That first night in the castle Harry slept fitfully. So much so that he got up in the middle of the night and went down into his trunk to see if it was the school bed that was keeping him up, but he knew deep down that the uneasy cold feeling he felt hours ago, a feeling that had since vanished from his mind but not from his chest, was the cause of the uneasy rest. At six he gave up on his fitful rest and sent his dog through the door to Hermione's trunk. Blaze walked through her trunk up the stairs, and into her room, he woke her and Shadow up and they met Harry in his trunk dressed in bath robes and slippers. From there they took the dogs through the door to the Shed and checked the back yard to make sure a version of themselves weren't out there already. The coast was clear so they let the dogs out and soon two more dogs and two Grangers met them at the table.
"Hey you two, how was your first day?" Emma asked excitedly as she hugged the two kids.
"We don't know, we haven't lived it yet." Harry said sharing a look with Hermione. They broke the time chain by coming here now instead of at the end of the first turning of the school day. Normally this could be explained away but they set out a very rigid and tight schedule. For them to break it on the first day meant something was wrong and they knew the elder Grangers would know it. Now they needed to figure out what to tell them. The full truth, or most of the truth. Emma, however, solved their dilemma for them.
"What's wrong?" She asked in a mom voice. Funny enough it made Harry crack first.
"The wards of the castle are connected to me like the wards of the house are connected to me. I get reports from the wards when they feel something is off, or if they are being attacked. Last night I got a cold feeling from the wards. This could have been nothing or it could have been something bad. The problem is my connection to the wards is too fresh and weak to get a clear answer from the wards at the time the feeling hit me. After a few minutes the feeling subsided, but it didn't go away and I had trouble sleeping the whole night. Even now, were six hundred miles away from the castle and I can still feel the cold feeling in my chest. Now it could be something as bad as the old man or his pet Death Eater plotting to kill us, or it could be as simple as a closet full of bugarts. The castle is huge. Seven floors tall, two levels underground, and god only knows how many secret passages and closets. It's a lot of ground to cover and I'm betting these wards will be able to pinpoint the threat as soon as the wards bond with me some more. Until then we just don't know what's in the castle. Now we don't want to call Amelia and get her all worried and panicked for a closet full of simple dark creatures, but?" Harry finished with a shrug.
"Harry, I know you don't want to be the boy who cried wolf but this is not a game, if anything happened to you guys…" That's as far as Emma got before she lots her fight with her emotions and grabbed the two in a tight hug. Dan for his part was quiet and contemplative for a few moments.
"Harry, what are the odds that what you're feeling is something small and insignificant?" Dan asked in his normal calm and rational tone of voice.
"Small I think, this feeling kept me up all night and the initial spike stopped me dead. but, we can't just storm the castle and search it. It would take days to look in every room and it would ruin our element of surprise. I don't want the old man to know for sute that I own the castle until he makes a move on us." Harry admitted.
"Do you two think you're in immediate danger?" Dan asked.
"No, and we have to get back to the school soon, we have to get ready for breakfast and classes soon. As it is Neville will be waiting for us in my trunk. If we don't return soon he'll be coming through the shed door looking for us." Harry said looking at his watch.
"Then head back to the school but I want you both in Full Gear. FULL. That means vests, cloaks, lightsabers, swords, and anything else you two have. While you two head back to school we'll head to Amelia's office. We'll have a team waiting to back you up today. Give us a trunk with a door, we'll have her put a team of Aurors on stand by today. If you need us call us and we'll be there with help. Keep Harry's trunk with you. At the first inkling of something being off I want you to call us. Also make sure Neville is geared up and ready to back you two up. You are two of the most dangerous people i've ever met. Look after each other. We'll be sitting in Amelia's office waiting for a call. If the feeling fades or things change I want you to call us too." Dan said looking at Harry as he spoke. The message was clear. Kill if you have to but you make sure our girl is safe. Harry for his part understood the look and nodded.
"I'll have all of my gear plus Ignis in his gem, Merlin's staff, and Godric's sword. I'm on edge as it is, if someone just approached me too fast today they are liable to loss a hand." Harry said pulling a silver dagger out of thin air.
"Good." Dan said coldly.
"I don't want you two to go back to that school." Emma said holding them closer.
"We have to go back mum. Besides, the Castle is my home too. It belongs to me and I'm not abandoning it. We just have to be vigilant until this feeling solidifies into a real threat. As soon as it does we're calling you guys. We are not going to try to play hero." Harry said hugging her back before he broke away and pulled Michael's trunk out of his bag of holding. "Here is a trunk, it's not charmed with a lock yet but the door works." Harry said handing the shrunken trunk to Dan. Dan pulled Harry into a manly hug.
"Watch yourselves. We knew the school was full of danger but you two are ready for anything." He said so only Harry could hear it.
"I'll watch her back." Harry said.
"I know you will. Now you two better get back before Neville gets worried." Dan said hugging his daughter and helping her get out of Emma's grip. Dan watched them walk into the shed as he held his crying wife.
"How can you let them just go back to that school when you know they're in danger!?" Emma asked as she tried to get her crying under control. Her hormones were really bad now and she knew it was the potion she was taking. Aurora was just as bad.
"Because Harry is a Powerhouse and our daughter is his match. Both of our kids are going to be just fine. Now let's get dressed quick so we can get to Amelia's office. We have to explain it to her. We better call Sirius, Aurora, and Andy too. We want to be covered on all sides. If Harry kills the old man today we don't want him to face charges for it." Dan said walking her into the house.
"Okay, I'm sorry I'm acting like this, it's the damn potions." She said looking a bit red around the ears.
"I know, but our kids need us right now. Now let's get going." Dan said calling the dogs back into the house.
Harry walked through the door to his trunk and found Neville sitting at the table checking his watch. Harry smirked. Neville got up and followed Harry up the stairs. Harry saw the rest of the boys coming to. He gathered them all up and broke the news to them all. Michael and Terry looked worried and fearful after he was finished breaking down the situation. Dean looked nervous but he was hiding it better. Neville on the other hand looked ready for a fight.
"So full gear and full alert?" Neville asked in a calm tone as he pulled a black case out of his bag of holding. He set it on his bed and opened it revealing a folded up black robe, a dragon hide vest, a wide belt with pouches for potions and loops to hold weapons, a cavalry saber, a lightsaber, and a row of different sized knives from a small blade to a long dagger. The other boys looked at the case in shock.
