I have had people asking me if I could include Tonks in this... I don't think I'm going to. Here's my reasoning. If I were to add Tonks, it would be the older one who is Remus's pregnant wife. His pregnant wife that is only weeks away from giving birth. The Room is in a time-bubble, meaning that outside the room, time is slowed down. I don't know how long I'm going to have them in the Room, but it will probably be long enough for Tonks to have the baby if I were to bring her in. I don't feel like the stress of reading this book would be very healthy, which is the main reason I'm not really going to bring her in. And I don't really want to bring in younger Tonks either.


Parselmouth

"Figured out what you needed to, boys?" Sprout asked. They all nodded, "Well, then, shall we continue?" She asked, clapping her hands together and turning to reactivate the charm on the book.

Chapter five Diagon Alley

Sirius smiled softly, but both he and Remus were trying not to break down in front of the kid who should have been going to the Alley with his parents and them. Because they all knew that Sirius and Remus would have gone along with the Potter's.

Both Harry's found themselves drawn into side-hugs by two slightly emotional canines.

(Harry woke early the... home in my cupboard.")

A few people growled again at the mention of the cupboard, while a few others shook their heads at his usual pessimistic attitude.

"Harry, one of these days you will get it through your head that good things can happen to you. And that those things will stay." Hermione said softly.

Both Harry's looked at her and shrugged.

"I know good things can happen... I have you and Ron don't I? And the rest of the Weasley's. And everyone else." He gestured to the room, at his makeshift family, minus the Dursley's, Snape, and Dumbledore at the moment.

Molly would have burst into tears and run to give him a bone-crushing hug, if it weren't for the fact Sirius still had his arms around Harry, and Harry was currently hiding his bright red face in Sirius's shirt. A few other people were smiling slightly at the teen as well.

(There was suddenly... a good dream.)

"Wow, Potter. Who knew you were such a pessimist." Draco muttered.

Harry shrugged. Ron and Hermione both muttered that he didn't know the half of it.

(Tap. Tap. Tap... swelling inside him.)

"And there's not much your really happy about usually." Ron said, running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

Draco said nothing as Harry shrugged. Because from what he observed, Potter was pretty happy when with the rest of the Trio. Not that he watched the Trio a whole lot at school, but he'd seen Potters face light up whenever the other two entered the Great Hall on the few occasions when both he and Potter happened to be in the Hall early at the same time.

Snape noticed Harry purse his lips like he was going to say something but didn't. Instead he made a few hand-motions that made Ron and Hermione light up.

(He went straight... attack Hagrid's coat.)

Sprout winced, "Yeah, Prophet owls are the most vicious, aside from Gringotts owls. Never try and take a letter from a Gringotts owl that doesn't have your name on it, and pay the Prophet owl as soon as possible." She lectured, she rubbed her hand as she spoke.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Those were some nasty gashes they gave you."

Harry and Hermione looked alarmed. "Don't worry, owls don't attack unless told." Harry said, smiling sadly. He missed his Hedwig.

Before anyone could blink, there was another flash and a hoot, and by the time everyone could see again, with everyone once again up and painting their wands at the disturbance, a beautiful snowy owl was standing on the table, studying the two Harry's.

Ron and Hermione gasped while the rest of the Weasley's looked apprehensive, all of them giving Harry a worried look. Harry himself was looking at the owl with pain written all over his face. Snape watched with a blank look.

After all, he was there, he saw it happen, heard Harry's yells for his owl. He himself had grown fond of the beautiful intelligent owl that used to always visit him when he had a particularly hard day. His fondness stayed even after he learned she belonged to Potter.

The owl hooted again before flying to Harry's shoulder to nip his ear before going to perch on Harry's shoulder.

Harry closed his eyes in pain for a moment before he swallowed and opened them again. When he spoke, his voice actually sounded somewhat normal, if a bit forced. "She was a birthday present to me, from Hagrid. I named her Hedwig, but you can name her what you like."

Harry cocked his head to look at the owl perched happily on his shoulder. "Hedwig, huh? I like it. What do you think?" He asked her. When she bobbed her head in agreement, Harry smiled. "Hedwig it is, then."

Harry gave a strained smile before he excused himself. He went into the next room and shut the door. There was about a minute of silence before they all heard a loud scream, followed by a loud 'Bombarda'!, followed by a few Sectumsempra's, Diffindo's, and a couple of Incendio's, before they all heard loud sobs. Sirius finally had enough. He didn't know what was going on, but he needed to help his godson.

"What...?" Harry started.

"His Hedwig flew into the path of a Killing Curse meant for him." Hermione said softly. "You better take good care of her." She warned.

Remus noticed Harry looked apprehensive as he pet the newly named Hedwig. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. Hedwig was his constant companion. He told her everything, including a few things he probably never even told Ron and Hermione."

Hermione nodded. "If she wasn't on a delivery or in the owlery sleeping, she was on Harry's shoulder. All the time except for class. It wasn't unusual for the two of them for the two of them to fall asleep together on the couch in the common room."

"I gave up years ago of keeping that owl out of my infirmary. She always seemed to find her way in again, no matter how many times I locked the windows and doors." Madam Pomfrey added.

Snape sighed. "She came to visit me a few times, usually in the evenings or when I had a free period while Potter was in class. She always seemed to know when I was in a particularly bad mood from teaching dunderheads." His gaze suddenly sharpened on Harry. "She's right, boy. You better take very good care of that bird, an owl like that only comes around once in a lifetime, and you are very blessed that she chose you."

With that said, Hedwig hooted and nipped Harry on the ear before she flew towards the door Harry and Sirius went through. The door opened before she reached it, and closed with a snap when she was in.

The entire time they spoke about Harry Potter's feathered companion, they ignored the older Dursleys muttering about 'that ruddy owl'. Well, not quite ignored, because the couple were suddenly sporting pink and purple polka dots, horns and a tail, and their skin was green. They were also silenced so none of the wizards could hear their yelling.

That was the scene Harry, Sirius, and Hedwig came back to. The Dursley's staring at the wizards in fear, while a green, polka dotted Dursley couple were silently yelling and ranting. The wizards and the Dudley's were talking to each other quietly, with the Twins telling the Dudley's some stories about Harry at Hogwarts.

When everybody noticed they were there, the conversations stopped when everyone turned to watch Harry carefully, trying to see if he was ok now or not. His eyes were red and he still had tear-tracks down his cheeks, but he had a soft smile on his face as he cradled Hedwig to his chest and pet her, speaking softly. Sirius had one hand on his shoulder while he led Harry back to their seats.

Once they were seated, Harry held out his arm for Hedwig to go back to Harry. She did, nesting down into his lap, using the fuzzy blanket both boys and Sirius still had, although she stretched her head out and pushed it underneath Harry's hand, much like a cat would when they wanted your attention.

Harry smiled softly at her again before a box of owl treats appeared in his hand. "These are her favorites." He said as he held one out for her, she took it happily.

The Weasley's all seemed to sigh in relief, he'd be alright.

("Don't do that."... savaging the coat.)

"He won't leave without his pay. He'll tear that coat to shreds to find his money." McGonagal said, smiling slightly.

A few people shuddered, either from experience, or from the reminder of Sprouts injuries.

("Hagrid!" said Harry loudly... Look in the pockets.")

A few people snorted, "Which pockets?" They all muttered.

(Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets-)

People snorted again. That was the truth.

"I'm the groundskeeper. I never know what I will need, when I will need it." Hagrid said, slightly embarrassed.

"We know, Hagrid." Harry said, smiling at his big friend.

(bunches of keys... strange-looking coins.)

"Hey, they aren't strange looking." Draco protested.

"They are when compared to what I was used to." Harry snorted. He asked Hermione to toss him their bag, and he dug out his money pouch, which currently held both wizard and Muggle money, although he had more wizard than Muggle at the moment.

He dumped some of it out on the table for Draco to look at and compare the two. "When you go from what you know, to suddenly finding out there is a whole 'nother world out there, and then just get thrown into that world without being told what to expect, it can be a bit of a shock." He said softly. "Especially when you have thousands of people you didn't even know existed expecting miracles from you simply because of something your mother did."

Everybody was silent for a moment before Draco asked how you used these. Looking at the bills on the table.

Everybody chose to ignore the Dursley parents sputtering about Freaks and Freaky nonsense, not even knowing how money worked.

What followed was an impromptu lesson on Muggle money, what the numbers in the corner meant, what the coins were and how many coins went into a pound, and all that stuff. They even delved a little bit into the sales tax system. Hermione had to explain really quick how some pieces of paper could have any value, but the Purebloods were satisfied with hearing that the bits of paper were backed up by gold somewhere. Muggles just didn't feel like carrying a lot of it around, so they carried around paper to represent that gold.

At the end, both Draco's looked thoughtful, the Muggle money system was certainly a bit more complicated than they would have thought. After all, they were raised believing Muggles to be slightly more intelligent than the average troll. But now, Muggles had things like guns, and complicated money systems.

("Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.)

"Hagrid, he didn't know what a Knut was." McGonagal said fondly, she was still trying to remember what Albus told her about why he sent Hagrid to introduce a child to their world and their magic.

