A/N: My apologies for confusing you yesterday. There was a glaring error in that chapter (about Harry not being of Black blood) that I needed to fix. I should have done it today with its update. Updates will always be on a Tuesday. I hope you enjoy this!
55. Appointments and UltimatumsDecember first was the first meeting of the revised Hogwarts Board of Governors. Sirius arrived at the castle a bit early so he could visit with both Remus and Harry before the meeting. Hagrid had let him onto the castle grounds and he made his way to the DADA classroom. Remus was expecting him.
"How are you doing, Moony?"
"I've had better days, but it wasn't a bad full moon all things considered. The Wolfsbane really does make a difference. Severus said he was evaluating some of the changes suggested by Lily, but wasn't ready to try any of them yet."
"So Minerva was fine with me coming a bit early?"
"Yes. She said she knew there were some things you needed to ask her about. However, it will have to be AFTER lunch in the Great Hall."
"She really wants to put me on display, doesn't she? Are you sure you can't get Harry out of class?"
"Even though he has History of Magic, he must still attend for the time being."
"Well, hopefully we can fix that problem soon as well."
They walked into the Great Hall where Minerva had placed an extra chair next to hers for him. As he was walking over, he looked over to the Gryffindor table for a messy head of dark hair. Finding him with his two friends, he relaxed just a bit.
"Sirius, good to have you with us. Remus said you needed to speak with me about a few things. Can we talk about it here or would you prefer to wait until we get to my office?"
"Here is fine. Nothing requiring secrecy although there are some things previously in your office that I need to take a look at."
She nodded, understanding that he meant some things of Albus'. She clapped her hands and the food appeared on all of the tables. After serving himself, Sirius brought up one of the other reasons he needed to speak to her about.
"Apparently there is a closed room in the castle where Harry's mail has been stored over the years. Albus said that the head elf, Pappy, would be able to show us where it is."
"Yes. I wondered where that was after hearing about that charge. We have an hour after lunch before the start of the Board of Governors meeting to visit that room. I've had Albus' things packed up already so I'll need to know exactly what you are looking for so that the elves can find the appropriate box."
Lunch continued in a friendly fashion. When the bell rung for the start of afternoon classes, Sirius accompanied Minerva to her office. He was pleased to hear that candy was no longer used for passwords to the Headmistress's office. Once in there, she called for Pappy.
"Headmistress be calling Pappy?"
"Yes. It is my understanding that the former Headmaster had a room set aside for mail addressed to Harry Potter. He told Lord Black that you would know where it was."
A voice behind her said, "It's the room on the second floor behind the tapestry of Marvin the Mysterious."
Minerva replied, "Thank you Albus. Pappy, Sirius will be spending some time in that room along with Harry Potter and Remus Lupin. Could you ensure the wards are set to allow them entrance?"
"Of course, Headmistress. Would you like me to take you there?"
"Since it is the first time, yes."
Sirius and Minerva followed the aged elf. Oddly enough, the tapestry was directly across from Myrtle's bathroom. When they opened the door, there was a stack of mail two feet high covering the floor of the room."
Minerva asked, "Pappy, did anyone sort through this mail or has it been like this the whole time?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore told us to leave it here but bring him any mail from Gringotts. We put in an owl opening so we wouldn't have to keep an elf here permanently," he said, pointing to the opening near the top of the room.
Sirius surveyed the mess and said, "I think this is going to be more than the three of us will be able to handle easily. I think I'm going to have Harry's elf, Dobby, come in here and sort through it first. We'll probably bring Hermione and Ron with us when we go through it this weekend. If that's agreeable with you, Minerva."
"Of course. As long as you make sure the three of them have their homework done," she said with a twinkle in her eye. Sirius wanted to ask her if the Head position came with an automatic eye twinkle.
"Certainly, Headmistress. Far be it for me to interfere with the education of these three impressionable young minds. It would be against my purpose as a member of the Board of Governors." Both of them laughed.
"Thank you Pappy. If you could set the wards for Dobby as well as the other two students, then you may go back to your duties."
The elf snapped his finger, then popped out. Sirius then called Dobby. The elf popped right into the middle of the pile of mail, upsetting the letters and packages. The two adults hid a laugh.
