the Treehouse

by FMPtrumpets

Harry didn't like it. Sirius was going on the run again, living in horrible conditions, because the one person who can help him... won't. Luckily the Weasley boys have a solution.

2. Chapter 2

"Auror Johnson!" Harry exclaimed, surprised to see him there. "Are you our shadow for the Cup?" He knew Amelia would be sending one of her Aurors to 'escort' Sirius, since he was still a wanted fugitive and all that, despite her investigations otherwise.

"I'm Sirius' shadow for everywhere." Grey snorted, reminding the boy. Sirius had taken full advantage of having an Auror escort and his disguise from Gringotts to take Harry out across England and even over to France a couple of times. Each time, Grey met them at the Burrow and transformed before going along with them.

Harry grinned and shrugged.

"Did Madam Bones tell you about the Dursleys?" Grey asked. Harry's beam was all the answer he needed. "I can tell how you feel about it." He snorted.

"I didn't know how to feel, I mean... but Sirius and Mr. Weasley talked to me, they said it was alright. But the way they treated me wasn't right, so they were going to pay for it. They brought it on themselves." Harry said honestly. And it was true, he'd not been sure how to feel about his relatives being in prison for how they treated him growing up. Sirius and Arthur had made sure he didn't feel conflicted for long.

"Good." Grey nodded and went to greet the Weasleys. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Molly?" He asked, concerned that the mother of seven was just going to stay behind.

"I'm sure. I can get some things done around here, and have some time to myself for once." She smiled at the Auror. She was actually looking forward to the next few days on her own. She was sure that she would be wishing for her family to come back by noon tomorrow, but she was a mother of seven. She hadn't had a day to herself since the day Bill was born over twenty years ago.

Even after Ginny started Hogwarts she still had stuff to do for her family, fall was harvest season, and without any of her kids there to help with that, she was busier with it then ever. After the fruits, vegetables, and potion ingredients were picked, she had to take some of them to town to sell, and others she canned or made into jams or otherwise stored away. After the harvest was picked, she had to prepare her garden for winter. Then there was taking care of the house and the animals. And she still had Arthur to keep fed when he came home from long days of work.

In the middle of summer, though? With an empty house for four days? She was going to take some time for herself.

Well, after she went to Diagon and made use of some of the returned Dowry to get some of the things she and Arthur had talked about taken care of. He wanted to get a construction crew out to take care of some maintenance issues on the Burrow that they hadn't been able to do themselves or afford, and he wanted to get the wards redone. She wanted to get her children some new clothes for once, and the Hogwarts letters should come in while her family was gone.

Other than that, though, she had a few books she'd been wanting to read but never had time.

"Boys! It's almost time to go!" She turned and called up the stairs, rolling her eyes at the sudden stampede of feet.

"You have the tent?" Arthur asked Sirius, coming into the kitchen to put his bag on the table before he started going through it again.

"Yes." Sirius assured him. He'd used one of his trips to Diagon to get a proper tent for them to use, it was better then the one Arthur had managed to borrow, he'd also taken care of getting more supplies for them since Arthur had originally only packed enough for the one night.

"Outside the tent, I am going to go in my Animagus form, although I would like to be human when in the tent." Grey admitted. Going all four to five days in Animagus form would be a pain, he had a lot more respect for Sirius just for how much time he'd spent as a dog over the years. He admitted to having spent more time as a dog then he did as a man while in prison, after all. It took a lot of power to transform, and for it to happen while in Azkaban was even more impressive.

The Dementors presence had an effect on a wizard, both mentally and magically. In addition to that, the wards around Azkaban prison were supposed to dampen all magic use, except for the human guards who carried a special amulet that negated that aspect of the wards. The fact that Sirius was able to transform was amazing. He was either just that determined and desperate, or the wards needed to be checked and redone.

"That's fine." Arthur smiled at him. They'd gotten to know Grey in the last week, and liked the man.

"Hi, Auror Johnson." Most of the boys greeted him when they came in, along with Hermione and Ginny. Hermione had spent at least an hour grilling him on being an Auror when she first met him, much to his amusement and slight annoyance. He bore it, though.

"Hello. You all looking forward to the game?" He asked, smiling at the teens.

"Yeah!" The boys burst out, while Hermione rolled her eyes at their enthusiasm, but she was looking forward to it, too. Ginny was just less vocal about her own enthusiasm.

At this point, Hermione was looking forward to the pre-game activities more then she was the game itself. There was going to be a huge international crowd, so she was expecting there to be some booths or something set up that she could investigate, while the boys were looking forward to some of the competitions and school-age activities.

There were supposed to be races and face-offs for each of the positions, sponsored by the broom companies. The Weasley boys were fully expecting Harry to dominate the Seeker battle, and the Twins would for sure put in a good showing at the Beaters Beat-off if not dominate it themselves.

Harry himself was expecting to put in a good showing, but he wasn't expecting to do that good against Seekers from around the world.

"I have the Port-key for your group." Grey finally said, having been given it by Amelia since they'd changed their plans last minute and were going a few days early.

He was just glad Sirius had pointed out how stupid it was to keep the Muggles who ran the camping sites around, and when he mentioned it to Amelia, she'd agreed and the Muggles had instead been sent on three week vacations to a nice location of their choice on the Ministry's Galleon (along with compulsions to make them agree to it) while the camping grounds were now being manned by Auror trainees. As far as the Muggles were concerned right now, their grounds were being overseen by last minute hires to take care of things while they were gone. They would naturally still get their money for their land being used.

He didn't even want to think about how often some of the Muggles would have needed to be Obliviated considering how little most of the European Purebloods knew about Muggles. He knew that all of them had already needed at least two Obliviates once the British crowd started pouring into the campsites. And with all those Wizards together, it was going to be difficult to keep some of them from being stupid and having a bit of 'fun' with the only Muggles in several miles.

This way, if somebody did get stupid, at least the (relatively) defenseless Muggles wouldn't be caught in the middle of it.

"Great! Are we all ready?" He asked his sons, looking around at them.

"Yeah, dad."

"Yes."

"I can't find my sweater."

"It's in the living room, dear." Molly sent her daughter off, shaking her head. Ginny was forever leaving something in the living room and then forgetting where she left it.

"Everybody has their spending money?" Arthur made sure. He and Sirius had conspired to give the teens enough spending money to get what they wanted and really enjoy themselves. If they were smart with their money, they would still have enough left over for Hogsmeade weekends. Bill and Charlie had jobs, they could spend their own money.

A chorus of 'yes' sounded in the room as a couple of them double checked.

"Alright, everybody outside for the portkey." Arthur ordered, and waited for the group to get outside with their bags in hand. "I'll see you in a few days." He said, and kissed his wife before following their kids.

"You lot be careful!" She shouted at them from the door, watching them go.

"We will!" Most of her kids called before being whisked away from her by the portkey.

---

"Seekers! Line up right here!" Harry turned when they were called and walked to where they were told to go. Ginny grinned beside him and followed. Harry hadn't even known she played.

He was looking forward to seeing how he did in the Seeker battle. According to the flyer, the winner got a signed (by both the Irish and Bulgarian teams) Nimbus 2001, a hundred Galleons, and a training session with both the Bulgarian and Irish team Seekers. Second prize was fifty Galleons and new Seeker gear, while third prize was just twenty-five Galleons. All the competitors who participated would get a bag with free Quidditch paraphernalia with the Nimbus logo (broom care items and the like), no matter how well they did, and everybody who caught a Snitch would get to keep it as it would be useless in a competition setting after being touched by bare hands. So they at least got a free practice Snitch out of it.

Harry hoped to at least make it to the last round, however that would look. Everybody else was sure he was going to dominate the competition.

"Alright, I am Chris Robins, the representative from Nimbus Broom Company. To make things fair, you are all being given a Nimbus 2000 to ride for this, you were all given a copy of the rules for this race, but I am going to go over them again. All legal international Quidditch moves are allowed here, so if it is illegal, don't do it!" He glanced around at the teenagers standing around him and listed off some of the rules that those who didn't play on an official team might not know. "We have three referee's here to make sure you behave yourselves. Any infraction of the rules will result in immediate disqualification. There will be four rounds, first round we will release thirty Snitches, in order to progress you have to catch one, and only one." That would knock at least twenty people out of the competition.

"Once you have caught it, land and show it to one of our staff here." He pointed to the people beside him. "They will get your name and then go sit over there to wait for the next round to be announced. There will be no sabotage of the other players. Unlike in a game, we ask that you not make any feints to trick the other competitors." He added. "And keep vigilant so that you do not crash into anybody." It was a good thing this stadium was so big, and that there weren't more teenagers out here, or they wouldn't be able to do this safely. Nobody would have room to fly.

"On my whistle, we will begin. Get in the air!" He called, and watched as each teenager scrambled to take one of the offered brooms and get in the air. Once they were in the air, he gave them a few minutes to fly around and get a feel for the broom (for those who had never ridden a Nimbus 2000 before) before he signaled for the Snitches to be released, then called. "Snitches released! Go in three... two... Tweeeet!" All thirty Snitches were let go before he blew his whistle, and the teens switched from flying aimlessly to hunting through the skies as soon as they heard the blast.

Harry was in heaven. After a few minutes to get used to the slower broom after riding a Firebolt for the last few months, he was pushing the broom to its limits.

Spotting a glint of gold, he shot off with a small cheer, and heard cheering from the stands that sounded like his friends and Sirius. Movement from his left let him know that he wasn't the only one who'd seen it, there was another flier coming alongside him from the left.

Growling slightly, he gritted his teeth and pushed the broom harder, pulling ahead of the other Seeker, angling slightly downward in anticipation of the Snitches escape route. If it went up instead, he could still follow it just fine, and the extra few seconds wouldn't even cost too much with the slight lead he had. He grinned viciously when the Snitch went down as expected, and he followed it. He could tell when the other player pulled out of the dive, but he kept going. Getting closer, he reached out and snatched the Snitch, just in time to pull up and let his feet skim the grass of the pitch. He grinned and landed near the official, who was staring at him in shock.

The stadium was dead silent except for his friends, glancing around in confusion, he turned bright red when he saw that everybody, even the other flyers had stopped to watch him. Some had fear, others had shock and awe on their faces.

Nobody saw the figure standing in the tunnel that led to the team's tents and locker rooms, watching with a smirk.

"Are you alright?" The official finally asked him, looking him over.

"Yeah." Harry said with a breathless grin, still full of adrenaline from that dive. "I still had room." He presented the Snitch to her. And he did, he could have still kept going a little further, he'd done it before. That was what knee pads were for, (even though Seekers didn't usually wear padding on anything but their torso).

