Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted. I had a lot of writers block moments getting lost in my thoughts of what is going to happen in the future.

Thanks again to my editors, my wife and mom.

Once again, I own nothing but the new characters I introduce and the plot.

Ying and Yang Twins: Thanks for the review.

Chapter 8 – Time of Discovery

Harry decided that it was time to show his new properties to the rest of the Weasleys. Once breakfast was over, the entire group gathered together around Harry and his book, and portkeyed to Black Castle. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Mr., and Mrs. Weasley stared in awe at the grandness of the castle. It was a truly magnificent sight. Harry introduced Dobby and Winky to Ailbert and Moireach and proceeded to give them a tour of the castle. As he showed them around, he began to explain what he wanted the elves to do to clean up the castle. While Harry was busy with the elves, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny began to show the other adults what they had been able to find. Bill set off on his own to check the wards and enchantments to make sure all was safe.

After several hours, the group gathered back together in the main entrance hall and returned to Grimmauld Place. Bill told Harry that the enchantments were definitely still in effect and as strong as ever. Harry explained that since the people who know how to apparate had now been to the castle that they could now apparate there instead of waiting for Harry to bring them. Dobby had stayed at the castle to begin the various cleaning and repair work that Harry had requested. Winky had come back to headquarters to help with the continuing cleanup and care of the house. The first order of business was to try to remove the portrait of Sirius' mum and the Black family tree tapestry. Harry figured that maybe a house elf's magic would be able to get them down.

They stood looking at the curtains, hiding the old bat, for a moment dreading the din that would rise when they opened them. They steeled themselves for the onslaught then opened them up. The usual shouting began and Winky went about trying to remove the portrait. She seemed to try several times before gaining a downhearted look.

They closed the curtains again, "Winky can't do it." Winky looked extremely sad as she spoke. "Winky is not powerful enough Harry."

"Winky, do you think that you and Dobby could do it together?"

Winky thought for a moment, "Winky believes it is possible, Harry."

"Dobby!" Harry shouted. Dobby appeared with a POP, looking at Harry expectantly. "Dobby, I need you to help Winky remove the portrait behind these curtains. Do you think that you can?"

"Dobby and Winky will try their best, Harry," was Dobby's response.

Once again, the curtains were opened and the noise began. The elves made a very valiant attempt but were once again unsuccessful. The curtains were closed again while they continued to ponder the dilemma. Dobby finally had an idea.

"Dobby thinks that Harry has to order Dobby and Winky to do it before it will work. Dobby thinks that the portrait is being held up by house elf magic and can only come down by the master of the house ordering the house elves to remove it."

Harry thought about it for a moment before nodding in acceptance of this task. Once again, they pulled back the curtains to hear the loud insults being thrown at them. Harry quickly shouted, "I HARRY POTTER, MASTER OF THIS HOUSE AND HEIR TO THIS ESTATE, ORDER YOU TWO HOUSE ELVES TO REMOVE THIS FOUL WOMAN'S PORTRAIT FROM MY HOUSE THIS INSTANT!"

Mrs. Black's shouts ceased the moment he spoke and her face broke into a look of surprise, almost as if she realized that she was about to be finished. Dobby and Winky didn't really have to try very hard after that. With a snap of the elves' fingers, the portrait simply slid off the wall and then crumpled to the floor in a heap. They repeated the performance with the family tree tapestry in the sitting room upstairs, and then Dobby was excused back to the castle to continue with his work there. Both items were then banished to a locked storeroom to be completely dealt with later. Winky then set about the house to do a complete clean up and make over to the house to make it a happier place to be.

Mrs. Weasley headed to the kitchen to begin making lunch They may have two house elves now, but that didn't stop Mrs. Weasley from wanting to do the cooking. Everyone else began to go off on their own until lunch. The main topics of the conversations at lunch were of Harry's castle. After lunch, Harry and his school friends headed off to work on their fighting and mind clearing, while the adults went off to do their own things for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinnertime came and was enjoyable as usual, and was followed by Harry's latest Occlumency lesson. Professor Smith was now fully trying to penetrate Harry's mental defenses, without much success. As the lesson wore on, they began to discuss the art of Legilimency and how useful it is. Harry could see how difficult it would be to learn without having first learned Occlumency. Knowing how to organize and block the mind made it easier to learn how to invade it.

As they were preparing to call it a night, Professor Smith changed the topic to the next night's group practice. "Harry, instead of our normal hand-to–hand combat lessons tomorrow, I would like to start working on your dueling. We could go to one of your castles and begin to see what we can improve in your spell work."

