The Yule Ball

A/N: Just a short note to explain a few things. This story is AU. In it Harry has defeated Voldy, but in this universe, the final battle at Hogwarts never took place. Rather it occurred elsewhere, and the details don't figure into this story. Neither Tonks or Lupin were killed, and though they are in the story, they're not a big part of it. Dumbledore survived as well, though Snape did not. (Mostly because I don't like him) The story starts in 2001. Harry is in his second year as the DADA Professor, when he gets a message to come to the Headmaster's office….

Part I – The Calm Before the Storm

Sunday, December 9, 2001. 10:05 am.

Headmasters Office

Albus Dumbledore looked up from the letter he was reading when he heard the knock at his door. "Enter." He called out.

Professor Harry Potter came into the office. Harry was in his second year as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. He was the youngest Professor at Hogwarts, and the most well liked. Even among the pure blood Slytherins, even if they wouldn't admit it. They did after all have an image to maintain. "You wanted to see me Headmaster?" Harry asked as he walked in.

"Yes Harry I did. As you know, the Yule Ball is coming up on the 20th, and I've just received a most disturbing letter. I once again booked the Weird Sisters to play at the ball, but I just heard from the band that due to their lead singer coming down with Dragon Pox, they will be unable to do the show. That only leaves us ten day to find a replacement, and as I will be heading off tomorrow to the Hague for meetings of the ICW until the 17th, I will be unable to do it myself, and I need someone to book a new band for the night."

"Me?" Harry asked.

"You." Dumbledore replied simply.

"But why me?" Harry asked him. "Shouldn't this be something the Deputy Headmistress should oversee? I mean I'm only in my second year here, and the year isn't even half over."

"Well, ordinarily I would agree with you, but in this case, no. Minerva isn't up on who's popular in the music world. She's more concerned with Transfiguration than who the young people listen to. But you, are much younger, and therefore much better suited than any other member of the staff."

"But….." Harry started.

"You'll have a 200 Galleon budget, which is what I was going to pay the Weird Sisters," Dumbledore went on, not even seeming to notice that Harry had started to object. "and ten days to find someone." He concluded putting a money bag on his desk.

"Headmaster….Professor, I don't think that I'm the…."

"Excellent. I knew I could count on you Harry. This will take a real load off my mind when I'm in The Hague." Dumbledore said, but not with his usual grandfatherly smile. No, this smile had a gleam in it.

Harry sighed. He knew Dumbledore wasn't going to let him out of this. "The old bugger is getting back at me because I pranked him last week". Harry thought. "How was I to know that when I turned his beard blue it would fall out?"

"Alright Headmaster, I'll find you a band for the night…somehow. Do I have the authority to sign a contract on behalf of Hogwarts if the band wants one?" he asked.

"Of course Harry. You know I have the utmost faith in you, and I'll leave a signed letter for you authorizing you to speak for Hogwarts in the hiring of the band. Although," he added, "I would like to meet the group on the 18th or 19th when I'm back"

"That shouldn't be a problem Sir."

"Excellent." He said with that same "Take that!" smile on his face. Then I'll leave you to it."

Dumbledore watched as Harry turned and started walking to the door of his office muttering softly to himself, and despite his 150 year plus age, he distinctly heard Harry say "Shit!" to himself.

After Harry closed the door, Dumbledore cast a silencing charm on his office and started to laugh. Fawkes, his phoenix, just gave him a "Tut tut" look.

Harry continued muttering to himself all the way back to his office

-=oooOOOooo=-

Later that day, he was no closer to an idea of who to get for the Yule Ball than he was earlier. Finally he decided to go out a buy a few magazines in Hogsmeade and see what, and or who was popular on the Wizarding Music Scene besides the Weird Sisters.

He ended up buying a dozen of them, and started going through them once he got back. In the back of one, he saw an article for the Raging Hippogriffs, a group out of Ireland that played mostly traditional music. But the best of all was that they were for hire. He marked them down as a possibility. But as he went through each magazine, he saw the same group mentioned over fifteen times. One of them, Music Monthly, even had three articles on the same group. "Now that's strange," he thought. "I thought they were a muggle group." But as he continued reading all the stories, he saw that he was wrong. They were a wizarding band who had started out in the Magical world, but now they played entirely in the muggle world. "I wonder?" he said softly to himself. He pulled out a piece of parchment and started to write.

-=oooOOOooo=-

Dumbledore didn't get back to Hogwarts till late on the 18th, and so Harry didn't get a chance to talk to him. But the next day at breakfast, he asked if they could meet in his office when he had a chance. "Of course Harry." Dumbledore said, "How about 10? I believe you have a free period at that time."

