Chapter 28

Dear Grandmother,

It's been an astounding week here. It's been as if almost a month has already passed without anyone noticing. If you haven't heard the most recent news, James and Lily Potter have returned from the dead.

I'm not kidding, Grandmother. I've talked to them. Lily told me she was my godmother. For some reason they are not happy with Professor Dumbledore at all, but they're holding their cards close to their vests. I can't blame them, considering how different things must be for them all of a sudden. For now, they are staying at the castle until things can be sorted out vis-à-vis their holdings. Everyone knows about the damage to the cottage at Godric's Hollow, but no one is sure about Potter Manor or if it's even still standing.

Seeing them and the way Harry reacts to them and to the questions they ask about how he grew up raises questions in my own mind. Questions that I've had but no idea how to answer.

Being the quiet one in the Tower, I see things that make no sense.

James Potter is taller than Harry. Why is Harry so short and small? Why does he seem unwilling to leave for the summer and why does he come back every year in such ragged clothes? I've wondered that our whole time here.

Why was he so timid, as though he was expecting to be beat? I admit I'm not the most assertive, but even I could see it then.

Grandmother, there's something else with that on my mind.

I've seen many scars on him as he got dressed in the mornings or coming out of the showers. The Quidditch team Chasers have been noticing this too, but no one knows how to bring this up to him. Year after year, he comes back with more scars. Sometimes bruises too.

That's another thing. I've been wondering if Harry was ever going to come to me as House Potter allied to House Longbottom, but I've also been wondering for a while if he even knows much about his House. He seemed so overwhelmed about Magic since we started Hogwarts, and the yearly attempts on his life hasn't helped.

What can I do?

And if this uncle and aunt he's been living with have been keeping his heritage from him, is there anything else that can be done? Or what about the way they have to be treating them? I am quite sure that his parents would help him learn, but there's no excuse if they have to start from scratch.

I want to help him. What do I do?

In other news, you owe me a Galleon. There are now no questions that he and Hermione Granger are together. In fact, it has something to do with James and Lily Potter being back, but anytime I ask either Harry or Hermione, they blush and don't answer the question or change the subject. I admit that sometimes I ask them just to see them blush, but I'm very curious about the answer of that question anyway.

In any event, House Longbottom should support the Potters. That goes without saying, but of course I'll say it anyway!

Luna is watching as I write this letter and says hello.

Your loving grandson

Neville

-===(| - |)===-

Augusta Longbottom drained the glass of whiskey. The things Neville alluded to in his letter explained so much. Well, she'd been wondering much the same things, but the observation about scars was new. That was probably to be expected, since she wouldn't have been in a position to see them. It was something disquieting to think about. For any child, yes, but worse for the Boy-Who-Lived.

And as for James and Lily Potter returning, this was new. Neville was too serious-minded to lie to her about something like that. Young Harry deserved it, she was sure. He didn't deserve the treatment that she was afraid he was getting at the hands of whoever his current legal guardians were. Some of the others with children enrolled at Hogwarts had either made quiet observations of their own or had letters home that relayed things that they noticed. There wasn't much that they could do except make a lot of notes until they could get past Dumbledore as the magical guardian of one Harry Potter.

That was something that she could work on, now that the Potters had returned. Magical guardianship would be a snap. Blood would tell. It was an old aphorism, but true enough in this case. It wouldn't take long for James and Lily to put things to rights.

Now the last question remained from Neville's letter for her to ponder.

Who was this Luna girl?

-===(| - |)===-

Sirius Black was confused.

Scratch that. He was outright disoriented. One moment, he was chasing a giggling nymph with red cheeks as Padfoot and wondering what color her face would be, and the next he was sprawled somewhere at Hogwarts with James staring at him.

With Harry right next to him!

And Lily and Hermione nearby!

He absently thought about one of the shows Lily had once shown him on that strange teebee thing she had at her parents' house. It was called 'Evening Zone' or something like that and it was the weirdest and creepiest thing he'd ever watched once he figured out how the thing worked. The one he watched with the newspaper and the pilots? Whatever the ones that controlled the aeroplanes were called, anyway, and that show was bad enough, but then there was the one with the doll. That was terrible.

He didn't sleep for two nights after watching those.

