Parseltongue

Gobbledygook

Harry Potter; the Boy-Who-Lived, Heir Potter-Black and who knows what other families in the Potter genealogy, and son of three of the most skilled fighters during the war.

Or Sirius Black; Lord Black, powerful Hit-Wizard, one of the biggest thorns in the Death Eaters side, cleaned up the Auror department of some of the corruption.

Both had a great deal of enemies. The question was, which of those enemies decided to act?

Mattie bowed, relieved, and then popped away to find the Potter Head-elf, Mipsy, to see if the Young Master was healthy to deal with the treatments for Kreature. After all, last he was aware, Master Sirius and the Young Master were together the day Master Sirius was attacked. And, Mipsy would be able to introduce him to her Master, since Master Sirius wasn't available to do it. Mattie knew that Master Sirius had been planning on introducing them soon, but obviously that would have to happen differently now.

Harry was right, Severus did sneak in not long after Madam Pomfrey left. Of course, it wasn't without frowning at the fact Harry's bed had his name mover it on a plaque. Well, it wasn't Harry's fault he was in here so much... mostly.

Most of the time it was Slytherin's in Potions or Quidditch accidents.

Honest!

Although... he supposed that the last time he was in here was more or less his fault... since he was stupid enough to go after the Stone like that. Severus had talked to him about that a lot over the summer, when he was able to get away from his duties as Hogwarts Potions Master. Which, admittedly happened a lot this summer solely because Dumbledore had been gone and couldn't demand the most random things of his time. All he'd had to do was work on Potions for the Infirmary and his usual orders from outside Hogwarts. Mostly from St. Mungoes.

Severus had talked him through other things he could have done about that situation, and none of them involved investigating for himself and then going after it himself. Although, Severus had not been happy when Harry told him that they had gone to McGonagall. He'd confronted her over it as soon as he left the Longbottom's home, and she didn't even remember the incident.

Three guesses how that happened and the first two don't count.

Severus also talked to him about the whole 'turning Quirrell to dust, before a wraith-like thing came out of him' thing. According to Severus, and to Severus's relief, Harry hadn't outright killed him. Quirrell's life had been forfeit the moment he let Voldemort hitch a ride and leech off his magic and very soul. However, Harry's touch burning him like it had, had more than likely sped up his end. Possibly, Severus said he wouldn't know without having examined the ashes at the time. Now, too long had passed, and Dumbledore had likely banished the ashes after sending a sample to the DMLE for identification, so the Ministry could register it and write out a Death Certificate.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a concerned hand on his shoulder. Severus had come in with a batch of potions, he'd already filled the stock, but he was using the excuse that he wanted to make sure there were extras since it was Quidditch practice season, and the Slytherin team tryouts was in a couple of days. He figured that there would be a rash of duels breaking out in the Common Room afterwards, started by those who felt they should have gotten on the team instead of the one who actually got on the team. As always, he would pull the captain (Probably Terrance Higgs) aside afterwards and teach them a few obscure wards to protect their beds and belongings.

Harry was concerned when Severus explained, but understood that it was the way of Slytherin House. As long as nothing permanent was done, they informed him of what was happening, a Prefect was there to oversee the duel, and they continued to present a united front outside the Common Room, he didn't really care. "That's different than Gryffindor, that's for sure. With us, you'll usually just get pranked into oblivion or made to sleep in the Common Room for a few nights. Or, they'll shout out the problem in the Common Room." He remarked with a shrug.

Severus sneered, "Yes, a bunch of brash Gryffindors, of course they'll go for the 'in your face' approach." Although, personally, he didn't really see the point of dueling over who got on the team. Since the outcome of the duel didn't change the outcome of the line-up. A duel on the ground didn't do anything to prove that you can fly better than the person who's already proven they can fly better. But, whatever. If they wanted to duel for honor despite the outcome not changing...

