A/N: Thanks for the reviews again. They keep me writing and help me improve. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

The Great Hall was loud with discussion, and the muggleborn students that didn't understand what was happening, were being filled in. The last time someone had dared to defy the Goblins in their practices, the Goblins had waged war on the Wizarding World. That was the reason for the last Goblin Rebellion. Hence the reason Harry was getting a lot of dirty looks. He had just unleashed what was guaranteed to be a shit storm.

"POTTER! Do you have any idea what the hell you've just done!?" For once, the person shouting at Harry wasn't Ron or Hermione. It was, in fact, Draco Malloy. "The Goblins are going to freeze our money, you uneducated buffoon! How are we going to pay for things? What are our parents going to live off of now?" For once in his life, Malfoy was getting nods of agreement from people outside of Slytherin.

Harry was silent for a moment, before responding. "You know, there is some benefit in being in my Defense Club, Draco. I'm sure you already know that, considering you are in it." This caused some of the more hard line Slytherins to look at him with looks of confusion and betrayal. "However, that's not what the issue that is worrying me the most. Why is my lawsuit against Gringotts front page news, while the attack on our school is nowhere to be seen?"

This raised a few eyebrows, and Harry heard a few papers rustling hurriedly, in an obvious attempt to find the story. Parvati Patil found it first. "Here it is! It's on the last page," she said, with overt disgust in her voice. She started reading the ridiculously small article.

"Yesterday, at Hogwarts, a number of rogue elements managed to infiltrate the school during a Quidditch match. The attack was put down fairly quickly by students and teachers alike and some Aurors were dispatched to help with the aftermath. Only a few casualties were reported to the Daily Prophet, and the parents of the victims have been notified." She stopped reading. Harry looked at her, before gesturing with his hand that he wanted her to continue.

"That's it," she said. "There's nothing else in the whole paper as far as I can tell."

"WHAT!? They've taken a serious attack and turned it into a joke!" Harry was boiling inside. This was ridiculous. Never in his life had he seen such a poor attempt at fact finding as this. "Why the hell are they playing this off like some amateurs did it? Casualties? They were DEATHS! And they didn't even mention VOLDEMORT!" Multiple squeaks and a hiss or two were heard at the mention of that name. Harry tossed his copy of the paper in the air, before setting it alight with his wand.

Pansy Parkinson spoke this time. Her voice was far more derisive than Malfoy's had been. "What are you, Potter, some kind of imbecile? Who do you think owns the Daily Prophet?" Harry was silent because he didn't know the answer. He had always assumed that it was privately owned like the news papers in the muggle world. "THE MINISTRY! You brainless baboon. You wonder why there was no mention of the Dark Lord. Well, it's because they don't want people knowing. And with you making your amazingly smart move to sue Gringotts, you're in a prime position to be the scapegoat yet again!" Her tone had turned from scathing to joyous at the thought of Harry's misfortune.

Harry shot up out of his chair, fuming and feeling as though he could spit pure venom. He stormed out of the Great Hall as a regal looking owl swooped into the Great Hall and landed in front of the Headmaster. It was holding rolled up parchment and stuck its leg out to be relieved of its light burden. Professor Dumbledore took the parchment and read it. The students, who had begun speaking again after Harry had left, quieted quickly when the Headmaster stood. "The Minister has just sent out a missive that anyone whose funds have been frozen in the bank may apply for aid from the Ministry itself. They will be giving enough to allow food and shelter to continue, but frivolous lifestyles may have to be cut back on." Some of the Slytherins groaned at this, but it was really only the rich ones who hadn't known what was about to happen. "He also states that any applications will be reviewed carefully so that unnecessary payments aren't made to families that don't need the money." He rolled up the letter and slipped it into his pocket. He made a motion for the students to continue on with their meals, and sat back down. He leaned to his left and in a low voice said to Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, I'll need to see you, Severus, and Filius in my office after breakfast. There are things we must discuss." She nodded and went on with her eating her food.

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Harry, in his frustration at the whole situation, wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He ended up back at the common room and headed for his dorm. He went to his trunk and tapped it with his wand in a fixed pattern that he had created and, thinking the password, unlocked it. He grabbed the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak. He could remember being attacked. It seemed so long ago. It was a good thing that Ron and Hermione hadn't ruined either of those items, because they were precious to him. He still wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten the items, but he was sure that the lack of a full on defense system for his trunk had something to do with it. He was learning to become more cautious at all times.

