The Wizarding World has been exposed and forced to reunite with the Muggles after 300 years of separation. After peaceful coexistence failed, the UK government outlawed magic and began a nationwide persecution against wizards and witches.

The Ministry of Magic fell because of Muggleborn officials who had been coerced into compliance by the MI5. Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger-Weasley, was taken into special custody by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.

Now it is up to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, along with Padma and Parvati Patil, to save Hermione and the wizarding world before the magic dies.

Full story: "Harry Potter and the Two Worlds, " by Birger, ao3

December 2019

Police helicopters thundered through the night sky over London, their searchlights focused on a stolen police car that tore through the empty streets.

Ron gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. “Tell me again why I’m the one behind the steering wheel!”

“Because I’m the one who can deflect bullets,” Harry said from the passenger seat while holding the Elder Wand in a tight grip. "And because you're the only one with a driver's licence. "

In the back seat, Padma and Parvati clung to each other as blue and red lights flashed in the rearview mirror.

“Ron, they’re gaining on us!” Padma cried.

“I see them!” Ron snapped, swerving sharply. A police van skidded sideways, crashing into a lamppost.

Overhead, a helicopter followed them. Harry rolled down the window, aimed the Elder Wand skyward, and shouted,

“Stupefy Maxima!”

A blinding wave of red energy exploded from his wand. The helicopter’s engines coughed and went silent as it spun out of control, crashing into the street behind them.

“Bloody hell,” Ron muttered in complete shock. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

Harry didn’t answer. His gaze was already fixed on the approaching lights of Whitehall and the dark silhouette of 10 Downing Street.

By the time they arrived, the Prime Minister’s residence was surrounded. Police cars blocked every road, and armed officers were forming barricades around the building. No warnings were heard, and it looked like they were about to pull their triggers.

Before a single shot could be fired, Harry stretched out the Elder Wand from the window and whispered an incantation.

“Stupefy Omnium.”

The ground trembled. A wave of invisible energy burst outward, rippling through the air like thunder underwater. Every officer in a hundred-yard radius dropped where they stood, stunned but alive.

Harry raised his wand again toward the sky.

“Protego Maxima.”

A blazing golden shield encased 10 Downing Street, like a bubble, sealing it from the outside world. One helicopter collided with the shield before crashing onto the ground outside the gates.

Harry, Ron, and the Patil sisters ran out of the car immediately.

"Alohomora!" Harry said, opening the door to the Prime Minister's residence.

Ron and the Patil sisters followed him up the steps and into the dark corridor.

“Stay behind me,” Harry warned, pushing open the heavy door.

The hall was empty. They moved slowly, searching for any threats.

As they reached the corner leading to the Prime Minister’s office, the sharp crack of a gunshot split the silence. Harry stumbled back, clutching his arm as the Elder Wand dropped on the ground. Blood seeped through his sleeve.

“Harry!” Ron shouted, catching him.

At the end of the corridor stood the Prime Minister, Kavita Patel, with her pistol aimed straight at them. Her other hand clutched Hermione in a tight grip. “Don’t come any closer!” Kavita screamed. “Drop your wands!”

Ron froze. Parvati and Padma gasped in horror.

“Kavita, please,” Hermione begged. “It doesn’t have to end like this—”

“Oh, it ended long ago,” Kavita hissed. “The moment your kind decided you could play gods!”

She took a step back toward her office, dragging Hermione with her. “Throw them here! Now!”

Harry could see the despair behind Kavita’s rage, the years of fear and grief, but before he could speak, a sudden chill filled the air. The lights flickered. A voice, smooth and sharp as a blade, echoed through the hall.

“How dramatic.”

A swirl of silver smoke materialized between them, and Delphini stepped out of it.

Kavita blinked, momentarily stunned. “Who—?”

Delphini raised her hand, and the gun in Kavita’s grasp disintegrated into dust.

