The Captain stood before the cabin boys, and looked at Jamie proudly for getting the one who had been sent to the brig back to standards.
"Now boys, I am proud to say that as of this moment, we are within sight of England. I am particularly pleased that Mr. Johnson has managed to behave long enough to join us outside the brig, his earlier behavior completely unacceptable. I would like to thank Mr. Potter for helping Mr. Johnson to rethink his earlier actions."
"It helped, sir, that I knew the perpetrator of his initial offense that forced him to join the Academy."
"Quite. Gentlemen, as per our regulations, you will help run up the British flag now that we are within sight of home. Once we have docked, you will pick up the cabin and join your families who are eagerly awaiting your arrival."
It took them little time to raise the flag, with Jamie's careful instructions.
Once they were within sight of land, the cabin boys cheered.
Jamie greeted his grandfather with a hug.
"Good to see you again boy. And who's this?"
"This is Derrick Johnson, an American. Apparently Dudley is up to his old tricks again. He framed Derrick for one of his stunts."
"Sounds like that braggart. I don't know why the coppers haven't arrested and thrown him into juvie yet."
"It's too bad that punk isn't in the military, otherwise we could throw him in the brig," said Derrick.
"He got thrown out," said Jamie sourly.
"By the way Jamie, the woman sent a letter saying that the puppy is ready for you to take home."
"I just had a thought... doesn't Petunia hate animals?"
"She's an OCD nutjob," Charlie confirmed.
"Then what if we got Dudley some animal and convinced him it was the newest fad among our age group? Either he shapes up and quits hurting people or we make their lives hell."
"What would you suggest?" asked Derrick, liking the sound of that idea.
"Labradors. They have a ton of energy and their tails can wreak havoc."
"You mean like in that book Marley and Me?" asked Derrick.
"Exactly!"
Derrick grinned evilly.
Petunia's life had become hell...ever since Dudley had gotten it in his head that dogs were currently the most 'hip' thing, he had demanded one. Finally Vernon went out and got him a Labrador puppy that had become the bane of her clean existence.
The thing was loud, messy and was completely uncontrollable. It chewed everything in the house, it refused their commands, and it barked all night long.
Dudley never took into account his mother loathed animals, Vernon had no patience to speak of, and he was gone most of the year. Which left her holding the plastic bag and scrub brush as she had to clean after the damn thing.
It didn't help that the boy across the street had just gotten a German Shepard puppy and within a week it was perfectly behaved. Sure, there were a few accidents, but otherwise it was a good dog.
She hated the brat for getting the idea of a dog into her son's head with every fiber of her being.
Derrick watched the Dursley family and their new personal hell with glee. It served them right for being horrible parents.
"So how long are you going to make them suffer?" he asked Charlie.
"I'm going to make them stick with the dog until Christmas, by which time I'll call Animal Control to pick it up, if they don't get rid of it first."
"Where's Jamie?"
"He and Scruffy went to their new school already. The only reason he wasn't there earlier was because he had already signed up for the trip."
"It was good meeting you, sir," said Derrick.
"Tell you what, I'll write you a letter of recommendation so if you ever want to join the military you can have a slightly easier time."
Derrick saluted the man with a grin.
"Welcome to Hogwarts Mr. Potter. I can assume you are here to join us?" said Dumbledore.
"Sorry it took me so long. Had to fill out transfer papers for my last school."
"Excellent! Now we need to sort you and you can start catching up tomorrow. Fortunately we haven't gotten into any in-depth work since it has been only a week," said Dumbledore.
He handed the boy the hat, which Jamie put on. Fortunately his new dog Scruffy was still sleeping off a good steak in the expanded trunk.
Hmm...not a bad mind, loyal and brave...and extremely cunning. Why you would fit into any house really. However, what stands in the forefront is your pride in your grandfather. There is only one choice I can go with that dedication...
"Hufflepuff!"
Dumbledore hid his disappointment...at least he didn't go to Slytherin.
"Excellent! I shall call Professor Sprout in so she can introduce you to your new housemates."
