Spiders Make Good Friends

Thanks for all the reviews.

I did go back and add a body count to the last chapter. Can’t have a war without casualties. The only teacher that died was Vector.

Well, this was a fun ride. My muse rode me hard and put me away wet, but I got through it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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Once again, the men of Grimmuald Place were in the study after dinner. This time Sirius let Harry have some firewhiskey. The teen was almost of age, and he wanted to see how the boy would handle his alcohol. Harry took a sip and spat it out.

“Merlin, that’s awful,” Harry sputtered, making a face. He had never tasted something so burning in all his life. It was like someone put fire in the back of his throat. There were tears forming in his eyes.

“It takes some getting used to,” Remus said, chuckling. He took a sip of his and let out a puff of smoke. He liked the burn.

“Anyway, I have some good news and some bad news,” Sirius said, taking a swig of his drink and blowing out a flame. It was a small flame, like a tiny burp of fire. Something a baby dragon would do.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Harry asked, putting the vile liquid on the table next to him. He wasn’t going to have anymore of that. Maybe he should call Dobby for a fizzy drink.

“The good news is that we think we know what the last horcrux is,” Remus said, looking at Sirius with a worried expression. They were concerned over how Harry was going to take the next bit of news.

“Really? That’s great,” Harry said, thrilled. They had been wracking their brains forever trying to come up with what it might be. Meanwhile, the war raged on. It was muted, for now, but it was still causing a death toll.

“The bad news is that we think it’s Nagini,” Sirius said, lowering his voice and looking at Harry with concern. “Snape is almost positive it’s her. Voldy won’t let her leave his side, and she’s far too smart for a normal snake.” He took another swig of his drink, bracing himself for his godson’s reaction.

“No,” the teen whispered, he shakily reached for the glass of alcohol.  He didn’t drink it, but he held it and looked into it like it had some answers.

“I know you wanted to rescue her. But Harry, if she’s a horcrux, there’s nothing we can do for her,” Remus said, his tone was earnest.

“Can’t the goblins help?” Harry asked, desperation laced his voice. “They helped me,” he stated.

“You were not a true horcrux,” Remus pointed out, gently laying a hand on the boy’s knee.

“Harry, I know you love animals, but we can’t spare that kind of expense for Voldy’s snake,” Sirius tried to reason. “That, and I’m not sure the goblins would even perform it on a snake,” he added, more to himself than Harry. The goblins didn’t have a love of animals. He prayed that Harry never found out how they treated their dragons.

“Then I’ll find a way to rid us of Voldemort without killing her,” Harry vowed, taking the glass of firewhiskey, and downing it. He coughed and sputtered, making flames sprout from his mouth. Tears were pouring down his face, either from the whiskey or the news. It was hard to tell.

“There’s more,” Remus said, not wanting to give more bad news, but needs must.

“Lay it on me,” the teen said, determined to take it like a man. His tears dried up and he placed the glass back on the table. He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, lifting his glasses and getting his eyes.

“Voldy has surrounded himself with roosters,” the werewolf said, this time with a bit of humor.

“He’s so scared of Sally, that he’d impose himself with roosters’ day and night?” Harry asked, laughing aloud. “The noise must be horrendous,” he stated, just imagining it in his head.

“So Snape says,” Sirius said, laughing just as loudly and as hard. “He’s the only Inner Circle left. Voldy is marking all the Death Eaters, but he’s not creating an Inner Circle again. He trusts no one but Snape, ironically.” Snape was still the only spy for both sides. Sirius was sure he was playing both sides and looking out for numero uno. In other words, Snape only cared about Snape.

“That is ironic,” Remus agreed. He didn’t agree with Sirius. He thought Snape was loyal to Dumbledore.

“So, he’s counteracting Sally?” Harry said, contemplating the ramifications.

“Yes, and he’s warded against your animals,” Sirius said, tapping his fingers on his chair.

“Can Bill take them down?” the teen asked, tilting his head.

“Probably,” Remus stated, nodding his head. “If not, Charlie can. You should learn how to do that as well. it would be part of your Magizoologist training.”

“I’m learning this summer. Rolf is teaching me, but I won’t learn in time for this,” Harry said, thinking hard. Then he got back to the subject of killing Voldy. “I have to think of ways of killing that man,” he said, going over all his friends and how they could dispose of his dark lord problem.

