Harry Potter, the boy who died:

Invictus as he uploaded the recordings to their private server, called Clementine and updated her on the entire affair. He did hope that Clementine could in some way help Harry with his ordeal, even if it was to provide a distraction.

"Luis and I will have a look at everything. I do think that Luis has been chasing a human trafficking operation for a while, and I wonder if these men were involved. We will be in touch. He will watch the videos and examine the scene in the morning.

Poor children, such burdens to bear. They need to stop being adults for a while. I will get back to you soon."

"Excellent. Talk to you soon!" Invictus replied.

As many of the professors gathered for the impromptu staff meeting the next day, Hogwarts students wondered what could be amiss. There had never been a time when classes across the entire school had been delayed. Students were asked to show up to their class and constructively occupy themselves. Many students ventured off to other places to have a snog, some of the younger students went off to the quidditch pitch and the oldest ones disappeared off to secluded areas and broom closets to get a quickie in, as their hormonal passions roared. The entire staff was assembled, and speaking among themselves. Minerva looked at Severus and immediately knew something was momentous. Did he seem quiet and sad?

Albus Dumbledore came down the step and entered his office, and pressed his robes with his hands, with tears in his eyes.

"Fellow faculty members, I am quite aware that I have gathered everyone and left the school unsupervised. But this, this what I have to tell you, it will turn our society upside down. And this….it makes my heart heavy. I do not know how to begin. Severus, could you pass the medical files around?"

Severus nodded.

"Fellow faculty, as of Tuesday Harry Potter, who I have been monitoring passed away due to a muggle heart condition. The funeral has passed and…."

"No Albus! Tell me it isn't so. No Albus, not James and Lilly's boy! Not the boy too!" screamed Minerva as Pomona Sprout and Aurora Sinstra proceeded to steady her. She almost seemed to be on the edge of fainting. All of the teachers went silent as Minerva sat down on a small chair in Albus' study. Flitwick who had loved Lilly as his mastery Charms student shed tears.

"Headmaster, could you tell us about him? It is hard to hear this. As a person who taught Lilly, this cuts like a dagger."

Albus now had tears in his eye. He began:

"What I do know is that he was a brilliant student. He was learning so quickly that they skipped him at least two years forward at his muggle school. He regularly ran around the neighbourhood every morning. He was tall and strong for his age. We have some pictures and his last report card."

Albus Dumbledore passed the couple of photos that they had found. All of them were photos of him and a very pretty girl. They seemed to be close friends. Many of the pictures were taken on school benches, in ice cream shops and even in the local library. They showed happy children who got up to general mischief. One of them even showed Harry, building some type of object with precision tools. Another one seemed to be a candid shot of him tearing into a particularly large sandwich.

Lorna had set up these items, to cause maximum heartache. These pictures would convey one thing - they had lost a great mind and Albus Dumbledore had been careless. His report card was impressive and it was approaching near-total in every subject area. This, on the other hand, made the heartache even more. Between the lines, the report card suggested that he was intelligent as his mother. The comments on the report card were rather illuminating. Harry was a brilliant student, but suffered regular migraines and chest pains, according to his teacher Ms. Priya Singh.

Minerva was now angry. The Lioness had come out. She bellowed at the top of her voice, with her accent sharp and biting.

"Albus! Do not think that I am going to let this pass. Whatever issue the boy had, could have been fixed by a healer. He did not have access to a healer because you insisted that he stay in the Muggle world. This is entirely your fault!"

The entire staff became dead silent as she roared:

"And you Severus! Happy now? The 'spawn' of James Potter is dead. Perhaps they are all reunited as a family beyond the veil. Better that way! Sometimes I wonder what our society has to offer when we continue to lose our most brave and brilliant minds. Lilly had a spine. You, however, do not.

The next time I hear any complaints about any 'Potter' you will be on the end of my wand!"

The entire congregation of staff gasped. Nobody messed with the lioness, ever.

"I had been looking forward to teaching the boy. Even that is ruined! I want an address for where the boy is buried. I would like to go and pay my respects. I will see myself out!"

