Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter.


A Different Professor

Chapter 7 - Taking the Next Step

Diagon Alley

Harry was having the best time of his life. It had been a few days since his shopping trip with Oliver and while he was not a fan of shopping, Oliver HATED shopping, he did love his new clothes. He and Oliver had shopped at both wizarding and muggle stores, this had been an order from Alicia, so they had shopped most of the day. Oliver had also treated him to dinner before taking him home again.

His aunt, surprisingly, hadn't said anything. Harry assumed it was because her garden was perfect and she hadn't had to feed him. Vernon was asleep on the couch watching television when he got home so obviously he hadn't commented, of course his only objection would have been Harry coming back. Dudley was in his room at the time and didn't even stick his head out the door.

Harry had decided he wouldn't wear his new clothes at home. He figured that Petunia would ignore them but Vernon would not be happy if he saw them. Dudley, honestly, wouldn't care one way or the other. So, Harry wore his terribly large clothes to do his endless chores; plus, there was really no reason to ruin his clothes that actually fit him.

Harry also called on Dobby. He did this the day after Oliver took him shopping. Bill had answered all the questions he had about House Elves while walking out of Gringotts with him. Apparently, House Elf magic depleted when they didn't have a master. As the Elf's magic leaked away, so did their sanity. Bill theorized that Dobby was the way he was because he helped Harry, which would be against his master's wishes. Elves who disobeyed their masters kept their magic but lost their minds, which unfortunately led to the Elf being dispatched. Bill thought that Harry taking Dobby as his personal elf would not only save the little guy's life but keep him sane too.

Dobby had been ecstatic to see his 'Master Harry Potter Sir,' and had wept with joy when Harry asked if Dobby would like to be his elf. Dobby's exact answer had been, "Dobby be wanting nothing more than to be good House Elf for Great Master Harry Potter Sir."

Taking Dobby as his Elf was probably the best decision he could have made. Dobby now made sure that Harry had enough to eat and helped with his chores. The little Elf had not wanted to let his Master work at all but Harry had explained that his aunt would just invent new work for him if everything got done when she wasn't looking. So, Harry generally just kept up the yard then did his homework while Dobby tidied the house when Petunia wasn't in the room.

No lock could keep Dobby out so Harry was well on his way to being done with his summer homework.

Harry was attempting to get the elf to not call him 'Master Harry Potter Sir,' but he feared that would be a long process.

Today the quidditch team, plus Hermione and Percy were meeting at Diagon Alley for ice cream and some shopping and then they would be going to Katie's for that barbeque Oliver had mentioned.

Percy had sent him an owl the night before saying that he would be at Privet Drive just before eleven to pick him up. Harry had been ready and waiting for Percy at ten.

Now he and the twins were just walking out of Quality Quidditch, the Firebolt displayed in the store window was awesome, and headed to Fortescue's to meet the others for an ice cream lunch. He was excited to see Hermione again.

He glanced back one last time to look at the Firebolt and promptly ran into someone who was also not watching were they were going.

"Oh," Harry righted himself, "Sorry, sir, I was distracted, I can't seem to stop looking at the new broom they have on display."

"That's quite all right, I wasn't paying much attention either and I remember having to drag my friends out of Quality Quidditch Supplies when we were…" the man trailed off when he looked him in the eyes, "Harry?"

Harry would have sighed but he was trying to keep his irritation at people recognizing him due to his scar from being noticeable. "Yeah, that's me, Harry Potter," Harry held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"It's nice to officially meet you, Harry. I was just on my way to the post office to send you a letter actually." He took Harry's hand, "I'm Remus Lupin."

Harry's eyes widened in shock before he threw his arms around Remus. "Hi, Uncle Moony," he mumbled into the man's chest.

Remus wrapped his arms around the small boy a bit surprised that he would hug a man he had only just met through letters. "Hi, Harry." Sirius was going to be so jealous.

