Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

Some of the concepts that will be in this fic are from other Fan fictions about Harry Potter with my own twist on them. So I would like to acknowledge all the Harry Potter fan writers on this site for great work and hundreds of hours of reading. This is an AU story.

Chapter 14

A Year with the Marauders Part 4

Harry raced down the stairs to the main room. He woke up early today so he could be the first to the Christmas tree in the family lounge. Harry came to a stop just inside the door to the lounge to find that Sirius and Remus were already there with cups of coffee.

"Foiled again" Harry quietly said as he sulked into the room with his head down. Inside he was laughing at the looks on the two marauder's faces; it was like they had just taken candy from a baby and felt bad about it. Harry smiled and ran to the tree. Sirius and Remus figured it out a second later tackling and tickling Harry.

After a few minutes of laughter they all settled down on the floor in front of the tree. Harry looked all around him; the three of them had set the Christmas tree up a week ago. The elves had help decorate the rest of the room in holly and garland. Magical candles floated in the air around the room and fiery lights clung to the tips of the tree branches. Harry had used his wandless magic to put the Potter family star on the top of the tree.

"This is my first Christmas in eight years, thank you." Harry sighed happily. "I just wish Mum and Dad were here with us." Harry looked at Sirius and then Remus.

"They are here with us Harry;" Sirius replied solemnly. "I know they are watching over us as we, OPEN ALL THE PRESENTS." Sirius yelled happily, bringing a smile back to Harry's face. Sirius tossed the first large present into Harry's hands.

Harry ripped the paper from the large brightly wrapped package. "Nimbus 2000, how did you get this?" Asked Harry; surprise and excitement fighting for control over Harry's facial muscles with happiness winning out.

"Like you Harry, us Blacks do own or have interests and investments in companies. I happen to be a majority shareholder for the Nimbus Company. It's going to be out for Christmas next year and this is one of ten prototypes that have passed all the testing." replied Sirius.

Harry ran his hand along the brooms handle looking at every detail. On the opposite side from the Nimbus logo was "Potter" in gold letters. Harry looked up at his godfather.

"Don't worry, Tula added the name, so no one knows." Sirius told him.

Harry received a wizard chess set from Remus with the promise to teach him how to play. Harry got several other presents including a wrist holster for his wand and new dragon hide gloves for potions work. Harry had sent off presents to his friend Neville, it was just some clippings from the greenhouses but he knew Neville would love them. Susan got a gift certificate for Madam Malkins, Harry figured girls loved clothes.

When Remus started pulling the wrapping off his present from Harry, Harry got all nervous, not knowing if Remus would like it. In the box that Remus opened were several dozen Quills of different types and styles. A Quick Quote quill, several spell checking quills, and even anti-cheating quills. Remus loved them and thanked Harry. Sirius was easiest for Harry to get stuff for. Harry put together a kit of joke items from Zonko's Joke shop. Harry was happy for about five seconds after Sirius opened the box and his eyes lit up. Then Harry figured out that this was probable not the best idea; since Sirius got that evil grin on his face whenever he was planning something.

The rest of Christmas day was spent trying to avoid all the pranks Sirius was pulling on both of them. They had a nice dinner together with Mr. Crandall; Minister Crabtree dropped by to wish them all a happy Christmas and stayed for a cup of tea. Neville and Susan both sent Harry small gifts and notes to have a happy Christmas.

During the week leading up to Christmas Remus had given Harry and Neville time off from studying. He canceled all the classes until the day after New Years. Terence was given several days off during the holiday, Harry would have given him more if he would have taken it but he told Harry the greenhouses needed tending and couldn't be away for more then a couple days.

Harry gave each of the house elves three galleons to spend on whatever they wanted. Harry had finished reading four different books on house elves and then sat down with Tula one night to find out if what the books told him were true. For the most part the books were accurate especially the two books written by a couple of Harry's ancestors. The elves didn't want freedom; their magic was tied into the wizard or witch that they served. Without the bond their magic would die and so would they soon after. Harry read that there had been a few free elves over the centuries that flourished but it was very rare. He also found out that the bond was a two way street. The happier the elf was the better the bond that was formed and a happy elf was one that had lots of work to do.

After Sirius had returned from Grimmauld place, Harry had asked him if the Black family had any elves. Sirius told him of the elves that worked at the manor introducing Harry to his personal elf Mag. Mag helped Sirius with everything but you never saw her. In the Black family the elves had been taught to perform their work unseen. It was a badge of honor for them. Sirius hadn't told Harry what he did at and to Grimmauld place. After Harry told him about what he had read Sirius felt guilty over what he had done to Kreacher. He had been verbally abused by that old elf as much as he had been by his own parents.

