I would like to take this opportunity to thank JK Rowling for writing a story that is so wonderful that it got me to actually want to write. If my English teachers from back in high school could see me now they would just laugh.

Once again, I own nothing except the plot and any characters that I created. Any similarity to other fics is purely accidental and should be taken as flattery.

To: harryp123, The One Above All, 123315, Shelly112, Wytil, HermioneGreen, and laxgoalie210, thank you for the reviews. Laxgoalie210, no the student that Harry might have heard of is not Tom Riddle. Neither Professor Smith nor his students have the ability to cast the unforgivables with any power or ability.

Chapter 12 – Time for School

For the rest of the evening, Harry's thoughts kept returning to the events in his trance. The questions that kept forming in his mind were distracting him from anything else. He was finding himself on the receiving end of odd looks from his friends, especially Ginny. It was obvious to them that something was bothering him, but none of the others really wanted to push the issue. They were used to dealing with Harry's desire to work things out for himself. They knew he would fill them in when he was ready.

That night was one of the first restless night's sleep he'd had since he started his mind clearing exercises. It wasn't that it was full of nightmares or visions, more that it was full of unanswered questions. His distraction carried on through the next two days until it came time for his next one-on-one lesson with Professor Smith.

"All right, Harry," Professor Smith started. "What's bothering you? You are obviously distracted. Your performance last night in the dueling practice was very off. Tell me what's going on."

Harry had thought his distraction might be noticeable, but not obvious. "Professor," Harry started but wasn't sure how to explain without getting himself and his friends in trouble. He decided to just say it, "Professor, I need you to promise me that what I am about to talk to you about does NOT leave this room." Harry waited for the professor to nod in agreement before continuing. "After our lesson the day of the attack, my friends and I decided to take advantage of the information in a book left to me by my father. The book in question gives rather detailed information on how to become an animagus." Harry paused to see if he was about to get scolded, but when nothing came he continued. "Well, sir, once we decided to give it a try, we began the process of brewing the potion that is needed to help us find our respective animal. After my last lesson with you, the potion was ready. So we drank it."

At this point Professor Smith broke in, "Let me guess. You had one of two things happen to you. Number one, you saw nothing at all." He paused to check Harry's reaction, "Judging by your reaction I would say that isn't the case. So what must be bothering you is that you saw more than one animal. Is that correct?"

Harry couldn't do anything more than just nod in confirmation. "I see. So, exactly how many animals did you see in your trance?"

"All of them, I think. It looked like I was in a zoo that housed every animal imaginable. They all had the same green eyes and a hardly noticeable lightning bolt shaped discoloration of their fur, feathers, or skin on their foreheads. When I asked if I could become all of them, they all nodded at me in unison. Have you ever heard of anything like this before?"

Harry looked at his professor and was astonished by what he saw. Professor Smith was smiling and chuckled amusedly before replying, "Yes, Harry, as a matter of fact, I have heard of that happening before. Five times in fact. All of my former students had the same experience as you. Once you figure out what your power is and unlock it, you will have no problems learning to become any animal you wish."

Harry, in a very good imitation of a gold fish, was opening his mouth as if to speak and then closing it again because he simply didn't know what to say. He remained like that for a few moments before he thought more clearly about what he had just been told. "You said that I would be the fifth person that you taught. That means that you have had four students before me. Yet you just said that you have heard of this happening five times before this. Who, may I ask, is the fifth?"

The grin on Professor Smith's face couldn't get much bigger, and if Harry didn't know better it looked like the professor's eyes were twinkling similarly to Dumbledore's, "Now, Harry, I would think that would be obvious to you by now. The fifth person to whom I am referring is ME." Harry was back to imitating a goldfish again. "Yes, Harry, I know what you're going through because I went through it myself. The difference is that unlike me, you have someone along to help you understand what's happening." Professor Smith paused before continuing, "May I ask, what did you tell your friends about your trance?"

