"You can't call a state of emergency for a population issue!" screeched Madam Abbott.

"Check the charter!" Fudge roared. "Not only am I allowed to but the charter specifically states this kind of situation! We've gone from an international war to a civil war and our country was not that big to begin with!"

"State your reasons," James said with a magically amplified voice. "Tell us your reasoning and plans before we decide whether or not you die today."

Fudge paled a little and took a minute to gather himself before speaking. "The charter states that when the population falls to nearly a quarter of what it was within the last fifty to seventy-five years, the Minister may call a state of emergency and, if the cause was due to war, the Minister shall put forth temporary laws to bring the population back to what it should be but not less than double at the time emergency is called.

"Using this law, I plan to have as many people married as possible, and for those too young for marriage then they will be put into marriage contracts. I would have the Unspeakables pair people together based on power, beliefs and skill level to maximize mental and magical compatibility. The students chosen would be placed in specialized housing that would prepare them for married life with the one that was chosen for them. In an effort to preserve the family names, each family would need to have at least three children: one for the father's family, one for the mother's family and one to restore a previously eliminated family. This would not only bring the population up rather quickly but it would also balance the power here in the Wizengamot by filling the seats of those our country has lost."

"Now let me get this straight," James boomed. "You think that the best way to bring the population back to what it was before Grindelwald, we are just going to allow you to tell our friends and our children who they are going to be with for the rest of their lives and then force them into having children that might push one or the other over the edge. Did I get that right? You didn't think of bringing up immigration as a solution at all did you? A better question for you, did you count any of the people with lycanthropy, vampirism, goblin, veela or any other such heritage? I know for a fact that there are enough of them to equal us and you still list them under the British flag! I will not stand for your insolence, you insufferable idiot!" James roared. "You have insulted the numerous citizens you neglected, you threaten to force our children to be under your control and you think we'll just bow down for you? Absolutely not! The position of Minister has never been allowed to meddle in the affairs of the family and for your transgressions against EVERYONE in this room, I challenge you to an honor duel to the death may magic accept it!"

James felt the duel's acceptance and waited for Fudge to accept. He was acutely aware of the deafening silence that surrounded him. This was the make or break situation he had hoped Lucius would have fallen into but there was no helping that.

"I accept, I will allow you to choose the time and place. Pick your second now," Fudge said with more confidence that James expected.

"The center of the chamber, right now, Sirius Black," James listed cruelly.

"Now hold on, I don't believe now is the time for this and especially not in front of those who haven't seen death. I would recommend that those who are unwilling to watch the duel should be allowed to leave," Albus said from the stand. "Mr. Potter, are you aware of all of the rules that go along with a duel like this?"

"I will allow those who wish to leave until the duel is over to leave," James said. "As for the rules, yes I am well aware of the rules."

"Very well then," Albus sighed. He gave permission for people to leave but only a few people even left. "Minister, choose the three you wish to have stand by you."

"I choose Walden Macnair, Theodre Nott Sr. and Thomas Avery Sr. should they accept. The limitations are that everyone will duel at once, everything goes," Fudge said.

Three people stood and made their way down to the center of the room. James shook his head as he made his way down.

"Just to be clear on the subject, the three of us agree with you Mr. Potter. The only reason we have come down here is because we don't think there is anyone else who would accept the positions," Thomas explained. "We would request that you not kill us for this."

"If you three are not willing to follow the rules then leave the arena!" Lucius hollered. "I will take the place of one of you, I have an issue with both Mr. Potter and Mr. Black. I would like to add stipulations to this duel as well."

"I will honor the rules," Walden growled.

"As will I," Theodore agreed.

"What are your stipulations Mr. Malfoy?" Sirius asked.

"First, I will take ninety percent of both of your belongings and drop your families to Noble status. Secondly, your families will become branches of the Malfoy line," Lucius said. "Finally, your children will follow all of my orders."

"Fine," James said. He and Sirius dropped into their dueling stances. 'This could have been a lot better but at least Lucius brought them on himself rather than me trying to go after him for something.'

"You realize your stipulations also apply to your family as well should you fall, right?" Sirius asked.

"Four on two, I think I prefer these odds so I don't need to worry about that," Lucius spat.

"I will proctor this duel, I have placed a magic nullifying barrier to protect the spectators. Start on my command," Albus said. The ancient wizard made sure everyone was ready before calling the duel open.

Lily and Marlene sat, holding each other. Neither were happy about the situation but there was nothing they could do anymore. When James challenged Cornelius, magic accepted it before they could try to talk their husbands down. If either of them died, they would never be forgiven and they knew that.

The two of them watched as spells began flying in the arena. Bone breakers, entrail expelling curses and organ liquefying curses were the nicest coming from Cornelius' side, while James and Sirius were only dodging or shielding. The crowd was thinking that James and Sirius were outmatched but after fighting with them against Voldemort, those that were in the Order recognized that James and Sirius were figuring out the style and patterns of their opponents.

"You about ready?" Sirius asked.

"You kidding me? I've been waiting on you," James replied.