Harry grinned. "Sometimes, that's the best approach." He quipped. And he truly believed that. There was a time and a place for everything. There was a time to be brash, and there was a time where being sneaky and subtle was the only way to go. He looked thoughtful, "Maybe if the Lions and Snakes got along better, more issues would be solved. The Snakes sneaky attitude would temper the Lions brashness, while the Lions would force the Snakes to just go for it sometimes." He almost started laughing at the horrified expression on Severus's face, only stopping because it made his head and ribs start to ache a little.

Severus managed to spend about fifteen minutes with him before he had to go, he didn't want to be found out, at least not by Dumbledore.

After Severus was gone, he sighed, counting down until he could get out of here, already. With any luck, that would be the next day, just after breakfast. Hopefully. He'd already been informed that the next day in potions, would be a theoretical lesson, which Severus had not arranged just for him. It had already been planned... Harry wasn't sure how much of that he believed.

He stiffened when the doors of the Wing creaked open and a foreign magic source came in, obviously a wizard, but who...? It felt vaguely familiar, almost like he had felt it before. He laid still and felt it before he cringed. It was the Headmaster. He'd never felt his magic feel like this before, though. Normally, it was warm and inviting, exuding trust and comfort.

Now though... now it was cold and slimy feeling.

It was disgusting and made Harry want to jump in a cauldron of the strongest cleaning solutions known to wizard kind to try and wash the feeling off. How on earth did he hide something like that on a daily basis? It was understandable that he did, who knows which students are going to be magic-sensitive, if any.

He briefly wondered why he wasn't disguising it now, and worse. Why he was here when Madam Pomfrey wasn't and he was down with still healing ribs and a concussion. Not to mention Madam Pomfrey had given him a small amount of Skelegro to help his bones heal further during the night and he wasn't supposed to move if he could help it.

He frowned when he could feel through the magic that Dumbledore was happy about something. Extremely happy about something. Harry didn't want to know what it was and hoped it had nothing to do with him.

When he felt the Headmaster coming for his curtained off bed, he quickly pretended to be asleep and started thinking of what to do if the old man tried anything. He'd listen, of course, but the moment he felt a spike in magic or heard anything he didn't like, he was going to set off the monitoring wards around his bed. It wasn't hard to do, he knew it so well he could probably do it in his sleep.

One of the few perks of being in here so much. Well, that and the fact that if Pomfrey wasn't busy, he could usually wheedle a Healing lesson out of her if he was in here longer than a night.

It took all he had not to squirm when the Headmaster stopped at the foot of his bed, and then just stood there. Staring at him. For several minutes. He was just about to set off the wards and get Pomfrey in here when he started to talk. It took everything he had not to visibly startle.

"Ah, I am glad you survived that nasty, nasty fall, my boy. I don't know what I would have done it you were to die before your time... plans would have needed to be scrapped, unfortunately, I'm too far along in my plans to just toss them. Although, it would have been merciful, perhaps, if you had just let Black die. His end would have been much quicker and painless if he'd just taken that curse. No matter, though, no matter... he'll be easy for my man to get while in St. Mungoes... he won't fail me a second time, I know. Oh, Harry, you should have just left him in Azkaban." Dumbledore chided the 'sleeping' boy.

"Yes, I think my plans are finally coming together nicely... just a few tweaks needed here and there..." He said, satisfied, throwing a quick compulsion over the boy before he left, not knowing that it didn't take hold because of at least two of the rings hidden on Harry's fingers.

'That should help the potions start working. Now, to figure out why he didn't try to get his relatives off...' He thought as he left.

As soon as he was gone, Harry bolted up in his bed and looked around wildly, wishing he could go shower, clean the feeling of that slimy magic off of himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't shower or anything until his arm was taken out of its sling, instead he had to make do with cleaning charms. Ugh.

After visually making sure Dumbledore was gone, he sat in a meditation pose, hoping that occluding to see what he'd tried to do wouldn't make his concussion worse. He really didn't want to spend more time in here than necessary. To his relief, he found that whatever Dumbledore had done was taken care of by his rings. He glanced at the door and decided to tell Severus about it next time they had a tutoring session.

