A Knut to Start the Revolution
Chapter 8

Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to J. K. Rowling.

The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, knew that his tenure was growing short, and it was essentially a matter of time before someone in the Wizengamot would get the notion to have him evicted after a vote of no confidence.

Now, a fair portion of the wizarding population regarded him as an idiot and a fool, and they were mostly right. However, even a man such as he was capable of seeing the writing on the wall, and could begin taking steps to try and soften the blow.

One of the first steps he could take came full force on that day in early July of 1996, as he summoned Amelia Bones to his office.

The witch entered his office, monocle firmly in place and her lips pursed. Cornelius sighed mentally as he knew the woman disapproved of his actions taken over the previous several months, and hoped he could stave off an attempt on his office from her quarter. Having never been of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Cornelius had always been a bit wary of the sway with which it held power in the Ministry, and with affairs as they were, it would not be unreasonable to assume Bones could use her position to try and force him out of office.

But the pleasantries must go on. "Good morning, Madam Bones. I, er, rather want to get your thoughts on how I should make things up to young Potter, you know, terrible thing to happen to him with You-Know-Who and all that."

Bluntly, she replied, "Well, you could start by apologising to him for the horrible way you and your underling attacked him in the Daily Prophet; I've also heard stories about what that woman got up to at Hogwarts under your authority, and so help me, Cornelius, if Umbridge has broken any laws—"

Slightly hysterically, Cornelius yelped, "She hasn't!"

At Bones's disbelieving glare, he muttered, "Well, at least as far as I know."

In a louder voice, Cornelius said, "That's all fine and well; I'll apologise to the young man. But what else can I do? Surely the Ministry and the Boy-Who-Lived need to be seen to be, well, cooperating now."

"Hmpf. Well, one thing you could do, now that I'm thinking of it, is he has an application for a change of guardian. Usually, Ministry procedures—"

Ah-ha, thought Cornelius. Enthusiastically, he bellowed, "Never mind that! Bring the paperwork in and I'll waive all the usual."

Archly, she said, "Even if his proposed guardian is Remus Lupin, a known werewolf?"

Cornelius squeaked, "Oh." He cleared his throat and continued, saying, "Well, really, I suppose we can still dispense with all the usual rigmarole and whatnot. Just make sure the young man knows I helped him here, all right?"

Bones made an indistinct sound at the back of her throat, indicating her opinion of his sudden conversion back to wanting to stay on Potter's good side. "I'll bring you the paperwork. Be a man of your word and get it sent off as soon as possible. And no trying to use this for publicity without the boy's permission!"

Bones's fierce scowl promised all sorts of retribution should he fail in any part of her instructions, and he quickly ushered her back out of his office as he planned to use his Ministerial Floo for some rearguard actions.

It was time to make sure he wouldn't get voted out too quickly by the Wizengamot.

/\/\/\

Amelia Bones, at her first-ever Order of the Phoenix meeting, marvelled that such a diverse group of people could get along. They could be a fractious, quarrelsome group indeed, and from what she had heard, the enmity between Sirius Black and Severus Snape had made these meetings even less easy to handle. The infamous painting of Walburga Black made itself well-known, before someone had the presence of mind to cast a silencing charm over the painting and pull the drapes to.

Albus Dumbledore had presented her to the group, and as he had promised, the vote was essentially pro forma; she was inducted as a full member, and rapidly brought the group up to date with what the Ministry was planning to do in the next few months. She also was able to give some details about the Ministry budget allocations, noting that Fudge had finally agreed to the hiring of more Aurors as well as a long-term plan to secure Azkaban without the need for Dementors.

In turn, others spoke, and she learned that Severus Snape had been slowly gaining the confidence of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; the dark wizard had a disturbing level of obsession with Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, and apparently ranted quite freely about them both. The elderly Headmaster took the statement with his usual calm imperturbability, and simply noted that "Voldemort has always had an obsession with proving himself the greatest wizard."

Remus Lupin summarised his work in liaising with the werewolf clans and unhappily reported that the only progress the Order would see would come if the Ministry changed its laws regarding werewolves. Hagrid was of a similar mind regarding the giants, and said, "Might be best to jus' leave 'em to 'emselves in Europe, maybe."

Beyond that, though, nobody seemed to have any better ideas, especially considering that giants could be rather hard to talk to at the best of times.