"Dobby. All of this mail came for Harry over the years. If you could sort it into some sort of system so that we can go through it, I'd appreciate it."
"Of course Master Doggie! Dobby is happy to do this for his Harry! I will stay here until it is done."
"Dobby, you don't need to do it all at once. Make sure you take time to eat and rest. When you've done that, if you'll let Remus or Harry know you've done it, then go back to Potter Hall. We're going to start going through it this weekend."
"Yes, Master Doggie."
Minerva looked at Sirius with a smile on her face. To stop where he knew she was going, "He's been calling me that ever since I first met him. He must have sensed my animagus form. He calls Remus 'Master Wolfie'."
Minerva and Sirius went back to her office. She then called for Lucy, Dumbledore's private elf.
"What can Lucy do for the Headmistress?"
"When you were packing up Headmaster Dumbledore's belongings, do you remember seeing several vials with a silvery mist in them?"
"Yes Mistress McGonagall. We put them all in one box with extra cushioning charms."
"Could you bring it here?"
The elf popped out and quickly returned with a box. "This be them, Headmistress."
"Thank you, Lucy."
Sirius took the box and opened it. There must have been over a hundred vials in there with various memories in them. Albus piped up again, "I labeled them with TMR so they shouldn't be too difficult to find."
"Thank you Albus. Are there memories in there that you would wish destroyed?"
"I'm sure there are, but I will leave that to both of your judgment."
Sirius and Minerva looked at each other, but said nothing.
"If you don't mind, Minerva, I'd like to leave this here until after the meeting."
"Certainly. I'm sure it would raise more questions than answers."
Sirius placed the box on one of the chairs, then they both went down to the Board of Governors meeting room. Most everyone was there, just waiting for Madam Marchbanks to arrive. Five minutes later she did, and the meeting began.
"As you know, we had a vacancy on the Board as a result of the departure of Lucius Malfoy. With your concurrence, I offered the post to Lord Sirius Black and he graciously consented to serve. Thank you Lord Black."
"I appreciate your trust in me. I will endeavor to serve the Board faithfully and with the highest ideals for Hogwarts."
"I believe our first order of business is the appointment of a new Deputy Head. Headmistress McGonagall has recommended Professor Charity Burbage for this position. Minerva, if you would, please tell us more about her."
"She is a half-blood who is currently teaching our Muggle Studies course." There were a few murmurs at that, but she continued. "She was a Hufflepuff when she attended. She earned NEWTS in Muggle Studies, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Herbology with either an Exceeds Expectation or Outstanding. She is in her seventh year as a professor, however she did take a sabbatical two years ago to research more on the current state of Muggle technology. She is well-liked by both staff and students. Prior to coming to Hogwarts she spent thirteen years working at the Ministry in the Department for International Cooperation and also served in the Muggle Liaison Office."
Lord Greengrass asked the first question, "What makes her more qualified than other professors with longer tenure?"
"When we took a long look at who was available for the position once we removed the Heads of House from consideration, we were left with only four professors to choose from. Aurora Sinistra teaches Astronomy and has been here for twenty-five years. The majority of her classes are at night which would prevent her from being able to dedicate the time necessary in the hours we would need her. She teaches all seven years of students. Septima Vector teaches Arithmancy. While she has no students prior to third year, she does have quite a few students who pursue it through NEWTS. Likewise, Bathsheba Babbling teaches Ancient Runes and also has a number of students who pursue this through NEWTS. Professor Burbage has only a handful of students who pursue Muggle Studies through NEWTS and those tend to be done through independent study. We also considered house affiliation. Septima graduated from Beauxbatons. Aurora was in Slytherin while Bathsheba was in Ravenclaw. There hasn't been a Hufflepuff Headmaster or Headmistress since the Founders so we felt it would be a step forward in uniting the houses."
"A very reasoned explanation Minerva," said Sirius.
"Why were no men considered," asked Madam Zabini.
"At the present, we have a small number of faculty due to the dwindling number of courses we teach. As Filius Flitwick and Severus Snape are both Heads of House, that only leaves Remus Lupin. As this is only his first year, it did not seem wise to consider him. He has, as I stated last meeting, been appointed as the Gryffindor Head of House."