If only he could figure out a way to do it without putting them in danger. He’d been lucky so far. The Death Eaters hadn’t fired off any Killing Curses. He thought it was because they weren’t in Voldy’s Inner Circle. All those buggers were dead, bar Snape. Voldy on the other hand would do that first thing, and Harry didn’t want to take the chance of his friends dying.

“What other ways can we dispose of a dark lord?” Remus mused, swirling his firewhiskey in his glass. He wasn’t much of a drinker. One glass a month was more than enough for him, if that.

“Can we trap his wraith in amber?” Harry asked, thinking of something he’d read as a child. It had been a science-fiction book that he had read hiding from Dudley. Something about a wizard capturing a wicked witch in amber.

“Where did you get that notion?” Sirius asked intrigued. He got up, taking his glass with him and headed to his library. The other two followed him. It was on the same floor, so they didn’t have far to walk.

“Something I read once,” the teen said with a nonchalant shrug. He left his empty glass on the table. He didn’t want any more alcohol. He was going to wait until he was much older before he tried that again.

“I think I read something similar,” the dogman stated, placing his glass on a table, and going to the darker section of the shelves. He browsed the books for a moment and pulled out a few, thumbed through them, put them back and finally found what he was looking for. “Here we go. This one talks about putting a poltergeist in a jar. I wonder if we can adapt it to do what Harry suggested?” He handed the book to his werewolf friend. He then picked up his tumbler and started sipping the liquor.

“There is a thought,” Remus said, being the more scholarly of the two. He took the offered book and started reading the spell. “Between the two of us, we can try,” he stated, going to a table that had parchment, ink, and quills. He sat down and started doing some calculations. They were a great pair when they put their minds to it. They, along with James, had done some great things in school.

The three of them brainstormed for a while. Harry left earlier than the other two since he hadn’t taken Arithmancy. He spent his time trying to figure out what he could do for Nagini. If they could capture Voldemort, then she would be safe, and he could keep her in his suitcase. When she died, the horcrux would die with her. Snakes lived around thirty years, so she could live a full life.

The next morning at breakfast, Sirius had news about Dumbledore. “He’s been relieved of his Headmaster title,” he said, not sure if that was a good thing or not. Voldemort was scared of the old man, making Hogwarts safe from him. However, that didn’t stop the Death Eaters from attacking last year, which is what got Albus booted out in the first place.

“Good,” Harry said, surety in his tone. “He sucked at it,” he stated, buttering up some toast. He put it on his plate and scooped up some beans and put them there as well. It was a full English today.

“Yeah, but they might just give it to McGonagall, and she’s not much better,” Remus said, picking up some bacon and biting on the crunchy goodness. “She’s a bit stricter, but she still turns a blind eye to bullies,” he pointed out. “She’s gotten worse over the years,” he said, thinking of the differences of his time in Hogwarts as a student and teacher.

When he was a student, at least she listened to them if they were bullied, or punished them if they were doing the bullying. However, she was stymied by Dumbledore more times than not, which is probably why she stopped altogether.

“You’re right, she’s not much better,” the teen said, his shoulders slumped. “I should call Madam Bones and ask her if the Ministry can appoint someone. It is a government school,” he stated, knowing that the government paid for the tuition.

“It’s the Board of Governors that appoints the headmaster,” Sirius said, pointing a sausage in his direction. “You need to write them. Get your friends to do the same. Tell them you don’t want McGonagall in charge. Indicate that fresh blood is what is needed,” he suggested, then he bit into the sausage. Some juices dripped on his goatee, which he wiped up with his napkin immediately. He hated a messy beard.

“Sounds like a plan,” Harry agreed, and as soon as his eggs were gone, he did just that. He wrote to everyone he knew, had them write to everyone they knew, and so on. If he had it his way the whole school would be protesting.

Summer was a dull thing this year. Everyone was too busy to go on outings, and the war was in full swing, so they thought it was just too dangerous to galivant around London. Harry would take trips alone, but it just wasn’t the same.

The twins and Lee had their shop. Hermione was trying to get her parents to leave England and having little success. Neville had relocated his parents to his house and was fighting with his gran over it. Luna would come over, and they would make out, but she was home a lot and spending time with her father. So, Harry was left to his own devises when he wasn’t with the Scamanders.