Clearing her throat, Amelia said, "I'll try and do what I can to break this log-jam at the Ministry. Cornelius Fudge is at least somewhat aware that his effectiveness will be limited unless he appeases those who are sympathetic to Albus and Mr Potter, who now comprise a fair bit of the wizarding population now that the Daily Prophet has rather swiftly shifted its stance."

Appreciative snickers from most of the table ensued, even from the normally unflappable Shacklebolt. Dumbledore said, "I realise the limitations that the Wizengamot faces in attempting to have these laws removed from the books. But that is a topic to be considered later. For now, I wish to emphasise to all of you that at some point, Harry Potter will be joining us in these meetings and it is to our advantage to begin preparing him for that day. For starters, Madam Bones has granted Harry an exemption from the usual restrictions on the use of magic during summer holidays. This is intended to give Harry a measure of self-defence capability."

Amelia thought she heard a faint snort from Snape, but ignored it as she listened to Dumbledore's speech.

"I wish to mention a somewhat obscure mental discipline that all of us might do well to learn. It is called Occlumency, and I and Severus are well-accomplished at it; whilst it is not commonly taught at Hogwarts, independent research can usually uncover the existence of such a mental discipline and we do have materials in the Restricted Section which cover it.

"I bring this up as a key feature of our ongoing fight against Voldemort will be to keep our secrets just that – secret. One of the things that is holding Mr Potter back is that he is not as yet an accomplished Occlumens. For reasons I cannot entirely go into, it is not possible for either me or Severus to teach Mr Potter from the beginning. It is my hope that the first among you who becomes accomplished at the technique can then, in turn, teach Mr Potter enough of the mental art to allow me to safely carry him the rest of the way. Where my time permits I shall teach you all what I can. Severus?"

The Potions master spoke up gratingly. "I suppose I can… devote some time to it. I do have other duties, however." Amelia raised her eyebrows. She had heard of some friction between Snape and Potter at Hogwarts, and was surprised that he agreed to helping, reluctantly or not.

Dumbledore's eye seemed to radiate amusement. "Never fear, Severus. I am sure at least one of us in the Order can get the books needed, eliminating the need to impose on your time too much."

Nymphadora Tonks smiled cheekily at the table, changing her hair colour from purple to blond, and doing an eerily accurate impression of Narcissa Malfoy before changing back. Amelia kept herself from jumping from the close resemblance.

The mood turned serious again as Molly Weasley began to object. "But Albus, the boy shouldn't have to join us so soon. Surely he can wait…"

"I am sorry, Molly, but the fact is, war is upon us – and if not now, certainly quite soon – and I freely admit that my own actions have left the boy less well-prepared than he should be at this stage. To this end, I must also make an accounting for his living circumstances."

Amelia hid a smile as the famous Prewett temper made itself known. "Indeed! I have no idea what you were thinking, Albus, leaving him with those ruddy Muggles each year! Ron and Ginny have asked me more than once when we can bring Harry over to the Burrow this summer, and I will not be put off with vague excuses this time!"

Later, Amelia would reflect that it did some good to see Severus Snape so neatly put in his place by Albus Dumbledore. At the time, though, she wondered if even Severus was safely immune from the sheer force of the Weasley matriarch's lungpower.

Silkily, that irritating voice made itself known. "Why we have to give this much attention to the boy, who is no doubt annoying his Muggle relatives as we speak, is beyond me. I am not privy—"

Molly bounced out of her chair, shrieking, "If you think for one second, Severus Snape, that you can insult that boy in my presence, I suggest you think again!"

Before the greasy man could respond, Dumbledore broke in, bellowing, "Enough!"

"First, to Molly, I owe you an apology. You see, I have been all-too-aware of the boy's circumstances since the day I left him with his Muggle relatives."

Amelia eyed Minerva McGonagall as the witch's lips thinned to the point of disappearing. Molly Weasley went pale at his admission.

"There is a prophecy that surrounds Harry, yes. It is this prophecy, and my fears for his protection, that caused me to act as I did. I chose his safety over his happiness. His relatives have never been kind to him and have begrudgingly given him a house and clothes. Yet his aunt's unwilling action has been the anchor for wards which keep out anyone of ill intent towards Harry, and it has been this which has caused me to hesitate over sending Harry to your residence, Molly, year after year. If I could have it any other way, I would.