Harry pulled back and turned to the twins who were more than a little shocked, they had never seen Harry initiate close contact like that, not even with Hermione. "Guys, this is Remus Lupin, also known as Mister Moony. Uncle Moony, I would like you to meet the pranksters who gave me the map, Fred and George Weasley, occasionally known as Forge and Gred."

Remus chuckled at the flabbergasted looks on their faces. "It's nice to meet you, boys."

"We are not worthy," mumbled Fred.

George tried to shake the fact that his body wanted to collapse on him, "It's an honor to meet such a pranking legend."

"If you want to meet the master mind of most of our pranks I'll have to introduce you to my friend Padfoot, he and James were the brains behind the Marauders. I was more the one who made sure everything was going to work and that we didn't get caught."

"Well, that's almost as important as the prank itself, right?" asked Harry. At least he figured it would be important not to get caught and nothing went wrong.

"Why of course it is, Harry," said Fred.

"It's actually the hardest part," continued George.

"At least until you have a map of the school that shows the location of every person on the grounds. Then the not getting caught part is rather easy," said Remus. The twins grinned at him.

"Would you like to join us Master Moony?" asked Gred.

"We are just about to meet some friends for ice cream and would love to pick your brain." Forge said, then he looked at Harry, "I am sure Harry would also like to talk to you. Not to mention you could meet the most important person in Harry's world, the brilliant Miss Granger."

The three watched as Harry blushed, "I would love to join you. I am quite interested in meeting all of Harry's friends."

Harry led the way to the ice cream parlor attempting to get the blush off his cheeks. He was going to kill Fred later. His thoughts of revenge were halted however as he was almost tackled by a brunette missile in the shape of his best friend.

"Harry," Hermione shouted, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I've missed you. The only bad part about summer vacation is that I don't get to see my best friend every day." She pulled back and looked at him, "Oh, I love your clothes, Harry, you look very sharp with clothes that actually fit." She saw the blush but just kept going, "I've heard from Professor McGonagall and she said that she was already altering our schedules and that we could absolutely take the three extra courses. She also said she was proud of us for rethinking which courses to take, I'm a little embarrassed that I was even trying to take all of them when I knew deep down I wouldn't like Divination and, as a muggle born, Muggle Studies would be a waste of my study time." She took a deep breath and finally noticed the man standing just behind the twins grinning at her and Harry.

"Oh," she breathed, "I'm sorry, sir, that was terribly rude of me. I was just so excited to see Harry again that I completely lost track of my surroundings. I'm Hermione Granger," she finished holding out her hand to the man.

He smiled at her in a very kind manner, "No need to apologize, Miss Granger. I am actually very happy to see that Harry has a friend that is excited enough to see him that they forget everything else. I am Remus Lupin," he took her hand, "you may have heard my school nickname, Moony."

"Oh," Hermione bounced, and Remus chuckled, "Harry told me you had written to him in his last letter to me. I am ever so pleased that you wrote him and just ecstatic to meet you." She looked around, "You really must join us. You can meet the team and get to know Harry and, oh Harry, I'm just so happy." She hugged her friend again.

"So am I, Hermione," Harry whispered into her shoulder.

The twins introduced their new friend, and Master, to the group. Fred and George explained to the team that they had decided that Remus Lupin would become their pranking master so that he could impart all of his knowledge and expertise on them, they just hadn't told him yet. They of course did this while he was inside getting ice cream with Harry and Hermione.

For their part, the team was happy to meet someone who cared about Harry; they really didn't care about the twins and their pranking plans.

"So, Moony," Harry said as they sat down to enjoy their ice cream, "how do I keep the map Marauders from knowing all that bad stuff that has happened to them?"

"That is rather simple, Harry, the map doesn't actually have enough of our personalities to remember anything. I studied up on the enchantments that make wizarding portraits work and, with a little help from James and Sirius, adapted it to the map but when adapting it I couldn't get the same amount of sentience into the map. There is only just enough of the Marauders in the map to react to questions presented to the map." He took a bit of his triple fudge ice cream, "The map may have most of our knowledge up until the point of the maps creation but our personalities are programmed a certain way and there is no extra room for it to store more knowledge so each time Mischief is Managed the map resets to the previous settings."

