FicWad

Chapter Twenty Five: Rebuilding

Days had passed since the attack on Hogwarts and the students had tried to get back normally, but it was difficult to, especially for the surviving Ravenclaws. After seeing one of their own slay nearly half their house before their very eyes, it was difficult to care about such things as schoolwork for the foreseeable future. Outside of the house, many had Ravenclaws who were family members and the stories about the viciousness of the attack had gotten more sensational as they were told. Such was how rumors traveled at Hogwarts and even more rumors traveled about after the attack, Harry Potter had killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Many felt this did not clear him from his crimes, most likely he got a taste of power and felt Voldemort would be better served as the servant, than the master. The fight ensued and the Dark Lord was killed. Others, most the few who were lucky not to have family and friends killed, thought it was an ingenious master plan on the part of Harry, to gain Voldemort’s trust. That way he could easily have finished off Voldemort and the only thing that he would sacrifice was his own reputation.

“Most of the Gryffindors are talking about how Harry’s lost his mind and gone dark,” said Neville, as he walked through the corridors with Luna and Hermione.

“Well, I got the impression that most of Gryffindor were not fond of Harry, because his guardian was at odds with Dumbledore, who might as well be a saint within that house and their one dimensional view of good and evil,” commented Luna. “Also, the fact that they all thought that Harry would be one of them, because of who they think he is. So they would be more apt to believe any of the tales about him. It’s saddened, that duplicate did fair bit of damage to his name.”

“It does look bad though, everyone else was knocked out by the duplicate, before the real Harry showed up and there doesn’t seem to be may witnesses to what really happened,” said Hermione. “Still, he’s beaten Voldemort, this time for good.”

“Yes, he might have killed the Dark Lord, but The Dark Lord scored the ultimate defeat against Potter,” said the snide voice of Draco Malfoy, as he walked onto the scene, right in front of the group.

“I thought the air just had become foul in here,” commented Hermione, wrinkling her nose slightly at the sight of Draco.

“You know, I thought for a minute that Potter might have wised up and abandoned all you Mudblood and blood traitor trash when he staged an attack on the school on behalf of the Dark Lord,” replied Draco snidely, not bothering to acknowledge what Hermione said. “But, I then heard that Potter didn’t have the spine to completely finish what he started, so he attacked the Dark Lord, in an attempt to salvage his mangled reputation. Pathetic that he cares what the wastex of the Wizarding World thinks about him but not that it matters now, as most think he’s a murderous bastard.”

“What’s really pathetic is that you think your comments hold any relevance to anyone, Malfoy,” said Luna calmly. “I feel less intelligent just by hearing your voice, so I suggest you leave.”

“You can deny that Potter’s reputation is in shambles all you want, but he had a chance for power and he blew it,” replied Draco pompously, as he made his way off.

“I really thought that’d him being sorted into Hufflepuff would have eliminated some of his more egotistical tendencies,” said Hermione sadly but Luna just shook her head.

“That’s a nice theory, but unfortunately it didn’t work out as well as we would have liked it too,” said Luna wisely. “Few things do, such is the nature of life.”

“Harry knows that better than anyone,” muttered Hermione to herself, as she walked a bit forward, deep in thoughts, wondering where Harry was right now. All she and the others learned through the brief letter that Harry had given them that he was alive and safe, but did not want to give any further details, in the off chance that the communication was intercepted.

The Ministry of Magic was in an uproar, to say the least. Minister Weaver wanted nothing better than a long vacation and a nice, large, bottle of firewhiskey, as he had to listen which was about the forty third or so Howler in the last three hours, give or take a few as quite frankly he lost count. The story printed by the Daily Prophet about the Ministry ready to concede the Ministry to Voldemort easily, taking them to task for not attempting to find a way to eliminate Voldemort years ago before he gained too much power, had raised the ire of a good portion of the Wizarding World. Many were appalled and a few people had resigned from the Ministry in protest. Most notably was Madam Amelia Bones, who was absolutely enraged that this would be considered, especially without the consent of the Wizengamot. Weaver held no ill will towards those were angry, but also felt that if they had been in his shoes, they would have had a different outlook on the entire situation.