Sirius summoned a large smokescreen as James transformed into a stag. It was a familiar routine that they had used countless times before. James would charge one of the opponents, transform back into himself and curse one of his opponents allowing Sirius to do the same to a different person. Sirius heard a scream and took that as the sign for him to go.

"Avada Kedavra," Lucius intoned. If they thought the fog was going to protect them then he would make sure it became their worst nightmare. He saw other green flashes and knew that the others had picked up on his decision. He just had to make sure that none of them made their way to him.

"Reducto," a voice whispered from his right and Lucius knew no more.

'I'm going to have to explain to these kids why they answer to me soon,' James thought to himself. He turned and immediately conjured a marble pillar to block another Killing Curse. His heart was racing, his hearing was starting to go, he knew he had to end this soon or his adrenaline would get the better of him.

Sirius pressed a hand against his side to try and stem the bleeding, he let his guard down for only a moment and Cornelius took advantage of it. Sirius didn't recognize the spell though and his attempts to heal it had failed, his only hope was to get to James as fast as possible. He fired off a series of reductors in the direction the spells were coming from as he made his way to the edge of the arena. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cornelius and Walden dueling James so he knew that Theodore was the only real threat towards him. The problem was his vision was fading.

Marlene saw her husband collapse against the wall nearest to her and she felt her eyes sting with tears. There weren't a lot of curses that Sirius couldn't heal and the fact that it opened up nearly his entire side didn't sit well with her. "Come on guys, hurry it up."

Theodore glanced around for a moment trying to make sure that Sirius wasn't sneaking up on him, trusting Walden to cover him for a moment when he saw Cornelius approaching.

"Sirius won't last much longer, let's focus on James, let's make this quick," Cornelius said.

James wasn't liking his situation, he was facing three opponents at once, he could see that Sirius was in desperate need of help and he knew that there was only one way for him to finish things off quickly.

'This isn't the time to panic! I need to get rid of these idiots!' James thought.

Sirius could feel that something wasn't right. The way Cornelius moved, the confidence he spoke with, everything about the normally meek and flustered Minister just seemed off. With his vision starting to fade, Sirius fired the strongest Bombarda he could before allowing everything to go black. 'Well, I may not get to see it but at least I helped make sure that my kids stayed free.'

James threw himself out of the way of another blood boiler and threw up a shield to cover him so he could roll away and as soon as he brought his eyes back up he saw a small light flying towards the backs of his attackers. 'Good, the shockwave will disorient anyone who survives. It's been a while since we've had to duel this hard,' James thought to himself.

The courtroom shook as shrapnel and dust flew in every direction. James jumped to his feet, eager to take advantage of the moment and put an end to the duel. He fired off piercing hexes as fast as he could until his arm dropped from exhaustion.

"The duel is finished!" came Albus' voice. "Mediwizards, heal their wounds and take away the bodies."

Marlene sprinted down the stairs until she got to the edge of the stands. It was a rare spell that hit her husband and she would be damned if some halfwit healer wound up killing her husband because of their inexperience. She jumped over the railing and crouched by Sirius' side.

"Love, I need you awake, rennervate," Marlene whispered. Sirius stirred and opened his eyes. "Good, you were hit with something rather violent. I know you have some idea of what it is. I can't heal you without your help."

"Cornelius got me with some organ liquefying variant, I think there's a little bit of Black family magic in it," Sirius said.

"Well he's dead now if that makes you feel any better. What makes you think there's Black family magic in it though?"

"My magic has slowed it down considerably and instead of liquefying entire organs, it's dissolving my intestines. I need to be taken to St. Mungo's and have the damaged parts cut out of me. If it's the curse I'm thinking it is then that'll be it. Anything else and we'll only have made it worse," Sirius explained.

"I don't think you should travel at all in this state," Marlene said.

"If that's what you need then we can do it here. It's not ideal but we can at least prevent it from spreading more," said one of the healers. "I don't think you'll want to watch Mrs. Black but I need you close to make sure that we're not interrupted."

Hogwarts: Minutes earlier

The first year students were filing out of the boats rather loudly just behind Hagrid, each of them arguing about things they wanted to do, see and experience. Some were having a more heated debate than others but it was all in good fun. Ron and Neville were one such example as they were arguing about which of their hobbies was more respectable.

"The firs' years Professor McGonagall," Hagrid announced. All of the children went quiet immediately.

"Thank you Hagrid," she replied. Hagrid nodded to the stern woman as he made his way through a door to his right. "In just a moment you will be led into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your House. While you are here, your House will be an extension of your family, the other Houses are where you should focus on making friends. The other students you see here are the futures of many companies and even the Ministry, these connections will take you far if you treat them properly.

"A word of caution for you all: everyone is watching. While you are all going to make mistakes during your time here, some of those mistakes you may make greatly offend the wrong person. While the staff will attempt to mediate anything that happens in those rare cases, there are going to be times when we will not be enough. Try to be on your best behavior at all times here and it will make things go a lot smoother."

Once she had said her piece, Minerva turned and opened the double doors behind her to reveal the entirety of the Great Hall. She always enjoyed the shocked reactions of the children seeing the charmed ceiling for the very first time. She made her way up to the three-legged stool and barely paid any attention to the song that the hat sang. It always had the same message: band together with a little description of what each house represented. It never changed the meaning yet every generation thought divided the houses a little more every year.