Pomona saddened by the events, asked

"Well, what now Albus? This is going to be an outrage. And I wonder how the old supporters of the Dark Lord will react? They will want to celebrate. This will be considered a win for them!"

"I will have to talk to Cornelius. I plan to go to the Ministry to speak to him now. I also plan to visit the girl in the picture. Her name is Hermione Granger and I hope to find out more about Harry. I am also interested in talking to his former teacher. I am going to visit them later today."

"I hope that you will share with us what you have learnt. The entire Potter family sacrificed everything so that we might have a future. We deserve to know him." replied Professor Bathsheda.

"You are right my dear. I will share what I find out. That will be all. You will keep this information secret until it is public. Good day professors, school resumes as normal." replied Albus Dumbledore.

Harry and Hermione awoke at different times that morning. Hermione groggily opened her eyes and she found her mother reading her itinerary. Upon Hermione's terrible yawn that threatened to swallow the sun, her mother was now alerted to her presence as she came over and sat on the bed.

"Morning sunshine. I won't ask how you are feeling. I will ask what you want for breakfast" Jean replied with a sad smile on her face.

"Morning mum, I just want a tub of ice cream. Coconut or Vanilla. Wait….why aren't you at the office?"

"Your father and I decided to take the week off. You are aware that you pay the bills right? We love our jobs, but with what happened last night, your father talked with me. We can afford to drop work. Some things are more important."

"Thanks, mum you are the best – I…. I think I will be fine. It isn't that I didn't cry last night, but what if Aunty Priya and Lora were….were…."

Jean nodded as Hermione did not want to say the words.

"You know what I mean. But what about the other women? They didn't deserve that. I don't think I am some figure of righteousness. But it was us of them. So, we did what we had to do."

"I know. I don't think less. You and Harry were brave last night," Jean replied.

"We tried our best. This isn't that we are soldiers, but when people can apparate, erect wards and cast dark curses at each other, magical criminals are best handled by other magicals. Although, dad did wreck them last night."

"I understand. Yes, he did. He won't admit it to me, but he liked it. Before he became a family man, he loved to fight. He is here, downstairs with Sirius and Remus. He to a certain extent sees last night as proof that his daughter and his other adopted son, are more like him. He won't admit it, but I know my husband well enough. He is at the end of the day, a military man."

"I think we are going to find something to do today to take our mind off things. Go ahead and go back home and relax. I think I want to work on something with Harry."

"If you need me, I am here." the woman replied, sadly.

Harry had awoken earlier and had immediately begun to blast music as he reviewed his pending projects. Harry felt like he could take a break after what had occurred last night. He would work on his 'airplane' presentation for the Weasleys. And perhaps, a visit to Gringotts might be in order. Harry was already downstairs and proceeded to hug everyone on the couch, before he ate a PBJ sandwich and drank a cup of tea. While it was not as nourishing as his usual breakfast, there was a sense of familiarity as he remembered what he usually ate secretly before he had obtained the ability to compel the Dursleys. As Harry ate his sandwich, Invictus buzzed him on his communicator.

"Hello sleepyhead. How is the Master Jedi this morning?"

"Still shaken from last night. It is exactly as I feared. Life was too consistent for a while. Twenty eight months wasn't so bad. Then, the pain arrived and in force." Harry sourly stated.

"Yes, it does seem so grandson. But you triumphed. At great personal cost, but you did. The alternative is too abominable to even comprehend."

"Well, there is some comfort in that. Please let me have a semblance of normality. Wait…something is up, isn't it? You might as well tell me?" Harry was now alert.

"Gah. Always so astute. While your disappearance is admirable, there are consequences involved. There was a staff meeting this morning and the news of your death is getting around. Minerva, bless that witch she was a rampaging gryffin this morning. She even threatened Snape. If he said one bad thing about the Potters in her presence, she would attack him with full force. It was spectacular. She genuinely cares."

"We have to find out what she wants for Christmas. Am I too bright to make Gryffindor? I kind of like her?" Harry asked as he laughed.

"I think you could go to whatever house you wanted but more importantly, we did not consider that the Death Eaters would celebrate your death. If they decide to arrive in the streets and throw spells at people…."

