Contact had been made. Arthur had used a favour owed to him to get a private meeting with the Director of the DMLE. The Director was new to the job. He had gone to auror school four years after the Battle of Hogwarts. He had been a student who had been smuggled out to Hogsmeade before the attack began. He was in awe of the surviving Order of the Phoenix members.
The Director jumped at the chance that Arthur Weasley had given him to bring a new magical device like the Wand Informant into DMLE service.
The fact that its existence had been buried by the bureaucratic blundering of Fudge helped to explain the original disappearance. A grand unveiling was arranged. The wizarding press, members of the Wizengamot, senior Ministry staff from every department, aurors and other law enforcement officers were invited to attend.
The Wand Informant would be demonstrated. Aurors, politicians and members of the public would have their wands tested and the results would be shown to the public. The demonstration would help overcome doubts about the Informant’s accuracy and reliability.
--ooOOoo—
Harry arrived at the Hogwarts main gate. The security guard verified Harry’s identity and let him in.
“Good evening, sir. The headmistress will meet you in the Entrance Hall.”
“Thank you. Good evening.” Harry walked up the familiar path to the school entrance.
It was a school day. Students would be at dinner. There should be no observers. Pomona would cast Notice-Me-Not Spell as well to take any observer’s attention away.
“Headmistress! It’s good to see you again.” Harry smiled.
“Harry, it’s always good to see you back here. Are you ready?”
Harry nodded. They walked down to the white tomb. The tomb was about to be opened again and one troublesome stick was to be taken out, never to be returned.
The tomb block was lifted with one hover charm. The headmistress unsealed the tomb itself. Harry summoned the Elder Wand. It floated directly to his hand.
Harry felt the Elder Wand react when it touched his hand. Harry sensed the wand pull at him. It had to go. Harry put the wand in a concealed wand holder.
The tomb was closed, and the tomb block was replaced.
The headmistress and Harry walked back to the castle entrance.
Pomona tried to make some conversation. “Hermione is doing well.”
Harry: “That’s good.”
Pomona: “She still has some personal issues.”
Harry: “Yes, well …”
Pomona: “How are you coping?”
Harry: “Once I finish with the Elder Wand drama, things should get better.”
Pomona: “If there is anything else that I can do to help, please let me know. You are always welcome here at Hogwarts. Perhaps you could think about some more guest lectures for DADA?”
Harry: “I’m sure that there are more qualified people, Pomona. I am enjoying being a gentleman farmer.”
Pomona: “The invitation is still open to you, Harry.”
Harry: “Thank you. Good night, Pomona.”
Harry walked quickly away towards the gate.
Pomona: “At least I tried.”
--ooOOoo--
The work was done. The curse on each book had been removed. They were all different. Hermione now had forty-two previously unknown dark curses documented. They were used to protect the books on that one shelf. Her opinion of Albus Dumbledore reached a new low. The Leader of the Light had no problem with using dark magic to protect his private schemes.
The links to “A Book of Wonders” were now broken. The book itself was not cursed, the books on the shelf were like soldiers protecting a general. Hermione, Pomona and Mr Smith opened the room again.
Hermione levitated “A Book of Wonders” off its shelf and placed it on the table. The book was opened. There was no title page or written notes of any sort. Each page was packed with sets of runes.
The runes went on for thirty pages. It was not a large book, and the runes did not seem to be complex.
Hermione closed the book. “I will copy these pages and work through them. It doesn’t look that difficult.”
Pomona shrugged. “It would take me months to read the first page and I did Ancient Runes for my NEWTS.”
The copy was made; the book was replaced on the shelf, and the room was closed and locked again.
--ooOOoo--
In the privacy of her office, after Hugo had been put to bed for the third time, Hermione wrote out in English the magical constructs set up by the runes.
The Wizarding Marriage Ritual legislation was linked to this book. That was in the runes embedded in each form to be signed by the marriage partners. The runes in the forms gave magic the power to do this. No one had to agree to it. It was done using the authority of the Wizengamot.
The Wizengamot, the Ministry of Magic, and every wizard, and witch who were married by this ritual were being deceived. For the magic of the book to work then the book had to keep the register of marriages. The details of these marriages were then copied into the Roll of Marriages. If ‘A Book of Wonders’ stopped working for any reason, then all these marriage registrations would disappear from the official Roll of Marriages.
Hermione pressed on with the dissection of the book.
Each time a wizard signed his form “A Book of Wonders” responded by giving the wizard authority. That authority was connected only to the witch who signed her form.
The runes stated in detail exactly what that authority was.
The wizard could give his witch an order. There were no restrictions on what the order could be.
The book enacted a specific spell which ensured that the witch would obey the wizard.
Hermione translated the spell. It was dark magic. It was the Imperio curse.