Then, with a flick of her wrist, an unseen force flung Ron, Parvati, and Padma backward against the wall. They slumped, stunned on the floor, unable to move a muscle.

Harry desperately tried to reach the Elder Wand, but the pain from the bullet in his arm prevented him from moving forward. Delphini merely smiled while watching him bleed.

“Potter… you’ve made such a mess while I was gone.”

Her eyes turned black. Kavita lifted into the air, kicking and gasping as invisible fingers tightened around her throat. Hermione fell to her knees while watching her captor become the captive.

Delphini's voice became cold with curiosity. “Let’s see who you really are, Kavita Patel.”

Her eyes flashed, and Kavita let out a strangled cry. Visions flickered in the air: a young girl forced to levitate upside down by her sister. A young woman forced to watch her husband being murdered, and her daughter taken by masked men in black robes. A tragedy in a foreign country. A grieving mother holding the lifeless body of her daughter.

Delphini smirked. “So that’s it. A squib… a grieving mother. How poetic.”

“Stop it!” Hermione screamed, struggling against her restraints.

“Don’t pretend to pity your kidnapper, Granger,” Delphini hissed. “She deserves to feel it. All of it.”

She raised her hand for the killing blow, but then a fierce voice rang out.

“Avada Kedavra!”

A jet of green light cut through the air. Delphini turned too late. The killing curse hit her square in the chest. She froze as her heart stopped beating, and then she fell to the floor, lifeless.

Parvati stood holding the Elder Wand. She took a deep look of contempt at her cousin as her eyes swelled with tears.

Kavita collapsed to the floor, defenseless and shaking. “You… saved me?”

Parvati’s eyes blazed with fury. “You don’t deserve saving.”

She stepped forward, shaking with anger. “Crucio!”

Kavita screamed in pain while rolling around on the marble floor.

“Parvati, stop!” Padma cried, grabbing her sister’s arm. “It’s over!”

Parvati hesitated and then let her wand fall. The curse ended. Kavita lay sobbing on the floor, broken and terrified.

Hermione stumbled free as Padma shattered her handcuffs with a spell. The collar sparked once and fell to the floor.

Harry, pale and sweating, was clutching his arm. Hermione rushed to him, pressing her hands over the wound. “Hold still. Accio bullet!”

The bullet left Harry's arm, and bleeding worsened. Hermione pressed her hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. Padma came closer and stretched out her hand over Harry's wound.

"Episkey!"

A warm and golden light sealed the bullet wound.

Parvati pointed the Elder Wand at Ron's stunned body.

"Finite!"

The stunning spell lifted, and Ron pulled himself up and looked at Hermione with unimaginable relief. Then he ran forward and pulled his wife into a shaking embrace. “You’re okay. You’re actually okay.”

Hermione smiled weakly, relieved to be finally reunited with her husband. “I am now, " she cried.

Harry looked down at Kavita, who sat trembling on the floor. Her authority meant nothing now.

“You’ll answer for everything,” Harry said quietly.

Parvati conjured a pair of glowing magical cuffs, clasping them around her cousin’s wrists.

Ron handed Hermione a Gryffindor house tie, their final portkey.

“Let’s go home.”

The five of them gathered around it. Padma held her cousin in a tight grip. Kavita didn't say anything and didn't have the energy to fight back. Parvati took one last look at Delphini’s body, then at Kavita. Her voice was cold and final. “Some monsters make themselves.”

The tie glowed bright scarlet, and in a whirl of light, they vanished, leaving the ruins of Downing Street behind.

In the next instant, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Padma, and Kavita appeared before the great gates of Hogwarts.

It was dawn, and the castle grounds were packed with hundreds of refugees from all over the United Kingdom.

The massive gates creaked open. McGonagall, Neville, and a crowd of teachers and students rushed forward. Disbelief turned to joy as they saw who had returned.