Dumbledore's voice gained a hint of steel in it as he then said, "And as for you, Severus, it would behoove you to be a bit more sensitive to the fact that Harry Potter has not been raised by James Potter."

As soon as Snape opened his mouth, Dumbledore's voice hardened further. "No, Severus. Whatever you were about to say, cease this instant. I have grown more than a little tired of your constant insistence that 'the brat be expelled', that 'the brat be punished', and so on, for the last five years. Your continuous need to find fault with him should have died almost twenty years ago when you graduated Hogwarts."

Amelia couldn't help but feel satisfied at the disbelief on the man's sallow, hook-nosed face.

Dumbledore finished by saying, "Severus, I give him his leeway at Hogwarts because it is the only way I know how to compensate for leaving him to be treated like a house-elf at home. And you will not use that against him in his sixth or seventh year."

At that, the entire table exploded in a cacophony of disbelieving yells, cries, and shouts. Hagrid simply sat, looking gobsmacked at the revelations being laid before him that night, while Remus was red in the face, shouting something at Dumbledore. Nymphadora Tonks and Molly Weasley weren't far behind, while Mad-Eye Moody was grumbling something that she might have put him on report for if he'd still been an Auror. McGonagall simply stared at Dumbledore, shaking her head.

Amelia, for her part, had heard most of it before. She steeled herself to weather the storm until Dumbledore could bring calm back to the table.

Eventually, order was restored to the Order, and Dumbledore wrapped things up quickly by re-confirming patrol schedules, and saying he would send inquiries to Harry to see if he would be willing to begin training. Within reason, any requests the boy had would be accommodated. Amelia made a quick mental note to give Shacklebolt and Tonks the necessary time off, if needed.

She kept quietly to herself as the Order moved back to more personal matters; in other words, Harry. Molly Weasley was vocal in her insistence that Harry be able to come to the Burrow the very instant Dumbledore said that Harry's presence was no longer necessary to sustain the wards on his aunt's house.

She also saw Remus Lupin eyeing Dumbledore with a clearly distrustful look. As it was, he said, "The Burrow is a far better place than this abominable residence, Albus. This summer is probably the first decent one he's had, thanks to Moody's words with Harry's uncle."

Dumbledore simply endured it all with a rueful glance at Amelia, who steadily looked back, thinking only, I told you so, Albus Dumbledore.

/\/\/\

Harry Potter knew nothing of the plans being made in his absence, and so was quite surprised that night when a flash of light in his room revealed the venerable phoenix, Fawkes. He swiftly moved to Harry's bed and deposited a small box, along with an envelope addressed to Harry.

Upon opening the envelope, he saw the familiar loopy script and realised it was from Dumbledore. Absently, he ran his fingers gently over the phoenix's feathers. He was rewarded with a soothing trill as he began reading.

Dear Harry, it ran,

I wish to again apologise to you for putting you with your relatives. It is ultimately indefensible to claim that it was for your safety, when the cost to your happiness was quite high, and I took no steps to correct the situation. However, as the wards which exist are the only ones currently powerful enough to ensure your safety, I must ask that you 'stick it out' for just one more summer after this one. I have heard that Alastor Moody has given your relatives sufficient warning, and I shall be holding a discussion with your relatives at some point regarding their treatment of you.

In the meantime, you may rest assured that if ever there is a danger to you from any quarter, call for Fawkes. He has shown a connection to you that goes beyond his relationship with most other people that I know, and has guarded you against threats before. Since he is also capable of instant transport, and, if the situation calls for it, you will be conveyed to Hogwarts.

In the spirit of openness, I would like to let you know that any reasonable request for training or instruction you have, we will try to meet. Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks will make themselves available upon request, and Minerva has expressed an interest as well in teaching advanced Transfiguration techniques which can be used in battle. I am also searching for a way to have you taught Occlumency without the need for Severus to conduct the lessons. I am, frankly, not yet certain I can safely conduct the lessons with you. I hope to resolve this by having other members of the Order taught this necessary mental protection technique, whereupon you can learn the basics from one of them. After that point, I can take up the task and safely bring you to the level needed to fully guard your mind against Voldemort.

