Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter. That belongs to JKR, curse her…

Summary: What if Harry took an offhand comment in an entirely different way.

They had just come back from yet another DADA class, and the trio was discussing the recent harrowing lesson on the Unforgivables. Hermione was of the opinion that they should never be used. Ron wasn't opposed to using the imperius on a few select students, including one blonde whose name we won't bother to mention 'til later.

"I'm telling you Hermione! You have to take Death Eaters seriously. They kill for sport. It's all a game to them! Are you just going to throw cheering charms at them while they're throwing out crucios? It just won't work! They'll kill you!"

"Oh, honestly Ron, I'm not saying you should be going easy on them, but why not incapacitate them? They should be brought before the proper justices of the peace. The Ministry can take care of it all."

"In case you haven't noticed Hermione, the Ministry's not exactly full of the nicest guys. Bloody hell, Malfoy's dad has done so many things that are illegal, and he's bought or threatened his way out of every single mess. Second year with the diary, last year with the hippogriff, and let's not forget Snape getting his way every bloody time outside of our expulsion! There's no real justice in the government when you're facing rich purebloods! If you're dealing with Death Eaters, many of whom are rich purebloods, best to kill them while you have plausible deniability. Back me up on this Harry! Harry?"

But Harry wasn't paying attention. He hadn't been since Ron's comment on cheering charms. While they might not be the greatest spell work, they could work wonders when cast in the right manner, especially overpowered. It would be simple enough that no one would bother investigating it, even if it was brought to the DMLE's attention. It was perfect.

…

For the next few weeks, anyone that got on Harry's bad side was later found to be incredibly happy with little reason. While it could have been found out with a simple application of common sense, it has been observed that magical beings are often found sorely lacking in this area. Those who did have it were often not considered noteworthy, as said perception led to a decreased likelihood to pick on those around them and more likely to avoid trouble. Needless to say, the few who could put it together weren't believed very often due to a lack of real heroic history to back them up as well as small numbers. It is not unsurprising that a majority of those possessing this uncommon sensibility are found in Hufflepuff.

Now some might wonder then 'why did they accuse Harry in second year of being the Heir'? Now, some might argue that it was obvious that he wouldn't be the Heir, having a muggleborn friend and all. However, one must consider this: common sense dictates that little is as it seems in the wizarding world. It is why common sense is such a rare sensibility. After all, if it isn't a sure thing to determine the truth through common sense, why use it at all? In this case, Harry could easily have been faking it. His failure to really ever stick up for Hermione didn't lend itself towards his reputation. Therefore, they were less likely to believe that he was really not the Heir. Now, having cleared that up, we shall move on with the story.

Now, one might say that being cheerful isn't such a bad thing. It isn't really. However any emotion, or lack thereof, will affect a person's decision making skills. Thus, if a person is usually in a foul or sour mood, or without a mood at all, a cheering charm can have a strong effect on their decisions, leading them to break taboos they normally would not and believe themselves to be invincible. With Harry's considerable strength behind it, the charm led to several Slytherins landing themselves in detention due to annoying Snape that much.

Because no staff outside of the nurse can cast a spell on a student in class without very good reason, they could not cancel it without reason to believe that it was causing them harm. Without that recourse, they could only sit back and watch the train wreck while taking points and assigning detentions as necessary. There were also several Slytherins that were pulled out of school due to their parents finding out that they had propositioned several students of sub-standard heritage or became overconfident and tried to have their way when they should not have.

By the end of the year, nearly every potential enemy of Harry's was either gone or in enough trouble that it didn't matter. With Moody having to take care of the majority of them, he was soon found out after getting into an hour long argument with a few of them during one detention while they were under the influence of yet another cheering charm. Snape had left somewhere around March after claiming that Sirius Black might be innocent and that the Minister had lied to the public. It was found odd that he had created a large bonfire to burn a single letter soon after, laughing maniacally the entire time.

When it came time for the third task, the real Moody set it up. He knew that Voldemort was out there. Suspecting a trap, he taught Harry enough for him to send large bouts of happiness and love over the link with Voldemort. With Voldemort being as weak as he was, the pathetic creature began to draw magic from all of his followers through their Dark Marks. It was still not enough to shield him, and he forced hate into the link, causing it to break under the clash.

The poor creature tried to funnel off the cheerful energy inside him to his anchors, breaking the bonds formed by hate attaching him to several artifacts across Britain. Allowed to return to their rightful place with a very cheerful new consciousness inside them, the objects would see the start of a new order.

With all this done, the poor creature exploded and, sucking in every bit of magic from his followers, forced a new link with Harry. Harry, being ignorant of magic, decided to simply try sucking in all of the malicious energy and thoughts this time, casting mental cheering charms as it came in and tried to overwhelm him. Eventually, Voldemort ran out of energy and memories, and ceased to exist.

Harry, with the memories of Voldemort and the collective magic of him and what he took from his followers, decided to drop divination and took up runes and arithmancy, taking up an apprenticeship with Madame Pomphrey on the side.

The revealed Dark Lord, who was found with Pettigrew after the massive magical release, was no more. Sirius was soon pardoned, and took up a position teaching Potions while Remus took up History. Moody became the DADA professor until his protégé Tonks took the position from him. Several months into Harry's fifth year, Moony and Padfoot began dating the Astronomy and Ancient Runes teacher, respectively. During Harry's seventh year, he began dating Tonks and they were later married. He took up a position as a co-teacher in DADA and founded the Hogwarts All Star Quidditch team. They won some games and lost others, and Harry loved every minute of it.

When asked in interviews how he defeated the Dark Lord, Harry would simply smile mischievously and reply mysteriously in a manner reminiscient of his former Headmaster, "Cheering charms."

End.