional map of Hogwarts that he had coaxed from the Room of Requirement in December; it went with them as they walked. "I don't have to make it visible, I can just see it in my head," explained Harry.

"You will no doubt find all sorts of conveniences as you explore your new abilities," commented Snape. "By the way, I assume you are aware that the public is wondering why Riddle is not being put on trial, and want to know when he will be."

"Yes, Archibald told me yesterday," said Harry. "I don't see what the problem is. He's in custody, he's not going anywhere."

"I know you find it distasteful-and I am sure that Professor Dentus has already mentioned it-but the public will be comforted by justice, if not vengeance."

"I know, but killing him would be really wrong," Harry said as they neared McGonagall's office. "He's harmless, there's no reason to."

"There is the deterrent value," suggested Snape, knocking on the door, which opened.

McGonagall, remaining seated, gestured them to chairs. "Hello, what can I do for you two?"

"Professor Snape would like Slytherin to play first in all future Quidditch matches," joked Harry. He glanced at Snape, expecting a reaction, but Snape was placid.

"He is joking, of course, but that is not a bad idea," said Snape.

To Harry, McGonagall smiled a little and replied, "Yes, he has also complained to me about your Ravenclaw match. Of course, I have not even decided whether we will continue playing two matches a day next year, as it was instituted only to facilitate security, which is no longer an issue." She appeared to think for a few seconds, then looked up. "Well, then, was that all?"

Harry chuckled. "No, it isn't. I'm thinking of asking the Ministry to deal with Pettigrew by forcing him to live the rest of his life as a rat, and I wanted to ask someone who's an Animagus how they felt about that."

"I feel that you are letting him off easy, but I suspect that is not exactly what you are asking. I do not think that it would be cruel. After all, he spent years as a rat, living with the Weasleys."

"Wouldn't it be really boring, though? With nothing to do, just whatever it is rats do, all day?"

"It is different, when you are an animal," explained McGonagall. "As I said recently, it is relaxing, though I admit I have never spent thirteen years as a cat. One does not need as much distraction. One can think, but it is not quite the same."

"Maybe I should do Legilimens on him, see how it is for him."

"If it will help..." said McGonagall, who suddenly shrank rapidly and seemed to disappear into her chair. A gray tabby cat with black stripes jumped from the chair to the top of McGonagall's desk, walked across the desk, then jumped again, into the lap of a startled Snape.

Harry laughed, both at Snape's discomfited reaction and McGonagall's humorous gesture. Snape kept his arms at his sides as the cat moved around on his lap, at one point standing on her hind legs, her front paws on his chest. Harry laughed again as Snape's annoyance grew. "Very well, Headmistress, you have given Professor Potter his laugh, you may go now."

The cat gave him a disdainful look, turned, and jumped onto Harry's lap. She put her paws on his chest now; he smiled and rubbed her head, then petted the length of her body. She purred, to Harry's delight. Then she moved her paws off his chest, and started exercising her front claws on his lap, piercing his robe and clawing his thighs. "Ow!" he exclaimed, and it was Snape's turn to laugh. "You would do that, wouldn't you," he said to the cat, which gave him a look which he could have sworn meant, 'Well, what do you expect, I am a cat.' He tolerated the clawing for a minute, then the cat settled comfortably on his lap. He started petting her again, losing himself in the pleasant sensation of it.

Finally, Snape asked, "Well, have you determined anything?"

"Oh, that. I was enjoying petting her, I forgot all about the reason she did it." Continuing to pet her, he cast Legilimens. Viewing her memories of the past few minutes, he said to Snape, "I kind of see what she means. It's as though simple pleasures are nicer, more meaningful. For example, she likes being petted, but there aren't many people she'd let do it. She was paying you a compliment, you know."

"I have never been very good with animals," said Snape stiffly. Harry smiled as he continued to pet the cat. Probably because you have to show affection when you deal with animals, he thought, and Snape wouldn't be comfortable with that. He was surprised to also find a few memories: he saw her, as a cat, enter Dumbledore's quarters. He understood that occasionally she had visited him, sat on his lap, and been petted. He sensed how much she had enjoyed it, and that she missed that aspect of her relationship with him. Seeing that helped him understand the compliment she was paying him by allowing him to pet her.

Harry and Snape chatted for a while as Harry petted the cat, who finally stood, rubbed her head against Harry's chest, then jumped back onto the desk, then the chair. A second later, McGonagall was again sitting in the chair.

"Well, did that help?" she asked with amusement.

"It made me want to get a cat," he half-joked. "But yes, it did, thank you. I sort of understand what it feels like."

"How long was it?" she asked.

Harry looked at Snape. "About ten minutes?" Snape nodded.

She looked surprised. "It felt like a much shorter time to me," she explained, "but then, it always does."

Taking on a more serious expression, she said, "Harry, there is something that Professor Snape and I need to discuss with you. It concerns your future plans. Professor Snape has told me that you do not like to contemplate the subject, but the time by which we need to know is rapidly approaching. I do not wish to have to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor at the last minute."

