SquidgeWorld Archive

Aftermath

by Corwalch

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JKR does and so does Warner Brothers. This story is not intended to infringe on their rights, only provide enjoyment to those who might read it. I am making no profit off of it and so there is nothing to sue me over, though if you do decide to sue you can have all my bills cause that’s all I have

AN: This is another of those "How it Might’ve Gone" type of stories. The plunnie that dropped it off in my head came by after I read the first chapter of Bobmin356’s story The Queen Who Fell to Earth. I heartily recommend reading it and its sequels, especially if you are into Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books. Anyway in the 1st Chapter of Bobmin356’s story, Harry decided he’d had enough and decided to use the dragon he was to face to commit suicide and rejoin his family but his plans get changed when the dragon talks to him. The plunnie that visited me though had him succeeding in his plan to commit suicide via dragon. This story is about what happens the night of the first task and how the students react to Potter’s death, especially after Remus reads Harry's last words to them.

The evening meal in the Great Hall was quieter than usual despite the fact that the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament had been completed earlier that day. The reason things were quieter than usual was because one of the participants in the first task, Harry Potter, had died trying to carry out the task. While the majority of the students and staff all agreed that Potter had cheated to get into the tournament, even if they did not know how he had managed it, most of them had not wanted him to die.

What the diners did not know was that there was a spirit in the Great Hall watching the proceedings and moving among the tables listening to their conversations. The spirit was waiting for something it hoped would happen tonight.

The Headmaster was not aware of the spirit’s presence either, because Hogwarts was shielding the spirit from him. The castle's guardian spirit felt it was the least she could do for a child who had been so horribly treated, on the Headmaster’s orders, during the almost four years he had lived within her walls.

As the spirit approached the section of Slytherin table that Draco Malfoy was sitting at he heard. "It is obvious," Malfoy stated as he grabbed a slab of meat from the platter in front of him, "that Potter was judged as being unfit to use magic and therefore he had to die before he weakened the magical community any further."

"How so?" one of the other Slytherins asked.

"First off, he could not plan anything properly. I mean if a Slytherin who was not of age had figured out how to get their name into the Goblet, they would have made sure they were the only choice for Hogwarts and not wind up labelled a cheater because they came out second." Draco listed the ways Potter was unfit to be a wizard. "He also was obviously feeble-minded because it was so easy for others to control him. You all saw how easily Dumbledore, Granger, and Weasley could get him believe anything they told him as if it had come from Merlin. And let us not forget that they had no problem getting him to do anything they wanted him to do. Anyone with a brain and a real backbone would have told Weasley and Granger to bugger off a long time ago. And while they would not have been able to say the same thing to Dumbledore, they would have figured out how to get around what he wanted done. And lastly, he was clearly magically weak, no matter what anyone else thought. He was a half-blood. While his father being Pure-blood probably helped make him look powerful, his mother being a mudblood obviously kept him from being able to properly use his magic when he really needed it to be able to get himself out of a dangerous situation."

"I wonder how you would have done against that Hungarian Horntail, Malfoy?" Zabini could not resist commenting as he remembered the pile of ash that was all that had been left of Harry Potter blowing away in the wind that had suddenly come up. "Somehow I think you would have been a snack for it."

There were some snorts of laughter from some Slytherins who were nearby as well as from a few of the Ravenclaws who heard Zabini’s comments.

Draco glared at his fellow Slytherins before turning his attention back to his food, not wanting to look like a fool.

"Draco would not have been stupid enough to try and enter the Tournament," Nott spoke up. "And if he did know there was a dragon nearby, he would not have been stupid enough to go up against it by himself, at least not until he knew how to defeat it."

The spirit moved on at that point. It was either that or risk being heard if he burst out laughing at the thought of Draco actually having enough brains not to do something stupid.

"I do not understand why you are defending him, Cedric," the spirit heard a 7th year Hufflepuff comment. "He cheated to get into the tournament and he paid the price for trying to do something he was not yet trained for."

Cedric glared at the boy sitting across from him. "Steven James, I will not stand for you or anyone else in Hufflepuff speaking ill of Harry Potter. It was only because of him that I knew the first task was going to be dragons and was able to prepare for it. He was the one who told me."

"Well, how did he find out?" Susan Bones demanded.

