Still not making any money from this, but it is fun! J.K. Rowling owns everything contained in Harry's world not me so don't sue me.
Harry and Ginny walked into the common room with Ron and Hermione. The opening feast had been tiring for Harry; the great hall had exploded when McGonagall had announced that Harry would be tutoring the entire school. Ron was amazed at Harry's commitment to the rest of the school.
"I mean don't you think you're going to be kind of busy this year?" He asked.
"Of course," Harry replied, "that's why Ginny is going to teach the first through third years." Ron stared at her incredulously.
"Of course I'll be getting private tutoring from my husband" Ginny said and then laughed as Ron clearly took this the wrong way and turned red. "In defense, Ron" she said playfully. Hermione laughed at his embarrassment.
"Oh Ron honestly," Hermione said sighing. "They are married get over it and quit thinking about Ginny as your little sister and start thinking of her as Harry's wife." Ginny smiled a thank you to Hermione who simply nodded before continuing. "You have always been overprotective of Ginny and its high time you acknowledged that she is her own woman and is perfectly capable of deciding what she wants to do with her life." Ron nodded sheepishly before turning to go to bed leaving Harry, Ginny, and Hermione alone in the common room.
"Well," Harry said yawning, "I guess I'll head to bed. After all, I do have classes tomorrow both to teach and attend."
"Goodnight Harry," Ginny said kissing him lightly, "I'll see you tomorrow." Ginny smiled and winked at him because they all knew that this was an act for the benefit of the rest of the house. Thanks to the passage between the head boy and girls rooms Ginny would be in Harry's bed before he was.
"Night Harry" Hermione said smiling at him also for everyone else's benefit as she and Ginny turned into her room. Ginny barely said another word to her friend but started down the hidden corridor to her and Harry's rooms arriving just as Harry stepped out of the shower. She changed into Harry's old quidditch jersey and was asleep before Harry entered the room in his pajamas.
Harry stepped into his bedroom to find his wife curled up asleep in their bed, laughing to himself he set an old muggle alarm clock and slid in beside her wrapping an arm around her and falling asleep immediately.
Ginny woke to the incessant tapping of a couple of very disgruntled owls outside their window. She smiled to herself as she pulled Harry's wand from under their pillow and opened the window from the bed. The owls swooped in and dropped a pile of letters on top of Harry who woke with a start reaching for his wand immediately. Ginny turned in his arms to calm him. "Relax darling," she said kissing him, "I would have gotten up to let them in but I was enjoying my current position far too much to ruin it for a couple of owls."
Harry smiled at her. "You know we are so going to have to get you a wand stand or something in here" he said digging his way out from under the letters.
"Really and why is that?" She asked sweetly.
"Because if we don't I'll never have a wand a night" he said grinning at her. "And if that were to happen, why anyone could come in here and I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it." Ginny laughed quietly knowing full well that if anyone was stupid enough to break into Harry Potter's room Harry wouldn't need a wand to defend her and keep her safe.
"Git" she said smiling as she got out of bed to go take a shower. "Who are all the letters from anyway?" She asked turning on the shower.
"I would guess they're from all the companies we own stock in" Harry said getting dressed himself.
"What!?" exclaimed Ginny appearing beside Harry in a robe.
"Oh yeah," he said smiling at her, "forgot to tell you about the stocks and houses and all that stuff that I inherited didn't I."
"Must have slipped your mind Harry" she said glaring at him before returning to the bathroom.
"Well as long as I am remembering stuff I should probably tell you that you saw but a small fraction of your money that day at Gringott's." he smiled as he heard a dull thunk that told him she had dropped her shampoo bottle in shock. This had become a game to the two of them, one would always try to shock the other into dropping something whenever they took a shower alone. Chuckling to himself he began to go through the mail that had arrived that morning.
He had just gotten it all sorted into piles according to type of business when Ginny came out of the shower putting on her clothes as she came. "You are going to get it for that one Potter." Harry didn't laugh, usually when she called him Potter instead of Harry she had something devious planned and that was usually a very bad thing when her plans were aimed at him. Instead he picked up a letter from Sirius frowning.