Newt was dying. He was too old to go and look for new species and was leaving Rolf to teach Harry. The two of them would go to new areas looking for animals. There weren’t many to find, but Harry was always on the lookout for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. He was sure his girlfriend would appreciate it. They were still working on wards and how to erect them and break them as well. It was needed in the wild, so that poachers and muggles didn’t happen upon you when you were doing your research.

Rolf did teach Harry how to expand his suitcase if he needed to but warned him that there was a limit to how much it could take. Twenty slots were the maximum, and they could only be expanded so much. Harry kept it to eleven for now, he had yet to find any other animal that needed him. He also taught him to make one from scratch. But why make a new one, when he already had one?

Harry still couldn’t go in person to Order meetings because of the restraining order, so that was biting him in the arse. Dumbledore was using that to his advantage. Or so the headmaster thought. So, in his Jumping Spider form, the teen would sit in the rafters just far enough away, listening to what was being said.

The meetings were dead boring, though.

It was mostly information gathering. The counterraids had stopped for the most part. Voldy had picked his targets well and was now attacking in the wizarding world. He was leaving the muggle world alone since they had taken it upon themselves to arm themselves with weapons like knives, flare guns, skeet guns, hunting rifles, and bow and arrows. Some had guns, but they were extremely hard to come by in the UK.

While these weapons usually couldn’t out and out kill you, unless you got creative, or up close and personal, they can and do, do a lot of damage. Muggleborn were getting up close and personal and creative. The wizards and witches invading their houses didn’t stand a chance.

Now, the wizarding world was up in arms that the dark lord was attacking them and not the muggle world. The hypocrites. And surprise, surprise they weren’t fighting back. They wanted someone to come and save them. And that someone was the Boy-Who-Lived or Albus Dumbledore. Harry was more than willing to step aside and let Dumbledore take the role for the public.

Greengrass was still cleaning out the Ministry. There weren’t many Death Eaters left there, but more kept popping up deep undercover. Between him and Bones they kept finding them. There were still assassination attempts on both of them, but they were being extra cautious. Tonks and Shacklebolt were personal guards of the Minister. So, the Order got to hear all about the happenings of what was going on there.

The DoM found a way to herd the dementors into the Veil of Death. They created a beacon to call them and then pushed them through. They would never have to deal with them again. Everyone was just glad that Voldemort didn’t have them at his beck and call.

Still, Harry kept his Patronus Charm fresh in his mind just in case they hadn’t gotten them all. Or in case Voldy knew how to create the blasted things. If anyone knew how it would be him, or the Black family. He was sure Sirius wouldn’t, but Bellatrix might have told Tom before she died. She was sadistic enough to know a spell like that.

“Are all your meetings that boring?” Harry asked, one day after the Order left. He had webbed down from the ceiling, which he thought was the neatest thing, and scared the bejesus out of his godfather by changing halfway down.

“Pretty much,” Sirius said, clearing up some parchmentwork from his accounts. He knew about Harry’s spying and approved.

“Why are you still having them? You’re not accomplishing anything,” he asked, frustrated that nothing was getting done. He wanted the war over. There were some plans brewing in his head, it was just a matter of pulling them off. He had a lot to plan and practice.

“Morale,” the dogman said, shrugging his shoulder.

“Oh,” was all the teen could say to that. It made sense.

“Anyway, we got that spell done. Now all we have to do is get close enough to get his spirit in the amber,” Sirius said, taking out a piece of parchment with figures on it. There were words of power after all the numbers.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Harry asked, reaching out to take the parchment.

“We can’t do anything yet,” was the answer. “Voldy is so scared of death that he doesn’t leave his stronghold,” he explained. “Snape says that he hasn’t stepped foot out of his protective circle in weeks. You should know that from your spying.”

“I do know that, but he’s got to come out some time,” Harry said, frustrated beyond belief. Who was that scared of dying? It was ridiculous.

“But he doesn’t have to leave Malfoy Manor,” his godfather pointed out. He too was exasperated. They couldn’t move forward without the head honcho doing something. If he stayed safe in the manor the war could go on forever.

“I can get in there,” Harry said, thinking of his spider form.

“There are wards,” Sirius disagreed. “Even in your animagus form you’d have to get past those.”