December had two full moons, one on the second and the other on the Thirty first, New Years Eve. It was getting close to midnight on New Years, the full moon shining in the cloudless sky when Hedwig burst onto the back terrace in a silvery light were Sirius, Remus, and Harry were watching the stars waiting for the new year. She landed on Harry's shoulder, both disappearing in the same silvery light.

Before Sirius and Remus could react to the strange behavior of the Moonowl the Manor alarm sounded indicating an intruder.

Harry arrived in the Master study just as the alarm sounded. His Grandfather's portrait woke up asking what was going on. "I don't know Granddad." Harry pulled his wand and pointed it at the large shield hanging over the mantle. The Potter coat of arms disappeared and a map of the manor and grounds appeared. At the same time all the House elves appeared in the study forming a circle around Harry. Sirius and Remus came through the study door a few moments later.

On the map of the Potter estate Harry could see a red dot moving through the forest toward the Manor. Whatever it was it was moving fast and had already breached the outer wards. Since whatever it was didn't portkey and Apperate onto the grounds it had not ended up in the dungeon.

"It's moving too fast to be human, Sirius, Remus, what do you think?" before either could reply Hedwig let out a dangerous sounding hiss.

'Hatchling it is an evil werewolf, an evil man, I will not cure him. The balance must be maintained.' Harry snapped his head around to look at Hedwig before yelling to the map. "LOCKDOWN"

For the second time the manor closed itself up. The greenhouse windows all turned black and became as hard as steel. The door to the master study disappeared from view to anyone outside it.

"Hedwig says that it's an evil man, a werewolf. She won't cure him like he did to you Remus. She keeps repeating that the balance must be maintained." In Harry's head that was what he was hearing from Hedwig. The owl still perched on Harry's shoulder was shivering in fright.

The red dot got closer and closer to the Manor house. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and pulled their wands out. "Harry we want you to stay in the study. No matter what happens you stay in this room." Remus told him.

"We'll be back, don't worry." Sirius assured him and then they both walked out of the study.

After Sirius and Remus left the study two more red dots appeared on the map right outside the study door. Even though Sirius and Remus were keyed into the wards, during a lockdown anyone other then a Potter outside the study was considered a threat by the wards.

Harry watched as the werewolf got to the front of the house then heard the howl. He could hear the pounding the beast was doing to the front doors of the Manor. Harry watched as the two red dots of his uncles went out the back of the Manor and each started circling to opposite sides of the manor. When Sirius and Remus reached the front corners of the Manor the pounding on the front doors stopped. Harry could see the red dot move back a little from the door.

"THE WOLF KNOWS THEY ARE THERE!" Harry raced from the room to the foyer, Hedwig flapping her wings in irritation. Harry ran into the foyer where the main floo connection was and started pounding on the outside door. Tula and Biggly appeared next to him trying to pull him back out of the foyer. Before they could pull him away from the door a clawed hand punched through the door and was able to grab Harry's shoulder for just a second. When Harry fell backwards in surprise and from the two elves pulling on him the claw raked down the front of Harry's chest. He screamed falling backward hitting his head on the floor, then darkness.

-oo00oo-

Sirius and Remus were out the back of the house making sure it sealed back behind them. Sirius, having been an Auror before being sent to Azkaban, took control and using hand signals indicated to Remus to circle the Manor to the left. Sirius changed into Padfoot and started in the other direction. Before he got to the front of the Manor he could hear the werewolf pounding on the front doors. Sirius made it to the front corner of the Manor looking around. The pounding stopped just as he got there and knew that either he or Remus had been detected. He looked around the corner seeing the large Gray Werewolf sniffing the air.

Both Remus and Sirius were getting ready to charge the werewolf when someone started pounding on the front doors from the inside. They could both see the werewolf turn to the doors again and rush forward putting its arm through the door. Sirius still in his grim form charged forward as he heard Harry scream. Remus started charging at the same time but was not as fast as Sirius. Sirius got within twenty feet of the werewolf that was still trying to get through the hole that it had just created. He transformed back into his human form his wand ready and fired several stunners at the werewolf all of them hitting it. A moment later several more stunning spells hit the werewolf from the other side.