"I guess the next mission is up. Maybe that isn't a bad thing. I think I know what I am going to do over the next few days."

"I am not finished with the news grandson. It seems that Dumbledore plans to visit your mother and Hermione this afternoon."

"Damn, he is fucking nosey. Alright, we will have to deal with the issue. I have some ideas about that. The usual deceptions."

"What about your labwork? Anything pending?" asked Invictus.

"Yes. The next project is some type of system that can detect if magic is approaching. That will allow us to automatically summon shields. And I think we have to selectively summon only what we need, not the entire thing. As long as you are conscious and not stunned, you can always put up a fight. So that, and Gringotts."

As William was talking about some of his previous military engagements (with classified details redacted) all three of them were surprised to see Harry up and about. It seemed that he had a determined look on his face. He was clearly up to something as he came over at sat on the couch.

"Morning gentlemen. While it is true that I committed mass murder and I feel like shit, we may not have the luxuries of getting rest as yet. There was a Hogwarts meeting this morning. They know. More importantly, the bearded menace is on his way to Mom's house and your house Uncle William. And he is visiting this afternoon. There is also the threat of Death Eater attacks when the information becomes public if only to celebrate a little."

"What do you suggest we do?" asked Remus.

"What we always do Moony. We win. If you are worried that it is too soon? No, this has to be done. I don't want any of our folks taken by surprise, ever again. We have a new idea for the shielding system. As soon as Hermione is down, we get started. Work will help us cope. That is the way we have always been."

"You sure?" asked Sirius.

"Yes. As for you Lord Black, you are getting a makeover. And then we will see how much of that material we can meltdown."

"Let me get home. I do want to see who Dumbledore is in person. We will talk later, Harry." mentioned William.

"We certainly will," replied Harry.

Albus Dumbledore walked into Cornelius Fudge's office to find him shouting at everyone at the top of his voice. Fudge had reviewed all the memories in the Ministry pensieve and found himself genuinely displeased and even frightened. Fudge in his hubris had not chosen to take Dawlish's warning seriously. He had honestly thought that Dawlish was lying when the Patronus had arrived.

Nobody could kill Dementors.

It was upon that basis, that he sent Junior Aurors. Fudge generally preferred for other people to do the necessary reading and thinking. They would then bring the issues to him and if something didn't suit his perspective, he ignored it. After all, this was what he had done in the last Wizarding War. But for those who knew what Fudge was – he essentially had led them to the brink of ruin. If it hadn't been for the destruction of Voldemort at the hands of the Potters, Magical England would have submitted. Fudge could not be bothered to truly evaluate his incompetence. Rather, he skillfully used the Potter phenomenon to ride the waves out and slowly suggest to people that his unwavering positions had won them the war. And with time, and the state-sponsored media support he had finally gotten his way. After he had seen the memories for himself, he realised that for the first time, there was a powerful wizard that he had no control over. And worse yet, no Auror could challenge them.

Not in their wildest dreams.

Amelia Bones who had been asking for additional information since the initial Gringotts showdown found himself in absolute awe of the circumstance. She hoped that even if the Minister had made the issue personal, she could at least get increased funding for her Aurors. Then, the resources would be put towards targeting the old Death Eaters who were still part and parcel of Wizarding society.

Amelia understood that she did not want to cross the Storm Lord's path. Aurors did not have permission to kill, but this young man had absolutely no qualms about killing anything that was in his way. More interestingly his method of combat was so foreign to her, that she had no idea how one could even respond especially when their wand had been taken away. Not to mention his ability to charge into people with titanic amounts of force and splatter them?

Wandless lightning conjuration? Ripping spines out of people? She was a mere fly. He also seemed to possess military training. His hand to hand work had been visceral, ruthless and efficient. He could have chosen to kill her Aurors, but he preferred to break bones as a form of embarrassment. The Storm Lord could fly great distances, apparate successively and possibly kill from at least five hundred feet. Ten times her effective distance.