“Enter,” prompted Weaver in a weary tone of voice, and the door creaked open allowing Rufus Scrimgeour to enter inside. “Ah yes, Rufus, have a seat.”

“You wanted to see me Minister?” inquired Scrimgeour in a gruff tone, as he looked at Weaver.

“Yes I did Rufus, now, I want to ensure that you are committed to lead the Auror Department to round up any remaining Death Eaters that are still out there but also that you understand that this Potter matter should be left alone for the time being, until we have a way to bring him in, without endangering our entire existence being broadcasted to Muggles,” said Weaver in a serious voice.

“Minister, every second Potter is out there, is a second that we risk even more innocent people being murdered, just like my daughter was,” argued Scrimgeour. “He’s insane and dangerous, especially judging by his attempts to babble on about a clone or some such rubbish and trying to convince us that him and Barone are one in the same. We should nail Barone as well.”

“In time, Rufus, we’ll revisit this entire manner,” said Weaver in a curt voice. “It would be prudent to reevaluate our options and try to neutralize this threat through more discrete channels. Corner Potter and he will lash back out at us, mark my words. As for Barone, I doubt him and Mr. Potter are one in the same, it just doesn’t make sense, as Barone showed up on the scene when Potter was six years old.”

“So you’ll just going to let Potter run wild,” commented Scrimgeour in an agitated tone of voice and Weaver just looked at him seriously.

“Actually, I think it might be best if you took some time off, Rufus,” suggested Weaver, the last thing he wanted, was another scandal for the Daily Prophet to have a field day with. “With everything that has been occurring, it might not be for the best that you would lead a full length investigation of this magnitude. You’ll still get paid but for the best, you should not be working, having time to properly grieve and get your life back together.”

“Fine, Minister,” responded Scrimgeour in a gruff voice as he rose to depart, but Weaver stood up as well.

“And Rufus, I would hate to put one of our most respected veteran Aurors in Azkaban because he did actions outside of the Ministry jurisdiction,” warned Weaver. “I sympathize with your grief, but at the same time, as Minister of Magic, it would be unethical for me to condone any attacks outside of Ministry regulation.”

Scrimgeour just turned and walked from the Minister’s office. Weaver rose to his feet and left as well, for a meeting with Headmaster Flamel.

At Hogwarts, in the corridors, Hermione walked back from the library, in a bit of a distracted mood, when she saw Ron Weasley.

“Hermione!” shouted Ron and Hermione just kept walking, she wanted nothing to do with the younger Weasley at all, she found him to be nothing but petty, immature, and rather simplistic in his views on life. “Hey, listen, how you holding up after…you know what happened?”

Hermione just stood there, silent, not bothering to acknowledge the existence of the youngest Weasley brother.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but I think I know why Harry went insane and attacked the school,” continued Ron and Hermione just turned her back coolly from Ron, who obviously didn’t get the hint. “Well, all that time he spent in the library must have warped him, in addition not to playing much Quidditch. He was bound to go insane, sad really.”

“You really think you have the measure of Harry,” remarked Hermione frostily.

“Well, yeah, he was my best mate,” said Ron and Hermione was amused, in the morbid sense, at Ron’s delusional and quite distorted views on reality. “Seriously, the only way he would have been worse if he had been sorted into Slytherin, but thank Merlin he wasn’t, because who knows how bad the massacre would have been.”

“Really,” commented Hermione coolly. “Well you should know about Slytherins, considering that you are one. You know, I really shouldn’t be left alone with you, because you were the one who said that all Slytherins were evil.”

“Wait, no, I didn’t…I mean…not me, the Sorting Hat made a mistake, putting me here,” stammered Ron idiotically but in his confusion, Hermione had slipped through a shortcut behind a tapestry and out of sight, as Ron was left alone to stammer stupidly in the middle of the hallway.

