Harry Potter and the Rising War

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Chapter 11: Expelled part 1

Upon arriving back at the school Harry was immediately summoned to the headmaster's office by McGonagall.

"Is this about the attack professor?" Harry asked her

"I wouldn't know Potter, I am not the headmaster, but if I were to hazard a guess I would say it has something to do with it" she replied in her usual prim and proper voice.

"Can you guys take my things up to the tower please, I don't want to carry everything up to the headmasters office and clutter it." Harry asked Ron. Getting a nod he handed over all of his equipment he had stored at the national stadium and waved to his friends as he proceeded to the headmaster's office with McGonagall. They didn't talk much on their way and when they arrived at the gargoyle that guards the entrance to the headmaster's office McGonagall said the password (skiving snack box's) and motioned for the Harry to go up which he did after he bid farewell to the transfiguration teacher.

When Harry approached the grand door that separated the entrance hall and Dumbledore's office Harry raised ghis fist to knock but he needn't have bothered as the headmaster's voice came through the door to Harry's ears telling him to come in which Harry did with his brow creased in wonderment at how the headmaster knew he was there and at that exact moment going to knock.

"I trust you sorted things with the team appropriately?" the headmaster asked in way of greeting.

"Yes sir, everything is sorted, I will only continue playing once this whole war has been cleared up" Harry replied to him. Dumbledore smiled at what Harry had said thinking to himself that if Harry held hope that he would come out of the final battle alive and well then that was a very good sign for the rest of the wizarding world.

"Excellent Harry, now I asked you here to discuss something of great importance to you, something that may make a difference in this war one way or another" Dumbledore said getting down to business and putting his 'poker face' on as Harry had dubbed it when Dumbledore's face became a mask of indifference that betrayed none of the emotions he was feeling or any thoughts he was thinking.

"Upon arriving back here from the Quidditch match I found an owl addressed urgent for me from the minister." Dumbledore began and sighed heavily, something uncommon for the aged sorcerer before Harry. "It said in an emergency meeting held by all of the school governors I have been voted out of the headmaster position." Dumbledore finished still betraying none of the disappointment he was feeling on his face. Things at the moment looked bleak for the students here. As soon as Harry heard the last sentence, the one he had been dreading someway through the explanation Dumbledore was giving Harry his face fell, his eyes widened in shock and his eyebrows raised almost high enough to be engulfed by his hair.

"This cant happen, surely they know that the only reason the students are safe is because Tom fears you?" Harry asked, desperate for someway for the aged sorcerer to remain as the headmaster to protect the students and teachers.

"I am afraid Harry that they do not see it this way, they all agree that I have passed my expiration and am more of a threat to the students safety at the moment that Voldemort." Dumbledore replied but this time his eyes betrayed his attempts at looking impassive. The normally twinkling happy eyes were dull, lifeless and disappointed.

"So what happens now?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"Tomorrow morning I will officially be removed as headmaster and Minister Fudge will replace me" Dumbledore said, as Harry was about ask another question Dumbledore anticipated it and said "He has assigned temporary control over the ministry to his second in charge, however all decisions will still have to go through him."

"Oh" Harry said numbly. Things didn't look good at all.

"is there something we can sir, its obvious that when Tom hears of your removal he will use it to his advantage and attack" Harry said, trying to think of any way around this situation but failing miserably.

"There is Harry, as you know with me removed from the school and the wards weakened due to fudge having barely average magical power the school will be vulnerable, you will have stopped taking lessons from me and though you have excelled far faster than I had hoped you are still a long way off defeating Voldemort, the school will fall In a matter of months. I suspect he wont do anything until he knows the wards are weakened further until they are barely in existence. If however you were to come with me then we could concentrate solely on preparing you, somewhere safe, perhaps your home." Dumbledore said to Harry who was taking all of this information in admirably.

"That sounds like an excellent idea professor, but I have two questions, the first is if I were to leave the school with you doesn't that mean that you could get charged with kidnap or the new Headmaster can order me back to school?" Harry asked.

"Yes it does, and I had thought of this possibility, if you were to come with me then I am afraid that you would have to be free to so and while you attend this school you are not, and you are not of legal age to remove yourself. With your permission while I still have the power to do so I shall expel you." Dumbledore said, looking intently at Harry to see his reaction. Unsurprising to Dumbledore Harry just nodded grimly and said. "If it is what I must do to end this war then it is a small sacrifice" and held out his wand which Dumbledore took and regarded it for a moment and then looked back to Harry and said, "We shall sort you out a new focus when have settled into our new residence" again Harry nodded grimly and waited for the moment he had feared at least once every year he had attended the school.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and then he held the wand in front of himself with a hand at each end and in his headmaster voice said "Harry James Potter, I as official head of this school, Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry do here by expel you from said school for your constant disregard to school rules, constant disregard for authority and for assault on a professor at this school." And with that said he snapped Harry's wand in two with strength unseen to Harry. As the snapping of the wood reached his ears Harry felt a lump rise in his throat and his muscles tense.