“Harry!” Ginny cried, running toward him. He caught her in his arms, holding her tight. Behind them, James, Albus, and Lily came sprinting down the path. Harry dropped to his knees, pulling them into a fierce embrace.

Nearby, Hugo and Rose threw themselves into their mother’s arms. Hermione fell to her knees as she clutched them both.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she cried in relief.

“Neither did we,” Rose said through tears. Hugo refused to let go.

All around them, teachers and survivors gathered: Hagrid, Luna, Slughorn, Nearly Headless Nick, and dozens of others who had fought to defend the castle. The mood shifted from disbelief to relief until they saw who else had arrived.

'Parvati and Padma dragged Kavita forward in magical shackles. The Prime Minister's once-imposing presence was now reduced to silence. Yet even now, her dark eyes still burned with defiance.

McGonagall’s expression hardened as she stepped forward.

“Kavita Patel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, you will answer for your crimes against wizardkind. For the invasion of Hogwarts. For the lives you’ve destroyed.”

Kavita met her gaze. “You think I fear your judgment, Headmistress?”

McGonagall boiled on the inside. “You should.”

The Patil sisters each took one of Kavita’s arms and marched her through the corridors. Everywhere they passed, people stopped. Students, families, healers, and ghosts watched in fury, sorrow, and disbelief. Mothers clutched their children as they recognized the face of the woman who had ordered their persecution. Murmurs filled the halls. Some shouted, others wept.

When they reached the Great Hall, it was already packed. Every seat and staircase overflowed with survivors, teachers, and students from every House. Portraits of former headmasters lined the walls. Dumbledore's portrait watched the spectacle with pity. Snape's and Black's portraits watched with contempt.

McGonagall took her place at the high table, flanked by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the heads of house. Kavita stood in the center of the hall, bound by enchanted chains that glowed blue.

The noise in the hall was deafening, filled with shouts and insults. Some called for justice while others called for revenge.

McGonagall raised her wand. “SILENCE!”

The room quieted instantly.

“This emergency council is hereby convened. Kavita Patil, you stand accused of crimes against wizardkind: unlawful imprisonment, torture, murder, and the attempted destruction of Hogwarts. How do you plead?”

Kavita's voice was calm and cold. “I plead guilty to nothing.”

A wave of outrage rippled through the crowd.

McGonagall was outraged. “You deny what we all witnessed? You ordered soldiers to march on children.”

Kavita’s gaze swept the room. “You speak of children,” she said, her tone rising, “yet you sent your own children into war once before. You trusted teenagers to face Voldemort while the Ministry hid behind lies and cowardice.”

The words cut through the hall like a blade. Even Harry froze.

“My parents were killed in the Department of Mysteries,” Kavita continued. “They were killed by Death Eaters. It could've been easily prevented had it not been for your Ministry's neglect and incompetence.”

No one spoke. Hermione could only feel pity and empathy for the same woman who had deceived and kidnapped her only a few days ago.

“And later,” Kavita went on, “my husband was killed by the same wizard nazis for trying to protect my daughter. They intended to use her as a weapon. Years later, when we lived in India with our family, my daughter was killed by Aurors when she lost control over her powers. They killed her for her own safety, their Ministry said. ” Her voice cracked for the first time, and tears swelled in her eyes. “Tell me, Professor, tell me, how many of you would forgive that?”

McGonagall’s hand tightened around her wand. Around the room, some faces softened, others hardened further. Harry felt the words crawl under his skin, echoing the memory of his own childhood; a life shaped by fear and loss.

Kavita looked around at the crowd watching her trial. “You call it magic. I call it a disease. One that infects children, twists them, destroys families. I only wanted to cure it.”

The silence that followed was heavy. Then McGonagall stood.

“Your grief does not excuse genocide,” she said firmly. “You sought to erase what makes us who we are. For that, and for the blood you’ve spilled, there can be no mercy.”

Kavita's eyes burned. “Then you’re no better than I am.”

McGonagall’s voice turned to steel.