Luna sat quietly underneath the shade underneath a tree close to the lake to be left alone with her, to an extent disjointed, thoughts. Harry had survived and beaten Voldemort, but it was to expected as far as Luna was concerned as she never doubted for one moment he would fail this time. It was sad that most of the Wizarding World had seen Harry as a cold blooded murderer thanks to the efforts of Voldemort and the evil duplicate. Of course, the people who would not attempt to find the truth, but rather latch onto the easiest solution possible, to blame Harry for what had happened. In her mind, that trivialized what happened to the victims and in the end, they were used as cannon fodder in the Ministry of Magic’s never ended mission to make sure everyone toes the line of what they think the world should have been.

“Luna?” prompted a very familiar voice and Luna turned around to see Ginny standing there. It was curious, as they had not spoken much, if at all, since their second or third year at the latest, so it was a bit peculiar that she was talking to her now.

“Hello Ginny, I must say it’s been a while since we’ve spoken to each other,” remarked Luna cordially, after all, it was best not to be rude.

“Can you believe it, Harry going dark like that?” asked Ginny in a disbelieving voice. “I mean, he’s the last person I thought would be joining You-Know-Who, after all, he’s the Boy-Who-Lived! It’s just a shame, he gave in that easily, but I heard that he might have had second thoughts of what he did, when he killed You-Know-Who. Doesn’t erase what Harry did, but still, I’m not sorry to see him gone.”

Luna just hummed casually, just listening to what Ginny said. While Luna once considered Ginny as a friend, it was sad to see that she had fallen into the same one-dimensional thinking that plagued most of the Wizarding World.

“He attacked you, though,” said Ginny and Luna did not really feel like correctly Ginny, no doubt the truth would be something that she would shrug up as a theory of Luna’s. “I don’t know how you managed to get out of that one alive, maybe, that’s when he came to his senses. I just wish…that I would have been more assertive when it came to Harry.”

“What would this have had to do what happened?” questioned Luna, even though she already suspected what Ginny had believed.

“Well, if we had been together, he might not have turned evil, as he would have had someone that he could talk to,” replied Ginny. “I mean, you know we were meant to be together, and I heard rumors that you and Harry might be together, but naturally I’d know that’d never happen. No offense Luna, but you would be a bit too radical for him, Harry needed someone who would keep him balanced, on the right path, on the path of right.”

“Interesting Ginny,” said Luna calmly. “I would have thought you would have outgrown this infatuation with what was basically a storybook fantasy a long time ago, but sadly I was mistaken.”

“What are you saying Luna?” demanded Ginny.

“I’m saying that maybe, just maybe, you might have had more of a chance of impressing Harry had not continuously attacked like a star struck fan girl in his presence,” said Luna slowly and calmly, so Ginny could register each word. “The stars that you had in your eyes blinded you to what was going on right in front of your face. If not, you would have known that Harry was nothing like you had wanted him to be.”

“I see what happened, YOU STOLE HIM FROM ME!” shouted Ginny angrily, but Luna just sat there, calmly, looking at Ginny. “I can’t believe that Luna, you of all people, you knew I liked him…”

“For your information, I stole nothing from you, Ginevra,” responded Luna coolly.

“Bullshit, yes you did, Harry and I were destined to be together!” shouted Ginny, who seemed mad, beyond all reason. “Mum told me since I was a little girl that one day that I would marry Harry Potter and we’d live happily ever after.”

“Did you ever bother to think that your mother had an ulterior motive for inspiring these thoughts in your mind?” asked Luna calmly, but a small, tiny amount of irritation was appearing underneath her calm exterior. “Or perhaps by someone else, given what has come out about Dumbledore?”

“Luna, how dare you say that my love for Harry was planted in my mind by someone else!” shrieked Ginny, who had her wand pointed at Luna. “Come on Luna, get up, we can settle this right now, after you stole my Harry!”

“No, I don’t think that will be an acceptable idea, I have nothing to gain by fighting you,” said Luna, with a slight roll of her eyes, as she watched the sparks materialize at the end of Ginny’s wand, just a few inches away from the bridge of her nose.