"Its alright, professor, this was probably the best way I could start getting used to wizard money." Harry said from where Sirius was currently bundling him back up in the fuzzy blanket under Hedwig's watchful gaze.

Harry looked exasperated, but allowed Sirius to fuss. He rolled his eyes fondly when Hedwig hopped down to pick up the stuffed stag in her beak from where it fell earlier before hopping back up and dropping it back in his lap. Then she went back to her nest in Harry's lap.

Draco stopped his younger self from saying anything he might regret.

("Knuts?"... sat up, and stretched.)

McGonagal sighed and shook her head. She wasn't even going to try.

("Best be off, Harry,... had got a puncture.)

"No!" The Twins suddenly cried dramatically, startling a few people who had actually done one of the most dangerous things known to wizard-kind, aside from forgetting Harry Potter was in the room.

They forgot the WEASLEY TWINS were in the room.

"Not the happy balloon!" George finished, moaning dramatically and flopping back in his seat.

They both grinned when they succeeded in making people laugh, getting rid of some of the lingering tension from when Hedwig arrived.

Sirius and Remus both smiled gratefully at the boys.

("Um- Hagrid?"... got any money-)

"No money?! Potter, you are the last remaining member of the wealthiest family in Britain!" Draco burst out.

"I'm what?" Both Harry's yelped once his words sunk in.

"You didn't know?" Draco asked, bewildered. He always thought Harry knew, and that was why he rejected his hand.

Although, he supposed he wasn't that surprised considering what he knew now.

Snape nodded at having his newest theory confirmed, while Moody made a mark on his parchment beside where he wrote down to check on the Potter finances, make sure it was all where it was supposed to be. Bill also nodded and started his letter to go to his employers. He would have started it earlier, but wanted to confirm that Harry didn't know about it first.

Harry turned to Remus, but Remus anticipated his question. "Both Sirius and I thought you knew and it just didn't really come up." He ran a hand through his hair. "Siri was planning on taking you to the bank for your sixteenth birthday to claim your Lordship, though."

"I grew up Muggle, how was I supposed to know about a wizarding fortune?"

"Albus told us he kept you informed of your financials, and then when Sirius took over managing it all as your godfather, he went through Albus to keep you updated on it all. Since as far as the Ministry knew, Albus was your magical guardian, which made him in charge of your accounts. Every month, Sirius would write up a summary of what he would have gone over in person with you, and give it to Albus to go over with you instead. He never went through any of it with you?" Harry shook his head.

"You never received a monthly statement from Gringotts starting on your 13th birthday?"

Harry shook his head. Everyone turned to Dumbledore, Moody thought he looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"I'm sure my older self thought the boy had enough responsibility being the Boy-Who-Lived without adding such a large fortune and so much political responsibility to the pile." He said somewhat nervously.

Bill narrowed his eyes and before anyone knew it, a large pile of parchment, as well as a fairly large ledger and a small pile of objects appeared on the table in front of them.

One of them was the Invisibility Cloak.

Sirius and Remus narrowed their eyes at the pile, recognizing some of it as priceless Potter heirlooms. Dumbledore paled.

Next thing they all knew, a trunk appeared by the pile, and both Sirius and Remus were on their knees, carefully placing the ancient objects inside it, muttering under their breath about old men with sticky fingers.

Bill raised an eyebrow. "I asked the room to give me all the Potter account information since Halloween 1980, as well as all Potter heirlooms that were not where they were supposed to be, namely not in the Potter vaults or a Potter property. Where Lord James Potter left them when he died."

With that, he picked up the ledger and parchments, and went to a corner where he could still hear and still be able to work in peace.

Sirius joined him after he finished helping Remus with the heirlooms and left the trunk in Moody's care.

(and you heard Uncle Vernon... leave yeah anything?")

"Your parents only left you more gold then you knew what to do with." Remus snorted, still watching Albus suspiciously. He heard Sirius's conversation with Severus and Bill earlier.

He just hadn't wanted to believe it.

Oh, he didn't think Albus was evil in any way. Just, perhaps been placed on a pedestal too long without anybody ever calling him out when he made a mistake, did something wrong, or went too far.

After so long with nobody ever telling him 'no', his sense of 'right and wrong', or perhaps even the line between real life and chess board perhaps got a little blurred.

("But if their house was destroyed-")

Ron was confused. "What would the house have anything to do with their money?"

Harry was red, he muttered something about not getting out much.

("They didn' keep... Run by goblins.")

"What?" Hermione squeaked.

"Don't worry, they're not the friendliest, but they won't attack unless provoked." Bill spoke up from his corner, where he and Sirius were looking angrier and angrier while they read and took notes.

"Remus! Come here a moment." Sirius called.

When Remus went over, he was immediately drawn into an intense whispered discussion.

(Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.)

Hermione nodded, her first reaction was now justified. He did it too.

("Goblins?" "Yeah- so... mess with goblins, Harry.)

The Trio shifted in their seats. If one of the Horcruxes was where they thought it was, then they just might need to do just that.

Luckily, none of the adults noticed their discomfort.

(Gringotts is the safest... can trust me, see.)

The whole time Hagrid talked about his business at Gringotts, the Heads of House all had their heads in their hands, except for Snape who just pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hagrid, you know how curious James and Lily were, and you just hinted at a possible mystery to THEIR SON! No wonder he found out about it." McGonagall groaned.

Only Snape and Moody noticed the satisfied expression on Albus's face.

'Excellent, now I can see if my theory was correct.' Dumbledore thought.

("Got everythin'?... "Flew," said Hagrid.)

"Wait, what? How?" The younger Trio all yelped, eyeing Hagrid's size.

"I took a Thestral." Hagrid explained further. Ron's eyes widened and he leaned away from Hagrid a little bit.

"What's a Thestral?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's a winged, reptilian horse. For some reason, you can only see them if you've seen somebody die." Harry explained. "They are one of the most feared and misunderstood creatures alive for that reason."

He finished, emphasizing that they were misunderstood while looking at Ron.

"They are also very intelligent and have excellent senses of direction. Just name where you want to go, and they will get you there. Just hold on and enjoy the ride." Neville said.

The six who'd been there were all thinking about the Ministry incident. They didn't say anything though.

("Flew?" "Yeah- but... in the boat,)

"Wait, wasn't that the only boat there?" Hermione asked slowly. When they nodded, she turned to Dudley. "Then how did you get home?" She asked him.

Harry stared at her, shocked. All these years, and he'd never once considered how his relatives got off that island.

"Coast Guard came by eventually." Dudley shrugged.

(Harry still staring at... mentionin' it at Hogwarts?")

"Hagrid." McGonagal moaned again.

Hagrid smiled sheepishly at her.

("Of course not,"... guardin' the high-security vaults.)

The Trio frowned. Bellatrix's vault would be a high-security vault, which meant they might have to deal with a dragon.

Charlie narrowed his eyes in Bill's direction. "That's not true, is it, Bill?" The dragon-tamer hissed, sounding remarkably like the dragons he loved so much.

"Huh? I'm sorry, is what true?" Bill looked up from the parchment he was skimming.

Somehow, Charlie's eyes narrowed even more. "Dragons. In Gringotts." He growled.

The Draco's eyes widened. They had only ever really heard of the famous Weasley temper, never seen it. Draco didn't really count riling Ron up at school.

Bill paled. There was a reason he 'forgot' to mention this to his younger brother. "Yes." He said cautiously, putting his quill down and inching his hand for his wand. Charlie was getting to where he was too angry to think, too angry to recognize him. "But Charlie, you have to remember, I don't work vault security. My job is bringing in treasure and undoing Dark Curses before the items go to auction." He said as he watched his brother cautiously.

All the Weasley's were watching the most laid back member of their clan carefully, while Harry and Hermione slowly pulled Harry and Hermione behind the couch, letting Ron do whatever. He ended up hiding behind Ginny since he didn't have Charlie's old wand yet.

"Why didn't you ever mention this before?" Charlie hissed.

"Um, because I know you would react like this?" Bill questioned like Charlie just asked a stupid question.

Finally, Arthur stepped in before Charlie said anything he might regret later once he came out of his temper. "Charlie, other room, blow it off. Now." He said firmly when it looked like his second oldest was going to argue.

Charlie glared but he did storm out. A few seconds later, they heard explosions, much like earlier when Hedwig appeared.

Arthur sighed and ran a hand down his face. Everyone was quiet. With the exception of Molly, they'd never seen a Weasley in full temper like that. They were usually so laid back and caring.

"Lets just continue, he's going to be a while." Arthur said tiredly.

(And then yeh... hands on summat.")

"Didn't stop Quirrel," Ron muttered.

Dumbledore looked up and narrowed his eyes at the Trio. Moody did too, and started scribbling on his parchment to investigate this Quirrel guy.

(Harry sat and thought... things up as usual,")

"When are they not?" All of the older except Percy muttered.

Percy shifted uncomfortably, he knew what was going on, he knew he was wrong back in Ron's fifth year, that didn't mean he was ready to admit that though.

(Hagrid muttered, turning... could stop himself.)

"Never be afraid to ask questions." McGonagal, Flitwick, Sprout, and Remus all lectured. Snape just grunted in agreement.

Harry's eyes went wide and he shrunk down slightly, nodded his head really fast the whole time.