“Kavita Patel, you will spend the rest of your life in the dungeons beneath Hogwarts. You will have food, warmth, and silence, enough to remember every life you destroyed.”

The hall erupted; some shouting approval, others demanding death. Hermione looked away. McGonagall struck her wand against the table, sending a sharp crack through the air.

“Enough!”

The Patil sisters stepped forward. Without a word, they seized their cousin and dragged her down into the depths of the castle. Students parted silently as they passed, many whispering curses under their breath. Down in the dungeons near the Slytherin common room, they stopped at an empty cell of cold stone, iron bars, and no windows.

Kavita said nothing as Parvati pushed her inside. Padma closed the heavy door with a metallic clang. Parvati looked at her cousin one last time.

The Wizarding World has been exposed and forced to reunite with the Muggles. Four months after the Revelation, the UK government under Prime Minister Kavita Patel outlawed magic following Delphini's attempted assassination of the Queen. The Ministry of Magic fell as coerced Muggleborn betrayed their fellow wizards and witches.

Hermione was betrayed by the Prime Minister and taken captive by the MI5, along with the Patil sisters. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were stripped of their wands by the Metropolitan Police, but narrowly escaped arrest. With the help of Dudley, they now head north toward Hogwarts to build a resistance against the tyrannical Muggle government and free their captive friends and families.

Full story: "Harry Potter and the Two Worlds, " by Birger, ao3

The road north was long, grey, and nearly empty. Dudley’s eyes were fixed ahead like the world might vanish if he dared blink.

Harry sat in the backseat beside Ginny, who still had her hands cuffed behind her back.

"Harry, stop wasting time and unlock them. It hurts, " Ginny exclaimed in anger and frustration.

He leaned close, whispering the unlocking charm again and again. “Alohomora… Alohomora… Come on!”

The cuffs rattled, sparked faintly, and stayed locked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “You call yourself the Chosen One, but cannot even unlock a pair of handcuffs without a wand!”

“Well, sorry,” Harry muttered, sweating. “They don’t exactly teach you this at Auror training.”

“They did,” Ginny said, deadpan. “You just skipped the class.”

Ron sat in the front seat, staring grimly out the window. The awkward silence between him and Dudley felt like a ghost hovering between them.

Finally, Ron cleared his throat. “Never thought I’d be in a car with you, mate. I still remember when it used to be me and my brothers, rescuing Harry from your family.”

Dudley’s cheeks went red with shame. “Yeah. I'm ashamed of how I behaved back then. I didn’t understand any of it back then.”

Ron shifted uneasily. “We all made mistakes as kids,” he said, though his tone carried the weight of old grudges. “At least you’re driving the getaway car now.”

Dudley gave a small, humorless grin. “Guess that’s something.”

Harry ignored their conversation and concentrated all he could on Ginny's handcuffs.

"Alohomora!”

Ginny's handcuffs finally unlocked.

"Took you long enough, " Ginny said, clenching her wrists.

As the car sped through the Scottish border, Ron reached into his coat and pulled out the Deluminator, the small, silver device that had once led him back to Hermione and Harry during darker times.

“If it worked once,” he murmured, “maybe it’ll work again.”

He clicked it. A faint click echoed in the car, and the light inside the Deluminator shimmered, swirling, flickering like a captured flame. Ron closed his eyes, focusing on Hermione’s face, her voice, and her scent.

Then, with a soft whoosh, his astral projection, a ghostly echo of himself, appeared in a cold, dim cell hundreds of miles away.

Hermione sat against the wall with wrists cuffed behind her back and an electric collar that glowed faintly around her neck. Across from her, Parvati and Padma Patil lay chained. Then, suddenly, a faint blue glow filled the cell.

“Hermione?” Parvati exclaimed, eyes wide.

The light shimmered, and Ron stood before them, translucent and almost spectral. His expression was filled with fury and heartbreak.

