DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$ from this…

A/N: This was originally going to be one chapter, but I decided to split it up. (It was already over 10,000 words.) The continuation will be posted within 24 hours or less. These is the last 'BIG' thing between now and Hogwarts…

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN (A): AWAKENINGS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1st, 1989 – POTTER HOUSE, LONDON, U.K.

On the first floor of the large house next to where the children had their bedrooms was a large room where they had their desks, kept those toys they actually used and their own books. Mostly, however, this room was where they went to escape and spend time together away from adults or visitors or the cares and worries of their lives. It was one place where the three could be children again without worry of the outside world interfering. It was also a place where they could talk without someone else offering an opinion. They had been spending time more and more evenings in this room since the wedding and certainly since before the first weekend in November.

To say that November had been hectic would be a gross understatement. Clarice was busy at the clinic two to three days a week and had been assisting with Jasmine Lovegood during her three weeks in St. Mungo's. All three were busy preparing for each weekend – schedules mostly. As "The Club" was very informal, save for the uniform thing, it was not like they planned lessons in any detail, nor did they expect the other instructors to do so. Structured learning would occur when the members went to Japan. Still, with over seven hundred, even the informal nature demanded schedules.

It would have been easier, but the scandal caused by the Quibbler article had generated a demand for lessons that until then none of the three had ever thought about and only Clarice by virtue of her Healer training had actually studied. With members ranging in age from six to seventeen, they had to decide not just what to teach but who. In the end, all members age eleven and up would attend lessons on human reproduction which would include both magical and non-magical ways to prevent such things. The younger kids would not receive such lessons, save for any girls who were medically mature beyond their years, which there were none. This posed a problem. While Clarice had no problem with the idea of teaching the girls for she did something like that at the clinic, boys were another issue altogether. She was genuinely concerned they might not take her seriously in this matter, even though they clearly took her seriously when it came to magic. After all, what boy would want to learn about that from and eight year old girl? In the end, Healer Tonks agreed to teach the boys. In addition to being male, he had the added advantage of being older and bigger than the lot of them.

That lesson had led to serious questions from the older girls about whether they might have "spent time in one of those rooms." This had become a euphemism for having a kid. The memory charms used in the procedure spelled out by the Ministry eliminated memory of pregnancy and bearing a child, not the act that led to it, but the older girls fretted that maybe a mistake was made or something. In mid-November, the kids had spent two days in the Hall of Records looking through the relevant school reports. Clarice was certain that any girl currently Third Year or below, which included all but four of the almost two hundred and twenty girls age eleven or older, would not have been; but the group checked for any of them. Fortunately, none of them had been a victim of that Ministry policy. For full verification, Clarice performed and age revealing charm on all of them. If they had been subject to Time Compression and had no memory of it for any reason, there would be a discrepancy between the ages on their Club paperwork – which stated a number of days since their birth as of November 15th based upon their birth date and adjusted for those who had spent time in Japan – and the date the spell revealed. Again, there were no such discrepancies.

Ever since The Club had expanded, there were many in the know who wondered how long it could be kept secret. Harry had heard a rumor that the Weasley boys had a pool going with dates ranging from as early as the end of November through 1996. To participate, the better had to swear an oath of some sort that they would not reveal the secret or cause the secret to be revealed. Apparently, only Harry, Hermione and Clarice were not in the pool by the end of the month.

Exposure of The Club was a real issue, primarily because everyone involved believed that the ruling class in Magical Britain would not stand for it at all, particularly since many of the children or grandchildren of such class would probably have been excluded due to the elitist views of their families. Last year there had been an unofficial Club of seven students at St. George's, five of whom attended Watanabe School in Japan during the past summer and three of whom had not returned to finish their Seventh Year. Hogwarts had no similar Club as there was only one Club Member in school at the time: Dora Tonks. A Club with only one member is a fairly lonely club.