"I believe we would like to speak with Professor Burbage before confirming her appointment if that is possible," said Madam Marchbanks.
"She is awaiting your summons in her quarters." Minerva sent her Patronus off to alert Professor Burbage that her presence was required.
When Charity arrived, she was introduced to the members. Similar questions as to those asked of Minerva McGonagall were asked of her. Finally, Simon Potage asked her something that had yet to be touched on, "If the Board approves of your appointment, what do you see yourself bringing to this School?"
"Headmistress McGonagall has tasked me to head a committee to determine changes necessary to the curriculum. While we have not determined just what those changes will be, we are looking at the following possibilities. First, the removal of Divination. It is a known fact that unless you are a born Seer, that class is absolutely useless. Muggle Studies and Wizarding Culture would become a mandatory part of the curriculum for all students in first and second years. They would drop it at the third year point in favor of other available electives. Additionally, Latin would be taught for the first two years. We are considering adding Warding at NEWT level as one would need the prerequisites at OWL level to understand the subject. Defense Against the Dark Arts would become Applied Magic."
Madam Zabini interrupted, "And what purpose would it serve for everyone to take Muggle Studies?"
"Our world is linked to that of the Muggle world whether we want to admit it or not. The technology gains they have made in just the past twenty-five years is astounding. They can compress an enormous amount of information into a box as small as a bread box and retrieve it in seconds. They can destroy a city with one weapon. Muggles have sent men to the moon and back since 1969."
"That is absurd!" exclaimed Madam Zabini.
"What is absurd? That Muggles have managed to do something that we magicals cannot or that they found a need to do so?" Professor Burbage replied pointedly. Sirius was sitting back enjoying the debate.
"And the purpose of Wizarding Culture for all students?" asked Madam Summersby.
"Muggleborn and half-blood students make up two-thirds of the student body now. One reason they are looked down upon by pure-bloods is that they don't understand our world or don't take the effort to do so. This will allow them to understand how our world works and how our customs came to be. We are also considering, but have not decided, to offer the option to test out of these classes. It serves no use for students to sit in a classroom learning something they grew up knowing. These tests would be offered during the first few days prior to the actual start of term, which brings up another item. While school will still start on September first, we propose to bring the first years here on August 28th. This will give us a few days to orient the students to the castle as well as provide basic skills to them in using a quill, preparing an essay, finding their way to their classrooms and other general orientation matters. We will also have the school mediwitch give them all physical examinations so she will be able to have a baseline from which to judge any further injuries or illnesses."
"Now see here! I have my own personal healer that my family has used for years. I don't want some mediwitch telling me what his medically necessary for my child!" said Lord Greengrass.
Sirius interrupted, "Each year, abused and neglected children arrive at Hogwarts. This is especially true of muggleborn or muggle-raised magical children as their parents or guardians do not understand what they consider strange behavior to be accidental magic. Having an initial physical examination documented and in each child's records will allow the staff to discover these children earlier and help them. I firmly believe this would have helped my godson immeasurably, had the former headmaster not interfered."
Minerva added, "This is not set in stone Lord Greengrass. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey can provide a standard health record format that your personal healer could provide to us. We are still working those details out."
Lord Greengrass seemed to be satisfied with that option.
Madam Marchbanks took the floor again, "Apparently quite a lot of thought has gone into future planning since our last meeting. Did you have anything else you wish to add, Professor Burbage?"
"I believe that summarizes our discussions to date, Madam Marchbanks."
Mr. Caldicott asked, "When would the sorting be done?"
Minerva answered, "It would still be done on the first. During the first few days, the first years would all share one dormitory. This would allow them to meet their fellow first years without the biases associated with certain houses."
"If there is no further debate, I believe we should take a vote. All in favor of appointing Professor Charity Burbage as the new Deputy Headmistress, please raise your wand." She counted seven raised wands. "All opposed." Two raised wands.
"Congratulations, Deputy Headmistress Burbage. I'm certain Minerva will be putting your skills to good use. I believe our next item of business is a report on activities at the school since our last meeting. Headmistress McGonagall?"
