The O.W.L's were always very stressful, with all of the researching and homework and revising what you had already learned, for Colin however they were seemingly impossible. He had taken Harry up on his offer and was studying with Harry and his brother Elias.

Elias wouldn't be taking his O.W.L's until next year but wanted to get ahead of the exams, seeing as Colin had missed his fourth year it was very helpful to have someone who was going through the curriculum at the same time that he was learning the fifth year stuff.

They had begun with Charms, not splitting them up by year and just letting him learn them as needed, followed by the rest of the practical subjects and teaching them in much the same way. It was incredibly helpful to the young boy, even having Dennis's memories of the fourth year weren't particularly helpful as his brother had been an exceptionally lousy student.

Colin privately wished he hadn't received the memories of his brother, though he didn't dislike the boost in power that his magic had given him and wouldn't complain about it.

Colin felt like an imposter and hoped nobody else could see it.

/-*^_^/-

"Mr Potter, how are you?"

"Honestly, I'm content for now. How are you?"

"That is fantastic, I don't think I would have been able to proclaim such a thing at your age."

"I was wondering if you could help me expand my arsenal of offensive but harmless spells, I lost a duel to my younger brother and, as I don't wish to hurt him in a duel, I seek to better myself."

"There are many spells that can offer you an advantage in a duel without hurting anyone, I much prefer to make an opponent look silly over making them hurt. I rather enjoy the effects of such spells as Ius Pede Sinistro which confuses the brain and makes it believe that your right foot is your left foot and vice-versa, or maybe you would prefer Parva Fodico, which pushes the victim forward repeatedly as if by a hand shoving their back. Repente Pes is another favourite of mine as it makes the base of your opponents shoe rather bouncy."

"Couldn't you use that on yourself to jump further?"

"Of course you can, Mr Potter, but just consider how annoying it would be in combat."

"I can definitely use the three of them, maybe in tandem, to great effect. Thank you Professor."

"Any time, Mr Potter."

/_-^_^-_/

When March came the following week Harry was walking around the castle and not really focusing on where he ended up.

Harry was pulled out of his daydreaming by the sight of a familiar Gargoyle, which moved aside as he passed by it. Sighing and resigning himself to his fate, Harry took the spiral staircase upwards.

Harry knocked and a moment later the door opened and Minerva McGonagall was standing opposite the threshold.

"Come in Mr Potter." The old Scottish Professor greeted him with a smile.

"How have you been Professor?"

"Things could be worse, Albus left very detailed instructions on what he thought was the best way to do things, while I won't be following them rigidly it is helpful to have a guide. I think the real question is how are you?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Mr Potter, I know things have been difficult but you have refused to look at me since Albus passed, even in Transfiguration lessons. How can I help you to process this? I have petitioned the Hogwarts Board of Governors to request a student therapist to reside at the school permanently, would this help you?"

"While I appreciate the offer, I've gotten closure, from Albus himself actually, well it was a dream of him but he even said so himself that just because he is a dream doesn't mean he isn't real."

"You have spoken with Albus? His portrait won't activate until exactly a year has passed, even if he is a dream, can you tell him I said goodbye and thank you if you see him next?"

"Of course I will Professor, was there anything else?" Harry asked the Headmistress, who opened and closed her mouth a few times as if to say something but decided better of it.

"Good night Mr Potter. "

"Good night Professor."

/-^_^-

Harry was in the middle of planning the next group of Elemental lessons with Blaise, Elias, Susan, Angelina, Derek, Theo, and Neville, Daphne did attend these meetings but didn't like the idea of instructing, when Elias came up with a suggestion.

"Can I lead the first session of March please?" He asked quietly, firing he would be shot down as the youngest there, even if the gap between Derek and himself was only three months and two days.

"I don't see why not, maybe we could have a lesson in a row led by a different instructor, possibly emphasising the different tactics used by each Element and how they could incorporate these ideals within their own forms."

"That sounds brilliant, we can all have themes and ideas that follow through the weeks." Angelina suggested earning murmurs of approval.

"That sounds like a plan." Harry responded and they planned for the next eight weeks.

When the first session came around Elias was nervous but excited, with Derek by his side to encourage and back him up if he falters.

"For the next few weeks we will be pitting you all together against the instructors, Professors included, and then I will give a small speech about the tactics and stratagems that have potential to be helpful for different Elements. I will be duelling the fire students alongside Derek, then there will be Angelina and Susan with the water students next week etcetera etcetera…until there has been a lesson led by each instructor. Now, let us begin." Elias moved to the Elemental duelling ring, asking Harry to expand and reinforce the boundaries and walking with Derek to face off against the Fire students.

When they were ready to fight Elias gave the signal to begin and immediately coated himself in fire, which was made bigger and bigger by the fireballs that were thrown by his opponents. Meanwhile Derek was creating various pillars of fire and throwing them to form a wall of fire, while leaving gaps to send spells through so as to not be entirely on the defensive.

