Chapter 22:
Epilogue
He-Who-Must-Be-Named Returns!
Dark Fortress Confirmed!
Cornelius Fudge Resigns!
The entire Wizard World yesterday afternoon witnessed the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when his mythical Fortress, officially called the Xanthius, revealed itself for the first time for all to see.
Thousands of people looked on in trepidation when the Xanthius emerged out of the ground followed by strong quake at noon yesterday. Thousands of Wizards and Witches went into panic, causing injuries and the disruption of commerce for the rest of the day.
"It's just horrible!" cried Rupert Quibble, President of Quibble and Sons, Inc. in Diagon Alley. "I always believed the Minister it was the figment of the imagination of the conspirators like he said, but look! It's really up there on top of the horizon. I can see it with mine eyes! Everywhere we go we will always see it the same way - from London to Dublin, it just looks the same. It just doesn't get smaller even how much you get away from it, like it's watching you all the time! The fortress is so spooky with all its black clouds and lightning. I think the term `spooky' is a gross understatement. I just don't know what's going to happen to us, but I'm thinking of fleeing to Australia or maybe Canada…"
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's voice was heard around the wizard world at the same time Xanthius revealed itself, as it was confirmed by the Ministry of Magic. The wizard world is now plunged into a state of fear as no official advisories from the Ministry of Magic have yet been issued regarding this terrible event.
Ministry spokesmen have confirmed that the Ministry itself is in a state of chaos brought about by the resignation of Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. The situation in the London bureau is sketchy. In the meantime, one official from the Ministry told the Daily Prophet this regarding Cornelius Fudge sudden resignation:
"It can be recalled that the former Minister had recently imposed sweeping measures to prevent `rumors' of You-Know-Who's return to spread, but with his return now revealed and that it cannot be further denied, Mr. Fudge decided that he had failed the wizard world in preparing for such eventuality and saw himself not fit to further serve as Minister of Magic because of it, thus he tendered his resignation. The Winzegamot will convene in an emergency meeting tonight to elect the new Minister of Magic." (From the Editor: The new Minister of Magic has been elected late last night by the Winzegamot in the person of Amelia Susan Bones)…
In a related development, stock prices plunged on late trading when investors unloaded their shares immediately on fears of economic collapse brought about by the imminent chaos that would follow with You-Know-Who's return (story in page 5).
"There ye have it," Hagrid said to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius in his hut the next day in the late afternoon. "Finally they've all found out about You-Know-What but unfortunately it doesn't look good out there. Pretty ugly in some parts…just like the old days but much more terrible." He shook his head and threw his copy of the Evening Prophet in to the dining table in front of him.
Harry and Hermione were both cuddled on Hagrid's oversized seat while Ron sipped on some hot soup near the fireplace. Even though they were all vindicated with Voldemort's revelation to the wizard world, they weren't happy this was happening at all, either. But they knew it was best when everybody knew about the truth. It was more dangerous if it was the opposite.
"What else have you heard, Hagrid, from out there?" Harry asked.
"The same o'l story - chaos and fear everywhere!" Hagrid groaned. "But it's calmed a li'l for now - I think most of the wizard world now seems to like the choice of Bones as the new Minister. Ain't she the mother of a student here?"
"Yeah, Susan Bones - she's our classmate from Hufflepuff," Hermione replied.
"Ar, with almost the same name. I hope she's up to the job…"
"She's okay, I hear," Sirius said, walking over to the boiling cauldron to have a second helping of Hagrid's hot soup. "Dumbledore approves of her appointment, actually. He knows she's a very open person, and very strong in leadership."
"I'm glad they chose a woman to lead us this time…" Hermione commented.
"Having someone with good leadership sounds encouraging, too," Harry said, stroking Hermione's hair. "But I think it would take more than a new Minister of Magic to deal with Voldemort. I reckon it would take no less than total unity for all wizards to stand up and fight against Voldemort and maybe we might have a chance to defeat him this time."
"Yeah, that's right," Sirius agreed. "Many, though, are still in a state of denial about this, even if the proof is staring right down on their faces. I guess this is just temporary, anyway, and they'll all snap out of it and do something about it for a change. The problem with wizards nowadays is they just rely on the Ministry of Magic to take care of them. It's woefully undermanned and they won't be able to protect everyone at the same time."
Everybody murmured in agreement.