“Can Bill drop them?” was the question. He had every faith the man could. He’d asked before, but these were different wards. He was getting better with his animal wards, but protective wards, that was a whole different kettle of fish.

“I’ll have to ask him,” his godfather said, thoughtfully.

“You do that, and I’ll make some plans,” Harry said, taking the parchment and going to his room to practice the spell.

“Wait. You’re not seventeen for a few more days. Don’t practice that yet. Just look it over,” Sirius said, not wanting him to get in trouble just before he became of age. “And don’t do anything without running it by us first,” he added.

“Doesn’t this house shield underage magic?” Harry asked, confused. “I practice magic all the time,” he stated, waving his wand for emphasis.

“Well, yes, but this is a new spell. That and its soul magic, it’s going to set off a few monitors,” Sirius explained, looking around like there were spying spells in the room.

“Weird, but okay,” Harry said, shrugging. He trusted his godfather.

A few days later, there was a huge party where everyone that Harry knew came to celebrate his coming of age. His girlfriend was there, of course. She wanted to give him a special gift, but he said that he’d rather wait until they were married. He knew from watching animals in the wild, just how easy it was to get pregnant. Sure, there were contraceptive spells, but they didn’t always work. Magic had a will of its own. That and he thought they were far too young.

Luna, being the free spirit that she was, understood, but gave him another gift instead. He was very appreciative of it and had a smile on his face for a good part of the day. The animal world hadn’t prepared him for that.

There was an attack on the Weasleys’ house the day of his birthday. It was a good thing the entire family was at Grimmuald Place. The Burrow was burned completely to the ground. When the warning wards went off, Luna was concerned about her father and a rescue mission was organized to go to him.

Harry, Sirius, Remus, Bill, Neville, and Moody appeared at the Rookery to see if it too was being attacked. It was. The wards were holding, but they were failing fast.

Moody started shooting off blasting hexes right and left. He was taking no prisoners. Bill and Remus were stunning and entrapping those they could. Harry, Sirius, and Neville were also throwing around hexes and curses. They didn’t want anyone to get back up.

Moody took a curse to his arm, and Bill got one to the leg, but they got the Death Eaters down within five minutes. Three were dead, the rest were injured or tied up.

“Hello in the house!” Sirius called out to Xeno. He didn’t want the man to fire on him and the rest of the rescue party.

“Black?” Xeno called back. His white head poked out of a window. The wind whipped his long hair around his face, and he looked shocked to see them.

“Are you okay in there, Xeno?” Moody inquired as he tended his arm. There was a burning gash, but he was okay. At least he wasn’t missing any of it. He could ill afford to miss any more parts of his body.

Bill was setting his leg and removing the rest of his trouser leg. It had been a Bone-breaker Curse. He was well enough versed in first aid that he could heal it.

“I’m fine,” the white-haired man said, coming from the house, shaking from head to toe. “I’ve called the DMLE. They should be here soon,” he added, his wand was in his hand, but it was shaking as hard as the rest of him.

He was a thin man, that looked like he could use a good meal or two. However, it was a natural slimness. He had long wispy white hair, a narrow face, and a vaguer expression than his daughter’s. There was an air of disconnection about him. Like he wasn’t connected to reality. Or at least not everyone else’s reality.

“Here, Mr. Lovegood,” Harry said, coming up to the man and handing him a vial of Calming Draught. “Luna thought you might need this,” he stated. She had handed it to him when he was leaving, with instructions to give it to her father when the fighting was over.

“My moonbeam,” the man said, smiling and downing the potion.

Amelia Bones showed up moments later and had her Aurors take the Death Eaters away. She got everyone’s statements and filled out her reports. In her opinion they were simply defending a friend. She let everyone go with warnings about killing without cause. Then she left, feeling she had done her job well.

“Come, Xeno, let’s go back to my place and enjoy the rest of Harry’s birthday,” Sirius said, taking the placated man’s arm. That potion made the man pliable.

“Sure, Sirius,” Xeno said, not wanting to stay here by himself.

The rest of the day went swimmingly. The Weasleys arranged to stay at Grimmuald Place with the agreement that Molly would watch her temper. It would remain to be seen if she could.

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She held her temper for all of a week. She was not happy that she was not allowed to cook or clean. She was bored and her kids were the same. There was nothing for them to do here at Grimmuald Place but read, only select books, play chess, or go to London.

