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Chapter 45 the end of term

Harry awoke in the hospital wing. Warm sunlight was flooding through the open windows and there was a nice breeze keeping the room at a comfy temperature. At first he wondered how he had gotten there, but then the memories of the previous night returned. LeStrange, RatFace and Dementors, but also his and Hermione's Patroni.

Harry looked around for Hermione only to find he was alone. He would probably have started panicking, but next to his hospital bed were some obvious signs that Hermione had been spending some time there. The chair was pulled right up to the bed and one of the hospital wing's pillows was hanging off the back, the white of the pillow case easily showing a few cat hairs. When Harry added in the small stack of books there as well, it was obvious that Hermione had been spending some time here. With nothing else to do Harry picked up one of the books and started to read. It was a transfiguration textbook aimed at fourth year students; having finished his third year studies he was able to follow most of what the book was talking about, but some of it he just didn't understand yet.

After a while Madam Pomfrey came by while doing her rounds. "Ah Mr. Potter, I see you have woken up. How are you feeling?" Her tone conveyed that it was a medical question she wanted an honest answer, not idle conversation.

"Not bad, a little achy but nothing major. How bad was it when I was brought in last night?" Harry was curious.

"You were brought in on Thursday night/Friday morning. It's now Sunday afternoon, you have been unconscious for almost three days with physical exhaustion." She went on to list all the injuries Harry had when he came in, which totalled an alarming amount. His body was almost one big bruise with two cracked ribs, probably courtesy of the Whomping willow if Harry had to guess. There were bruises on the bones of his knuckles, a dislocated finger, a broken nose, scram* marks over his face, a twisted ankle, a few bumps to his head. To top it all off, he also had exposure to dark magic, exposure to Dementors and the aforementioned physical exhaustion. Harry hadn't even noticed getting some of the injuries; when had he twisted his ankle? He had no Idea.

"To be honest Mr. Potter, while this is probably the longest list of injuries you have ever come to me with, most of it was incredibly minor. Cuts, scrapes, and bruising are relatively simple to fix, the dark magic exposure was the most difficult part. Miss Granger told me about what Mr. Malfoy did, you were lucky that he lacks the skill required to truly use that spell." She practically spat out the last two words as though they left a bad taste in her mouth.

Two questions battled for dominance in Harry's head. "Where is Hermione? And what's happening with Malfoy?"

"Miss Granger is getting some lunch and refreshing herself, she should be back soon. As for Mr Malfoy, I will let Miss Granger tell you what's happening when she gets back." Harry was disappointed that she was refusing to tell him what was going on, but he had been in that situation enough times with her in the past to know it pointless to push. Madam Pomfrey excused herself after performing a few diagnostic charms on him, leaving Harry with nothing else to do but return to the book. He was just reading about the basics of vanishing and conjuring spells when Hermione pushed open the door to the hospital wing.

Her face lit up when she saw that he was awake, she half-dove into the bed next to him and pulled him into one of the hugs that Harry had gotten addicted to.

"You look happy." Harry commented as he wrapped his own arms around his witch.

She beamed at him. "So do you, and so does the whole castle. The Dementors are gone, and with them their effects. We didn't even realize how much it was affecting everyone until it was gone. So even after what happened I feel great, happy we survived."

Now that Hermione said it, Harry noticed that it almost felt like a heavy weight had been removed from his chest and it was easier to breath but in a completely non physical way. "The Dementors are gone?" he asked

"Yep!" Hermione smiled. "Minister Fudge and Director Bones came to the school that same night. Well, I suppose Minister Fudge came back. Anyway Director Bones asked me and Neville what happened, and when we told her about the Dementors attacking the three of us, Director Bones ordered Minister Fudge to send them back to Azkaban.

"Minister Fudge argued that she didn't have the authority to order him to do anything but she just said, 'You're right, Minister, I don't have the authority to order you to remove them. However, I do have the authority to arrest any witch or wizard in the country who I suspect to be party to a crime; just because I am the department head doesn't mean I don't still have my auror badge. And let me remind you that intentionally putting the lives of minors at risk is a crime, and there are currently about 1400 students in this castle, most of whom are minors. Just think what the Prophet would say if you were arrested on more than a thousand charges. Oh, and if you think I won't do it, let me remind you my niece is one of the students here.'

"So minister Fudge ordered them gone pretty quickly after that. You can see how Madam Bones was able to rise so high in the Ministry despite it being such an old boys' club." Harry could see that Hermione admired Director Bones. Switching topics, Hermione asked "So how long have you been awake?" She loosened up her grip but rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not long, maybe forty-five minutes?" Harry guessed.