The Weasley kids all looked at the professors and ex-professor with something similar to fear in their eyes as they, too, nodded for good measure.

("'Course," said Hagrid... Fudge got the job.)

"What?" Sirius yelped from the corner. "That idiot got the job? All he cared about when he was in the department was the departments public image! He didn't care about doing the job or protecting the people!"

Moody grunted in agreement, "His worry about public image worked though, he got the popular vote from the public AND the majority from the Wizengamot."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah? And how many of that 'majority' pay him to look the other way?"

"Exactly." Snape muttered.

(Bungler if ever there... Ministry of Magic do?")

"Not much." Nearly everyone muttered.

Harry nodded in agreement to that.

("Well, their main job... we're best left alone.")

"There's also the matter of the witch-hunts." Neville piped in.

"Voldemort is bad enough without the Muggles being added to it." Luna murmured softly.

Harry watched her with a strange look on his face. He didn't think he like this down-to-earth, serious Luna.

He missed the girl who used to always talk about Nargles and Wrackspurts.

(At this moment... Muggles dream up, eh?")

"Hagrid, I love you, but I don't think you were the best choice to go get Harry. You can't exactly blend in." McGonagal said with her head in her hands.

Hagrid nodded sheepishly, "Sorry, professor."

"Its not your fault, Hagrid." She said.

"Luckily that won't be a problem this time." Snape pointed out. "The boy already knows." he said, pointing to Harry.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and went to say something, only for them to ignore him and continue reading. He was starting to get really annoyed with them always ignoring him all of a sudden!

("Hagrid," said Harry... dragons at Gringotts?")

A growl sounded around the room, making people jump and look around, only to see Charlie was back.

When did he come back in?

("Well, so they say,"...- here we go.")

"Wait." McGonagal said, horror spreading across her face. "He really had one?" She practically whispered.

The Trio looked at each cautiously while Draco looked very annoyed.

"Really had what, Professor?" Hermione asked carefully.

"A dragon." She whispered.

The Trio nodded, she slumped forward and buried her head in her hands, mumbling something.

(They had reached... canary-yellow circus tent.)

"Hey, what happened to that thing, anyway?" Harry asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh, it was me new blanket, but Fang tore it up. I don' think he liked the color." Hagrid said.

Everyone laughed.

("Still got yer letter... THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS)

"Same letter we had." Remus said as he was finally released from the 'accounting corner.'

"Yes." McGonagal frowned. Something didn't seem right about that.

("Can we buy all... go," said Hagrid.)

"Wait, there should have been two more parchments in there." Flitwick exclaimed. "One saying how to find the train, and another listing all the introductory materials we require all Muggleborns and raised to buy."

"Introductory materials?" Harry asked, confused. "What?"

"You didn't get those?" Snape asked. Harry shook his head. "Well, that explains why you couldn't answer my questions that first lesson. Those were advanced questions, yes, but they were all listed as examples in the introductory potions book."

"It could also explain your problems with the theory in class, which then translated into your problems with the practical parts. Which explains your average performance when your parents were so brilliant." McGonagal said slowly. "The textbook I assign picks up almost straight from where the introductory books leave off." She said.

"Same with mine." Flitwick said. "The books explain to Muggleborns what all magical raised children grow up understanding, simply because they grew up with it."

"That being said, the fact you did as well as you did..." Remus began. He stared at Harry for a moment before turning to McGonagal.

"I included that list in all the letters I sent him. Albus personally handled his last letter, the one delivered by Hagrid." She said in defense.

When everyone turned to Dumbledore, he said, "I assumed, before this reading began, that Harry grew up happy, loved, and knowing about his heritage as a wizard. Therefore, I probably didn't see the need for him to get these books, since I thought Petunia would possibly still have Lily's."

Snape snorted. "Please, you know full well Petunia hated Lily and wanted nothing to do with her or magic."

"They are family, Severus." Dumbledore said firmly. "Again, I'm sure..."

"Family means nothing to her, professor." Harry cut in, eyeing Dumbledore like he was crazy. "To her, if its not 'normal,' it shouldn't exist, whether it shares blood with her or not."

"I never wanted that little Freak. I burned those... books of her years ago, before she ever went and got herself killed. I told you then, I'll tell you again now, I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR FREAKISHNESS!" Petunia yelled.

(Harry had never been... Manage without magic,")

"Its quite easy to manage without something if you don't even know it exists, Hagrid." Hermione said with an eyebrow raised.

(he said as they... you a magic wand.)

"Well, no, not out in the open there's not." Draco said with a snort.

Harry scowled at him.

(This was just an... Dursleys had cooked up?)

"Wow, ok, now is where you just let your imagination run away with you." Ron said. He knew his friend was a bit of a pessimist, but this was just sad.

Harry just shrugged.

"This is just the kind of sick, cruel joke they would come up with though." Harry murmured.

Harry nodded. "Give you hope of escape, then you find out it was all a joke." He agreed.

(If Harry hadn't... help trusting him.")

"You trust too easily, boy." Moody barked.

Harry and the older Trio were frowning though.

"No, actually, he doesn't. He's cautious around everyone he just met. It took him a while to relax in our dorm room, especially to the point where he didn't spell his curtains shut... And that was with people his own age. Adults..." Neville said, frowning. From the conversation earlier about how observant both Harry and Neville apparently were, they weren't even surprised Neville would have noticed something like this.

Everyone turned to Harry, but he just shrugged.

"Maybe it's his subconscious, remembering Hagrid from when he was a baby?" Remus suggested.

Everyone shrugged and nodded that it was possible.

("This is it,"... Hagrid could see it.)

"Muggle repelling wards. Muggles can't see it. Only magicals can." Hermione muttered, more out of habit than anything.

Her boys grinned at her.

(Before he could... like a toothless walnut.)

That sent people laughing again, with the Twins falling out of their seats.

"Toothless walnut!" Fred cried.

"Why didn't we..." George.

"...ever think of that?" They finished together.

"Because," Harry started.

"Your not me." Harry finished.

The two boys then high-fived each other while still staring at the Twins.

"I'm suddenly very grateful that Mr. Potter is not a twin." Snape said to the other professor's. They all nodded mutely in agreement.

In the corner, Sirius was 'crying' about how proud he was.

(The low buzz... "Is this- can this be-?")

Harry suddenly groaned and banged his head against the back of his couch, muttering curses in parseltongue the whole time.

Harry's eyes widened. Hearing words like that from Uncle Vernon and hearing them from himself were very different things.

"What's he saying?" Ron asked, eyeing his friend.

"Um, I'd really rather not say." Harry said slowly before glancing at the book.

Molly narrowed her eyes, but since she couldn't understand what he said, she couldn't really say anything about his language.

(The Leaky Cauldron... tears in his eyes.)

"What?" Harry yelped.

Harry stopped banging his head, but left it resting there with his eyes closed. Just hearing about his fame and the 'adoring masses' left him exhausted. "Yup, I'll teach you how to handle the crowds later on." He muttered. "Turning and running doesn't always work, sadly. They tend to come at you from all sides." Harry paled.

("Welcome back... Hagrid was beaming.)

"Hagrid!" A few people yelled out.

The half-giant blushed and muttered a 'sorry' to Harry, who just waved it off without opening his eyes.

(Then there was a... in the Leaky Cauldron.)

Moody frowned, "That's a major security risk, anyone of those people could have cursed or taken Mr. Potter, and the rest of the crowd would have made it difficult to reach him in time." He said, frowning at Hagrid.

Hagrid's eyes widened and his face went pale as he muttered that he hadn't thought of that. He just thought the lad would like seeing how much people loved him.

Hermione frowned over at Harry, who still had his head back and his eyes closed. Then she looked over at Harry, who looked annoyed with all the attention his older self was getting, while Harry's looked suspiciously blank. It was obvious to her that Harry had much experience dealing with crowds, as much as he seemed not to like them.

("Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter... Dedalus Diggle.")

McGonagal groaned. That man never did have any sense, especially with kids.

("I've seen you before!"... He remembers me!")

"It actually wouldn't surprise me if Harry hadn't thought he was familiar back when Diggle bowed to him in a shop, he did babysit you and Neville a few times." Remus said, a little bitterly.

"What?" Both Harry's and Neville asked, staring at the werewolf.

Remus nodded. "Once you two were a few months old, before your parents all went into hiding, the four of them started going on Order missions again. So, there was a rotation, a babysitting rotation. For while your parents were gone. The House-elves helped, of course, but everyone felt that, human contact would be better. That, and Lily still wasn't comfortable with the idea of House-elves. Alice and Lily tried to stay at home with you two as much as possible, but we needed every wand we had out in the field." He explained.

"You two were the only Order children, so it wasn't too difficult to arrange a schedule, if there had been more than just you, then we might have had a problem." McGonagal said, shrugging. "As it is, Diggle should have never been part of that rotation." She finished darkly.

"Wait, do you not like Diggle much?" Dudley asked.