"As Charity has just elaborated, we have a committee of faculty members who are reviewing the curriculum to see how we can improve. Our most pressing needs right now are to appoint an interim Transfiguration teacher and a new History of Magic teacher. I believe I have located a satisfactory Transfiguration teacher who will instruct the first through fifth years. I will continue the two NEWT classes until we are able to get a fully qualified Transfiguration professor who has their Mastery. I have contacted Emmeline Vance about this position and she is available to start next term."
"Yes, I gave her NEWT practical to her. She scored an Outstanding as you would expect for someone being considered for a teaching position," said Madam Marchbanks.
"She was especially helpful with the first years in Ravenclaw her last three years. I believe she also assisted other houses as well."
"Does anyone have any further discussion on this candidate?" asked Madam Marchbanks. Seeing no other questions, she nodded to Minerva to continue.
"The other critical position to fill is that of History of Magic professor. I have convinced Professor Binns that it is time for him to take his rest, understanding that we may call on him for special lectures from time to time. I had quite a few applicants for the position. I must admit, I discounted the Hogwarts graduates for this position. We have had only a handful of students progress to NEWT level in the past fifty years. The best qualified candidate is a man named Adam Newell. He is originally from America but has spent the past fifteen years on the continent studying comparative magicology. He has published several works including a study of the war with Grindelwald and its relationship to the Muggle World War II. He also has an additional Mastery in Archival Studies which would prove useful in preserving our latest discovery. He is also available at the start of next term."
"And he is willing to come to Hogwarts?" asked Mr. Caldicott.
"I was surprised as well, but he has always wanted to teach and he felt the challenge of rebuilding our history curriculum enticing."
"Are there any other positions you anticipate filling, Headmistress?" asked Mrs. Wycliffe.
"I would like to hire an assistant caretaker. Argus Filch is an institution here and I can't see tossing him out on his ear. However, there is much to be done with a castle of this age and without magic, he is quite limited. Also, having someone able to work with the elves would also be an asset."
There was quite a discussion on that, with the general sentiment being that Filch had long ago passed his prime and was basically useless. Allowing him to remain in a token position, similar to what she planned to do with Sibyll Trelawney, would be her way of easing him out. The Board was generally in agreement with that.
There was further discussion concerning the financial health of the school and ways to improve it. Apparently nobody had a really good idea of what the school actually had. Minerva hadn't been able to find the latest Gringotts statements. The Board decided to have Sirius go with Minerva to Gringotts for a complete accounting of the solvency of the school. With no further business, the meeting adjourned.
OoOoOoOoOo
With the calendar turning to December, thoughts among the students of Hogwarts turned to their end of term exams. Hermione had been on Harry and Ron to stick to a schedule to revise for them. While Harry was doing his best, it seemed Ron was rebelling further. Harry had gotten a clean bill of health from Madam Pomfrey and no longer had to spend time on Saturdays brewing his nutrient potion. That let him sleep in just a little more on Saturdays. There was a Hogsmeade weekend on the 11th so they could buy holiday presents for friends and family, plus take a break from testing. All of their teachers had piled up homework in preparation. While there were no pending Quidditch matches, Harry still had practice twice a week which added to his workload.
Tuesday evening, everyone was grousing about the workload. Harry had come back from Quidditch practice tired and sore. There had been a brisk wind blowing so it was more than a little bit difficult to stay on his broom. Added to that, the twins had "accidentally" hit a bludger at him requiring not only a sloth roll to avoid it, but a corkscrew downward. His shoulders had taken the brunt of that maneuver. Oliver Wood had chastised them for trying to injure his seeker, but the twins fired back that the opponents would be doing that were it a real game. Harry got back to the dorm and pulled out his books. He still had a long essay to finish for Ancient Runes the next morning. He'd gotten started on it, but other events had taken priority. He settled down at one of the tables to work on it when Ron stopped by.
"Hey Harry. I was hoping you'd play a game of Wizard's Chess with me. Trelawney didn't give us anything new and I've already done the work for Charms."
"Sorry, Ron. I've still got my Ancient Runes homework to do and it's due first thing in the morning and I'm still behind on my Potions essay."
"But the Potions essay isn't due until Friday. You've got two days to finish it!"
