a/n: Thanks to eliizilla for taking some time to read through the draft of the novel.
I would also like to thank those who have read this work and those who had left reviews for me to read. It always leaves a warm feeling in my chest every time I open my mail and I spot a review alert heading among my unread messages. Thank you so much.
TWELVE
Potter Island
BIOT
The two weeks after Harry's trial were pretty much the same as the week before the trial.
Al, Sirius, Remus, and a whole cadre of teachers had proceeded to make the life of both Harry and Hermione a living hell. They woke up at around five in the morning, made to jog for two hours, ate at half past seven, and then they continued their training.
The first few days of intensive training, both Harry and Hermione went to bed dead tired. They just hit the bed and before even five minutes had passed, they would already be asleep. But after they got used to it, they started to cuddle in bed when their instructors left them alone.
They learned, however, not to take it too far since Al had an irritating habit of waking them up. Not everyday, of course, he said that he trusted the two of them to wake up on time on their own. He said that because he trusts them to do so, he informed them that they would add a kilometer in their marching routine for every minute that they are late.
It, however, did not stop him from entering their room and waking them up, and he does it in random intervals, so there is no way that Harry and Hermione can predict when he would next disturb their sleep.
Harry had also decided that Al was doing it as some sort of favor for Dan, because he and Hermione cannot consummate their marriage knowing that there is a chance that Al might catch them in the morning.
In the two weeks since after the trial, both Harry and Hermione had become proficient in just about anything that Al, Sirius, and Remus had decided to teach them. All three of their teachers had expressed confidence that they could, at least achieve 'Acceptable' in their NEWT's, though they are expecting at least 'Exceeds Expectations' in their OWL's. Al had said that he was expecting 'Outstanding', though given the quality of defense education that he had given, both Harry and Hermione agreed, at least privately, that anything less would be almost impossible.
With only six days left before start of term, both Harry and Hermione were wondering when, and if they, would receive their letters. Both have postulated that the headmaster would send them the two Prefect badge, as well as the Quidditch Captain badge for Harry to get the two of them back under his control. It was something that Al, Sirius, and Remus agreed on.
The letters finally arrived on their final summer weekend, though they were not delivered by owls, as Harry and Hermione had expected. As they thought about it, they both supposed that that is to be expected, since they are too far away from Britain.
Instead, their letter was hand-delivered to them by Hec, who decided to visit the manor house at breakfast. Apparently, Dan was not the only one who thinks that Al's choice for breakfast is odd, either that, or he really just had too many things to do so he had to beg off having breakfast with the man who is technically his superior.
As Hec waved his goodbye to them as he walked out, he handed a slip of paper to Al, who took it without comment.
Harry opened his letter first. He noted that the letter was not sealed, and there are a few creases in it, an indication that the letter has been opened before, so he looked at Hermione, who had also just opened her unsealed and creased letter, before the two of them looked at Al.
Al, who had finished reading the contents of the paper that Hec had given him, looked at both Harry and Hermione before he said, "Standard security procedure, and it was not even us who did it" he smiled, and handed the paper to Dan, who took it without comment, "Lemon-Drop gave Hermione the prefect badge for his year, but not for Harry, apparently, Lemon-Drop chose Ronald Weasley, and as for Captain, Lemon-Drop chose Harry"
"Where are the badges?" Hermione asked before she can stop herself.
It wasn't Al who replied. It was Dan who replied, surprising both Harry and Hermione, "You are not going to accept the badge young lady" Dan said in a fierce voice, and then he looked at Harry and added, "And neither are you"
"Perfectly understandable reaction, Dan" Al said before anyone can say anything, he looked at Harry and Hermione and said, "Both badges have been turned into portkeys that would take you to Lemon-Drop's office at Hogwarts, so the goblins, those letters were routed through Gringotts, used both of them"
Sirius and Remus grinned as Al continued, "They sent two nifflers to Lemon-Drop's office" he smiled before he added, "Niffler heaven"
Harry nodded, remembering the creatures that Al had mentioned and the office of the headmaster. He had no doubt that the Nifflers would find the place nirvana because of the shiny items there.
"Why can I not accept the badge?" Hermione asked, "I mean, the badge was destroyed, but why can I not take the position?"
"Because Ronald Weasley is the other prefect, that's why." Dan replied, again surprising both Harry and Hermione.
Al nodded, "Your bond with Harry would negate the effect of any potions used against you, but it doesn't mean that the red headed bastard cannot take advantage of you." he lost his smile as he added, "Of course, he would not survive that, given what I have been teaching the two of you. But your parents would rather not have that scenario in their hands, and I agree"
Hermione nodded, "I will write to Professor McGonagall and tell her that I don't want the position" she replied, catching Harry's eye, just in time to see him agree with her decision. She had no doubt that he would not accept the position of team captain as well.
