After Limbo

Chapter Fourteen

Harry teleported into the graveyard, wand at the ready. It was time to finish this. He scanned the graveyard, searching for Wormtail. He spotted the rat coming towards him. Wormtail had his wand out, ready to issue a spell, but Harry was quicker and soon wormtail was tied to a statue. His wand clattered to the ground.

"Come out, Come out, where ever you are Tom" Harry said. He walked around until he spotted the cauldron that Wormtail had set up. An ugly looking baby was on the ground next to it.

"Harry Potter" The thing rasped.

"I know what you want" Harry replied, "but you're too late. You're vessels are gone." Voldemort's eyes widened and Harry realized that Nagini had not been made into a horcrux yet. That would mean that Voldemort had done it after regaining human form. Harry smirked. Nagini slithered towards Harry, poised to strike when he spun on his heel and summoned the sword of Gryffindor, slicing her head off.

"Wormtail, do something!" Voldemort rasped. Wormtail didn't answer. Harry looked at Voldemort and sighed.

"Why?" He asked. "Why go through all of this?" He wasn't expecting an answer, but four ghostly figures appeared before him. They were in clothes from a different era and Harry recognized them as the founders of Hogwarts.

"His father failed him" Salazar Slytherin began. "and the wizarding world failed him"

"He was a lonely child, left in an orphanage where he was bullied until he discovered his powers" Rowena said.

"He had no one to talk to or trust" Godric said, shaking his head.

"No one to heal his wounds" Helga looked sad at the pathetic form at Harry's feet. Harry reached down and grabbed Voldemort's wand. He snapped it.

"I can't let you hurt anyone else" He said, raising the sword. Just then, Albus Dumbledore entered.

"Harry, would you really resort to murder?" He asked. Harry glared at the elderly man.

"I have no other choice" He said. "Voldemort isn't even human"

"Tom deserves forgiveness" argued Albus. "If you kill him, you'll become just as dark"

"I am not dark" Harry snapped. "This isn't about vengeance, Old Man, its about justice" He swung around and plunged to sword into the thing that was Voldemort. Voldemort screamed and then went limp.

"Congratulations Harry" Godric said. "You are truly my heir. You must return to Hogwarts and tell no one about this"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible" Albus replied. Harry turned to see Albus raising a wand.

"Do the aurors know you escaped?" He asked, trying to buy some time.

"Yes. You see Harry, I had a feeling you'd be going dark. They may have taken my wand, but this will serve my purpose as well. The dark Lord returned only to kill young Harry Potter, for I was not in time to save him. I fought Voldemort and defeated him. I will take my rightful place as leader of the wizarding world"

"No one will believe you" Harry snapped. Albus just smirked.

"Avada Kedava" Godric Gryffindor stepped in front of Harry and the curse passed through him and hit the-boy-who-lived. Albus Dumbledore watched Harry sank to his knees. The ghosts vanished and Dumbledore returned to the arena, with Harry's limp body and Wormtail.

"No!" Hermione screamed. "What did you do to him?"

"I'm sorry Miss Granger. Unfortunately, the trap was set by Voldemort and he murdered Harry. I was not in time to save him" Albus replied.

"Rubbish" Cornelius Fudge snapped. He had come to the tournament with some aurors in case Dumbledore showed up there. "You-Know-who is dead"

"He wasn't dead, Cornelius. He came back, But I defeated him" Albus said. "I'm sorry but its true"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Cedric asked.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive." Albus replied, indicating to Wormtail, who was tied up. Everyone gasped.

Harry found himself watching the entire scene. Rowena floated next to him.

"You should return to your body" She said.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Godric protected you. He shielded you from the full effects of the curse" Rowena replied. "It isn't your time to die" Harry floated down towards his body.

Harry suddenly twisted out of Albus's arms and shot a stunner at him.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed, throwing her arms around him.

"Mr. Potter, you'd better explain yourself" Minerva Mcgonagall snapped. Harry nodded.

"I was sent to a strange graveyard. The cup was a portkey. Peter Pettigrew was there. He intended to kill me, as his master had tried to do so many years ago. We were ambushed by Dumbledore, who was still made about being arrested and he decided to kill me, capture Peter and tell the whole world of his wondrous defeat of someone I defeated years ago, so that everyone would worship him again" Harry replied.

"Harry! How can you say that?" Dumbledore asked.

"Minister Fudge, I am willing to provide my memories of Dumbledore trying to kill me if you need them" Harry said.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Mr. Potter" Severus Snape suddenly strode across the lawn, with an immobilized Barty Crouch Junior.

"Barty Crouch Jr was using polyjuice to act as Mad-Eye Moody all year" Severus said. "I caught him when I realized he wasn't at the tournament with everyone else. He has confessed to turning to cup into a portkey and was supposed to join Pettigrew in the graveyard to kill Potter"

"Was there any mention of You-Know-Who?" Fudge asked. Snape shared a glance with Harry.

"None" Snape replied.

"Albus Dumbledore, you are sentenced to a dementors kiss for the attempted murder of a minor. Aurors, seize him" Dumbledore tried to fight, but Fawkes refused to answer his call. He was taken down by six aurors who led him away, after frisking him to make sure he had no hidden objects, for he had port-keyed out of his cell before. Once the arena was empty, and it was just Viktor, Fleur, Cedric, Hermione and Harry, he told them the whole story and that Voldemort would not be a problem anymore.

Harry and Hermione left Hogwarts and opened a hospital in France, in honor of Harry's parents. They married at eighteen and had three children, James, Lily and Eliza. Sirius was exonerated and moved to France with them, where he tutored the children in magic.

Life was good for the Potters.

THE END