Disclaimer: I own nothing

AN: Long authors note explaining where I've been and what took so long will be at the bottom along with the new Ravenclaw Riddle. Now onto the story.

Amelia sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. The last few hours had been more than hectic and not the least bit disturbing. When she and her team had been called to Hogwarts due to an emergency she thought that she would be ready for anything.

How wrong she was.

'Always expect the unexpected' was what they always told her in training. Maybe if she had remembered that particular piece of advice then she wouldn't be dealing with the mother of all headaches as she was now. From the moment those doors to the Great Hall opened she knew that it wasn't going to be a typical day in the Auror office. She didn't expect to see the infamous Dark Lord Grindelwald laid out on the ground with Dumbledore and the new history teacher standing over him.

She also didn't expect herself to be blown off her feet, only to have said Dark Lord disappear into thin air. And she most certainly didn't expect, couldn't possibly expect the story that went along with the situation. A lot could be explained away with magic, but some stories were too farfetched for that excuse to work.

Apparently, this whole time the world had been completely fooled by Grindelwald, who had been passing himself off as Dumbledore –no- who actually believed he was Dumbledore. All because of a misfired spell. There was only one thing she could say at this point.

"This can't get out. To anybody. Not even the Minister." She commanded as she looked at the two men in the office as they finished their story.

She was slightly startled when the phoenix singing softly with joy as he was reunited with his human- Dumbledore, the real Dumbledore. The newly released Headmaster could only nod along with her proclamation. He knew how much it would affect their world if this information got out. It would be devastating for the people to know that they had revered, for the past few decades, a Dark Lord.

"But people saw Grindelwald already," Naruto pointed out. "What should we tell them? Not to mention we still have to deal with the fact that Quirrell literally had Voldemort stuck to the back of his head."

"My young colleague does raise some good points," Dumbledore said as he stroked Fawkes softly.

"What we need is a cover story. And a good one." Naruto stated.

"That'll be difficult. One of the most notorious Dark Lords in all of history just somehow manages to break out of Nurmengard and then travels abroad and manages to break into Hogwarts without anyone noticing a thing?" Amelia said sarcastically.

"Well just tell the people the truth, albeit, a rather skewed version of what happened, but still," Naruto said. "Just tell them that Grindelwald mysteriously managed to break out of the prison, you're not sure how, and he made his way all the way to Britain to get revenge on Dumbledore for his defeat. I mean, he did build the prison, makes a bit of sense that he would be the one to escape it, right?"

There was a moment of silence.

"...That, is actually not a bad idea," Dumbledore said. "As much as I hate to say this, the people of the wizarding world will believe almost anything they read from The Daily Prophet. Why not use that to our advantage?"

"It could work. Easily. There will be quite a bit of unrest, of course, but that's what we're going to have to go with. I'll get the story to them as soon as I can." Amelia offered.

"So what are we gonna do about our lack of a Defense teacher?" Naruto asked.

Dumbledore just sighed.

"I guess one of the teachers will just have to fill in. I'd be more than happy to do it but I'll too busy undoing all the damage that Grindelwald has done to our society."

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Amelia's stomach as she remembered that Grindelwald had written many of their laws and set standards throughout Britain.

"Dammit," she said quietly. "How much damage did he manage to actually do?"

Dumbledore sighed wearily, looking more than twice his actual age.

"More, much more than one would expect, and he did it all so subtlety that you really wouldn't notice that he did it in the first place. The few that did were, unfortunately, silenced long ago."

"If you wanna know where you can at least start making amends, start with Harry," Naruto said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Get him out of that house and get those animals put where they belong."

"Yes, I quite agree. What would you suggest the best form of punishment should be for them?"

"Well..." he started but was cut off as the fireplace flared to life with a blustering man soon coming out of it. There was a moment of awkward silence before the man spoke.

"Albus what on earth is going on here? Reports are coming in that Grindelwald of all people broke out of prison and came here to kill you!"

They all looked at each other before sighing wearily. It was going to be a long day.

XxXx

Harry groaned as the sunlight hit his face. He didn't want to wake up, not at all. He was very comfortable after all. This had to have been the best sleep of his life so far. He was just covering his head when he heard a rather familiar baritone chuckle to his left. His eyes snapped opened only to be greeted with the sight of Naruto sitting in a chair next to his bed laughing quietly to himself.

"Sunlight always has been sleeps mortal enemy," he said with a laugh. Harry quickly rose up in his bed and just as quickly flopped back down as a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him.