"There are only two new books" Harry said after he finished reading his list, "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk and Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard"
Sirius and Remus blinked upon hearing the title of their book on defense. The two looked at one another and then at Al, before Sirius said, "That book's a joke," he complained, "What is the bloody Defense teacher thinking, assigning a book like that to students on their OWL year and when Voldemort is out there?"
"This is an outrage, Al." Remus added, "Hogwarts is tasked with providing for good education for our children. Slinkhard is turning away from that"
Al nodded, "I know," he replied, he looked thoughtful as he added, "I've met Slinkhard before, guys. He is just like Lockhart, at least when it comes to courage. They have none." he sighed before adding, "I think this is what Fudge was playing at when he signed Educational Decree number twenty two," he paused, "Fudge wants his own spy inside Hogwarts and he appointed someone there, looks like the new defense professor is our spy"
"What do we do?" Harry asked.
Al thought about it for a few moments, and then looked at Harry, "What do you think we should do, Harry?" he asked, but before Harry could reply, he continued talking. "We have no evidence right now that whoever is appointed there is incompetent, and we cannot charge them with breaking any law since technically, they are not."
"We wait for them then?" Harry asked, sounding as though he does not like the option that is being presented to them.
Al nodded, albeit reluctantly, "We have no choice." he replied, he shook his head once again, and at the same time, another person entered the dining room and handed Al a sealed package.
Al thanked the messenger and then opened the package, revealing some sort of magazine. "Wizarding Times" Al said, answering the unasked questions of everyone in the table. He opened the magazine to a specific page, allowing those in front of him to see the cover of the magazine.
Harry and Hermione both smiled when they saw the cover, it was of Cornelius Fudge sulking and the word 'Incompetent' over him. Al took some time to read the particular news article that he was reading, though he would occasionally turn the page. Once he was done, he handed the magazine to Hermione, who read out loud:
Harry Potter charged with breaking statute of secrecy found not guilty by reason of self-defense
In a dim hall that the British Magical Government used for criminal trails, Harry James Potter, known as the Boy-Who-Lived having survived the Killing curse and banishing a Dark Lord, was tried for the simple issue of underage magic.
His Chief accuser, the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, however, appeared more interested in putting the Boy-Who- Lived behind bars for a mere infraction rather than the truth.
Case in point, the need for a criminal trial for a simple underage magic hearing, and the fact that Minister Fudge had berated Mr. Potter as the latter was attempting to explain his side.
Mr. Potter, who was ably defended by Anton Rosseu, was easily able to prove that his life was in danger during the time in question, as he was accosted by two Dementors, creatures that the British Magical Government depend on to guard their prisons.
At one point, Mr. Rosseu was forced to ask the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in Britain if the presumption of innocent until proved guilty is no longer applicable in Britain before Minister Fudge had allowed Mr. Potter to introduce his evidence that proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Potter was speaking the truth.
Faced with overwhelming evidence, the Wizengamot, which tried Mr. Potter, was forced to give a 'not guilty' verdict.
During the trial, Anton Rosseu, responding to a question by a member of the Wizengamot, accused the Ministry of staging the attack, and given that the Dementors are supposed to be under their control, we are forced to wonder if the accusations are true.
Also during the trial, Anton Rosseu had indicated that they would be filing charges against Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, for negligence resulting to grave abuse of a minor, the minor being Mr. Potter.
Wizard Times can exclusively reveal, through investigation by our reporters, that Mr. Potter had been left by the Supreme Mugwump in an abusive non-magical home run by an obese company director and his wife, who had a passion for hating magic. Although, we are not allowed to reveal what sort of abuse the young man had gone through, suffice to say, it was horrific. We can also exclusively reveal that it was the Supreme Mugwump himself, who had placed Mr. Potter in the said home, lending credibility to the accusations of Mr. Rosseu in regards to the case that as of press time, is yet to be filed.
In related news, Mr. Rosseu had also promised to file an action that would compel the British Magical Government to review the case of Sirius Black. He was incarcerated for thirteen years for the murder of more then a dozen muggles, but never got a trial, proving or disproving his crimes.
In the press conference that followed the trial, Mr. Potter also announced that he and his girlfriend, muggle-born Hermione Granger, who is also the top student in Hogwarts, are unsure of returning to their school for their fifth year.
The Times now question if Cornelius Fudge is the best person to lead Magical Britain. After all, the Minister had proven himself to be not only incompetent, but also prejudiced, and it would appear that his staff is just as incompetent and prejudiced as he is. We call upon the International Community to assist the British Magical Community in forming a government that is actually performing their task, instead of sending Dementors against their own heroes. .