"Vest, cloaks, belts and lightsabers should be more than enough. I doubt we'll need swords or blades." Harry said pulling a similar case out only his was twice the size and had a bunch more gear in it including six other swords, a shrunken dirt bike, and a .22 caliber hunting rifle.
"Do we get gear like that?" Dean asked looking excited at the prospect.
"You will but for now I can make you all vests. I'll make you kits like Neville's later." Harry said pulling a bag full of dragon hide leather scraps out of his bag of holding. He grabbed a handful out and turned it into two vests. He did it two more times making six vests. He handed the guys three and sent the other three with Blaze to Hermione's room in the girls tower.
The group got ready for the day with Harry taking a few minutes to put on his full gear including his wide belt full of potions and blades, that vanished as soon as he did up the three buckles. He tested his movements to make sure it was la right before following the group down. In the common room he spotted Hermione who was also in full gear along with Susan and Hannah. They waited patiently for Penny and Percy to escort them down to Breakfast but the whole way down the group had their heads on a swivel. Something their minders noticed as soon as they left the tower.
"What's with the jumpy looks?" Penny asked.
"We're trying to familiarize ourselves with the school so we don't get lost." Harry said without missing a beat as they descended a staircase passing the third floor.
"Good thinking guys. I see we have a smart group this year Penny." Percy said nodding his approval.
As they passed by the third floor the feeling of coldness grew in his chest. Harry locked eyes with Hermione and looked down the left side of the third floor.
"Penny, what's on the third floor?" Hermione asked.
"You mean in the corridor you're not supposed to go down?" Penny asked.
"No, I mean the other way? Are there any classes on that floor? I don't want to get lost and end up somewhere I'm not supposed to be." Hermione asked in an innocent tone.
"Well on the other side of the third floor in the Defence against the dark arts classroom." Penny said. "But it's hard to get lost and end up on the other side it's blocked off by the stairs." Penny added.
"I didn't see the DADA teacher last night at the feast. Is he okay?" Harry asked.
"The professor caught a stomach bug on his sabbatical. He spent the night resting so he could be ready for today." Percy said.
"Is he a good teacher? DADA looks like a cool class." Harry asked as they made it to the Great Hall.
"Professor Quirrell is a good teacher, but he tends to stutter a bit if he's stressed." Penny admitted as she lead the first years to the front of the table.
Again Harry made plates for the group. He did it deftly and only the group saw the plates appear on the table. Harry scanned the teachers table looking for the DADA professor. But he wasn't there. He locked Eyes on Minerva and she came down to hand out the schedules. She had to start with the older kids but she made it to Harry in a few minutes and as soon as she laid her hand on his shoulder to lean in to talk to him she felt the heavy vest under his clothes.
"WHat's wrong?" She asked softly.
"The wards flared last night and they've been flaring ever since. I can feel them, it's coming from the third floor left side. The DADA classroom side. What do you know about Quirrell?" Harry asked.
"He's an average teacher with a good track record, he taught last year and he got back from his vacation to Africa yesterday afternoon looking sick and pale." Minerva said without any preamble.
"DId you talk to him personally? Did he seem like himself?" Harry asked.
"I didn't talk to him, only Albus and Severus were here when he got back." She said. "What are you thinking?" She asked.
"It could be anything. He could be a Death Eater using polyjuice, he could be possessed by something he picked up in Africa, he could just be harboring dark intent, or a dark creature he picked up as a pet. Either way we have to find out." Harry said.
"What are you two going to do? Why don't we call in a team of aurors?"
"We have a team of Aurors standing by, but if it's just a dark creature he has locked in a cage then we blow our cover for nothing. We need confirmation before we call in backup. Do we have his class today?" Harry asked.
"Yes, you have a short class with him at eleven right after a double session of Potions." She said handing him the card with his schedule.
"Are we his first class?" Harry asked.
"Yes I think so." She said looking mildly frantic.
"Do you have classes this morning?" Harry asked.
"Not at that time. I have a morning session that let's out at ten." She said.
"Pull us out of Potions at half past ten, I want to get eyes on this Quirrell and question him. If he checks out then we get him involved in the search. Do you trust the old man enough to bring him in on this? It's up to you." Harry asked.
"No, I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. I don't trust Snape either, watch yourselves in his class today. He's been warned but he might try to provoke you." She said patting him on the back as she moved down the table.
"You heard all that?" Harry asked Hermione.
"I did." She said nodding.
"So did I, you're not planning on leaving me behind right?" Neville asked.
"I was, I need you to watch the group and Snape. If he's in on this then I need you to take him out." Harry said.
"Understood." Neville said patting Harry on the back.
"Thank you for understanding brother." Harry said.
"So much for a normal school year. Wards flaring, a possible imposter assassin teacher, a known Death Eater that might be in on it, a possible fight on our first day. You know every day i've known you Harry has been a day full of excitement." Neville said in a deadpanned tone.
"The fact that you've stuck it out so far is still shocking." Harry said shaking his hand with a smirk.
"Honor to know you." Neville said.
"Remember, if the snake moves summon his wand, or crush it and take his wand hand with your saber. You move faster than he can and he won't be expecting you to strike him." Harry said.
"I know, I'm not freaked out. You've trained me for close to six weeks on that move. I can do it blindfolded." Neville said without a trace of overconfidence in his voice. He was just speaking facts and that set Harry's mind at ease.
The group was escorted to the dungeons at nine for their first class. It was potions with the slytherins. Harry and Hermione took the table in front with Neville and Dean. the rest of the group fill in behind them. With Sally-anne teaming up with the twins. The other side of the room was full of green. As soon as the nine O'clock hour hit Snape came floating out of his office with his cloak billowing behind him. Harry was tempted to stick his cloak to a table so the large greasy bat would get shagged but he let it pass. Snape made a grandiose self important speech before he took attendance which confused Harry for a second. After all it's not like he needed to take attendance, they were escorted to the room by a prefict and it was the first day. This was a total waste of time Harry thought until Snape got to his name.
"Oh yes, Potter, our very own celebrity. Tell me Potter, if I was to mix asphodel and wormwood what would it git?" Snape asked.
"Drought of living death Sir." Harry said without pause which made Snape stop short.
"Can you tell where I could find a Bezoar?" Snape asked.