"Slow down there, Harry," Naruto said as he leaned over the bed. "You've been through a lot in the past few days."

Harry groaned as Naruto spoke.

"What happened to me? And where am I?" he said as he got a good look at his surroundings. He was lying in a white bed with matching sheets. There were other beds in the room as well with an office to near the door. There was an open curtain surrounding the bed with a tray at the foot of his bed topped with all types of candies, cards, and colorful boxes that looked like Christmas gifts. "And what are those?"

"Full of questions aren't you?" He said with a smile. "Well let's see. All of those are gifts from your friends and many admirers."

"Admirers?"

"Yup," he said. "Even though it's the winter holidays and the students aren't due back for another two days, they still managed to find out about what happened. The Hogwarts rumor mill is quite formidable isn't it? Although I would handle the ones from the Weasley twins with care. I recognized that look they had."

He nodded slowly.

"But what did happen? All I remember is looking at some map with the twins and a pair of red eyes." And a lot of pain.

"Well, that's a bit difficult to explain. You remember Quirrell, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Turns out he was actually being possessed by Voldemort's spirit. They wanted something that was hidden here in the school and I confronted them. I was able to subdue Quirrell but Voldemort managed to escape. That's when he went after you."

"You mean he tried to possess me?" Harry said shakily. It was then that his conversation with his mother came flooding back. Even as Naruto explained what happened, Harry already knew. He sat listening as he explained that he had managed to get the real Dumbledore back, even though they now had the problem of Grindelwald running around.

Harry knew that he wouldn't necessarily have to go back to the Dursleys, but he still asked what was going to happen with his living situation. Naruto simply blinked, confusion on his face.

"I'd thought it'd be obvious," he said slowly. "You're staying with me. I'll be your guardian officially now."

Harry was quiet for a moment.

"And the Dursleys?"

Naruto smirked.

"They're gonna get what they deserve, don't doubt that," he said maliciously. "I'm gonna make sure of that one."

A wide range of images formed in Harry's mind from the simplest of slaps on the wrist, to the most gruesome thing he could imagine happening to them, all performed by Naruto and he had the sudden urge to ask if he had ever dealt with something like this before.

Although, he hadn't told him, Harry could tell that something similar had happened to Naruto in his childhood. It was the small looks in his eye, or the odd understanding looks he would sometimes give the younger of the two that let him know that something had happened.

Harry also had enough common sense not to bring it up though. He knew how he would feel if someone had brought something like that up with him. So instead, he just settled for the large grin forming on his face and whooping with joy at the thought of never going back to the Dursleys. It was only when Naruto put a brightly wrapped box in his face that he remembered he still had presents to open.

Best Christmas ever.

XxXx

They had been enjoying the gifts and each other's company for quite a while with little interruptions. Madame Pomfrey had, of course, come to check on her patient with regular intervals and they had been visited by the red headed devils a while ago.

When they had first come visit they had tried to play a prank on Naruto. It didn't turn out well. Naruto had seen it coming a mile away and managed to switch places with the two the second it went off all the while adding his own little flair to the prank. Needless to say, they ran out with their hair orange, a face full of clown like make up, and wearing nothing more than a pair of pink tutu's. That had been about an hour ago.

One of the gifts however, were much different from the others. It was wrapped simply and came with a small note. "Your father left this in my imposter's possession before he died. It's time that it was returned to its rightful owner. Have a Happy Christmas Harry, and please dispose of this note when you get done reading it. Dumbledore."

They looked at each other before opening the package and out fell a cloak. It was softer than any silk that Naruto had ever felt before and they both got a surprise when he draped it around Harry's shoulders and he partially disappeared.

Although Harry thought he was feeling fine, he was still showing signs of fatigue. Something that Naruto noticed rather quickly. So rather than push him, he told him to get some rest, and that he would be back when he woke up.

The moment he left the wing he was met with the site of a familiar man with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes. It took him a moment to realize that it was the real Dumbledore and not an imposter.

"Ah, Mr. Uzumaki, can I have a moment?"

"Of course," he said as they walked down the hallway. "What's up?"

"First thing first I want to thank you again for saving me from that hellhole I was in," he said sincerely.

Naruto flushed a bit at the thanks and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He still wasn't used to such praise, even after all these years.

"It's no problem," he said. "I'm sure anyone would do the same."

"Oh quite the contrary. I don't believe that many people would. While I do believe in the innate goodness of a persons heart, people can be selfish, lazy, and arrogant. Not many would do what you did and not want anything in return."

Well, what could he say to that?

"Oh, do excuse an old mans ramblings," he said. "and let me talk to you about a few matters."