Her face darkened even more. "One night, I was on mission with both Lily and Alice, Frank and James both had the night shift in the Auror office along with Sirius. Anyway, it was Diggle's turn to babysit. He was at Potter Manor with the two of you, instead of Godric's Hallow for extra security." She nodded at Harry and Neville, then she shook her head. "Dorea and Charlus were out, I believe they had some business in France to attend to. When we were done, Lily and Alice invited me over for some tea, when we got there, we found Diggle upstairs, in Lily and James room, asleep on THEIR bed, while you boys were downstairs, crying in the living room. The House-elves were in France with Dorea and Charlus because Dorea knew Lily wasn't comfortable with them. Neither of you had been changed or fed all night." She snorted a laugh.

"Lily and Alice only waited long enough to take care of the two of you, and summon one of the Longbottom elves to help me keep an eye on you before storming up to the bedroom to deal with Diggle. They took him out back before cursing and hexing him." She snorted again, "Before those two women got ahold of him, Diggle was physically capable of having children." Her and the other women watched in amusement as all the males caught onto her meaning and instinctively moved to hide their private areas with a grimace. "After the ladies were done with him, they dragged him, still twitching and crying, into the Auror office, and told your fathers and Sirius what happened."

Sirius grinned savagely, "The entire night shift joined us in cursing him, everyone there loved you two boys," Then he sighed sadly, "We had to stop, though, before our shift supervisor came back though." He said, glaring at Moody.

"Wish you hadn't. I was wondering why Lily and Alice seemed so icy, and why he seemed so terrified of them after that, they used to get along. If I had known, I would have happily joined you in cursing the coward." He grinned at Sirius's expression. "You forget, I was next on the rotation, there was a fear in both boys eyes when Lily and Alice said goodnight and walked out the door. The two of you started howling every time I so much as took one step towards any door and I didn't have you in my arms to take you with me." He shook his head, his face stony.

"Why didn't you arrest him, then?" Hermione demanded. She couldn't believe they just let him get away with this, she wasn't counting what Harry and Neville's mothers did to him. She was thinking in a legal sense. "That's very..." She never got the chance to finish.

"It was a war, the Ministry and Law Enforcement had bigger problems to deal with. Plus, if they'd arrested him, during that time, use of Veritaserum was almost mandatory on any who weren't of an Ancient and Noble House, which Diggle isn't. His involvement in the Order of the Phoenix would have come out, as well as my parents, the Potters, Professor McGonagal's, and who knows who else's if they kept questioning him on it. If that happened, then anyone the Death Eaters didn't already know about would have been in danger. My Gran told me they tried to keep their involvement as secret as possible, for as long as possible." Neville broke in.

"Yes, secret." Remus said, raising an eyebrow.

"My Gran told me about it, so did Ginny this year." Neville shrugged.

Remus nodded and sighed. "Lily and Alice tried to press charges, but Albus wouldn't let them. Both for the reason's Neville just listed, and he also said Diggle was needed too much for the war effort."

"The lives of an entire community is more important than the momentary discomfort of a couple of children." Albus said stubbornly.

The adults eyes narrowed, and Remus suddenly remembered his thoughts from earlier, that Albus forgot about the important things in light of his 'Greater Good'.

(Harry shook hands... "Professor Quirrel!")

The Trio hissed at the mention of Quirrel.

"You didn't mention that you'd already met him before school started." Hermione said with a frown.

"Must have slipped my mind. I wonder though... if he already had..." Harry trailed off, leaving everyone who didn't already know the story confused.

(said Hagrid... at the very thought.)

"Oh, that poor dear." Molly muttered. The Trio winced.

Those that knew, turned to Ron in disbelief, he never told her? The Trio shook their heads, none of them ever told her, they thought the professor's would have told her.

They glanced at McGonagal, who shook her head and pointed at Dumbledore. That explained it.

(But the others... away from them all.)

Harry squeaked a little and Harry laid his head back again with a groan.

The Draco's and Snape watched his obvious discomfort.

Snape was a little disturbed over how he let a childhood grudge with this boys father blind him so completely to what he now saw as obvious.

He was having a hard time mustering up any of his usual hatred for the boy at the moment.

(At last, Hagrid... trouble with a hag-)

The Trio snorted. A vampire and a hag, yeah right. More like a Dark Lord.

(never been the same... turned out of sight.)

Over in the corner, Sirius sighed and rested his head in his hands, once again cursing himself for going after the rat and landing himself in Azkaban. He cursed Pettigrew too, for ever betraying them in the first place. It should be him taking Harry school shopping, him with James and Lily. Not Hagrid.

"Hey," Bill said quietly, laying a hand on his shoulder. When Sirius looked up, he continued quietly. "You'll be there for him now. We can't change what happened back then, you can only focus on taking care of him now."

Sirius saw Remus look up and over at them, nodding in agreement with what Bill said, also indicating that he would help.

Sirius took a breath and nodded at both of them. Focus on Harry, he could do that.

("Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley.")

Sirius and Remus smiled at each other sadly. It should still have been James and Lily taking Harry school shopping, with the two of them tagging along for the ride. But they were gone, so it would have to be Sirius, and maybe Remus if the werewolf came back in time. But that would depend on if he even got word of Sirius's trial.

(He grinned at... back into solid wall.)

"Woah." Harry, Hermione, and both Dudley's said.

The older wizards all grinned, wait 'till they saw it in person.

Well, Harry and Hermione anyway, they would have to see about Dudley.

(The sun shone... -self-stirring-collapsible,)

Snape groaned, "Never, and I mean NEVER, get a collapsible cauldron. The fool things are worthless and dangerous. The Potions Masters conference has been trying to make them stop producing them for years, but they won't listen, they make too much money on the things. Its a miracle there haven't been more deaths." He said bitterly.

Everyone nodded, eyes wide. The Potion Masters face was twisted in a look of loathing Harry had only ever seen directed at him or Sirius. Although since they came here, the Potion Master had been more... he didn't really want to say nice, but...

"Don't get a Self-Stirring one either. They are nice when working multiple potions, but the charms are unreliable after a while and can affect the potion you are working on, depending on what it is." Snape continued. Everyone else just nodded.

(said a sign... eight more eyes.)

Both Rons shuddered.

"Why, mate, why?" Ron complained, falling back into his seat dramatically.

Harry chuckled, "Sorry, mate." Ron sighed.

"Your afraid of spiders?" Draco sniggered.

Harry narrowed his eyes, "There are plenty of things YOUR scared of, Malfoy."

"Care for us to list a few?" Neville asked innocently.

Draco's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically.

"That's what I thought." Harry and Neville muttered, sitting back in their seats while everyone looked on in amazement. The Twins were crying in the corner about why Harry never shared his blackmail information with them, or even really used it during school, that they knew of anyway.

(He turned his head... an ounce, they're mad...")

"Oh." Molly exclaimed, "I think that was me..."

Harry smiled at the motherly woman and nodded.

Over in the corner, Sirius was heard muttering, "Seventeen an ounce? They are mad. And why can't they just say a Galleon, why seventeen sickles?"

(A low, soft hooting... Two Thousand- fastest ever-...")

Harry smirked. "Not anymore."

Draco sat up straight, "They already came out with something faster?!" He asked, excited. The Trio still weren't quite sure what to make of this younger, more childish Draco Malfoy, but they decided to just go with it.

They smirked smugly as Draco groaned and grumbled something about brooms that nobody could quite catch. Not even his father got him a Firebolt. A moment later, a Firebolt dropped onto the table.

Harry's eyes widened, because it was HIS. He recognized the serial numbers on the handle, and the owl feather he kept tied to it.

"I thought this was destroyed!" Harry yelled happily.

Draco groaned. Great, the Seeker prodigy of Hogwarts had his broom back. He hated seeing Potter on that thing, usually because it meant Gryffindor was about to win. AGAIN.

"What do you mean, you 'thought' it had been destroyed?" Snape asked curiously. He wasn't about to tell the boy that he'd gone back later to find and bury Hedwig, and found the broom lying nearby. Surprisingly, it had little damage.

"I lost it in that fight where Sirius' bike was crashed and Hedwig..." He trailed off, pain flashing in his eyes again. After a moment, in which Hedwig hooted and stretched her neck out to rub her feathered head against his leg, Harry shook himself before moving to sit on the floor, reaching for the Service kit that appeared. He needed something to do with his hands right now, and a few of the twigs were bent, most likely from the fall, and there were a few scuffs on it too.

Before long, the room was filled with the smell of polish.

(There were shops... globes of the moon...)

The younger kids (except for Ron) and Dudley all listened with wide eyes.

That place sounded amazing.

("Gringotts," said Hagrid... long fingers and feet.")

The kids eyes got a fraction wider.

The Dudley's had a bit of fear in their eyes, although Dudley had a little more fascination than fear.

The Dursley's were shaking with terror, creature's like this existed?

(He bowed as they walked inside.)

"A word of advice, kids. Not only is it polite, but the goblins respect wizards who respect their customs, and it is customary to return a gesture." Bill said as he and Sirius walked back to the group.

Bill stopped by Moody's seat on the way to his own seat and slid the parchments they'd been working

on inside the trunk filled with the Potter Heirlooms.

They, Sirius and Remus, had apparently decided it was best to let the paranoid old Auror guard them.

(Now they were... an' rob it," said Hagrid.)

"Actually, something that kind of became lost to history, that poem isn't a warning. It's a challenge. A dare. The goblins are a warrior race, that's why they are trusted to guard our money. Anyone who manages to break into Gringotts and successfully steal something would have the goblins respect. Of course, they would still have your head for stealing from them, they don't tolerate thieves, so you better have a VERY good reason for your actions." Bill said.