"Something wrong Harry?" Ginny asked noticing the look on his face.
"Maybe" Harry said opening the letter and reading it quickly. "Damn!" he said suddenly before handing the letter to Ginny. He sat at the writing desk in their sitting room to write a reply while Ginny read through the letter herself.
Dear Harry,
I hate to bother you this soon, but it seems that our incompetent leader, also known as Rufus Scrimgour The Minister of Magic has received word that I am alive and in England. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay put and my family will need care if I must leave. Please send word to the ministry to sort out the misunderstanding pronto or to me if this is not possible. Also know that I am always available for advice if it is needed.
Yours truly
Padfoot.
"What are you going to do Harry?" Ginny asked rubbing his shoulders lightly.
"I am writing Minister, to tell you that I have both Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange at a secure location and will relinquish them both to your custody if and only if I can testify for both at the fair," he stressed the word, "trial they are both entitled to according to wizarding law." The parchment on the desk glowed blue for a second and then folded itself up and recited the message to Harry as he placed it in an envelope.
"Oh," Ginny said smiling. Harry smiled back at her for a moment then kissed her lightly. "Think he'll listen?" she asked.
"He better," Harry said waving his wand and banishing the letter to the ministers desk, "Because if he doesn't he won't be minister by tomorrow evening." Ginny raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. "I control two of the oldest seats at the Table of Wizards, second only to the Founders seats which are vacant because no one can prove that they are direct descendants of any of the founders, and the Dumbledore seat which I believe is held by Aberforth Dumbledore.
Ginny was astounded, "Do we happen to know Aberforth, Harry," she asked hopefully. Harry smiled at her, "Sort of, he is Albus' brother and the barman at the Hog's Head." Ginny let out the breath she'd been holding. "I haven't spoken to him yet, but I believe that I can count on his vote and the votes of his supporters which totals about a third of the Table of Wizards. The Dumbledores were and are very well respected and liked. Combine that with the Black influence which can control up to a third, mostly those who dabble in the dark arts, and my personal influence and I think I could easily get a four fifths vote of impeachment." Ginny was awestruck at the power that her husband held in the government.
"I had no idea you were so politically savvy Harry" she said as she started for the door that lead to Hermione's room. "I have to be dear," Harry said pulling on his black work robe. "Remember, 'Of whom much is given much is expected. I'll see you in the common room." And with that they both left their dorm.
Harry and Ginny met Hermione and Ron in the great hall for a quick breakfast and to get their timetables. Hagrid came down the table handing out the timetables saying very little. "Righ you lot," he said as he turned to the four. "All four of yeh are takin the same classes except for when Harry and Ginny have to teach so," he handed them the timetables, "I expect yeh to stop by and see me more this yer." He gave them a half serious half grin look and continued down the table. The four teens looked at their schedules to see that none of them had Care of Magical Creatures this year and that they were all nearly late for potions.
Potions was without a doubt one of the hardest classes a student at Hogwarts would ever take. Hours were spent carefully slicing, mashing, and measuring ingredients. More hours were spent meticulously stirring the caldron exactly so many times clockwise and counterclockwise, and on top of all of this pressure was the far too cheerful Professor Slughorn who seemed to think that everything including wasting all of those hours on a failed potion was still a good reason to at least smile. That's not to say that he was not demanding, he was, he just chose to encourage his students to learn from their mistakes, rather than humiliate them, as his predecessor had done. This year he had petitioned the Governors to allow him to teach the houses together rather than each year by itself, he had explained that this would allow the older students to mentor the younger and perhaps make some really fine potion makers (which were in short supply) out of students that would normally drop the subject after O.W.L. year. And so Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all in the same class. While Ginny worked on brewing a rather advanced cheering potion beside Harry, the other three were tediously brewing large quantities of restorative potion for Madame Pompfrey. Because they were all concentrating on what they were doing they did not notice the ministry owl that had landed among them until Professor Slughorn called out to Harry.