There was also what he said about Sirius... no. Sirius had the Goblins and a couple of Aurors guarding him, nobody was getting to him. And he was in the private wing, and security there was much, much higher than in the rest of the Hospital. He would be fine, and wait for news in the morning. It was all he could do.

For now, he would sleep.

He really needed to find out how to use his status as Heir of the Founders to connect with the wards, that way he could keep Dumbledore out of places that he did not want him in. Like the Infirmary when he was in here, vulnerable.

Dumbledore went back to his rooms, satisfied that the problem had been fixed and everything was back on track.

Or would be once he got everything in the Wizengamot sorted out, the Lord's were starting to cause a ruckus, he'd thought they'd been cowed years ago. He frowned, Potter showing up like he did and dragging out the Wills stirred them up and made several of them find their backbones. No matter, no matter... He had more than enough 'friends' among them, he was still in control. He would allow them their victories now while he continued to indoctrinate their children.

He had all the time in the world to get the world back how he wanted it.

Although first he had to find the blasted reporter who was writing about him! Where were they getting their information? He wouldn't have thought the goblins would go to the DMLE once they realized what was going on, it was too bad that his pet Goblin had died a few years ago... now he had to find a new one.

Sharpaxe and Barchoke smiled in relief. The Healers report was good, his body was now mostly healed from the attack and they expected him to wake up any time now. That was good, that was very good. They would send a message informing young Harry later. For now, they were watching an... interrogation. Of the wizard that attacked Sirius Black and Harry Potter-Black in the first place. Amelia Bones was with them so she could tell the idiots at the Ministry the results.

The Goblins absolutely refused to let a goon from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures do it. That idiot would be complaining so much about their chosen methods that they would never get any work done, and then he would be going running to his boss and telling them all about what 'savages' they were, and how the guidelines for the bank and Goblin race needed to be revamped, thus restricting them from properly doing their jobs further.

Normally, they wouldn't care about the restrictions anyway and just live however they wanted, like the other Races did. But, they happened to run the only bank in the Magical Community world-wide. Underground, in their homes and caverns, sure. They did whatever they wanted no matter what the Ministry tried to say. They had their own government, after all. But when it came to operations above the bank, and when doing business, they had to abide by the rules the Ministry set.

If only to keep the annoyances at bay.

Honestly, outlawing wand use for Beings and Races. Did those idiots not realize that Beings and Races didn't need wands? They had their own magic. For that matter, Wizards themselves didn't use to need wands. Or verbal incantations, or wand movements. It was only the declining strength of the population as a whole due to inbreeding, and a growing reliance on the sticks that made them too weak to be able to properly use magic. Not to mention the Ministry controlling every bit of information printed, and therefore forcing the population to rely on the things because they didn't know any better, due to a paranoid Minister several centuries ago.

He destroyed all information and records about Wandless magic being freely used, or rewrote it to make it seem like Wizards have always relied on wands. According to the Goblins history books, that Minister himself was a Wizard that was too weak to use Wandless magic himself, and he was paranoid that the stronger wizards in the population would use that fact to overthrow him without him even realizing it. Due to his limited capability. So, he limited everyone to his level.

It truly amazed the Goblins sometimes that Wizards could accuse them of being greedy savages, and yet they continually restricted the use of the greatest gift a Being could ever possess among their own people. They continually threw the Balance out, forcing the rest of the Magical populations to compensate.

By the end of the two hours, they knew exactly who this man was, his previous occupation as a Hit-Wizard until Sirius filed paperwork that got him fired, and a who he was after.

He was after Sirius Black the whole time, although he wouldn't have been too heartbroken if he got Harry, too.

They also knew that Albus Dumbledore hired him, and this wasn't the first time the respected wizard who was the 'epitome of all that is light and good' hired him to take somebody out. When they questioned him on that one, several other well known and well connected names flowed out his mouth. Including more than one Lord or Lady of the Wizengamot... including Lady Dorea Potter nee Black and Lord Charlus Potter. He made it look like Dragon Pox.