There was some murmuring from everybody nearby, but nobody commented. Slowly, the other fliers went back to hunting for their Snitches, although none of them got nearly as crazy as Harry did. It probably helped that Harry was the first one to get a Snitch. It didn't take long, though, for other fliers to land with a Snitch.

"That was insane. I thought they were going to have to scrape you off the pitch." One of the girls told Harry, looking windswept and shaking her head in disbelief.

"That? No, I've pulled up with less space then that." Harry shook his head with a grin.

"You are the craziest Seeker I have ever seen." Somebody else told him in disbelief. Harry just chuckled and turned to watch Ginny.

"Alright!" Robins called after another hour and the last Snitch had been caught. "For those that did not catch a Snitch, thank you for coming out today and participating. My assistant has gift bags for you to take home with you, see her before you leave the field. You are welcome to watch from the stands, but we ask that you not stay down here." He spoke to the disappointed crowd, who dejectedly handed their brooms over, took their consolation bags, and either joined their parents or friends in the stands, or just plain left. Harry was disappointed to see that Ginny was one of them. "For you thirty, congratulations on advancing to the next round! New rule, no crazy dives that make us fear for your life." He said this looking straight at Harry, to the amusement of everybody else and Harry's embarrassment.

"Take fifteen more minutes, get a drink of water and something to eat, and then we will begin." He promised them, knowing that the first ones to get a Snitch had roughly an hour to rest, and not wanting to just send the late finishers up without a chance to do the same. He waved his wand and a table appeared with some refreshments on it.

Fifteen minutes later, he came back. "Alright, for this round, we will release ten Snitches, again you must catch one, and only one. Same rules apply, again no crazy stunts." Harry got another look.

By this time, the figure in the tunnel was joined by another, who was quickly filled in on the crazy flier. They both watched with interest.

"Up in the air!" He called. "Release the Snitches." He nodded to his assistant, who opened the box, and ten Snitches came flying out. "On my whistle!" He called to the fliers, who had again scattered and flew lazily around while waiting for it. Only a few of them tried to watch the Snitches as they were released, the rest wanted the thrill of the hunt. Tweeeet!

This time, Harry took his time a little more, and let a few Snitches be captured before he went after the one he'd been tracking for the last fifteen minutes. He relished the dive, but didn't have to chase it as far this time, to the relief of the referee's and officials.

"Thank you." The official on the ground said quietly, and gave him a look. He just grinned and swept his hair out of his eyes and got something to drink from the refreshments table that was still there while he watched the rest of the fliers.

Maybe it was just that there were less Snitches to catch, or maybe it was that the ones who were left were the better Seekers, but it didn't take as long as the first round.

"Alright, thank you for coming out, and congratulations on making it past the first round. If you could collect your bags, please." Robins told the dejected twenty that didn't get a Snitch. "Congratulations for the final ten!" He grinned widely at the ten remaining contestants. "For the third round, we will release three Snitches. The three fliers to catch one will compete against each other in the final round." There was a small cheer from the crowd. "There is a minor rule change for the last two rounds. Now that there are so few of you left, you can perform all the feints you want. In the air!" He didn't give them a long time to rest this time, they'd all had some rest time and the first round had taken longer then they expected, so they had to keep moving.

It wasn't safe to allow feints and tricks when there were over fifty fliers in one area, or even thirty. With only ten left, it was perfectly safe now.

Harry didn't mess around this time, he wanted to at least get to the final round. He found a Snitch, and he went after it. Weaving in between fliers and referee's, he was focused on the Snitch in his sights, barely noticing when two more people joined the chase, only noticing when his hand closed around the Snitch moments before two other hands scrabbled along the back of his gloves.

"That's one caught!" Robins called from his spot in the middle of the field. "Congratulations." He said quietly to Harry when he landed nearby. His announcement spurred the other nine remaining fliers to greater heights in their search. Harry saw at least three feints within the span of a few minutes, to his amazement. He saw a few that he'd never seen before and would like to try some time.

He clapped politely when the second Snitch was caught after one such feint.

"Two Snitches caught!" Robins announced, watching the last eight fliers intently.

All flying was halted by the referee's sudden whistle blasts as two referee's each converged on a different flyer and forced them to land. "Illegal moves, holding a broom by the tail, and deliberately attempting to knock another player out of the sky." The refs announced grimly after conferring among themselves for a moment. The last ref flew up to the two flyers that were fouled and spoke to them quietly for a moment. In the case of the one whose broom was grabbed, he was given a new one after several twigs were discovered to be severely bent out of place.

"Resume!" Robins called once the flyer was back in the air, shaking his head. They had been doing so well, two rounds and not one illegal move, even when there was a greater chance of getting away with it with so many people there.

Harry cheered and clapped for nobody in particular when a six way race started as it seemed they all spotted the last Snitch at the same time. The girl next to him cheered right along with him, both enjoying the race.

"And the third Snitch is... CAUGHT!" Robins bellowed, clapping for all the flyers as they sorted themselves out so that they didn't crash into each other. "Our three finalists are, Harry Potter of Britain! Ellen Carter of the MACUSA, and Dimitri Denisovich of Russia." The bulky Russian landed, and nodded in greeting to the other two, who nodded back. The crowd in the stands, made up of friends and family of the competitors and the others that didn't make it this far in the competition, cheered for the finalists.

"Now, this round is going to be a little different. We are releasing twenty Snitches. Whoever catches the most in a thirty minute period, wins. Whoever catches the second amount, gets second prize, and the least, third prize. Do you understand?" He spoke with the three still on the field with him. All three nodded, determined. "In the air." He said, and waited a few minutes while they flew around before signaling for the release of twenty small, golden, fast moving balls. Naturally, he didn't see any of them past the initial release, but he could tell that the three Seekers in the air could, as three were caught almost immediately, one by each player.

For this round, each player was being followed by a referee, who made sure that nothing untoward was happening and kept count.

"Ten!" Robins started counting down a half hour later. "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! Tweeeet!" The whistle blew, and the flyers stopped and started drifting to the ground, a couple of them out of breath, and all grinning wildly.

"Potter!" Robins started listing off, pointing to the ref assigned to each player to get the count.

"Nine." Carter immediately groaned while Denisovich slumped in disappointment.

"Carter!"

"Four."

"Denisovich!"

"Six." Carter slumped over, not at all happy with herself for coming in third, but she supposed that third out of over fifty wasn't too bad.

Robins looked at his assistant, who immediately summoned the last Snitch. "Harry Potter wins the Seeker battle!" Robins boomed, to Harry's complete shock. His friends burst into cheers and whistles, especially Sirius.

The two in the tunnel gave each other a knowing look, the first having known who the winner would be as soon as he saw that insane dive, and the other seeing enough during the other rounds to have a very good guess. They were looking forward to the training session they'd agreed to give, now.

"Good flying." Harry snapped out of it long enough to shake hands with his competitors, and then they were all arranged for the photographer before Robins started presenting the awards. The signed broom was handed over with care, and they all received money pouches, Harry got a hundred Galleons, Denisovich got fifty, and Carter got twenty-five. They accepted their participation bags, and they each got a medallion. More pictures were taken, and just like that, it was over.

"Wait right over there, and you can get a copy of the photo." Robins told them all, and drew Harry aside. "The private sessions with Lynch and Krum are going to be tomorrow, Lynch at ten a.m., and Krum at one p.m. They are only an hour long, so pay close attention. And may I just say that was some spectacular flying out there." He congratulated Harry again as Harry's friends started coming towards them.

"Hey! Way to go, I knew you could do it!" Ron yelled, excited for his friend. Hermione rolled her eyes at his exuberance, but agreed that there was never any doubt.

"That wasn't flying." Sirius said. "That was 'how to give your poor godfather a heart-attack 101'." He drew Harry in for a hug, anyway. "But I'm proud of you." He whispered in his ear.

"Good job." Ginny said, still a little down that she hadn't done better. She hadn't even made it past the first round, she'd expected to at least do that much, but nope. Maybe she would have more luck in the Chaser Trials the next day. That was her preferred position, anyway.

"Hey, you flew well." Harry said, not wanting her to be too depressed over it. "Finding the Snitch is partially luck as much as it is skill." He knew from experience, the Snitch could be in plain view, but if you weren't looking in that direction, chances were that you weren't going to see it before it vanished again. It could even be right on top of you, like it was with Malfoy in second year, and you could still miss it. Ginny frowned, but brightened up a little. Harry quirked a grin at her and gave her two of his Snitches so she had something to practice with. He didn't need twelve Snitches, after all.

"Come on, Arthur's group is already back at the tents." Sirius said, having been talking to the Weasley patriarch through communication mirrors while Arthur and the three oldest cheered Fred and George on at the Beat-off, which sadly had been in a different location and started at the same time as the Battle.

"Wait, we have to get his pictures." Hermione dragged them toward the photographers table, where he'd set up a make-shift dark room area. After he was done developing them, it only took a few minutes with magic, they were presented to the three in a nice frame and they were free to go.

---

"Lucky Grey, getting to go to the World Cup while we have to sift through all this." Somebody grumbled amid the rustling of parchments.

"He's not there to watch, he's on guard duty."

"Doesn't mean he's not lucky for getting out of this."

The investigation and trial into the Dursley's may have been over, but they still had a lot of work to do to make sure Harry was protected from manipulative old men. The health report and scans from Gringotts were only more nails in the coffin, now they just had to make the coffin airtight so he couldn't find some hole to slither out of.

---

Albus growled in frustration when yet another spell failed.

He'd been trying to get out of his rooms for the last week, to no avail.

He'd tried calling Fawkes, he tried Apparating out, he tried making a Port-key, he tried summoning a broom from the window, he even tried calling a House-elf! The broom never came, Fawkes never showed a single feather, not a single House-elf showed up, and the Port-key fizzled out. The wards, which he had specifically set so that he could come and go as he pleased, wouldn't let him Apparate out. And no owl delivered a newspaper for him to use for getting a letter to somebody.

He had no idea what was going on outside of his bedroom. The only consolation, he supposed, was that he was at least being fed three times a day and his laundry was being done. But the elf never showed himself, never said anything, and more importantly: Didn't try to help get him out of his room!

He had things to do, he needed to get out of here.

Because he was trapped in his bedrooms with no way out, he never realized that his office was searched by Goblins. They found his secret hiding places, and everything he'd purloined over the years from various families, including the Potters, Longbottoms, Princes, etc. They found the stacks of old paperwork that he'd never completed, including the true budget forms that he never showed the Board. They found the objects he had monitoring Harry Potter and Tom Riddle. He didn't know that they had examined Fawkes and found the Binding he'd placed on the Phoenix, releasing the bird from the Headmaster's control. Fawkes returned to his nest in the Founder's Quarters, back to being the School's Guardian, as he had been for centuries. He didn't know that they had placed a guard outside his door so that the moment the wards were lifted, he could be taken into custody.

