Chapter 10 - New Year Problems

The group enjoyed the rest of their holiday and resolved to work on what happened Halloween of 1981 and on restoring Riddle. All too soon it was time to go back to Hogwarts and that was a prospect that none of them were looking forward to, having had so much fun on their holiday. They headed to Kings Cross and boarded the Hogwarts Express to return. The children's' guardians said their goodbyes and left five minutes before the train departed.

"I can't believe that we have to go back," Neville said.

"I know, and we have so much that we have to do this term," Harry replied.

"It isn't really that much, just getting in touch with Susan and therefore her aunt, Amelia. We can then integrate them into the group. After that though, well, we will have to deal with Riddle at some point. Oh, and you still have to pass the second and third tasks so, huh, I guess it is rather a lot."

"Thanks, Mione, I feel so much better. Now, what should we do about my great-grandfather?"

"Well, you'll have to convince him some way that you are his great-grandson, but I don't know how."

"Yeah, it's not like Harry can just waltz right up to Riddle and be blunt with him. Riddle would probably try to kill him," Luna added.

"Yeah," the other three agreed.

The train ride ended soon after that and the group knew that they were back. Unfortunately, as the three were headed in they were stopped by none other than two Weasleys.

"Harry! Mate! Where were you?" Ron asked jovially, seemingly unaware of what he had tried at the Yule Ball.

"It is none of your business, what I do with my private time, Ronald," Harry replied coldly.

"Harry? Is something wrong?"

"YES, SOMETHING IS WRONG! AND I KNOW WHICH JADED OLD BASTARD'S FAULT IT IS!" Harry yelled marching off with his entourage behind him, leaving two very stunned Weasleys as well as a stunned student populace.

Meanwhile…

"Harry love, please slow down."

"Oh, no, Hermione. I'm going to give that no good bastard what he deserves. The boot."

"Harry, what about Riddle?"

"He won't attack the school. I'll make sure of it."

"Oh, fine, but you aren't going alone. Who knows what Dumbledore would do to you, especially if you were alone?"

"Most likely put a memory charm on me like he did to Ronald and Ginevra."

The group came across Minerva and Severus who had returned to the school early so they could prepare for the new term's classes.

"What is going on here?" Minerva asked.

"Albus," Hermione said knowing that that explained it all.

"Ah."

"Exactly."

"What has he done now?" Severus asked this time.

"Well, it looks like he performed a memory charm on Ronald and Ginevra so that they don't remember what happened at the Yule Ball."

"Why that-" Minerva started but was suddenly silent.

"Harry, why did you silence your great-grandmother?" Severus inquired.

"Well, let's just say our ears have already been corrupted enough."

Severus smirked when he heard that. Neville and Luna were laughing behind their hands, while Hermione bit her lip to stop her laughing. When he saw that Minerva was at the end of her rant, Harry lifted the silencing spell and all seemed calm until…

"Harry James Potter," Minerva started, "why did you silence me?"

"I didn't want to corrupt my innocent ears?"

"Harry!"

"Ok… I was tired of the cursing."

"Well, then I apologize for my use of crude language."

"I accept and I apologize as well for silencing you."

"You're forgiven, for now."

"Well, I think that we need to confront Albus now."

The others agreed reluctantly since they weren't sure how they were going to remove Dumbledore from office. They all pondered this until they arrive at the gargoyle and Snape gave the password.

"Starbursts."

"Oh, honestly, who chooses candy for a password? I mean, anyone could just come by and start guessing the names of candy's until they had gotten it right," Hermione ranted.

"Well, love, Dumbledore isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed anymore," Harry replied.

They all had gotten on the spiral staircase until they were congregated outside Dumbledore's office.

"Come in," they heard Dumbledore call out.

Once the group had assembled in the office, Dumbledore with a flick of his wand conjured up six purple armchairs for them.

"Now, care to tell me what this is all about?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling like mad.

"You know what this is about Dumbledore," Harry growled.

"Now, Mr. Potter that is Headmaster or Professor Dumbledore to you."

"Not when you are no longer in charge here, Dumbledore. As the heir of the Hogwarts Founders, with power that supersedes the Board of Governors, I hereby remove you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore as headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I also hereby install as the new headmistress, Minerva McGonagall."

"Harry, you can't just get rid of me."

"Watch me old man. Too long have you meddled in the affairs of the Potter family. It ends now. Hogwarts, could you please remove Dumbledore from the school?"

With that, a deep rumbling was heard throughout the school and all of a sudden, Dumbledore was no longer in his chair and several of his actual possessions were gone. Although, the group was surprised to see that Fawkes didn't leave with Dumbledore. Instead, he landed in front of Harry and bit his finger, then he cried into the wound. When that happened, a blinding red and gold light engulfed Harry and Fawkes, a minute later and it was over.

"Wow, what just happened?" Neville asked no one in particular.

"I'm not entirely positive, but I believe that Fawkes has just bonded with Harry," Minerva replied.

"Well, that's just great. No offense to you Fawkes, but can't I ever be normal?" Harry asked exasperatedly.

"No," Severus replied bluntly.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Uncle Sev."

"No problem."

The group decided to mull over the implications later about Fawkes's bonding to Harry.

"Harry, why did you name me headmistress?"

"Well, you were who I thought of at the time, and you can make sure that we can have a better school year. And don't worry, we'll all be glad to help, won't we?"

A chorus of "yes's" was heard throughout the room.

"Minerva, who are you going to name as your deputy?" Luna asked.

"Well, Ms. Lovegood, I think that I will name Severus here. If I have to suffer, then so do you, Severus."

Severus just groaned and said, "Thanks a lot, Harry."

"Oh, you're welcome, Uncle Sev."

With that, the four students made their way to a room that Dobby had told them about, the Come and Go Room, leaving Minerva and Severus to handle their new roles. When they reached the seventh floor across the tapestry with the dancing trolls, Hermione called up the room. They all entered and found a comfortable flat-like room, there was a sitting room, a kitchenette, a library with studies adjacent from it, a training room, and three bedrooms.

"I guess that Hogwarts is giving us additional things so that we can start on our training," Hermione said, edging her way towards the library.

"Hermione, we can take a look later. Right now, I think that we could all use some sleep. In the morning, we can figure out how to handle our upcoming tasks," Harry told her.

Hermione started pouting, which made the other three start to laugh. Luna and Neville went into their separate bedrooms, sharing a kiss before they did. Harry and Hermione went into the remaining. They found it was similar to their married quarters in Gryffindor Tower. The two of them got ready for bed and slowly fell asleep entwined in each other's arms.

~Struggles of a Teenage Wizard~

Meanwhile… with Riddle

'Why did I do all of those things, or rather, why did I let Albus do all of those things?' This was Tom Riddle's only thought before Voldemort took him over again.

(A/N Sorry for the long wait. I was going to do the second task, but thought to have a filler chapter instead. In addition, I had a bit of writer's block when it came to this matter. Anyway, read and review, thanks.)

Riddle Potter 23