Sharpaxe wanted them to leave him in a room with this man for several hours. This wizard killed two of his best friends. He glanced over and almost jumped for joy when the King nodded his head in permission to his silent request. Of course, that was going to have to wait until the full investigation was done and they had all the information.

Sadly.

His blade was getting dull, sitting behind a desk most of the time.

Not that any of the Goblins he sparred with in the Training chambers would ever agree with that statement.

It was a week before Harry was taken off magic restriction. During that week, he had finally found a quiet place to hide away in, and he summoned Mipsy with his new dog (that he eventually named Maddie) every night, and they played together while Hedwig watched, wishing she could join but knowing that she couldn't. Hedwig's Healer from Gringotts also came by (via McGonagall's Floo) to check her over. By the end of the same week, she too was proclaimed well enough to fly, as long as she eased herself back into postal duties.

(The second year boys also chased Ginny out of their dorm again, although when her brothers asked, she denied being in there.)

After the last time, she knew better than to try and restrict the proud Familiar entirely, so instead she made sure the owl knew what could happen if she overdid it before her body was capable of her usual level of activity again. She left satisfied that she got her point across, if the way Hedwig sat hunched in on herself while she trembled and stared at the Healer was any indication. After all, no owl wanted a lame wing, that was tantamount to death for any creature of the sky.

When he summoned her the first time after the attack, Mipsy brought along another elf, who introduced himself as Mattie, the Head-elf for the Black Family. Who gave him a crash course on some duties of the Lord pertaining to the House-elves in his Family.

"Hello, who are you?" Harry asked in surprise at the appearance of another elf.

"I's being Mattie, Head-elf of House Black." The little elf introduced.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Harry was happy that this elf didn't fall into hysterics at his polite greeting like Neville told him some elves did. It meant that the Black family at least respected their elves to some degree. Surprising, considering what he knew of the Black families past opinions on Creatures and the laws they'd passed. "Uh, did you need something, or..." He honestly couldn't think of why the elf would be here, unless he just wanted to introduce himself to the Heir of his House.

His ears dropped a little. "Yes, sirs. One of the elves, Kreature, is being with the Centaurs for Healings, sirs. But, the Healing is too big for me and they is needing to discuss payments with yous. I is not having authority for this, you is."

Harry was a little confused. "Ok, how about you back up and explain just who Kreature is and the system here? What is the usual payment, what was the treatment they provided, and... well, what are they asking for in payment for his treatment. If it's too big?"

Mattie nodded, pleased that the young Master was asking the right questions, and trusting him to answer. "Kreature was being the personal elf of Mistress Walburga, she was Master Sirius's mother, at Grimmauld Place. Master Arcturus banished hers and Kreature there after Young Master bes defeating the Dark Lord and Master Sirius is being sent to prison. Mistress Walburga was..." He paused to consider what he could say that wouldn't sound like a blatant insult to one of his House, even if she was dead and all the elves hated her. "Her mind was not right." He finally settled. "She is being obsessed with the Dark Lord, and gave Kreature odd orders." He shook his head, honestly not understanding the orders Kreature had told him that she would give.

"And, when Master Regulus died, he took Kreature with him, to be retrieving a locket that being belonging to the Dark Lord, and he is telling Kreature to destroy it. Only Kreature could not bes destroying it. It being protected, the Gringotts team is having the locket now, they is cleansing it." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He had a feeling that that was one Horcrux down. "But, Kreature is being around it for years, and then Mistress Walburga is dying, so he is being alone, with orders he could not be completing."

Mipsy interrupted here, "It is hurting us, it is messing with our minds when we cannot bes completing an order, and nobody bes telling us to let it go." She said softly. "It is affecting our magics, it is." Harry glanced at her, concerned.

