A lot of varying opinions on the last chapter; some loved, and some hated. I'll just keep in mind something that Rowling said: "That's as it should be. For some to love it, others must loathe it. That's just in the nature of the plot."

On the plus side, it's my first update in the new year 2013! So, Happy New Year, everyone, and I hope you all had a good holiday season.


After Harry left the Charms professor's office, he made his way to the library. He had a lot of homework to do, not only that was assigned over the weekend, but that he hadn't had a chance to do during the week. Looking at the time, he realized that he definitely didn't have time for Arithmancy, Runes, or Transfiguration before dinner started. He pulled out his Astronomy essay and went to work. As soon as he finished writing the essay on Jupiter's moons, he grabbed his Herbology homework.

He looked up once he'd finished it and stretched. It was time to head to dinner. Harry grinned to himself, feeling that the day had been a wonderful accomplishment, having spent time with Ron, Quidditch tryouts, his talk with Flitwick, and homework. He had a few more things to do that night, but he would wait until tomorrow to finish his homework.

Walking into the Great Hall, he found that Ron and Hermione weren't there yet, and his gaze wandered around the other tables, and he saw Luna sitting by herself reading the Quibbler upside down. He hurried over to her. "Is this seat taken?" he asked.

Luna looked up at him. "Hello, Harry Potter. You want to sit with me?"

"Of course. I told you that you're one of my friends. I've been busy this week, so I haven't had a chance to come say hi."

Luna stared at him for a moment, and Harry felt as though he was being X-rayed. Then she nodded slowly, and he sat down.

"I meant to ask you if you had an extra copy of that," Harry told her, gesturing to the magazine she was reading.

"Of course!" she said, slightly excited, and dug two extra copies out of her bag. "Did you enjoy reading it on the train?"

"Yes, I did, and I wanted to send a copy to one of my friends," he told her. "How much for these?" he asked.

Luna looked slightly offended. "You don't need to pay for them. My father sends me extra copies every issue for people who want them."

Harry smiled at her. "Well, thank you, I appreciate it." The food appeared on the table, and the two dug in, talking about their classes so far. Harry found that Luna had a very interesting look on life, and admired her way of viewing everything.

They had just started a discussion on the affect Wrackspruts had on Charms work when they heard a "Hem hem," behind them. They turned to find Umbridge smirking at them. "Mr. Potter, detention," she said.

Harry gaped at her for a moment, then stood. "Why, may I ask?"

"Students are not allowed to sit at the other House tables unless given permission by their Head of House. As Professor McGonagall is not here yet, I can tell that you have not been given permission. Six o'clock on Monday at my office," she said with an evil grin, and went to the Head Table.

Harry stared after her. He had never heard of such a ridiculous rule before! Just as the DADA professor sat and started eating, Minerva entered the Hall, and he hurried up to her.

"Professor, may I speak with you for a moment?" he asked, eyes a bit wide.

She stared at him, seeing the veiled panic. "Of course you may, walk with me," she told him, and they walked outside the Hall. "What is it, Mr. Potter?"

"I was just given detention by Professor Umbridge for sitting with Luna Lovegood at the Ravenclaw table. She said that it is against the rules unless I have received permission from my Head of House."

Minerva started in shock. It was true, that had been a rule a long time ago, but it was one that no one paid attention to anymore, as it discouraged inter house cooperation. "I will speak with her about this. You have my permission to sit with whomever you like from now on. When did she set the detention for?"

"Monday evening," he told her. "And thank you for the permission."

"Nonsense, Mr. Potter," she told him sharply. "This rule is archaic, and was only made because of the turbulent relations that the houses have had in the past. Any other professor would have encouraged it, not assigned detention. I will let you know later tonight what happens."

"Thank you, Professor," he said politely, and they made their way into the Hall, and Harry went to Luna. "I'm going to sit with Ron and Hermione, but thank you for the magazines. I'll talk to you soon, I'm sure."

"Of course," Luna said musically.

Harry made his way over to the Gryffindor table in a rage. He was going to have to examine the school rules, and contest some of them. It was clear that there were quite a few rules that were so outdated it was ridiculous. He would ask McGonagall about it later.

