The Fall Of The Dark Lord

The Fall of the Dark Lord

Chapter 8: Graduation

The next morning all the seventh years were called down to the great hall, which had been repaired perfectly so that there was no sign of the fight what-so-ever—which Harry was very grateful for. He never wanted to think of that night again. They went through a run through of how graduation would go that night. The tables were moved back again like they were for the banquet and hundreds of chairs were set up for family and friends who decided to attend. They were lined up in alphabetical order and were marched in on each side of the faculty table and went through some complicated choreographics to get to their seats. Harry noticed immediately that the two girls on either side of him gave him plenty of room, smashing up next to the people on their other sides. If fact everyone around him did the same thing so that their was at least a three foot radius around him again. Harry gave an exasperated sigh and chose to ignore them. McGonagall explained when they were going to sit, stand walk and so on, particularly stressing that when they received their diplomas and honors medal (if they were honors students), that they were to maintain eye contact and give the person a nice firm handshake.

They went through the entire thing four times, having everyone mix up, find their places and march in making sure to leave at least four feet between them and the person in front of them. Harry noted that the people on either side of him had no trouble doing this.

"This is probably one of the classiest affairs any of you will go through, save for weddings, so you will be acting classy. You are required to wear dress clothes under your robes. There will be no gum chewing, no slouching, no hollering, no cat-calls, no whooping, etc. Are we all clear?" McGonagall raised a warning eyebrow as no one made a sound. "Good," she said, "If you would all march out again, you can be dismissed. Graduation is at 7:00 tonight. Please be here in the Great Hall promptly at 5:45. The doors will open for your family at 6:00."

As they were walking out McGonagall caught Harry by the arm and pulled him out of the line.

"Harry, if you would please come with me to my room."

Harry left the line quickly, Great, now what?

 

McGonagall closed the door behind her. Harry sat down in one of the chairs in front of McGonagall, who crossed her arms and leaned on her desk. Harry noticed that her fine brows were contorted into a bit of worry. "Harry, how are you feeling?"

Harry shrugged, "OK I guess, besides the fact that everyone’s afraid of me."

"Harry, on Friday, was that the first time that you ever became a griffin?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever changed into anything else?"

"No."

"Never?"

"Never."

"If you tried, do you think you could change into that griffin again?"

Harry nodded.

"Do it then, please."

Harry nodded again, getting up from the seat. He waved his hand about the room and the desks pushed themselves back out of the way. McGonagall seemed a bit disturbed at the show of magic without a wand, but she calmed herself.

Harry moved to the center of the room, checking on all sides of him to make sure that he had enough room. "OK, here goes," he said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, picturing himself as the black griffin. He felt his body begin to stretch, and be went down on all fours in an automatic reaction. He could suddenly feel the wings on his back and gave them a quick stretch as the rest of his new body adjusted itself.

He opened his eyes, his vision changed to the sharper vision he had experienced the first time he transfigured. McGonagall seemed startled again, but tried to hide it. Harry’s eyes found a mirror that was hanging in the room. In it he saw for the first time what the griffin looked like. He was completely black, probably because of his hair, accept that the lion’s half was slightly brown. His eyes seemed to be inverted. The corneas were black instead of white, and his irises and pupils were slits like a cat’s, the color a florescent green, almost glowing. There was a dark shadow under his feathered brows that seemed to resemble the lower half of his glasses, which continued back to his long wolf’s ears, which were also a darker black than the rest of his feathers. Harry’s eyes were then drawn to the slash of lighter feathers just above and between his eyes marking his scar.

"Harry, can you still hear me?"

Harry turned back to her and gave his head a brief nod.

"OK, then I want you to turn back again."

Harry bowed his head again, closing his eyes. A soft crackle issued from his jaws as he forced his form to shrink back down to his original body.

"Amazing," she said, turning to sit at her desk. She quickly scribbled some writing down on a parchment, "Harry, I’m registering you as an animagus. I have some forms here that you need to fill out. Right now I’m writing down your description, although you’re not exactly going to be hard to miss. Animagus can rarely become magical creatures! And black griffins are very rare." Harry moved the desks in the room back to where they were. "Harry, do know just how difficult that transformation is?"

"No professor."

She put her quill down, "Harry, when I saw Voldemort change into the cobra I was horrified. The hardest creatures to transfigure into are always the largest, or the smallest. The ability to control your body enough to stretch or squeeze the masses into those forms is prodigious. That’s why most animagus choose animals like cats and dogs, the form is close enough to our natural state that it isn’t hard, same with animals like a stage or a bear.

"When Voldemort changed into a 60 foot snake I was terrified because I knew how powerful he’d become. Not only was it huge, but it was also a magical creature…exactly what, I’m not sure. As far as I know there have only been a handful of witches and wizards in recorded history that have had the power to change into magical creatures, especially such large magical creatures. And then you turned into a griffin! I couldn’t believe my eyes, and then to find out that you’d never tried to become animagus before…Harry, I don’t think you realize just how special you are! You were even able to pull out of the snare of the griffin’s mind. Whenever a novice animagus changes there is always a chance that their mind will change to that of the animal they’ve become. The risk is proportional to the difficulty of maintaining a transformation, therefore very large animals, very small animals, and especially magical creatures are the hardest to control. I could see that it was happening to you, the way you nearly attacked me…but you were able to pull out of it!