He put on the cloak and headed for the Room of Requirement. He didn't care about people knowing that he was going there particularly; he just wanted to be alone for the time being. He got there and thought, while pacing back and forth, "I need a place to relax, I need a place to relax, I need a place to relax." On his third pass, a door handle appeared. He walked up and wrenched it open after making sure no one was nearby. The map was clear, so he was positive no one knew where he was. Inside was a blue room. It was a soft sort of blue that was easy on the eyes, and very calming. There was a comfortable looking couch, with a table in front of it, and a fireplace, which they both faced. The fire place had a fire in it, and it was giving off just the right amount of heat.

Harry draped his cloak over the arm of the couch and flopped down in the middle, and immediately relaxed. This piece of furniture had to be magical. There was no way it wasn't. It felt like it conformed to his every curve, while softly massaging his body. He started thinking about everything that was going on. The attack by Voldemort, the lack of coverage by the Daily Prophet, his lawsuit against Gringotts, Luna. The last one gave him a twisting feeling in his chest. He was frustrated that she would be in so much pain.

'I wish there was something I could do. Something, anything.' He suddenly felt a heavy weight on his lap. It wasn't as if the object fell, more like it just showed up there out of thin air. He opened his eyes and looked down, only to see his family book on The Touch. He touched it softly, and then grabbed the cover, prying it open. In a sudden flurry of pages, the book opened itself to page 58. Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the title of the chapter. "Healing Spell Damage," he read aloud.

He sat there and stared for a few moments. Disbelief was all he could feel. This chapter hadn't been in the book when he had skimmed through it over the summer. Some strange magic was at work here, but he was certainly thankful for it. After recovering from his shock, he began to read. And as he did, he couldn't stop the smirk that stretched across his face.

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The Headmaster and the three Heads of House sat in the grand office on the seventh floor, in a silence. Professor Sprout had not been invited because of the potential for Order of the Phoenix related conversations. Snape broke the silence. "This is going to cause problems, Albus. Serious ones. I am beginning to wonder if he does things without thinking of the consequences first. I realize that he grew up ignorant of the ways of the Wizarding World, but at this point, it's not a good excuse anymore. He's what most wizards and witches would consider as being Upper Class. They expect him to have a certain amount of decorum. He's not displaying it." His words had no sharp tone, as they did when he was in class. Not even a touch of disdain. He was flat. Simply stating facts.

"I know, Severus, I know. But what you, and everyone else, must see is that he is doing so much more. It is impossible for him to come out and say what it happening, but the tides of change are coming in, and what's been written in the sand will be washed away. I hope your castle is made of something sturdier than sand." Dumbledore responded. He had often seen in Harry's mind, when the boy was younger, his desire for change in the world. Both Muggle and Wizarding. As the years progressed, he could see more and more that Harry was making the Wizarding World his home, and that this would become the boy's focus.

Dumbledore continued. "We have a bigger problem. With this latest move by Harry and the Daily Prophet's blatant disregard of this attack, Harry will once again be painted as the Boy-Who-Lives-To-Gain-Attention. We were all here, and we all know that that isn't the case, but people will be disinclined to believe much of what comes out of Hogwarts. I could make a statement about the attack, but the Ministry has been busy with a smear campaign against my name. And if I know Cornelius, he will silence any dissention amongst his Aurors with threats of job loss, and possibly worse. In all my years, I don't think I've seen anyone so eager to hold on to their power as Cornelius Fudge is. So from here on out, we must tread lightly." He received nods of agreement from the three people sitting across from him. "I've already sent out letters to all the parents of the students, telling them to be cautious about what they say and do."

Filius spoke up. "Is there nothing we can do? Is there no way to convince the population at large of what is going on here? There must be something we can do!" The little man had quite a temper on him. You didn't want to get on his bad side. Dueling Champion in his youth, he would cut you down to his size if you crossed him.

"All that we can hope for is that the parents will open their eyes when their children write home about what happened, and that word will spread. Until that happens, if it happens at all, we must wait and watch. We will, however, continue to counter Voldemort in any way we can. This brings me to my next point. The Practical Defense Club." He got confused looks at that statement, wondering how he could link those together. "I will be requiring all students that the three of you deem competent from your houses, to participate. I'll be informing Pomona later. " Raised eyebrows were the response this time. "Severus, I will be asking you to team up with Minerva and Filius to teach the students a more intensive version of their curriculum. This will be a separate group from the one that Harry has already started. I have seen his plans for the group, and I wish to let him continue to hone their skills in whatever way he sees fit. He has their loyalty and they will likely become his own little mini army." Professor McGonagall interrupted at this.