It didn't do his mood any good to find out that Lily enjoyed them! James privately admitted that while he enjoyed a few episodes, most of them creeped him right out, too. The discussions about those and the fact that some of the older actresses bore a somewhat uncanny resemblance to Minerva McGonagall didn't help with their unease.

Now, he found himself hustled toward Albus Dumbledore's office by a rather pretty woman that he'd never seen before. She was sort of flirty, too, which certainly never bothered him before but right now he was far too distracted by whatever this was. It made him feel better that everyone else seemed to be as lost as he was.

So, he did the only thing he could do and followed along behind the woman. She looked back and waggled her finger at him with a wink and he straightened up quickly. Sirius looked around as quietly as he could only to see Lily rolling her eyes at him. She looked so young! His mouth opened and he spoke before he really understood what he was doing.

"Lily, what the hell is going on here?"

Her voice was quiet and she sounded like Lily had always sounded like. It brought tears to his eyes that he tried to blink away quickly.

"As far as whoever she is, I don't know. Everything else, ask your godson. He and his girlfriend," indicating Hermione, "know more about that than everyone else so far. If you want to see them blush, ask them."

Sirius perked up.

"Wait. 'Girlfriend,' you said? When did this happen? Moony and I have a bet going."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Back from the dead and Sirius Black thinking about old bets. And, yes, girlfriend, and no, I don't know exactly when. James and I have had some other things on our minds since we came back. Some things are so different. Some things are going to be put to rights."

He regarded her, seeing the thin line between her eyebrows that had always told everyone around them that she was in furious thought. That was so like Lily, always thinking. James was striding ahead with his carriage erect and daring all who came in his field of view to say something. Just like him. Well, so be it. Never let it be said that Sirius Black was not himself.

He straightened himself up and started the patented Black swagger. It had always worked for him and who knows? Whoever that pretty woman he was being led by might get a bit more friendly with him.

Sirius was well into his rhythm when a voice intruded into his thoughts.

"Hey, Harry, is that supposed to be a pimp walk or something?"

He looked back at Hermione's sniggered remark and his face fell. She was laughing at him! A squint narrowed his eyes and she shook it off, so he turned his attention back to the…

"Wait. Wasn't there someone right there leading us to Dumbledore's office?"

"Yes, and she just disappeared into thin air," Harry answered.

"But why?"

"Beats me. Maybe we'll find out from Dumbledore. He's been trying to figure out things, too."

As far as Sirius was concerned, that was nothing new. The old man was probably born trying to figure out things and how to turn them to his advantage. A moment passed and he considered that maybe he was still feeling a bit bitter about things. Being stuck in Grimmauld Place wasn't all that fun and he remembered it all too well. At least there hadn't been Dementors there, but with Kreacher's general mood that hadn't been much difference.

They came to the gargoyle, who stared down at them with an impassive face. Sirius moaned to himself. Of course, they would be here without any idea about the password.

"Okay, who's going to do the guessing game?"

Lily roughly pushed him out of the way. Sirius watched as she glared up at the gargoyle with her fists on her hips. He could see the sparks in her eyes. For a moment, he felt bad for the stone guardian and happy that for once it wasn't him.

"I definitely don't have time or inclination to play your little game today, Elmer Dwayne. Don't make me give you another attitude adjustment, like last time. Move!" Lily ordered with a snap in her voice that stood everyone completely upright.

To general surprise, the gargoyle hustled out of the way faster than everyone had ever seen. To their further surprise, there was a look of fear on the carven face. Lily marched in with Hermione on her heels. Everyone else just looked at each other. Emma chuckled at the looks on the faces of the males before strolling after her daughter.

"Did she just…?"

"Looks that way."

"You're going in after her, right?"

Everyone looked at James.

"You're the one married to her. We'll follow you from back here," Sirius said quickly. Everyone but James nodded in sudden agreement. James muttered something to himself, but went on. Dan mumbled something about making a redhead mad as he watched. It was rather indistinct to most of the others but the general gist was understood.

As he walked past the gargoyle, Sirius glanced up at it.

"Your name is 'Elmer Dwayne?' Really?"

There was a muted groan from the gargoyle, and Sirius grinned.

"Don't worry, buddy. We think she's scary, too."

Lily's irritated voice came from up ahead.

"Sirius! Hurry up back there! What are you doing, flirting with the gargoyle? Are you that desperate? Get up here!"

Sirius hurried right along. No one remained in the corridor to see the relief in the gargoyle's stone eyes.