But this year there were now six Clubs in six schools. Hogwarts Club now had fifty-five members with Dora as its head student. St. George's had grown from seven to eighty-three members with Amber Evans as its head student. The four "new" schools now had their own School Clubs averaging seventy-seven members. They had their own Club Room at their schools and their own faculty advisor / sponsor. They formed along the lines of the informal club at St. George's and existed to support each other, have a safe place to practice the skills they were learning outside of the Ministry's approved syllabus, and talk about the Club while at school while not exposing it to others. In short, the School Clubs existed to support The Club and the learning while keeping it all quite and as secret as possible. Most members enjoyed the notion of being members of a "Secret Society," even though they all knew that one day it would no longer be that. If everything went well, that one day would come at a time well after the ruling elite could do anything to stop it.

Still, they and others were worried, especially when they learned that the School Clubs were not totally secret. But their minds were put to rest when they learned that most all other students (those not in the Clubs) could care less and the handful of adults who picked up on something took no interest in a club full of kids who meditated and performed what appeared to be simple parlor tricks. The ruling elite had banned the teaching of the magic they were learning long ago; so long ago, in fact, that it seemed as if they now believed only the most powerful and brilliant of magicians could possibly learn it ever. It was easy to pull the wool over someone's eyes when they had already done it to themselves.

Aside from Hogwarts and St. George's, none of the Clubs had members who had ever been to Japan, much less the Watanabe School. Aside from Hogwarts, all the other schools were day schools and the Clubs met after classes were over. Hogwarts had only one student who had been to the Watanabe School, Dora Tonks, and it seemed that most people left her alone. By the end of November, Harry was fairly certain that the flagrant disregard for tradition and the spirit if not the letter of the law would remain unnoticed for now. The real challenge going forward would be next year when the six schools could boast over four hundred I.C.W. O.W.L. or higher recipients between them.

Yet the School Clubs were necessary and impossible not to notice. They were, after all, the largest faculty sponsored clubs at all of the schools, even Hogwarts (where only the Houses were actually larger for now). They were necessary both because as a group to practice with (and study with) and because the members could only meet to learn new things once every two weekends. There were just too many for the thirteen Watanabe kids to handle efficiently. Even with the members from last year helping, and they did, it was too many to handle at one time. That would change next year, but for now they had to make do with the Clubs.

Each "School Community" meaning every child who was either attending a particular school or would attend that school was divided into two groups with as nearly equal a number of children of each age in each group. One group would attend on one weekend, another the next weekend. Of course, the younger children could not take advantage of the School Clubs on their off weeks to practice in groups. Those children between the ages of six and ten met at Camp W every week for a few hours on Wednesday for an equivalent club led by Harry, Hermione, Clarice, Neville, Luna and Susan. Some of the older members complained until it was pointed out that the members of the "Camp W Clubs," would not be attending school in Japan this next summer while all of the current "School Club" members would.

The whole thing was new to everyone and as the three most senior Watanabe Students were at least notionally in charge, everything seemed to land on them. They were quick to delegate as much as possible to the subordinate Clubs, keeping their focus insofar as possible on the weekend meetings. Still, not everything could be delegated. There needed to be coordination between the schools and families of the younger members to make things happen and that fell to them and the adults who were there to help them.

For example, while running the necessary interference with the individual school faculties to get members to the weekend sessions fell to the various schools' faculty sponsor, actually getting the members there was the province of "The High Command," as the sometimes annoying Weasley twins had dubbed Harry, Hermione and Clarice. "Security" at the schools was the responsibility of each of the School Clubs, but all ideas in that regard crossed the childrens' desks. After all, if it was a good idea, it needed to be shared with the other schools. The Weasley Twins had dubbed this part of the Club "The Idiot Worthy Excuse Committee," which was a take on a Ministry Office that planted plausible non-magical explanations for magical events with the relevant Muggle authorities.

Two interesting ideas had risen from the schools to "The High Command" within a week of the final expansion for this year. One was for a newsletter or newspaper, which Luna seemed more than willing to work on for The Club, but at least for the Hogwarts Club, there were security issues to work out before they could safely receive copies (although Hermione was thinking that they could send a copy to Minerva which would then be made available to the Hogwarts members.) The other schools were not a problem as sending it to their homes would be relatively secure.

