Disclaimer: I didn't create Harry Potter, nor do I own it, and I'm not making any money from this story.

Warning(s): There's some language in this chapter.

Shoutouts: Thanks to RRW for reviewing...and yes, Umbridge will show up soon. Don't worry, I hate her too.

Recap:

With those words, Harry and his friends prepared themselves for the legal fight of their lives.


Chapter 7: Ready for a Battle

Sure enough, The Daily Prophet got wind of what had happened at Hogwarts within twenty-four hours of the incident. Remus was being ripped to shreds for being a werewolf, Dumbledore was being ripped to shreds for hiring a werewolf, and Slughorn was being ripped to shreds for making the Wolfsbane potion for a werewolf.

According to the paper, Remus had viciously attacked four innocent students, and one had nearly died of their injuries. Sure. Although the students hadn't been named, most of Hogwarts' population could guess at least two of those students' identities correctly, although they knew that The Prophet was prone to exaggerating.

"I can't wait until I can take control of this stupid paper," Harry muttered. "They print utter shite."

The word quickly spread down the Slytherin table. There was going to be a house meeting immediately after dinner. Attendance was mandatory.

The day seemed to blur by. Remus had taken a voluntary leave of absence, and was staying at an undisclosed location, so Defense Against the Dark Arts was canceled.

After dinner, all of the Slytherins rose as one and left the Great Hall together.

Once everyone was in the common room, from first years to seventh years, Bletchley called the meeting to order and said, "I'm sure you all know why we're gathered here. And it's to show that Slytherins can do something good for a change. So we're going to help get Professor Lupin's reputation back, and therefore, get our reputation back. Potter, you have the floor."

"For those of you who didn't know Professor Lupin was friends with my parents. He's also a werewolf. The Ministry's calling for his head, but they're wrong. He wouldn't hurt a fly. So we have to help him."

"The Ministry's laws are pretty nasty," Neville said. "Technically, they could throw Remus in Azkaban for what happened. But we won't let that happen. We're going to try and get the Wizengamot to repeal most of the laws restricting werewolves, and try to stop any others from being passed."

"Like that nasty one from that woman Umbridge?" a sixth year asked. "She's trying to make all werewolves and any "half-breeds" as she calls them, put their names on this registry. It's basically so the Ministry can keep tabs on them."

"Exactly," Draco said. "My father may not have the same power he did years ago, but he's still important in the community. People will listen to him."

These words started a flurry of activity in the common room. People began talking about whose parents had the most influence, and how they could take down bigots like Dolores Jane Umbridge.

Although the entirety of Slytherin house, in fact, all of Hogwarts, was very motivated, little progress was made in Remus's case, as the Ministry took a month to announce the official charges. He was charged with attempted murder.


Harry and Neville weren't staying at Hogwarts for the winter holidays, but for the first time in ten years, Harry and Neville would not be at St. Nicholas Orphanage for Boys for Christmas. They would be visiting briefly on Christmas Day, and but they would be staying with the Malfoys. But before then, they had properties to visit.

They went separately. This was something that they both had to do on their own. First, Gnarlfang took Harry to 8 Magnolia Lane in Godric's Hollow.

"After your parents' funeral, the house was put under stasis and sealed off to prevent people from seeking souvenirs. I can put it under the Fidelius Charm if you like, and make you the secret keeper."

"I'd like that."

Goblin magic was specially, and the spell that normally took five wizards a day to perform took Gnarlfang a minute. Harry retold the secret to Gnarlfang, and then the goblin undid the charms on the property and they went inside.

It was as if the night his parents died had never happened. The house looked as if his parents could step through the door at any moment.

But there were signs of what had happened. The door was missing, and the chunks of wood on the floor told of its demise. Baby toys were scattered across the living room. On the walls, there were small marks from spell-fire. There was one large hole in the wall leading up the stairs. When Harry reached his former nursery, he stopped dead. There was shattered glass and almost everything was turned over, except his crib.

"We don't have to stay here if you don't want to, Mr. Potter," Gnarlfang said. "I can have everything sent to Potter manor for you to sort through at a later time."

"Thank you."

Harry turned and walked out of the house, and his account manager followed him.

"There's one more thing that I wanted to show you before we go to the flat in London." Gnarlfang led him through Godric's Hollow to a cemetery next to a small church.

His parents' graves drew him like a magnet. He walked through the kissing gate and found the two white marble tombstones that had been engraved with his mother's and father's names and the dates that they had lived. Buried next to them was Sirius Black.

"Traditionally, members of the Potter family are buried on the grounds of Potter Manor. The manor was inaccessible at the time of your parents' deaths."

"I'll think about it."

Gnarlfang allowed Harry to have a moment to himself, and then he apparated both of them to the flat in London.

