DISCLAIMER – Harry Potter and its affiliates are the sole property of JK Rowling. I don't own the characters. I only own the plot. NOTE – This story is MINE and not JK Rowling. I have gotten some nasty reviews on some of my other stories telling me that they didn't like the way I portrayed certain characters. If I wanted to do exactly what JK did, I would just plagiarize her work. Fan fiction isn't about following what the original author writes. It's about writing what YOU want using their characters.
DISCLAIMER – Harry Potter and its affiliates are the sole property of JK Rowling. I only own the plot.
DISCLAIMER – Pairings are Harry/ Luna and Draco/ Susan.
DISCLAIMER – Please don't badger me because you don't like the story. If you find that you do NOT like the story, then please stop reading it and move on. You not liking the story will not prove anything if you get ugly about it except showing that you are a fool. If you want the story to go a certain way, then write your own.
Author's Note – The characters will be very out of canon. I enjoy writing the characters as I want to portray them. It's what makes some of my stories the success that they are. Canon characters are boring.
A SPECIAL THANKS GOES TO DZ2 FOR HIS IDEA OF THE MUSIC CRYSTALS. I LIKED THE IDEA SO MUCH THAT I ASKED PERMISSION TO USE IT AND HE SAID YES. THEREFORE CREDIT FOR THAT GOES TO HIM. I RECOMMEND READING COLD HEART, DARK SOUL BY HIM TO GET THE FULL IDEA HE HAD!
Chapter 10
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Upon returning to the castle, the teens were still fuming about the audacity of the youngest Weasley male. Even the twins were ready to spit acid at his stupidity and mouth. Minerva, Severus, and the founders worked hard to get them to calm down. It wasn't that easy as they had quite a few upset teens to work with.
Upon calming down, they told the others what happened and what was said at the trial. Upon finishing their explanation, the adults could understand the fury that was with the teens. Ronald had said some pretty hurtful and ignorant things to Harry.
"Keep one thing in mind Harry," said Minerva in her soothing voice. "Weasley never did speak with his head. He always just popped out with the most embarrassing and hurtful things he could think of when he wasn't getting his way. Don't you remember that it was because of him that Hermione almost got killed by the troll? It was also his fault that you got into trouble for the flying car incident. Also he wasn't very bright last year with the incident involving the Goblet of Fire. He just isn't a smart person. He will do what he has to, to hurt someone when he doesn't get his way. If I were you, I would just count your blessings that he is now out of your hair. He can't hurt you anymore. He will be in trouble with the Ministry for a VERY long time."
"At least the Wizengamot let you all hex and curse him for a while," offered Severus. "None of you are in trouble for that nor will anyone tell you anything about it. He's just lucky that it was you all that were doing it. Some of the older witches and wizards were looking like they were ready to commit murder. What he said had no truth to it nor did it have the impact that he wanted. All he succeeded in doing was to get to spend the rest of his life in some kind of correctional facility. I would love to have seen him in the mines of the goblins. They would have made sure that his mouth learned to stay shut."
"I know what he said was hurtful, but you are stronger than that," said Helga wisely. "You are one of the most gifted students that have ever graced these halls. I can give you no better praise than that. You are skilled, intelligent, gentle, and compassionate. While the rest of your house mates have that, they don't have them in the abundance that you do."
"You are a good person Harry," said Draco grabbing him by the arm. "You do so much for so many and you NEVER ask for anything in return. Don't let the Weasel get to you. You are better than that, and you are definitely better than he is. I think that every one of us here will tell you that there is no way in hell we will allow the Dark Lord to harm you. You have so much more to give than he does. All he does is harm EVERYONE. That includes his followers. You treat everyone with a generosity that is sometimes annoying if truth be told."
This had the desired effect he was going for. Harry started to laugh. Soon everyone was laughing with him. Minerva gave Draco twenty well-earned points for his assistance. Each person knew that with Harry's power that his emotions would cause his magic to lash out. With his magic being affected by his anger, he could cause serious damage to person or place. While Harry was in control of his magic, there were times when he couldn't stop the maelstrom it would sometimes inadvertently cause.
"I have been thinking about something for a while now," said Godric nodding to Filius who waved his wand and sent wrapped bundles to each of the teens. "It's time for me to start training you how to use something other than a wand. In each of these parcels, there is a sword. While Harry already has one, he can't use it for practice as one small cut could kill someone due to the basilisk venom that is in the blade. We are going to teach you how to use swords to defend yourself. Please note that the swords for the young ladies are slightly different and weigh a little less than those for the young men due to the build of the ladies."