"After our last conversation, I wasn't sure if telling them the truth about my trance would be a good idea. I decided to tell them that I only saw one animal."

"What animal?"

"I had to think quickly, so I really didn't think clearly. I told them the first animal that came to mind. I told them I was a mongoose."

Professor Smith nodded, "A very appropriate choice, all things considered. I do believe, however, that you would be able to be a bit more honest with your friends, if you would like. Telling them about your trance, without mentioning about me, wouldn't say too much. Your friends can already tell you are a very exceptional wizard, Harry. They understand not to be surprised by anything you can do anymore. Telling them you can be more than one animal would not be much of a surprise to them. You should even be able to master a couple of your forms without accessing your full power. Just don't mention that you know anything about how much power you could eventually have."

"Are you sure?" Harry questioned his professor, "Wouldn't that cause them to ask more questions? Hermione, for one, would feel the need to do any research necessary to find out answers about anything she doesn't know about."

Professor Smith chuckled again, "Yes, I can tell she doesn't take too well to not knowing something. However, she can research all she wants about this because there is nothing recorded about this sort of phenomenon happening before. As I said, you are only the sixth person in history to have this opportunity. The only people who know about this are the people themselves, their closest friends, and of course their teacher."

After finally getting some more of his questions answered, Harry found his thoughts and emotions were easier to get under control. He began to use some of his occlumency skills to help him ignore the taunts of his professor and control his anger better. He was learning that if he placed the negative memories and feelings behind a walled off section of his mind then he wouldn't get as angry. He was actually starting to find the taunts to be kind of funny without his own negativity to fuel the anger.

After his training, Harry got together with his friends for what they were now referring to as their nightly winding down time. They all proceeded to sit down and begin playing some games and soon they were all laughing and having fun. It was obvious to everyone that Harry's attitude had improved.

"Harry," Ginny asked, "What did you do tonight that has you in such a good mood?"

Harry looked confused for a moment, "What do you mean?"

All three of his friends scoffed before Ginny answered back, "Harry, ever since we took the potion, you've been all out of sorts."

"Yeah, Harry," Ron added, "You've been acting like you're in another bloody universe or something."

"Ron's right, Harry," Hermione stated, "You have been out of it. What's been wrong?"

Harry thought for a moment, "Well, you're right. Something had been bugging me about my trance. I didn't exactly tell you guys the whole truth about what I saw." Harry waited for the cries of astonishment to die down before continuing. "I know, I told you that I wouldn't keep any more secrets from you guys, but I was kind of overwhelmed by what happened."

Ron looked at Harry skeptically, "Are you telling us that you didn't really see a mongoose?"

"No, that's not it at all. I did see a mongoose. It was one of many animals I saw."

Ginny cut in, "What do you mean, one of many animals? How many animals did you see?"

Harry was somewhat hesitant, "Um, all of them, I think."

"Harry," Hermione questioned, "You do realize that no one has ever been known to have more than one animagus form, don't you? This isn't normal."

"Hermione, since when have I ever been normal? It just wouldn't be my life if something didn't go differently." Harry began to laugh at the looks of astonishment on his friends' faces.

Ginny then said, "Harry, are you sure that you're supposed to be able to be all of the animals you saw?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am." Harry then proceeded to explain his trance in detail. When he was done, the four of them just sat in silence for some time. This was a lot to take in at once.

"I thought you were hiding something from us after you told us you were a mongoose." Ginny broke the silence, "I could tell you were holding something back, but now that I know what, I understand why. That was a lot to deal with."

"Harry," Ron asked, "Do you think you can really become all of them?"

"I don't know, Ron. I suppose I should try them one at a time. I mean, I should master one transformation and then move on to the next animal. You know, as much as I like the thought of becoming a mongoose, I think I would really like to try for something bigger and less out of place here in the UK."

"Brilliant! Bloody brilliant." Ron exclaimed quietly.

Hermione decided to ask, "What do you have in mind, Harry?"