"From here on out you are banned from using magic, attending any school of witchcraft and wizardry in Europe and as of tomorrow banished from the school." Dumbledore finished. He handed the broken wand back to Harry and looked at him with his sad eyes and told him that he only had until tomorrow morning until they both had to leave the school.

"Sir before I go I have another question I forgot to ask earlier, you said something about staying at my home, I don't think that will be the most practical place to stay. The Dursley's detest magic and it's a muggle inhabited area, if something we were doing were to go wrong…" Harry said and then trailed off leaving the consequences to the headmasters imagination.

"What do you suggest Harry?" the headmaster asked

"Well in the will Sirius left me the deeds to a plot of land, the plot where my family house once stood. As I understand it Godrics Hollow is a small settlement not far from here. If we were to rebuild my home and stay there, we have access to more resources, like the floo network, information from the school and we can easily get there in no time when we hear of the attack." Harry said to the headmaster, desperately hoping that he had argued his case enough. It wouldn't be so bad going back to Privit drive with Dumbledore there with him, but that didn't mean it would be grand to visit his relatives in the middle of the school year. Dumbledore seemed to in thought about this idea which Harry took as a good sign so he sat and waited for the headmasters decision which didn't take long at all.

"I think that that idea will benefit us infinitely more, while you build the house using wandless magic to build up your strength I shall gather together a few select items and prepare some lessons for you. Yes a very good idea indeed. Well thought Harry, well thought." Dumbledore said with a trace of his trade mark twinkle returning to his eyes. "now I believe that the hour is late and you will want to spend as much time with your friends before we leave tomorrow. You may divulge some of the topics we have talked about here, but please don't mention our location or the attack and make sure no one is listening in." Dumbledore said and Harry guessing this was his queue to leave bid the headmaster good night and set off for the Gryffindor common room where he was sure Ron Hermione and Ginny were waiting up for him. He wasn't disappointed with his thoughts because as soon as he entered the common room he was assaulted with questions from them.

"What did Dumbledore want?"

"Is everything all right at the Quidditch stadium?"

"Why didn't Voldemort attack with his army?"

Were just some of the questions they asked. Harry tried his best to answer them all after making sure there were no stragglers in the common room or any gossips waiting up to hear the newest chapter of the drama that was Harry's life.

"Dumbledore wanted to discuss a few things with me, I'll tell you in a moment. Everything is fine at the Quidditch stadium and the reason Voldemort didn't attack us with his army was because there were too many In the crowd and he and his army were on the pitch surrounded. He merely wanted to prove he was back and worse than ever and instil more fear In the hearts of the wizard population." Harry answered for them.

"Well he did a bloody good job with that one" Ron said.

"Now as for the meeting with the headmaster…" Harry began and told them most of what he and Dumbledore had discussed. The reactions would have been funny had it not been for the situation that had provoked such reactions. When he told them all that Dumbledore was to announce his departure from the school tomorrow and that fudge would take his place there was plane outrage on their faces and Harry was sure he heard Ginny growl. When he got to the part about him being expelled however there was plane shock on their faces. He told them what he had been expelled for which he regretted immediately. He had to hold Hermione down from marching into the headmaster's office and demanding that he expel her and Ron also for their part in all of Harry's adventures. Harry had to quickly explain that he agreed to getting expelled and told them that he had to continue his lessons with Dumbledore if they were to stand a change against Voldemort (Ron shuddered when Harry said the name and Ginny palled a little) when the time comes. They stayed up for the entirety of the night spending their last hours together and on several occasions they tried to get where he would be staying out of Harry, but he would never tell. When morning approached the all split up to get washed and changed, and in Harry's case packed. It didn't take long to pack his things but he had to be careful that he didn't wake any of the other boys and let them see him doing magic at a seemingly 7th year level without the use of a wand.

By 8 o' clock everything was packed and shrunk, Harry had showered and changed into muggle cloths and headed down to breakfast with everyone else. He got quite a few stares on his way down but he easily ignored them, one side effect of being the boy who lived.

"So are they announcing it this morning?" Ron asked after he stared around him making sure no one was listening in with a paranoid air of suspicion around him. Harry held in his laughter thinking that Ron would be a good apprentice to mad eye moody.

"Yeah" Harry answered and then continued to eat his breakfast. It was nearing the end of the feast when Dumbledore who had not been present entered the room and stood in front of the head table and quietened everyone by simply raising his hand.

"Now every one I have some news for you all. I don't plan to keep you long, due to certain circumstances I have been asked to step down as headmaster." Dumbledore said and then waited while his news sunk in. there were several gasps and a few cries of indignation but also to Harry's amazement a few cheers and not all from the Slytherin table, there were one or two from the Ravenclaws but it didn't matter to Harry which house they belong to, it baited his anger successfully and Harry had to try hard, very hard to control his magic. Dumbledore to his credit ignored the cheers and carried on as if he hadn't heard them.