"I have a suggestion as well," said Hermione raising her hand when Godric finished his explanation. After getting a nod from Godric, she continued. "If we are going to learn how to use swords, why don't we take it a step further? My dad was a marksman in the service to Her Royal Majesty before becoming a dentist. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking some time to teach us how to shoot a gun. Even the most powerful of magic user can't stop a bullet if they don't know that it's coming or expect it. I could always send him a letter and see what he says."
"That IS something for us to think about as well," said Severus with a thoughtful look on his face. "Obtaining the weapons and getting a license shouldn't be that hard for Sirius and Amelia to do. From what we are to understand, they talk with the Queen frequently about what's going on here in the magical world. I have no doubt that she would approve it. She may even let us train you at one of the facilities that they train other marksmen with."
"We can also learn karate," said Harry suddenly. At the confused looks on the faces of the purebloods, Harry quickly went on to explain what it was. "It's a form of hand to hand combat. Basically, you are taught how to stop a fist or kick from connecting with your body. You are taught how to hit certain areas of the body to incapacitate your foes. Even a wizard with a wand won't be able to stop a punch to the sternum or other pressure points in the body if it's done correctly and with power. With our classes not being as hard as they normally would be due to our group training together away from everyone else most of the time, we could always take an hour a day if you could find us a teacher that is muggle born or a squib. Within a few months, not only would we be able to defend ourselves with just our hands and feet, but we would also be in better physical condition. Also, incapacitating our foes for just a few moments allows us to escape a situation to regroup and get a better plan of attack if we are at war with someone."
"We'll look into getting you a tutor for that," said Minerva agreeing at once. "I'll ask Sirius to talk with the Queen about you lot learning how to fire a gun. If Hermione's father is willing to do so, he can come to the castle twice a week, for an hour, and teach you all how to fire the weapon. I have no problem with you all learning how to defend yourselves and stopping an aggressor. In fact, I think it's a great idea and I would like to implement it. We can even allow some of our other more trustworthy students to become part of the exercises provided their parents or guardians agree."
"I have a contact in the muggle world that can help us with the Karate part," said Severus to Minerva. "With your permission, I can head out tomorrow and talk with him. I have no doubt that he would be willing to come and teach the teens how to do so. We could even take them to the muggle world where they will be safer while they learn. This will keep Hogwarts safe for those that don't need to know about what we are doing or those that don't know about magic."
"If we get permission for them to learn how to shoot a gun, we can say three times a week they can go out for two hours," said Minerva writing it down. "On the days where Mr. Granger has off, they can take an extra hour of self-defense classes with the Karate. With Severus being with them, I will still worry, but not as much. I'm sure that Sirius can get a Ministry worker or two to assist Severus in their protection. This will still give the students of this tower time to study and do their homework. After all, we don't want them to fall behind in their studies. This is their OWL year."
"From what we are seeing, they are all doing brilliantly in their studies," remarked Filius. "Harry is at the top of his year mates in grades in the studies he is taking. The rest are slowly but steadily improving in their weak spots and climbing to a comfortable level on the chart. With the way we work with them, they are advanced for their year. In some instances, they are learning a grade higher than normal. I think this would benefit this tower if they went and did things that were needed. You are correct that we don't want them to fall behind. Even advanced students will have troubles if they neglect their studies."
The next day, while Severus went into the muggle world, Godric had the teens all standing together in a line. He stood in front of them with Filius standing next to him to show them how to hold the sword correctly. While he was explaining, Filius would go around and help correct holds, stances, and anything else that the teens would need to be effective in the lessons that they were getting in swordsmanship. Once they had the proper holds and stances, Godric taught them how to parry and thrust. He had them repeat the exercise for an hour while helping with correcting form and encouraging them to think about them thrusting their sword into someone trying to kill them to give the thrust more power.
When the training was done, the teens were all groaning about the felling in their arms and legs. While the blades weren't extremely heavy, it was still hard to hold a large bit of metal in a certain stance and do the same repetitive motions over and over. Godric laughed at them and told them to expect this type of training for the next two weeks. He also told them that for an hour in the mornings that they would start with calisthenics so that they could build up their strength and muscle tone.
Severus came in and told the members that he was successful in his endeavor to get them a Sensei for their karate training. Upon inspection of the teens, he saw them all trying to rub out kinks and aches in their arms and lower backs. He took pity on them, and with the assistance of Pomona and Poppy, he rubbed in some potion into their arms, legs, and backs to help relieve the stress from the day's training.