"I wonder how Willard and Francs are doing with the anti-serum now," said Hermione. "I can't wait for them to finish, but I don't want them to make something half cooked either…"
"It's finished, I hear," Sirius answered. "They're just making sure the anti-serum is a hundred percent safe for people to use before they start injecting it. Wraskon's especially concerned about you, Hermione, because he knows you're Harry's best friend. He just wants to be certain your skin won't turn green with it."
Hermione giggled.
"They already have a name for the anti-serum, too," Sirius added.
"Oh?" Harry said. "What do they call it?"
"The Hallenrodd Potion. You know where they got that, I'm sure."
"Yeah," Harry sighed. "Nice choice. That would immortalize Hal in some way - at least his death won't be forgotten."
"I think the best bit is that they're using Henry Seymour and several of his Death Eaters as guinea pigs," Sirius told them. "Dumbledore said Bones didn't mind that at all because she knows its for the good of the wizard world and she hates Death Eaters. Seymour had been injected with the exact version of Voldemort's serum and the Hallenrodd Potion. What's even better is that Snape is on the experiment…"
"Snape's been injected with the serum, too?" Ron said hopefully.
"No, but I wish he was," Sirius laughed. "Anyway he can't hide his bitterness with being ordered around by Wraskon and Girbeaux to say the same words over and over all day - Domini, Vox-Domini…He can't complain - Dumbledore expects him to fully cooperate with Wraskon whether he despises it or not."
"Demoted to a lab assistant, isn't he?" Harry grinned with satisfaction and everybody laughed.
"Oh, Harry," Sirius said, "I'm very sorry for not responding to your letters even for once…"
"Oh!" Harry said. He completely forgot about that in the middle of what happened during the last few days.
"I still have them with me, but you know, it's almost impossible writing back to you being stuck as a four-legged dog for days here in Hogwarts under Dumbledore's request."
"I-I understand, Sirius. It's okay, really," Harry said.
"Which reminds, I have to turn into a dog now - someone's coming…"
Harry looked out the window and saw Neville Longbottom dragging his feet on the deep snow. The door knocked and Hagrid opened it. "Hullo, Neville!"
"Hiya, Hagrid," he replied.
"What brings you here?"
"I'm looking for Harry and Ron. With Fudge quitting, the clubs are back and there's a new one about Defence Against the Dark Arts forming in the dungeons. I wanna ask them if they're interested - first meeting's in fifteen minutes…"
"They're here," Hagrid told him, and he led Neville inside the hut.
"Hey, Harry, wanna come?" Neville asked him.
"Uh," Harry started, and Hermione pressed her nose on his cheek, reminding him of something. "I think I'll pass…"
"How about you, Ron?"
"Well…okay - I think it won't hurt to see what it is and I'll decide if it's good then."
"Cool! Let's go, then," Neville said happily.
Ron thanked Hagrid with his unusually tasty soup, bid goodbye to everyone, and went out of the hut with Neville.
"See ya, Ron," Hermione said after him. He looked back at her and winked.
Just before Hagrid closed the door, an owl flew in and delivered Harry a letter.
"Hey, who's that from?" Hermione said, looking at the envelope.
Harry cut the string off the owl's legs and the bird flew out immediately. It was from Stephanie. Harry glanced at Hermione to see how she took it. She just smiled at him and he opened the envelope.
Dear Harry,
I can't put into words how thankful I am to you for helping save my Uncle from You-Know-What. I had a very happy surprise last night when I got a letter from him. He wrote about what happened and I just couldn't stop crying while reading it. Dad was simply overjoyed he couldn't stop dancing all night! Our prayers have been answered, and I know that without you I would never see my beloved Uncle again.
At the same time I feel real bad about what you've gone through in You-Know-What. I hope you and Hermione are all okay now back in Hogwarts. Please extend my love to her - we have only been together for a short time but it's like I know her already. She's very nice and I hope we could all be together again soon.
I'm back at Westwall and I have made up with my lost lessons. The people here are scared, though, but we're striving to keep things as normal as we can. We can see You-Know-What from here like it's just a few miles away from wherever we are even though it's said to be in Scotland. I promise I'll keep you posted of how we are and what we'll be doing here to prepare against You-Know-Who.
Again, I want to thank you deep in my heart for taking back my Uncle. It's joy beyond what I can explain, so thank you, thank you, thank you!
Always,
Stephanie (and Dad)
P.S. Please remember I owe you a lot!