And yet – all he had done was kill every single rapist in his latest operation. Luis Delacour, her counterpart from France, had been able to identify some of the men earlier this morning. It was the infamous "Black Hand", a crime syndicate that had started out of nowhere approximately two years ago. That specialised in selling women to men or as the Muggles called it, human trafficking. As Albus stepped into the office, Fudge who was not in a good mood yelled,

"Albus, why are you in my office? Who let you in? I will have you removed!"

"Careful with your tongue. I have always been gentle with my behaviour. Do you think any of your Aurors could have taken Grindelwald on? They tried back in the day. It did not end well for them."

Amelia immediately became apprehensive. No way she was fighting Albus Dumbledore.

"Explain why you are here." Fudge barked.

"Cornelius! Listen to reason. I have acquired information that indeed verifies Lord Peverell's claims. I asked for information from Gringotts on behalf of my position as Supreme Mugwump and Harry Potter's Guardian. Please read this aloud for me."

Fudge then began to read from the parchment:

Should I perish, but my dearest wife Lilly and my son survive, I leave the entire of Potter estate to be dispensed at her will until my son comes of age. Should the unthinkable come to pass, and my son survives with no parents in the world, I request the following:

I request that Sirius Orion Black and Remus Lupin collectively skin Peter Pettigrew alive. We had heard rumours that he had gone dark. We did not believe them. If we are dead - Lilly and I, it means that Peter Pettigrew as our secret keeper, betrayed our location to Lord Moldypants. Remus, the switch was supposed to be the greatest prank ever – I guess it was our greatest demise.

"You must understand that this document carries the Gringotts seal of magical authenticity. This is not to be doubted. So, we imprisoned a man wrongfully, and then based on what information came my way, somebody became aware and broke him out, forcefully." replied Albus.

Amelia then spoke with a lot of trepidation:

"Headmaster, the Minister will not be pleased with what I have to say and yet it is related to what you have seen so far."

Fudge glared daggers at Amelia.

"Last night a sting operation was carried out at the home of a former Hogwarts Student. He was a Death Eater and he was running what the old purebloods would call a 'Chattel Market' or as the muggles call it, a human trafficking operation. The Storm Lord and a small team of operatives busted in, bypassed the wards and used sophisticated weapons to kill every single man on the compound last night. All seventy two individuals.

"Seventy two men were killed?" asked Albus surprisingly.

"Yes. I would advise you to watch the collected memories. He was even more….impossible. Wandless lightning conjuration. He ripped spines out of men. Smashed heads into pulp and splattered men into nothing. Not even the Death Eaters killed in such a visceral manner. And no wand either. I almost want to think he is a Dark Lord. How can a man kill like that?"

"Well as he openly said, his lineage were the people who provided Wands to the founders. Therefore, he probably has a great understanding of Wandless magic. That is still thought in Africa as a standard course of study for the Ugadou School of Magic. However, that type of magic has never been combative. After consulting my more private collection of books, I found reference to a similar combat style utilised by the Roman Centurion Battle Warlocks, after examing the memories of the Azkaban breakout."

"What exactly are you saying?" Fudge asked, even more concerned.

"The Purebloods like to talk about lineage and whatnot, but most of them cannot trace their magic back more than six to secen centuries. It is often forgotten Ancient and Noble essentially means you paid a large security deposit into Gringotts at its founding. Only the Greengrasses and Blacks go back to about ten centuries. The Potters are however, as old as the Blacks, but they were called Pottarius. But that is hardly relevant. No the boy comes from somewhere else.

This young man's inheritance is possibly from the days of the Roman Empire. Easily two millennia. And it could be possible earlier. The magic survived and it became the Peverell Magic. I even suspect that they brought wand making to England. How else does he have the ability to create such powerful artefacts?"

"This..this is alarming! He is already unstoppable!" Amelia Bones complained.

"It certainly is, Lady Bones. He is also highly educated in both systems. He is magically powerful and muggle educated."

"And how you came to know this?" asked Amelia.

"Lord Peverell made a statement before he killed the Dementors. He said 'eat Plasma'. I decided to tap some of the expertise of my muggleborn students. Imagine how flabbergasted I was to discover that Plasma is a pretty common thing in the muggle world."