“Ron!” Hermione gasped, tears springing to her eyes. She scrambled to her knees, reaching toward her husband.

“I can’t touch you,” Ron said as his hands went right through her cheeks. “But I can see you. Oh, Merlin, Hermione. What have they done to you?”

“Kavita, the Prime Minister, ” Hermione whispered. “She betrayed me. She betrayed everyone. I should have seen it. We were wrong, Ron. We believed too much.”

Ron felt sick inside, and a fire burned in his ghostly blue eyes.

“You couldn’t have known. She’s a snake, worse than Umbridge. I swear to you, Hermione, I’ll get you out of here. Whatever it takes.”

Padma looked up.

“She’s our cousin. "

Ron turned sharply to the twins, whom he had not seen in two decades.

"Padma, Parvati. Haven't seen you in a long time. How did you end up here?"

"After we fled from India, we visited our cousin at the Prime Minister's office. It was a big mistake, " Padma explained. "She's a squib. She lost her parents and husband to the Death Eaters during the war. Her daughter was killed by Aurors when she lost control of her powers while we all lived together in India as a family many years ago. Her heart is struck with grief and never-ending hatred of everything that is magical. All this... This is her revenge for everything that has happened to her.”

Ron couldn't believe the horrors he now heard from his former date.

”That creature is not family. Not anymore. She has betrayed her own flesh and blood. When we’re out of here, I make sure Kavita will beg for death, ” Parvati said, heartbroken with anger and sorrow.

Ron looked at Hermione again and saw tears streaming down her face. He reached out, and though his hand passed through her, his projection leaned forward, brushing his glowing forehead against hers in a phantom kiss.

“Hold on for me, yeah? Just hold on. I, Harry, Ginny, and... Dudley are heading for Hogwarts to gather the resistance just like the old days.”

Hermione nodded. “I will. I wish I could join too. I want to be with you, at Hogwarts.”

*Soon, you will, my love. I promise."

Then Ron turned toward Padma. His ghostly outline shimmered faintly as he said, almost sheepishly: “By the way… I’m sorry for ruining your Yule Ball when we were fourteen.”

Padma blinked, then laughed through her tears. “Took you long enough, Weasley.”

He grinned faintly. “Better late than never.”

The light around him began to fade as the edges of his form dissolved.

“I’ll find you,” Ron promised. His voice echoed as he vanished. “All of you.”

The Wizarding World has been exposed. Delphini and former Death Eaters have conquered Durmstrang and transformed the school into a fortress of wizarding supremacy to conquer Europe. Now London is under attack. Now it is up to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny to save the UK and prove that peace between wizards and Muggles is possible.

Full story: "Harry Potter and the Two Worlds, " by Birger, ao3

November 2019

Hermione tried desperately to hide her tears as she pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the Houses of Parliament. She looked over the River Thames and dropped her notes to the ground.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny burst onto the terrace seconds later.

"Hermione, look at me," Ron said as he grabbed her shoulders. "Don't you dare listen to those bastards. They don't know anything. They don't know who you are."

"They didn't even try to understand," Ginny muttered, grabbing Hermione’s left hand.

Harry turned away and saw a crowd of Muggle politicians whispering behind their backs. Kavita stood just behind them, trying not to smile as she observed Hermione’s distress. Harry looked at Kavita, suspecting there was something wrong with her.

Suddenly, a massive shockwave shattered every window on the street. A ball of orange fire erupted from the tower across the river, tearing through steel and stone. Big Ben, the ancient clock tower, a symbol of Britain’s endurance, splintered into a flaming rain of debris. Screams filled the night as chunks of molten iron crashed into the Thames.

Metropolitan Police officers drew their batons and firearms in sheer panic, running blindly through the smoke, while the guarding Auror squads instinctively drew their wands.

A flash of green lit the sky, forming the Dark Mark with its Augurey wings spread over the city, for every Londoner to see.