"When I call your name, come up and place the Sorting Hat on your head," She announced. As Minerva went down the list, she noticed that there were a lot more students than usual this year. They might finally be able to run all of the extra activities that Hogwarts had to offer. It would be quite a busy schedule but there were ways to deal with that when the time came. There were several times she had to call everyone to order such as when Draco Malfoy was sorted into Gryffindor, Harry Potter's name was called as well as when he was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Rose was over the moon. She had friends in each of the houses, the Opening Feast was fantastic, Harry was in Ravenclaw with her and nobody even cared about the fact that she was in a courtship agreement. Some of the other girls were jealous that it was Harry she was courting but she didn't care at all. She even made a new friend, Hermione Granger. The girl was a little on the bossier side but she was at least another girl. Luna was the friend she would go to if she wanted to ask 'what if' questions, Cassie was the friend she had that would dream about what life would be like in the future and Jasmine was just older than her by a few years which limited their common ground. Hermione was new, she had no expectations of Rose at all so there was no reason for her to be anything other than herself. It was shaping up to be a wonderful time at Hogwarts.

Harry was deep in thought about how he would maximize his time at school. There were a total of twenty-seven class blocks but there were only eighteen that he was interested in. Well, technically there were only sixteen he was interested in but he had to go through History of Magic and Defense Against Sentient Creatures was a focused branch of Defense Against the Dark Arts combined with Care of Magical Creatures which was a little weird. Flying was only a class he was interested in because he had to pass it in order to play Quidditch, at least it was only required for the first year. He needed to learn as much about healing as he could if he was going to start enchanting objects, making spells and messing around with prank materials. He had already put in a request to test ahead in a few of his subjects and that would be taking place the next morning for him. Harry's plan was to test as far ahead as possible in as many subjects as possible so that he would be able to finish the unnecessary classes with everyone else but if he was able to complete the classes he was interested in early then he would be able to start making a lot of progress on enchanting before he even left Hogwarts. That way, when he graduated he would already be a well known enchanter. As long as he tested as far ahead as Remus believed he could then everything would be ready and squared away.

Ministry

"Now that we have concluded the voting, I am pleased to announce that Amelia Bones will be our new Minister of Magic. Her vote will be proxied by Madam Abbott. Also, Sirius has been cleared by the healers and will make a full recovery in a few days. He will be rejoining us in just a moment. When he returns I will be declaring the outcome and results of the duel so that everyone is fully aware of the consequences," Albus said.

Sirius limped back to his seat with a smirk on his face. 'Whatever the hell happens next had better be damn good or I'm going to smack Jamie so fucking hard,' he thought to himself. With a little assistance from his wife, he lowered himself into his chair before motioning for Albus to continue.

"As everyone is aware, James Potter challenged Cornelius Fudge in an effort to keep the freedoms of the children with Sirius Black as his second while Cornelius was assisted by Lucius Malfoy, Walden Macnair and Theodore Nott Sr. who all agreed to the stipulations put forth by both Cornelius and Lucius. While James challenged Cornelius, the fact that Lucius challenged James shortly after and added his own stipulations means that every stipulation applies to all of the remaining members of the four families. I have sent the memory of the duel and the moments before to the Head Goblin of Gringotts who will oversee the transference of the funds into the proper accounts. Which leaves the unfortunate responsibility of notifying the rest of the family members to the Head of the Department of Magical Families who has already sent out the forty-eight letters of family transfers out. Walden's wife is deceased, but will the three wives please stand and make their way to the three open seats in front of Mr. Potter. When everything is finished here, he will talk to the three of you about your new positions in life.

"Back to the reason we're all here. A state of emergency has been called about the current population issue. I apologize for the condition you received the office, Minister Bones, but we cannot leave the state of emergency until the issue is resolved. Do you have any idea of how you wish to go about fixing it?" Albus asked.

"I do in fact have a few ideas, and I'm going to appoint Lord Potter to oversee the immigration reforms I will be sending to him shortly," Amelia said with a smile. "It was, after all, him who suggested that immigration be opened to boost our population."

"Very well then, I supposed that will conclude the longest Wizengamot meeting I have ever been a part of," Albus said as he banged the gavel to dismiss everyone. He had a school to get to, people to speak to and children to tend to. For the first time in over two decades, Albus thought that retiring from a few positions would actually be a good thing for him. It would be a lot of work finding good replacements for his positions but it really was a little overdue for him. Albus was hopeful though, if James was willing to defend the next generation that vehemently then he might be a good place to start.

Hogwarts

It had been quite the week for Cassie, first she had been sorted into Hufflepuff of all places instead of Slytherin like her father had wanted. When an owl landed in front of her the next morning she thought for sure her father had written out just how disappointed he was with her but when she saw that it was an official letter from the Ministry, she began to worry. It was a busy day for her so she wasn't able to read the letter until that night, though the letter became unnecessary when James Potter showed up and pulled her and her brother aside to talk to them. James explained to the two children as delicately as he could but there was no nice way to tell someone that their father not only leveraged his whole family as a prize in a duel but that the man they now reported to was the one who killed him.

