Harry Potter: An Alternate Ending by J S S Priyadarshi

Came across this 'Harry Potter Alternate Ending' that I had penned down for a literary competition in July 2013. It did win a prize then, hope it wins your attention now! :P

Harry Potter: The Alternate Cut!

The boy who had lived, and died, had lived again. The world had witnessed the fall of He-who-must-not be-named. An era of fear had come to an end. There was no more of Lord Voltemort that the world anticipated to further endure.

Little known fact was an incident of the time when Ron had walked out on Harry and Hermione during their nomadic days of shelter during You-know-who’s return to power. A sobbing Hermione on Harry’s shoulders had asked why Ron had left them after all and a consoling Harry was caressing his trusted friend.

With the chemistry they so apparently shared, the desperation and frustration over failing social life, the physical proximity and the dimly lit surroundings, had made one thing lead to another, ending up in the best of buddies experiencing a one-night-stand, promising never ever to speak of it again.

Yet as no birth control techniques were advertised in the non-muggle world and since graduating from Hogwarts was a certificate of adulthood and licence to early marriage, the unsuspecting Hermione had happily wed-locked herself to Ron soon after the fall of You-know-who. The Weasley that was born to them was hardly a Weasley after all! He was the apparent bloodline of the Potters, or was he?

They say horcruxes have a way of ensuring survival; and that night though it had been Harry, by namesake, it was the fragment of a foreign soul lodged in his body, in action.

The era had not ended, it had just begun.

I am OK, You BETTER be OK!

As opposed to the four "life positions" that one may take as postulated by Thomas A Harris, it seems that there is a fifth principle of transactional analysis which a handful of people resort to in order to tackle situations in life - "I am OK, You BETTER be OK!"

Arthaat, the human species is prone to escapism from reality, which prompts callous behaviour when it comes to relationships (personal & professional) and in turn leads to that perennial faking of smiling and pretending happiness and expecting the same of others ( ain't that the corporate culture?).  Result is the mutual tacit understanding of "All izz well" even if the wellness is a coerced one, lest unabated it troubles the other! And ingrained in this pseudo cry is the principle of you better pretend to be be ok because I am pretending to be!

Oh too much of OB! Period.

To be or not to be…

You cannot have everything that you want! Not unless you really need it badly and never ever if you do not strive for it. Maybe if you did, then in Coelho's words, the Universe would conspire to make you attain it.

The theme here is not to quote from 'The Alchemist' but to highlight an important yet harsh fact of life, that every glory is followed by vanity, every triumph by defeat, moments of joy by pain and many a smile by a sob. That's the cycle of life, as much like the business cycle, stock bulls and bears, evolution or revival of fashion. We seldom realize the law in question and hanker after our objects of desire with a view to be happy and much to our dismay and chagrin, end up losing both, a classic example of losing the bird in hand because of the one in the bush.

Someone remarked that it is very essential to have the hunger and desire burning within for your ambition in life; to keep your throat parched till you taste the elixir of success, and in the process never rest, never stop, never take the time of your life to pause and be happy for what you already possess. Another wise philosopher advised that whatever has to come in life, shall come in due course of time and destiny; no need of an unhappy pursuit spoiling the beauty of life. Then said another that as a young man there is no need to be satisfied because the world is materialistic in its views and measures success with the yardstick of and achievements and deeds, therefore you have to make it happen as nothing ever occurs on its own accord.

Multiple standpoints of multiple people offer too much of multitude. Life is a journey and the road need not be as bumpy as we seemingly make it. One has to have ambition and accomplish the necessary action to fuel it. And yet all this while, one can still be 'happy', though not content, because the pursuit of happiness is what everyone strives for, a primal emotion of the biotic society and quintessential for survival.

And happiness is not achieved or lost due to circumstances or people. It is a perennial 'asset', one that appreciates with time, which you can choose to have or not to have with your optimism, manner of thinking and way of living, bearing the innocent smile on your lips and alacrity in your heart that stems from an innate sense of goodness that everyone is endowed with.

Happiness is eternal and every individual can seek and find it within and take delight in the simple and complex events in life. It emanates from the feel-good-factor of tiny acts of random kindness, some humbleness here and some smile-spreading there thus making your life complete and purposeful.

Be Happy! The world is a great place to be!