The feeling was only too familiar to Hermione. Bilious would give an order to Hermione. All care and concern lifted from her. Her husband was in control, and he could do no wrong. It was the greatest delight in her life to obey his instructions to the last detail.
That was what the Imperio Curse did.
It worked only for a wizard married by the Wizarding Marriage Ritual, and it applied only to his witch.
This was Dumbledore’s idea of what made a happy marriage.
--ooOOoo--
Hermione and Pomona marched into the Restricted Section. Mr Smith chased two year-seven students out.
The door to The Forbidden Secrets Room was opened.
Hermione took “A Book of Wonders” from its shelf and opened it to the first page.
Pomona kept her wand pointed at the book. Hermione cast a simple spell to add a new group of runes to the top of the first page.
The runes formed an “off” switch. The book was now deactivated and harmless.
The “A Book of Wonders” was put back on the shelf. The room was locked and barred.
Pomona and Hermione walked to the headmistress’ office where they enjoyed a cup of tea together.
Hermione: “There is another ceremony I want to perform.”
Pomona: “What is that dear?”
Hermione: “I want to open Dumbledore’s Tomb and cast Fiendfyre into whatever is left in there.”
Pomona: “Yes dear, I agree.”
--ooOOoo—
The offending ritual which created a magical link to a dark artefact, “A Book of Wonders”, was no longer working. Would that free all those witches from the endless servitude imposed on them by the ritual? Hermione had been freed, but what about all the others? She would have to wait and see if there was any more work to be done.
Her project had reached a major milestone. She could rest a while. The Christmas break was coming.
As Hermione walked back to her rooms, she felt an old feeling rise up. The feeling was familiar. Did she dare to hope that Harry would speak to her again? She didn’t want much. She wanted to be able to sit together with Harry and talk. That was all, just talk about anything.
Hermione had loved Harry with all the depth of feeling that teenage love could unleash. The enchantments put on her by Dumbledore had fought with Hermione’s natural instincts and desires. In moments of weakness, she nearly forgot Harry and let the crippling compulsion wipe all memory of him out of her mind. The compulsions were gone. The deep-seated damage was still there but Healer Brown had been right. Her mind was finding new ways through the tangled web of old thoughts. Her love for Harry was still there. She would be brave and try to reach out to him if he would talk to her.
--ooOOoo—
The morning came with heavy fog which would later turn to drizzle. It was a typical winter day at Potter Manor.
A Ministry owl delivered an official parchment. Harry hoped that it wasn’t something stopping the Wand Informant demonstration. The Elder Wand was making him uneasy.
The parchment was from the Registration Office. It was very odd.
It said that there had been an error made in the last amendment to the Wizarding Marriage Ritual legislation which had been passed by the Wizengamot more than sixty years ago. The error had been uncovered because every marriage conducted using the ritual since then was now invalid. The names of the witches and wizards married by the ritual had disappeared from the Roll of Marriages in the Registry Office. Magic had removed the wrong entries.
Harry and Ginevra were no longer married. They had never been married. It was all a mistake. Wizarding law meant that his children were still his children, and no change was made to their status. Ginevra was now an unmarried mother.
Harry shook his head. “The Wizarding Marriage Ritual, if anyone tries to revive it, I will take my seat in the Wizengamot and fight against it tooth and nail.”
--ooOOoo--
The invited guests and officials gathered in the auditorium. The Director of the DMLE made a speech. The photographers snapped pictures of everyone. Harry noted that Theodore Nott was present along with a group of junior Death Eaters. They were still junior Death Eaters as they had never progressed to become fully paid-up Death Eaters before the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco Malfoy stayed away.
The Minister for Magic presented her wand to be tested by the Wand Informant.
The report was produced, and the Minister verified that the report was absolutely correct. A dozen other notables had their wands tested with similar success.
Harry was called forward. He strolled up to the podium in what he hoped was a confident manner.
He presented the Elder Wand.
The report was produced, and copies were handed out.
A reporter looked at the report.
“THE ELDER WAND! THIS SAYS THAT POTTER’S WAND IS THE ELDER WAND.”
Harry held the Elder Wand and stared at the crowd.
He picked out Theodore Nott.
Harry smiled as Nott saw that he was being singled out by the owner of the most powerful wand ever to exist. The expression on Nott’s face changed. Nott was trying to make a decision. Nott finally relaxed; he could see that Harry had the advantage. Harry had nothing to fear from anyone in the room. Nott’s life would be snuffed out instantly if Harry wanted to do it.
Harry gestured for quiet. The noise died down a bit.
Harry cast the Sonorous Charm on himself.
“THAT IS RIGHT. THIS IS THE ELDER WAND. THE REPORT THAT YOU HAVE SHOWS THAT I WON THE ELDER WAND BY DEFEATING ITS PREVIOUS OWNER. THOSE REPORTS SHOW THAT I AM THE WAND’S RIGHTFUL OWNER.”