"I do not know and I did not ask him." Cedric admitted. "But he could have kept silent and I would have faced the dragon with no plan or preparation. In the tent, when we were told what the task was to be, I could tell from the looks on Krum’s and Delacour’s faces that they already knew about the dragons, yet they had chosen to keep silent about it. The fact that Potter chose to tell me, told me he valued fair play over winning, like any Hufflepuff would."

Those around Cedric went silent at that news, thoughtful expressions on their faces.

As the spirit passed the end of the Ravenclaw table he saw a girl with silver blonde hair wearing radish shaped earrings, look up and then whisper in his direction. "Go in peace, and when you get to the other side, please tell my mother, Pandora Lovegood, I love her and I miss her."

The spirit did not know how this third year could see him, but he nodded in agreement.

As the spirit neared the Gryffindor table, he heard Ron Weasley ask, "Could you pass the potatoes?"

"It is hard to believe Harry is gone," Neville glanced at the empty seat that Harry used to occupy. Or at least he had, until his name came out of the Goblet. After that had happened he had been forced to sit at the end of the table by most of his housemates, because he would not tell them how he had gotten his name into the Goblet, or even admit that he had.

"True but at least he did not suffer. I mean ... it was quick," Ron took the platter and started to scoop potatoes from it onto his plate, near the big pile of meat.

When he saw some of the others staring at him as if he were insane, he explained, "I meant it could have been worse. He could’a been burnt all over and yet still be alive. That would be worse."

Those around Ron stared at him in shock as if they could not believe he could be so unfeeling. Even if they had been angry at him for lying about not entering his name in the Goblet, Potter was a Gryffindor and had not deserved to die that way.

Stuffing a forkful of potatoes in his mouth, Ron continued, "I wonder who is gonna get Harry’s stuff? I wonder if they would let me have his broom? I was his best friend after all."

"Best friend!" Hermione shrieked. "You were not his best friend. A real friend would not desert their best friend in a time of need like you did to Harry. A best friend would not ignore their friend when they needed help, like you did."

"Well, you were not any better." Ron countered with a growl. "I mean a few weeks after his name came out of the Goblet, you stopped having anything to do with him. You left him on his own for last month or so at least, so what kind of friend does that make you?"

The two of them began arguing so intently that they, and those listening in around them got so caught up in the argument that they never noticed Remus Lupin entering the Great Hall. The former Hogwarts Professor moved slowly up the middle aisle between the rows of tables. He was halfway up the Great Hall and saw that no one was paying attention to him. Raising his wand, he spoke a word very softly.

All conversations ceased as the howls of an angry cat echoed across the Great Hall. Almost as one the students and teachers turned towards the source and found their former DADA teacher standing there, his face an expressionless mask.

Those sitting closest to where Professor Lupin was standing, started edging slowly and carefully away from him. There was something about the man standing in the Great Hall that did not feel like the kind teacher, that they remembered. The one who had always been ready to help them. Instead the man standing in the Great Hall with them felt like a dangerous beast that was just waiting for the right signal to pounce. The ones closest to Lupin all had a feeling that if that beast was provoked, it would chew on their bones and lap up their blood as if they were nothing but prey to it. A few of the students in the Great Hall remembered that their parents had told them that Professor Lupin was a good friend of the Potters and they could not help wondering if it was Harry Potter’s death that had brought the beast forward.

"I received a letter earlier today from Mr. Potter." Lupin announced in a flat and lifeless voice to the now silent Great Hall. "In it he asked that if certain events happened as he expected that I come to Hogwarts tonight to deliver a last message from him to the students and staff of Hogwarts. I have come here to honour his final request."

"Remus," Dumbledore spoke up quickly, "perhaps it would be better if I were to read the letter…"

"Why should I let you want to do that Headmaster?" Lupin interrupted. "So you can to keep the students and staff from knowing how Mr Potter felt about their actions toward him this year? Or so you can keep the other schools participating in the Triwizard Tournament from learning about how a hero of the magical world was treated by the students and staff at Hogwarts in the years he previously attended?"

"Perhaps, it would be best if you read the letter to us first in the Staff room." Professor Sprout suggested, trying to calm the angry man and also prevent the students from being further upset. "The younger students were rather traumatised by what happened earlier today. If we hear it first we can insure that it contains nothing that might upset them further. I doubt that any of us would want them to be further upset."