Please open the box that has been sent with this letter. It contains some things you may find useful. If there is anything else you wish, please do not hesitate to write.

Yours,
Albus Dumbledore.

Harry was somewhat surprised to see Dumbledore being so willingly helpful and, by previous years' standards, astonishingly free with his information. He remembered his earlier thoughts on how much he could push for with Dumbledore's newly-found desire to give him what he wanted. Filing that away for the moment, he turned to the box.

Inside it was another letter, a phoenix pendant, and a sheet of parchment that was thicker than the usual type he'd purchased at various stores. Along with that was a quill, but it was an unusual electric blue colour instead of the usual white. Having been harmed once by a quill of unusual colour, Harry cautiously set the blue quill gingerly on the parchment, and turned to the letter.

Harry,

Included in this box is an emergency portkey, in the form of a phoenix pendant which you can wear around your neck. I have tried to arrange for as many fail-safes as possible for you in the event of potential danger to you. As you may or may not have noticed, Order members are patrolling around your residence. In addition, as I have mentioned, Fawkes will come to your aid if needed. He seemed unusually full of 'pep and vigour', as some Muggleborns of your parents' generation were wont to say, when I asked him if he would be willing to ensure your safety.

However, in the event that you are unable to call for Fawkes, this portkey functions as a 'dead-man control'. What I mean is analogous to how certain Muggle devices have fail-safe mechanisms, your portkey will transport you to Hogwarts in the event that you are in danger, or fall unconscious by any cause other than normal sleep.

Additionally, I have included a type of 'messenger parchment' and a Dictating Quill (which is a charming electric blue). Professor Flitwick was kind enough to enchant this parchment, which has been deliberately chosen to not resemble your normal school parchment so that you do not accidentally lose it. It works on the following principle: If you tap the parchment once with your wand, while saying "Activate", it will become ready to accept your writing, or receive messages from myself or anyone else who writes on my equivalent parchment. Mine has been charmed to retain permanent copies of the messages relayed, while yours is designed to be erasable and re-usable.

Upon finishing communication, simply tap the parchment again, and say "Deactivate". This is a safety measure designed to protect knowledge of this innovative method of communication that the Order has developed. Incidentally, the impetus for this was a chance comment made by Ted Tonks, a Muggleborn wizard who happens to be familiar with modern Muggle technology. It seems that since the 1970s, there have been rudimentary methods for Muggles to exchange messages, essentially in real-time, with electronic devices called 'computers'. The telegraph, of course, is the predecessor. We have adapted this and you are, in a sense, one of the pioneering testers of the magical version.

I will now take a moment to explain some of the features of the parchment when activated. Please do so, and then return to this letter.

A bit surprised and perplexed (and making a note to talk to Hermione about this message technique), Harry set the letter aside, set the parchment on his desk and tapped it with his wand, saying "Activate," as directed.

To his surprise, the parchment began showing lines and some symbols. There were two rectangles of equal size, one on top of the other, on the page, along with a round circle in the bottom right corner of the top rectangle, marked "SEND". There was another round circle at the bottom left corner, marked "CLEAR". The symbol on the top left was a small lightning bolt, and in the other rectangle, the top left of that one held a small pair of half-moon glasses.

Harry's mouth quirked in amusement at Dumbledore's sense of flair, and resumed the letter.

As you can see, the parchment is designed to allow instant written communication. The Dictating Quill will transcribe your words, and can be turned on or off by carefully twisting the nub at the bottom. It is currently 'off', but can be turned 'on' by twisting the nub so that the two halves of a black dot form a complete dot. In the 'off' position it can be used as an ordinary quill, or, if 'on', can be used as a normal quill if you do not speak while holding it in your hand. The message parchment is charmed to register the scratches of a quill as writing, and so does not require ink. If you choose to use the Dictating Quill on normal parchment, just use ink in the usual fashion.

As for the message-transmission function of the parchment, the top box contains the words you write to me, and will automatically scroll up, line by line, to always allow at least one line free near the bottom of the box. Press your quill to the "SEND" circle when you are ready to transmit your words to me. If you require more room than is available to write your next missive, press your quill to the "CLEAR" circle before you begin writing, and you will have the whole rectangle again available. The bottom box contains any replies which I send you. It will also scroll up as necessary. It will retain a history of the communication for as long as the parchment remains activated.