"And I," said Snape sternly, "do not wish to be stuck with the scheduling, only to have you at the last minute decide to stay, having avoided the duty of the deputy headmaster."

"Are you sure you don't want to be deputy headmaster, even if I stay?" asked Harry. "Now, I don't see any reason you couldn't."

"You do not want to be seen as pushing me out of the position, but you need not worry; I will explain publicly the arrangement under which I accepted the position. And even though my Cleansing has been reversed, I still do not possess the proper 'people skills' that a headmaster or a deputy headmaster should have. The arrangement was temporary, and I am quite content for it to remain that way. So, you must emerge from your cocoon of denial, and embrace your future." To Harry's surprised glance, Snape explained, "You know perfectly well what choice you will make, Professor, you simply do not want to admit it to yourself. You do not want to give up your romantic notions of becoming an Auror, but you know that your place is here."

Harry knew that Snape was referring to all the time he'd spent viewing Harry's memories, and he knew that Snape was right. "Can't I stay in my cocoon a little longer?" he joked. "I suppose you're right, I just wish I could somehow do both. But I can't face the idea of not staying here."

"Not to mention that there would be a student uprising if you left," said McGonagall, amused in advance at Harry's predictable embarrassed reaction. "Very well. Please do not tell anyone outside of the other five; I will handle the announcement. And do not worry, I will show you how to assemble the schedule. Then again, perhaps you will be able to do so magically."

"No, I am sure that such a thing will not be possible to do with magic," said Snape, deadpan. "You will have to do it the hard way, as I did."

McGonagall smiled, and Harry laughed. "You're hoping I'll be suggestible about this, I see. Well, I guess we'll find out."

"One other thing, Harry," added McGonagall. "Sybil will not be with us next year."

"She's hardly ever with us now," remarked Harry, almost to himself. "What happened?"

"I suppose Albus never told you about the little ritual involving her," said McGonagall. "For the past fifteen years, every year at this time, she would come to Albus and submit her resignation, saying the fates had informed her that she should move on, or some such nonsense. He would nod understandingly, and request, as a personal favor, that she stay. With varying degrees of persuasion necessary, differing from year to year, she would allow herself to be talked into staying for another year. Albus understood that she did not truly intend to resign, but that she wanted to be reassured that she was valued.

"Two weeks after his death last year, even though she had been through it with him before he died, she came to me to do the ritual as well. To say that I was not in the mood for it would be putting it mildly; I couched my answer in the context of saying that it was important that the staff remain cohesive after his death, and so forth. I so much wanted to allow her to leave, but of course, I could not. Now, I can, and did yesterday. Professor Snape, who was with me at the time, tells me that her intention to leave was actually genuine this time, but she was still clearly offended by my disinclination to plead with her to stay." McGonagall related the story with a long-suffering air, Harry couldn't help but smile, knowing how McGonagall felt about Trelawney, a feeling he shared somewhat.

"Well, I can't say I'm bothered," said Harry. "But why couldn't you have let her leave before?" Glancing at Snape, Harry sighed. "I see your 'don't be stupid' look, so I guess it's something obvious. But I still don't know, sorry."

McGonagall explained. "She had to be kept because of the prophecy. She did not remember giving the prophecy, so she never knew the reason, but that was it. If Death Eaters found out, or knew, that it was she who gave the prophecy, she could have been abducted and the information taken from her. It was also necessary to keep her in case she provided more prophecies, which she did, twice. Now that the struggle against Voldemort is over, we need keep her here no longer. I am seriously considering replacing Divination with a class on Mysticism. I would simply need to find a teacher who knows what they are talking about. If we find someone, Harry, you will sit in on the interview. For this in particular, you are extremely qualified."

I guess a deputy headmaster would naturally have to interview teachers, he thought. I thought it was a funny idea, at dinner with Archibald last July. Strange to think that now, I might be doing it for real.

* * * * *

One thing that Harry's magical abilities didn't allow him to do was to be instantly prepared for the N.E.W.T.s that he would be taking at the end of the year, and in early June, he started using what little free time he had to study for them. He knew he would get perfect scores on the practical applications portions of the tests for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfigurations, but his abilities would not help him in Potions or Care of Magical Creatures. At Dentus's urging, he had decided to try the History of Magic N.E.W.T., despite not having studied the class much throughout the year. "Who knows, if you get the right kind of question, you may be able to write about yourself," Dentus had joked.

As the last week of June arrived, Harry and Ginny were the most relaxed ones of the group, since Ginny didn't have N.E.W.T.s until next year, and Harry's job didn't hinge on his results. Neither did Hermione's, but she had self-imposed pressure, and Ron, Neville, and Pansy had to worry that their job prospects could at least be complicated by poor results, so they studied hard. Harry tried not to ostentatiously relax while they were studying; if he didn't feel the need to study, he went somewhere else.

