Author's Note: Some of you have expressed some concerns, and also pointed out that Dumbledore is more than capable of being the harsh disciplinarian type. As such, I have used this chapter to explain a few things. There is also a lot of Albus and Harry bonding, so let me know what you guys think. Also, the idea about the privilege points is not mine. I took the idea from Brodus who was kind enough to let me use it, so a major thank you to Brodus. I have tweaked his version a little though. Also, Harry's allowance came from an online converter. I put it in English and U.S. money since they are in England, but I'm from the states so I relate to it better. Let me know what you guys think of everything. Also, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. I probably won't update again until after Christmas. I should have an update before the New Year though. Have fun.

~Lily~

Harry didn't complain about getting sent directly to bed. It was already decently late, and he was absolutely exhausted. His adventures in the forest had completely wiped him out, and now his body just wanted sleep. Therefore, he slept soundly. In fact, Harry didn't wake until there was a knock on his door.

"Mm up," muttered Harry groggily as he felt around on his night stand for his glasses, shoving them onto his nose he sat up. Upon seeing the sun shining into his room, his eyes went wide, and he jumped out of bed and scrambled to get clothes. How could I have slept so late? he thought to himself. Why didn't anyone wake me before now?

Albus could hear scurrying in Harry's room and knocked once more. "Harry?" he called out. "May I come in?"

"I'm coming. Just give me a minute." Harry called. "Yeah, come on in."

Albus stepped into Harry's room and smiled as he saw him jumping up and down to get a pair of jeans over his dark blue boxer shorts. "Good morning Harry." Albus moved over to Harry's desk chair as Harry rifled through his school trunk to find a clean T-shirt. Finding a dark green one, he shoved it over his head and started hunting for socks.

"Good morning Albus." Harry spoke distractedly as he hurriedly searched. Why didn't I pack neater? "Sorry I slept so late; I didn't mean to."

"No trouble at all dear boy; it's only 7:30." Albus smiled as he watched the boy dig through his trunk, growing increasingly frustrated. "I just thought I would let you know that breakfast is almost ready. Before you head out, however, I wanted to speak with you a moment."

Finally finding a pair of white socks, Harry slammed his trunk shut and sat on it to put the garments onto his feet. "What about, Albus?"

"Well, dear boy, first off I wanted to apologize." Albus watched Harry look at him in confusion, and smiled as he held up a hand to silently tell the boy to let him explain. "You have been living with Minerva and I for 2 weeks now, and you haven't left the property but to go to London a few times."

"Oh I don't mind, Albus; just wandering around the property is more than I was able to do at the Dursleys'." Harry had finished putting on socks and flopped onto his stomach on the floor to check for his trainers under the bed.

At the mention of not even being allowed to wander the property to have fun at the Dursleys', Albus flinched; Harry might not blame him for it, but Albus still harbored a lot of guilt over the matter. "Well I still wish we had been able to go visit more of London." Albus smiled as Harry located his trainers and started shoving them onto his feet. "During future holidays, if you are still with us of course, we will go on more outings. You just caught us at a really hard time, since I am Headmaster, Minerva is Deputy Headmistress, and school is about to start."

"I understand." Harry finished tying one of his trainers and gave Albus a toothy grin.

"Minerva and I will work on getting as much done as possible while at school so that we have more time to do stuff with you, Harry. You will also make friends at Hogwarts so will have more to do then as well. I know that living with a couple of old crows like us can't be the most entertaining thing in the world."

Harry had finished tying the other trainer, and now just sat on the floor looking up at Albus. At Albus's words, Harry's face went slightly red, and he looked down at the lace of his trainer. "Actually, Albus, I wanted to speak with you." Nervously, Harry started biting on the edge of his thumb and continued looking at his trainer. "I wanted to apologize to you about yesterday; I shouldn't have left the forest trail. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten lost and worried you both so much."

Albus took a deep breath and sighed; if Albus had been honest with himself, he had been more worried about Harry than angry. Sure he had put wards up around the property edges so nothing could get in, but Harry could have gotten hurt in so many other ways. He had worked on calming Minerva down after the boy had gone missing. She had been frantic and kept repeating that she knew they should have put wards around the forest. He was, after all, the son of James Potter; even if he couldn't remember his father, the boy had to have some of the man's tendencies, and exploring had been one of them. Albus, however, had tried hard to remind her that Harry was his own person.