It was a very odd feeling, knowing that her father was dead but to think that he had made them someone else's property made it so much worse. Cassie didn't know what she should have been feeling but at the time she was simply numb. Her family name was worthless, they were destitute after all of the various debts had been paid, their manor was sold and on top of all that there was no way for them to become independent anymore. Even during her adulthood, if a Potter asked anything of her, she would have to do it. The Malfoy family had fallen from one of the highest families to being a mere branch to a nearly unrelated family. Her brother took the news far worse than she had though.

Draco had gone from believing that no matter what happened, he would always be a member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy. To find out that they would be paying for the sins of their father had brought him so low that he had become nearly catatonic. Just getting him to eat became a tough challenge. All the grace and poise he had once-attempted to-carry himself with was gone and it hurt Cassie far worse to see her brother like that than it did to find out that all of her worth was now measured by family that had been severely hurt by her father. On top of that, they also found out that there were three other families that were much larger and stronger than hers that were in the same position because of that very same duel.

Cassie began to struggle in her classes and any friendships she may have been making immediately crumbled. The two of them were pariahs in houses that were filled with people that already didn't like them because of their family name to begin with. Time slipped away from her for a while and it wasn't until halfway through December that everything really sunk in for her.


Neville was having the time of his life. There wasn't a single thing he could think of that was actually bad for him. Sure, he was a little sad about the fact that his friend group from before Hogwarts was starting to fall apart but they were all going to learn how to become animagi together. The sorting may have split them up but after the holidays they would have something new that only they knew about.

Since Draco and Ron were in Gryffindor with him, Harry and Rose were in Ravenclaw, Cassie was in Hufflepuff and Daphne was in Slytherin being able to see them became really difficult. Even though Daphne was the one friend they really only saw at the galas and balls that their families would throw, she was still a friend. It wasn't her fault that her father had kept her as close to him as possible since his wife died but it did make it hard for them to get to know her at all.

All of that was about to change since they were opening Hogsmeade up to every student rather than just the third years and higher. It would be the perfect time for them all to get together and plan out their holiday. At least, that was the plan until Draco had been admitted into the Hospital Wing the day before the train was supposed to take them home. After that, everyone was on edge all the time.


"We have to do something Padfoot, anything would be better for those kids than staying at that school," James said emphatically. When he had gotten the letter about Draco's increasingly worrying condition, he had called all the families together to see what they could do to make it better.

"I get it Prongs, every one of us is worried about him but there's nothing we can do other than admit him to St. Mungo's to see a mind healer," Sirius replied. "I can't even teach him occlumency until he's been cleared by a team of healers."

"While your intentions are certainly noble, have either of you considered just talking to him about it? Maybe he just needs someone to pull him back to the real world," Molly suggested.

Before James could think of a reply, a silver dove flew onto the center of the table. "Mr. Potter, this is Nathaniel Greengrass. I heard about your issue with Draco from my daughter and I think I have a solution to offer you. If you agree to hear me out then please send a reply quickly." With its message delivered, the dove dissolved leaving everyone in stunned silence.

"It's not every day Nathaniel offers his assistance," Remus said. "I would extend him an invitation immediately. That man has more contacts than Lucius ever did."

James sighed and sent his reply. "I'll hear him out but if I don't like his offer I will throw him out faster than he could apparate away Moony."

They didn't have to wait long for Nathaniel to arrive with his daughter Astoria and since they knew the man wasn't one to waste time, they dispensed with the pleasantries.

"What is it you think you could offer us Nathaniel? More importantly, what are you wanting in return?" James asked harshly.

"As you know, Astoria is extremely weak. She'll likely not live long enough to see me pass on or possibly even before her sister marries. In order to help her cope, I hired a particularly specialized healer to help her combat her depression and the man has done wonders for her. Not only in her mind but she's been gaining strength physically as well. I only ask two rather small favors of you in return for me allowing you to contact the healer yourself," Nathaniel said.

"Do you really believe that this man is capable of getting Draco and Cassie back to being their usual selves again?" Lily asked.

"I can almost guarantee that not only will he succeed, but he will manage it in less than a month," Nathaniel said smugly. "He truly is the best at what he does."

"What favors are you looking for?" Marlene asked.

"You know, it's really intimidating the way all of you seem to share the same thought processes," Nathaniel said. "Anyway, like I said, they're tiny favors but they mean the absolute world to me. The first is that I am no longer able to handle raising my two youngest on my own. They're reaching a stage where they won't be able to come to me with their issues because it will be something I have no experience with. Are you willing to promise me that they will always be safe with you? You are the only families I'll even consider when it comes to this but only if you can be absolutely sure that they will be safe."

"You sound like you're about to die, Nate. Are you in any kind of trouble?" Arthur asked. "I know that they will be safer here than they are with you so their safety is more than guaranteed."

"It's not that I'm in any trouble directly but there has been a lot of talk about the fact that people believe I have the rare potions ingredients that known Death Eater sympathizers are looking for. I don't want my children to be trapped in my manor should someone decide they are willing to do more than just talk," Nathaniel explained. "If you could please allow my children to have safe passage here should the worst come to pass."