"What was that about?" Ron asked Harry when he sat down.

"Umbridge gave me another detention," Harry said blandly, picking at his food, no longer very hungry.

Hermione gasped. "For what?"

"For sitting at another House table without my Head's approval," he said, monotone.

"That's insane!" Hermione cried. "Why would she want to discourage inter house cooperation?" she demanded.

"I don't know. McGonagall said that she would talk to her about it, but you know Umbridge. She's going to find a way to have me in detention every week for the rest of the year. I wonder what other rules she's going to dig up for that."

No one had anything to say to that. Everyone in Gryffindor, and even some of the other Houses had already realized that Umbridge was on a witch hunt (so to speak) and Harry was her target.

Harry pushed his plate away, no longer hungry, and turned to the twins. "I know I haven't had a chance to talk to you guys earlier, want to do that in the Common Room?"

Both nodded enthusiastically, and hurried to finish, then followed Harry out. They arrived at the Tower before anyone else had finished, so they were alone.

"Alright, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Harry asked.

"We're making you a partner of the business," Fred said, unusually blunt. He could tell that Harry wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush.

Harry gaped at him. "What?" he demanded.

"You gave us all of our start up money. We have several ideas, and we want your opinion on them. As soon as we have a premises, we'll talk to you about your part of the profits."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but George headed him off. "Don't bother, Harry. If you want, we can wait to deal with the financial aspect of this. For now, if you'd like, you can help us with our products. We're doing most of the work," he hastened to say.

"Yeah, we just want your opinion on the products, and maybe later you can give us some ideas if you have any," Fred finished.

Harry thought about that. In truth, he hadn't given it much thought when he'd given his winnings to the twins; it just seemed like the right thing to do. But now, he could see the potential. As much as the two acted like clowns, they were quite intelligent, and Harry could see the usefulness of talking magic with them regularly.

"Alright, but I have a few conditions," he warned, and the twins grinned. "First, we worry about the financial aspect after you two have the premises and are making good income." They nodded, and he continued. "Second, I want to know about your products before you sell them or test them on others, just so I know they're safe," he said, remembering some of the stories Sirius had told him about the early days of the Marauders. When they nodded again, he continued. "Lastly, we try to sit down to talk at least every other week about new ideas and what they'll involve."

The twins smiled, relieved. "That sounds reasonable, right Gred?"

"Right you are, Forge. We have a few ideas now, and as soon as we think they're ready for sale, we'll let you know."

Harry nodded and stood. "Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen," he said with a grin, and mockingly shook their hands. Then he went up to his dorm and sat on his bed. He pulled out the mirror and set it next to him so that he would be ready when Sirius called. He also grabbed the book on healing he'd bought a few weeks ago, and started reading. It was clear that he wouldn't be able to try any of this until he had his magic back, but it was still fascinating to read about. Maybe next Friday, he would ask Madame Pomfrey about helping him learn the basics if she had the time.

He thought back to his time at the cabin, something he tried hard never to do. He knew that he had done all he could, but it was still frustrating for him, that he had been put in that situation. Maybe if it happened again, he could know a few healing spells, and make it easier to get where he needed to be.

Just then, Harry remembered that he still had the extra copy of the Quibbler that he wanted to send to Remus. He set aside his Healing book and pulled out a piece of parchment and his quill.

Dear Remus,

I hope everything has been going well for you lately, since I haven't seen you. Have you been pretty busy lately? You've never struck me as the kind of person that enjoys doing nothing, so I expect you have been keeping busy.

First week back has been rough, I'm glad it's the weekend. If I hadn't known it was OWL year before, I certainly do now, with all the homework we get! I can't wait until the next weekend. I think Hermione is going to help me with making up some of the spell work that I've missed. You know how she is, never can relax when there's work to be done. Something that I think the two of you have in common.

When I was on the train, I met a really nice girl, she's a year younger than I am and in Ravenclaw, and her father is the editor of the Quibbler. I've attached a copy of the most recent edition, as there's an article that I think you'll find interesting. I've already teased a certain friend of yours about it, but please do so as well!

Hope you are doing well,

Harry

Harry looked over his letter, and found it acceptable. He stuck the mirror in his robes along with the magazine and letter, and left the Tower heading for the Owlery.

