[A/N: I usually like to try and stay with topic related chapter titles in my stories but trying to find dog-related computer terminology is next to impossible. There's plenty of goofy sites that offer computer terms to name your dog but nothing like say 'mouse' or 'python programming.' Oh, well… On top of that, trying to find era and age appropriate images of children's clothing for the UK region is next to impossible in my opinion, it's either toddlers, teens or adults. I love fashion designing so you'll understand my frustration later on. Finally, a reminder to all the nitpickers, I'm trying to force reality to play nicely with my fantasy story here. If you see something that came out at a later date or was never used on a tablet because of whatever, just take a deep breath and move onto the rest of the story. Oh and on a personal note: Jadesabrexiv? Get the towels ready! You're gonna need it! My thanks to ymaxwell39 for their help in writing the courtroom scene. I hate writing them...]

Chapter 7: Legal Issue, Love Notes and Wow, Hermione!

Back in November/December of 1991…

Professor McGonagall's Office, just after Theo learns about Harry's language skills…

Knock, knock!

"Och! Come in!"

Harry pushed the door open to see Professor McGonagall bent over and picking something off the ground, "Is this a bad time, professor?"

"Nay, come in Mr. Potter, your knock startled me."

The three kids entered the office and took a seat in front of her desk. Minerva scanned each of their faces and was surprised to see that Mr. Nott seemed to be the one in the greatest need with his shifty eyes and pale face.

"Is there something wrong with you, Mr. Nott? Do I need to call Madam Pomfrey?" Theo just sat there with a blank expression on his face and slow, methodical blinking; like someone had killed the power to his higher thought processes.

Hermione giggled at his lack of response, "Professor, I just thought that we should let you know that Harry here has a similar ability of mine when it comes to animals. We were trying to see if I could speak with snakes but it turns out that I'm not the only one with Beast Speak skills."

Minerva looked puzzled, "What do you mean, Miss Granger?"

"Sorry, professor but I think I'm the one responsible for Theo's current crisis. You know about Hermione's ability to understand animal languages, right?" Minerva snorted lightly and nodded 'That was an understatement', "Well, I can Speak and understand the reptile language. This seems to have thrown Theo for a loop. According to him 'Parselmouths are evil but I'm not evil yet I Speak the language…' You see where his problem is?"

Minerva's eyes went wide as she snapped her head to stare at him, "You're a Parselmouth?!"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked mildly annoyed, "Yeah, so? I swear Magical Britain seems to be stuck in the mindset that just because someone speaks another language, they must be evil. I've done my research on this. For example, Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth as was Merlin and Paracelsus; none of them was evil. I've met Slytherin's portrait and he explained that it was a case of historical misunderstanding. Gryffindor's portrait confirmed this! The so-called 'snake language' has its roots from the Bantu and Uralic cultures of Africa and Europe, respectively. I know that Gringott's has a standing order to hire anyone who can at least understand the language to assist in their dragon pens as well as their curse breaker department plus the ability has a long history of reverence in South East Asia."

Minerva, Hermione and Theo blinked in mute surprise at this information dump, "I'm impressed with your knowledge, Mr. Potter. Five points to Hufflepuff for diligent research. Well…" she blew out a sharp breath, "the fact of the matter is, the general population of Hogwarts may not be so understanding about your skills as a Parselmouth. People get kind of twitchy because of the problems we had with You-Know-Who whenever they learn of another speaker of that language. I trust that you won't go bandying this about Miss Granger and Mr. Nott?" Both kids shook their heads no. Minerva rubbed her hands together and held them up in supplication, "Then I don't see the need to go any further with this. I will be contacting Professor Sprout to inform her of what's transpired and I'll keep what you've told me in mind should anything arise that might need your talents, Mr. Potter. Mr. Nott, I suggest you head to Madam Pomfrey and ask her for a calming draught, if you feel you need one."

After the kids left, Minerva called up Pomona and asked her friend to come to her office. A moment later, the floo activated and Pomona stepped out of the fire, "What's up?" she asked as she dusted herself off.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Nott were just here to let me know about a potentially worrying bit of information. It seems that Mr. Potter is a Parselmouth," Pomona's mouth dropped open, "I know, I felt the same way yet based on the boy's knowledge and general demeanor, I seriously doubt he'll ever turn Dark. I just wanted to give you the heads-up in case you happen to overhear him speaking the language or if someone comes to you with concerns."

Pomona leaned back in her seat trying to comprehend this new piece of information, "Wow, just…wow. How did it come to your attention?"

"Miss Granger was of the opinion that I should be told as Deputy Headmistress about Mr. Potter's ability. It seems that the three were trying to ascertain whether or not Miss Granger could speak to Mr. Nott's snake when Mr. Potter mentioned that he could speak the language and offered his translation skills if needed."

Pomona chuckled, "No matter where that boy goes or what he does, he's going to leave his mark and change the world's perception of what's possible. Okay, thanks Min; I'll keep this in mind."

Minerva's face took on a pinched look, "I wonder if I should keep this from Albus? No, never mind. Who know what that old goat would do with this knowledge? He seems overly concerned if not obsessive with every aspect of Mr. Potter's life."

Pomona agreed with Minerva's observation about the headmaster and also that they keep this information to themselves until the need to let it become public arose. It still rankled her that the headmaster was so…obtuse about the boy's need for privacy this past Halloween.

Present time…

Thursday 2 January 1992 Hogwarts Express heading North

If the trip down was raucous then the trip back to Hogwarts would've blown the roof off of the Great Hall. Everyone was chattering, greeting, yelling and other boisterous adjectives and adverbs thrown in for good measure. Harry was busy showing off a couple of programs he'd developed or downloaded for use within the PA to Neville, Justin and a couple of older students from the other Houses. His newest (and currently most favorite) game was Sonic the Hedgehog and it had the magically raised practically drooling.

Neville summed it up best, "After all these advancements you've been sharing with us, what's keeping future muggleborns within the magical world? What do we have to offer them in return?"