"We can set that up for them," Lily said. "Are you sure you want us though? Is there no other family you can ask for help? Or even have us put up wards like what we have here around your manor?"

"You know that even with your wards, I will still be at risk. I can't sit at home all the time until the danger passes. Without my distribution the market would dry up and there would be almost no way to recover quickly enough to save the lives that would be lost any other way," Nathaniel said with a wry grin. "Which brings me to my next favor for you Mr. Potter. In Lucius' vault is a signet pendant that belonged to my wife. The goblins enchanted it to dampen the effects of the curse that was placed on my wife and my youngest. If you could please return the pendant to me or my daughter it would extend her life quite a bit."

"Why did you even feel like you needed to offer up something for these requests?" James asked. "There's not a soul here that would do any less for any child out there no matter who it was. What's really going on?"


Christmas was very subdued, the break was tense and nothing was like it used to be. It was driving Ron nuts. The worst part was that since Harry's dad was put in charge of immigration, his dad was asked to help make it as inconspicuous as possible. Sure, it felt good that they were making a lot more money but now, his dad was never around. On top of that, his dad had taken up the family seat in the Wizengamot. The burrow was going through a lot of changes and he was starting to hate his own home. It used to be that he could run anywhere he wanted, make as much noise as he could and nobody would bat an eye. Now it was becoming more and more like Harry's house. The walls were spotless, the floors were shining, the house was repainted and even the garden gnomes left. There was nothing about the house that was the same as it was before.

It was only supposed to have taken a week before everything went back to normal yet three weeks had passed already and things were only changing more. The only bright side to all of it was that the twins seemed to be as upset as he was about everything. During the first round of renovations, their mum had found hundreds of prank items and the small workshop the twins had made for themselves. Percy thought it was about time they got what they deserved, but then again he always had been a bit of a prick. Bill and Charlie thought it was nice but Ron could see the nervousness and tension in their bodies. Jasmine didn't come home for the break so she had only been told about the end goal by her parents. Ginny had been one of the ones to help plan everything so she was only seeing all of her 'hard work' out into place.

It wasn't just the Weasley's that were hurting over the break either. The Longbottoms, Lupins, Potters and Blacks were joined by dozens of complete strangers for the first two weeks of the holidays so all of the children had been staying with the Greengrass family under the protection of an entire squadron of Aurors. There weren't many of them smiling after the first few days. Though, at least they managed to get a bit more familiar with the youngest two daughters, Daphne and Astoria. It didn't take long for Rose to convince Harry to give the Greengrass girls a communication mirror as well as allow her to mail one to Hermione.

The way Ron saw it, things were starting to go against him. Harry and Rose were playing the students of Hogwarts like they were chess pieces. It wouldn't be long until they held nearly all the power of the student body. Not once had they even thought about the consequences of manipulating the students, they didn't care. The rich never had any issues. If things kept up the way they were going then Ron would stop them himself. There's no way two children could convince an entire school full of hundreds of students that all the houses were equal. Something had to be controlling his friends, they couldn't be evil.

"Maybe they're under the Imperius Curse," Ron muttered to himself.

"Who's under the Imperius Curse?" Charlie asked as he grabbed his brother's shoulders. "You realize that's a pretty massive accusation right?"

"How else would Harry and Rose be able to get everyone to listen to them the way they do?" Ron asked.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked.

"Well, when school started a lot of my friends wound up getting sorted into other Houses. After a little over a week, Rose started getting people to sit at other tables, which would normally be fine but she got them to do it without them ever complaining. Harry's become something like an unofficial leader of the school. Everyone looks at him like he's the second coming of Merlin. It's not right!" Ron growled.

"You realize that there is a very simple explanation for all of that right?" Charlie asked. "Are you thinking about any of the normal reasons people might listen to them? Or are you just thinking about what you consider to be a problem?"

When Ron didn't answer Charlie turned his brother around to look him in the eye.

"Think about it, Rose is the eldest daughter of the Black Family. Her name alone merits respect. The last time someone thought they could stand against the Blacks, their whole family was wiped out. The children were the only ones spared but that was because they were obliviated when they came of age and then they were shipped out of the country. If you add that to the fact that she's already talented with a wand and then remember that her world renowned duelist parents stand firmly behind their children, she wields a lot of power anyway. The fact that she's trying to unify the Houses of Hogwarts is a good thing," Charlie explained. "Honestly the same kind of goes for Harry. The kid's a damn prodigy, I bet you didn't even ask him how his O.W.L.s went did you? He's a certified genius and if you think about the talents of those who had taught him then it makes a lot of sense. Lily is a Potions Mistress who's also going for a Charms Mastery. James turned down four Order of Merlin First Class awards and so much more just to make sure that the money went where he knew it was needed far more. James is a business tycoon, an amazing real estate collector and is one of three people in the world who's ever been so good at dueling that they have an entire style dedicated to copying him. You also have to remember that Harry is the only one who's ever survived the Killing Curse and is accredited with the accomplishment of being the one who destroyed You-Know-Who. His scars also make him one hell of a mystery and people are fascinated by mysteries."