The other idea was a Quidditch League. This had been raised at the first meeting of the fully expanded Club at the beginning of November. Sunday afternoon was when they learned physical things or Muggle things. Why not have a Quidditch Match between two of the schools? Camp W had a Quidditch pitch after all. The overwhelming support for this idea all but silenced any protest from Hermione who could not or would not understand the fascination with that game. The WISE League, as Harry dubbed it (for Welsh, Irish, Scottish, English) was still in the planning stages, although Harry had it on good authority that the six schools were already picking starters and reserves. One thing Hermione liked about the idea was it was an additional cover for what was really going on.

The good news was they had time to get this organized. Harry had already worked out that if they had one match a week, in fifteen weeks all the teams would play each other. They could have their first match as late as mid February and still have a full season plus a championship game between the two best teams before they were off to Japan.

But the younger kids wanted to play too, enough to field "junior" teams from all six School Communities. It was obvious to Harry that the Junior teams could not simply go to their future schools and book a pitch. That would certainly catch someone's attention. Fortunately, the Camp W pitch was almost never used, so arrangements could be made to allow the Junior teams practice times during the week. But two leagues meant additional problems. Most notably how could two six team leagues compete on one pitch, one afternoon a week and complete a season before the end of June.

Harry had an idea, although he knew the Quidditch purists would be upset. He was working on this idea when Clarice came into the room having returned from her day at the Clinic. She looked like she was dead on her feet.

"Rough day?" Hermione asked.

Clarice nodded. "There was a riot in Diagon Alley this morning. Hundreds were injured and there were more than a few Clinic patrons among them. Been patching people up all day!"

"What was it about?" Hermione gasped.

"Yesterday's Wizengamot session," a female adult voice said. They turned and saw that Lord Black and Aunt Minnie had seemingly followed Clarice into the room.

"What about it?" Hermione asked.

"Well," Lord Black said, "it was the first time the Wizengamot took up the issue about the schools since the Quibbler article."

"And that caused a riot?"

"The issue was supposed to be in closed session for hearings," Lord Black continued, "just like last year and the abuse hearings that resulted in the Magical Child Welfare Act. Somehow word of the session leaked out and there was a crowd of people who tried to show up and claim Visitor seats in the Gallery. How the word got out is not known – yet. But after the Ministry's actions a couple of weeks ago, it's not surprising there was some interest in the mind of the public at large."

"And what was that?" Harry asked.

"I really need to start including Current Events in your lessons," Lord Black commented before continuing. "Just about every office in the Ministry was being inundated with letters from the public regarding the Quibbler article. There were those who were adopted by Muggles who wanted to know if they had magical parents or not. Some wanted to know who those parents were and demanded that if they were the oldest son or child of some rich family they should be told so they could take their rightful place in society. Others wanted the information buried so deep in the Department of Mysteries than no mortal would ever know the truth or a law passed that would forever bar any claims of inheritance and still others demanding a statement from the Minister for Magic that the Quibbler article was a pack of lies.

"A couple of weeks ago, on order of the Undersecretary for the Director of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures supposedly ordered all relevant records burned saying that it was on the order of the Minister for Magic. She was not questioned and the records were burned. Again, this was not supposed to be known, but the Archivists who did not question the order, also did not keep quiet. Apparently, the person who ordered them to burn the records hadn't bothered to invoke any secrecy oaths.

"All of this was duly reported in the Daily Prophet, although the Ministry managed to convince them to publish a retraction within a couple of days. Of course, the damage had been done. Everyone was convinced the Ministry was deliberately hiding something and the Howlers were flying, prompting the Minister to call an emergency session of the Wizengamot.

"Now there hasn't been an emergency session since the War. Back then security procedures were incredibly tight. Every member of the Wizengamot would be searched by an Auror before entering the Chamber and any magical item, including wands, would be confiscated to be returned when the member left. This did not happen yesterday. The two Auror's who were present didn't look like they were old enough to remember the War."

"You were there?" Harry asked.

