Severus woke the next morning with a pounding hangover.

After hearing the news of what had happened to Harry inside the Dursley household Minerva, Severus, and Kingsly indulged in way more alcohol than was wise while Albus was off talking with the order. Stumbling to the bathroom Severus hunted down one of his hangover cures so he wouldn't kill any of the brats inside the castle for merely speaking to him. Today was thankfully a Sunday so he could start planning on what he could do to help the boy who suddenly no longer lived.

Unfortunately, the day was not going to give Severus a break.

As soon as Severus was dressed and feeling semi-ready to face eating breakfast in the great hall before all the brats trooped down to Hogsmeade later, he stepped out of his bedroom and into the living room only to find he wasn't alone.

Sitting in front of the fire in all of his transparent glory was Lily's son. Surprise and shock colored Severus briefly, before pulling himself back under control.

"Good Morning little one, where are the Grey Lady and the Baron?" Severus said in a hopefully calm and welcoming tone, he didn't want to scare the poor abused child.

Harry seemed to take a moment to pause and think with a stillness that only the dead could do, before shrugging his shoulders. The action made Severus' eye twitch in annoyance but he controlled his urge to correct the child.

"Did you run off little one? They will be quite worried about you disappearing I would think." Severus said in a gentle disapproving tone which just made Harry frown.

Harry's lack of speaking made Severus concerned. He wasn't sure if he was silent due to selective mutism and the trauma and abuse he endured, or if something that had physically happened to the boy to prevent him from talking. Normally wounds endured during their death didn't impede any spirit who became a ghost, but maybe Harry was different. Somehow it wouldn't surprise Severus.

"Harry, can you speak?" Severus decided blunt was the only way he was going to get any answers. Harry tilted his head in a way that Severus would almost call adorable, not that he would ever say as such out loud. Harry finally shook his head in a negative reply making Severus frown.

"Have you ever spoken Harry?" Severus decided to try.

Harry shrugged, which was not helpful in the slightest for Severus.

Before Severus could ask Harry any more questions there was a knock on his front door. The sound startled Harry into disappearing which just made Severus all the more irritated with whoever was at his door. Stalking over to the door, Severus swung it open with force and a scowl on his face only to find Dumbledore smiling cheerily standing in the middle of the hall, acting as if his boy hero hadn't been brutally murdered a few days prior.

"Headmaster, what do you want so early in the morning?" Severus bit out.

"My dear boy! It is nearly 9 am when you hadn't shown up to the great hall for breakfast this morning, I confess I found myself worried. I know Minerva was in rough shape this morning as well so I thought I would come to check on you." Dumbledore insisted in an annoyingly perky tone. Severus also didn't believe him at all, not that he would say that to Dumbledore's face, he was a Slytherin and had some self-preservation left for himself to use.

"Well as you can see I did not asphyxiate on my own vomit during the night, once you leave me alone to have my morning coffee I will be perfectly fine," Severus grumbled out through his tightly clenched teeth. Repeating the mantra of 'Do not punch your boss' in hopes to keep control of his emotions.

Thankfully not all the Gods seem to hate Severus that morning, before Dumbledore could open his mouth to say anything else a cat Patronus from Minerva stopped in between the two men.

"Headmaster, several Aurors are here at the gates to speak with you. Immediately." Minerva always had a gift for speaking in clipped tones that brokered no compromise and demanded attention without having to raise her tone even the slightest. Severus envied her abilities in wrangling children and demented headmasters with so little effort, it was truly an artist's work.

"Ah, it seems I must excuse myself, Severus. I will see you at lunch." Dumbledore said with a tight nod before making his way out of the dungeons to face a hungover Minerva and Aurors. Severus had to admire Dumbles for not quaking in fear even a little bit. Severus would rather face Voldemort than see the Transfiguration mistress hungover and without any caffeine. Just the thought sent shivers up Severus' spine.

