A.N.: OK, so after re-reading this chapter, I decided I hated how it flowed and the holes, so I re-did the chapter to hopefully improve the flow and fill in the holes. For those of you who read it the way it was before, how did I do?
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By mid-November, Harry's schooling had taken another turn. On Sundays, Harry learned the art of debate from his papa. He had completed his grade 7 studies and was now working on his grade 8 lessons. Although they lived in France, Harry wanted to take his GCSE's and hoped that he'd be ready for them by the following Christmas. Additionally, he hoped to take both his A-levels (for England) and the Baccalauréat (for France) in the summer before he started his formal magical training.
On the magical side of his education, when Harry had sped through Beauxbatons' second year lessons, Remus had declared that he wanted to branch away from the school's curriculum. He cited the fact that he didn't want Harry to be completely bored when he did go to school for this decision. Thus, Harry and Remus were focusing his magical learning on subjects that are not taught in school: magical theory, spell crafting, potions crafting, mind-arts, wand lore and alchemy to start—although they did save one day per week to focus on spell work.
Today, though was a special day. Today was the day that St. Brigid's released Sirius. The mind-healers had been pleasantly surprised to discover that Sirius had very few side effects from his 8 years with the dementors: he was not a gibbering idiot and, from the very start, was able to hold a relatively intelligent conversation. Sirius' maturity level, however, was stuck in his late teens—although Remus assured the healers that Sirius had always been quite immature for his age. Sirius was now physically and emotionally healthy enough to not require constant supervision, although he would have bi-weekly check ups for a few months to ensure he was regaining his physical strength and weekly meetings with a mind-healer for at least a year to ensure his complete recovery.
The day began like any other for Harry: he rose before the sun and went into the room he had appointed as his dojo to practice his kata, an hour later he was joined by Hank, one of his papa's security detail, and they sparred for a bit. Hank, Harry had discovered, used to fight mixed martial arts and was willing to spar with him despite his young age, and Harry had learned several new techniques from watching him.
After breakfast, Remus arrived, just like any other day. Today, however, they did not head up to the classroom. Today, Harry bid his mother good bye and they headed to St. Brigid's to retrieve Sirius. It had taken Sirius a while to come to terms with the fact that Harry had been raised by a Slytherin, however with the help of the mind-healers he had slowly matured in his thinking and accepted the fact.
Harry tapped on the door to Sirius' room, "Padfoot, you decent?" He always knocked first, the one time he hadn't had been quite embarrassing for all parties involved.
"I'm never decent, pup. But if you mean am I dressed, the answer is yes."
Harry snorted and led the way into the room. Sirius sat in the chair next to his bed looking nothing like the gaunt, matted man who Harry had first met two months previously. Now, Sirius looked every inch the powerful head of house that he was. His black hair was gathered in a tail at the nape of his neck that reached the bottom of his shoulder blades, he was dressed in obviously expensive robes that had the Black crest on the left breast, his face was far more lined than it had been in the pictures that Remus had shown him from 'before' but his grey eyes still sparkled with mischief and anticipation.
"Siri, you do realize how pompous you look, right?" Remus quipped.
Sirius pouted, "Don't you like it, Remy? I though it looked rather impressive." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Sirius, we're going to muggle Paris. You're going to be staying in the family wing of the mansion, true, but all the staff are muggle. There's no one to impress. If you showed up in that, they'd think you were batty." Harry giggled. "We brought one of my papa's suits for you to wear out of here, you're about the same size, and we're going shopping."
Sirius sighed dramatically, "Oh, well. I suppose I will just have to settle for wearing it to my questioning next week."
Harry raised an eyebrow, "That's really why you bought it, isn't it?"
Sirius shifted uncomfortably, "Perhaps."
"It's a good strategy, make sure they can't forget who they're dealing with. Even though we all know you have nothing to worry about. That's rather Slytherin of you." Harry added and ducked behind Remus.
