[A/N: We're winding up the year with this chapter. I figure there will only be one more chapter left to go before I end this year. I plan on finishing up one of my other story arcs after this so Year 2 will have to wait a while.]

At Saint Mungo's Hospital…

Albus awoke just after mid-morning the day after the healers had visited him in his office and looked around in confusion. 'Where the blasted hell am I?' He slid out of bed and shuffled over to where the door was. He tried to open it but found it locked. He knocked on the door but no one answered. He turned and gazed around the room in which he was trapped and thought about this conundrum. 'Judging from the moving images on the wall, I'd have to say that this place is in Saint Mungo's but for the life of me, I have no idea why I'm here.' He spotted a cushioned armchair and sat down to continue to puzzle things out.

A while later, there was a quiet knocking on the door. He called out for the person to enter and was greeted by a green robed Healer.

"Ah, Mr. Dumbledore, I'm glad to see you awake and moving about. How are you feeling?"

"I'd be feeling a lot better if I weren't trapped in here and if you would tell me why I'm here in the first place." Albus grumbled.

The healer briefly examined his notes and replied, "Well, you were brought here for a mental health examination that was many years overdue, for starters. Your coworkers were most distraught with your behavior as of late, especially in light of the recent events within the school."

Albus waved his hand dismissively, "Nonsense! There was nothing wrong with my school or with me. I want to leave so I can continue my work."

The healer shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore but that just won't be possible. You were remanded to our care for a minimum of seventy-two hours to evaluate your condition."

That set Albus off and he began to rant about him being needed at the school to mold and shape his students to reach their destiny. In his agitation, he let slip that Harry Potter was crucial to the future of the wizarding world and that the boy must be tested to ensure that the fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul embedded in the boy's forehead wasn't influencing him in any way. With some subtle questions, the healer got the answers from Albus as to what it was he was referring to and what the ultimate outcome was supposed to be. The healer was flabbergasted and rather disgusted that Albus believed that young Harry Potter had to sacrifice himself for the 'Greater Good' so as to weaken the Dark Lord enough for Albus to step in and redeem Tom Riddle from the Dark.

In a calming voice, the healer asked who this 'Tom Riddle' was. The answer stunned him.

"Tom Riddle is the birth name of the Dark Lord. When you rearrange the letters of his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle becomes 'I am Lord Voldemort.'"

Slowly nodding his head, the healer then asked Albus how long he'd known about this name change.

Albus sighed as he reminisced, "Oh, it's been quite a number of years, really. It seemed to amuse him to come up with such a play on his name though so I let him keep it."

"You let him keep it?"

"Oh, yes. I've known that he was experimenting with his moniker since he was a fifth year student. I saw his efforts on the back of one his transfiguration notes."

"Why did you not inform anyone about this?"

Albus shrugged then yawned deeply, "It wasn't for anyone else to know. Only I am capable of seeing what is necessary and what's not. The rest of the sheep in the Wizengamot would've just bleated as they usually do and nothing would've resulted from that."

Subtly using his wand, the healer cast a calming and sleeping charm onto Albus and when the old man finally dozed off in his chair, the healer got up and left the room. After he closed and locked the door, he turned to find Amelia waiting for him.

"Madam Bones," he nodded to her, "I imagine that you're here to get my evaluation regarding Albus?"

She nodded once, "Yes, I know that your evaluation is probably not completed but can you give me something I could use against him?"

The healer sighed deeply, "He's suffering from a previously undiagnosed case of paranoid personality disorder. It becomes more evident when he's agitated as he was earlier. He seems to think that he alone is capable of guiding the magical world towards some amorphous concept of the 'Greater Good.' I'm sure I've heard that term before but at this moment I can't think of it."

"Anything else?"

"He was ranting about some sort of soul fragment embedded within Mr. Potter's forehead."

Amelia cleared her throat, "Yes, there was a case about that but it was dealt with already. I can send you a copy of the paperwork if you wish."

The healer made a note of it in his stack and remarked that a more complete report would be available by the end of the week. The two shook hands and departed.

That Saturday…

Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwarts' Mistress of Magical Medicine, or as she once overheard a couple of seventh years describe her, the 'foxy medi-witch in the Infirmary' leant back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She'd just finished reading the completed report from Saint Mungo's regarding the mental health examination on Albus after his recent 'eruption.' The diagnosis wasn't good and if it went the way that she predicted, Hogwarts would be looking for a new headmaster soon.

There was a light tapping on her door and when she opened it, she was greeted with the sight of a concerned Minerva McGonagall. Poppy waved her friend to come in and shut the door behind her.

"Take a seat, Min. I have some bad news about Albus." She said wearily.

