Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been vacant of students for some time. From the outside, folks assumed only dusty air floated throughout the desert corridors. However, they'd be wrong. Summer vacation was halfway through, yet many members of the administration were still reporting there every day. That is, if they left the castle at all. Albus Dumbledore was keeping the members close. Daily meetings occurred in the round Headmaster's Office.

On a particularly warm day in August, the meeting hit a standstill as it did every morning. The only thing left to discuss was the topic no one wanted to talk about. It was the elephant in the room. They all knew it needed to be addressed, but no one brought it up. The silence was nerve-wracking. Who would speak next? About what topic? Surely they wouldn't bring up… that. There was no doubt it would bring a heated argument. They each glanced at people around them, waiting for someone to say something they could converse about with ease. Dumbledore sat at his large oakwood desk, twirling a pen with his fingers. He stared up at the wall clock on the other side of the room, concentrating on the sound of the ticks. The only other sounds in the room were breezes from outside that would bring life to the delicate curtains.

Dumbledore placed his pen on a thick, blank pad of paper with a soft tap. As if it was a cue, all the Heroes' eyes were on him. He took a deep breath before beginning the sentence they were all dreading. "It is unwise to continue the neglect of this topic."

"We should tell them," Lupin responded without prompt. The horses were off.

"I disagree," Abs said. "It's like expecting a baby to have a six-pack. Six-packs are earned in patience and devotion."

"We aren't talking about babies," Tonks said as she hit the end table beside her with the palm of her hand. "They're ready."

"They're children," Madam Pomfrey disagreed. "They didn't ask to be involved."

Lupin leaned back in his chair. "Sometimes that's just the way things go. Even if they're not ready, we've got to tell them. No one's going to wait until they get more mature."

Tonks bobbed her head in total agreement as Dumbledore closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Upon reopening them, he looked at McGonagall. "And your opinion, Minerva?"

"I must agree with Lupin. They've got to learn to protect themselves."

Dumbledore picked up the folded handkerchief he always kept at his desk and cleaned his half-moon glasses. "To do that we would need to inform them of the truths we've been hiding. I agree, this seems like a necessary step."

Now that Dumbledore had picked a side, the matter was officially decided. Always trust the guy with the long white beard. Not everyone agreed, of course, but he was the leader.

In Sydney, Australia, things were looking up for the Potters. They no longer feared the Dursleys and decided to come out of hiding. Ron's dad, whose job it is to keep the planes up, hooked up Mr. Potter with a piloting job. As you may have suspected, he did not keep this job very long due to not being qualified whatsoever. After nearly crashing several planes, it was only a matter of time before his bosses looked into his credentials. Not only did Mr. Weasley not get into trouble for his actions, but he was able to get Mr. Potter another job within the airport. This one was much easier. Harry's notoriety allowed for Mrs. Potter to get into reality tv. Now she works as a tv psychic. No, she's not psychic, but does anyone actually think she is? I mean, she's on tv. Added with Harry's new comic books — Harry Potter and the Adventures of Crimefighting — the family was able to buy a quaint house in a part of rural Sydney that was sprinkled with lakes and wrapped with a long, winding river. There were plenty of open fields for Krypto and enough rooms for Harry to have his own. He and his pets— er, sidekicks— er, companions battled crime and kept the streets of Australia safe. No matter where they were: a forest looking for truffles, on a bridge watching the water, or even in the middle of nowhere camping out of a makeshift tent. This behavior earned him many shiny accolades often from the prime minister himself. But summer ended, and he was to return to Hogwarts for his sixth year.

The travel back to Britain took a full day. They stopped in San Francisco for their connecting flight and were off again. When they were finally in London, Harry's travel still wasn't over. They took a shuttle to King's Cross station where he would bid his parents adieu.

The station was bustling as usual. He waded through the crowds towards Platform Nine and Three Quarters. There he saw his friends, Ron and Hermione.

"Hi, Harry," Hermione greeted once she noticed him coming their way.

He dropped his heavy luggage that was more like a ball and chain than his own belongings. He looked everywhere aside from the two people in front of him. "Where's Ginny?"

"Er, she's over there somewhere," Ron answered. "Aren't you going to say hi to us?" Harry was already walking in the direction Ron had pointed him in, leaving the luggage an abandoned heap on the ground. There he found the main group of Weasleys. Among them was Ginny. They struck up a conversation while his supposed best friends watched from afar, Ron wearing a look of confusion.