She picked up her quill again and continued writing, "After I have you registered you are going to have to transfigure for short periods of time each day. You have to stay in the griffin’s form until you feel your mind starting to waver and then change back. You have to keep doing this everyday until it no longer happens."

Harry walked forward and was handed a five-inch stack of papers, "Oh my God…" Harry muttered as the heavy stack fell into his hands.

"You can go now Harry. Please try to have those filled out by tonight if you can. I want to register you myself so that there aren’t any mess-ups. When I first registered they put me down as a catfish instead of a cat, and then somehow managed to put me down as a purple flamingo. And Harry," she stopped him as he was opening the door. He looked back at her, "If you discover that you can transform into anything else please contact me and I’ll write them up like I’m doing now. Having an unregistered form is a highly punishable crime. If you do have any other forms, you don’t want to be caught in them without a license."

"Yes Professor," Harry started to go again.

"Harry," she stopped him again.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she said without looking up from her papers.

Harry smiled in understanding, "You’re welcome."

 

Harry thumbed through the papers on his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He was extremely happy to see that there wasn’t that much for him to actually fill out. The bulk of the paperwork was just the lists of animals. He was supposed to check the ones he could turn into. He was rather surprised to see that sea anemone was on the list. Who would want to turn into something that couldn’t move?

He noticed that there was a request for an onlooker to record your appearance in the different forms, which was apparently what Professor McGonagall was doing.

As he turned the corner he ran strait into a short First Year girl and his stack of papers fell out of his hands and went scattering all over the hall and the girl dropped her own books and fell backwards.

"Crap," Harry muttered and looked at the girl, "Are you OK?"

"Yes, I’m sorry. I should have watched where I was going," she got up on her knees and gathered her books back up, "I’m sorry about all your—" she started to say until she looked up to see exactly who she’d run into. "Oh my God! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!" She clasped her hands in front of her as if she was bowing to him.

"No, it’s fine. It was just an accident," he reached down to help her up.

"NO!" she screamed, jumping to her feet and running down the hall in the opposite direction, leaving her forgotten books at Harry’s feet.

Harry watched in disbelief, his hand still outstretched to help her. He sighed bitterly and let his fall. He waved his hand over the papers, which gathered themselves together and then floated into his hands. He took up her books as well. He would turn them in to Professor McGonagall back in the tower.

When he went through the portrait hole he was met with the same awkward silence. He just ignored it. He saw Ron and Hermione involved in another game of chess, so he sat down next to them.

"What are those?" she asked, all to happy to ignore the fact that she was being beaten unmercifully yet again.

"They’re all the forms I have to fill out to register as an animagus."

"All—of—those !?!" Ron gasped.

"It’s not that bad," Harry said. "Mostly it’s just a list of all the animals. I’m supposed to check what I can turn into. I’m still looking for ‘griffin.’ I guess they must put mythological stuff last because there is rarely anyone who can ever change into them."

"Harry, how did you do that?"

"What?"

"What? You know perfectly well what I’m talking about!" Ron growled, "How did you become animagus? You never told us that you were trying to become one!"

"That’s because I wasn’t. That was the first time I ever tried to at all."

"You’re kidding!"

"Not at all."

"Harry, you’ve got to explain this to us!"

"OK," Harry glanced around the common room, where every pair of eyes was on him, "but not here. Do you think Hagrid would appreciate a visit?"

"Oh yes! I bet he’s worried sick!" Hermione chirped.

"Then let’s go out there."

The three got up, leaving the chess board forgotten, and went out to Hagrid’s hut.

 

"HARRY!!" Hagrid bellowed, lifting him five feet off the ground into a crushing bear hug, "I’ve been so worried about ya! Di’n’ know if I’d ever see ya again!"

"Ha—Hag—rid! Put—put me—down be—fore you—break my ribs a—gain—" Harry gasped as his arms and torso were being squeezed by the vice that was Hagrid’s arms.

"Sorry there Harry!" Hagrid said, putting him down and clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder, "I never though’ I’d see you again!" As Harry’s feet met the ground again Fang, who had been leaping about and bellowing the entire time weaseled passed Hagrid and jumped up on Harry, who was barely able to support the huge dog’s weight on his shoulders, even though only Fangs front paws were resting on him. "There, there, Fang, gedown!" Hagrid pulled on the spiked collar and Fang backed off. "Come in! Come in!" Hagrid said rather loudly.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed Hagrid and Fang into the hut. The minute they were inside Harry noticed a giant black dog lying on Hagrid’s bed.

"Siru—Snuffles!" Harry cried in surprise. The black dog bounded off the bed and tackled Harry, sniffing him up and down to check to see that he was all in order.

"So tha’s ‘is name!" Hagrid said, "He showed up here some time this mornin’. One o’ the finest dogs I ever did see!" Fang gave a hurt growl, "’Cept for ol’ Fang here," he patted Fang on the head. "So where d’ya know this—er—Snuffles from?"

Harry hugged the dog tightly around the neck, "He’s a stray from Hogsmeade I think. We’ve seen him every so often when we’ve gone."

"Oh! Well, in that case, maybe he’d let me keep ‘im!" Hagrid said.

"Nah, I don’t think he’s the kind of dog that likes to be kept as a pet."

"Well, wha’ever ‘e wants. So what brings ya out ‘ere? I was ge’in worried because no’ne was comin’ ter see me. Harry, I heard what happened. You’ve got ter tell me."