“Fight me, in fact, it’s your fault that Harry went dark, because you kept him away from me!” yelled Ginny, who was so angry she burst into tears.

“Might I ask what is going on here?” asked the voice of Professor McGonagall.

“Young Miss Weasley seems to be under the mistaken impression that I stole Harry away from her, when the fact that Harry’s barely even acknowledged her existence,” responded Luna in a dignified voice.

“YOU DID STEAL HIM, YOU BITCH!” yelled Ginny but McGonagall was quick to calm the storm.

“Miss Weasley, to my office, we’re going to have a chat about your temper,” said McGonagall in a stern voice that caused even Ginny to back down in fear. “Right this way, I’ll be with you once I’ve had a word with Miss Lovegood.”

Ginny smiled at Luna, but Luna paid her no mind, before she walked off to the school. McGonagall turned to Luna slowly and even Luna felt a bit intimidated when McGonagall had “that look” on her face.

“Ten points to Ravenclaw for not retaliating with force, especially under these circumstances,” said McGonagall. “And for the record, regarding a certain matter, Professor Flamel has informed the staff of the truth of what happened recently. And while it does seem a little far fetched, it does make sense once putting everything into perspective. While I only know about two other staff members for certain, I for one believe the story and next time you find yourself in contact with him, give Mr. Potter my regards.”

“Of course Professor McGonagall,” commented Luna, as she went back to be alone with her thoughts.

In truth, she was not angry with anything Ginny said. Rather Luna pitied her and hoped that one day, Ginny would find a way separate her delusions from reality. It was a shame, really, that she wasted her childhood pining over an idealized vision that truly did not exist. It was quite fortunate that it was Luna that Ginny said those things to. Had it been Hermione, Hermione might have responded back with an equally venomous diatribe or perhaps a few well placed hexes, depending on her mood. And if Blaise was still here, Luna shuddered to think what might have happened, had Blaise heard what was said. They’d be hauling Ginny off to the hospital wing in pieces.

Still, Harry should have been sitting with her right now, but instead he was lying low. Luna reasoned that she would have to find some way to get in touch with him soon.

In the Headmaster’s office, Flamel sat behind his desk, finishing writing a letter. He heard a knock on his door and he quickly slid it out of sight.

“Come in, Minister Weaver,” prompted Flamel and the Minister entered, looking as he had aged about fifty years in the last few years, sitting down in front of the Headmaster’s desk. “Now, I allowed your Aurors to inspect the school, so what is this about?”

“The Board of Governors had word of Mr. Potter’s little escapade here and wants you to step down as Headmaster as an act of good faith to the parents of those students who were killed,” said Weaver but Flamel did not look all that bothered.

“Just as well, considering I’ll be dead in a few days anyway,” said Flamel casually, as if dying was an every day occurrence. “I didn’t know when I could drop that into the conversation casually, so thanks for you giving me the opening.”

“You’re….welcome,” said Weaver tentatively.

“Yes, tonight we’ll be having a large feast to celebrating the fact that I’ll be dying or I suppose the fact that Voldemort’s dead as well, as that’s a matter worth celebrating as well,” said Flamel. “And then, off to St. Mungos, until I’m due for my long over due appointment with the Grim Reaper.”

“So, we’ll put McGonagall in until we find a more steady replacement,” suggested Weaver.

“Whatever you prefer, and also, you might want to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher as well,” said Flamel casually. “Sirius Black and Remus Lupin have agreed to teach until a replacement can be found, I’d hate to lose them, but they’ve been both disenchanted with remaining at Hogwarts given recent events.”

“I can see that, it would be very difficult to show one’s face if the son of two of your best friends had turned dark and attempted to murder the school,” said Weaver. “And yes Flamel, the boy brought up the clone thing as well, but no magic as far as I know that could cause such a realistic duplication.”

“What makes you certain that Voldemort wouldn’t be inventive enough to attempt to create such a process?” asked Flamel but Weaver just shrugged.