"Ten will be fine Professor. I'll send an owl off to the band I hired and ask them to join us at that time. With your permission of course, they can floo right in."

"O course. Of course. Replied the old Headmaster "I'll see you at 10 then."

"Thank you Sir"

-=oooOOOooo=-

Harry went off to his office and wrote a short note, and then off to the owlry to send it off with Hedwig. He got the reply less than 20 minutes later because she only had to fly as far as Hogsmeade and back.

The reply was short and to the point.

10 is fine. I'll see you then.

T

-=oooOOOooo=-

9:58 am.

Headmasters Office

"Enter." Dumbledore called out in response to Harry's knock. Harry went into the office and sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk. He saw that there were six chairs set out. "Are these extra chairs for the band Professor?' he asked.

"Yes Harry. I thought it would be more polite to have them ready than have to create them."

"I thought so." Harry replied. "But you'll actually only need one extra, because only one member of the band I hired will be coming."

"Only one?" Dumbledore asked, confused. "What about the others. Where are they?"

"Well," Harry began, "One is in North America as we speak. He's coming in by international portkey with his wife later tonight. Another is in Greece, and is also coming in later by portkey, and the third member, the bass player, is actually in Britain, but is doing a contractually obligated interview at the moment. The forth has the authority to speak for the group and will be meeting us in…" Harry looked down at his watch, "in about five…" the floo in Dumbledore's office started to flash with green flames. "right now." Harry ended.

A tall man dressed from head to foot in black dragon hide stepped out of Dumbledore's floo and then walked up to his desk. Sticking his hand out he said. "Headmaster Dumbledore. It's been a long time."

Dumbledore's mouth hung for a few moments, before he managed to get over his shock, and shake the man's hand. "Anthony," he managed to get out finally. "I must admit, I never thought I'd ever see you back here again."

The man chuckled. "You know Professor, only you and my mum call me Anthony. Everyone else calls me…"

"Oh I know the name you go by these days, but you know how old Professors are. They always address their students by the names they called them when they were in school. Even when they are over fifty years old." Dumbledore said smoothly, his voice even again. "Don't tell me you and your group are the ones Harry hired for tomorrow night?"

"We are indeed Professor. I told Mr. Potter that I couldn't commit the rest of the group myself and he agreed to meet us the next night at a gig we were playing in Dublin. When they heard they had a chance to come back to Hogwarts. Well, they couldn't pass it up and we all signed the contract that night."

"You signed a contract? You mean you agreed to play here for only 200 Galleons?" Dumbledore asked.

The man waved his hand dismissively. "Oh no no no Professor. We usually get a minimum of £200,000 or about 20,000 Galleons to do a show. No, we signed for 1 Galleon."

"But," Dumbledore looked at the empty money bad Harry had left on his desk, "what about the other 199 Galleons? Where did it go?"

"Oh that." Harry said. "I actually hired 2 bands for the night Professor. The Raging Hippogriffs will be opening the show at 6:00pm right after the feast, They'll be playing mostly traditional dance music for everyone, and…Anthony…and his group will be going on at 8:30. I've already spoken to the Elves, and they assure me they can set up the bands equipment in the half hour without pushing themselves. It's the Hippogriffs I've paid the 200 Galleons to. Oh that reminds me, you owe me a Galleon." Harry said with a cheeky smile.

Dumbledore looked at the darkly dressed man and asked. "And he's still with you?" looking like he was afraid of the answer he'd get.

The man simply nodded.

"Has he changed at all?

"Now Headmaster, you know what he's like."

"But I've heard that he's married and has children. Surely his wife has been able to ah…moderate, his language to some degree?"

The man chuckled. "Her? Ah, no. In fact, she can be even worse than he is at times, and don't even get me started about his kids."

Harry could swear he heard a groan come from the old Headmaster. Finally though he shook his head and said "Minerva will not like this Anthony. I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the show if he can't behave himself."

Dumbledore seemed to be expecting the man to get angry and argue with him but it didn't seem to bother him at all. "Well Headmaster, if that's how you feel, I won't argue the point. I'll just collect the cancellation fee for the band and be on my way. It's too bad though, we did want to come back."

"Cancellation fee?" Dumbledore asked. "What cancellation fee?"

"Oh it's in the contract Headmaster. Didn't you read it?"

But it was Harry that answered. "Ah no he didn't, and that's my fault. I haven't had a chance to give it to him yet." And with that, Harry pulled a scroll out from inside his robes and handed it to the old man.

Dumbledore unrolled it and started to read the contents. Harry knew he had gotten to the part about the cancellation fee when he saw all the color drain from the old mans face. "100,000 GALLEONS? EACH?" He nearly screamed. "WE DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF GOLD!"