"It’s her," Harry shouted. "Delphini is here!"

“Everyone inside!” Hermione’s voice rang out through the chaos. “Back into the chamber! NOW!”

Kavita’s eyes widened in genuine horror at the sheer scale of the destruction. Swept up in the surging tide of fleeing politicians, she allowed her security aides to rush her back into the Parliament building.

Dozens of terrified MPs stumbled back into Westminster Hall. Some prayed while others shouted orders no one could follow.

Nearby, Rita Skeeter let out a sharp, undignified shriek, and in a flash of light, she vanished into the form of a tiny beetle, skittering away to save her own skin.

"With me!" Percy Weasley roared, drawing his wand alongside his father Arthur and Rolf Scamander.

Together with Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny, the family formed a defensive line on the terrace. They raised their wands toward the sky, focusing every ounce of their remaining energy into a singular, massive localized defense.

"Protego Maxima!" Hermione cried out. "Fianto Duri!" Harry and Ron bellowed in unison.

A massive, shimmering dome of blue magical energy erupted from their wand tips, rapidly expanding until it blanketed the entire sprawling gothic complex of the Houses of Parliament, protecting the very politicians who, mere moments ago, had mocked and degraded their existence.

Outside, the temperature dropped sharply. A thick layer of ice spread over the River Thames. Electric lights flickered and died.

Harry froze in fear. “No...not them.”

Hundreds of hooded figures swarmed across the sky like a plague.

The non-magical populace on the Tower Bridge and the streets below began to scream, collapsing to their knees as an overwhelming, apocalyptic wave of despair and grief crushed the city.

Hermione gasped as a wave of despair hit the building. Harry staggered forward and raised his wand.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

A blinding stag burst from his wand, charging into the sky. It collided with a Dementor, dissolving it into mist. Dozens more Patronuses followed: foxes, otters, dogs, and wolves poured from every wand in nearby.

Ginny’s bright horse leapt into the air beside Harry’s stag. Ron’s terrier darted between them, snapping at shadows. Even the frightened Muggle MPs stared in awe as the silvery beasts illuminated the storm clouds, driving the Dementors back toward the English Channel.

The icy surface of the River Thames began to crack as a Durmstrang ship burst from the depths below like a killer whale. Older teenagers from all over Europe, dressed in crimson cloaks, came flying on broomsticks, hurling curses at the buildings below, turning London into a battlefield.

“Get them down!” Ron shouted, drawing his wand. “Aurors, with me!”

He and a squad of Aurors sprinted outside, joining the Metropolitan Police in the streets. Gunfire and spellfire lit the night in bursts of blue, red, and gold. Cars flipped, lampposts exploded, and curses ricocheted across the pavement.

The Metropolitan Police officers fired their guns at the flying teenagers. Bullets hit the Durmstrang students before they could raise their shield charms. One teenage girl fell off her broomstick and onto a double-decker bus as a bullet hit her in the back.

Ginny pointed her wand skyward, using her bat-boogey hex to scatter several masked invaders who lost concentration before crashing into the icy waters below. Arthur shielded several terrified Muggle tourists from blasting curses. Percy managed to set several flying broomsticks on fire, which caused the riders to scream in panic before crashing into the Tower Bridge. Rolf Scamander conjured a flock of aggressive birds to confuse the invaders.

Hermione stayed at the doors of Parliament, shielding the terrified politicians behind her barrier. Every time the golden shield flickered, she poured more of herself into it, sweat dripping from her brow. Kavita cowered in fear behind Hermione, the woman she despised.

“Stay together!” Hermione shouted. “I will defend you!”

From the south, a squadron of attack helicopters approached at high speed. The helicopters fired missiles toward the Durmstrang ship, blowing it into pieces.

Harry, seeing the Dementors and the Durmstrang students retreat, felt that this was only the beginning. He looked east.

“Ron, hold them here!” Harry shouted.

