}-{

VIII - Wizengamot

'Lord Potter-Gryffindor-Slytherin,' Albus thought to himself, trying to decide on how best to approach the ever-growing problem that Harry had become; the young wizard had become far too independent and too confident in his actions. Albus had been trying to find out what had happened to Harry since last year. The many trinkets that had been focused on the child had all spontaneously stopped at some point over the summer and hadn't realised until there was no trace of the boy. He had immediately gone to Privet Drive and checked the blood wards which confirmed the boy's change in accommodation. The muggles had been no help either; they had no idea where he had disappeared to, couldn't have cared less and had openly celebrated his departure.

Finding Harry was his main priority since the boy needed to understand the meaning of compassion and be willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. After all, the prophecy said that the boy must die. This new independent Harry was troubling, the boy was going dark and he couldn't take the chance of another Dark Lord. If he was the Lord of two Hogwarts founders, the boy had too much power especially now that the blocks on his power had been removed. 'That's my solution. The boy needs to be re-bound, maybe a loyalty potion too to ensure his continued support. Yes, that'll do nicely…' Albus thought heading to the floo to call Severus and acquire the necessary potions.

}-{

The next morning, Harry left his chambers to have his daily run around the Hogwarts grounds. The circuit took him over an hour but was worth it for the advantages in speed and agility that it harnessed, perfect for duelling and combat. The run also gave him time to think, without any distractions. He was still none the wiser as to what to do about the fake Heir of Slytherin and didn't have any idea where to start on that front. He had no clue what to do about his house status either, or for that matter his Lordships. By breakfast, the entire school would know of his three Lordships and there would once more be whispering. 'Oh, how he hated the whispering! Most magicals were just sheep and the whispering infuriated him!'

After a quick shower, Harry dressed in his school robes and began making his way towards the Great Hall for breakfast. It was still early so the hall should be near empty, which could mean him getting in and out of there without too much fuss. As he neared the hall he realised his error, the hall was packed with people from all four houses all speaking excitedly amongst themselves. However, all that stopped as he walked in. Every conversation stopped and every eye in the room was focused directly on him. He sighed inwardly and made his way to the Hufflepuff table heading towards the familiar faces of Susan and Hannah. As he approached the two of them, Susan jumped out of her seat and flew at him, surprising Harry, who found himself enveloped in the witch's arms.

"Harry! Are you okay? Why'd you run out like that?" She whispered in his ear, refusing to remove her arms from around his neck.

"I'm fine Sue; I just got a little worked up." He replied softly, resting his head on her shoulder and revelling in her scent.

"Come on Susie! Leave some for me…" Hannah said, appearing behind the redhead.

He laughed and took the beautiful brunette into his arms, giving her a kiss on the cheek for good measure. He smirked at the blush forming on her cheeks as he pulled her back towards the table for breakfast. It felt good to know the girls didn't think any less of him after hearing of his lordships; he'd been afraid that they'd leave knowing he was Lord Slytherin, but the two Hufflepuffs were – as Hufflepuffs should be – loyal to the end.

The rest of the day was filled with a lot of confused faces. Nobody really knowing whether to be afraid of Lord Slytherin or admit that he wasn't the fake heir. Despite his proclamation, the number of apologies he received could be counted on one hand. He didn't care though as he had Susan, Hannah, Neville and Hermione and none of them had left him or thought any less of him.

However, admitting his ascension had a few unfortunate side effects. He had been faced by all the Hogwarts ghosts, who pleaded with him to allow them to remain within the grounds and had a meeting with the head house elf who apologised profusely for not treating their Master with enough respect.

Things were looking up for him, especially now that he didn't need to belong to a house and could remain on his timetable and in his quarters without the threat of having to move out once more.