"Thank you, sir. I am really looking forward to it. I look forward to getting whatever help you have to offer. While I think that my friends and I are very good with our spell work, our dueling could use some work."

Professor Smith gave a chuckle and nodded, "That is the impression I have been given by the adults around you as well. I assure you that you will learn very valuable lessons from me in this area." The two then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

After dinner the next night, the four students and their professor headed to Black Castle for practice. Harry was surprised at the lack of an awed reaction from the professor upon his entrance to the castle. Harry supposed that the professor had probably been informed by one of the other adults and was simply prepared for what he saw. They made their way to the room that Harry had Dobby set up for their practicing.

It was an average-sized room with no furniture save for two benches that had been placed out of the way against one of the walls. Weapon stands flanked each of the benches, and torchlight lent a warm glow to the room. It was a perfect place in which to practice. Since there was not much in the way of furnishings, there was not much to damage in the room.

As they entered, Professor Smith pulled out his wand and began, "Well, let's see what you can all do."

Before the students realized what he meant, the first hex was on its way. They all ducked and rolled off to the side, pulling out their wands as they reached their feet. They had been surprised by the sudden attack, and it took a moment for them to get their bearings. A few more hexes had been thrown in their respective directions from the professor, causing a few shields to be raised and some more creative dodging.

It didn't take long for Harry to get his wits about him. "Spread out," he yelled. "It'll be more difficult for him with more space between us. We need to surround him!"

The professor was obviously quite good at dueling. He was firing off spells with blinding speed, and dodging the few spells the students could throw back at him with little effort. There were a few more minutes of continuous fire before Ron finally fell to a stunner. Hermione and Ginny were quick to follow, leaving Harry standing alone. Harry only lasted a few more minutes before he succumbed to a stunner himself. The professor revived his students and motioned for them to have a seat on the benches.

"Well, I can see that I have my work cut out for me. You did do moderately well once you figured out what was happening, but I was still able to beat you too quickly. Your reaction times were far too slow, and your movements were also slow and unsure." The professor paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "When in a duel, you have to be sure of your actions. If you hesitate, you lose. In here, that only results in being disarmed or stunned, but in a real duel it would mean capture or death."

Harry and his friends were all silent while they considered their professors words. Professor Smith then continued, "Now, I realize that you weren't expecting for me to start throwing hexes at you as soon as we walked in, but I needed to see where you were to determine where to begin with you. I do have to say that I see some promise in your abilities, so at least it was not a total loss. From now on, you will all be working against each other instead of me. This way I will be able to watch and correct any mistakes and try to help you improve."

The students stood up, paired off, and prepared to begin again. Ron and Harry paired up, leaving Hermione and Ginny to practice against each other. The pairs took turns allowing the others to watch and learn from their mistakes or successes. Ron had felt really embarrassed to be the first one eliminated, so he was feeling a strong need to redeem himself.

Ron and Harry went first. Professor Smith, sensing Ron's desire to acquit himself of his previous performance, gave Ron some private advice about what to do. Seeing this, Harry began to feel apprehensive; he could sense that this entire lesson was going to be about helping his opponent try to beat him. After the few last minute instructions, Professor Smith told them to begin.

"PROTEGO!"

"STUPEFY!"

The spells were shouted simultaneously. Harry figuring that Ron had been told to try to beat him quickly started with a shield, then shot back immediately with a disarming hex.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry shouted. The spell just missing Ron as he had moved just after he fired off his stunner. They began to circle around each other, trading spells for a few more minutes before Harry finally figured out Ron's movement patterns, and instead of firing his stunner at Ron, he fired it where he felt Ron was going to move. The end result was Ron being stunned for the second time in less than fifteen minutes.

Now it was Ginny and Hermione's turn. The two girls actually fought quite well. The barrage of spells that Hermione shot at Ginny truly showed why she was considered the most intelligent witch of her age. Ginny, though her spells weren't as advanced as Hermione's, made up for her lack of knowledge by her sheer voracity, mobility, and speed. After several tense minutes of fighting, Ginny's speed simply proved to be too much. She sent four stunners in quick succession followed by a very short pause, to fool Hermione into thinking it safe to attack. Just as Hermione was about to fire off a stunner of her own, Ginny hit her with a disarming hex thus taking her wand.