-===(| - |)===-

There was a bit of haze in the large room, although that could have been from the large, ornately decorated brazier in the exact center. It was full of violet-tipped flames that was throwing up light gray smoke. Gordon Bailey was sure he didn't want to know what the brazier had been loaded with, and was more sure that he didn't want to ask what was in the leaf-wrapped bundles sitting on a small table nearby. Or for that matter, what liquid was in the large bowl on another table. Or for yet another matter, why there was something that looked suspiciously like a sacrificial altar next to that. Without anyone saying anything, it didn't inspire confidence in him. It didn't occur to him that since he wasn't saying anything himself, they didn't have a lot of confidence getting inspired from him either.

The team that was with him on the Burnstone mission had followed him. Everyone looked at the arrangement and it seemed to him that they had the same thoughts he did. No one turned around and left the room, since everyone could see that the Dark Lord was standing at the window. He was looking out upon the grounds of wherever the portkey had dropped them off to, but no one was under the misconception that he wasn't aware of their presence. Others came in as well.

The Dark Lord turned from the window as the last of the group filed in. There was no joking around as the red eyes evaluated the group individually. It took a few minutes with nothing said by anyone and this served to ratchet the tension up. There was a frown on his face and this didn't ease the minds of his followers, but the words he finally spoke were calm at least.

"In three days time, there will be another attack. I will not say where or for what, but I will say that I require everyone in this room. This is an important part of the plans I have made, and I will not accept failure. Every one of you know the price for that."

At least sixty men and women stood in the room, aside from Lord Voldemort. This meant something major, they all knew.

"You will divide up into groups of twelve. There will be no discussion about who leads what group. I will be making that determination, and I will not accept any disagreement upon making that decision. Understood?"

There was nothing else that could be said to that. Everyone agreed.

"For this tasking, there are some requirements. All your attention must be on the jobs that will be set before you. There must not be any distractions. There will not be any issues that cause distraction or I will be subtracting from your bodies. Such subtractions will be bloody, painful, and leave marks. That's assuming I feel like leaving stumps. Understood?"

Again, everyone agreed. Some carefully hid shivers. There was no such thing as a retirement plan for Death Eaters.

"Now, as for attention. Through those doors," he motioned toward a set of double doors that no one else had noticed when they came in, "is a hallway that leads to a larger room than this. That room is set up to perform a mass purification ritual that will take two days. You will leave your robes and all jewelry or other things here. I don't care where you leave them as long as you don't take anything but your bodies with you. Anything you take will be destroyed by the ritual by method of fire, along with anything nearby. I would suggest removing any piercings you may have, no matter where they are. Your Dark Marks will not cause issues. In fact, they will be an integral part of the ritual."

Here and there, a few grimaces showed up on faces at the mention of piercings. Faces schooled themselves to immobility at the mention of the Dark Mark that every Death Eater assembled there carried on their arms.

"Your wands will be deposited here," he indicated a large box that looked to be made of granite. "You will not need them for the proceedings as they would be destroyed like any thing else I've mentioned."

Most of the throng didn't like that. Bailey knew he didn't.

"There are wizards and witches waiting for you to conduct the ritual. Give them any problems whatsoever and they will kill you. I am not kidding. I have given them the authority. As this ritual is quite comprehensive and involved, it's possible it will kill some of you anyway. If that happens, it happens. That's why I have more of you standing before me that I really need for what I'm planning just in case.

"There will be a trance state induced at the beginning. That is all you need to know. After the ritual is concluded, you will sleep in place for a day. After you are awakened, there will be an immediate briefing and the operation will begin at that point."

The Dark Lord looked around. Everyone in the room didn't want to mention the fact that he hadn't said a thing about what came after the 'at that point.'

"I'm aware that some of you were intended to go on a different attack earlier that did not happen. That attack had been planned for an earlier date, but information that I received from other channels have changed my plans. No matter. I will see this done instead. Am I understood?"

He looked around at the different faces. There was a trace of boredom in his expression and he seemed to be thinking of other things as he waved his hand at the double doors. Voldemort ignored the few shivers and twitches that the motion caused in the throng standing before him.

"Now, strip down! Time is wasting. Waste more of my time and you will be dead."