Hermione leaned forward a bit, "so are you saying someone could have the same conversation with the map every day but the map would believe it was a new conversation?"

"Essentially yes. Honestly, the map having the ability to converse with the outside word was an afterthought. We spent about 2 years mapping the school and researching how to get the map to display everyone in the castle. I wanted to kill Sirius when he asked how future pranksters would know how to use the map if we didn't tell them. This led to James's idea of leaving portions of ourselves in the map that could tell the secrets to worthy individuals." Remus snorted, remembering that time of his life. "They, oh so graciously, gave me 2 weeks to figure out how to add the enchantments that would allow this, then, at the last minute Peter decided we needed a certain structure for the sentencing. It was a nightmare."

"Tell us all about the Marauders," the twins demanded in unison.

Remus looked at Harry and he nodded enthusiastically. "Well the Marauders met our first year at Hogwarts. James and Sirius met on the train, the also met your mother on the train. James and Sirius had an instant connection despite the fact that their families were anything but friendly. We were all sorted into Gryffindor. Back then the class sizes were larger, but a lot of families have either left the country or are gone, so there were actually 11 of us and it just so happened that James, Sirius, Peter and I roomed together." He smiled fondly, "James and Sirius loved to laugh and joke around. James was just a happy kid, Sirius used laughter as an escape from the life he lived at home. Peter and I were outsiders. I never made friends easily and Peter was intimidated by such boisterous personalities. Thinking back on it now I realize that James collected all the misfits and made us a team."

"Why do would Sirius be a misfit?" asked Hermione.

"The Black family is a very old pure-blood family, much like the Potters, but unlike the Potters, the Blacks are almost always sorted into Slytherin. The occasional Ravenclaw but never Gryffindor. When his mother heard, she sent Sirius a howler that no one was able to laugh at. Walburga Black was a terrifying woman. Most of the house saw him as a Slytherin and the rivalry was getting dangerous."

"That's terrible."

"Yes, it was," Remus smiled softly at the girl.

"When did you become the Marauders?" Fred was almost salivating.

"James and Sirius played their first prank on the school by setting off dung bombs in the entrance hall right before dinner the first Saturday of school. They got caught almost instantly. They played a prank a week, all amateur by our later standards, and they got caught almost every time. I happened upon them when they were setting up a prank one day and I knew a professor was right behind me so I pulled them into a passageway behind a tapestry I had seen an older student use and they didn't get caught. Apparently, that meant that I was part of the team."

"That is a much better way to become friends, wouldn't you agree Hermione."

She glared at the boy, "I actually don't like thinking about that particular night. The smell alone gives me nightmares. Not to mention the fact that a certain green-eyed boy jumped on the back of a troll and shoved his wand up its nose."

"And lying to the Professors doesn't give you nightmares?"

"I'm pretty sure they knew I was lying, Harry."

"Snape and McGonagall for sure but who knows what was going through Quirrellmort's head."

"Quirrellmort?" asked George.

"Didn't Ron tell you?"

The twins shook their heads.

"You did know that Quirrell was evil and working for Voldie right?" asked Harry. When they nodded he continued, "Well it was actually more than that. Voldemort was growing out of the back of Quirrell's head. That's why he wore the stupid turban."

"Didn't we?" asked George after a moment of stunned silence.

"We did," his brother answered.

The twins burst into hysterical laughing, one of them even falling out of his chair.

"What is so funny over there?" asked Katie. The team was actually taking up three tables. The girls at one table, Percy and Oliver at a smaller table and Harry's group at the third and largest table.

"I don't really know." Hermione frowned at the twins. "Harry was just talking about how Voldemort was growing out of the back Quirrell's head and then they started laughing." Hermione shuddered when she said the name but if Harry and the twins could say it so could she.

"That doesn't sound funny," commented Alicia. Angelina and Katie nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Percy interjected, "Harry, do you remember the snowball fight we all got in that year over the holidays?" Harry nodded, "Didn't the twins charm snowballs too…"

"Pelt the back of Quirrell's head," Harry breathed out with wide eyes and instantly started to laugh too.