Lord Black nodded. "I admit it's been almost twenty years since I took the Black seat, but I went. I was curious. I also felt it was my duty in a way seeing as I've been asked to teach you kids about government and such. I guess I wanted to see what is happening rather than rely on memory and old journals.

"Anyway, it seems that while only Members were admitted, someone brought something in they should not have."

"What?" the three asked after a pause.

Lord Black shrugged and looked at Minerva.

"Somehow," Minerva said, "the entire closed session was broadcast on the Wizarding Wireless Network."

"Oops," Harry said with a smile.

"Oops indeed," Lord Black smiled. "And not just the formal session but several private conversations beforehand. From what Minerva's told me, anyone listening would have had an idea what the major positions on the issue were, and there were several factions.

"The Pro-Muggle Born faction generally wanted the information sealed, provided that all laws favoring or disfavoring individuals based upon their Blood Status be repealed and that the law never again make any distinctions based upon parentage or magical heritage. They would also require full disclosure of parentage and that the inheritance laws recognize any claims of older born sons. They would include allowing anyone to seek the opportunity to take any vacated seat in the Wizengamot. How that was to happen they had no idea but figured such details could be worked out.

"On the opposite side, the Pureblood Elitists wanted the Wizengamot to commend the Ministry employee who had the records destroyed and wanted a law passed banning the release of any similar records or the use of any method that might be used to dispute one's heritage or blood status. They also wanted a law passed barring anyone who was not raised in the magical world from full citizenship. Basically, anyone raised in the Muggle world would have no rights in the magical one aside from a right to learn about magic. The Elitists considered that an appropriate compromise."

"That's it?" Harry asked.

Lord Black shrugged.

"But that doesn't even begin to solve the problem," Hermione protested. "They're just going to let girls get pregnant? They just going to use that to advance unrelated political issues?"

"So it seemed," Lord Black said. "There were a few of us who wanted to address the real issue, but we were a minority."

"And what did you want?" Clarice asked.

"We were hardly in agreement on all points," Sensei replied. "First off, the one thing we could agree upon was that the current policy regarding underage out-of-wedlock pregnancies had to be changed. The secrecy had to end. How was another matter. Secondly, we were in agreement that the records had to be somewhat open. Could not agree on how much."

"But I thought you said the records were destroyed," Hermione said.

"The copies in the Hall of Records were," Lord Black replied. "But they are just that, copies. There are copies in the Department of Mysteries sealed archives which could be copied and made available. There are also copies in Gringotts which are outside the Ministry's jurisdiction. Finally, there are the originals which are kept at each of the schools which are also out of the Ministry's jurisdiction."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because the I.C.W. has jurisdiction over school records," Minerva said. "It was a concession we had to make ages ago for I.C.W. certifications. Without it our O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s would not be recognized by any other country."

"So they did nothing," Clarice said. "They just sat there and let this thing continue."

Lord Black shrugged. "It's the Wizengamot. They hold their seats by heredity, not by popularity. To take action would have opened them up to challenge."

"How so?" Hermione asked.

"The law for attaining a seat is clear," Lord Black said. "The eldest male of a Member Line is seated. If there is no such male, a woman is designated regent until that line has a male to take their rightful seat.

"Now the law that establishes the right to rule does not make any distinction about marriage. If I had a son older than Orion out of wedlock, that son would be the heir to my seat - period. I did not, but…"

"How can you be sure?" Hermione asked.

"My wife Melania was my best friend from boyhood. She was my one and only. We were both - er - well - let's just say our first child, my daughter Lucretia, was our first child and she was born about a year after we married."

"And your wife?" Clarice asked.

Lord Black seemed to look off for a bit and they all could swear there was a tear trying to form in his eyes.

"Died of Dragon Pox about two years ago," he said finally. "Until Sirius and you lot entered my life some months later, I was more than willing to waste away and join her. I still miss her terribly. But she would give me a tongue lashing for picking her over you lot right now. When I see her again - one day - I want her to be proud of me as she once was."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I became Lord Black upon the death of my father in 1952. Before then, I was the Black Sheep of my family. I was an idealist who wanted to see my world changed for the better even if it harmed my Clan. That was the man my Melania married. That was the boy she fell in love with - the idealist. It died in a way when I had to take my father's place. My father was murdered, you see, and I and my Melania … well, I was not about to get dead for an idea unless I thought that idea would win in the end.

