Disclaimer: You know the drill. If you recognize it, I don't own it. JKR has selfishly retained ownership of all the best goodies. As a poor and deserving semi-sorta-socialist, I think that I should be able to lay claim on some of her genius, but oh, no, the rich have to hog it all….(p.s. For those of you who do not recognize it, that is sarcastic humour.)

Chapter 8

And How Was YOUR Day?

Downtown London

Harry was having a rough day. It had not started out that way, however it rapidly began to go downhill. He woke up feeling fine, with a feeling of accomplishment. The portraits of the Black's had been overjoyed when he had left them. Harry had looked around at the den, noticing the spilled popcorn and the empty butterbeer bottles and snickered to himself, but dismissed it thinking that the house elves would be properly chagrined and have it cleaned up in no time.

It had not worked out quite that way. The kitchen elf who normally made his breakfast, Tinkle, was hung-over and barely civil. She placed a plate of runny eggs, burnt toast, and sausages that had become charcoal in front of Harry, growled and disappeared. Harry took one taste, then banished the rest to the garbage. Passing by the room containing the Black's portraits, he looked in and saw the same mess. Harry just shook his head. Thinking he could get a decent meal at Grimmauld Place, he quickly floo-ed over to find the house complately empty except for Kreacher, who told him that all of the elves were at the Manor. Having tasted Kreacher's cooking, Harry decided to eat in muggle London.

Harry was less than a block from the restaurant, coming up to a traffic signal when the signet ring on his left hand gave him a shock. He pulled his hand off the wheel and shook it in surprise. A moment later, the ring on his right hand did the same thing. This time, he grabbed the ring with his left hand to pull it off. A jerk from behind his navel told him that he had done the wrong thing.

Having not expected portkeying, Harry landed hard in front of an Auror who was guarding the entrance doors of the Wizengamot. The Auror looked down at him with a touch of disapproval. "Lord Potter-Black, the normal attire for meetings is formal robes." Seeing that Harry was wearing Dockers, a tee shirt and trainers, it was obvious that Harry was a bit underdressed.

"I didn't realize that there was a meeting called," said Harry.

"You got the summoning signal in your ring, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I had no idea what it was. No one told me the damned thing was booby trapped. How long do I have before it convenes?"

"About 15 minutes, sir. And Lord Potter-Black…"

"Yes?"

"It looks like the booby trap worked. I mean, it did catch the booby." This was said with the slightest smile to take away the sting. Had Harry been one of those other tight-arsed Lords that the Auror normally had to deal with, the words would have never left his lips.

"That should be enough time. KREACHER!" The old house elf popped into view. "Kreacher, I need you to pop over to the house and get my formal grey robes with the dual crest on them and get right back here. And better grab some black dress shoes while you're at it." The elf nodded and popped out, only to reappear in less than a minute with the items requested.

"Anything else, Lord Black?"

"Yes, see if you can find my car and find out what happened to it. I left it in kind of a hurry." Pulling on his robes and shoes, Harry handed back his trainers to Kreacher, dismissed him and went inside to his seat.

"Glad to see you could make it, Lord Potter-Black," said Lord Zabini, as Harry sat down. Harry looked down at the audience floor and saw, to his surprise, Aberforth Dumbledore, along with a young man of about 18, a young lady around Harry's age, and Violet Dumbledore.

"Oyez, Oye!, This session of the Wizengamot is now called to order! Grand Wizard Pro-tem Zabini presiding. All having business with this Honorable body come forward!"

Aberforth Dumbledore stepped forward and held out his right hand, the Dumbledore signet ring flashing in the torchlight. "I, Aberforth Dumbledore, hereby claim my rights as the Head of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Dumbledore, and proclaim my right to a seat and vote in this august body!"

"Well spoken, Lord Dumbledore." In the background, Harry heard whispering between other members of the Wizengamot. "Wondered when goat-boy was going to make an appearance," and "At least he left his pets at home." Zabini cleared his throat and spoke.

