Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. As Proof of this, notice the sixth book does not have Luna searching for Crumple Horned Snorkacks... in Harry's pants!

Chapter 4 – What is a name?

Fudge wasn't having a good month… no he wasn't having a good term! First Harry Potter decides to tell him that the greatest threat to wizarding world in probably over 400 years is not only back but collecting followers.

It didn't help that the story was so preposterous, that he believed it impossible.

Then the Potter child, again, has to go and prove he was telling the truth after Fudge spent over a year calling Harry Potter a liar. Unfortunately, Rita Skeeter, who had a mass following of gossip starved housewives and gullible Lunatic supporters, decided to do a 180 and support the boy when she previously had started the whole attention seeking psychopath rumours to begin with. It was really all her fault.

Then his Undersecretary who Fudge had been recorded as saying would make a fantastic high inquisitor and defence teacher, had charges of abusing her students laid against her.

Not to mention Sirius Black being proven to have fought against Voldemort at the ministry skirmish, forcing people to question his guilt. The Weasley toady becoming a turncoat and leaking confidential details to the blasted Order of the Phoenix… allowing an enquiry to be proposed.

And then there was the media (his greatest friend and enemy) fully proclaiming Harry a tortured hero. Tortured at the hands of Minister Fudge himself.

To top it all off…

"You exposed the Magical World YOU FOOL!" a very red Magical Minister bellowed into the calm face of his non magical counterpart.

"Centuries of hard work destroyed. You are going to be locked up in the dankest cell in Azkaban… Do You Hear Me!" Spittle flew from Fudges mouth landing on the Ministers desk. The Prime Minister pulled out a tissue from a flower encrusted box and cleaned the liquid of his well polished desk. Returning to his relaxed position once the spit was gone, the Prime minister looked at his guest in a pleasant manner.

"Hello Minister Fudge, can I interest you in a drink?" the man only received a glare in response to his hospitality. "No… maybe next time then." The Prime minister pulled a black device off his desk and pressed a button while speaking into one end… "Helen, can I have you bring me up some …"

What the prime minister was about to ask for was never heard as Fudge slammed the handle back on to its place holder.

"Well that was quite rude Minister..." The prime minister said indignantly to the rapidly reddening face of Fudge.

"Do you understand what you have done…"

"What have I done?"

"What have you...? YOU EXPOSED MAGIC!" Fudge boomed once more.

"No I haven't" The minister said calmly. Fudge almost believed him… letting his hope that luck had finally sided with him and changed the past week's events to suit Fudges happy world. But Fudge knew by now that luck was a cruel bitch, and she didn't seem to like him too much.

"You announced it all over the world… we know, it's been on your telefisions repeatedly." The Minister growled.

'Who did he think he was, trying to deny it? I'm not an idiot'

"Oh you mean the 7800!" The man said in showy realization.

"Quite a remarkable group…" He said conversationally. Fudge didn't like the all too familiar twinkle in the man's eye. It was knowing and superior. It reminded him of Dumbledore and that condescending way he always spoke with him… as if he were some idiot child.

"Don't hide behind your silly little names… you've kidnapped wizarding citizens, and brainwashed them into performing for you."

Fudge was sure that by the end of the week he would be kicked out of office. Even if it could not possibly be his fault; he had made too many mistakes, and found himself crossing the wrong people too often this term. The only chance he had was to somehow get the people to blame someone else and forget about the minister long enough for him to garner any support he could bribe, blackmail, or beg into helping him. That was why he was here, the meeting with the minister was to see his reaction and plan how he was to present his scapegoat.

Fudge had expected the man to be cowering in fear of him, completely remorseful, and begging for forgiveness.

"I assure you minister, those individuals are all free to do as they wish and have been helping us willingly for over a century. As we have helped them." The man said assuredly if not smugly.