"What?" asked Amelia.

"From what was explained to me by one of my brilliant seventh year Claws, late last night, the muggles call our states of being, states of matter. Solid, Liquid and Steamlike – they call it Solid, Liquid and Gas. The muggles have discovered as many as twenty states of being. I understand if you take certain gasses and you charge them with electricity, you get plasma. I was told that the Sun is made up of Plasma partially. It appears he designed a weapon with both magical and muggle components that can literally 'shoot' the sun at you. From an esoteric perspective, It makes sense that which gives magic and life, was used to kill that which represents death. Magical theory and Muggle science working as one."

Everybody went silent. Amelia was rather interested in these revelations.

"Anything else you have noticed? So not only is he a fighter, he built everything himself? What kind of mind does he possess?" she asked.

"A sharp one for sure. I have examined his armour with the Hogwarts pensieve and he seemingly has built devices that can hold magical energy. He loads the magical energy into all his things, by changing rectangular boxes. I think because he understands how matter is formed and the forces at play, he can manipulate them to his will. He has a lot of money. Cost is no objection to him. He also performs spell modification. He might know a good bit of Latin and his intention is directed and focused. Finally, his physical fitness? He is a pure mass of muscle."

"So, what do I suggest I do Albus? He is running around doing as he pleases!" Fudge complained.

"I would like copies of everything related to this individual so that I can study him. In the future, I may have more to share with you. However, the real reason I have come here was not to discuss the Storm-Lord. Sadly, Harry Potter passed away due to health problems on Tuesday. The funeral has already happened yesterday, and he was buried. Only last night I acquired the memories from his relatives."

The entire room went silent, and Fudge began to cackle.

"Nice one Albus. This is a really good one. I haven't laughed in a long time."

Albus then produced the medical files, along with the funeral invitation. He also brought along the report card and a copy of the memory of his tombstone.

"You will find I am not joking one bit," Albus said tersely.

As the documents passed around the office, Albus emptied the memory into the pensieve and invited everyone to view the memory with him. As the inky background cleared, everyone observed the following:

RIP Harry Potter.

July 31st 1999 – June 21th 2010

Beloved son of Lilly Potter and James Potter,

Scholar, Friend and Fighter.

Love lives on, Sleep till eternity.

Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life: John 3:15

When the memory was finished, Fudge sat down and wondered how this news would be received. Amelia already understood what would happen, as she read between the lines. The Death Eaters would come out and celebrate.

"Albus, we just came out of a war. The people need stability. I am not going to release any of this information yet."

"WHAT!" asked Amelia.

"Silence, Head Auror! You do your job and stay quiet. Albus, we cannot have Magical England in an uproar. People will ask why we allowed this to happen. They will hold us accountable for whether the boy could have been cured or not. They will demand an investigation. Did Harry Potter have friends in the muggle world?"

"He did. He was connected to two people in particular," answered Albus as he knew exactly where this was going.

He thought to himself, "Well played Fudge, well played."

"We can't have those people being hunted down by the whole of Magical England! People will find out eventually. They will go to the tombstone and break the statute. We have to keep this under wraps from the public. Only when we can deal with the outrage then can we can announce the news!"

Amelia already understood what Fudge was doing. He was extricating himself.

"We have Azkaban playing Muggle Music and we haven't found out what was done to the walls yet. The Dementors are dead and there has been the breakout of Sirius Black. The conservatives will not want to know why House Cassius lost its final heir, regardless of his misdeeds. We need to work through these events closely. Understand that they will come for both of us. After all, you carried Harry Potter into the muggle world. The conservatives will ask why he wasn't raised with a magical family!"

"What happens when the new Lord Black comes rolling in, supported by Lord Peverell? We did get faces in the memory recollections, but we suspect that they were all glamoured. And even if they were not, we have no way of finding them. We could put up wanted posters, but what if civilians attacked them, and they responded with force? Andromeda Tonks related to us last night that Lord Cassius had tried to rape his mother. Technically under the old laws, he acted with the right authority. She was under oath when she revealed this information. And the Weasley boy, Authur's eldest – he is under Gringotts oath as he broke the wards.