“I have a hard enough time finding work for the elves as it is,” Sirius told her one night at dinner. She was bitching again. This was the third time today.

“I must cook for my family,” she stated again, without giving a reason.

“The elves make healthy meals,” Harry said, serving up some Shepherd’s Pie. It was a simple dish that served many. There were three of them on the table. That was more than enough for everyone. Ron could eat half of one by himself. The other teen had a healthy appetite and was growing like a weed.

“I know what my family likes and how much they eat,” she protested, smacking Ron’s hand when he went to get more than his plate could hold.

“As do the elves,” Sirius said, firmly. “The elves will do the cooking,” he stated, ending the discussion.

Molly huffed and muttered something nasty under her breath. Arthur put his hand on her arm and leaned over to whisper in her ear. She settled down and ate her meal in fuming silence. She had a few more episodes like this over the summer, but she always lost.

Sirius barely put up with it, but he never faltered. He just put his foot down and carried on like business as normal.

Arthur did is best to rebuild the Burrow as fast as he could, but there was only so much he could do. Sirius helped him with a loan, but even with magic, the building was slow going.

The month that followed was tense. Harry didn’t really get along with Ron and Ginny. He didn’t hate them, but he had nothing in common with them. Ron wanted to play chess. Ginny wanted to talk about his so-called adventures. That and she kept making googly eyes at him. So, Harry took to keeping a spider on his shoulder at all times. That kept them away from him. Neither of them liked arachnids.

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It didn’t matter that half the student body had written the Board of Governors, McGonagall was Headmistress for Hogwarts this year. That was something Harry lamented over. She never listened to him, or anyone when they came to her. Oh, well, they were going to have to make do.

Harry and Luna were cuddling on the train when Draco decided to visit them again, which blew everyone’s mind. No one thought the boy had the guts to show his face after what he had done last year.

“The Dark Lord is going to kill you,” the blond boy told Harry. He looked terrible. His blond hair was stringy and uncombed, and his face was gaunt. His clothes were hanging off him, like he had lost some weight. There were circles under his eyes, like he had not slept the whole summer.

“Is he now?” Harry asked, surprised the boy was on the train. He was sure he wasn’t going to be let back into the school. As a matter of fact, he was positive he was wanted by the law. “Aren’t you a fugitive?” he asked, getting up and pointing his wand at the other teen.

The rest of the compartment did the same. Neville to his right and Luna to his left.

“I am here to give you a message,” Draco said, clasping a stick in his hand. Harry had mistaken it for a wand. “My master is coming for you, Harry Potter. Your pets won’t save you,” he said, then disappeared via portkey.

“Well now, that was interesting,” Harry said, looking at his friends.

“You should take that seriously,” Neville said, unnerved by the other boy’s looks and manners. He’d never seen anyone look as haunted as Draco had appeared.

They all retook their seats and stowed their wands away.

“Oh, I am,” Harry said, jovially. “I know that Tom is after me. I’m just not going to live my life in fear. If I did that, then he’s already won.” He wasn’t worried too much. He had been practicing some things. He had a plan, and he was going to see it through. It wasn’t going to be easy, but with the spell that Sirius and Remus came up with and a shrinking charm. He had this in the bag.

“I guess,” the other boy said, thinking those words over.

“Still,” Luna said, cuddling closer, “take it a bit more seriously,” she chastised. She didn’t want to see him dead, or even hurt. She knew he was planning something, but he wouldn’t tell her what.

“Yes, dear,” he agreed. He pulled out his mirror and let Sirius know what had just happened. They talked of mundane things until Hermione came back. They let her know that Draco had appeared so she could let the proper authorities know.

She was frazzled. She took a great deal of notes and made sure to get every detail. She’d let the headmistress know as soon as the train stopped. The Aurors were called, but there was little that could be done since the boy was gone.

McGonagall kept her speech short and clipped. She warned that there would be no funny business in the halls, but neglected to define what that was. Slughorn was still teaching Potions, and Snape in DADA. There was a new teacher of Arithmancy, Professor Alex Sterns. Many people mourned Vector. She had been a beloved professor.

The feast was subdued compared to those in the past, and soon it was time to go to bed. Harry was feeling off by it all. The feeling of depression was pushing down on him. It made him want to pull pranks just to raise morale.