"So, let me get this straight," Remus looked around the tables, "your Defense professor was a servant of the Dark Lord who should be dead. Said Dark Lord was growing out of the back of your teacher's head, and the twin terrors over there," he jerked his thumb toward the still laughing pair, "Pelted what would be Voldemort's face with snowballs. Is that correct?"

"Add in the fact that Harry was the one to get rid of him and you've got a decent outline of our first year," Hermione said.

"I'll come back to that part later, Miss Granger, but the snow balls are what we Marauders would have called the ultimate accidental prank."

The twins stopped laughing to look at Remus. Their eyes asking for approval.

"A prank worthy of the Marauders," Remus smiled.

"You really shouldn't encourage them," Hermione said as the twins started dancing.

Hermione could only shake her head as the rest of the group started laughing.

Katie Bell's House

Everyone sat around a fire pit in Katie's back yard. They had eaten hot dogs cooked over that same fire pit with crisps for dinner and now they were roasting marshmallows.

Harry and Hermione sat on one of the benches, Hermione's head leaning on Harry's shoulder, his arm around her waist. They were talking quietly to each other.

Katie sat directly across from the two, just watching. She loved Harry like a little brother, the whole team thought of him that way. She couldn't be happier for the boy, she just knew she was looking at the start of a great relationship, maybe even one that would last until the end of days.

She made eye contact with Oliver, the 'dad' of the group, and nodded toward Harry.

Oliver looked at the boy. It was about time. Those two had been circling around a relationship for two years now and it looked like they might finally be doing something about it.

He watched the girl smile and then shove a marshmallow into Harry's mouth. She cleared her throat and said, "As you all know, a certain someone will be turning 13 next month. I think we should all get together to celebrate." She smiled at all the nods she was getting. "My thought was for all of us to go to an amusement park. I know Harry has never been and I am sure some of you haven't been either. Plus, with the way Harry rides his broom I'm sure he will love roller coasters."

"Oh, I love amusement parks." Katie shot out of her seat. "Which one did you have in mind?"

"Well," Hermione bit her lip, "Thorpe Park would be good, it has a lot of rides and wouldn't be too hard to get to."

"Is that the one we went to last year?" Alicia asked Katie. The three chasers had decided they should get together once a month when not in school. They needed to keep in sync. Katie nodded, "Then I vote yes, that place is great."

Hermione looked around, everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. "Okay, we are going to need some adults to come. I think my parents would agree to go with us."

"I could ask our brother Bill," said Percy. "He would blend in better than my parents."

"Great, I was thinking of inviting Neville, Dean, Seamus, Fay, Lavender and Parvati as well so we should probably have at least one more adult."

"Dean is muggle born and Seamus's dad is a muggle to so maybe their parents would go," Harry looked up at Hermione.

"If not," Katie added, "one of my parents would go."

"Plus, Percy is basically an old man so he counts as an adult too." Percy scowled at Oliver.

"Look who's talking. You're older than I am Oli. I just turned 17 last month*."

Oliver threw a marshmallow at him in response.

Fred looked at George, "FOOD FIGHT!"

And the marshmallow battle began.

Sometime later Harry stood out under the stars thinking while the others slept in one of two tents. His life had turned upside down less than a month ago, all because he disagreed with his friend.

He regretted that things with Ron deteriorated the way they did. He shouldn't have called Ron a git, it was uncalled for. But Ron shouldn't have accused him of not caring either. Harry didn't think he would ever understand what happened to make Ron that angry, the twins had told him it had something to do with Lockhart messing up the memory charm, but even if it was a spell that caused Ron to see him as the enemy he didn't think he could trust Ron again. Too much had been said. The rift was just too big.

Now he had so much more. He had more friends. He had people he considered family. There were people looking out for him now when all he had before was Hermione's concern and Ron, when Harry even crossed his mind that is.