As soon as he walked in, Hedwig lighted onto his shoulder, nipping his ear affectionately.

"Good to see you, too, girl," Harry said, stroking her lightly. "Think you're up for a delivery for me?" he asked, and chuckled when she looked reproachfully at him. "Alright, here you go," he told her, giving her a treat, and then attaching his letter and the Quibbler to her leg. "It's for Remus. Have a safe flight, alright?" he told her, and watched as she flew out the open windows. Harry looked around. He had never appreciated the view from up here before. It was absolutely beautiful, though it was rather chilly. Harry thought this was a good thing, though, as the still healing burns on his hands and fingers appreciated it. He made sure to keep them wrapped tight, using the burn paste on them frequently. Now the only ones still there were from the night before, and they were a bit worse than usual. He sighed. He should have known that asking for the parchment to be destroyed each time was necessary, but she was sadistic about it!

He looked around when he heard the door open, and saw Ginny standing there holding a letter. "Harry!" she said happily, looking around for Pig.

"Hey, Ginny," he greeted. "Sending a letter?"

"Yeah, sending one to mom," she answered struggling to attach the letter to the hyperactive owl.

Harry walked over to help, holding Pig while she finished. "Thanks," she said gratefully.

"No problem," he told her, and watched as she sent Pig off, and they turned to leave together.

They started heading back to the Tower. "So, are you excited about starting the DA?" Ginny asked him.

"Definitely," he said distractedly, looking around. He had the strange sense that they were being watched, and he had learned to listen to that feeling over the years. He was about to tell her to get her wand out when a beam of red light streaked towards Ginny. Harry tackled her to the ground, and the beam missed them by inches.

"Protego!" she screamed from her place on the ground after she'd whipped her wand out, and the shield covered both of them and another light hit it.

Harry had never felt more useless in his life, and was angry about it. Their attackers were smart, staying in the shadows so that he couldn't see them. He could tell that it was at least two people, and Ginny's shield was starting to waver.

"Ginny, grab my hand," he ordered, pulling out his pendent. When he had a firm grip on her free hand, he grabbed the pendent and called, "Phoenix fire!"

The two felt the familiar pull behind their navels, and landed in Dumbledore's office.

"What the-" Snape demanded, standing up from the chair he was in, looking at the two disheveled students, one with her wand still clutched in her hand.

Harry and Ginny were panting, the adrenaline wearing off now that they were safe. Harry looked up at the headmaster. "We were attacked by at least two on our way back from the Owlery," he said quickly. "Ginny cast a shield to protect us, but she couldn't lower it to cast a spell at them, and I – " he faltered, still feeling pissed at his uselessness.

"Did you see who they were?" Dumbledore asked Ginny, not looking at Harry.

Ginny finally caught her breath. Holding a shield for that long had worn her out. "No, they were staying in the shadows. Harry saw the first spell in time and tackled me. I pulled up a shield right away, and was concentrating on that."

Dumbledore nodded as he stood. "Severus, come with me, we are going to the corridor and see if we can find out who did this. Minerva," he said, causing the two to look around. She hadn't said a word, so they hadn't known she was there. "Please escort your students back to the Tower."

The two teachers obeyed, and Snape hurried to leave with Dumbledore. McGonagall turned to the two. "Are either of you injured?" she asked, concerned, but angry as well. She never liked it when one of her lions was attacked.

They shook their heads. "Ginny has a great shield charm," Harry said, smiling at her.

Ginny blushed slightly and turned to her head of house. "Harry knocked me down but I think I'm alright."

"Very well, follow me," she ordered, and they walked briskly back to Gryffindor Tower. "Get inside, and please don't tell anyone about this until we speak with you again, I do not wish for a panic to ensue."

Ginny nodded and climbed through the portrait hole, but Harry stayed where he was. "Professor, did you speak with Professor Umbridge?" he asked.

Minerva scowled. "Yes, I have. Unfortunately, she will not withdraw the detention, no matter how much I tried. Her reasoning is that I didn't give you permission until after the detention was set. However, I did tell her that my entire House has permission to sit at other tables, and I will be speaking with Severus, Filius, and Pomona about doing the same. That rule is ancient and needs to be amended."