-oo00oo-

Harry woke up feeling like he had been run over by a werewolf. His chest was hurting and he had a headache. He didn't open his eyes right away feeling it would only make his head hurt more. He raised his hand to his chest feeling a large wrapping around it.

"How are you feeling cub?" Harry heard Remus asking him. Harry opened his eyes and looked at Remus. He had a concerned but angry look on his face.

"Alright I guess my head and chest hurt." replied Harry.

"Don't you ever do that again? Next time we tell you to do something you do it." Remus scolded him.

"What happened?" Harry closed his eyes again.

"Well… you got raked by the werewolf then when you fell over you hit your head. You're lucky that Biggly has the authority to release the lockdown or you would not be laying here talking to me. It was a very stupid thing to do Harry. Why did you leave the room and go pounding on the door?"

"When the werewolf stopped pounding on the door I could see on the map that it moved back a little just as the two of you got to the front of the Manor. I know it had sensed you in some way and I needed to distract it." Harry replied in a small nervous voice. "What happened after?"

"We hit him with a lot of stunners and he went down. Sirius twisted his ankle running to the door to get to you after he heard you scream. Biggly released the lockdown once we got to the door. Tula was trying to keep you alive by holding her hands over the wounds. Sirius was too worried about you to be of any help; Hedwig disappeared and returned with Lynn. She got to you just in time; you lost a lot of blood. Lynn is not too happy with you right now. Something about just getting you healthy and you go and do something stupid. While Lynn worked on you I secured our friend in the basement cell and then called Amelia." Harry felt like crawling into a deep dark hole.

"You have been out for three days. Sirius just left to rest five minutes before you woke up. Lynn will be by in an hour to check on you." Remus finished telling Harry.

"What happened to the werewolf?" Harry wanted to know.

"Well I will say this you are very lucky. That wasn't just any old werewolf, it was Fenrir Greyback. He is a wanted Death Eater and the most ruthless werewolf in Britain and Europe. He was the one that turned me when I was younger than you are now. Amelia came and took him away as soon as he transformed back into a human. He will stand trial, with the list of charges on him I don't think he will even see Azkaban, most likely he'll take a walk through the veil." Remus finished explaining.

"I'm sorry Remus; I was just so worried about the two of you that I didn't think." Harry closed his eyes waiting to get yelled at again.

"I forgive you Harry just don't ever do anything like it again. I suspect you are going to get quite a few more lectures so just deal with it. Sirius may be worried about you; you know but once your okay I'm sure he is going to have a few words for you, the same with Lynn and Amelia." Harry winced at the thought of getting yelled at by Sirius and was down right scared of getting it from the two ladies.

"Now get some rest, your chest isn't fully healed yet and I'm sure you still have a headache." Remus handed Harry a small potion vial. "Drink this it will help you sleep and relieve your headache."

Harry took the vial and downed it in one gulp. It wasn't long after that that Harry was in the land of nod.

Remus was right the next morning he got a two hour lecture from Lynn. By the time she was done Harry had filled an entire book in his minds library with right from wrong and how not to be so stupid in the future. Sirius went a little easier on him but Harry still felt really bad about worrying him so badly. It was three days later when he was finally allowed out of bed. Lynn told him that werewolf injuries were harder and took longer to heal.

-oo00oo-

The Saturday following his release from bed he got a visit from Amelia, Susan was with her. Susan walked up to Harry looking like she was about to slap him but at the last second she pulled him into a tight hug. "Worry me again and I'll… I'll… grrrr I don't know what I'll do."

Harry promised never to do anything like it again. After Susan released him, Harry looked up into the intimidating face of Amelia Bone. She had a stern look on her face for several seconds that made Harry want to run as far away as he could and then hide. After giving him the look for a moment longer she then pulled him into a hug as well. "Next time you get one of my lectures understand?" Amelia whispered into his ear. Harry just nodded his head.

He was feeling strange from all the hugs he was getting. He remembered his Mum and Dad hugging him when he was a baby but all those years at the Dursleys had numbed the feeling. He was starting to get that warm feeling back again.

Amelia sat down with Sirius, Remus, Susan, and Harry for lunch. "Greyback's trial will be the first week of February; we got a full confession from him with the use of Veritaserum. You will be happy to know he didn't know whose home this was. Apparently he was following some kind of magical pulse, something about moonlight, he wanted to destroy it."

Harry knew instantly what he was after. "Hedwig" he said out loud. Neither Amelia nor Susan had meet Hedwig yet. Harry talked about Hedwig with Susan and Neville but hadn't told them that she was a Moonowl. Amelia and Susan both gave Harry a questioning look. Harry looked at each of them for a moment then call out. "Hedwig!"