"Welcome to Hufflepuff Mr. Potter! I hope you feel right at home!" said Sprout. Inside she was cheering. Now she could rub this in McGonagall's face!
Jamie grinned. He already liked the place, because it was the house of the loyal and hardworking, two things he excelled at. He enjoyed Academy life, which wasn't easy for some, and he was a steadfast friend to those who earned it.
Once he entered, he waited for Sprout to introduce him before he grinned.
"Yo," he said, giving a two fingered salute.
The response was immediate.
"WE GOT POTTER!"
"Now Jamie, I'm sure your dorm mates can help you catch up. Fortunately you only missed two weeks of school," said Sprout.
"Uh, just a warning, but I might miss two weeks again next year. My last school had this training program and they allow former students to join up so long as they kept up their studies abroad," said Jamie hesitantly.
"Well that shouldn't be much of a problem, so long as you follow the rules and catch up every year."
"Yes ma'am," said Jamie.
Right after she left, someone heard barking.
"Does anyone else hear a dog?"
"Crap! Scruffy must have woken up!"
"Scruffy?" said one of the older students.
"My new German Shepard. Grandpa's in no condition to handle a puppy, let alone train him, so I brought him with me."
"You do realize that dogs aren't allowed in school right?" asked the prefect.
"Yeah, but last I checked the groundskeeper has one. And I'm sure I'm not the only one with an unusual pet in this school."
"Good point. So long as you keep it under control and potty train it, I don't see there being a problem," admitted the prefect.
Percy originally had a rat, and word had it that the youngest brother had it now. And rats weren't on the list of approved pets.
"Besides, it would be nice to see something other than a cat, toad or owl in the house."
Jamie initial thought about Hogwarts was that it was far too childish for his tastes. The children were very out of shape, the food was fatty, almost unhealthily so, and there were no extracurricular.
Thankfully he had to run with his new puppy Scruffy around the grounds for exercise each day.
The first to take notice of the dog was one of the adults..
"What is that thing doing in this school?!" shrieked Filch.
"I have the approval of my head of house, and so long as I train him and clean up his mess, no one has a problem with him being here. He won't be your problem to deal with, sir," said Jamie politely.
"Keep him away from Mrs. Norris!" said Filch. He wasn't used to one of the students showing him actual respect.
"I shall be sure to train him not to attack cats, sir," said Jamie.
"See that you do," said Filch. He was so unsettled by the encounter that he didn't harass Jamie again on his runs.
With Filch's unofficial approval of the dog, there was little the other houses could do. The fact was that Jamie was actually training him in his spare time, and kept him in his trunk during classes (he had quickly potty trained his new dog so it would hold until he got there) so the puppy wouldn't make a mess of the dorm room.
The next person to have a run in with Jamie and Scruffy was none other than the groundskeeper, Hagrid.
He was more interested in how Jamie trained the dog rather than it's presence in the school. Apparently Fang had a habit of jumping on people. The two soon shared a common bond as Jamie helped Hagrid train the boarhound in basic commands.
In scholastic work, Jamie was in the top ten. Even with his late start. There was only one real hitch in that.
The potions professor hated his birth father.
"Ah yes, Mr. Potter...our new celebrity."
"Sir, if I may, I greatly disagree with what the books claim about me and I wouldn't know how to handle fame. My entire schooling has been in military academies, so any ego from an act I had no part in would have been beaten out of me pretty quickly."
"You think you know everything, don't you Potter," spat Snape.
Jamie didn't start, as most of his acquaintances did around him, but rather stared right back at Snape calmly. Even Granger, the bookworm, jumped when he hissed.
"Sir, I do not understand your grudge against me, as this is the first time we have ever met. And to be honest, the drill sergeant back at my old school would put you to shame when it comes to making people scared. I am only in here to learn potions, not start an intellectual debate."
Snape glared at him a little longer, but eventually he conceded defeat. This wasn't James Potter's son, but Charlus Potter's grandson. He heard rumors on his yearly potions run that the man had survived, but he hadn't believed them.
After seeing the boy's memories, however, he realized that any attempts to antagonize him would only end badly...for him. Charlus had never condoned bullying.
