Quietly making his way down into the darkened kitchen, Harry Potter froze as he felt the tip of a wand suddenly poking his jugular.

A growl had him smirking slightly into the dark,

"Sloppy Potter; even if you're inside your own home, constant vigilance!"

Just then, the lights came on, allowing him to view the gathering of people in his relatives' kitchen, and in particular, the heavily scarred retired auror holding a wand to his throat.

Noticing the smirk on the teen's face, Alastor gazed down to find another wand resting against his thigh, with its tip unerringly pointed towards his family jewels.

Letting loose a sharp bark of laughter, he nodded in approval before suddenly becoming stern faced,

"Prove that you are indeed Potter, boy."

Here, Harry merely raised an eyebrow and turned to face his brown haired former DADA professor.

Getting the hint, Remus stepped forward and asked a question only Harry would know.

Once he confirmed the answer, he nodded at Moody who then released Harry.

Now that he was no longer being held at wand point, Harry continued on to do what he had come downstairs to do; get a drink of water.

Mad-eye's magical eyeball roved madly across the room, constantly keeping an eye on everything in the vicinity, while his normal eye fixed on the black haired teen.

Now with a glass of water in hand, Harry finally turned to face the room at large and rested against the counter behind him.

Before anything else could be said, Alastor spoke up in a gruff tone,

"Well, aren't you going to demand proof of our own identities Potter?"

Shrugging at his question, Harry calmly replied,

"And why should I?"

Frowning at what he believed to be carelessness, Alastor flicked his wand, intending to send a mild stinging hex at the relaxed teen.

Everyone present gaped as nothing happened, while Mad-eye narrowed his normal eye and growled in irritation.

Allowing an amused smile to grace his face, Harry then said,

"Really Mad-eye, you think you can come in here and harm me, under wards whose very foundation is the blood that runs in my own veins?"

Remus, being the smartest adult present, was the first to realize the truth of Harry's words.

Speaking up before Alastor could, he said with a questioning tone,

"That's interesting Harry. I had no idea they worked like that."

Focusing on his former teacher, Harry replied,

"Well, I didn't either, but I was hardly going to trust in wards that I didn't understand."

Nodding in approval at the teen's good sense, Remus then proceeded to introduce everyone present, finally ending on a pink-haired young woman who had been sneaking looks at him for some time.

Pointing out that they had wasted enough time as it was, Remus asked Tonks to go up and help Harry retrieve his luggage.

Harry's hasty refusal had many eyebrows raising in confusion, before Mad-eye let loose a gravelly chuckle and said,

"Leave it Tonks. Let the boy see to his…guests in private."

Stoically refusing to blush at the leer Mad-eye sent his way, Harry hurried upstairs to get his guests awake and to let them know that he would be leaving for the year.

Coming back down after a half hour, Harry bore the looks of amusement sent his way once those present noticed how messy his hair and clothes now were, as well as how red his lips were as well.

Turning from Remus' raised eyebrow, he faced Moody and waited for instructions on how they would be getting to their destination.

Stepping into the darkened hallway, Harry glided across the floor on silent feet as he made his way towards the room where his friends were staying.

Pausing at the door as his hearing picked up on a variety of voices in the room, he took a fortifying breath before knocking on the door, causing sudden silence to befall the room.

Pushing the door open, he easily absorbed the impact of Hermione crashing into him in flurry of brown hair and grasping arms.

Returning the hug and deciphering the hastily spoken words, Harry finally managed to get her to let go of him long enough to greet Ron and the twins who were also present.

Once the greetings were over and done with, Harry noticed the slightly uneasy looks being thrown his way by Ron and Hermione, and the anticipation on the faces of the twins.

Acting as though he had no idea what they were waiting for, he casually inquired,

"So…had a good break?"

After the four teens had managed to pick their jaws off the floor, Fred and George burst out into raucous laughter as Hermione spluttered at Harry's mundane question.

Finally arriving at her wit's end, she threw up her hand and said,

"Oh Harry, we know that you didn't like not being told anything, but Dumbledore insisted that we keep our letters vague and –"

Raising a hand to interrupt her, he shrugged and said,

"I know…so, had a good break?"

And finally realizing that Harry really was not going to explode in anger, Ron and Hermione hesitantly replied and engaged him in conversation, both secretly glad that Harry was not holding them accountable for their vague letters, though Hermione kept giving him confused looks when she looked at him.

Surging to his feet as the door opened, Sirius Black released a relieved bark of laughter as Harry crashed into his chest, hugging him just as fiercely as he was hugging his godson back.

Finally pulling apart, he looked at the boy who had quickly become the most important thing to him and said,

"God I've missed you kiddo."

Beaming at his godfather, Harry just hugged him again in place of a reply.