"The stomach of a goat or that bottle on the shelf back there marked Bezoars sir." Harry said as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. That was a third year question. The fact that Snape's eyes flashed with shock and anger added to Harry's anger as well. This wasn't a test, this was the man's attempt to belittle Harry in front of his snakes.
"And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?!" Snape all but growled out.
"Nothing, it's the same plant, it's also called Aconite. It's used in the making of the Wolfsbane potion. Would you like me to brew it for you?" Harry asked in a cold tone. That was a NEWT level question, and Harry officially reached the end of his patients with the man. If he didn't move on He was going to lose an arm.
"Five points for your cheek Potter!" Snape said with a smirk.
"Lord Potter." Harry said with a smirk. He was done.
"WHat?" Snape asked.
"Lord Potter, as the head of an ancient and Noble house you will use my title or I will call for an honor duel, and trust me, you don't want that. Not today." Harry said coldly.
"An honor daul?" Snape asked laughing causing the Slytherins to laugh as well. Harry's group did not laugh however.
"You stand on thin ice Mr. Snape. Ice that is cracking." Harry said in a calm tone, if he was going to do this and throw the plan out the window to get rid of this giant ass then he was going to do it with a level head.
"Has your big head really grown so big you think you can take on an adult wizard?" Snape asked locking eyes with Harry. He tried to probe his mind and Harry felt his watch get warm. Harry knew he was trying to attack his mind and he turned it back on him.
"Trying to read my thoughts snivellus? You really must want to die today. I will strike you down and sleep like a baby tonight. I am more powerful then you can ever imagine." Harry projected into Snape's mind so loud that the greasy man clutched his head in pain. "It's not fun to be on the receiving end of this is it. I can see everything. Every thought and experience you've ever had. You loved my mother didn't you slimy? Tell me, does the old queen know you enjoy little girls like he likes little boys? Do you share your perversions together?" Harry asked coldly.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Snape yelled as blood flowed from his nose.
"I should kill you for the crimes you committed but instead I'm going to hand you off to Amelia, she's going to bind what little magic you have and then lock you up in a muggle prison with a big man named Bubba. He's going to pass your ass around." Harry projected as he copied the memories of Snape raping and killing muggle born girls in his Death Eater get up. He pulled out of Snape's head sending the man to his knees. Snape pulled his wand but Harry held up his right hand and crushed the wand and the man's hand by making a fist.
The slytherins shot out of their seats but Neillve pulled his lightsaber and locked eyes with the kids in green trimmed robes.
"Any of you snakes move so much as a finger and you'll fucking lose it!" He yelled plunging the room into silence.
"Ease up a bit Nev, but good reaction time." Harry said with a smile as he stood next to his friend and patted him on the shoulder. "Hermione go set up my trunk and call in backup, we're not going to do this nice and easy. We're going to do this loud and messy, right now. You lot, you will all sit in your desk, now!" Harry intoned and every snake dropped into their seats. "Good. Neville you have control of the group and the snakes." Harry said vaulting over his work table and binding snape's arms behind his back. Amelia came through the door with a team of ten aurors, Sirius, Aurora, and Andy.
"THis man attacked my mind and I used the attack to read his mind, he's committed multiple rapes and murders as a death eater. I can provide copies of his memories and I'm willing to testify to all of this in the Wizengamot chambers. Right now we need to get the deputy headmistress and head up to the DADA classroom. We have a darkness in that room." Harry said pulling his unlit lightsaber out.
"Goldman, and Clark take the prisoner back to the office. Harris you stay here and watch the kids. Group you help out." Amelia said as she followed Harry and Hermione out of the classroom with Sirius and the rest of the adults following close behind. Harry marched up the stairs on the second floor Amelia sent a pair of Aurors to go watch Minerva's class and send her out. They waited just long enough for her to join the group before Harry marched the group up to the third floor. They marched into the DADA classroom and found it empty. Harry waved his arm and pushed all of the desk off to one side of the room.
"Quirrell!" He yelled out letting his magic flare. The door to the office up the winding staircase opened and Quirrell stuck his turbaned Head out the door.
"Y-y-yes?" he asked.
"There is a darkness in this room, you will come down and answer some questions." Amelia said.
"Oh, o..Okay?" The man said coming down the stairs.
"The wards registered a dark spike last night at eight o'clock. Can you tell me you're whereabouts at that time?" Amelia asked.
"I, I, was in my, r-r-room." He said walking up to the group when he got fifteen feet away Harry felt the cold spike hit harder.
"It's him." Harry said eyeing the man. Harry saw his right arm twitch and instinctively Force pushed the man back away from the group. Quirrell flew twenty feet through the air and hit the black boards knocking the wind out of him. When he stood up his turban fell off revealing a face in the back of his head. There was a commotion at the classroom door and the old man walked into the room.
"What is going on in…" He started saying but stopped when he saw the face too.
"Damn You Potter!" The face yelled as Quirrell pulled a wand from up his sleeve and fired a green spell at the group. All of the adult were so shocked that they couldn't move. Thankfully Harry was not frozen he blocked the spell with his lightsaber blade. Which rebounded the spell into the wall next to a window leaving a big black scorch mark on the wall. Harry's saber sputtered and died in his hand but he didn't care he tossed it and pulled Godric's sword as he jumped across the room using his power to fly the thirty foot to the front of the room where he took Quirrell's arm off at the elbow with one downward swing. Harry slammed Quirrell in the face with the pummel of the sword knocking him on his ass. He reached out to bind the man but as soon as he touched him Quirrell let out a scream and he turned to ash.
"What the fuck?" Harry said as a black wisp rose from the ashes and tried to slam into Harry but he bounced off his shield stone. It turned on the group and flew through the rest of the crowd and through the wall, two of the aurors fell to the ground as the wisp passed through them.
"Perkinis!"
"Harper!"
"Voldemort!"
"THe Dark Lord!"
Four people yelled at the same time sending the room into panic and shouting.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Harry yelled shaking the room. He stalked towards the group. "Hermione see what you can do for those two aurors. "You, Did you know?" Harry asked pointing at the old man with the gold sword.
"What is the meaning…" Was as much as he could get out before Harry's magic flared and he was lifted off his feet by his beard and flung to the floor in front of Harry who held the sword at his throat.
"Did you know the dark lord was in the back of his head?!" Harry asked in a deadly tone of voice that promised blood and justus.