Meanwhile, outside Hogwarts...
Charlie had it with the pitying looks he kept getting from these wizards, so he went to this St. Mungo's place to see if he could get something to jog his memory.
Because of the unique state of his injury, he was sent to the long-term ward where the healers found a potion that should help.
It was there that he found a familiar pair of faces.
Captain Frank Longbottom and Private First class Alice Longbottom. The best navigator and nurse he had the pleasure of knowing.
Charlie looked at the nurse (Healer) and asked "What they in for?"
"Long-term Crucio exposure. So far nothing done has been any help whatsoever."
"Crucio? What the hell is that?"
The Healer looked at him flatly.
"Crucio is the most painful torturing curse around, and it's labeled as one of the Unforgiveables for a reason."
Charlie took a long look at the two, and for some reason the look in their eyes reminded him of something. It wasn't until a few days later at one of his VA meetings that he realized what.
Frank and Alice had a magical form of PTSD. A pretty bad case if they haven't come out of it.
"Hey, you guys remember Ol' Frank Longbottom?" said Charlie.
"Frank? I remember him. Good kid."
"What happened?" asked George. He had been under the command of the kid, even though he was older than him.
"I ran into him at St. Mungo's. According to the nurses, Frank and Alice were tortured for hours. From what I can tell they both have a pretty bad case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and keep reliving the event."
That got their attention.
"What did you have in mind Charlie? You wouldn't bring this up unless you have a plan," said Hughes.
"I think we should kidnap them and bring them among friends. Being in that hospital isn't doing them any good, but maybe being given a reminder of life before the incident might bring them back."
"It's so crazy it just might work! Hell, it helped Danny boy when he came back from 'Nam when his own kids wanted to ship him off to a nursing home!" said old Harry, slamming his drink down.
"So gents, what do you say to a little kidnapping?" said Charlie, a glint in his eye.
"Aye!"
Neville was about to start eating his breakfast when he caught the headline of the Prophet that morning.
BREAK-IN AT ST. MUNGO'S. TWO PATIENTS MISSING!
In an astounding series of events, earlier this morning Healer Pynes confirmed that two patients of the Long-Term Spell Damage ward were missing from their beds. Three hours of searching revealed that neither of the two patients, a Frank and Alice Longbottom, were in the hospital. The Longbottoms, as many can recall, were the last victims of the Lestrange trio. The two were tortured for five hours via the Cruiciatus curse until Aurors arrived to arrest the Lestranges.
The Auror department has sworn to find the Longbottoms and return them safely to their family, and to give the harshest punishment possible if they were taken by force.
Jamie took one look at the name, and his head fell to the table with a thud.
He remembered his grandfather telling him about Frank Longbottom, and had a pretty good idea of what had happened. A quick letter to Charlie revealed what he had already suspected.
The VA had taken the Longbottoms. Why, he had no idea but he planned to find out for Neville's sake.
It had been two months since he started school, and Jamie could honestly say...he disliked it.
The children were too noisy, the classes were a joke, and the prejudice... In short he really didn't want to come back.
However his grandfather sweetened the deal by informing him of the base that he had 'purchased' that was a decommissioned Royal Air Force strip that had seen better days.
Part of the rehabilitation that Charlie had in mind was good old fashioned hard work putting it back into use. Some of the hangers were refitting so that those suffering flashbacks of wars (like Vietnam for instance) could get the old urges out of them by attacking and 'killing' dolls that had been made to act much like a human body would.
In this case it was filled with ballistics gel and some blood packs.
The one in the flashback could stalk and 'kill' the fake humans and in doing so hopefully bring him to the present slowly.
And, in an effort to spend more time with Jamie, Charlie had convinced the Academy to send some cadets over to help out. Including those hoping to get a slot working with the Royal Air Force during the summer.
From what Charlie said, it seemed to be working. Frank and Alice had already started to show improvement by simply recognizing where they were. They even remembered faces now.
Too bad Jamie couldn't tell Neville the good news for fear that his grandmother would come after Charlie.