He watched as everyone did that without any embarrassment or prurience showing in his eyes. As this group was mixed-gender there was some of that within the mass of people, but some of those could have cared less. A few jokes floated up from somewhere in the quiet room but there was no way to tell who had said what unless you was part of the joking. Since no one wanted to be punished by the Dark Lord, the jesters were silenced quickly. Voldemort huffed in annoyance and no one said another word as his frown got deeper and deeper.

He called everyone up, one by one, and they stood naked in front of him. No one had any idea what the Dark Lord was doing as he inspected them closely but no one was brave enough to question him. His wand touched their Dark Marks and something was muttered in parseltongue. Nothing happened that anyone was aware of, which didn't help with the general confusion. Voldemort continued with his inspection after the hissed spell completed. Apparently he was satisfied with whatever he was looking for and shooed each one out of the room as he finished his inspection without any comments or Crucios. As the double doors closed behind the last one with a muted click, he turned to look out the window again.

A few minutes later, two more people came into the room after discreetly knocking. One transfigured wheels on the tables, the altar, and the brazier's base. As the way was smooth, neither wasted magical energy in levitating them but a gentle shove sent the heavy objects out of the room. As the brazier's smoke had been settling the previous occupants down to a small degree, the new workers cast bubblehead charms on themselves to keep the brazier from affecting them as well before finishing their task. They left without delay, not bothering the Dark Lord in his thoughts.

Soon, no one remained in the room to ask him what his thoughts were. Not that he would have shared them as they weren't anyone's business but his own. His thoughts would shared when he wanted them to be, and not a moment before. Absently, he wondered how many would survive the purification.

No matter. There was a plan in motion. From the things that he had been looking at, there was a simple solution. Diagon Alley was out, as was Hogwarts itself. The magical energy concentrations of both of those places both helped and hindered him, as it did anyone in opposition. There was simply too much going on day after day, magically speaking. This allowed for a build-up of energy, like those voltaic piles he played with as a boy in that damned orphanage. He never told any wizard or witch that he did this. Not even Dumbledore knew that he read a muggle science book and experimented with electricity and frog legs, trying to make them twitch.

It had been an interesting diversion, since his then still-growing mind wanted information and explanations for those strange abilities that a young Tom Riddle couldn't explain. He knew it was some kind of energy, but after finding out that it was magic and not electricity the muggle science was ignored in favor of learning about this new energy.

He had not thought about copper, zinc and silver in those ways for nearly six decades. The thoughts about the magical energy concentrations reminded him of those youthful experiments. It was no matter now, since he had other things to attend to. Those things were far more important than bits of metal and salty water.

Still, the young Tom Riddle buried deep inside the persona of Lord Voldemort wondered what science did nowadays and if frog legs still twitched.

-===(| - |)===-

Dumbledore hid a grin as he heard the exasperation in the hallway and traded glances with his Deputy Head. He was quite sure that there would soon be several boys – well, men – standing in front of his desk very quietly while a redheaded terror ranted at them. He couldn't help but be amused at the thought of the very carefully hidden thoughts and expressions on each face.

Sometimes he felt the same way when Minerva ranted at him.

The old wizard quickly schooled his face to stillness as the troupe came into his office. Lily had steamed in, followed by Hermione who appeared to be quite amused. Dumbledore hoped the bright young Gryffindor didn't figure out what he was so amused by or he might soon find himself not so amused. Emma Granger walked in, without comment to whoever followed, and looked around with interest at the various portraits and books that adorned his office. Moments later, Harry, Dan, James, and Sirius appeared. The first two of that group looked through the doorway as if to make sure it was safe and scuttled in before the last two walked in.

Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome! It seems that there is to be a discussion about… well, something… but I've found over a long life that strange things happen to sometimes precipitate such discussions."

His earlier guests were still there, and now Arthur Weasley stood up. He was a bit pale.

"Speaking of strange things, Albus, please tell me I'm not looking at ghosts."

He was looking at James and Lily Potter. Dumbledore grimaced. Of course poor Arthur wouldn't have had a chance to really catch up on the news.

"No, Arthur, you aren't. I'm very sorry, my friend, but these people are not ghosts. This is actually James and Lily Potter, returned to us through some means that I haven't quite figured out yet."

Arthur's face looked like it had taken on the consistency of curdled milk and he sat down heavily. Dumbledore hastily reached into his bottom desk drawer for a bottle of brandy and poured Arthur a healthy slug. The Weasley patriarch took it without hesitation and gulped it down without a thought. He grimaced as it warmed its way down.