Once everyone was finally seated, with Harry sitting right next to Sirius, dinner finally began.

Sirius, who had expected some questioning from his godson, finally decided to address the elephant in the room and said,

"So, Harry, anything you want to know?"

Blinking at his godfather as the room fell into uneasy silence, Harry hummed in contemplation while the unease around him grew, before he finally decided to take pity on the people present and replied,

"Well, I can imagine that even if I did, practically everyone else here would not want me to; no doubt from some attempt to keep me away from such unpleasantness. Thanks Sirius, but you don't have to tell me anything; it will all come out later this year when Voldemort makes another attempt on my life."

Ignoring the startled flinching that was caused by his use of the Dark Lord's moniker, Harry kept his eyes locked on his godfather while the others shifted in discomfort at his words, finding themselves unable to dispute anything that he had just said.

Speaking up again, Harry changed the subject by stating,

"Forget that, what I want to know is why the house is such a mess."

Not one to miss out on an opportunity to badmouth his family, Sirius explained the history of the house and the current state of mind of its caretaker, Kreacher.

Molly Weasley also piped in to add that the children – including you too Harry dear, if you don't mind – would be seeing to cleaning a majority of the house, as they had been for the past few days.

Turning to Hermione with a question on his face, Hermione responded,

"Yeah, we have been trying to get things clean for a while now, but it is slow going with us not able to use magic."

Still, Hermione noticed that her answer only seemed to confuse Harry even more, but before she could inquire about it, he posed a question to Sirius.

"This house is under the Fidelius Charm right?"

Getting a nod from Sirius and some others at the table, he asked again,

"So, if I remember what I learned about it from Third Year" – and here, both Remus and Sirius winced as they realized why Harry would have bothered learning about such a charm that year – "then for all intents and purposes, this house does not exist to those not in on its secret."

Getting a careful nod from Remus, Harry merely huffed, took out his wand, and before anyone could stop him, pressed its tip to the table and said,

"Scourgify"

There were aborted cries of dismay from those around him, before a gentle wave of what felt like a fresh spring breeze washed over everyone and everything present, starting from the tip of the wand and expanding like a ripple to cover the entire house.

Once everyone had their bearings back, eyes bulged in shock as gazes fell on the now pristine dining table, before trailing around to take in the changes that had been made everywhere they looked.

This was the Black Ancestral Home as it had once been at the height of its splendor.

Whirling from where she had been looking at the gleaming walls of the room, Hermione sucked in a deep breath as she prepared to scold Harry for performing magic outside school, especially when he already had a hearing scheduled for the next day.

However, before she could begin, Harry nonchalantly asked,

"Awfully late aren't they? I would think that a letter from the ministry would be here by now."

Pausing as she registered his words, Hermione and those present gazed around in question, looking for the ministry owl that was meant to be swooping in for the use of underage magic.

The sudden sound of soft laughter had everyone looking to Remus who had an amused look on his face and an unreadable look in his eyes as he focused on Harry.

Once more the first to understand what Harry had just done, Remus merely offered to the room,

"The Fidelius charm would be an inefficient hiding method if it were incapable of hiding magic use from any and all sensors."

And as the eyes of those present widened in dawning realization, Harry just smiled and returned to his meal.

Conscious of the eyes focused on him, Harry did not falter as he entered the courtroom, unerringly making his way towards the foreboding chair situated in the middle of the room.

Once he got to his destination, he executed a graceful swirl that ended with him reclining in the seat as though it were the most comfortable throne in the whole world.

The combination of his relaxed but regal posture, and the well made robes he was wearing, made him look like a prince listening to the supplications of his people.

Fudge was not amused.

Accepting that his attempt to get the boy convicted due to his absence had just failed, he moved on to plan B.

Bringing the court to order, he began,

"The hearing for one Harry James Potter will now begin…"

Finishing the mandatory proceedings before they could actually begin, he ended with,

"…and council for the defence…"

Ever the showman, Albus Dumbledore chose that moment to stride into the court room, prepared to submit himself as Harry's defence.

It was unnecessary.

Pausing in surprise as a smooth voice cut him off before he could begin, Dumbledore felt his well laid plans shattering under the weight of the words spoken,

"If it pleases the court, I will serve as my own council."

Staring in surprise at the boy, Fudge wasted no time in taking advantage of whatever bad blood seemingly lay between the headmaster and his student.

Sending a smug smile at the visibly flustered Chief Warlock, Fudge hurried on,

"Very well…You, the accused, are charged with the violation of the Statute of Secrecy, when you knowingly performed magic in the presence of a Muggle, one Dudley Dursley. How do you plead?"