"Please rise. Lord Dumbledore, we accept your petition to join this body and claim your vote. We affirm your inheritance and invite you as a brother to join magic. Please hold up your wand." Aberforth did so. "Do you, Lord Dumbledore, vow to uphold the honor of this august body, protect and defend the wizarding world against all enemies, from within or without?"

"I, Lord Dumbledore, so vow."

Harry, remembering this from his own induction, held out his wand along with the other members. The gold dome made from the lights of the wands covered Dumbledore, then receded.

"Before I take a seat, I have two more petitions for this body." Zabini motioned Aberforth to go ahead. "I, Aberforth Dumbledore hereby name as my heir, magical and otherwise, my great-grandson, Jonathon Dumbledore." This was the most binding form of naming an heir. The only way that it could be rescinded would be if Jonathon should die before Aberforth.

"Well spoken, Lord Dumbledore. Jonathon Dumbledore, congratulations on your naming," said Zabini. "I believe that you stated that you had one other matter of business?"

"I do. I, Lord Aberforth Dumbledore, hereby abdicate my seat and my position as Head of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Dumbledore in favor of my heir, Jonathon Dumbledore. I also pass my title of Lord Dumbledore over to Jonathon Dumbledore."

Whispering broke out all over the chamber. "What the hell?" "That has to be the shortest tenure since Roderick the Unlucky tripped and broke his neck on the way to his seat." And "Hope the boy doesn't like goats." Zabini was conferring with an old wizard who had some sort of book opened, pointing out passages.

"ORDER!! Lord Dumbledore, although this is highly unusual, there appears to be nothing prohibiting it. The young man has reached his majority and has been named heir. If you will pass the new Lord Dumbledore his signet ring, we will proceed." Aberforth did so and Jonathon placed it on his finger. "Do you, Lord Jonathon Dumbledore, wish at this time to claim your seat in this august body and your vote associated with that seat?"

"I do, High Warlock."

The Wizengamot went through the same ritual that they had just performed with the elder Dumbledore, then Josiah Zabini instructed Jonathon to choose his seat placement. Jonathon took his wand and levitated the seat from the far right of the Light wizard side toward the aisle, sitting it firmly beside Harry's seat, still on the side of light, then strode up the stairway to take his place. There were several shocked whispers, but then the polite applause began, ending only when Dumbledore took his seat.

Harry noticed that the young lady who had been standing in the Dumbledore group had left the floor with the family, headed for the gallery. He turned to Jonathon and whispered, "Your girlfriend?"

"No, she is my sister, Jennifer." Turning to Harry, he held out his hand. "I know that you have a lot of issues with my great-great uncle, but I hope that you can set that aside. We will be sitting pretty close here for a long time."

"I have nothing against you or your family. Can we get together later so that we can become acquainted?" Harry shook the proffered hand.

"Of course. Send an owl when you are ready. You have to go back to school soon, don't you?"

"September 1st. How about the 25th of August?"

"Sounds good to me. Is it alright to bring a guest or two? My great grandfather will not be coming, he is still in a state of denial and blames you for everything, but my mum and sister would like to come, I am sure."

"It's a date. I will see you then. By the way, I don't know if you know, but if that ring shocks your hand, don't grab it unless you are ready to come here."

"Ahh. I wondered how they got everyone together so quickly." With that, the two waited for the Wizengamot to recess, then left.

Headquarters, Metropolitan Police, London

Harry waited in line to speak to the constable in charge of the desk. When he reached the front, the officer gave him a bored look. "How may I help you?"

"My car turned up missing and I need to file a report."

"Name and address?"

"James Black, 35 Wiltshire Place." This was the dummy address that Gringotts had put on his drivers license and passport. It was a dingy 3rd floor walkup with very few amenities. The first time Harry had seen it was today, he needed to see if it actually existed before he attempted to claim his car. He was unsurprised to see a notice on his door to contact the police at his earliest convenience.