}-{

The next few weeks continued with most the students actively avoiding him, afraid that he'd remove them from the school if they badmouthed him, or worse that Peeves would unleash his wrath on them for insulting a Lord of Hogwarts. His core group of friends remained the same but he had been slowly getting friendlier with some others. Like Katie Bell, his old quidditch teammate who had tersely cornered him after his charms lesson one day to beg forgiveness, even though she had never said anything against him. Others like the Weasley Twins just began hanging around with him until he accepted them once more.

Then there was Daphne; he really didn't know what was happening with her. They had studied together in the Room of Requirement without speaking about anything other than their work but after a few nights they began getting more comfortable with each other. She was still closed off and guarded, especially when talking about herself but she had begun smiling. Which made him feel better as he slowly cracked through her icy demeanour in private at least, they still didn't talk within potions and no one knew about their study sessions so they acted as normal in the classroom whereas in private they acted slightly warmer towards each other.

It was after another of these sessions that Harry stumbled across the petrified form of Colin Creevey, a first-year Gryffindor who usually followed Harry around with his camera. This made the student populous even colder towards Harry despite the known fact that he wasn't the Heir. His Slytherin ring warmed up after finding Colin, like the ring itself was as pissed off as Harry. The ring had also been showing Harry strange visions of what Harry assumed was the Chamber of Secrets, a large stone bust of Slytherin and many statues of stone snakes plagued his dreams. The only thing the ring couldn't or maybe wouldn't tell him was where the Chamber was so Harry couldn't stop the attacks.

The only upside to recent events would be the Gryffindor Quidditch team's thrashing by Slytherin in the first game of the Quidditch season, Slytherin had all gotten Nimbus 2001s paid for by Malfoy's father and so had ran circles around the Lion's defence. Malfoy turned out to be a terrible seeker but was apparently the lesser of two terrible players as Harry's replacement was utterly terrible. This meant a humiliating score of 410 – 130 to the Slytherins which made Harry smile outwardly at the faces of Gryffindor house.

Classes were dreadfully simple still too and Harry, at the request of his Professors, had begun studying the next year's content for Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Transfiguration and Potions. In his own time, Harry had also been studying subjects that were no longer taught at Hogwarts such as Alchemy, The Healing Arts and Enchanting, all of which were vastly different to the core Hogwarts subjects but linked into his electives quite well.

}-{

Harry's ever-increasing timetable meant that time was flying past without so much as a thought and soon the Yule holidays arrived and therefore, the winter solstice and Harry's first Wizengamot meeting. He had received permission from Flitwick to attend the session as it was needed for him to formally take up his Lordships and appoint his regents, and thus on the 22nd of December he flooed from the tiny Professor's office into the Ministry atrium. He stepped out of the green flames and into a huge entrance hall, bigger than the great hall by far and far busier with people bustling about generally flowing towards one of the edges of the hall. Harry walked with the flow of people towards a teller's desk and handed over his wand to the surprised Ministry employee who floundered about after learning his identity, but soon thereafter Harry made his way towards the congregation hall where the Wizengamot members would wait till the session began.

Harry was escorted around by Madam Longbottom and Lady Bones, who introduced him to a lot of the key figures within the Wizengamot and eventually guided him to the guest's plateau where he would have to wait till he was acknowledged and given leave to claim his Lordships before the court.

After everyone was seated, the doors opened once more and Dumbledore strode in with the Minister beside him and a hideously pink woman a few steps behind the two. Dumbledore made his way up the steps towards a seat in the middle and stood before the assembled members. "Welcome all to the 1385th assembly of the Wizengamot." He said in a commanding voice silencing the room with his booming voice. "Now, as usual, I request any urgent business to be brought forward before we begin in earnest." He paused after this waiting for anybody to stand, but when none did he continued, "Okay then, next we shall turn to the claiming of Lordships." He turned to the plateau where Harry was standing. "Mister Potter, would you like to step forward, please?" He said gesturing to a table that had appeared in the centre of the room with a bowl and ornate dagger.

"Of course, Chief Warlock." Harry said, before making his way to the bowl.