Lily was distracted from her impending rant at Sirius by the look on Arthur's face. She carefully sat down beside him and took his hand.

"Arthur? It's really me, Lily. James is here, too."

"Lily?"

At her quick nod, he stared at her face and met her green eyes. There was a spark in his own eyes as he recognized her.

"Lily. It is you. I thought that the Twins were trying to pull a prank with the paper somehow."

Harry spoke up.

"No, Mr. Weasley. It's not the Twins' style. They pull different kinds of pranks."

James leaned in to mutter to Sirius, "But what a prank that would have been, though." Sirius nodded, trying not to attract Lily's attention as she spent time with Arthur to ease his mind.

It worked, but Sirius forgot that Hermione was right next to him. He turned to see her chocolate-brown eyes affixed to him, one eyebrow raised. He gulped.

There was a commotion at the door. Dumbledore called out, "Enter," and Remus Lupin walked in. He was wearing robes that looked quite nice. The fabrics was better than anything he normally wore, tan with a dark brown piping down the front. There was an understated wolf's head in the cuffs of the robes.

"Sorry, I'm late. I had to find something else to wear, while the blood is cleaned from my robes. Did you know that there's a house elf that just started with Madam Pomfrey that likes to make clothes? She made these for me and wouldn't hear otherwise. She says 'Professor Wolfie Remmy needs good clothes.' I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm not a Professor here anymore."

Lily looked up from her spot by Arthur.

"What's this? 'Professor Lupin?' Really?"

The bright smile now on her face diverted everyone's attention away from Sirius' thankful sigh of relief. Harry grinned at her.

"Best Defense teacher we ever had."

Remus sighed.

"Harry, I think sometimes you or somebody else find ways to say that every single time."

"Well… it's true, Moony. You were. Right, Hermione?"

She was silent for a moment. Everyone could see that she was pondering something.

"Hermione?"

She smiled at Harry.

"Yes, until Professor Potter starts. He did very well with the D.A., you know."

Dumbledore saw his chance.

"From what I heard, his students were all very pleased with his performance. Professor McGonagall and I are quite proud. We think he would be a fine teacher ourselves. Certainly, he would have the attention of students during lectures."

Harry gaped at the Headmaster. The old man's eyes twinkled at the sight of his student sitting in embarrassment at the public praise.

Lily looked around.

"What's this 'D.A.' you're talking about? Harry?"

Harry started to answer, but was interrupted by a feminine voice.

"Good question, but that will have to wait until later!"

The bright voice came from the doorway. Everyone looked up from their tea to see the same woman that had led them to Dumbledore's office.

"Sorry I'm late, but I had to see to someone in the castle trying to enhance himself. I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey doesn't see more of those kinds of things, but I'm sure that by now she has plenty of material to embarrass everyone with. What's one more?"

Silence met this proclamation, until Arthur spoke up. His voice was hesitant and slower than usual.

"Since I'm the father of six boys, I have a good idea of what you're carefully not referring to," the woman smirked at his expression, "and I'm not sure I want to know what kind of 'seeing to' you did."

In the corner, Billy paled.

"Oh, Arthur. I'm a physical manifestation of Magic. You know that. Whatever would I do to the poor boy?"

In the corner, Billy paled some more.

"That's what I'm concerned about. You seem to be rather… unrestrained, for lack of a better word."

"Well, of course! I just decided to teach him a lesson about trying to use my gifts to extend his 'gifts,' so to speak."

"Lesson? What lesson?"

"Of course! I took what he was trying to do and reset it to the starting point. It took him this long to get to where he was, so maybe more time will teach a lesson about improper use of magic." Magic looked around. "Oh hello, Billy!"

In the corner, Billy's eyes went wide and he passed out. He slid out of his chair and landed on the floor.

"My poor Billy. I didn't think he was supposed to make that much noise. Is that something that happens a lot?"

Fionn and Arthur traded glances while the rest looked on with a great deal of confusion.

"You don't suppose…" Arthur whispered.

"No. Not at all. I don't want to even guess."

Meanwhile, Harry stood up and looked at the senseless Billy.

"Is he all right?" There was a good bit of doubt in his voice.

"He'll be fine," the woman said merrily.

"And who exactly are you?"