Hedwig appeared in the dinning room in all her glory, silver sparks falling from her wings and landed on Harry's shoulder. She looked around the table at each of the people there before hooting a greeting to them. Harry then started to explain about the beautiful owl.

Amelia was in awe of what she was seeing. Having been in Law Enforcement since she graduated Hogwarts she always strived to be fair and balanced in her work and life. Here was the personification of balance, between good and evil.

Susan just admired the beautiful Owl not knowing the myths and legends surrounding it. Harry with help from Sirius told them about the myths and what had happened that first night. Hedwig left after a few minutes while the others finished there lunch. Before Amelia left the Manor she told them that they would not have to testify at the trial. There was enough evidence to convict Greyback without bringing up how or who had captured him.

Harry returned to his classes the next Monday with Neville. He followed the news of Greyback's capture in The Daily Prophet each morning until the day of the trial. The day of the trial had a morning edition plus a special evening edition that Harry received at dinner.

Greyback Guilty, Sentenced to the Veil

In a trial that could be best described as a horror show Death Eater and Werewolf Fenrir Greyback was found guilty and sentenced to the Veil of Death. In recent months many laws have been repealed or newly passed giving the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement more power over suspected criminals, how they are tried, and sentenced.

The biggest change to the justice system came with the reinstatement of the death penalty against the continued objections of Chief Warlock Dumbledore. "I believe everyone should be given a second chance." Spoke Albus Dumbledore the day the Death penalty was brought back.

After the trial today this reporter can not fathom giving a monster like Greyback a second chance. Among the charges against him were one hundred and twenty four counts of intentional infection of innocent men, women, and children with Lycanthropy, three hundred counts of brutal murder while in the form of a werewolf, and the worst was two hundred and fifty one counts of murder, rape, and torture of not only men and women but children as young as a year old while in his normal human form both on his own and under the orders of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Greyback was questioned at length while under the influence of Veritaserum where he was asked to describe five of the murders he had committed. By the time he was finished many in attendance today found it hard to keep their breakfast down. After a short deliberation by the Wizengamot Greyback was found guilty of all charges that would have seen him spend the next five thousand years in Azkaban. Many in the Wizengamot were calling for a Dementor to be brought forward to administer the kiss on the spot, however cooler heads prevailed and Greyback was sentence to the veil where there would be no body to take care of after. It is this reporter's opinion that justice was done this day as Greyback was forced to walk into the Veil of Death not ten minutes after being found guilty.

This reporter did find out later that there had been only one vote against using the death penalty, Albus Dumbledore. It seems our Hogwarts Headmaster, Chief Warlock, and Defender of the Light is getting sentimental in his old age. To even consider a second chance for Greyback after the atrocities he confessed too gives this report serious doubt as to the mental health of our beloved Headmaster.

More on the new laws page 5…

Harry finished reading the article before giving it to Remus. Remus had been emotional all week leading up to the trial. Greyback had been the werewolf that turned Remus when he was a small boy and now as Harry watched him read the article he could see all the emotions that crossed his face. In a way Harry understood what Remus was going through, just like Harry he had his childhood stolen from him. Harry watched the anger; the relief, happiness, and loss all play out in his eyes. It was going to be a long night for Remus; luckily the next day he didn't have any classes to teach. When Remus stood up from the table and left the room Sirius who had been watching him as well stood up.

"No classes tomorrow Harry, I'm going to go keep him company for a while." Harry nodded his head with a sad look indicating that he understood.

-oo00oo-

Lucius Malfoy read the Daily Prophet with no small amount of hatred and fear. He had been watching what was going on in the Ministry via the paper and a couple of contacts he still had there were keeping him up to date. Since being ousted as a Death Eater he had been on the run but that was figuratively. He was still enjoying the finer things in life; the dissolving of his marriage to Narcissa by Sirius Black was a blessing to him. He had grown tired of her years ago after his son Draco was born. She had moved out of Malfoy Manor the same day and not looked back taking Draco with her. Lucius hadn't been much of a father to Draco, true years of grooming were now in the wind and that was upsetting but he knew Draco would find his way back to him and take his place when the time came.

What was really bothering him was that when Lord Voldemort returned Lucius would not have the influence behind him to be of much use to the Dark Lord. He still had the lion's share of money that had supported the Dark Lord during the first war hidden in several vaults under different names. He was starting to wonder if it wouldn't be wise to just empty all the vaults and disappear, America or Australia were starting to sound better and better.