The swamp was still in the Transfiguration Hall, which lifted his spirits a bit. That meant not even McGonagall could get rid of it. He’d have to tell the twins and Lee about that. He knew how to get rid of it, but he might just leave it there. He’d tell the headmistress that she’d have to ask the Weasley twins about it. It would be good PR.

Grawp was still on the grounds, and Hagrid was still trying to take care of him. The baby giant was just so tall that it was getting harder to hide him. Hagrid was having a difficult time controlling him as well. Giants were dumb beings and couldn’t be taught easily. Therefore, Hagrid couldn’t convince his brother to stay in one place without using force. He had to tie the poor thing to a sturdy tree.

Harry’s animal friends were doing well. Sally got over her bellyache finally. It had taken this long to do it, but she was fine now. The Sphinx, who didn’t want to be named, was okay as well. She said she could eat ten Death Eaters without issue. Ling was huge now and would listen to Harry’s command, no problem. She had imprinted to him and the Sphinx. Buckbeak just like trampling things. Jeffery wasn’t, and probably never will be, combat ready. The Acromantula were slowly but surely looking upon Harry as their leader. Probably not in time to help with this war, but if another came in Harry’s lifetime…

As for Umbridge, well, she was still sitting on her lily pad contemplating what had gone wrong in her life. At least that’s what Harry thought she was doing. She never did anything but sit there and eat the flies. At first, she didn’t eat them, but now she ate with gusto. She was quite fat. Not that she hadn’t been large before, but she is huge now. Harry had never seen a toad as big as her. She was going to explode if she kept it up.

NEWT classes were hard. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. There was little time for his extra class with Grubbly-Plank. She understood that and didn’t assign him much extra work. They mostly went over what he already knew in preparation for his Master’s Certificate. He was going to be a qualified Magizoologist before he graduated Hogwarts, or when he did.

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The year consisted of studying, making out with his girlfriend, and tending to his animal friends. He pulled a few pranks here and there, but really didn’t have time for them. There was little deviation.

Little happened in the wizarding world too. There were a few raids, but it seemed that Voldy was plotting for a grand finale. Snape had little information to give them. Only that it pertained to Harry and his suitcase. He got his information via Sirius from their nightly mirror talks.

Harry had taken to shrinking his suitcase and keeping it in his trouser pockets. He didn’t even trust it in his robes. He wanted it as close to his body as possible. That and if he had to transform into his spider form, it would transform with him. He kept his invisibility cloak and wand just as close. They were just as important.

It had been some tricky magic, shrinking a dimensional suitcase, twice, but Rolf and Grubbly-Plank had walked him through it. If he did it wrong, the whole thing could implode. He had practiced on things he found in the Come and Go Room. Well, the Room of Hidden Things. It had taken him ages to get it right.

Now he could do it, and his suitcase was never far from him. He spent hours during the night in the Come and Go room just practicing his plan. He wanted it to go off without a hitch.

Now it was time for Harry to implement his plan. It was after his last NEWT, DADA, and someone was supposed to kidnap Harry and take him to Voldy. Harry was going to turn that around on him.

He ran down a hall, ducked around a corner and shrunk down to his Jumping Spider form. He then jumped onto Snape’s robe when the man followed him. He settled in the wrinkle of the hem and stayed there.

“Where did he go?” a seventh year Slytherin asked, standing next to Snape. “He was just here,” he said, looking around the area for anything that was out of place.

“I do not know. I do know the boy has an invisibility cloak,” the professor said with a sneer, waving his arm around like he was searching for an invisible person.

The two of them searched like that until they had covered the whole area. Snape cast a human revealing spell, but it came back inconclusive. There were too many children around.

“He’s not here,” the seventh year said, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I’ll have to tell the Dark Lord I failed.” He shuddered, dreading the treatment he was going to receive from that news.

“I will go with you and explain it to him. We will catch the boy in bed tonight,” Snape said, putting a hand on the teen’s shoulder. They went to the front of the school in silence and portkeyed away to Malfoy Manor.

Once they were in front of the Dark Lord, Harry scurried off Snape’s robe. He crawled up the wall and sat on the ceiling. He would watch for a while and figure out the best time to act. He watched as the poor seventh year got punished for failing. He cringed a bit, but then he remembered what he was being punished for and ignored it.

