Ch 42 A New World
Ten years later, Minerva looked over the Great Hall from the professors' table with a smile of satisfaction as she gazed at the various guests who had come for the special ceremony.
As she sat in the Headmistress's chair, she recalled wistfully of Dumbledore's last months of life. He had managed to survive the Battle of Atlantis, but had never been quite the same afterwards. He had been lucid most of the time and had been able to put his affairs in order and visit with his closest friends up until the time he passed away. Most importantly, he had gotten a chance to get to know better the son he had never really known before he died. She smiled for a moment as she wondered what grand adventure Dumbledore was on now.
She glanced down the table at Samuel, the DADA professor and bowed her head slightly. He grinned back and plopped another large bite of steak into his mouth. They had never been able to figure out how his mother, Albus's wife, had escaped from the destroyed cottage and made it all the way to America-she had died when Samuel was very little and he had been raised in an orphanage, completely unaware of his past. Samuel had finally stopped looking for the answer, grateful for the few months he had to spend with his dying father, and happy with his new `Auntie,' as he insisted on calling her. She missed Severus and Albus deeply, but Samuel and many of her former students helped fill the void.
She looked for a moment at Fleur and Bill, with their four beautiful children. It had been very difficult at first for Fleur, Hogwarts brought back so many memories of her sister, but the Weasley family had helped her through her sorrow and grief. Minerva still felt bad that such a sweet little girl had been the first to fall at the battle-she had been very brave, but somewhat foolish to try and help close the demon gate with Albus, Severus, and Harry.
On the other side of Samuel, she saw Hagrid thoroughly enjoying his meal as well. He caught her glance and gave her a wink with that horrible green eye of his and she tried not to shudder as he bent back over his plate. It wasn't his heavily scarred face that bothered her, it was that horrid little eye he used to replace the one he had lost in the battle. Harry had created it for him, and in a shared joke with Hagrid, had made it green to match his own eyes and those of his mother, Lily. Hagrid proudly called it his beastie eye, and it gave most of the students the creeps. Harry had enchanted it with some of the visual abilities of some of the rarer magical creatures, much to Hagrid's pleasure. At least it didn't spin in his head like Moody's had.
On the other side of the table sat several of her Heads of House with their families. Draco sat with his Muggle wife Danica and their two children. After the battle, Draco had left the wizarding world for several years until Harry and several of his other friends had found him and urged him to return. Draco taught flying and served as the Head of Slytherin. Luna was seated next to her husband, Ron, with their four children. Luna taught Arithmancy and was the Head of Gryffindor. Ron had become an Auror, and was paired with Neville Longbottom. They were two of the most respected and decorated Aurors in the department's history. Luna and Ron stood to go say hi to Neville and Ginny, who had just arrived. Luna still limped slightly from the wounds she had suffered during the Battle of Atlantis.
Neville and Ginny sat at a table in front with their three children and the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny still wrote under her pseudonym for The Quibbler, but also served as one of the managing editors. She and Luna continued to produce the most widely read and respected paper in Great Britain. Her eyes scanned over the rest of the table and she smiled at Arthur and Molly. Arthur had announced that this was the last term he would serve as the Minister of Magic and there was widespread speculation about who would follow him. Molly simply beamed as she gazed around at her numerous grandchildren. Charlie and his wife and their four children were seated with them, as were the twins. She sent a warning look at the two, who both glanced up at her and grinned mischievously. One of them was sitting with Padma Patil, who with her sister had developed a very successful line of clothing stores and, rumor had it, kept a very short leash on Fred-or was it George? She could never remember which twin was dating Padma. The gossip pages, which Minerva hardly ever read, also mentioned that one of the twins was frequently seen about the town with a certain young Chaser from the Chudley Cannons. But she couldn't remember her name either-Ron would probably know. Unfortunately, their joke shop continued to be the best and most successful of its kind, a fact she was reminded of each day in class as she was forced to confiscate prohibited and occasionally illegal items from their store. But she had also heard that they developed a number of items for use by the Aurors and other departments in the Ministry. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she tried to imagine what sort of prank the pair had planned for this evening.