Do not make a mess of things with the Goblins!" commented Amelia.

"Merlin's pants, I hate this. I think I have an idea as to what we can do." Fudge replied.

"What do you suggest?" asked Albus.

"We can tell the Wizarding world that the Dementors perished in a strange magical accident, much later on. That will make the population feel good. Dementors are the things of utter nightmares. At the end of the year before Yuletide, we can announce Potter's passing, so that the season can cheer them up. They will soon forget, and we won't have to deal with the blowback. We can even say that he was receiving treatment at St. Mungos and we could not find a cure to the issue. He passed painlessly and happily."

Albus was so angry, that everyone could feel the magic rolling off him. However, he decided to play the game, if only to uncover Lord Peverell. There would be no magical attacks on Wizarding England and they could control the situation.

"Fine Cornelius. Understand I am only accepting this solution because my main concern was the Death Eater's response. If this….ignorance will keep them quiet, so be it." Albus replied, as he left the office. He made up his mind - He would speak to Amelia about the ongoing issues after he examined the new memories that he had acquired.

Albus Dumbledore stopped by Emmeline Vance's office and asked for the address of Hermione Granger and Priya Singh to be found, on the basis that they both were connected to St Grogory's Primary School. Vance apparated to a little hidden office and waited as the clerk entered the information on a computer. This was the unofficial office where Amelia collaborated with Muggle Police Enforcement. The information was printed on a sheet of paper, and the clerk cut it into two little strips. Emmeline collected the information and apparated back.

"Ms Vance, how have you been?" Albus asked.

"Excellent. I hope things have been good."

"We will manage. As you heard in the meeting, our dear Harry is no longer with us. I am going to speak to his best friend and his teacher. I hope it goes well"

"It is so sad to hear that he is no longer with us. My cousin will never get that autograph. I don't like how we play games with Fudge, but we have no choice."

"I know my dear. Let me see what I can dig up."

Albus then walked to an apparition spot within the Ministry of Magic and willed himself to an abandoned building. He summoned Fawkes and then arrived directly at his office in Hogwarts, where he found Severus waiting in formal clothes. Albus transfigured his robe into a Muggle business suit and then asked Severus to take him to a known place where a taxi could carry them to the Granger's address. One hour later, Albus and Severus found themselves at the Granger residence. Little did they know that William and Jean were already waiting – Wizards had no appreciation for how camera systems worked. As William looked at the DVR, he asked Whootsy to fetch Hermione from Peverell Manor. When the knock was heard, Hermione was already in her room in the baggiest clothes that she found, with her hair completely frizzy. A diluted crocodile tears potion had been consumed, and her face was a leaking faucet.

Harry and Sirius were at Gringotts, and everyone was tuned in over comms. Sirius and Harry offered to let Barchoke and Bloodaxe hear the exchange, as a practical joke. Harry understood that Bloodaxe would tell King Ragnok what was relevant.

"Knock-Knock-Knock"

Jean opened the door slowly and looked at both men. Albus then spoke.

"Good afternoon. Is this the Granger residence?"

"It certainly is. Let me guess, you are here about Harry aren't you? Come in." Jean replied.

Albus and Snape were led to a comfortable, modern living room where there was a little table. There were any number of wine glasses and a cheese board with some luxurious sliced meats and sausages.

"Sit, please. Jean Granger and my husband William Granger at your service. And you fine gentlemen are?"

"Mr. Albus Dumbledore."

"Professor Severus Snape."

"Ah – Roman emperor Severus. Wonderful name sir. I am not sure where to begin. William?"

Albus found the lack of questions strange. Severus was already impressed that they seemed to know some history.

"You might wonder why we invited you so freely, into our home. We do not ever have visitors. Harry was the first child that ever sat on this couch next to our Mione. We know that you must know him, and the news has finally arrived."

"His passing has cut us deeply," Albus replied.

"I understand. We were I guess…..celebrating his memory. We did not go to work today. Our Moine is….not well. Are you related to him?"