"Now, please use the ceremonial dagger to open a small cut on your palm and drop some of your blood into the bowl in front of you, and any Lordships you are entitled to will appear before us." Dumbledore explained, before sitting down once more on his throne. Harry did as the old man requested and as soon as the blood hit the bowl it began glowing. From the bowl, a red and black smoke began rising, shimmering into a jet-black lion on a field of red.

"Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor" a voice called from behind Harry just as a seat glowed red from within the Wizengamot stands on the predominantly 'Light' side. "Are you appointing a proxy for the Gryffindor seat Lord Gryffindor?"

"I name Madam Longbottom as proxy for my seat, until a time where I assume my role in the future." Harry replied.

"So mote it be" the woman replied and the smoke crest dispersed from above the bowl, which immediately began glowing once more and letting off more red and black smoke which joined into the visage of a brilliant red griffin on a cloud of black. "Noble and Ancient House of Potter" she said once more as another seat rose in the 'Light' stands, "Are you appointing a proxy for the Potter seat Lord Potter?"

"I name Madam Longbottom as proxy for my seat, until a time where I assume my role in the future."

"So mote it be."

The smoke dispersed once more and the bowl glowed brightly again, letting off black and blue smoke this time, which shimmered into an eagle on a field of blue, and below it in the bowl a ring appeared which Harry took and slipped onto his finger. "Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Ravenclaw" she said as a seat rose from within the 'Neutral' stands, "Are you appointing a proxy for the Ravenclaw Seat Lord Ravenclaw?"

"I name Lady Bones as proxy for my seat, until a time where I assume my role in the future."

"So mote it be."

The bowl let off green and black smoke, which shimmered into a green python on a black backdrop. "Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin, are you appointing a proxy for the Slytherin Seat Lord Slytherin?" she said as another seat rose, this one at the far end of the stands in the 'dark' stand.

"I name Lady Bones as proxy for my seat, until a time where I assume my role in the future."

"So mote it be."

Harry looked towards the bowl once more, but it refused to glow anymore much to Harry's relief. He made his way from the centre of the room towards Madam Longbottom and Lady Bones sitting beside the two women.

"I thought it was just the three Lordships Mister Potter." Madam Longbottom whispered from beside him.

"So did I" he replied, "Gringotts only told me about the three that I informed you of."

Dumbledore stood once more and began the remaining proceedings, as people brought forth ideas for new laws or abolishment's of old ones. This continued for over 2 hours until the constant stream of ideas slowed and almost stopped. "Has everybody brought forth all business required before we retire this session?" Dumbledore asked hopefully before noticing Harry stand, "Lord Potter-Gryffindor-Slytherin-Ravenclaw what is your business with this session?"

"I have recently been informed of a Pureblood Heir to a Noble and Most Ancient House that is wrongfully imprisoned in Azkaban, and was imprisoned without a trial or a chance to refute the allegations towards him." Harry responded, causing many people to gasp and whisper from within the stands at the thought of an heir imprisoned without a trial.

"Who might this Heir be?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sirius Orion Black." Harry responded, more gasps and frantic whispering occurred.

"Since we cannot remove Mister Black from Azkaban at this time, we shall have to continue this in the next session at the summer solstice" Dumbledore began, obviously shaken by this turn of events.

"No need Chief Warlock, we have the accused in a Ministry cell ready to be escorted right now." Lady Bones stood and addressed Dumbledore.

"Oh, well let us take a short recess before bringing the accused in to face the charges." Dumbledore responded, banging his gavel on his desk and near running out of the room.

Harry smiled to himself as he saw the old man was rattled.

"About time." He mumbled under his breath before sitting back down, waiting for the trial of his Godfather patiently.

Everything was changing, and even better Dumbledore's world was crashing down from beneath him.

J.K. Rowling's Property not Mine (Unfortunately)

Thanks to my beta Haphne24