"Darn, I just missed you waking up. I had to grab a shower, change my clothes and grab something to eat." Harry couldn't see her face from the angle she was at but he could hear the slightest bit of a whine in her voice.

"Madam Pomfrey told me where you were but she refused to say anything about anything else. What's happening with LeStrange, RatFace and Malfoy?"

"RatFace?" Hermione asked.

"The wizard that was helping LeStrange. We don't know his name and he disguised himself as Scabbers, so RatFace." Harry explained his choice of name.

"Well, LeStrange and Ratface got away. According to Madam Bones yesterday, she has evidence that they took an illegal portkey out of the country so they are gone. At least for now."

"What's a portkey?" Harry asked.

"I asked Madam Bones the same thing. It's an object that is spelled to teleport from one location to another, taking anyone touching it along as well."

Harry nodded his understanding. "And Malfoy?""

"In D.M.L.E custody awaiting his trial tomorrow." She went quiet. "He is going to get off."

"WHAT?! How the hell is that son of a bitch going to get away with it?!" Harry shouted at the top of his voice as anger flooded his brain.

"Harry, this is a hospital wing, don't shout." Hermione sternly told him.

"But!" He didn't care where he was right now. This deserved shouting!

"I know Harry. I agree with you. And so does Madam Bones, after what happened to Auror Moonshine she wants to throw the book at him. But Warlock Malfoy is already going around telling all the members of the Wizengamot that Draco was under the Imperius curse. A spell that lets you control someone completely. It's completely illegal, so of course it was popular with those who followed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Hermione explained.

"Apparently, according to Madam Bones, the warlocks on the Wizengamot are either in the pocket of the Malfoy family or they would much rather believe that someone our age was forced to do what he did to you, rather than believe that students would use the Cruciatus on each other." Her tone was that of disgust; despite staying calm, Harry could tell she wanted to rage as well. It was that more than anything that got Harry to relax, well relax physically at least. He still wanted to find Malfoy and strangle the smug little shit.

"Dumbledore has refused to let him back to the school for the rest of the year, but as he has already had his exams he will still be in our classes in September."

"So there's nothing we can do?"

"Sorry Harry, I offered to testify that he was doing it himself but Director Bones turned me down. Neither of us are experts in the Imperius curse, so the only things we can testify to is him attacking you and his use of the Cruciatus curse. He has admitted to doing that, he is just claiming it isn't his fault, so there is nothing for us to say."

"So they are just going to let him get away with it! Fucking typical." Harry wanted to rant some more but stopped himself; yes it was unfair, yes it was wrong, but Hermione had done nothing wrong, she was just the messenger. Instead Harry laid back on the bed, Hermione still curled up against him, and went back to sleep. For someone who had spent the last few days sleeping, he was tired.

-ϟϟϟ-

The next few days passed slowly as Madam Pomfrey kept Harry in for observation. What this meant in practice was Harry feeling well enough to leave but instead having nothing to do all day except sit in bed with Hermione and her collection of books. In fairness, with their exams over and the teachers more focused on the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams that were almost on top of them, Harry and Hermione would probably be doing the same thing somewhere else, probably out in the grounds enjoying the warm early summer sun maybe even with a picnic. What was really getting to him though was that he was stuck in this one room, not even able to go for a walk, just because madam Pomfrey was overly cautious.

There were a few visitors to break up the monotony and help stave off the cabin fever. Neville came to visit for about twenty minutes every day since he woke up. He had explained why his wand had worked for LeStrange better than it had ever worked for him after he had talked to Dumbledore about it. Apparently wands can change allegiance when you defeat another Wix. Dumbledore suspected that Neville's wand, which had belonged to his father before him, had switched its allegiance to LeStrange long before it had ever come into Neville's possession. it also explained why Neville always had so much trouble with magic. Using a wand that was not compatible with them would have crippled any Wix, using an incompatible wand since his first lessons would have destroyed anyone's confidence in their magic.

Daphne and Tracy had also stopped by on the pretence of Daphne needing a headache potion. Tracy had left a card after checking there were no other Slytherins in the room that would have given them grief over being friendly with Harry and Hermione. The card had a picture of a miniature stuffed lion with a bandage on its head and contained all the couple's well wishes.