Albus then helped himself to the cheeseboard as Jean motioned to both of them.

"We are not related to him. However, Severus was a school friend of Harry's mother Lilly. I was school principal at the same institution. I guess we are…a teacher and a friend of his parents."

"Oh, that makes sense. Harry never spoke of his parents. He said that they died in a terrible car crash. All that he could remember was a green light. After he told me that story, I never asked. I told him he was always welcome here to have a hug or talk to someone if wanted to chat. I tried my best to be a motherly figure to him."

"And he was welcome to our fridge. He and Hermione were regular snackers. Always hungry. This was a little tradition we introduced him to, and we felt like doing it again today. Harry was always excellent with his hands. He could visualise things and he loved building robots and projects in his spare time."

Albus thought about the information being offered to him. Harry sounded exactly like James. Somebody slanted towards Transfiguration. A car accident meant that Harry was never told his true heritage by Petunia. It mattered little now.

"I see, Mr Granger. Ms Granger, thank you for being there for him. We had lost contact with him. It was pure coincidence that we found out. How did Mione meet Harry?"

"Ah – well Hermione is my daughter's name. Mione was the nickname Harry created. Both of us are dentists. We moved to the area because we had hoped to score a suitable location for a new clinic. Naturally, our Hermione ended up at the same school as Harry. But it was difficult at first for our daughter."

"For what reason?" asked Severus in a neutral tone.

"Hermione was always unusually bright. She loved to read. Social skills on the other hand?"

"Dear wife, she is still terrible at that. Harry was her only friend. They met at the library. Harry loved to read. Harry was skipped a couple of years ahead, at school."

Severus' lips twitched unpleasurably. This sounded like Lilly. Lilly was the only person who read regularly. Even far more than him.

"Can we speak to your daughter?"

"Sure. Let me get her."

Both men were greeted by the messiest girl they had ever seen. She was in a total state of disarray.

"Hello?" Hermione said, as she rubbed her eyes and played the role of a grieving friend.

Over the next half hour, Hermione explained her relationship with Harry. She was careful to just present information that framed Harry as some type of middle ground between Lilly and James. He was the boy who sometimes had problems with bullies, had problems with mathematics, but most of the time was the brother she had always wanted. She also explained that both of them had a close relationship with Ms Singh because they had received special arrangements to have them complete classes at an accelerated pace. Hermione explained over the last six months, that Harry had multiple migraines and the scar that he had gotten in the car accident would often 'hurt' him. He would often get chest pains too.

Albus considered that the magic left in the scar had killed the boy. He had never considered that this could happen. Severus who had been performing non-verbal on all the people in the room found that they were being honest. There was no deception. When he tapped Albus' hand, Dumbledore seemed to press for more information. Albus then asked the crucial question and then Hermione understood that both men had taken the bait. Morgana had been wise to develop her anti-legilimency jewellery. She had been alerted when Snape had attempted to penetrate her mind.

"What do you think got your attention when you met Harry in the library?" asked Albus.

"Er – sometimes I can know if people are nice or not. Harry felt nice but sometimes he felt kinda sick. I just knew he would be nice to me."

Albus smiled. Albus was pretty sure that they would see Hermione Granger again. Hermione Granger did not seem to have any magical aura. However, perhaps she was a near-squib? That would make sense. Albus hoped that the girl might attend Hogwarts, but the magical charge was not there. Little did Albus and Severus know, that Harry had run a generator to deplete the area and had placed titanium plates under every couch from his material rack.

"I think we might see each other again. I must thank you for the hospitality. Perhaps you can inform Ms Singh that we would like to have a word? I take it that you have a telephone?"

Hermione nodded and took her father's smartphone and called Priya.

"Afternoon Ms Singh. Some family friends of Harry would like to speak to you."

Some indistinct mumbling was heard.

"Oh, that is convenient. Yes, okay I will tell them."

Hermione hanged up.

"Mr Dumbledore and Mr Snape, Ms Singh wanted to talk to us this afternoon. Harry was her favourite. So, I guess you can speak to her, she will be here in five minutes."