"Hey! No reason to be insulting." Sirius huffed, but he was smiling.
"Come on, you two, let's go get Sirius a wardrobe." Remus interjected.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent following an over-excited Sirius from one store to another. Sirius made sure to find at least one item to try on in each store they entered that was so inappropriate it had Harry in stitches and Remus spluttering in embarrassment. When Sirius finally declared it time to eat, they got take-away Chinese and ate on a conjured blanket, surrounded by a warming charm, in a secluded area of a park. Sirius had insisted that he must spend as much time outdoors as possible to make up for the time he lost.
After they had eaten, Remus banished the garbage and the trio laid on their backs and examined the clouds in the crystal blue sky. A few minutes later, the sound of wings was heard and a peregrine falcon swooped down and landed next to Harry's head. It stuck out it's leg which had a letter tied to it.
"Hmm, that's weird. Mum said I had been spelled un-owlable when I was a baby to prevent fan mail." Harry looked at the falcon and, after Remus had deemed the letter safe, retrieved the note. "Ah, that explains it. It's addressed to 'Harry Grey' not 'Harry Potter.'" Harry looked at the note speculatively then shrugged to himself and opened it. After a minute, Harry looked up at Remus, amusement evident in his eyes. "It appears that the elder Malfoy has encouraged his son to 'broaden his horizons' as far as acquaintances go. Draco says that he immediately thought of me, and wonders if I would consent to a pen-friend type of association. Although it is not in exactly those words, that is the gist of it."
Remus looked curious, Sirius, however, looked mildly horrified. "You're not going to attach your name to the Malfoy name, are you? They're some of the worst of the Slytherins, running around licking any dark lord's boots."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Sirius, he doesn't even know who I am. Not really. There's nothing to gain for him in associating with me. There's also nothing to lose, as far as he knows. As far as he is concerned, I am the eldest son of one of his mother's old school acquaintances who lives out of the country. At the most he will get to feel important by being the one to introduce me to people when we get to Hogwarts. On the other hand, for me there is quite a bit to be gained from courting his friendship. Don't look at me like that Sirius, just listen," Harry interrupted himself, "I have no intention of associating myself with Malfoy the elder, but if I can influence Draco away from his father's bootlicking ways, that is a wonderful connection with the younger set of the 'dark' families. Aside from all that, it will be fun having a pen-friend who has no clue who I really am."
Sirius sighed, "I hate it when you're logical about things. When on earth did you become so politic?"
Remus grinned, "Siri, did you forget that his papa is a politician? He's been learning politics since he was able to talk. He's actually quite good at it. I'm glad that you're mature enough to see that it could be a good thing, it makes me very proud." Remus looked at Sirius fondly.
Harry jumped up, "Ok, enough heavy stuff. Come on, I want to get some Christmas shopping done while we're out and about." He turned to the falcon that had settled onto a branch of a near by tree, "I'll write a reply when I get home tonight. Find me in the morning and I'll send it with you."
o 0 o
The days seemed to fly by. Sirius had reported to the aurors offices for his questioning, as expected the only thing that Sirius was found guilty of was being an unregistered animagus. He was set with a small fine and was required to register his form. Harry had sent his reply to Draco accepting his friendship and they continued to exchange letters approximately once per week.
Harry's schooling continued apace, completing his grade 9 and 10 lessons by the next November. Harry sat his GCSE's the first week of December, 1990 and his A-levels and the Baccalauréat the following June. While not the youngest to ever sit the examinations, he was the youngest that particular year. As expected, he passed them all.
Harry also continued expanding his magical horizons, reading every obscure tome he could find and experimenting with the theories he discovered. Additionally, his mother had given him some books when he passed his GCSE's that she had found in Japan which were written in parseltongue. That had sparked an interest in parselmagic as well as magics based on languages other than Latin.