"No, they deserve to know what their actions and yours have brought about. " Remus disagreed, turning away from the staff table. "Maybe then you all will finally realise that actions have consequences that can not be overcome and start thinking before you act."

"I have no interest in hearing more of Potter’s blathering," Snape commented, though for the first time, that anyone at the staff table could remember, he did not sound as hostile as he usually did when Harry Potter was mentioned.

Lupin glared at him before opening the envelope he had taken out of his pocket. Everyone noticed that despite Snape's claim of having no interest in hearing what Potter what written, he did not leave as Lupin took the piece of parchment out of the envelope and began reading,

"If Professor Lupin is reading this, then events turned out as I hoped they would during the first task..."

This started a wave of gasps and whispered conversations, that swept through the Great Hall.

While it took a few minutes to sink in, everyone eventually realised that Potter had gone out to face the dragon with the intention of dying. Why would Potter want to kill himself? He had everything anyone could want!

Ignoring their reactions, Lupin went on, his voice low and filled with sorrow. "The only thing I hope is that I am now with my parents, but even if I am not at least I am free. Some, if not all of you may be wondering why I chose to end my life, given you probably think I had so much to live for. Well, you would be wrong and here are the reasons why. Every year that I have attended Hogwarts, my life has been put in ever increasing danger because of things the staff could and should have dealt with, but did not. The dangerous situations wound up having to be dealt with by myself and two of my fellow Gryffindors. Next, I am tired of the staff of Hogwarts allowing the students, no matter what House they are in, to attack me when they want to and for whatever perceived wrong they feel I have committed. The students in question are never punished for their actions. Nor have my fellow students who either attacked me, or stood by while I was being attacked, bothered to apologise to me when they learned that they were in the wrong. "

Lupin glared at those seated at the long tables representing the Houses of Hogwarts and some of them looked down at their house table in shame while others also glared at them.

After a few moments, Lupin continued, "And finally, my actions today have insured that I no longer have to go back to stay with, as Dumbledore calls them, my loving family. I have to say if the way they have treated me is proof that they actually love me then I dread finding out how they would have treated me if they actually hated me. As it was they treated me far worse than the Malfoys treat their House elves."

Lupin again paused only this time he looked at Dumbledore and most of the staff were glad that looks could not kill or the death glare Lupin had given the Headmaster would have killed him where he sat. As it was the Headmaster's face went pale for a moment.

After several minutes of silence, Dumbledore stated calmly. "I am fairly certain that his Aunt and Uncle loved him or I never would have left him in their care. Harry most likely just misunderstood when they had to be firm with him about something he should not do."

Lupin said nothing, but those closest to him could tell that he was just barely restraining the urge to attack the Headmaster. It was also quite clear to the majority of the students that Professor Lupin did not believe the Headmaster's claims that Potter's relatives loved him. Finally Lupin turned his attention back to the students, and continued reading Potter's letter to the school.

"I have to admit that the day Hagrid gave me my letter was both the best and worst day of my life. It was the best because I learned I was not a freak like my relatives always told me I was. I learned that I was a wizard, a magical being. And while I did not learn this fact until several months later, the day, Hagrid gave me my letter, was also the worst day of my life."

The students stared at each other baffled. Why would finding out you were a wizard be the worst day of a person's life?

"You may be asking yourselves why would I say such a thing." Lupin went on. "It is quite simple. I have learned since entering, or maybe I should say, since returning to the magical community that I am not a part of it as far as its citizens are concerned. No one ever tried to get to know Harry Potter. People assumed things based on the lies put out about the Boy-Who-Lived or things that happened around me, once I actually entered the magical world. I learned that to the people of Magical Britain, I was just something to be pointed at, whispered about, and used for someone else's personal profit then thrown away when not needed. For example, the first night I was at Hogwarts, a school that I had been assured was the safest place in magical Britain, I was told along with everyone else in the Great Hall, that access to a third floor corridor was forbidden unless we wanted to die an ugly death. A few weeks later I found out why because of the actions of two pompous gits one named Draco Malfoy who challenged me to a wizard’s duel and another one named Ron Weasley, who accepted the challenge."

There were shouts of "Hey!" from both of the named parties that were quickly overridden as Lupin ploughed on.