In the next-to-last week of the school year, Harry did the year's final check on the energy of love. Twelve students joined the group who could do it, bringing the total to thirty-one. As just a number, it felt very good to Harry, but as a percentage-it was slightly more than ten percent of all students-it didn't seem quite so good. McGonagall and his friends tried to reassure him that it was an excellent result, and he had to admit that it was better than he had thought was possible at the beginning of the year. He also felt encouraged that the results would be better the next year, when students would have been practicing it for a longer time.

Harry conducted his final exams for the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth years in the same way he had the previous year, by spending ten minutes with each student, but he decided that during the summer he would work on a new way to give students their exams: he would try to create a Ring of Reduction that would contain obstacles that could be overcome by using what they had learned that year.

His N.E.W.T.s were finished by Thursday of the last week of June, and so were the classes he taught: his Friday classes were only fifth and seventh years, and there were no classes, since all of these students were taking O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. So, Friday was a day off for him, giving him extra time to feel nostalgic. He spent some time with the others, who each had at least one test, but were finished by mid-afternoon. He also did something he had been intending to do for a while, but had been putting off.

He materialized in the area the Aurors had used as a prison facility; he knew exactly where to go, since he had visited once before. He knew there were magical monitors to identify any entrance into the area, but he also knew that the Aurors wouldn't object to his entry. He walked to Riddle's bed.

Voldemort had always appeared pale and thin, but Riddle seemed even more so. Despite the fact that he knew it was the same person, Harry couldn't help but think, this doesn't look like Voldemort. There was something different that Harry couldn't put his finger on; he wondered if personality could actually affect a person's appearance. The thing that looked the most different about him was his expression. As Voldemort, it had always been smug, arrogant, evil; now, it was weak, frightened.

"Riddle?" said Harry, trying to get Riddle's attention. Riddle flinched, as if he'd heard something but didn't know what it was. He stared straight ahead, apparently not seeing Harry. Harry cast Legilimens, looking for memories of the past month. He discovered that Riddle's current existence was one of complete misery. Riddle could not feel anger, but he could feel sadness and guilt, and both of those feelings overwhelmed him. The knowledge of what he had done as Voldemort was literally debilitating. Riddle could barely talk, could not hold a conversation, could not even answer questions which required a yes or a no. He was just existing, Harry understood, not living.

Harry cast the Imperius Charm, knowing it was the only way to talk to Riddle. He also knew he had to be careful; he had learned from his experience in the Ring with Hermione that he should avoid making any requests or expressing any wishes, which Riddle would then be obliged to follow.

Riddle opened his eyes, suddenly alert, taking in everything around him. He smiled, which looked odd to Harry, since he had only seen Voldemort smile in an evil way. "Thank you," said Riddle. "I never thought I would feel as I do right now. I know it is only temporary, unfortunately. I know I deserve no better, and deserve all the misery I will feel when this spell is no longer on me. Still, I am happy, at least for this moment."

Harry couldn't help but wonder how much of the person who killed his parents was the person in front of him. "Do you think there's any chance that you'll get better?"

Riddle calmly shook his head. "Not unless you give me Memory Charms to cover up everything I have done since the age of fifteen, and probably not even then. I am still alive, but my life is spent. The part of me that you drove off virtually destroyed the part of me to which you speak now; it was so deeply submerged that I would not have thought it possible to have a conversation such as this. Only the power of your spell makes it possible. As soon as you leave, I will not be able to face myself, what I have done. I will once again be the pathetic creature you saw on the bed. I am not only weak from all the years of virtual nonexistence, but totally unequipped to deal with what I have done."

Being careful not to make any definitive statements, Harry asked, "But isn't it possible to say that the person I'm talking to now isn't the one who did all that?"

"It is possible," Riddle agreed. "But it is definitely true that the person you are talking to now allowed it to happen, made the choices that made it possible. I cannot avoid responsibility for what I have done.

"I have a request," continued Riddle earnestly. "I do not deserve to be able to do so, but for as long as I can... I very much want to end my misery. I know that you will not allow the Ministry to kill me, because it is not necessary. I hope that you will be merciful enough to allow me to end my own life. I request that you take me to the Veil of Mystery, and allow me to walk through. I know from viewing your memories what awaits me. I do not look forward to it, but I am now in a living hell, one of my own making. I wish to escape it, and I can only do so with your help. Again, I know I am utterly undeserving; if anyone deserves a living hell, it is I. I ask it of you anyway."

Harry didn't want to answer right away. "Why do you say, 'for as long as I can?'"

"I can barely speak when not assisted by your spell," answered Riddle. "I could never summon the willpower to make such a request, much as I might want to. This is my only opportunity to make this request."

"It's hard for me to agree to this," said Harry. "You're asking me to... not kill you, but I would be instrumental in your death. I know you want it, but it's not easy for me anyway."

"Yes, I know this about you," agreed Riddle. "But it is what I wish. You know this to be true, and you know it is true in my normal state as well."