After the girls were finished and all four students were sitting on the benches, the professor began to explain what was good and not so good. "OK, that was better. There is still room for improvement, but that was better. A few things that I see in common are simple lack of experience mistakes. There is still hesitation on everyone's part at times. You need to learn not to hesitate. Also, as Hermione learned first hand, knowledge can be beaten by speed. It doesn't matter how powerful or complex the spell is if your opponent can cast his spells faster. The key is to learn to cast those same spells faster, or better yet learn spells that do an equivalent amount of damage but can be cast faster."

There was a pause before Professor Smith continued, "Harry, I was impressed with the way you adapted to Ron's fighting style. I assume that you figured out that I told him to stay on the offensive by continuing to fire and move. Ron, do you see how you were beaten? Harry figured out your pattern of movements and fired where he knew you would be instead of where you were. You must remember not to be predictable in your movements. If you fall into a pattern, your opponent could easily figure it out and then you would be finished."

They spent the next couple of hours taking turns dueling and watching with observations and criticisms between each duel. Professor Smith was impressed with their improvement over the course of the session. As they were preparing to head home, the professor suggested that they research some more spells to start trying for their next session. When they finally returned to Grimmauld Place for bed, they were thoroughly exhausted and it didn't take long for any of them to fall asleep.

The next week flew by. The four students' days had become full of one kind of practice or another. They began spending much less time at Grimmauld Place and more at the castle where they could continue working on their spell casting. They would wake up each morning and eat a quick breakfast, before heading over to the castle to begin their various workouts. They would start with some stretching and calisthenics, then put in a short run around the grounds to start building their endurance. They would then work on hand-to-hand combat for a couple hours, since they had learned that if you practiced it while tired the movements would become instinctual. Dobby would eventually bring them a light lunch, after which they would work on clearing and organizing their minds. They would also spend a couple of hours looking through various books in the library trying to research new spells. Then they would practice some more dueling until it was time to head back to Grimmauld Place for dinner. After dinner came the lessons with Professor Smith, who had decided that it was time to start alternating days between dueling and Occlumency/Legilimency.

The end result of the week was that they were all learning quite quickly. Their mind organizing exercises were helping them learn at what seemed like an accelerated rate. They were learning new spells and learning from their mistakes very quickly. It was very rare that they made the same mistake more than once, because if they did their professor would never let them hear the end of it. The one thing that everyone agreed upon, without a doubt, was that Harry was progressing much faster than the rest of the group. By the end of the Thursday session, Harry was forced to duel all three of his friends at the same time. The result was a half hour-long battle in which Ginny and Harry ended up hexing each other at the same time to end it. Ginny learned just how powerful Harry's stunners were becoming, while Harry got to feel just how bad Ginny's patented Bat-Bogey Hex felt.

On Saturday morning, Harry and company arrived in the kitchen for breakfast to find Professor Dumbledore seated at the table in the midst of a conversation with Remus, Tonks, and the eldest Weasleys. The teens joined the adults at the table and began to eat. The conversation was relaxed and friendly.

As Harry was finishing up his breakfast, he finally turned to the Headmaster and asked, "Sir, why are you here today? You don't usually just stop by to visit, so what's up?"

Professor Dumbledore chuckled slightly, "You are becoming quite observant Harry, and you are, of course, correct. This is not just a social visit; I thought that you all would like to receive your Hogwarts letters." As he said this, he produced four letters from inside his robes.

All four students took their letter and began to open it. Before Harry even had a chance to pull out his parchment, there was a squeal of delight from Ginny. "I made Prefect!"

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shot out of their seats to go see the letter and badge for themselves. They then proceeded to each give her hugs and congratulations.

"Ginny dear," Mrs. Weasley began, "I'm so proud of you. So what will it be? Would you maybe like an owl, or would you rather get a new broom like your brother, or perhaps some new dress robes?"

It took Ginny a moment to register what her mother was saying, "What?"

Mr. Weasley added, "Well dear, it has become a tradition for your mother and me to get a gift for each of the children who have made prefect. What would you like to have?"

Ginny thought for a moment, "I would really like an owl of my own. Perhaps a snowy owl like Hedwig, I've always thought she was beautiful."

"Well dear, snowy owls are quite rare, but we'll see what we can do. It will have to wait until we go to Diagon Alley next week though."

Hermione came over to give Ginny her congratulations and started giving her advice about being a prefect. Harry made his way over and gave his congratulations as well. Her smile was just so genuine and happily infectious that Harry couldn't help but smile along with her. Combine that smile with her sparkling brown eyes and Harry was finding it difficult not to get lost in the euphoria of the moment. He was quickly becoming lost in those beautiful eyes. He was snapped out of it when he heard an exclamation from behind him.