He wondered were all the roosters the man had surrounded himself with earlier went to. Perhaps he really couldn’t take the noise. Or he had put them outside, thinking that Harry would have to enter that way. Either way, this made Harry’s job much easier.

There were Death Eaters everywhere in the manor. They were all low ranking and seemed to be undisciplined. Voldy seemed to be at his wit’s end with them if the Cruciatus Curses he was throwing around was anything to go by. They kept coming into the room and asking the Dark Lord inane questions. It was like they were striving for his attention. The poor little brownnosers.

Harry waited until Tom was alone and then he left the room. He climbed down from the ceiling and ducked into an alcove. He transformed back to his normal self and then threw on his invisibility cloak. He unshrunk his suitcase and went inside.

“Anyone in this house is fair game,” he told Sally as he let her out. “Just petrify them at this time. Unless they try to kill you, then feel free to eat them,” he added, going to the entrance of the enclosure.

“Are you not going to let the rest of your friends play?” she asked, watching the other animals looking at them.

“Not this time,” Harry said as he sadly waved them back. The Sphinx looked understanding, but the others wanted out.

“I see,” she hissed at him. She slithered to the opening and left the suitcase.

Harry waved to his other friends and left too. He snuck into the room Voldy was in and held a piece of amber in his left hand. He crept until he was directly behind Tom’s head, waved his wand with his right hand and then hissed, “Animam Hic Intrabit.”

Three things happened at once. Tom’s head snapped back, his body imploded into motes of light, and his soul entered the amber. Nagini started writhing and the sliver of Tom’s soul came flying into the amber, leaving a gash on her head. She was still alive, but bleeding. The door opened and Narcissa came in screaming about a basilisk.

Harry quickly hid the amber, his hands, and shrunk to his spider form. His invisibility cloak shrinking with him. He scampered under the throne and stayed there.

“My Lord!” Narcissa screamed, looking around the room. “Harry Potter is here!” she continued even though she couldn’t see him. “His basilisk is running rampant through the manor!” she said, her voice at top volume.

“Mother!” Draco shouted as he came into the room. “We must get our Lord out of here!” he yelled, twirling around the room looking for the man in question. There was no exit to the room but the one he came in.

“I do not know where he is,” Mrs. Malfoy said much calmer, a furrow on her brow. “His snake is here, so he cannot be far.” She grabbed her son’s hand, and they left the room to go and hunt down their wayward master.

Unfortunately, they met Sally right outside the door and were petrified. Sally came slithering in and hissed, “That is the last of them.”

“Are you speaking to me?” Nagini asked, shaking her head as if to clear it. The gash had stopped bleeding, but she was still in pain. However, she was more clearheaded than she had been in some time.

“No,” Sally said, coming up to the snake and peering at her. “Do you wish a home, or do you wish freedom?” she asked the other serpent.

“I wish freedom,” Nagini stated, and glided away as fast as she could. She wanted away from this place now. She had been captured and held against her will far too long.

Harry came out quickly and transformed, trying to stop her, but she was gone. “Dammit,” he said, sadness laced his tone.

“You cannot save everyone,” Sally hissed, putting her giant head on top of his as a form of comfort.

“I know,” Harry said, going back into the entryway and getting his suitcase. He let Sally back in and mirror-called Sirius so he could call Amelia.

“Dammit, Harry, why did you go and do that? We could have come up with a better plan that didn’t involve you,” Sirius said, after he got off the floo with Amelia.

“I just…” was as far as he got when Sirius interrupted him.

“You just didn’t think. You’re not supposed to do these things on your own,” the man said, getting up a full head of steam. “We have an entire group of people ready, willing, and able to fight, and you went off half-cocked. Oh, I just don’t know if I’m proud of you, or so mad that I want to ground you for the rest of your life,” he said, pacing in front of the mirror that he had propped up on something.  

“I had it all under control, and it’s not like I went by myself,” Harry said, trying to get the man to see reason. “I had Sally with me.”

“I’m too angry to discuss this with you right now,” his godfather said, disconnecting the call, which was okay because the floo flared and the Aurors arrived.

Amelia wasn’t any happier with him, but she was glad that Sally hadn’t killed anyone this time. Well, not that she could see. Harry hadn’t asked the snake if she had eaten anyone. It took them no time at all to wrap it all up and arrest everyone. Harry let Amelia have the amber and told her what it was.