Alternatively the parchment can be used to transmit warnings or one-way messages in the event no reply is needed.

As you can see, the use of this parchment should be fairly straightforward. If you leave the parchment deactivated, any messages I send during that time they will be sent as soon as you activate your parchment, so I ask that you activate your parchment at least once a day and preferably once every twelve hours to ensure no urgent messages have gone unnoticed. In an absolute emergency I can remotely activate your parchment, but I would prefer not to do this as the magic needed to do so may be sufficient to register if someone happens to be searching for such a sudden surge in activity.

Although I doubt that you will have any visions, and with Occlumency I trust they will be completely avoided, I would ask that you report any of them to me along with your assessment of whether they are true or false. Please rest assured that we will take your statements seriously and that we will not disregard your words even if a vision has turned out to be false.

I will be able to let you know the very instant you are able to leave your residence, so that you can be packed and ready to go. The Weasleys are anxious to have you at the Burrow, and I am sure you would like to be there, if you can. If you wish alternate arrangements please do not hesitate to indicate them as soon as possible.

You may keep the Dictating Quill for your own use, but I would ask that you return the parchment to me at the end of summer unless circumstances arise which would make it useful for you to keep it.

- Albus Dumbledore.

Harry, despite himself, was impressed. If he'd had something like this at the beginning of fifth year, even if it had been a ruse to make him think he was involved, he'd have felt loads better about the extent to which the Order valued his participation and he might not have been so affected by Dumbledore's behaviour, which, in retrospect, he could see the rationale for.

He decided to give the messenger parchment a go. Picking up the Dictating Quill, and carefully turning the nub so the halves of the black dot lined up, he then placed the quill near the top left corner of the top rectangle. It sat up by itself, prepared to begin writing as he spoke.

Harry cleared his throat with an "ahem," and was amused when the quill actually attempted to write that. He picked it up, noting that the quill easily relinquished its tendency to stay in one place, and tapped the point gently against the CLEAR button. The writing erased, and Harry placed the quill where it had been before.

He began speaking. "Professor Dumbledore, if you're there I'd like to say thank you very much for the letter and the package. I also wanted to apologise for the way I acted in your office and I'll even be willing to pay for the replacement of any of the valuables."

Harry did feel bad about the way he'd acted, but decided it couldn't hurt to let it be known so Dumbledore would feel mollified and be willing to help him out.

Waiting for a moment, he thought, and continued. "Er, I don't have any visions to report and I'd like to let you know that Hermione got all of the Occlumency books from the Restricted Section for me. Don't ask me how she convinced Madam Pince or Professor McGonagall to let her come to Hogwarts."

The rectangle was nearly full, so Harry picked up the quill and hit the SEND circle. He was a bit startled when he saw that the black writing became a purple colour. He relaxed, and surmised that this must be the way the parchment indicated if something had already been sent off. He then hit the CLEAR circle to make more space, and continued.

He considered the training offer, and decided it was a no-brainer. He needed that training, not just for himself but for the DA and the elite squad he had planned.

"Still, I'd appreciate any training Shacklebolt, Tonks, or Professor McGonagall want to give me, and I guess the Occlumency training will be a help, too, as learning from books probably doesn't help if there's no Legilimens around to tell me if I'm doing it right or not.

"Finally, I'd like to say thanks for sending Fawkes and the portkey. At least I know I'm safe from anyone who wishes me harm, even if it happens to be an overbearing uncle or cousin."

Harry knew that last was a bit of a cheap shot, but he still felt a bit resentful about the way Dumbledore had meddled with his life and that of his relatives' lives, neither of whom had been consulted prior to that night in 1981.

Harry hit the SEND button again, turned the Dictating Quill off, then left the parchment activated and turned back to Fawkes, who preened under Harry's doting touch for a while. After a few minutes of this, Fawkes spread his wings, and gently tapped Harry's hand with his beak as he flew into the air, after which he flashed away in a brilliant show of light.

He grabbed up the two-way mirror that Remus had left him, and spoke, "Remus Lupin!"

Not long after, Remus's face appeared in the mirror, and he said, "Harry! What a surprise! Actually, you contacted me at a good time. The Order meeting was over about an hour or so ago, and Professor Dumbledore had to dash off and do something. I'm not sure what, but he said it was important."