"Dumbledore was the leader of The Light then, just as he still can claim to be today. His world view and mine were very different. He believed - and still believes - that an enlightened ruling elite is in the best interests of our world. I, on the other hand, cannot see a government that does not derive its existence from the will of the governed and cannot stay in power without their support. I was not alone, but my like minded friends fell to the same ill that took away my youth - the reality of things.

"The ruling elite will not willingly change. They will not relinquish power. They will not let the opinions or needs of the ruled guide their decisions. They will not do anything that would or could result in them losing what they have. That is our government. It is a Ministry of the privileged supported by the privileged for the privileged and they will keep their monopolies at all cost.

"They took no action against the Death Eaters during the War until they realized they were to be supplanted. By then it was too late. But for a fortuitous turn of fortune, the Death Eaters and Pureblood Supremacists had that War won. Our government took no action because they quietly agreed with the movement. They did not want the 'masses' to have a say or rights. Those few who did constituted a minority.

"That government still rules over us all. It is not the government I would have wanted for my Clan - that is until I realized most of my Clan were 'Them.' But for the majority of our People, and because that government is a threat to the Crown, I stand quietly opposed, as I did yesterday.

"I showed up for the first time in almost thirty years. I said nothing. I did nothing. I was not there to govern but to bear witness. When the vote came - and in that vote our leaders decided to do nothing - I abstained. It was a symbolic thing. In doing so, I announced quietly that I had come to see change and would not support any who opposed change. But it was a safe way, I confess.

"Change is necessary. Goodness knows the havoc the teen pregnancy policy has caused. It is entirely possible that there are Pureblood families out there a little more pure than any would like…"

"As in?" Harry asked.

"Brothers and sisters - or at least half brothers and sisters having children," Lord Black said.

"That happened?" Clarice asked.

"Can't say. It is not likely, but possible. Throw in the inheritance issues and…"

"So what are you saying, Grandfather?" Harry asked.

"I came to this conclusion before you lot were born," Lord Black said. "Our world here in Britain cannot be reformed. It must be replaced."

"And what did you do?" Hermione began.

"I did nothing. That much I will admit and I admit I am not proud of it. But I came to that conclusion when I was a Grandfather. That is not my excuse, but it is to those who can see the benefit of change who should seek it. It is to a younger generation to see change through, not those of us who have lived for too long under the status quo.

"My role is now to teach you, the next generation. My role is to let you decide what kind of world you want to live in and what kind of world you want to leave to your children. If you make this world a better place than the one you were born in - well, that is something. If I had but a hand in doing that, then I can join my Melania without regret. I will have made her proud, which is all I want at this stage of my life."

"You're talking revolution, you know," Minerva said.

Lord Black nodded. "One day indeed. Just not yet."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "Why not now?"

"The seeds have only begun to be sowed," Lord Black replied. "A long time ago a great man - a revolutionary - said that the people must feel before they can see. He meant that while change might be obvious, until everyone feels its necessity, they will resist it."

"So the riots?" Harry asked.

"First time for everything," Lord Black said. "Never happened before. But it is merely a start."

"And us? How do we fit in?" Clarice asked.

"That has yet to be determined," Lord Black replied. "But this Club of yours might one day be important."

____________________________________________________

To say that Sensei was dumbfounded was an understatement. His mission was to make sure that Voldemort was dealt with before Voldemort and his followers could lead the entire world to its doom. To do that, all Sensei had to do was to teach a young version of his Creator and self to find and destroy some horcruxes. That was his mission.

His arrival time was based upon the impact of a death on his timeline's Harry Potter: Sirius Black. That was because that the death of the one family member the original Harry had was too blinding and traumatic in its long term consequences. The original Harry took fewer risks with himself and with and because of those he cared about later. That was the reason he married the wrong woman. That was the reason for a lot of things that one day went wrong for him.