"Well then Professor, I guess the show will have to go ahead as planned." Harry replied evenly. Although he was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

"How am I going to tell Minerva about this. She'll kill me."

"Oh yeah, about telling people. You can't Headmaster. That's in the contract as well. You see the group doesn't want the Ministry coming down to Hogwarts and sticking their noses into this. This show is for the school and the students. It's not about the Ministry or Minister Scrimgeour getting a photo op to try and boost his sagging approval rating. This is the first time they've been back to Hogwarts since they graduated, and the first wizarding concert in Britain in over 30 years. They want it to be a complete surprise to everyone, so you can't even tell the other members of the staff."

"But Minerva, she has to be warned before he…before he comes in here."

"I'm sorry, Headmaster. If you breach the terms, it will be the same as a cancellation." Harry said, and then after seeming to think about it for a moment, added, "I wish I'd known about this before hand or I never would have agreed to the terms."

Dumbledore looked like he was going to reply with something unpleasant but Harry beat him to it be saying. "Oh look at the time. It's nearly 10:30. I have a class to teach in five minutes." Then turning first to the musician and shaking hands with him said, "Anthony, I'll see you and others tomorrow night," and then back to Dumbledore added, "Headmaster, I'll see you later today." And then rushed out to get to his very important class which actually didn't start for another half hour.

There was silence in the office as Dumbledore and the other man looked at each other. Finally the younger man said. "Professor, I'll take my leave for now, and see you tomorrow night as well." He headed to the floo, but before throwing the powder in said. "I've missed this school. It'll be good to come home." He threw the power into the fireplace and after calling out "The Three Broomsticks." He disappeared in a flash of green flames.

Dumbledore was left sitting alone at his desk, and there he sat for nearly 20 minutes not saying a word. Finally he pushed himself up and slowly walked to the window in his office, hands behind his back. He looked out over the school for a while. A school he had been Headmaster of for well over 60 years. "I wonder," he said out loud to himself, "if I jumped off the Astronomy tower, would the impact kill me outright or leave me all broken up. Might be worth talking the chance."

He didn't hear the *THUMP* that sounded behind him, and also didn't hear the other noise that came after and which continued for a long while. Had he bothered to turn around he would have seen a large red and gold phoenix, who had just fallen off his perch, rolling on the floor of his office, laughing.

-=oooOOOooo=-

Part II – The Show Must Go On

Harry had managed to avoid the Headmaster the rest of the day by claiming he had homework to grade, and except for breakfast the next morning, also managed to dodge him all the next day. Finally it was time for the feast. Everyone came down in their dress robes for dinner and the Headmaster told them all without any seeming enthusiasm that after dinner The Raging Hippogriffs would be playing till 8 o'clock. There was some grumbling at this as the students thought the ball would go on longer that 8. But the Headmaster held his hands up to stop their grumbling and added. "But Professor Potter has an announcement to make about what will happen later. Professor?" He asked looking at Harry. Dumbledore was determined that he wasn't going to go down alone.

Harry got up and walked to the podium. "Thank you Headmaster," Harry said evenly. "I just wanted to announce that there will be a special guest band that will be playing a show starting at 8:30, and seeing as how this is the last day of school till after the hols, the Headmaster has graciously relaxed the curfew till it ends and will allow all students to attend. Dress robes, are not required, so you'll have a half hour to change into your regular clothes before the second show starts."

One of the students raised they're hand.

"Yes Miss Michaels?"

"Sir, who is going to be playing?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you Miss Michaels because it's a surprise. But I guarantee it will be a show you will not want to miss."

Another student raised their hand. "Yes Mr. Nelson?"

"Sir you said we could wear regular clothes, do you mean our Hogwarts robes?"

"You can wear your robes if you wish, but I meant you could wear your regular street clothes for the show."

"Oh, thank you Professor."

"Not a problem Mr. Nelson. Any other questions?" No one else raised their hands, so Harry turned the podium back over to the Headmaster, who simply added "Tuck in."

-=oooOOOooo=-

The rest of the school day went without incident, with much speculation as to who Professor Potter had hired as the "guest band" Most thought it would be the Weird Sisters, but others said no that it couldn't be them because they had read a story in the Daily Prophet about their lead singer coming down with Dragon Pox and that he would be laid up for weeks recovering.

The other staff members also were wondering who Harry had hired, with Professor McGonagall asking him straight out. "I'm sorry Professor, but I can't tell you. It's in the contract that the band insisted on."

This didn't of course make McGonagall happy. "Professor Potter, as Deputy Headmistress, I have a right to know who's coming to the school. What if they're dark wizards? Leftovers from Voldemort's Death Eaters. Can you imagine what would happen if they got into the school?"