"And those would be?" he asked curiously but cautiously.

"First, I wanted to know if you could fill in for the defense position when you don't have class. I'll have a few of the other teachers that are qualified for teaching that class doing the same."

Yes, he forgot, the defense position was open wasn't it. Hmm, maybe he could work this to his advantage.

"How about I just take over the class for the rest of the year. All I'd need is a syllabus of what all the students would be learning and a few books."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose.

"How would you do that if you don't mind my asking? Your history class schedule clashes frequently with the defense class."

Naruto chuckled.

"Let's just say I have the ability to be in two or more places at the same time and leave it at that."

"Okay," Dumbledore said slowly "I'll leave you to it. Now for the second thing. The wand now in your possession, you acquired it after you disarmed Gellert, did you not?"

"Yes," he said pull the wand out of his sleeve. The wooden stick in his hand hummed with power, practically pouring off in waves. It had already attuned to his rather unique signature already it seemed.

They had reached the stone courtyard which looked absolutely breathtaking covered in all the snow. Naruto felt a brief chill before he warmed himself using his chakra. Dumbledore seemed unperturbed by the chilly weather. Dumbledore took a seat on one of the benches and motioned for Naruto to do the same.

"Let me tell you a bit of a story about that wand, it has quite a history surrounding it," he said as he straightened his glasses.

"There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

"And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of the three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

"So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

"Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

"And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility."

"Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so talking with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts.

"In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination. The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.

"That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own.

"Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.

"Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to truly join her. And so Death took the second brother for his own.

"But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."

They sat there for a moment in silence after Dumbledore finished speaking both with different thoughts on their minds.

"So, this wand, is the one from the story?" Naruto asked while looking oddly at the wand in his hand.

Dumbledore simply nodded.

"And the other two?"

"The cloak you have, coincidentally enough, seen today as well," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Just like in the story, the cloak was passed down from father to son for generations and it is now once again with its rightful owner."

"So Harry is related to the three brothers in the story?" Naruto said with his eyebrow raised. "What were their names, if you don't mind my asking?"

He had a pretty good idea if he was remembering that trip to Gringotts correctly.

"Their names were Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell. In Godric's Hollow there's a grave with the name Ignotus Peverell, the youngest brother in the story and one of Harry's ancestors."

"And the ring?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I honestly have no idea, but it's the one I've coveted the most," Dumbledore said sadly. Suddenly he looked at him with piercing eyes. "Do you know why I'm telling you all of this?"

He shook his head slowly.

"When I was young, my sister was attacked by three muggle boys and it affected her to the point that she couldn't even leave the house. Her magic, it went wild and became a danger to her and everyone else. When my mother passed it was up to me and my brother to watch over her. I'm not going to lie to you, I resented it. I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I wanted to shine. I wanted glory.

"I loved them, do not misunderstand, but in my youth I was extremely selfish. And so I felt bitter and angry, and that's when he came..." he trailed off as he got a glassy look in his eyes.

"Grindelwald. You can't imagine how his ideas caught me. Muggles forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution."

Dumbledore must've caught the startled look on Naruto's face because he quickly continued.

"Oh, I had few scruples. It would all be for the greater good, and any harm done would be repaid a hundredfold in benefits for wizards. Did I know it was wrong? I believe I did, but for Grindelwald, I willing closed my eyes. At the heart of all our schemes were the Deathly Hallows. How they fascinated the two of us. The unbeatable wand, the Resurrection Stone, to him it meant an army of Inferi. To me, it meant the return of my parents and the lifting of all responsibility from my shoulders. The cloak was more wanted to have the complete set of the Hallows. We could conceal ourselves well enough. Two months of insanity, cruel dreams, and neglect of the only two members of my family left to me.

"And then... reality returned in the form of my rough, unlettered, and infinitely more admirable brother. I didn't want to hear the truths he shouted at me. I didn't want to hear that I couldn't seek out the Hallows I so coveted with a fragile and unstable sister in tow.

"The argument became a fight. Grindelwald lost control. That darkness I always sensed in him but chose to ignore sprang into terrible being. And Ariana... lay dead on the floor."

It took a moment in which Naruto processed all of this and another moment to realize that Dumbledore had broken down in tears. Naruto lightly gripped his arm and waited until he regained his composure.

"Well, you can guess what happened from here. Grindelwald fled leaving me and my brother to bury my sister and learn to live with my guilt, the price of my shame.