"We are going to use this potion daily on your muscles," instructed Severus. "Tonight, you all are going to learn how to brew it. The purpose of the potion is to keep your muscles from causing you to not sleep. It doesn't take away your aches so much as it lessens the tension in your muscles. One other thing that you will all do is to soak in a hot tub of scented water each night. The tubs are well large enough for you all to soak for at least thirty minutes. Starting next week, you will be going out for two hours each evening to learn karate with Sensei Kim. She will push you to extremes just like Godric and Filius will. Tuesdays and Thursdays, you will have two hours with Sensei Kim as you will have an hour at the shooting range on the other three days."
"So Sirius was able to get us three nights a week to learn how to shoot a gun?" asked Harry while Severus rubbed in the potion. "Will we get a license to carry a gun and such when we are done?"
"He was very successful in that particular endeavor," stated Severus with a nod. "You will all receive a license and a registered gun upon your graduation of training with the marksmen at the range. The training should take about two months if not longer. It just depends on how well you all do with what you are being taught. I would imagine that within a year, your Sensei will want to up your training in hand to hand combat as well. I will be participating in that as will a couple of Aurors that will be assigned there for your protection. That way, we can have adults learning the techniques as well as you youngsters. Now that you are all wearing some of the potion, you are to head to the tubs and start to soak. I'll come and get you in about an hour so that you can learn how to brew it. From there, you all have homework to complete."
From there the teens all went for their soak. They knew that when Severus suggested something that it was for the best. In the months that they had been working together, they were all marveling at the changes in people. Sirius was more serious. He took to his duties with pride and gusto. Draco was calmer and walking around with natural poise and happiness on his face. Severus was no longer a cruel taskmaster that was determined to make students cry and fear him. Even people like Harry and Luna were actually walking around differently. Since they became engaged to one another, the pair was rarely seen out of the company of the other. Of course, when they needed time alone or with their own gender, the other would politely find something to do and no one's feelings were hurt.
Sirius came to the castle the next day during their training with the swords. He watched the teens as they went through the drills. It seemed that they were comfortable with what they were doing. He knew the teens needed more than one way to defend themselves and their group. He stood with Filius as the teens finished their lesson for the day. Upon entering the tower, he assisted the professors in applying the potion to the students. Severus worked with them the night before to brew the new batch. Even though it was an advanced potion, all of them were able to brew it with no troubles.
"You will have your first lesson in gun control and usage on Monday," he informed the teens. "Also, we had to push back the trial for Ginevra Weasley by a week. Her trial will be at ten in the morning a week from Thursday. Once that is done, we can finally get rid of some of the troublemakers that have been causing problems for some of you in this tower. For your forays into the muggle world, Tonks will be your guard while Kingsley will actually take the classes with you to help you along the way. From there, he will teach what he learns to others via a pensieve. This way, he can show the recruits to the Auror department what he is learning and we can all learn effectively. Some of our muggleborn witches and wizards will accompany you to the firing range so that they have another weapon in their arsenal to fight the forces of the Dark Lord with. The more weapons we have the easier it will be to stop him and his cronies."
"Hermione," Harry called when Sirius was done talking. Hermione had picked her book back up and was attempting to read it again. "I noticed that for the last few days that you have had your nosed pressed into that book. What are you researching? Is it something that all of us can learn? You know we would love to share in some of the knowledge you are picking up if it's important."
"I actually found out some of the powers of a Shadow Cat," said Hermione pointing to the book. "Some of the gifts that you have will go a long way in helping us win this war. There is not a ton of information, but what IS here is very useful. If you all sit here, I can tell you what I found out. It is really good. From there, we can hit the tubs and then finish our homework."
The students all looked surprised at each other as they made their way to their chairs. Hermione was very gifted when it came to research. When she stated that something was useful and interesting, you could bet that she meant what she said. Sirius shrugged at Severus as he too sat and waited to hear what the younger witch found out.
"A Shadow Cat is aptly named," she began with the basics. "A Shadow Cat can travel using the shadows that surround them. Even the smallest of shadows can be used to assist the travel from one place to another. As they are a predatory cat, they have nothing to worry about in the shadows. Even a vampire or other shadow creature will not be able to harm a Shadow Cat that is traveling in the shadows. Certain types of magical creatures can also travel in the shadows, but the power of a Shadow Cat is unique. They can actually cast spells in the language of the feline. Most other creatures of the shadow realm can't cast magic in the shadow themselves. They can use the shadows to assist them, but they can't use magic IN the shadows. Harry will be an exception to that rule."
"Whoa," said Harry. "Are you telling me that even in my animagus form that I can cast spells at people? That would be kind of hard wouldn't it? I'm only just learning how to do wandless magic thanks to Salazar. I'm doing alright in nonverbal for my year, but wandless is still difficult depending on the spell I'm using."