Dumbledore looked into the cold eyes that stood over him judging him and he knew the man before him could take his head at any moment. It was at this moment that he knew how badly he was fucked.
"I did not know he was playing host to the dark lord." The old man said in a dry and cracking tone of voice.
"Do you know why he came here?" Harry asked.
"No." Albus said only to feel blood trickle down his neck. "I can guess but I'm not sure!" he amended and the blade pulled back revealing a small cut on neck.
"What is your best guess?" Harry asked.
"You, he came here to kill you, or he came here for the philosopher's stone I have hidden in the castle." Albus said causing a shocked gasp to ripple through the group.
"Your pet snake attacked my mind. I used it to see inside of his head. Did you know he rapped and muredered six young muggleborn girls in his service to the dark lord?" Harry asked.
"No." Albus said only to be lifted off his knees by his beard to the high ceiling of the classroom. "I swear I didn't know!" He yelled. He was dropped from the ceiling causing both of his legs to break on impact with the flagstone floor. He let out a blood curdling yell as Harry grabbed his beard with his left hand and yanked his head up to look at him again.
"You knew even if you didn't know the details. I am the heir to Godric Gryffindor. I own this school and the land it sits on. If I had it my way i'd take your fucking head right now for the crimes you've committed. Lord knows you deserve much worse. But you will live, and you will keep your title as headmaster. Do you know why? Because the sheep can't handle change. But you belong to me do you understand me? Fucking say it!" Harry said yanking his beard bringing his head up to his face so they could lock eyes.
"I am your humble servant." Albus said feeling the magic of the castle force him to speak the words of futility. He felt the magic bind him to Harry as his vassal.
"Good. You will accompany Amelia and Aurora to the Ministry and you will announce the return of the dark lord. Then you will preside over Snape's trial this weekend. You will hand over the stone to me and I will hide it in a place the Dark lord will never find it. After that you will play the part of the kindly grandfather until the day you croak. You will live out your days helping me take this archaic world into the modern times. You will do so because if you don't i'll take your fucking head off your shoulders with this sword and then I will tell the world what you really did. The choice is yours. You can die in twenty years a hero. Or you can die sooner as a villain. I just want you to remember something. Men die and they leave two things. Legacy and Legend. What legacy with you leave? What legends will they tell of you? A manipulative old man that was worse then the two dark lords his let come to power so he could fuck the pureblood system for his own gains Or the great master Mage that stopped three wars? I will let you keep the bullshit legacy you have cultivated over the last hundred years. Or I can burn the name Dumbledore from history." Harry said dropping the old man.
"I will work with you." He said through the pain of his broken legs.
"Good. You fuck me and I'll fuck you and not in the way you like. Now do your fucking job." Harry said walking away from the fallen man and the rest of the adults.
"Both of my legs are broken." The old man said.
"You're a wizard, fix it." Harry said walking over to the two downed aurors that were both sitting up looking drained. "What's going on Hermione?" He asked.
"Both men are drained. The dark lord must have stolen their power to fly away." She said running scans on the two.
"You did good boys. Have a power tonic. It will help you regain some of your power." Harry said taking a power potion out and pouring half into a conjured cup. He handed the cup to one auror and the vile to the other auror.
"Thank you." one of the aurors said as he drank the tonic.
"You did your jobs and you held the door as best you could." Harry said before turning to Andy. "I want the truth of what happened here today to come out and I want it to come from us." Harry said.
"Understood. I'll go back to my office right now and write up the press release. Do you want your full title to go on the press release?" She asked looking at the gold sword.
"Yes. The sooner we get the information out the better. It will give us better legs to stand on later if I have to take the old man's head." Harry said. "For now we have to go check on the group. We also need to fix the mess i've made today. We need to hire two more teachers and we need a Head of house for the snakes." Harry said running his hands over his face.
"We'll take care of all that Harry. You did enough today. Why don't you head back to the house and get some rest. You look tired." Andy said touching his face. As Minerva walked over to check on him as well.
"I didn't sleep last night. The wards of the castle kept me up." Harry admitted.
"Head back home. We'll take care of this. Let the adults handle the boring adult things. We'll cancel class for the rest of the day and we'll send the group through your trunk in a little bit. I will call the Corners and see if they are willing to take over the class. As for DADA? I have no idea." Minerva said.
"I'll do it for a little while until you can find a real replacement." Sirius volunteered.
"You might be the best person for the job." Minerva said.
"We could get Remus Lupin."
"We can't replace the dark lord with a werewolf. The parents will lose their mind." Minerva said.
"You can after the yule break, we should have a good Wolfsbane alternative by then. If not an outright cure." Hermione said.
"Besides, if we both take the job it will take pressure off the two of us to run every class. He can live at the castle and I can commute through a trunk every day for classes. I can also cover potions classes if the Corners need to take a break to finish working on something." Sirius said.
"You better watch yourself Sirius, you're becoming a responsible adult." Andy said leading Harry and Hermione out of the room.
"I'm getting married to the Minister for Magic. I have to start acting like an adult." He said with a mischievous smirk.
"We should start making the announcements for all of this. It will be better if it comes from the Headmaster." Minerva said with a hint of disdain in her voice.
"What do we need to Announce?" Dumbledore asked as he walked over to her with Amelia.
"We are going to try to get the Corners to teach potions and we're going to have Sirius and Remus Lupin teach DADA." She said.
"Really, and I have no say in the matter? I'm headmaster of the school and I…" Is as far as he got before Minerva turned to look at him and socked him straight in the face.
"You will do as you're told or Harry will take your head you old queen. If we want your opinion we'll ask for it Dorthy, until then speak when you're spoken to." She said coldly. Dumbledore looked shocked and affronted but he held his tongue.
Harry and Hermione stopped off in in the Potions classroom to tell the group what happened before they grabbed Harry's trunk and took it back to his dorm room. They took the door to the trunk in Amelia's office and collected the Grangers who were very relieved that they were both okay. They took the door back to the house where they told the Grangers what happened. The story caused the elder grangers to latch onto the two of them. Harry didn't mind being held by Emma, in fact he fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the day. He slept until the next morning and only vaguely remembered heading up to bed.
