We went back there today. The first ones in twenty years to go back. The whole time I was shaking. As we walked down the halls, I could nearly see the phantoms of the past haunting us, following our every move. Twenty years of dust had settled into the dark grey stone. Ginny huddled closer to me as we walked: despite the warmness of the summer day, I could see my own breath. Wands lit, we walked up and down the corridors. The Great Hall had been all but destroyed in the Final Battle, and the scorch marks had never been banished. Our old Transfiguration classroom was decrepit, and from the banging we determined that a boggart must’ve set up house in the Potions’ storeroom. Then we went upstairs… I visited the portrait of the Fat Lady, but all was left behind was an empty canvas. Somehow I wasn’t surprised.
Using the charm from McGonagall's journal, we entered our old Common Room. It was in fair order; aside from the dust, it might've been considered clean, but then again, Gryffindor common room hadn't been fought in. As I moved to examine my old dormitory, where my old school trunk probably still lay, I felt Ginny's hand on my arm. Wide-eyed, she pointed shakily to a corner of the room, where a comfy armchair lay upturned. Now shaking myself, I led the group forward.
Turning the chair upright, I heard Hermione gasp from behind me. An old copy of Hogwarts, A History, splayed on the ground, was visible beneath the years of dust. Beside it, covered in spider webs, were an invisibility cloak, several glasses stuck to the carpet with what once was Butterbeer, and a small jewelry box. Behind me, I felt Ron and Hermione recoil.
Though somewhere in my heart I knew we would find this scene, I never could've expected it. Picking up the jewelry box, I handed it to Ginny. "This was going to be yours. He planned it three months in advance."
....
A small group of seventh years had perched themselves in their favourite corner. NEWTS were finally over, and the End of Term feast was due to start in a few hours. Summer weather had finally arrived, and, with it, good cheer among all the Gryffindor students. Harry sat in a plush armchair, trying to "Accio" a Fanged Frisbee away from Ron's Levitating Charm. Hermione was beside me on the floor, leaning against Ron's legs, Hogwarts, A History before her. We all looked up as Harry sat up suddenly, reaching into his robes for a blue jewelry box. After reassuring himself it was there, he grinned at his friends and sat back.
"Bit nervous, mate?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"I just want everything to go right tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Harry. Ginny wants to marry you, and graduation is the perfect time to do it," Hermione said as she turned back to her book.
Harry caught Ron's eye. "You know, Hermione. I think I want to Apparate over to the Leaky Cauldron. Want to come?"
"Harry, when are you going to read Hogwarts, A History? You can't Apparate from inside Hogwarts!"
"What? But I could've sworn you said we could, Hermione!" Ron goaded.
"Well, maybe you did tell us..." Harry started.
"Once or twice..."
"...a day..."
"...for seven years!" they said together.
"Hmph! Well SOMEBODY had to!" Hermione scolded, grinning at her friends' immaturity.
The yell of a third year interrupted their laughter. As the Head Boy turned to see the problem, a glass collided with his face. Five floating mugs of Butterbeer seemed to be the cause of the commotion, but who was levitating them? I reached nervously for my wand, but it was then that we heard laughter from behind him. Seizing three of the mugs and handing one each to Hermione, Ron and myself, Harry turned over his corner chair and stepped briskly into the corner, disappearing beneath an invisibility cloak. Rolling his eyes, Ron threw the Fanged Frisbee at the corner, and Harry and Ginny emerged, red-faced.
"You know, after all we've been through, you'd think you'd know better than to take my Cloak without telling me. What if I needed it?"
"What for?" Ginny countered. "You've already destroyed all the Horcruxes, Voldemort is in hiding- what do you need it for?"
"To meet up with my other girlfriend, of course!"
As Ginny tackled Harry, shouts could be heard from down on the grounds. As he looked out the window, the color drained from Ron’s face. “Harry, it’s Him! He’s here!” Harry bolted from the floor, Ginny on his heels, to survey the scene below him. Spells were shooting across the lawn, and students were running array in blind panic. From their spot on the windowsill, they could make out McGonagall and Hagrid amongst the teachers fighting back, and, as a stunning spell hit the Headmaster, Harry jumped into action, calling the younger students to the fireplace. Ron and Hermione checked the dormitories for stray students as Harry Floo-ed word to the Ministry, then, once all the Gryffindors had assembled before the fireplace, he initiated the emergency Portkey.