Her eyes continued to roam over the rest of the crowd, nodding to various individuals in the room, former students and various officials from the Ministry. She smiled at Remus, who was half hidden in the shadows of one wall, taking his security detail very seriously. She almost laughed-with all the powerful guests that would be here tonight, someone would have to be crazy to try anything. But she realized sadly, this ceremony would make a tempting target to some of those unhappy with the changes taking place in the wizarding world.
A dull roar at the back of the hall could only mean one thing. Harry and Hermione had finally arrived with their four children. Hermione walked in, her arm held gracefully by Harry as they posed for several photos just inside the massive doors. They both turned and held their arms out to their children. Minerva noticed a young photographer raise his camera to take a picture of the beautiful children only to freeze at an icy glare from Harry. Minerva chuckled. One of the other photographers leaned over to him and pushed his camera down and whispered something to the young wizard. She smiled as she recalled a story about some photographer who had somehow slipped into the maternity ward after Hermione had just given birth to the twins. He had snapped a couple of shots and fled before anybody could stop him. When he had returned to his office to show his editor his exclusive shots however, he discovered that the film was blank and his camera had been transformed into a perfect replica of a human skull. Hermione laid her hand on Harry's shoulder and he finally turned from the young man, who had begun to tremble. Their children, James and Lily, who were twins, led Sirius and Albus, the two younger boys, and sprinted through the crowd towards the table where most of the Weasleys sat.
Minerva grinned happily as she counted again how many years before the first Weasley and Potter children would be old enough to start attending Hogwarts. It wouldn't be long now she mused, then maybe once they're through, if she survived that long, she'd think about retiring. As Sirius and Albus ran over to `Uncles' Fred and George, she watched as tiny packets quickly enter the young boys' pockets and second guessed herself momentarily. Suddenly she wasn't sure she could deal with a third generation of Maruaders. She made a mental note to herself to inform Hermione later about the secret exchange. She humphed as she recalled that it did no good to tell Harry, he simply encouraged that kind of behavior.
As Hermione and Harry walked toward the table, Minerva smiled happily again. Unless one knew Hermione well, one would never guess that she was still paralyzed. The Healers of St. Mungos had been unable to heal the tremendous damage done to Hermione's back-they had been amazed she had even survived the brutal attack. Minerva herself wasnn't sure whether it was the extent of the damage, or the fact that Hermione wasn't exactly human that made most of the potions and spells they had tried virtually useless to her. They all learned that Hermione had to heal slowly and naturally from injuries she sustained, magical treatments had been almost completely ineffective. Hermione had dealt with the injury fairly well-it had been Harry who had struggled the most. Of course, he had felt it was all his fault and blamed himself. He had made it his personal mission to find a way to help her-and he had. He had called in favors from the Goblins and the Dwarves-she imagined that they would have been more than happy to help them in any case-and with Harry's help they had created a special set of magical braces tuned in to Hermione's wand core. The braces had been implanted in every one of her bones from the waist down, and allowed her to move as if she had never been injured.
As was typical with Harry, he had created a foundation to help other similarly injured witches and wizards as well. In fact, Minerva wasn't sure she would be able to name all the different causes to which the Potters donated funds. For a while, there had been a friendly rivalry between Harry and Draco to see who could give away more money to good causes, but it seemed the more Harry spent, the more he earned. The Dwarves of Clan Bilundergad and Clan Angisle, as well as the Elves of Atlantis and the Goblins of Gringott's Bank all insisted on giving Harry and Hermione a small percentage of all their profits from trade as a token of appreciation for what they did for the magical world. Some had called for Harry to renounce his seat on the Wizengamot as a result but Harry refused and only recused himself from voting on measures concerning commerce.