Harry was learning a great deal about himself and was surprising himself daily. He knew without a doubt that he could not lose Hermione. It would kill him. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant in terms of their relationship. He knew that Katie thought that he and Hermione were supposed to start dating but Harry wasn't sure if that was a good idea. But then again, the thought of her dating anyone else was like a knife to the heart.

He surprised himself while writing to Remus Lupin. He wasn't usually that open with himself. Harry supposed it could have something to do with the fact that Professor McGonagall had asked the man to write; after she believed him about the Chamber he supposed he should believe her too. It could also have to do with the fact that the man was his father's friend and could tell him about his parents. Or maybe he just felt brave enough to take that chance now that he had a 'family' to support him if something went wrong. Whatever had caused his new openness, Harry was going to go with it. Why else would he hug a man he had never met in person?

"Is everything alright, Harry?" asked a soft voice.

Harry looked down from the stars and to his left to find his best friend standing at his side. "Yeah, Hermione, I think everything is more than alright now."

She smiled at him and leaned into him. "I'm glad."

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Would you like to go down into the Chamber of Secrets with Professor Snape and I tomorrow?"

"You're going back down there?"

"Yeah, Professor Snape wants to render the carcass for potions ingredients and sell off the rest of it. He wrote and asked if I would take him down there tomorrow. I want you to come, that is, if you want to."

"Yes, Harry, I think I need to see this with my own eyes."

The two stood in silence for a time. This, Harry thought, is what made her his best friend. They could stand there together, saying nothing, because nothing needed to be said.

"Hermione?" Harry looked at her and waited for her eyes to meet his. "I don't know what is going to happen and for perhaps the first time in my life that doesn't scare me. I know that you are the best friend anyone could ask for and I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. I don't know what I want to do with my life or even what my options are. I am fairly certain that you have a plan all laid out, with several different alternatives to choose from should your interests change. I don't know what it means that my godfather is a free and innocent man. I do know, I want to get to know him and I want him to know you too."

"Harry what are you trying to say?" she asked in a voice that trembled slightly.

"I guess what I am trying to say is that the only thing I know and understand is that I need you in my life. Hermione, would you be my Girlfriend?"

Hermione nodded and hugged Harry tightly, burying her head in his neck. "I would like nothing more than to be your Girlfriend, Harry Potter."

Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Albus Dumbledore smiled at Arthur Weasley when he stepped into his office. "Arthur, my boy, how are you?"

"Well, Albus, things have been better." Arthur sighed. "Ginny isn't taking the Chamber incident well and Lockhart destroyed Ron's mind. They are getting help so all is not lost."

"That is both troubling and a relief my boy. I am sorry that your children aren't doing as well as they should, I regret how things have gone inside Hogwarts the last few years. There is something brewing and I fear times will grow darker before the light prevails. Now, what can I do for you, Arthur?"

"Albus, I find myself in the awkward position of asking you if you put my sons under a Compulsion charm that would prevent them talking about certain events?"

"I must admit to being confused by your question but will answer anyway. No, I did not put your sons under such a compulsion charm. I must ask, why did you think I did?"

Arthur studied the man, he seemed sincere and had looked shocked by the question. "I apologize for having to ask, Albus, but there are few wizards with the talent and power to achieve what they did. Bill preformed a scan on the boys and found them all under Compulsion Charms and they were not easily removed. Bill had to work to remove them and my son is not weak. He has more power than both Molly and I, being a Curse Breaker at Gringotts basically tells the world he is powerful because they only take the best."

"William couldn't dispel the Compulsions the simple way?" At Arthurs confirmation, Albus frowned. "Has he dispelled all of the Compulsions?"

"No, he and Percy decided to leave the compulsion on Percy incase the twins were wrong. Bill took a copy of the scans and will be taking them to some of his contacts to see if they can track the signature. Percy thought that you might know the signature so thought that if you didn't cast it you would want to undo one of the Compulsions yourself."

"A very astute deduction by Percy. I would very much like to dispel the Compulsion on him to see if I do in fact know the signature." Albus steeped his hands, "Was there anything else, Arthur?"

"Were you planning on telling me that my daughter was possessed by a teenaged Voldemort?"