The one area of magic that Harry never delved into was black magic. He had studied some theory about it, but he remembered what Satou-sama had told him about the price of black magic and his promise to her not to delve into them before his magical core was stable enough to afford that price without negatively impacting his life. Sirius and Remus had both been quite leery when Harry had first expressed an interest in the theory, but after he explained what little he knew and what he intended to learn they helped him fill the gaps in his knowledge, learning about it themselves in the process.
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A week before Harry's eleventh birthday, his mum, papa, Remus and Sirius sat him down after Lizzy and Alex had gone to bed.
"Okay, Harry. I promised you two years ago that you would know the whole story surrounding your adoption before it was time for you to go to Hogwarts. You turn eleven next week and I anticipate your letter will come shortly thereafter." Stephanie started. "You know the basic story surrounding our adoption of you. What you don't know is that originally you were left on your mother's sister's doorstep—we assume by Dumbledore. Petunia is a muggle and was quite jealous of Lily's talents when we were growing up. As such, had you been raised there it is likely that you would have been detested at best and abused at worst. We don't know if Dumbledore knew this when he left you there or not, but we suspect that he did. Fortunately, the premonition that Lily had included that small bit of information, and so she was able to communicate with her sister how to contact me if and when she found you on her doorstep.
"There were a few days between when you and your parents were attacked and when you showed up on Petunia's doorstep. Once we had custody of you, we decided to visit Gringotts to ensure that everything was in order regarding your inheritance. The first thing we found about that was that someone had accessed your trust vault and withdrawn a considerable amount of galleons. Unfortunately, the goblins did not know who made the withdrawal, only that they had your key. We immediately had that key nullified and access to your vault locked down. There actually are no active keys for your vaults right now,although your finances are being seen to by your account manager, Ironclaw. In order to get the keys, we will have to present ourselves to Gringotts, London, for a blood test. When we do that you will receive your family ring and letters that James and Lily wrote to you before they died. We also wanted to get the details of the bind that your parents had had the goblins put on your magic.
"While there, we decided to have them make sure that there were no lingering negative effects from the attack that had killed your parents. What we discovered was that there had been additional binds placed on your magic after the attack as well as a spell that would have attacked your attention span. Additionally, there is an anti-owl ward on you so that all mail addressed to 'Harry Potter' is rerouted to Hogwarts or returned to the sender, it's why you've not ever gotten any fan mail. Lastly, the goblins found that a sliver of Voldemort's soul had attached itself to you and was feeding off your magic. It was not enough to do you harm immediately, but as you got older it would have negatively impacted your character and learning potential. Naturally we had the goblins take care of them all.
"Now, we are not sure who placed the spells on you, although we suspect that it was Dumbledore, he apparently had custody of you for those four days after your parents died. That is a large part of the reason we had Remus start training you in magic two years ago, so you could defend yourself when you returned to England."
Harry considered everything his mum had told him. He knew that there were challenges to be faced in England, why else would he have gotten special dispensation to practice magic before school? He hadn't expected those challenges to come in the form of, arguably, the most powerful light magic wizard of the age—of the last several ages, really. From the stories Remus and Sirius had told him over the years about their school days, Dumbledore seemed to be a benevolent, grandfatherly type with a penchant for mundane candies. Of course, appearances could be incredibly deceiving. Granted, his habit of allowing Gryffindors to get away with murder—almost literally—was a little telling.
Harry looked at Remus and Sirius, "Did you two know about all this?"
"Not all of it, Harry. I knew about the spells that were put on you," Remus answered, "Your mum told me about them to convince me that informing Dumbledore about your location would be a bad idea."
"Same here, pup," Sirius continued, "Although I only found out after this last Christmas. Apparently this lot wanted to make sure I was 'stable' enough to handle the upset. After all, Dumbledore was a great pillar of strength when I was a kid and defying my family."
Harry snorted, "You sure they waited long enough?"
"Oi!"
"Harry?" Stephanie broke in, "What are your thoughts, honey?"