Blaze got Harry up at six because he needed a walk. Harry rolled out of bed, summoned his bathrobe and slipper and opened the door for his dog. He met Hermione following shadow down the hall. They walked out the back door and the dogs ran over to their tree. Snow and Maggie ran out the back door a few seconds after with the elder Grangers following at a subdued pace. Harry pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on as he looked up at the sun cresting over the trees. Emma hugged both kids as she took the seat between the two at the big table. Harry made four cups of caramel cappuccinos on the table and took. He drank deep from his cup and laid his head on Emma's shoulder.
"Still tired Harry?" She asked rubbing his back.
"Not really, although I have to admit the power play I made was very draining. Reading Snape's mind took half my power, and reading the old man took almost the other half. Both men had very powerful mind shields. As it is I still couldn't read the old man's thoughts I could just tell if he was lying. I'm just really not looking forward to the newspaper, and the looks I'm, we're going to get today. We took out two professors on our first day. Both of them were evil men. I also have to deal with the old man on top of that. He's not going to be happy with me. He might end up needing another show of power, and I really don't like threatening to kill him. It feels wrong to abuse my power like that, but on the other hand I can't let him keep playing his game." Harry said as BLaze came over and put his big head in Harry's lap.
"The old man is a bully and a politician. A man like him only understands one thing, fear. If he think's you'll kill him then he'll respect you. What I want to know is how you feel about killing a man yesterday?" Dan asked.
"You mean Quirrell?" Harry asked. "I don't know how I feel about that. I don't know how it happened. It's something I'm going to have to ask the old man at some point. It's one of many questions he needs to answer. But in general, I don't feel too bad about that. Quirrell played host to an evil dark lord. The second he became that thing he killed himself. I was just the thing that he used to end it." Harry said looking down at his dog who was looking up at him with his big blue eyes. He could sense Harry's dark feelings and he wanted to be there for his human.
"Well, if you ever need to talk about anything that's on your mind son you come talk to me." Dan said putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. Just then a portkey landed Amelia, Andy, Aurora and Sirius in the back yard.
"Good you're still here. We wanted to talk to you about all the news." Amelia said walking over to the table with a copy of the paper.
"What's going on? Should I make breakfast?" Harry asked making cappuccinos for the new arrivals.
"Yes please, we called Minerva and told her you were going to talk to you this morning. As it is the students are going to be on a light class schedule for the next two weeks until we can get the school back on track. We got both Corners to take the job as potions teacher as well as Head of House Slytherin. Sirius will be taking over the DADA position for now." She said as the group took seats around the table. Harry made plates with bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fresh berries.
"What's the paper say?" Harry asked as he made bowels of food for the dogs. He grabbed the gem and let Ignis out and made a plate for him too. The Red and Black dragon got wide eyed looks from the new comers to the table.
"Harry, you have a baby dragon?" Sirius asked.
"I don't have anything. Ignis was a good friend to Merlin and he agreed to be a friend to me. He's a fully grown dragon with a shrinking collar. Igins these are friends and allies." Harry said petting the dragon's head as he lit the metal plate full of meat and scotch with his fire breath. Ignis looked up from his plate and nodded to the people around the table before going back to his meal. "He's usually more friendly but he's hungry." Harry said scratching the spot between the dragon's wings on his back.
"Merlin Harry?" Amelia asked.
"Right, everything happened so fast yesterday that I didn't get a chance to tell what happened. It's kind of a funny story. I'm the third Maker in my bloodline. Merlin, Godric, and now me…." Harry spent the next half hour quickly telling them everything they needed to know about his family history. "And that's how I met Ignis." Harry said as the dragon walked up his arm and sat on his shoulder.
"Well this changes things, we're going to need to run another article tomorrow. As for today, you're going to be awarded the order of Merlin for your actions yesterday. You stopped a killing curse and you stopped Voldemort yet again. This will technically be your second Order of Merlin. You got one when you killed the dark lord the night he tried to kill you. The awards ceremony will take place today, in the Ministry's atrum at noon. We need to stop off at a store to pick up the set of Formal robes I ordered this morning at Madam Malkin's. And you don't have to give me that face I know it's a dog and pony show but it has it's purpose. You have a Name Harry. Everyone knows who you are, but you don't have a story. All the books and comics written about you were a pack of lies and you said so in your formal letter to the press. You didn't do any of that. But the people see you as a savior. They think you delivered them from evil ten years ago. Now they find out that the dark lord is back. They also find out the Old Man is a fraud and a liar. The people will panic if they have no one to turn to." Amelia said.
"They have you! Or you Aunt Aurora. Or Aunt Minerva. Or Grandmother Augusta. Adults. Why do they need me to step up and be their hope?" Harry asked looking at Amelia like she was crazy.
"We barely have names Harry. It's like you told the old man yesterday. You have a legend and at some point down the line you'll have a Legacy. You and Hermione we destined to do good things in this life. You are the most powerful man in the world right now. You could do anything with your power. You could have taken over the ministry, you know that right? You could have been minister of magic. But you want to help people. For free. Because you can. You two want to release a book of cheap potions right? You will be working with the Corners to get it done. You want to make sure everyone will get a coppie of that book? Then you need a name people can trust. No one is going to trust a potions formula made by two eleven year olds. Now if those two had an Order of Merlin? If they had a few of them between the two?" Amelia said letting the point hang in the air.
"But we want to be Unspeakables. How are we going to be famous and be unspeakables?" Harry asked.
"You can't, not publicly. Publicly you two will run for office, or sit for Wizengamot sessions, or even run the school. In your free time you can do research if you like." Amelia said.
"Yeah, that's not going to work for us. We want to hunt dark creatures, study the rare and unknown magics, and create the future of magical study." Harry said.
"I agree with Harry fully in this matter. I have no want to do any of the things you mentioned. Harry is the power of our team but I'm literally the book smarts. My whole goal in life is study." Hermione said.
"And you can. Being the wife of the Headmaster of Hogwarts take no time. You show up for meals. You can still join the Unspeakables. You both can. It's just a matter of Harry needing a public persona. None of the job options we laid out are a full 24/7 job." Amelia said.
"Think about it this way Pup, Batman has a day job working for his company so he can Batman at night right? This is the same thing. Back during the war we all took day jobs and fought back Death Eater attacks at night." Sirius said.
"And you would be surprised how little time and effort it takes to be minister for Magic. It's all pomp and circumstance, but really I'm in the office about two hours a day. I'm in the Wizengamot chambers for the three weekly hour long sessions I also have to have lunch meetings with Amelia, and the other department heads once a week. All together I'd say I do about twenty hours a week. Now if we were at war I'm guessing my days would be full of briefings. But I doubt it would be more than thirty hours a week. I put more time into being a crappy drunk teacher last year." Aurora said with a smirk.