"As of this morning I no longer have the title, headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, the new owner of the title is now minister, or should I say headmaster Fudge." And as the last word left his mouth fudge entered the great hall from the side room Harry had been in in his fourth year when he was chosen as the fourth champion for the triward tournament. The thing that cheered Harry up however was the way Fudge entered the room. He entered like he was the queen, waving regally and smiling a false smile, however it quickly turned to a scowl as the expected applause he was waiting for didn't come, instead their was a chorus of boos. He looked to Dumbledore with anger clearly written all over his face and said "You see Dumbledore, this is why we had to kick you out, your poisoning their minds, turning them into your own little army. You a mad old man who has long passed it now leave!" and then he turned to the table and sat in the head masters seat with a satisfied smirk on his face.

 Dumbledore sighed as he was 'told off' by the headmaster and then turned to the students once more surveying them one last time. When his gaze reached Harry he locked eyes for a moment and gave a brief nod which Harry took as a sign to get ready and say goodbye to his friends.

"Guys, its time." Was all Harry had to say. He was sad to be leaving them and his home, but happy that he wouldn't have to put up with fudge, and that he would soon be building himself a new home, a home on the land where he had once lived, a happy carefree life, where he had been loved and aloud to be a child. Hermione hugged him with tears in her eyes. "don't forget to write at least three times a week, and a floo call wouldn't hurt either." She whispered to him. When she let him go Harry shook Ron's hand and then pulled him into a brief one armed hug, patted his back and told him to keep Ginny and Hermione in line. By this time he had got the attention of a few people on the table, they were all looking at this display with curiosity. When Harry hugged Ginny he couldn't say anything to her, he felt if tried to say anything he would begin to cry. Ginny however didn't care if she cried or not she whispered in his ear, voice thick with tears and breath warm and strangely comforting on his ear that she would think of him always and would miss him loads. When they broke the hug she kissed him on the cheek, eliciting a blush from Harry and a glare from Dean. While Harry and his friends said their goodbyes Dumbledore was doing the same, regardless of the glare from Fudge, he went down the line of teachers exchanging some pleasantries and promising he would see them soon, preferably as headmaster once more, and for those who were in the order he told them that he would  contact them all in a few weeks and give them his location and that they would hold meetings their and use it as a temporary headquarters. When both Harry and Dumbledore had finished their goodbyes they both stood and began for the door, before fudge noticed Harry was going Harry had already met Dumbledore in between Gryffindor table and Hufflepuff but as they headed for the door Fudge leapt to his feet and shouted "STOP RIGHT THERE POTTER!"  Harry had been expecting something like this from fudge so he wasn't surprised by the man bellowing at him. He looked to Dumbledore who gave a discreet nod and they both stopped and turned to face fudge who was now coming down the walkway between the two tables. He stopped a few feet from the two and demanded to know what was going on.

"I would think that is obvious Minister." Harry said trying to bait the headmaster.

"You will address me, Potter, as sir or headmaster." Fudge said with a sneer.

"I will do no such think Minister, now if you please me and Mr Dumbledore have to be going now." Harry said, putting emphasis on the Mr Dumbledore part.

"POTTER! DETENTION! SNAPE! MONTH!" fudge screamed, spit flying out of his mouth and only seeming to get out words at a time through his anger. Harry was loving this inside but on the outside he had on a mock sorry face and said in his best sarcastic yet angel like voice "I'm so sorry to inform you minister but I wont be having detention, I wont be calling you headmaster and I wont be coming back here to learn again, Mr Dumbledore expelled me last night, I'm banished from the school"  Harry couldn't hold it in any longer, the expression on fudge's face the reaction from the school as a majority was so funny he just had to laugh, and laugh he did, in the ministers goldfish impersonating face causing several students to laugh as well. Coming to his senses (or the best he could manage with the limited brain he had been 'blessed' with) fudge glared at Harry and through clenched teeth told him to leave and never come back then he turned to the school, who were now chatting wildly about the events that had transpired this morning and shouted for silence.

"Any student found to be corresponding with Potter or Dumbledore will be punished severely, now I want no more mention of this morning. Now everyone to your lessons!" fudge said and then slumped in his chair. While he was giving his little speech Harry and Dumbledore had already left the school and were on their way to the gate, passed the anti-apparation wards.

"That went better than I thought" Harry remarked idly as he and Dumbledore walked through the gates.

"Indeed" Dumbledore replied and in two soft, barely noticeable 'pops' they were gone.

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A/N: Hey everyone, I know its been forever since I updated but I just didn't have any inspiration or drive, and I have this plot for another story in my mind, so I'll probably start that after I finished this and then do a sequel for this after my other story. The second part of this chapter will be up in a few days, I lost all my work recently so I had to start the chapter over, but its better than the other I started :D

Thanks to all who have reviewed and I am infinitely sorry for the long wait for a new update, but hopefully you wont have to wait long again.

Until next time.

                             GG