Lily's Plan
By: Sheltie
I don't own Harry Potter at all
Chapter 36: A Start to the Fifth
Harry, his wife and his friends boarded the train knowing that this year would be a trying one. They got looks from everyone and whispers were about. They had kept up with the papers both the Prophet and Ledger. The Ledger because it was good to know what your enemy was doing. Though they didn't think of the Ministry as an enemy, more as a hindrance to the war effort.
"I can't believe these people, they're such sheep" Daphne hissed.
"I know, they believe anything they read" Susan said nodding.
Harry and Hermione were prefects for Gryffindor. The story behind this was quite interesting.
/Scene Break/
Flashback
Dumbledore sat in his office with his four head of houses. They were all ready for the new year and they were here to select the new fifth year prefects.
"Well, now shall we get started" Dumbledore said.
"Yes, I'll go first" Professor Sprout said.
No one said a thing and waited for the head of Hufflepuff.
"I pick Miss Susan Bones and Mr. Ernie Macmillan" she said.
"Excellent choices" Dumbledore said.
"I would like Miss Padma Patil and Mr. Terry Boot" Flitwick said.
"I see nothing wrong there" Dumbledore said.
"I selected Miss Daphne Greengrass and Mr. Blaise Zabini" Sinistra said.
"I approve of Miss Greengrass, but would like Mr. Malfoy be selected as male Slytherin prefect" Dumbledore said.
"Are you out of your mind Albus. Why would you give that lad that kind of power?" McGonagall asked angrily.
"The boy is misguided and giving him a position will right him" Dumbledore said with his usual I know better voice.
"I beg to differ Albus. The boy is a mirror image of his father, though he has none of the subtly of Lucius. He a rogue Bludger ready to cause mayhem" Sinistra said.
"I quite agree, not to mention his grades are sub par. He's lucky to be a fifth year. None of his grades are what a prefect should be" Flitwick said.
"He'll only abuse his position Albus" Sprout said adding in her two cents.
McGonagall sat there furious. You really didn't need to know what she was thinking.
"I have heard your complaints, but they are unfounded Mr. Malfoy just need some guidance and making him a prefect will do that" Dumbledore said with his trademark eye twinkle.
This however did placate the four head houses.
"Albus, Miss Greengrass will kill Mr. Malfoy if he tries something with her on patrol there's no doubt about it. If she doesn't then Lord Potter and her other friends will do it and leave the remnants for Miss Greengrass to piss on" McGonagall said.
The other head of houses were a bit shocked by McGonagall's language, but had to agree with it wholeheartedly.
"Then Miss Greengrass won't be prefect, make Miss Parkinson the female prefect" Dumbledore said.
"No Albus, Miss Parkinson is just below Mr. Malfoy in grades and we want the best students as prefects, don't we?" Sinistra said.
Dumbledore frowned. He saw that they were going to give him what he wanted. So he let it go.
"Fine, Miss Greengrass and Mr. Zabini will be the new Slytherin prefects" he said pouting a bit.
"I nominate Lord Potter and Lady Potter as Gryffindor's fifth year prefects" McGonagall said.
The other three head of house all agreed wholeheartedly with their colleague's choice. Lord and Lady Potter were a prime example of what prefects should be.
"I will accept Lady Potter, but Lord Potter has too much on his hands and suggest Mr. Weasley in his stead" Dumbledore said.
McGonagall shot from her seat so fast that the chair rocketed backwards hitting the wall.
"Are you out of you mind Albus?!" she roared keeping the dirty language she wanted to use tamped down though her Scottish brogue was right out in front.
The force made the other three head of houses jump.
"Now Minerva, it is for the greater good" Dumbledore said. And it would get Molly off my back for a spell he added in mentally.
The mad Weasley woman had been hounding him since the news broke of Hermione being Lady Potter. The woman wouldn't stop owling and flooing him wanting to know how he was going to solve this problem so her precious little Ginny was going to be Lady Potter. He had a constant migraine and whenever he heard her shrill voice it started.
"Now Minerva, it is just the same way like Mr. Malfoy. The boy needs guidance and making a prefect will do that" the old wizard said calmly.
"Utter bull Albus. That boy has probably the worst records ever in Hogwarts entire history. He's lazy and his manners are atrocious. None of that is becoming for a prefect, who are supposed to be an example to the rest of the student body" McGonagall said with nostrils flaring.
There were few times Minerva McGonagall showed her anger. She was usually a witch who was firm and never one to fly off the handle. So when her anger appeared it scared many since this was not the McGonagall they all knew, respected and loved.
"I do have to agree with Minerva. Mr. Weasley is not prefect material at all. His grades are quite horrible and he's barely passing every course. He'll be lucky to even have one O.W.L. after this year and definitely not one N.E.W.T. in his seventh" Flitwick said.
"He barely does the work we assign him and any extra work we give him just piles up with his normal stuff" Sprout said.
"He's also very bias. He will not listen to anyone at all. Once he's set his mind he'll never change. Plus, he will not do his job, but enjoy the privileges that come with it. He'll try and dump the load on Lady Potter's shoulders" Sinistra said.