"Enough of this… you will go to your newspapers, and claim it a hoax. You will deny it and pray that you see the light of day after I'm through with you." Fudge ordered. He was getting highly uncomfortable with the self assured looks of the man.

'He just doesn't know what a dementor can do is all… He will soon' the minister thought malevolently.

"No"

"And then you will have these wizards and witches meet with our …" Fudge had just understood what the man had said as he lounged in his chair.

"No?"

"No" The minister assured him as he leaned back.

"Now see here… you have broken international treaties. You will do as I…"

"I've broken no treaties minister…" The man said confidently.

"Broken No treaties…? You Expo…"

"Exposed the magical World yes yes… I heard you the first few times..." The man said tiredly. "I am telling you that I did not."

'The man is insane!'

"If that isn't exposing the magical world, what is it then?" The man asked condescendingly!

The minister seemed to perk up as if he had finally gotten to the part he was looking forward to.

"We have simply revealed research findings of an advanced stage of evolution. Our treaties state that all instances of magic are to be held within your control…. However, Muggle matters are Muggle matters. That means that all breakthroughs in science are within our discretion. The 7800 are a scientific breakthrough, thus we have broken no treaties. Quite remarkable really… we have been studying the phenomenon for over a century as you've heard."

Fudge paled as he realized what the man had said. "You studied…"

'They experimented on witches and wizards… they probably tortured them into doing their bidding!' Fudge panicked. 'They aren't supposed to be able to do that… what if they try to capture me next!'

The other minister quickly realized what the minister was thinking.

"Oh don't worry, completely voluntary. It was hard to find them at first but once we knew what to look for… The research is quite groundbreaking. "The man said excitedly as he turned his back towards the minister and decided to get himself a drink.

"You sure you don't want a brandy?" the man offered distractedly.

"Stop this nonsense at once! I am the minister of magic… I demand you turn over all information you have collected on us and you will comply…" again the minister was interrupted by the mild but quick uncooperative answers.

"No… mmmhh, I do so love this drink." The man continued to enjoy his amber liquid as the other minister was starting to lose what dignity he could muster.

"Now see here…"

"If you look on the coffee table by the fire place, you will see a brown envelope." The man said as if he was finally starting a serious conversation. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together around his short glass, as he sat in a well padded couch across from Fudge.

Fudge who thought maybe the man had started to see reason went over and opened the folds of the paper and pulled out…

"What is this?" fudge said, puzzled by the blue envelope and files that read "Treaty negotiations. (Tentative schedule)."

"As we speak your other magical ministers are receiving similar envelopes… The blue one is a plane ticket to get you to our chosen local. Within four weeks, we will meet again in Australia at the predetermined installation… you will find when you land, you will be greeted by an entourage of security and guides to help you acclimate to your time in Perth.

"What in damnation are you talking about?" Fudge did not like feeling like he was not in the know. He had hoped it would be the one wielding the wand, who would control this confrontation. Namely, him.

"Well you will find out in the envelope once you read it but I will summarize some of the key points. The negotiations are to be done to re evaluate the relationship the normal and magical governments have. We will discuss issues such as land rights, distribution of resources, laws, and other pressing issues. It will probably be a very long process… The negotiations could go on for years really." The man said thoughtfully.

"Re-evaluate our relationship? What do you think gives you the right to do that…" the pompous man goaded. 'A Muggle is telling me what to do, if he weren't insane I might laugh'

The man stiffened at the jibe but let it pass as he said. "You may find that the 'Muggle' government is willing to be an excellent ally minister, or a very dangerous enemy." The minister warned as he stood rigidly and walked over to his desk where he forcefully pulled at the handle of the device he tried to use earlier and said calmly. "Please show the minister out Helen."

"Now see here, were not through." Fudge bristled at being ignored.

"I'm sorry minister but I do have a very busy schedule. If you need to contact me there is a phone number to schedule appointments… none of that popping in nonsense you've been doing. It's quite rude you know." The man said casually as he grabbed a portfolio and started to put on his coat.