Harry had indeed got the impression from using Legilimency that Riddle wanted nothing more than for his pain to end. He knew that plenty of people would regard the current state of affairs as nothing less than poetic justice, and be quite content to let it continue. But he couldn't see the point of allowing someone to exist in pain, with no end in sight, for no other reason than that the person deserved it.

He also knew that he would be violating wizarding law by doing as Riddle asked, but he found that bothered him less than the moral question. Harry's experience was that wizarding law seemed to be no more than guidelines, to be discarded when events dictated it. Fudge had abused or violated it several times that Harry knew of, and even Bright temporarily changed it because of political pressure to allow the executions. If I do this, he thought, I'll go to them afterwards and tell them what I did, and accept the consequences. But I'm not going to go to Bright and ask him if it's all right to allow Riddle to walk through the Veil of Mystery. He could allow it, but he'd calculate the political costs and benefits, take forever like he did with my going into the Ring. No, I got him, I can make this decision. Well, Hermione helped, maybe I should ask her. She'll tell me to do what I think is right, but I should still ask.

He got a response immediately. You've been sending like crazy, she sent him. I know the whole situation. You're right, I would tell you to do what you think is right. But I think you should do what he asks. I think people should have the right to decide whether to continue to live or not, no matter what they've done.

Thanks, he sent, I'm glad to know what you think. I'm sorry I was sending so much, I didn't mean to distract you from your N.E.W.T.s. Are you finished?

I was just finishing when this started, so it's all right. If you do it, be sure to take me with you. I don't want you walking through that thing, and I can hold you back, it can't call to me. Don't go there without me.

I understand, he sent. Returning his attention to Riddle, he thought again, and realized that he had made up his mind. "Okay," he said somberly. "I'll do it."

"Thank you," said Riddle gratefully as he stood. "I am ready any time."

Harry sent to Hermione, and she asked him to wait for a minute while she went somewhere private before she disappeared. A minute later, she let him know he could take her any time.

The three suddenly appeared in the room with the Veil of Mystery. Riddle looked at it, mesmerized. "So many voices... as Voldemort, I was immune to this effect. But now, I can hear the voices, hundreds of them. I had not realized..."

Harry and Hermione remained silent, solemn. Riddle continued to gaze at the Veil, then walked toward it. He went through it, and was gone.

I wonder what he meant, sent Hermione. Realized what?

I did Legilimens on him quickly just after he said that, Harry responded. Apparently you hear the voices not only if someone close to you died, but also if you killed them.

We should leave, she sent.

Okay, but I'm all right. I can hear the voices, but I'm not about to walk through. You know, you can feel it.

I know. But we should still leave.

Okay, he sent, I'll send you back to Hogwarts. There's one other place I want to go. If I'm going to be breaking laws, I want to do it all at once.

They disappeared from the room, each to a different place. Harry found himself on a very typical-looking suburban street, with trees, cars parked in front of homes, and even a few white picket fences. Casting a spell on himself that caused it to appear to others that he was wearing normal Muggle clothes, not robes, he walked up the walkway to the nearest house. First checking magically to make sure that the person he wanted was at home, he rang the doorbell.

After a short wait, a tall, fit, brown-haired man answered. "Can I help you?"

With a brief wave of his hand-even though he didn't need a wand, he still retained the habit of moving a hand when he did spells-he removed the Memory Charm that had been placed on the man. The man's eyes widened. "Professor Potter?"

"Hello, Captain Ingersoll. Yes, it's me, but you can call me Harry."

"I... I don't believe it. I thought I would never... you took that spell off me, the one that made me forget. Why? Has something else happened?"

"No, it hasn't. I just felt like... what happened in September almost got you killed, and I thought you deserved to remember it. If you'd rather not, I'll put it back on."

"No, no, I do want to remember," Ingersoll assured him. "Thank you."

"I'm putting a Forgetfulness spell on you, it'll make you forget temporarily if you try to tell anyone else who doesn't already know about the wizarding world," explained Harry. "Just as a precaution. A lot has happened since September, the Voldemort thing is over. You can find out about it on the internet; if you search for my name and Voldemort, you'll probably find it."

"So," said Ingersoll with mild incredulity, "this whole wizarding world is a big secret, but you can find out about it on the internet."

"Kind of a loophole in the laws. I'm sure they'll get around to closing it, at some point."

"I guess in some ways, your bureaucracy isn't much different from ours," chuckled Ingersoll. "I'll look for that. But I'd love to hear about it from you, if you'd like to come in."

Harry shook his head. "Sorry, I can't, they'll know I'm gone if I'm away too long. This isn't exactly authorized, it just felt like the right thing to do. Maybe sometime when I have more time."

"I'd like that," said Ingersoll, extending a hand. "Thanks for coming by."

Harry shook it. "You're welcome." He let go of Ingersoll's hand, and disappeared.

