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Harry Potter and Druidic Magic | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-Hogwarts, Magical Creatures Challenge (2017-3), Magical Creatures Challenge (2017-3) Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, James Potter, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance Warnings: Death, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: R Reviews: 16 Summary:  stunning banner by Asphodelic @tda The story begins from the time when Lily and James on the run from Voldemort. Half of the story will be categorized as AU. Chapter 4 and 5 were written for Magical Creatures Challenge 2017-3. Hitcount: Story Total: 14279; Chapter Total: 1359 Author's Notes: Thanks to Grace and melian, I could edit this chapter. I will post chapter 5 soon. This chapter was written for Magical Creatures Challenge. |
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The sandwich was mocking him and that was just the start of a bad day. “Master, Kreacher is sorry. It will take one more week to prepare ham sandwiches,” Kreacher said. Harry stared at his cucumber sandwich. He liked the fresh smell of cucumber, but he didn't think he would be able to survive a day without eating meat. Hogwarts needed rebuilding. Manpower was essential, but a food shortage was serious. Lack of protein also didn’t do any good for the big scar on his chest. Madam Pomfrey often told him to take eat meat, the iron aiding his recovery of the skin. He fleetingly wondered that if the Dursleys had given him enough food growing up, that if his scar on the forehead might have disappeared. He thought back to whether what Ginny told him the other day was true; if he should have asked Fawkes to cure his big scar on the chest as well. As he thought of his scar, it seemed to hurt more. His attention was interrupted when Ron walked up to him, a shadow on his face. “Harry, McGonagall told us that Hogwarts will hold a joint service for the dead. For us, that means we will also say goodbye to…” Ron hesitated for a while and finally said, “And my mum and dad agreed with her. McGonagall hinted you will make a funeral address after Minister Kingsley.” Harry grew mournful remembering Fred’s death. He still didn’t want to admit the person he thought of as a real brother was dead. In spite of the heavy news and his hurting scar, his stomach started rumbling. “This is a bit too much for me. How about Hermione? I’m not a person who makes a great speech in front of people.” He took a goblet of pumpkin juice and gulped it down in an effort to not have to speak. Refilling his goblet, Ron shook his head. “Hermione has already prepared your speech. She didn’t beat Voldemort at the last minute. It was you that finished him.” He pulled out a sheet of parchment and handed it to Harry. Harry unfolded it and started reading. Hermione’s neat letters were aligned on it. Seventeen years ago, a mad man tried killing a happy family in Godric’s Hollow. But his curse bounced back due to the mother’s love and the baby survived. The mad man seemed to vanish. Unfortunately, evil resuscitated to this world again and he possessed the power to destruct our Wizarding Community. We fought for freedom. We fought for our cherished people. Our grandparents, our parents and friends have experienced the two wars. Between the two wars, we lost so many precious lives. Thanks to them, we reclaimed peace. Let’s pray for the dead. And let’s reconstruct our community for them and for ourselves. Harry looked up. “It’s perfect. Where is Hermione?” Ron frowned. “She’s helping McGonagall. I don’t know what she is doing exactly. I reckon she’ll be Head Girl.” “Then will she go back to Hogwarts to get N.E.W.T.s?” “She will after she finds her parents in Australia.” Harry shifted uncomfortably, his mood darkening over the thought. “Her parents!” He stood up and winced. The wound on his chest smarted. Ron looked calm. “You don’t have to worry. Kingsley and the rest of the Aurors have already set up investigation headquarters. They will start searching in Australia as well.” He frowned, looking seriously at Harry’s chest. “Oi, your shirt is slightly bloodstained, mate. Go to the Hospital Wing right now.” Ginny must have heard Ron’s yell, as she hurried over to them. She urged him to go to the Hospital Wing. At her insistence, Harry reluctantly faced Madam Pomfrey and took off his shirt. The merciful school healer examined the big scar on his chest with her wand, and muttered. “Killing Curse. How could you survive this?” Ginny gasped, her hands jumping to her mouth. Harry hesitated to confess everything, but Madam’s severe look relented him to tell the story. “Madam, the story I’ll tell you now is confidential. Ginny, you don’t tell this to anybody. Promise, please.” He pulled out his holly wand and did the Muffliato charm around them. “I had no choice. I am the one of his…Voldemort’s secret weapon which I can’t tell you in detail. What I can tell you is Dumbledore knew everything. I had to be killed by him before finishing him. As a result, I came back and could finish Voldemort.” Overwhelmed by his words, Madam couldn’t say a word for a while. Harry was very surprised when her hands touched him on the cheek gently. Tears in her eyes, she spoke, “I thank Merlin that he let you come back to us and you finished the war in the end. I’ll do my best for you to cure the wound.” She urged him to lie on the bed and applied Essence of Dittany to his chest. After casting some healing charms and applying a large piece of gauze, she said, “I hope the scar will be soothed by this, but I can’t promise. Because it’s apparent you suffered from the other Unforgivable Curses. I’m afraid they tortured before or after…casting the Killing Curse. Didn’t they?” “Yes, they did.” Harry admitted it. It was a horrible memory, they cast the Cruciatus Curse to toy with what they had assumed was his dead body. “Promise you will visit the Hospital Wing once a day until I can make sure it’s getting better.” “Yes, I will. Thank you, Madam.” Ginny was sitting beside him quietly. She didn’t say a word, but he could tell from her determined look that she had made a decision. What that decision was, he couldn’t guess, but at least she wasn’t angry. That was something. When they came out of the Hospital Wing, she pulled him to the corner behind the Suits of Armor and stared at him intensely. He raised his eyebrows, asking a silent question, and then, . without a word, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him. He considered asking her what she wanted. But her next words were more incomprehensible. “Do