---

"Hey, guys, how did you do?" Harry asked, entering their tent, laughing at something Ron had just said. Grey flew off Sirius' shoulder and turned human again, giving Harry a congratulatory clap on the shoulder.

"We got second." Fred shrugged. Interestingly enough, all three finalist pairs were Twins, much to their pleasure.

"The first place pair were..."

"... A set of Twins from Canada." They'd honestly done better then they thought they would, which pleased them to no end.

"That's great! Second is still really good." Hermione commented. Especially when you considered that these competitions were open to everybody at the campgrounds for the game, which included a lot of international visitors. Actually, come to think of it, there were less participating in the Seekers Battle than she'd thought there would be...

"What were the prizes for you again?" Sirius asked.

"First place got signed Beaters Bats from the Bulgarian and Irish teams, a hundred Galleons prize each, and a training session with the Irish and Bulgarian Beaters."

"Second place, us, got fifty Galleons each and a signed shirt."

"Third place just got twenty-five Galleons each." The Twins said, and Fred held up his shirt. It was the same one George got, it was only signed by the Beaters, not the entire team. And, of course, they got the same participation bags as the Seekers got.

"Cool." Harry said, grinning.

"Anyway-"

"Congratulations on winning!" The Twins said together. They watched the last round through the mirror, one of the perks of finishing first.

"Thanks." Harry said, turning bright red.

"Oh! The cultural fair starts soon." Hermione said, looking up hopefully. In fact, the cultural fair was the reason they'd had to kind of rush through the last bit of the Seekers Battle a little, and the reason why the Beat-off had to be moved somewhere else and the time changed. They had to clear the field so they could set up the booths. It wouldn't take long to do with magic, but they still needed time.

"Yes, we can go." Arthur said, amused. "Why don't you boys go put your things away, make sure it's secure." Arthur cautioned them. Sirius had gotten a tent with good security systems in place, but it still couldn't hurt to be cautious. He didn't want their prizes stolen, although he thought the broom was more likely to be stolen then the shirts.

"Yes, dad/Mr. Weasley." The boys said, and ran off to their bunks. Hermione was already reading the events brochure, trying to decide what she wanted to go see first. The fair was cut up into sections, with booths and market stalls in each area. Each section represented a continent, and each section was further divided into the different countries of that region.

She immediately dismissed France or anywhere else in Europe as her first choices, she'd been to France often enough and from what she'd read the rest of Europe wasn't too dissimilar from Magical Britain so the rest of the group probably wouldn't be as interested, either.

"Hey, don't worry about this." Sirius pulled the booklet out of her hands. "We'll get to see all the interesting things, trust me." He winked conspiratorially. He knew where he wanted to take the teens first, and then they would get to see all the booths. They weren't under any time constraints, so they could afford to just wander around without a real plan. It was barely noon and the fair didn't close until 3 AM. He would make sure they enjoyed themselves.

---

"Did you have fun today?" Sirius asked Harry quietly, sitting outside by the campfire after the Weasley's had already gone to bed.

True to his word, they'd visited every area of the fair, although they spent more time in the other 'continents' then they did the booths for Europe. Hermione had been fascinated by the Asian culture, and Bill had thankfully been able to answer most of the questions about Africa that the people manning the booth had been too busy with other patrons to deal with. He was sure that souvenirs had been bought from most, if not all, of the booths.

Percy had looked slightly tired, but pleased when he saw how well-received the fair was. His department had been working over time ever since he suggested it (after Sirius mentioned something about similar events he'd attended in the past). There had initially been some push back over it, mostly from Fudge and his people, but the foreign dignitaries had liked the idea and quickly had something put together to present along with vendors to sell their wares. Either way, he'd gotten quite a bit of praise (in between being cursed at for causing so much extra work so late in the game) for the idea.

While the Quidditch competitions for the students had always been part of the plan, there wasn't anything else planned. The entire World Cup event would have been the game, and the competitions that only the teens and their parents would be interested in, and that was it. There wasn't even a 'kid-zone' for the younger children to play and explore. While it was true that Quidditch games could go on for days, weeks even, that was no guarantee. People came from all over the world for this game, and some people camped out here for weeks, waiting for it to start. There was every chance the game would end quickly, people would expect that the event as a whole would be worth all that time, money, and distance traveled.

As it was, it was somewhat of a joke. The cultural fair minimized that somewhat, but he didn't think Magical Britain would be able to host another World Cup for quite some time after how lackluster this one was turning out to be in the lead up.

Sirius thought that they'd done a nice job on the fair, though, for something that was thrown together so quickly. He wondered how much better it could have been with a bit more planning and time.

"Yeah. The Battle was great, and I liked the fair. I never really thought about the rest of the world until today. I think I want to do some travelling after Hogwarts." Harry decided. He didn't know what he wanted to do for a career, although right now being an Auror sounded pretty good, but he knew for certain that he wanted to travel now before settling down into that career.

Sirius smiled sadly, thinking about how limited Harry's life had been so far. "We don't have to wait until after Hogwarts." He suggested. "We can go somewhere for the Yule holidays, and maybe over the summer." He said, already mentally planning the trip. Hopefully his legal issues would be taken care of by then and he wouldn't have to make any concessions with Amelia to be able to go, no need to get Arthur in trouble, but he didn't see why not. Amelia was very good at her job, and his memories clearly showed that he was innocent. He expected everything to be cleared up by the time the school holidays rolled around.

Unfortunately, Amelia would have to get past the Minister, who was an idiot in the highest degree and kicked up a fit if everything wasn't run by him first. Especially if it might affect his public approval ratings.

"Really?" Harry lit up. That would be amazing, he was always jealous, listening to everyone else talk about where they vacationed that year. Even watching the Dursleys' come and go from their vacations, but then the Dursleys deliberately rubbed it in his face that he couldn't go.

"Of course." Sirius promised with a wide grin. "Oomph." He grunted when his arms were suddenly full of his godson. He smiled softly at the first hug initiated by the teen.

"Thank you." Harry said quietly into his godfather's chest.

"Not a problem, pup." Sirius murmured. "Now, off to bed. We got to get up in the morning to cheer Ginny on." The Chaser Trials were supposed to start really early, which made sense when you considered that the teams needed the pitch for last minute practice that afternoon. And after that, Harry had his sessions with Lynch and Krum. He also knew that the teens were planning on exploring some more. The day after, was the game.

Harry grinned, said good-night, and went back inside the tent.

"He's a good kid." Grey said, coming out to sit by him.

"Yes, he is." Sirius smiled sadly. "I wish I'd been here earlier." He missed out on so much of Harry's life, all because of his own stupidity that night. If he hadn't lost his head, if he'd just taken Harry and run. To where, he didn't know, but if he'd just hung onto him instead of giving him to Hagrid. If he hadn't gone after Peter...

"There's no point in dwelling on the 'what-ifs', Sirius. You know that." Grey drew him out of his thoughts. "You're here now, that's what matters. We'll get your legal issues sorted out and you can give him a home again."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know, it's just..." He trailed off.

"Yeah. I know." Grey sighed. He knew all about that, he was an Auror, but it still wasn't good to dwell on them. "Have you thought about Remus Lupin yet?" He asked. He and Sirius had had many long talks, and one of the things they talked about was the fact that his last living friend had disappeared right back out of Harry's life.

"I sent him a letter. We'll see if he responds or writes to Harry." Sirius sighed. He wished he could say that he was surprised by the way Remus had just slunk back out of Harry's life. He even wished he could say that it was because of the scare that night when he transformed in front of Harry. Unfortunately, he knew better. Remus' ugly lack of self-worth was rearing it's head again, only this time he didn't have James and Sirius there to knock it back down again, hadn't had them there for over a decade. He would wait to see what Remus did now before going and dragging the wolf back, kicking and screaming if he had to.

He was not going to let Remus destroy any chance he had of getting to know his cub, and not just as teacher-student. He wasn't going to let Remus do that to himself or Harry. He wasn't going to let society dictate how Remus saw himself.

Grey just nodded and leaned back, staring into the fire.

---

Harry was woken abruptly by screaming. At first he thought that it was the celebrations, but then he heard it.

"Bombarda!"

"Incendio!"

"Crucio!"

"Kids! Get up! Get up now!" Sirius and Arthur burst into his and Ron's room, tossed them out of bed, yelled for them to get dressed, and rushed out to the other rooms.

"Wazzgoinon?" Ron mumbled.

"I don't know, but I heard spell-fire." Harry said, already moving to do as he was told, thankful that he'd packed away all his souvenirs and prizes already in the expanded bag Sirius had provided them all with.

Ron woke up immediately at his words, and joined him in hastily throwing something on over his pajamas, some shoes, and grabbing his own bag. Now that he was awake, he could hear it, too.

"What's happening?" Harry asked urgently when they left their room. Bill and Charlie were already up, jackets and shoes thrown on, standing at the door to the tent grimly, wands out.

"Somebody decided to have a bit of fun." Grey said grimly, still in uniform, coming over to the group of teens. "I'm sending you to a safe point while we go quell the riots and try to stop the attack." He held out the port-key. He would prefer if they all went, so he could deal with it, but the rest of the group were all adults and could make their own choices. He was, however, going to send away the students.

What he didn't tell them was that the rioters were wearing familiar garments. His eyes flickered to Hermione, though. As a Muggleborn girl, and friend to the Boy-Who-Lived, she was probably in the most danger out of the entire group, maybe even more then Harry.

"Wands out before you go. Stay together, look out for each other. I will come get you as soon as I can." Grey promised, and waited for them to pull their wands.

"My wand is gone!" Ron cried, frantically searching his pockets. Finally, he swallowed, and looked up at the group.

"Accio Ron Weasley's wand!" Grey cast quickly towards Ron's room, only no wand appeared. "Alright, we'll have to find it later, or get you a new one. Be careful." He cautioned before holding out the Port-key to the safe-zone he and Amelia had set up for his group just in case something like this happened. One could never be too careful with a group containing two high-profile targets.

"Oomph." Harry landed hard, and rolled over, looking around. The safe-zone seemed to be a tent, most likely heavily warded, in the middle of the forest if the view outside the flap was anything to go by. Wherever they were, they were far enough that Harry couldn't hear any more spell-fire or screaming.

"Who would just attack like that?" Hermione asked shakily.