As it was he had been staying on the hidden floor of Malfoy Manor with nothing to do but think. The trial and immediate death of Greyback confirmed the fact that he was as good as dead if he was caught. Greyback was the first to see the new Ministry at work.

Right now he didn't have an outlet for his anger. Sirius Black had been under Veritaserum when he called Lucius's name, the same went for Bella when she was pulled from Azkaban and questioned. In the end he didn't know who it was that set in motion the events that he now found himself living through; so his hatred was pointed nowhere and everywhere. He had plans to make to see him through this and somehow get his rightful place in the world back and if all else failed he would have a plan to disappear.

-oo00oo-

After the Greyback incident everything settled into a semi normal routine. Harry and Neville attended their classes and herbology with Susan. The three hung out together on the weekends playing around and trying to prank Sirius or Remus. Neville finally found his mindscape as Harry had started calling it and his Occlumency took off from there. Harry had been right; it turned out Neville had several large greenhouses in his mind.

Harry took to the legilimency lesson like a fish to water. He read the books and assignments that Scott gave him but couldn't curb his desire to read everything he got his hands on. So when Scott assigned him several chapters in the first book for the next week he not only finished the book but read two more over the weekend. It helped that the books on legilimency were small.

After the first couple weeks Harry was able to get passed Scott's first line of defenses and find his mindscape. After that Scott asked Harry to help Neville, by using legilimency on Neville with Neville's permission he was able to show Neville how to build defenses and to probe them to help make them stronger. Scott tried a couple more times to get into Harry's mind and failed, the only way he would get anywhere at all was if Harry allowed him to. On the last attempt Harry let Scott in allowing him to see Harry's Library. Scott went home that night with a splitting headache from information overload.

The Easter holidays came and went without any fanfare. Sirius decided that the three of them would stay away from Diagon Alley for now unless absolutely necessary. Harry's house elves took care of anything that the three would need from there. Harry did visit his vault a couple times just to look around some more. Everything from Helga Hufflepuff's vault had been moved to the Potter vault so Harry took the time to take a look see. It was mostly heirlooms and household goods like furniture; there was nothing of great value except in the terms of historical value.

Harry met with Ragnok twice to go over the Potter estate and investments. Ragnok took it upon himself to teach Harry finance during those two visits since Harry had taken the time to read about goblin culture not just from the Potter library but also getting a couple books lent to him by Ragnok. Of course in order to read those books he had to learn Gobbledygook. Knowledge was a driving force in Harry's life the more he learnt the happier he was.

Harry didn't have the notion that everything he read was true and unbiased. Whenever he took to learning or reading about something new he would always check more then one source. History was the most bias subject Harry had and he loved it because it made him look in more then one place for facts and in most cases those facts contradicted each other.

By that first week in April, Harry's History of Magic class was focusing on Hogwarts and the founders. Gayle had given Harry a full overview of Magical history. She didn't focus very long on any one timeframe or topic, Harry's independent reading would focus on any era or topic he was interested in. Hogwarts history however was ripe with lies, half-truths, and obvious fiction. The Potter Library had a total of ten Hogwarts: A History books not including the self updating one. Hogwarts: A History was rewritten every hundred years by the Hogwarts board of governors, or at least by someone they hired to do it. This was done so that it could be updated to current events but each time it was rewritten the authors bias would come into play.

Five hundred years ago Hogwarts: A History was rewritten by a Slytherin Alumni. In that version Salazar Slytherin was made out to be the best of the Founders. A hundred years later the author was a Ravenclaw that tried to get all the facts correct but still favored Rowena. The next was written by a Gryffindor Alumni that portrayed Slytherin as the most evil Dark Lord to ever walk the face of the planet. If you took all the volumes and put them together you would come out with maybe fifty percent of the facts being true. The only Hogwarts: A History that Harry trusted was the original self updating one created by Godric. That became Harry's History project, to compare all the written versions to the self updating version and write a true history of events. He knew it would take years to do but he looked at it as he had time.

As the weeks past Harry and Neville got better at magic. Besides Herbology it turned out that Neville was a Potions Prodigy. The difference was that Harry could memorize the material just by scanning the pages of the books and Neville couldn't. Neville spent hours going over and over the material. When it came time to brewing a potion though Neville always finished before Harry and it always turned out better. Neville and Harry were equal in Transfiguration, Harry got Charms faster, and Neville was quicker at Defense but Harry could dodge spells like no other.