"I had no clue as to what a wizard’s duel was, but because Weasley did not want Gryffindors to appear to be cowards we nearly wound up getting caught because Malfoy did not honour his obligation to appear, instead he betrayed us to Filch. I wonder if Magic will judge Malfoy for his failure to appear at the duel that he demanded take place? After all he was the one that issued the challenge."

Draco was on the receiving end of some dirty looks from his fellow Slytherin fourth years, for making their House look bad. He also got a few glares from some of the nearby Hufflepuffs as well as Lupin went on.

"Anyway, it turned out the reason the third floor corridor was out of bounds was because the Headmaster decided it would be a good idea to place … a Cerberus there to guard the entryway to the area where he had hidden the Philosopher’s Stone that he borrowed from Nicholas Flamel and was using as bait in a trap for Voldemort. Voldemort’s spirit by the way spent my entire first school year at Hogwarts riding around on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head…"

There were gasps over the fact that Professor Lupin had said the Dark Lord’s name without the usual pause not once but twice before calmly moving on.

"And because Professor McGonagall who is the Deputy Headmistress of this school refused to believe me or the two other Gryffindors who were with me, when we told her it was in danger, we wound up having to try and protect it and nearly died in the process."

Stabbing a piece of beef with his fork as if he were stabbing Harry’s body, though only those closest to him Hermione and Neville heard his complaint. Ron growled, "You would think Harry would bother to mention our names, Hermione, because if it was not for us helping him, he would not have kept He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from getting the stone."

Clearly Ron was annoyed at Harry naming him as one of the two gits who had gotten him involved in a wizard's duel.

"And I must admit that my fellow Gryffindors definitely lived up to McGonagall’s claim of being like my family… and by that I mean they treated me with the same outright contempt the Dursleys did simply because I was not living up to what they thought a Gryffindor should be. Oh and by the way, Professor Snape, in case you missed what I said earlier, I was never treated like a pampered prince by my family, no matter what you may believe. In fact I think the Malfoy’s treat their house elves better than I was treated by my Aunt and her family."

Baffled at why Potter would compare himself to a house elf and expect Professor Snape to understand it, given the contempt the man had shown for him, a number of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students looked at the Potions teacher to see how he was reacting to the comment. The man looked like he had swallowed a very bitter lemon. That only served to confuse them further. Why was Snape looking like someone had just told him something he had not wanted to hear?

"Then after a summer in the hell known as my loving family’s home, I came back to Hogwarts for my second year hoping it would be better than my first one, but boy was I ever wrong about that. Thanks to the actions of Lucius Malfoy and the prejudices of magical Britain, my second year was even worse than my first. My life was put at even more risk, because Malfoy Senior set up a Gryffindor first year to bring back his Lord and Master. This resulted in the students in this supposedly safest place in Magical Britain being put into danger yet again by Albus Dumbledore because he chose to ignore it."

There were gasps of surprise from a number of students at Potter’s accusations toward the Headmaster, though there were also a number of them wearing thoughtful expressions. Luna Lovegood noticed that Neville Longbottom was one of them. He had his hands steepled in front of his face and he was looking up at the Headmaster as if he had never seen him before.

"I have no doubt that some of you are wondering why I am accusing the Headmaster of allowing harm to come to the students he is responsible for," Remus went on, "it is quite simple. I found out through some research over the last few months that the Headmaster of Hogwarts is the holder of the wards, which means he knows when dark items are brought into this school. He chose to ignore the fact that a dark object in the form of a diary, that possessed a first year student and that nearly killed said student, was brought into the school. He should have gone after it the moment it entered the school and removed it."

Cedric gasped, "If Potter was right about Professor Quirrell being possessed that means the Headmaster had to know about that as well and he let him stay in spite of the danger he posed to us."

Several of the 7th year Hufflepuffs stared at Cedric in shock as they realised what that meant for them. They had been in danger at least two of the seven years they had been here and maybe more.

"And I am not only accusing the Headmaster of being derelict in his duties. I am also accusing the rest of the staff who were here during my second year of being derelict in theirs." Remus went on. "They should have been able to figure out early on that the creature petrifying the students was a Basilisk, especially the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn. All the clues were there. There are only a handful of magical creatures that are capable of petrifying anything living. Not to mention the fact that all of Hagrid’s roosters were killed, before the first attack. When you add in the messages that proclaimed the attacks were being carried out by the Heir of Slytherin, that should have screamed Basilisk. No other creature capable of petrifying its victims can be killed by a crowing rooster, or would be associated with Slytherin House. But did any adult in this school figure that out? Nnnnnnnnooooooo! Instead the ones who finally figured out it was a basilisk were a sixth year Ravenclaw prefect and a Gryffindor second year. Both of whom wound up being petrified, when they were on their way to let the one of the teaching staff know. Then two other Gryffindor second years ended up being the ones who had to rescue the first year from the Chamber of Secrets because the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher turned out to be even more useless than the rest of the teaching staff in this school when it came to protecting the students."