"That’s what we’re all here for. I have to tell Ron and Hermione too. Dumbledore already knows, in fact, he’s the one who helped me to understand."

And from there Harry proceeded with the complicated story, starting with the dreams of his parents’ murder. He was rather disappointed that Sirus was going to hear the story before he was free like Harry had promised, but it was also nice to know that he could tell the story to everyone all at once.

He was talking for nearly an hour, covering each detail of the dreams thoroughly, and his thoughts during his fight with Voldemort, and the sensations he’d felt in his scar, and most importantly everything he knew about the Sign of Primus.

Harry had never seen any of them be so quiet, and also noted that ol’ Snuffles dropped his jaw in disbelief as Harry described the animagus part of the story. He finally finished with Professor McGonagall’s speech about the animagus, and for extra emphasis plopped the five-inch stack of papers down in front of him.

When he looked up from the stack he was rather surprised by the blank look on everyone’s face, including Snuffles, which was a rather weird look to see on a dog. There were several moments of awkward silence.

"Oh please tell me you’re not all afraid of me now, are you? I’m still the same guy!"

"Just shocked, Harry," Ron answered.

"Just give us a few seconds to process this," Hermione said.

Hagrid shook his head, his eyes lighting up as he clapped Harry on the shoulder again, "I always knew ya were special, Harry! When I pulled yer out o’ the rubble, I knew it!"

 

It took another half-hour of casual talking until they were all comfortable again. Hermione had begun to inspect the legal mumbo-jumbo Harry had to fill out, and then went on to the lists of animals. Ron looked over her shoulder. "Hey Harry," have you tried to…you know…change into anything else?"

Harry looked up from the 8^th page of legalities, writing down the names of the Dursleys for what he could have sworn was the 10^th time, "No, not really. Didn’t think of trying it."

"Well, why don’t you?" Hermione added, "You’re the heir of Primus after all. I bet you could do all of these if you can turn into a griffin."

"Yeah," Ron said, "Turn into a cat."

Harry stared annoyingly at Ron, "You’re kidding me right?"

"No! Try it!"

"Come on, Harry ol’ boy," Hagrid said, "I’ve alwa’s wan’ed ter see a animagus transferm."

Harry sat his quill down, putting his hands on his knees, "OK."

The black dog gave a snort as if to say, "Don’t."

Harry smiled at the dog, "Don’t worry Snuffles, I’ll be careful."

The dog gave a short growl in protest, but knew it was pointless.

"Better mark down cat, Hermione," Ron said wide-eyed.

Harry looked at as much of himself as he could see. He was pitch black, betting that he had some strange marking around his eyes where his glasses sat, and a lightening shaped marking on his forehead. He looked at his audience and purred, flicking his tail.

"OK, let’s start at the beginning!" Hermione said, flipping to the beginning of the list, "Aardvark."

Harry shook his head.

"OK, addax."

Harry gawked his head to one side, What the heck’s an addax?

"Adder."

Harry gave a disgusted hiss. To think he would ever transfigure into a snake.

"Albatross."

OK, he knew what an albatross looked like. It was like a really big sea gull. He pictured it in his head, concentrated, and soon he was standing on his chair with long black wings and webbed feet. He gave a dominant honk, stretching out his wings. He made Hermione laugh as he clumsily tried to fold the twelve-foot span back against his body.

"Alligator," Ron said. Harry hopped down onto the floor, sure that his chair would never support that weight. Soon a seven foot reptile was basking on Hagrid’s floor.

"Oh, I don’t like that one!" Hermione squealed, "Change to something else!"

Harry thought for a few seconds before the seven foot alligator shrank out of site and was replaced by a small black swallow-tailed butterfly. He fluttered up to her and landed on her hand, flashing his wings, which carried white lightning bolts on the lower wings.

The game continued for a couple of hours. They named off almost all the animals on the list, skipping over the specifics, Golden Retriever, Scottish Terrier, and also the animals Harry didn’t know, or simply refused to try, especially snakes.

Finally they came to a simple conclusion, "Just mark everything down. We know good and well that Harry can change into any of them if he knows what they look like!"

Harry changed back to himself after becoming a zebra, totally out of breath after all the changes. "McGonagall isn’t going to be very happy about this, is she?"

"If she’s the one who has to write down all the descriptions, I seriously doubt it." Hermione said.

"Well, she could always just put down, ‘any black animal with a lightening bolt on its head.’ You were almost always black, and no matter what, always had the scar."

Harry shrugged. He quickly finished the last few pages of the legalities, "What time is it?"

Ron checked his watch, "It’s 4:30."

"I guess we’d better get a move on. We need to get ready, and I have to give these to the Professor," he said gathering all the papers together. "I bet she’ll clobber me when she sees all of these marked."

"Well, it was good talkin’ ter ya guys!" Hagrid laughed, "Tha’ was a mighty impressive show ya put on ther’ Harry! Yer mum an’ dad would’ve been proud!"

Harry stood up, "What do ya say, Snuffles, want to walk up to the castle with us?"

The black dog leapt to its feet wagging its tail.

"I’ll see all three of ya at graduation tanight," Hagrid said. "I’ll probubly be blubberin’ like a baby," he said, already pulling his giant handkerchief from his overcoat to dab at his eyes, "Ter think, it’s been seven years already!"

They all gave Hagrid a big group hug and chimed together, "It’ll be all right Hagrid," before leaving, Snuffles trailing closely behind.