The constable was tapping on his computer. "Ah, here it is. Are you claiming that your automobile was stolen?" He was looking at Harry with an unbelieving stare.

"Yes officer, I am."

"Mr. Black, you will need to speak with Sgt. Robinson in the traffic division. He can take your report." The constable handed Harry a visitor's badge and directed him to the proper room. Harry went through the security screening area, then headed to the office of Sgt. Robinson. Entering, he looked around the room until he saw the sergeant's desk, then went over to introduce himself.

"Sgt. Robinson, my name is James Black. I was told that I needed to see you."

The officer waved arry to a seatHHarry to a seat. "Mr. Black, I have been waiting for you. What in the hell possessed you to run off after crashing your car this morning?"

"Excuse me? I came in here to report my car missing."

Robinson grinned like the cat who just found out that canary was on the menu for today's lunch. The red light camera operator had looked through the film taken just before the accident and had reported that the driver of the auto appeared to be the same person that the car was registered to. They had found this out by checking the driver's license photographs of the registered owner. He was planning on springing this on Harry once he had dug himself in deep enough to warrant charges of filing a false police report and leaving the scene of an accident. After all, traffic detectives did not often have malefactors willingly come in to stick their own heads in a noose.

"Really, and when did this theft happen?"

"I'm not sure of the exact time, I had just come home from a friend's house and discovered the car missing an hour ago. I saw a notice on the door to come in here. You say it was in an accident? You obviously have not caught the thief since you asked that ridiculous question."

Robinson was enjoying himself. He had not seen the actual red light photos, but he knew that if Amanda Jenkins said the photos matched, then they matched. "Mr. Black, may I see your driver's license?" Harry handed it over. Harry was under his 30 year old, sandy haired glamour, and this was what the license showed. Robinson typed in the license number and the license info, along with a matching photograph popped up on the computer screen. Robinson turned the monitor toward Harry.

"This is your license information and your photo, correct?"

"Yes"

Robinson picked up his phone and dialed an internal number. "Jenkins, what is the file number on that accident we spoke of earlier? The old Cooper. Right." Robinson was writing down the reference number. "Thank you." He hung up the receiver, then spun the monitor toward himself, opened up an internal file, and without waiting for it to finish loading, turned the monitor back toward Harry.

"Now, Mr. Black, when this photo comes up on the screen, tell me what the person behind the wheel looks like."

"Hmm. Well, Sergeant, he looks to be underage, maybe 16 years old, black hair, slightly built…"

Robinson grabbed the monitor and spun it back. This could not be right. He gaped at the screen. Sure enough, the picture was of a teenager, not the 30 year old man who was sitting in front of him. Harry was starting to enjoy himself. Recovering quickly, Robinson asked, "Do you recognize the person in your car?" He was going to strangle Jenkins, or at least put in a recommendation that she receive a vision screening.

Harry knew what happened. He had not worn his glamour for the run to the restaurant, so his driver's license reflected that fact. The hapless camera operator must have pulled up the computer file while he was at the Wizengamot with no glamour, making the photos the same. Since he was now wearing a glamour, the computer file also reflected the photo on his license, which changed appearances when he did.

"Looks like a real delinquent, Sergeant. Sneaky look, beady eyes. You should probably check the school records at St. Brutus' School for Incorrigible Boys. If he is not an inmate there, he should be. Now, what is the status of my car?"

"I'm sorry to say that your car has gone its last mile. The accident was rather spectacular. It rammed the car in front of it in the middle of the intersection, then careened off and struck a signal light, causing the pole to break off and land on the roof. The car is now in impound waiting to be claimed, although the impound fee is probably more than the car is worth. You did have insurance on it?"

"Just liability. I could not see insuring a twenty year old car for anything more. Can I just sign the title over for the impound charges?"

"You can do that for the disposal, but the towing and impound will also need to be paid since the auto is not worth enough to cover that." Robinson wrote an address on a notepad. "Here is the location of the car, I suggest that you go there before the storage fees become unreasonable. I'm sorry about your car, but we will endeavor to catch the thief as soon as possible."