Harry turned on his most sappy grin and leant up against his best friend, batting his eyelids, "But Neville, dah-ling! I have you!" Neville blushed and slapped him away while everyone else burst out laughing.

Simultaneously, Hermione was holding court with her friends from Hufflepuff. Ever since the start of the school year back in September, she'd been ever so worried about not making any friends or just being excluded from conversations because she didn't understand or follow the topics. None of that mattered because the others in her year like Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott amongst others happily included her and patiently took the time to bring the curious and kind of shy muggleborn into the fold. As a result, Hermione was currently telling all that would listen about what Christmas was like in the muggle world.

"Realistically, aside from my family not getting together to perform the rituals that you've mentioned and frankly, you make them sound so interesting; Christmas is a time to get together with your family and have a large and lavish dinner coupled with the opening of presents followed by a church service. After that, there are snowball fights or you can go sledding if you live in an area that gets enough snow. Finally, there's the ringing in the New Year where we launch fireworks into the sky and the kids try to stay up as long as the adults do to see the time tick over to twelve o'clock. I just managed it last year, I was barely conscious according to my mother but my eyes were still open and I count that as a win."

Hannah smiled encouragingly at her excited friend and twirled the ends of her hair braid between her fingers, "So what sort of presents did you get?"

Hermione shrugged a shoulder, "Mostly books in my case but I also got some clothes and a light up football from Harry, some kind of plant from Neville and the presents I got from you. Thank you by the way, I loved the books on magical creatures! Some of them look so cute like the 'Almiraj' which looks like a fuzzy lop-eared bunny with a unicorn horn or the 'Owlbear' in cublet form." Her eyes took on a shiny, widened appearance as she built up into her excitement. "Ooh! I brought some of my new clothes; I can't wait to show you."

Mandy Brocklehurst looked puzzled, "What's so special about muggle clothes? I've seen some of the things the older years wear on the weekends."

Hermione flapped her hands excitedly, "Things have changed since they were our age. Clothing material and styling has improved greatly since then. You'll see."

Saturday 4 January 1992 Hufflepuff Common Room

That Saturday, Hermione nearly started a riot amongst her friends when she entered their common room wearing a pair of golden yellow and black denim dungaree shorts that featured a black chest duffle pocket and left right leg duffle pocket with a vintage style sun, moon and stars pattern on the front plus a periwinkle blue long sleeved shirt that had a crew neckline and two wide white bands around the arms near the elbows. On her feet was a pair of what the muggleborn would identify as a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars. To finish all that off was a soft felt witch's hat adorned with pins, buttons and badges placed comfortably atop her head.

The room went silent as she entered only for her to be mobbed by the magically raised first and second year girls who promptly dragged her back to her room so she could share what else she'd brought with her.

At the communal study table where Harry and Neville were going over their Potions homework (Well, Harry was helping Neville understand why snake fangs had to be powdered and not just roughly ground) Harry was busting a gut laughing at her predicament and Neville just shaking his head, "I don't get it. What was so special about what she was wearing?"

Harry held up his hands in supplication, "I have no idea, Nev. It's just one of life's greatest mysteries when it comes to girls."

In Hermione's dorm…

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at her friends reactions to her new clothes, "I told you things had improved since the older years were kids themselves. Denim fabric is the new hot material nowadays. It's durable, can be dyed into just about any color you can imagine, it can cut and sewn into whatever you can think of because denim is incredibly strong, easy to match with jeans because they are made of the same material, year-round comfort, good for the environment, easy to clean, low maintenance, wrinkle resistant, and long lasting.

Second year, Rebecca Thompson added in, "By Yule of their first year, most muggleborns try to conform as per the unofficial dress code for girls here in the magical world. The fabrics used are nearly identical to what was used in the 1800s such as linen and wool which were the most common. Silk was used for the more expensive outfits. Outfits for girls our age were limited as well; such as ankle-length dresses, tunics, robes and the like so when you appeared wearing this," she waved her hand at Hermione's bright ensemble, "we just had to see what else you brought, you rebel." She said the last with a teasing grin that held no insult so Hermione relaxed as she turned to pull out her new clothes from her trunk.

"So… I've brought a number of different items here." She pulled out a collapsible clothing rack from the edge of her trunk and caused another susurration amongst the girls, "Now what?"

Third year Tabitha Michaels quipped, "I don't think we've ever seen that rack before with our trunks? Is that something new?" Hermione blankly stared at the rack in question before shaking her head.

"No, my mum and dad found that at the pound store and bolted it to the inside. My dad said you can never have too many options to hang up your clothes when traveling."

She then resumed her display, "For daywear, I brought a light anorak for autumn and spring and a heavier wool version for late season snows. I got some leggings here for indoor wear and a couple of chunky knit oversized jumpers."

More and more clothing was pulled from Hermione's 'Trunk of Wonders.' Chunky, homemade jewelry like necklaces made from copper wire with random found objects as the charms. Rings made from aluminum foil with tiny fake flowers glued on then given a coating of clear nail polish. Tie-dyed shirts, skirts and shorts were next out. Each item a different pattern and color.

"Oooh! How did you make these?" Someone asked excitedly.

"Well, you have two options. One is to make the dyes using natural ingredients or buy a box of dye powder from the shop. There's a number of vegetable scraps that you can use to get some really beautiful colors like onion skins, eucalyptus leaves, walnut shells, pomegranate and more. You take the ingredients and add them to boiling water and let it simmer like you were going to make a soup. Next, you take your fabric, shirt, skirt, whatever and use rubber bands or string to tie up the item (she picked up one of her shirts and demonstrated with some scrunchies.) Once the water is the color to your liking, you dip your tied up item into the water then pull it out and let it drip dry. You can do this multiple times until it's the shade you want. After it's done drip drying, you cut the ties and hang the item on a clothesline to dry. It's a lot of fun during the summer."

The scrunchies made their rounds with the girls too as they commented on how nice it must be to just wrap their hair up and go without worrying if you applied the hair charms correctly.