He was careful not to look at the Trio as he spoke.

(A pair of goblins... "You have his key, sir?")

Bill frowned at that, thinking of what he just finished going over with Sirius, they still had a lot of it to read over, of course, but they decided they had gone over enough to get a good enough idea for Bill to put it in his letter.

What the two of them just couldn't figure out was WHY. Why did Dumbledore think he could just take money out of the Potter vaults? He took more than what he was entitled to as the Estate Executor, which according to what Sirius remembered from James and Lily's wills, he wasn't even that. They named Remus.

("Got it here somewhere"... book of numbers.)

Bill grimaced. No wonder the goblins made Hagrid take his coat off and leave it with the front guards before entering the bank.

He'd wondered about that.

(The goblin wrinkled... as glowing coals.)

Hermione whistled, then she frowned. "I thought you said they were a warrior race?" She asked Bill. "And how do you know so much about them?"

He grinned and nodded. "I know so much because I work for them, I'm a Curse-Breaker there. And they are, primarily, a warrior race. They are also master craftsmen, they have some of the best blacksmiths in the world, they are miners, and bankers. Only the Potter and Black families can surpass their skill and knowledge of wards. They can do just about anything. But yes, they are primarily a warrior race."

Moody grinned. "Just because they are excellent fighters, doesn't mean they can't be excellent with money, too Lass."

("Got it,"... hundred and thirteen.")

"Hagrid!" All the teachers groaned.

Harry grinned impishly while Hagrid blushed and muttered another 'sorry'.

(The goblin read... both vaults. Griphook!")

Bill blinked in surprise. Why was Griphook driving the carts? He was the Kings youngest son, he didn't drive carts. Then he glanced at Harry.

Ah, that was why.

(Griphook was yet... worth ter tell yeh that.")

"And you just added fuel to the fire." Snape muttered pinching the bridge of his nose.

(Griphook held the door... it was impossible.)

"Its impressive that you managed to remember and keep track of that many." Moody muttered.

Thinking again that the kid would be a great Auror.

(The rattling cart... I'm gonna be sick.")

A few people chuckled. Yeah, Hagrid never did well with the carts.

(He did look... little bronze Knuts.)

Both Vernon's narrowed their eyes. Until now, they hadn't believed a word these Freaks said about the little Freak having money. "What's the conversion rate between those coins of yours and pounds?" Vernon asked suddenly.

Everyone narrowed their eyes at him, Dumbledore actually opened his mouth to answer, when Bill cut him off. "Why do you want to know? Its not like you'll ever get your greedy hands on it. You get paid enough in your monthly stipends to take care of Harry, those payments of which, will stop immediately, and expect the money to be taken back." The whole time he spoke, the Vernon's faces went red with anger, and he opened his mouth to start ranting again when he was interrupted.

The Harry's were frozen. "They get paid?" Harry whispered.

"To keep me?" Harry's whisper sounded broken. Molly cooed and started to get up to go comfort the boys, but Arthur pulled her back. Everyone else suddenly became interested in the floor or walls. Or the ceiling, that worked too.

Bill winced, he shouldn't have said that. Luckily, it seemed like Sirius was ready for his idiocy, even if he did get a very dirty look from the man.

"Yeah, kiddo, that's about the only part of your parents wills that got followed. Your parents had a vault set aside with a specified amount to go towards your guardians, whoever that ended up being if I wasn't around anymore. Of course, if I had been around instead of Azkaban, it would have been me. But it was supposed to help out financially since suddenly having another mouth to feed could be a bit of a strain for a while in the beginning." He snorted. "I wasn't planning on touching it, mostly because I wasn't planning on it being needed, since to my mind, nothing was going to happen to them. Apparently, your filthy relatives didn't have the same hesitance about touching it." He said as he pulled his boys in for a hug.

"All those toys and things they gave Dudley, I paid for them? All those family trips, everything they planned and bought in front of me while giving me these looks... all those times they sold me out to the neighbors as cheap labor to pay them back for keeping me, all the food they stuffed down Dudley's throat..." Harry said faintly.

Sirius realized the boys were going into shock and he didn't want them in a crowded room when they finally snapped out of it and exploded.

He got up and pulled the boys with him. "Continue without us." He murmured as he half-carried the shocked boys out, Hedwig winging her way after them.

("All yours," smiled Hagrid... cost them to keep?)

Everyone growled. He didn't cost them a thing, if anything, he paid them to live there! Without knowing it!

(And all the time... only," said Griphook.)

Bill laughed. "There's more than one, they just like to see wizards suffer in the carts. They go slower for people they like or respect, and for pregnant witches."

Hagrid's eyes widened slightly before he took on a pouting expression.

(They were going... scruff of his neck.)

Just as the witches sighed in relief and thanked Hagrid, there was a muffled 'boom' from down the hallway where Sirius took the boys.

Molly got up, determined to go take care of the boys, when Hedwig showed up, a note clamped in her beak. She looked a little singed around the edges.

Molly tried to step around her so could go, but Hedwig wouldn't let her pass. Finally, Arthur got up to sit her back down and take the note. As soon as he took it, Hedwig flew back down the hallway, where muffled yelling and sobbing could now be heard.

"Sirius wants us to stay here and keep reading, no matter what else we may hear." Arthur read.

"Oh, but..." Molly said, trying to get up again. In her mind, Harry needed a shoulder to cry on and she was the only mother here, so she was the only one qualified to do that.

"No, dear." Arthur said, pushing her back in her seat, "Sirius can take care of his godson. You need to back off the boy, your mothering only scares him, he doesn't know what to do with it." Arthur said firmly.

Molly fell quiet and stared at her husband, then looked around at all her kids only find them and Hermione grimacing before they nodded that that was true. Arthur sighed and sat back down, pulling her into a hug and whispering to her as the book kept going. "You can still be there, just give him space."

(Vault 713 had no keyhole.)

"Huh, a medium security vault." Bill muttered.

("Stand back," said... there," said Griphook.)

Hermione blinked and looked at Bill, who shrugged. "That's... I mean, that's... that's..." She stuttered.

Bill raised an eyebrow. "That's how the goblins deal with would-be thieves. That's there culture. Do not try to change it or impose your own beliefs over it." He said, a little coldly, glancing at Hermione as he did, she blushed, knowing that comment was for her with how she fought for elf rights.

("How often do... rather nasty grin.)

"What?!" Hermione yelled. "But that's totally barbaric! They don't really wait so long, do they?"

"Nah, it's more like... every year or so. They like to exaggerate sometimes, scare wizards." Bill shrugged.

"About once a year isn't much better." Hermione said.

Bill shrugged again, "Like I said, it's how the goblins operate. If you don't want to starve to death in a vault, then don't try to steal from one. Although, you would probably suffocate before you starved, those vaults are air-tight. I know, I was part of the team that tested the security measures back when I was first hired." Hermione still looked horrified. Bill just sighed again. He could only imagine how she would be once House-elves entered the picture.

Good thing they were in a room full of teachers who could set her straight, plus a few pure-bloods who didn't also happen to be blood-traitors.

"Finished!" Ollivander suddenly ran back to the rest of the group crying. In his hands was Sirius's new wand. He looked around confused, "Where is Lord Black?" He asked.

Everyone looked at each other, "Uh, you must have been too concentrated on your work. Sirius had to take the boys out of the room. Something came to light and the boys needed some... space." Remus said.

"Oh." Ollivander said, looking down at the wand in disappointment. He wanted to present it to its intended wielder. He loved matching wands to the correct wizards, and he loved the expressions of awe and joy people tended to make when they connected with a wand, that look would only be intensified now with Lord Black since he was without a wand for so long after his got snapped. "Well, I'll wait to present this after this chapter, then. Or whenever he comes back with the boys."

(Something really... top security vault,)

Bill chuckled, "Actually, that's only a medium security vault. The top security vault have Blood-Wards protecting the doors, if you don't have the blood of that family or you aren't a Gringotts goblin, and you touch it, you do NOT want to know what happens." He informed the younger kids. "And that's on top of the dragons that some of those vaults are guarded with." They blinked and shivered, even Ron, and he had heard some of the stories before.

(Harry was sure,... thought it was empty.)

"Huh?" Most people asked. Ron and Hermione stayed silent though, as did Dumbledore.

(Then he noticed... lying on the floor.)

"Ok, what? How is that little thing so important?" Hermione asked.

"Never link size with magical power or ability." Fred said seriously.

"Yup, sometimes the most power comes in the smallest packages." George finished.

Both brothers were subtly trying to point her gaze towards Ginny, who just stared at them with a raised eyebrow, because they weren't actually all that subtle.

(Hagrid pocketed it... know what it was,)

Every single teacher who taught Lily Evans, or as she was soon to become, Lily Potter, groaned and banged their heads against the couch behind them, muttering about how he inherited his mother's curiosity. Even Snape was groaning mentally about it being no wonder keeping the boy safe was so difficult. He attracted trouble because of Lily's curiosity!

There was a reason he joked about Lily having enough curiosity for both her and Petunia.

(but knew better than to ask.)