"Harry," Albus gave a soft sigh as he spoke the name. "Do you understand why Minerva and I were so worried when you didn't turn up?" Harry nodded but gave no verbal answer. "Why do you think we worried, Harry?"

Harry sighed as he realized Albus was not going to let him get through this without contributing to the conversation. "Because I could have gotten lost or seriously hurt in the forest," Harry muttered to the floor.

"That is it Harry," Albus said with a nod. "Even if we have wards up around the property so that no one can get in without permission, you still could have gotten seriously hurt, or even lost. You did, in fact, get lost, and if Minerva hadn't found you, I am quite sure you would not have been able to find your way back." Albus saw Harry nod his head quietly and continued on. "You also showed up with scrapes. While I am fairly confident that nothing can attack you within the wards, you are still a danger to yourself with your natural, youthful curiosity." Albus's eyes actually twinkled for a moment at this. "Tell me, Harry: how did you get those scrapes yesterday?"

Harry shrugged and just mumbled quietly, "I told you last night; I fell."

"Yes, Harry, but how did you fall?" Albus probed further and could see the boy's ears turning red.

"I was jumping from one tree to another, misjudged the branches, and fell out of the tree." Harry still couldn't look at Albus as he spoke.

Albus just smiled at that. "Harry, I admire your youth and wish I could take part in it." This comment made Harry's head snap up, and Albus's smile widened. "I can assure you that you are not in trouble, my boy. I am merely trying to explain our worry for yesterday. Even if the wards keep intruders out, you are still able to hurt yourself by accidents, such as falling out of trees. As such, the few scrapes you received were a blessing considering you could have broken your neck; then you wouldn't have been able to move, and it would have made it harder for Minerva or me to find you."

Harry simply nodded; it really was good reasoning. There was just one more question he had to ask. "Albus, why was Minerva appointed primary disciplinarian?"

Albus couldn't help but smile at this; he wondered when the boy would ask that. "Because, dear boy, you would not want me to be the primary disciplinarian. I can assure you that Minerva is strict, but she is softer than I."

Harry tilted his head to the side to stare at Albus as he let this sink in. Would Albus really be harsher than Minerva?

"I do not fancy the corporal punishment method, Harry; in that regard, Minerva has me beat. I also do think she was a touch hard on you, if only because she didn't completely explain herself. She also didn't warn you of consequences beforehand. I admit that that is something we should have discussed together when we sat down to discuss the rules."

Harry just nodded quietly, and when he did speak, it was barely a whisper. "I don't want just one person in charge of discipline; it will make me afraid of Minerva, and I don't want to be afraid of her."

"I see." Albus steepled his fingers together as he observed Harry. "I guess your request is fair, my boy. I am sure Minerva will prefer it that way as well. We'll just have to take everything in stride."

"I understand," Harry nodded. Then, biting his lip, he looked up at Albus and said, "You said you don't do corporal punishment; what are your consequences, then?"

Albus's face was still calm, but he became more serious. "I strongly believe in restrictions. This can range from sending you to your room for a day, taking away a privilege or item for a few days, or even taking your allowance away for a week or so." That first weekend, Harry, Albus, and Minerva had gotten together and discussed an allowance for Harry to give him a little pocket money, but also to show him the value of money. Since he was 11, he was going to receive 13 sickles a week. This was about equal to £3.82 (or $7.70) in muggle money. It wasn't much, but it gave Harry a bit of spending money. It wasn't like an 11-year-old had tons to buy anyway. Besides, he would spend most of his time in a boarding school where there was precious little to buy.

"I also believe in sending a child to the corner to calm down," Albus continued, "and to allow myself a moment to calm down, but I will always give you a set amount of time. Another option is to set you lines or essays, or give you an extra chore or so like Minerva set when you stopped picking up your room."

Harry nodded; that all seemed fair and was easy enough to understand, but he was still not convinced that sweet Albus could be a harsh disciplinarian, though he had no intentions of finding out. "I just wish there was a way to warn me," Harry spoke quietly. "Like, tell me when I'm doing something not acceptable, but not really big enough to get in major trouble."