"I think I'd like to try for a stag. I figure if everyone is going to keep telling me how much I look like my father, I might as well take the same form as he did."

Ginny smiled at Harry, "I think your dad would like that."

They laughed and relaxed for a while longer then headed off to bed. The rest of the summer holidays went by rather uneventfully. The four friends would spend some of their study time each day learning about their respective animals. The book told them that in order to transform they had to have a full and extensive knowledge of the animal they were going to transform into. They would read any and all books they could find with information on their animals. They decided it would be best to have a thorough knowledge of their animals before trying to learn the transformations.

By the end of August, they had an in-depth knowledge of their animals and they were beginning to study about the transformation itself. Their dueling was getting even better; in fact Harry could now hold his own against Tonks, Remus, and Kingsley at the same time. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were also starting to win occasional duels against some of the adults, much to Bill and Charlie's displeasure. Their hand-to-hand combat was coming along nicely as well.

Finally, the official end of summer arrived, the first day of September. The atmosphere at headquarters this morning was one of excitement, depression, and chaos. They were excited to be heading back to school, but depressed to be leaving their private study area of the castle. The chaos encompassed all of the last minute rushing around to make sure they had everything packed and getting to King's Cross on time. Once breakfast was over and all of the students were packed and ready, they headed out. Madam Bones had agreed to let them use a couple of ministry cars to get everyone to the station today and they made it with plenty of time to spare, for once. They went through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ in groups of two, each student with a member of the guard. Hermione and Moody went first. They were followed by Ginny and Mrs. Weasley then Ron and Mr. Weasley. Harry was last with Remus.

Even though they had arrived somewhat early, the platform was still packed with people. In fact, it seemed a little more crowded than usual. There were Aurors stationed all around the platform to guard against a possible Death-Eater attack. Harry caught a wink from Tonks through the crowd and a nod from Kingsley. Both being Aurors, they were among the guards on the platform.

Before Harry could make his way onto the train, he found himself surrounded by people. Soon he realized that they weren't just ordinary people, but reporters. The press had been waiting to get a chance to talk to him ever since the attack on Diagon Alley. There were a lot of questions about the attack, the duel with the minister, and finally how he felt about the whole thing. Before he could pry himself away, one reporter asked a question that made him snap.

"Mr. Potter, who do you think should be the next Minister of Magic?"

Harry recognized that sickly sweet voice and looked around for its owner. Then he spotted her, "Hello, Ms. Skeeter. It's so nice to see you again. I'm glad to see that you've turned over a new leaf and started reporting things more truthfully. I've read a lot of your recent articles and am impressed."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. I have you to thank for my change of heart, but you didn't answer the question."

"Why would it matter who I think should be Minister? I'm just one person and a teen at that, why should my opinion matter? It's not like I get any say in it."

"Well, Mr. Potter, it seems that the people want to know who you think would make a good Minister. Since you seemed to not approve of Minister Fudge, people want to know who you would approve of."

Harry could feel the stirrings of anger rising up inside him, "I would hope that the people would be intelligent enough to make their own informed opinion. It seems to me that the problem with the leadership of this country in the past has been the leaders were put in place because they were pure-bloods. They weren't elected because of what they wanted to accomplish. They were elected because they were the best way to prevent change and growth. What better way to keep the same prejudices in place than to elect a weak blind pure-blood who can be manipulated easily? That is what Fudge was."

Rita Skeeter was surprised by this outburst; she obviously was not expecting to get such a detailed story when she had come here today. "Are you saying that pure-bloods are weak?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at Ms. Skeeter, "No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm trying to say is that purity of blood shouldn't matter. For example, the most intelligent student at Hogwarts is a muggleborn witch." There was a small gasp from the group of reporters, "What about me? My mother was a muggleborn, which makes me a half-blood. How many pure-bloods have faced Voldemort…" the assembled crowd began to shriek and shiver at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. "What is wrong with you people? It's only a name. It's not as if when you say it he's going to suddenly appear and kill you. Look, VOLDEMORT. See, nothing. No harm came to us. VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT. You people are pathetic, it's just a name. Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself. You are afraid of a name, and not just any name. You are afraid of a name he made up himself."