"Wait Harry took his O.W.L.s? Why?" Ron asked.

Charlie sighed. Of course that was the one thing Ron latched onto. "Yes, and before you panic about anything, Harry did it because he wanted to. He did really well too, he tested early in order to get into the class that would actually allow him to put a little more effort into his work. I won't tell you his scores because I don't know what he got. Tell me you understand what I said though," Charlie demanded.

"I do," Ron mumbled as he dropped his head.

"When you spend enough time with someone, treating them just like you would treat someone in our family, it's easy to forget the fact that they're from another family. You seem to have forgotten that Rose and Harry are very powerful and both of them are pretty famous. There's also a lot of pressure on them though," Charlie explained. "If they see their courtship agreement all the way through and get married, then the full power of both of their families will be combined into one and then there really won't be anyone who could singularly match them politically. The reason they're talking to so many people is because they are trying to make their future a little easier. If people know them well enough now then when they come of age the world is going to notice that the two most powerful people in all of Magical Britain are loved by their country. Whether that's a good or bad thing is yet to be determined but if you had the world's attention on you all the time, wouldn't you want to find a few people to help take some of the pressure off?"

"I didn't know it was like that for them at all," Ron said.

"You heard about James' duel against Lucius, Theodore, Walden and Cornelius right?" Charlie asked. When Ron nodded he continued. "Lucius upped the stakes of that duel by placing the lives of all of their entire families on the outcome of the duel and because of that, all those family members are now forced to answer to James. It's a huge responsibility that has also put a huge strain on them as well. You got to remember kid, there will never be a single time in your life where things are exactly what they seem but they are rarely as bad as you were thinking they were. Look at things from all angles."

With that said, Charlie made his way back into the ever changing Burrow so that his little brother could process the things he had said. He was a little troubled by how quickly Ron had assumed that one of the worst things possible had befallen his friends. Maybe this was one of those rare times when he should bring his concerns to Bill. Either way, he would have to keep a much closer eye on his brother to make sure that he didn't misinterpret what he had said.


Severus was not a very well-liked person and he was well-aware of it. A lot of people thought that he was just a bad teacher but that wasn't true. It was just that during his first year as a potions professor he had tried to be nice to the students but none of them would listen. It didn't matter that he was in the process of working on his Potions Mastery at sixteen, or that he had the power to take points or give detentions. All that the students cared about was the fact that they were getting taught by someone they viewed as another student. Everyone he tried to teach simply played around with their potions in his first few classes thinking that they knew what they were doing. It wasn't until a series of melted cauldrons nearly killed his fourth year class that he finally snapped.

Every student was given detention and he took fifty points from every one of them. From that day on, Severus became the most hated teacher Hogwarts had ever had but he no longer cared. Every time he gave a little leeway, another student melted a cauldron and he would go back to being the evil teacher the students all feared. He wished he could give up his position but nobody ever applied for it despite the fact that he made sure it was listed every summer as an open position.

Out of every class he had ever had, never had there been a student that had impressed him enough with their knowledge of potions and ingredients that he had decided to let them attempt to advance in his class but when Lily Potter had asked him to allow her son to try, he had to see why she was so adamant for himself. After all, the only person that could take his position was her. They had both completed their Potions Masteries the same year and even though he was considered the youngest Potions Master in over a century, Lily had completed hers in half the time. Severus was more curious about what she had taught her son than he was willing to admit. When Harry had sat his potions O.W.L., Severus made sure to get the memory.

The boy had more potions knowledge than he had any right to have at his age and it truly worried him when Harry began listing the uses of some ingredients that Severus knew had no use in anyone's day to day life. When Harry explained his viewpoint on why some potions that were listed as dark should be reclassified as gray, it sent a chill down his spine. Not a lot of people would agree that the Draught of Living Death should be given to certain patients in order to guarantee the healer had enough time to help those who had been viciously poisoned or needed an in depth analysis on their minds. Even the proctor looked a little unsettled at some of the examples.

What nobody could deny though, was that Harry's technique was astonishing. He would use wandless magic to cut multiple ingredients at the same time while he made sure that the cauldron was kept in the perfect condition. Whatever Lily had taught him, it certainly was not what he had seen. It was the exact same way he had brewed potions with the assistance of the Dark Lord. He knew that there was something Albus had been keeping from him and Harry proved it. The movements, the mannerisms, the precision and even the placement was the same. The only problem was that if he took the information to Albus he wouldn't get any answers anyway and if he tried to ask Lily about it then she would be angry at him for doubting her. There was a slim chance that either Sirius or James would be willing to tell him but no matter how long it had been, none of them would ever really trust him enough to be openly honest with him about what could be sensitive information.

He would get his answers very soon though. Not only would he get a copy of the results but he would have to be told what year he was getting placed in. Then he would have enough of a reason to confront someone about the anomaly that was Harry Potter. He only had to wait a little bit longer since the boy was trying to advance in every class he had access to. If Harry did as well as Severus expected him to, things were going to be incredibly trying.