A number of the older Ravenclaws who had been at Hogwarts during Potter’s second year looked thoughtful as they realised how true the statements in Potter's letter were. The teachers should have been able to figure out the creature attacking them was a Basilisk, based on the clues they had been given.

The older Ravenclaws were baffled as to why the Professors had not figured it out, but they were quickly distracted as Professor Lupin dumped more guilt on them from Potter's letter.

"Once the truth was known, did any of you apologise for attacking me or calling me evil and treating me like I was the next Dark Lord, because of something I had never known about and had no control over; the fact that I was a parselmouth? The answer to that question is: no. Just like no one cared that I nearly died thanks to being bitten by the Basilisk while trying to save that first year and the rest of you. It is only because of Fawkes that I survived at all. Once the danger was over, with the exception of a handful of people, the rest of you went back to your normal behaviour of ignoring me unless you wanted something from me. And I was expected to forgive and forget how I had been treated by you."

Remus paused in his reading of Harry’s letter and gave the occupants in the Great Hall a look of contempt. This time most of the students looked down at their tables in shame.

It was true, some of the students who had been there during Potter's second year silently agreed. They had never apologised to Potter for believing he was behind the attacks. Nor had they apologised for the actions they had taken as a results of their belief that he was indeed the source of the attacks. It had been a real surprise at the end of year feast when the Headmaster had revealed that Potter had been the one to defeat the creature, though he had never told them it was a Basilisk. The Headmaster had also said that Potter's actions had saved the school.

Lupin went on after a few more minutes of silence that had the students shifting nervously in their seats.

"My third year was better once I was away from my so called loving relatives who, again, treated me as if I were their House Elf. The only real life threatening events that occurred, other than the Dementors who seemed to want to kill me, happened near the end of the year, when I found out that Black was actually after Scabbers, not me. Some of you might be asking yourselves, why would Black be after a family pet of the Weasleys? Well, the reason was quite simple. Scabbers, was/is actually Peter Pettigrew who had been the one to betray my family's location to Voldemort, because he was their secret keeper, not Black like everyone believed. After Pettigrew managed to get away from Black and frame him for killing my parents as well as thirteen muggles, he hid out for over twelve years as a family pet in my formerfriend Ron Weasley's home. In fact according to what Granger and I learned, Black was just thrown in to Azkaban without a trial!"

There was brief pause as Lupin read that part and turned to glare at Dumbledore again, then he went on.

"However when Granger and I told the Minister what we had learned during the confrontation between Black and Pettigrew, he proved to be just as unwilling as the teachers here at Hogwarts to listen to us. The Minister insisted that Granger and I had been put under a Confundus charm by Black. And he believed that because that was what Snape had told him, even though the man had been unconscious almost the entire time. Nothing Granger and I said would change the Minister's mind though as it contradicted what he believed. Also as I later found out, Chief Warlock Dumbledore could have issued an order as the Head of the Wizengamot to give Black the trial he had never had, as well as rescinded the Kiss on Sight order, but he chose not to. By failing to do his duty the Chief Warlock insured that Black, who is my godfather, would not be able to take custody of me away from the Dursleys because he did not want that to happen. I can not help wondering if he wanted me abused and feeling as if the magical world was my only source of salvation. Well, if this letter is being read then he has his answer. I do not view the magical world as a source of salvation. I view it as a massive group of bigoted sheep that I am finally free of and my actions also freed me from Dumbledore's control."

Lupin went silent again, his head bowed in grief this time and the students close to him could see tears running down his face. After about ten minutes he took a deep breath and went on.

"I am sorry for the grief and pain I have no doubt I am causing Remus by having him read this letter, but it is unfortunately necessary, because he is the only one I can trust to honour my last wishes and not give in to Dumbledore. And believe me when I say it was not any easier for me to write this letter than I think it is for him to read it. Thanks to the life I was forced to live, I have gotten very good at hiding my problems."

