Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the idea of Harry Potter or any of the money making forms of it.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews :D

Questions/Concerns Concerning:

Dumbledore and Salandra: Dumbledore was the only logical choice because to be Salandra's Master, the person needed to be magically powerful--able to handle Salandra's magic. As time goes on, this will come more apparent. Also, I am sure most of you have come to accept that it is best not to assume why I do things and that I usually have a good reason for doing the things that I do.

Harry and his magic: He has a good handle on it now, but Dumbledore wants to play it safe (as does Harry and the others). Also, his magic control is only a problem when under stress. This will become clear as time goes on.

Chapter's name: I decided to change it a tad, it's not a mistake.

- - - Book 3 — Part 5: Response

Harry knew Teddy's presence would be noticed by the student body, but he never expected….

Well, like every kid, he knew how cruel children could be and how relentless their assaults can be, verbal and physical. Experience with Dudley had shown him that much, but this was taking it to a different level.

The Saturday started like any other, except that he slept in for a few hours. Ron and the others didn't question it, knowing he had met with Salandra that night.

Before lunch, now awake and dressed, Harry, Teddy, Neville and Revlis went out onto the grounds. The others still had to unpack their things in their dorms, Hermione and Ginny wanted to get to the library, and Draco, Vince, and Greg decided to go and stay in the Come and Go Room, away from people whispering about them, particularly how Greg and Vince's parents were on the loose, hunting them.

Outside, Nott and Flint and their pals were, unfortunately, on the grounds also. There were some Hufflepuffs out as well, but they were a fair distance away.

Teddy was on Harry's foot, enjoying the ride as they came under the shade of some trees. Nott and his Slytherin friends were watching, no doubt making comments about what they were seeing. Soon after, just talking among themselves wasn't enough and they approached Harry and the others.

"Hey Potter, you such a baby now that you have an ickle little teddybear with you everywhere you go?" Nott asked. "Pathetic."

Teddy's eyes had turned to the approaching boys.

"You so weak that you're hoping an animated teddybear can protect you better than yourself? Or is it because you're a cry baby and need something to cuddle and cry with after you met those dementors?!" Flint asked, the Slytherins laughing behind him.

Harry straightened at that.

How had they known what had happened? The Daily Prophet had only provided minimal information, and it certainly hadn't included the fact he had cried. Maybe they just guessed and were trying to get a reaction from him?

Teddy glared, stepping off of Harry foot to protectively stand between Harry and the Slytherins.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Neville stated boldly, coming to Harry's defense.

"Shut up Longbottom, you great lump. It's you who doesn't know what you're talking about. Potter here shouldn't have come back to Hogwarts if he knew what was good for him. Right guys?" Nott said.

They grunted in agreement, a few moving their hands toward their wands. There were seven of them.

"I can't believe Dumbledore has allowed you to drag that thing around with you. I think we should teach you that this is not a place for little babies," Nott said, his wand now in his hand.

Neville had his wand out as well, but Harry was too focused on trying to reign in his magic and not let it respond to what he was feeling to bother retrieving his wand.

"Now you'll get what's been coming to yuh," one of the other Slytherins sneered.

"Accio Teddybear!" Flint yelled.

"Ahh!" Teddy shouted, getting yanked forward and away from Harry.

"Teddy!" Harry shouted, now furious.

No one was able to follow the things that happened next, but later, they were able to piece together some of what had happened.

The Slytherins relentlessly shouted out curses and jinxes just as Neville was able to cast a moderately strong shield charm. It took over five curses before it failed.

As that was happening, Teddy was caught by Flint, but he didn't stay in his hands for long.

"This'll be fun!" Flint exclaimed as his friends shouted the curses. He brought up his wand, aiming it at Teddy. "Diff—"

Teddy swung his little paw and managed to hit Flint right in the face.

BANG!

"AHH!"

Flint went flying. Evidently, Teddy's paw was not as squishy as it normally was.

Teddy landed on the ground, just as he felt Harry's magic flare.

"Harry!" Neville shouted, terrified upon feeling such raw and angry magic, though thankful it wasn't directed at him.