Rose was starting to get lonely. Harry had been taking different exams for months now and she rarely got to spend any time with him outside of him studying for the next one. She understood that what he was doing was very important to him and it wasn't even that she wanted him to be courting her, she just wanted her friend back. She was worried that if he advanced too far ahead that it would come back to bite him. Every year he skipped in a single subject brought more attention to them and if he accomplished everything he was trying to accomplish then they would come under international scrutiny.

Valentine's day was just around the corner and Harry seemed to have completely forgotten that they had promised each other that they would spend the day together. If he brushed her off to study then she would make sure that he wouldn't be able to study for weeks when she was through with him.

"What's on your mind?" Hermione asked. "Is it Harry?"

Rose had needed a distraction so she agreed to go to the library with the bushy haired girl but it wasn't working as well as she had hoped it would. When she saw the look she was receiving from Hermione, she nodded with a sigh.

"It's all the tests they're having him take. I'm well aware that the two of us don't understand what courting is but I know that spending time with him is important, but mostly I miss my friend," Rose explained.

"What do you mean by that though? That they're having him take?" Hermione asked.

"It started out that he was just going to try to take some tests to skip a year, then he got the attention of some of the staff and they're pushing him further and further to see just how smart he is. The thing that I find weird about it all is that he stopped studying for the tests a while ago and has just started doing a little bit of self studying. After the teachers started on him, the Ministry started asking questions and then other ministries are turning their attention onto him. The Unspeakables have even gotten in on all of it and now he's nothing but a weird project to them," Rose ranted. "I know he's a genius but the thing is that he hasn't hit fifteen yet so his power is really unstable. For them to be pushing him the way they are is just not right and it could actually be really dangerous for him to continue but they're not letting him slow down."

"That's a lot to take in," Hermione whispered. "To have international attention is one thing and really not that uncommon when it comes to students skipping ahead but to be a project for the most mysterious branch of people in the world is something else entirely. Has he spoken to you about it at all?"

"Not really, I just know that he has another round of testing this week and then they'll pull him aside and talk to him about what they plan on doing with him."


It was finally over. Harry sat in his normal seat, waiting for someone to tell him what they were planning to do to him but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he wouldn't like their decision. He had just spent the last six months going through rigorous testing for all kinds of people and while he didn't fail, he suspected that it was worse for him that he passed. If he was going to be honest with himself then he was starting to get worried as well. It wasn't that he didn't want to succeed but there was no way he was supposed to have known some of those answers. The harder the questions got, the easier it was for him to answer but not once had he been allowed to speak. Most of the things he knew, he couldn't actually accomplish at that moment so he didn't see why they kept testing him on only the theory. He just wanted to be a couple years ahead so that he would be able to start on his dreams.

"Well Mr. Potter, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that you are without a doubt one of the smartest young men I think the world has ever seen. Which is why we can't allow you to be anymore," one of the Unspeakables said ominously. "You contain a wealth of knowledge that is more than capable of destroying our society as we know it. The fact of the matter is that you have knowledge of things you've never seen, read nor heard about yet the more we ask of you the faster you meet our expectations."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked in fear.

"What we are saying is that you cannot be allowed to have such knowledge," replied a different Unspeakable. "You may not have realized it but most of the things you know about are extremely dark. Those are things you should not know about at all and the fact that you are seemingly an expert in them already is more than a little frightening. However, we cannot do anything about it until everyone we need permission from arrives."

"Then what about the bad news?" Harry asked. "If the good news was that bad then I can't imagine what you think counts as bad news."

"The bad news is that we are going to have to remove a lot of the knowledge from you. It may have many unknown side effects and there's no guarantee that you'll mentally recover from it but you are the most dangerous person we know about in the world right now," the second Unspeakable replied. "Which is why we are waiting for so many people to get here."

"The people we are waiting for include your parents, the headmaster and deputy headmistress but also the Minister, the Head Unspeakable, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and several mind healer experts. You will be confined to this room until a decision is made about the limits of what we can do to you and your mind because we will make sure something is done about you," the first Unspeakable said. "It shouldn't be more than an hour for everyone to gather in the appointed room and no, you will not be allowed to listen into the conversation whatsoever."

The two of them left, leaving Harry alone in a room with nothing to do. He had to have more people on his side than just his parents but even then, if he really was as dangerous as they made it sound, his parents might not be on his side at all. If he was sure about anything though, it was that Rose would need to know what was most likely going to happen to him because he really doubted that any of the adults would take her into consideration when he was the only one that was a problem.


It wasn't very often that Albus called on a house elf to expand a room for a meeting but the sheer amount of people that had shown up to discuss the young Potter was staggering even by his standards. James and Lily alone had practically brought their own army as if they thought it would come down to a fight. Albus had brought along a few other teachers and Madam Pomfrey despite being told that he shouldn't bring anyone at all. In total there were a little over thirty people that had tried to cram themselves into one of the unused classrooms on the third floor. No matter what decision was made, it was certainly not going to be a simple discussion.