"I've still got Quidditch practice Thursday evening, so I really need to get it done tonight if I can. I'm still a bit behind for both Transfiguration and Charms too. I can't do it this weekend because of that other project. (He'd told them about the letters and packages that they were going to sort out over the weekend.) I need all of my free time to get everything done. Sorry."
Harry could see Ron's ears turning red and the steam starting to come out of his ears, but he didn't care. He knew it was going to come sooner or later and he'd been putting it off long enough. He'd let Ron be the first to throw down the gauntlet. Hermione was watching from behind her Arithmancy book. Right on time the explosion came.
"You never have time anymore, Harry! What's wrong with you? You always had time for a game of chess. You've got your head stuck in books so much now you're almost as bad as Hermione! You should have some fun while you can!"
Harry glanced over at Hermione after that slight and saw her jaw tighten, "Ron, I do like to have fun, but we are at school and we are here to learn. Maybe Friday night?"
"I don't know you any more! You used to never study this much! As long as you turned something in, it was always OK."
"Well it's not OK anymore. Sirius has made it plain that he expects my grades to be good and so has Remus. Without the charms and bindings from Dumbledore on me anymore, I don't have an excuse to slack off, not that it mattered before. Sirius told me that if I don't get at least an Acceptable in everything he'll ask Remus to start checking my homework. He expects me to get Exceeds Expectations or better, but he is giving me slack for History."
"Come on, Harry. Just a couple of games."
"You just don't get it! I've changed, Ron! I've got people who care about me now. You know, if you just spent as much time studying as you do complaining about studying, you could do better too. I'm tired of you playing the victim to your brothers and sister! I'm not sorry I have money. I can do a lot of good with it. But it can't make up for the twelve years I spent at the Dursleys being locked up in a cupboard and starved. You don't know how lucky you are. You've got a family who loves you and cares about you. That's more valuable than all the vaults in Gringotts. You're a whiz at chess. If you put half as much effort into your schoolwork as you do into a game of chess, you'd be giving all of us a run for our money. It's your decision, Ron, but you either accept me for who I am or just leave me alone!"
Harry stormed out of Gryffindor tower not even sure where he was going. He knew if he went to the library, they'd find him and right now, he didn't want to be found. He could go to Remus' office, but then he'd have to explain why he was hiding from his 'friends.' While he was contemplating all of this, his feet were leading him elsewhere. When he finally looked up, he was on the second floor. Taking that as a sign, he pushed open the door to the girl's bathroom and opened the Chamber of Secrets. After opening the several doors, he found himself in the Founders' Library, as he had begun to call it.
Settling himself down, he started working. After a half-hour, he took a break and decided to see if there were any books about his current assignment. He looked over in the Ravenclaw section first but didn't see what he was looking for. He was surprised to find an ancient tome on Norse runes in the Slytherin section. Taking it back over to the sitting area, he carefully thumbed through it until he found the section pertaining to the current assignment. Harry read, fascinated by the information it contained. It was much more in-depth than what his textbook had. He started back writing on the assignment, putting much more depth and thought into it. Once he finished that assignment, he moved on to Potions. Pity he couldn't use the reference material here to help with History of Magic, but Binns was discussing events that happened after the Founders had long died. He never heard the quiet 'pop' of a house elf coming and quickly going.
The only problem with having such a great place to study is that he lost track of time. He was totally absorbed in his work when he heard a loud, "HARRY JAMES POTTER!" in Hermione's voice. He looked up to see Remus, Hermione and the twins.
He blinked a couple of times to clear his thoughts, "Hi. Ummm, what are you all doing here?"
Remus responded, "It's long past curfew. When you didn't return to the tower, they came and got me. We checked the library and you weren't there, so I had the twins get the map. We couldn't find you on it, so that left the Room of Requirement. We were able to get in there easily so we knew you couldn't be there either. Hermione was the one who thought about the Chamber. I had Dobby come and check to see if you were here. I'm going to have to add it to the map for future reference. Please gather your things and make sure you leave anything that belongs here where you got it from."
While Remus was speaking, Hermione and the twins were gawking at the Founders' Library.
"Why didn't you tell me about this place, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, er, it was supposed to be a secret," he replied sheepishly.
"I suggest we all head back upstairs and close this place up. When we get up there, Harry, I will be placing wards on the entrance to prevent you coming down here unescorted."