"RUN!" Nott screamed, utterly horrified.

Harry's eyes were bright, but not exactly glowing, though there seemed to be an odd green and gold glowing mist ebbing from his entire frame.

"Don't you EVER try to hurt Teddy or one of my friends again!" he roared.

The Slytherins ran, too afraid to even look back.

Pop!

Teddy appeared right by Harry, quickly gripping his leg to absorb the magic as they watched the Slytherins bolt out of there.

Once they were gone, Harry calmed a little, suddenly very thankful Teddy had gotten to him in time to absorb the backlash that had been about to erupt. But had Teddy just popped?

"You okay, Harry?" Neville asked, still trying to catch his breath with Revlis hissing some not so nice things about boys who should be bitten.

Harry nodded, Teddy staring at Revlis for a few seconds.

:Those sound like bad words: Teddy noted.

:Because they are: Revlis replied frankly with a nod.

"Come on, Harry, let's get back inside. Come and Go Room?" Neville whispered.

Harry nodded again, trying to get his bearings.

Rumbling angry magic was a little tiring and he could still feel the slight buzz of it across his skin. He knew he would be better in a moment, so just silently turned with Neville to go to the room.

"Harry?" someone asked, several people jogging towards them. "Are you…are you okay?"

Harry looked up, finding Susan Bones and three of her friends, who were in Hogwart's Army, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, staring at him in obvious concern.

"We're sorry we weren't able to help. By the time we started running to you, you had…uh… you had taken care of it," Ernie said.

Hannah was staring at Teddy.

"Hello," Teddy mumbled, causing those not used to teddybears talking to jump.

"Well, aren't you the most adorable thing I've ever seen," Hannah cooed.

Teddy hid behind Harry's robes, which only made Hannah think him even more adorable.

"Adorable?" Justin asked, laughing. "He's a butt-kicking, face-punching grizzly bear! Did you see what he did to Flint?!"

Teddy peeked around Harry's legs, puffing out his chest slightly. Harry and the others laughed, before going back into the castle.

O o O o O

Harry and Neville finally got to the Come and Go Room after talking with Susan and the other Hufflepuffs. Harry had promised that Hogwart's Army would continue, and agreed that Susan would be able to become a part of it.

Susan's magic had repaired itself for the most part, though she had to focus a bit more to make most spells work properly.

Harry and Neville told the others what had happened with the Slytherins earlier, and decided it was best if they traveled together wherever and whenever possible. As for Teddy popping, Teddy was just as confused as to how he did that as they were. Hermione assumed it had to do with the fact Draco and Harry could do it. The others decided she was probably right.

"I've also been thinking, Susan should join the Custosae. With her aunt already a member of the Amici and with how hard she fought against Riddle last year, I think she would be a good addition to our group," Neville said.

Ginny, the twins, and the rest of the Custosae agreed, including Teddy.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow about it," Hermione said. "After Arithmancy."

"So what happened last night?" Draco asked, looking to Harry.

"It was interesting. Dumbledore sort of caught me on the way to the entrance…" Harry said.

"He what?" Ginny asked.

"He somehow knew I was there, and so I decided to just come clean. I told him about Salandra, and how I wanted to talk to her. He told me I could, but that he would be coming with me. To make a long story short, the Headmaster is now Salandra's master. I'll bet he is going to visit with her again today," Harry said.

"Dumbledore is Salandra's master?" Greg asked, just as stunned as the rest of them.

"Yup," Harry answered. "But I'm still her Steward."

"Wicked…" the twins both said.

"That's what Dumbledore said about her," Harry said with a smirk.

"I bet that will come in handy later," Vince said.

"It will, because she has a master, she can even go to Hogsmead now, with Dumbledore's order of course. But now, if anything bad happened, Hogwarts will have an extra defense," Harry said with a grin.

O o O

During the next meal in the Great Hall, many found themselves gazing up at the Headmaster. He seemed different somehow, and though they couldn't point out any visible signs of it, they could actually feel a power rippling down from him.

Even the professors themselves were not immune to it and took notice.