Albus froze. His mind raced back over the last few weeks, searching. He frowned when he didn't find what he was looking for. How could he have forgotten? Was that all he had forgotten? "I must again ask your forgiveness, Arthur. I had planned to sit down with you and explain the incident in great detail, giving you all the information you would need at one time. Three of your children were involved in the incident and I trust you not to relay anything I would ask you not to share, so I truly was going to tell you everything." Albus sighed, "I fear I am getting forgetful in my old age, and this is something I should not have forgotten."

Again, Arthur saw sincerity in the Headmasters eyes. His entire countenance seemed downtrodden. He seemed just a little lost. "Are you alright?"

"I fear my age is catching up with me. Perhaps I am trying to do too much. I will have to think and consider my options. It may be time for me to step down from some of my responsibilities so that nothing of such importance is again forgotten."

Albus stood, "I think now is a perfect time to see to the Compulsion on your son. As long as he is available that is?"

"Of course, Albus. He and the twins should be home by now. They had a bit of a party at Miss Bell's place last night."

Albus smiled slightly, "We can use the Floo form here, these old bones sometimes object to the trek outside the wards."

Arthur and Albus stepped through the Floo into the Burrow a few moments later. Molly stepped into the room to see who had arrived.

"Hello, Headmaster." Molly smiled at the man. "How are you?"

"I must admit I have been better, my dear. I am sure you know the sentiment."

"Of course, is there anything I can get you?"

"No, I am just here to see Percy and then I will be on my way."

Molly nodded, a bit confused, but left the room to finish up in the kitchen.

Bill and Percy walked into the room a moment later. "Hello, Headmaster," the two said together.

"Hello, William, Percy. I would like to tell you both that it was not I who placed the compulsion on you and your brothers."

"I had hoped, Headmaster. It seemed out of character, but the twins and I see things very differently and I must admit that they have been right an awful lot lately so I had my doubts."

"Yes, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of underestimating your brothers. My experience with what happened with the Marauders left me warry of those who behaved in a similar manner to Mister Black and the twins so remind me of Mister Black and Mister Potter when they were in school. I regret the generalization for I know it was wrong then and now."

"I would say I'll relay your regrets but if I know my brothers they are listening and have already heard every word you've said."

Albus chuckled, "I believe you are right. Now, would you allow me to dispel the compulsion?" At Percy's nod he began.

It was curious. The Compulsion was cast by someone very skilled and with a great deal of power. The caster was on par with William Weasley and could surpass most of his staff. Only Severus and Filius would find this opponent an easy win. Minerva would struggle to best him. The only trouble was he could not place the caster. It was familiar but something was off.

"Do you know who cast the Compulsion?" asked Arthur as he lowered his wand.

"Alas, my boys, I cannot place it. There is both something familiar and something foreign about the signature. I will have to meditate on this." He looked to Bill, "By chance, do you know if Mister Potter or Miss Granger had similar compulsions placed upon them?"

"I scanned both, Fred and George said they were the only others who would know the full story, but neither had a compulsion placed upon them. When I didn't find anything with a surface scan I asked Harry if he minded if I performed a deeper scan but still found no Compulsion or anything like it."

"That is both curious and concerning."

"I agree, Headmaster. I am taking my scans to the Goblins to see if they can shed some light on the situation or if they could attempt to locate the individual." Bill looked around at his family, "could I have a word with the headmaster alone?"

"Of course, Bill," Arthur nodded at his oldest son. "Come on, Percy, let's go distract your mother."

"If it would help, tell her that another of her sons has been awarded the position of Head Boy," the headmaster smiled.

Percy's eyes were wide, "Thank you, Headmaster."

"You deserve it, Mister Weasley."

"Come on, Percy, we should tell your mother so she can prepare a celebratory feast in your honor."

Bill waited until his father and brother had been out of the room for a few minutes before casting a quick ward against eavesdropping. "Headmaster, I don't know if you knew or not but I feel compelled to tell you that the diary that was controlling my sister was a Horcrux."

