Fin. This is it.

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Epilogue: The End of Term

The summer sun was glorious and except for recent issues with the plumbing, everything was going well with Hogwarts.

It had taken Harry several days to fully get some perspective on events that had taken place. He had spent many hours with Dumbledore discussing his requirements over the following months and what would happen when he returned to the Dursleys. Accepting the need had been the hardest part.

But he had to. Voldemort and his followers were still out there in the world and the enchantment created by his mother's sacrifice required it.

And so go back there he would. Magic was not allowed, but he had purchased a potion kit via the post which would arrive the day after his return, as well as a broomstick he could use whenever he could get away into the country.

The school was still on a high alert. The battle in the forest had been terrible with several teachers injured. Shortly before the battle, more than a dozen aurors had arrived from all over the country and joined the teachers. Several had died.

More than a dozen of Voldemort's followers had been killed in the battle, as well as all manner of monstrous dark creatures. It was believed that many more had escaped. The violence had taken a terrible toll on the centaur tribe as well as the unicorns, all of whom had joined the teachers in repelling the invaders.

It turned out that many of the protective wards and enchantments over the area that contained Hogwarts and the greater area of the grounds and forest had been damaged and eroded over what appeared to be several months. This had allowed Quirrell and his conspirators to get inside the grounds. The damage had taken all spring to repair and was only being finished now, on the last day of term.

Quirrell was dead, his body literally reduced to ashes as a result of a combination of Harry's mother's protection, Voldemort's parasitism and the horrific drain taken from breaking several hugely powerful spells without adequate preparation. There had been no sign of Voldemort.

Ron joined him at the window of the dormitory. "You okay?"

Harry nodded.

"You don't have to stay there all summer, you know. You can come stay with me any time, just drop me an owl."

"Thanks, Ron." Harry said. No one knew the reason he had to return to the Dursley's and he had been forbidden to tell anyone 'just in case' word got out. "I'll think about it. I have plenty of books, at least."

Ron shrugged. "I guess, but there's only so much reading you can do. You'll have to start following quidditch for something to do."

Harry smiled. "I might just do that."

He had enjoyed the last few quidditch games, both of which had been held with extra security. Gryffindor had come in second, following a snitch grab while they'd been one hundred and forty points behind in their last game. Ravenclaw had won the overall quidditch tournament that year for the first time in thirty and had resulted in riots of bronze and blue filling the halls for weeks.

The night before had been the end of year feast in which they'd said an official goodbye to the OWL students who wouldn't be returning for NEWTs and the NEWT students who were finally finished with their time at Hogwarts.

The house cup had been shared between Gryffindor and Slytherin after the heroic efforts of Christian Darcy who had led the other student defenders against an attempted attack by a group of Voldemort's followers on the castle. One student had died in the defence, shielding another's body with his own. That student had been Slytherin Head Boy Hector Jameson, and he had been granted every honour imaginable by both the school and the Ministry of Magic. And so, the cup had been shared for the first time ever.

Those students outside the school had been ultimately saved by a group of apparating aurors arriving in the nick of time.

The whole thing had created quite the commotion, both at the school and in the wider wizarding world, with reporters turning up daily for the first few weeks after the attack.

His role in the matter and exposure had been kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, his name still appeared frequently in The Daily Prophet, usually surrounded by salacious gossip around how he, Harry, must have secretly had a hand in saving the day.

Which he had because, as it turned out, Quirrell had been seeking the strange red stone which had the power to somehow restore Voldemort to life.

Dumbledore had explained how the wards Quirrell had broken had been put in place by various teachers and even the head of the Auror Office – Rufus Scrimgeour – in order to hide it from just such an attack. It had been a Philosopher's Stone, a priceless magical artefact and the pinnacle of the science of alchemy that could be used to make a potion of immortality. They were staggeringly rare, almost impossible to create and not technically legal. This stone had been found by an adventuring wizard in New Zealand at the start of the year and had now been transferred to the only known master of creating them: Nicholas Flamel.