Dumbledore was oblivious, though he did find how everyone was reacting to him slightly strange.

Earlier that morning, McGonagall had commented on how he must have gotten a very good night's sleep or had emptied a whole bag of lemon drops after seeing the extra bounce in his step or something.

Dumbledore chuckled and said he had a good night, but didn't elaborate further.

Snape had taken notice as well, muttering something about 'sugar-high old men' when he thought Dumbledore wouldn't be able to hear him.

He did, and calmly replied, "Severus, am I really old?"

Snape didn't reply, evidently unable to hear all the way across the hall and nearly around the corner….

"Minerva, could you pass the dumplin's?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, Albus," she said, placing it closer to him, but not without a long look.

He almost greedily dug in. Why was he suddenly so hungry? This was his third plate and most everyone else was still on their first. What amazed McGonagall and Snape, who had been watching Dumbledore from the corner of their eyes, was how he ate rather than how much he ate. Though the amount was still quite alarming in itself.

He wasn't a slob and didn't scarf it down like a certain Weasley; instead, he ate gracefully and with finesse, but with a speed that rivaled most vultures.

"Albus, how are you today?" McGonagall asked, blinking a few times as he finished off yet another plate.

"Splendid, Minerva, you?" he asked, now reaching for a marinated drum stick, the dumplings totally gone.

"Good…good," she said, glancing at Snape who was nearly-nearly gaping at how much the Headmaster was eating. "Um, Albus, how are you feeling?"

Dumbledore paused, lowering his fork slightly to look at her after hearing a trace of concern in her voice.

"Good, better than normal actually, though I am a little hungry. Why?" he asked before taking another bite.

"Well, it is just that you seem to be eating more than most of the teenage boys below us are, including Ronald Weasley, and I was wondering if you had noticed," she said, deciding to cut right to it.

Dumbledore looked at the food in front of him, or rather lack of food.

Nearly all of the dishes that had been holding a bounty of food were nearly empty, if not completely so, and it was obvious who had been eating most of it since all of the bare dishes and bowls were within arm's reach of him.

All of the professors were now looking at him, and a few of the students were looking at him too, some having noticed his aggressive eating ability after getting used to the magic coming from him. They couldn't hear what the professors were saying, but it was fairly clear that it was interesting.

Dumbledore put his fork down onto his plate, which had less than half of his fifth helping on it.

"Hmm," he hummed.

"Hmm?" McGonagall asked. "That's all you've got to say?"

"I suppose a growth spurt wouldn't excuse this?" he asked.

"Albus, do I need to get Pomfrey? Because if I do, I will," McGonagall said. "I think the other professors will agree with me; this is not normal, not that many things you do are, but even for you, this is a little..."

She didn't finish, seeing the thoughtful expression that had taken over Dumbledore's face.

He closed his eyes.

"Of course, I should have realized…" he trailed off, chuckling slightly before going into a short fit of laughter. "My apologies, I should have given you all a warning before now."

"Please, Headmaster, enlighten us," Snape said, Stephanie Somac nodding in agreement beside him.

"I have recently taken a familiar," he stated, picking up his fork again.

"What?!" McGonagall asked, keeping her voice low. "What about Fawkes?"

"My dear, Fawkes is not quite my familiar, just as I am not quite his Master. We are bonded, yes, but I need not tell you I am more his wizard than he is my phoenix."

"A familiar, Albus?" Flitwick squeaked.

"Yes, and I should have thought more about the effects of what our bond would be and what it would mean. She even warned me, but no matter, it is clear to me now. My magic is adjusting, as is hers. Craving and needing food makes sense."

"Hers?" McGonagall asked, for some reason not liking what she was hearing.

"Well, she is a female. Quite a beautiful creature, if I do say so myself," he said, taking on the food on his plate again.

"What is she?" Flitwick asked.

"I'd rather not say at the moment," Dumbledore stated after stabbing a potato.

"Well, you could have told us a bit sooner than lunch, Albus. And what is this about your magic?" she asked, keeping her voice level but somehow making it sharper. "No offense, Albus, but you are…."