She watched as Harry and Hermione stopped at a table on the side to visit for a few minutes with several of the representatives from the different magical races who were in attendance. She saw Dobby from the Elves of course, Fribig from the Dwarves, Firenze from the Centaurs, and a Goblin named Grudley. All four were old friends of the Potters and had worked together on a number of projects. In fact, Harry and Hermione were the only humans she know of that had visited the underground caverns of the Goblins or the rebuilt halls of the Dwarves. The Elves had invited all of the Witches and Wizards who had fought in the Battle of Atlantis back to the rebuilt city, and Minerva had been told the city was simply breathtaking. All three races were thriving, and they had Harry and Hermione to thank for much it. And they had in more ways than could be counted. Minerva's smile faded only slightly when she thought about the fact that Harry and Hermione were probably treated far better and more highly respected among the Goblins, the Dwarves, the Elves, the Dragons, and the Centaurs than they were among their fellow witches and wizards.
Aside from his extensive interaction with several of the other races and his occasional participation in the Wizengamot, exactly what Harry did continued to be the topic of much debate and occasional joking in several of the papers and among certain sections of the public. Most suspected he was an Auror, though he had no official standing in the department and had never completed the Auror training course. Others argued that he simply lived off his considerable income and used it to travel and play around the world, like some sort of spoiled rich brat.
Minerva chuckled. She did not know for sure either, but she did read the papers closely enough and knew Harry and his friend well enough to know that when Harry did go abroad, either Samuel, Remus, Neville, or Ron often went as well, and that after Harry returned from his supposed ski vacation or big game safari, some local threat to the magical world had often disappeared as well. She suspected Albus had been right all along, that Harry would never have cut it working as an Auror for the Ministry, that he was much better off working on his own or with a few close friends to deal with some problem or threat. She believed he was probably some sort of unofficial Auror, willing to deal with dangers that Aurors from the Ministry either couldn't or weren't allowed to deal with on their own.
But if it was difficult to determine exactly what Harry did, it was nearly impossible to list everything that Hermione was involved in. She had worked for a few years in the Ministry, but had left in frustration as bureaucrats and bureaucracy got in the way of the changes she was trying to bring about. Unhappy about the pace of reform within the Ministry, she had organized various groups to bring pressure on the Ministry from without. Minerva had always been amazed that it had never caused friction between her and any of the Weasleys, and wondered again if Arthur hadn't actually encouraged her to leave the Ministry and apply pressure on it from a different angle. For instance, Hermione and Harry had recently pushed through legislation that would allow Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, and Centaurs to elect representatives to sit in the Wizengamot and speak for their various races. With Madame Bone's help, and that of a variety of other groups, they were making strides towards rewriting many of the laws that affected other magical races negatively. Minerva was very happy that Hermione was ready for a new stage in her continual battle for fair and equal treatment of other races in the magical world.
Now that people in the Great Hall were finally settling down, Minerva stood to address the large crowd. "Witches and Wizards, members of the press and the Ministry, as well as distinguished visitors and representatives, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this dedicatory ceremony. Due to the generous funding by so many prominent wizarding families and interested groups, we have been able to finish this new addition to Hogwarts castle. This new wing will be known as Dumbledore Hall, in memory of my eminent predecessor. It was not only his dream, but the dream of many of those here today to build a better world for all of us. One of the best ways to create a better future is to start with the children-even children like Fred and George Weasley." She waited for the laughter to die down before continuing. "It is my honor to announce that starting this fall, Hogwarts will be teaching children of all the magical races who wish to attend. We understand there have been a few concerns among some in the wizarding community, which is why we are also pleased to announce the appointment of a new Deputy Headmistress to assist me during this wonderful new era of growth at Hogwarts. May I present to you someone who has labored on behalf of the other races since she was a student herself, someone who has served Great Britain for three years as a special ambassador to the Elves, the Dwarves, the Centaurs, the Dragons, and the Goblins, someone who has long been a very dear and close friend, someone who really needs no introduction-Hermione Potter, who will also serve as the new Head of Ravenclaw."
There was a thundering of applause, most of it coming from the Head table and the Weasley table.
Hermione slowly stood and raised her hands. In a rich, beautiful voice, she said, "Thank you very much for your support. We have great dreams for the children of today and tomorrow, and with your help, we will make a better world for them. Thank you. Thank you."