Harry turned to the group around him. He knew that there were two experts in Legilimency in the group. They were Wizengamot members who belonged to the traditionalist faction. He looked at them both, allowing his eyes to stay in contact with their eyes as long as they could hold his gaze.
Harry looked at a group of reporters. Daphne was in the middle of the group. She smiled and nodded at Harry. She knew that the Legilimens in the group had sensed that Harry was telling the truth. She signalled this to Harry by touching her nose with her right-hand index finger.
A reporter called out, “What are you going to do with it?”
Harry laughed, “THIS!”
Harry held up the wand and broke it in half.
Harry presented the broken pieces to the Director of the DMLE. The crowd had held its breath. The roar of alarm and disbelief bellowed out.
Harry smiled and held up his empty hands to the mob.
When the roar died down, he started answering questions.
Harry explained why he didn’t want to be the target of an endless parade of duellists who wanted to see if they could kill Harry and win the Elder Wand.
He also pointed out that the wand that he broke really was the Elder Wand. The Wand Informant could not be fooled. That was guaranteed by the Department of Mysteries.
He also pointed out that there were known Legilimens in the group around him on the podium. He gave his permission for them to give their opinions on Harry’s truthfulness.
Harry explained why he did not want to become the most powerful wizard in the world. He did not want to do that. He did not want to become a great leader. He explained that leaders who had that kind of power ended up making decisions about other people’s lives. Those decisions might have been for The Greater Good. Harry explained that those same decisions often had poor outcomes for the people involved.
The reporters and politicians knew that “The Greater Good” was commonly associated with Albus Dumbledore. Harry was telling them that he was not a fan of Albus and did not want to follow in his footsteps.
Harry said many times that he was far more interested in being a father and looking after his farm.
The mob around Harry started to break up. Harry was exhausted. He heartily disliked being the centre of attention. Harry drifted towards the main exit.
He was ambushed at the door by Ginny Weasley.
“Mr Potter! Did you get your parchment this morning?” Ginny was angry.
“Yes, Ginevra, I did.” Harry knew that the use of her proper name infuriated her.
“Do you know what did that?” Ginny demanded.
“I have no idea. I’m not a lawyer. I have had a short talk with my lawyers. It looks like they will have to do more work on the issue to work out what it means.” Harry replied.
“You broke the Elder Wand. You refused to be a great leader. You are weak.” Ginny snarled.
“I prefer sensible, Ginevra. I intend to live a long, quiet life. I like looking after my children and my farm.” Harry smiled.
“You had better not try to wriggle out of the separation agreement.” Ginny hissed venomously.
“I have heard from my lawyers about that, Ginevra. We are no longer married. In fact, we never were married. The Wizengamot hasn’t ruled on this yet, but the lawyers think that the Wizarding Law as it stands now is that I won’t have to pay you another knut.” Harry replied.
“I have a suggestion. I will pay you an allowance if you move back to The Burrow and look after your mother. By the way, I bought an old car, a Ford Anglia. Your father is moving to the Manor to fix it up. I owe it to him after Ronald and I lost his old one in the Forbidden Forest.”
Ginny made a dismissive noise, turned, and hurried away.
--ooOOoo—
The new forest and the lake glided beneath him. Harry was flying over the Potter Manor estate. He was recovering his balance after dealing with the Elder Wand. The Daily Prophet had reported the drama with every type of embellishment. It was a taste of the old Daily Prophet. Harry planned to stay out of sight for as long as he could. That might not be the best plan, but it was the one he wanted to follow.
Harry also wanted time to deal with some old feelings which were coming back. These old feelings began again when he started to think through the consequences of the end of the Wizarding Marriage Ritual.
He had made a call to his lawyers. They told him that the Ministry had done nothing to cause any change to the law. The change that happened was done by magic itself.
The Roll of Marriages was maintained by magic. Days ago, magic decided that something was wrong with many marriages. The defective marriages were made using the Wizarding Marriage Ritual from a certain date. Marriages made using mundane church weddings or civil ceremonies were fine. It was the same for Druidic Handfasting and other traditional ceremonies.
The date for the start of the defective marriage ceremonies was the date that the Wizengamot passed the last change to the Wizarding Marriage Ritual legislation in the 1950s.
Magic made it very clear. Those marriages broke a fundamental law of magic. Some change that had been made back then was very wrong. Recently, somebody did something to a curse that was concealing the unlawful use of magic. Magic itself wiped out the things created by the offending ceremony. The unlawful marriages had been removed from the Roll of Marriages.
The practical outcome was that Harry’s marriage to Ginevra no longer existed. Harry was no longer married. His children were his, wizarding law kept that in place.
If Hermione wanted to, Harry could now marry her. Harry let the long-suppressed rush of feelings for Hermione flood over him. He would ask her.
If she rejected him, he would take it right on the chin. He would live with that. He had to ask.
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