“Unless this clone magically turns up, there is no way to prove this theory,” said Weaver. “Yes, I’m well aware that should it exist, it could be in whatever’s left of the Forbidden Forest, but the centaurs are already in an uproar about what happened in there and it’s out our jurisdiction.”

“Never stopped the Ministry before,” muttered Flamel under his breath.

“As Minister, my hands are tied, we can ill-afford another scandal, even if it’s something as miniscule as enraging the centaurs,” said Weaver, who to an extent hated how political he had to act, but he had a duty as Minister of Magic to uphold the laws of Wizarding Britain, no matter how much he disagreed with him. “Also, Mr. Potter did not act like an innocent, he threatened to broadcast the existence of the Wizarding World to the Muggles if we didn’t let him go.”

“Did he do it?” asked Flamel and Weaver shook his head. “Well, it looks like you were lucky, to catch Mr. Potter on a good day. Now, Minister, if that’s all, I really need to prepare for my death.”

“Yes, of course,” responded Weaver.

“And I better not get a fancy funeral, with a bunch of pompous Ministry suits pretending they were my close personal friends or I’ll come back from the dead, to haunt you,” said Flamel to the retreating back of Weaver, before he sealed what would be the final letter of his life. After that, he would make sure everything was ready for the feast and then it was time to set off to meet his maker.

Harry sat at Number Four Privet Drive, he had hoped he would never spend an extended amount of time at this place again, but at least it was only temporary until his bases of operation had been completely reconstructed. Thanks to the damage that was done with, it would take a couple of weeks to get everything back to Harry’s liking, even with magic.

A soft knock brought Harry out of his thoughts.

“Come in,” said Harry and the door pushed open, allowing a smiling Luna entrance. “Hi, Luna, nice to see you, it really is.”

“Good morning Harry, I’d figured you might be here,” responded Luna as she sat down on the chair right next beside Harry’s. “How have you been lately?”

“As good as can be expected,” said Harry. “I just thought I’d be in a better mood considering that Voldemort has been defeated.”

“Perhaps if you could tell me exactly how you defeated him, then it would help you begin to put everything in perspective?” suggested Luna and Harry nodded, but he frowned.

“I don’t know where to begin, but I suppose the beginning would help,” said Harry and Luna nodded, patiently waiting for him to go on. “In a matter of speaking, I lived through all this before, well a version of me did anyway. A version of me who had seen way too much death that can be healthy, that was turned a bit bitter and only was fueled by revenge on Voldemort.”

“Makes sense, please continue Harry,” encouraged Luna with a smile.

“I was six years old when he came and when he came back, he asserted his control over my body,” continued Harry. “At times, I must admit, his influence was a fairly decent thing, especially in those earlier years, I was content to stay quiet for the most part in the part of the mind that I was shoved in, in fact, most of the time, he had forgotten that I was there, only putting me off as a small echo, something that kept him from going too far I suppose but as I got older, I learned from his memories, I knew his friends and his enemies. He still was the dominant one, but I began to prod his influence as much as I could be allowed to. The older version of me wanted to shut you all out when Voldemort returned, that way he could numb himself should any of you got killed.”

“You didn’t like that, did you?” asked Luna.

“Of course I didn’t like that, I had learned enough from his experiences to know what I didn’t want but still I was mostly contained. My sudden liberation, as ironic as it sounds, was thanks in part to Voldemort,” continued Harry. “I’m not sure how exactly this happened but the best I can figure is this. When we destroyed Voldemort’s physical body, he managed to somehow force his essence through the link created when he attempted to kill me on that night. The magic jarred me free and allowed me to take control. I had two of my least favorite people of the world in my head, Voldemort and my jaded potential future self and for once I could do something about it. Now, both of them were powerful adversaries that it took every bit of will power I had to throw off their possession. By all rights they should have silenced me for good.”

Harry took a deep breath.