"And lets not forget that Mr. Weasley has a vendetta of sorts with Lord Potter. He will use his power to antagonize Lord Potter, which will cause Lord Potter to act swiftly against him" McGonagall said.
Dumbledore pouted. Why wasn't anything going his way. He sighed and then decided he'd just have to endure many more headaches and migraines from Mad Molly.
"Fine, Lord and Lady Potter will be made prefects" he said unhappily.
/Scene Break/
McGonagall told them all about the meeting when the group arrived back at Potter manor for the last leg of their travel. The wanted to relax a bit at home before heading back to Hogwarts. There at the manor was Harry, Hermione, their friends including the Weasley twins, Lily, Sirius, Remus who had a rare day off from a busy joke shop, and the Longbottoms.
"That man obviously lost all of his marbles" Lily said shaking her head.
"Yeah, the fact he wanted Malfoy and Weasley to be prefects. Think of the damage Malfoy could do? And Weasley, there's no way anyone would take him seriously" Daphne said.
Sirius smirked and was about to open his mouth when Hermione pointed her wand at him.
"Say one horrible pun about your name and I'll make sure when you transform you'll be a Pomeranian with pink bows" the Lady Potter threatened.
Sirius gulped and looked for help from the others. He got nothing. Remus looked very amused and from the look in his eye he was hoping Sirius would say something. So much for marauder loyalty.
"Well, we have one less thing to worry about. Our friends are in positions to help us" Harry said.
"Yes, and we don't need to worry about Zabini too much since he's a fence sitter to the highest degree" Daphne said.
"Macmillan is a pompous prat, but he won't cause much trouble. He will try to take over the whole thing though" Susan said.
"Terry's fine, I think he'll use this to get close to me. I've heard about that he has a thing for me" Padma said.
"Oh, we are definitely going to be talking" Susan giggled as she nudged Padma.
Padma smiled shyly.
"Okay, so we just have the Ministry toad to deal with" Harry said.
"Yeah, but be careful, she has her own power and can she a threat. So be on your guard" Frank advised.
"Please try not to cause any trouble this year. We've enough trouble to deal with in Fudge and the whole Ministry" Alice said.
The group nodded.
End of Flashback
/Scene Break/
Back on the train everyone was settled and then Harry, Hermione, Susan, Padma and Daphne left for their prefect meeting.
"Thanks for coming. Okay, we've a some ground to cover before we assign patrols of the train" the Head Boy said.
"The first is, have all of you read the prefect handbook?" the Head Girl asked.
There were nods.
"Good, so we don't have to go over that" the Head Boy said.
Soon there was other talk and then patrols were set up. Harry was placed with Padma while Hermione with Ernie. Hermione grumbled a bit at this since she could see the Hufflepuff puffing himself up.
"Just great" the Lady Potter muttered.
Susan gave her friend a comforting pat on the shoulder. She totally sympathized with her.
Back in the compartment they told the rest of their friends and they gave their sympathies to Hermione. Once they had all sat down they chatted about what could be happening this year. Soon it was time for Padma leave for her rounds Harry sighed and got up too. He gave Hermione one last kiss then left with Padma.
/Scene Break/
"What do you want Potter?" Ron snarled.
The redhead wasn't happy. Mainly since his mother wasn't happy. She bellowed and screamed at Dumbledore through the floo wanting to why her Ronnie wasn't chosen as prefect added to that was the fact that Dumbledore had yet to figure out a way to break Harry's marriage to Hermione so her Ginny could have her prince.
So Ron was angry since he had plans already of how to use his status. But that was gone now and seeing Harry with the prefect badge on his chest, which should've been his. It just angered him even more.
"No need to get all huffy Mr. Weasley" Padma said.
Ron was about to open his mouth to spew abuse at Padma, but was stopped by Harry.
"Not a word Mr. Weasley. Not a word" Harry said firmly.
Ron glared at Harry, but muttered under his breath a bit. The two left.
"That boy's going to be trouble this year" Padma said.
"I know, and I hate that might have to do something about it" Harry said with a sigh.
Padma rubbed Harry's back comfortingly. She knew that Harry liked the Weasleys, well, some of them. He liked Arthur and respected the man. He hated causing any more pain on the man.
/Scene Break/
Hermione's tour of duty was annoying at best. Ernie kept jabbering on and on about something that Hermione tuned out. He wasn't aiming at wooing Hermione since he knew she was off limits. But to get in good with the Potters was the second best thing. So he did his best to ingratiate himself to the Potters. His first target was Hermione since he thought Hermione would be an easier mark. Oh how little he knew about the Lady Potter.
/Scene Break/
Daphne's round wasn't as bad, but that was because she knew Blaise was neutral and didn't really care about the whole pureblood thing. They had a nice chat and Daphne had a feeling they might have another ally in the snake pit. Malfoy did glare at Blaise when they passed since that badge was supposed to be his.
/Scene Break/
Soon the train arrived at Hogsmeade and they all took a carriage to the castle. They were all able to fit thanks to some handy expansion charms. Once at the castle they went in and then found their tables. Once the sorting was finished Dumbledore arose. He gave his normal speech til he was interrupted.