"Harry, m'boy. I do believe that one of my friends at the ministry would like a word." Harry looked up noticed the bird and returned to his potion. He did not wish to remove his attention from the potion as it was at a delicate stage right now. Ginny looked up a moment later to see that Slughorn was moving toward them with obvious interest in whatever the Ministry wanted with Harry. She quietly coughed and Hermione, who had also noticed Slughorn coming toward them, quickly distracted him by asking him to help her sort out what a first year had done to the simple sleeping draught that they were brewing.
"Harry go, read it quickly, I'll watch the potion" Ginny said laying a hand on his arm. He nodded marveling at how Ron simply shifted over to watch both his and Ginny's cauldron and Ginny slid her arm under his to take the spoon from his hand and pick-up the same steady rhythm that he had been using. Harry quickly read the letter which said in no uncertain terms that Harry had no business harboring criminals or demanding fair trials for them. Ron whistled under his breath as he noted the feral gleam forming in Harry's emerald green eyes.
"That bad huh?" Ron asked. "Ron, I'm afraid I'm going to need you to help me this evening at the Ministry of Magic" Harry said taking back his spoon and returning to work. "Why can't I help, Harry" Ginny asked in a hurt voice. "Sorry love, but at the moment women aren't allowed to hold seats at the Table of Wizards." Harry said gently. "That's one of the first things I want to change after getting rid of Scrimgour of course" he finished as Hermione rejoined the group looking very angry having just heard that women weren't allowed to hold seats at the Table of Wizards. The bell tolled shortly after the letter arrived giving the four teens a chance to escape prying eyes.
"What is going on Harry?" asked a confused Hermione. "Well it seems that Minister Scrimgour doesn't wish to give Sirius and Bellatrix a fair trial, so I am going to the Table of Wizards meeting tonight to propose a vote of impeachment." Harry replied calmly his eyes still radiating anger. The other three whistled under their breath. Ron spoke next, "you said you needed my help Harry?" he asked. "Yes Ron, I'm appointing you as a proxy to represent the House of Black tonight. I will eventually name Sirius as the seat holder as it is his, but first I have to clear his name." Harry explained.
"You control two seats on the Table of Wizards Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "For now" Harry chuckled. "So… if the table votes with you, who do you propose as a replacement?" Ginny asked as she and Harry started getting ready to teach first year defense. "I've been thinking about Amos Diggory" Harry stated. Ron and Ginny looked shocked, Hermione just looked confused. "Look guys, Arthur is happy where he is. He doesn't want the minister's office, Diggory isn't doing much right now and knows right from wrong. Besides, he already agreed to take the post if the Table asks him to." Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "I wrote him earlier in the week asking about it, Hermione" Harry told them. "Look I know that everybody thought that I would give the job to a Weasley, but right now they're all where they want to be. All I know is we can't have a minister that won't follow our laws." Harry said exasperated. The others nodded at him
"Harry, I hate to break up the political debate and all but we have five minutes before first year defense starts, so we gotta go." Ginny said rescuing her husband from her brother, "And Ron, if you don't want to help Harry tonight I'm sure he can find someone who will." "No! No Ginny, I was just surprised that's all. You know I'm not the most politically active person around." Ron said grinning at her, "Look you two go teach your classes and we'll talk this over some more over dinner. Okay?" "Okay, you two stay out of trouble in your free periods." Ginny said, turning Hermione red. "Hey we've got to study" Ron said drawing an astonished gasp from his girlfriend, "You know N.E.W.T.s and all." Harry and Ginny laughed as they left the common room for their classroom.
Five minutes later Harry and Ginny were in a classroom on the first floor in front of the first year Gryffindor and Hufflpuff students. "Good morning class," Harry said in a loud voice as the class was rather large and still talkative. "My name is Professor Potter, you may call me Professor or Harry whichever you prefer. My assistant," he gestured to Ginny, "is my wife. You may call her Mrs. Potter or Professor Potter until she tells you otherwise." Ginny immediately spoke up, "Please call me Mrs. Potter or Ginny," she said glaring at a grinning Harry. "There you go then, okay let's get the questions out of the way first shall we?" Harry said leaning against the desk.