"Minerva, surely I am not that old. I enjoy candy, am not against hearing a compliment from a pretty lady, and still look forward to Christmas."

"Well, what if there were some adverse effects? How could we have helped if something happened without knowing the cause? It is clear you had not really thought about this before carrying it out, and I'd like to know why you had not informed any of us about this decision. Taking on a familiar is a process and doesn't occur over night—"

"Not always, Minerva. I won't say anything here, but there were some circumstances surrounding last night that could not be overlooked and needed to be addressed promptly. The safety of this castle and those within are my top priority, and I will not do anything to endanger it. What I did last night has no doubt ensured that," Dumbledore said, leaving no room for comments let alone arguments. "I will discuss this with you all later."

Not saying anything else, he finished his fifth plate and started on dessert.

Fifteen minutes later, he had finished his fourth piece of cake, second slice of pie, bowl of ice cream and fourth cookie.

For the first time in his life, Hagrid could say someone had out eaten him.

"Hmm, I wonder if I have any lemon drops left in my desk…" Dumbledore whispered as he felt the Great Hall.

O o O o O

Classes started. Harry, Ron, Draco, Vince, and Neville were all in Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Hermione and Greg were in Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy. Hermione had made the others promise to share what they were covering in Ancient Runes with her later, which was perfectly fine with them.

Draco had talked her out of taking Divination (as well as Ron) and Muggle Studies, telling her they were a waste of time, both for slightly different reasons, but it all boiled down to the fact she couldn't hope to truly learn all of those subjects in a sanely manner and it wasn't worth it to risk her grades or sanity with such stupid subjects.

The others agreed, and she finally caved after the twins told her how Trelawney was and how pointless Muggle Studies was, letting her see their Muggle Studies textbook.

To say she was disappointed would be an understatement. The book did not give a true account of how muggles lived, and she was able to easily point out prejudiced examples throughout it. It was rather sad.

Classes went along fine, if one ignored whispers and stares and comments like:

"Poor Vince and Greg, murderous parents…"

"I hope they stay away from me, wouldn't want to be around if their parents come."

"Did you hear what's wrong with Potter?"

"No, but I heard the Headmaster ordered him to keep that teddybear with him at all times."

"Weird. You think it has spells on it to let Pomfrey know if he's dangerously weak or something?"

"Don't know, but isn't the little guy adorable?"

"Did you hear what happened at Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, you think it was just accidential magic?"

"Don't know…"

Harry, Vince, and Greg groaned, while the others came to their aid and glared at the shameless gossipers.

Professor Somac was a good teacher, much better than the ones before, actually teaching defense against the dark arts and introducing techniques against opponents and the best ways to avoid getting hit.

The first week passed in a blur, but a few things had been set in stone and had been made quite clear.

Snape would continue giving private lessons to Harry and Draco, though only once a month. Dumbledore had suggested it was best considering Harry's magic and his bond to Draco. Keeping an eye on their magic was a good idea. Snape had healed from his injures fairly well, though he seemed to favor his right side for a few days. After that, no one could tell he had ever been injured.

Meetings of the Army of Hogwarts continued, Susan Bones being quickly initiated later that week, as well as happily accepting a place among the Custosae, taking the oath and everything. They now had twelve members in all.

Her codename was Mighty Squib. She had chosen that name herself.

She had taken the news of the secret organization pretty well, and admitted she had her suspicions that something was going on after seeing Harry and the others that summer.

That Saturday, the professors met up in the Headmaster's office, all of them eager to finally learn what his familiar was and to learn what else that new bond was doing to his magic.

McGonagall had told Pomfrey about it, and Pomfrey had forced-uh…persuaded Dumbledore into the infirmary for a check up.

She was not exactly pleased with Dumbledore's decision to gain a familiar at his age, but couldn't find any ill effects, and actually could only find that his strength, magical and physical, had improved a great deal, and he was now physically closer to forty than the 140-something he truly was, due to his 'thoughtless' decision and the fact he was already naturally healthier than someone his age before said decision.

If Pomfrey hadn't been so overwhelmed with Dumbledore's increased power levels, she would have noticed some scarcely scattered amber hair among Dumbledore's white.