"For now, anyway." Most of the staff including Snape grumbled.

("Come on, back in... Dudley had ever had.)

The Vernon's got a glint in their eyes. If they could just figure out to milk the younger freak for every piece of gold he had once the younger ones got back to their own time... They would never have to work another day in their lives, and they could probably buy out all of England!

Moody did not like the look in Vernon's eye, not at all. He noted another thing on his list to keep an eye out for.

("Might as well... them Gringotts carts.")

McGonagal sighed. "Hagrid, you aren't supposed to leave students new to the wizarding world alone."

She said, tiredly. "Well, I suppose its at least good that your not going to go drinking in front of him." She muttered.

Hagrid sheepishly nodded his head.

(He did still look... dressed all in mauve.)

Hermione was confused, "How on earth does he know what mauve is? He's a guy, I'm a girl and I don't even know what mauve is." She muttered.

Petunia sniffed. "I needed someone to carry the bags when I went shopping. Those things were heavy." Everyone glared at her, yet another example of the Dursley's flaunting HARRY's money in front of him.

("Hogwarts, dear?" she... up his long black robes.)

"Oh, no." Draco suddenly moaned. "I forgot all about this conversation." He muttered. He really didn't want to know what his 'rival' thought of him the first time they spoke. Not to mention everything he remembered saying to Potter about Hagrid, he supposed he could sort of understand why the other boy was so defensive of the half-giant.

His younger self looked pensive about whatever they were about to read. The remaining Trio in the room were also worried about what the two could possibly talk about. Ron, though, was wondering if there was more to Harry refusing to shake Malfoy's hand on the train than just what Malfoy said about him, Ron.

(Madam Malkin stood... to the right length.)

"Wait, she did it by hand? Why not just use magic?" Hermione asked, confused. She would have thought that somebody with magic wouldn't need to do manual labor.

The Draco's sneered at her, but didn't say anything when Snape's hand landed on their knees again.

"There are just some things magic just can't substitute for, dear. Some things don't react well to it, other things are just a tad too dangerous to use magic on to get it done. For example, using magic on pins, so close to skin, is not a good idea. And sometimes spells wear off over time, so any charms she might use to just make it fit, wouldn't still be in place by the end of the year." Sprout explained gently.

Her mouth formed an 'O'. "Makes sense, I guess." She said slowly.

"Remember, she only learned magic existed a couple of hours ago." Snape whispered in his godsons ears. They glanced at him before they both nodded.

("Hello," said the boy,... at wands," said the boy.)

Ollivander scowled, "Young man, I do not know why your mother thought she could get your wand for you, when she knows just as much as everyone else that the wand chooses the wizard, it is not something a parent can just go in and buy for their child like they can a broom." It really irked him to no end when rich parents thought they would be the exception to that and come in expecting to be able to pick out a wand for their child and go.

He did not run a broom shop!

Throughout his scolding, Draco shrunk further and further into his seat, not that he would ever admit to that. Ever.

(He had a bored,... smuggle it in somehow.")

"Mr. Malfoy." McGonagal's voice was sharp. "You better be grateful you did not try that, or you would have had worse than a reprimand from your godfather from me." She warned.

"What? But Potter got a broom his first year, and he was on the team!" Draco yelled.

"Ah, but the broom didn't officially belong to him his first year. Officially, he was borrowing a school broom that year. At the end of the year, I 'gifted' it to him." Everyone stared at the Gryffindor Head of House.

"That was... very Slytherin- of you, Minerva." Snape said, eyeing his colleague.

She raised an eyebrow. "I put up with both the Weasley Twins and the Marauders, I had to learn to be sneaky if I ever wanted to catch any of them. And then, of course, Harry came to the castle... I never could catch him though... not when he didn't want to be caught anyway." She grinned.

(Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.)

Everyone in the room winced, including Dudley. Judging from they had already heard of Dudley in the books, that was probably the worse insult Harry could ever label somebody with. And that was just what was written in the books, that wasn't their everyday lives, or how school went.

("Have you got... earth Quidditch could be.)

"Oh!" Fred cried dramatically, flopping down in his seat.

"The tragedy! Harry..."

"...Potter not knowing about..."

"...Quidditch! The blasphemy!" The Twins finished together, both of them now flopped dramatically over their seats with their hands over their eyes.

A moment later, they bounced back again, "But it's alright, because our wonderful Head of House rectified that horrible mistake!" They cheered together, holding their arms out and cheering for McGonagal, who just rolled her eyes, well used to their antics.

Those from other Houses who had never quite had the full exposure to Fred and George Weasley that Gryffindor's enjoyed every day in the Common Room, and it showed in the looks on their faces.

McGonagal saw their taken aback expressions, and chuckled. "And here you three thought they were bad in class. They are worse in the Common Room, in class they tone it down out of, how did you two put it?" She asked the twins. "One of you answer, before you break the others." She instructed.

Fred spoke up immediately, since he was always the first to speak anyway, as he was the more outgoing twin, "We do know where the line is at school, and we decided back in first year that we would respect the learning environment and our fellow students, during class. After or between classes, though, that's when the atmosphere is too tense and must be lightened. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, but we never pulled big pranks leading up to exams. The only pranks we pulled that time of year was during exams, and only on people who were done for the day so they had a chance to relax before diving back into studying for the next day." He explained.

Molly looked at them in shock. Then she recovered. "You shouldn't be playing those ridiculous pranks, you should have focused more on your school work." She scolded.

The Twins looked irritated for a moment, "Mum, we like pranks. Other people like our pranks, they make people laugh. We didn't need to focus on school work when we already had plans that had nothing to do with getting a job that required a lot of OWLS or NEWTS."

"What NEWTS?! You dropped out!" Molly cried, standing up with her hands on her hips.

Fred's eyes narrowed, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. Throwing it at her. "Our NEWT scores." He said icily. "Which you would already know about if you stopped screeching at us once in awhile about not making anything of ourselves and actually listened to what we want." With that, both Twins turned their backs on their mother and stared at the book, waiting for it to keep reading. Everyone saw how tense their shoulders were.

Molly pulled the parchment out of the envelope as the book kept going and gasped when she saw the results. Arthur stopped her before she said anything though, it was clear the Twins were done talking. The Draco's were in shock, they had thought the Weasley's wouldn't be capable of understanding the concept of not supporting each other.

("I do- Father says it's... leave, wouldn't you?")

"Excuse me, my WIFE happens to be a Hufflepuff." Remus said coolly, his amber eyes glowing slightly.

Both Draco's eyes widened, and he cringed back into his seat.

Professor Sprout, too, was looking at Draco a little coolly, although her gaze was also softened with sympathy, she knew the boy was only repeating the ideas of his father, she saw it all the time.

("Mmm," said Harry,... he couldn't come in.)

"Aw, that's nice of you, Hagrid." Molly murmured.

("That's Hagrid," said... of servant, isn't he?")

Everyone who liked Hagrid narrowed their eyes, they already didn't like where this was going.

"Malfoy, you better not be going where I think you are going with this." Hermione warned, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. Draco flinched and eyed her clenched fists wearily.

("He's the gamekeeper,"... less every second.)

Draco fidgeted a little.

("Yes, exactly. I heard... up setting fire to his bed.")

Hagrid turned red and muttered that that had been once, and wasn't even his fault. Remus went red too and muttered some apologies for that incident on Sirius and James behalf.

"Draconius Malfoy." Snape said quietly, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Both Draco's paled slightly. "I have not taught you to say whatever you like about whoever you like, especially in public like that. And I know your father taught you better than that as well." He leaned over so he could speak more quietly with his boys, shooting a look at Lupin who cast a muffling spell around himself so he wouldn't hear their conversation. "I know you try to please your father, and I know he taught you that people like Hagrid and Muggleborns aren't worth your time or respect, but remember what I told you about keeping an open mind to those that are different, about treating those around you with respect no matter their station in life. Don't use my treatment of Potter as an example," He interrupted when Draco opened his mouth. "I know I was wrong, and petty, and didn't always act respectfully. This is a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', as the Muggles put it."

Both Draco's nodded slowly.

("I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.)

Hagrid smiled. "Thanks, 'arry." He said softly, looking down the hallway where Harry was with Sirius and his younger self.

("Do you?" said the boy... our kind, weren't they?")

"Our kind? Aren't we all wizards and witches?" Hermione asked.

Hermione shifted. "Yes, but Pure-bloods don't always see it that way. All they see is our Muggle parentage." She said slowly. Hermione looked scandalized, and started to say something, but Neville interrupted.

"It didn't start out that way. The prejudice against Muggleborns started when the Ministry started changing laws and banning sacred rituals and practices, all to make the image of the Wizarding World better for the Muggleborns. Actually, I think what happened was a couple of Muggleborns were really high up in the Ministry and they didn't like those rituals, I think they were still, even after years of being in the Wizarding world, trying to impose their Muggle customs on the Wizarding world. It just... became an issue of blood supremacy later, I think Grindlewald might have started it?" Neville looked questioningly at Draco, the only other Pure-blood in the room who actually grew up a proper Pure-blood, to his knowledge anyway.

