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Cornelius Fudge, was, to say the least, a nervous wreck.  The letter from Hogwarts contained both good and bad news.  The good news was that there would be no more attacks because, evidently, the culprit had been caught (the Headmaster was un-obligingly vague about who exactly it was). However, the bad news was that a student had died. Not just any student, Harry Potter.  The Minister quickly made his way to Hogwarts to find out all he could and so he could do damage control with the media and his reputation.

He strode through the castle with false confidence that transformed his manner into surliness.  Entering the staff room, he found a very serious looking Dumbledore facing a faculty full of very upset faces. Even Severus Snape looked upset at whatever the Headmaster had just said.

"Headmaster!" Cornelius said sharply.

"Good evening Minister," Albus turned and greeted him with a nod, "I was just informing the staff of the specifics of Mr. Potter's death. He was killed by the stare of the basilisk, the same way young Miss Myrtle Tumble was killed fifty years ago.  She was a classmate of yours, was she not?"

"Dumbledore! How could this have happened? How did you let this happen? Do you know what people will say about you and me? I have half a mind to dismiss you right now!" Fudge screamed.

Half the staff started to stand, ready to defend their headmaster if they needed to. Dumbledore held a hand up to stop them.

"Cornelius, I did all I could to prevent a disaster such as this from happening. However, what has happened has happened. The threat is no longer apparent, but its consequences are something we will all have to deal with. I don't care what the press says about me, I know what has happened and my responsibility in it. If the board of governor's sees fit to release me from my current position, I will step down."

There were gasps behind Albus as his staff heard these words.

"Well, I'm glad you see reason, Dumbledore," said Fudge calming down a bit, already trying to figure out how he could make Dumbledore look bad without tarnishing his own reputation, "I really doubt that anything short of a statement from the dead boy himself would be able to get you out of this one."

There was a small smile playing across Albus' lips that unsettled Cornelius.  Maybe the eccentric old wizard had finally gone insane.

"Then," said a voice behind Cornelius, "you shall have such a statement." Fudge whirled around and saw no one.

The teachers were all in various stages of shock at the voice-which Fudge did not recognize.

"'arry?" said a sniffling Hagrid.

"I'm sorry Hagrid, I really didn't mean to spring this on you like this. I wanted Professor Dumbledore to tell you first, but I had to say something." With this statement, the ghost of Harry Potter appeared floating before the Minister of Magic.

"The Headmaster is not responsible for my death, nobody but the Heir of Slytherin is responsible for my death, and the Heir of Slytherin is Lord Voldemort. If you try and have him removed for this, I will haunt you."

Fudge was completely pale. "Y…yes, Mr. Potter, I…I understand!" with that he fled.

The entire faculty burst into laughter (Snape included) as Dumbledore stared at Harry a little surprised.

"Harry, I've never seen you act this way."

"Well," shrugged Harry, "it was necessary. What could he do to me anyway?"

Snape snorted again, "Potter, you sound like a Slytherin."

Harry glanced at the Potion's master and a grin crept across his face, "Did I ever tell you that I had to beg the Sorting Hat to put me in Gryffindor? It wanted to put me in Slytherin. Professor Dumbledore," he said floating away from a stunned McGonagall and Snape, "I am going to return to talk with Ron some more"

The next morning the headline of the Daily Prophet read Harry Potter Dies at Hogwarts! The story gave the barebones of the attacks that had occurred earlier that year and described how Harry had died. It was very careful to not lay blame on Albus Dumbledore or the Minister and instead just stated that the threat was no longer and that the children were once again safe.  Only in the last paragraph did it mention that Harry was now a ghost.

The reactions were varied among Britain's wizards and witches. Many were horror struck that the Boy-Who-Lived was dead. Others immediately started petitioning the Ministry for the closure of Hogwarts and still others demanded the dismissal of Dumbledore.

There were a substantial number of this latter group, so many in fact, that the Board of Governor's decided to hold a hearing on the matter. They requested Albus Dumbledore come to the hearing.  Harry accompanied, uninvited.

Lucius Malfoy spent an hour demanding Dumbledore's dismissal, going on about the safety of the students and the obvious incompetence of the Headmaster (and dropping not-so-subtle hints that he should be the new headmaster). The most senior member of the board turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Do you have anything you wish to say?"

"I will comply with what the board sees as best for the students." Was all he would say.

This frustrated Harry to no end, so he decided to make himself known, "Well, if you won't say anything, then I will. Professor Dumbledore is not responsible for my death. He will remain headmaster of Hogwarts! No one is better for the job than he is. He has done a wonderful job in the years he has been headmaster and he should not be blamed for something that isn't his fault. I tell you now, if you dismiss him and name Malfoy as his successor, it will be much worse than me dying. Who do you think orchestrated the opening of the Chamber of Secrets?" he yelled. His mind finally connected the clues that had been nagging him for a long time. He had been talking to Ginny and she revealed that she had found the diary in her transfiguration book, which Harry remembered was the same one that had been the cause of the fight that broke out between Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy.  (A/N: I don't have the book open right now, so it might have been a different textbook, but I'm pretty sure it was the Transfiguration book.)

Harry ended up having to explain all he knew about the diary and what Malfoy had had to do with it.  In the end, it was enough to have Lucius Malfoy removed from the Board of Governors and restore confidence in Dumbledore, but not enough to get Malfoy arrested.