"Such as?" Albus probed as he thought a moment.

"Well, like when Minerva threw the pile of clothes on me that morning. I guess that was kind of a warning. I don't know. Never mind. It's stupid." Harry was now red in the ears and playing with the lace of his trainer.

"It is not stupid, my boy," Albus spoke comfortingly. "At Hogwarts, we have a system called house points. Achievements earn you house points, while any rule breaking loses them. What if we did something similar for home? We could do a privilege point system that gives you a warning but also a reward, and maybe even something to look forward to."

"How do you mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, say you did something extra or were super good one day. Minerva or I could give you 5 privilege points. If you got into trouble, like not picking up your clothes, we could take away points. Then, as you earn points, you can cash them in for prizes."

"Like what kind of prize?" Harry asked curiously; so far, he really liked this idea.

"We could go on a special outing, or you could get something you've been wanting for a while. Different things would be worth a different amount of points." Albus was thinking this up as he went.

"What would happen if I went into the negatives in privilege points?" Harry asked cautiously as he thought about it.

"Well," Albus paused as he thought, "you could be on restriction or have extra chores until you get out of the negatives."

"Ok, that sounds alright," Harry nodded.

"We would have to discuss this with Minerva of course," Albus stated casually, at which point Harry just nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, Albus rose to his feet and offered a hand to help Harry up. "Let us go eat before she comes and knocks our heads together for being late." Harry just smiled and followed.

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Once Harry had set the breakfast table, it was time to eat. They had a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and bacon. It was all delicious, and Harry ate every bite that was set before him.

"Minerva," Albus spoke after cleaning his plate. "Harry and I were discussing a type of privilege point system and were wondering what you thought."

"What type of point system, Albus?" Minerva had also finished her breakfast and was now sipping a cup of tea.

"Well, it will be similar to the point system at Hogwarts, but it will be just for Harry," Albus stated, pouring himself a cup of tea. He then went on to explain the privilege points that he and Harry had discussed.

"I like it, Albus," Minerva smiled at both Albus and Harry. "It is like Hogwarts's system, and that is what I'm used to. Harry will also be more used to Hogwarts, since he'll spend most of his time there. I think it will be a real advantage."

Harry just smiled as he took another piece of bacon and began chewing on it. Things hadn't ended in disaster this time; that was a plus. That also meant that it would be a good time to bring up the adoption. "I've been thinking," Harry stated quietly after he finished his bacon. "I really like it here, and I would really like the adoption."

That stunned everyone at the table, but after a moment, both Albus and Minerva smiled brightly and said at the same time, "That's wonderful Harry."

They were both shocked, however. It wasn't that they weren't happy about it; they just both knew that they hadn't been able to do much with the boy. Minerva had been off taking muggle-born students to Diagon Alley and explaining things, along with a million other things she had to do. Albus had also been busy with the start of term quickly approaching. It was true that they had always had one of them home with Harry at all times, but even at home they had both been busy. That hadn't seemed to affect Harry, though, since he still wanted the adoption.

"Alright Harry, my boy, if you are sure that's what you want, Minerva and I will start looking into the details of it all," Albus said with a smile and drained his cup of tea.

Minerva just smiled as she sipped at her tea. "Alright, if we are going to be a family I want us to act like it." Both boys looked at her curiously. "We'll be at Hogwarts, but I want us to take one evening a week to just enjoy each other. How about Monday night?"

"That sounds wonderful Minerva." Albus smiled and stood to begin clearing the table. Harry caught this, jumped up, and started helping. "My only question is why Monday?"

"Well, I would say Friday, but that is the start of the weekend, and Harry might want it to be able to spend time late with his friends." Minerva stated. She carried her own dish to the sink, and turned on the enchanted sink taps so that warm water flowed in. "Monday is the start of the week, and can be very hectic. We can use that evening to just de-stress and enjoy each other's company." Both boys nodded in agreement.

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Harry was getting more nervous as the time got closer for him to leave for the train. Minerva had left for Hogwarts right after breakfast, and that left Harry with Albus. Before Minerva had left, however, a large hourglass was positioned by the fireplace to keep track of Harry's privilege points. As Harry earned points, they would drop into the bottom of the hourglass; as he lost them, they would fly up again. Harry was also given a pocket-sized one to carry around with him at Hogwarts so he would know how many privilege points he had.