"I don't know. It was probably just wizards who got drunk and decided to have some fun." Fred said, trying to sound reassuring. He didn't sound like he quite believed it himself, though.

"It's a good thing they sent the Muggles running the campsites on vacation." Ginny said quietly. The rest of the group became quiet after that, huddled together with the Twins looking out of the tent flap with the younger teens closer to the back of the tent. Harry had tried to protest this positioning, but the Twins planted themselves by the entrance and refused to move so that Harry could help them keep watch.

"What is that?" Fred eventually cried, shocked. The others rushed to the tent flap.

Hermione gasped sharply. "That's the Dark Mark! You-Know-Who's symbol." She'd seen it in a book, although the picture was small and the mention was kept brief, almost like the author had been reluctant to put it in there.

"Death Eater riots." George said grimly, exchanging a long look with his Twin. They may have been three at the time, but they remembered flashes of worry and fear lining their parents faces. That was all they remembered of that time. To have proof that the men who caused that were still out there had just slapped them all in the face.

"I hope the others are alright." Ron said lowly.

"According to what I've read, the Dark Mark was always cast when... When there's been some deaths." Hermione said quietly, looking at the others in fear.

Crack

The teens spun around and reflexively cast spells at the person that just Apparated into their tent with them, causing a yelp and a hasty shield. Grey blinked from behind the safety of his shield, and looked at them. "Sorry if I scared you." He said, "Good reflexes, though." He praised them.

"Auror Johnson! Is everybody alright?" He was immediately bombarded with questions about what happened.

"Woah! Everybody is just fine. Just some minor cuts and bruises. Bill and Charlie are already dealing with it." Grey lifted a hand to stop the barrage. "I'll take you back to the tent, and then I need to get back with my team." They'd been called off the investigation to help quell the uprising when he sent out the alert, and were now helping restore calm and helping people find their groups and families. So far there were twenty kids under the age of ten that had been separated from their parents, and several French Veela had turned up missing as well that they were having to look for.

Truthfully, he wasn't too optimistic about finding them.

"Who set off the Dark Mark?" Hermione asked before anything else could be said or done.

He looked at her, somehow not surprised that she knew what it was. "I'll let Arthur tell you about it." He said finally. "We need to get back." He would let Arthur return Ron's wand to him, as well. He didn't know how it had come to be at that scene, but he knew that it wasn't the elf that stole it. Judging by Crouch's reaction, though, the man knew how that wand really came to be there.

"Hermione." Harry nudged her when she went to ask more questions, and pushed her gently towards the Portkey the Auror was holding out for them to take.

One wild ride later, and Harry was tumbling into Sirius' arms before Sirius started inspecting his pup for injuries, not that he expected any.

"Are you alright?" Arthur was quietly inspecting his own children before both turned their attention to Hermione, who was a bit put out but understood that their own children were the priority, not the best friend.

"Yeah, we're fine. Nobody ever came close. We couldn't even hear anything from the campsite." The Twins informed their father. They only saw the Mark through the trees because it was really big, and really high in the sky. It was designed to be visible for miles around if needed, after all.

"Who set off the Dark Mark, though?" Ron asked, concerned. "Nobody died, did they? Hermione said-"

"Nobody died. As far as I know, there were only injuries and people separated from their groups." Arthur hurried to reassure his son. "In fact, once the Mark went up, the Death Eaters fled." Which baffled him, but then he'd always felt that most Death Eaters were cowards. Very skilled, perhaps, but cowards all the same.

(Their main targets most of the time were people who were, for the most part, defenseless against them. If that wasn't cowardice, he didn't know what was. Oh, sure, he knew Muggles weren't completely helpless, but there was only so much they could do against magic, especially when the attackers were in a large group.)

"But who set it off?" Hermione asked, relieved that nobody died. It must have just been a reminder or something.

"We don't know." Arthur admitted with a sigh. "The only living being that we could find underneath it was a House-elf, she had your wand." He handed it over to his son, who was relieved to have it back. He had felt very vulnerable without it while there was an attack going on.

"A House-elf?" Harry asked, confused. "Why would she-"

"We don't know." Arthur repeated. "Auror Johnson's best guess is that the elf was with somebody and they got away, leaving the elf behind for whatever reason. The problem is, the elf in question belonged to Barty Crouch, so..." He trailed off and shrugged.

"'Belonged'?" Harry caught the past-tense.

"He let her go. Sirius has already said that she can come work for him. He'll give her a few days, though, before he has her tracked down."

"He let her go? For what?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"My guess? For casting doubt on Crouch. For dragging his name through the mud again, for associating him with something like this again." Sirius shrugged.

"What?" Hermione burst out.

"Hermione, not now, please." Harry said tiredly, knowing that she was about to go on a tirade about something involving House-elves. Sirius and Arthur looked at him curiously, but all six who shared a Common Room with the bushy-haired witch shook their heads to tell the two men to drop it. The tired look on his face was enough to derail her for the time being.

"Anyway, we did manage to capture three of them, thanks to Sirius here." Arthur clapped the man on the back. Sirius was surprisingly quick with a wand even after all those years in Azkaban. He couldn't wait to see the man in action once he was recovered and back in fighting shape.

And with Amelia already on site, she should be able to interrogate them before Fudge could get involved and set them free for some stupid reason. Or because they lined his pockets with gold.

He couldn't wait to see how Fudge tried to spin this, in fact. (He had a feeling Sirius' name was going to come up more then once.)

"Anyway, you kids go and get some more sleep if you can. We'll leave in the morning once things have had a chance to calm down out there." Arthur instructed. There was no point in distracting those cleaning up the mess, investigating, or reuniting families and friends just because they wanted to leave right away. A quick glance at his older sons and Sirius showed that none of them had any intention of going back to bed, just like he didn't. "Percy, you too. Crouch will need you in the office in the morning, this just turned into a giant International Incident." Especially with the missing French Veela, who Amelia had already set up a team just to find.

Percy bit his lip, but nodded his agreement and went back to his bed, taking the sleeping draught Bill offered thankfully. Arthur had to urge the teens some more to get them to bed, though.

Harry didn't think that he would be able to sleep, not with all the thoughts running through his head, but he was dead to the world before his head ever hit the pillow.

---

"Oh, my goodness, are you alright?" Molly burst out of the door moments after they walked up the drive to the Burrow, rushing towards her family and their friends, a newspaper clutched in her hand. While Harry and Hermione were pulled out of the way by Sirius, the Twins were the first ones she reached, and she immediately hugged them around the neck while they tried to helplessly escape her clutches so they could breathe.

"Molly, dear. We're fine." Arthur pulled his wife off their sons before leading her back into the house. "Auror Johnson sent the kids off to a safe area he set up ahead of time, and called his team quickly. None of us were hurt." He didn't mention the cuts and bruises, Bill and Charlie had already healed it all up and there was no reason to worry her over nothing. Sirius scooped up the newspaper as they went past, wanting to know what was written.

Inside, Molly continued to fuss over her children, Harry, and Hermione while Arthur and Sirius started pouring over the newspaper.

"Not much in here, just bare facts. They mentioned the Dark Mark and that three were captured and put out an alert for the children that were separated from their parents in all the confusion." Arthur said in approval. It was very factual, which was good. He briefly wondered why Rita Skeeter hadn't gotten the story and added her usual twist to things, but put it out of his mind. He was just glad she hadn't, because he didn't want to know how she would have spun events of the night before.

"They haven't found the children yet?" Molly asked, concerned enough to be distracted from her fussing over her children. She hadn't gotten that far into the articles.

Arthur grimaced. "Last I heard, no. There were at least twenty children under ten, and at least fifty teens that were separated from their group. They set up a station for people to gather and find the rest of their groups, but I think they only found half of the children and teens when we left."

"It was very confusing. Everybody was running everywhere in a panic, I'm surprised more people weren't separated." Sirius sighed. He was sure there were plenty of adults separated from their groups, but the adults could use magic to find each other or apparate home and send a message to the rest of their group. The children... not so much.

"Don't worry, they will find the children. Amelia has four teams dedicated just to that, while the others investigate and determine the cost of damages." Arthur reassured his wife. "Speaking of, Percy, you should eat so you can get into the office. Claims for damaged property are going to start pouring in, to say the least." He told his son, who nodded, finished his food and left to get ready for work after kissing his mother on the cheek.

"Oh, do you two have to go in?" Molly fretted some more, not wanting to let any of her family out of her sight so soon after a scare like that.

"I'm afraid we will." Arthur sighed. "The Ministry will need everybody there to run damage control. And you know that my office is part of the DMLE, we're stretched thin as it is on a normal day." He finished his own food and left to get ready.

"You be careful." Molly warned the two of them before they left, fretting over them some more before her boys could leave.

After they were gone, Bill sighed. "I should go check in at the bank. I'm in charge of the warding team for the Burrow in a few days, and I need to check on the progress of something." He'd been asked to come in after the game, after giving the researchers time to get everything they could on Tom Riddle so they could find out if he had any other soul pieces out there and what he might have made them out of, and where he might have hidden them.

They were going to try and use the one they'd already found to hunt the rest of them down, though that might be difficult if they were under wards. Especially if they were under the wards of Hogwarts, or even the infamous Black Family wards.

"What? But- I thought this was your vacation time." Molly protested, upset.

"It is, don't worry. This is related to the cleansing ritual Harry had to go through. And I asked to be part of the warding team. I'll be back in an hour, maybe two." Bill promised his mother before he left with a kiss to her cheek.

"How did everything go in Diagon?" Sirius asked, trying to distract her. "Did you enjoy your time to yourself?" He'd arranged for her to visit the spa the day of the game itself, it was a surprise that he'd had sent via owl the day before.

"Oh, everything in Diagon went fine. Kids, your new school things are on your beds." She instructed her children, Harry and Hermione, who's parents had handed over the funds for their daughters school things that year since the booklists hadn't arrived by the time Arthur picked her up for the game. Sirius had left a money pouch for Harry, despite her protests. "Go start packing, and make sure everything fits." She sent them up with a small smile, especially at their confusion.

She'd enjoyed completely passing over the second-hand stores in order to buy all new clothing for her children, new equipment, and new books. Well, she'd still perused the used books. She'd found some true gems there over the years. Some people brought in boxes of old books to sell without realizing just what they were practically giving away. What was sad was that the bookstore owner didn't really know, either. Fortunately for her, her mother had been a truly avid reader. She knew a rare and valuable book when she saw it.

Her smile grew when she heard the exclamations from her boys and Ginny.