"I think that if I knew the man personally, or had had any interactions with him, I'd be seriously pissed—"
"Language, Harry."
Harry grinned, "Blame Sirius, I do." Marshall snorted, "As I was saying, I'd probably feel betrayed and all that. As it is, I knew something bad was coming and was able to fortify myself for the blow. I am livid that someone thought it was OK to put those spells on me. But forewarned is forearmed, and I can be on my guard for anything that people who are supposed to be my allies are doing behind my back as well as what those who are supposed to be my enemies are doing in front of me."
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When Harry arrived at the breakfast table on July 31, 1991, the first thing that he noticed was that Sirius was at the table already. While he did live at the mansion with the Greys, he was rarely up before ten a.m. The second thing he noticed was that Remus had joined them for breakfast. The third thing he noticed was the heavy parchment letter sitting at his place. There was a heavy red wax seal on it with a badger, a snake, a lion and an eagle surrounding a stylized H—the Hogwarts seal. On the front was the address written in green ink:
Harry Potter
U.S. Ambassador's Mansion
Paris, France
Harry grinned and broke the seal. There were two pieces of parchment, one was a list the other his acceptance letter. It read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc Chr. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and begins on 1 September. A member of our staff will be arriving at your residence shortly to answer any questions you may have.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress
The second sheet simply held a list of supplies that Harry would need for his first year at school:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First-year students will require:
sets of plain work robes (black)
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Harry looked over at his mum, "Mum, apparently they think that I'm muggle-raised. They're sending someone out to visit."
Stephanie smirked back at him, "I leave it up to you how you want to play this. Do you want to make it seem like you know nothing, or let it be known that you were raised magical? Obviously they are not all-knowing, because your name legally is Potter-Grey."
Harry considered his options, "I think I will allow them to think what they will, however that means that Remus and Sirius will need to be inconspicuous when whomever is visiting us is here."
At that moment the butler entered the dining room, "Begging your pardon, Ambassador, but there is a strangely-dressed woman in the entry way insisting that she be allowed to speak to you. What should I do with her?"
Marshall glanced at his wife, "Show her to the formal receiving room, Francis. Inform her that we are at breakfast at the moment but will join her as soon as we are finished eating."
Francis bowed, "Very good, sir."
When everyone had finished eating, Harry scooped up a giggling, two-year-old Alex and looked at his mum with a mischievous smirk, "Mum, thanks so much for getting me a big black dog for my birthday last week." He raised his eyes to Sirius, "Heel, Padfoot." Sirius let out a bark of laughter and transformed into his animagus form. Harry grinned, "And wasn't it wonderful that the previous ambassador's wife suggested the tutor she used for her daughter to help her catch up to the French children in case I had a difficult time adjusting?"
Remus grinned, catching on, "And what time does this tutor usually arrive, Mr. Grey?"
"Oh, in about 20 minutes." Harry looked at his papa, "Shall we go meet this strangely dressed lady, papa?"
Lizzy jumped out of her chair, "Race you there, Harry!" Harry took off after his little sister with his brother hanging off his back like a monkey, squealing in delight as Padfoot chased after the trio. Stephanie and Marshall followed their children at a more sedate pace.
Harry stopped his headlong rush just short of the formal receiving room doors and caught Lizzy around the waist as she rushed past. "Now, Lizzy," he said, conspiratorially, "We have to be on our best behavior in there. Unless the lady recognizes mum, we don't know about magic, ok? It's time to test your inner Slytherin."
Lizzy nodded solemnly, "My inner Slytherin is radical, dude."
Harry snorted, "You've been watching too much Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, kiddo."
Alex pulled on Harry's hair, annoyed at his ride coming to an end, "Cowbung!"
Marshall snorted as he plucked Alex's hands from Harry's hair, "That's right, little man, cowabunga. Now, let's see whom we have the pleasure of hosting today."