"But Remus …"
"No buts, Harry. If something happened to you down here, nobody would know. Hermione told me about the argument with Ron and I understand the need for privacy, but this is not the place. Also, it will be twenty points from Gryffindor and detention with me tomorrow evening for being out after curfew and causing several of us to have near heart attacks."
Harry looked at Remus incredulously. He'd taken points from him? He pushed past them all and stalked out of the room. As soon as everyone was out he closed the door. He repeated it as they worked their way out of the Chamber. When they'd finally reached the hall outside the bathroom, Remus sent the others back to the Tower. He wanted a word in private with Harry first.
"Is there something else you need Professor Lupin?"
Remus winced at the formality of the address, but in this case, it was necessary.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, there is. You will wait while I put up the wards." Harry stood there as Remus wove the spell. Once he was done, he turned to Harry, "I have to let Professor McGonagall know about this breach since you are the only one who can get in and out of the Chamber. It will be up to her if she wants to tell Sirius."
"Is there anything else, sir?"
"No, I'll walk you back to the Tower. I don't want Severus catching you and giving you another detention."
Harry muttered under his breath, "Like it would matter," unfortunately Remus' heightened senses heard it.
"Yes. It would matter. We'll discuss this further tomorrow evening when we are both calmer." The rest of the trek to Gryffindor Tower was silent.
Hermione was waiting for him in the common room, but he just pushed on past her. He wasn't ready to discuss this with her yet. He got changed and went to bed without a word to anyone else.
OoOoOoOoOo
Harry got up early the next morning and was out of the dorm before the others woke up. He really didn't want to see Ron right now. He was glad he didn't have DADA today or he might say something he'd regret to 'Professor' Lupin. Hermione was waiting down in the common room for him.
"How are you doing, Harry?"
"Fine, Hermione."
Hermione huffed, "Harry James Potter, don't just brush me off like that!"
"What do you want me to say, Hermione? I'm great? I'm fantastic?"
"No. I just want to know how you're doing. I know it was hard for you to do that last night, but really, Ron has been asking for it. I gave him a piece of my mind after you left about his comment about you trying to compete with me. Really. He needs to engage his brain before he speaks."
"I'm sure I'm now the talk of the tower again."
"No. There were some questions about a few of the things you said, but most of the comments were supporting you. Ginny threw a bat bogey hex at him and the twins turned his hair yellow. Percy even turned a blind eye to them. So why don't we go on to breakfast. Maybe later on you can tell me about the place we found you?"
"Sure, Hermione. Thanks."
Breakfast was a quiet affair, but Harry found himself surrounded by Neville, Ginny and the twins. When Ron finally dragged in, he ended up having to sit next to Cormac McLaggen. Harry didn't even bother looking up at the Head Table. He'd see Remus soon enough for detention.
"Oh, Harrikins?" said George.
"Please don't think all Weasleys are like our brother the git," said Fred.
"He's the one in the family born without common sense," said George.
"I made sure he paid for his comments to you," said Ginny, smirking.
"Thanks, guys. So what was this map you were talking about last night?"
The twins looked at each other, "Oooops, well, we were supposed to have shown that to you before. We'll show it to you later," said Fred, looking nervously at his brother Percy.
The bell rung so Harry and Hermione made their way to Ancient Runes. He let himself be overtaken by the subject and forgot, at least for a little while, the spat with Ron. Unfortunately, he had to go to Charms next. Harry decided to sit in the very front of the class which guaranteed Ron wouldn't be anywhere near him. It continued like that throughout the day. Even in Herbology he decided to try something different and asked Susan Bones if he could work with her for the hour.
After dinner, Harry slowly walked to the Defense classroom. He was still smarting from Remus' sharp words last night. He realized that he'd been a bit careless in going into the Chamber without telling anyone, but he didn't see it was as serious as it was being made to be. Finding himself at his destination, he knocked on the door and was bade to enter.
"Thank you for being punctual, Harry. Now that I'm a bit calmer than I was last night, I'd like to discuss the events with you."
Harry nodded at him in agreement.
"Hermione explained what happened with Ron. She also said that it's something that's been brewing for some time. Why didn't you talk to me or Sirius about it before it became a major crisis?"
