Harry Potter: After The War

Chapter 1 - The Aftermath

Jets of red and green filled Harry's eyes as he looked every which way. He could see now, clearly, the bodies of Fred, Lupin, and Tonks, lying there, motionless, never to move again, never to wake up and tell Harry it was all just a dream, and they weren't really dead...

And he awoke with a start.

It had been a week since the battle of Hogwarts. In that time, things were more hectic than they had ever been before; the Wizarding World had to rebuild itself, after all. After the war ended, Pius Thicknesse, the minister of magic, had been killed. By the judgment of Harry and several others, Kingsley Shacklebolt was decided to be the fittest for the role of Minister of Magic. Harry had finally decided his life was safe enough to let other people besides Ron and Hermione in, and he had once again begun dating Ginny Weasley. Hogwarts was in the midst of being rebuilt, and Professor McGonagall was the new headmaster, giving her spot as transfiguration teacher to a man by the name of Leruvius Dowlin. The school wasn't fully rebuilt yet, and students were not permitted to come back for the remainder of the school year. However, the bright side of things was a much different story; news of Voldemort's defeat had spread like wildfire in the course of only a few days, and practically the whole world now knew about Harry's valiant overcoming of the Dark Lord, cementing his place as the Boy Who Lived. 

"Evening, Harry," Ron said, his face buried in a newspaper, as Harry now sat up in his bed. For the past week, Harry had been staying at the Burrow with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Percy was now staying with them as well. Despite the recent defeat of Voldemort, it was undeniable that grief had plagued everyone it could get its hands on. It took all Harry could muster to stay happy in the coming days.

"Morning." He said tiredly. 

"Check this out. There's an article from Rita Skeeter in here. Not half bad, she really outdid herself with this one. Half of what she said was right." Ron tossed the newspaper into Harry's arms, who put his glasses on and opened it up to the page Ron had been reading.

THE DARK LORD DEFEATED

In recent events, what is now being called the Battle of Hogwarts took place over the weekend, leading to what can be assumed was hundreds of casualties, many of which were Death Eaters. I spoke with Neville Longbottom, a seventh-year student at Hogwarts, about the events, and discovered that on the day of the attack, the school had been infiltrated by none other than Harry Potter, who reportedly attempted to flee once the battle had started.  Whether these rumors are true or not, however, we cannot be sure, as the Dark Lord was not always the most credible of men.- Harry couldn't help but laugh. The main takeaway from this incredible battle, however, was Harry Potter's triumphant defeat of Lord Voldemort and his men. Longbottom stated that Potter had demanded he kill Voldemort's faithful pet snake and that Voldemort's defeat relied on it.

The question remains, however; what did Harry Potter know that coined him his victory over the Dark Lord? Is it possible that we can tie this back to Albus Dumbledore, Harry's late master, whom we all know had a very close bond? Cont. Page 36

Harry set the newspaper down. He did not feel like reading about Rita Skeeter's theories; he was sure that, had she had anything close to an accurate idea, Ron would've said so. "You're right, Ron. Do you reckon Neville has something to do with it?"

"I reckon he threatened her with that sword. Did you see how he fought with that thing? Makes me feel a bit lame, just stabbing the Horcrux with it."

Before Harry could reply, the door to their room opened, and Hermione stepped in. "Oh, good, you're awake. Come downstairs, everyone else is up."