As soon as Severus closed the door to his chambers, he saw Harry reappear in the living room, this time standing in front of Severus' favorite chair on the far side of the fireplace. Severus had this feeling that Harry would be haunting his quarters for the foreseeable future. Summoning his Patronus, Severus sent the doe off to find Helena so he could get some proper explanations as to how she and the Baron managed to lose sight of the 7-year-old so quickly.

It was going to be a long day.

*MD*

Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and Auror Dennis Smithly were put as leads on the Potter case, but with it becoming such a high-profile murder investigation, they had to select at least three others to aide them in the investigation and to keep the media at bay. Thankfully due to Shacklebolt's reputation as a competent auror they got to select their own team which made them both grateful. Nothing is worse than being assigned assistance that hasn't been vetted properly for competence on an investigation.

"What about Aurors Vane and Bell? They have been on the force for a couple of years now and have a good reputation." Auror Smithly suggested, sitting slouched behind his desk.

"If we include Auror Vane then the entire Potter case will be front page on the Daily Prophet but Auror Bell would be good. He has good field experience in the muggle world that might come in handy." Kingsley nodded, jotting down Damien Bell's name on some paperwork to get him transferred to their caseload.

"Auror Vane has gotten better since the scandal with the Moon's but I see your point." Smithly nodded but sighed heavily, "This case is going to be an ugly one so I hesitate to include any rookie Aurors but I think we should add Auror Gore to the case."

"Hmm, I can see what you mean, even as a rookie Auror Gore is very steady in her line of work. Not surprising with her lineage, but we will add her on a trial basis." Kingsley said as wrote down Venusia Gore on another request form. New eyes and ears would be welcome on the case. "I am also thinking Auror Robards, he has slowly risen in the ranks and this could be the kind of case he needs to prove himself competent enough for the promotion he has been looking for."

"As long as he doesn't get too cocky working with the others, he does some pretty decent work," Smithly said with a smirk but nodded.

"As soon as they get transferred over to us, we need to meet up and discuss the details of the case, give a debrief of what we have accomplished so far and our plan of action. We should probably go over and question the Hogwart's staff first since they were the ones to raise the alarm." Kingsley said, mostly musing aloud but Smithly nodded in agreement anyway before putting in his own two cents.

"We should wait till the others have been transferred over to us and we can all go to do the interviews at Hogwarts. It'll go faster that way."

"Good point. I will send off these request forms for Aurors Bell, Gore, and Robards if you'll send a note to Minerva to expect us tomorrow at the latest."

Kingsley knew that even with the extra help on this case he would not be sleeping much or at all until everything was finished with the Potter case.

*MD*

Unfortunately, even with all the precautions taken when the Aurors interviewed the Hogwart's staff, the news of Harry Potter's gruesome death was plastered across the front pages of the Daily Prophet.

THE BOY WHO LIVED NO MORE

By: Rita Skeeter

It is a sad day indeed my readers. Yesterday I was sent news from anonymous sources that the Aurors were at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to conduct interviews with the staff due to the death of one Harry James Potter on March, 16th, 1988. I have to confess myself shocked! How could have the boy who lived despite the killing curse cast on him from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself have died? Well, readers, I am sorry to write that the infamous Harry Potter's death was quite gruesome indeed and at the hand of muggles nonetheless!

That's right, Harry Potter, age 7, was murdered by his muggle relatives Petunia Dursely nee Evans, age 29, sister to Lillian Potter, and Vernon Dursely, age 33, husband of Petunia, murdered Harry Potter via strangulation on the evening of March 16th. I have not received any other information on the case except for one very important detail.

The afternoon of March 19th was when Hogwart's staff alerted the Aurors to the death of Harry Potter. How did they know? Harry Potter's ghost manifested within the halls of Hogwarts School. That is right readers, the-boy-who-lived-to-die is now a ghost.

I will be publishing more as more news surrounding the mysterious murder of Harry Potter comes forward. For now, we are left with these questions:

Why was Harry Potter living with Muggles?

Are more muggle-raised students at risk of being hurt or killed by their families?

Why is Harry Potter now stuck as a ghost and will he be able to pass on to the next life?

For More Information on Harry Potter go to page 3

For More Information on Ghosts and Ghost, Lore go to page 7