"I meant to. I told Hermione once that I was going to. Then he'd back off and everything would be fine and I'd forget about it."
"What made last night different?"
"I was tired. We'd had Quidditch practice and Oliver has been insane about it. He said that since we were losing valuable practice time with the holidays he wanted to make it up before we left. I still had quite a bit of homework to do to make up for losing tomorrow night as well before we start exams next week. I'd only gotten part of my Runes essay done and it was due this morning. I just needed a quiet place to work. I knew if I went to the library anyone could find me there and I didn't want to be found."
"That was apparent."
"No. What I mean is that I needed a place where I could think without worrying about Hermione asking me to come back to the dorm and make peace with Ron."
"You know my door is always open."
"I thought about it, but I wasn't ready to explain to you what was going on."
"If you ever need a quiet place to work or just think, I will always be available to you. If there is someone in the classroom, you can always go to my quarters. I won't ask questions if you don't want me to. But going into the Chamber put yourself in danger because nobody knew where you were. If you had tripped going down the stairs and hurt yourself, or there was something else in the Chamber that we hadn't discovered, I would have never forgiven myself. Although I am your Head of House, I'm speaking to you as your uncle as well. Don't ever scare me like that again, cub!"
"I'm sorry, Remus," Harry hung his head.
"Well, it's over and done and I think we've both learned from it."
"What did Professor McGonagall say?"
"I didn't tell her. I felt we needed to work this out ourselves without the Headmistress involved. I did let her know I'd put wards on the door so it couldn't be opened accidentally. I'm pretty sure she suspected something had happened, but wanted to let us handle it ourselves."
"And Sirius?"
"You are going to have to tell him."
"Me?"
"Yes. As part of your detention tonight, you are going to mirror call him and explain what happened."
"Part?"
"Yes. Then I want you to write 100 lines of 'I will not put myself in danger and scare the life out of people who care about me.'"
Harry looked at him incredulously, "You really want me to write that?"
"I do. I'm hoping that will get you to think next time you decide to do something foolish. Now, do you have your mirror or do you need to use mine?"
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his mirror and activated it. Once Sirius heard the reason for the call, he also lectured Harry about keeping himself safe and not scaring either of them. When he heard the punishment Remus had set for him, Sirius increased it to 200 lines. When Harry went to protest, Sirius threatened to take his broom away from him for the entire Christmas holidays. Seeing that he was getting off relatively light, he quickly shut up. Sirius then reminded him that he'd see him on Saturday and he was sure he could come up with even more punishment ideas by then if necessary. Wanting to get to his lines and get back to the dorm, Harry assured Sirius he would be more careful in the future. With that done, Harry set to writing.
OoOoOoOoOo
Saturday morning found Remus, Harry and Hermione waiting in the Entrance Hall for Sirius. Ron still had not apologized to Harry, so they'd let him sleep. He could figure it out for himself later. Sirius led them to the room on the second floor. Harry glanced at the entrance to the girls' bathroom then followed the rest in. They all looked around in surprise; well, everyone except Sirius.
"Dobby's done a lot of work already. I had him come in and organize it as much as possible. Let me get him here to explain what he's done. Dobby!"
"Yes Master Doggie?"
"Thank you for your hard work. Could you please explain the different stacks for us?"
"The stack in the back is presents. The stack to the left is offers. The stack to the right is thanks for saving us. The stack by the door is things Dobby not know what to do with." Dobby's ears flopped down at that.
"Don't worry Dobby, I'm sure there's plenty of things we may not know what to do with either. We'll probably have you take some of this back once we figure out what to do with it."
With that, Dobby popped away.
Sirius looked around, then said, "Well, let's divide and conquer then. Harry, why don't you take the stack of presents. You should have had them before anyway. Remus, maybe you should take the offers. Hermione, you can take the thank yous and general correspondence and that will leave me with the unknown stuff. I think we could use some advice as well. Harry, did you bring your parents?"
Harry pulled out the portrait of his parents and Sirius temporarily stuck them on the wall in a manner where they could see most everything in the room.
Lily looked at the room then said, "Albus was hiding all of THIS from you?"