"You can show yourself out…"

"You will stay here and clear your schedule. You are going to fix…" Fudge demanded in offence at the dismissal.

"I'm truly sorry minister but I must be going."

Fudge snapped. 'He leaves when I say he can!'

"Petrificus Totalus!" The minister stiffened and fudge was waiting for the man to fall over so he could start to yell at his terrified body. To Fudges surprise, the man just stood still with his shoulders hunched.

'He's stuck standing up… that doesn't usually happen' the man thought. 'Either way, he can listen to me or he won't be moving from that position.' Fudge thought smugly. He took a step forward as he cleared his voice and started his long winded monologue.

"Now you will…"

"Security…"

No sooner than the faux petrified man had said the word, a dozen men in black clothing filled the room from God knows where.

"How... Ooof" Fudge was manhandled as he was pushed to the floor while a couple other agents shackled him and patted him in different locations.

"Unhand me you…"

"He's clear sir!"

"Good. Now minister for unprovoked attack and… I believe you were trying to restrain me… which could be considered kidnapping easily… My men will have to take you in. I believe you will be released once they are assured you have learnt your lesson." A smug voice declared.

"But on the upside, you will have plenty of time to read through that envelope I prepared for you."

"How did you break free? Muggles can't break the hex." Fudge didn't even care that he was talking so openly about magic in front of a squadron of Muggles. He wanted to know how the prime minister had done the impossible.

"I never broke the …hex did you say? You just never cast it." The man said as if it were obvious.

"What are you talking about?" Fudge was no Dumbledore, or Auror, but he knew how to cast that spell. 'Had done it a few times too.'

"Oh I completely forgot to tell you minister…" The man said as if he believed he had forgotten by accident.

"As of…seven minutes ago I believe…" He received a nod from what looked like the leader of the Muggle mob who was restraining the panicked man.

"Yes seven minutes ago, all magic within 'Normal' cities and villages have been inhibited until further notice. You should find it all in that enve…"

"What do you mean inhibited." Fudge interrupted caustically as he struggled against his captures.

"Hmm oh I thought inhibited was a good word to use… well from now until further notice… no magic can or will be performed by a magic user on the non magical's land. Of course we have made an allowance for your healing magic but that is the only exception. Any crimes committed on our soil by a wizard or witch will be dealt with by us and should we feel it accept…"

"You can't turn off magic!" Fudge was terrified… no one could just suppress magic. No one could stop him from being a wizard… 'I am no Squib!'

Fudge concentrated on apperating out of the large mans grip and getting to Auror headquarters where he would have each and every man arrested and in Azkaban faster than he could say Black.

Fudge stiffened and tried. He tried again… he started to thrash in his attempts that were failing him. He didn't care if he permanently splinched himself. He needed to be able to do magic.

"How …HOW Are you doing this?" the man who was nearly in tears as his gift would not work. It was like waking to find his arms amputated after playing catch the day before. It terrified the man.

"As I said, it's all in the envelope. I believe you will have to go with security now… Minister" the man said with a predatory grin on his face.

The guards started to pull him up as he was being guided to the door, and eventually a very grey cell.

"You can't do this… I have magic!" Fudge said desperately if not a little crazed.

The other minister stopped and raised his left hand in a gesture indicating them to stop.

"Minister Fudge, I want you to understand something." The man said calmly. He paused and let his words drift around the room before continuing.

"I learned when I was starting politics that everything has a name. Names helped us identify what it was we were referring to; it also helped us identify its place in our world. It helped ground us; mould our thoughts, our actions, and our reactions."

"Magic is but a name minister. It helped us hope for a better world where dreams are possible. It had its place and it served us faithfully… but we have reached a stage where we are out growing its comfort. We are starting to understand it minister."

He finally turned to face the man with the lost expression. He almost felt sorry for the man… almost.