Seeing the spacious apartment definitely brightened Harry's mood. There was enough room for his friends to visit, and there were numerous electronics. Except for the Wizarding Wireless set tucked into a corner, it was a mostly Muggle apartment.

Gnarlfang then took Harry to Potter Manor. It seemed that the ancestral home went into automatic stasis until the heir of the family returned. The moment Harry stepped inside, the building seemed to come to life. He was greeted by the Potter family house elves, who all wore neat tea towels that were embroidered with red and gold.

They began to gave him a tour, but Harry didn't make it past the main living room. Above the mantle of a fireplace that was larger than him, was the portrait of his parents that Sharpclaw had mentioned.

"Mum? Dad?"

The portrait became as animated as the rest of the house, and both his parents stretched as if they had awoken form a long slumber.

"Harry! My precious baby boy." His mother looked like she was going to cry.

His father's portrait asked, "Harry how long has it been?"

"Ten years, dad."

Harry spent the rest of the afternoon filling his parents' painted visages in on what had happened since their deaths, since they only remembered up until that day. They raged at Pettigrew and the Lestranges, and mourned Sirius and the Longbottoms. They were surprised to hear that Lucius Malfoy had turned a new leaf, and that Harry was in Slytherin, but James let out a whoop when he discovered that his son was the youngest Quidditch player at Hogwarts in a century. They were appalled by what had happened to Remus.

"We called it his 'furry little problem'," James reminisced fondly. "Most people seemed to think that he had a rabid pet rabbit. But he's strong. He'll make it through this. Especially with all the support he's getting."

"Poor Remus," Lily said. "Life hasn't been easy for him."

Harry had to bid his parents' portrait a hasty goodbye when he realized that he should have been at the Malfoys an hour ago.

He flooed to Malfoy Manor, and when he stepped out of the fireplace on the other end, he was engulfed in a hug from Mrs. Malfoy, of all people.

"Harry, I was worried about you. Please, send a note when you're going to be late."

"Sorry," Harry said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I got caught up in talking to my parents."

Mrs. Malfoy's face softened and she said, "Well that's very wonderful, Harry."

They went to the dining room and joined the others for a late lunch.

"So, Harry," Draco said, "where do you think you're going to live?"

"With us," Mrs. Malfoy said before Harry could answer. "At least, until he becomes Lord Potter. Then he's emancipated and he can live wherever he wants. The same for Neville."

All three boys rolled their eyes at each other, and Mrs. Malfoy pretended not to see.

"I have some bad news, boys," Mr. Malfoy said, killing the good mood.

"What is it?" Draco asked.

"Cornelius Fudge," he said the name in disgust, "has decided to appoint a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the remainder to the year."

Neville asked, "Who is it?"

"Gildroy Lockhart. Most people think he's a hero, but he's a fraud, a liar, and a cheat. The only problem is that no one's managed to catch him at it, since he's rather adept at memory charms."

"He takes deeds people has done and claims them as his own," Mrs. Malfoy explained. "He then erases the memory of the person who actually did it, and then there's no one to contradict him."

"So essentially, we should be prepared to not learn anything for the rest of the year," Harry said.

"Exactly. Lupin was a very good teacher, so hopefully he'll be back next year in time to save your academic careers. If only I was on the Board of Governors..."

"I plan on taking care of that, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said. "And your lordship too."

"You don't need to Harry."

"I want to."

"And I'll help," Neville said.

"We have to go by Diagon Alley to get the new set of books," Narcissa said, changing the subject. "We might as well take care of our Christmas shopping while we're there."

Harry and Neville looked at each other and then Neville said, "We were wondering, are there any magical orphanages?"

"No, or you would have been sent to one," Mr. Malfoy said. "Why do you ask?"

"We've decided to go to our old orphanage and bring presents for the kids there. We wanted to do the same if there were any magical orphanages."

Mrs. Malfoy said, "There's a good system in France, and Spain is not far behind. Britain's rather behind when it comes to childcare, though. Luckily, most of the orphans for the war had someone to take them in."

"Like who?" Harry asked.

"Both of Susan Bone's parents were killed, so her aunt Amelia, the head of the Department of magical Law Enforcement, took her in. I'm sure several of your other classmates lost at least an uncle or an aunt, but I'm not sure whom. It's not talked about very much anymore," Mrs. Malfoy said.


The next day, the Malfoy family, plus Harry and Neville went to Diagon Alley to pick up their sets of Lockhart's books, which were full of the man's counterfeit and contrived stories. Unfortunately, they had a bit of trouble getting through the crowd, as the phony was hosting a book signing for his new autobiography, Magical Me.

What was even more unfortunate was that Lockhart spotted Harry and Neville trying to make their way through the crowd.