* * * * *

That evening, Harry once again felt nostalgic, as he took part in his last-ever end-of-term feast as a student. He sat with the teachers only for the beginning announcements, when he learned that Hufflepuff had won the House Cup for the year. He hadn't known, and with amusement reflected on the fact that who won the Cup had seemed extremely important in his first year, and now struck him as totally irrelevant. He understood that its purpose was to give the point system meaning, and so to encourage good work and good behavior among the students, but he wondered if it was very effective; he couldn't remember ever having done anything deliberately to try to get points, or not doing something to avoid points being taken away. Then he smiled, wondering how many points Hermione had earned for Gryffindor over the years by knowing almost every answer there was to know. He supposed that even if students didn't make specific efforts to get points, it was a way of letting students know what was and was not approved of. He had given points for students saying Voldemort's name, so it had worked for him as a teacher, if not as a student.

Before announcing the winner of the House Cup, McGonagall had given a short speech to honor the memory of those who had died at Hogwarts during the year, eighteen in all. She recited the names, then asked for a moment of silence. Then she pointed out that it was a good year in that Voldemort had been defeated, and offered her thanks to all who had helped make it happen.

She then announced that Professor Snape was stepping down from his 'temporary' appointment as deputy headmaster, and that "...taking over the position of deputy headmaster will be Professor Harry Potter." The applause was as loud as Harry could remember having heard in the Hall; he focused on Ginny talking to him in her hand, and Hermione's feeling of pride. He waved, hoping it would cause the applause to end sooner. He was happy for the support, even though he could have expected it. He thought about how, as deputy headmaster, he would be taking the first years from Hagrid in September and escorting them to the Great Hall to be Sorted. Something about the thought made him hopeful for the future.

The next morning, Harry and his friends boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time. They didn't have their trunks; taking advantage of Harry's new abilities, they'd had him send their trunks and pets to the Burrow before they got on the train. It didn't seem quite the same, thought Harry, not having to struggle with trunks and cages. Somehow that seemed part of what the Hogwarts Express was all about, though Fawkes and Flora were with them.

They got the same compartment at the back of the train that they'd had on the way in, due to Harry having put a spell on it to make people think it was full. "Maybe that's not quite fair of me to do," he conceded when Hermione asked about it, "but it doesn't seem like such a big deal."

The others agreed, but Hermione wasn't sure. "It just doesn't seem right, to use your abilities to get some benefit at other people's expense, even if it doesn't hurt them."

"Come on, Hermione, it's just seats on a train," pointed out Ron, his tone making it clear he thought she was being overly fussy.

"Yeah, it's not as though I broke the law or something," said Harry humorously.

She sent mild irritation through their link. "That's different, I can defend that. What you did there was moral, not something for your own convenience." Harry had told Ginny on his hand the night before about what he had done, but hadn't had a chance to tell the others, so he did. They were surprised, but not stunned, as he had thought they might be.

"It sounds like you did the right thing," said Neville.

"What I wonder is, why didn't I read about it in the paper this morning," said Hermione. "I looked carefully, there was nothing."

"I went to Snape's office to say goodbye an hour ago," said Harry. "I told him and McGonagall yesterday, neither of them were bothered, except naturally Snape thinks I was too good to him. I hadn't noticed about the paper, but he had. He thinks the Ministry didn't announce it because they, or Bright, aren't sure how to present it. I'd be content for them to just tell the truth, of course. Snape thinks they might not want to admit I did something illegal if they're not prepared to punish me for it, which they won't. He thinks that Bright will say he authorized me to do it, once he's figured out the politics of it."

"Did you tell Bright what you did?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded. "He was far more bothered that I did it without authorization than that I did it, period. There was never any question of him trying to charge me with anything; he admitted that if he tried to charge me, 'I would be removed as Minister, then beaten to death with clubs.' I tried not to laugh, but it was funny."

"Also true, I'm sure," added Hermione.

"Which, I also didn't say, is one of the reasons I don't have the greatest respect for the law," continued Harry. "It seems like the law should be applied to everyone, no matter who they are. Anyway, he gave me this little lecture on not using my power to do stuff like that, not to impose my will on society just because I can. I told him I didn't do it because I could, but because it was the right thing to do. He understood that, but he still gave me this look, like he was disappointed in me. You know the one, Ron, that Albus gave us when we flew the car. Except that with Albus, I felt guilty about it. With Bright, I didn't care."

"He doesn't exactly have the moral standing to make you feel guilty," agreed Neville. "Now, Hermione, on the other hand..."

Everyone laughed. "Yes, that's true," agreed Harry. "I told him not to worry, that I didn't plan on running around breaking the law all the time."

"Just occasionally," joked Ron.

"Well, I didn't say that, but I do wonder if he thought it. Not that I care about that, either."

"That's an unusual comment, for you," said a surprised Neville.