Harry's writing improved to the point where Remus told him he no longer needed to take note if he didn't want too. Harry still took notes but not as many, he wanted to keep up with the level he was at.

-oo00oo-

The magic quill continued to scratch away at the pile of parchment and envelopes. As each piece of parchment was finished it would fold itself up and insert itself into the correctly addressed envelope. Minerva McGonagall sat at her desk watching over the process that would invite all of next year's students back to Hogwarts. The quill worked backwards through the student years starting with the returning seventh years. The letters for the returning student were form letters written by her that only needed to have the book lists added in later after they were finalized. The quill was currently addressing envelopes for the new first years that would be offered admission to Hogwarts this coming year.

This was going to be the smallest class of first years in a decade. The smallest class happened the year Voldemort was defeated with only twenty two new first year students. This year Minerva read over the list seeing only fifty one names. She didn't expect all of the students to accept the invitation; some would attend the less known schools around Britain because that was where their parents went.

Contrary to what people were told Hogwarts was not the only school in Britain, five other schools existed as well though none as old. It was true that Hogwarts was the best in her opinion. Hogwarts was also the only one of them that was a boarding school the others all being day schools.

She was hopeful to get all the muggle-born this year as always since the parents of those children were not told of the other schools. This year there were nine muggle-born students being invited to attend, she would be going out to deliver their letters personally over the next couple months. As she sat watching the quill do its work she was curious to see what would happen when it got to Harry Potter, the quill was never wrong about where a student lived, it was actually not just curiosity that had her waiting for his name to come up, Dumbledore told her that Harry was missing from his home and could not be found.

She had been there that night when Dumbledore dropped Harry off on the doorstep of those disgusting muggles, she had nothing against muggles in general but these were the worst type. She had told Dumbledore that many times since that night. Minerva was part of the Order of the Phoenix and knew that a lot of effort was being put forth to find Harry.

She wasn't part of Dumbledore's inner circle however even though they had been friends for many years. She knew why, she didn't agree with everything the Headmaster did. She figured he just didn't want to listen to the lecture she was sure to give if she thought has was doing something she wouldn't like.

While she was lost in thought the magic quill stopped. Looking down Minerva could see it was on the name she was waiting for, but after writing the name it was struggling to continue, the address just didn't want to be written. In all her years at this job she had never seen this happen before. After a moment more the Quill ejected Harry's envelope from the pile with just the name Lord Harry Potter on it and continued on to the next.

Other then the Muggle-born letters the rest would not be going out until the end of June giving the students and parents a month to reply.

-oo00oo-

As the end of the Hogwarts term came closer Sirius, Remus, and Harry got more and more nervous. Once the term ended Dumbledore would be back looking for Harry full time. They all knew it was going to happen and it was getting to the point where they were all going to have to make some decisions regarding the future.

For Harry the decision was not going to be easy, would he attend Hogwarts, find another school, or get home schooled. If he stayed home he wouldn't have very many friends, Neville and Susan would be off to Hogwarts for nine months out of the year. If he went to another school in Britain he would still have to deal with Dumbledore somewhat as Dumbledore was the leader of the Headmasters council of schools in Britain, it was a position that came with being Headmaster at Hogwarts. The council only met once or twice a year not having any real power other then to agree on standard curriculums and rarely stepped on the toes of there fellow Headmasters. He would make new friends if he went to another school but was it worth staying in Britain.

He could look at schools in the United States or Australia; he would make friends there and would be outside of Dumbledore's reach with the exception of the International Confederation of Wizards of which Dumbledore was the Head. Other countries would protect him from Dumbledore but was he willing to leave Britain, this was his home after all.

If he attended Hogwarts he would be directly under the control of Dumbledore while at school. He was considered an adult by virtue of his Lord status and the End of Line laws and could refuse any and all requests given to him by Dumbledore that were outside of school business and his education. If Dumbledore asked where he lived he could refuse to answer or if Dumbledore tried to force him to live with his relatives again he could refuse. As it stood Dumbledore would have to kidnap him and hold him against his will which would get the entire Wizarding world down on his head.

Sirius and Remus had already made plans, if Harry should decide to attend Hogwarts one of them would remain in Potter Manor at all times so that they could not be obliviated or worse. That way there was always someone to raise the alarm if things went south. Both Sirius and Remus were in favor of Harry getting home schooled or leaving Britain for a few years but they were leaving the choice up to Harry.