Harry nodded. "I agree. I was also wondering if there was a list of school rules that I could look at? I get the feeling that there are probably a lot of outdated rules that should be gotten rid of as well."

Minerva considered the teen in front of her. It was clear that he had grown quite a bit over the summer, and not just physically. "I assume that Miss Granger has a copy of Hogwarts, A History, correct?" she asked shrewdly.

Harry chucked a bit. "Of course, I will ask if I could borrow it. Thank you very much," he said to her, and climbed through the hole.

Ginny was waiting for him just inside and pulled him a bit further from the others. "I just wanted to say thanks," she told him shyly. "That first spell would have hit me if you hadn't pushed me down."

Harry waved her off. "Your shield kept us both safe, so I owe you a thanks as well."

"Where did you get a portkey to Dumbledore's office?" she asked curiously.

"He gave it to me after the Feast, since I can't use magic. Pretty much, it was in case of something like this," he said, somewhat angrily.

Ginny just nodded and squeezed his arm in comfort, and they went back to the others. There was a celebratory party for Ron making the team, and it was in full swing. It must have started once he'd left for the Owlery, he mused. He grabbed a butterbeer and raised a toast.

"To Ron," he called, everyone listening and Ron blushing. "The Gryffindor's newest Keeper, let's hear it for him!"

A cheer went up and Hermione beamed at him from her chair by the fire. When people moved away, Harry made his way over to her and found her knitting what looked like a large hat.

"What's that for?" he asked, handing her another drink.

"Hats for house elves," she answered. "I started learning over the summer."

Harry looked at her warily. She knew how adamant she was about elf rights, but had a bad feeling about this. "What's the plan, then?"

Hermione looked at him, exasperated. "I'm setting them free! No living creature deserves to be enslaved, and I won't stand for it," she said stubbornly.

He shook his head. "Hermione, it won't work," he told her, and held up a hand when she made to protest. "Remember Dobby? I couldn't set him free by just giving him a piece of clothing. I had to give the sock to Malfoy," he said, shuddering. Merlin, how he hated that bastard. "Malfoy had to give him the sock or it wouldn't have worked. You can give them clothes, but that would just offend them, not set them free, since only Dumbledore can do that."

Hermione looked at her knitting sadly, pausing. "I hate it, Harry!" she cried. "No one should have to be a slave."

Harry patted her shoulder. "I know, and I get that you see Dobby and how much he loves being free, but he really isn't, if you think about it. Yes, he gets paid, but he needs work, so he came here. You can bet that Dumbledore doesn't treat the elves badly."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I just wish there was something I could do for them."

"Have you given any thought to what you want to do after you graduate?" he asked, thinking quickly.

Hermione shook her head. "I want to take S.P.E.W. further, but I don't know how to."

"Maybe instead of doing that, you go to work at the Ministry for the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures? I'm sure they could use someone like you, and you could try to pass laws about improving conditions for house elves. You could even do things like changing laws about werewolves like Remus," he said, thinking of the former professor and how bad things were for him.

Hermione stared at her friend. "That's brilliant," she breathed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm too smart," Harry said pompously, then grinned when she punched his shoulder.

"Prat," she said. "That is a great idea, though, I'll talk to Professor McGonagall about that tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and I was going to ask you if I could borrow your copy of Hogwarts, A History."

She looked at him in amazement. "Didn't you vow never to read that book?" she demanded.

Harry grinned at her. "Sure I did. But then I got detention for breaking an ancient rule that should have been removed years ago. I want to find the rest of the school rules, partly so that I don't break anymore of them, and partly so that I can find others that need to be gotten rid of as well."

Hermione looked approvingly at him. "I'll give it to you at breakfast tomorrow," she promised.

Harry thanked her, and heard his godfather's voice coming from his robes. "Excuse me," he said quickly, and made his way up the stairs to his dorm. "Sirius," he greeted gratefully, flopping down onto his bed.

"Hey kid, how's your week been?" a very tired looking Sirius asked.

Harry saw the lines of frustration on his godfather's face. "What happened at the school?" he asked instead.

