Post-Apocalyptic Medieval Battle of Hogwarts and The Love of Maidens
Part 5
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling. Please review and share with your friends! Part 6 due out tomorrow.
---
“What on Merlin’s Good Earth is going on here?” said Dumbledore. Only once had Harry seen him this angry, and that had been for good reason; Dumbledore had suspected that he had put his name in the Goblet of Fire. But this was different.
“We’re arguing about a woman,” said Draco sheepishly.
“Oh, poppycocks,” said Dumbledore. “I live with a woman and it’s perfectly fine, nothing to write home about, haha! But of course Her Majesty Professor McGonnagall and I are just friends.”
Draco and Harry looked at each other in confusion as to how this had anything to do with their situation.
“Anyway, who is this woman you’re arguing about?”
“Her name is Ginny,” said Harry.
“And she’s the most ravishing creature I’ve ever laid eyes on,” said Draco. Harry nodded to confirm his friend’s words.
“Well, it’s simple! You don’t get to decide who gets this woman’s affection, that’s her choice. It would be silly to assume that a contest could decide who somebody marries. It’s the 90’s, for crying out loud!” said Dumbledore. Harry and Draco were dumbfounded. Dumbledore shook his head and added, “No, hah, that’s not what I meant to say. Let’s do battle. Yes, that’s a better idea. None of this quarrelling on the ground in the dirt with the ants! Each of you will assemble 100 witches and wizards, and in precisely one year we will have a battle! The winner of the battle will then win Ginny’s hand in marriage. She is one of my dependants, therefore I get to decide who she marries.”
“But didn’t you just say it was up to her?” said Harry.
“Yeah. I think you’re contradicting yourself,” said Draco.
“Poppycocks!” repeated Dumbledore. “In one year we shall do battle!”
---
Draco and Harry had no choice. They were glad Dumbledore hadn’t remembered that they were meant to be in exile and prison. So they gathered witches and wizards, one by one, and trained hard on the grounds of Hogwarts. They helped Ginny with everyday tasks, and the three of them became close friends. The nearer the date of the battle drew, the more absurd the whole scenario appeared to them, but Dumbledore had already planned it all out and prepared the big Quidditch court to hold 202 witches and wizards and their battle wands.
Finally, it was one month before the battle. Ginny, Harry and Draco found themselves in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, each finding their mentor in one of the founders’ ghosts.
Ginny was the first to find hers: Rowena Ravenclaw. She went up to the founder’s statue and prayed, and Rowena herself appeared to talk to her. Ginny said, “Please, Rowena, do I have to marry one of them? I don’t think I want to get married at all!”
“I’m afraid so, Honeycheeks!” said Rowena. Her voice was low and kind, and her eyes had a spark of wisdom even now that she was a ghost. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you marry the one who really loves you.”
“But isn’t it about who I really love? And whether we really love each other?”
“Trust me in my infinite wisdom!” and Rowena Ravenclaw disappeared with a chuckle and a poof of smoke.
---
Draco instead went to seek out the ghost of Salazar Slytherin. In the Slytherin’s dungeon, which had now been converted to being the coal cellar, he spoke to the founder.
“Please, Salazar. I really want to win. Can you make sure I do?”
He held his breath. Was this cheating? But he didn’t care; he needed this. He had regained all his strength, recovered from all his injuries. This was his battle to win and he knew it. With a little help from the founder, it would all work out.
“Okay,” said Salazar finally after some deliberation.
“Thank you!” said Draco, and coughed out a lungful of black dust.
---
Harry went to see Godric Gryffindor’s ghost. It felt strange to go back into his old common room, where everything still smelled as it had when he was at school. The days of innocence were etched all around him, into the wallpaper, the chairs, the old fireplace where Sirius’s face had once appeared to him… it was all still there.
“Godric!” he called out.
And the ghost appeared.
“What can I do for you, Golden One?” asked Godric.
Harry blushed. “Don’t call me that,” he murmured. Louder, he added, “Godric, I beg of you, can I have the love of the beautiful Ginny? She is everything to me. Working alongside her I have come to appreciate her so much, and it’s not just that she’s beautiful, she’s also smart and funny and capable and great with animals.”
“Of course, my dear,” said Godric Gryffindor. Then he disappeared again into a wall.
All that praying had made Harry exhausted, and he sat down on a dusty red sofa. Soon, Draco and Ginny found him, and all together they took a long nap in the old Gryffindor common room.
Nobody could have prepared them for what was going to happen at the battle.
TBC.