Albus couldn't help but think that Minerva had been a touch hard on the boy the day before; it had, after all, been an accident. He couldn't take away Harry's 50 lines, since he had to turn those in to Minerva, but once he was done, Albus walked to the boy's room and knocked.

"Come in," Harry called glumly. He had never imagined he could be so bored just sitting in his room. At the Dursleys', it had been blissful when he was sent to his room because he got away and got to be alone without having to work. Now it was torture!

Albus entered carrying a chess set and found what he saw quite comical. Harry was lying on his bed with his stomach to the ceiling, but his torso and head were hanging off the edge of the bed. As such, his mop of black hair was nearly touching the wood floor, and he was swinging slightly, so his hair looked as if it were sweeping. "Ah to be young again," Albus commented. At that, he watched Harry give a feeble smile, but not move from his position.

"I'm bored," Harry stated simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I was always told that only boring people get bored." Albus's eyes twinkled as Harry made a face at this statement. "How about a game of chess, Harry?"

"I thought I was on restriction."

"So you are. However, I believe that Minerva stated that you had to be in your room this morning. She said nothing about my coming to your room." Albus's smile brightened as he spoke.

"Brilliant!" Harry proclaimed with a grin. With that, he flipped his legs over his head and landed on his bum on the rug in his room. Then he saw the chess set and his face fell.

"What's wrong, Harry? Don't you like chess?" Albus spoke as if it were nothing major. "I am sure I can find something else."

"It's not that," Harry stated simply with his cheeks slightly red. "I... I never played chess before." He looked at the ground as he said it, feeling very embarrassed.

"Oh, well that's not a problem; I can teach you. We have plenty of time," Albus smiled and placed the chess set on Harry's desk. "I do hope you will be able to forgive me for insisting we play up here; I am no longer young, Harry."

"Of course, Albus," Harry smiled and jumped to his feet. He was going to learn to play chess!

"Well, the first things you should know are the names of the pieces." As Albus started setting up the board, he picked up each piece and named it as he showed it to Harry. "This here is a pawn, bishop, knight, rook, queen, and king. The point of the game is to keep your king standing and to knock mine down. Each piece has a certain way they can move; that is where it gets complicated."

With that, Albus proceeded to explain the rules of chess and followed up by playing a match with Harry. Albus went easy and worked on assisting Harry. It gave Harry a start when all he had to do was tell the piece where to go, and it would move. He about jumped out of his skin when Albus's bishop took one of his pawns. The piece shattered at it was smacked in the middle by the bishop. The pieces were also none too kind to the poor boy and made his head hurt at the conflicting things they shouted at him. In the end, as Harry had known he would, Albus won the game. It didn't matter, however; Harry was just glad to have spent some time with the man.

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"Alright Harry, my boy, I do believe it is time to go." Albus stood with a smile and began shrinking Harry's belongings. Looking at the clock in his room, Harry could see that it was 10:00. That left exactly one hour to get to the station. Wouldn't that be cutting it close? As if reading his thoughts, Dumbledore smiled and said, "We will be Flooing to Diagon Alley and take the trolley from there." With that, he picked up Harry's shrunken school trunk and placed it in his pocket.

"Oh," was all Harry stated as he grabbed Hedwig's cage.

"Well, if you are ready, my boy, let us be off. I assume you remember how to use the Floo?" Dumbledore held Harry's bedroom door open for him and followed the boy out.

"Y-yes sir." Harry didn't sound confident.

"You will do fine, Harry. I would go along with you once again, but you have your owl, so it is already cramped enough." Albus spoke calmly, and he could see Harry relax a bit. "Just speak clearly, Harry. Now, take a handful of Floo powder. That's it. Throw it into the fire, step in, and say 'Diagon Alley.'"

"Diagon Alley," Harry spoke clearly. There was no way he wanted to end up anywhere else.

·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·

Harry's Floo travel was successful. He wasn't used to landing, however, and fell face-first on the floor of the Leaky Cauldron. His glasses broke at the bridge, and Hedwig squawked in protest; she obviously hadn't liked being forced through the fireplace, seeing as she had started screeching as soon as Harry stepped into it back at the cabin.

