Harry Potter and What Happened After - Sahits

When Teddy saw Harry he held his arms up to him and started gurgling and laughing. Soon Teddy's
hair was black and messy and he was being held by Harry. Andromeda was smiling at Harry, but Harry
could see that the smile didn't extend much beyond her mouth. Harry could see the hurt in her eyes, the
longing for her husband, daughter, and son in law.
Harry knew how she felt, and when he looked at Teddy, who was now in Ginny's arms, he considered
the boy somewhat lucky to be unable to fully comprehend what was going on today.
Soon the ceremony was under way. "Welcome everybody," said Professor McGonagall from the stage,
her voice magically amplified, "I'd like to welcome you all to the newly restored Hogwarts school of
Witchcraft and Wizardry." There was a thunderous applause at this point and for the next 2 minutes
McGonagall didn't even try to speak.
When the crowd did quiet down she continued, "As most of you know, this ceremony is to both honor
those who died during the war, and to officially reopen the school." This time the crowd didn't applaud,
instead they remained somber and silent.
"Many of you know that this ceremony is also to present the Order of Merlin first through third class to
a very large group of people, and to do just that, I give you newly appointed full time Minister of
Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt." There was tremendous applause as Kingsley stepped up and shook
McGonagall's hand.
After pointing his wand at his throat Kingsley motioned for silence, and was immediately awarded.
"Thank you all, it is a great honor to be able to present such a prestigious award to so many deserving
people." There was some scattered applause at this, but for the most part people remained silent.
"First, I'd like to present the Order of Merlin, First Class, to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione
Granger, for their assistance in the final defeat of Voldemort." The three friends stood up and started
towards the stage. Once they were up there Kingsley put a large gold medallion on a purple tie around
each of their necks. The medallion had an imprint of Merlin on it with a large roman numeral I stamped
in the middle of his chest. There was a burst of applause as Harry, Ron and Hermione all stood up and
smiled at the crowd.
After nearly 10 minutes of applause Kingsley whispered in Harry's ear, "Time for your speech,"
Harry nodded as butterflies erupted in his stomach; it felt like he was going to vomit colorful wings. He
took out his wand with shaky hands as he stepped forward. Instantly the crowd went silent.
"Sonorus," Muttered Harry as he pointed his wand at his throat. Instantly he felt his vocal cords swell a
bit, and then he felt a buzzing in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, hoping that the spell had
worked; it would have been really embarrassing to mess up a spell here. "Hello," started Harry, his
voice booming out of his chest, "First off, I just want to thank everybody who has fought against
Voldemort or his Death Eaters over the years. You all put your lives in danger for the good of others,
and in my book, that makes you all heroes." There was a small round of applause from the audience,
and Harry was thankful for it, he had no idea where to go from there. "second, I want to thank the
Ministry for recognizing all of those who helped me fight the final battle, I couldn't have done it with
out all of you and I want to express my greatest regret that so many people had to die for us to achieve
this great victory."
Harry smiled bowed his head to show his respect for the dead, when he looked up everybody was
staring at him, expecting a speech, so he gave them one. "One of the first things I heard Albus
Dumbledore say was 'Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!', and I must say, they were some of the most
inspirational words I've ever heard." A small laugh went up from the crowd and Harry felt some of the
butterflies calm down, but not many. "Through my 6 years at Hogwarts I learned many things from