"Hem-hem."
Soon a stout woman waddled up. Her face bore a resemblance to a certain amphibian and she was wearing the most hideous pink cardigan ever in history. She then gave a 'rousing' speech about how the Ministry was here to bring Hogwarts back to its grand glory. There weren't many awake during this speech since she was quite boring and everyone was hungry and she was holding up the food. Soon she waddled away to meager applause. After that the feast finally began.
"This doesn't sound good at all" Neville said.
"It doesn't, we'll need to be on our guard sooner than expected" Hermione said.
"We'll watch your back" Fred said.
"Yeah, we'll even act as diversions" George said.
"Thanks guys" Harry said.
"Anything O great lord" Fred said bowing.
George bowed also.
Harry chuckled at the twins' antics while Hermione rolled her eyes.
/Scene Break/
Soon the whole group was in the Potter quarters. They discussed what kind of trouble the toad lady might bring.
"She's Fudge's main man, so to speak. She'll use every weapon she has" Daphne said.
She had be coached and learned everything about the pink cardigan wearing toad by her father, who accessed some interesting materials.
"Auntie doesn't like her at all" Susan chipped in.
"You all should still be careful. The Ministry has been dragging the Potter name through the mud and they will jump at the chance of one of you, Harry's friends, harming a Ministry official" Lily said.
"We'll be careful aunt Lily" Neville said.
Lily nodded.
/Scene Break/
A few days into the school year Harry finally remembered what Godric wanted. He decided to talk to him when he had a break period.
"What is it you wanted to talk about Godric?" Harry asked.
"I think it is time for you to take full control of Hogwarts" Godric said.
"But I thought I already have" Harry said.
"Kind of, but you need all four of the founders to declare you their heir to take total control. Right now you have control of the wards and a few other things, but you are not in full of control of the castle" Godric said.
"Okay, what do I need to do?" Harry asked.
"You need to find the portraits of the three other founders" Godric said.
"Okay, where are they?" Harry asked.
"That I don't know. We hid our portraits throughout the castle. We never told each other where we hid them" Godric said.
"Great, more things to deal with" Harry sighed.
"You don't have to do this Harry. I'm only suggesting it" Godric said.
Harry nodded. He needed to talk to his mother and friends before he went on a portrait search.
/Scene Break/
Soon it was time for the first DADA class of the year. Harry and his friends sat down surrounding Harry with Hermione by his side as always.
The door opened and in waddled the pink cardigan wearing toad.
"Good morning class" she said smiling a wide toad like smile.
She got grumbles in return.
"No, that will not do. I said good morning class, and you should said 'good morning professor'" Umbridge said.
She did it again and got a morose response in return.
"Very good. We the Ministry are here to elevate the state of education in Hogwarts. We feel that the learning you are getting is not up to Ministry standards" Umbridge said.
Harry, Hermione and friends knew this meant trouble.
"Now open you books to page 32" Umbridge said.
Everyone except a couple of students. They knew the book was crap. There was nothing remotely educational in the book. Just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about talking down your opponent from a fight, which is stupid to do when you're facing Death Eaters or any of their like. They were at war and the Ministry was planning on making it easier for Voldemort to take over.
"Why aren't you opening your books?" Umbridge asked as she waddled up to the group.
"Because we've read them and found it wanting. There is nothing in this book that would be required in O.W.L's this year. You seemed to want to let us all fail our O.W.L's" Hermione said.
Umbridge wanted to lay into the uppity mudblood, but knew she couldn't since this mudblood was shielding herself by parading as Lady Potter.
"You will open your books" the toad hissed.
"We will not and you have no right to force us to" Padma said.
Umbridge's beady eyes shifted to Padma. According to her intel she knew the girl wasn't native to Britain thus making her different. And being different was not something she liked. She decided that Padma was fair game.
"Detention" Umbridge said.
"What for?" Daphne asked piping up.
"For disobeying a teacher" Umbridge said as she turned to waddle back up to the front of the class.
"If you punish Padma in any way that isn't in accordance to the school rules you will have house Potter on your head" Harry said warned.
"House Longbottom as well" Neville chipped in.
"House Greengrass too" Daphne said.
"House Bones also" Susan said.
Umbridge held her temper and the class was uneventful the rest of the time.
After class Padma found out when her detention was and then walked out with her friends waiting for her.
"Remember Pad, if that toad does anything to you that isn't right tell us and we'll bury her humongous butt" Neville said.
Padma nodded as Hermione chided Neville on his language.
"What, I had something totally different in mind, you should be glad at what I said rather than what I was thinking I was going to say" Neville said.
Hermione glared at her husband.
"What, how is this my fault?" Harry asked.
"You're a bad influence" Hermione said.
This caused everyone to laugh, which relaxed them all after their DADA lesson.
End of chapter
A/N: another chap in the books. Not a whole lot going on in this one sorry to say. I did do a few nice things. And yes, the scene in the beginning is reminisced of what I did in Dilemma. I wanted to reuse it in another story since I liked it so much. Will Harry take full control of Hogwarts? Find out in the next chap. Thanks for reading and please review.