Harry barely had time to get to his feet when Albus Flooed to his side. "There you are, my boy. See, I told you it would be successful." Albus beamed. It took him a moment to realize that Harry was clutching his glasses to his face because they were broken and then held out his hand. "Here, let me help with that. Reparo." Giving Harry's glasses a tap with his wand, the bridge mended itself easily. Harry was impressed; it had even gotten rid of the tape that had been holding them together previously. He was definitely going to have to remember that spell.

"Well, we had best be off, my dear boy; we don't want to miss the trolley." With that, Albus withdrew Harry's trunk and unshrunk it. He cast a featherweight charm on it and easily carried it out of the pub and into the streets of muggle London. "This way we don't have to unshrink it with muggles watching," he explained.

They stopped at the street corner to await the trolley and climbed aboard once it arrived. Albus paid the trolley fair for two, and then motioned for Harry to head down the trolley and take a seat. Once seated, Albus pulled out some yarn, knitting needles, and began knitting away, just like Hagrid had done when Harry had ridden with him a month ago. Also like with Hagrid, the other passengers on the trolley just stared at Albus as he knitted. Harry couldn't blame them; although he wasn't a giant that took up 3 seats by himself and looked like he was knitting a canary yellow circus tent, Dumbledore stood out just as much. With his long white beard and hair, he looked like Father Christmas, and the bright red jumper he was knitting didn't hinder this image.

They rode the trolley for half an hour, and Harry was content to just watch London pass as they drove. There was nothing muggle that he wanted to talk about right now, so he figured he had best just keep his thoughts to himself. Once they reached King's Cross, however, Harry fished around in his jacket for his ticket. Reading it, his eyes suddenly went wide.

"Albus, there must be some kind of mistake," Harry stated in disbelief as he looked at his ticket. "This says Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters."

"Ah, yes," Albus replied with a smile. "There is no mistake, dear boy. The Hogwarts Express will pull out of Platform 9 ¾ at exactly 11:00 without a moment to spare. Follow me, if you will."

With that, Albus fetched them a trolley, placed Harry's trunk on it, and undid the featherweight charm. Hedwig's cage was placed on top of the trunk. She had calmed down considerably now that she wasn't spinning inside green flames. Harry pushed the trolley as he followed Albus, but he couldn't help but wonder what on earth his ticket meant by Platform 9 ¾; there was no such thing. All of the platforms were whole numbers, and when they arrived between platforms 9 and 10, it was no different.

"Alright, Harry, now what I want you to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10." Albus spoke happily, but Harry thought he was completely mad. "Don't worry about crashing into the wall; it will take you to the correct platform. You go ahead of me; I'll stay back to make sure you get through and then follow."

"Erm, ok," Harry stuttered looking at the wall. He still thought Albus was out of his mind, but he took a deep breath and started running for the wall. Harry shut his eyes, bracing for the impact of brick against the metal of the trolley, but it never came. Stunned, Harry opened his eyes. Upon doing so his mouth dropped open as he saw a scarlet steam engine underneath a sign that read "Platform 9 ¾ Hogwarts Express."

Harry was still taking it all in when Albus appeared beside him. "Well, my dear boy, I see you made it." Albus's eyes twinkled as he looked down at the stunned Harry who could simply nod in response. "I will help you onto the train, Harry, but then I am afraid I must say goodbye. I really must be getting to Hogwarts, seeing as there is just so much to do before the start of term."

"I understand, Albus." Harry gave Albus a tight hug around the middle, then grabbed one end of his trunk and helped Albus lift it onto the train. He was completely oblivious to the stares the pair was receiving from the rest of the people on the platform; after all, it was the Hogwarts Headmaster and Harry Potter, the boy who lived.

Once Harry's trunk was on the train, Harry turned to give Albus one last hug goodbye. Now that he had someone that didn't think they would die of disease if they touched him, Harry absolutely loved hugs. Albus was also very fond of them and loved the child-like trust that Harry provided. With one last squeeze of affection, Albus let Harry go, bid him farewell, and Disapparated out of sight.