Minerva sank into her chair and pursed her lips before saying, "Give it to me straight, Poppy. What were the results?"

Poppy handed her the report and said that the mind healers diagnosed Albus with having a strong case of paranoia personality disorder. "When you look back on all his behaviors since before the last war, it becomes rather clear to see. I don't know how anyone could've missed it."

Minerva looked at the list of symptoms: 'Believing that others have hidden motives or are out to harm them,' 'being hypersensitive to criticism,' 'having trouble working with others,' 'being quick to become angry and hostile,' 'becoming detached or socially isolated,' 'being argumentative and defensive,' 'having trouble seeing their own problems,' 'having trouble relaxing.'

Nodding throughout, "Aye, he does seem to display quite a few of these."

"Plus, there's the behaving in a hostile or stubborn manner, not believing that their behavior is abnormal, that sort of thing," Poppy added sadly.

Minerva stared off into the distance before letting out a short chuckle; Poppy looked up in curiosity.

"This could also be used to describe Severus, you know."

Poppy laughed, "He does, doesn't he?"

Harry was in his trunk busily studying for an upcoming Herbology test and was again eternally grateful for whomever it was that gifted him with his traveler's trunk. Justin was upstairs in the dorm doing something that made noise and it was driving Harry crazy. There wasn't anywhere else that he really felt at ease to studying in either. Potter's Place had too many potential projects that always seemed to beckon him. The library was out too because of the potential for someone to come over to chat and whatnot.

Plus, he could laze around in his living room in just his shorts and not worry that someone would see. He'd just exited from his kitchen armed with a plate of orange wedges and a glass of water when he heard the sound of tapping coming from the stairwell. Putting the food and drink on the coffee table, he padded over and glanced up.

Hermione's beautiful brown eyes were looking back down at him. She perked up with a cute smile when she spotted him.

"What's up, Hermione?"

"Just came to see what you were up to."

"Doing a bit of studying for that Herbology test. Have you finished that already?"

She nodded, causing her hair to jiggle, "Yup. I was going to get started on my potion's notes."

Harry glanced back at his stack of homework and shrugged before turning back, "You want to grab your stuff and join me down here?"

Hermione chewed on her lower lip for a moment before agreeing and disappearing out the door. Harry went into his bedroom and pulled out a clean shirt and put it on before heading back to the living room just in time to see Hermione clambering down with her book bag.

They got set up and settled in for a nice study session. After about an hour, Harry got up and stretched before gathering up his empty plate and cup. While he was washing them out, he glanced over at his best female friend and wondered what it would be like to hold her hand while they were studying. 'I'm sure she wouldn't mind… I hope she wouldn't mind…' When he sat back down, he slowly reached over and took her right hand in his left.

Neither one said anything though Hermione did get a small smile on her face as she continued to read.

Harry pushed his luck once more in regards to holding Hermione's hand. He entwined his fingers with hers when they were sitting down to eat dinner that evening. 'She didn't pull away! That's good, right?' He nervously glanced over at her and saw that she was sporting a happy smile so he smiled in return. Susan Bones noticed the interplay and giggled quietly. Neville came over and joined them before he noticed something going on. He glanced between the two of them then over at Susan who just grinned and shook her head. He shrugged it off and helped himself to a serving of roast beef.

It was approaching mid-May when Harry was called into Professor Sprout's office within the Hufflepuff Common Room. He knocked on the door nervously trying to think of what possible reason there would be for being summoned.

When the door opened and he was bid to enter, he burst out with his question, "Professor? Is there something wrong?"

Pomona smiled and shook her head, "No, Mr. Potter. There's nothing wrong. I just thought I should be the first to tell you that in about an hour you will be receiving a visitor who is very anxious to meet you."

Harry's eyebrows beetled together as he tried to piece together just who it could be that wanted to meet him. Pomona watched the emotions play across his face before the looking of dawning excitement appeared. He looked at her in wide-eyed wonder and she nodded happily.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Your godfather was practically bouncing in the floo this morning. He, along with another friend of your parents will be arriving here in just under an hour now."

Harry nearly swooned before pulling himself together, "Can you tell me what they're like?"

Pomona described Sirius Black as the school's previous champion of chaos along with Harry's father and their other friend, Remus Lupin, as the brains of their childhood group, who would also be accompanying Sirius.

Harry got a sneaky look on his face, "Prankster, eh? Hmmm, I wonder if Professor Snape would be willing to help out with a prank against them?"

Pomona grew concerned, "What are you planning, Mr. Potter? Nothing dangerous?"

Harry shook his head and waved his hand, "No, of course not. But I just had the sneaky idea to greet the two men with Professor Snape as my supposed 'guardian' and let them think that it was Professor Snape who'd been the one to raise me."