“Yet, I beat them, I ejected Voldemort from my mind with what could basically be classified as an extremely powerful wandless exorcism spell, he hung on for dear life, but to be honest I really wanted him out of there, he defiled me and I’ve still haven’t felt clean enough, after the sixth shower I’ve took since then,” commented Harry, which caused Luna to snicker, in spite of herself. “It was impossible to get that corrupted shade of my future self out of my mind, but I used a rare bit of Occlumency to seal him inside an unused portion of my mind. Rather complicated, and I could have fried my brain, but thankfully I trapped him.”

“Thankfully,” agreed Luna.

“Despite all of what he put me through, I couldn’t have defeated Voldemort without him, but honestly I can’t put up with his jaded worldview any longer,” said Harry. “I just hope he finds solitude where I kept him, but despite all that, I think he was quite fond of all of his friends. Quite frankly, he hated that, he thought he was poison, and he fought especially hard to keep himself away from you Luna.”

“So I supped that you must have been in a relationship with that alternate version of me,” concluded Luna perceptively. “Well what about you?”

Harry quickly leaned forward and kissed Luna briefly, before he pulled back.

“Answer your question, Luna?” asked Harry mischievously.

“I think so Harry, but I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t a figment of my overactive imagination, so may we get to our feet and face each other?” prodded Luna as she rose up and Harry quickly followed. After what he had been through, he knew that he had to seize the moment, as given the chaotic nature of life; there might not be another one.

Mutually, Harry and Luna came together for their first real kiss. No amount of description could do it justice, no amount of hyperbole could have actually described the feelings of both of the teenagers. After about a minute, they broke apart for oxygen.

“You know, having to breathe is annoying,” commented Luna casually and that both of them to shared a laugh, as they sat back down. “Well, I guess neither of us was imagining anything.”

“No, but I almost expected to hear cheesy, sappy music in the background when we slowly leaned forward,” said Harry and this caused Luna to break out into loud giggles, causing her to laugh so hard that tears rolled down her cheek, Harry joining her, as they both attempted to maintain their composure. This took several minutes, before Luna pulled out a folded up piece of parchment.

“Professor Flamel asked me to give you this note,” said Luna as she slid it over to Harry quietly unfolded it, before he read the note out loud.

Dear Harry

I thought it would be worth my time to take a few of the remaining moments of my life to write you a letter. Yes, my time is nearly done, as I depart from this Earth soon, perhaps several centuries later than I should have. Yet I look forward to what awaits on the other side, as I daresay it may be much better than the shambled Wizarding World that you find yourself in as I write this. As hard as it to believe, at one time, the Ministry of Magic was an effective form of government, but then again, also at one time, I was a handsome young gentleman. Both those things have been harder to believe as time passed.

For the record, you are one of the few that actual give me hope that this world may be salvaged one day. Unfortunately, thanks to Riddle’s little scheme, you may be judged as a pariah for quite some time. Do not let this ruin your life, the Ministry is not worth sinking into a depression over. Eventually, there may come a time where the Ministry is more willing to closely examine the facts. Still, be that as it me, knowing you was quite the interesting experience and I wish you nothing but the best of luck in your future endeavors in life.

On a lighter note, here’s a line from my will that I’m sure you’ll find rather amusing. “As for the Ministry of Magic, I leave nothing but my two middle fingers stuck high in the air.”

Both Luna and Harry started cracking up at that little piece.

“Good old, Nicholas,” said Harry. “Even in death, he gets one more key shot in at the Ministry.

So in conclusion, I need to prepare for my death. Good luck once again and I better not see you for at least a hundred years.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Flamel.

Harry looked and saw the small piece of the Philosopher’s Stone taped to the bottom of the note.

PS: Here’s the rest of the stone, yes, that’s all of it, I swear. Destroy it or keep it safe for an emergency, the choice is yours

“So, how long can you stay?” asked Harry promptly.

“For another few minutes, I wish it could be longer though,” said Luna sadly. “Still, Mum wants me to get my O.W.Ls, but Dad approves of me just walking out of Hogwarts without warning one day. Still suppose I better listen to Mum.”