One of the kids that was in Elias's year, Nigel Wolpert, managed to send a massive torrent of fire at Elias, adding to his already imposing form, as he made his way toward Derek and Elias. Seeing what he was doing his teammates helped bring the attention to their actions and not Nigel's, allowing him to get close enough to begin stealing the fire around Elias, who didn't expect the tactic at all.

"Impedimenta." Elias whispered, sending the hex at the other fire Elemental, while also bringing up a ring of fire around him to prevent him from escaping the effects of the spell, following up with a stupify to reduce the number of opponents they would have to face.

Derek was going with a different plan, sending his walls of fire to separate the students so he could take them out one by one, the sword to Elias's shield. Blasting down the attacks that were sent his way, Derek walked straight up to one of the younger Elementals and flung them out of the arena, casting a fall-cushioning charm to prevent the girl from getting harmed.

It was this moment of protection that allowed Derek to be taken out, in very much the same way he had done a moment ago, leaving Elias alone.

Knowing he wouldn't have to worry about expensive furniture, Elias brought his fire back around him, lifting himself into the air and forming the shape of a dragon around himself, lashing out with the tail and sending large "breaths" of fire from the dragon. After this there was only a single student left in the arena, a second year Hufflepuff, who scrambled backwards and fell out when Elias landed in front of him and simply said.

"Boo."

Now that it was just him in the arena Elias magnified his voice with magic and addressed the crowd, reviving Nigel as he left.

"I hope that you all understand what it is I was trying to show you. Simple usage of your powers will allow the enemy to adapt and take you out, however if you do something that is both unexpected and fear inducing then you can win half of the battle before it even begins. Think of ways you can use your powers that aren't going to be obvious and expected. That will be all for today, until next week." Elias dismissed the session, staying at the front while everyone left to answer questions if needed.

/^_^/

When Harry departed from the defence classroom it was with the knowledge that work has begun on his mental health research center, and that if all goes to plan it should be ready by June.

He was in such a good mood that when his ring began to vibrate, he answered it in a very upbeat and jovial way.

"Hello there Dad. What's up?"

"Are you able to talk? Privately I mean."

"Yeah. Why, what's up?"

"I have recently been made aware that there is a prophecy about you, it concerns You-know-who and he is trying to get it."

"Okay… what can I do about it?"

"At the moment it is being protected constantly from being taken, however there have been numerous attempts to steal it recently and that number keeps rising. I was thinking I could come and collect you, bringing you in to collect it yourself and then return you to school."

"Do you want me to meet you somewhere? Maybe I could ask McGonagall about using her Floo to travel home."

"There's no need to go home, you can meet me in Diagon Alley, I'm in the Leakey Cauldron."

"I'll ask and let you know."

"Make sure that you do."

The sound of his Father's voice was gone in the next second and it rang in Harry's head.

"He must be stressed out about something, he's never spoken to me like that before." Harry said sadly to himself.

Not wanting to keep Sirius waiting Harry made his way to Professor McGonagall's office and walked up the stairs to her door, to which she opened and invited him in.

"Mr Potter? What are you doing here?"

"My Father needs me, he just spoke to me. I came to ask if I can use your Floo to travel to Diagon Alley."

"If it is a family emergency would you like me to fetch your brothers and send them after you?"

"Sure, they deserve to know where I am."

"Stay safe, Mr Potter, please."

"Aren't I always safe?" Harry asked, adding a comment to not answer that after she raised her eyebrows at him.

The feeling of travelling by the Floo was marginally less nausea inducing than side-along apparition, though Harry did enjoy the flashes of greens, going from pine to lime, before he saw the dingy pub and his Father looking unhappy. Before Harry could even greet Sirius he had his hand grabbed as he was pulled along.

"We don't have all day." Was all the greeting he got as they left the pub and walked down the street.

When Harry passed the Twins's shop he saw Charlie Weasley, who locked eyes with him and made to follow after him as he saw that Harry wouldn't stop to pop into the shop.

"Harry, wait up. I need to talk to you for a moment." The second oldest weasley child shouted at him as he jogged toward Harry and Sirius.

"We don't have time, Weasley." Sirius shouted back as he continued to drag Harry by the arm.

"Where are you heading now? I can always meet you afterwards." Charlie suggested, easily able to match the pace of the two.

"To the Ministry, I'll see you later." Harry answered as Sirius picked up the pace.

"You're going to pull my arm off if you keep this up, why are you in such a rush?" Harry joked but his father was unamused.

"Be quiet Harry, you'll understand later." He snapped back and Harry was immediately upset at his Father's treatment of him.

They reached one of the dedicated ministry Floos and climbed in, the grip on Harry's arm not even slightly wavering in its firmness.