Grinning, Harry said, "It's brilliant! Here, I wonder if this mirror can show you what I got."

Harry pointed the face of the mirror at the messenger parchment on his desk and the special Dictating Quill. He also noted the phoenix-pendant portkey, then turned the mirror back to see Remus's face. He said, "You saw all that?"

"Yes; quite innovative, I must say. It sounds as though you're one of the first testers of this new way of sending reports, since you won't need an owl and Hedwig is quite distinctive."

A loud hoot from said owl punctuated the conversation, and both Harry and Remus chuckled. Harry said, "Well, I'm glad to feel like I'm useful now, instead of just wasting my time trying to get scraps of news from the Muggle telly and such. Oh, I forgot! Fawkes delivered all this. He's gone now, but he flashed in and dropped off the box all that stuff came in.

"Anyway, how are you doing? Is everything, well, all right over there?"

Remus smiled slightly, and his voice was even as he replied. "I'm doing all right, Harry. Don't worry. And as for Order headquarters, which is where I am, nothing untoward has occurred. Just so you know, though, we may have to temporarily relocate. As you know, Sirius owned this house but as he's… gone, the question of who may obtain this residence is open to interpretation. Try not to worry for now. Albus will let you know as soon as he can, I'm sure. Or if I find anything out, I'll let you know. But for now, concentrate on your Occlumency."

Harry made a face. "Ugh. I hope Dumbledore doesn't put me back with Snape. He didn't actually say he wouldn't."

"No, I'm sure he won't. But so you know, he can't step in until you have the basics down. It would still prove so tempting a target for Voldemort to attack him through you in the initial stages, at least as I understand the situation. I'm afraid I won't be the best teacher for you as werewolves are somewhat natural Occlumens; apparently the presence of the wolf is… how shall I put it?

Remus's brow furrowed as he carefully continued. "I would put it akin to the confusion your vision experiences when you see a double image in broken glass. The wolf's presence in my mind seems to create a similar poor focus to a Legilimens. At least, all this is what Albus explained to me after the meeting broke up when I expressed my desire to help you, so that any suggestions I make would be of limited use. I suspect Hestia Jones or Tonks might be the first to grasp the basics and be able to pass those on to you."

Harry said, "Well, I'm sorry I can't learn it from you but I can see why, I guess. That'd be great if Tonks especially could teach me."

"I feel a bit foolish saying this, but just because Tonks is rather attractive, that should not be the only basis on why you want to learn from her."

Harry blushed, and noticed that Remus was wearing a bit of an embarrassed grin too. "I know. Even Hestia would be better than Snape. Ugh!"

"I must remind you that it's Professor Snape, Harry."

"Hmpf. Anyway, I should … um, ring off, I guess? What did my Dad say when he wanted to end the conversation?"

Remus chuckled. "Well, more often than not he was avoiding Minerva's or Filch's eagle eye when he served a detention and would say, 'Quickly, Padfoot, I've got to go!' At least, that's what he and Sirius swore they said. I think I'll just say 'good-bye', and leave it that undramatic ending."

Smiling, Harry said, "All right, then. Good-bye to you as well, and we'll talk later, I guess?"

"Farewell. End conversation."

At that moment, the mirror went back to reflecting Harry's face, and with a lighter heart than he'd had in some time, he placed the mirror on the desk, and picked up the Occlumency text.

He found that his continuation of the Occlumency text was not as boring as it had felt the other day.

Author Notes:

The message parchment and phoenix pendant concept are partially inspired by Wishweaver's Realizations. I have modified the messenger-parchment concept substantially however, and the function of the portkey has been changed to be more of a safety device that operates under more extreme conditions.

Since the 1970s, when BBSes were just starting to become popular among the computer geek crowd, owing to the existence of (at the time, considered to be fairly fast) 110 and 300 baud modems, as well as the Unix 'talk' function on ARPAnet-connected computers (or even on mainframes at universities where multiple people could be connected to the same computer via dumb terminals), there have been ways for people to communicate in real-time, without an intermediary such as a telegraph agent.

Thanks go to Oh My Kai for the beta reading. This is also the first chapter in which the changes begin to emerge from the old version as more than just cosmetic changes. :)