It seemed like the end of an era, in more than one way. Harry Potter and his colleagues had all but finished their course at Hogwarts, but more importantly to the world, the plans of Lord Voldemort had been thwarted permanently.
While sitting besides his friends at the end-of-term leaving feast, Ron and Hermione wondered why Harry seemed unusually happy today. Any doubts they had, they brushed off. Hadn’t he defeated “The Dark Lord” a week ago and ended the biggest threat to the community? Hadn’t his scar finally stopped hurting and he could finally live his life in peace? He had all the reasons to be happy, no one wanted to take that away from him.
But his mood merely hours ago wasn’t the same. All throughout the week after his victory, through which he had come out without a scratch, he seemed to have been stuck with mixed emotions and couldn't let go of any of them. He was happy for the victory, but sad on account of leaving Hogwarts, his only home here. Suddenly at the start of the feast, he had started smiling as if daring anyone to try and look as happy as him. Ron and Hermione shared nervous glances and were tempted to question Harry on the matter, but thought better of it. He had, after all, deserved it. All around Harry were smiling faces, some tearful, but nonetheless smiling.
Dumbledore and all the rest of the teachers couldn’t be happier. Even Snape could be seen smiling, unnerving quite a lot of the students. He had no need to be a spy anymore and unknown to all but him and Dumbledore, had been chosen as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for next year and besides, Harry Potter was finally graduating. Thus Snape, too, had his reasons to be happy. The feast was about to start, and as was usual, everyone started looking towards Dumbledore for his traditional end-of-term speech. Dumbledore chuckled to himself, and stood up. He was about to award Gryffindor, well particularly Harry, 1000 points for his triumph and so he glanced towards Harry. He saw those emerald green eyes gleaming and shining like never before. The smile Harry had on his face made Dumbledore feel like he was decades younger. He made a mental note of preserving this memory in his Pensieve and started with his speech, “To Harry Potter, for def..”, and that’s when it happened.
Harry had stood up from his table and was smiling innocently towards Dumbledore, wait, no, those magnificent green eyes had another source of wonder, they seemed to be staring past Dumbledore towards the Hogwarts door. Dumbledore had halted his speech, and everyone was looking towards Harry. Harry merely said “Can you see them?!”, his eyes full of wonder. It seemed to echo around the room, Harry had meant it solely for Ron and Hermione, but couldn’t care less if everyone else heard him.
The whole room went quiet. Of course, unlike Harry, everyone else had no idea what he was staring at, and they were gawking at Harry slightly shocked. Harry was walking slowly, smiling like all his troubles had vanished. Then he spoke slowly, seemingly addressing the door, “I couldn’t wait anymore”. The second he said that, Dumbledore appeared in front of Harry, he was shaking the boy and said, “Illusions Harry, merely illusions! Madam Pomfrey will escort you to the medical room.” But just as Dumbledore had feared, Harry brushed off Dumbledore’s hands and looking in his eyes said, “Don’t worry sir, there is no need.” Harry smiled benignly as Dumbledore nodded and tears escaped his eyes.
Hermione, Ginny and McGonagall seemed to have their motherly senses aroused and started tearing towards Harry. It was only a matter of seconds before the sixth sense of Harry’s best friend, Ron, kicked in. He held his wand out and started dashing towards his loyal partner. Dumbledore stopped the ladies by signaling with his hand. Tears started streaming down their faces, all the rest of Hogwarts wondered what was going on. But Ron couldn’t be stopped, he yelled “Stupefy!” with his wand pointed at Harry. There was no effect. He kept on yelling, “Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupe…fy! ..St….u….p….e…f….y! Dammit,” as tears welled up his eyes. “Why isn’t it working! Stt….upp…e..f..y!”. Harry glanced around the room, smiling at Ron and the others, and wondering why Ron was so upset. Ron was Quidditch Captain and the Head Boy, everything he had seen in the Mirror of Erised. His deepest desires had been fulfilled, it was time for Harry to fulfill his own. Then he simply turned around and walked slowly reaching the Door. He opened the door and said, “Hi Mum! I’m home”.
He took the first step out and collapsed. He had reached home.
A/N : If you could, please read the story playing the final song from the soundtrack of Gladiator. It adds a lot more to the story. It’s a bit short, i apologize. But i dreamt of this story and just had to write it. It’s my first, hope you enjoyed it. Please Read & Review. All comments are appreciated. I'll try and respond to most (if i get any lol). I am by no means a talented writer, heck im happy if i get a B in my English courses, but plz don't expect me to respond to a hurtful/negative comment.