Saturday 12 October, 1991 Dinnertime, Great Hall

Ron Weasley was sitting at the Gryffindor table practically inhaling his food with little thought of table manners or general eating habits. Halfway through stuffing a whole roll of bread into his already full mouth, a sense of urgency came over him. He slowly stopped chewing and looked up and scanned the room at large. Spotting his target and swallowing his mouth load, he got up and headed over to the Slytherin table. As everyone became aware of the direction the youngest Weasley was heading to, the room became quiet. The Twins had a puzzled look on their faces and were quietly whispering to those around them denying that they had anything to do with…whatever was happening.

Draco Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table eating as well but with a more refined manner than Ron. Roughly about the same time that Ron became determined to head over to the Slytherin table, he too was overcome by a sense of urgency. His head snapped up and spotted the Weasley boy rapidly approaching. The others at the table tensed as they awaited the evening's inevitable entertainment. Draco rose from his seat and threw himself into Ron's arms. The two boys tried to suck each other's face off in their desperate attempts to become the dominant kisser. The whole Hall went silent watching in varying degrees of shock and horror as the two First years began to wrestle tongues and wrapping their arms and legs around each other.

There was a loud bang from the Head Table as McGonagall let off a cannon blast with her wand. This caused Draco and Ron to momentarily part from each other and look up towards the front of the Hall with sheepish looks on their faces.

"Messers Weasley and Malfoy! How DARE you display such disgusting behavior in front of others!" McGonagall roared in anger, "I want the two of you to immediately march yourselves out of this Hall this minute!" Both boys' faces slowly slid towards realization of what had just transpired, gave each other a look of deep loathing and disgust then ran out of the room amidst the laughter erupting from the other students.

Minerva sat down in a huff and glared over at the Twin Red-headed Menaces, "Weasley Twins! If you had a hand in pulling off this stunt, I shall have you in detention until your sister graduates!" Both Twins were vehemently denying their involvement.

"Get up here the both of you!" she yelled.

Dumbledore then decided to stick his broken beak into the conversation, "Now, now Minerva…"

Minerva whirled on him, "Don't you 'Minerva' me, Headmaster! This is a disciplinary matter and well within my remit!" The twins approached the table and bowed their heads. Minerva called for a castle-elf to bring her a vial of the Junior Veritiserum. The elf popped away and a moment later, the vial appeared on the table. Minerva administered three drops of the potion to each of the twins and asked them again if they had anything to do with the public display of affection between Ron and Draco.

"No, professor…" began one.

"…we had nothing…" replied the other.

"to do with it." Finished both in stereo.

Since neither of their hair turned the now trademark blinding neon pink, Minerva had to conclude that they were telling the truth. She apologized to the both of them and sent them back to the Gryffindor table. Shaking her head, she happened to glance over at Harry Potter and caught a satisfied smirk on his face. With a subtle gesture, she enquired if it was he who perpetrated the act. Harry quietly nodded his head and motioned that he would speak with her after dinner to explain.


After dinner came around and Minerva and Harry were in an antechamber just off the Great Hall. Minerva stood stiffly and just merely raised an eyebrow at Harry to begin to explain himself.

"Professor, I was tired of their lame-brained attempts to gain my favor and friendship. Both of them made repeated attempts to gain my attention and yet when I brought the matter to both you and Professor Snape, nothing changed," he shrugged noncommittally, "I just whipped up a quick Infatuation Potion keyed to each other. The effects will wear off completely in about an hour at which point I hope they've learned their lesson. I had a castle-elf leave a note on each of their pillows that stated that 'tonight's entertainment was brought to them by myself and that I hope they understand that this will be their last warning to stay away from me and that I'm sincerely tired of their actions and words.'"

Minerva's attitude changed as Harry explained his actions and motive. She was secretly pleased with the nonviolent method he used to deal with the situation and appalled at herself for not decisively dealing with the verbal abuse from the two others.

"Mr. Potter… I'm… I'm sorry. For what happened and the lengths you had to go to in order to solve this problem yourself. You're right, I should've done more and sooner. Rest assured, that I will be discussing this with not only Professor Snape but also both boys' parents." Harry nodded his acceptance of her apology and promise.

"Thank you, professor."