When the papers reported that Harry Potter's ghost had vouched for Dumbledore and demanded he remain Headmaster, most of the previous protestors had withdrawn their complaints.

As the school year ended, all the students waited eagerly for the Restorative draught to be finished so those petrified could be awakened.  Harry was very nervous though.  Hermione was going to get the shock of her life when she woke up.  They had discussed it with the Headmaster and decided that Ron would be the one to tell her the news, while the headmaster told the rest of the petrified students.

Ron fidgeted nervously as Madam Pomfrey administered the potion to Hermione.  Had he been less nervous he would have been fascinated with the process, which looked like Hermione was thawing.

When she was fully awake, she looked around frantically and realized where she was.  Then she grabbed Ron's robes and started saying, almost hysterically, "It's a basilisk! It was using the pipes to go through the school."

Madam Pomfrey left them alone.  She had thawed Hermione last so that all the others would be out of the infirmary so Ron could talk to Hermione privately.

"Calm down Hermione! I know, I know.  I need to tell you something though.

"What? Where's Harry?" Her eyes widened, "They aren't blaming him are they?"

"No. Just calm down while I tell you, please." Hermione nodded, a little scared now, by the serious look in Ron's eyes. "Hermione, Harry ran after you that day in the entrance hall. He wanted to make sure the voice he had heard didn't harm you.  On his way to the library, his leg got stuck in the stairwell and so he took a little longer getting there. By the time he got there you and that Ravenclaw prefect were already petrified around the corner from the library. He found you and, well, Hermione, he looked around to see who had attacked you and looked the Basilisk full in the eyes.  He didn't have his glasses on because they had snapped on the stairwell."

"He…he's dead?" Hermione asked in a quivering voice. Ron nodded and Hermione burst into tears. "I can't believe he's dead." She mumbled.

Ron let her cry for a few minutes, "Hermione, I need to tell you something else."

She looked at him, tears still streaming down her face, "What?" she asked in an uninterested tone.

"Harry…is still around.  He became a ghost."

Hermione brought her hands up to her mouth in a gasp of surprise.

"Where is he?"

"Right here, Hermione," and Harry appeared to Ron's left.  Hermione started crying again.

After they got her calmed down, they told her all about Ginny and the diary (a story that was never leaked to the press nor the other students)

It was a strange adjustment to make, for all involved.  The students gradually got used to Harry floating around in the corridors and sometimes attending classes. He would stay with Ron and Hermione if at all possible.  No one really knew what he did at night, except for the Weasley twins who found out that he would go exploring at night.

Harry, on the other hand, had long talks with the Headmaster and Ginny, where he had to reiterate that neither was responsible.

In late June, Harry and Albus were talking about the summer.  "Do you think I could visit the Weasleys or Hermione over the summer?"

"Well, I wouldn't recommend visiting the Granger home.  Muggles aren't used to ghosts.  However, you can certainly ask the Weasleys if you can visit.  You are also welcome to stay here at the castle.  Some of the ghosts leave for the summer, but others stay."

Suddenly Harry smiled and laughed.

"What is so amusing?"

"I don't have to live with the Dursleys anymore!"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and turned his full attention to the ghost. "Harry are you telling me that you prefer being dead to living with your relatives?"

Harry thought about it and shrugged.

Dumbledore's eyes lost their sparkle and he looked at Harry, "Can I ask you some questions Harry? I have been meaning to, but it was never the right time."

"Sure, go ahead," Harry answered, noticing the sudden change in mood.

"You have … adjusted well to your death." It's not often you hear that phrase, now is it? Harry thought wryly. "Well there isn't much I could do to change it." Harry said out loud.

"Yes, but you worry me a little bit. Did you want to die Harry?"

Harry was startled, "No! I didn't want to die."

"When you died what did you feel?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Were you angry, sad, happy, what?"

"Well, mostly I was just surprised, I guess a little sad and angry, and slightly…" Harry trailed off, not wanting to say what else.

"Slightly what Harry?"

Harry sighed, "Slightly relieved. I thought I would be able to meet my parents. Well I guess that didn't happen."

"That is another thing I am puzzled about, why you became a ghost. Of course, there are no rules for why one person becomes a ghost and another does not, but for the most part, ghosts are those who were unhappy with life in general, or those who feel the need to atone for their actions in life or feel the need to continue in their duties after death.  Take the Friar for example, he once told me that he had become a ghost because he felt it his duty to continue serving this school; he was once headmaster of it, you know. Then there is the Bloody Baron; he … did not lead a very good life. The silver blood that is on his clothing is not his own, but in fact unicorn blood. His acts haunt him and so he haunts the place where he committed them, hoping someday to find peace. You fit none of these, I don't think."

"Is that how all ghosts are, sir? Just haunting forever?" Harry looked a little distraught at this prospect. Sure he was fine with it right now, but what about the future? When all the people he knew were dead and gone, he would be alone.

Dumbledore contemplated this for a moment and then the twinkle returned to his eyes, "I believe you have discovered it Harry! There are records of ghosts who have remained here for a time but then…moved on after an event.  I think Harry, that you are here because you need to be here and watch something happen, or do something."

Harry left the Headmasters office, thinking on this last bit and wondering what was so important that he could not move on (as Dumbledore said) without it.

A/N: Arghhh! Terrible chapter! Sorry about this one.  I mean it was necessary, but it isn't good! Grrr. Oh, well, please review.  The next chapter should be up soon.