Marshall opened the heavy oak doors to reveal a blond woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She was wearing a floor length blue taffeta dress in a style that was at least 100 years out of date, a black traveling cloak was draped over the arm of the chair next to her.
She stood as the family filed into the room, "Hello," she began in French, once they were all seated, "my name is Florence Dischneau and I am a teacher at Beauxbatons school for exceptionally gifted children. I am here to extend an offer for your son to attend our school."
Stephanie affected a confused expression, "What kind of school are you? Because Harry has already sat for his Baccalauréat and his A-levels."
Florence smiled indulgently, and had Stephanie not known what was coming, she would have been rather more offended by the condescending tone in the woman's voice, "We are a school of magic, madame, monsieur, magic is real and your son is capable of learning it." Seeing the families apparent unbelieving expressions, the woman pressed on, addressing Harry, "Haven't you ever done anything you couldn't explain? Especially when you were desperate or stressed?"
Harry looked at the woman skeptically, he didn't particularly care for the way she was talking down to his, apparently, muggle parents, "Once, my teachers' hair turned blue." He said, hesitantly.
Florence nodded decisively, "That is what we call accidental magic." She flourished her wand and opened her mouth to say something else when a tap at the door stopped her.
Marshall smiled, "One moment, please." He stood and went to the door where Francis stood, "Yes, Francis?"
"Monsieur Ambassador, there is another strangely dressed woman insisting to speak to you." Francis said, "I explained to her that you were in a meeting, but she was most insistent." He hesitated a moment, before continuing, "She reminded me very much of the sisters back in primary school, I found myself unable to deny her."
Marshall grinned at the butler, "I completely understand the sentiment. It is fine, I believe that she may be here for the same reason that Madame Dischneau is. Please, send her in to join us."
Francis nodded and left to retrieve the woman. When he returned a scant minute later, he was followed by a woman who appeared to be in her late fifties. She was dressed in a green plaid tartan and white starched shirt with a pointy hat held in her hand. As the woman entered the room, Padfoot started yipping and chasing his tail by Harry's chair.
"Paddy, enough or I'll put you out." Harry quipped. Padfoot stopped abruptly and looked at Harry balefully. "Don't you look at me like that, behave." Padfoot snorted and settled down on Harry's feet. Harry looked up at the new woman, "I'm sorry, ma'am, he's rather excitable today."
The new woman nodded shortly and took a seat, barely sparing a glance for the other adults in the room, "It is quite alright, Mr. Potter."
Harry glanced at his mum quickly, "It's Potter-Grey, ma'am."
The woman's eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion for a moment, "I am Minerva McGonnagall and I am a representative of Hogwarts school."
Stephanie nodded, "We thought you might be, this," she motioned to Florence, "is Florence Dischneau, and she is a representative of Beauxbatons school. She was just about to prove to us that magic exists and explain why we should send Harry to her school. We will allow you the same opportunity."
"As Florence arrived first, we will hear her arguments first." Marshall said.
Florence glanced smugly at Minerva, and turned to Harry, "As I was saying, when you turned your teacher's hair blue, that was accidental magic. Beauxbatons is the premier magical school of France, we are a boarding academy. At Beauxbatons, we will teach you how to control your magic," She flourished her wand again, "through the use of a wand. As you become more advanced, you will be able to do almost anything with magic. For example: orchideous." A bouquet of flowers appeared out of thin air that Florence proceeded to offer to Lizzy who giggled and accepted the flowers. "That is just a small example of things that are possible with magic."
Minerva addressed Stephanie and Marshall, "If I may say, you are handling this rather well."
"Well, we've always know that Harry was special, and odd things have always happened around him. It is actually a relief to know that there is a reasonable explanation for those oddities." Marshall said.
Harry nodded and looked expectantly at Minerva. Just as she opened her mouth to begin her spiel, there was another knock at the door. It opened and Francis poked his head through the opening again, "Apologies, sir, but monsieur Harry's tutor has arrived."