Meanwhile in the Great Hall while Minerva and Harry were having their chat…

Albus sat in his throne at the High Table and watched the prank between the Weasley and Malfoy boy being played out in front of them all. Secretly, he was pleased at the response taken to curb their behavior but dismayed that it was most likely the Potter boy who accomplished it. The apparent lack of forgiveness displayed by the boy was rather frightening as was the pleased and smug smirk that graced his face. Harry's power over others and the prowess displayed while in class reminded him of his other failure with another young prior student. He would have to think about a surefire method to get the boy to come to heel. He must, it was for the Greater Good of the magical world.


Sunday 13 October, 1991 Just outside the Main Corridor to the Great Hall

Argus Filch was upset. Really, he was furious. Some miscreant of a student had spilled something on the floor and just walked away without telling anyone. Now it fell to him to clean up after these damn brats. As he was heading to his closest cleaning station, he spotted the Potter boy walking in the opposite direction carrying a mop, broom, scoop and bucket. That puzzled him so he decided to follow along behind the boy.

Harry put down his bucket and soaked the mop in the solution for a moment while containing the spill with a bit of absorbent powder that he had made in his laboratory. Once the powder had absorbed as much of the liquid as possible, he scooped it up and dumped into a bag he pulled out of his pocket. He then took the mop and squeezed out the excess solution and proceeded to mop up the rest. He worked efficiently and quietly, not noticing Filch standing just behind; watching him with a surprised yet pleased look on his face. As soon as Harry finished, he turned around and jumped back in surprise.

"Mr. Filch! You startled me."

"Potter," growled Argus, "who told you to clean up this mess?" Thinking it had to be a punishment meted out by a professor.

"No one, sir. It was my mess and therefore fell to me to clean it up. It would've been unfair otherwise." Harry nervously replied as Argus Filch had a legendary temper against the students.

Argus had a myriad of expressions flit over his face. Surprise first then impressed and finally acceptance, "What was that powder you sprinkled on the liquid?"

"An absorbent powder that would contain the liquid and make it easier to pick up. It wouldn't do to just spread it around with the mop. The liquid is a concentrated form of soap so it would've been very sudsy if water was applied and incredibly slippery if spread around. I made it in my laboratory back in my dorm."

Argus' eyebrows rose in surprise at the mention of this powder; he never knew that such a product existed. He asked Harry if he could make more of it.

"Sure, it's no problem. It's extremely easy to make. I can show you how to do it yourself."

Argus shuffled his feet and looked down nervously for a moment, "I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible. I'm…a Squib. Magic doesn't work with me."

Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression, "That shouldn't make a difference. Potions and a few other similar subjects like Herbology, Arithmancy, Astronomy, History of Magic, et cetera have no need for a person to be able to wield magic. You were there for that Muggle Studies demonstration a month ago, weren't you? Tell you what, let me put this equipment away and you and I can work on the powder making recipe together."

Argus' curiosity was piqued so he followed Harry as the latter put away the equipment. The two of them entered Harry's dorm and for the next hour, Harry instructed Argus on the procedure to create the absorbent powder. The ingredients were simple; the powder was a mixture of decomposed granite ground down with a 'water-eating' liquid binder that would increase the effectiveness of the absorption of the granite. The granite could be found at any decent home improvement store in the muggle world or at a rock quarry. The binder had only three ingredients that could easily be obtained from the greenhouses. The whole process from start to finish took no more than a quarter of an hour. The rest of their time together was spent with Harry instructing Argus on how to complete the documentation and notes so he could make it again whenever the need arose.

When Argus left, he left wearing an expression that few people had ever seen on his face, pride and happiness. He also had a bit of curiosity on his mind. All those subjects that the Potter boy had mentioned, could he really learn them? A trip to the library was now needed.


Later, Professor Snape caught up to Harry and enquired about the Infatuation potion that he had used on Weasley and Malfoy. Harry told the professor the same thing he had explained to McGonagall. Snape pursed his lips and nodded in understanding.

"In that case, Mr. Potter, I award you five points for the cunning use of potions to solve your problem. Very ingenuous… Tell me, though; how did you manage to dose them during dinner? I never saw you get up from your seat."

Harry gave him a grin, "Simple. I used one of the castle-elves. I traded a recipe for a sweet that I found in the muggle world that doesn't exist here for the assistance."

Severus chuckled lightly, "Was it really that simple? I was under the impression that the elves weren't to be seen or interact with the students."