Pomona looked suspicious, "Didn't you write to your godfather and mention that you'd been put into Hufflepuff and that your aunt and uncle raised you?"

"I can say that I wrote that so Sirius' recovery wasn't hampered too much. Do you think Professor Snape would go for it?"

Pomona rolled her eyes in mild exasperation, "Probably. Let's find out, shall we?" She got up and activated the internal floo network. She threw in a pinch of powder and called for Severus' office. When the connection went through, she had Harry describe the prank he had in mind. The look of sincere shock morphed into manic glee as the dour-faced man immediately agreed to the impending chaos.

"Okay, professor. They should be here within an hour so I'll need to borrow a set of Slytherin robes from you to complete the ruse."

"Good idea, I'll meet you at the main entrance in thirty minutes." Severus pulled his head back and signed off.

An hour later…

Sirius Black, former convict of Azkaban and his lifetime friend, Remus Lupin made their way from the gates to the main doors. Sirius was practically bouncing from energetic glee.

"Come on, Moony! Let's get a move on! I wanna see my godson." He whined.

Moony, aka Remus Lupin could only shake his head at his friend's exuberance. "He'll be there, Sirius. Calm down, will you?"

When the two men reached the main doors, they were greeted with a shock. Harry stood there along with Severus Snape! What made it worse was that Harry was wearing the House colors of the serpent…

Sirius slowed to a halt and shook his head in bewilderment. He nudged his friend and whined, "Moony? Is he… is he really wearing Slytherin colors?" Remus could only look on in slack-jawed horror and dumbly nodded.

Harry stepped forward and in as serious a tone as he could muster, "Welcome godfather." He looked over at Remus, "And who might you be, sir?"

Remus' eyes narrowed briefly as his nose twitched. 'Something's not right here. That's the exact sort of manner of speaking his father would use when a prank was about to be executed.' He decided to play along to let this play out.

"I am Remus Lupin, Mr. Potter. I am a friend of Sirius Black here and was a close friend of your father and mother."

Harry bowed his head in recognition, "Then be welcome as well. Godfather? You don't seem to be holding up well. Was your treatment not concluded at Saint Mungo's?"

During all this, the look on Severus' face was priceless. He could barely restrain himself from laughing outright at the sight of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin from nearly having a brain aneurysm at the thought of Harry Potter being in Slytherin.

Sirius finally managed to get his mouth and brain synched up again, "Ha-Harry? In your letter to me, you stated that you were in Hufflepuff. Why are you wearing green?"

Harry harrumphed lightly and waved his hand dismissively, "I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily while you were still recovering. It was Professor Snape here, who recommended that I choose another House in my letter. He's been a wonderful Head of House and magical guardian these past ten years."

Sirius dropped to his knees and howled in anguish at the thought that he'd truly failed his godson and that the last of the Potters was raised to be a snake.

Finally, Severus couldn't hold back the laughter anymore and let out a muffled snort. This set off Harry who also burst out giggling, "Wow, I thought my teeth were going to explode if I held that in any longer! Excellent job, professor." Harry shook the potions professor's hand as he took off the outer robe to expose his true House colors underneath.

Severus continued to laugh as he patted Harry on the shoulder, "That. Was. Epic! Truly worth all the years of torment they put me through to witness that. Fifty points to you, Mr. Potter. If you'll excuse me? I have papers to grade."

Sirius looked up with tormented eyes when Severus broke character and glanced at Remus in confusion. Remus in turn was shaking his head ruefully, "Padfoot, we just got pranked."

Harry led the two men to a conference room on the second floor and called for one of the elves, "Hey, Tully. Would you please bring us some tea and light snacks?" Tully nodded and popped away. The requested items appeared not a moment later.

Harry flopped down on one of the chairs and chuckled at Sirius who was still trying to wrap his head around the prank that his godson had just pulled. Remus leaned over and poured himself a cup of tea and winked at Harry.

"That was a wonderful prank, Prongslet."

Harry tilted his head in confusion, "Prongslet?"

"That was the nickname your father gave you when you were born. His Marauder's nickname was Prongs. Mine is Moony while Sirius here is known as Padfoot."

Harry still looked confused, "I'm sorry but I've never heard of the Marauders before."

"The Marauders were a group that your father, Remus and I founded when we were in school here. Our mission was to enliven up this dreary castle and its inhabitants." Sirius proclaimed proudly, "How is it that you've never heard of us?"

Harry shrugged, "It just never came up. I wrote you that I'd been raised by my aunt and uncle, right? Well, they only knew that the magical world existed. They had no clue beyond that what existed and what didn't."

Sirius slumped back in his seat, "Well, during our time here we were responsible I guess for pretty much all the mayhem that occurred. I wouldn't be surprised if half of the grey hair that Minnie has is the result from our…activities."