Draco nodded. "Basically, yeah. Our dislike of Muggleborns started when they tried forcing the customs and beliefs of the Muggles on the rest of the wizarding world instead of adapting and adopting the customs of the new society they were part of. They expected us to give up centuries of traditions and our heritage as wizards simply because they didn't like some of it. But yeah, I think Grindlewald is the one who REALLY made it about blood supremacy. There were, of course, still those families that held to the belief of blood supremacy for centuries before Grindlewald ever came around, but... they were quieter about it, socially and publicly."

"Why on earth don't they teach this stuff in History of Magic instead of countless goblin rebellions?" Ron asked, staring between Draco and Neville.

Both of them shrugged. Hermione frowned, "You know, maybe we need a class on wizarding customs, for the Muggleborns. Make it mandatory for first through third years, optional past that. And maybe make Muggle Studies required for Pure-blood first years? That way, Muggleborns know more about where the Pure-bloods are coming from, and the Pure-bloods can understand us better too." She suggested slowly. McGonagal nodded approvingly.

"That used to be how it was set up, I don't remember what or when it changed though..." She said thoughtfully. Moody nodded and made another note on his parchments.

("They were a witch... your surname, anyway?")

"Draco." Snape said lowly. Draco nodded, looking everywhere but the two Hermione's. Well, more like Hermione, Hermione had yet to live through the prejudice, while Hermione now had the prejudice carved into her arm.

"That sounded like your father speaking." Sprout said. "What's your opinion?" She asked shrewdly.

Draco shrugged. "Personally, I have absolutely no problem with Muggleborns, as long as they take the time to really learn about wizarding customs and traditions instead of trying to force their Muggle ones on us. And I'm not talking about reading about them, Granger. Those books are Ministry approved and censured. Your not going to find the truth in them. If you do, however, want to read about it so badly, Longbottom, Potter, and Lord Black all have massive family libraries, I'm sure one of them will have the original, uncensored versions of the books somewhere. But either way, the only way to truly understand something, is to experience it yourself or debate about it with somebody who grew up that way, practicing those traditions and customs. After all, there are subtle nuances to everything that can't be quite captured by books."

Both Hermione's looked thoughtful as they nodded. They didn't like the digs he kept taking at her love for books though.

Sprout turned to Draco, but he just shrugged. Honestly, he didn't know what to believe. On the one hand, he really wanted to please his father, and his father said they were scum who didn't deserve the gift of magic. On the other hand, Uncle Severus taught him to treat everybody with respect, that blood didn't matter. After all, Uncle Severus was half-blood, and he could beat his father in a duel with his eyes closed, and his father was pureblood.

(But before Harry... from the footstool.)

Draco frowned. "I suppose I didn't leave the best first impression, did I?" He mused.

"True friendships are not made by making fun of others or flaunting wealth." Luna said wisely. Draco cocked his head to the side and thought about what she said, he did have to admit that he did a bit of both those things in his first conversation with Harry.

("Well, I'll see... "Nothing," Harry lied.)

"I really hate it when he says that." Hermione said with a scowl.

"Tell me about it." Ron grumbled.

(They stopped to buy... "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?")

"Words I can't believe just came out of Harrikins mouth, Forge." Fred muttered to his twin.

"Agreed Gred."

("Blimey, Harry, I keep... fer a sister!")

"That is very true." Draco muttered, glaring hatefully at Petunia. She was the very definition of everything he was raised to believe about Muggles in general.

Neither Petunia even noticed him glaring, they were too busy bristling over the comment about her, they were smart enough to keep quiet though, the Freak wasn't in the room to keep the rest of these freaks in line, and they didn't think he would bother to keep them in line in the future anymore either. Not after he learned about the stipend she kept and spent on herself and her family.

("So what is Quidditch?")

"Finally," Fred muttered.

"The question has been asked." George finished.

Everybody was getting worried, those two had been oddly subdued since the little argument with their mother.

("It's our sport... explain the rules.")

"No it isn't!" All the Quidditch fanatics (every Gryffindor and the Draco's) in the room yelled, looking offended at the very thought, while Hagrid muttered something nobody could quite catch.

("And what are... lot o' duffers, but-")

"I hate house stereotypes." Remus grumbled.

("I bet I'm in...-Who was one.")

"Whoa, hey! That does not make the rest of us evil! There are a few down in the dungeons with... interesting ideas, I will grant you that, but you can't just lump us together like that because of one person!" Draco yelled. While most of the time he would be taking advantage of that stereotype, today his father wasn't here. He could speak his mind. And he was sick and tired of all Slytherins being portrayed as evil just because they were in the House of Snakes.

"Sorry," Hagrid muttered.

"Malfoy, that one is more of a... personal experience, for Hagrid." Hermione said quietly.

"Although, I, and I cannot believe I am saying this, agree... with Malfoy. Not all those who are evil come from Slytherin. Just look at Pettigrew. He was a Gryff, some of those snatchers I ran into after Christmas, one of them was a Hufflepuff a couple years above us." Ron said. The others nodded in agreement.

("Vol-, sorry- You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?")

Hagrid's face darkened.

("Years an' years ago,"... on some of these.)

When everyone looked at Dudley, he just shrugged, he didn't know, he hadn't seen the books yet.

(Hagrid almost had... how to curse Dudley.")

Dudley flinched. "I deserved that."

A few people nodded in agreement. Yes, yes he did.

("I'm not sayin' that's... gold cauldron, either)

"Thank you, Hagrid." Snape muttered. Then he started muttering to himself about dunderheads who insisted on bringing in gold cauldrons, when he specifically stated on his equipment lists, pewter. There was a reason why he wanted pewter, why could they not understand that?

(("It says pewter on yer list"),)

"For good reason." Snape said with a scowl.

(but they got a... ingredients for Harry,)

Snape groaned, "You never ask for a basic supply, you always gather them yourself from the shelves. If they know you are a student, they will give you the lowest quality ingredients they can get away with and still charge you the same as they would if they were actually of good quality. That, and, instead of buying the kits, its actually cheaper to gather your own from the shelves." Snape lectured the younger kids. They all nodded. "Especially you." He said, pointing to Hermione. "They will charge you more simply because you are Muggle-born and won't know the difference." Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, "Yes, it is unfair, but the world isn't fair." He said, annoyed.

She slowly closed her mouth.

(Harry himself examined... yeh a birthday present.")

A few people smiled, remembering what Harry said earlier about Hedwig being a birthday present from Hagrid.

(Harry felt himself go red... mail an' everythin'.")

"You said you wouldn't get him a cat because YOU didn't like them, but what if Harry actually did want a cat?" Hermione asked with her eyebrows raised.

"But, he was happy with Hedwig." Ron said, confused where she was going with this.

"I know that, Ronald, but what if Harry had wanted a cat? You can't just pick a present for somebody based on what YOU would like, you pick them based on what you think THEY will like." Hermione said, slightly annoyed.

"Hermione, what's done is done. Harry was happy with Hedwig, you can't keep constantly trying to change those around you, alright? That's a habit you have fallen into, sometimes you just need to let people be." Remus said gently. Hermione huffed but sat back again in her seat.

(Twenty minutes later,... head under her wing.)

"She flew over and landed on his shoulder almost as soon as we walked in the door." Hagrid said with a large grin on his face. "Almost like she was waitin' on 'im."

Hermione smiled, "Knowing Hedwig, she probably was." A few people chuckled at that. Yes, Hedwig was extremely intelligent and loyal owl.

(He couldn't stop... Professor Quirrel.)

"Ugh, why did he have to compare himself to that moron?" Ron groaned. Hermione shrugged. She didn't know what went on in Harry's head, his head was a strange place after all.

("Don' mention it,"... really looking forward to.)

Ollivander smiled. "That's the part everybody looks forward to the most." He said softly. "Even the children who grew up surrounded by magic and stealing their parents wands every chance they got." He chuckled.

(The last shop was... with some secret magic.)

"He can feel it." Ollivander whispered. A few of the other adults looked shocked as well. "He can feel the magic."

"Harry mentioned earlier that he could feel magic," Ginny said, "But what does that mean?"

"It means, Miss Weasley, that Mr. Potter is magic sensitive, which is a rare and powerful gift. Those who are magic sensitive are more in tune with their innate magic than others, and with time they can learn to pull magic from the environment around them, in times where they themselves are low on energy, such as during a fight. It also means that Mr. Potter himself is very powerful magically. Even if I am sure none of you have been able to see just how strong since he seems to not use it." Ollivander frowned at the thought of such potential being ignored.

Everybody else looked impressed.

("Good afternoon," said... off the spindly chair.)

"I'm surprised that chair took his weight at all." Ron muttered. Hermione slapped his arm. "What?" He asked, looking over to find her glaring at him while everyone else seemed amused, like they could see where he was going with that comment. "That chair isn't exactly sturdy, and Hagrid isn't exactly small! He's half-giant!" He defended.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ron and was about to say something when Remus sent a light stinging hex her way and looked at her warningly.

"It's alrigh', 'Mione, I know what he means." Hagrid said, bewildered about the big deal she was making out of it. Honestly, he wasn't offended. Frankly, he was surprised too when the chair held his weight.

Ron studied Hermione for a moment before he sighed and pulled her into a side-hug, telling her that Harry would be alright, Sirius and Hedwig were with him. Suddenly everyone understood. She was snappy because she was worried.