"Twenty hours? You lazy cow! I should have taken the job!" Amelia said looking actually pissed off that being Minister was that easy.
"Well according to the old minister's staff the job used to be a lot harder. But over the years he fostered most of the job off on other people. The under secretary handles most of the day to day meetings, the press secretary handles all the press releases and information flow. You handle the security briefings for your muggle counterpart as well as the trial and prosecution of criminals. All I do is solve big problems and break up in fighting between the departments. Usually by throwing gold at it." Aurora said trying very hard not to laugh at Amelia as she turned red with anger.
"You have five years and then I'm taking your easy ass job." Amelia said.
"If you can get elected." Aurora said with a smirk.
Yes, well, we'll see. But as you can see you can still join the DoM with a day job. In fact I can get you both meetings with the head of the department. Not that you need it, he's Neville's great uncle and Augusta's brother Algernon." Amelia said.
"Please don't, we want to get recruited like normal. We want to get in on our own merit without help." Hermione said.
"Of course I'm going to have to have a talk with Neville about this fun little fact as well." Harry added with a smile. "I guess I can run the school, or something like that. Maybe teach. I'm good at that. As for today is there anything else I need to know?" Harry asked.
"Yes, in order to get your name out there and to build your new reputation as being the Heir to two great magical houses and the master wizard himself we need to get your story out there and I think we can do it with your speech today. We want the people to get to know you the way the rest of us do. You both are bright and powerful. You're the leaders of tomorrow and you need to get your story out there." Amelia said.
"Story?" Harry asked looking to Sirius.
"People need to get to know you Pup. For most people you are larger than life and your stories were told by a lot of people that got it wrong. People need the real story. You were raised by muggles to hide you from the Death eaters that fudge let out. You lucked into your powers and you've been using them ever since. You met Hermione and you both developed your own way of doing wandless magic. Through happenstance you found an old school trunk and you found out about the magical world. You found out about your powers and you found out about your titles. You went to school and on your first day the wards transferred to you and you felt a darkness in the school. You went to your first class and the teacher, a pardoned Death Eater attacked you. You put him down and you called for help. When help arrived you took them up to the DADA classroom and you stopped Voldemort from killing people. They need your story Pup so they can start backing you over the old man." Sirius said in a helpful tone.
"Got it. So do you have this speech or should I come up with it?" Harry asked. He was not liking almost any of this but he had to admit he never thought about any of it. He didn't take into account his fame, or the fact that he was too much in the public eye to get a secret job in the DoM. He didn't think about needing to come out and tell the world that he was the heir to a magical dynasty. The last in a long line. He was going to one day run the magical world and while he was going to do that anyways he wanted to do it through his friends. Neville would be minister of magic. Susan would take her aunt's job one day. They were supposed to live out their days in the shadows. Fixing the world through their work. Now he was going to have to put a smile on his face and deal with the fools. The sheep that were too dumb to realize they were being used by the old man.
"We thought it would be better if you just talked. You're going to be broadcast over the wizarding wireless, and a transcript of your speech will be printed in the paper tomorrow. People who win an Order of Merlin and bring a big stack of paper to the podium look weak and scatter brained. Just get up there and talk. You have a good natural speaking voice and a steel trap mind." Amelia said.
"Okay. let's get to it then." Harry said.
They Grangers and Harry got dressed and portkeyed to the ministry where a runner went to Madam Malkin's and got the dress robes Amelia ordered. Harry went into his trunk in Aurora's office and put them on. When he came back out of the trunk he did not look amused.
"This is supposed to look good? It looks like a tux with a silk bathrobe instead of a coat. And the crest look's wrong. The lion looks off. I think she used a pattern instead of the crest for the house of Potter. Look you want a big show right? Let's give it to them then. Let me fix this." Harry said walking back down into his trunk and slamming the lid.
"I take it he won't be going back to Madam Malkin's any time soon." Aurora said with a laugh.
The trunk lid popped open and Harry came back out. He ditched everything but the black pants. He now had on a red dress shirt with the Gryffindor gold chest plate on over it. He had the sword on his hip and a heavy red cape that looked like a tapestry with the house of Merlin on the back in gold was tied through the loops on his shoulder armor. He had Ignis perched on his left shoulder and he was holding the Dragon staff in his right hand. He looked like a conquering king that stepped out of a painting.
"How about this? Big enough?" Harry asked looking at all the adults in the room. Most of them were staring at him with their mouths open. Hermione walked up to him and checked him over.
"It's good. You look regal Harry." She said with a soft smile.
"Good let's do this then, I want to get back to our routine as fast as we can, Neville's parents are counting on us. I also want to get back to the school." Harry said.
"Let's go the press is waiting. We have people from the Wireless and the Prophet waiting in the lobby but there are about three dozen reporters from all over the world. So be prepared for the crowd." Aurora said as she lead them into the elevator and down to the lobby. When the doors opened they all got out and they were assaulted by flash bulbs. Harry followed Aurora on to the platform in front of the fountain in the lobby with Amelia trailing close by as the press went nuts at the sight of Harry and what he was wearing. The dragon, the gold armor, and the staff helped to really sell the power coming off Harry in waves. Aurora stepped up to the podium and and asked for quite with her raised hands.
"We are gathered here today to present an Order of Merlin First Class to a descendent of Merlin himself. I have the honor of knowing this powerful young man personally and I can tell you this now. This is his second Order of Merlin and it won't be his last. Yesterday was his first day at Hogwarts. As soon as he crossed the ward line the ancient wards put in place by Godric Gryffindor recognized Harry as a descendent of the house of Lions and the wards bound themselves to him. During the feast he felt a disturbance in the castle and the next morning he called both myself, Sirius Black, and Amelia Bones on the Magical phone he made and told us of the disturbance. Director Bones put together a team of Aurors and we headed to the school. Harry went to his first class. That was when Pardoned Death Eater Severus Snape attacked Harry. Harry defended himself and his whole class from the Death Eater. That was when we arrived on scene. Aurors arrested Snape and we headed up to the defence against the dark arts classroom where the wards were telling Harry the dark disturbances was. We attempted to question Professor Quirrell when he fired off a powerful Killing curse at the group after it was found out that he had the evil spirit of the dark lord Voldemort in the back of his head. Harry blocked the spell with a device he made and engaged in a short and very one sided fight with the dark lord's host. After disabling the man in a few short seconds he attempted to bind the man when the body of Quirrell turned to ash and the black spector of Voldemort vanished. Yesterday Harry felt a darkness and called for help. When help arrived he ended up saving all of our lives. For his quick thinking and fast action in the protection of both the Minister of Magic and the Head of the DMLE but also the defeat of Voldemort once again we award Harry Potter the Order of Merlin First Class!" Aurora said taking the gold medal on a red ribbon out of the wood box Amelia was holding and put it around Harry's head making sure not to disturb Ignis too much. She then maneuvered Harry in front of the podium.