"Professor….Minerva," Harry began, "They are not dark wizards. In fact they are about

as far from being dark wizards as you can get. So much so in fact, that Voldemort tried to kill them more than a few times over the years. Don't worry."

Harry rarely used her first name. Even though he was a full Professor, it still didn't feel right to him. And the way she could look at him sometimes, like he was still an 11 year old firstie didn't help either.

But she did trust him, and that went a considerable ways to making her feel better, at least as far as security was concerned. But it did nothing to help alleviate her curiosity.

So at the end of the day, everybody had opinions of who was coming, but none of them were even close.

-=oooOOOooo=-

The next morning when everyone was in the great Hall eating their breakfast, Harry stood up and walked over to the podium and said. "Can I have your attention please?"

The students quieted down at once. They hoped he was going to tell them about the concert that night.

"I just wanted to remind everyone that as this is the last school day before the holidays, it is a half day. Classes will end at noon, and after lunch, the Elves will begin getting the Great Hall ready for tonight. This will also give all of you time to get ready for the Ball and the concert afterwards." Harry paused at this point because the doors of the Great Hall opened as four people walked in. "During the Ball and the concert there will be extra monitors wandering around and making sure that everything goes off without problems."

The students all watched as the four newcomers walked up to the staff table and turned to face the students.

"I have asked some friends of mine to be here tonight to help the staff. They are from left to right, former Head Girl Miss Hermione Granger. Next, former Quidditch Captain Mr. Ronald Weasley. Some of the older students may remember them. Next is Former Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Mr. Remus Lupin, and finally, his wife, Auror First Class Mrs. Dora Lupin. Although she will not be acting as an Auror for tonight's show. You will show them the same level of respect that you would show any other member of the staff."

-=oooOOOooo=-

6 pm.

The Hogwarts Elves as usual, had the Great Hall finished and decorated with their usual efficiency, and The Raging Hippogriffs started the Ball off right on time. Harry wandered around, watching the students, and making sure nobody got out of line. There were no incidents, although Hermione did try to get him to tell her who was playing later on. He told her the same thing he told McGonagall the night before. That because of the contract ….blah blah blah….suprise….blah blah blah.

Finally at 8 the Hippogriffs played their last song and then thanked the staff and students before wishing them all a Happy Christmas. Harry walked up onto the stage that had been set up for the night. "Can I have you attention please?" They all quieted down. "Thank you. All right, the second show will start in a half hour, so until them, I have to ask all of you to return to your common rooms. This will give you all a chance to change and freshen up a bit. The doors will re-open at 8:25. Thank you."

Harry watched as all the students filed out, and when they had all finally left, he sealed all the doors except one. "I'm afraid that all the staff must leave as well." He told those remaining.

"What?" asked McGonagall. "Professor Potter, I am the Deputy Headmistress, and I have the right to know who is coming into this school!"

"And normally I would agree with you Professor, but it's in the contract that nobody other than the Headmaster and myself will know who is playing until I introduce them later. I'm sorry."

She turned to Dumbledore. "Albus, do you know who is going to be playing later?" she asked him, her anger very obvious.

"Yes Minerva I do, and Professor Potter is correct. It is in the contract, and if either of us tell anyone before they start to play, it will violate the terms of that contract, and we'll have to pay a very extensive penalty. One we cannot afford." He replied, not looking at her.

McGonagall scowled at him, but said nothing. She knew Dumbledore never directly lied, so she knew he couldn't tell her. She also knew that neither Dumbledore nor Harry would intentionally let someone into the school that might harm the students. So even though she didn't like being kept in the dark, she decided to wait like the rest of the school, and made her way to the doors. She was the last one to leave.

-=oooOOOooo=-

After Harry saw the Deputy Headmistress leave the Hall, he went over and sealed the last entrance to the Great Hall so nobody could either get in, or hear what was going on till the show started. "Okay guys," he said to the Hogwarts House Elves, you can start the setup. You have…" he glanced down at his watch, "twenty-two minutes before the doors open."

"Don't worry Professor Potter Sir. They's plenty of time." Said one of the elves as he was levitating two sets of speaker cabinets over to the end of the stage. Harry saw that they were joining 4 other sets. "Merlin!" he thought to himself. "That's 8 speakers each just for the guitars. I hope the bloody ceiling doesn't come down."

-=oooOOOooo=-

Meanwhile, outside the doors, Ron and Hermione were still trying to figure out who Harry had gotten to play.

"I'm telling you Hermione, he got the Weird Sisters. There's no one else decent in the Wizarding world that would be available."