Hermione sighed. "I'm glad she's out of her misery now," she said. "She was always preoccupied worrying about Willard back in the Burrow."
"Just about the good news we have during a time like this," Harry remarked, though he felt real happy for Stephanie. "We need all of it as much as we could get."
They heard a loud thud at the back door of the hut. Hermione jumped a bit and Sirius growled at the door.
"That's Garth," Hagrid said. "I think he's hungry again…" He looked at Harry who was visibly frowning. Hagrid knew Harry most likely disapproved of keeping him as a pet after what he went through with the dog back in Xanthius.
"I wish you'd give him a chance, Harry," Hagrid said slowly. "He could come in handy someday - Dumbledore agrees so, as a matter of fact…"
Harry sighed. "Sorry about that, Hagrid. But I'll try. For now, he still reminds me of some real unpleasant memories."
Hagrid just smiled at Harry and he went over to the kitchen to prepare Garth his fifth meal of the day.
"I think it's time for us to go back to the castle, Hagrid," Harry said, standing up with Hermione. "See you around - and thanks for the soup!"
"Sure, Harry," Hagrid grinned. "Anytime you want!"
Hermione waved goodbye to Hagrid and to Sirius, too, who waved back at her with a paw. When she and Harry walked a few feet from Hagrid's hut they both felt warm air wafting behind their necks. When the looked back, they yelped a little when they saw Garth's huge head staring down at them. At first they felt threatened about being this close to the animal, which they have seen as wild and dangerous only yesterday, but then the dog breathed heavily, stuck its mouth out, and wagged its tail at them to look surprisingly harmless.
Harry at first was inclined to shun the dog, but then he gave in when Garth gave him a miserable look and a sad sound.
Hermione put her arm around Harry's shoulder. "I think he's asking you to forgive him," she said, smiling. "Let bygones be bygones, like. He really does look he wants to be friends with you."
Harry hesitated for a moment, looked up at the sad looking dog, and finally gave in. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Harry smiled back at Garth and patted his big wet nose. "He probably never knew what he was doing back there - I think you'll be okay from now on, Garth."
Happy, Garth licked Harry lovingly with his huge tongue from Harry's belly up to his head, drenching him. Harry closed his eyes for a long time feeling awfully disgusted.
Hermione said "Yech!" playfully at Harry and she laughed at him. Soon, Harry laughed along with her; Garth barked once and ran back to Hagrid who was brandishing a big slice of dragon meat.
"Wasn't that cute of him to do that?" Hermione laughed, patting Harry with some snow to help wash off Garth's saliva.
"You'd probably think differently when you're in my shoes," Harry chuckled. He took out his wand and pointed down to snow. Several snowballs formed in midair and he grinned at a wary looking Hermione. The snowballs flew towards Hermione but she ducked and Harry got hit instead.
Hermione pointed her finger at Harry and she laughed hysterically at him. Refusing to leave without getting even on her, Harry grabbed Hermione and wrestled her to the ground. She kept on laughing and threw bits of snow on Harry's face, but gradually her laughter subsided when Harry simply looked down at her and smiled. Their smiles faded shortly; Harry slowly moved his lips closer to hers, and they kissed without letting go for a long time.
When they broke up their kiss to inhale some air, Hermione sighed and looked up at Harry. "What a great time to fall in love with you," she told him, with a hint of sarcasm, though humorously.
Harry laughed a bit. "Yeah…but remember this - not even Voldemort will take us apart - I promise you that…"
"Me, too," Hermione smiled. "I'm now starting to think how I could live without you Harry…"
"I won't let that happen," Harry replied, beaming down on her, "because I would never leave you." He reached inside his pocket and took out a small medal case.
"What's that?" Hermione said curiously. "Hey, that looks like you medal case from Dumbledore…"
"I couldn't open it - not even Ron or anybody else. I thought I'd try it out with other people before I'd give it you…just to make sure if Russelpunk was right about us…"
Hermione took it slowly from him and, as Harry had thought all along, she opened it successfully without any effort. The snow was bright but the light that shone from the box when Hermione opened it was even more brilliant. Inside it was half of the pendant he had from Russelpunk.
Harry breathed. If it was only Hermione who could open it, then Russelpunk may have been right about what he thought of them. Harry then knew he was serious about their so-called "destiny" for which he and Hermione still had to find out about.