“Well, you do need something to fall back, if everyone in the Wizarding World goes insane and the Quibbler has to get put out of business,” said Harry.

“Yes and I would hate to have to beg my boyfriend to bail me out,” commented Luna but Harry just responded with a smirk.

“And what would he say if you were cheating on him with me?” asked Harry playfully.

“Well, he did defeat a really powerful dark lord not too long ago,” said Luna with a smile.

“You mean there was another one besides Voldemort running around?” inquired Harry in mock astonishment. “I must have not been paying attention.”

“Well Harry you’ve been known to zone out from time to time,” responded Luna. “Wrackspruts seem to be attracted to you moths to a flame.”

“Or me to you,” said Harry with a smile before he shook his head. “From defeater of a Dark Lord to a love struck teenager in days flat.”

“Must be a new record,” said Luna and Harry nodded. “Oh and by the way, yes, I’ll be your girlfriend, thanks for asking.”

“I was getting there,” said Harry.

“I know Harry, really, it’s just the Portkey does leave in two minutes and didn’t quite know when you would get around to it,” replied Luna. “Still, Harry, everything will be fine, this is not the end, but rather a new beginning.”

“Before I forget, did the Ministry ever even bother looking through the Forbidden Forest for my evil twin?” asked Harry but Luna shook her head.

“No, the centaurs aren’t too happy that you obliterated most of their forest,” said Luna.

“The centaurs are never happy,” remarked Harry. “Still, after everything…I hope I can move on and rebuild.”

“I know, Blaise is still weighing heavily on her conscious, Harry,” said Luna. “Still, you handled the situation the best you could, I suspect that if you could go back, you’d do things differently but Voldemort was the one who killed her. You have no need to blame yourself

Harry nodded, as Luna looked anxiously at the Portkey, as it flashed, given her the one minute warning.

“I’ll try and see you again soon, maybe with the others next time, but I don’t know when it will be,” said Luna as she wrapped her arms around Harry warmly in a hug, before their lips for one final kiss. As the Portkey began to blink, they reluctantly pulled apart from their passionate embrace. “See you later Harry, stay safe. I know everything will turn out okay.”

Harry stepped back, wishing that he could return to Hogwarts, but of course, that was out of the question.

“Bye Luna, see you real soon,” muttered Harry as he watched Luna leave, disappointed that she had to go.

“Took you long enough with her,” hissed Vinny from underneath Harry’s sleeve.

“Quiet you,” said Harry, as he prepared for the next stage of his life and hopefully he could rebuild his empire and to another extent, his life, from the ashes of the destruction caused by Voldemort.

It was nightfall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as a group of hooded figures appeared outside the Forbidden Forest, with artificially created fog masking their activities to those who looked outside at that time. When it was clear that there were no centaurs nearby, they back to magically shift away the fallen trees, until they saw a pale and lifeless hand sticking out from the debris.

“We have what we seek,” remarked one of the figures in a magically distorted voice, as they proceeded to dig out the lifeless Harry Potter duplicate.

“The rumors were true, the Dark Lord has used our baseline work, no doubt passed on by Rookwood, and improved upon it to make this specimen,” said another one of the figures.

“We must depart, before this is found, no doubt it would be destroyed had anyone else located it and it can be of some use to our work,” commented a third figure.

“Indeed, the balance must be maintained and once we unlock the secrets of this duplicate, it shall be done, no longer will Muggles finding out of our world’s existence be a concern,” concluded the fourth figure, before they departed with the clone and the only piece of evidence that could clear Harry Potter’s name.

And that’s the end. As for the unnamed sequel, don’t expect to see one word of it until it’s completely written, but it will be clearly marked as a sequel. I will reveal while there will be a few rather dark parts, there will also be a distinct return to humor as well in many places, and a guy named Lou will be one of the main villains. Also, the several factions of the Zabini mob will be squabbling for power of the former empire, which will lead a few headaches for Harry once the leader of one side aligns themselves with a super natural force. And of course, more that I’m not going to reveal.

So thanks for reading a Twisted Timeline and I’m out.