The last call for their train came and Ron's confused expression added shock as he watched Ginny kiss Harry goodbye.

"I told you," Hermione sang. "Come on, let's go." She began to lead Ron and his twitching eye onto the train.

The train traveled through wide open plains, into forests, over cliffsides with the help of beautiful bridges, and even straight over roads. Over eight hours later, the sun began to set. An orange glow invaded the blue sky while pink lurked in the clouds.

Harry yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Rubbing his eyes, he mumbled to his friends. "I nearly fell asleep. I must stay alert. This train is prone to robberies."

"Harry," Hermione began, her eyebrows scrunching together, "you've been asleep for two hours."

"What? Preposterous," he rebuked.

Ron put his wrist in front of Harry's round glasses, showing the time on his 3,000 pound Cartier watch.

"The sun is setting," Hermione added.

"Oh," he conceded. "Well, I'm going to the candy car to energize myself off of sugar."

Hermione crossed her arms. "That will make you crash."

"Just in time for bed."

"He's got a point," Ron nodded.

They ended up following him, but their journey was derailed. A few cars down from their own, they saw a familiar woman with bubblegum pink hair.

"Tonks?" Hermione said.

Tonk's eyes opened wide for a moment while she shot a glance in front of her. "Oh, hey guys," she replied.

"What're you doing here, citizen?"

"Security detail," she answered with a glance across from her.

"You're still following us?" Ron asked.

"Yep."

By now they had seen what she was sneaking glances at. It was a black bag so large, it spanned the entire length of the seat and was threatening to fall onto the floor. "What's in the bag?" Harry asked.

"Uh… it's nothing. That's just a lumpy chair. Hey, I have a hundred pounds in my pocket, you should go get something to eat. Or whatever you want." Harry approached the bag which only made Tonks more frantic.

"A chair, eh?"

"Yes, exactly. I bet you want candy. You can have a hundred pounds worth of candy."

"Why are you walking around with a hundred pounds cash?" Ron asked.

Hermione shifted her attention off the bag and onto him. "You have 500 quid on you right now."

Horror came to his face for the second time that day. "How did you know that?"

Her face turned red. "I... I was curious."

"Did you pickpocket me?!" he howled grabbing the wallet from his back pocket with the haste of a rabbit.

"It's all in there. I only took it to see. I put it right back, I promise."

His hands stopped. "You double pickpocketed me?"

Hermione bit her nail. "I guess you could say that."

"When? In the middle of the night when I was sleeping?"

"You sleep with your wallet?" Harry asked. "Actually, I could see that."

Ron explained himself. "I meant from my dresser or something. Will Fences would be the type to not be able to part with his money while he sleeps. But when, Hermione? When did you steal my wallet?"

Her mouth twitched, unwanting to confess further. "It was when everyone was hugging just before we slipped away from the rest of the Weasleys."

"Okay, first of all, how did I not notice that? And second, that's the reason you wanted to hug me?"

"Of course not! Well, originally, yeah."

"Hoho," Harry laughed. "Friendzoned."

"You picked my pocket, counted my money, and put it back in the span of like three seconds?"

He put his wallet back in his pocket as Hermione recounted the events in her mind's eye, bobbing her head from side to side. "Yeah. But before you guys say it's because I'm from a long line of thieves, it was more like five seconds. I held on longer to give myself more time."

"Normal people can't do that. Normal people can't steal a wallet even once without the person feeling something."

The shape of her eyebrows, strangely enough, began to reflect pity. "You can't? Not even if I give you a full minute? Here, try to pickpocket me." She reached around Ron and took his wallet.

"How do you do that?!"

Tonks joined the conversation all of a sudden. "No way, you'd totally feel that." Hermione handed her the leather wallet. Tonks put it in her pocket and the thief worked her magic. "That's crazy!" Tonks exclaimed. "Do it again!"

"Okay, ready?" Hermione asked as the stage reset. Tonks nodded and in a flash, the wallet was in the thief's hand.

"Unbelievable," Tonks maintained.

Hermione put the wallet in her pocket. "Take your time, Ron." He approached and just as Hermione did, he swiped the wallet. She shook her head. "Weird. I definitely felt that."