 

"Snuffles! Snuffles! Snuffles!" Sirus growled from the bush he was hiding in, "I hate that name! Whose bright idea was it to give me that name anyway!?!"

"Uh…yours, Sirus…"

"Oh…yeah." He scratched his head through his matted hair, one of the downsides to spending most of your time as a dog. "That was an incredible story, Harry. I never knew. I don’t think your parents knew either."

"I don’t think so."

"Listen, I’m going to sneak into graduation tonight. I’m not sure how, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Doors open at six, right?"

"Yeah."

"I’ll be there. You three better get back inside before someone notices that you’re talking to a bush."

"Thanks for coming Sirus."

"Hey, I’m your godfather after all. I’m required to do these things," he smiled through the leaves of the bush.

"See you later," Harry said.

"It was nice seeing you," Hermione smiled.

"See ya, Sirus," Ron chimed.

"Bye."

 

"WHAT!!!!!!"

"Uh…yeah. I…uh…tried them when I was filling out the papers." Harry looked down at his feet, a red tinge crossing his nose as McGonagall yelled at him.

"We were there," Ron added in, "He changed into every one that he knew."

"Accept snakes," Harry muttered.

McGonagall fell exasperated into her chair, pieces of her hair falling out of her tight bun. "I am not going to write descriptions for all of those!" She snarled. "It took me an hour to fill out the forms for the griffin alone!"

"Professor?"

"What Miss Granger?" she snapped through her hands that she had covered her face with.

"Are there any short-cuts you could take?"

"I don’t know. Like what?"

"Well, each animal Harry changed to was either black, or really dark…and each one had the lightning bolt on its forehead, or somewhere close to it. Could you put something like that down?"

"No. I’ll pull a few strings and set up an interview with Animagus registrations: let them take it all down in short hand! Would that be OK with you Harry?"

"Uh…yeah…I guess so. They won’t like…dissect me or anything will they?"

McGonagall was silent for a few seconds as if actually considering the possibility, "I doubt it." She took Harry’s five-inch stack of papers and sat them on the pile she filled out. She glanced through the lists briefly.

"You can transfigure into a sea anemone!?! Why on earth would you want to transfigure into something that can’t move!?!" She snapped as they were leaving the room.

"It was there?" Harry tried as an explanation.

"Get out of here!" She barked and they briskly shut the door.

 

The three rushed back to Gryffindor tower (mostly because Hermione pushed them along, "What am I going to do with my hair!?!). As before Harry had an easy time getting ready. Since he knew messing with his hair was hopeless he simply changed clothes and was done. This made him very happy since he could just lay down on his bed and shut the drapes. This way no one bothered him and he didn’t bother anyone else.

Ron spent some twenty minutes working with his hair, making sure that it was slicked back perfectly. Harry had actually dozed off by the time Ron was ready.

Ron ripped the drapes back from Harry’s bed, nearly scaring him out of his skin.

"Ahhhh!"

"Come on! We’re going to be late!"

"Never do that again!" Harry shouted, clutching his chest, afraid that his heart would pop out if he let go. The other students in the dorm gasped and stopped dead when they heard him yell, "And the rest of you relax for God’s sake! I’m not going to hurt any of you!" He sat up over the edge of the bed, ignoring whatever else they were doing, "How much time do we have?"

Ron checked his watch, "Five minutes."

"Five minutes!?!"

 

Ron and Harry bolted out of the dorm, noticing that they were the only Seventh Years left in Gryffindor tower accept for "Hermione!"

"Where the hell have you been!"

"Ron had to fix his hair!" Harry blurted out, grabbing her arm as they ran passed her, "How much time do we have Ron?"

"Four minutes. Harry had to take a nap."

"I was waiting for you to finish greasing your head!"

They turned down a spiral staircase.

"Crap, did we need our hats?" Harry asked.

"Too late now," Ron said.

"No," Hermione answered, "Graduates don’t wear them."

"Thank God! I hate those things!"

They spilled into the Great Hall completely out of breath.

"How…much…time…"

"Ten…seconds…"

"We’re…good…"

"Harry…couldn’t you have…apparated or…something?"

"…"

 

After their ten seconds of lead-time was up Professor McGonagall began barking out orders. She moved about rather jittery, and resembled a moth in her movements due to the white robes that the entire faculty was wearing. She went through the entire speech about what they could and could not do, and then went through all the students making sure that they were dressed properly. "Neville, tie your shoe. Gloria, straiten your robes please. Catherine—is that a tongue ring!?! Get that out right now!!!" As she passed by Harry she started to speak, "Harry, could you try to…" she put her hand on his head and tried to calm down his hair, "never mind." She moved on realizing the futility of the situation.

"White robes…" Ron muttered, "Just can’t picture it."

"If you think McGonagall’s weird, look at that!" Hermione whispered, pointing at Snape, "Now that’s just plain creepy!"

She was completely right. Even though Snape was wearing white instead of black for some reason the color made him seem more sadistic than ever.

"White is not a good color on him!" Harry exclaimed. Snape looked like a zombie with his already pale skin set against white cloth and then off-set by black hair. Harry gave an unintentional shudder.

"Hey, Harry?" Harry turned to see Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

"Listen, Harry," Seamus said, "we wanted to say that we’re sorry, for the way we’ve treated you for the last couple of days." Both of them avoided looking Harry in the eyes.