Sirius sighed. "It seems I'm going to be here for a while. The Head doesn't trust people easily, especially since Wizarding Britain and Spain don't have the greatest history. So I need to stay and prove myself to him before he'll even broach the topic of an alliance."

Harry winced. He had been hoping that Sirius would be back soon, not that it really mattered as he was at Hogwarts. "That sucks," he commented. "Do you think you'll be back by Christmas, though?" he asked, almost desperate. He didn't think he could handle not seeing his godfather for nearly a year.

Sirius saw the concern and smiled. "If we haven't finished forming the alliance, I will still be able to come back for your hols, I'm sure they'll understand," he assured. "How's your week been?" he asked again.

Harry shrugged. "Not so good. I was given another detention today, to serve on Monday."

Sirius grimaced. "What was this one for?"

"I sat at the Ravenclaw table for dinner tonight."

Sirius waited, but there was no more explanation. "You were given a detention for sitting at another House's table?" he asked skeptically.

But Harry nodded at him. "Yep. Umbridge said that you need your Head of House to approve before sitting at another table, and so she gave me detention. McGonagall has since given the entire House permission to sit wherever they want to, and she's going to talk to Sprout, Snape, and Flitwick into doing the same."

Sirius was reeling. He hadn't even known that was a rule, and he'd sat with plenty of girlfriends who were in other Houses during his Hogwarts years. "Anything else?" he asked wearily. He would swear that Harry's story would make the best novel.

"Ginny and I were attacked about half an hour ago in the halls by the Owlery," Harry said, and hurried to explain when he saw Sirius's expression. "It was at least two people, but they were in the shadows, so I don't know who they were. I knocked Ginny down, and she brought up a shield, but there was a lot of spell fire, and I could tell that she wasn't going to be able to keep it up for long, so I used the portkey that Dumbledore gave me to get us out of there. Dumbledore and Snape went to check it out, and McGonagall escorted us back to the Tower."

Sirius was fuming. Another attack on his godson, he wasn't going to stand for this much longer! "I think I should come up there and have a talk with Albus," he said firmly. There was no way he was going to let this slide.

Harry shook his head quickly. "No, that's not necessary. Dumbledore and McGonagall seem to have it under control, and Snape is there, too. It's not like I was injured; I didn't even have to go to the hospital wing!" As much as he would love to see his godfather, he also didn't. He knew that Sirius was protective to the point of overprotective, and he needed to find a way to handle this on his own. First, though, he needed to change the subject. "On a brighter note, I sent the magazine to Remus, and I can't wait to see what he thinks about it. Oh, and Ron made the Quidditch Keeper!"

"That's awesome, tell him congratulations for me." Sirius sighed. He knew that there was something going on with Harry, but he wasn't going to get answers right then. He would still contact Albus, just to make sure that he was doing everything he could for his students.

"I will," Harry promised, then heard McGonagall call his name from the Common Room. "McGonagall wants to talk to me, I'm guessing it's about what just happened. Want to talk again on Tuesday?" he asked, and Sirius agreed. He stuffed the mirror under his pillow and hurried back down.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, please come with me," she ordered, and the two of them followed, getting stares from the rest of the house. They left the portrait hole, and found Snape and Dumbledore waiting for them.

"There were no signs of them, Harry," Dumbledore told him, looking at the Fat Lady. "Can you think of who it might have been?"

Harry shrugged. "The only person I can think of is Draco Malfoy, but I'm sure he came up with some kind of alibi for this."

Snape glared at him. "What makes you think my student had anything to do with this?"

Harry scoffed slightly. "Perhaps the fact that his father was the one that tortured me two weeks ago? Not to mention, I doubt Voldemort was all that happy with Malfoy Sr. about it. So if he was punished, then Draco would want to hurt me as revenge."

"Well thought out, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said. "We will do a little digging, but try to stay with multiple people from now on, no trips by yourself."

"Don't approach Mr. Malfoy about this," Snape commanded. "I do not know if he did this, but you will stay out of it, is that clear?"

Harry barely nodded at his least favorite professor. Then he turned to the headmaster. "I know that I'm off restriction in less than a week, but does the portkey still work, or was it a onetime one?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It can be used up to five times, so I would keep it on you to be safe, my boy. Now, I'm sure the Gryffindors are celebrating for young Mr. Weasley, so we won't keep you any longer," he told Ginny, and the professors left.