This statement earned Dumbledore another death glare from Lupin along with a deep throated growl before he went on.

"Of all of those I know in magical Britain, only Remus, his four footed friend Snuffles, Neville Longbottom, and Hagrid are the ones that I will miss after I take part in the first task. And the events that led me to making this choice are the events that happened this year, my fourth year at Hogwarts. When I first heard about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, I was quite happy that it was going to be here, even though it meant there would be no Quidditch this year because finally somebody else would be the centre of attention. Everyone's attention for once would be focused on the Tournament and those chosen to participate in it and not on me. I should have known better though, especially after it was announced that the drawing would be held on Halloween. Nothing good has ever happened to me on Halloween and that has been proven every year since my parents were killed because of Pettigrew's betrayal."

Lupin paused and growled again.

"When my name came out of that damned Goblet and I was told I had to compete or lose my magic, everyone in this school, except for the four I have previously mentioned, repeated the same behaviour they subjected me to during my second year, and again it was for something I did not do. Even Ron Weasley, who had stood by me during my second year, abandoned me, calling me an attention seeking prat and claiming I only wanted the attention. Like I needed to enter a damned tournament to get attention! I am the Boy-Who-Lived!. Because of that damning fact I had all the attention I never wanted, simply because I survived while my parents were killed."

Everyone recoiled at the venom that seemed to be radiating throughout the Great Hall as a result of the letter Lupin was reading. If they had not known better they would have thought Potter was there reading the letter to them.

"I did not enter the tournament, but when I told him that, the idiot Weasley refused to believe me. Granger stayed my friend for a few weeks and then, unlike Neville, she abandoned me because of pressure from her fellow Gryffindors. After Weasley's and Granger's betrayal, which came on top of all the other dragon dung the rest of the school was heaping on me, I decided I had had enough. The only thing I could not decide at the time was how to leave and insure I was not dragged back here. Then I found out that dragons were to be part of the first task and realised that would be the perfect way to leave once and for all. When it was my turn to go out and face the dragon, I went out to meet my fate with my prized possessions shrunken down and put it in my pockets; like my broom, the photo album Hagrid had given me with the pictures of my parents in it, and my father's invisibility cloak. This insured that there would be nothing, that I truly valued, for anyone to try and claim as theirs or make a profit off of because it had previously belonged to me. "

"Selfish git should have left the broom and cloak behind for me!" Ron's strident angry voice shouted from the Gryffindor table as Lupin finished that section.

Ron's loud, angry shout covered up Hagrid's wail as the large man realized that while following Professor Moody's instructions to make sure Harry knew about the Dragons, he had inadvertently given Harry a way to commit suicide.

The spirit was standing near Hagrid and wanted to reach out and pat his first friend reassuringly on the shoulder, to let him know everything was ok, but he could not. He knew that the gentle giant failed to realize that he would have still chosen to commit suicide using the dragon even if he had only found out about the dragon on the day of the task. He just would not have had a chance to get his stuff together or prepare his final words if he had not known ahead of time.

Everyone currently seated in the Great Hall turned their attention toward the red faced Ron Weasley who was standing up both fists on the table and glaring at Professor Lupin. They all gave him a death glare that shut the red head up and had him quickly sitting back down.

Lupin gave Ron a disgusted look and asked in a rough voice. "Why do you think you deserve to get anything Harry owned? You abandoned him when he needed you most. In my view, you are just as much of a traitor to Harry, as Peter was to James and Lily. Your actions contributed to his death, even if you did not directly cause it."

Ron stared at the man as if he were insane. He had nothing to do with Potter's death. That fool chose to end his own life because he would not own up to the consequences of his own actions. "I had nothing to do with Potter’s death. That coward chose to kill himself. Why are you blaming me?"

"You abandoned him when he needed you most." Lupin reminded him, not that his accusation affected the red head in the slightest.

"Well so did you!" Ron shot back. "I do not recall seeing you anywhere on the grounds after Potter’s name came out of the Goblet."

"I was forbidden to set foot on these grounds by the Headmaster as long as Harry was part of the tournament." Lupin growled back. "I did write to him as often as I could trying to help him."

"So you claim." Ron snorted. "It is not like Potter can confirm your story."