"And I'm telling you Ron, he couldn't have. I already told you I saw that article in the Prophet last week about their lead singer, or maybe it was the drummer….whoever, coming down with Dragon Pox. So Harry couldn't have gotten them."

"Well who else could he have gotten then?" he asked her.

"How would I know Ron? I know lots of bands in the Muggle world, but almost none in the Magical. Though the way he talked about them, you'd think he got The Who or Led Zeppelin."

"The Who? And what in Merlin's name is a Lead Zeppelin?"

-=oooOOOooo=-

Great Hall

8:25pm

The house Elves did it with 2 minutes to spare.

Harry waved his wand and unsealed the doors and they swung open.

The students and staff started filing back into the Hall, and Harry saw that while some of them were wearing their robes, most had indeed changed into regular clothes.

Most were surprised to see the stage was completely shrouded in darkness. You could see the outlines of the drums in the center, and outline of the speaker cabinets, but little else. Certainly nothing that would give the students a clue who was playing.

At exactly 8:30, all the lights in the Hall went out. All but one, a spotlight shining at the front center of the stage, where there was a microphone on a stand. Harry started walking up to the stage and then up the side stairs to where the spotlight was, but before he got there a guitar started playing softly in the background, and the assembled students and staff saw that the could now see the outlines of four people on stage behind their Professor. The group had taken the stage, but were still in a veil of darkness. Harry got to the mic. "Welcome everyone to a very special show, one that I'm sure all of you will remember for a very, very long time."

-=oooOOOooo=-

"Hermione, what's that thing Harry's speaking into?" Ron asked her.

"It's a Microphone Ron. It's what Muggle singers use to amplify their voice. But how can it be working at Hogwarts? It runs on electricity."

-=oooOOOooo=-

Back on stage, Harry continued…"I'd like everyone here to put their hands together and welcome back four former students who have come back home to Hogwarts for the first time in nearly forty years. From the Slytherin Graduating Class of 1966….Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Ozzy Osbourne….BLACK SABBATH!"

After introducing the band, the spotlight on Harry went out and he jumped down off the stage as a second spotlight came on illuminating Tony Iommi, who was cranking out the opening riffs of Spiral Architect, so loud, the entire hall was vibrating.

Meanwhile on the other side of the hall, Hermione was having a hairy. "Ron! Black Sabbath is a Muggle Band. What is Harry doing bringing a Muggle Band into Hogwarts?"

"Hermione calm down. Didn't you hear him? They all went to Hogwarts. They're Wizards! In fact they're all Purebloods." Ron shouted at her. He had to shout for her to hear him over the music, and the screaming of the students. "Hermione, these guys are music royalty in our world. They're better known and more popular than that muggle band from the 60's you told me about. The Bugs, or something like that."

"Ron, they weren't called the Bugs. They were called the Bea…"

But the rest of what Hermione had to say was drowned out. On stage, the remaining lights had come on and Ozzy had started singing.

"Sorcerers of Britain
Selling me their time
Child of God sitting in the sun
Giving peace of mind
Fictional seduction
On a black snow sky
Betrayals death destruction

Even fathers cry

Of all the things I value most of all
I look inside myself and see
My world and know it could be good
You know that it could.*

"Ron, I know that song. But those lyrics are different."

"Well yeah. They had to change them for the Muggles. Most aren't changed a lot, and some aren't changed at all." Ron replied. "Some are about Wizarding life, but a lot of their early songs were about Vold…Voldemort and the war." He still had trouble saying Voldemort's name, but he was getting better. "The Death Eaters tried to kill them quite a few times in the early years."

While this conversation was going on, another, far less pleasant one was taking place between Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus, you know how I feel about John Osbourne. He has absolutely no respect for anyone, and the language he uses would be objectionable on the docks of London! Do you know I actually went out and got drunk when he finally graduated and left this school?" She ranted "I don't care how well known they are in the Wizarding world, or how well loved their music is. What in the hell were you thinking when you booked them to play here?"

"Minerva, I assure you I had no idea Harry was going to book them to play, and by the time I found out, it was too late to cancel the show without incurring massive penalties in the form of a cancellation fee. One Hogwarts couldn't have paid."

"What do you mean Harry Booked them? Why would he have booked them? You're the Headmaster. It's part of your job to hire any entertainment that's brought into the school."

"I had to be away at an ICW conference and couldn't do it, so I asked Harry to book the group for the ball, and I had to give him full authority to sign any contracts that needed to be signed to do that." He answered, knowing that said answer wouldn't placate the livid witch. "I had no idea he was going to hire them of all people to play here. Usually their fees for playing a Wizarding show outside Britain are over 10,000 Galleons. Harry had only 200."

"They signed to do this show for 200 Galleons?"