"It’s just that," Dean began, "well, we didn’t really know what to think, you know?" He scratched the back of his head, "Well, anyway, we’re sorry, and we wanted to thank you…for…well, for defending us I guess…"

Harry’s eyes lit up and he grabbed both of them in a choke-hold hug, "You two have no idea how badly I needed to hear that from someone!" Harry noticed that they stiffened at his touch, but then relaxed after a couple of seconds realizing that he wasn’t attacking them. When he let them go after a few seconds they mumbled another thank you and scurried off again.

Harry smiled, "At least some people are working through this." Even so, his eyes moved across the rest of the room, where everyone else was still uncomfortable and jittery with his presence.

 

As soon as the head count was taken all of the Seventh Years were flocked into the corridors on either side of the Great Hall so that the audience could be let in. Half of them went with Professor McGonagall, and the other half with Professor Snape. Harry and Ron considered themselves very lucky to have been with the group following McGonagall, unfortunately, Hermione wound up in Snape’s group.

Once they were clear of the Great Hall McGonagall went through all of the rules for the tenth time, apparently convinced that they weren’t able to grasp the concept in the first nine rounds. Of course, considering that she was standing next to Neville, who, after seven years at Hogwarts, still couldn’t tie his shoes correctly, it was completely understandable.

They were ordered to get in the order that had been drilled into their heads that morning, and Harry reluctantly left Ron to walk the gauntlet. As had become the norm, every Seventh year parted ways to let him through. Harry noticed that his eye had developed the habit of twitching every time they did this. I don’t know what’s worse, he thought, when people I don’t know come up and nearly attack me because I’m "the Harry Potter,"or when people I do know deliberately avoid me because I’m "the Harry Potter!" Harry stood in his spot getting even more depressed as his force field automatically erected itself and, again, there was a three foot radius around him, while everyone else was elbow to elbow.

It was a very boring wait for Harry. Forty-five minutes before the processional standing there, separated from everyone else, who finally became comfortable enough to talk to each other, although not to him. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this. If this was the way his life was going to be from now on he was seriously doubting whether he wanted to go on or not. Save the world and get shunned for it, yep, that’s a great life.

Finally, after Harry didn’t think that he could sink any lower Elgar’s "Pomp and Circumstance" began and McGonagall gave a harsh "Shush" to quiet them and had the procession start. "Remember, at least four feet between each person!" She kept hissing as they passed her onto the floor. When it was Harry’s turn to go out he was determined to keep his head down so that no one would recognize him. The last thing he wanted was for all the sound in the Great Hall, save for the brass choir, to stop on the account of him.

He couldn’t help looking up, however as he passed into the hall. It was an ocean of people! If he hadn’t remembered that they were on the inside of the castle he would have thought that it was the audience of a Quidditch game! There were seats floating along the walls of the Great Hall, reaching all the way up to the ceiling, and every single one was filled. Oy, I’d hate to fall out of one of those! Harry thought, suddenly remembering to duck his head. So far no one had reacted to him. That made him very happy. He wished that he could just melt into the floor so that they wouldn’t have to recognize him at all that night. He was definitely reconsidering his choice to attend graduation.

They were half-way through the lines they were supposed to follow to their seats. Neville had somehow managed to get into the wrong line entirely and instead of being with the "L’s" was way behind with the "S’s" and "T’s." Oh, McGonagall’s going to kill him…Harry thought as he glanced out the corner of his eye.

As they were walking different sections of the crowd would yell out to the graduates they were looking for. There seemed to be a little "groupie" section for each student—accept him. He suddenly found himself thinking bitterly about his scar. If it wasn’t for it, he would have his parents there, maybe even some siblings. Sirus would be able to sit in the seats, instead of where ever he was hiding. Harry hadn’t been able to pick him out yet. Maybe Sirus would have had a family too. They would all be sitting out there, maybe Professor Lupin too. He would have his own little "Harry Potter" section!

It was during these sad thoughts that he heard what must have been his imagination. He thought he heard people calling his name. He ignored it at first. Who on earth would be calling to him? Then he heard it again, so he looked up, and there were the Weasleys! Every single red-headed one of them. There was Molly Weasley, Ginny right beside her, Fred and George—who were actually smiling again—even Bill and Charlie. Harry was sure he even saw a couple of grandpa and grandma Weasleys, although he couldn’t be sure because their hair had turned white. Each was waving at him, and so he finally nodded in their direction, giving a wide smile. He would have waved back, but he didn’t want to risk McGonagall’s wrath. As soon as they knew he’d found them they started calling for Ron, who was just then walking into the Great Hall.

Harry ducked his head again. He was starting to feel better knowing that the Weasleys’ opinion of him hadn’t changed at all. However, the quickest way to plunge him down in the mopes again would be if at the sight of his scar the entire crowd suddenly became silent, or even worse started to evacuate the room. With the way his people skills had been working lately, that is exactly what would happen.

They remained standing until all of the graduates were at their seat and McGonagall and Snape were standing in front of them. When "Pomp and Circumstance" was finished they were given the signal to sit. Harry was rather happy when he realized that everyone around him wasn’t squirming away. Apparently McGonagall or Snape had threatened them with gruesome deaths if they messed up the balance in their chairs. In any case, Harry was happy that his force field had been breached.

Now that he was in the middle of almost 150 other people he wasn’t worried about being picked out by the audience and glanced around for Sirus, of course, picking out a dog in a crowd of people like this was like picking out a needle in a haystack. He gave up the search when Professor Dumbledore began to speak. Like everyone else, he was wearing white robes, but, apparently because he was Headmaster, his robes had purple trimmings around the neck, sleeves and hem. He stood behind a podium on a stage that had been erected where the faculty table normally sat.