The other girls were agog with the sight of all these wonders that kept coming out of her trunk. The bright colors of the denim trousers had a couple of them giggling. After all, to their knowledge, no one had ever seen hot pink jeans before. The impromptu fashion show continued as Hermione disappeared into the loo to change into a pair of dark red leggings with her favorite Winnie the Pooh jumper.

When she came back out, Second year Emily Browning held up her soft felt witch's hat, "Um, Hermione? Where'd you get this? It's cute."

Hermione smiled, "My mum made that for me for Christmas. She took my 'official' pointed witch's hat and used it as a pattern, softened the point and made it rounder overall. I added the decorations from my collection back home."

"Would she be willing to share the pattern? I think I want one of these too." The other agreed, this hat was more fun and feminine than the traditional style.

Hermione shrugged, "I can write to her then let you know what she says."

The next day, Harry met up with Severus and Minerva to discuss the possibility of providing some Potioneer Assistants for use in the classroom.

"Mr. Potter, while I am thoroughly enthusiastic about getting some of these devices for the classroom, it's the cost that most concerns me," Minerva started after she examined his PA, "I'm not sure that Hogwarts has the financial stability to be buying new equipment when we can't even afford new brooms for our Flying classes. The headmaster has repeatedly stated that the coffers are nearly empty and that anything we have is all we get unless there's a donation from the more affluent families."

Severus rubbed his chin, "Is there a discount available for large lot purchases?"

Harry nodded as he pulled out the quote, "Yes, the manufacturer has stated that they can drop the price down to £110/unit for a batch of 500 for a subtotal of £55,000. Add in the VAT rate of 17.5% to get grand total of £64,625. Next, divide by the current exchange rate of five to one to get G12,925." Both Minerva and Severus paled.

"Mr. Potter! Tis nae any way Hogwarts can afford that!" Minerva exclaimed, "We're lucky if we can get five hundred Galleons scraped together to replenish the infirmary."

Harry's eyes narrowed as he began to think of a solution. Both adults left him to his thinking as they lamented about the restrictions placed upon them. Harry brightened up a moment later when he called for Goofy the elf. Goofy appeared with a nearly silent pop, "Yes, young master?"

"Goofy, you always seem to know where to find things around here like the camera when Neville and I created those flash cards. Is there a hidden room or something where the school might have stuff it could sell to earn money to buy new equipment? The professors here are of the mind that there's just no money left."

Goofy stared into Harry's eyes, his own seemingly (and strangely) threatening to go to tears, "Yes, young master." He trembled slightly, "There is being a hidden room on the seventh floor opposite the tap-es-tree of the idiot trying to teach trolls to dance. It is being a large room filled with all sorts of things, Goofy will show if you want?"

Harry looked at the professors who agreed so the three humans headed up the stairs to where Goofy said he'd meet them.

Upon arrival, Harry sank down and sat heavily on the ground, completely out of breath, "This school needs to consider building a lift or something!" Both adults chuckled at his muttering. Goofy popped in a moment later and handed Harry a cup of cold juice without even being asked.

Goofy explained that by walking back and forth in front of the tapestry while thinking very clearly of what you needed, a door would appear on the opposite wall that would lead to the room. He then demonstrated how to do this and after the third pass, a heavy wooden door appeared. With slightly shaking hands, Minerva opened the door and peered inside. What she saw took her breath away…

The three humans and one elf wandered through the uncountable mountains of well…everything. There were all sorts of furniture, frames, statues, sculptures, clothing, jewelry and things that they couldn't identify. Harry spotted a bunch of brand new looking brooms stacked in one corner, "Professor McGonagall? Didn't you say something about needing new brooms?" he pointed to the brooms in question. Her eyes flew open and mouth dropped open, "I dinna ken…"

Severus was cautiously examining some evil-looking gloopy failed potion experiment, "Minerva? We should get the others in here. I'm sure there's going to be some cursed items and it would be hilarious to see the look on Filius' face."

A few minutes later…

Severus got to see the look on Filius' face and as he'd predicted, the short professor was utterly dumbfounded by the treasure trove of…stuff. Filius had immediately spotted a bookcase full of ancient looking books and scrolls off to one side and upon closer examination, found them to be first through third editions of Charms reference books he'd kill to have, "M…Min…oooh."

Rolanda Hooch, the Flying Instructor, was sent over to where the brooms Harry had noticed and was currently weeping at the museum quality brooms just stacked up like cordwood. "All these years and I never knew these were here!"

Minerva was busy coordinating with the Hogwarts Head Elf to get the Room organized into something resembling order, "I think if you have your elves stack things based on type with a separate pile for those things that are indefinable."

The elf shook his head, "Pardon Bippy, Professor Kitty but the Room can do all that for you. All you have to do is ask."

Minerva cocked her head, "How do you mean?"

Bippy proceeded to demonstrate by asking Hogwarts to move all unmounted gemstones into containers and place them off to the left hand side. The piles of stuff seemed to vibrate for a few moments before a space opened up and was immediately filled with a new pile of just gemstones in containers.

Minerva clapped her hands in joy, "Oh, that's perfect! Then what I need for you and your elves to do, Bippy is to go through what can or cannot be repaired once the room separates them from the mess."

Bippy bowed his acknowledgement as she began to issue organizational orders to the Room.

The adults came across something a little while later that hissed at them as they were trying to move deeper into the piles. All work was halted so Minerva could get the Room to move all living creatures aside from themselves into cages or tanks and set them off to the right hand side of the cleared space. One such cage appeared and the creature within defied explanation. It was like something out of a nightmare. It was the size of a large Rottweiler dog. It had two hind feet similar to an oversized and furless rabbit complete with razor sharp clawed toes, a body tapered like a lumpy potato, fleshy lobes that emerged from the sides of the beaked 'mouth' which was encompassed by a multitude of flailing fanged tentacles. Its body was covered and oozing some kind of slime that shone with a radioactive green glow and appeared to scorch the bottom of the cage.

"Dear Merlin, what is that?" Pomona near shrieked. No one had a clue; Flitwick cast a high-powered stunning charm at it but it just absorbed the magic into the slimy coating.