"Is this the pendant of Omerta from Russelpunk's diary?" Hermione asked, staring at the medallion at the box and looking surprised. "Did you…"
"Yes, I opened the other box," Harry told her, "and I have the other half."
Hermione exhaled deeply and she looked worried. "Oh, Harry, what does this mean?"
"That means we're both going to be in deep shit again someday," Harry said bluntly.
"I'm a little scared…I've got a little problem with the unknown…"
"C'mere," Harry sighed. He pulled Hermoine closer to her and embraced her. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't because it's something that we don't know about yet - yeah I think we do have the same fear - you're not alone. We got to find out about everything with this Omerta thing - I think it's important we need to prepare ourselves, don't you think? But Dumbledore says it's something magnificent though he doesn't have a clue about it…"
"Then I hope he's right," Hermione said softly.
"I believe as long as we're together we'll be all right," Harry assured her. "I'll protect as long as I live."
"Thanks, Harry, and you can count on me, too. You're right - we'll take on one threat at a time like we did before. I hope Ron wouldn't get out of place with this in some way - we still need him as much as he still needs us."
"He won't - he said he'll always be one for us." Harry took out Hermione's medallion, put it around her neck, and hid it under her robes. "I'm wearing mine, too. Whatever this pendant does for us, I hope it'll be for the good of all."
They heard footsteps on the snow coming nearer to them. Harry thought it was Ron but he was surprised when a hand forcibly grabbed the back of his robes and he was thrown away to the snow.
"What did you do to my father, Potter?!?" Draco shouted. Crabbe and Goyle rounded up on Harry next. They grabbed him up from the snow together and held him by the arms in front of Draco. He then approached a struggling Harry and pointed his wand closely at him.
"Draco!" Hermione shrieked. "Let him go this instant!"
"Shut the bloody hell up, you despicable little Mudblood!" he spat.
"What do you want with me, Draco?" Harry growled at him, doing his best to break free from Crabbe and Goyle but they were too strong for him. Crabbe grabbed Harry's hair and yanked his head upward; Harry didn't take his eyes off from Draco though he felt some pain on his neck as it was pulled backward forcibly.
"You're gonna pay for what you did to father, Potter," Draco growled, looking deranged with the tip of his wand on Harry's chin.
"He didn't do anything with your father, Malfoy! Let him go!" Hermione shouted at him (Hermione couldn't use magic on him because she was still recovering from her lost mana). She bravely strode towards Harry and tried many times to pry him loose from Crabbe and Goyle, but she was only pushed away by them. Goyle laughed.
"Where's Lucius now, Malfoy?" Harry said. "In Azkaban? He wasn't so tough at all, was he, Hermione? Screamed like a scared kid in a tough neighborhood, he was," Harry taunted.
"You're wrong about my father, Potter! He's the bravest wizard of all, and so am I because I'm his son - I'm not afraid of you, scarhead!"
"Then what's with your goons, then? If you're not afraid of me, tell them to let me go and I'll gladly duel you." Crabbe punched Harry at the stomach and he wheezed out of breath down to the snow.
"That does it, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled and then charged at him. "You're gonna pay for that." She, however, stopped on her tracks when Malfoy pointed his wand at her.
Malfoy laughed. "What're you going to do with me, Mudblood, slap me?" he drawled. "Move back or I'll curse you."
Hermione gulped and stepped back a few steps but said, "If you curse one of us, you'll be in trouble in Dumbledore, Malfoy!"
"I don't care for that anymore, Mudblood! I'm here to take back on Harry for my father and I'll make sure Potter will be disfigured for the rest of his life!"
"Malfoy…no…" Hermione warned slowly; Draco pointed his wand at Harry's nose to curse him as he threatened.
But suddenly Draco's contorted face had turned into one with pure terror. He whipped around and fled from Harry without doing a single curse on him. Crabbe and Goyle dropped Harry to the ground next and ran behind the hysterical Draco. Hermione ran toward Harry and helped him up and they both stared at their fleeing backs, bewildered with their sudden change of heart.
"Now what was that all about?" Harry said, brushing off his robes from snow. He and Hermione heard something running from behind them and they looked back anxiously. They quickly held into each other when they saw Garth running toward them and looking very angry!
Garth jumped over Harry and Hermione, landed on the snow, and went into hot pursuit with Draco. Harry and Hermione both hung their jaws with amusedly seeing Draco stumble on to the snow and screaming at the top of his lungs staring helplessly at the huge dog that was bearing down on him. At last, Garth had caught up with Draco - he took a big bite on Draco's robes, shook and waggled him up high into the air, and ran off with him toward the castle. Crabbe and Goyle howled in grief running after behind them.