"Albus, as much as I like and trust Harry, don't you think that it may be a little unwise for him to have a little 'mini army' as you call it?" She knew that Harry was a trustworthy boy that wouldn't abuse what power he had, but his actions lately caused a hesitation on her part. For a long time, she had been able to envision, in her mind, what the future would hold. Now, though, with the Wizarding World falling into chaos that it hadn't seen since the first war against Voldemort, the path was foggy. She didn't like that feeling.

"Don't worry, Minerva, he has the Wizarding World's best interests at heart. He will do only what is necessary to promote the well being of this society." If asked, the three heads of house would say that Dumbledore had a soft spot for Harry, and that it was too soft. Melting ice cream soft. Ask Dumbledore, on the other hand, and he would tell you that he simply had more information than anyone else did. After all, you don't become Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by being ignorant and unaware.

Rather than argue the point, which they had learned was a futile endeavor, they just let it go.

"Severus, I'm going to ask a favor of you." Professor Snape nodded at the Headmaster. "I'm going to need you to work on more intensive Occlumency and Legillimency practices with Harry. I have a bit of an assignment for him, and he needs to have top quality mental shields." The Headmaster gave him a heavy look, showing that this was a serious matter. Not that the Potions professor would have treated it as anything different, but the sparkling blue eyes that drilled into his obsidian ones, let him know that it was quite possibly, life or death.

"How good do they need to be?" he asked, wanting, and needing, to know how intensive to make the sessions. The Headmaster's response caught him by surprise.

"Better than yours." Snape's eyes widened at this. He could do it, but it would take quite a bit of time. "By Christmas." Snape's jaw threatened to hit the floor. It would take time that he now knew he didn't have.

"With all due respect Headmaster, are you out of your mind!?" Minerva tisked and Flitwick giggled a bit, while the Headmaster simply gave a placating smile.

"Some have accused me of that before, Severus," he said with a chuckle, "but in this matter, I am quite sane, I assure you. I realize that this will be difficult, but I will be informing Harry of the significance and weight of the matter, and with your new found rapport, everything should be fine. Work hard and the benefits will be worth it. That, I promise you.

Professor Snape sighed, but nodded. He was nothing if not a top notch Occlumens, and despite what he used to tell the boy, Harry was a very quick learner. This could work.

Maybe.

The Headmaster snapped him out of his daze. "Now, on to Order business. Severus, we must talk about your position in Voldemort's ranks."

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Madam Bones sat at her desk in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was looking forlornly at the paper that had just flown its way into her office. It essentially told her to keep her mouth shut about what happened at Hogwarts, or she would be fired and brought up on charges of treason and attempting to promote anarchy. She was also to inform her subordinates of this, and keep them quiet. Knowing that she could do more good if she was here running the Department rather than in jail, she called a Department meeting.

Voldemort would later hear from a mole in the Department that he needn't worry about his return being made public for the time being. The Minister had the situation under control. Voldemort had unleashed a rare smile that came not from madness, but pure glee.

And somewhere in the world, at that very moment, a kitten died.

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At the Potter home in the Highlands, Dobby and the other house elves were working hard to put away all of the books, old weapons, and gold that had been removed covertly from Harry's vaults the day before he had sent Gringotts official notice that they were being sued. It had been difficult, but Dobby had been led down to the vaults by the Goblins and allowed in. The goblin had stayed outside, so he couldn't see what was happening. Dobby, having some connections with the Leprechauns, had gotten a hold of some fake gold. He had put all of the galleons into trunks, and shrunk them down before hiding them away in his pockets. He then deposited fake gold.

Dobby came out and said that he was ready to go. The goblin that had been standing a ways back to avoid the dragon came forward to check the goblin-magic-hidden plaque on the door, letting them know what the vault contained. It was a little trick that let them keep track of someone's finances in a more immediate time frame. It showed more gold than before, but it was missing the books and furniture and weapons. Knowing that Potter had just acquired many homes, he put two and two together, and saw no reason to report unusual activity. He would later wish he had.

When Goblins had originally set up this system, they didn't think about the possibility of Leprechaun gold. Why would they? What buffoon would possibly want to put fake gold in their vault? A very smart one it would seem.

