The Protagonist System

93 The End Is The Beginning

I released another best selling book called The Prisoner of Arkham Asylum. The plushie Dementors weren't as big of sellers as the plushie Acromantulas, which reminded me that I should take care of that giant spider nest before school started. So, I did that the day before the train left and cleared out the entire brood, stored all of the acromantula silk webbing, and sold it by the ton to Madam Malkin.

With no Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge working together to keep the world ignorant and to bring back the worst dark lord of the century, the Triwizard Tournament hadn't been brought back into being as a distraction and a political manoeuvre to keep the public's image of Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts in a positive light.

So, my fourth year at Hogwarts was a relatively quiet one. Minerva assigned me married quarters in the faint hope that I wouldn't abuse it, like I had abused the Head Boy and Girl suites in Griffindor Tower the last three years. On the positive side, I was in a central location on the fourth floor. On the negative side, I no longer had constant and easy access to the Griffindor Flying Foxes.

I still performed on the Quidditch team to the best of my ability when the captain allowed me to catch the snitch. I was just too good at it to not be held back while they had fun playing, and then I would be allowed to end the game. With the game so skewed towards the seekers, it was no wonder why I didn't enjoy it anymore. I put in my notice that I was quitting at the end of the year and Angelina didn't fault me for it.

The year passed by and the summer arrived, as did the quiet wedding with Daphne. She had grown accustomed to being Astoria's rival for my affections and she loved that it was now down to just her and her sister. They seemed to wallow in my attention and Daphne was quite tempted to get started on making a Greengrass Heir.

Her mother Ivola convinced her to wait for at least another year, until we passed our OWLs. She also wanted me to time it so that Daphne could have the baby in the summer and wouldn't have to worry about having it during the school year. Since I had done that with Andromeda, I had no problem doing it again.

A new DaDa teacher was hired and I thought about disabling the curse, then shrugged. If the staff wasn't smart enough to change the course name and the classroom it was held in after all these years, it wasn't my responsibility to do it for them. I also wanted to wait and see if the person was any good.

A week later, I knew the man wasn't any good and left the curse in place. Hopefully, Minerva would find someone good for next year.

My days weren't as full with having to restrain myself in classes and during my off classes. I hadn't realized how much time I used up and kept myself occupied by making my girls happy and keeping them entertained. With only Astoria and Daphne for me to play with, neither of which were in any of my classes, my days became long and boring.

My only light in the darkness of boredom was when Luna would suddenly appear, gave me a good snogging and thanked me for giving her the best shags of her life, then she would disappear just as quickly. Every time I tried to say the same thing back, she always stopped me and gave me a dreamy smile, a knowing look, and kissed my cheek.

*

With my expert help, my friends and I passed our OWLs with Outstandings. All of them. Even the ones we didn't take classes for, since we had pretty much self-studied and barely paid attention in class. Hermione was so happy that she broke Albus Dumbledore's record of the most OWLs that she offered to marry me with the same contract as Daphne.

I immediately accepted because I wasn't going to let her get away after making an offer like that. We were married in a quiet ceremony, just like I had with Daphne, and Hermione screamed her head off with pleasure during our wedding night. She had been backed up and hadn't done anything with anyone, because she loved me and couldn't force herself to sleep with anyone else.

Of course, once Hermione opened that avenue to legally get back into my bed without breaking my marriage vows and contract with Astoria, all of my girls chose to follow in her footsteps. Consort contracts were drawn up and were signed by Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Luna, and surprisingly Ginny. Her mother Molly was not happy that she wasn't Mrs. Potter, though.

The marriage bonder was busy for the entire summer with so many services to perform and made a lot of money. Since I was super rich, I paid for everything, including new wardrobes for all my girls and anything else they wanted. Most wanted their families protected and living in better homes, so that's what I did.

I bought out the rest of Grimmauld Place, the entire subdivision, and converted the row houses into individual mansions. I also bought a bunch of house elves to take care of them. Needless to say, all of their families were ecstatic about it, except for Molly Weasley. She didn't want to move into some big airy house that didn't have a homey feel to it and also refused to have The Burrow upgraded.