She put it in a lead box and was going to give it to the DoM. They would know what to do with it. She hoped. Probably examine it, test it, then throw it through the Veil of Death. At least those were her thoughts on the subject.

Harry went back to school only to be chastised by his friends and girlfriend. He took it like a man. He knew he should have told someone in case something went wrong. The look on Luna’s face was almost too much. She looked so betrayed. Like he hadn’t trusted her.

It took some time and a lot of fast talking, but he finally got back into everyone’s good graces. He had to do the same with the twins and Lee when they found out too. It was in the papers the next day and the trio made a special trip, just to come and rip him a new one. He was a hero to everyone, but his loved ones. They still loved him but were concerned that he put himself in such danger.

Grubbly-Plank had him sit for his Master’s. It was two days before the train left. It was a grueling test, but he thought he did okay. He would know in a few weeks. If not, he could take it again in a year.

The graduation went off without any problems. Hermione was top of the class, to no one’s surprise. Everyone was excited for school to finally be over, so they could get on with the rest of their lives. Harry knew what he was going to do. He looked at his girlfriend, knowing she had another year at Hogwarts.

“Luna,” he said as they sat in the compartment of the train. Neville and Hermione were talking on the other bench.

“Yes, Harry?” she inquired. Her eyes focused on him.

“I know this isn’t a romantic place or anything, but do you think we should get engaged?” he asked, it was more of an inquiry than a proposal.

“I think we should at some point,” she concurred, searching his face.

“I think, I’d like to give you a promise ring for right now,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out said ring. He presented it to her. “I promise to ask to marry you in the future,” he said, mirth in his eyes.

“You are very strange,” Luna said, she too had merriment in her eyes. She took the ring and placed it on her left ring finger. It was too big, but it shrank to fit her. “You’d better make good on your promise,” she said, poking his chest.

“I will,” he said, kissing her lips.

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And he did. Three years later they were married, two years after that they had the first of their two children. They both went on to become famous Magizoologist. Even finding Luna’s imaginary animals. Well, a few of them. Harry’s animagus form helped with that because it was so small, he could see things he couldn’t see in his human form. Though they never did find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

The twins and Lee became nationwide, and international, entrepreneurs. They opened shops in every shopping district in the UK and some foreign places like France and Bulgaria.  They each married and had children. They maintained their friendship with Harry and his animal friends.

Sirius and Remus both married eventually, though neither had children. Therefore, Harry inherited the Black family lordship when Sirius passed on. However, that wasn’t for years later, so that was okay.

Neville married and had three children. He went on to be a renowned Herbologist. He cured his parents, and they took the family to task for the treatment of their son.

Hermione was married to her job, though she did adopt a daughter. She became the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She was trying to change it from the inside and making great strides in doing so.

As for Dumbledore. He felt vindicated that the prophecy came to pass, though no one shared his feelings. He was let go of all his positions. They cited that he was just too old to lead. His ideals were outdated and ludicrous. He was technically put out to pasture. He was left alone with only his morals for company.

Snape was arrested with the rest of the Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor, though when questioned, his sentence was reduced for his spy work. He wasn’t completely let go because he was spying for a vigilante group. When his sentence was over, he moved and was never heard from again.

Harry suitcase was passed down through the family, much like Newt’s. Every generation had a parselmouth, and Sally lived for a very long time. The Sphinx kept her company. The other occupants didn’t fare quite as well, but there were new residents, so it was never empty.

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“What are you going to do with that Merlin First Class?” Luna asked him one day as they waved goodbye to their youngest. The Hogwarts Express was pulling away and she turned and looked at him.

“What a strange question,” Harry said, looking at her queerly. “I’ve had that thing for years. Why are you asking now?”

“I thought you might take your seat on the Wizengamot,” she suggested, linking her arm with his and guiding him along the platform.

“Do you think it’s necessary?” he asked, always welcoming her insight. She had never steered him wrong.

“It can’t hurt,” she predicted.

“Then that’s what I’ll do,” he said, knowing that if she said he needed to do it then it needed done.

“Let’s go home and try for another one,” Luna suggested, winking at him. She walked away from him with a wiggle of her hips. He willingly followed her.

They never had another child, but they had fun trying.