"It won't be that hard for you," said Hermione patiently. "In fact, your wandless magic should get easier the more you use it. I would say that you are not having the success you want due to you not believing in yourself. You are holding yourself back. Next, being a true human, you should be able to start speaking the language of the feline just as you can the serpent. This will enable you to have another advantage in the fight against the Dark Lord. He can only speak parseltongue. You can speak the language of cats. I think that Godric has been waiting to find another that can do that. It's part of the reason that his mascot is the Lion. He could actually TALK to the cats. You will be able to do the same."
"I do have some books that have been written in the language," said Godric. "Harry should be able to read them just as easy as he can read Sal's books that are written in parseltongue. There is no training needed. Either you have the gift or you don't. I can have the books brought to you tonight while you are resting. There is no need to rush to learn what's in them. If you are able to read them, they can help you. You can always teach the others what you learn if you feel it important for them to do so. If you can't read them, it isn't that big of a deal."
"The last thing that is important for you to know is that in your animagus form, you can apparate anywhere in the world," said Hermione. "You can even apparate here inside of Hogwarts. Much like a phoenix can go anywhere, you will have the ability to do the same. There are no wards able to stop a Shadow Cat from entering a place if they choose to go there. I think that once you get the hang of some of your powers, that you will be able to apparate in your human form anywhere you want to go with just a mere thought."
"Thank you for that information," said Harry with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'm not sure what to make of all of this yet. I know that you wrote that all down and stuff. I'll have to read it again to make sure I understand it all. I guess it still depends on me letting my mind believe that I can actually do this stuff. The sooner we start testing some of the theories, the sooner I can start to grasp what you mean. I know that even with all of the intelligence I have that sometimes, you have to convince yourself that you are in fact capable of doing things."
"I think there is something else you should know," said Godric as he gave a pointed look at Severus. "We believe that you have more gifts than you realize. Severus and Sal did some tests on your blood and we came to the conclusion that you have even more benefits than the normal witch or wizard would have. We waited to tell you as you already have so much going on, but now is as good a time as any to tell you what we think and believe."
"We found that you should have some of the same healing qualities that a phoenix does," said Severus before Harry could ask. "When we examined your blood under a modified microscope that I created, we noticed that some of your blood cells were different from normal. Before you start to panic and bemoan the fact, this is a VERY good thing. You will be immune to most poisons if not all of them. So far, all of the poisons we have tried have all failed to infect your blood sample. Only one poison that we know of is as lethal as a basilisk. Acromantula venom is powerful enough to kill immediately. However, we don't have the skill to go near the nest to obtain some of the venom needed to see if you are immune to that as well."
"We believe that it's because you were bitten by the basilisk that I had in the Chamber of Secrets," said Salazar. "The poison was in your blood for a few minutes even before Fawkes cried into the wound. Your body, while it WAS losing, was actually adapting to the poison in your system. You survived the bite and you were healed by the phoenix tears entering into your system. So we have come to the conclusion that you are safer than most in the aspect that your blood can't be poisoned by conventional methods due to have the most deadly poison and the most powerful antidote entering your blood steam. It is safe to say that if you were bitten by a snake that you would only feel the pain of the initial bite as the poison would be ineffective to your blood."
"I actually like the sound of that," said Harry quietly. "I have noticed that I heal faster when I get hurt. It takes anything from a couple of minutes to an hour or so at most to heal when I get cut or hurt. Dursley broke my arm during the summer and it healed in a few days. That must be the phoenix tears doing that. What type of magic can parseltongue and feline do? I know that the Dark Lord uses parseltongue to hurt people, but there has to be a light side to all of that."
"Ah!" stated Salazar with delight. "I'm so glad that you asked. Parselmagic can actually be used to heal an individual and fight curses within the body. Protective spells are powerful when cast in parseltongue. I suggest that you start practicing some of your spells in the serpent language so that you can get a feel of how good they are. Sometimes, we need to do things by trial and error so that we learn what it is we need to learn. In this aspect, this will be a trial and error testing for you to see if you can use the serpent tongue to do good things with. I highly doubt that you will have any trouble, but we can take it one step at a time. Unfortunately, you will have another set of lessons added to your already full plate."
"The feline tongue is used to fight with," said Godric when Sal was done. "While your DADA spells are good, if you use them talking in the feline language, you will intensify them by about fifty times stronger than they already are. Once you read my books on the language, you will be given special training so that you can use the language as well as your animagus form to cast spell with."
"We have one more bit of news for you and then you are to head off to your bath," said Severus. "Three times a week, we will get together and I will teach you Occlumency and Legilimency. We want you to be able to protect your minds as well as use the gift of mind magic. This will enable you to protect yourselves better. If a person such as the Dark Lord or Dumbledore can't read your mind, then they have no idea as to what you are going to do next. I am speculating that Harry will now have a natural barrier in his mind since he has become the Shadow Cat. I also read that it is one of the gifts of that particular animagus forms. There were only three others in history that could do that. Circe, Godric, Merlin, and now Harry are the ones that can say they could do that."