Harry was on a roll now. He decided to show them what he knew about Voldemort. He took out his wand and proceeded to write in the air, I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. When he was finished, he swept his wand through the middle of the floating letters causing them to rearrange themselves to say, TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. "You see, Tom Riddle rearranged the letters of his own name to create his new identity. Do you know why he decided to change his name? He didn't want to keep the name of his father, his MUGGLE father." There were lots of gasps at this bit of information, "Yes, Voldemort is a half-blood. If pure-bloods are supposed to be so much better and more powerful than everyone else, then why is everyone afraid of a half-blood like Voldemort?"

There was random muttering in the crowd now. Harry was waiting to allow this bit of information to sink in. As he was preparing to go on, Rita Skeeter asked another question, "How do you know this?"

Harry was expecting this question, "He told me himself. In my second year, I was faced with a memory of him that he had preserved in a diary when he was sixteen. We had an informative discussion about his past, just before I destroyed him again." Harry decided to get back to his original point, "Even though he is an evil git, I do have to admit that he is one of the most powerful wizards alive right now. If pure-bloods are supposed to be so superior, why is a half-blood more powerful and more feared than just about everybody? Even more, why is another half-blood like me the only person who has come face-to-face with him five times and lived to tell the tales? Now do you understand why I say purity of blood is meaningless?"

The crowd was muttering incoherently amongst themselves as Rita Skeeter got back to her original question. "Mr. Potter, as informative as you have been to us today, you still haven't answered the original question. Who do you think would make a good Minister of Magic?"

Harry glared at Rita one more time before answering, "Ms. Skeeter, I think that the next Minister needs to be someone who will try to break down the barriers between the pure-bloods and non pure-bloods, and try to bridge the gap between wizards and the rest of the magical creatures. Just because someone had the misfortune of being bitten by a werewolf does NOT mean that they are a bad person. One of my parents' best friends is a werewolf. He is also someone that they trusted and loved like family. He was and still is one of the most trustworthy and honorable people I know. Then there is Professor Hagrid, a half-giant and one of the first and most loyal friends I had in the wizarding world. He may have a misguided opinion of what is dangerous, but if you are lucky enough to have him as a friend then he will do anything he can to help you stay safe. The centaurs in the Forbidden Forest are treated very poorly, even though they are a very intelligent, noble, and honorable race of beings. Then there are the muggles. They may not have the ability to do the things that we can, but they make up for it with their ability to use their minds. They have been able to improve their lives with advancements in technology."

"Now, you asked me who I think should be the next Minister? I think it should be someone who doesn't care about a person's bloodline, but cares instead about the quality of their character. Someone who can accept anyone who shows the worthiness to be trusted. Someone who will be fair and impartial yet stern in their observing of the laws of the country. I know of several people who would fit that description. Madam Bones, Amos Diggory of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Arthur Weasley of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Those are three people whom I think would be good for the job, but I think that the wizards and witches of this country should listen to what the candidates have to say and choose one that they agree with."

Harry now held up his hand to prevent further questions, "As much as I would like to continue talking with all of you, I need to get on the train and go to school. Good day."

The members of the guard who had escorted the students to the platform then moved in to get Harry quickly on the train. He barely had time to say his goodbyes before the train's whistle blew and the train began to move off. Harry quickly found Neville Longbottom sitting alone in a compartment and joined him. A short while later, they were joined by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood who had all just gotten out of their prefects' meeting.

"Neville, Luna," Harry started, "I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I led you both into danger last year. I really appreciate that you felt compelled to go with me, but I wish it could have been avoided."

Neville looked at Harry incredulously, "Harry, you don't need to apologize to me. You helped me last year. You taught me that I could do better. You showed confidence in me and helped me learn how to protect myself. I owed it to you to help you when you needed it, and I would do it again if I needed to. I consider you to be a friend and will always be there for you when you need me."