Earlier, Priya wondered how she could hide the fact she was magical. She wanted to change the way she looked, without magic. She was sure that Dumbledore could detect glamours. Hermione suggested a rather brilliant plan.

A makeover and a titanium band.

Lorna was only too happy to purchase some "emergency" makeup supplies as they picked out an outfit that would completely cover all her skin. Only her neck upwards would be visible. The wardrobe would include a long-sleeved denim jacket, a black jeans and gloves. After the wardrobe had been selected, Priya paid a visit to a high-end salon and said quite humorously

"Make me look super duper hot".

The stylist, clearly a man who did not subscribe to traditional gender roles, replied in the most fabulous tone of voice, "Girlfriend, I got you. Lemme make you look fire!"

Priya had cut off her shoulder length hair and was now sporting a classic pixie haircut that sported any number of red and brown highlights. Her new haircut framed her face and brought out her eyes. At her home, Lorna managed to blend some foundation into Priya's neck. A lot of liberal contouring was applied. Lorna managed to completely change Priya's complexion to something much fairer, instead of her classic dusky look that she sported. Lorna also expertly reshaped her nose, her jawline, her eye profile and everything else. Priya now looked like a different woman, and with the large sunglasses?

I am fabulous today, deal with it.

Priya thought the entire fiasco was funny, and she sent Harry a picture. Harry replied, "Hubba Hubba, looking fly." Priya then timed her entrance as William had silently texted her and she had arrived the old fashioned way, via driving. She felt her magical presence as it felt drained, and the titanium band was doing its job. Priya made her way into the Granger household and brought along a whole tub of ice cream. Between the hustle and bustle metro look, and the focus on stress eating the ice cream, both had no reason to suspect that the woman was a completely different person. When Priya took off her glasses, she was quite aware that both men would attempt passive legilimency, but the chain on her neck would keep her safe.

Albus was only too happy to eat the ice cream, but Severus seemed to be tired already – he was not a people person and politely refused. Albus continued to expertly question Priya in a manner that would reveal student dispositions. Priya who understood what was going on pretended to be a larger than life woman who was too busy mourning her star student. Her answers were simple – Harry and Hermione loved authority figures and they believed in books. They took the teacher's word as law, and they would do anything to get a teacher's approval.

They profusely thanked Ms Singh for her time, as they were happy to learn about Harry Potter. Then, they left. Hermione and Priya decided to take no chances as they asked Harry and even the elves to look over their environment to see if any enchantments had been cast. Harry then looked over everything and saw no magical signatures, after apparating in with Sirius.

"We are clean. Let me just take off the generator." Harry replied.

"You owe us dinner for this performance, eh." Priya teased.

"I certainly do. I do like how he bought into you quickly. He looked unsettled. Based on what I heard over the comms, he thinks he has you pegged. We will see how it goes. We just outsmarted the most powerful wizard in the world and played Magical England for a set of morons."

"How did things go at Gringotts, son?"

"Gringotts was fantastic. The Goblins have been given instructions to melt every last bit of precious materials down in the Black Vault. All the art, surplus properties, unused land and even #12 Grimaud Place are being sold. Particularly the art is really where the main money is being scored. Only the Black Library, the Black Wardstone and Blackmoor Castle in France will survive the transition."

"How much money in total are we looking at? What do you plan to do with it?" asked Hermione.

"Some will be taken as Gringotts fee for melting the materials, and the rest will be split up into S&P 500 Investments and then raw metal stock for engineering. A personal contingency for Sirius has been put aside and there is a large investment being made in us."

"Between who? Both of you?" asked Priya.

"Better than that. I am just waiting on Hermione's approval. Peverell-Black Industries will be mine. Granger-Black Pharmaceuticals will be hers. Sirius is throwing fifty per cent of the entire Black wealth behind us."

"Damn. We should get to work." Hermione commented.

"We will look at the product portfolio and line them up. Then we will knock them down. Planning to break Sirius out was the big operation. Hermione, let us get back. I am going to finish Sirius' new wand and we are going to look at building a magical sensor. The next time somebody hits anyone in our family with a stupefy I want a localised shield summoned over that area."