"So, mentally, Kreature needs some help. What about physically?" He asked, concerned, and a little angry at Regulus Black for doing that to his elf. Although, he supposed Regulus couldn't be blamed for not considering that the item wouldn't be destroyed easily. After all, House-elf magic could do many, many things that wizards magic couldn't. He must have thought that the elf would be able to destroy it, without a problem.

"Grimmauld Place, was... it was not good for living. Kreature is not young elf, but he is looking older than he is being. The Dark and Black magics in the house being twisting everything, and it is hurting Kreature as he is living there, but he is having nowhere else to go, he is being banished there with Mistress Walburga."

"And when Walburga died, nobody thought to send him to another property, or send a few more elves to help him maintain Grimmauld." Harry said, sadly, understanding.

"Yes, sirs."

"Ok, now that I have an idea of what exactly is wrong with him, what is the system with the Centaurs?"

"Normally, if an elf is needing Healing, we trade things the Centaurs be needing, food and supplies they cannot be making or finding in forests." Mipsy started. "The Head-elf bes having authority to handle that, we is just informing Master that the elf is in Healing and not workings."

"But this isn't a normal problem that needs healing." Harry summed up. "Which means you won't have the authority to handle the payment." He thought for a moment while they nodded. "Alright, did they already ask for what they want in return, or do I need to negotiate something here?"

"They is wanting some books from Library so they's can teach foals about world outside they's territory. I's has the list of what they's being already having, and what they's would like." Mattie said, this was a big request. Most Masters wouldn't even consider granting it and just put the elf in question out of his misery. He had a feeling, though, that the Young Master was not going to be like that.

True to Mattie's thoughts about the new Young Master, Harry authorized the payment, even going so far as to ask Mattie to copy several other texts he thought the Centaur's would find useful for their foals education. And a few children's books, to go along with it. Naturally, none of it was anything that would cause any big family secrets to be spread around, they were just books about the world in general, and none of it was Ministry propaganda crap. They were the uncensored versions.

And, now that Harry was off magic (and flying, Wood hadn't been happy when his Seeker had to sit out, but he understood that when it came to head injuries, it was better safe than sorry. He was more happy that Harry was still in one piece) restriction, Severus sent a note about resuming lessons in the Room of Requirement. Which was good, because he needed to practice the practical part of class that he'd missed for the past week. He partly wished that magic restriction meant he could miss class entirely, but there were still the theoretical parts that he could sit in. It wasn't all his classes he'd wanted to miss, just the one...

"Alright, class!" Lockhart said brightly when he flounced into the room, earning quiet groans from the boys and dreamy sighs from more than a few girls. Although, all the intelligent girls seemed to have gotten over their fan-worship pretty quickly once all the flaws in his books were pointed out so blatantly. The boys were dismayed that he seemed to have recovered from having his books recalled, and then being fined for stealing another's work. (They were still investigating who really did the feats he claimed, whether they had really been done at all, and how. Because, as Severus pointed out that day in the bookstore. Any Master of Defense or Creatures could tell you, many things he claimed, were impossible. For many reasons.

One of them being that the Vampire was now confined to eating lettuce for the rest of his life. Vampires physically could not eat/drink anything but blood. Attempting to go without would send them into a blood-rage, and the Covens were careful about making sure that didn't happen.

The Vampire communities all across the world were pointing fingers and pointing out that this sort of mockery happened when ignorance ran rampant and they were claimed to be nothing more than savage creatures, they were up in arms over the ignorance of Magical Britain, despite the ignorance not being anything new. Several had even been seen rolling on the floor in hysterics that somebody was stupid enough to have claimed such a feat... and everybody else believed him.

Similarly, the Werewolf packs had been more cautious than usual. Because, while the Homorphus Charm did force them back to human on nights of the full moon, it was also extremely painful and mentally damaging to them. Wolves who'd had it performed on them, tended to spend the next few moons in an uncontrolled, bloodthirsty rage. Hunters tended to use it one month, so they could come back the next month and say, 'see? I told you they were bloodthirsty monstrous beasts! Just look! This is why they should all be put down!' It was a favorite of there's to justify the views they were trying to promote and spread fear, with the uneducated general public unaware that they were the ones to cause the uncontrolled rampage. Otherwise, a wolf that accepts himself and doesn't fight the wolf and it's instincts is perfectly in control.