"Good evening everyone. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, as I am sure many of you know. I am the Headmaster here at Hogwarts and I am proud to welcome you to this splendid occasion. It is not very often that I have both the pleasure and the pain of releasing a class as gifted as the class of 1997 into the world. I am very pleased to have you all here tonight.

"This class is truly special in all areas. These students have excelled far beyond any class Hogwarts has seen for many years, both in academics and in all around personality. I am pleased to say that the class on a whole scored 2% higher on the O.W.L.s. than last year’s class, who achieved record scores. I must also point out the one student at Hogwarts who had a perfect score on this test in her fifth year here, Miss Hermione Granger.

"There are many elements that go into producing such fine students. At this point, I would ask that our faculty please rise." All of the professors stood up. They were seated in the first two rows of chairs before the audience. "These men and women have taught these students for seven years, and their effectiveness as teachers speak for themselves. I would now also ask that any members of our audience who have ever taught please stand—accept for those of you in the air of course, you may just wave if you would like to."

There weren’t that many people standing, or waving as the case might be, besides the Hogwarts faculty, but Harry scanned the crowd and was very happy to pick out Professor Lupin waving at one of the very topmost rows of the floating chairs. There was applause for all of them.

"Perhaps the only influence stronger than that of teachers is the influence of parents," as Dumbledore began speaking again the faculty, and anyone else standing, sat down. "You try to craft your children to be good kind people from the time they are born to the time they leave as adults. You are truly the people who deserve the most recognition here tonight, save for our graduates. Would all the parents here please stand—or wave—to be recognized. The entire audience suddenly rose or began to sway. The students all applauded for their parents, but Harry couldn’t help but feel a little empty at this point. What kind of parenting had he had? The Dursleys. What a joke. How did he manage to turn out well with models like that? He decidedly applauded for the Weasleys instead.

"Thank you every one. If you would please take your seats again. At this point we would normally have our Head Boy and Girl speeches. Our Head Girl will be speaking, however, due to medical problems our Head Boy has not been able to prepare a speech, and therefore will not be speaking. I would now like to invite our Head Girl, and Valedictorian, Miss Hermione Granger to the podium."

Hermione jumped up from her seat and made her way to the platform. She pointed her wand at her throat before she spoke. "Good evening every one. She pulled a pile of papers from behind the podium, "My original speech was entitled ‘Expectations,’ however, due to recent events, I have written another speech entitled, ‘It Is Time To Change.’" She took a deep breath before she began to speak again. "A lot has happened in the last few days. We have, for the second time, been liberated from the clutches of the Dark Lord," a hushed stillness came over the hall when they realized what she was talking about, "and we have once again been saved by Harry Potter."

What is she doing!?! Harry screamed inside his head as he felt a bright tinge of red cross his face.

"Most of the students here at Hogwarts were present for the attack, and I am sure that many have been scarred for life due to the things we saw. The fear of Voldemort," a shudder ran though the crowd at the name, "has always been so colossal that none of us will ever forget it, and therefore the attack will be etched in our minds forever.

"The most important thing, however, is the fact that we all survived thanks to one person, who, time and time again, put his life on the line to help others, never thinking of his own welfare. I am, of course, speaking of Harry Potter. He is the reason I have changed my speech at the last moment. You can ask any of the faculty; the speech I am giving now is unauthorized. I am not speaking of him because it is a popular topic, that it is the latest gossip, or for any trivial reason like that. I am speaking of Harry for one reason, and one reason alone. He is my friend, and it tears me up inside to see him in pain of any sort.

"We feared Voldemort, for the simple reason that he seemed unstoppable. For the longest time, our own Professor Dumbledore was the only person who was a match for him. In these passed three years, after Voldemort’s return, and his rise in power our fear multiplied. We thought he had become unstoppable. We thought that he had no equal in the world. We thought that no one could ever achieve that much power. And then Harry faced him in the attack. I myself tried to stop him from going…" Hermione had to stop for a few seconds. "I thought for sure that he was dead, as I’m sure everyone else did as well…and then he proved to us all that he had grown thousands of times more powerful than Voldemort had ever dreamed of becoming. Upon speaking to Harry, he himself doesn’t know what happened, or exactly how he did it. All he could think about was keeping Voldemort from hurting the rest of us. I don’t think any one else truly knows that.

"I suppose, that the fear of Voldemort had grown so great, that the even bigger fear was that something more powerful, and more unpredictable would take Voldemort’s place. This is what I am speaking about now. For the passed several days, Harry has been shunned by almost all of the students here at Hogwarts, for the irrational fear of the power he displayed. They’ve all apparently forgotten who Harry is. They’ve all forgotten the fact that they’ve known Harry for years. They’ve all forgotten that Harry is the kindest and most sincere person that anyone could ever meet. They’ve all forgotten that Harry risked his life to stop Voldemort. He nearly died in that battle. He was in the hospital wing for 24 hours, in a coma. Did anyone care? No. Why? Because they were afraid of the power he displayed. When he woke up, he found himself being shunned for saving everyone’s life.