"Oh, Harry, did Hermione distract you too much to hear what I said to Arthur? Not that I blame you, but we have too much to do here."

"So you are really Magic in the flesh? So to speak? Then what was that earlier, at the Black Lake?"

The woman giggled.

"I am! As for earlier, well, it's easiest to think of manifestations at any given moment as whichever Aspect or Facet that best suits at the moment. Your ritual with Hermione called for a stern male figure. By the way, that whole thing was very amusing to more than Kateira. Do you normally blush that much when Hermione touches your…"

"ANY way!" Harry interrupted quickly and with a bit more volume than he intended. "You mentioned manifestations?"

Magic giggled at his red face, and several of the others hid chuckles behind tea cups and hands.

"Oh! As for the one that returned Sirius to you, that was just a continuation of the same thing. He left dog hair in a lot of irritating places in the magical realm, by the way."

Eyes turned to Sirius.

"What?" he asked in a weak voice. "I'm a Grim! I shed."

"That's not all you do as a dog," Magic noted, and eyes turned to Sirius again.

"What?" This time his voice was no stronger. "She hasn't said anything specific."

Remus snorted.

"You're Sirius Black. Do we really need anything specific?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered that.

"The form that assisted the Potter boys in that ugly flaming circle was the generic form I use when I can't decide whether to look like this or that stern one. It saves time, but it sure is boring. Now, as this form for Magic is known to Arthur, Fionn, and sweet innocent Billy I decided to use it for this meeting. Things are hard enough as it is."

Her voice was suddenly solemn, cutting off any jokes that Sirius could have made.

"The Castle has awakened and revealed Chambers that for the most part have not been seen in a long time. Harry, you know about the Chamber of Secrets which was created by Salazar Slytherin."

"How can I forget?"

She nodded in commiseration.

"It wasn't the best of times for you, no. Still, you are the only one that can access it and there are still secrets in that Chamber that the little boy who is so full of himself never found."

Harry looked at Hermione.

"Little boy," he whispered, feeling a bit offended.

"Riddle, not you. You're not little," she whispered back. There was a crooked grin on Harry's face as she spoke.

Magic smirked at the pair, but thankfully for Harry's state of mind declined to comment about the whispers.

"When you next go into the Chamber – and you need to go when you leave here, understand? When you get there, you will find a new door. Unlock it with Parseltongue, then set a regular English password. After that, the other three rooms will be able to access the Chamber. However, Hogwarts herself controls who can pass through into the Chamber."

She turned and cast a quite unhappy look at the Headmaster.

"You will not be able to enter the Chamber, Albus, so get that out of your mind right now. I'm not happy with you at all. Or with Severus Snape, either."

"But…"

"But you're the Headmaster of Hogwarts, yes, yes I know what you're about to spout off. Forget it. Only those implicitly trusted by the owners of these rooms can enter. No exceptions, and should trust be revoked by an owner, it will not be given again."

"But who are the owners? Are these room related to the Founders? And would these owners be heirs of the Founders?"

"In reverse order: No, not necessarily since Magic assigned them, Yes, the Hogwarts Founders designed them, and the owners have not been notified yet. Nunya."

There was muffled snorts from some of the group as Dumbledore screwed up his face in confusion.

"What is 'nunya,' Magic?"

She laughed.

"As in 'none of your business.' Now be quiet. I've got work to do here."

Dumbledore sat back and realized that he couldn't open his mouth. The young woman ignored him and turned to the others.

"Is Billy awake yet? Somebody wake him up. I miss his sweet face."

Fionn shot a discreet Rennervate at the hapless young man, who groaned and sat up.

"Well, lad, you had a wee kip there, if maybe a bit embarrassing. Feel better?"

"What did I miss?"

"Dumbledore shutting up and Sirius Black flirting with Magic."

"Wait, that's even possible and who?"

"What? Are you jealous, Billy-boy?"

Billy wisely decided not to answer that. He looked up to see that sure enough, there was Sirius Black across the room who waved at him. The young man gulped, thinking of all the wanted posters he'd seen a few years ago. He grabbed Fionn by the shoulder.

"But he was in Azkaban!"

"Sure enough, but I think that there's more to that story. We have to wait and find out what it was."

Billy stared at Sirius Black, then noticed that there was another couple he didn't recognize.

"Who's the redhead? Annnd why does she look like she's about to rip somebody's head off? And the man next to her?"