Harry smothered a grin, "Send him in, please."
Harry saw Minerva begin to object to a muggle that was not a member of the family being present when Remus walked in. "Mr. Grey," he began sternly, "we have much to accomplish today. What, pray tell, are you doing down here?" He stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Minerva and Florence, raising an eyebrow at their unconventional dress. He did a double take as he caught sight of Minerva's face. Harry inwardly applauded Remus' acting skills.
Stephanie stepped in to introduce Remus, "This is Harry's tutor, Remus Lupin. When we first moved to France two years ago, Harry was not where he was expected to be academically. The previous ambassador's daughter had a similar problem and his wife recommended Remus to us to help Harry along. We have been very satisfied with his performance." She turned to Remus, "Remus this is Minerva McGonnagall and Florence Dischneau. They are trying to convince us to send Harry to one of their schools."
Harry inwardly laughed at the flabbergasted look on Minerva's face. Florence just looked aggravated that anyone not herself was at the center of the family's attention. Remus managed to place a convincingly shocked look on his face when he was introduced to Minerva.
After a moment, Minerva managed to collect herself. "Remus. It has been a long time." She turned to the family, "Now, Hogwarts is one of the oldest schools of magic in Europe. It was founded over a thousand years ago. We will teach you much of the same things that Beauxbatons will, with the added benefit that it is the school that your parents attended."
"Wait," Remus butted in, after seemingly absorbing the shock of seeing his old professor, "what exactly do you mean, Professor? Harry's parents are muggles." He motioned to the couple sitting across from him.
Minerva looked askance at Remus, "Harry is a Potter, Remus. I take it you were unaware of this?"
Remus' jaw dropped rather convincingly, Harry thought, and he dropped to his knees on the floor at Harry's feet placing a hand on either cheek. He turned Harry's face one direction and then another seemingly looking for the resemblance to his birth parents. His shoulders were shaking with emotion, only Harry, who was directly in front of him, could see that that emotion was suppressed mirth rather than the tears that Minerva expected.
Stephanie turned to Minerva with wide eyes, "We had no idea, although it is rather fortuitous, don't you think? How long do we have to consider our options for Harry's schooling?"
Minerva pursed her lips, "Hogwarts would prefer a decision no later than the end of the week. Normally, I would offer to take you to Diagon Alley—the magical shopping district in London—or to Allée de Pamplemousse—the one in Paris—to purchase Harry's supplies for school; however, as you are obviously comfortable with Mr. Lupin, he would be able to show you where to go as well."
Stephanie nodded and turned to Florence, "And when will Beauxbatons require a response?"
"Beauxbatons, also, would prefer an answer by the end of the week."
Marshall nodded, "Very well, thank you ladies for taking the time to come see us. We will be in contact with you both by the end of the week with our decision. Francis will show you out."
The ladies, knowing a clear dismissal when they heard one, rose and followed the butler out of the mansion. As soon as the women had left the room, Stephanie put up a silencing spell and Remus lost his composure snorting in mirth. Stephanie grinned, "I'm impressed, Remus, who knew you were that good of an actor?"
Remus grinned at her, "Of course I am, I was a marauder after all. Do I even need to ask where Harry will go?"
"Not really, it has always been the plan for him to go to Hogwarts. Despite the difficulties I suspect he may face there, it is part of his heritage."
"I want to go to Hogwarts anyhow. I know that it may be challenging, but I'm up for it, you've made sure I had the preparation to be. I want to go to school where my parents went. All of them." Harry said decisively. "Hogwarts won't know what hit them."
Stephanie smirked, "Very well, then. I'll send the owl at the end of the week. It wouldn't do to relieve their tension too soon. I want to take you to Diagon Alley to get your supplies. It really is nothing like any of the other magical shopping centers you've even been to."
Harry grinned, "Okay, mum. We'll have Remus 'show us how to get there' next week, yeah?"
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