"Damn!" sighed Harry. "She'd already warned me about the Order of Merlin, but I was going to try to come up with a way to refuse it. I guess I can't, huh?" "You killed Snake Face," said Tonks. "You... being able to refuse it... was never going to happen."
"I was hoping to get away with being Lord Hardwin Peverell for quite some time yet," grumped Harry.
"You still can―" started Remus. "No. Wait. You really can't, can you? The magic of the Order will require your true name be used."
"Yeah," sighed Harry.
"You'll need to talk to her, Pup," said Sirius. "This can't come at her cold. She needs to be warned."
"Yeah, she does," he sadly returned.
At Longbottom Manor near Lowestoft on the east coast, Neville Longbottom had been engaged in his own 'night-time manoeuvres' with his true girlfriend, Hannah Abbott, in his Lord's quarters when the announcement was made. Though they hadn't been listening to the wizarding wireless, they had it on in the background. It was the announcement 'You-Know-Who' was dead that had them suddenly pull apart and turn the radio up.
"― Somehow... and we've not been told how yet... Lord Peverell was able to handily defeat them all and escape. In effecting his escape he was also able to rescue over half a dozen people, who had also been kidnapped by You-Know-Who's forces and were in the same place at the time.
"Minister Bones informs us she will be recommending to an Emergency sitting of the Wizengamot, scheduled for tomorrow morning, Lord Peverell for the Order of Merlin, First Class.
"For those who don't know, anyone who defeats a dark lord is, by International law set down by the ICW, to be awarded such an honour. We cannot see the Wizengamot going against this law.
"As news continues to come in we will, of course, pass it on...
"Sweet Merlin, Neville," exclaimed Hannah. "You were right!"
Jumping up and out of bed, as he reached for his robes to hastily pull them on, Longbottom said, "I have to tell Gran. You might want to get up as we're probably going to be up for a while."
With a sigh, Abbott didn't even bother to argue. She knew her soon-to-be betrothed, while also a Lord, would want to keep his grandmother apprised of such a development as soon as it happened.
He would call it a need to keep his Proxy informed in case it changed matters before the Wizengamot - which this surely would - while she knew it was a hold-over from the way he was raised by the woman.
She climbed out of bed and hadn't even managed to reach for her robes before Longbottom was out the door and hurrying up the hallway to his grandmother's suite in the opposite wing.
In bed in his Headmaster's suite above the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was startled awake by an overcharged ethereal voice of his Deputy, McGonagall, carried to him by a messenger Patronus.
"Albus! Wake up! Come down to your office! There's important news on the wireless!"
Thinking it was another attack by Tom's forces, Dumbledore was quick to rise and just pull on a wizard's house coat over his night-robes. That the two colour schemes so horribly clashed didn't bother him as it usually would. Needs must, and all that. Slipping his bed-slippers on he scooped up his wand and hurried down the stairs.
"Minerva?" he demanded, immediately spotting her standing in the middle of the floor. "What's going on? Who was attacked?"
"No one, Albus," she grinned. "It's over!"
Puzzled, he asked, "The attack is already over?" He was heading for his floo to call the Order together.
"No," she replied. "Voldemort is dead! According to the wizarding wireless, Lord Peverell killed him!"
In shock, Dumbledore pulled up short just before reaching the fireplace. It was a moment, as he whirled to face his deputy, before his face changed to a scowl and he firmly stated, "That's impossible. It is young Neville's responsibility to kill Tom. "If this Peverell character has severely harmed Tom then Tom will be back. It's only a matter of time. We cannot accept that Tom is dead unless young Neville has killed him. The prophecy is fixed."
"Unless, of course, Lord Peverell is the Chosen One and not Lord Longbottom as you elsewise surmise," she firmly returned. "Just as Lord Longbottom suggested."
As he was moving at the time to turn his own wizarding wireless on, Dumbledore paused a moment to give a pointed look to his deputy before he finished reaching for the on switch. "Peverell is a dark wizard," he firmly stated. "No dark wizard could possibly be the one to kill Tom. He'd be more likely to joinhim than oppose him.
"No, Minerva. I suspect it is a trick by the forces of the dark to draw the light out into the open so they can be killed." With a scoff, McGonagall said, "It's been confirmed by Minister Bones herself, Albus. Listen to the wireless. Bones gave an interview only a little over an hour―"
She shut up when the wireless interrupted its soft music for an update of the news bulletin.
"We interrupt our musical selection of Celestina Warbeck's latest hits for a special news bulletin. If you are only just now tuning in, Minister Bones announced just over an hour ago that You-Know-Who, the dark lord, is dead... along with his entire supposed Inner Circle.
"We do not have the list of names, yet, but are assured it will be released once all their loved ones are first formally notified.
"Apparently, You-Know-Who and his Inner Circle were killed in self-defence by Lord Hardwin Peverell. Lord Hardwin Peverell, as the story goes, was kidnapped by You-Know-Who's forces and brought before the dark lord and his Inner Circle.
"In an announcement, live from her offices, Minister Bones had this to say..." The voice changed to what was clearly a recording of Amelia Bones. "'Gentlewizards and witches, it is my supreme joy to announce that the dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort has been killed, along with... it seems... his entire Inner Circle.'"
Then there was a moment of silence before there was a great hue of raised and excited voices, all shouting questions. That cut off and then Bones's voice began again. "'Not that long ago one of our aurors, along with half a dozen other missing and believed dead beings, suddenly arrived by auror portkey in the DMLE portkey arrival point in the DMLE. They came bearing surprising news...'"
As the bulletin finished, Dumbledore continued to sit in his office chair, scowling more and more. When it finished, he firmly stated, "It's a definite trick. I don't know how Tom or his people managed to pull it off, but it's definitely a trick."
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