Harry nodded at his parents then began picking through the large pile of stuffed animals. There were multiples of many of them. Harry pulled a stuffed dragon from the pile and it began waving its tail, flapping its wings and small puffs of smoke came out of its mouth. Harry laughed at it before putting it aside.
"You know you can take a few of them home with you," said Sirius, trying to hide a smirk.
Harry threw the dragon at him, before picking up another and putting it over in a separate pile. He also saw a hippogriff that reminded him of Buckbeak so he put that off to the side as well.
"Is there a wizarding orphanage?" he asked.
Sirius looked over to Remus for an answer as he didn't know what had happened in the years he'd been in Azkaban.
"No, Harry. Most children who lose their parents have other relatives or a godparent take them in. This was especially true during the last war. You can see this by Neville being raised by his grandmother and Susan Bones by her aunt. That's why the position of godparent is held in such high regard in our world."
"What about sending all of the toys to St. Mungo's? Could they use them?"
"That would be a generous thing to do with them, pup," said Sirius. He then pulled out a sack with an undetectable extension charm on it and handed it to him, "Why don't you put everything you want to send to them in this sack. We can arrange a time to present them during the holidays if you'd like. I still think you should keep a couple for yourself though."
While Harry wanted to throw a few more at his godfather, he did pick out a couple for himself. Once that was done, he started in on the other things such as puzzles and games. There were sets of gobstones in many different colors, dozens of wizard's chess sets, decks of exploding snap cards among other things.
"Hermione, do you think the common rooms could use some of these?"
"Well, it might not be a bad idea. Usually they expect people to bring their own."
"What do you think, Remus?"
"I'm sure they can be put to good use. Why don't you set some aside for that and we'll get them delivered to each of the common rooms."
While Harry began sorting the games into piles for the common rooms, Remus was laughing at all of the offers he had been reading so Sirius had to find out what was so funny.
"Moony, you've been over there chuckling the whole time you've been sorting through your pile. What's so funny?"
"Harry's gotten offers of betrothal to pretty much every eligible witch in this country and several others as well. Each year new ones come in as more girls are born. There are also some betrothal offers for several wizards in the group as well."
James had to hold his sides he was laughing so hard, "Oh, Prongslet! The look on your face is priceless. I can see you now, betrothed to Draco Malfoy. Having Lucius Malfoy as a father-in-law." James had to duck to avoid the slap coming his way from Lily.
It continued like that the rest of the morning. Harry got Hermione to help him go over the large stack of books. There were multiple copies of Beedle the Bard which he threw into the sack for St. Mungo's as well as some of the other children's books. Quite a few went into a stack to give to Madam Pince for the Hogwarts Library. Harry took a few as did Hermione. Even Remus found a couple to add to his library.
They took a break for lunch in the Great Hall. Sirius sat at the Head Table and filled Minerva in on what had been happening since he was there previously. He also told her there would be new books for the library. He told her about the offers and James' comments. It was hard for her to maintain her stoic demeanor with that. He told her of Harry's offer to send some of the extra games out to the four house common rooms.
Once full, they reassembled in the mail room, as they were calling it. Harry had pretty much finished his pile of mail and Hermione was done. Remus had divided his pile into those that were nice, but not going to happen (betrothal contracts) and those he would forward to Gerald for evaluation (apprenticeship sponsors, bequests, etc.). Hermione had made a pile of those that really should have a response. She also had separated out the ones that had sent birthday greetings every year in case Harry wanted to respond to those. When all was said and done, there was a huge pile of parchment to be burned. Sirius called Dobby and had him take the sack of presents and general correspondence back to Grimmauld Place and the offer letters to Gerald. Remus called for a Hogwarts elf to take the books up to Madam Prince and the common room elves to take the extra games to their respective rooms. Sirius had shrunken a stack of correspondence to take back with him as well.
Both Harry and Hermione were happy to return to the common room after dinner, but it was short lived. They were meeting Hagrid in one of the unused classrooms to prepare for the lesson on phoenix the next day. Harry was providing the link to Fawkes while Hermione would be taking down notes and helping with what questions to ask. They spent an hour planning out the lesson. All of the students enrolled in Care of Magical Creatures in all years were required to attend while any other student wanting to attend would be welcome.