The only other visitor Harry had had was "Uncle Moony". On the same day Harry woke up, Remus came to talk to Harry. He wanted to check that Harry was ok and to tell Harry that he had given Dumbledore his resignation. Moony's response when Harry protested was that he had been used as a weapon against students, and that it was only through luck that things weren't a lot worse.

Harry could understand that. It must have weighed heavily on the man to know what could have happened not only to students in general but specifically to Harry, the only child of one of his best friends. Not that he would've been happy about being used against Hermione or Neville either, but Harry thought that Moony found being used against the closest thing he had to a nephew extra disturbing.

After they were done talking about quitting his job, the topic moved on to what happened after Harry and the others had left the Shrieking Shack and left Professor Lupin behind. Harry and Hermione told him about their flight across the countryside, about duelling LeStrange and Malfoy, about how the three of them were restrained, and about how Harry was used as a training dummy so that Malfoy could learn the Cruciatus curse. They told him about their rescue by Auror Moonshine, and about RatFace and how he killed Auror Moonshine. Moony latched onto two details; first was Harry's patronus, the other was the details about RatFace.

"A stag? Truly?" Uncle Moony (for he was truly giving off "proud uncle" vibes here) grew a little teary.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, mine was definitely a stag."

"Are you okay professor? Hermione asked.

"I… no not really." He was becoming rather upset. "It's just…I suppose you have worked out why my nickname is Moony." The two of them nodded. Knowing that he was a werewolf, it was obvious in hindsight.

"I've known for months." Hermione admitted. "Ever since professor Snape set the werewolf essay." Harry wasn't surprised. He had known that Snape was up to something. That Hermione figured it out was to be expected.

"Did you ever wonder why the other nicknames though?" Moony asked. The two teens shook their heads. "Lycanthropy is a true curse. Not just in the magical sense, but it creates a monster once a month that will attack anyone that gets within reach. What most people don't realise is that it is a curse on the one infected just as much, and not just because the infected are shunned or that the transformation is painful.

"Werewolves have a drive while transformed, and if they are locked away from people then they turn the need to bite on themselves." He pulled up his sleeve and they could see hundreds of scars on his forearm. They overlapped so much that it was impossible to see that they were bite marks. "While I was a student here, there was no choice but to be locked away every full moon, where I would start to bite myself. Then the most amazing thing happened. My friends found out my secret. And instead of shunning me like I expected, they accepted me and then beyond accepted me.

"Harry, your father did all sorts of research into werewolves and eventually he stumbled across two bits of information that would help. Animals are immune to the effects of werewolves, and werewolves (like normal wolves) are pack animals. James was amazing at transfiguration, and he came up with a plan to help me. It took two years and a lot of work but James pulled it off. He and our other two friends became animagi." Hermione gasped, but Harry was absorbing every drop of information he could get about his father. "Here's the thing, Harry; James's animal form was a stag. That is why we called him Prongs."

There was silence for a few minutes while Harry absorbed that news. His Patronus was a stag. His dad could transform into a stag. Those two thoughts bonded back and forth until they merged into one thought. My Patronus is my dad. It was a silly idea, and on most levels he understood that, yet the thought that he had his father with him, even if it was just in a tiny way, was impossible to completely let go of.

Lupin had fixated on one other detail, and now he had Harry describe in detail every aspect of the wizard RatFace and the rat form he took. Once Harry said that it looked like he had disguised himself as his roommate Ron's pet rat Scabbers, Lupin demanded to know everything Harry could tell him about Scabbers. He wanted to know how long Ron had had the rat, what the rat looked like, and even at one point asking if it was missing a toe. The questions were so specific at some points that Harry started to have suspicions that something was going on. However when he asked, all Lupin would say was that it wasn't the sort of thing you talked about without evidence and that he would look into what was going on.

When Harry tried to press, Lupin had said that he needed something to keep his mind occupied, now that he was going to have so much free time on his hands. Harry glanced at Lupin's patched robes and doubted that he had the money to go without work to free up time to fill, but he didn't say anything. Once again, adults weren't telling him things. One part of him, the part that started to develop under the care of Dan and Emma seeing them actually do what adults in charge were supposed to do, understood that it was an adult's job to fix things. However, the part of him that had learned from bitter experience was preparing for not knowing something to come and bite him in the ass.