I could, the spirit thought, thinking about the pile of letters he had received from Lupin and Snuffles, since his name had come out of the goblet, but why should I bother.

"No," Lupin agreed the expression on his face solemn, then he turned to face Dumbledore. "But I think the Headmaster can confirm that he barred me from the grounds."

Albus gave Lupin one of his grandfatherly smiles as the students from all the schools looked on. "Remus, we talked extensively about why you and your pet could not come to the school during the Tournament. It was for your safety as well as his."

Everyone in the room assumed the Headmaster was talking about Potter's safety, but they could not figure out why Lupin would be a threat to Potter.

What little was known about werewolves besides the fact that they were very dangerous, was they were very pack oriented like regular wolves and there was no doubt in the minds of many that Potter was viewed, by Lupin as a member of his pack. As far as they knew the only time Professor Lupin would have been a danger to anyone was at night and even that was only during the full moon. Their former DADA teacher could have come to Hogwarts in the day time on any weekend and his being a werewolf should not have been a problem for Potter.

"There is no reasoning with you, old man," Lupin finally growled. "I personally think that if you had let me come and see Harry, he might not have chosen to take his own life, but there is nothing that can be done about it now. I look forward to the day you have to face Lily and James and explain your reasons to them, cause I am fairly certain Harry will have told them all about the life you forced him to live, but right now I have to finish Harry's letter to this school of traitors."

Lupin returned his attention to the letter, "To those who are expecting to profit off my death, by inheriting all my family's worldly goods that were not destroyed with me, you should know I did find one thing to be glad of with regard to being forced to compete in the Tournament. The fact that the rules stated the participants must be of age. I checked with Gringotts to see if I was at least for now of legal age to set things up, like a will, and was advised by them that as long as I was listed as a participant in the Tournament, that I could set up a legally binding will and it would be considered legal even after the Tournament."

Lupin paused and looked around the room to see how many had caught on to what his pup had revealed and the looks of shock on quite a few faces made him smile as he went on. "While I found out that what I inherited from my parents was not a huge, I have taken steps to insure that no one, including the Ministry or Dumbledore can override my wishes, and make a profit off of my name or use my family assets without the permission of my chosen heirs. And no I will not say who they are, none of you have the right to know."

Lupin had to hide his smile at that and then as he saw what Harry had written in the final paragraph, he felt a little sad as he began to read it.

"Any way, I think I have said all I need to say so I am going to head off into whatever will pass for the afterlife for me. My last wish for the people of magical Britain and the Dursleys is you all get the life you deserve for how you treated me and others like me who you viewed as not fitting into your idea of what a witch or wizard should be or how you think they should act. I have no doubt some of you will be ok, but the rest of you, I hope your lives are like a smelly pile of dragon dung."

Lupin folded the letter and put it away.

Then he started walking toward the main doors leading to the Great Hall and no one stopped him.

The Great Hall was silent as he left and the unseen spirit left a few minutes after Lupin did. The spirit's final task was completed and his message had been delivered to the staff and students of Hogwarts.

The rest of Magical Britain as well as the other magical communities around the world would be informed about the contents of Harry’s letter the next day via the press, because an anonymous source had sent them all a copy of Harry’s last letter.

+++++++++++

It had been ten years since Sirius and Remus had left magical Britain for New Zealand. They had done so because they had no reason to stay in Britain after Harry Potter’s death and now Sirius was taking part in an event he never thought he would be part of… the birth of his first child.

Harry had been confined for a while now in a warm dark place. He did not know how he had wound up here, but he was not too worried though because he could feel love surrounding him, even though he did not know where it was coming from.

The warm dark place began squeezing in tightly around Harry as if trying to push him away. Harry shifted his position trying to get a little freedom.

After a while Harry felt himself being pushed down a long tunnel, into a bright light. He cried out loudly at the unexpected brightness, not to mention the cold air that was suddenly around him.

A few moments later he was wrapped in something warm and handed off to someone who cooed at him.

Opening his eyes, Harry saw a face he never expected to see again… his Godfather Sirius Black!

He then heard him say, “Camilla, our son is beautiful.”

Harry snuggled down suddenly sleepy, but feeling comforted by the fact that he was with his godfather. As Harry fell asleep he did not realise that in the morning he would remember nothing of his past, but in the end it would not matter because he would finally have his greatest wish. He would grow up loved and cherished by his family.