"It's only magic when we can't understand it. It's only magic when there are no explanations for its existence…. It's only magic when it's still magical. When magic is none of these things, it stops being magic."

"Magic has a new name… we call it Science. I suggest you remember that."

All fudge saw as he was dragged away were the calm but predatory eyes of the Other Minister.

:-..-..-..-..-:

Minister of Magic Arrested by Muggles

Magical Blackouts Revealed to be Muggle Based.

North American ministries declare civil war on their Muggle counterparts.

These were the headlines over the next week. The citadel had gone into a sort of lockdown upon the news of the exposure, where only a select few individuals were allowed to come and go, while Dumbledore attended the summit in Australia. As such most of the order was restless and edgy.

After being yelled at repeatedly for getting in the way of high strung, nameless order members, the group decided to spend most of their time in the boys' quarters; the girls were nowhere as big or luxurious.

"Calm down Ron I'm sure there won't be witch hunts anymore." Hermione said patiently as she tried to calm down her male friend. Most of the purebloods had been frantic with worry of attack. Living a life surrounded by magic and suddenly finding out that they could not perform it wherever they chose to was needless to say, very disconcerting. The magical world, strictly witch and wizard locations that Muggles did not inhabit still seemed impervious to this block.

Which as Hermione correctly interpreted meant that this was targeted and precision based. The Muggles could enforce this block at specific locations.

"Calm down… how can I? This is a disaster."

"What's so bad about it?" Harry asked. He knew the wizarding world had its little quirks but he never understood all the hoopla with hiding the magical world. Harry understood that this was a big deal of course but why everyone, including the Muggleborns, were acting near hysterical, was beyond him.

Hermione looked up at Harry as if she was just now seeing him. "It will cause problems Harry. The Muggles won't understand what we are… imagine your relatives times 6 billion. They will try to eradicate us."

Harry shivered at the thought of 6 billion Aunt Petunias. Harry thought Hermione was being a little hasty though in her condemnation.

"There probably will be groups like that, yeah… but just because my relatives are like that doesn't mean all Muggles will be like that… look at your parents." Harry was pleased he didn't bow out after Hermione used her lecturing tone on him. Normally he would just shut up and let her think she had persuaded him to her way of thinking. Normally he and she were of the same mind so it wasn't an issue but sometimes Harry just did not agree but would get flustered by Hermione's self confidence. 'Not this time'

"Well my parents are okay with magic but they are still tense when they find out about some magical things." Hermione explained. "It's gotten to the point where I just don't tell them anything about what goes on at school anymore."

Harry realized he was getting into dangerous territory; he really wanted to question Hermione on how much she actually talked to her parents about anything but realized he might be crossing some boundaries.

It just frustrated him because like Ron, Hermione had a decent home life with not just parents, but accepting parents who were supportive of their daughter. This summer was one of the few times Harry had actually gotten to see Hermione interact with her family and Harry thought that she spoke to her parents as if she were talking to Neville or himself in potions.

"Well… I don't know enough about your family to say much; but I'd rather hopes that the Muggles would react similar to your parents. I mean it's not like they are going to tie you to a stake and set you on fire for the guy Fawkes bonfires"

"How do you know?" Neville asked nervously. He was acting a bit better composed than Ron, but was extra fidgety since he first saw the story on the Television.

Harry was getting irritated now. 'What am I missing here?'

"I ask you, what's so bad about the Muggles knowing we exist" Harry was getting frustrated and inadvertently growled at his fellow Gryffindor. "Something specific…"

Harry would feel sorry for that later but other than the fear of witch hunts starting up again Harry couldn't see what was so bad.

"They'll try to get us to … you know do magic for them." Neville stuttered. Ron nodded emphatically as if this was a very insightful answer.

"So?"

"So… so they will try to get us to solve their problems for them with magic." Hermione said equally exasperated with her friend.

"So let them ask… it's not like it's such a bad idea." Harry ground out.