"Oh, that's James and Lily Potter."

"Wait, what?"

The next few minutes didn't really help Billy's confusion at all, but he was getting used to that. Magic was talking again.

"Oh, and before I get started, I need to say this."

She looked at Harry, then got up to cross over to his seat. He looked up at her, wondering what was going on and feeling a bit concerned. Her smile eased some of the discomfort but his past experiences in the Magical world didn't help him feel too sure he was going to like whatever was about to happen.

She grabbed him by the tie and raised a brow.

"Oh, Harry. You can't help but get into all kinds of troubles, can you. You're filthy! Look at your clothes!"

"In my defense, I was distracted by this evil demon."

"True. I'm going to have to do something about this."

He wasn't too sure he was comfortable with those words, but didn't have time to ponder it when she yanked him to a standing position. Magic smiled at him, a huge smile with way too many teeth. She stood on tippy-toes as she tugged his head down to plant a big wet kiss on his forehead.

"What?" Harry was more confused. The skimpiness of her outfit and the position of his head left nothing to anyone's imagination – much less his.

"Oh, relax. I'm not Kateira." She waved her hand over him and his clothes snapped into the cleanest and most pressed shape he'd ever seen. They seemed to have changed into dark green robes in the finest and most comfortable material he'd ever seen. His shoes were gleaming bright enough to be seen in the dark. Harry sighed and hoped that was all she was going to do, then remembered that she was going to say something.

Magic waved her hand over Hermione as well, and her clothes changed to a beautiful powder blue gown that hugged her curves. Hermione gaped at the gown and looked up with a question in her eyes.

"Not that I hate the Hogwarts robes, but you deserve something better. Besides, I like the color and it looks good on you. Harry likes it, too. Look at him sitting there with his mouth open."

She looked at Harry and sure enough, he was speechless.

"Thank you!"

"No problem. It won't revert, either. Permanent transfiguration."

Hermione's eyes widened as Magic waved her hand again to change everyone's clothing, just to be fair.

Arthur, Fionn, and Billy got robes of a tasteful dark khaki and their ties changed to match their respective eye colors.

Remus got a durable deep green set of robes and a cardigan with large pockets. He got a strange look on his face and pulled the biggest bar of chocolate anyone had ever seen from one of the pockets. This made him happier than the robes, frankly.

Sirius was clad in a bright, eye-searing purple three piece suit. Darker purple stripes marched up and down the fabric and traded places every so often. A hat with a long feather rested on his head which made him laugh as he looked at his reflection in a convenient mirror. He gave Magic a thumbs up.

James and Lily found themselves in House Potter robes in the same fashion and quality as Harry. They stood up and bowed to Magic, who returned the bow.

Professor McGonagall found her normal manner of dress unchanged much, save for the fabrics upgraded and her tartan on her shoulder gleaming as bright as Harry's shoes. She had been gifted jewelry that spoke to her place in Clan McGonagall and that shone in the firelight. She too bowed to Magic.

Dumbledore apparently was the last, and he got upgraded to severe black robes that seemed to pull in the light. The various metal fittings for his beard and hair, and accents that ran down his cuffs in broad bands shimmered as he looked down in shock. The half-moon spectacles he wore glimmered in front of the wide blue eyes. He could see that the boots he wore shone like Harry's shoes.

Magic beamed at Harry.

"Stand up, Harry. Let the others look at you."

He did, confused again. What was she up to? The others looked at him, assessing his appearance. The finery of the robes just felt right and he found himself standing erect with his shoulders back.

"Sorry, even I couldn't do much about the hair. That's a Potter magical trademark and can't really ever be fixed."

He'd been wondering about that, considering the quality of the clothes he wore now. He saw his parents standing now in their House Potter robes and felt a rush of pride. Beside him, Hermione threaded her fingers through his and he saw Remus and Sirius give him thumbs up. Arthur looked as proud of him as if Harry was his own son, and while Billy still seemed a bit gobsmacked at the whole thing, Fionn didn't. He looked like he'd just sprang the world's best prank on someone.

Magic surveyed her work and clapped her hands together in delight.

"Will you look at him? I think he'll be a wonderful professor too! I mean, really! Wouldn't you pay attention to a gorgeous hunk like that? There's going to be so many notes passed in his classes! So many girls trying to get detention with him, too!"

Harry gaped at her as laughter echoed around him.