When the Unspeakables began explaining the situation, Albus noticed that they didn't bring up anything about the information they were presenting could be used in any sort of productive manner. Not to mention the fact that they kept hinting about the fact that they were some of the same Unspeakables that had helped remove the Horcrux from Harry all those years ago. In fact, the longer they talked the more they seemed like they wanted to kill the child in order to study exactly what had happened to plant the knowledge into his mind. He had half a mind to curse them and anyone who agreed with them on the spot.

"Now when are you going to reveal all the rest of the information?" Croaker asked. "You two had better have prepared far more of a presentation than this or I will be dismissing you from the office very shortly."

"Sir?" one of them asked.

"You heard me. You know far more about the situation than you're letting on just so that you can present less than a quarter of the information you know. Not to mention that neither one of you even offered any sort of solution to the problem at all. I will give you three seconds to get your act together or I will pull the memories from your minds, review it myself and solve it myself," Croaker replied angrily. He truly only gave them three seconds.

Both of them broke under the pressure and began pouring out many different applications for what Harry knew but once again neither of them offered a solution. It was truly beginning to grate on Ablus' nerves.

"Solutions you imbeciles. We all are very aware of how you feel about the situation and neither of you have expressed any compassion for the child you're talking about!" Croaker yelled.

"Why do we even have to do anything about it?" Amelia asked. "From the looks of it, there's nothing here that'll do any harm to anyone, especially since Harry doesn't even have the capability to perform any of the magic we're discussing. In fact, the person it'll hurt the most is Harry since a lot of it runs the risk of killing him due to magical exhaustion."

"Sure, there are many ways it can be used for dark magic but there are a lot of ways it can be used to help people as well. The truth is that you are looking to bring him into the department and study him as if he was some sort of experiment rather than actually find a way to make sure that he doesn't hurt himself," Croaker accused.


"They want to do what?" Rose asked in shock. The second her mirror went off in her pocket, Rose sprinted to her bedroom in Ravenclaw Tower to make sure nothing was overheard even though she had no idea it was Harry calling her.

"Like I said, I think they want to obliviate me. They just told me that they were going to do something to me because I know about things they think are dark. I know there are a lot of good ways to use what I know to help people but the problem is that they asked a lot of questions about how it could be abused rather than how I would use it. To be honest, I didn't even know I knew half of the things they were talking about, the words just popped into my head whenever they asked me a question," Harry explained. "Right now there are tons of people trying to figure out how I'm going to get through whatever they do to me with the least amount of damage and I really hope there are people in there defending me. If they mess around too much in my head then I don't know if I'll change as a person. What if I forget about everything or what if they mess me up so bad I never move or think again?"

"It'll be okay Harry, I promise. Let me get the map out and see who all is in there. Maybe your parents brought their own experts or even a solicitor to try and stop them from doing anything," Rose said hopefully. 'I don't care who they are but if those damn Unspeakables think that they can just do whatever they want and get away with it they're wrong.'

"The weird thing is that I wouldn't mind them taking a bit of it out. There's some really dark stuff that I know about that I really rather I didn't. Some of it gives me nightmares," Harry admitted.

"Like what?"

"There's rituals I know about that take babies and turn them into soulless shells for someone to inhabit and things that will make me stronger by killing certain magical creatures. The worst one is something about splitting my soul into pieces by killing someone for no reason, breaking another person's mind, body and spirit before eating them in a specific way to make myself immortal."

"That's really disturbing."

"I don't even know why anyone would want to be immortal, it sounds really lonely. Not to mention that every time you got to know someone you would stay the same while you watched them wither away. Do you have the map yet?"

"That was totally a great way to change the subject but yes I have the map. From the looks of it, there's a lot more people than they told you there would be. Your parents brought mine, Neville's, Ron's, Tonks', Daphne's and the Lupins. Dumbledore brought a lot of the teachers too, he even canceled classes for the rest of the day. It looks like a lot of the Department Heads are there too with a bunch of other people that I don't know so they must be the healers. That or more Unspeakables. Whatever is going on in there has a lot of people pacing so the names are really hard to make out. The Minister really is in there though so at least you know that whatever decision is made will be the one that gets you through it all okay."

Harry knew she was trying to make him feel better but the fact that there were that many people in there just to deal with things he had no idea how he knew made him feel a lot worse. It was starting to feel as though there was no way he would make it out of this situation alive. He didn't really feel bad about the fact he would no longer recognize the world around him since at that point there would be nothing left in his mind that would let him care about it but he knew that it would really hurt his friends and his parents would never be the same if they ever recovered from losing the only child that would ever truly be theirs.

"Oh, that was a lot faster than I was expecting it to be. There on their way to you," Rose said. "I'll let you get back to being bored so they don't get suspicious."

Harry slipped the mirror into his pocket and stared at the door. 'I guess I had better be ready for some really bad news. I just wish things would go back to how they were before Hogwarts, when everything was about how much fun I could have with my friends. I guess missing my friends now is better than growing old with a lot of regrets in life.'

I'm sorry it took me so long to write this chapter and I know a lot of you have many questions. Everything will be answered soon but I want everything set up properly before I start trying to explain problems that you didn't even know existed. I'll work on getting the next one out a little faster than this one since I'm sure a lot of you will be mad about the cliff hanger here.