"Not such a bad idea… it's horrible… can't you see how terrible that could turn out" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Explain it to me… what is the worst that could happen if the Muggles asked us for help." Harry challenged.

"Why they… the Muggles could…" Ron tried to think up a suitably horrible situation but was drawing a blank.

"If the Muggles asked us for help; we could do it or we could refuse… it's not like we're going to become slaves." Harry said resolutely to the momentarily perplexed group.

"How do you know… we could be the next house elves" Ron said terrified. Hermione seemed to perk up and shudder all at once. It was a moment that Ron had truly empathized with the house elves, but also a moment where she realized she could be the one needing a S.P.E.W. for herself.

"Why would they do that?" Harry asked

"For our magic…" Neville said.

"But what's stopping us from fighting back with our magic if they try that?" Harry goaded.

"They could suppress our magic like they are doing now" Hermione pointed out.

"But then we aren't able to do magic for them… we would be exactly like them. The wizarding world may be small but we are spread out… they know that, it's not like they want a war." Harry said reasonably. Harry was enjoying arguing his thoughts. It felt nice to be able to defend his own beliefs instead of someone else's.

Harry had never really been satisfied when Hagrid had told him the same argument for why magic was a secret. He did not ague at the time because this was the man that was freeing him from the Dursley's, but he had always questioned the logic of his argument.

"Luna what do you think?" Neville asked. Luna had been quite throughout the discussion, and continued to stare vacantly at the articles.

"I'm not completely happy that it has happened… "

"See even Luna agrees" Hermione proclaimed a little surprised that the girl was taking the reasonable approach.

"… but" Hermione groaned as the girl continued to subvert her logical ideals. "They never actually called it magic. The magical world is still hidden, only now they are giving us all a cover. Technically we could now do magic and claim to be a part of the group."

Harry smiled smugly around the room as everyone realized that Luna was right. Harry remembered at the end of last year how Luna had been able to calm him down. She seemed to have a knack for setting things in perspective. The girl could be very perceptive and profound when she wanted to be.

"This could be a good thing; they could help us make new discoveries in any number of fields." Harry nodded at this in firm support of what Luna was saying as she was starting to sway even Hermione.

Luna paused and looked at Harry. "Do you think if daddy and I approached them they could help us find the Snorkacks?"

Harry paused his smile and tried to comprehend Luna's question. He mused that it was inevitable for Luna to say something like that.

"They just might Ms. Lovegood." A grandfatherly voice answered to Harry's far left.

"Do you think so?" Luna asked unsurprised at the mysterious entrance of Albus Dumbledore.

"I would suggest you consult with your father on the matter but at the moment it might be better to wait until the situation start to cool down before you approach anyone about the subject.

"Hello sir"

"Good evening Mr. Potter. I have just arrived back from the negotiations. I thought you might appreciate a little gossip from an old man." The headmaster smiled at the group.

"Of course Professor" Hermione gushed as she leaned forward with rapt attention. Harry privately thought the information was more for himself but was unsure as to why this was significant enough that the headmaster would take time out of his schedule to explain it personally.

"Professor, not that we don't appreciate you telling us… but why are you telling us?" Harry asked. Hermione shot him a scathing look at his question while Ron looked at him as if he was crazy. Neville who looked at Harry a little perplexed had a thoughtful look upon his face as well as he turned to stare at the headmaster expectantly.

"An excellent question Harry, I won't be telling you everything of course but much of what we discussed will have deep impacts on the wizarding world. These impacts affect the wizarding world positively and negatively, thus affecting our fight against Voldemort in a similar manner."

Harry was starting to grasp where the headmaster was headed and silently hoped that he would not…

"Like I told you in my office at the end of last year I won't be keeping secrets from you that directly involve you again…" Harry was shaking his head with wide eyes as subtlety as possible, while looking at each person in the room significantly.