Two hours after they left, Siferius heard a faint ping and turned to find the source of the noise. There next to the vault door, the plaque, which he could of course see (no goblin magic could overpower a grown dragon), was glowing red, with a word scribbled across it. It read 'Empty'. He snorted, seeing that the human and his elf friend had duped Gringotts. A flame shot twenty feet from his nose, frying a bat that had flown by at the wrong time. Seeing the dead bat, he flicked out his tongue, grabbed it, and swallowed it. A nice little afternoon snack. And now, nap time.

***

Out on the grounds of the Potter home, there were three dragons. One was the dragon that had been guarding Harry's vault, and two of them were a Chinese Fireball and an Ironbelly that the Welsh Green had made friends with. When Dobby had visited the vaults, he had brought with him a modified Howler, which held a message in Parseltongue. ~It's time for the world to change, my friend. I would have you at my side if you agree. If not, I understand, and no hard feelings. But if you wish to witness first hand a revolution, you must break free and come to my home in the Highlands.~ Siferius wanted no part in being stuck down here for the rest of his life. Besides, what dragon wouldn't like to witness a little mayhem and chaos? He looked at the elf and nodded. Dobby gave him the directions on how to get the Potter home from Gringotts. After which, the large green dragon spoke to his two dragon friends, and planned an escape. One that would cause plenty of destruction and fear for the Goblins.

Filling the library with books, lining the walls of the training room with weapons, and sprucing up all of the rooms to make it habitable for living and guests, the elves worked for hours that day. The inside of the house became painted in blues and greens. Accents of silver, grey and white. The marble floors added a shine from the light coming through the windows. Dobby was ecstatic. He was sure Harry Potter would love this place.

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Harry awoke to find himself still in the Room of Requirement. He realized that he must have dozed off while reading. Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he delved into his mind to see what he could recall about what he had learned. Flashes of words ran across his mind, pictures jumped out and disappeared. Slowly but surely, he remembered most of the words and diagrams that had been presented in his family textbook-of-sorts. 'Oh, the wonders of Occlumency,' he thought. Everything was arranged neatly in his mind for easy recall.

He got up off the couch, before looking at the book in his hands. He couldn't very well take it out of the room and risk someone seeing it. Before he had the chance to think on it more, the book faded into thin air, as if it had never been there in the first place. Hell, maybe it hadn't. Harry couldn't begin to fathom the full complexity of the Rooms magic, nor did he want to. That's what made it special. He left the room and headed for the Headmaster's office. While he wanted to go straight to the Hospital Wing and start, he knew it would be ideal to run the idea by Dumbledore first, so that Pomfrey wouldn't try to stop him. No need to cause unnecessary strife with the woman that treated him for injuries so often.

He noticed, on his way, based on the sunlight, it was about 8 a.m. While this would normally be breakfast time, because of the students having time off due to the attack, breakfast wouldn't be until 9, like it was on weekends. He moved silently through the halls and as he walked, he noticed his hands were bare still. He had removed them to practice the night before, and searching his pockets, he found them curled up inside an inner pocket of his robe. He rounded the final corner to head to the Headmaster's office, and as he was about to pull the gloves out, he heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, Harry!" Green eyes shot up in surprise, to find that slimy git Fudge standing there with a sugar sweet smile, eerily reminiscent of Umbridge. The Headmaster was standing next to him, looking not unpleased, but far from happy.

The young hero, having halted in shock, resumed his walk towards the men. As he approached them, Fudge extended a hand, which Harry took in a quite lackluster fashion that the Minister seemingly failed to notice.

"Good to see you, my boy!" said Fudge in a far too cheerful manner.

"With all due respect minister," said Harry, his voice flat and emotionless, "I'm not your boy."

The Minister's grand smile faltered for a moment, before he recovered enough to say, "Be that as it may, we have a few things to discuss. If you would kindly join us in the Headmaster's office, we can get this meeting underway."

Harry, impatient to begin with, replied, "Let's get this over with. I've got things to do that are a bit more important. Again, no disrespect."

This time, the Minister didn't even respond, or for that matter, bother to put his smile back. He just gave Harry a flat look, before turning and marching towards the Gargoyle.

Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore, who gave him a Mona Lisa smile and winked. Harry just smirked, laughed silently, and shook his head, before heading for the office with Dumbledore. Dumbledore's mind matched Harry's in this moment, both thinking, 'Oh Fudge/Cornelius, you really are something special.'

A/N: Okay. That's the end of that chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. A few of the reviews from last chapter caused me to change up my plan a little bit. Not because I had nothing to go with, more that their ideas had merit. This doesn't mean I'm going to be writing whatever you want me too. Just what seems logical. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. Bye!