-ϟϟϟ-

Exclusive interview with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

Well, readers, where to begin? First, I must say that this interview was done only a few hours before young Mr. Potter was drawn into the events involving the escaped convict Bellatrix LeStrange, which have been widely reported in the Daily Prophet over the last week. These events lead to the death of an auror and the presentation of an underage wizard (who cannot be named for legal reasons) to the Wizengamot after he was Imperiused by a companion of LeStrange to use the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse (a spell known to produce intense, unbearable pain in its victims and is punishable with a life sentence in the wizarding prison Azkaban) on young Mr. Potter. As such, there will be no mention of those events in the interview.

The best place to start is with the news most young witches dread: Harry Potter is no longer single. When I met with Harry he was in the company of an enchanting young witch by the name of Hermione Granger.

It seems, dear readers, that like his father before him, young Mr. Potter has fallen for a Muggleborn. Given that Harry himself was raised in the Muggle world after the tragic loss of his parents, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Harry is able to empathize with the Muggleborn witches and wizards of our society, being just as out of the loop when it comes to wizarding culture as the newcomers.

I asked the two of them how they felt about the magical world and they went on to list a number of things they liked. For Mr. Potter it was Quidditch, some types of magic, and a fondness for magical sweets. His lovely girlfriend, however, loved the books and the freedom that magic gave her.

When I asked what they didn't like, they were of one mind: not liking the importance our culture places on blood status. According to Mr. Potter, it reminded him too much of the views of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They also considered it unfortunate that witches and wizards are so disconnected from the Muggle world.

Don't misunderstand, both of them are in favour of the Statute of Secrecy. To quote Mr. Potter, "I know for a fact that there are Muggles out there who would hate us for what we are and wouldn't hesitate to hurt us if they could. But just because we need to keep ourselves separate from them doesn't mean that we need to be ignorant of their world or their knowledge. Muggles have been to the moon and back and have ways of communicating instantly around the world. Just imagine how much better we could be with magic if we took the time to learn." The idea that muggles had been to the moon or that they could communicate with the other side of the world so easily was a little surprising to me, and frankly I had trouble believing it until I spoke with a Muggleborn colleague of mine who corroborated everything Mr. Potter said about Muggles.

After getting the couple's views on the wizarding world I asked them how it was they met and got together. Like many, they met for the first time on the Hogwarts Express on their way to their first year at the prestigious school. Harry admits that he was "a bit of a berk" when he first met the young women and the two parted on neutral terms.

It wasn't until Halloween that the two of them became friends. Both Harry and Hermione for their own reasons decided not to attend the feast that is custom at the school for Halloween. Hermione had suffered a little bullying earlier in the day and just wanted to be alone for a while, and Harry was more concerned that it was the anniversary of the death of his parents James and Lily Potter. In his words, "it just feels wrong for me to be celebrating on that day…"

The article went on to talk about how the two of them became friends and then how they had upgraded their relationship after Hermione's mishap with a potion. Skeeter had played up them getting together as a sort of "love overcomes adversity" tale, which seemed much bigger than the two second years reading books and stealing a few kisses that Harry remembered, even if nothing written was wrong. Both Harry and Hermione came out looking good in the article, just like Miss Skeeter had promised they would.

"So what do you think?" asked Hermione.

"I would have liked little less focus on my 'tragic backstory' but that's the whole reason people want to read an article about us. I think we came out of it looking pretty good," Harry replied. "Not perfect, and some people will be put off by us advocating for Wix to understand muggles better, but most of them would also be against me being with a Muggleborn anyway so fuck em." Harry could see that the topic of bigoted pure bloods would bring the mood down so he switched the topic as he folded the copy of Witch Weekly closed and handed it to Hermione. "It was good of Rita to send you a copy of the magazine."

Hermione took the magazine and put it in her book bag before she turned back to Harry and her breakfast. "Actually it came from Bozo. He also sent the order form for the photos as well." She held up a stack of parchment with a number of watermarked photos and a range of prices. Harry looked at the prices, depending on the size of the photo you wanted it ranged from 10 sickles for a wallet size to 30 galleons for a full portage size print. "The prices aren't bad when you consider that it was a professional photographer and a makeover." Hermione said as she too looked at the prices.

"I guess they make most of the money from the magazine. The selling of the photos is just a way to bump up the profits on the side." Harry speculated.

Hermione pushed her mostly finished breakfast aside and focused on the order forms. "So Harry, which photos do you want?"

-ϟϟϟ-

The next day Harry and Hermione were late to breakfast. Lavender had seen Hermione's copy of Witch Weekly the night before just as Hermione was putting her books away before bed and had asked if she could read it. Hermione, not thinking about the fact that there was an article about her in there, had lent her the magazine.