"This is an element of human nature that I personally detest. I don’t remember where I heard this, but someone once said that ‘humans fear what they don’t understand, and they hate what they fear, and they try to destroy what they hate.’ I know full well that no one is going to try to destroy Harry for the simple fact that they know they can’t. But I do know that being treated like this must tear Harry apart, and I want to see this treatment come to an end. It is time to change. We have to overcome this fear—this human weakness. We have to open our eyes. Harry is no threat to any of us.

"The specific event that caused me to change my speech without permission happened last night. I over heard other students refer to Harry as You-Know-Who. Referring to him in the same manner that we refereed to Voldemort for so many years. Referring to him as if he was dangerous to them. They’ve all been blinded by fear, and can no longer see Harry as the same person he was not even a week ago. I cannot stand the thought that Harry might be condemned for the rest of his life for a selfless act. It is time to change. We can’t let fear blind us to the truth. I hope and pray that what I’ve said here today makes you realize your mistakes, or helps you to avoid them in the future. Thank you."

Harry’s hands were cold, in fact he felt numb all over, and he was sure that all of the blood that had first rushed to his face had left, taking all of the other blood with it. He felt horribly pale, and could almost feel himself shaking. He was looking down, afraid to see how many people were watching him now. As Hermione ended her speech and sat back down the deadly silence that he had so dreaded had come over the crowd. He didn’t even want to know.

It was at least five minutes—five minutes of dead silence.

He couldn’t take it. He glanced to his side, out the corner of his eye.

Everyone in his sight had their head down. Everyone sat perfectly still. But this time it wasn’t out of fear. He noticed that the girl directly next to him had her eyes shut tight, her brows strained, her lips pressed together in a look that was unmistakably guilt. On the other side of him everyone looked very similar.

He hesitantly glanced up at all the people in the audience. Those he could see looked very similar, more lost in their own thoughts than guilty. The faculty—yes the faculty—they had never doubted him for an instant—accept maybe Snape. Each of them had their heads held high, apparently very pleased with Hermione’s speech, and for his recognition. If any of them noticed that he was looking at them, they gave him a brief, but reassuring nod.

Harry put his head back down, the feeling finally coming back to his limbs.

Dumbledore returned to the podium, the twinkle thundering in his eyes, "Thank you, Miss Granger. I am very glad that you were able to break one rule before you graduated." Harry saw Hermione flush. "After that heart-felt speech, it is time to continue on to what you’ve all come for: the presentation of the class." Dumbledore moved his hand to signal the first row to rise, and then he began calling out the names, and each person’s accomplishments, "Hannah Marie Abbott; Honors in Charms on the O.W.L.s." Professor McGonagall was handing out the diplomas to each student, and Professor Snape was presenting the honors medals. "Susan Nicole Bones; Honors Graduate; Honors in Potions and Charms on the O.W.L.s. Terry Lynn Boot; Honors Diploma; Honors Graduate; Honors in Arithmacy, Charms, and Potions on the O.W.L.s. Amanda Jean Brocklehurst…"

When Dumbledore came to Hermione Harry distinctly thought the professor was turning blue in the face because he tried to read her off in one breath, "Hermione Ann Granger; Valedictorian; Head Girl; Honors Diploma; Honors Graduate; perfect scores in Arithmacy, Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts on the O.W.L.s." Dumbledore took a very deep breath after he finished, and then stepped out from behind the podium as Hermione came to stand in front of him. He first placed a gold medal with a blue ribbon around her neck for being valedictorian. He then took a folded cloth, also blue, from behind the podium and unfolded it. It was like a scarf, long enough to reach the floor on both sides of Dumbledore’s hands. It also carried a gold medal in its center. This was for being Head Girl. Dumbledore draped it across her neck so that both ends of it cascaded down her back. He took her hand and then gave her a big hug. Hermione wiped at her eyes as she went on to Professor McGonagall. She took her diploma and shook the professor’s hand, exchanging a few words before she went on to get her Honors medal from Snape.

Dumbledore continued on with the names after he returned to the podium, "Melissa Diane Greer; Honors Graduate. Adam Paul Hale; Honors in Potions and Transfiguration on the O.W.L.s…"

Finally Harry’s row stood up and got in place to walk on stage, "Joseph Adam Kirk; Honors diploma; Honors Graduate. Jeremy Royce Kousama; Honors Graduate."

Dumbledore soon reached the "L’s," then the "M’s," the "N’s," the "O’s" and finally the "P’s"

"Pansy Louise Parkinson; Honors Graduate; Honors in Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration on the O.W.L.s. Padma Anne Patil; Honors in Arithmacy, Charms, and History of Magic on the O.W.L.s. Parvati Lynn Patil; Honors in Arithmacy, Charms, and History of Magic on the O.W.L.s…" There were only five more people in front of him. "Sally-Anne Perks; Honors in Charms on the O.W.L.s. Rosemary Sue Pfaff; Honors Diploma; Honors Graduate. Floetta Jean Porter. Henry Jay Post; Honors in History of Magic on the O.W.L.s. Joseph Evan Potoczki; Honors Diploma; Honors Graduate; Honors in Charms, and History of Magic on the O.W.L.s."

Harry was next. He felt his stomach turning over and over again inside of him. The silence would come again. So far each student’s little section had been cheering and clapping for them, despite the fact that Dumbledore had requested that they hold their applause until the end.

Here it came…

The Potoczki section had just finished clapping.

"Harold James Potter."

It was exactly how he’d feared. Pin-drop silence.