Minerva called for Bippy and pointed at the thing in the cage which was slowly dissolving, "Bippy, go to the Department of Mysteries and bring back some of the Unspeakables immediately! Tell them it's an emergency!" Bippy popped out at once and reappeared five minutes later with a team of ten Unspeakables. Minerva pointed them at the creature and gave the Lead the information of how it was discovered. The Unspeakables examined the…thing as best they could. One of them pulled out an onyx black cube and tossed it at the creature. When the cube hit the creature's back, it grew in size until it was large enough to encompass the beast and seal it inside. No one moved for a moment, if it was able to burn its way out Minerva was prepared to evacuate the school.

One moment turned into several which allowed everyone to breathe a bit easier. The Lead turned to Minerva and recommended that they leave one Unspeakable here just in case something was found. She gratefully accepted their offer and offered to show the person around.

During the 'excitement' of whatever that monstrosity was happening; Harry discovered a nest belonging to a small creature that resembled a cross between an elf and a dragon. It looked to be a toddler and was cowering underneath the shredded remains of an old gown.

["Is the Worm gone?"] It whispered carefully and darted its eyes back and forth.

["The Worm?"]Harry asked, ["Is that what that hideous creature is called?"]

The toddler creature nodded quickly then sadly replied that it killed his mummy a couple of days ago. Harry squatted down and examined the sad but sweet looking face of this child, ["What are you and what is your name?"]

The child sat up and curled its tail around itself, ["My name is Mishon."]

["Do you know what your species is?"] Harry asked but Mishon didn't understand the question so Harry just let it go. ["Well, I can't just let you stay here alone, is there anything you want to take with you?"] Mishon looked around and grabbed a couple of pieces of junk that must have been the child's toys. Harry spotted some stuff that looked like it could've belonged to the mother and gathered up it and Mishon in his arms and headed back to the main group.

Severus was the first to spot him, "Mr. Pot…what is that?!" His yelp caused everyone else to spin around fast.

"This is Mishon and I found him over just beyond the pile of creatures. He says his mum was eaten by that thing he called 'The Worm' a couple of days ago. Neither he nor I know what his species is, I'll leave that up to you adults but to me, he seems to be a cross between an elf and a dragon."

Pomona knelt down and peered at the small thing, "He's kind of cute in a way. Bippy?" The elf popped in and caught sight of Mishon.

"Mi…Mishon?" Bippy gasped in surprise.

Minerva came over to find out what was happening, "Bippy? You recognize this creature?"

Bippy slowly nodded, "Mishon's mother was a disgraced elf from the mainland. She came to us looking for work which we gave. She was with child then disappeared after a couple of months. No elf had seen her since. Bippy only knows of the name because of the Elf Bond." He reached out and gently touched the child on the cheek then straightened himself back up, "Bippy and the Hogwarts Elves would be proud to take in Mishon as one of their own, with Professor Plantsies permission." Pomona had to be nudged into action. She shook herself off of the mesmerizing, touching scene and quickly acquiesced to Bippy's request.

Bippy took Mishon out of Harry's arms and they, along with the child's belongings, popped out of the room.

When a break was called for, Harry sat down next to Professor Flitwick, "Professor, I have a Charms question I'd like to ask you?"

Filius smiled happily, "Of course, Mr. Potter! Cast away."

Harry pulled out his ever present PA and clicked it on and opened up his Notes folder, "Okay, I was trying to come up with a charm that would allow me to translate English into another language. The problem is, does the translation charm work on only written words or is there a variation that translates the spoken word?"

Gesturing for his tablet, "Let me see what you've come up with. Ah, I see. Yes, the charm 'In transferendum' is just for the written word." He handed it back to Harry, "If you want to translate the spoken word, the incantation is, 'In verbis interpretari.'"

Harry quickly typed that into his notes, "Thank you, professor. It's a shame that spells and charms can't be cast in English. I also think it's a shame that Latin isn't offered to the students as part of a core required class or even as a club on the weekends. I'd bet that it would make things a lot easier."

Filius shrugged, "At one time, everyone spoke Latin or thereabouts regionally and you've seen how resistant to change the magical world is. As for a Latin language club, I think that would be a wonderful idea. The school has a multitude of empty classrooms to hold the meetings in. Why don't you fill out a club request form and I'll see that it gets posted in all the common rooms. Maybe one of the older year students will take up the challenge."

Harry grinned at the notes he had written down from the professor's suggestion, a prank forming in his mind…

Harry left after a while, claiming to be getting tired and the need to finish some delayed homework. Pomona agreed with him and sent him off before rejoining the group digging through the stacks of jewelry. One such piece, an ornate tiara caught her attention. She was about to lift it up and place it on her head when she was firmly restrained by the Unspeakable.

"Move away from the tiara, professor. It's reading as cursed."

Pomona hurriedly backed away and felt her mind clear, "What is it?"

"Not sure but I'll be putting aside in a shielded box for further analysis."

When Minerva finally called off the organizational 'party,' everyone was tired, dirty, frazzled and still a bit spooked after the discovery of that…thing. Most muttered about taking a long, hot bath to try and relax, others left in search of their favorite bottle of spirits to try and lift theirs.

Monday 6 January 1992 Great Hall, breakfast time

Harry was sitting at the Puff's table with a good view of the Gryffindor table. His targets had yet to show up for breakfast but according to Dean, they would be arriving soon. A couple of minutes later and the Weasley Twins arrived and sat down just where Harry wished they would. He pulled out his wand and carefully aimed it at the unsuspecting Red Devil Twins and cast, "In verbis interpretari inanis strepitus!" A pale green bolt of light leapt from the tip of his wand and hit the pair of Weasleys a second later. There was a flurry of activity as those nearby and the victims themselves tried to ascertain what just happened and where the attack came from.

"Messers Weasley!" Minerva barked as she stormed over, "Just what is going on over here?"

"Nicto blarney floo mumper!" gibbered Fred (supposedly)

"Gabba ding dong Picta walla walla?" asked the other twin.