However, the Homorphus Charm was also difficult to cast, and the wolf packs and wolf-friendly Ministries tried to keep track of everyone capable of it. So, for Lockhart to have possibly stolen somebody else's 'accomplishment', meant that there could be somebody out there that they weren't aware of who was capable of sending them out of control.

So, yes, they were investigating who really performed some of these acts and how Lockhart was able to claim credit for them without the other party stepping forward and stopping him. At the moment, they suspected use of memory charms, but were unable to prove it, so he got off with several fines... for now.

Unfortunately, Lockhart insisted on 'teaching' out of his own recalled books, still saying that everything would be sorted out and they would get their textbooks back, while he ignored the textbooks provided by the bookstore as replacement. The teachers solved this by putting the sixth years in charge of a tutoring schedule for their houses in Defense, with the Head Boy and Girl in charge of overseeing, to make sure that the sixth years were treating the younger years right. The teachers would have put the seventh years in charge, but... NEWTS.

"Ah! Harry, it is good to see you here, and alright! Oh, but of course, it's most unfortunate that I wasn't there, I could have captured that ruffian no problem, no problem at all! Why, it almost reminds me of the time when..." And he spent the rest of the class period telling the students all about the time he saved the Egyptian Prince's daughter from a similar event. Ron and Harry glanced at each other and grimaced before quietly pulling out their homework for Transfiguration from that morning.

Harry also wanted to practice some new techniques Severus had him look up (through another note) for controlling his magic, just to see which would work best for him. He'd already shared them with Neville who, not being on restriction or still injured, had already made use of Harry's training room to see what worked best for himself. Neville wasn't nearly as powerful as Harry, but he was powerful in his own right, and he'd had a decent chunk of his own power sealed off, so... and even if he wasn't still trying to learn how to control his new power, the exercises were still good. He'd even shared them with Ron and Hermione to practice in their own time, their spell casting had already improved immensely.

So, now Harry was bouncing up and down in the Room of Requirement, waiting for Severus to get there. He was hoping that they'd work on catching him up with his spell-work for class tonight, instead of whatever else Severus might have planned, but he also knew that Severus's lesson plans for him seemed to keep getting backed up since so much seemed to be happening to make him postpone. Maybe if they got through what Severus wanted to go through, he could work on them? Or, he could practice them while practicing those techniques for control. Hmmm...

His excitement dimmed slightly when he suddenly remembered he had yet to tell Severus about Dumbledore's late night visit when he was in the Hospital Wing and what he said while he thought Harry was asleep. He'd been relieved to get an owl from Sharpaxe the next day around lunch informing him that Sirius was safely in Gringotts once more. The next morning, there was an article in the papers about the man who attacked them being caught trying to sneak into what was once Sirius' room so he could finish the job. The Goblins, it seemed, had stuck around just in case he came back.

"Oh my!" Hermione suddenly said a few moments after unfolding the mornings paper. She'd taken out a subscription after the start of the school year so she could keep track of what was happening, since her friend seemed so intent on making waves in the Wizarding world. It had also been at Madam Longbottom's suggestion, who requested that she keep an eye on the section of the paper dedicated to Wizengamot happenings and ongoing politics, especially new laws and policies.

Already the Wizengamot Lords had managed to, gleefully at that, overturn many policies that Dumbledore had put in place using his position as Chief Warlock. Like the one where he, as the Chief Warlock, or a representative sent by him had to be present at any and all Will writings, and that no Will would be legal without him signing off on it. Or the policy preventing the Chief Warlock (him) from being arrested, save overwhelming evidence. For many of those policies, they cited abuse of authority, pointing out that Dumbledore had to have been fulfilling his own personal agenda, like controlling Heir Potter-Black, when he sealed that Will away and went on to do the exact opposite of what it said. The strange thing was, they had no idea just how true that statement was.

