Renouncing Magic's Child

They all sat in silence. Not quite able to articulate their thoughts on this book. It had been worse than the others. But they were beginning to suspect that it would only get worse. Much worse.

"I suppose I should get started on dinner," Mrs Weasley said eventually, getting to her feet. "It's getting late."

There was some murmurs of agreement from the other mothers in the chamber and they all headed out of the chamber together. Even the two Narcissas went with them. Admittedly, cooking wasn't something they'd ever learned but Molly had been more than willing to give them a little instruction and they had proved themselves most willing to learn.

Sirius got to his feet, pulling Harry and Severus with him. Remus, young Harry and Arcturus followed them out of the chamber. They made their way down several corridors until they found their quarters. They all settled down in front of the fireplace as Sirius poured them all a firewhisky, while handing young Harry a butterbeer.

"Well, that was a bit of a shit show," Sirius said eventually, coming to sit next to Severus.

The potion master placed his arm around his partner's shoulder. Harry grinned. He would never have pictured Snape as someone who showed any form of affection in front of people. He was incredibly private.

"How are you doing, Harry?" Severus asked, an eyebrow raised. His expression was not mocking though. It was was laced with concern.

Harry shrugged. He couldn't put it into words. These books were just plain awful. And the next one... the next...

"Dad dies in the next one," Harry said, his voice breaking.

Severus's arm around Sirius tightened fractionally.

"It's okay," Sirius said. "It won't happen this time."

"Even so," Severus said smoothly, "it will be difficult to read about."

Arcturus nodded. "I imagine this will only get worse from here on out. We should brace ourselves for that."

He pulled young Harry into his side. He didn't like to think how scary this must all be for the young man. He was not yet eleven. Far too young to be hearing all this. But there wasn't anything they could do about that. They could only support both Harrys through it.

Arcturus sighed. "You know Harry, what happened to Cedric, it wasn't your fault."

Harry grimaced. "It felt like it. I... I know better now. I think. But back then, I definitely thought it was my fault."

"But Harry, you couldn't have..." Sirius began.

"I know. I couldn't have known that the cup was a portkey. I couldn't have saved him from the killing curse. Logically, sure, I know that." Harry groaned. "It doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't make any of the deaths easier. Not Cedric's. Or Sirius's. Or Dumbledore's. Remus's. Tonks's. Fred's. Moody's." He looked directly at Severus. "It doesn't make your death any easier to live with."

"I might not know how we all died," Severus said slowly, "but I do know that we made our own choices. Cedric took the cup. You didn't force him. We decided to fight in the war. Remember what the Goblin king said. Do not deminish the sacrifices of those who died, by taking on responsibility that is not yours to bear. We made our choices. There is honour in dying for your beliefs. For your loved ones. For the world you believe is possible."

Harry had tears in his eyes as Severus got to his feet and bent down in front of Harry.

"You are not responsible," Severus said, roughly pulling Harry into his chest. "The only life you are responsible for is your own."

Harry nodded, tears falling now as he clung to Severus.

"And even that... Quite frankly, we're more responsible for that than you are," Severus said gently. "I know we all let you down in your timeline, but we're going to do better."

The Hogwarts teachers were sitting together in the dining hall. They all wore matching serious expressions.

"Things need to change," Albus said. "I've... Somewhere something went wrong. I went wrong. I have done you all a disservice and our students too. I do not know if I will remain headmaster when we return..."

"I'm not sure any of us will have jobs waiting for us, Albus," Minerva said bluntly, rubbing her face.

"I'm so sorry," Albus said, taking her hand. "We may all be undeserving but I take solace in the fact that Mother Magic included us in her plans. That has to count for something. We're not completely irredeemable."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Filius said. "Rita Skeeter and Peter Pettigrew are here too."

"But they weren't supposed to be," Poppy cut in.

"What about the Dursleys. There's no redemption for them," Filius pointed out.

Albus sighed. He couldn't disagree with that. "Only time will tell."

Several chambers away in their makeshift office, the DMLE employees sat together discussing the fourth book.

"We'll need to arrest Crouch as soon as we return," Amelia was saying, "and rescue Barty."

Moody was quick to nod his agreement. "I personally hope the bastard gets the kiss for what he did to his son."

This surprised them all. It wasn't like Mad-Eye to advocate for that particular punishment.

"What are we going to do about Fudge?" Tonks asked.

"I've been investigating him since he became minister last year," Amelia admitted. "I don't have enough to arrest him yet. But..."

"If the treaty goes through," Kingsley said, "death eaters like Malfoy might be able to give evidence against him."

"Exactly my thought," Amelia said with a grin. "Either way, he can't stay in office."

Moody grinned. "That's positively revolutionary of you, Amelia."

"Do you think the Prince is all right?" Tonks asked.

"It's unlikely." Kingsley sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees so he could rest his chin in his hands. "But he's strong."

"When do you think we'll get the next book?" Alastor asked gruffly.

Amelia sighed. "Hopefully Mother Magic will give us a few days. We have a lot to do and quite frankly, I think we all need a break."

Alastor nodded.

"I wonder who she'll bring with her this time." Tonks grimaced. She wasn't sure she could handle more new arrivals.

"What makes you so sure she'll be adding more to our numbers?" Kingsley chuckled.

"Well, she always seems to bring someone with her." Tonks shrugged.

"The new arrivals have been slowing down though," Alastor said. "Who else would she bring? The minister?"

"Merlin, I hope not," Amelia grimaced.

"A couple extra aurors wouldn't go amiss," Kingsley said. "Our immediate priority list is growing and before long there will be more tasks that need completing than we can handle."

"We could ask for more aurors," Tonks said.

"Who would we ask for though?" Amelia pointed out.

"Robards," Moody growled. "Scrimgeour, for sure."

Amelia nodded. Scrimgeour was her head auror and had been since Moody stepped down the year before.

"Proudfoot," Kingsley suggested, "and Dawlish."

"I'm not sure about Dawlish," Kingsley said uncertainly. "He remained at the ministry when the aurors were disbanded."

"The aurors were disbanded?" the others all asked in horror.

"The ministry fell," Kingsley explained. "They disbanded the aurors and Dawlish remained working for the ministry. I don't know if he was enchanted or..."

"We've got death eaters in the chamber," Tonks said. "Does it really matter?"

Kingsley shrugged. "Maybe."

"There's also Savage and Williamson," Tonks said. "They're just out of training like me, but they're good."

Kingsley nodded his agreement. "We should definitely consider asking for more aurors. We're basically planning to instigate a insurgence against the sitting minister for magic. The more help we have on the inside the easier this will be."

Amelia barked a laugh. She could hardly believe it but the man was not wrong.