The whole Hall ground to a halt as the twins stared at each other in surprise at the gibberish coming out of their mouths. Minerva took off her glasses, pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned quietly.

"Bamalam?" inquired one twin.

Minerva held up her hand, "Someone has either hit you with a Babbling Hex or potioned you with something similar. You're not making any sense."

"Squaka tanak?"

"Stop! Go to the Infirmary and see if Madam Pomfrey can get you sorted out," Minerva ordered the pair.

"Can plinka keechicoo," both replied and picked up their stuff and were ushered out by the professor.

"Starkin Waygoo!"

The moment they left, the Hall burst out into laughter.

Hermione along with nearly everyone else surrounding Harry turned and stared at the boy in question who had the audacity to sit there with an 'innocent' smile on his face, "What?"

"You pranked the Twins of all people?" Mandy breathed in shock, "Do you have a death wish?"

Harry laughed and shook his head, "No. It's just that those two have talent in spades and if I ever want to improve myself, I need to challenge the reigning pranksters. Besides, haven't we all wished we could get revenge on them for all the crap they pull on us?"

Talmart Hinkleman, a Seventh year Puff was puzzled, "Talent? The Weasley Twins? How could causing chaos be considered as a talent?"

"Have you ever stopped to consider that all of their pranks are a one of a kind type of occurrence? The potions, charms, spells and whatever have never been seen or been used in the scenarios that the Twins present them. I believe that they are outright inventing some of them. I heard from Tonks that those two were creating never before seen charms in their first year! If that's not talent, I don't know what is."

"But their grades are just barely passing."

Hermione interjected here, "I heard they intentionally get low grades to keep their mother from forcibly applying their names for jobs within the Ministry. I've heard that she wants them to get nice, safe, boring jobs in any department somewhere. Knowing those two, that's probably the last thing they want to have happen. Can anyone really picture the Weasley Twins stuck behind a desk rubberstamping order process forms all day?"

Those around them shook their heads at that impossible scenario.

Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, same time

Director Amelia Bones sighed in frustration as she read through the medical transcripts from Sirius Black's last examination. The man was in rough shape, understandable after being forced to survive in that prison hellhole for the past ten years. 'Ten years; it's a wonder why he hadn't devolved into a raving lunatic.' She mused then brushed past that line of thought. The Healer in charge had recommended that medium term care and rehabilitation be required both before and after his trial. Following the Healer's advice, Amelia had had Sirius transferred to Saint Mungo's for treatment while she prepared to get his trial ready. She'd already spoken to the man's solicitor, Garrett Deverson, and handed over copies of the evidence that she'd collected.

A knock on the door interrupted her introspective thoughts, "Come in!" Auror Shacklebolt entered with another man in tow.

"Director, this is Remus Lupin. He's on that list you gave me of character witnesses for Sirius Black."

Amelia blinked a couple of times as she furiously tried to remember where she'd heard that name before then it dawned on her, "Ah, yes! Now I remember. You were one of Mr. Black's friends from school, weren't you? The Marauders or something, if I recall? Please come in and have a seat, Mr. Lupin."

Remus sat down and seemingly calm, waited for the questioning. His fingers nervously picking at imaginary lint on his threadbare robes gave him away though.

Amelia activated a Dicta-Quill and got down to business reciting her authority to handle the interview, "Right then. Normally, Auror Shacklebolt would be conducting the interviews but for a case this large and potentially 'explosive,' I took the responsibility myself. Now then, where have you been since that Halloween night back in 1981?"

With an odd sort of tonal inflection, Remus began his story, "I'd been working with Albus Dumbledore in an effort to infiltrate the British werewolf packs and convince them to join the side of the Light or at the very least stay neutral. After that night, I was recalled by Albus and told of James and Lily's demise. I admit that I suffered a deep depression and spent a lot of my time in the bottom of a bottle. The next few years were a little hazy but the headmaster tracked me down and got me sobered up. He even gave me a necklace that would warn him if I tried to regress to my previous habits. Since then I'd acquired a job working as a library clerk in Cornwall; the only reason why I was able to hold onto a job for so long is because the librarian is a disenfranchised muggleborn who grew tired of the bigotry from the magical world and because Cornwall has a lot of great cliffs and hidden coves where I could ward against my transformations."

Amelia kept her eyes on Remus as he explained the past decade to her, "Why did you not try to seek out where young Harry was placed?"

Remus gave a strange sort of twitch and his eyes went glassy which caught her attention, "Albus had everything under control." He said this in a suspiciously deadened voice.

"Have you ever wondered where Harry is?"

"Albus would've not wanted anything to harm the boy." Again the same twitch, glassy eyes and deadened voice. 'Something's not right here. Let's try something else.'

"Did you ever wonder if Harry needed help?"

"Albus had everything under control." Same twitch, look and voice again. 'This clinches it. Remus seems to be suffering under an enchantment of some kind. No one speaks like that normally.'

"May I see that necklace, Mr. Lupin? Can you take it off?"

Remus shuddered briefly, "Albus said not to as it would indicate that I'm in danger. Albus said that he had everything under control."

Shacklebolt had picked up on the problem as well and quietly moved behind Remus. At a silent signal from Amelia, he stunned the man. "Did you notice how certain words caused this reaction?"

Amelia agreed with him, "Albus, Harry and necklace, I think. Let's get a Healer and an Unspeakable in here to see what the devil is so special about that necklace."

When Remus woke the next morning, he found for the first time that his mind was the clearest it had been since just after taking his NEWTs exams and realized that school was finally over. He opened his eyes and grew puzzled at his surroundings. 'This isn't my flat. This doesn't even seem like Cornwall. Where am I?' His questions mounted when the door opened and a man entered wearing the robes of a magical Healer.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin. I'm glad to see you're awake. My name is Healer Jacobs and I'm sure you have a ton of questions right about now, eh?"

"Yes… where am I?"

"You're in Saint Mungo's, specifically in the Ward for Spell Damage though yours was more enchantment damage but they had to place you somewhere, right? Any pain or restrictions on movements?" Remus moved his arms and legs around then shook his head no.