They breezed past the security checkpoint and into the elevator, heading down to the department of mysteries, without Sirius' usual jokes about elevator music.

"I've never seen you this serious before." Harry commented with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"This is important." He responded after a few moments, saying nothing else for the rest of the walk to the Prophecy Room.

Once they had reached the aforementioned room they began to walk down the aisles, going from A all the way down to P, when they passed J, Harry felt the grip on his arm loosen and fall off as they neared P.

"There it is, the prophecy." Sirius gasped out.

"You're right it is, however I have a question before I pick it up."

"Out with it."

"Who the fuck are you, and where is Sirius Black? Osso Rotto!" Harry shouted, aiming his wand at the imposter's pelvis and followed up by summoning the Man's wand to his hand.

"You impudent little bastard, I knew I should have imperioused you."

"Finite trespassium." Harry silently cast, watching as the man before him began to warp and bubble under his skin, his hair receding into his skull as his eyes changed from grey to brown. "I'll ask you again, who are you?" Harry shouted, tapping his wand to activate his distress signal.

"You will never see anyone you care about again, your adoptive parents will have finished the letter you sent them."

"Letter? What are you on about?"

"I believe he is talking about the letter telling them that they cannot hold a candle to James and Lily Potter and that they are terrible people. I can't believe that someone who is such good friends with my son would treat their parents in such a way."

"Lucius? What are you doing here?"

"I serve my lord, as will you."

"Yeah, I don't think old Voldey is really someone I would find myself serving." Harry snapped back with venom dripping from every syllable.

"You're alone Potter, what makes you think you stand a chance of escaping from here on your own terms?" Lucius taunted him, his wand not yet drawn from his cane.

"Yeah, you little shit, you're out of luck now." Barty added, his face contorted in pain that he struggled not to show.

"One broken man and his lackey aren't enough to stop me. There is one thing that you're either forgetting or are ignorant about, would you like me to fill you in?" Harry teased, Barty's wand aimed back at him, while Harry's own wand was aimed at Lucius.

"You have no ace in the hole, no tricks up your sleeve. You've lost Potter." Barty taunted, his face no longer distorted and malicious, instead it twinkled with a sick sense of joy.

"I, Harry James Potter, do call upon the Malfoy family Lord to answer the life debt of his son, Draco Lucius Malfoy, and ask that he aid me in my time of need." Harry intoned, the air around them becoming thick with magic.

"No! You won't win!" Barty shouted, his voice desperate at this point. "My Imperius will hold, it will."

"I'm afraid not, Barty, I've already told you this once today but I shall explain it to you one last time. I serve no Lord, fourteen months trapped in my own chest was enough to make me realise that."

"Is that so Lucius? I must admit myself disappointed." A cold voice sounded on the breeze, as if manifested out of nowhere.

"He's here." Harry whispered as his face became pale, sending out another distress signal, though he feared it was too late. The shadows around them became populated by masked and robed wizards, Death Eaters, yet the Dark Lord himself was yet to be seen. There was only one face not obscured by a mask, the face of Bellatrix Lestrange, who looked like an animal about to eat.

"Hello little Harry, where's your mum? Surely dear Lily taught you to respect your elders, whatever would she think?" Bellatrix then let out a high cold laugh, very reminiscent of the Dark Lord's laugh.

"Don't you dare talk about her, you don't have the right." Harry screamed at Bellatrix who took a few steps towards him, the clicking of her prosthetic echoing throughout the underground chamber.

"What are you going to do Potter? Expelliarmus Duo!" She shouted, sending Harry's and Barty's wands flying towards her. "You have no wand and only Lucius Malfoy to help you, what can you possibly do?"

"This." Harry whispered quietly as his eyes began to glow a bright vivid green. Then, raising his hand, Harry began to collapse the lungs of all of the Death Eaters around him, sucking the very air out of them and creating vacuums within the chest cavity. Bellatrix hit him with a non-verbal incendio, breaking his concentration and trying to breathe again. The fire didn't last more than a second as Harry sucked all of the Oxygen away from it and gathered it between some of the Death Eaters, exciting the Oxygen molecules enough to combust them, creating a small explosion that sent some of the Death Eaters flying, with the two closest to the blast never standing again.

Knowing he would have to defend against spellfire, Harry drew his sword and held it between himself and Bellatrix, who looked furious about the turn of events.

"Expelliarmus." Harry wandlessly disarmed Bellatrix, catching the three wands, including his own, in a ball of air that lowered itself into his bag, which Harry locked with a wave of his hand.

"Stupify."

"Reducto."

"Expulso."

Three spells flew in from out of nowhere and struck three of the masked men in their chests, launching them out of the battle and destroying an unknown amount of Prophecies.

"If you're going to impersonate the Dad of someone who is very close to us, at least do your homework." Charlie Weasley said darkly, the twins following behind, their wands drawn.