Minerva looked on happily as those in attendance discussed the announcements over dinner.
*-*-*
Later, they stood side by side on a patio overlooking a huge Quidditch pitch under a beautiful sky full of stars.
"So, tell me what you really think Harry."
"I think you're going to do a terrific job with the new students Mione. I don't think there is anybody who might understand them better or be better prepared to help them through seven years at Hogwarts. But I do pity anybody who gets in your way…"
Hermione punched him playfully and then her face tightened in concern when Harry winced slightly. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?" she asked, her hands moving gently over his arm.
"I'm fine. It's nothing."
"Aardus? What happened?"
"Nothing. He's…"
"You can't lie to me Aardus," insisted Hermione, glancing at the hilt on Harry's hip that no longer bore a bright red ruby, but instead a golden amber gem. "Even if it says Potter on the blade now, it is still the Sword of Gryffindor, and we have all taken an oath to…"
"Alright, look," admitted Harry. "The doppelgangers had some allies we didn't know about. There were some Dark Wizards experimenting with some weird sort of hybrid between a wyvern and a tiger I think. We didn't know they were working together or…"
"I thought Ron and Neville went with you?"
"They did. They were a little busy with some of the other-uhh-creations. I don't even know how to start describing what they were creating-I think even Hagrid would have found it too much. Don't worry, it was just a little scratch. It's almost completely healed."
"I should have gone with you. I should have known that the four of you couldn't stay out of trouble…"
"I deeply resent that Hermione. I have been handling problems like this for centuries before either of you were even born and…"
"Mione, you know what you were doing with the wand use bill will have a much more significant impact than mopping up a few doppelgangers and some Dark Wizards…"
Hermione sighed and laid her hand softly on Harry's arm. "Not to the future victims you just saved. But I hope it will help somehow."
"It will. And the looks on their faces when the bill was brought to a vote-it was simply precious…"
"Oh, come on. I'm not that bad. You should have seen that poor photographer's face when you finished glaring at him…"
"Well, he should have known the rules. Our children are completely off limits. Write what they want about me, but…"
Hermione chuckled. "Always the overprotective father. But with your own kids, you are such a pushover."
"I am not."
"Then why did you let Sirius and Albus keep those Monster Mess Making packets the twins gave them? I'm not going to clean up whatever they destroy this time, you know. You are."
"Hey, it's good for them to be creative like that…" argued Harry. "Besides, the way you blindsided Weatherby and Snitchcombe with that new bill that would allow wands to be sold to other races and made sure they couldn't keep it in the drafting committee was not exactly nice or…"
"That is completely different. What I did was entirely within the rules of order for presenting legislation. Besides, it deserves a full vote on the bill as it is written now, not some watered down version full of pork twenty months from now."
"Don't worry Mione. You're going to be great. You're great at whatever you do."
"Thanks. Have I told you how much I love…"
"MUM! Sirius turned my hairbrush into a broom again and he won't get off it!"
Hermione glanced quickly at Harry. He heard "Your turn. I dealt with the tap dancing spoons that kept catapulting oatmeal at breakfast this morning." Harry simply sighed and ran back into the house.
"DAD! Lily-OWW!-is using a summoning charm to-OWW!-knock me into a-OWW!"
Hermione decided Harry might need some help and quickly followed.
As they finally restored order, Hermione glanced at Harry.
"This is our toughest job isn't it?"
"It's our greatest adventure."
"Yeah, our best adventure."
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here with you and them."
"Me too. I love this job. And I love…"
"Hey! Quit talking like that you two!" whined James. "If you're going to say something about us, at least say it so we can hear it."
"We love you," replied Harry and Hermione as they gathered their children in a huge bear hug that quickly turned into a tickling war.
It was nice to be home.
Finis.
*** Author's Note-Thank you all very much for reading this story. It turned out to be much longer than I had ever imagined, and much better, I hope. Thank you for all of your helpful and wonderful comments.
-->