"Why am I here?"

"Ah, good question. According to Director Bones at the DMLE, you were exhibiting signs of a cursed enchantment that was forcing you to answer her questions about Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter in a very precise and suspicious way. She grew concerned, had you stunned then brought here so we could try to override the enchantments."

The Healer could see that Remus had thought of something else and was trying to find a way around asking it, "Is your next question something to do with your lycanthropy?" Remus' eyes flew open in near panic. The Healer smiled comfortingly, "It's not a big deal with me. I was a Hufflepuff and muggleborn to boot. I'm not prejudiced like the magically raised and besides, it's nowhere close to the full moon is it?"

Remus could only mutely shake his head as he didn't trust his voice.

"I thought not and if you can keep a secret? My best friend is a werewolf, Randall Stevens. He runs a little furniture repair shop near Launceton."

Remus slowly nodded his head in acknowledgement, "I know where that is. It's in Cornwall near the border to Devon along the A30. I don't know of the shop specifically though or that another were lived there."

There was a run of silence before Remus heard a snort of chuckling coming from the Healer. A raised eyebrow got the man explaining, "I was just thinking that the weres of Britain ought to have their own support group and the mental image of you all sitting on metal chairs in a circle, drinking cheap coffee or tea in a meeting room somewhere talking about living and working with the highs and lows of folks with your conditions in the modern world. 'Hi, my name is Jerry and I'm a werewolf.' 'Hi, Jerry!'"

Despite the seriousness of his condition, Remus burst out laughing along with the Healer. 'I like this guy, I needed that laugh.'

Friday 17 January 1992 Paddock outside of the Care of Magical Creatures classroom

Harry and Hermione, along with Professors Sprout, Kettleburn and McGonagall, were discussing which animals Hermione should start with. Kettleburn was of the mindset to start with something 'interesting.' However, both women knew that his definition of interesting usually meant 'dangerous.'

"I'm just saying, we got a herd of hippogriffs just standing around with nothing to do!"

"I will nae be putting that wee lass in front of those beasts until she's had at least some basic instructions!" Minerva argued back.

Pomona tried to play peacemaker, "I think both are a wonderful idea. Why don't we have Hagrid round up one or two while Silvanus here gives Miss Granger a primer on how to approach a hippogriff?"

Professor Kettleburn grumbled his agreement and went in search of Hagrid. Minerva shook herself in annoyance, "That man doesn't seem to understand the concept that children have no business being around such powerful creatures."

The two kids in question had overheard the conversation and were understandably nervous at least until Harry spotted something out of the corner of his eye. There, standing just within the border to the Forbidden Forest was the most beautiful creature in the world, a unicorn. It was of such a pure white that it made the snow look dirty. His mouth dropped open as he blindly reached for Hermione. He managed to slap her on the shoulder and when she turned, he dumbly pointed in the unicorn's direction.

With a nearly inaudible squeal of delight, Hermione whispered, "Oh, my god! It's beautiful and real! I wonder if I could get closer," With that in mind, she carefully edged her way closer to the magnificent animal. Harry attempted to do the same but was held back by Pomona.

"Unicorns don't like being around boys very much. You'll need to stay back here."

As Hermione got closer, she began hearing a voice, ("Hello young filly, why have you moved away from your herd? Are you curious about me too as I am about you?")

"Yes, I am curious about you. Back home, you are nothing but a myth. How did you know about me?"

("We unicorns are members of the Fae species. We can sense magic and the people, places and events around it. I sensed that you not only have magic but can also hear and understand me as well.")

"Yes, I can understand you. But the question is and the reason why my professors, my best friend and I are out here today is to see if I can also speak the different languages. To me, it all sounds like my native language," She explained. "I have so many questions to ask. I guess the first one is, 'why don't you like being around the boys?'"

("The histories have taught us that boys are untrustworthy because they use us as target practice before going after the more vicious prey. Because we are so swift-footed, the boys think that they can improve their hunting skills. So many foals had been lost that we made it into our magic not to tolerate their presence for longer than is necessary. The only one we who live within this forest, truly trust is the large man who keeps this land.")

Hermione bobbed her head in understanding, "That's a shame that you don't trust boys but could I introduce you to one at least? He's my best friend and the one I trust."

The unicorn just stared at her for a moment, ("If you are referring to the boy who stood beside you up on the hill, then yes, you may introduce me.") Hermione beamed a smile and turned to wave Harry down. When he arrived, his eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets, Hermione began the introductions. He bowed before the unicorn as a sign of respect and made no move to try and pet such a noble creature. After another short conversation and a warning to the school that there was a new creature in the forest trying to capture and feed on their blood. If something wasn't done soon, the herds would be retreating back to the Fae realm and further upsetting the natural balance within the woods. With the warning delivered, the unicorn bowed its head and disappeared into the brush.

"Wow…" Harry breathed as Hermione giggled.

January slid into February and with it came more snow and cold. The infirmary was swamped with children suffering everything from mild frostbite and runny noses to one fifth year Ravenclaw who had been a victim of the Twins and had to spend a couple of nights so Madam Pomfrey could reverse the spell damage.

In the meantime, Harry had been in near constant contact with Mr. Cody and Miss Honeybloom along with his aunt and uncle as they prepared for their upcoming court case against Albus Dumbledore. The man in question thought he'd had won the communication blackout against Harry since any owl bearing messages for the boy had been redirected to him. Aside from a couple of magazine subscriptions and the Daily Prophet subscription, Harry Potter seemed to be in an information black hole which suited Albus just fine. He also kept up his attempts to get Harry to become friends with Ronald Weasley and to leave hints that there was a mystery that needed solving regarding the legendary Philosopher's Stone.

"Ah, Harry my boy!" Albus jovially called out. Harry flinched and turned at the sound.

"Headmaster? Is this important? I have homework I need to finish," he dully responded. This usually worked to get the man to leave him alone but alas, today was not the day.

"My boy, I just wanted to see how you were settling in after the Christmas holiday. I noticed that you did not stay at the castle. Poor Ronald had to stay here by his lonesome."