This of course lead to Lavender and Pavarti both taking the copy of witch weekly to Lavender's bed to read. Hermione was just settling in to sleep when Parvati screamed. It wasn't a scream of fear or pain, it was one of Parvati's more annoying habits: a scream of excitement. Normally Hermione would just throw a ball of socks at the excitable girl for disturbing her while she was trying to get to sleep, and then roll over and ignore her.

This time though both Parvati and Lavender came running over to Hermione's bed wanting to know all about the article. Hermione thought it was ridiculous, both of the girls already knew everything that was in the article. They had been around Hermione for years and while they weren't B.F.F.s they were still friendly. The two of them already knew how Hermione had become friends with Harry and Ron, they knew about how she and Harry had gotten together. They even knew more than was in the article. They were there when Ron had sent her crying to the bathroom, they had hugged her when she dissolved into tears in the dorm after her friendship and Harry's friendship with Ron had fallen apart.

Yet because the story was now in Witch Weekly the two Gryffindor queens of gossip were interested in the story all over again. This had kept Hermione awake for hours longer than she intended, and led to her sleeping late the next day. As it was a Saturday it wasn't a problem, apart from keeping Harry waiting for her before going to breakfast. At least until Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall and were instantly swamped with hundreds of owls.

It took them over an hour to collect all the letters and have breakfast before they referred to a quiet corner of the library and began to read the letters. They were all from people who had read the article in Witch Weekly. Soon, the two realized that the letters could all be sorted into categories

It's good to see that Harry has found a nice girl

Derisive comments about Hermione's blood status/called Hermione an animal

People who thought that there was nothing to learn from muggles

People who were surprised that muggles could do anything that Wix couldn't

And girls who thought that they would be a better fit for Harry than Hermione

The two of them sorted the letters into categories, not really knowing what else to do with them. When they were done they could see that the pile that congratulated the two was by far the biggest so that was encouraging.

Harry noticed Hermione eyeing the small pile of mail that was from witches who thought they were a better fit for him. Some of them had been sweet, some upsetting, and one was so disturbing that Harry still felt slightly off thinking about it. The writer wanted for both Harry and Hermione to keep her as a pet/love slave.

Harry collected all the letters, keeping the ones Hermione was eyeing and the ones that were dismissive of Hermione because of her parents separate, and led Hermione back to the common room. With the warm summer weather finally being here, the fireplace was unlit. There was a stack of wood nearby in case it got cold but it would normally be untouched until they came back in September. Harry made sure Hermione was watching and threw the offensive letters in the fireplace before drawing his wand from it's holster. He looked at Hermione. "What do you think?"

The gesture was obvious and overly dramatic and Harry could see Hermione trying to hide a smirk. "I think you are not finished," she drew her wand. "Need a hand?"

"After three?"

Hermione nodded, pointed her wand and just said, "Three!"

Harry was a little surprised but he already had his wand in hand and the spell ready in his head and the two of them cast the Incendio charm at the same time, reducing the offensive letters to smoke and ash.

-ϟϟϟ-

The last week of the school year passed quietly Harry and Hermione were packed to return to London the next day. All that was left now was the leaving feast. It would be the first year since Harry had arrived at the school that Gryffindor hadn't won the house cup.

Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall. It was decorated with the yellow and black colours of Hufflepuff. Harry had only found out much after the fact that Professor Sprout had given Cedric Diggory two hundred House points for saving Harry during the Quidditch match. It had given Hufflepuff enough of a lead that despite the other houses closing the gap the 'Puffs had still taken the cup. Given that the points were awarded for not letting Harry smash into the ground, Harry felt that the Hufflepuff win was well deserved. Diggory was enjoying the attention he was getting from his housemates as Hufflepuff celebrated winning the house cup for the first time in over seven years. While Diggory was adamant that it was a group effort, the other Hufflepuff's were giving him the credit as their House's highest point scorer for the year.

After everyone had had their fill of large amounts of some of the best food that Hogwarts had to offer, Harry and Hermione listened as Dumbledore stood and gave a speech, first congratulating Hufflepuff and Cedric for their win of the House Cup, then Gryffindor and Oliver Wood for their victory of the Quidditch Cup. Once the congratulations were out of the way the headmaster went on to saying his goodbyes to the students.

"And so we end another year of fun and learning! For most of you I say farewell, and I will see you again in September. However, to our seventh year students it is time for me to say goodbye. You have spent most of the last seven years calling this castle home. You have faced her challenges and learned her lessons well. Now it is time for you to leave and to take the skills you learned here and use them in the wider world.