The headmasters frowned slightly but did not go into further detail.

"As I was saying… the summit was used primarily to introduce the issues that the mugg…non magical world wished to change. They are being quite forceful in their demands, I must admit, but they are not completely unreasonable."

"How so?" Hermione asked as she continued to stare at Harry suspiciously.

"For example, they have implemented their own form of unforgivable spells list. Any use of these spells on a non magical individual will result in life imprisonment. It is still a mystery as to how they acquired their knowledge of magic but because of it; it is now illegal to perform memory charms with the standard unforgivable."

"Why memory charms?" Ron asked.

"As you and Mr. Potter learned in second year, it does not take a very powerful wizard to perform the charm and erase any sensitive memory from the minds of their victims. It is actually a very appropriate spell to be classified as unforgivable. The only reason the magical world has never classified it thusly is because of their previous need to erase evidence of a magical incident."

"Sir?" Ron asked. 'He simply did not comprehend how obliviate ranked with Crucio.

"Mr. Weasley, Imagine for a moment that you are a mugg… Non magical individual, and you come home to find your family being held captive by a random wizard. They may have come simply to rob your family of your possessions but they inadvertently killed one if not all of them. Would you want to have another wizard come along and forcefully remove the last moments you've had with your family all to keep their world secret."

Ron paled at the thought and Harry momentarily wondered how hopeless he would feel in such a situation, with someone waving a stick to manipulate his mind like that.

"It is a sad fact I'm afraid, that this story has happened many, many more times than I can comprehend. A person could go from enjoying a Weasley style dinner with siblings and parents, to eating alone, and never know what happened to leave them so lonely." Dumbledore said morosely.

Harry was indignant for the Muggles. He thought about the department of mysteries and if he had been a Muggle he would never remember that his godfather had willingly come to help him. It ate at his soul every day, that his godfather died for him, but it also filled him with such a sense of belonging that Harry felt guilty that he could take any joy out of the situation. The man had risked his life repeatedly because he cared for his godson so. Harry would never want to forget the pride that he had in his godfather, the pride that Sirius Black was his Godfather, and no one else's…

"The non magical world never agreed to the statue of secrecy as they were the ones that would be forced to enforce it willingly or not. The wizarding world has claimed land and resources over the centuries because they were stated to be magical, thus belonging to themselves according to the treaty. The wizarding world has erased evidence of horrendous crimes against the Muggle world simply because they could and the Muggle's would never know. The wizarding world has already conquered the non magical world, simply because the non magical could not enforce their basic human rights, until now." The headmaster said quietly but passionately.

"As a result of this the wizarding world is on a type of probationary period. By the end of the week the suppression field they have created around their cities will be disabled on good faith that the wizarding world will behave. All apparition and portkey privileges onto their land will be regulated through their government and any laws broken on their land will be dealt with by their own law enforcement."

"Is that all, that doesn't sound so bad?" Neville said in relief.

"As I said, they are being quite reasonable so far. Unfortunately many of the more pureblood based governments are having trouble accepting the high handed approach the Muggle's are taking. They are actually quite fortunate to have had the North American continents declare civil war on their non magical counter parts…"

"Sir?" Harry asked a little disturbed that the headmaster saw the benefit to an entire continent going to war.

"Oh… that did not come out as I had intended… you see the non magical governments have been given an opportunity to show the magical world that they are capable of fighting against a magical enemy. By the end of the month the order has projected that the large scale attacks by the magical government will be completely abolished and the skirmishes will be in small vigilante groups after the government concedes to a cease fire."

"Within a month?" Ron said incredulously. Everyone in the room was surprised by the estimated defeat of the North American wizards. A few weeks ago Harry would have laughed at the idea of the Muggle's overpowering a magical army… now he was living the unlikely scenario.