He shrugged. "I still think he's a good Minister, and I'd generally support him, but whatever personal feelings I had for him, I don't feel right now. I was really unhappy with him for making us wait so long to go into the Ring. That was over a month of unnecessary waiting, and he didn't have a clue what it was like for us. It just reminded me that he's going to do what's best for him politically. Not that he ever pretended otherwise, I'll give him that, but I haven't quite forgiven him for that yet. Maybe, someday."

"Keep in mind, Harry," said Hermione, "that if we'd failed-and it looked like we would, after the fifth room-a lot of people might have died. What we did was the right thing, but it wasn't an easy decision for him, or wouldn't have been if he'd been the one to make it." He couldn't deny that what she said was true, but he still knew that Bright hadn't needed a month.

Changing the subject, Hermione asked, "Did Professor Snape say anything about the article this morning when you talked to him?"

"What article?" asked Pansy.

"Oh, that's right, you ate at the Slytherin table," recalled Hermione. "So I guess you didn't read the Prophet."

"The second years aren't all that interested in the Prophet," pointed out Pansy.

"They would've been, today," said Hermione. "There was a big article about Snape. Yes, I was surprised too, when I found out he agreed to it. It was a pretty long article; it was almost his life story, in a way. It was all about his role in the Order, what he did, how he spied on Voldemort, that kind of thing. It also talks about the Cleansing for the first time publicly, and how Harry reversed it. What I want to know, Harry, is why he agreed to it."

"Hugo spent an hour around him the day we went into the Ring," explained Harry. "It was the first time he'd ever been around Snape for so long, and he got a pretty good read on him. At some point he got the sense that Snape felt he wouldn't mind what he did being known, even if some of it made him look bad. He persuaded Snape to let him do it, partly for the historical record, and partly because he deserved it. Hugo interviewed me for the article, of course. I said some nice things about him, but I was also honest, about what happened before sixth year.

"Snape's one condition for the article was that it couldn't appear any earlier than today. The last thing he wants is students coming up to him after class asking him about it. He figures they'll have mostly forgotten about it by September, and for most, he's probably right. I just think he feels it's right that he's recognized for what he's done. Anyway, to answer your question, Hermione, I teased him about it a little, saying I heard some students wanted his autograph. He just gave me that annoyed look he often does, and said that he didn't think they'd be making a Chocolate Frog card of him anytime soon. But it's obviously not the kind of thing he's going to want to talk about, just to bring up and chat about."

"I'm just glad Hugo didn't interview me for the article," said Neville.

"I don't know, he was fine in our Potions classes," said Ron, who Harry assumed was unaware of the depth of Neville's problems with Snape. "For him, he was a pussycat."

"I don't think I can get myself to think of him like that," responded Neville. "But I'll admit, he was a lot better than he had been. Which isn't saying much, of course. Now, Sprout, that's how a professor should be." After a second, Neville glanced at Harry and Hermione, hastily adding, "And you two, of course."

The others laughed. "Nice save, Neville, but a little late," chuckled Pansy. "So, Harry, what are you going to do now, I mean, where will you stay? Now that security's not an issue anymore..."

Harry looked at Ginny. "I'm not in a huge hurry to leave the Burrow, and for now, we can sleep in my quarters at Hogwarts. I don't think we'll really change that much until this time next year, when Ginny's finished here. Then we'll really have to decide what we want to do; we'd probably get a house then."

"Which Harry will create new charms to keep invisible and inaccessible," joked Ginny. "Ron, Pansy, how about you?"

"Probably we'll just stay at the Burrow, at least that's the plan for now," said Ron. "We'll both be really busy, me with the Auror training, and her with the Healer course. I'll be getting a half-salary for being in the Auror training, so we could technically afford an apartment, but it would be tight, and it's too convenient living at home, with Mum doing all the cooking and cleaning. If the price I have to pay is Mum constantly asking when we're going to get married, I guess I can live with it."

The others exchanged grins, knowing how Molly was. Harry didn't think Ginny would be able to resist, and he was right. "So, Ron, when are you-"

"Very funny," Ron cut her off.

Pansy answered the question. "We seem to be getting along all right," she said, with a teasing smile at Ron, "but we don't need to be in a hurry to decide that. We've decided that we're not going to decide anything like that until we're both done with our training, so at least three years. We'll be together at the Burrow, so nothing will be different. But yes, I'm sure Molly will ask regularly anyway. I don't mind, it gives me something to bother Ron about."

"That's probably part of the reason Mum does it," grumbled Ron. "How about you two?" he asked Neville.

"For now, the same as Harry and Ginny," said Neville. "The Burrow during the day, her Hogwarts quarters at night. The question is what happens after I start the training course, which officially starts in early August, and then when school starts in September. The Hogwarts quarters aren't really intended for couples, but Professor McGonagall has told Hermione that it's all right if we use that as our home for a while. How long we do that depends on how we like it, or how convenient or inconvenient it is. The good part is that house-elves do everything for you; the bad part is you can't Apparate there. Well, I can't, anyway," he joked, with a glance at Harry. "So I can Apparate to the Hogwarts gate and walk through, get a lift from Flora, or have Harry do his new thing, and send me back and forth all the time. I know you already said you don't mind," he added, anticipating Harry's objection. "It's just not a long-term solution."