But what had happened in the less than two years since Sensei first made his appearance was beyond anything his Harry or even he had ever considered. The future was now changed beyond all recognition in many ways. This new Harry was a truly different person and one who would not be mired in the past as his former self had been. In many ways, Sensei's time was over for the changes had exceeded his … programming.

Sensei was still needed, he knew. The Voldemort Horcruxes were still out there. In all cases only he knew both where they were and how to get to them. But even in his Creator's youth, there was nothing beyond Voldemort. This new Harry and his friends were now looking at the beyond. Chaos theory was just that - chaos.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22nd, 1989, DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL CHILD WELFARE, MINISTRY OF MAGIC, LONDON, U.K.

Three weeks had passed since the now famous "Baby Riot" in Diagon Alley. While things in magical Britain had calmed down somewhat, it was only as compared to the week following the riot. The riot had started when a group of Pureblood Elitists gloated publically about the inaction in the Wizengamot and how it kept the Muggle Borns "in their place." Unfortunately, there were many non-Purebloods in the vicinity who took offense and were not in any mood to simply ignore the slight and walk away. A heated argument turned into a brawl and then a riot that would require a third of the on duty Aurors to contain. Not surprisingly, there were a number of arrests.

However, when it became known that not one Pureblood had been arrested, despite being in the thick of it and supposedly looting a few stores that were not Pureblood owned, a series of demonstrations and boycotts broke out. The Wizengamot refused to act, although there were rumors that many of its members who were not thrilled with the reforms that had been enacted since the War were hoping to use the times as and excuse to rid themselves of the Minister for Magic, whom they considered the worst sort of politician if for no other reason than she did not speak or act like a good Pureblood should. While the Wizengamot refused to act and seemed intent on throwing all the rioters in jail, the Minister had done what she could. She saw to it that not one of the arrested rioters were ever charged and all were released within a couple of days. But more importantly, and less well known at the time, she gave the Department of Child Welfare additional authority to deal with the crisis.

Arthur Weasley saw his department nearly double in size. Both the Department of Mysteries and the Hall of Records supplied the expanded department with copies of all of the records that another department had attempted to destroy. These records were additional copies and the Minister tasked Arthur to use them as he saw fit. While the Ministry needed the Wizengamot to act to deal with the laws regarding underage pregnancy, the records were not subject to any laws restricting their use save that the children's names and adoption information was sealed.

Arthur's people were busy sifting through the over 8,000 files of Time Chamber children that had been compiled since the policy went into effect in 1817. It was left to Arthur to determine whether and to what extent any of the information in any of the files would be released and to whom. Arthur had already decided that it would not be made available to just anyone. While they were still working on the details, the outline of the policy set to go into effect after the New Year would allow any Muggle Born to learn whether they had been born of magical parents and any adult witch or wizard to learn whether they had children they did not know about. The requesting parties could also authorize disclosure of their names and information to either their unknown parent or child, but such information would not be sent unless said unknown parent or child asked.

Arthur knew that there would be some families interested in finding unknown relations. There were at least two Ancient and Noble lines that were on the verge of ending due to the lack of any known male heir. There were also a few hereditary seats on the Wizengamot that would be vacated in time under similar circumstances. At least a few of those families would rather have an alleged Muggle Born or Halfblood as heir to their family legacy than allow it to end or claimed by what they considered a less acceptable relation.

For the most part, however, information would not be released regarding any files where the person was either dead or designated "whereabouts unknown." Arthur felt he lacked such authority in general but more importantly felt it was not the purpose of his Department to completely turn society on its head. Those who wanted to know about their personal connection to the Time Chambers would be allowed to find out. The merely curious would be denied any access to the records. Arthur knew there were at least some possible descendants of the Time Chambers who would like to use that information for ill and knew the final policy had to make such ill use near impossible. It was a daunting task, but one he felt was the best way to deal with the current crisis.

A/N: "The people must feel before they can see." George Washington, regarding the need for the Constitutional Convention in 1784. It was not yet ripe. The People still believed the existing governmental structure was fine. When most were ruined by it, then the whole thing could be scrapped.