"You are just full of surprises aren't you Godric?" asked a grinning Harry. "It seems that the more we find out about ourselves the more we find out that the four founders were even more special than history revealed. I have no doubt that someone will give us a history lesson tomorrow. I do hope that we can get some more input as to what the ladies have done in this building. I would hate to have to hex the spirits of the two male founders for hogging up the show."
"Can you even hex a spirit?" asked Neville as the boys headed up to the men's bathroom. "I didn't think it was possible to hex something that is already dead."
"Neville, my friend, you have a lot to learn," said Harry wrapping an arm over his shoulders. "With magic, you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Why do you think Peeves no longer bothers me? I did some research and created a spell that will actually make a ghost or poltergeist run in fear. I hope to have my spell sent to wherever it needs to go for recognition."
The four founders were standing there speechless. Even Severus and Sirius weren't sure what to make of that conversation. Harry was already creating spells. Now he created one that makes a spirit run in fear of something happening to it. Harry's magic and knowledge seemed to have no bounds to it.
"I think that once the soul shard was taken from him that he was able to start using his full potential," stated Rowena. "He has power and knowledge in abundance. I would even venture to say that he is more powerful than we were in our prime. All he needs is the knowledge and confidence to go with it. He will rival Merlin in name when it's all said and done."
With that the adults all left the teens to their devices for the evening. Severus was going to wait for a few days before he stated training the teens in the arts of the mind magic. He knew that the teens already had a full plate.
Time was starting to seriously fly for the teens. With two hours a day spent in the muggle world training, an hour with Severus learning mind magic, and their homework for their classes, the teens had very little time for normal activities. Godric still trained them for an hour in the day for their sword practice. The teens took it all in stride and with the endurance that all youngsters had, they didn't complain much and just went with it. The resilience of the teens was astonishing as they just seemed to bounce back.
During one of the evenings, Helga sat the teens down for a history lesson. The teens were delighted to be taught something by the normally passive healer. They knew she was a powerful witch in her time, but she rarely told them about her contributions to the castle and such.
"As many of you noticed, there are many statues and suits of armor all around the castle," she began when she noticed all the dicta-quills set up and ready to go. "We created them to help in the defense of the castle. Each statue or suit or armor is able to move and defend us if the need is there. While Salazar had his pet, I went a different route. Who would be scared of a badger? Therefore, I used some of my family magic to breathe a little bit of life into each of them. When the code word is said, they will totally come alive and defend the castle until they are completely obliterated."
"That's fascinating," stated Harry as he listened with rapt attention. "However, you gave the suits of armor more than just an activation code. The suits are able to walk around on their own. If I didn't know any better, I would swear you did it to confuse those that weren't supposed to be in a certain part of the castle or indeed the castle at all."
"You would be correct Harry," she admitted. "I did design them to confuse people who aren't supposed to be in certain areas. The idea came that even though we separated the houses that the students needed time to themselves to be with their family within Hogwarts. Therefore, we made sure that the suits would confuse members of the other houses from finding the entrances to the dorm rooms of the others houses. Now I know you were all expecting more tonight, but that is the history that I am giving. I was the one to create the statues and armor and give them the personality that I did. I did it to protect the students and the castle in times of war. In time, I will give the three heirs the activation code. Normally only the Headmaster, Headmistress, and the Deputy can have the code, but I feel that the heirs need it as well."
The group all sat around and talked a bit about this. They were impressed with the thought that went into the idea as well as the execution of the style. They all knew that this would be beneficial if the Dark Lord decided to attack the castle for whatever reason.
"I have a gift for everyone," said Harry nodding to Dobby to bring him the trunk from his room. "I was reading about different Arithmancy formulas and I came up with the greatest thing. Once I was successful, I was able to make one for everyone that is in the castle. It took me some time, but I was able to do so. I've been working on this for about a month or so. I had the elves go around and find out what everyone's favorite kind of music was. From there, I created music crystals. Once I had the general concept, it was easy to place the music into the crystals. The hardest part was creating the actual crystals and instilling the magic to let the music play."
"So this is more magic that you have created to help others or to give relief to people who want it," said Minerva impressed. "That you did it in secret to offer a present to everyone and you have a very skilled person sitting in front of me. What did you chose for my music?"
"Bagpipe music of course," said Harry smiling. "Severus likes classical music. It took some time for all of the elves to hear what type of music everyone was playing. Therefore I had to wait to start putting the music in the crystals. Being Scottish, I knew you would love the sound of bagpipes. So I got some of that music and placed it in a crystal for you."