"Sir," a small Hufflepuff girl raised her hand. "Yes, dear?" Harry responded. "My name is Samantha and I read that you are the only person to survive the killing curse." Ginny was shocked then livid as the class erupted into shocked gasps and chatter. Harry merely raised his hand and the class fell silent. "Well now Samantha, I must say that I expected that question eventually. Not first out of the gate though." Samantha's face fell. Harry smiled at her, "Don't worry Samantha, you are not in trouble nor have you offended me." Ginny relaxed a little hearing Harry's usual calm kind voice. "Yes, I am the Harry Potter that you have all been told stories of since the time you were born. Yes, I survived the killing curse when I was a year old. And yes, both of my parents were murdered on that same night by You Know Who." Harry's voice had never changed, it was still kind and warm as he addressed his students. Ginny looked at him with raised eyebrows when he called Voldemort, You Know Who, but Harry gave her a look that said "I'll explain later" and she quickly put it from her mind.
Another hand raised in the back of the class. "Yes, in the back" Harry called. "Sir, my name is Andrew and I just want to know how you survived an unblockable curse?" the stocky boy asked. "Well that's the twenty thousand galleon question isn't it," Harry said smiling, "The truth is no one knows. I have a few educated guesses that former headmaster, Dumbledore, and I discussed in the past few years but there is no proof that any of them are correct." There was a general "ahh" of disappointment. "Sorry, I truly wish that I did know so that I could teach you but that's life. Now then, I can teach you how to block a lot of curses and that is what we are studying today. So Mrs. Potter would you help me with a demonstration please?" Harry asked as he waved his wand causing the seats in the room to raise as they went back to form an auditorium of sorts. Ginny nodded and drew her wand silently casting a stunner which Harry lazily deflected behind the desk into the wall saying loudly, "Protego".
Ginny turned to the class, "Professor Potter just showed you two of the most important things you will ever learn in this subject. One, he gave you to incantation to the shielding charm which is Protego. Two he showed you that it is far easier to deflect a spell than to stop it altogether." She turned and cursed Harry again. This time Harry shouted "protego" but the Ginny's curse simply ceased to exist.
Harry took over the class again, "Protego can be used either way, as you just saw. The difference is the wand movement. To stop the spell you must point you wand at the incoming spell and push it into the spell with a sharp jab" he demonstrated the movement. "This takes a great deal of concentration, which in a fight can blind you to other attacks. However if you move the wand in a short backhanded swing the spell creates a kind of magical wall that the curse will bounce off of allowing you to continue to look for other threats or attackers. The students were busily taking notes as Harry and Ginny spoke. "Oh and by the way," Harry said smiling, "Written tests in this class will be few and far between." The class looked up as one in surprise. "You must understand that theory in defense is important but it will not cast the spells for you, therefore I plan to grade your performance more than your ability to remember what I have said." He waved his wand again and the room transformed itself into a padded gym with a dummy for each student lining the walls. "You will please find the dummy that has your name on it and stand approximately five feet in front of it. The class moved quickly and did as they were told. "These dummies will cast a spell that shoots paint balls at you." Harry said, "the paint will fade magically at the end of class but will allow you to see if you are blocking an incoming curse. Please practice the protego wand movements now." The class again did as instructed while Harry and Ginny went around the room correcting the students until everyone was performing the movements correctly. Ginny waved her wand and clear plastic walls appeared between each student.
"When Professor Potter says begin the dummies will begin casting, please try to deflect the balls of paint for now." Ginny said returning to the front of the classroom. Harry was finishing giving instructions to an enthusiastic Gryffindor.
He joined her at the front and said simply, "Begin." The room became a whirlwind of activity as all the dummies began casting and students desperately tried to block the paint. The class continued the exercise until the bell tolled when about half of the students could deflect the spell some of the time. "Well done all of you," Harry said as he vanished the dummies, "We will continue this exercise next lesson. You are dismissed." There was a rousing chorus of thank you from the students as the class collected their bags and filed out. The rest of the day was much the same, Harry and Ginny met up with Ron and Hermione for Herbology, Charms, and Transfiguration. They also taught the other two houses first year students during Hermione and Ron's afternoon free period. That class was a carbon copy of their first. By the time dinner came Harry was exhausted. He and Ginny ate quickly so that Harry could take a nap before having to leave for London and the Table of Wizards meeting.