Luna then spoke in her airy voice, "Yes, Harry, Neville's right. You showed confidence in us among others and taught us all. I think if other members of the DA had been there, they would have come with us too. I think you will find when we return to school that there are a lot of people who think the world of you and would gladly help you whenever you might need it."

Harry sat there stunned by these comments. How did he manage to engender this kind of support from other people? It was all Harry could do to just say, "Thank you."

"It's all right, Harry." Neville continued, "Hey, look at this. Since I broke my dad's old wand, Gran took me to get a new one. She was so proud of me for showing my bravery. She said I reminded her of my father." Neville was holding his wand out for everyone to see, "Holly, 12 inches, with a dragon heartstring."

"Excellent, Neville," Harry responded, "Mr. Ollivander told me once that you won't be as successful with someone else's wand as you would with one picked just for you."

Neville nodded his agreement as Luna spoke in her airy voice, "Harry, have you had a good summer? Did you do any traveling? My father and I took a trip to Sweden to try to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. We found some tracks but couldn't seem to find anything more. Oh, well, there's always next year."

Harry and the rest all gave each other a look that clearly said they thought her nickname of Loony Lovegood was well earned. Soon, they were receiving visits from various members of the DA. Lavender Brown and the Patil twins, Parvati and Padma, stopped by to say hello. They were soon followed by Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, then Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff. Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Cho Chang, from Ravenclaw, came soon after. Katie Bell stopped in to talk quidditch for a while, leaving just as the lady with the snack trolley showed up.

Hermione and Ginny were engrossed in various books, Luna was reading the Quibbler, and Neville was watching Ron and Harry play a game of wizard's chess when the not unexpected interruption came. "Well, well, well," came the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. "If it isn't Potty and his friends. Out to change the world now, Scar head? Whatever the Gryffindor Golden Boy wants, he gets?"

Harry looked up to see the blond haired Slytherin standing in the doorway flanked, as usual by his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry smiled as he responded, "Ooh, I haven't heard that one before. What's the matter, Ferret, not imaginative enough to come up with some new insults each year? Maybe you should ask your father for some new material. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot, you can't, since he's in Azkaban. Oh well, that's what happens when you can't even manage to stop a group of kids you have outnumbered two-to-one."

Draco scowled, "The Dark Lord won't let my father stay in there long, Potter. You will pay dearly for what you've done."

As Malfoy finished speaking, he began reaching into his robes, only to freeze as he realized that Harry was no longer sitting casually by the window, but standing in front of him, with the tip of Harry's wand touching the tip of Draco's nose. "I don't think it would be a good idea to finish that motion, Malfoy. Now, why don't you be a good little bouncing ferret, and take your two gorillas to some other area of the train before you get yourselves hurt?"

Draco quickly stumbled backward through the door and ran down the corridor of the train with Crabbe and Goyle hot on his tail. Harry closed the door and turned back around to retake his seat only to see his five friends staring at him with looks of astonishment on their faces.

"Harry," Neville questioned, "How did you do that? I never even saw you move. One second you're sitting by the window, the next second you're standing on the other side of the room with your wand out. I've never seen anyone move that fast."

Hermione was the next to chime in, "Harry, I'm impressed with how you controlled your temper. Last year, you would have just hexed him. You're definitely controlling your emotions. Well done."

The rest of the train ride was blissfully uneventful, and they soon found themselves arriving at the train station in Hogsmead. They disembarked the train and Harry was quite happy to hear the familiar cry of "Firs years, Firs years, this way," from Hagrid. Harry gave his half-giant friend a warm wave and made his way to one of the apparently horseless drawn carriages. Harry, Neville, and Luna were still the only ones who were able to see that the carriages were really drawn by thestrals, a magical black-winged horse with a dragonish face and neck and a fleshless skeletal body. The six of them managed to cram into one carriage for the bumpy ride up to the castle, looking forward to a new year at Hogwarts.