Sadly, they could only overturn so many policies, and that was only because they could blatantly claim abuse of authority. Much of the power that should belong to them still sat with the old man.

Madam Longbottom had written that too many Muggleborns made the mistake of coming into Hogwarts, assuming that the laws and general culture would be the same as the one they grew up with in the Muggle world, and Dumbledore tended to encourage that view by catering to their beliefs so much while they were in school. They were then blindsided when they left school and discovered that the world they'd been living in, was a completely different culture, and they had no idea how to live in it, despite the fact that they were expected to after being in the Wizarding world for the past seven years.

It was actually a Statute of Secrecy risk (not to mention not so good for the economy) because so many Muggleborn left the Wizarding world behind to make a living for themselves in the Muggle world, back to the culture they were used to. The only ones that really stayed were the ones that had made friends with a Pureblood or wizard raised half-blood who'd managed to introduce them to the Wizarding culture while in school.

"What is it?" Harry asked her, glancing up in concern.

"Somebody tried to sneak into St. Mungoes last night. They think he was after one of the patients." She said quietly. She knew that Sirius had been moved yesterday morning, but this was too much coincidence.

"Sirius?" Harry asked in concern. He knew that his godfather was safe in Gringotts, but...

"They think so. He was found near where Mr. Black was being roomed. The goblins that caught him are investigating his part in the attack. They don't say anything else." Hermione informed him after scanning the article again for a second.

"Why were the goblins still there?" Ron asked, confused.

"Just in case whoever attacked us came back. Since they didn't announce the move, and used a special Port-key straight out of Sirius' room so nobody saw it. So, everybody would have assumed that Sirius was still there." Harry explained. He knew this because it had been in the letter Sharpaxe wrote him the day before. "Everyone knew that I was released back to Hogwarts, but they didn't know who the guy was after. Me or Sirius, but I was safe here, while Sirius was still vulnerable at St. Mungoes." Harry glanced up at the Head Table, sweeping it with his eyes until they landed on Dumbledore, who was still reading his paper.

He could tell the minute that he came to the part of the person being caught in St Mungoes, because the rage flashed across his eyes, luckily when he glanced up at Harry, the boy was already concentrating on his breakfast, Occluding so he wouldn't show any reaction.

Harry just breathed a sigh of relief that they moved Sirius in time.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen somebody so excited about getting extra lessons during their free-time." An amused voice said, and Harry turned around before launching himself at Severus, who caught him with a surprised grunt.

"I just want to use my magic again!" Harry said, matter-of-factly.

Severus shook his head in amusement, while mentally he was amazed that Harry was acting so open at this moment, and pleased that he'd just acted his age. He didn't see that happen often. He supposed that the threat the Dursley's posed being gone was allowing him to relax, probably for the first time in weeks, if not months.

Hedwig hooted from her perch on one of the Rooms training dummies. She agreed with Harry, it would be good to use magic again. Well, not that she herself could use magic, but she loved seeing her Wizard so excited about it. She loved feeling his joy at using magic.

Once Severus recovered from his shock, he smiled at his godson and a table appeared, with a few objects he remembered that they used that week in Charms and Transfiguration. "Alright, you've read about those different techniques, now lets put them into practice, some techniques might not work as well for you as others. That is alright, we will be seeing which ones do work best for you personally. And, seeing as you were unable to this week, we will be practicing them along with your class practicals." He said with a raised eyebrow as Harry let out a relieved breath.

Not that that was surprising. The boy had other homework, Quidditch practice and workouts, and tutoring sessions with him. He probably wanted some time to himself, or to spend with friends. The session was very satisfying.

Luckily, it didn't take long before they worked out the best method. Also luckily, it was close enough to what Madam Longbottom had taught him that he wouldn't need to learn a completely different technique, just change what he already knew. Either way, they enjoyed their time together and Harry was overjoyed when he managed to do the practicals to a point that would give two of his favorite teachers heart-attacks over how advanced his efforts were.