"Oh yes… the magical world at the moment is currently unable to combat the suppression field the Muggle's have somehow devised. As a result they are forced to rely on physical combat and weapons. Since the last time a wizard has fought with a weapon that wasn't a wand, was in the era of the founders… you can see how they are at a disadvantage without magic. The order is far more capable of going to war but since we are unanimous in our decision to resolve the situation peacefully the North American wizarding world are forced to use their Auror force."

"Now from what I have told you about the situation… can you make a connection to Voldemort." Harry ignored the slight twitches his friends had at the name.

'There are so many different ways this affects Voldemort and me. Voldemort can't use magic with the suppressors, then again neither can I...'

Harry looked at the headmaster and tried to answer but ran through dozens of different aspects that could be important.

"You-Know-Who won't attack anyone until he understands the suppressors more."

Harry turned to Luna in surprise. "How do you figure?"

"Ms. Lovegood is quite correct. I can see why you were placed in Ravenclaw." The headmaster praised. Harry could have sworn he saw Luna blush under the headmasters compliment. "Please do explain further." The headmaster asked the odd girl.

"Well, You- Know-Who, just lost a lot of his followers and was recently exposed to the wizarding world. If he were to attack now and fail against the Muggle's it would be a blow to his persona. Some of his pureblood support would question his leadership capabilities and he would have dissention amongst his followers, also it's possible the wollykomas will use the attacks against the Muggle's as a chance to take You-Know-Who host while he can't perform the proper incantation to repel them." Luna said authoritatively. Ron snorted at the last bit and Dumbledore chuckled at the inclusion of the mystery creature.

"I had not thought of the wollykomas myself. That would indeed be something to be concerned about." The headmaster smiled at the girl. Harry wasn't sure how serious the headmaster was but had the feeling that even if he was humouring her it was done in the most respectful way he had heard yet.

Hermione looked on conflicted as Luna Lovegood had given an insightful and if Dumbledore was to be believed, accurate analysis of the situation… but she had also mentioned a fictitious creature and other nonsense. She chose to remain quite, for no other reason than the headmaster's presence.

"Now I am not telling you this Harry to put your guard down, Alastor would be quite offended if you did. I am mentioning this to ease your mind for the foreseeable future. It will no doubt come as a shock when Voldemort does finally attack but I do not see such an occurrence happening anytime soon." The headmaster said warmly.

Harry smiled his thanks.

"Now I must be going, but I do need to talk to you Harry about something else… can you accompany me while I head to the board room?" The headmaster asked carelessly.

Harry nodded and got up to follow. He did not see the suspicious looks Hermione was shooting him, nor the thoughtful look Neville had on.

Harry and the headmaster walked in silence for the next few minutes until they reached the room with the enormous table. The headmaster hit a concealed button on the wall and the walls shimmered and crackled before fading out of existence… but not without leaving a quite high pitched hum in its wake.

"I'm sorry Harry, I was not aware that you had not told your friends about the prophecy yet." The headmaster apologised.

'Yet?' Harry realized that the headmaster had expected him to tell his friends the prophecy. He wasn't sure whether he would enforce this expectation if Harry didn't.

"Sir… I'm not sure I will tell my friends the prophecy at all." Harry said nervously.

The headmaster did not say anything. His face remained expressionless as he faced Harry.

"May I ask why?" Harry hated it when the headmaster was expressionless. He felt like he was digging his own grave with each word.

"Well like you said, Voldemort does not know the full contents of the prophecy. The fewer people I were to tell about the prophecy, the less likely that he will get the contents of it."

"I do not believe your friends would betray your…"

"No sir… it's not that. It's just, the prophecy isn't even safe in my mind as it is, I don't want to even think about giving Voldemort four other targets to get the full contents of the prophecy from."

Harry watched the headmaster as he was clearly surprised by his student. 'Did he expect me to already be able to protect the information…?' Harry wondered apprehensively.

"I am … surprised that you would admit your limitations in protecting the prophecy."