After Mr. Crandall had figured out why Harry had not been receiving Owl Post and corrected the problem, Harry had been receiving on average twenty to thirty letters a week all addressed with just his name. Harry found out that with the exception of official correspondence that was all an Owl needed to make their delivery.

Tula took it upon herself to screen the mail for anything dangerous. Harry was receiving marriage proposals, letters for endorsements, and requests for help from just about everyone. He also received a letter just about once a week from Dumbledore asking him where he was. Most of the letters had tracking charms on them and would set off the wards turning the Owl around. A few got through because there were no charms.

The love letters and marriage proposals just made Harry laugh, he was only ten going on eleven yet some witches were still sending him their knickers and very suggestive photos. The letters for endorsement came from many companies looking to put Harry's name on this or that. He kept those letters knowing that they could come in handy someday if he decided he needed to use his fame for something.

What really tugged at Harry were the requests for help. Most were from witches or wizards that were just down on their luck looking for work or a hand getting back on their feet. Harry decided to set up a trust fund to help where he could. He asked Mr. Crandall to see to it after he came out of hiding and to let the Goblins administer it. Tula would forward the letters that requested help to them once it was ready.

By June first, Harry had still not made a decision as to what he was going to do. He wasn't expecting to receive his Hogwarts letter until the end of the month. Somehow Harry did receive letters of acceptance from the other schools and a few schools outside of Britain. By mid June, he still had not made his decision. The school letters he did receive only had his name on them, no address which was unusual since they were official papers; Harry found out later that Hedwig was retrieving them from the schools. She would go there looking like a normal owl and get the letters.

-oo00oo-

Hermione Granger sat in her room going over everything that had happened over the past two days in her mind. The first was Professor McGonagall appearing on the doorstep of the house she lived at with her parents the night before last. The Professor was the Deputy Headmistress of a prodigious school for gifted children. She had started out saying that they had had their eyes on Hermione for years. Then the real bomb had been dropped, she was a witch and magic was real. At first Hermione's parents wanted to throw the nut out of the house until she pulled out her wand and proved to them that magic was real by turning their coffee table into a small cat and letting it run around for a moment. Hermione always knew she was special, weird thing would happen around her when she was upset or overly emotional. Her parents knew it as well but always found some way to explain away the strange happenings.

After the demonstration and what felt like hours of talk the Professor left them with some pamphlets to look over and a promise to return the next day to escort them to the magical shopping center of the Wizarding World if they accepted the offer. If they didn't accept the offer… Well the Professor hadn't gone into details if that happened. Hermione and her parents read all the material that night.

The realization that there was an entire world that they didn't know existed hidden right in front of them took a lot to fathom. By the next morning after thinking about it and much pleading from Hermione they decided to give it a try.

The trip into London with Professor McGonagall had been beyond anything the Grangers could imagine. The Professor took them to a door that Hermione's parents couldn't see until they passed through it into a tavern called The Leaky Cauldron. When the Professor opened the gateway to Diagon Alley Hermione knew she belonged in this world. They were taken to Gringotts the Wizarding bank to exchange muggle money as the professor called non-magical people for galleons which were the currency wizards and witches used.

After that the Professor left them to explore Diagon Alley warning them to stay out of a place call Knockturn Alley. She also explained how to get back to the muggle world after Hermione received her wand. They looked all around the shops that day getting the supplies Hermione would need for school, robes, cauldrons, her wand, potion supplies, and finally books. They spent the most time in the book store called Flourish and Blotts. It wasn't just Hermione that wanted to spend all her time there, her mother Emma was just as bad as she was, it was where Hermione got her love of all books.

While they were getting the required books and dozens of others Hermione found a strange looking creature pulling a book down from one of the shelves. It was short with big eyes and floppy ears, it was wearing what she considered a maids outfit that had a coat of arms over the left breast pocket. She so wanted to talk to it, to find out what it was but stopped herself until it stopped her from pulling a book about a boy named Harry Potter from the shelf to look at.

"Miss would do well not to read those books." The creature pointed to the self full of Harry Potter books.

"Why?" Hermione asked in return.

"Not everything written in a book is true Miss." It replied.

"What kind of creature are you?" Hermione blurted out. The creature looked at her for a moment before replying.

"Muggle-born? Yes, Yes, I is a house elf, my name is Tula." The creature then walked to the front of the store with its book in hand, paid for it as Hermione watched then just disappeared with a small pop. After a moment Hermione returned to the shelves that the creature had warned her of. 'Of course not everything written in books is true, I know what fictions is' she though to herself.