Harry thought for a moment, "You sound like an older version of the Weasley twins. They like to claim that they're the reigning champions of chaos here."

Remus snorted lightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a current generation. Pranking and general mischief is almost expected in school. So besides what you pulled on us, what other pranks have you done?"

Harry smirked as he described some of the things that he'd gotten up to or was peripherally involved with. The remaining Marauders laughed themselves silly at the thought of Albus Dumbledore supposedly crapping his robes and not being able to move.

"Would you like to see where I've been living here in the castle?" The other two nodded so Harry escorted them downstairs to the Hufflepuff Common Room. When they entered, Harry pointed out that he was responsible for all of the newer planters and ceramic wall decorations.

"Really?" Sirius asked, "You made all of these?"

Harry looked back at him with a puzzled expression, "I'm a Potter. Who else would be this good at their namesake?"

"Can't fault you there, Harry." Remus commented as he examined one of the luminaries.

Harry led them into his dorm and pointed out a few other things, "Now, I don't know who it was that left me the trunk but whoever it was, I will be eternally grateful to." He opened it up and demonstrated the amazing capability it had by climbing down into it. Sirius and Remus followed him down and marveled at its size and quality.

"Not bad, Prongslet. Not bad at all. I take it that it's just you who uses this as a place to hide?" Remus commented. Harry nodded that it was just he.

"I do occasionally have friends come down and we'll have a small party without disturbing anyone."

Remus and Sirius stayed for a while and reminisced about the 'good old days' and told Harry many stories about his parents and what life was like in general. Harry in turn, told them about what life was like as a founding member of Artists' Row and one of the organizers for the recent Makers' Faire. He took the two of them out of the trunk and escorted them both to Potter's Place and explained the history of the structure and the resulting Arts program revival.

"The only person who's been against the whole thing is the headmaster. I don't know why other than it's possible that he's lost the plot somehow."

"Yeah, I noticed that he wasn't there at the entrance to greet us." Sirius commented as he scratched his chin.

"Well, I've heard a number of rumors regarding that but until it's announced at dinner, I'm inclined to believe that he's just busy." Harry shrugged unconcernedly.

As Sirius and Remus were getting ready to leave, Harry thanked them both for visiting.

"It was no problem, Harry. I'd been practically twitching to get out of the hospital for a couple of months now." Sirius commented, "Do you think that your aunt and uncle would have a problem if we visited some time?"

Harry thought about it and said it would probably be alright but he'd have to contact them first, "Keep in mind that they're kind of uncomfortable with the presence of magic. They acknowledge that it's real but to see things moving on their own kind of creeps them out."

The month of May swept past the school in a flurry of tests and class work, so much so that Harry barely had any time to get out to Potter's Place to finish out his projects and orders. So many things were also happening within the school and in the wider magical community.

Albus had been sacked as Headmaster of Hogwarts as a result of his mental health exam that formally diagnosed him with Paranoid Personality Disorder. His increasingly belligerent attitude towards others made it a near impossibility he could ever return to handle the stress of running a school let alone being the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot or the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. When he was told this, his anger was so great that Albus had to be sedated for his own safety as well as anyone else who were nearby.

Amelia had successfully made the case that Albus should have his magic bound and be transferred to a long-term care facility for the elderly. In an ironic twist of fate, Albus Dumbledore was sent to live amongst the muggles in a retirement care center. When asked why it was so ironic, Amelia would snort in laughter. It would eventually come out in the report given in court that Albus' ideas for the 'Greater Good' included the subjugation of the muggle world. He had written a letter to a then sixteen-year-old Gellert Grindlewald that outlined his beliefs that wizard dominance over the muggles for their own good must be handled carefully and that even though they'd been given power and the right to rule, it also gave them responsibilities over that power.

What changed was that as Albus got older and had to deal with the muggleborns and their families more often as a teacher then as deputy headmaster and finally headmaster; he came to the conclusion that the magical world was losing its grip of its dominance of power over the social advancements in the non-magical world and therefore something needed to be done. He subtly began proposing amendments and bills to the Wizengamot through intermediaries to restrict access to the magical world for those he deemed as 'too progressive.'

In addition, he began shaping the bloodlines of families as he saw fit by introducing the children in his school to the partners of his choice and influencing their decisions through Legilimency and subtle alchemical potions in their food and drink. When the Wizengamot found out about this, it caused a near panic amongst its members as they all began to wonder if their spouse truly loved them or if their marriage was the result of Albus' meddling. Saint Mungo's was flooded with requests to find out if there were any tests that could be taken to determine the validity of their inquiries. As of the end of June, there were no known tests that could be undergone but that their teams were working on it.