Albus sighed heavily, "I suppose I should no longer be surprised when my former students hold knowledge I would wish they didn't. I assume this is something you learned about through your work at Gringotts?" Bill nodded, "I have been researching the darkest of magics in an attempt to find the reason Voldemort did not perish all those years ago and hoped the answer was not Horcruxes. When the diary landed on my desk, however, I knew it was the reason."

"I have taken this knowledge to the Goblins. I did so because the Goblins take a very hard stance on such things. They will stop at nothing to rid the world of what they call the Forbidden Magics."

"What are they doing?"

"They will be searching every vault in Gringotts for these items, from there I cannot say what they will do but I do know that anyone holding one will be dealt with harshly."

"You might suggest they start with the Lestrange vaults." At Bill's questioning glance he explained, "Severus and I know there is at least one more and if he gave another to a follower we feel the most likely candidate would be Bellatrix Lestrange."

"I will relay the message. Have you any idea as to how many he would make?"

"No answer I could give you would be any more accurate than any other number. I can say with great certainty that it would be under 10 soul pieces. I think it will be less than that but beyond that I do not feel comfortable speculating."

"So, at most 9 Horcrux in total? If he did do that many I would think he would wish to end with nine pieces so that would make 8 Horcrux. 9 is a fairly magical number. Many things come in 3s and 9 would be three 3s. Then again seven is an equally magical number, but who is to say that you could split the soul six times so it could be 5 Horcrux to make six soul pieces."

Albus nodded, "I went around the same path as you and could make no headway with my decision. I do think it unlikely he would hide all of his Horcruxes in the same manner so if one is found in a vault belonging to one of his followers then it is more likely that he made more than 2 Horcruxes but that is all I can say with any confidence."

"I do have another concern." Albus lifted a brow, "When I did the deep scan on Harry Potter I found a large concentration of dark magic centered in his scar. I want to take him to the Goblin healers to see what they make of it."

"I would have no problem with this Mister Weasley. Please, if you and the Goblins can remove any darkness that lingers due to the attack by Voldemort then do so."

"Can I relay your willingness to help in this fight against Forbidden Magic to the Goblins?"

"Please, Mister Weasley. In this fight, I fear we will need as many hands as possible."

The Burrow

Molly Weasley was singing along with the Wireless. Last night she learned that her son Percy was the new Head Boy at Hogwarts. She was so proud of her Percy. He was going to be just like his father and work at the Ministry, but her boy would go so much farther than his father. She just knew it.

An owl swooped into the kitchen and landed on the table. "Hello there," she approached the owl and took the letter. The owl didn't wait for a reply and flew back out the window. "Now what do we have here?"

Arthur Weasley,

We at the Daily Prophet are pleased to announce that you have won the Grand Prize Galleon Draw! Congratulations. The Grand Prize totals 700 Galleons.

To claim your Prize please present this letter at the Daily Prophet Offices by 5 pm on Friday June 18th, 1993.

Sincerely,

Archibald White

Editor and Chief

Molly stood frozen in the middle of the kitchen, breakfast preparing itself.

"Good morning, Molly," Arthur strode into the kitchen. He stopped when he noticed his wife's uncharacteristic stillness. "Is something wrong?"

She looked up and held out the letter for him to read. "No, Arthur, there is absolutely nothing wrong."

St. Mungo's Hospital, Sirius Black's Room

Hospitals were boring. Like ridiculously boring. Sirius Black was going absolutely crazy sitting around in a hospital bed doing absolutely nothing. Sure, he was weak, until recently he hadn't been getting 3 balanced meals a day, he had been getting 2 bowls of slop and some water, so he was under weight. He did suffer from nightmares, terrible ones that usually left him screaming or in tears, but what did people expect? He had been living in a Dementor infested hell hole for nearly twelve years. Yes, he looked like crap, little food and Dementors would do that to you. But did this place really need to be the second most boring place in the universe? The most boring place was, of course, his residence for the last twelve years.