Harry reached into the trunk and pulled out some crystals and read the names tags. He gave each member of the tower theirs and asked for permission to go to the four other common rooms to give the students and teachers theirs. Minerva made things easy for Harry and called the students and professors to assembly in the Great Hall. Harry and Dobby got the trunk to the Great Hall where he explained to the students and other professors what he had done.
"I will start marketing these soon," said Harry. "I just have to talk with Sirius and a solicitor to get the paperwork started. Once that is done, I can start making these in bulk and set up a shop somewhere to sell them. I think they would make a lovely gift for friends and relatives. If this doesn't take too long, I can have my shop set up by the end of the school year. I hope that you all enjoy what I made for you. I just wanted to do something nice for everyone."
Everyone read the little pamphlet given with their crystal to learn how to activate them. Harry was delighted to see so many with the crystals flashing with the soft lights while the music played softly for them. Each student and professor was smiling largely as they headed back for their common rooms. Many of them knew that this was a wonderful thing that Harry had done for them. The members of his tower were in awe of the gifts. Luna was listening to her crystal that had sounds of nature in it. He had made one similar for himself as it helped him to concentrate better.
Harry promised the group that lived with him that he would teach them how to make the crystals and that he would pay them to help him make enough to stock his store in Diagon Alley as well as one in Hogsmeade. He even offered some of them jobs during the summer to work in the two shops. His friends were delighted by the prospect and were eager to learn how to help him and earn some spending money for themselves. Fred and George even offered to let him make them and stock them in their joke shop as one of the few non joke items available for sale.
Each night after that, Severus would sit the teens down and work with them on building their shields to protect their minds. Just like he suspected, Harry had natural barriers that not even he could penetrate. Many didn't know it, but Severus was just as high up in mind magic as Voldemort and Dumbledore. He knew many tricks that he would teach the teens that would help them succeed in defeating the evil that was threatening to take over the planet. So far, the teens were receptive to his teaching. A few of them complained about headaches after, but Severus assured them that it would get better the more they improved.
Harry sat there and made a list of things that he knew he had to do in one day's time. An hour before breakfast, he had calisthenics with Godric. From there, he had enough time to get a quick shower before he went to breakfast. After breakfast he had normal classes until four in the afternoon on some days and five on others. At seven, the teens had two hours of karate and their gun classes. At nine, they had an hour with Godric to work on swordsmanship. From ten thirty to midnight, they did their studying and homework. Thankfully, the year was starting to move by. December turned into January, and January turned into February. It wasn't long before it was time for Ginny's trial.
On that morning, Luna was a bit cranky. She wasn't feeling one hundred percent and asked to be left at the castle to get some more sleep. She was tired from all of the extracurricular activities that she was doing. Minerva and Poppy promised to keep an eye on her for Harry. The rest of the teens headed out to the Ministry building to witness the final trial of the people who were attempting to harm Harry and his group. Once everyone was sitting, Augusta started the proceedings.
"Before we begin, is there any new news that needs to be brought to our attention?" she asked as she noticed that Luna wasn't present. "If so, now is the time to bring it to our attention so that we can get on with the trial of the youngest of the Weasley bunch."
"Madam Chief Witch," called Harry. "Luna couldn't be here today due to illness. Madam Pomphrey and Headmistress McGonagall are sitting with her to make sure it's nothing serious. As her betrothed, I am asking that you use your position as proxy to vote how you want due to her not being here. I'm sure she would feel better knowing that her vote will count."
"I would be honored to cast the vote for her Lord Potter," stated Augusta smiling. "When you see her when you get back to the castle, would you please tell her for us that we are hoping that she gets better soon? We also hope that she is going to recover quickly."
"I'm sure it's nothing more than fatigue," assured Harry. "Our physical trainers are pushing us a bit hard and Luna is smaller than the rest of us making it even harder on her system than ours. Between our lessons with Her Royal Majesty's service men, Godric's swordsmanship, and our other extracurricular physical training, it has finally caught up to her. I must admit that I'm a little tired myself. We have been pushing hard not only physically, but mentally as well."
"Just let us know if you need anything," said Sirius. "We don't want you all collapsing all over the place if we are placing too many burdens on your shoulders. If it's too much, then you all need to tell us. We won't know unless you speak. Please promise me that you will tell someone if it becomes too much. I know for a fact that you are taking nine classes at Hogwarts and you are passing each and every one of them with top scores. You are also doing side study for two more classes."