"Ron," said Hermione, "Ron, what's wrong?" Harry turned around to see Ron staring open mouthed at his letter and something shiny in his hand.

"Ron dear, is everything alright?" There was a hint of worry in Mrs. Weasley's voice.

Ron couldn't seem to find a way to make his voice work. He simply continued to stare open mouthed at the shiny metal object in his hand. He finally seemed to be able to move his hand around to show exactly what it was he was staring at.

"OH, Ron. Congratulations!" Hermione was beaming at him. "You made Quidditch Captain, well done!"

Harry was now speechless, "Quidditch Captain? Hermione's right! Well done, Ron!"

Ron still couldn't help but stare like a fish, "I thought it would be you. I mean, you've been on the team longer."

"Well, it's kind of hard to be captain when you've been banned for life, Ron. Besides, you know way more about the strategy of the game than me, I like to concentrate on just being a seeker."

At this point, Professor Dumbledore cut in, "Harry, I think it would be a good idea if you read your letter."

Harry gave the headmaster a quizzical look before turning to his letter. He read it over and then looked at the headmaster, still wondering what was so special.

The Professor smiled and said, "The second page, Harry."

Harry looked back to his letter and finally noticed that there was a second page. As he read it, his eyes began to grow very wide. "Are you serious? This isn't just a joke, is it?"

"No Harry, it is not a joke. The school governors convinced the Ministry that all of Dolores Umbridge's punishments and Educational Decrees were a bit, um…excessive. It was then decided that they would be revoked, so that means that your ban from quidditch is no longer in effect." As he said this, Professor Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling madly.

All four teens' mouths were hanging open by the end of the professor's speech, the comprehension dawning on all of them at the same time. Harry was back on the team where he belonged. They all began to celebrate, looking forward to the start of the quidditch season already.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and prepared to leave, "Well, now that I have brightened everyone's day, I am afraid I must be going. Oh, and Miss Weasley, since I will be unable to see you tomorrow let me take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Birthday. Good day everyone."

Harry had a questioning look on his face now, 'Ginny's birthday is tomorrow?' he thought. He knew that he wanted to get her something nice, but didn't have the first clue as to what. He didn't even have time to go shopping for something either. He had to have something that he could give to her, something that had some meaning to it. He didn't want to get her something that didn't mean anything to him. He wanted to get her something special, because she was special. She had a way of making him feel better just by being around and he wanted to give her something special to say thank you. He would have to think about it later and see what he could come up with.

Before the teens had a chance to head off to the castle for their daily workouts, Tonks stopped them to ask Harry if she could tag along. She was very interested to have a look at this castle for herself, since she was a Black cousin she thought it would be nice to learn a little about her heritage. Harry agreed and they were all portkeyed off to Black Castle. Once there, Tonks began to visit with Ailbert and Moireach while the teens headed off to practice their hand-to hand combat and dueling.

After lunch, Harry decided that he needed some time alone to see what he could find for Ginny's birthday. He left the others in the library and headed off around the castle to see what he could find. His search took him through all of the bedrooms where he found lots of interesting items, but not anything that screamed "GINNY!" He also made his way through the various common areas and studies, but nothing he found seemed to be right. He finally came back to the main hall where Tonks was still talking with the Blacks.

Harry paused, trying to decide if he should ask Tonks for advice or not. After a few moments, he decided to risk it, "Excuse me Tonks, I hate to interrupt, but I have a problem that I could use some help with."

"What's up Harry?"

"I need some suggestions on what to get Ginny for her birthday. I want to get her something nice, but I just don't know what."

Tonks tactfully withheld any comments about Harry's obvious affection for the young redhead. She could tell that this was important to Harry, so she was determined to try to help. The first thing she needed to know was what Harry really felt for Ginny.

"Okay, Harry," said Tonks. "The first thing I need to know is what exactly are your feelings for Ginny? I need you to be honest with me on this, it's the only way I can really help you. Do you want to get her something as a friend, or are your feelings in that area a little stronger?" Harry immediately started to blush. "Ok, so you like her more than just a friend then. Does she know how you feel about her?" Harry was now the deepest shade of red Tonks had ever seen and all he could do was shake his head no. "I see. Do you want her to know how you really feel about her?"

Harry was finally able to find his voice, "Not yet. Not until I know if she feels the same. I mean, I know she used to, but I don't know if she does any more."

"Would you like me to find out for you?" Tonks asked this knowing that Harry would once again turn that deep shade of red.