Once the younger students had gone, Harry turned to us all. I’ll never forget the look in his eye- his thoughts were visible behind that emerald green. I remember thinking, he’s ready for this, he was born for this. And though we all knew we were wasting time, we came together that day in the Common Room, in a group hug that held so much. Merlin knows how long we stood there, just holding on to one another. Somehow I think we knew that this was our last chance- our last chance to hold on to something innocent, something treasured, our last chance to just hold on to life, together.
The Final Battle happened in the Great Hall. I remember time seemed to stop- I think everyone there froze, just watching. Together we watched as the greatest wizard the world will ever know dueled with the most evil. We watched as they sent spell after spell at one another, as Voldemort laughed in Harry’s face, and as he ridiculed Voldemort. We watched as Harry openly forgave the evil wizard, and as Voldemort claimed invincibility. We watched as Harry sent a killing spell Voldemort’s way, as the Death Eaters laughed at his ‘pathetic aim,’ and as Harry pointed to the other end of the Great Hall, where the last Horcrux- an oversized snake named Nagini- lay dead. We watched, together, as Voldemort’s fury grew, and as he sent spell after spell at Harry. We watched as Mrs. Weasley threw herself before a Killing Spell, saving her surrogate son’s life. And we watched as Harry Potter killed Tom Marvolo Riddle, for every parent he’d killed, for each friend he’d tortured, and for every innocent life he’d ever torn apart. Then we watched as Harry Potter collapsed, the last life ever claimed by the monster called Voldemort.
…
We'd carried him out of the Great Hall together twenty years ago, and sealed the doors to Hogwarts, never expecting to return. His burial was that of a hero; thousands of people still travel yearly to visit his grave in Godric’s Hollow. His story is taught in Wizarding Schools across the globe, his Famous Wizards Card is the most commonly sought after card of the bunch, and last year, Hermione (Weasley, as she’s called now), Head Healer at St. Mungo’s, opened a new ward in his name, dedicated to Uncommon Spell and Hex Damage.
As Ginny fingered the blue velvet, I felt tears sting my eyes. She opened it slowly, and gasped. Harry had picked out the ring himself- two diamonds on either side of a bright red ruby, with a gold band, proving himself Gryffindor through and through. She lost her composure as she slipped the ring on her finger, and I wrapped my arms around her. Hermione and Ron soon followed suit, and I was struck by the memory of our last group hug, in this same room, twenty years ago. Merlin knows how long we stood there, holding on to one another in that Common Room. And when we finally let go, I could feel him. I could imagine him our corner, still trying to pull a Fanged Frisbee away from Ron, still taunting Hermione about her study skills, and still kissing Ginny under an invisibility cloak. And for the first time in twenty years, I felt like I was home again.
“Do… do you all feel that?”
“It’s like he never left—like we never left…” Hermione shuddered in Ron’s arms.
Ginny took a seat on the windowsill and looked out at the overgrown lawn and Hagrid’s crumbling hut. “I think we should re-open,” she said decidedly, fingering her newly acquired engagement ring.
“Re-open Hogwarts?” Ron reached his hand up to the beard on his face. “Do you think we could do it?”
“I think if anyone could, it’d be us. We were, of course, the ‘Chosen Ones’,” I said, quoting the nickname we were given after the Final Battle.
“It’ll be a lot of work…”
“I think we should, for Harry.” Ginny looked up at us, determination in her eyes.
“I’m in.”
“Me, too,” Ron chorused.
“Hermione?” I questioned. “It’ll be hard without you.”
“All right then. For Harry.”
“Great! So what do you all say we pop over to the Three Broomsticks for a drink to talk it over.”
Ron caught on fast. “Sure, why don’t we just Disapparate on over?”
“No, we can’t Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts’ grounds.”
“Really? Well, that’s news to me. Did you know that, Ron?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I think I heard it…”
“…once or twice…”
“…a day…”
“…for seven years!”
I still have a bruise from where Hermione threw Hogwarts, a History at me.