Harry walked up the podium, the hair standing up on the back of his neck as Dumbledore read his honors in the echoing room, "Salutatorian; Head Boy; Honors Diploma; Honors Graduate; perfect scores in Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Arithmacy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Honors in History of Magic on the O.W.L.s; Victor over Lord Voldemort."

Harry’s eyes got huge as he looked at Dumbledore in a manner screaming, It’s already bad enough! Don’t remind them!! In any case, Dumbledore just smiled back, his eyes twinkling like mad. He stepped out from behind the podium and placed a silver medal on a red ribbon around his neck for being Salutatorian, followed by the same scarf-like thing that Hermione had received. He placed the dark blue fabric across Harry’s neck, the gold medal lying just below his collar bones. He took Dumbledore’s hand, and was about to say, "It’s never going to change," when all of a sudden he heard a small group of people clapping. He saw out of the corner of his eye that it was the Weasleys. He looked back at Dumbledore, who placed his other hand on top of Harry’s and gave it a firm squeeze as if to say, "Yes it will."

Then Harry’s eyes got huge again, and his mouth fell.

He could hear the intensity of the applause growing.

It became louder and louder until it seemed like the entire audience was clapping.

Harry could have sworn that he saw tears in Dumbledore’s eyes, as he gave a brief nod. Harry went onto Professor McGonagall, taking her had firmly in his own as she handed him his diploma. She too had tears in her eyes, "Your parents would have been proud." She smiled, the look very strange on her face.

Harry then moved to receive his Honors medal from Snape, and he winced knowing he was going to have to bow to him. He’ll probably decapitate me… Snape had the usual look on his face: the one that looked like he had just ate an entire lemon. Harry stood in front of him and bent his head. Snape slid the honors medal over his head and took his hand—which Harry was sure Snape hated—which was customary. Harry gave a brief shake and started off the platform, but Snape didn’t let go of Harry’s hand. Harry gawked around with one eyebrow quirked and nearly gasped as Snape’s expression changed from zero Kelvin to barely freezing.

"You’ve managed to win my respect, Potter," he whispered, a half-smile coming to his lips—the look was so alien on Snape’s face that Harry nearly toppled over—but then it disappeared and Snape returned to his absolute zero stature, "now all you have to do is keep it."

He let go of Harry’s hand.

Harry, who was completely stunned by Snape’s—humanness—nearly fell down the stairs of the platform.

As he started in the arc around the floor of the Great Hall he was finally able to see the audience. They were all clapping for him. They were all standing for him. Many of those he saw were crying.

He saw very briefly, in the very back of the hall, hidden almost entirely by a tapestry, his godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius Black—not the black dog, Snuffles. Harry only saw him for an instant before he was gone, the tapestry swaying slightly as his form disappeared. Must have transfigured, Harry thought.

As he made his way back to his seat many people reached out to shake his hand, which he was obliged to do.

He was human again.

He was accepted again—at least by those who were present.

He even saw that the student body was standing as well.

He could feel a distinct sting in his eyes, and he had to will himself not to cry.

Harry saw Hermione beaming at him. She was at the very end of the first row of students. He made up his mind what to do as he reached her. She watched him as he started up the first row of their seats, but stopped and pulled her into a tight hug. He kissed her very briefly, yet very tenderly and then whispered, "Thank you." As he pulled away he noticed that there was a tear running down her cheek, but he knew full well it wasn’t hers. She wiped it away and kissed it as he continued to his seat.

Under normal circumstances he would have been mortified with that amount of attention—but it was much better than the alternative.

Dumbledore was right, he thought as the Headmaster continued calling names, it will get better. He looked down at Hermione, and then back at Ron, whose line had just rose to go down. He then looked out to the Weasleys in the audience, and up to Professor Lupin. He glanced at the tapestry where Sirius had been standing, and, at the angle he was in now, could see the large dog sitting there at the bottom. Harry smiled to himself, things would get better, and if they didn’t after tonight, it didn’t matter. The people he cared about knew the truth. The people he cared about would never abandon him.

When Ron was called, both Harry and Hermione—despite McGonagall’s death threats—stood up and cheered for him. Ron went very purple as he received his diploma and medal. Finally the last student, Blaze Ann Zabini was called up. After Zabini had taken her seat Dumbledore spoke again, "I would now ask that the class stand, and that our Head Boy and Girl come down to lead the changing of the robes." Harry and Hermione made their way down to the front of the class as Dumbledore continued speaking, "The changing of the robes has always been symbolic. The change from black to white obviously symbolizes the many changes that will take place in these young people’s lives, whether they go on to further their education, to become involved in the working society, or perhaps to start a family. We choose the color white, because it represents a clean slate: an empty canvass: a new start. Now that these students have finished their education, they can go on to new and better things." Dumbledore finished speaking and nodded his head towards Harry and Hermione.

They smiled briefly at each other. Harry took her left hand, as she raised her right, which held her wand. Harry raised his left hand, since he no longer had a wand, and no longer needed one. He knew it would be quite strange for everyone, him doing magic without a wand, but what was he supposed to do?

They said it together, "Albus-candefacerius!"

A glittering mist spread from Hermione’s wand and Harry’s hand. It first covered them, and then spread to each member of the class. The black in their school robes changed in a great wave, each becoming snow-white. Harry and Hermione then turned around to face the audience.

"I now present the graduated class of 1997!" Dumbledore beamed.

The audience’s applause rose to the ceiling.

Harry smiled to himself again.

A new start. A new beginning. Yes. That is exactly what this is.