"The school year is almost done and some of the lessons I won't have next year," stated Harry. "We are all doing alright, but I promise that one of us will speak up if we can't handle it all. May we please begin this trial? Some of us want to get back home and check on Luna and maybe take a nap so that we can get caught up on some rest."
Augusta and Sirius both blushed for a moment before she turned to the gathering and ordered that the Weasley female child be brought forth. The guards escorted Ginny into the room and placed her on the chair. She was bound by the chains. From there, Augusta looked at her notes and began the trial.
"We are gathered here today for the last time to judge the actions of the last person in the group that was intent on causing harm to Lord Potter and his group," said Augusta. "The charges for this prisoner are as follows: She was accepting illegal money that was taken out of Lord Potter's vaults knowing where it came from and that it was being stolen. She is also being charged with using dangerous potions on a fellow student at Hogwarts to entrap said student in guilt if the plan to ensnare Lord Potter went wrong. She was also spying on Lord Potter in attempts to bring harm to him. She is also being accused to attempting to use Potions on Lord Potter in an attempt to not only get pregnant by him, but to get access to his family fortune after the child was conceived. It is even being stated that she was going to cause an accident to Lord Potter so that she would be able to have the Potter family fortune in her hands as proxy for her unborn child. This means that she was going to attempt line theft and murder."
"These are pretty much the same crimes that her brother was recently convicted of," said Sirius as the members were muttering. "We went back and questioned Ronald Weasley more and discovered that the plan was for Lord Potter to die and his money was going to be given to Molly, Ronald, and Ginevra Weasley as well as Albus Dumbledore. These allegations were presented and the truth was stated in front of this esteemed panel. Lord Potter and his group are rather busy with school and we felt that it was in their best interest to leave them out of that particular round of questioning."
"Suffice to say that Molly Weasley and Albus Dumbledore were sentenced fifty years more to their already long time for their actions," said Amelia. "As neither was in on the plot to actually kill Lord Potter, they will not be receiving the Death Penalty. Ronald Weasley is due to receive the Dementor's Kiss in April. He is still in the mindset that Dumbledore will rescue him and he will be able to assist his sister in their quest to murder Lord Potter."
"I'm starting to think that maybe I should just leave the wizarding world all together," hissed Harry in anger. "It seems to me that every time something good happens to me, someone wants to come along and take it all away from me again. I have a megalomaniac trying to kill me for a stupid false prophecy that Dumbledore made just because he feels like it. Then we find out that certain people have done things to me just because I'm Harry fucking Potter. I am so tired of being hailed as a hero one minute and then a villain the next. I want to know who in their right mind expects me to sit back and continue to save everyone when every time that I do someone else wants me dead for it. It just doesn't make sense to me that the more I give, the more is expected of me and that when I do something small for myself that I get ostracized for it. I have had about enough."
"It makes me wonder if other people are in the same boat as Lord Potter," said Draco speaking next. "I mean, we know that there are certain people that think they can do whatever they want and can get away with it. Molly Weasley and Dumbledore get to stay in prison and get three meals a day and a place to sleep while Harry has to go around watching his back for the next knife thrown. I have to actually applaud him for his durability in staying uplifted and positive all the time about this. If I were him, I would just start hexing people for their ignorance and demeaning ways and be done with it. It's the same thing over and over again."
"What do you mean by that last statement?" asked Sirius. "What is happening over and over again? I think a clarification of your statement would go a long way in helping us put an end to the cycle that you see but we are missing. Would you please explain?"
"Think about this if you will," said Harry speaking instead. "We have Dumbledore blaming a whole lot of crap on Gellert Grindelwald. From there, the two supposedly had an epic battle where Dumbledore became the victor. Now from what is being said, the two were evenly matched in skill and knowledge. How is it, that Dumbledore was able to win that battle when Gellert had the Elder Wand? I know from experience that the magic cast with this particular wand is twice if not three times more than the average wand."
"We get our historical facts from the spirits of the four founders," said Susan. "We are listening to what they have to tell us on what really happened. You get people that will latch onto one person because they SAY that something happened. Take Lockhart for example. He is the biggest fraud and criminal known outside of the Weasleys and Dumbledore. It seems that every so many years, people will follow one person because of a misconceived role or deed done. Everyone who is everyone will think that Harry stopped the Dark Lord that night all those years ago. HOW DO WE KNOW? NONE of us were there. We don't know what happened that night. For all we know, the Dark Lord made a mistake and cast his spell wrong. It could have been something that Lily Potter did to save Harry at the last moment. We just don't know."
"People have been targeting Harry for something different each and every year that he has attended Hogwarts," said Hermione from her spot in the visitor's booth. "He has been called many bad things because of abilities he has that others don't. Some have even gone so far as to call him the next Dark Lord when we all know there isn't anything dark about Harry in the slightest. He is the epitome of generosity and goodwill. He is generous to the point of people taking advantage of that goodness."