She picked up Hogwarts: A History, Greatest Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Greatest Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, and just because her curiosity got the better of her several of the Harry Potter books. Along with all the required books for school and some other more advanced books, she intended to do a lot of reading this summer.

Hermione was so happy; she now understood why she never felt right around the kids in her school. It didn't help that she didn't have any friends there. All the other kids teased her because she always had her nose in a book and could answer any question the teachers asked. Hermione knew she was smart and a bookworm, that didn't stop it from hurting when she got picked on. She hoped that the kids in the magical world were just as smart as she was; she hoped it was the magic.

-oo00oo-

Professor McGonagall spoke the password "Starburst" at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Headmaster's Office. The term had ended just two weeks ago and since then Albus had rarely been in the castle. She knew he was here today because he had several people to see. Minerva had needed to see the Headmaster since the day before when she had sent out all the of the Hogwarts letters. There was one that the owls just would not take, Harry Potter's.

When she reached the door to the Office she could hear that the Headmaster had someone in the office with him.

"Come in Minerva." Albus called out. Minerva opened the door to find Albus talking to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones.

"Headmaster, Madam Bones it is good to see you again Amelia."

"Professor how wonderful it is to see you again. How are the students treating you?" inquired Amelia

"As always they are a pleasure to teach and a headache to watch over." replied Minerva with a slight upturn to her normally strict look.

"Madam Bones and I were just talking about one of our graduated students, Nymphadora Tonks. It appears she has applied to the Auror program, Amelia was just asking about her personality." injected Albus.

"Well I would say she is driven, but has a fiery temper if you call her Nymphadora. She prefers to be called Tonks; she doesn't much like her first name. Our Headmaster here liked to call her by her first name just to watch her hair turn bright red. You are aware that she is a metamorphmagus?" Minerva explained.

"Yes, she will be very valuable to the department after she gets out of the Academy." Amelia replied.

"What can I do for you today Minerva?" asked Dumbledore.

"I have your favorite topic here Headmaster, all of next years letters have been sent except one. None of the owls will take it." Minerva handed the letter over to Albus. Albus looked at the name on the letter and sighed.

"I was hoping that as an official letter it would have his whereabouts written on it and you say that the owls will not take it?"

Before Minerva could answer, a flash of silvery light and sparks appeared inside the window of the office to form a beautiful Owl that glided over to the Headmasters desk to land there. Dumbledore was taken back by the sight before him. Fawkes thrilled a loud welcoming song to the owl as it landed before the Headmaster. In all his years Albus had never dreamed that he would see a Moonowl never mind be this close to one.

Before he could gather his thoughts to form the words to great the owl, it had plucked the letter he was still holding from his hands and with a single flap of its wings risen into the air to only disappear again in the same silvery and spark filled light.

"Albus…" started Minerva

"Yes… that was a Moonowl; I… think… yes that was a Moonowl. In all my life… the myths…" Albus was still having trouble getting his mind to work correctly.

Amelia sat in her chair watching Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall struggle with what just happened. She kept her face and body language such that it looked like she was just as surprised as they were. She knew whose owl that was, she didn't expect to be here when Hedwig came for the letter or in the manner she retrieved it. A few more minutes passed before Dumbledore was able to get his mind fully functional again.

"For all my years since I was a student in this very school I hoped that I would one day see a Moonowl." He turned to look at his phoenix.

"That is were you went that night all those months ago. You were just too excited for days after." Albus turned back to the other in his office.

"Albus… The letter… It took the letter." Minerva was finally able to get the words out. Dumbledore looked down at his own hands and desk.

"It appears young Mr. Potter has a friend. It will be interesting to see if he comes to Hogwarts with it."

-oo00oo-

Later that night Amelia recounted the event to a room full of laughter. Sirius was on the floor holding his sides, while Remus and Harry were trying to sit on the coach while laughing and not fairing too well at the sitting part.

"He just couldn't form words for over three minutes. He just sat there staring at the spot Hedwig had occupied. It took every Auror technique I know to keep myself calm and not burst out laughing right there." Amelia finished the story.

"It did give me an opening to ask about you Harry. He dodged the question without even blinking an eye. He is up to something; I just couldn't tell you what it is." That sobered the room up pretty quick.

"Have you made your decision yet Harry, now that you have all the letters?" asked Sirius after he got up off the floor.