"Normally no, but since Hufflepuff is just across the hallway from the kitchens, we come across them more often so they're used to us." Harry replied, "Besides, I told them what was going to happen. They seemed to like the idea of being involved in a small prank every now and then, especially against any of the Weasleys." Severus just shook his head in mild exasperation and grunted in amusement.

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Have a good day and I shall see you in class."

"Thank you sir, and good day."


Wednesday 16 October, 1991 Landing outside the Third Floor Corridor

Harry was lying on his back while experiencing a heavy weight pressing on his chest. This heavy weight was also purring and every time he made to shift or tried to get up, said weight growled, dug its claws into him and forced him back down. He lifted his head and glared at the menace.

"Mrs. Norris? Will you please get off of me? I'm sorry that I tried to go down that corridor. I got confused and turned around by these damn stairs," he pleaded but Mrs. Norris, Argus Filch's cat, refused to move and just growled and glared at him with her yellow eyes.

"Potter," came the growling voice of said Argus Filch, "what's going on here?"

Harry just sighed before he explained to Argus about his mistake about trying to get to the fourth floor but the stairs dumped him off on the third. Harry further explained that Mrs. Norris suddenly appeared and tripped him up then sat on his chest to prevent him from moving.

Argus just laughed uproariously. He was starting to like this boy, "Did you try to explain this to her?"

"Yes! She still won't move!" Harry grunted, "She just growls, glares at me and digs her claws in deeper. I don't understand why, I mean, what could be down there that's so dangerous that could cause this pretty kitty to be so wicked?"

"Not supposed to tell anyone but in your case, I think it would be okay. There's a very large three-headed dog in a room at the South end of the corridor. It would be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly if you were to come face to faces with that beast."

"A dangerous three-headed dog? Here in the castle? What the bloody hell was anyone thinking? I mean, if a student could slip past this furry menace…" Mrs. Norris just gave a short, low growl of displeasure, "then the school could have a lawsuit on their hands if said student were injured or killed!" Harry complained rather loudly.

"I know, lad. It weren't my idea for that thing to be in here. It was all the Headmaster's idea. Now, Mrs. Norris, I think you can let him up. He's learned his lesson." Argus replied. Mrs. Norris gave one last admonishing yowl and stalked away with her tail held high.


Wednesday 30 October, 1991 Just after breakfast, Headmaster's Office

Albus was annoyed at the world in general. It seemed that his efforts to curb the Potter boy's popularity in Potions and that blasted Assistant of his had failed spectacularly. The rebuttal argument and article from the boy had generated more interest in the journal rather than the brat just accepting defeat and fading into the background. Perhaps if he were to install a mail redirection ward around the school so that the owls brought Albus the boy's incoming and outgoing mail first? Even his attempt to get the brat to investigate the third floor corridor failed. Stupid cat and caretaker! They just had to interfere… Albus had to regain control of the boy.

He had a couple of ideas as to what could potentially be of help. One was to set up the Mirror of Erised in an unused classroom and engineer its discovery by the boy. Another was to engineer a falling out between Potter and Snape; Nah, he couldn't think of anything off-hand that would cause animosity between the two…wait, maybe leak the knowledge that Severus called Harry's mother a mudblood during their fifth year together? Eh…maybe another time. He decided to whip up an alchemical-level potion to gain mental control over the boy. He'd have an elf slip it into the boy's drink tomorrow night at the Halloween Feast. Yes, this should do it. Maybe now, the brat will follow the destiny that I've been planning for him. The thought that what he was doing was immoral and potentially illegal never crossed his mind. After all, it was for the Greater Good…


Fawkes was sitting on his perch observing the old man, sadly. In the blazing recesses of the bird's heart, he watched in despair as his long time companion slid ever closer to the point of no return. What the Headmaster was planning was borderline evil. He had such hopes for Albus in the beginning but Fawkes now wondered if it wouldn't just be better if he were to sever all ties and search for someone else…


Halloween was tomorrow and yet Harry couldn't share in the sense of excitement that had the others in the school experienced. To him, it was just another day and also reminded him that he lost his parents to an evil madman. He approached Professor Sprout just after breakfast.

"Professor? I don't think I'll be able to join in the celebrations tomorrow."

Pomona looked at him in askance, "Are you not feeling well, Mr. Potter?"

Harry took a deep breath and let out a slow sigh, "Not really. It's just that this will be the tenth anniversary of my parents' death and I just wish to be alone and spend it as a quiet memorial for them."