"Years passed, and the rumors about him grew. They say he procured a wand of immense power. I was offered the position of Minister of Magic more than once. Naturally I refused. I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power. You undoubtedly know the rest. Which brings me to the point of this entire story. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That wand is a perfect example of this. From what I understand, you've been watching over young Harry for a number of years."

He chuckled at the astonished look on Naruto's face.

"It was quite easy to figure out after seeing you spend so much time with him and how you two interacted. What I'm trying to say is that I don't want what happened with me and Ariana to happen to you and Harry over that wand. I can tell you're a good person, my judging of another person's character being much better than when I was a youth. That wand has a bloody history, I just want you to be careful."

"Dumbledore, you have nothing to worry about. This wouldn't be the first time I've dealt with extremely corruptible sources of power and I'm certain it won't be the last. If that couldn't change me, this wand won't. I'd never let anything come between me and Harry."

Naruto spoke with conviction and a fire he thought had died back with his friends in Konoha. Dumbledore must have seen this as well for he nodded his head and stood.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear from you and if you would do me the honor, I'd like for you to accompany me to visit a few friends of mine."

"Friends?"

"Yes, they're just one of the families that Grindelwald tore apart and it's up to me to fix it. However, I don't know what they'd do if they see me so I'd like for you to accompany me, to help better explain the situation. You don't mind do you?"

Naruto shook his head and answered with a grin.

"Not at all."

"Excellent, we'll be making a young man's Christmas by giving him his family back," he said with a smile. "I suggest you hold on tight, if you've not done so, side along apparating isn't very pleasant," he said as he held out his arm.

Naruto, who had heard of side along apparating, cautiously gripped his arm as they popped out of the courtyard.

XxXx

It was one of the most unpleasant sensations he had ever felt but due to his training, he didn't stumble nor did he feel nauseous.

When he looked around he saw they were in a crowded reception area with people with many odd disfigurements like extra hands and a giraffe neck. As they stood in line he noticed there were wizards and witches in lime green robes walking up and down the rows asking questions and writing them down on clipboards.

A loud 'NEXT' startled him from his thoughts and he berated himself for getting lost in his thoughts. He and Dumbledore made their way to the receptionist, a witch reading what looked like a magazine with a bored expression on her face.

"May we see the Longbottoms today?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully.

"Spell damage, Fourth floor," she said without even looking up.

"Thank You," he said, just as cheerfully. He quickly led them up the stairs and through the hallways before stopping before a large door. As they stepped in it was obvious that this was a long term ward, or rather permanent ward.

There were many personal effects around the beds of the patients. As they walked forward a bit he could see Dumbledore staring at two individuals in particular.

A sallow-skinned, mournful looking wizard lay in the bed opposite staring at the ceiling; he was mumbling to himself and seemed to be unaware of anything around him. A woman who stood nearby had a thin, worn face, her eyes seemed overly large and her hair, which was white, was wispy and dead looking.

She didn't seem to want to speak but made small, almost timid motions towards Dumbledore. He looked towards Dumbledore for an explanation only to see his face wracked with grief.

"Hello Alice," he said quietly. "Hello Frank."

AN: Okay, explanation time. I was NOT planning on being gone for three months. I was only expecting to be gone a month at the most. This was due to the fact that I needed a new laptop, horribly. It was when I got it that other things decided to come up. Things like writers block, fires, funerals, family drama, school, work, more school, and getting even more distracted because I had to read The Hunger Games trilogy. Not to mention a whole host of other things that came up that I'm not going to mention.

Someone also asked why I didn't put up a riddle for the last chapter. It was because I knew I'd be gone for so long and I didn't want you all waiting so long for the answer. I'll be updating much more frequently now and I'll be totally revamping my Gift Giver story. I had been struggling with that as well and I finally managed to get the plot set so that along with Rather Die Young will be updated soon. I'll also be going back and fixing a few things in this story as well because of the way the manga has gone and all the information that was major to change the story at all or the plot so you won't have to re-read the story if you don't want to. I also got a review or two that told me there was a sentence in one of the chapters that just kind of cut off so I'll be fixing that as well.

The next chapter will be the end of part two and then we get into part three. A lot of stuff is going to start happening so I hope you're ready. There will also be more interaction of Harry and the other Hogwarts students than there has been so far.

So, please don't forget to review and add the story to your favorites!

Ravenclaw Riddle

I drift forever with the current
down these long canals they've made
Tame, yet wild, I run elusive
Multitasking to your aid.
Before I came, the world was darker
Colder, sometimes, rougher, true
But though I might make living easy,
I'm good at killing people too.