"No word on Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked after Hermione finished reading the article.
"Next page" Al said.
Hermione nodded and turned the page. She found the article that Al had indicated and read:
Man who glowed after being hit by love-potion detection spell declared not under influence
The man who glowed pink after being hit by a love potion detection spell during the press conference after the trial of Harry Potter was declared to be not under the influence of a love potion.
Speakers from St. Mungo's, the British Magical Hospital, had announced in a statement that Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office of the British Ministry of Magic, is not under influence of any love potion.
Said speakers credited this fake alert after the daughter of Mr. Weasley, Ginevra Molly Weasley, hit the caster of the spell as she retrieved her flask from him.
'The collision must have messed up the wand movement resulting to a useless detection spell" Andrew Nott, speaker of St. Mungo's, said in a statement, "Mr. Arthur Weasley has been pronounced clear of any love potion'
"Al?" Harry asked.
Al shook his head, "I cast a spell that required no wand-movement" he replied, "that damned spell was a silent casting spell for crying out loud, no wand movement necessary" he sighed before he added, "This obviously is a lie"
"You think that Mr. Weasley is under some sort of love potion influence?" Sirius asked.
"And under the Imperius curse as well, unless I missed my guess" Al replied. He sadly shook his head as he added, "And I rarely miss my guess when it comes to dark spells"
"Do we rescue him?" Remus asked, he looked at Sirius and said, "He has always been a great laugh and I reckon he is harmless"
Al shook his head, "Unfortunately, we cannot" he replied, "Arthur Weasley glowed pink when the detection spell was cast, yes, but the shade of pink indicated that he had been under the influence of the damned potion for a long time, without any clue as to what the potion was, removing him from it might mean his death"
"We can't just leave him alone" Hermione argued.
Al nodded, "We aren't" he replied, his eyes steeled as he added, "What we need is intelligence, we need to know what the potion is, and we need to know if we can counter its effects" he paused for a few moments, before he announced, "I would have a branch of intelligence work on this, but do not expect any answer tomorrow or anytime in the near future, we need to know everything about it and detailed intelligence like this doesn't just grow overnight"
Both Harry and Hermione nodded, albeit it was clear that they did so with reluctance.
"There is something else that might interest you in the next page" Al said. Hermione turned the page again and read out loud:
Hogwarts' Falling Standards
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had long been acknowledged as one of the best magical schools in the world.
Last year, Hogwarts, together with Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Academy of Magic, participated in the Tri-Wizard tournament, which was held in the grounds of Hogwarts.
Such honor to host an international tournament is, of course, expected for a school with the reputation of Hogwarts, for throughout the years, Hogwarts had always produced the best graduates in the magical world.
Things, however, are going downhill.
Wizard Times can now reveal that the standards of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are not only going down, they are about to hit rock bottom.
Case in point, the position of Professor in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Of the four professors that had been appointed in the past four years, yes, a new professor every year, only one had performed up to standard, and even this professor had to be fired because of the archaic laws of the British Magical World when it comes to the medical condition of Lycanthropy.
The first of these four professors, we now reveal, is a stuttering incompetent who cannot even complete a single sentence without stuttering, more, he is afraid of vampires and is misinformed that garlic has an effect on them. In short, he is a holder of defense mastery without even knowing anything about defense against the dark arts.
The second is the world famous Gilderoy Lockhart, who can actually perform only one spell without accidentally casting the wrong spell. It was ironic that he became the professor of DADA since the only spell that he can cast was the memory charm, which is a charm. He may as well have taught charms instead. Add to that, his mastery was obtained fraudulently, most likely by obliviating his examiner, and he steals the credit of other people for himself.
The third was a former auror who spent considerable time chasing down dark wizards, sacrificing much of his limb in order to make the world safe from them. He was a perfect DADA professor, but the problem was, he was actually locked up in his trunk while an imposter used Polyjuice potion to impersonate him, an imposter, who, it turned out, escaped from the British Magical prison in Azkaban.
We, in the Times, hope that the next professor who is appointed to the position is actually up to the task, but believe that this may already be a hopeless case as the Times had recently learned that Cornelius Fudge, Minster of Magic for Britain, had appointed his Senior Undersecretary to the post. We question the wisdom of appointing her to the post.
After all, the three professors, even the escaped convict, have obtained mastery in defense, even if only fraudulently, and they have at least passed their defense OWL's, if only barely. If things proceed as we think they should, then, when term starts in Hogwarts, there will be a professor in the staff who had to retake her OWL's in the subject that she is to teach, three times before she barely scraped an Acceptable.