So, Ginny, Fred, George, and Percy moved in instead. It was funny that Ron wouldn't, because he said he was the only child at home now and had all of his mother's attention. None of the other children had ever had that, so his secret wish to stand out from the rest of his siblings, had been inadvertently granted. I gave him 10,000 galleons for his birthday.

Sixth year came and went, the only notable thing was getting Ginny and Luna through their OWLs. With mine and Hermione's notes, they both passed with Outstandings and were very happy. My new book and my merchandise was just as popular as my first releases and my vintage items were worth a lot of money by this point, too.

Seventh year was what I called 'the pregnancy year', as most of my wives wanted children and I delivered on that promise. Hermione wanted at least one child before going into the Ministry of Magic to start the lasting changes she wanted to implement and make magical society better. Daphne started learning her family's business and wanted an heir to the Greengrass Estates before she took over.

The Griffindor Flying Foxes already had their Quidditch careers started with the Wimbourne Wasps and were having a blast blowing through their opponents. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were becoming famous in their own rights, only using my name and fame to get them into the sport, because they really were the best chaser team to exist and easily outpaced the veteran teams they went against.

The only exceptions to the child boom were Luna, Ginny, and Astoria. It was Astoria's OWL year and she couldn't take time off to have her child be born at the same time and grow up together with the rest. Ginny only had one more year before she graduated and wanted to become a Quidditch star with the Griffindor Flying Foxes. Luna put it off and wanted to travel and look for more fabled beasts.

With their choices made, I compromised and let them do what they wanted. Yes, it was a cop-out. It was also the best way to make them happy and only required a lot of work on my part to make it happen. So, that's what I did. I became a stay-at-home dad, spent my Karma points liberally to ensure my family's happiness, and took over running the household to let my wives have careers.

I also released the last of the fiction books about Harry Potter's seventh year at PiggyPimples. It was pretty funny seeing people's reactions to horcruxes and how Moldevort cheated death, especially when they expressed relief that he never did that for real. That made me laugh pretty hard when I was alone.

*

Life continued and my girls were as happy as can be. I stayed at home and released more books over the years, just to keep myself busy. It was fairly easy to steal stories from other people when those people didn't exist in the HP world and their stories were never published or made into cartoons, anime, manga, or movies.

The fictional Harry Potter went on many new and outrageous adventures and everyone loved reading them. They also loved me, since I was not reclusive and made sure to go out with my wives and children every couple of weeks, which kept myself and my brand in the public eye. That I could still do the naming trick with random people, gave them all a thrill.

I still wouldn't call Ron by his name, though. It was always 'hey, you' and 'it doesn't ring a bell' when he tried to get me to say it. Ron and his kids laugh about it now. He married Fay Dunbar, the one Griffindor girl in my year that didn't succumb to my charms. Our kids played together when we visited the Burrow to watch the memories of Ginny's Quidditch games.

Making a portable pensieve that worked like a projector was fairly easy, once Minerva retired from Hogwarts and donated the one the headmaster had to me. I gave her a new one and a trunk filled with my most precious memories, which included several of her detentions. I didn't mean to make her cry over my gift, so I contacted my wives and they gave me permission for one last detention.

*

All of the kids went to Hogwarts in a huge group. The mix of boys and girls were almost a whole class by themselves and took the school by storm. They were as smart as Hermione and as boisterous as Lavender, which meant they were extremely popular with the other kids. They were all sorted into Griffindor, too.

The sorting hat made everyone laugh as he sat on each of their heads and groaned about having to sort another damn Potter kid. Even the professors were laughing by the time the last went into Griffindor, as if there was any doubt about where my progeny would end up.

*

I might have gone a little overboard with the Karma point spending when I ensured my grandchildren were taken care of and were magically powerful. I just couldn't resist passing a few of my abilities on to them, since this was my reward world and I wanted my family to be happy for years to come.

Handing over my extensive teleportation network to Harry James Potter The Third, cost me 5,000 Karma points. The wide eyes and brilliant smile he wore, gave me reassurance that he would maintain it and would have fun with all the places he could travel for only a touch of magic.

I was aging normally and getting up there in years, which meant my time was coming to an end. I could almost feel it coming and was prepared for it. My wives were getting up there, too. Since I didn't want to watch them pass away, I told them I was moving on before they could make me suffer like that. Hermione's wizened old hand smacked my head and everyone laughed.