"Harry Potter? Neville Longbottom?" Lockhart's face broke into a blinding grin and he tried to pull the boys in for a photo op, but both of them pulled away, and Lucius protectively placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Sorry, we're not interested in publicity. We're here to buy our books, nothing else," Harry said.

"Well, here, take these free, signed copies," Lockhart said, shoving a stack of books into each boy's arms.

"No thank you," Neville said.

They placed the books back on the table and went to the counter like everyone else. That gave the reporters something to talk about. And for once, Gilderoy Lockhart didn't have a smile on his face.


Harry and Neville gave the Muggle press something to talk about when they went on a spending spree at one of Muggle London's largest toy stores. It was a media circus, all arranged by Narcissa Malfoy, who was known in the Muggle world as a fashion icon and a genuine philanthropist. Reporters followed them all the way to the St. Nicholas Orphanage for Boys, as well as three other London orphanages, and snapped pictures as Harry and Neville distributed presents to boys and girls of all ages.

In the living room of Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging Surrey, a fat man, and a fat boy sat on a sofa that was groaning under their weight, while a bony, horse-faced woman sat delicately in a chair off to the side.

The TV in their living room was blaring as usual, but Petunia perked up when she saw the newscaster delivering his special report.

"Vernon, look!"

Vernon Dursley looked up from his company report and asked, "What?"

Petunia pointed in the direction of the TV. "Look!"

On the screen were the images of two boys. Petunia had no clue who one of them was, but she would know the other anywhere. He had Lily's eyes. Besides, he looked like a carbon copy of her good-for-nothing husband, down to the freakishly messy hair.

"What is it?" Vernon said, paying more attention to his report than to the news story.

"Vernon, listen!"

The newscaster was telling the story of two generous boys, a Neville Longbottom and a Harry Potter, the orphaned heirs of two very prominent families, who, out of the goodness of their hearts, were delivering presents to orphans before Christmas.

Needless to say, all Petunia Dursley saw were big, fat dollar signs. And she would get her hands on them, no matter what.


Of course, Harry didn't know of Petunia's machinations, so he, Neville, and Draco had a very happy Christmas. All three boys woke up early on Christmas Day, and then Draco went and woke up his parents.

Once everyone in the household was at least someone conscious, the three boys raced downstairs to see what they had gotten. To Mrs. Malfoys chagrin, they used the banister instead of the stairs.

Harry and Neville stopped short when they reached the Malfoys' living room.

Draco asked, "What's wrong?"

"We have presents," Harry said in a dreamy voice.

Draco said, "Of course you have presents! It's Christmas!"

"Miss Liz only had enough to get us one present each," Neville explained to Draco.

"Well you have plenty of presents now." Draco pulled both boys into the room.

The first order of business was to tear their stockings off the mantle, and dump the contents out onto the priceless rug that adorned the floor. Soon, it looked as if half of Honeydukes' stockroom had landed on the Malfoys' living room floor.

Once the boys had straightened their piles of candy, they moved on the presents that were piled under the Malfoys' twelve-foot Christmas tree.

Harry and Neville exchanged presents first.

Harry gasped in awe as he opened Neville's gift. Inside an ornately carved wooden box was a practice snitch, carefully engraved with Harry's name.

"Thank you, Neville. Open yours."

Neville opened his present to find a squirming potted plant. "Wicked. What is it Harry?"

"Flitterbloom," Harry said. "It looks like Devil's Snare, but it's not lethal. The man in the nursery in Diagon Alley thought you might like it."

Neville's eyes widened. "There's a nursery in Diagon Alley?"

"Yep. It just opened last month."

Neville seemed hesitant to put his new plant aside, but there were more presents to open. Draco gave Harry a broomstick servicing kit, and he gave Neville a book with instructions on how to care for his new plant.

Harry gave Draco a new set of Gobstones, and Neville gave Draco a book on chess strategy, with the hope that he may be able to beat Theo one day.

Daphne had sent Harry a book on Transfiguration, Neville a book on Herbology, and Draco a book on Potions. Pansy had sent each on them Honeydukes' gift baskets, and Theo had sent them gift certificates to Flourish & Blotts. Hermione had also sent them books.

Draco's' parents had given each of them a pair of black dragon hide boots. Their other friends' parents had sent them assorted items of clothing, but all of it was all rather expensive.

One of the biggest surprises was that Mrs. Wesley had sent presents. Each of them had gotten a hand-knitted sweater, Harry's was green and Neville's was blue, and a box of homemade fudge.

But the biggest surprise of all was Harry's last present.

It was a floppy package wrapped in paper and string, and a note was attached it it. The note read:

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

I believe that it is time that it was returned to you.

- A.P.W.B.D.