you think the Sorting Hat is still in the Headmistress’s office?” Her gaze was blazing. “I think so…ah, no, the last time I saw was when Neville pulled out the sword of Gryffindor from it to kill the Great Snake. I don’t know…” He stared back at her eyes and his heart sank into her beautiful brown eyes. This time, it was him that kissed her. She reached up and her hand fumbled for his glasses. Finally she took them off. “This is better. I can look your brilliant eyes more.” Feeling the spark from her words, he swept her red hair aside and kissed her on her collarbone. Closed his eyes, he tasted the smoothness of her skin. Then he opened his eyes to hear her whisper, “Harry, I love you.” Suddenly she stepped back. “I’ll do anything for you. You won’t suffer any more.” And with those mysterious words, she turned and ran away. “Ginny!” He began jogging to follow her. But his scar on the chest protested and he walked. Then Ron and Hermione came around the corner of the corridor. “I saw Ginny running away,” Hermione said. “Did you two have a quarrel or something?” “No. She remembered something I don’t know…” “Maybe, Fred’s funeral.” Ron answered in a dark mood. “Yeah, right…” Harry also got gloomy. “Did you get information about time and the place?” “Yeah. That’s why we were looking for you. A joint service will be held tomorrow afternoon. I heard Ron gave you my speech sentences. Are you ready for that?” Hermione asked him. “Not yet, but I’ll learn them by heart tonight.” “Good. You’d better go to bed earlier. Are you okay with the wound?” Ron cast a worried look at him. “It still hurts, but yeah, it’ll be okay.” Then he remembered the conversation before going to the Hospital Wing, “I heard Kingsley had set up the team for your parents in Australia, Hermione.” Hermione smiled and said, “Yes, he has. He was so determined, he insisted it would be his first task to search missing people as Minister. He already had some trustworthy information. I have no worries about it. After the joint service, I’ll leave for Australia with his team.” Ron gave a light cough and said, “And I’ll be there as well.” Harry was dumbfounded. “What did you say?” Ron’s face got red as well as his hair. “I won’t repeat. You heard that.” “Oh…well, support her for me.” He barely said it. He felt lonely, like he was being excluded. It was not the first time he felt like that though. He had felt the same feeling while hunting Horcruxes, one night at the hiding, sensing their intimacies at the Grimmauld Place. Even though they had just been together, barely minutes before, he found himself missing Ginny. Gideon Crumb of the Weird Sisters played sorrowful songs in sequence with his bagpipes. Arthur and George held an enormous wreath of flowers and stood up. Bill, Ginny, Ron and Charlie followed them. They prayed for Fred and offered them on the altar set in the center of the platform. Percy stayed with Molly, who had been absentmindedly staring into space. There had been already lots of flowers on it, for everyone else who had lost their lives in the Battle of Hogwarts. When they came back to their seats, Harry saw Arthur pat George on the shoulder. When the last floral tribute was done, Harry stood up from his seat and climbed the platform. All words flooded in his mind and he breathed in to calm himself. “Fred Weasley…” The name came out of his mouth unplanned. He felt Hermione fidget behind. “He was like a brother for me. His wit, jokes made me laugh during hard times. He was the one of bravest of men. Many people died for freedom. And I survived. I ask to myself why I survived that battle…” He remembered the conversation with Dumbledore after he was hit Killing Curse. “I’m not sure I’m deserved to live. My obligation to everyone who has fought for freedom is make our world better. When I meet Fred again, I want him to feel proud of me. I want my parents to feel proud of me. I want Sirius feel proud of me. I want Cedric feel proud of me. I’d like to complete my mentors’ will instead of them. Watch us and guide us, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin, Professor Burbage and…Professor Snape. Watch me and guide me, Mad Eye and Tonks. I have responsibility for all people who died for our freedom and peace of the Wizarding World.” And he concluded his speech as Hermione had suggested. “Let’s pray for the dead. And let’s reconstruct our community for them and for ourselves.” When he glanced back, Molly was standing and started clapping her hands. Her eyes were filled with tears. Everyone followed her example. Harry left the platform to thunderous applause, and gave Molly the biggest hug he knew how to. Hermione and Ron left with Kingsley’s team for Australia. Harry stayed at Hogwarts, helping professors to reconstruct classrooms and the Quidditch pitch with the other students. The process to repair the buildings was sped up after parents of Muggle-borns and some Pure-bloods who hated Voldemort’s inner circle came back to Britain from a life in exile. Eventually even the food problem was solved and Kreacher and the other house-elves restarted preparing meals cheerfully. Harry’s scar on his chest was getting better, but he still needed a check-up once a day. Every time he visited the Hospital Wing, Ginny was always with him. On their back to the renewed Gryffindor common room, a kiss behind the Suits of Armor became habitual. And they stopped exploring each other when Harry winced feeling a slight pain on the chest. He explained her the condition was getting better, and she seemed to believe him. But that impression turned to be completely false. When most of the parents, who had helped reconstruction for almost two weeks, went back home, Ginny also disappeared. Harry asked McGonagall where she had gone. She said, “I heard she had things to do around setting up her brother’s tombstone. Didn’t she tell you about it?” “Thank you, Professor. I’ll ask Mrs.Weasley.” He still couldn’t understand her sudden disappearance. His fear proved right. When he happened to catch Bill, who stopped by Hogwarts to help professors with protecting charms, he told Harry she hadn’t come back to the Burrow. Perturbed, Harry and the Weasleys requested the Aurors to search for her, afraid that she might have been be abducted by the remaining Death Eaters. A few days passed by, and still no news came. Then, early in the morning on the fifth day since she had disappeared, a silvery mare jumped into Harry’s four-poster bed. It spoke in Ginny’s voice, “Don’t worry about me. I’m safe. Soon I can come back to you, Harry.” |
| Reviews 16 |
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