"We'll probably start looking at apartments very soon, just to see what's available," added Hermione. "Fortunately, with my salary and Neville's half-salary, we'll be all right, money-wise. And I've saved almost all my salary from this year, so we could make a good down payment on a house. And if we stayed in my Hogwarts quarters for a year and saved our money, we could almost afford a house outright."

"I guess you'll be visiting your parents more, now that it's safer," suggested Ginny.

Hermione nodded, looking as though she'd been reminded of something she'd rather not have been. "I also need to have a talk with my parents. You know I've been keeping all this from them, so they wouldn't worry. Well, now that it's over, and I'm semi-famous in the wizarding world for going into the Ring with Harry, I'm going to sit down with them and tell them everything. I've felt bad about more or less shutting them out of my life. But I'm not looking forward to it. I don't know how they'll react."

Harry didn't know either, and didn't know what to say. He decided that feelings were better; he sent, it may be difficult, but you're their daughter and they love you, this won't change that.

I know, she sent back, it's just going to be hard. But thanks for the support. Aloud, she said, "At least, now it's the post-Voldemort era, we could call it. If that's the worst of my problems-and it is-that's a pretty good situation."

They talked about Harry's experience with Riddle the day before, Harry giving the others detailed impressions. An hour into the trip, the trolley came, and Ron bought ten Chocolate Frogs. "It might have the new version of your card," said Ron, with poorly disguised false innocence. Harry had found out a few days before that a new version of his Chocolate Frog card would soon be issued, updated with a picture of him in the rainbow-style robe and with recent information about his having defeated Voldemort and developed new magical abilities.

"You know it doesn't come out until tomorrow," Harry chided him. "And you're a really bad actor."

"I have to act this badly," protested Ron. "I could lie better, but then you wouldn't know I was lying, and you'd miss the point."

Harry rolled his eyes and decided not to get into it further. He stood, and the others looked at him in surprise. "Going to the bathroom already?" asked Pansy. "It's only been an hour."

"No, I've decided to amaze you all with an incredible act of bravery," said Harry with mock pomposity. "I'm going to walk the length of the train, stop by all the compartments, and talk to people for a few minutes." Smiling at their reactions, he added, "See, I really have amazed you."

"What brought this on?" wondered Ginny.

"I was just thinking about how I was going to miss doing this. I still could, of course, but it seems different as just a teacher, not a teacher and a student. Besides, everyone knows me, so I'm not going to get the same reactions I would in Diagon Alley. It seemed like an opportunity I'm not going to get again, in the same way."

"That's great, good for you," Hermione encouraged him. "Just don't spend more than a couple minutes with each group, or you won't be able to talk to everyone."

"Don't worry about us," added Pansy. "We'll just talk about you after you're gone."

"I appreciate that," he joked back as he left the compartment.

He returned to their compartment with less than an hour to go in their trip. They chatted the time away quickly, and soon the train was pulling into King's Cross. Feeling it strange not to have to drag his trunk out of the storage areas, Harry and his friends waited behind those who did, and filed out of the train. It didn't take them long to find Molly, waiting for them on the platform. "Mum, you didn't have to come," pointed out Ginny. "We were just going to Apparate home."

"I know, but it just seems right for me to be here," said Molly. "It'll feel strange two years from now, when there won't be anyone for me to meet here." She looked unusually pleased about something, and Harry soon found out what. "Oh, Harry, Dudley was over earlier. He told me that his parents have invited you over for dinner, whenever it's convenient."

"You must be joking," was all Harry could think of to say, astonished as he was. Many emotions went through him in a short time; he sent to Hermione, I must be sending everything I'm feeling.

Yes, you are, it's understandable, she sent back. I think this is one of those things that Albus said magic wouldn't help you with. Just do whatever you think is best.

"Speaking of incredible acts of bravery," he muttered. "First, I'm going to talk to him, ask him some questions about how they seemed when they told him this. But if it seemed like it was genuine, then I guess I'll do it." Turning to Hermione, he said, "Tell you what, Hermione. I'll sit down with your parents and tell them about everything you did, and you have dinner with my aunt and uncle. How about it?"

The others smiled in sympathy for Harry. "I think I'd actually take you up on that," said Hermione. He nodded, understanding that what she would do was still harder than what he might do, and at least he had a choice.

"Ready to go?" asked Molly, as Harry occasionally waved goodbye to people passing by.

"There's one thing I wanted to do first, before we went home," said Harry. "The statue gets unveiled tomorrow, there'll be a big ceremony. But I want to take a look at it now, just be able to see what it looks like. I won't be able to do that tomorrow, there'll be too many people."

"Aren't there charms and magic detectors keeping people away from it?" asked Molly.