"Who's A.P.W.B.D.?" Neville asked.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Mr. Malfoy said from the settee, "but you three know him as Professor Dumbledore."

Harry examined what was inside the package. It was a cloak. He pulled it on over his shoulders.

"Bloody hell!"

"Draco!" Mrs. Malfoy exclaimed. "Watch your language."

Harry looked down to discover the reason for Draco's language and discovered an important fact. "My body's gone!"

Mr. Malfoy said, "I believe what you have there is an invisibility cloak. They're very rare magical objects. You should take very good care of that," Harry.


Before Christmas dinner at Malfoy Manor, Harry took his family portkey to Potter Manor to see his parents.

"Mum, Dad, Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas to you too, Harry."

"Dad, Dumbledore sent me your invisibility cloak. He said he had had it when you died."

"He had wanted to see it, and examine its magical properties. I don't blame him. I've always been a bit curious about that old thing myself. But now you'll be able to wreak even more havoc at Hogwarts!" James stopped himself from elaborating when his wife glared at him.

"Don't listen to your father, honey. He's being immature."

"Mum, Dad, I've been meaning to ask you. Do you want your graves to be moved here?"

His parents' portrait was silent for a few moments.

"It would be nice to be home," James said. "You can do it if you like, Harry. If it helps you feel even closer to us, then by all means, do it."

Harry allowed himself to smile.

"And one moment, there's someone you have to see."

Harry went to the fireplace, and after sprinkling floo powder into the grate, he stuck his face into grate and said, "Moony's Hideaway!"

After a whispered conversation, Harry stood up, and the flames swirled green, and out of the fireplace came Remus Lupin.

"Moony!"

Remus's head snapped in the direction of James's voice. "Prongs?"

James grinned. "It's me. In the paint."

"Hello, Remus," Lily said from her spot in the painting next James.

Harry quietly snuck out of the room, and allowed his parents and their friend to reconnect and reminisce in private.


The Christmas Dinner at the Malfoys was extraordinary, but of course, once Christmas and New Year's passed, the boys found themselves having to head back to Hogwarts.

However, the day before the left, Mr. Townsend, Harry's and Neville's lawyer came by for a meeting.

"The good news is that all the publishers have agreed to recall any books with false information, so there won't be any reason to sue anyone." Harry and Neville high-fived each other. Mr. Townsend continued. "But I do have some bad news. Petunia Dursley has filed for custody of Harry. We have a hearing in a Muggle court in three weeks."

"But Miss Britcher said I could stay here," Harry said. "Besides, I'm at school most of the year."

"Mrs. Dursley may claim that she wants custody of you because you're her sister's child, but the only reason why she wants to get anywhere near you is to get her hands on the Potter fortune. She may not have liked your father, but she knows that he was wealthy."

"But she could only access the fortune if she adopted Harry," Mrs. Malfoy pointed out.

"It wouldn't take a Muggle court long to grant her permission to adopt him, especially since she's his last living relative."

For some reason, this statement caused Mrs. Malfoy to bustle off to places unknown.

"I think my mother has an idea," Draco said.


By the time they boarded the Hogwarts Express, Harry knew he would't have to go live with the Dursley. Thank Merlin.

The train ride to Hogwarts was as special as the first train ride, and Harry, Draco, and Neville met up with their other friends. Their circle had expanded to include Hermione, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott. The Weasley twins also stopped by their compartment.

Of course, they had forgotten one small thing.

Gilderoy Lockhart.

The man was sitting at the head table, wearing garish turquoise robes and flashing his unbearable smile in every direction.

"Why do I have the feeling that we're not going to learn very much," Daphne said.

"Because we're not," Draco said. "He's a fraud, at least that's what my parents said."

Pansy said. "I wouldn't doubt it. He shouldn't have to write books about what he did. People should be writing books about him. You don't see Harry writing about Voldemort."

"Well, I can't remember it, so it would be rather hard to write a whole book about it, but I see what you mean."


The first-years got their first taste of Lockhart the next morning.

"Since you didn't have the time to read my books before the term started, how about we begin with the first three chapters of Break with a Banshee? It's the first account of my adventures."

Draco snorted. "Sure it is."

Lockhart frowned in his direction, but his megawatt smile was back moments later.

Harry was glad to see that Hermione had taken his comment to heart, because judging by the look that was on her face, she thought that everything she was reading was under crap.

Thankfully, the horrid class was soon over, and all of the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins knew that they would have to put in a lot of extra studying if they were to get anything out of Lockhart's class. The news of Lockhart's ineptness spread thought the rest of the castle rather quickly, and almost everyone's favorite class became the most despised.


And that's Chapter 7! I told you I was inspired. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review. Feedback's always welcome.