Harry cleared his throat. "Ahem! If you two are done figuring out the anomalies of Mud and her family of numbered thieves, we're in the middle of something."

"Oh, right," Ron remembered.

"I found a zipper and I'm going to pull it," Harry updated.

"No, don't!" Tonks cried.

The zipper was pulled nearly the whole distance down the long side of the bag. He lifted the fabric and the trio's eyes widened as they saw what it held. An extremely fat man with straw-colored hair was lying inside the bag. Once the shock passed, Harry took his pulse.

"He's not dead," Tonks informed, her face now defeatedly relaxed.

"Good, so it's not murder but kidnapping," Harry gathered, beginning to calculate jail time. The door to the train car opened with a creak, allowing someone to walk in.

"What are you doing with a fat man in a bag?!" Ron asked. Tonks searched for a reply.

Before she could, Lupin approached with an armful of candy. "We were just doing what Dumbledore told us to."

Hermione whipped her head around to look at him. "Dumbledore told you to kidnap this man?!"

"Not in so many words…" Tonks said, one of her eyes scrunched.

"He's the new Cooking professor. We were told to..." Lupin chuckled. "Collect him from his Hawaiian retirement."

"What happened to Snape?" Harry asked.

Lupin sat down next to Tonks and popped a jelly slug in his mouth. "Once Dumbledore rehired him," he began, his mouth gluey from the candy, "he decided to make him the new Wand Safety professor."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"No one else wanted to teach Wand Safety," Tonks answered, stealing a chocolate frog from Lupin's armful. "Though Snape wasn't too keen on the idea either."

"Oh, I might as well give you your schedules," Lupin said, taking some papers from his carry-on. "Dumbledore made a change and, well, you've been exempt from Recycling and Divination."

"Awesome!" Hermione exclaimed, accepting the topmost page from a stack of three.

Lupin threw another jelly slug in his mouth while Tonks was getting chocolate all over herself. Wait a minute, aren't they supposed to be the adults? The alleged youngsters studied their new class schedules. "Care of Magical Creatures," Harry read, "History of Magic, lunch, Wand Safety, and then Cooking."

"History of Magic?" Hermione repeated with disgust. "Really?"

"Sound cool," Harry said.

"Yeah, and I don't like school," Ron agreed.

For the rest of the trip, Hermione went on and on about how magic doesn't exist. Apparently he didn't go through that brick wall. Who knew? Honestly, it was rubbish. Nostalgia kicked in, and just like years prior, Harry disregarded everything she said. Ron's eyes were steady, as if he was thinking about something serious. It was impossible to figure out what was going through his mind despite Harry trying out some of the techniques his mother used on her show.

Was he paying attention to Hermione, or thinking of a new marketing ploy for Mr. Ronworth's Authentic Canadian Syrup?

After the usual nine hours, the train slowed and stopped at Hogsmeade station. One carriage ride later, they arrived at their fine castle. Each time they were shuffled into the building like sheep, they were a bit taller. Except for shorty Hermione who had stopped growing years ago like a loser. Anyway! They were able to see all the way to the front of the group with a few other tall people in the way here and there. However, it didn't make any difference as they were packed into a large mass of tiny people.

They arrived in the cafeteria which could do with some floating candles, but was still nice. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table which looked worse than they were used to. The long, dull, unpolished tables filled and the commotion settled just in time for the first-years to arrive.

They, the first-years, were all very short. It was hard to believe when he and his friends first arrived at Hogwarts, they had been that small. The sixth and seventh-years had been so intimidating at the sorting ceremony and even when walking around the corridors of Hogwarts. Not that Harry had been intimidated by anything. Well, either way, these first-years would soon learn that Harry is there to protect, not intimidate. Unless his awesomeness intimidates them; because there's not much he can do about that.

Like every year, the new students looked nervous. Some were absent-mindedly chewing hair, biting fingernails, and otherwise holding themselves in self-conscience ways. A larger first-year with messy dark hair scratched his head as he stared at Dumbledore and the other teachers at the staff table, all the while 11-year-olds were sorted one by one by Trelawney's old pointy hat.

Then it was time for the headmaster's speech. "Good evening to all Hogwarts students, new and returning alike. While this year won't be as exciting as the last, it will be safer."