"I'm settled in just fine. I enjoy my House and the people within. I went home to see my family and I couldn't care less about that walking example of self-entitled inbreeding," Harry replied as if in rote. He really didn't want to be near this man but to just abruptly leave would be rude and potentially dangerous if Albus should become angry at him.

Albus ignored the jab at the redhead and continued on, "Did you receive the package I sent you for Christmas?"

Harry had enough of the waffling the man was dancing around, "Yes, headmaster. The biscuits were delicious. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Albus' expression grew puzzled, "But Harry, I didn't send you any biscuits. I sent you a cloak, one once owned by your father."

Harry shrugged in feigned supplication, "I don't know what to tell you, headmaster. There was a note in your handwriting wishing me and my family a Happy Christmas. Inside was a box of chocolate chip biscuits. Now please, I must be going." With that, Harry turned and quickly walked away leaving Albus utterly mystified as to what happened to the cloak.

Friday February 14 1992 Great Hall lunchtime

The days leading up to Valentine's Day were ones of anticipation and dread depending on which side of the gender divide you were on. It also depended on what one expected to have happen, one would expect the girls to be all for it but in reality there were some who were dreading the approaching day because of the usual unwanted amorous advances from the hopeless romantics to the utterly repulsive trolls masquerading as students.

Harry had written an email to his aunt asking her to get in contact with Hermione's parents to ask if their daughter had a special dish or drink that he could make as his offering of something better than the usual cheesy card and flower. The reply email came a week later with Petunia offering her own suggestions along with a recipe for Chicken Tortellini Soup that Hermione adored with a passion and her parents' fondest wishes and thanks for being her friend.

He then sequestered himself in the kitchens so he could practice making the soup so that it'd be perfect on the holiday itself. To his surprise and a bit of amusement, rumor slipped out that Harry Potter was making a love potion to be used on a girl. He was summoned to Pomona's office not long afterwards.

"Professor?"

Pomona waved him into a chair, "Let's not dissemble, are you or are you not making a love potion and who is it for?"

Harry snickered, "Is that still going on? Sigh… For the record I am not making a traditional love potion. What I am making is my attempt at a love potion geared for only one person in this school and it really can't even be classified as a love potion."

Pomona quirked an eyebrow up in question, "What do you mean?"

"Hermione is my best friend and rather than trying to go the usual tired route of a cheesy card and flower, I thought I'd be creative and make her a pot of her favorite soup from home. I wrote to her parents and they sent me the recipe to the one soup Hermione loves with a passion. There's your love potion. I don't know who started the rumor but they clearly misheard and misunderstood what I was attempting." Pomona started grinning cheerfully about halfway through the explanation and laughed out loud at the end.

"Oh, that's inspired! Good job, Mr. Potter. Okay then, you have my permission to keep going with your endeavors."

Hermione had just sat down to start building her lunch when Harry appeared carrying a large covered tureen and placed it down in front of her. She watched in silent curiosity as he placed a napkin, cutlery and an envelope on the table then sat down across from her. With a deliberate pace, she picked up the envelope first and read the short and simple note which wished her a Happy Valentine's Day from Harry. She smiled warmly at him and reached to lift the lid off the pot. Her eyes widened dramatically, her mouth dropped open and she let out the biggest and loudest squeal of her life before grabbing Harry and giving him one of her patent pending 'Hermi-hugs' that nearly crushed his ribs. She then picked up a spoon and tasted the soup within. The moment the soup touched her taste buds, her eyes closed and she let out a loud purr of delight.

When she finally came back to herself, she cocked her head in question, "Harry? How did you know?"

Harry sheepishly told her about how he wrote to her parents asking questions and if he could get the recipes to her favorites and how her parents came through as well as thanking him for being such a wonderful and thoughtful friend.

After lunch, Harry suggested that they take a walk around the castle just the two of them and held his hand out. She took his hand in hers and followed him out of the Great Hall.

Monday 17 February 1992, Ministry of Magic, Courtroom Ten, The (long-awaited) Trial of Sirius Black

Albus scowled internally as he sat down in the Chief Warlock's chair and banged the gavel on the block to get everyone's attention. "Seal the doors!" he bellowed. His irritation stemmed from the fact that Black should've remained in prison so as to keep him from interfering with his plans to mold young Harry into a weapon (or sacrifice) against Voldemort. If Black got exonerated, he'd would most likely try to claim custody of the boy and that was something that Albus just couldn't let happen. He glanced down to where the scribe was waiting, "Terrance, you may call out the orders."

"Hear ye, hear ye! This session has now been called to order. The trial before you today is between Sirius Black and the Ministry of Magic."

Murmurs were heard amongst the gallery and Wizengamot assembly, Albus lightly tapped the gavel to resume order. "Bring the prisoner in." A door off to the side opened and Sirius was led out in shackles by a pair of Aurors. He was seated in the prisoner's chair and chained in place. He looked rested and calm which surprised many.

"Chief Prosecutor, if you are ready you may give your opening statement."

Amelia stood and introduced herself as the Chief Prosecutor and gave a brief summation of the charges against Sirius. He was charged with complicity in the betrayal and murder of his supposed friends, James and Lily Potter as well as Peter Pettigrew and attempted murder of the Potters' son, Harry James Potter and being a follower of You-Know-Who as well as being charged with multiple violations of the Statute of Secrecy following the deaths of twelve muggles.

Albus turned to the Defense barrister Michael Collins, "Your opening statement?"

Michael stood and walked over to where Sirius was sitting and idly picking at his nails, "Sirius Black was wrongly accused of supposedly committing those crimes by a Ministry who wanted 'to be seen doing something.' To them, it didn't matter if he was guilty or not; they needed a scapegoat and because the Black Family is usually synonymous with evil and law breakers, Sirius here was painted with the same tainted brush."

Albus stared at Sirius before asking, "How does the prisoner plead?"

Sirius cleared his throat, "I plead not guilty to the charges laid against me."

"So entered. Mr. Collins, you may begin."