"I had a contractor come out and look at the house." She settled down to talk to Sirius. "He said that the only thing keeping this house standing is magic. We have stretched the space as far as we can with enlarging charms, and we've been shoring up problems for years with even more charms. But, as anybody knows, eventually the magic will wear out, or the materials will lose their ability to hold the magic." Sirius nodded. "Well, the charms have started to wear out faster over the years." She admitted grimly.

"What are your options?" He didn't want to have to see them lose their home. Odd looking or not, this was their home.

"He said that the way the Burrow is now, it would be cheaper and less time consuming to tear it down and completely rebuild. I was hoping to talk to Arthur when you returned, but I guess I will just have to wait. We have a few months yet before we need to reapply the charms, and before a decision needs to be made." To be honest, she loved her home. Despite everything, she'd worked hard to make this house their home. This was where she'd raised seven children. But... it would be nice to have a house that wasn't constantly threatening to fall down around them. And it seemed like the problems that kept cropping up were more and more numerous every time she turned around.

"No matter what you decide, I can provide somewhere for you to stay while the work is being done." Sirius promised. "I assume that you'll wait to start any work until the kids leave for school."

"Yes." She nodded.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry shuffled into the kitchen, looking confused. "Why do we need dress robes this year?" His letter had been sitting on top of the pile of clothes and other supplies she'd gotten him while he was at the game.

"There is a special event this year. I believe part of it includes a Yule Ball." She smiled. She was worried sick about that death-trap of a tournament. Relieved that none of her children could be part of it, and sorry for the parents of the Champions. But she knew that the kids would have a good time at the ball. In fact, she'd met up with Emma Granger and had a wonderful time shopping for suitable dress robes for Hermione with the Muggle woman.

Sirius made a face when she mentioned the special event, but didn't say anything else on the subject.

"A ball?" Harry asked, looking confused and worried about something. "Like, with dancing?"

Sirius almost burst out laughing at the look on his pups face. "Yes, with dancing. What's wrong?" He asked.

"I can't dance!" He exclaimed.

Sirius stifled his laughter while Molly hid her mouth behind her hand to hide her wide grin, especially at the look on Ron's face behind Harry. "I can teach you." Sirius promised the boys, who looked even more horrified if possible.

"Honestly, there is nothing wrong with dancing." Hermione huffed, coming into the room with a fond eyeroll. The boys turned their horrified looks on her before making their escape before anything else could be planned.

"Make sure you boys have your summer homework done!" Molly called after their retreating backs. She hadn't looked yet, and she knew that Percy had made Ron do at least some of it before Sirius even arrived, but she wasn't sure how much he already had done. She would check before the day before they left. If they didn't have it done by then, well. They had more then enough time to do it, and they would pay the consequences for their laziness. Her boys and Ginny all knew better then to leave such things to the last minute, although Ron had always been the worst one about it.

"Harry already has his done." Sirius huffed. "Apparently it served as a nice temporary distraction from worrying about me." He said dryly, shaking his head. He was the godfather, it was supposed to be the other way around, with him worrying about Harry. Not Harry worrying about him.

Molly patted him on the arm when she got up to get a fresh cup of tea, relaxing with the sounds of her family moving around upstairs, safe.

---

"Rita Skeeter." The door to her cell opened, to her relief. She'd been in this room, or been escorted back and forth to interrogation rooms, for weeks now. But the man standing in the door wasn't an Auror. (There was one behind him, though.)

"Barnabas! Thank goodness, when am I getting out of here?" She surged to her feet, confident that the Prophet wouldn't want to lose their top journalist. She could only imagine how far sales had dropped since she'd been in here.

"You're not." Her boss deadpanned. "Not only are you an unregistered Animagus, they are charging you with multiple counts of breaking and entering, trespassing, slander, endangerment, there is even talk of treason!" He informed her. "The Prophet cannot afford to defend you. Not the legal fees, not the drop in sales when word gets out. I'm sorry, Rita. I have no choice but to terminate your employment." He said grimly.

He'd had to fight Madam Bones to be able to tell her in person. He felt that it was the least he could do. Even so, he'd been searched thoroughly before being allowed in.

She sat down hard on the hard lump they called a mattress. "What?" She croaked after a moment. "You can't- you need me! You'll never sell another paper without me!" She surged to her feet again, angry now.

Barnabas scoffed. "We are the only major newspaper in the Magical United Kingdom. I think we can survive without one reporter." He said dryly. They'd survived just fine before she ever came along, after all. In fact, in looking back at past issues, he felt it safe to say that the quality of their reporting had dropped significantly since she came on board. He was just ashamed that he hadn't really noticed before now. But her sensational articles tended to severely overshadow the other reporters, especially the more factual ones that said it how it was and not one woman's opinion.

It was true, though, there were several smaller village papers dotted throughout the country and of course the scholarly journals and magazines like Witch Weekly. But the Daily Prophet was the only major, nationwide newspaper.

(He'd heard some foreigners scoff at this, saying that such a limited system could be so easily corrupted. He didn't see how, he didn't understand how people could be sure they were getting the truth with so many different sources of information. Surely it was better to only have the one?)

She was speechless, and could only stare at him in disbelief.

He looked at her again and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Rita." He said again and walked away, waiting at the end of the hall for his escort to take him back to the main level. Behind him, he could hear a screech and rage-filled yelling.

---

Minerva sat down heavily and drained her scotch glass in front of her.

She'd just finished going over the Hogwarts finances from the last fifty years with a fine-tooth comb, assisted by a Goblin and two of the Governors. She couldn't believe it.

The school was broke.

No, worse then that. They were in the negative.

They were so far in the negatives, that it was a miracle they'd been able to open their doors at all for the last decade. The tuition and other fees were barely enough to cover ensuring the students got fed, she didn't know where the money to pay the teachers salary and classroom equipment was going to come from.

In fact, she suspected that the only reason they were able to feed the students at all was because the House-elves helped Hagrid grow most of their food.

Severus managed to find a great deal of his needed ingredients for stocking the Hospital Wing in the Forest, from one of Hagrid's many pets, or Pomona grew a lot of them in the Greenhouses. Another saving grace.

She had no clue how they were going to pay for the Tournament that Albus had insisted on this year. If it weren't for the fact that all the contracts had been signed, concessions agreed to, and Ministries cooperation ensured, she would call the Tournament off right now. They didn't have the funds to cover the extra food for their guests, decorations and the band for the Ball, the equipment and safety measures for the tasks, none of it!

Not everything could be conjured you know!

But she couldn't. To do so now would be a political suicide run. The Ministry would never allow it.

Not that it would be an issue if she couldn't find the funds needed to keep the school open this year. No school, no Tournament.

No wonder Albus always claimed to never have any budget for new brooms for the first year flying class.

Why he refused to buy Mandrake Draught or the ingredients to make it during the Chamber of Secrets debacle. Why he insisted that they wait until the Mandrakes in the Greenhouses were ready.

Knock knock. "Bad time?" Severus asked, concerned from her doorway. He knew that she'd just come from a meeting going over the finances. From her posture and the half-drunk bottle beside her, he knew it was bad news.

"We're broke. Absolutely broke. So broke, that we are in debt. If we don't find at least ten thousand Galleons now, we won't be able to open our doors in a week." She said grimly, staring at him.

He stared at her, shocked. "What?" He finally asked.

She nodded with a bitter laugh. "I have no idea how we were able to stay open for so long. I have no idea how he's been paying us, how we've been able to get classroom equipment or have a class budget. The only reason the Hospital Wing has stayed stocked is because you find the ingredients you need or Pomona grows it. The only reason we've been able to feed the students is because Hagrid and the elves grow most of it. We're not going to be able to provide anything else outside of what we grow though. If we can open our doors next week." She shook her head in despair. "And don't even get me started on paying for his Tournament!"

He already had the Weird Sisters lined up to play for the Yule Ball!

Of all the bands to play for a ball!

Severus could only stand there for a second before he strode, determined, towards her fireplace, throwing a pinch of Floo powder into the flames. "Filius! Get over here now!" He barked, and repeated the process for Pomona.

"What's wrong?" Filius stepped through first. "I was just finishing my lesson plans." He looked at Minerva in concern, knowing by her appearance that it was nothing good.

Severus gently pried the glass out of Minerva's hand, he needed her clear-headed so they could find a solution, and filled them in on what little she'd already told him.

Filius and Pomona sat back in shock. "What did the Goblin say?" Pomona finally asked, looking at the other three with wide, worried eyes.

"That the investigation is ongoing, the Goblins are currently tracing all the accounts Albus was connected with or might have gotten his fingers into, and that they would recover what they could." Minerva sighed. "He wasn't too optimistic about us getting everything we need back. Not only has he stolen from Hogwarts through either outright theft, or extremely poor financial management, he's stolen from at least five families already that they've been able to trace. Once they find the money, there's no guarantee that there is any left. And what is left of his estate won't be enough to pay the money back, either. That's how much he has stolen. Unless every Knut he has taken over the years can be accounted for and has not been spent..." She shook her head.

Which was extremely unlikely. Albus liked the finer things in life, she knew that he spent a fortune on those ugly robes of his alone.

"We need an immediate solution. We do not have time to wait for the investigation to conclude or the funds to be found and returned." Severus agreed.

"Ok, how much do we need to get out of debt, and back in the black?" Filius asked, choosing to focus on that first. If they could do that, then they could figure out ways of ensuring the students still had a quality education despite having no funds.

"At least ten thousand." Minerva said tiredly.

Pomona and Filius cursed. That was a lot of money, by anybodies standards.

"What about an ad in the paper? If we explain the situation, surely we can get some donations or... Something?" Pomona suggested, looking around.

"That's no guarantee." Severus muttered, thinking. "I can pitch in with three thousand right now. I've been saving my salary and what I make from selling potions on the side." He explained. Not to mention the royalties from his inventions and articles. Most of it was wrapped up in investments, though, so he only had so much he actually had access to. And ingredients were expensive, especially when he was experimenting.

"Are you sure?" Minerva asked, shocked. They all knew that he wasn't fond of teaching, but they also knew how seriously he took it. (Despite what students may think).

Severus nodded.

"Alright, we still have at least seven thousand to go." Filius said grimly. They were teachers. Unlike Severus who could invent and sell potions on the side, who had patents and wrote books, the rest of them were just teachers. He was a dueling champion, and while the prize money was good, it wasn't this good. Hogwarts paid well, but not that well. (Although how that was possible was now a mystery.) "As long as we can get back in the black, we should be alright. We might have to pay out of pocket for any supplies we need over the year, but as long as we can open this year, we can work on getting back in good financial standing over next summer."