Harry and Hermione laughed uncontrollably.
"T-That was nice of Garth to do that," Harry panted. "I got to give him a big juicy bone someday…"
"Serves Draco right!" Hermione snorted, feeling victorious even without raising a finger on Draco. "We'll watch out for him the next time - I don't know if was serious with his threat to maim you for life, but we'll be ready for him."
"Amen to that. C'mon, let's go back to the castle," Harry smiled, choosing to shrug off Draco's latest attack on him though he kept on enjoying watching Draco flail his arms and legs wildly under Garth's breath at a distance. Hermione laughed again, wishing Draco had now peed on his pants, or better yet, soiled on it. She and Harry both hoped Garth wouldn't let go of him until the next morning. They put their arms around each other and resumed walking together back to the castle.
"I've really had it with all this excitement - I just want to cuddle up with you at the Common Room for the next hundred years," Hermione said.
Harry nodded his head appreciatively at Hermione for his sweet remark. He also knew that he, too, needed a much deserved long and peaceful break. However, he thought that was wishful thinking under the new terror of Voldemort though he didn't want him to dictate to them with what to do with their lives. Life must go on, of course, he thought. The only question was when will he strike again? He shrugged that thought off. He will just have to be ready for him.
Halfway to the castle, Harry and Hermione saw the form of Xanthius at a break of the tall trees from the forest. The setting sun was now beginning to hide behind the fortress that had an unusually clear sky on that part of the horizon. They both stopped walking and they took a long look at the fortress, which seemed to look quiet and serene from their point of view.
"What do you suppose will happen next, Harry," Hermione whispered. "Will Voldemort ever bring us back to that terrible place?"
"I don't know, Hermione, I honestly don't know," Harry sighed. "But we'll be ready for Voldemort whatever he'll do next, won't we?" he said while looking at the direction of the fortress. "The next time we set foot on Xanthius, it will be the time when we're going to destroy it!"
"Yeah…" she sighed, hugging Harry very tightly. "Yeah, we will. Raze it to the ground, we will."
After one more look at Xanthius, Harry gazed at Hermione and smiled at her. Both of them believed not even Lord Voldemort could take apart the new love they have felt for each other. Their eyes met once more, and they gave each other a very long and meaningful kiss as the sinking sun cast upon the both of them the long shadow of the Dark Fortress.
THE END
Shadow of the Dark Fortress (Part 2): The Xanthius
By Triggy
December 24, 2004
Author's Notes: Well, it's finally finished at last! I hope you really have enjoyed reading this story! Criticism is still welcome, and if you have some comments, or maybe reminders on some unresolved plot points of this story that I may have missed, please let me know. Thanks! A funny thing happened just after I typed "The End". I felt sick, ran to the toilet, and threw up! Well, I know it's not because of the story, of course, (oh, well, maybe some of the unknown readers do feel the same way about it, haha) but because of the chicken or scallops I ate for lunch that were probably bad!
I wish to thank all the people who spent time to read this story in Portkey.Org.! (The hits counter is really handy).
Special thanks goes for these great people who reviewed while the story was in progress:
Muirnin
Hermione's REAL Twin
Becca Angelic
SEK19005
Ridxwan
PottersPrincess
Arun
LadyBlazey
Musique
Gal-Txter
Thieving Magpie
Andy B
RetroRose
Scott
More thanks to those who reviewed multiple times! (You are the best!)
I would also like to thank my friend Belinda whose HP fanfic story was the inspiration for this second part of the series!
Also very big thanks goes to the mods in Portkey.org for their support. I really appreciate the attention they had given to this story (including the first part) and for letting me in as a member/author in Portkey.org: NAPPA, Gal-Txter, and the Thieving Magpie. A big special thanks for the Thieving Magpie for recommending this story and the first part in the recs forum!
I shall start Part 3 when I think I would have substantially gathered some good ideas for it though the general plot has already been laid out. For the meantime, Please allow me to take a break from writing - I'll be reading and reviewing the many HP fics found here at Portkey.org for now. I hope you will still be here then. Thank you very much!
Until next time,
Sincerely,
Triggy (My real name is Rei).
Oh, I just noticed it's Christmas Eve! A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! Let there be peace on Earth and for all mankind!
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