"First off, I would like to move that my client was never a danger to young Mr. Harry Potter. In fact, two weeks after the boy was born, his father James and mother Lily, asked him to accept the role of godfather and together underwent the Godfather Ritual. A ritual designed to protect the children under his care with a penalty of instant death should he violate his sworn oath! Given that my client is currently sitting here alive and well clearly indicates that he never tried to attempt to murder the Potter heir and the charge should be dismissed."

Albus paled behind the mass of hair on his face. 'How did I forget about that? James made sure to announce it to everyone after the birth of his son.' "Does the prosecution have a rebuttal?"

Amelia stood, "No, Chief Warlock. The prosecution was unaware of this status of the defendant before now. Given the defendant's living status, the prosecution withdraws the charge of complicity to commit attempted murder of the child Harry James Potter."

Albus growled quietly, this wasn't how he had foreseen things going, "Very well, the charge is dropped. Proceed, Mr. Collins."

"Next is the charge of betraying the secret location of where the Potters were in hiding to You-Know-Who. Let the record show that I'm entering a vial of my client's memory of the Fidelius charm being applied to the dwelling known as 'Potter's Cottage.' As will be seen, the charm was cast by none other than you Chief Warlock, in which you bound the secret of James and Lily Potter, their son Harry and their cottage into the mind of Peter Pettigrew. My client is then seen trying to wander off having forgotten the reason he was standing there. Mr. Pettigrew then verbally shared the Secret with Sirius Black at which point he remembered the reason for his presence and again with you Chief Warlock as was standard procedure."

The crowds started making more rumbling noises. Albus banged the gavel on the block, "Silence in the gallery. Mr. Collins, I am not the one who is on trial here. I resent your attempt to shift the blame for your client's charge onto me."

"I am merely presenting the facts as they arise, Chief Warlock."

The trial continued as Michael presented his evidence to why the charges against Sirius should be dropped. Amelia rebutted with some strong arguments that Sirius might have been a strong actor to be able to pull off this string of subterfuge against his friends and colleagues.

"I'll admit that my client was rather hot-headed and impulsive to go after Peter Pettigrew but who wouldn't be when faced with the shocking reality that your best friend and brother in all but name had been betrayed by another you considered a close friend and confidante? Should he have called in Auror backup to apprehend the fugitive Pettigrew or go after the man himself, not knowing if anyone else had been compromised? Possibly. It was not my client who opened fire on the street in Manchester which exploded and killed those muggles. It was Pettigrew who broke the Statute of Secrecy laws by shouting about the deaths of James and Lily not mere hours after that horrendous scene then casting magic in an effort to evade capture."

On and on it went. Questions were raised by the sitting members of the 'Mot about how after all this time in Azkaban could Sirius Black be sitting in the chair calm as can be. Michael replied that his client had been undergoing rehabilitation treatment for the past two months and was also under the influence of a Calming Draught.

Finally, it was time to hear from the accused. Sirius requested the use of Veritaserum which Albus initially scoffed at but was rebuked at by one of the 'Mot members. "It's his right to request it. You have no legal basis for its rejection, Chief Warlock. Proceed, Mr. Collins."

Three drops of Veritaserum and Sirius was soon spilling all of his secrets about the run-up to that fateful Halloween night, about how the wards he'd set up around the Potter Cottage alerted him to something going on. He tried to raise Peter but there was no answer at his flat as he grew suspicious about how neat the place looked. It looked like Peter had just stepped out and had not been the victim of abduction. He spoke about seeing his best friend and brother lying dead at the base of the stairs and rushing up to the nursery where he found Lily dead as well barricading the crib in vain. Toddler Harry was sitting there and hiccupping his tears and staring unblinkingly at his mother in dashed hopes that this was some kind of funny game. Sirius picked up Harry and noted the wound on the boy's forehead and tried to heal it with his wand. Hagrid of all people arrived a few minutes later and took the boy from his godfather's arms saying that he was to take Harry to Albus. Numbly, Sirius made the ultimate mistake of letting Harry go and not following. He explained his growing rage at Peter's betrayal and the subsequent chase. The description of the battle should've been told in quick, flying words complete with hand gestures but because of the serum, it was related in a dead monotone. He explained how just after the explosion, he witnessed Peter cut off his own finger then transform into his animagus form of a common brown rat and escape into the sewers. He then told how he was captured by the Aurors after the battle and portkeyed to the holding cells in the DMLE for what seemed like hours until a guard brought a glass of water for him to drink. When he took the glass it turned out to be another portkey which dumped him off in the arrival zone for Azkaban. The prison guards roughed him up before tossing him into his cell.

The courtroom was silent. Not a single person made one iota of noise, not wanting to be the one who missed hearing about the Potters' demise or what happened to baby Harry.

"Mr. Black?" Sirius turned his dead and hollowed eyes to Michael, "You said he transformed? That he was an animagus? How did you know that he was capable of such a feat? There's no record of him registering with the Ministry."

Sirius had by this time recovered from the Veritaserum and shrugged, "It was a time of war. Registering would've given up a strategic advantage. I know he was capable of becoming an animagus because I learned at the same time he did. James too, we three became animagi during our fifth year at Hogwarts to help out a friend who had an ailment and needed cheering up."

Albus cleared his throat and steered the debate back into order, "Madam Prosecutor, do you have anything for the defendant?"

Amelia dried her eyes and shook her head, "No, Chief Warlock. The prosecution rests."

"Mr. Collins?"

"The defense rests as well."

Albus banged the gavel, "We shall adjourn for now to deliberate."

Forty minutes later and Sirius Black was declared cleared of all charges against him. The gallery erupted into cheers and barely heard jeers. The camera flashbulbs flared to life as reporters took frantic last minute notes about the conclusion of the trial and scrambled to speak with Sirius and his lawyer. The chains were removed and he was remanded back into the care of Saint Mungo's to complete his rehabilitation. His first order of business was to have Michael contact Harry and see about getting a day for the boy to come visit him. He hoped that Harry would forgive him for his recklessness and that he'd been taken care of by his muggle aunt and uncle.

He would soon see.