"Good morning. I was told that as an Order of Merlin recipient it's tradition for me to make a speech. Now I'm not one for big speeches but I think I should take this opportunity to set the record straight on my past…" Harry laid it all out for the press over the next twenty minutes. He was put with his muggle aunt. He didn't know about magic. The whole thing his uncle Sirius told him to say Harry told the enraptured reporters. He finished it with his thoughts for the future. "Now that you know me a little bit better I think I should let you know what my plans for the future are. I, along with my best friend Hermione Granger and the Corners plan to make a book of Potions and give it away for free. This book will have brewing instructions for cheap and easy to brew alternatives to expensive potions. Take for instance this alternative to the Pepperup potion." Harry said pulling a red vile out of his pocket. "This potion cost fractions of a knut to brew and it works better than the more expensive alternative. This potion along with dozens more will go into this book we plan to write. Any questions?" Harry asked as he made a bottle of water and a glass and took a drink causing a lot of murmurs and whispers to flow through the crowd.
"Lord Potter, what are your plans for the future!?" One reporter called out.
"I plan to get back to school i've missed the first two days already." Harry said with a boyish grin causing the crowd to laugh. "Aside from that I'm not sure yet." Harry added scratching Ignis under his chin.
"Lord Potter, can you demonstrate your making powers!?" Someone yelled out from the back of the group.
"Sure, this fountain's plaque says donations go to St. Mongo's. Well, let's make a donation." Harry said waving his staff. A pallet of gold bars appeared out of thin air. Harry set it next to the fountain. "I'd toss them in but i'd hate to be the guy that has to fish out a ton of gold." Harry said with the same grin making the crowd smile and laugh at his shocking feat of magic. "Amile you might want to have some Aurors take that to the bank." Harry added making the crowd laugh harder.
The questions lasted for another half hour and Harry killed it. He was charming and funny. He answered every question with a quippy answer and by the end of the press conference he cemented his place in the wizarding world as a powerful and charming future leader. He made sure to shake hands and greet reporters as he walked off the stage. He cast a feather light and floating charm at the pallet as he walked by and got a thankful nod from the four aurors standing by the pallet. He stopped by the welcome desk and greeted the girl working at the counter. She looked pale and tired.
"You look under the weather." He said.
"I have a cold." The girl admitted with a smile.
"Here, take this and and later tonight take this you should feel better in the morning." He said handing her a vile of pepperup and a vile of his healing tonic. Before walking to the elevator with the rest of the group. When the doors closed the grin fell off his face. "That took way too long and grinning like a fool hurt my jaw." Harry said.
"You did good Pup." Sirius said patting Harry on the back.
"Yes well, let's hope I don't have to do something like that for a while." Harry said shifting around in his armor. "This stuff is hard to wear." He added as they walked into Aurora's office. Harry changed back into his school uniform and they portkeyed back to the Granger's house. They sat down for a late lunch before Harry and Hermione took the door to her trunk and they were back in school. They came down into the common room and they were met by the whole house looking at Harry as he came down the stairs.
"What?" Harry asked looking at the group of 74 house members.
"Nothing Harry, they're just shocked is all, we heard your press conference. Is the Order of Merlin heavy?" Neville asked breaking the tension in the room with a joke.
"You tell me." Harry said tossing the wood box with the medal at Neville. "As for the rest of the house. Yes I'm the heir to Gryffindor, I'm also the hair to Merlin. Yes I took down Snape and Quirrell yesterday. And finally yes, this is a real dragon." He said petting Ignis' head. "Now the question is, are we going to sit around the common room and stare at each other or, are we going to celebrate the fact that we don't have to deal with Snape any more. Now I'm happy to sit here and answer your questions or, we can party until Aunt Minerva comes in here and tells us to pipe down." Harry said pulling his staff out of his pouch, expanding it and waving a crate full of junk food and board games into existence in the middle of the common room floor as he walked to empty corner of the room and made an oversized leather chair. He plopped down in the chair and Hermione sat on the arm of the chair as their two dogs came over as the house attacked the crate. Someone put on a radio and twins came over.
"Congratulation Lord GryffinMrelin." Fred said with a smirk.
"On your Medal." George added.
"We would also like to thank you for getting rid of Snape." Fred said bowing.
"The man had no sense of humor." George finished as he too bowed.
"You are most welcome boys. Tell me, would you two know how to get crates like that one into the other three common rooms?" Harry asked.
"We might, what's in it for us?" Fred asked with a joking grin.
"One of these now." Harry said making a small gold bar and tossing it to Fred. "Another one after you come back. So what do you guys say? Would you mind delivering a goody box to our brothers and sisters in the other three houses?" Harry asked.
"Is this real?" Fred asked looking at the small ten ounce gold bar.
"It's real, so is this one." Harry said making a second gold bar and held it up so they could see it. Both twins took one look at the bar and dropped to one knee.
"We are your humble servants." Fred said.
"At your call whenever you need us." George said.
"Good, these boxes are under a simple shrinking charm. Make sure each house gets one with my compliments. If you can't get into Syltern leave it in front of their door with this note." Harry said waving his staff and making three more crates, these three were the size of a small lunchbox and a rolled up parchment with the house of Merlin wax seal. The twins took the items and bowed before slipping out of the common room.
"Recruiting the twins?" Neville asked as he and Dean came over to Harry to pet the dragon.
"It's better to have those two in my pocket then spying on me for gold." Harry said as Penny and Percy came over.
"All that candy and soda Harry? These kids are going to get sick." Penny said looking like she wanted to stop the younger kids from gorging themselves on sugar.