"Students buy their own uniform, books, and other supplies. So we are covered there. Like you said, we grow most of our food and potion ingredients. So that's just plants for Herbology, which I think you already have for the year." Minerva looked at Pomona questioningly, who nodded. She'd already bought seedlings and replacement cuttings for the plants that had died or been used up since the start of last school year.

"We might be able to at least petition for somebody to donate brooms for the school, so we can finally get rid of those ancient sticks." Severus said pensively. He knew who he could talk to about that, he might be able to convince the man, but at the same time he might end up owing a favor that he didn't want to owe.

"I can ask Augusta!" Minerva said suddenly, perking up slightly. "She was not pleased when I informed her of Mr. Longbottom's broken wrist because his broom malfunctioned."

Severus slumped in relief. That was much preferable to his plan of asking Lucius Malfoy for the donation.

"That's one thing sorted out." Filius said, pleased as he found a piece of parchment and started making a list. At the very top of it was coming up with at least seven thousand Galleons. He wrote down brooms and wrote Augusta Longbottom next to it. Then he wrote down everything else they would have to pay for that year for the classes.

"Where are we going to find that money, though?" Pomona asked again, worried about that.

Minerva shook her head, only to stop mid-shake and frown. "Minerva?" Severus looked at her, wondering what she'd just thought of.

"Severus, how much would a Basilisk sell for?" She asked, voice distant and eyes glazed over to indicate that she was deep in thought.

Severus raised an eyebrow in shock at the suddenness and randomness of the question. "Depends on it's size. It's an extremely rare creature, which would make it's parts even more rare and valuable. The last time any came on the market, a small vial of venom and a shard of scale sold for a thousand Galleons apiece. Why?"

Her eyes snapped to him. "I know where we can get the money we need. And more." She said, determined.

---

Mr. Potter

I apologize for disturbing you while still on your summer vacation, and I realize that this may be difficult for you, but the school needs your help.

I've recently learned that we are in dire financial difficulties, difficulties that need to be resolved before the start of term in one week. As such, we need a large amount of gold, quickly.

It is my understanding that the Basilisk you slayed is still inside the Chamber, untouched. Basilisk parts are extremely rare, and as such extremely valuable. Professor Snape tells me that despite the amount of time that has passed, there should still be more then enough salvageable parts to suit our purposes just fine. The only problem is, we have no way of getting to it, and, as the one to slay the beast, it rightfully belongs to you and is yours to decide what to do with.

As such, I request that we meet and come to an agreement regarding the harvesting and sale of the Basilisk, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Hogwarts coffers, and perhaps split amongst the victims as well?

Please let me know quickly, time is of the essence.

Enjoy the remainder of your holidays, I look forward to seeing you in class.

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Mistress of Transfiguration

Head of Gryffindor House

Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry read the letter quietly before handing it off to Sirius, who read it with a frown before passing it to Arthur.

"I can take you up there today to speak with her." Arthur offered. "Sirius, you're welcome to come, too, of course. We will have to go today if this is really as time sensitive as she is suggesting."

"What do you think, pup?" Sirius said quietly, having learned the story behind the Basilisk when Ginny had to be brought to the bank to be treated for the possession.

"If it will help the school." Harry said, determined, meeting his gaze. Ginny was quiet on the other side of the table, having also read the letter as it made it's way around the table. Luckily, some experimenting revealed that he was still a Parselmouth, and both Sirius and his Inheritance test proved that he got it from his father. Apparently the Potter's, while descended directly from Godric Gryffindor, also had a daughter of Slytherin marry into the family at some stage. As such, the gift occasionally showed up in the family.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the soul shard being inside of him, or Voldemort transferring any of his powers, or anything Albus Dumbledore had to say on the subject.

"Alright, eat and we'll go see what this is all about." Sirius nodded after a moment of studying Harry's face.

---

"Arthur! I wasn't expecting to see you." She was surprised to exit the Great Hall after breakfast to see Arthur, Harry, and a stranger in the Entrance Hall.

"You said it was urgent." Arthur tilted his head.

"Yes, but-" She cut herself off, not sure why she expected any different. Truthfully, she'd forgotten until just now that Harry was at the Weasley's for the rest of the summer.

"Shall we?" The stranger asked, turning to lead the way to her office, without even introducing himself. Although, looking carefully she could see that there was something familiar about him.

Once they were settled in her office, she sighed. "I'll get right to the point. Unless we can find over ten thousand Galleons," she wasn't going to take Severus' money unless they absolutely had to, "the school is not going to be able to open her doors next week to students."

"Ten thousand!" Arthur breathed, shocked. Hogwarts might close?

"It's still being investigated, so I don't know yet if it was outright theft or extremely poor financial management on Albus' part. The Goblins wouldn't say. But, in looking at the books for Hogwarts, we are in trouble."

"Ten thousand, is that-"

"That's just so we can open the doors. That's not including supplies, food, teacher's salary, new books, equipment, exam fees for the OWL and NEWT students, maintenance on the castle and grounds..." She cut him off. Those fees were part of the regular school fees, but even that was gone. "That is how far in debt we are. After we find the ten thousand, we still have to come up with the rest of the money. And then there is paying for the special event and food for the guests we are expecting in October."

"Which is why you asked about the Basilisk in your letter. You want to harvest and sell it." Sirius summed up, getting a curious look from Minerva, who they still had yet to introduce him to.

"I'm sorry, you are?" She asked.

"Oh, apologies. I'm Lord Phineas Black. Given the current legal issues my cousin, Sirius, is having, he's asked me to take Harry in until he gets everything sorted out." Sirius stood and bowed slightly before sitting again.

It was obvious she wanted to ask, but held back with a concerned frown. "Well, yes. The Basilisk is yours as the one who killed it." She turned back to Harry. "I was hoping, however, that you might be willing to donate a portion of the sale proceeds to the school. At least enough that we can open our doors. If we can do that much, then we can figure out the rest later."

Harry was quiet before he glanced at Arthur and Sirius, who both nodded in encouragement. Sirius had been teaching him financial management, and going over the Potter accounts with him, so he felt confident enough in his answer. He didn't know just how much the Basilisk was worth, but given that the professor seemed to be under the impression that they would get plenty for him to donate ten thousand from it, it must be quite a bit.

"Just how much is it worth?" He asked, just to be sure.

"According to Severus, the last time any Basilisk parts were on the market, a small vial of venom and a scale shard sold for a thousand Galleons a piece." She repeated what Severus said.

"A thousand! For a small vial?" Harry exclaimed, shocked. She nodded.

He swallowed, now understanding why she seemed to be pinning all her hopes on that snake.

"Harry-" Sirius touched his shoulder. "How about we go take a look at it today. We can take Potion Master Snape and a Goblin since the sale would most likely go through them, and we can make any financial decisions once we get an estimate of just how much it will be worth." He suggested.

Harry licked his lips and swallowed.

"I will go see if Gringotts can send somebody, I will be right back." Arthur said, standing up.

"Use my Floo." Minerva said. She was running out of time. She only had a week to come up with that money, and it would take time to harvest and sell the Basilisk, and then time to sort out the proceeds and who got what.

Arthur nodded and clapped a comforting hand on her shoulder before he left.

"We were talking about splitting the money several ways. Five percent for each student who was Petrified, including Ginny Weasley and Argus Filch for Mrs. Norris. That's thirty percent of the sale. If it's as large as Harry told me, ten percent for the school, including some of the parts for Potion Master Snape to experiment with. Harry gets the remaining sixty percent." Sirius said after a few moments. They'd already discussed it on the walk to the castle from Hogsmeade. In fact, they'd even talked about Harry keeping some of the ingredients and hide for himself.

"There's an Acromantula nest in the forest, too. You could probably get Hagrid to collect some of their webs. I heard Malfoy say once that Acromantula silk was expensive." Harry suddenly suggested.

"An Acromantula colony is near the school?" Minerva asked faintly, horrified. Harry nodded. "I will speak with Hagrid about that." She collected herself, eyes flashing. A moment later she sent Severus a short note requesting his presence in her office.

Her mind was racing with possibilities, though. While the colony itself was too close to the school to be safe, Acromantula parts were just as valuable in Potions as Basilisk parts were, even if they were more readily available. If they relocated the vast majority of the colony (somewhere remote and away from people), and moved a smaller portion of it into a more contained area, they could start a small farm for them. Hagrid would be able to safely collect the silk, and the House-elves would be able to safely collect the venom or any other parts from the living ones, and collect the dead before the other spiders could eat them for those parts.

Not only would Severus be happy with the regular supply of the expensive ingredient to experiment with, they could sell it as a regular, reliable profit for the school. It would be extra income that they could rely on and have even more financial cushion. They would never have to rely on unsafe brooms again, they could afford to upgrade the Potions labs for the first time in decades, perhaps get assistants for the Heads of House at least. She could implement a few other programs and bring back a few classes she'd been wanting to bring back, but Albus always said it wasn't in the budget.

"Minerva?" Severus asked, standing beside her, face his usual stony mask even if she could see the concern in his eyes.

"Did you know there was an Acromantula colony in the Forest?" She asked.

"No." He denied, just as concerned with it's proximity.

"If we could contain some of them, move the rest to somewhere safer-" She started.

"We can have a reliable and steady income, instead of what little the Ministry grants us and tuition." Severus finished. The sale of the Basilisk and whatever Potter would be willing to donate would be helpful enough, but that would be a one-time thing. This would be something they could have for years.

Sirius placed a proud hand on Harry's shoulder, just as the Floo flared and a small group of Goblins came through with Arthur.

"Hello, Master Goblin." Minerva stood and greeted him respectfully.

"We are here to evaluate a Basilisk for harvesting and sale." The goblin grunted, not interested in small talk with the wizards.

"Very well. Mr. Potter, lead the way." She turned to Harry, who nodded and left the office.

"Why are we going to a bathroom?" Arthur asked after a few minutes when they stopped outside the door.

"This is where the entrance to the Chamber is." Harry shrugged. "It was probably something else when it was first built, if that helps." He suggested, pushing open the door.

"Do I want to know why he seems so comfortable coming in here?" Severus asked Minerva under her breath.

"He's a teenage boy, probably not." They shared a look and followed the rest of the group, who gathered around a sink.

*Open* Harry hissed after a moment of staring at it, lost in thought.

"Oh, my." Minerva breathed, shocked, when the sink slid back, revealing a large, deep hole.

"Perhaps try asking for stairs, Mr. Potter." Severus' deep drawl stopped Harry from jumping into the hole. He highly doubted that a man as dignified as Salazar Slytherin would have been, would have slid down a pipe like a slide. Not only that, but the pipe in question looked absolutely filthy.