"Woo!" Hermione exclaimed.

He said a couple more boring things and finally gave the cue for everyone to begin eating.

After the Start-of-Term Feast was concluded, Harry went to talk with Dumbledore instead of leaving to unpack with everyone else.

"Hello, Harry," he greeted.

"I'd like to talk with you about my ideas to improve the school."

"Ah, yes. Your duty as the King of Hogwarts. Why don't you follow me to my office."

They made their way down the Gargoyle Corridor and entered the Headmaster's Office. Several chairs were stacked in the corner of the room and Fawkes was swinging around on a red hanging bird toy. They climbed the steps and Dumbledore sat down at his desk, inviting Harry to take the seat in front of him.

The headmaster leaned back in his chair. "I remember when those steps had frightened me. Not anymore."

"What did you do to stop Dumbling— tumbling down stairs?"

Dumbledore gently put his feet on the desk and smoothed his robes. "First you have to understand why I was Dumbling down the stairs. My brother put a jinx on me."

"Why?"

"I'm not quite sure. Even now he's still angry with me. Though he usually holds his tongue."

"You mean Abs Dumbledore?"

"Yes," he answered. "I finally figured out how to undo the jinx and now, I don't fall down the stairs."

"That's an interesting story, Professor Dumbledore."

"Yes, indeed. What ideas do you have for the school?"

Harry reached into his pocket and retrieved a small notebook. Flipping to a page towards the middle, he began. "Oh, well first, McGonagall is endangering the students. She should go."

"I see…"

The door of the round white room opened and Hagrid came in with a grey bag. "I've got the items yeh asked for."

"Thank you, Rubeus. Harry, what else would you like to suggest?"

"We should increase the security of the dungeons," he continued as if rehearsed. "In case we get our hands on the Dursleys again."

"Yes…" Dumbledore nodded.

"Won' be easy. We tried maximizing security, but every time they escaped. On'y thing I've bin able ter do is harass 'em with letters. I's funny, bu' i's not helpin'."

"That's something we've been working on for quite a while now. Dungeon security, that is." Hagrid put the bag on Dumbledore's desk and silently excused himself from the room.

All of Dumbledore's attention on him, Harry searched for more ideas. He then remembered a pitch he had thought of back when he spent most of his time watching westerns. "There isn't a safe and convenient way to carry wands. They snap easily and they can fall out of pockets. If carried in a bag, it will take too long to become prepared to fend off dark magic. I've come up with a brilliant idea: wand holsters." Harry couldn't tell if Dumbledore was on board or not. His face was a mixture of surprise and confusion. Interest was in there as well. Harry continued on. "They don't have to be gaudy or anything. Just a simple holster that we carry on our hip."

"Most wizards just keep them in their robes," Dumbledore informed.

"That's another thing. We're wizards, why don't we, the students, have robes? And what if you're wearing muggle clothes? You can't keep your wand in your robes then."

Dumbledore stared at Harry, making him a little uncomfortable. "You actually… have a point. Perhaps wand holsters would be an idea to consider. Wearing muggle clothes to avoid suspicion, yet still able to protect oneself at a moment's notice," he mumbled.

Harry smiled. "One other thing. I was thinking of having a system of responsible students that help out the professors."

"We used to have a system like that. The students were called Prefects. Even though the staff elected them, we found giving them the power to hand out punishments was a bit dangerous. Besides that, we had a difficult time finding tasks for them. Though, it would be nice to have a set list of students we can count on."

"I know just the people," Harry grinned.

They discussed the matter further and then Harry went to Gryffindor Tower to finally unpack his things. He walked past the painting of a lady and up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Once inside his, Ron's, and other unimportant people's room, he found his trunk. Just as he knelt down to open it, he heard something strange coming from the closet. Heavy breathing of some sort. Cautiously, he opened the door to find the light was on. The next detail is the important one. Inside the closet was a large mammal with a mane around his head. Harry immediately identified it as a lion. The furry dude stopped chewing on a stick and stared up at the student. His eyes were bored and he was lying down so Harry figured he was safe for the moment. "Oh my gosh, it's real."

"He's in a closet, not a wardrobe," Ron said as he leaned against the frame of the door to the hallway.

"Why is there a lion in the closet?"

"Hagrid put him there. I don't ask questions."