"Relax Penny. I made it taste sweet but it's very healthy. We are all on a strict diet and I make all of our meals to be tasty but very healthy. As soon as it hit their bellies it becomes good food full of vitamins and nutrients." Harry said.
"Well, okay then." She said nodding.
"Would you like me to make a table full of sandwiches and real food as well?" Harry asked looking at the two prefects.
"If it's not too much trouble?" Percy asked looking unsure of how this new power dynamic was playing out.
"Not at all Percy. Maybe after that you could join us for a game of poker. We play for gold." Harry said standing up and waving at the table in the back. Six big platters of sandwiches materialized on the table.
"Um I don't have much gold." Percy said.
"Do you have sickles and knuts?" Neville asked pulling a small table over as Dean grabbed a few chairs.
"I do." Percy said pulling a leather coin pouch off his belt.
"Then you have gold. Exchange his coins Harry." Neville said pulling the case of gold coins out as Dean shuffled the cards.
"Here toss me your coin pouch." Harry said summoning his coin pouch he dumped it on the table and counted five sickles and twenty knuts. He waved at the coins and turned them into forty-five gold coins. "There you go. Each one of those coins is worth four and a half gaellons." Harry said pulling a hand full of bronze coins from his bag and turning them into gold.
"This is more then my father make in three months." Percy said looking at the coins.
"Well if you're good at cards you can make a lot more then that. Dean walked away from our last game with like double that." Harry said leaning forwards to take his cards.
"You are corrupting a prefect Harry." Hermione said shaking her head as she stood up.
"I'm just letting the man in on our little card game." Harry said.
"Right. Come on Penny, let's grab a soda and play a game of wizard's chess." Hermione said.
A few hands in and Percy was up ten more coins. Harry and Neville where making sure he won two out of three hands to start so later when they started playing for real he wouldn't lose too much. The twins came in during the tenth hand and Harry handed them the other gold bar as well as two stacks of gold coins and they got in on the game. Minerva came in at six to check on the house and saw the party going on with kids playing games and eating junk food. She locked eyes with Harry and nodded before walking out with a smile. The party went on until ten when the seventh years broke it up and sent the kids under fifth year to bed. Percy ended up with sixty gold coins and the twins ended up with thirty each. But the big winner was Dean. He added sixty more to his ever growing sack of coins he now had a 146.
"How much is that worth Harry?" Dean asked adding the coins to his bag.
"It's a bit over 30,600 pounds." Harry said. As he exchanged the Weasley's gold coins for gold galleons. "As for you guys let's see, that's 505 gold galleons for you Percy, and 505 for you two." Harry said pulling red Gringotts coin bags out of his bag of holding. "You each get one of these bags, they are certified Gringotts bags of five hundred gold coins. And here are the 10 coins extra. It was fun playing with you three." Harry said leaving the redheads speechless. He ran up to his room and pulled on his robes and came back to eavesdrop on the tree brothers.
"... Have you ever seen so much gold? If we play this game a few more times we can have enough to open a joke shop when we get out of here." Fred said.
"I'm holding half of our father's yearly pay. You think we can do this every week?" Percy said looking at the bag.
"I don't know, and I doubt you'd fare as well the next time we play. He gave us more than a few hands." George said.
"Gave it to us?" Percy asked.
"More than a few times he folded when he had good cards. Neville too. The only ones really playing this game were the three of us and that kid Dean." Fred agreed.
"Why would he do that?" Percy asked.
"Because we need it more than they do." Fred said.
"I don't get it. Who would just give us gold? And for what reason?" Percy asked.
"A kid that can make gold with a wave of his hand and because you were cool about not cutting the party short. I have a feeling Harry is going to be fun to hang around with. And look, he left the bag of gold coins on the floor." George said picking up the bag.
"He left a thousand gold galleons worth of gold on the floor?" Percy asked.
"It's a test. Go take it up to him." Fred said handing the bag to Percy.
"And don't take any of the coins." George added.
Harry turned and ran up the stairs. He ditched his robe and sat on his bed looking at a book. Percy knocked on the door and Harry opened it.
"Hey Percy, coming to check on us?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"No, I came to tell you that you left this downstairs." Percy said handing him the sack with the 120 gold coins.
"Oh, i'll tell you, I make so much of this stuff I leave it everywhere." Harry said taking the sack. "You know what? You keep it. Now you have muggle money too. And if you ever need to exchange it you can come to me. In fact." Harry said grabbing a handful of bronze coins from his pocket and changing them into more gold coins before he tossed them into the sack. "Give some to the twins. Those two are fun." Harry said.
"But Harry?" Percy said looking ready to pass out.
"You want more?" Harry asked pulling more bronze coins out of his pocket.
"No! This is too much." Percy said.
"Oh. It's just gold Percy. Gold is shiny and you can buy things with it. But gold can't be your friend. We played cards for hours. We talked and joked and had a good time. That's something you can't buy. If it has something to do with your family wealth, or something like that I can make a pallet of gold bars with a thought. In fact, here." Harry made a stack of six gold bricks. He picked one up and gave it to him. "This brick is worth three times as much as that bag. Take all six." Harry said leaving Percy catatonic.
"BUt BUT!?" Percy said.
"We'll Take it!" Fred said pushing past Percy to grab three bricks. George took the other three.
"THank you Harry. If you ever need anything you just ask us." George said walking down stairs.
"But." Percy said.
"Percy, we playing next week or not? Are we friends or not?" Harry asked.
"No, I mean yes! We're playing next week and we're friends. Hell Harry. I don't know what to say." Percy said.
"Say nothing. Make sure your folks get some of those bricks. I have no idea what the twins would do with that much gold." Harry said patting Percy on the back as he turned him around and shut the door.
"That was funny Harry. Buying the Weasleys?" Neville asked.
"Why have enemies when you can have friends. Besides I like those three. The twins are fun and Percy is going places. He's got a good head on his shoulders and a real sense of right and wrong. It's also good to have friends that have some power in the house." Harry said changing into his PJs.
"Good thinking. I like the twins too." Neville said from his bed.
"Good night guys." Harry said as Blaze hopped up on his bed and tucked in next to Harry. Ignis for his part curled up on his nightstand and was already snoring.
"Good night Harry." came a chorus of voices. Harry snuffed out the candle and the comfort of the castle wards let him fall into a deep restful sleep.