Ginny turned to Harry. "Are you alright?" she asked, seeing the anger on his face.

"Not really," Harry said, taking deep breaths. "I was hoping that whoever was dumb enough to attack us was going to be punished, but that clearly isn't going to happen." Then he grinned, rather frighteningly. "Oh, I hope that whoever it was doesn't know how long I'm on restriction for," he told her as they climbed through the hole again. "It would be so nice to find out who it was, and get a little payback."

Ginny giggled slightly. "You're cute when you're so mad," she teased, then blushed slightly.

Harry smiled at her, and Hermione and Ron came over. "What was that all about?" Hermione demanded right away.

"Over here," Harry said, leading them to a more secluded corner, only occupied by the twins and Lee.

"Hey, Harry, everything alright?" Lee asked.

Harry shook his head. "Alright guys. Ginny and I were attacked earlier tonight coming back from the Owlery," he told them, then raised a hand at the exclamations. "Neither of us were hurt, but the attackers weren't found. And I'm guessing they're going to be even angrier that I got out unhurt. So from now on, Ginny and I aren't going anywhere alone, especially until Friday." He looked apologetically at the youngest Weasley. "I don't know if they'll want revenge on you for helping me."

Ginny shrugged. "I'd like to see any of them take me in a fair fight, especially after the DA starts."

Ron and Hermione were pissed, just as much as the twins. "It better not have been anyone from the DA," Ron threatened.

"No one messes with any of our siblings," Fred agreed with a nasty look on his face.

George rolled his eyes when Harry looked confused. "Stuff it, Harry. You're our brother, and have been for years now. Get over it."

Harry just grinned at them. "Thanks guys. But we still have a party to finish, right?" As soon as he'd said that, the boys hurried to get more sweets, and the girls laughed at them.


Sunday passed uneventfully, which was a good thing, Harry thought. He spent the afternoon flying with Ron and helping him with his Keeping. After lunch, which he spent with Luna again, he, Ron and Hermione made their way to the library.

Ron was working on his dream diary for Divination, and Hermione was helping Harry with his Arithmancy homework. As soon as he'd finished with it, the three worked together on the Charms and Transfiguration homework, then Hermione and Harry went onto Runes and Ron left to head back to the common room.

Harry's head was killing him by the time dinner rolled around, but he was thrilled that all his homework was finished, which meant that he would get to relax that evening. They made their way to the Great Hall, and Harry caught sight of Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot, and he turned to Hermione.

"I'm going to sit at the Hufflepuff table for dinner. Tell Ron for me?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, but looked at him curiously. "What's with the sudden interest getting to know other students?" she asked, feeling a bit hurt.

Harry saw this, and pulled her back a little. "Relax, Hermione. You and Ron are always going to be family to me, you know that. I just want to get to know some other people from other Houses so that the DA runs a bit smoother."

Hermione nodded at the logic and made her way to the Gryffindor table. Harry hurried over and saw Susan and Hannah sitting with Ernie and Justin. Harry took a deep breath and walked over. "This seat taken?" he asked bravely.

Justin looked a bit nervous, as did Ernie and Hannah, but Susan smiled at him. "Of course, sit down," she offered, and Harry sat.

"How were your first weeks back?" Harry asked, filling his plate, ignoring the stares from various people.

"Pretty good," Susan responded. "I'm not happy about Defense, but who is?"

"I enjoyed it when we had Professor Lupin," Hannah said, taking her cue from her friend. "He was a great teacher."

Harry just nodded without saying anything negative about Umbridge. With his luck lately, she would walk up behind him as he said it. "I know, and I wish we were actually casting the spells now like we did when he was teaching. What kind of spells do you guys think we should really start learning?" he asked, thinking it would be nice to get an idea of what people wanted out of the DA.

"My shield charm isn't the best," Justin told him. "I can't wait to work on that, and I've never Stunned anything before."

Harry nodded. "That's alright, a lot of people are behind on the DADA spells we should know. So you want to work on shielding and stunning. Anything else?" he asked the various people that were around.