"So Fudge is sending one of her lackeys to teach in Hogwarts?" Harry asked, he blinked as he remembered who the article was talking about, "that toad woman, Umbitch was it?"
"Umbridge" Al replied, he looked at Remus, who smiled, before he turned back to Harry and said, "Remus has no respect for her. She was the one who made it impossible for him to find a job, much less hold it."
"But why would Fudge do this?" Hermione asked, "And why would Dumbledore allow it?"
"The law" Al replied, "Fudge passed the law remember?" Hermione and Harry nodded, "As for Lemon-Drop," he sighed "We do not know. Though give me and these two clowns some time and we can come up with a scenario as to the why."
"Are we returning to Hogwarts, Harry?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked at his wife, and then he sighed, "I wanted to finish at the school where my parents finished their schooling, but I would run it by you, love." he smiled at her, "With a bit more training, I bet that Al, Remus and Sirius could have us scrape some Acceptable grades in our NEWT's, and what they cannot teach us, we can always learn with other tutors, but I would always run it by you first."
"If I may?" Al asked, Harry and Hermione nodded, "I think that you should return to Hogwarts. We need to know who stands with you and who stands against you, and unfortunately, you are the only ones who can make sure of that."
"It would be dangerous," Dan commented.
"But it is something that they must do." Al replied. He sighed and then added, "If Harry is going to abandon Hogwarts, then he is abandoning Britain. This would result to mass panic among the ordinary people, emboldening Voldemort." he looked at Harry and said, "I am sorry to place this upon your shoulders, Harry, but without you there, we are looking at a thousand dead. At least"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, before Harry sighed and looked back at Al, "We are returning to Hogwarts then." he replied firmly.
"And security?" Sirius asked.
Al nodded, "I can spare four platoons. A company of men," he replied, "I'll have them move into the Forbidden Forest and set up camp there, or we can deploy them in the ships, like how those Durmstrang boys did last year. Personally, I think the ships are better as we have eight magical galleons with us, and we can easily re-supply them while they are underwater. Plus, they are closer to the castle and can provide covering artillery fire should there be a need for that,"
"Are we still taking the train?" Hermione asked.
Al nodded, "Unfortunately, yes," He looked at her and sighed, "We cannot have Lemon-Drop know that we have positioned our people so close to his school, so you have to take the train." he smiled, and before Hermione question him, Al continued, "Do not worry about your new books as well, we'll have someone pick them up."
Granger Residence,
London, England
Lucius Malfoy stood well on the sidewalk, his gaze never leaving the house in front of him. On his side, stood Fenrir Grayback, the leader of the werewolf pack, and on his other side stood another death eater who is acting as his second in command for the operation.
In front of them stood the Granger house, and between them, an assault force of eight death eaters. The orders are simple, attack the house, kill all the adults inside, and then take the Mudblood, Hermione Granger, to Malfoy Manor where Greyback had volunteered to interrogate her.
Malfoy glanced at the werewolf and his face twisted to show his disgust. He does not mind the werewolf, but what the werewolf is planning to do to the mudblood sickens him. Not so much as the interrogation, of course, but the thought that the werewolf would want to rape the mudblood.
Malfoy shook his head to rid his mind of the image. He consoled himself by at least thinking that the screams would be music to his ears, and he signaled for his men to attack the house.
As per standard death eater attack tactics, the eight members of the actual assault team charged the house. Malfoy and his command group watched as the door to the house was kicked open and the eight men charged inside. Malfoy expected the lights of spells being cast, even though he did not think that a single witch can hold the line against his eight men, so when no flashes of light came from the windows of the house, he visibly got worried.
He motioned for Greyback and his second to follow him, and he made his way to the house, intent on checking up on why no one is casting anything. Unfortunately, the moment that his right foot stepped on the floor of the house, the house disappeared with a massive explosion.
Malfoy, Greyback and his second were the lucky ones. They were still outside the house when the explosion happened, so they were just thrown into the air and onto the sidewalk with relatively minor injuries.
Malfoy was missing an arm and a leg; both were completely severed from his body, while his one remaining arm was badly mangled. Greyback lost an arm, completely severed from his body, while his other remaining limbs were badly mangled. The other death eater was missing both legs, and both his arms were badly mangled. They were unconscious after the explosion, and because it was muggles who operated on them, they were forced to remove all mangled body parts, unaware that magic can easily repair those damages.
Despite that, Malfoy and his companions were the lucky ones, as the news services were later to report. Of the eight death eaters inside the house, only two bodies were recovered, the six others, completely pulverized in what can only be a gas explosion.