Before anyone could stop him, he disapparated with a loud crack. He reappeared inside Buckingham Palace’s courtyard, where chaos reigned. Guards shouted and fired blindly into the storm. Windows shattered as dark wizards swooped overhead. One young wizard fell off his broom as Palace guards shot him squarely in the chest. A witch flying on a broomstick conjured blue that burned several guards alive.

Over Buckingham Palace, lightning flashed, and in that light, Harry saw her. A young woman glided above the royal dome.

“Get the Queen to safety!” Harry ordered, sprinting inside, stunning every dark wizard in sight.

He reached the throne room just as Delphini crashed through the shattered windows. The air shimmered around her like a living storm.

“So this is the seat of Muggle power,” she sneered, floating inches above the floor. “How pitifully fragile.”

“Delphini!” Harry raised his wand. “It’s over. You’re done.”

She laughed, low and melodic. “Over? It’s only just begun.”

A wave of invisible force hit him square in the chest, throwing him across the room. His wand clattered away as the air left his lungs.

Delphini turned toward the Queen, who stood frozen among her guards, while holding one of her corgis tightly.

“This world will bow,” Delphini whispered. “And its crown shall be first.”

She raised her hand. Green light gathered in her palm, but before she could say Avada Kedavra, a shot echoed through the hall. Delphini screamed, clutching her arm as blood splattered across the marble. One of the Queen’s guards had fired a silver-tipped round, hitting her clean through the shoulder.

Harry, gasping for air, reached for his wand. “Stupefy!”

The red light struck her squarely in the chest. Delphini collapsed, twitching as the energy rippled through her body. Chains of glowing light snapped around her wrists and ankles, binding her magic.

Harry limped forward, eyes burning. “It’s over,” he said, panting. “You’re under arrest.”

The Queen stepped closer, her voice calm but heavy. “Mr. Potter…” she said, touching his arm gently. “You’ve saved my life and perhaps our entire kingdom. For this heroic act, you will be knighted. ”

Harry looked out the shattered window, where smoke still rose over Westminster, and the Augury mark still glowed faintly in the storm clouds.

He shook his head. “No, Your Majesty,” he said quietly. “This is just the beginning.”

The fires over London burned through the night. Smoke from the ruins of Big Ben drifted across the Thames, casting ghostly shadows over Westminster Bridge. By midnight, the battle was over.

Aurors, battered and bruised, moved among the debris, stunning the few surviving Durmstrang attackers. The London Metropolitan Police helped carry the injured to safety.

Ron and Percy helped chain the surviving Durmstrang students in rigid lines outside the Palace of Westminster. Older teenagers of all nationalities cried and whispered prayers in German, Russian, and Swedish, among other languages.

Ron wiped a streak of blood and rain from his forehead while listening to the frantic, foreign pleading. "Can't understand a bloody word," he muttered. "Percy, what are they even saying?

Percy didn't answer. He only looked at the students who had been deceived by a tyrant promising glory. Ginny locked eyes with a terrified Estonian girl.

"Ron..." Ginny whispered as she stepped closer to her brother. "Look at them. They’re kids. They’re barely older than James and Albus. They’re just children."

Ron looked down at a young boy clutching a broken arm and felt disgusted by the very sight of teenagers being used as child soldiers.

Hermione stood before the Houses of Parliament as the fading shimmer of her Protego Maxima dome dissolved into the night.

“It’s over,” she said. “The battle is won.”

The remaining MPs and soldiers stared at her in shock. Kavita stepped forward and extended her hand to Hermione.

“Minister Granger,” she said smoothly, “you’ve done Britain a great service tonight. You’ve saved countless lives, including mine.”

Hermione smiled faintly. “We did what we had to do. Wizards and Muggles, together.”

“Yes,” Kavita said softly. “Together.” But in her heart, the words tasted like venom.

After every wizard and witch had left the area, Kavita picked up her phone, eager to say the words she had been waiting months to say.