"Albus, are you going to tell us now?" McGonagall asked, asking the question they were all desperately wanting the answer to.

"Of course, Minerva. Lemon Dr—?" he began to ask while opening up the tin can. It was empty. "Aw… they're all gone."

He waved his wand over it. More appeared. McGonagall wondered where he had called them from. Hopefully not from a helpless muggle candy store.

"There. Lemon Drop anyone?" he asked, eyes sparkling brightly. He was so glad he owned a candy store in the States; it made satisfying his sweet tooth so much easier.

They all declined his offer.

"Pity," he said, before putting one in his mouth. "Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. I couldn't sleep, I think Hogwarts was keeping me up, so I went and took a little stroll and found myself on the second floor, but I also found someone else there as well. Young Mr. Potter under his invisibility cloak."

McGonagall and the others leaned in, clearly curious. Dumbledore quickly started telling them the story and how he had and Harry entered the Chamber.

"And then he called Salandra," he said.

"The basilisk!" Flitwick asked.

"Of course, she was who we were hoping to meet, after all." He continued his story, all of them gaping when he told them he let himself get pricked by Salandra's fang.

Even Snape was stunned. Dumbledore could understand parseltongue now?!

"After that, we left the chamber, bid each other good night, and that's it."

"That's it?" McGonagall asked. "You are the new master of a huge basilisk, and that's how you finish?"

"I suppose the Headmaster could have finished his tale with a musical tune?" Snape smartly asked.

"An excellent suggestion, Severus, I will keep that in mind next time," Dumbledore said.

Snape inwardly groaned.

O o O o O

The first month of classes went well, and the outside world seemed to be doing well too, considering the state of things. Teddy continued to accompany Harry everywhere, and it only took two weeks for the school to get used to the little talking bear.

The centaurs continued friendly talks with Hagrid, but had yet to come to a decision concerning the Custosae. Hagrid said it was best to be patient where the centaurs were concerned.

Finally, the lesson with the boggarts came.

Stephanie Somac was pleased with how Draco and Harry already knew what they did, as well as Hermione, but that wasn't really much of a surprise. Snape had, however, warned Somac about Harry and Draco's response to a boggart the previous year and told her to be ready for anything.

She took his advice, but decided she would let them face the boggart if they wished.

A few of the students went up, common fears among them, though Neville's was Bellatrix Lestrange. Knowing his past, it wasn't much of a surprise for her, but it was still rather sad.

No boy should have such things to deal with.

However, Neville managed to turn boggart-Bellatrix into a shriveling old woman with a walker. It seemed to do the trick to defeat the boggart.

Finally, it was Harry's turn. At first he was hesitant, but after Neville had gone, he went forward.

It turned into a Dementor. The warmth in the air vanished, and Somac was about to step forward, but Harry shouted the spell, though he did look rather shaken and was that… green mist appearing?

The green mist, however, vanished before she could truly realize she had seen it as the boggart-dementor shifted.

The dementor was no longer a dementor, but a giant, flaming, black marshmallow.

It even smelled like one.

The class erupted in giggles. Professor Somac smiled.

The lesson ended there, and Somac was pleased. Dismissing the students, she went to her desk, though she quickly noticed she wasn't alone yet.

"Um, professor?" Harry asked, coming forward.

Harry had stayed behind, Teddy on his foot.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"I was wondering if… you could come this weekend to the meeting?"

"I assume this concerns the Army of Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Yes, Professor. I, well… after today, I think I should—"

"Learn to defend yourself from dementors?" she finished for him.

"Yeah."

"I think it is an excellent idea, though I don't know if any of you will be able to cast a patronus, it can't hurt to try," she said.

Harry grinned, Teddy looking equally pleased.

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said.

He left, closing the door behind him. Somac decided then she was happy she decided to take the DADA job.

Next part: Attack at the Ministry

A/N: Hopefully I'm not moving too fast, but I figured it best to move the plot along. Kindly let me know if I'm leaving any of you behind, confusing you, or totally forgetting something. Thanks :)