So, to stave off boredom, he read newspapers. He read all the ones written in languages he could read, French and English. The French ones weren't very amusing, like not amusing at all. The Prophet was filled with lies and boring crap. He liked the Quibbler. Now that was a paper worthy of a Marauder. Full of insanity with a snippet of truth hidden here and there. Plus, it made him laugh. But, alas, it was only published weekly so he was forced to read those regular papers most of the time. At least the Prophet had a Cross Word.

Sirius looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet when the door to his room opened. He smiled upon seeing Remus.

"Well hello my old friend. You look a bit better than the last time I saw you."

"The last time you saw me was the day after my 'fury little problem,' Sirius."

"This is true," he grinned. "What's with the face, Remus?"

"I met him, Siri." Remus couldn't contain it, "I met him and he is the most amazing kid in the world."

Sirius's eyes got huge. "Tell me everything. No, better yet find a Pensieve and show me."

Privet Drive

Severus Snape was not sure what to think. He had never been a fan of Potters but for some reason the current Potter did not irritate in the same way he used to.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Harry had the means to give him access to a nearly unlimited supply of some of the rarest ingredients in the world. It had nothing to do with his mother and absolutely nothing to do with his father. For some reason he was drawn to the quiet, humble boy who didn't take credit for anything. He realized that everything he thought about the boy before was most likely wrong. The boy he saw in Minerva's office that fateful night was the real Harry Potter and he might just grow to like that Harry Potter.

Now he just had to deal with the fact that he had treated the boy poorly. Perhaps today would be the first step in showing that he had changed.

He stepped out of the Floo at Arabella Fig's house and into the stench of cabbage and cat. Wonderful. At least the woman wasn't home. Albus had gotten permission for him to use her Floo to get to Privet Drive despite her being away visiting her son.

Five minutes later he spotted the Potter boy, he was holding the Granger girl's hand while she leaned into him. This was new. He had never seen them stand that way, he missed little so he would have seen it if this was a regular occurrence. He hoped they could keep their adolescent hormones in check.

At least they were dressed appropriately, he thought noticing the older, grubby looking clothes.

"Miss Granger, Mister Potter," he drawled. "I see you are prepared to aid me in this venture. Shall we?" he asked gesturing toward a secluded patch of trees. "We will be taking a Port Key; the Headmaster has created it to drop us just outside the castle. "Take hold of the sock and hold on tight. When I tell you, let go and begin walking, unless you want to end up flat on your face that is."

His students grabbed hold of the sock and with a muttered 'activate,' they disappeared from Privet Drive without a sound.

Gringotts Bank

Bill walked into the office of one of the Goblin Healers. He had been advised by Master Holgrind that Goblin Healers could tell a great deal about the necessary steps they would need to take from just a copy of a scan.

"May all of your patients survive under you care, Mistress Garnet."

"May you find success in you chosen path, Curse Breaker Weasley." The Goblin Healer smiled slightly at him. "Master Holgrind said the scan of a young man concerned you?"

"Indeed, Mistress Garnet," he handed the scan to the female Goblin, "There is a high concentration of something extremely dark in the boy's forehead. It emanates from a scar."

The Goblin studied the parchment.

Bill's blood ran cold as he witnessed a Goblin showing fear for the first time in his life.

"Get the young man in here immediately Curse Breaker Weasley." She met his eyes, "It is a matter of Forbidden Magics."


Dun, dun, dun...

Chapter 7 is complete. Some silly, some serious, but only a little bit of Sirius.

I have long been a Harry/Hermione shipper. I thought that was how it was going to turn out when I started reading the books and that is usually how I picture things turning out for Harry. If you aren't a fan of that my apologies.

* Sorry everybody I moved Percy's birthday so he could come check up on Harry. I didn't check his birthday when I started and Fred and George said he could check up on Harry over the summer because he could Apparate however his birthday isn't actually until August 22nd and that would mean he wouldn't be much help so I am taking some artistic license and moving his birthday to May 22nd that way he is old enough to Apparate and help Harry out and I don't have to celebrate it.

**Thank you Hamilton for the correction

***edited 8/2/18, thanks goku90540