"Then you get the greedy people that cause problems for him and demand that he do things," said Neville. "Rita Skeeter made a complete smear campaign against Harry and he NEVER got compensated for the insults, trash talking, and smut that were constantly written about him daily in the newspaper. He never once asked for anything more than to be left alone. Now we have all of this coming out that people want him dead just because he has money. It isn't even money that was his to start with. His mother and father lost their lives and that is what he got in exchange. I agree with the others. People just need to leave him alone. It isn't anyone's business if he is in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. It isn't anyone's business if his scar would hurt him. It isn't anyone's business that he wants to marry Luna."
"In a nutshell, people need to learn to shut the fuck up and deal with their own lives instead of telling me how to live mine," said Harry through gritted teeth. "All I want is to do well in my classes, open my shop when I graduate to sell my products and make a name for things that I do instead of what people THINK I have done. I just want people to butt the hell out of my private affairs and keep their hands off of what belongs to me. If things don't improve soon, I will talk to the founders and me and Luna with a few others will leave this shit hole. It's time for Magical Britain to think with its head instead of its vaults. After today, the next person that threatens my life or livelihood better run. If they don't, I won't be responsible for my actions while I'm declaring Blood Feud on them."
"I think it best that we just get this over with and let us go back home to the castle," said Luna entering the room. "My betrothed has had just about all he can manage. If he snaps and starts cursing those that have caused some of this, then many of you only have yourselves to blame. I apologize for just showing up, but my future husband needs me. I saw in a vision that he was about to snap and I for one won't blame him in the slightest."
"I doubt that many of us present would blame him," said an awed Augusta. "It just so happens that I agree with everything that has been said. We will look into getting you restitution for the slander of your good name by the Prophet. We will also look into getting you the privacy that you want and deserve."
"Don't worry about it," said Harry as Luna massaged his scalp and temples. "I had Sirius draw up the papers and bought out the shareholders of the Prophet. I now own the paper and they no longer have the right to print anything about me without my permission. I would like for all authors of books about me to be looked into and said authors be fined for what they wrote. Neither I nor my deceased parents gave them permission to write anything at all about me. I want all books about me taken off the shelves and all people responsible punished. Now I think it's time to get the harlot sentenced and get her out of my sight. I don't want to have to look upon her greedy face any longer. Just the sight of her is making me sick to my stomach."
"Well let's just do it this way," said Augusta getting back to business. "Ginevra Weasley, for your roles in all of this, this court finds you guilty. You will join your brother in receiving the Dementor's Kiss in April. Anyone who would do half of what you did doesn't deserve leniency for your actions. You will be recorded in history as the youngest person to receive the death penalty. We cannot, and will not tolerate people like you trying to kill others just because they have something that you want. This session of the Wizengamot is now closed."
"Harry," called Sirius. "I think that the lot of you deserves a few days rest to get your bearings back. I'll talk to Minerva about relieving you for a few days from all activities and so forth so that you all can rest and relax."
"No," Harry responded. "Please don't do that. We are going to be fine. I think that my emotions are just a little off right now due to all of this finally coming to a head. I can't believe that they were going to actually kill me just because they wanted my money. This is a seriously screwed up situation. I want people to just back off of me and let me do what I need to do to make sure that MY life is what I make it instead of what others WANT me to be or do. We all have the right to determine our own destinies. I shouldn't have mine taken away due to who I am or what I have."
"We are going to fix all of this," promised Severus. "We will all team together to make sure that much of this is stopped and that your life is yours to live. You are an adult in the eyes of our world. You are a human being just like the rest of us and deserve to be treated as such. This will get better. Just let us do what we need to do to make most of this end. Life is always hard. Yours was harder than most due to the fact that no one bothered to help you with it. We now have the means to help you. So just relax and work on your lessons and let us deal with the outside world."
"Well said Severus," stated Sirius. "Thank you for your words. I had no way of putting what I was thinking and feeling into an articulate sentence. You have just spoken everything that I was trying to figure out how to say. Good work. I think these teens should at least have the rest of the day to be teens. No classes and no training today at least."
"I'll see to it immediately," promised Severus. "I think a good swim in the Prefect's bathroom and some music would go a long way to remind them that they are teens and that having fun is allowed."
With that, Severus took the teens back to Hogwarts. Harry was still troubled, but he slowly relaxed when Severus and Minerva created a beach themed party for them in the Prefect's bathroom. Soon, sounds of laughter and splashing could be heard as the Champions and their companions finally broke down and had some fun.