Pomona's expression changed to one of solemn understanding, "Very well, Mr. Potter. I think that would be a wonderful idea. Please let me know if you need anything?" Harry nodded.

Hermione approached Harry later in the library and just sat down quietly next to him. He glanced up at her and saw a gentle understanding in her eyes.

"You know?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, "Hm-mm. I heard that you'd be spending tomorrow in memorial for your parents. I just wanted to offer some quiet comfort and friendship today if that's okay?"

Harry leaned into her and rested his head on her shoulder, tears beginning to form in his eyes, "Thank you, Hermione." He whispered.


Thursday 31 October, 1991 Breakfast, Great Hall

Harry was sitting down at the Hufflepuff table eating his breakfast when the morning post owls arrived. He was wondering why he hadn't received any response from Director Bones regarding his letter about Sirius Black or the suspicious interest and actions by Dumbledore. Susan Bones was sitting next to him reading her letter from her aunt. He turned to her and asked if her aunt mentioned anything about him.

"Sorry, no but I wouldn't expect her to. Ongoing cases like that would be kept confidential." She replied.

Harry pursed his lips in contemplation, "I'm just worried that Dumbledore might try to do something stupid. You remember I said that he had a mail redirection ward placed around my relatives' house? The only mail I've ever received from the magical world is my Hogwarts' letter." Susan nodded at the memory of the conversation.

"I still can't believe that he'd do that, mail redirection is illegal!" she growled.

"What do you recommend I do?" he asked her, "Is there a method of communication that doesn't rely on owls? Would you be willing to send out a letter to your aunt requesting a face to face interview?" Susan agreed to do that, as the only other method of faster communication was to use the Floo Network but doubted that he'd be able to convince Professor Sprout to use it. Harry thanked her and excused himself to get ready for the day's classes.


In DADA class…

He was sitting in his DADA class trying to ignore the pain in his scar every time Quirrel was near him. It seemed to be worse than ever before and wished that he could understand why it was just this professor that caused the pain. He had spoken to the school nurse but she was unable to give a clear reason. She had recommended that he keep a journal of the events surrounding the pain; the where's and when's every time it occurred. So with that in mind, Harry pulled out his ever-growing list and made another entry.


Later that evening…

Harry spent the evening in his room and thought about what he knew and what he had researched about that night ten years ago. He had a decent cry about losing his parents and all of the things that they'd never be able to do together. Professor Snape had gifted him with a picture of Harry's mother, Lily, when the two of them were still in school and later when she was an adult. He received a photo album of his father and his friends from Hagrid who, in a burst of foresight, had sent away to all of their classmates asking for photos of James and Lily when they were in school and beyond.

His musing and memorial was interrupted by the appearance of the Ghost of Hufflepuff House, The Fat Friar or as he was known in real life, Brother John Kinnan.

"Mr. Potter? I was sent by the Headmaster to enquire as to why you didn't show up at the feast tonight."

Harry sniffled a bit, "I asked for and received permission from Professor Sprout to hold a quiet memorial for my parents. They died ten years ago today to stop an evil wizard."

Brother John nodded sagely, "I know of whom you speak. I understand your desire and shall pass on the message. Should you require any food or drink, just call for one of the elves."

"Thank you, Brother John." Harry replied quietly. The Friar then faded from view.

Ten minutes later, he was again interrupted by the Headmaster as he barged his way into Harry's dorm room.

"Mr. Potter! Your presence at the feast is mandatory! Now, I shall escort you to the Great Hall myself as you seem fit as to defy my authority." He roared.

Harry stood up and glared at the Headmaster, "Headmaster, I asked for and received permission from Professor Sprout to hold this personal memorial to my parents. If you have a problem with that, take it up with my Head of House as per the regulations within the Charter!"

"I am the Headmaster, boy. My word is law. Now come along!" Dumbledore reached out and tried to grab Harry by the arm.

Harry quickly backed away from the Headmaster's reaching grip and ran over to where his potion stores were on the bookcase. He grabbed a red bottle and pulled the cork out then threw it at the Headmaster. The potion splashed all over the Headmaster, soaking his robes and getting into his beard. With another roar of anger, Dumbledore surged forward only to fall onto his face a moment later.

Just then, Professors Sprout, McGonagall and several others came rushing into the room.