At least now he could the color changing charm and make it one color, like it was supposed to be, instead of the million different colors and shades of colors. The multiple colors was supposed to come with time and experience, not to mention control. They hadn't gotten around to telling the other teachers yet, and didn't want to risk Dumbledore overhearing something through the portraits or other students.

Diary-Riddle was very pleased.

He'd managed to gather enough strength to sneak into second year boys dorm and test the defenses on Potter's things, and it appeared that the boy had access to Potter level wards. That was good... he knew first hand how effective those were because he himself had once asked Charlus Potter if he would be so kind as to cast the same wards around his own belongings. In addition to the Black family wards that would cause harm to any who tried, he also had Potter wards just in case someone were determined enough to get past the Black wards. Or, worse, those Black girls that grew up learning how to cast and break those same wards.

He had then set up a wizarding camera (after inventing a few spells, of course) to 'record' anything and everything that went on in that room while he wasn't there. It was comical watching everyone's reactions when they got past the Black wards only to discover that there was nothing of any sort of worth in his trunk. That it was empty or full of his things that he charmed to look differently. He'd hoped that the 'items' would make them leave him alone, but it didn't. They did leave his stuff alone after that, though.

Mostly.

So, yes, he was very pleased that Potter obviously knew how to keep his things safe from the creepy girls. Of course, he'd missed the intruder ward placed over the door when he first went in, but he noticed it when all the second year boys, minus Harry Potter since he was in the Hospital Wing for a check-up, showed up to see who was in their room. They hadn't been pleased to find Ginny back.

Although, he supposed he would have to exempt Dean Thomas and Ronald Weasley from the list of Mudbloods and Blood-traitors who would have a Basilisk sent after them, since they were acting as a defense against the crazies. *Sigh* Oh well, it was just two of them... wait, no. The older Weasley's as well. He could always get them later if they insisted on getting in his way. So, yes. Those few would be under an exception for now. Purely because they made good shields against insane women and teenage girls.

Soon, he would be strong enough to possess this particular crazy woman and take her down to the Chamber, so he could wake up his dear friend. Hmm... maybe he should do some more exploring this time around... see if Salazar Slytherin left anything behind other than a Basilisk.

He briefly wondered why it was suddenly so much easier to think than before. And when his thought process had become so muddied and how he only just now noticed.

Remus Lupin stared in shock at the Headlines of the paper while he sat in the Leaky Cauldron.

What on earth was going on? Why was Black in Gringotts Infirmary, when he should be in Azkaban? And what was he doing with Harry? Did Wizarding Britain lose what little brains they had left?! Just what on earth happened, he leaves the country for a few years to find work and he comes back to find this?

He swallowed and bit his lip, trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, Albus would know what was going on, he always cared about his students, despite his other faults, but on the other hand... he'd never quite trusted Albus as much as everyone else always thought he did. Especially after a couple of friends of his on the ICW representing the more werewolf friendly nations got ahold of the British Wizengamot's voting records from the past ten years, and showed the Potter seats, wielded by Albus, voting for harsher restrictions on Creatures, instead of more lenient ones like he was always promising Remus.

What to do, what to do...

He needed to find out what was going on, he had to find out how to protect Harry... Black was dangerous, Harry couldn't be left with him. Who knew what Black would do to him in revenge for his fallen Master... Even Severus would be a better option, he and the Marauder's had found themselves almost friendly with each other their last few years of school. Or at least, not as hostile, mostly they got along for Lily's sake. At least, James and Black got along with him for Lily's sake.

Of course, Severus!

He would know what was going on, he was also working at Hogwarts, so he was in the perfect position to tell him about Harry...

Remus has finally showed up! And, yes, he was out of the country trying to find work just to survive... a side-effect of the werewolf laws keeping him from getting a job in Britain.

And another thing! It is hard to properly write a house-elf part without overdoing it. Luckily, I've decided to write the Head elf parts with them being a little more educated sounding than most British elves.