"Huh." Harry grunted and thought for a moment. *Stairs* He hissed, and was pleased when a set appeared, creating a steep spiral staircase. Sirius cleared his throat when Harry started down them and gently eased in front of him, going first.

Harry scowled at his back, but didn't say anything.

Minerva hummed when they reached the bottom, looking around. "Marty." She finally said, and turned to the elf that appeared. "Can you get a few elves down here and start cleaning up?" She asked him. She thought she saw some designs on the floor and ceiling, but couldn't be sure with all the grime in the way. They would have to get some lights down here, too.

Either way, Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber was a historical find, and that alone made it worth it to clean the place up, make sure the structure was sound and wasn't about to cave in on their heads, and otherwise maintain it. Who knew what else he had left down here besides the giant snake.

The elf looked around, horror settling in on his features when he saw the mess. "Yes Missy Kitty, we's be cleaning it up right aways." The elf squeaked and popped away to get help. A moment later a group of elves were determinedly scrubbing, directing scrub brushes with their magic, or clicking their fingers around the chamber. They would start here, and make their way towards the inner chambers. This would give the wizards and goblins time to work without the elves' cleaning efforts getting in the way.

"This way." Harry said after a moment, and started down the tunnel, stopping at the cave-in. "There was a shed skin around here, it's probably buried though."

"What happened here?" Arthur asked, looking around.

"Lockhart stole Ron's wand and tried to Obliviate us." Harry looked at Ron's dad. "Luckily for us, Ron's wand at the time was broken, so it backfired on him, but..." He pointed at the cave-in and shrugged. Arthur, understandably, looked furious.

"Leave it to us." A goblin promised, and within a few moments had the rock walls and ceiling looking as if there was never a collapse.

"I may hire a crew to check the stability of the rest of these caves." Minerva informed him, very impressed. He nodded in acknowledgement. He'd been about to suggest it before they let anybody down here to harvest the beast, no need to risk anyone's life for a snake carcass, no matter how valuable it was. (Of course, any hiring was going to have to wait until they were financially stable again.)

"We should probably search them as well, to find any other entrances or exits. The Basilisk had to eat somehow." Severus said. The small animal bones said that there were plenty of them running around, but he doubted a Basilisk as large as the one this was, judging by the remains of the shed skin he was examining, survived so long on such meagre offerings.

"Oh, yes. Anybody, or anything could get in through there." Minerva agreed, disturbed by that.

"It could also serve as a good evacuation route." The Dark Lord was not the first, and would not be the last, to try and take the school. It held the future of Wizarding Britain for ten months of the year, that was a lot of valuable hostages to force the rest of the country's cooperation with. In fact, this entire place could serve as a safe hiding place for the students in the event of an attack.

Sirius was staring at the skin himself, pale. "How large would you say that skin is?" He asked faintly.

Severus glanced at him. "I would say a good fifty feet long, roughly my height in diameter." He said, studying it some more. "This is too old to be used in potions, but it might still be useful." He said finally, taking out a shrunken box out of his bag, and carefully folding the skin before putting it inside the runically enlarged space.

"How old is it?"

"Very."

"How big could the snake have grown since it shed it's skin?" Sirius persisted in asking.

"Very." Severus said grimly, staring at Potter and wondering how the boy was still alive. Sirius and Arthur were even more pale, with Sirius now crushing Harry to his side. Harry squirmed, but Sirius only held him tighter until he gave up and hugged him back, whispering assurances. The Goblins were looking at Harry in new respect.

"Shall we move on?" Minerva asked shakily, realizing just how amazing it was that Harry was alive. She'd known it was big, of course. But she hadn't realized just how big until she saw that skin. She'd thought that this would be hardest for Harry, but it seemed to be harder for his poor godfather right now. (She wasn't an idiot, she knew full well that Sirius Black was the only one in line to take the lordship.)

"Yes, lets." The Goblins agreed, wanting to see this beast that shed a skin that large.

When they finally arrived at the inner doors, Harry paused. "I have no idea how the air will be." He admitted. "It's been a little over a year, I don't know how fast magical snakes decompose."

"Bubble-head charm? Just in case." Minerva suggested.

"With an air-filtration charm." Severus agreed, and the charms were quickly applied.

*Open* Harry hissed again, and stepped back as the door swung open. He had been right to wait until they had protection, because the air that rushed out was stale and they could smell the rotting corpse even through the charms. This time, the Goblins went in first.

"Young warrior, if ever you are in need of aid, the Goblins of Gringotts will do all we can." The Goblin in charge said solemnly, staring at the giant basilisk at the end of the cavern-like room in awe and respect.

"Oh, er- thanks." Harry said, not really sure what to make of that.

Minerva sucked in a breath and wobbled on her feet a bit. He fought that monster? At twelve years old?

Sirius had latched onto Harry and refused to let go, staring at the giant snake, ashen-faced. "I'm right here." Harry said quietly, trying to calm him down. Arthur wasn't much help, he was just as ashen-faced, but he wasn't staring at the snake. He was staring at the pool of dried ink and blood, with the fang sitting beside it.

"Is that the fang that stabbed you?" Arthur asked suddenly, drawing Sirius' attention away from the giant snake. Harry nodded, not looking at it despite Sirius' whimper. He was starting to think that bringing Sirius down here had been a bad idea.

A goblin approached the fang in question and carefully picked it up.

"We should begin." The lead goblin said solemnly, and the others were immediately scrambling around the Basilisk, taking measurements and laying down runic sequences for preserving what was left so they didn't lose any more of the meat or organs to decay. By the time they were done with their inspection, the air freshening charms Minerva and Arthur had been casting had finally cleared the air and they could remove the bubble-head charms.

"Well, the good news is that a creature this big and old takes a very long time to decompose. It is still in roughly the early stages of decay, so the meat is still largely intact. The organs appear to have been affected first, however. We should be able to salvage something, we will have to see when we start harvesting. The skin, scales, and teeth are of course still fully intact. If you would like, you could have some of it made into a dueling outfit." The Goblin addressed Harry. "The venom sacs are also still fully intact, and the venom is unaffected by the decomposition as well." The Goblin reported, satisfied.

"Sadly, the eyes were destroyed." Severus sighed, knowing that Potions wise, the eyes were one of the most valuable parts.

"Fawkes did that, I couldn't have fought it otherwise." Harry admitted. It was hard to fight something without being able to look at it for fear of catching a glimpse of its eyes, after all.

"How much would a Basilisk of this size sell for?" Minerva asked, taking over since Arthur and Sirius still seemed to be a little shell-shocked, Harry standing between them.

"With the current market, I would say... several million Galleons. Easily. We would have to sell it in chunks, over time, to avoid flooding the market and lowering the value. Of course, that is a minimal rough estimate."

The humans were shocked, even Severus who already had a good idea of how much it would be worth.

"Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked him, wanting to know what he wanted to do with it. She'd been pleased and proud when Sirius told her how they'd discussed splitting the profits.

"I want to keep a few fangs, some hide, and some scales... I know that much right now. The rest of it can be split up like S- Phineas said." Harry decided.

"The ingredients he mentioned Professor Snape getting for his experiments can be included in the school's ten percent." Minerva decided, knowing that ten percent of several million was going to be far more then she had initially hoped for and requested. She didn't mind splitting up Hogwarts' share like that.

"For facilitating the sale and harvest, Gringotts will take five percent of the profits from the sale." Normally they would charge far more, but Harry had earned their respect as a young warrior.

The humans stared at him in shock, but decided not to argue in case he changed his mind.

"Alright, that sounds good. Shall we return to my office and draw up an agreement?" Minerva asked, wanting to get this finalized and get the harvesting and sale underway.

"Heir Potter-Black. It is a custom among Goblin culture to take a prize from your conquests." One of the younger Goblins said, presenting the fang he'd picked up off the floor.

He'd tapered the tip so it wasn't razor sharp anymore, sealed it so any remaining venom inside didn't drip out or anything, drilled a hole in the other end, and ran a loop of metallic cord through it. It wasn't quite long enough to serve as a necklace or anything, it was just enough that he would be able to tie it to something. And then he shrank it down.

He'd finished by carving Goblin runes along it's length. They were runes of protection, and symbols of Harry's new warrior status. Any goblin who saw it would know, and show Harry the required respect.

Harry took it slowly. "Thank you." He said when he saw what the Goblin had done with it.

Sirius examined it, looking reluctant to touch the thing that stabbed his godson. He recognized the symbols and runes carved into and blinked at the goblins in shock.

"I would keep that with you, all the time." He advised his godson quietly. "Thank you." He said to the goblin, sincerely.

Minerva smiled at him, and led the way back out of the Chamber, towards her office, mind reeling with everything she'd seen and learned. The elves had been busy cleaning while they inspected the Basilisk, they were much closer to the main chamber then they were, and the mosaic's on the floor and ceiling were much more clear.

"Mr. Potter, once the Basilisk is harvested, I would like to speak with you about opening these chambers to historians and Curse-breakers. Who knows, maybe Salazar Slytherin left something down here." Minerva said, looking at the rather beautiful images carved into the stone.

"That's fine." Harry shrugged. "As long as you can figure out a way to keep the door open, or change the password." Because otherwise he was going to have to let them in every time they showed up.

"We will figure something out." Minerva said, glancing at the goblins. "You will need to at least let the teams in for the harvest, and to check the stability of the caves." Harry nodded, that was alright.

"We have a basic contract here, what exactly were the terms of the sale, and how were you wishing the profits to be split?" The lead goblin asked, pulling the contract in question out and laying it on the desk, poised to add the needed information.

Harry took a step back and let Sirius hash out the terms for him, but he paid close attention to how they worded things and how Sirius negotiated. When asked if he was alright with Sirius and Arthur speaking for him, he looked at Minerva. "I don't know enough about this to really do it. They're teaching me, but I don't know it yet." He shrugged.

"That's a very good outlook." Minerva commented, proud of him.

In the end, thirty percent of the profits was going to be split up between the victims, and the Hogwarts share was split up two and eight. Two percent of the school's share was going to be the ingredients Severus wanted. He asked for scales, some of the usable organ material, and some venom. The remaining eight percent would be money. Sirius talked the Gringotts share up to eight percent, and Harry got the remaining fifty-two percent of the Basilisk, which included parts.

Harry got the hide, scales, and fangs he wanted, and Sirius included some venom and other ingredients for him.

Because of how they were going to sell it, it was decided that Hogwarts would get twenty thousand out of the first sale, and the rest of their share when the entire thing was sold and the profits were being divided up.

The first sale was scheduled for August 31st, just in time for Minerva to make her deadline.