"NO!" Harry almost shouted this and shook his head vigorously to emphasize the point. "I will figure it out on my own, thanks."

"Okay, okay, so you want to get a birthday present for a girl you fancy that you want to have meaning, but not give away the fact that you fancy her. Is that about right?" Harry blushed again and nodded. "The first thing you have to do is figure out what she likes. I've noticed that she enjoys quidditch quite a bit. She doesn't seem to be that concerned with her appearance, since she has no qualms about getting dirty. She enjoys having fun and being a part of playing pranks. She seems to enjoy her classes, with the expected exceptions." Harry nodded knowingly, not many students liked classes with Binns and Snape. "Do you know what kind of career she is looking at once she finishes school?"

The smile that had been on Harry's face now faltered, "I don't really know much about what she wants to do. I've known her almost as long as I've known Ron and Hermione, but I don't really know anything about her. I never really paid attention until this summer and I'm really feeling like that was a mistake."

Tonks gave Harry a sad smile and continued, "Harry, I'd say that since you seem be in the beginning stages of these feelings that something small would be appropriate. Something like a nice picture in a frame, or maybe a nice little writing set, or perhaps some nice hair clips to wear when she is playing quidditch. You don't want to get anything really expensive. That could make her feel really uncomfortable; however it would definitely let her know how you feel."

Harry pondered the young Auror for a moment, "Thanks Tonks, you've given me some really good ideas. Now I just need to decide on one." Harry was about to walk off when he thought about something else, "This conversation will remain between us, RIGHT?"

Tonks simply smiled, "I won't tell a soul, Harry. In fact I haven't seen you since the four of you went off together."

Harry smiled back, "Thanks." He then left the hall and headed back to one of the studies. Once inside he closed the door and called for Dobby. The elf popped into the room with a loud POP and asked what he could do for his new master.

"Dobby, I need to get a birthday present for Ginny. Her birthday is tomorrow and I just found out about it this morning. I need to know if you have seen anything in any of the rooms of this castle like a small picture frame, a writing set, or some hair clips or something like that. Have you seen anything like that while cleaning up?"

Dobby thought for a moment, "Yes Harry, Dobby has come across lots of stuff like that."

"You have? Could you bring it to me here? I want to see if I can find something to give her, before the others figure out what I am doing."

Dobby became really excited, "Of course Harry, Dobby will be right back." Dobby was gone with another POP. A few moments passed before Dobby POPPED back in with an assortment of items for Harry to look at. There were several picture frames that had intricate designs engraved in frames of various materials. There were some made of various woods like oak, maple, holly, willow, and ash. There were also several frames of different metals like silver, gold, and platinum.

Also among the items were several writing sets that were quite exquisite. They all consisted of a glass inkwell charmed to never empty, a very fancy looking quill, and a board with holes to hold each item. The quills varied in species of bird from normal birds like eagles and hawks to magical birds like owls and even a phoenix. The wood the boards were made of ranged along the same types as the picture frames.

The last set of items were the ones that really caught Harry's eye. There were many different types of hair restraints from simple colored bands to extravagant precious metal combs. As he looked over these items, Harry's eyes were attracted to a particular set of combs that were gold with what looked like several small rubies set in the backbone of each. Harry looked at these and could immediately envision them in Ginny's flaming red hair. The gold of the combs and the red of her hair combined would make her the epitome of a Gryffindor.

Harry reached for the combs, and as he picked them up, he felt a strange sensation in his hands. He could tell that there was some kind of magical energy coming from these. He decided that Ailbert and Moireach would probably have some insight into what was so special about these. He headed to the main hall to ask the portrait of the Blacks about them. Moireach informed Harry that the magic he could feel was a powerful enchantment so that the clips would never fall out of the hair they were placed in. It was also a powerful charm that would not let anyone but the owner touch them. That thought concerned Harry until he was informed that as the owner he could choose to give them to another, thus making the recipient the new owner. Harry smiled widely; he had found his perfect gift for what he felt was his perfect girl.

Harry thanked the Blacks and returned to the study to Dobby. He told Dobby to put everything back where he found it and go back to cleaning the castle. Once Dobby left, Harry called for Winky. When Winky appeared, Harry handed her the hair comb set and told her to take them back to Grimmauld Place, wrap them in some really nice paper, and place the wrapped package in his trunk making sure to tell no one. She happily complied with the request. Feeling much better about the next day, Harry made his way back to the library and his friends to continue with their daily activities.