"It is strange, because the stone that was found is more than a thousand years old, and it was believed that Nicholas fabricated the first one a little over six centuries ago." Dumbledore had said.

Harry had more reading to do on the matter.

He turned away from the window and levitated his case a few inches off the ground, the motion normal to him now. He left the dormitory with Dean, Ron and Seamus.

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The great hall was very full with noise, bodies and cases awaiting the carriages to take them to the Hogwarts Express which would be arriving in an hour.

Percy Weasley imperiously told them where to put their cases and that they were to not make a fuss. Apparently no one else had listened to him either.

The four made their way to the tables which were loaded with sandwiches wrapped in paper, chocolates and bags of crisps for their journey home.

Harry thought about Nidhogg, asleep in his trunk, going through another growth-spurt. He had taken spent a lot of his time in the forest since the battle, had even witnessed a lot of it first-hand. He had eaten a lot in his time there, many descriptions of which meant nothing to Harry, and was growing rapidly. He would spend the day in the trunk and return to his family when they made it back to Privet Drive.

Hermione, Fay and Tina-Marie were stood together gossiping. Hermione was well recovered and relieved to have passed every test that the school could throw at her.

"Looking forward to going back to your muggles?" Ron asked Hermione, gently bumping into her intentionally.

"Oh shut up, Ron. I've told you we're going to Australia this summer. I was just telling Tina-Marie about our plans to visit Uluru and the Ulukain Tribe."

"Sounds fascinating." Said Tina-Marie, nodding half-heartedly before excusing herself and vanishing into the crowd.

Harry spent a few minutes onserving the raucous noise of the hall before turning back to the group. "If any of you are free over the summer, I was thinking we could visit… Godrick's Hollow." He said.

The small clutch of people went quiet and all turned to him.

"That's the wizard village, right?" Dean asked. "Why would you want to go there?"

Ron elbowed Dean. "He was born there, stupid. That's where…"

"Where my parents died." Harry said, finishing for Ron.

"If you fancy it, mate. If you're sure." Said Ron.

"Absolutely." Fay agreed. I only live about half an hour from there.

Harry smiled.

He had to go home.

"It's not a wizard village," Hermione said, "It just so happens that it has an unusually large wizard population."

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Uncle Vernon was waiting at King's Cross when the Hogwarts Express arrived.

Surrounded by witches and wizards from all over Britain, he looked more uncomfortable than anyone Harry had ever seen.

"Come on then." He said as Harry walked over to him, dragging his trunk. Vernon turned and started to stride off toward the car park.

Harry hung back. "Hold on." He said, before turning back to his friends.

Ron, Dean, Hermione and Fay were there, as well as the Weasley twins and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team nearby.

Knowing how annoyed Vernon would be, Harry took his time saying goodbye. The girls hugged him and the boys awkwardly shook hands, all promising to write and visit if and when they could. After a few minutes Mr and Mrs Weasley arrived.

Mrs Weasley shook his hand and Mrs Weasley hugged him.

"Is no one going to collect you, Harry?" He asked, looking around.

Harry turned and pointed at Vernon. "Him over there, he's my uncle."

Mr Weasley smiled, "Very good, I'll go say hello." He strode off before Harry could protest.

"Now Harry, dear." Mrs Weasley said, taking Harry's arm before he could follow Mr Weasley. "Do let us know if you need anything this summer, and feel free to come stay if you like."

Harry nodded, a little bewildered. "Thank you very much. Also, thank you for the Christmas jumper, Mrs Weasley."

She beamed and hugged him again as Mr Weasley came striding back.

"Charming fellow, your uncle. Better crack on, Harry. I think he's eager to be off." He said, shaking Harry's hand again.

Harry nodded. Vernon looked strange. Pale and confused. Harry said his final goodbyes and walked back over to him.

"Are you okay, uncle Vernon?" Harry asked.

He just nodded but reached past Harry and took the handle of his trunk, pulling it forward toward the exit.

Harry smiled. Maybe the summer wouldn't be so bad after all.

The End.

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