Susan smiled knowingly at him. "You're really taking this seriously, aren't you?" she inquired.

Harry grinned at her. "You're a sharp one, aren't you?"

Susan laughed. "Comes from having your aunt be the head of the DMLE."

Harry's brows rose. "Really? I never knew that," he commented.

She just shrugged. "No worries. I'm looking forward to the club, though. Not only for the training, but also to see how you handle all the houses in one room."

Harry nodded. "I'm pretty worried about that," he admitted. "That's why I asked Professor Flitwick to help the first few lessons, to act as a referee if I need it."

Ernie nodded at him. "He was a good choice," he informed Harry. "He's neutral in most of the problems in the school, and people will listen to him. Not to mention the fact that his dueling skills are legendary."

They continued talking about the club for a bit longer, then Harry worked to bring them into a casual conversation, simply imagining they were the Gryffindors, and it worked. Pretty soon, half the Hufflepuff table was found to be in a lively debate of Muggle versus Wizarding music. Not surprisingly, the muggleborns were on the Muggle side, and the purebloods on the Wizarding side, with the half bloods on the fence. Dinner ended before the debate was done, and a lot of the Hufflepuffs were sad to end it so quickly.

Harry bid them farewell, and saw Ron and Hermione waiting for him by the doors. Grateful that he didn't have to walk to the Tower by himself, he made his way over to them.

"Looked like you were having a good time over there," Ron said hesitantly.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, we were debating Muggle and Wizard music. Maybe you two could join me next time."

Ron blushed. "I don't know, I don't really know any of them."

"We know Justin and Ernie, and we know Hannah a bit as well," Hermione said thoughtfully.

Harry could tell that he needed to change the topic. "Come on, Ron; let's play chess when we get back. I think I picked up a few new tricks this summer."

Ron laughed. "Like it's going to make a difference."

Sure enough, it hadn't. The two friends played four games with Hermione watching while she knitted. Harry wondered if she was still knitting for the elves, but decided not to ask. Maybe she just enjoyed it now. Harry and Ron were packing up their pieces when the twins came over.

"Harry, could we talk to you?" George asked.

Harry nodded, and grabbed the last of his pieces, and followed the two over to a corner. "What's up?"

"We think that the first products are ready for sale," Fred said.

"But you mentioned that you want to see them before we can sell," George continued.

"So we were wondering when you wanted to get together and take a look at them," Fred finished.

Harry smiled. "Thanks for letting me know. I have detention again tomorrow night, but how about Tuesday after dinner? I'm sure we could find an empty classroom to use."

"Sounds like a plan," they chorused, and clapped him on the shoulder before leaving.


Harry woke the next morning with a groan. Even though he had remembered to do his Occlumency meditation the night before, he still had the stupid dreams of the corridors. He wished he knew what they meant. Maybe Sirius would be able to tell him eventually, he had mentioned that he wanted to a few weeks before.

He got to the common room before anyone was awake, so he pulled out the Healing book he had, and started reading. He had gotten past the first few chapters when Ginny plopped down next to him.

"I hate Mondays," she yawned.

Harry laughed slightly. "I know, they do come too fast," he said, putting the book into his bag. He'd read it later. "What are your Mondays like?"

"Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Astronomy," she said.

"That's a pretty good mix," Harry mused. "Certainly better than mine."

Ginny grinned. "What have you got?"

"Double History, Potions, Runes, and Double Defense," Harry said, and laughed as she winced in sympathy.

"Ouch, sounds like Runes are your saving grace on Mondays," she said.

Harry just nodded and they looked up as Ron and Hermione joined them, and they went to breakfast.

History went by slowly, but Harry just worked on reading the text again, trying to shut out the sound of Binns' voice, or he'd fall asleep.

The first half of Potions went by quickly. They were brewing a pain potion, which Harry had made several times before. While preparing the ingredients, he considered. With the pain in both his neck and his hand, he had been using up a lot of his pain potions, and would soon need more. He grabbed double of all the things he needed and set to work.

Snape was clearly in a foul mood as he went around looking at the potions. When he got to Potter's, he was furious. "Detention, Potter!" he snarled. "Are you trying to steal from the school? Those ingredients do cost money, you know."