Raising his eyes from where they had been focused on the floor during Fudge's words, Harry let a small smirk slide onto his face as he drawled out,

"Not guilty"

Fudge, obliviously continued on,

"Very well then, in accordance with the – what?!"

Spluttering in shock and outrage once he had fully processed what Harry had said, Fudge demanded, face reddening in anger,

"What do you mean, not guilty?"

Raising an eyebrow in silent mockery, Harry replied,

"Do you need me to spell the words out for you, Minister?"

Grinding his teeth as he picked up some snickering from behind him, Fudge clenched his fists as he fought – and failed – to keep the snarl of fury from his voice,

"Need I remind you, boy, that lying to this court is an offense that will –"

"Come now, Cornelius, let us not give into our anger here. Please explain to the court, Mr Potter, why you think yourself innocent of this charge?"

Madame Bones' cool voice interrupted Fudge's tirade, defusing some of the tension from the room.

Inclining his head in gratitude towards the woman, Harry finally sat up in his seat, and crossing his legs, began to speak while those present unconsciously leaned forward in interest,

"The reason I plead not guilty, Madame Bones, is because I am. The charge is, if I heard correctly, that I did knowingly use magic in the presence of a Muggle, one Dudley Dursley. However, a simple check will reveal to you that the charge is in fact false. I did not use magic in the presence of a Muggle, I used it in the presence of a squib."

For a moment, the courtroom was silent, until a woman dressed in a truly disturbing pink getup let loose a derisive giggle, before her high pitched voice rang out,

"Nice try, Potter, but our reports note that the…squib…Arabella Figg, did not show up until after the act had been performed."

Giving the woman an amused look that seemed to annoy her, Harry calmly replied,

"The squib I am referring to is Dudley Dursley."

At his words, the courtroom descended into chaos as many questions were hurled at him, while in the background, Harry reclined in his seat to watch the bedlam, absently wishing for some popcorn.

Albus Dumbledore was peripherally aware that he had a stunned look on his face, but he was past the point of caring.

His blue eyes were fixed on the black haired teen currently observing the chaos he had just wrought with a few words.

During the young wizard's stay in his relatives' home, Albus had told the teen's friends not to contact the boy, impressing upon them the importance of keeping certain information secret.

He had placed guards to watch him in his home, and none of them had reported anything suspicious, though they had mentioned that Harry had seemingly vanished into his room for about three days straight, before he had reappeared again, dressed in better clothes and looking less burdened than he had before.

The letters which Harry had sent to them had not contained any demands for information, much to the surprise of just about everyone who knew the teen.

Instead, they had been filled with mundane things that somehow always seemed to bring a smile to his godfather's face, and looks of confusion on just about everyone else's.

Still, Albus had not been worried.

Now, he was thinking that maybe he should have been.

Finally drawing the court to order, after having had to repair the broken gavel twice, Fudge fixed a glare on the placid features of the famous young wizard and spoke in a soft voice brimming with warning,

"Dudley Dursley is a Muggle."

A smile broke out on Harry's face and he merely said nothing while some of those present began to mutter at his silence.

Just before Fudge reached the end of his tether, the door to the room was opened and a young woman stumbled inside, obviously intimidated to be in the presence of so many notable persons.

Zeroing in on the teen seated in the chair, she bustled over to him and deposited a few leaves of parchment into his hand, before beating a hasty retreat.

Spending a moment to read through the information, while ignoring the increasingly incensed glare being sent his way from two sources, Harry finally hummed to himself and held out the leaves of parchment to Madame Bones, who, getting the hint, summoned them from his hand.

Reading through it twice to confirm what she had read the first time, Madame Bones cleared her throat and said,

"Mr Potter is correct; his cousin is, in fact, a squib."

Fudge's face paled slightly as all his plans crashed and burned. Gritting his teeth at being made a fool of, he snarled out,

"Fine, the charges are dismissed in light of this new information. Harry James Potter, you are cleared of all charges and I move to end this –"

Halting with his mouth open, Fudge could only gape at Harry's raised hand and the his audacity in interrupting the minister, while the teen took the opportunity to speak,

"Now, Minister, we aren't quite finished. After all, there is the matter of my being tried by a full Wizengamot…as though I were an adult in the eyes of this court."

As he heard a barely smothered choke from behind him, Harry allowed a small and evil grin to show on his face as the members of the Wizengamot shifted in sudden discomfort.

Yeah...this one was kind of random...during one of my classes today, I just wondered about a few things, mainly the Fidelius Charm and the Dursleys...but, in between classes and working on Little Things (which by the way is proving difficult to write...my fault, I guess, for setting up such an epic clash) I just thought I'd scratch this out on my phone...enjoy and please forgive the no doubt numerous errors that come with working on a phone.