---

"A Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Hermione asked, frowning. That sounded familiar.

"Yeah. That's the special event this year. According to Professor McGonagall, it was Professor Dumbledore's idea. She didn't seem at all happy about it." Harry shook his head.

"Well I should think not!" Hermione exclaimed. "The Tri-Wizard Tournament was an event between the three major wizarding schools in Europe of the time, beginning seven hundred years ago. It was cancelled in the 1700's because of the high death toll! There was one year, all of the champions died, along with the judges and half the spectators! All during the first task when the magical creature they were using escaped and went on a rampage."

The Weasley's and Harry were horrified.

"Why would they bring something like that back?" Ginny asked, terrified.

Harry shook his head. "It's supposed to be a way of strengthening international ties, or something like that. Although now the age limit makes sense." He sighed.

"What age limit? Nothing I read-" Hermione started.

"According to McGonagall, the only reason the other two schools agreed to participate was if some safety measures were put in place this year, one of which was an age limit. You have to be seventeen to enter your name to compete." Harry cut her off before she could go on a rant about incomplete information.

That was one of her main frustrations, especially since Sirius included her in Harry's lessons. The books didn't have all the information Sirius was teaching them, because it was what he called 'common knowledge' information. Or at least, what that author considered to be common knowledge.

It left her wondering just how much was left out of other books she read.

She blinked and fell silent.

"Should be an interesting year." Ron stood up and stretched. "Hey, at least this year you can sit back and watch, right?" He asked Harry with a grin.

"I don't think so." Harry shook his head grimly. "Apparently, the choosing ceremony to determine the Champions is going to be on October 31st."

---

"We've found out all we are going to from all this alone." Amelia said, putting down the final tally her team had been able to come up with just from the files and evidence they'd gathered alone. "The only way we can learn more is by questioning him directly." She gave Grey a look, making him smirk.

"I will go get our esteemed Headmaster, shall I?" He winked and left.

"Professor, we need you to lift the wards and release the Headmaster into our custody." He informed Minerva, Flooing into her office.

She looked up and breathed out slowly, swallowing. Nodding her understanding, she stood. "I see. Very well, if you will follow me." She felt numb.

She'd known, of course, that this was probably going to be the outcome. But a part of her hadn't expected it to actually happen.

Reaching the Headmaster's office, she entered to find it stripped almost bare, much to her dismay. She nodded to the Goblin guards and Aurors, before laying a hand on the orb sitting innocently on a bookshelf. Focusing, she pushed her magic and released the ward, feeling it fade away, back into watchful readiness.

Almost immediately, the door to Albus' private rooms burst open, and Albus came striding out as if he had not been trapped for the last several weeks.

He was almost at his desk when he stopped and stared at his office, taking in the crowd of people and goblins, before his gaze found his disappointed and regret-filled second in command. "Minerva, my dear, what is going on here?" He asked, ignoring the Aurors and slowly drawing his wand from behind his back.

Minerva didn't answer him, though. Instead she looked away.

"Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest." Auror Johnson said, stepping forward with his cuffs as the rest of them surrounded the old man. "Come quietly. Don't make this harder on yourself then it needs to be." He warned, having spotted the wand being drawn. (The aged Headmaster wasn't as sneaky about it as he thought he was).

The benign smile on Albus' face disappeared at the words. "I'm afraid there must be a mistake. What could I have possibly done?" His eyes moved over his empty office. "As you can see, I seem to have been robbed. Surely you should be investigating that?" He chose not to mention being locked in his rooms, not wanting to seem less than all-knowing or powerful.

After all, the great Albus Dumbledore couldn't possibly be kept prisoner in his own castle, could he?

"There is no mistake." Grey said, a hint of steel entering his voice. "Drop your wand, now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Any pretense of pleasantness left Albus' bearing and he looked around. "I have things to do and don't have time to clear this up."

The Goblins moved closer, slowly, now fully circling him on all sides.

"You have a choice, wizard, let the Aurors take you to their Ministry, or let us bring you to Gringotts. There, you only have to answer for the theft from ten Families and Gringotts itself." Grinder said with a toothy smile.

Minerva sucked in a breath and tucked herself closer to the wall, wand held tightly and ready for anything.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, either. Fawkes!" He called, and lifted a hand in anticipation of his faithful companion coming to his aid.

"His chains have been undone, Albus Dumbledore." Grinder told him, gleeful at the shocked expression when Fawkes didn't show up. Albus' expression turned downright ugly.

"Take him!" Grey barked, tiring of this stand-off.

The wizards shot off Disarming and Stunning spells while the Goblins moved in with staffs and shields.

Normally they would just run him through on a sword, but Madam Bones had asked that he be brought in unharmed, and the Goblin Nation had enough respect for the Warrior woman to heed her request.

Besides, they still needed answers, answers that only the bearded one could give.

While Dumbledore cast a shield to block the Aurors, he took his attention off the Goblins for a moment, which was his biggest mistake.

A staff slammed into the back of his knees while another one hit his lower back and a third came crashing down on his outstretched wand arm.

The fourth goblin dropped his shield and grabbed Albus' left arm, using the momentum of the old man falling to the floor to drag the arm behind his back and perch there himself, using his own staff as added leverage to pin the arm in place.

The moment Albus Dumbledore dropped his wand, one of the Goblins kicked it under the desk and got between them while Grey hit him with a binding spell before moving forward the cuff the Headmaster.

---

"Sirius Black, owing to a complete lack of evidence, a lack of proper procedure being followed in the failure to give you a trial before being thrown in Azkaban Prison, and your own testimony under Veritaserum, you are free to go with our full apologies for your unlawful imprisonment and treatment. An investigation will be underway into how this happened, and to make sure it did not happen to anybody else." Augusta Longbottom said, to Sirius' relief.

Amelia had made it clear that she didn't expect it to happen any other way, but one never knew with this bunch.

"Though it will not bring those years back, we offer twenty thousand Galleons per year in recompense for the years spent wrongly in Azkaban, and the year spent on the run." Augusta continued.

Albus' arrest had been what Amelia needed to push Sirius' trial forward, going around the Minister.

The reveal of his behavior at the end of the last school year triggered an investigation into his time as Minister by the ICW, who Amelia had not called but she also couldn't deny that their aid was welcome, as long as they refrained from interfering any more. She didn't think he would be back, though.

The crowd started murmuring while Harry grinned.

"This court is adjourned." Augusta banged her gavel, and got up to congratulate Sirius in person.

The hunt for Peter Pettigrew could begin in earnest now that they knew Sirius would be safe.

---

"Albus Dumbledore, on the charges of kidnapping, extortion, accessory to commit murder, murder in the first degree, child abuse, child endangerment, child neglect, abuse of power, theft in the millions of Galleons, Line Theft, and high treason, we find you guilty. You are hereby sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss for your crimes." The new Chief Warlock intoned grimly.

The crowd burst into chatter, shocked at the sentence, but not surprised after everything they'd heard in the last two weeks of the trial. Things had been revealed that the people of Magical Britain could never have imagined from their beloved Headmaster, and could scarcely believe.

Those who were closest to Albus Dumbledore, especially Minerva, were especially in shock.

They couldn't believe the measures Dumbledore had gone in order to stay on top.

Creating a Dark Lord? Compulsing him into creating Horcruxes? Purposely dumbing down the future of their country? Setting up marriages using love and lust potions so that his 'light families' would strengthen, and to keep their money where he could best use it? Taking out political opponents?

Very few people continued to believe in anything Albus Dumbledore after his trial, and nobody would listen to those few when they tried to claim that it was all a set-up, that Albus wouldn't really do those things, that he was tricked somehow into confessing those things.

---

"This is the last one." Bill said, satisfied, looking at the Diadem.

They'd just finished the ritual to transfer the soul piece into a rock that they would then destroy.

The second Horcrux found had been the Locket, when the team Sirius hired to clean out Grimmauld found it. The first had been Hufflepuff's cup in the LeStrange vault, which had been a massive violation of the Gringotts vault agreement, resulting in the seizure of all LeStrange assets within the bank. They'd been redistributed between Sirius and the Longbottoms at Sirius' request.

After finding the locket, they went to the Gaunt family shack, where they lost two Goblins and a Curse-breaker to the curse on the ring before another had been able to break the compulsions and secure it. As they were going to the Riddle House, they saw activity and apprehended Peter Pettigrew and the grotesque baby-like form of Voldemort himself, destroying Nagini in the process.

Upon questioning Pettigrew, they discovered the plan to enter Harry Potter into the Tournament using Barty Crouch Jr, who had escaped his father's Imperius curse and was currently pretending to be Alastor Moody at Hogwarts.

The destruction of the diary in Harry's second year and the one in Harry's scar meant that once this rock was destroyed, the Unspeakables could toss what was left of the Dark Lord Voldemort through the Veil.

He may have been created through the Imperius and compulsions, but he'd gone too far to ever be whole again. At this point, granting him some form of peace was the best thing they could do for him. By all accounts, he could be certified as insane and therefore not responsible for any of his actions, but they all knew that the public would never go for that. They would have rioting in the streets if they tried, no matter how much of it could be laid at Albus Dumbledore's feet.

"To think, one of them was in Hogwarts the entire time." His partner muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, well. It's a good place to hide things." Bill said, looking around at the room they were in. "How much do you think some of this is worth?"

"Historically, some of it would be priceless. Monetarily, quite a bit, I'd say. The school might want to put some of it on display, though. It will need to be searched first, for curses and the like." He knew that the Founder's artifacts, at least, would be displayed.

"Not my problem." Bill shook his head. After this, he was going back to Egypt for a bit, although they'd started making noise about transferring him somewhere else.

---

"Ah, Sirius! I wasn't expecting you." Molly said, bustling out of the kitchen to give him a hug.

"I just came by to see where you were and ask if I could lend a hand." Sirius waved off her offers of tea, looking around. The Burrow was looking very bare.

Molly and Arthur had decided to tear down and rebuild, and Molly's days were busy with packing everything while her husband was at work. Some of it, like the clothes and books, could be magicked into a trunk. Other things, like the Weasley's family clock, had to be packed away by hand.

"I have the kids rooms all done. I even searched through all the nooks and crannies to make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm almost done with my potions lab. After that I just have the living room, pantry, and kitchen." The Twins room had been a nightmare, Arthur had barely been able to stop her from binning everything she found in a rage.

She was moving everything that she and Arthur didn't need, like the kids' things and the furniture, to the treehouse for now. The rest they would take with them to the house Sirius had set up for them to live in until construction was done.

She was so glad Arthur never listened to her to tear that little treehouse down when the boys outgrew it.