"Harry!" exclaimed Professor Sprout, "Are you alright? What happened?"

Harry held up his hand for them to wait and quickly moved over to another bookshelf. He reached up to the top shelf and removed a glass sphere and a storage box. He tapped the sphere with his wand, held it out in front of him and began to speak.

"Professors Sprout and McGonagall, I, Harry James Potter, hereby request that you contact Madam Amelia Bones at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I was just assaulted by the Headmaster; he demanded that I attend the feast despite my declaration that I had permission from Professor Sprout to stay here in my room for the evening. He verbally abused me and made an attempt to grab me and drag me back to the Great Hall. I evaded his grasp and rushed over to my potion stores to grab a vial of a potion I call the 'Neutralizer.' This potion acts like a liquid version of the 'Petrificus Totalis' charm. The Headmaster shall remain immobilized for the next four hours or unless the antidote of the Mandrake Draught is given." He intoned.

"Pomona, go and contact Amelia." ordered McGonagall, "Mr. Potter? Why did you bring down that sphere? What is its purpose?"

Harry was in the middle of securing the sphere in a protective case as well as putting it into the box, "This is a 'Memory Sphere'. Similar in operation to the 'Student's Helper' but instead of relaying what it records to a receiving mirror, it just stores it all internally. All light, sound, magical signatures of anyone within the twenty foot recording area. I always have one setup to record when I'm working or not in the room for emergencies. I think this constituted an emergency. I started working on it after Professor Snape shared that memory of the September staff meeting where I demonstrated the Assistants."

Minerva was again impressed by Harry's ingenuity, "How does the recording get played back?"

"Same rune used to project the image as on the Teacher's Assistant. The Memory Sphere has a recording time of twelve hours so there should be no problem of missing evidence. It's triggered either by unlocking and opening my door or pressing the 'record' rune on the gold band."

"I'm again impressed by your ingenuity Mr. Potter. Will you be offering these for sale as well?" Harry shook his head no.

"Not to the school; at least for a while. I don't want to go overboard with inventing stuff like this. I want to focus more on my studies and on my Potioneering." Minerva acquiesced.

Just then Professor Sprout returned with Director Amelia Bones and two Aurors in tow.

"Mr. Potter?" asked Director Bones, "I was informed that you and the Headmaster had an…altercation a bit ago?"

"Yes, ma'am." Harry again told his story to the Director while one of the Aurors took notes. The other bent down to examine the Headmaster.

"What did you use to immobilize him?"

"I used a potion I developed called the 'Neutralizer.' It acts like a liquid form of 'Petrificus Totalis.'" Harry replied.

The Auror was intrigued, "How do you remedy it and how long does the petrification last?"

"Four hours unless given a dose of Mandrake Draught. That's the antidote for this."

"Auror Wainwright, take the Headmaster and lock him in one of the holding cells at the DMLE. Make sure you use the magic-suppressing shackles. We'll interview him tomorrow," Amelia instructed, "In the meantime, Mr. Potter, do you have anything else to add?"

"Yes, ma'am. Here's a Memory Sphere containing the past twelve hours of recorded evidence."

"Memory Sphere?"

Harry briefly explained the development and operation of the sphere along with an overview of its capabilities. Amelia's eyebrow rose in fascination and turned to look at Minerva who just grinned in response. The second Auror took the boxed sphere and deposited it into an evidence bag.

"Um… Madam Bones? Since you're here I was wondering if you had received my letter of inquiry to you regarding the Headmaster's behavior towards me, the article and my parents' Will?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes I did and I'm investigating it. I also received a notice from your Goblin Account Manager, Sharpclaw that Gringott's is investigating the financial side of the Will. As of right now, I don't have anything concrete. I shall let you know if anything turns up."

"What about my Godfather, Sirius Black? Or Remus Lupin? Anything you could share about that?" Harry pleaded.

Amelia sighed, "Sirius Black's case file is being searched for. For some reason, it appears he was never given a trial just after his capture. As for Remus Lupin, he's not currently residing in Britain. We sent an owl requesting his presence but it will take time. For right now, try not to worry about your future place of residence. You still have until June before anything needs to happen." Harry nodded in understanding.

"Thank you ma'am."

Director Bones and the Auror departed from the room and left via the Floo. Harry in the meantime asked Professor Sprout if he could duck over to the kitchens for a cup of hot chocolate to settle his nerves. She agreed and escorted him over.