I gave each and every one of my wives a kiss on the lips and each child a kiss on the cheek, then gave each grandchild a kiss on the forehead and wished them to have long and fruitful lives like I had. I packed up my backpack and my trunks, stored them in my extra-dimensional space, and left the house. It didn't take me long to reach where I needed to go.

I handed over the passkey that Minister of Magic Hermione Granger had given me when I reached the security guard detachment in the Ministry's lobby. The head guard stared at the gold card and shook his head, then hit several buttons on his desk. A secret door behind him opened and a black cloaked figure stepped out.

“Right this way, Mister Potter.” A feminine voice said and waved me into the passage.

“Thank you, madam.” I said and walked by her. I stopped just inside the doorway and waited for her to shut it before I spoke again. “I assume you know why I'm here?”

“We've been waiting for you to show up for about 70 years.” She said with a soft chuckle.

I barked a laugh and motioned for her to lead the way. She nodded and I followed her down the stairs ten levels and we came out into a circular room. She didn't close the door and opened the door right next to it, then closed the first one. I stepped into the room and there it was. The thing I had put off for decades. The Veil of Death.

“Do you mind if I observe this?” She asked.

“I would have stunned you already if I did.” I said with a crooked smile.

“Grandmum warned me you were direct to a fault.” She said, fondly.

I understood right away who she was and why I almost recognized her voice. “Since I'm leaving, I don't feel guilty about saying Susan Bones-Fletchly ruined her only real opportunity for true happiness.”

The cloaked woman sighed and pulled her hood down to reveal strawberry-blonde hair and looked a lot like Susan. “People claimed they don't remember what happened that first year. They're all liars.”

I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “It's okay, Fiona. Nymphadora No-Name is familiar with Susan's pain, too. She was too focused on her own goals to bother thinking about how much I could have helped her.”

Fiona looked surprised that I knew her name and sighed. “The Potter family is well known for that. How the men choose to stay at home so that their wives can have happy and fulfilling lives.”

I smiled at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I can't offer you the same thing, since I really am leaving.”

Fiona gave me a pointed look and then looked at the stone arch. “I think you're the first person documented to volunteer to go through the thing.”

I let her shoulder go and walked over to the Veil. “I doubt I am the first. You lot are too curious to not try different things like only putting a hand or a head in, using a rope and jumping in, or trying to use muggle things to probe it.”

Fiona looked shocked and I chuckled, only it sounded like a cackle because I was so old.

“There was one thing you lot forgot to do, though. You see, in order to properly traverse the barrier without dying, you need to find an appropriate bribe.” I said and took out my invisibility cloak.

Fiona gasped at the thing. It was almost glowing, since it was so close to the source of its power.

“The Deathly Hallow, the Cloak of Invisibility. It's centuries old. Older than most of the family names in Britain.” I said and moved it towards the Veil.

“NO!” Fiona gasped and tried to run to me, only to find she was frozen in place. “You can't let such a powerful magical object be destroyed!”

I chuckled my cackle laugh. “I'm not destroying it, my dear. I'm returning it to an old friend.”

Fiona watched as the edge of the cloak touched the barrier and it was sucked in. She let out a sad sound and I smiled as I took out the stone.

“The Deathly Hallow, the Resurrection Stone.” I said and held it up for her to see. Tears came to her eyes and I created a tray to put the stone on and put the edge of the tray into the Veil. Nothing happened until the stone touched the energy and then it and the tray were sucked in.

“Please... please don't.” Fiona whispered, her cheeks wet from her tears.

“I'm sorry, Fiona. I've put this off for far too long. I really should have left years ago and couldn't resist sticking around to see how things turned out without any evil in the world. A magical utopia where everyone is happy, was worth the delay.”

Fiona gasped when I took out the Elder Wand.

I held it up to show her. “The Deathly Hallow, The Death Stick. Nothing good ever came from it.” I said and turned it around in my hand, so that I was holding the end with the handle out. “Goodbye, Fiona.” I said and smiled at her, turned around as I held the wand out as if offering it to the Veil, and stepped though.