Harry stood up. "Thank you, Sergeant. I will take care of this immediately." With that, he left the office.

Catching a taxi, Harry went to the impound yard and paid the fees and signed over his title to the car. He then caught another cab and had it drop him at the out-of-order phone booth that was the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He picked up the receiver and dialed the number.

"State your business."

"Lord Potter-Black, I need to see someone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." The badge came out of the coin return.

"Present your wand at the weighing station. Welcome Lord Potter-Black."

Harry went inside, checked in at the wand station, then proceeded to the DMLE office. He was surprised to see Madam Bones waiting for him when he arrived. He had not expected this, he thought that any Auror could help him.

"Lord Potter-Black, how can I help you today?"

"I just had something minor that I needed done, no sense in wasting the time of the Head of Department."

"You know what they say, R.H.I.P." At Harry's quizzical expression, she smiled. "Old muggle saying, but it applies here also. It means, 'rank hath its privileges'."

As they walked toward her office, Harry briefed her on the accident. "I really need to get this behind me, I can't be in disguise every time I go out into muggle London, and I would just as soon not be nicked for stealing and wrecking my own car."

Madam Bones smiled. "I don't see a problem, Lord Potter-Black. I will send over an Obliviator to remove the good Sergeant's memories of you, and we have a contact who can make the accident photos and the file disappear." They entered her office and she closed the door. "On a personal note, how are you holding up?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course. May I call you Harry? Your title is a mouthful."

"Madam Bones, all of my friends call me Harry. I would be honored to count you among that group."

"Then you must call me Amelia."

"Okay Amelia. I feel like I am running in place and losing ground. A few months ago, all I had to worry about was my O.W.L.s and the fact that a homicidal maniac had made it his mission in life to reunite me with my dead parents. Just another walk in the park," he said somewhat wryly. "Now I'm helping Professor McGonagall reorganize the school, trying to manage 2 properties by myself, never mind that I also have other properties I have not even seen, such as the Potter family holdings. I have a staff of house elves who have a fondness for butterbeer and portrait Quiddich who get really nasty when they are hung over, I wrecked my car by not knowing that the blasted signet rings are disguised portkeys. And I STILL have not been able to find the time to eat breakfast this morning!" Add to that the fact that I am at the beck and call of the Wizengamot, and you can see that I am just a bit overwhelmed. In fact, I have been feeling somewhat like a duck."

Seeing Amelia's puzzled look, Harry explained. "On the surface, I may appear to be calm and collected, but underneath, I'm having to paddle like crazy."

Amelia laughed at the mental picture. "Why don't you make it easy on yourself? Have your solicitor hire a property manager to take care of your different holdings, and have the goblins deliver your earnings statements to the solicitor. Then go back to school and enjoy the new system that you created. I, for one, am interested how this House experiment of yours will turn out. The other thing is your seat at the Wizengamot. Just because you are summoned, that does not mean that you have to drop everything and go. Keep a house elf handy and when you are summoned, have him find out what the agenda for the Wizengamot meeting entails. If it is something that is not critical, pass on the meeting. That is what many members do if they are working. If it is that important, there will be a quorum in order to conduct business."

Harry was relieved. "You mean that I don't necessarily need to attend all of those meetings?"

"Merlin, no. Didn't you notice the times that you were there that there were empty seats?" Harry nodded. "Those missing members did not feel it necessary to be present. Its not as if they will fire you if you don't show up. In fact, when you have something important at school or home, just take the ring off and put it in safekeeping. Now all of that aside, I think that I can help you with another problem."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"It's a bit late for breakfast, but let me buy you lunch."

"Amelia, I believe that I will take you up on that."

A/N: I know that it is going a bit slow, but I plan to get Harry back aboard the Hogwarts Express soon. Next up, Dinner with the Dumbledores!