"Yes, but I can get us past them, obviously," said Harry. "It's covered, no one will know we were there."

"And you promised Bright you wouldn't run around breaking the law all the time," joked Ron. "Just kidding, I'd like to see it too, without a whole bunch of people around. You'll teleport us there?"

"I haven't decided what I'm going to call it yet, but 'teleport' seems like a reasonable word," said Harry. "But yes, the devices around the statue would detect Apparations." Making eye contact with everyone to make sure they were ready, Harry waved his hand. It was in the park in Hogsmeade; Harry had checked the location before boarding the train so he would know where to take everyone.

They were suddenly under a white covering, which looked to Harry like a large blanket; it covered the area within ten feet of the statue in every direction, and was three feet above the top of the statue. Harry heard mild gasps as they saw it for the first time. It was made of silver, on a foot-tall oak platform. The base of the statue was rectangular, two feet wide and long, and five feet tall; words were chiseled into all four sides. On top of that was a sculpture of a phoenix, again in silver, about four times larger than a phoenix's true size.

They stepped back a little so they could see the phoenix better. "It's very good," said Hermione. "Not as pretty as a real phoenix, of course, but then, how could it be?"

"Really nice," agreed Ron. "It must have been expensive, though, if the silver plating is real."

"It's real," said Harry. "I conjured some silver for them to use. I gave it to Molly to give to them, she told them that it was anonymously donated. Which is true, I suppose."

"Cool," said Ron. "It's great, but won't someone try to steal... oh, never mind, you'll have put up defenses around it. With what you can do now..."

"It's very safe, believe me," confirmed Harry. "Anyone who tries to steal it will get teleported to the confinement areas at Auror headquarters."

"That seems very efficient," commented Neville. "Ah, here's the dedication." Neville was looking at the text chiseled into the silver on the side he was currently facing. He read, "We honor those who gave their lives in this generation's struggle against evil. We recognize that the struggle continues, and vow to remain vigilant. We fight, not only with magic and bravery, but also by forging bonds of friendship among ourselves, and between ourselves and others. We must never forget those who have fallen, especially when we face the choice between what is easy and what is right."

"That's very good," said Hermione. "That last phrase, is it from what Albus said when Voldemort came back?"

Harry nodded. "I do have some influence, it turns out. I did my best to make sure that phrase got in there. Molly kept an eye on it for me. Considering that this had to be approved by committees, I'm amazed the wording came out as well as it did."

"It wasn't easy," said Molly, who had been one of the leaders of the group of the relatives of Voldemort's victims; the group had been instrumental in pushing the project through the Ministry so quickly. "There were all kinds of squabbles. For example, Raymond Turpin objected to the phrase 'gave their lives,' he thought it should be 'lost their lives.' Fortunately, most people preferred what ended up there. I just hope people who read it in the future take the words seriously."

"I hope so too," agreed Harry. "One thing I do know is that I'm going to find a way to work those ideas into my lectures."

"If students will take them seriously from anyone, it's you," said Ron. Harry glanced at Ron with appreciation; it wasn't often that Ron said something like that. Ron nodded his acknowledgment, then busied himself in reading the other sides of the statue's base. "So, these are the names of everyone killed by Voldemort or the Death Eaters?"

"Yes," said Molly. "Both from this time, and seventeen years ago. The total ended up being four hundred and twenty-four."

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione. "Sirius's name is here! I'm surprised, I thought he was still considered to have been guilty."

"He was, officially, but Bright knew better," said Harry. "He knew how important Sirius was to me, and as a favor, he made sure Sirius's name got here. Even if he only did it to get my goodwill, I still appreciated it."

Ginny found Neville's grandmother's name, and asked, "Neville, did they ask you if you wanted your parents' names here?"

Neville nodded. "I thought about it, but it just didn't seem right, since they're still alive. I know it's as though they were killed, but still..."

Harry scanned the names, lingering ol the ones he recognized. Lisa Turpin, Percy Weasley, Sarah Dentus, Teddy Wirshire, Anna Welch, Thomas Dalton, Cedric Diggory, Blaise Zabini, Ernie Macmillan. The names brought memories flooding back. So many names, he thought. This had such a high cost. Thank God my friends came through it all right, but not everyone I cared about did. Sirius, and... ah, there it is. Albus Dumbledore. If anyone gave his life rather than lost it, it was him.

Harry found the ones he was looking for: James Potter, Lily Potter. Oddly, he found a blank space before 'James Potter', enough space for one name. "What's this?" he asked, pointing it out to Molly and Hermione, who were nearest him.

"Well, that wasn't my idea," admitted Molly, "and I know you may not care for it, but most people wanted it there, and I think it's appropriate. The names are in alphabetical order, and this is... kind of a silent tribute, a celebration of something that didn't happen." She paused, but Harry didn't know what she meant.

She looked at Harry, love in her eyes. "The blank space is for the one who was supposed to have died, but didn't. The Boy Who Lived."