(An old man was... wand for charm work.")

"You remember that?" Hermione asked, amazed.

"I remember every wand I have ever made and sold. They are my pride and joy, after all." Ollivander said.

(Mr. Ollivander moved... were a bit creepy.)

"Agreed." Most of the younger generation from both timelines agreed, glancing over at Ollivander, who just shrugged.

("Your father, on the... the wizard, of course.")

He nodded in agreement with himself and muttered about idiots who thought they were above that and make whatever wand they wanted work whether the wand wanted to work for them or not.

Because there were some idiots who thought unicorn hair wasn't dignified or powerful enough for them, so they absolutely HAD to get phoenix feather. Well, he was sorry, but it didn't work that way. That persons core didn't work with phoenix feather, it worked with unicorn hair.

(Mr. Ollivander had... a long, white finger.)

Molly made a strangled noise but didn't say anything, she just looked disapprovingly at Ollivander.

("I'm sorry to... the world to do...")

Hermione frowned, "It wasn't the wands fault, it was Riddle's for choosing what to do with it, it was the people around him who kept making him go back there every summer instead of figuring out something else, maybe if they had just shown him a different way..." She trailed off and Ron put an arm around her shoulders again.

Merlin only knew how many discussions they had with Harry over how similar their childhoods seemed, how Harry would have probably turned out the same way if he hadn't met Ron and Hermione, made friends...

A few people gave them looks, but they ignored it.

(He shook his head... Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.)

Ollivander sighed and angrily muttered about Ministry idiots destroying something that was an extension of a person's core. Their very being.

("Er- yes, they did,... tightly as he spoke.)

Hagrid shifted in his seat and reached under his coat to grip that same umbrella, Ollivander just sighed while everyone else shook their heads fondly or snickered.

("Hmmm," said Mr... and round his head.)

"What's that for?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It measures the person's magical core, so I have an idea where I can start when I give them wands to try." Ollivander explained. Everybody blinked, they didn't know that, they just assumed it to be something Ollivander did to distract and keep excited children still.

(As he measured, he... another wizard's wand.")

"You got that right." Neville muttered, remembering his time using his fathers old wand until it broke at the end of his fifth year.

(Harry suddenly realized... give it a wave.")

"Not it." Harry's school friends and the rest of the Weasley's muttered.

(Harry took the wand... back by Mr. Ollivander.)

"How do you know its not the right one?" Hermione asked.

Ollivander smiled. "I can tell by the expression on their face, and the reaction of their core. The wand and the core will connect, and even the most emotionless of faces will display all the joy the person is feeling when their wand and their core forge that connection." He said happily.

"You can see a person's core?" Draco asked, surprised.

"Yes, much like Miss Lovegood here can see creatures of magic, creatures that most others can't see, much like you cannot see a Thestral unless you see death." Ollivander said, gesturing at the girl.

"What?" Hermione asked, surprised. She always insisted that those creatures of Luna's didn't exist. After all, they were in none of the books she had ever read about creatures.

Luna nodded, "This room is surprisingly absent of Nargles." She said with her head cocked to the side.

("No, no- here,... he seemed to become.)

"Of course, I like a good challenge, and Mr. Potter was particularly challenging." He said happily.

Remus smiled. All that meant to him, was that Harry was rather powerful. After all, the wand may choose the wizard, but some wands couldn't channel too much power that some wizards had, so it was even harder for them to find the right wand.

("Tricky customer, eh?... inches, nice and supple.")

"That's the one." Ron murmured, looking satisfied.

Hermione nodded. "He never was able to make that other wand work, he always said it didn't like him." She looked sheepish. "I should have listened instead of insisting he just needed to practice with it more, I forgot about the wand not working with a wizard it doesn't 'choose'."

Only Remus caught the satisfied look in Dumbledore's eyes.

(Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.)

Ollivander smiled again. "That is the wand connecting with your core." He said.

(He raised the wand... "Curious... curious...")

"What's curious?" A few people asked. Only Dumbledore, Snape and the remaining Trio knew what it was aside from Ollivander.

("Sorry," said Harry, "But what's curious?")

A few people nodded in question with his question, while a few teachers had the stray thought that he was curious, way too curious for their health and sanity.

Especially when that curiosity tended to land him in the hospital wing.

(Mr. Ollivander fixed... gave you that scar.")

"What?" A few people yelled. They turned to Ron and Hermione, who just shrugged and nodded.

"Oddly enough, the phoenix in question also happens to be Fawkes, so..." Hermione said with a shrug. It didn't matter to them that Harry's wand shared a core with Voldemort's, all it meant to them was that Harry had that little bit of extra protection.

(Harry swallowed. "Yes,... terrible, yes, but great.")

"Excuse me?" Moody narrowed his eyes at the old wand-maker.

"You have to admit, Mad-eye, the magic he did was amazing. Most of it pure evil and hardly any of it any good at all, but the magic feats themselves, the power they would have taken..." Hermione said. Ron nodded.

Moody narrowed his eyes at the two of them too, but even he had to nod in agreement that if you looked at the magic itself, it was quite amazing what Voldemort did.

Dumbledore did not look happy at all that they thought any of that.

(Harry shivered. He wasn't... train leaves," he said.)

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "What train? The Hogwarts Express won't leave for another month." She asked Hagrid.

He shifted uncomfortably, "I was told to send him back to the Dursley's after we were done shopping, I was told it was safest for him there." He muttered.

"You sent him back there, even after hearing them saying that they tried to stamp the magic out of him?" Molly asked incredulously.

"I was told ter send him back, I didn't know what else ter do." Everyone could tell that Hagrid was extremely uncomfortable, he wasn't very happy that he had to send Harry back to the Dursley's either, but he just didn't know where else to send him.

"Its safest for him with his relatives." Dumbledore insisted. "Don't worry, when we are out of these rooms, I will pay them another visit, although I'm sure it won't be necessary by the time we are finished with these books."

"Professor, for you to 'pay another visit', you would have had to ever visit in the first place." Ron muttered.

(He bought Harry a... quiet," said Hagrid.)

"Course, he's always quiet." Hagrid said with a shrug.

Ron and Hermione nodded. It was very true.

(Harry wasn't sure... night my parents died.")

"I know now." Came a hoarse, slightly dead sounding voice from behind everyone. They all turned around to see both Harry's, with Hedwig winging in the room in front of them, and Sirius following along behind. All four of them looked a little singed. But what got everyone was the look in the boys eyes.

They looked... dead. All the life they were used to seeing in their eyes was gone. They all knew Harry as a pretty laid back, fun loving guy who tried to enjoy life as much as possible. Now, there was none of that present.

Seems that, finding out that all these years, they had been stolen from, and then had that same wealth thrown in their faces time and time again by the only remaining blood he had left as something he didn't have a right to... it seemed to have broken something in Harry. Harry too, to a lesser extent.

"I hear what happened that night every time I see a Dementor, and in my sleep." Harry continued, frowning slightly, still looking dead and hollow.

Sirius guided the boys back to their couch, pausing only long enough to wrap them up tight and hand them their stuffed animals before positioning himself between them and wrapping an arm around each of them. He looked worried, and he exchanged looks with Remus and Twins, as well as the rest of the Trio, pleading for their help in getting his godson back to his normal, loving (and slightly jaded in Harry's case) self.

The Draco's and Snape looked disturbed by what they saw, while everyone else looked pitying, while trying to hide it of course. They all resolved to do everything they could to snap the two boys out of this.

(Hagrid leaned across... fine. Just be yerself.)

"Its very hard to be yourself when everybody is expecting you to be somebody else. They don't even know me..." Harry muttered.

(I know it's hard... do, 'smatter of fact.")

Hagrid grinned. "That I do."

Ron and Hermione grinned too, even Harry managed to force a weak smile, "We had fun too, in between everything always happening." Ron said.

(Hagrid helped Harry... See yeh soon, Harry.")

Hagrid frowned. "I never did get a message." He said, glancing at Harry, who just shrugged.

(The train pulled...Hagrid had gone.)

Hermione frowned. "Hagrid, did you ever tell him how to get on the platform, and the books just didn't mention it?" She asked slowly, watching as Hagrid turned slowly red under his beard. Her and nearly everyone else groaned.

"It's alright, I got on the train just fine." Harry said dully, now staring at the floor.

The Weasley's tried to smile at him, but he never looked up.

"I think it best that we take a break, there was a lot in that chapter to process." Sirius said firmly.

"Oh, yes! I can take care of the boys if you want to..." Molly began, with the rest of the Weasley's palms meeting their faces.

"No," Sirius interrupted, scowling at her, "I can take care of MY godson." With that, Arthur pulled Molly into the kitchen, saying that she would get started on lunch. She would let people know when there was food, so they could come get it whenever they were hungry.

With that, everyone started making their way out of the room, with Mr. Ollivander being the last to go. "Lord Black, I have your wand finished." He said as he held the Applewood and Phoenix feather wand out to him. An unusual combination, for an unusual man.

Sirius reluctantly pulled his arm away from Harry to reach for his new wand, smiling despite himself as he felt it connect to his core. He nodded his thanks to Ollivander before putting his wand away in its holster and going back to holding his godson. He waited until Ollivander was gone before he began to talk.