"You will face many challenges and hardships in the years to come and I truly believe that each and every one of you has what it takes to see those challenges and overcome them. Whether you overcome them through courage, hard work, knowledge, cunning or by some other method, you are all Hogwarts students and that is something that you can take pride in. Tomorrow you will leave here for the last time as a student. You will enter the world that is out there waiting for you; now is your opportunity to seize the future. Goodnight, farewell, and goodbye."

-ϟϟϟ-

Dumbledore watched from the window in his office as the seventh year students were led down to the lake by their heads of house. From his angle the headmaster could see Hagrid waiting on the small dock with the boats ready to take the leaving students across the lake in the reverse of the ceremony the students had gone through on their first day at the school. He checked the glass cauldron next to him as it brewed the elixir he was preparing. He gave it a careful stir with a rowan wood stirring stick, three clockwise seven anticlockwise and thirteen clockwise. before he turned back to watch the boats as they began their journey across the calm waters of the lake.

Not many people nowadays realized that the ceremony was more than just a quaint tradition, but a simple ritual placed there by the founders around a thousand years ago. When students arrived in their first year, they would cross the lake and be identified as students to the school's wards and were placed under the school's protection. About three hundred years ago, the ministry had also done some spellwork and added the trace to underage students who crossed the lake. When they left across the lake at the end of the seventh year, the wards recognised that they were no longer students. There was another way to remove an individual from the wards if they left the school by a different method, but it was a lot more complex and only the Headmaster had the access to the wards needed to do so.

Dumbledore spotted Harry and Miss Granger amongst the students watching the seventh years sail away. He was a little disappointed with the situation. He had hoped that the relationship between Harry and Miss Granger would be like that of most teenagers, energetic and short lived, burning out quickly. However, it was looking like Miss Granger was going to be connected with Harry for some time. He would have to adjust his plans slightly. He would have to sacrifice miss Granger alongside Harry to bring about the best possible future.

The value of one more life, even one as brilliant as Miss Granger, was not comparable to the value of the lives that would be spared the horrific future that could come if he did nothing. It was hard to make such decisions, but that was the position he now occupied, and to do nothing would be the bigger crime. Dumbledore was sure of that much; it didn't mean he had to like it. He took a set of glass tongs and used them to reach inside the glass cauldron and remove the large red stone that had been sitting at the bottom before he placed it on a towel to dry and cool.

The first through sixth year students were now climbing into the carriages, ready to be taken down to the train station. Dumbledore watched the one containing Harry, Miss Granger and Mr. Longbottom as it passed though the castle gate. Sometimes he hated being the person who was burdened with so many secrets, having to act despite knowing that you are hurting people because you can see that if you don't it would only lead to more suffering.

He had caused more suffering this year than he intended, but compared to what was at stake the mathematics of war were still in his favour, even if taking Amelia Bones's memories had led to LeStrange's escape. It was foolish of her to put off the Azkaban shift change schedule till the last minute, silly girl. Yet he had done what he needed and Mr. Potter would be returned to his relatives. A depressed Harry that saw no reason to live would be much easier to point at Tom when he returned.

Harry had to die before Tom could be permanently dealt with. Dumbledore was sure of that.

He put the elixir into an over large wine glass. He hesitated for a few seconds before picking up the glass. Not only was the elixir still steaming hot but the process that followed was not a pleasant one. Permanently making yourself ten years younger over the span of a week was not a comfortable procedure.

He picked up the Philosopher's Stone and slipped it into a small wooden box before returning it to the safe that was hidden behind one of the many bookshelves. Then he returned to the glass of elixir, picked it up, held it out towards the train station and made a toast.

"For the Greater Good."

He quickly drank the entire dose before he lost his nerves. The next week was really not going to be fun.

A/N

The name RatFace is a nod to the fic 'Hermione's furry little problem' by Gandalfs_beard. In that fic there is a character who becomes a victim of Wormtail without knowing anything about him. Not even his name. She calls him RatFace until she learns who he is.

Hermione's furry little problem is a fic I recommend if you haven't read it. It has a lot of NSFW content but it's well written and it is one of the rare fic's out there that is complete.

Scram* - scratches caused by a person's or an animal's nails. Hotspur if this is a British word but I never heard American English speakers use it in this context so I added a note incase.

1400 students - according to Jk's early notes theatre are about 200 students a year at Hogwarts and that's the number I am useing.