"No, not exactly. They signed for only 1 Galleon. The other 199 went to the opening act.. But that 1 Galleon make the contract magically unbreakable. Anthony told me earlier tonight that they agreed to do the show for that amount because now that the war was over, they wanted to come back to Hogwarts where they started."

Minerva McGonagall simply huffed in her irritation. She and the Headmaster would be having further words about this later.

-=oooOOOooo=-

By the time Ozzy started to introduce the final song of the night, it was almost midnight, and it seemed like the band had played every song they'd ever written.

"Have you all had a good time tonight?"

Everyone screamed back a yes.

"I said, have you all had a good time tonight?"

They all screamed back even louder.

"Okay, it's been a long night man, and we're going to do one final song. But I want to see every motherfucker in this place going fuckin' apeshit. I want to see a real English Wizarding crowd go fuckin' CRAZY!

The students roared their approval once again.

Tony started playing a very soft song.

"What that song Ron? I know I've heard before." Hermione asked him.

"It's called Sleeping Village. They're likely doing it as an intro to whatever they're going to close the show with."

Red sun rising in the sky
Sleeping village, cockerel's cry
Soft breeze blowing in the trees
Peace of mind, feel at ease.

Hermione had wandered over to where Remus and Tonks were standing while t Iommi continued playing. They were on the other side of the hall. Both seemed to be staring at something on stage, something other than the band. She looked around and saw Iommi was still playing the closing parts of Sleeping Village, but he seemed to be playing the last part of it over and over, while at the same time staring at Ozzy with a questioning look on his face. Seeing nothing unusual , she turned back to her former Professor and his wife. "Remus, what's going on? What are you two staring at?" But she never got her answer because she heard Ozzy say "I'm sure. Let it fuckin' rip Tony."

He had just finished saying this when Iommi started playing the opening bars of a song she recognized, but couldn't remember the name of. It didn't help that it was at an absolutely ear splitting volume.

She saw Tonks look surprised, but it was seeing Lupin stiffen that really started to worry her. She turned her gaze back to the stage.

"Alright Hogwarts, we've been waiting thirty years to be able to play this again. It's time to blow the fuckin' roof off this place! ARE YOU READY?"

The students roared.

"I SAID ARE YOU READY?"

This time the roar the came from the crown was thunderous.

"Revolution in their world - the children start to march.
Against that world in which they're forced to live,
And all the hate in people's hearts.
They're tired of being pushed around,

And told what to think and do.
They'll fight their world until they've won.

And peace comes flowing through.

Children of tomorrow live in the tears that fall today.
Will the sun rise of tomorrow bring in peace in any way?
Must our world live in the shadow of Voldemort's death and fear?
Can they win they're fight for peace or will they disappear?

COME ON HOGWARTS, LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS…PUT THE LIGHTS ON!" Ozzy screamed into the mic.

The main lights on the stage started flashing on and off to the rhythm of the song, illuminating the crown every time they turned on, and Hermione saw the entire student body was jumping up and down to the beat of the song. But it was when she saw Remus crying that her level of confusion increased ten fold.

Turning to Tonks she asked, "Tonks, what's going on with that song, and why is Remus crying?"

"Hermione, Children of the Grave became the anthem of the resistance movement against Voldemort in the first war. They had to stop playing because at the end of a show in Birmingham in 1971, Voldemort and the Death Eaters attacked the crowd coming out of the club they were playing at. They killed over forty people that night, mostly kids and threatened to do the same to anyone they saw attending one of their shows in England again. So their music went underground, and the group pulled out of Wizarding Britain completely to protect the people. This isn't just the first time they've been back to Hogwarts, this is the first show they've done in front of a magical crown in the U.K. since that Birmingham show in 71. As for the song itself, everyone in our world either knows it, or knows of it, and I don't think any of them ever thought they'd hear it played live again."

She still looked confused.

Tonks continued, "The song was a direct attack on Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and by playing it now they're publicly saying that it's finally over. That when Harry killed him this time he's really dead, and he's not coming back."

So you children of our world,
Listen to what I say.
If you want a better place to live in,
Spread the word today.
Show our world that peace is still alive,
You must be brave.
Or you children of today are,
Children of the Grave.

When they finally finished up the song, the four came out to the edge of the stage and as one, bowed to the crowd of students who were almost out of control, before exiting the stage. But Ozzy had one final thing to say.