Harry forced himself to remain calm. Yelling would get him nowhere. He finished the stirring, and put in the next ingredient before looking up. "My Potions satchel is nearly out of pain potions," he said calmly, then pointedly rubbed the side of his neck where there was still a gruesome scar where the skin had finally begun healing, so he had stopped using bandages. "I have been needing them a bit more often lately."

Snape glared. "Pain potions can be addictive, Potter. A three year old should be aware of that."

"I know that, Professor. However, I am careful to take no more than one a day, when you can actually take three, and every fifth day I stop taking them so that my system doesn't get addicted."

Snape glowered at him. "15 points from Gryffindor for not asking to use extra ingredients," he snapped, and went to check the Slytherin's potions. He understood why the brat needed pain potions, as the wound on his neck was still looking painful, and he'd clearly read up on the dangers of becoming addicted to the potions.

Harry sighed as he continued work on his potion. He knew that he should have asked, or worked on a potion on his own time, but he had very little of that to spare right now. He would just make sure not to make extra during class again.

The class finished making their potions, Harry putting the extra vials in his bag, and Snape demanded that Harry remain behind. He whispered to Hermione that he would see her at Runes and to explain to Babbling why he was going to be a bit late, and she just nodded, hurrying off with Ron.

"Yes, sir?" Harry started, deciding to be polite.

Snape glared at him. "I know that many people are willing to make exceptions for the Boy Who Lived, but if I catch you messing around during my class again, I will do worse than put you in detention, is that understood?"

Harry nodded. "Understood, professor. I just did not want to bother Madame Pomfrey for pain potions when I can make them just as easily."

Snape studied him for a moment. It was true that the brat's skills had increased quite a bit this year, and he was at a lose to understand why. Not that he truly cared. "Next time, you will tell me beforehand, and you will report for your detention Wednesday after dinner," he said, ending the conversation

"Of course, sir," Harry said, and left, grabbing his bag and running to make it to Runes on time.

He entered just as Professor Babbling was beginning roll call. She gave him a brief look, then smiled, and continued.

"Well, you are all doing very well with understanding the runes we have studied so far. Now, normally we would not begin talking about the process of engraving them until after OWLs, but I have decided that this class is far enough to begin discussing the process. Who can tell me why this process is much more difficult than simply writing them?"

Hermione had her hand up first, and Harry was enthralled by the discussion. He had known from his readings how difficult it was to engrave runes onto anything, but he also knew how much more powerful they were that way. As always, he was disappointed to see the class end. They would not begin the process of engraving until NEWT level, but discussing them was fascinating.

The two hurried to Defense, meeting up with Ron. Harry kept his nose in his book, although he had already finished it. The last thing he needed was another detention, especially as the homework load he was getting was increasing by the class. Thankfully, the double period passed without points deducted or detentions served, and it was time for Harry to hit the library again. He knew that he should go and grab dinner, but he didn't have time for it. He would try to stop by the kitchens if he had time, he decided, and trudged up to the library. He finished his Potions essay on the dangers of pain potions, and had just started his Runes assignment when it was time to go to detention with Umbridge.

Throughout the entire detention, Umbridge continued to talk about how much he deserved to be in pain. She said that it was for spreading nasty lies, and trying to convince others of them as well. But Harry kept his eyes on the parchment that was shining with his blood, and kept his mouth shut. He was running through the healing spells that he had been reading about to keep his mind far away from her and what she was saying. He knew from experience with his Uncle Vernon that if he heard something enough, he might start to believe it.

Thankfully, Harry's reflexes worked in his favor that night, as he managed to escape another burn by lifting his hands away fast enough. This seemed to annoy her, but she could not say anything about it, and Harry made sure to clean up any blood drops that were left behind before he took his leave.

When Harry got back to his dorm, he realized that it was once again after midnight. He decided to work on his homework the next day, and fell into bed, falling asleep immediately.


Poor Harry, he just can't catch a break! I'm evil, I'm aware :-)

So, I'm starting classes back up after taking a break for a few months. Updates will still happen as often as I can, but they'll be a bit more irregular. Thanks in advance for the understanding.