"Thank you very much Hogwarts. It's been fuckin' fun. May the blessings of the Goddess be on every one of you. Goodnight and Happy Christmas." and then slowly made his way, Hermione thought, off stage. But instead we went down the stairs and started making a beeline straight for McGonagall. She watched as he dropped to one knee, almost like he was proposing to her and start talking. After what seemed like an eternity though, he stood and then to her shock, saw him embrace the old witch. An embrace he held for some time. Finally though, he let he go and started off to join the other members of the group backstage. She saw that McGonagall, rather than looking angry, like she had all night, look peaceful.

-=oooOOOooo=-

Harry was watching this scene as well. He could tell from across the hall that Ozzy was exhausted. They all were, which didn't surprise him considering they had just played a near four hour set without break, but he still went over to her. He would later find out that he had thanked his former professor for all she had done and tried to do when he was at Hogwarts, and then formally apologized to her for all the hell he had put her through when he was a student.

Harry watched as the students slowly made their way from the Great Hall and started off to their respective dormitories. When the last student had left, he made his way backstage.

He found the group in the temporary dressing room that had been set up. Ozzy's wife Sharon was sitting next to him. They were all sitting down having a drink, but when they saw him, they all stood. "Lord Potter," Iommi began, "On behalf of the band, I want to thank you for making tonight possible. Coming home to Hogwarts and Wizarding world has been something we've all dreamed of for years, but we never thought would happen."

Harry was about to say something like his usual. "Please, it's just Harry, but he realized quickly that this was a Pureblood thing and that he would half to acknowledge it as such.

"Mr. Iommi," he started formally. "no thanks are necessary. Tonight was my pleasure. Not to mention the pleasure of the students." He added with a slight bow, one Iommi returned.

"Okay, is the fuckin' Pureblood bullshit over and done with.? Can we get back to being normal fuckin' people again?" asked Ozzy. Sharon Osbourne simply rolled her eyes.

Harry couldn't help himself. He doubled over with laughter, and was soon joined by the rest of the band.

When he got himself under control, he said, "Rita, you can come out now."

A small water beetle crawled out from under a flap in his robes, and flew over to an empty spot on the ground where it then morphed into the form of Rita Skeeter.

"So Rita. Do you still think asking you to come to the ball tonight was a waste of your time?"

For the first time in her life, Rita Skeeter was speechless.

-=oooOOOooo=-

Part III – Aftermath

The headline in the next days Prophet took up the whole front page:

BLACK SABBATH RETURNS TO THE WIZARDING WORLD!

PLAYS NEAR 4 HOUR SHOW AT HOGWARTS!

By Rita Skeeter

Legendary music group Black Sabbath made a triumphant return to the Wizarding World last night by playing a nearly four hour show at last nights Yule Ball at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This reporter was invited to attend the ball by Professor Harry Potter, the current Defense against the Dark Arts Professor, although at the time of the invite, Pro. Potter wouldn't tell me anything about why I was being invited, only that he doubted that I'd count my time as wasted.

In fact, except for Headmaster Dumbledore, and Pro Potter, nobody at the school knew who was playing after the opening act. Professor Potter just told the students that there was a special guest band that would go on at 8:30 pm.

Band Members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward took to the stage in complete darkness, with only their outlines showing. It was only when Pro. Potter announced the name of the band that the main lights came up and everyone could see them.

The group, formed in 1966 while it's members were still seventh years, started out by playing venues in the Wizarding world to mixed reviews. It was only after an accident in his Defense final where Tony Iommi lost the tips of two of his fingers, and then had to learn to play all over again, this time on a Muggle guitar, that the band started to become popular.

It's been debated for years why this happened. Some claim that muggle instruments sound better, while others say it's because he had to learn to play differently from what is considered normal, and because of it the music sounded different. Others claim it's because of the stand the entire group took at the time against the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Whatever the reason, the band was at the height of their popularity in 1971 when they performed at a show in Birmingham. They were promoting their second album, Children of the Grave, the title song of which was a direct attack on the Dark Lord and his followers. After the show, Voldemort and his Death Eaters attacked the crowd, killing 48 people, most of them underage wizards and witches.

After the attack, the group pulled out of Wizarding Britain completely, citing safety concerns, not for themselves as they were being protected on and off stage by Gringotts Security Goblins,, but for their fans. Tony Iommi said at the time: "The most important thing to us is the safety of our fans, and we refuse to put them at risk for music. So we're leaving Magical Britain and we'll try to make a go of it in the Muggle world."

Make a go of it they did. The group released nine albums in the muggle world, with Tony Iommi going on to become recognized as one of the finest and most innovative lead Guitarists in the world.

The group switched to all muggle instruments and equipment. When asked how such equipment functions in the magical world without being destroyed by the magic that surrounds it, Geezer Butler told me that it was powered by a magical generator the group had made in North America by the Techomages. "It somehow, and don't ask me how. I have no idea, takes the magical energy in the air and converts it into muggle electricity which powers the amplifiers, instruments and everything else. All the equipment is shielded against magic, so we can play anywhere. If we're at a muggle stadium, then we simply plug into the power system that's there. If it's a magical venue, we supply our own power."

Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979 and went on to form his own group, Blizzard of Oz. After Osbourne's departure, Geezer Butler played on and off with the group right up until the peasant day, eventually forming his own band Geezer. But they still continued to get together and play on and off, culminating in last night's blowout at Hogwarts. This reporter asked Tony Iommi after the show if this meant the group was back together for good. He simply said that "This show…being able to finally come home, has been a dream for all of us for years, and none of us know what the future holds. We'll have to discuss it as a band, and see where we go from there."

The group, which went on at 8:30 pm, had originally been scheduled to play a standard set of just under 2 hours, but that plan was dropped when they started playing encore after encore. Finally, at nearly midnight, Ozzy Osbourne announced that they would be playing the final song of the night, and to the shock of many there, this reporter included, the song they chose to close the show with, fittingly, was Children of the Grave. Signaling that the war was finally over.

But that wasn't the last surprise that night. After thanking the assembled crowd and giving a blessing, Ozzy Osbourne came down off the stage and went over to Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, and dropped to one knee in front of her, his head bowed. He could be seen talking for quite some time, and when he finally rose he embraced his former Professor before taking his leave and joining his bandmates backstage.

I found out later that he had formally apologized to the Professor, using the old forms, for all the trouble he had given her when he was a student. Professor McGonagall refused to comment when asked about the apology, but this reporter saw that she had a very content look on her face when Osbourne left her.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN FOR THE GROUPS FUTURE – PAGE 3

MINISTRIES REACTION TO SHOW – PAGE 6

-=oooOOOooo=-

The Ministries reaction came the same day in the form of Minister Scrimgeour and his aid Percy Weasley marching into Hogwarts just after 1pm and demanding to speak to Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter in question was in his classroom, holding a final first year tutoring class before the students all left for the Christmas Holidays.

Scrimgeour didn't bother knocking, he just barged into the room. "Mr. Potter, I want to speak to you about last night."

Harry looked up from the first year he was with, and replied softly "Minister, I'm holding a tutoring session right now. Please come back in an hour and I'll be happy to speak with you."

Before Scrimgeour could reply, Percy shot back. "That was not a request Professor Potter! The Minister want to speak to you now, and you will do as you're told!"

Harry didn't answer right away. Finally though he turned his gaze to Scrimgeour and said politely, but with a very hard edge in his voice, "Minister, you're both disrupting my class. Please leave."

Percy, who had used Harry's delay in answering to build up a head of steam, started to reply, but Harry cut him off at the knees before he got one word out. "And if you say one more word Weatherby, you'll be leaving via the window. I took all the shit I intend to take from you during the war. Now get the hell out of my class, both of you."

Percy started turning as red as his hair, and was starting to reply, when he saw the look in Harry eyes. It was a look he hadn't seen since the final battle, and it told him two things instantly. One, was that Harry wasn't bluffing, and two, he had better get his arse out of the room because he didn't know how to fly without a broom. The two of them quietly left.

"Bloody imbeciles." Harry muttered under his breath. Of course, the entire class heard him and started giggling again. He sighed, and then turning his attention to them said, "Okay, here's the deal. I'll pretend that I didn't just use that horrible, atrocious language that no doubt would have warped your poor little minds for the rest of your lives, and you'll pretend that you didn't hear me say it. Fair enough?" The kids started giggling again. "Good. Anyway, back to the Tripping jinx…"

-=oooOOOooo=-

In the end, the Ministers visit came to nothing, just as Harry knew it would. Hogwarts and the Professors who knew Sabbath were playing were forbidden by the contract from telling anyone. That it was Harry who had suggested the idea for the contract, and the massive penalty in the first place… (Iommi had told him they were willing to play for free)…he neglected to mention. He knew from reading the magazines just how popular the group was, and knew the Minister would never miss the opportunity to get his picture in the Prophet with them.

Percy had sat through the entire meeting without uttering a word.

Fin

-=oooOOOooo=-

A/N2: Well that's the story. It was written almost literally 1 or 2 paragraphs at a time, because of an extremely bad case or writers block that been affecting me for the better part of two years. This is the primary reason my other two stories haven't been updated. Although the next chapter of The Wizard is nearly done. Hopefully it won't take too much longer to get it out. I know a lot of people have been writing to me about it.

* All song lyrics are by Black Sabbath, except for the alterations that were done by me to suit this story. Harry Potter and the Harry Potter world are owned lock, stock and cauldron by J.K. Rowling.