Harry did not need reminding of the moment he learned of his destiny. At the time he was ready to perform his second unforgivable at the shear indignation that the headmaster had hidden something so big from him. But after enough time Harry had come to realize that he was his own security risk until he learned to protect his mind.

'I couldn't even shield my mind from Snape. How am I supposed to protect it from Voldemort?'

"I've had time sir" Harry said emotionlessly.

"Well I am proud of your for recognizing your limitations, but you are still able to tell them the first half of the prophecy while we arrange for a way for you to protect you mind. I believe I did tell you that Voldemort only heard that much." The headmaster suggested. "I don't want you to believe I am forbidding you from disclosing this information to your friends after you have done so much together."

Harry winced.

"Ah… I see there is another reason." The headmaster said knowingly.

Harry thought about just walking out but felt the need to defend his position.

"I can't tell them sir. They will try to demand to help… If I were to go into that room again and tell them it's him or me, they'll do something stupid and feel obligated to try and help me fight him, if they have to die trying; not to mention their families." Harry said in one long breath. Harry was pacing as he revealed his fear to his headmaster.

"Is it not their choice Mr. Potter?" The headmaster said sadly. Harry thought that just maybe, the headmaster was not really trying to persuade him to tell the prophecy; he seemed to be trying to just understand Harry's motivation.

"It may be their choice to fight, but it's my choice to let them fight with me. You said the prophecy isn't set in stone; fine, but the prophecy does say that only one of us has to die for it to be over. I'm not increasing the number just on the off chance that I may live to bury one of my friends… I've had enough of that." Harry said angrily.

"There is still a chance that your friends will die if they are not told of the prophecy." The Headmaster said reasonably.

"I'm not naive enough to believe that the people I care about will all survive. But there is still a chance, and I am going to cling to it." Harry was breathing deeply as his fists trembled. He had worked himself up and knew that if he were to continue he might lose control. His insecurities about his own death and his fears that the people around him would die as well were now laid out there, he was vulnerable… he did not like that.

The headmaster did not say anything for what seemed like an eternity; he finally looked up to Harry with unreadable eyes.

"I have said this before… but we are more similar than I would care to admit Harry." The headmaster said in that same dead voice that he remembered him saying it in, last time.

"I understand your feelings on the issue more than you might believe; should you ever need to talk with me on the matter my door will always be open. I will not bring up the subject further." Harry and the Professor both knew that neither would ever discuss it again even if the option was available.

:-..-..-..-..-:

"What was that about Harry?" Hermione asked immediately once Harry entered the room. She took a stance reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley at her most formidable.

"Nothing much." Harry said distracted. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry.

"He just wanted to talk to me about my future is all" Harry said.

It wasn't quite a lie but Harry didn't feel sorry in the slightest. This was his business and he would handle it his way.

"What about it?" Hermione pressed on.

"Just some private matters." Harry said with finality.

Hermione frowned at Harry's clear refusal. "What did the headmaster mean about him hiding things from you?" Hermione asked instead.

'Dear God cant she let anything go.' Harry glared irately at his friend. Before ignoring her and turning to Ron and saying….

"I'm heading to bed… Night"

Harry saw in the reflection of the mirror on the right of his door that Hermione had opened her mouth to say something but Neville had placed his hands on her shoulder and shook his head in a firm commanding no.

Harry was never so glad that he could perform magic as he was now. He placed a locking charm and silencio on his door, opened his window and looked up into the night sky. Hedwig decided to forgo her hunt to keep her master company as he mirrored a white bearded man in another part of the tower being comforted by a scarlet colored bird who appeared out of a sudden fireball.

Both would not move from their spots until being called to do so in the morning.

AN: This is a fairly slow chapter but was necessary to set up some things for the next chapter and some events further into the story.

The Muggles got suppressors… Personally I don't remember any story I read where the Muggles had some way of blocking magic but it sounded too cliché for there to never have been one. Some of you might say that's it's a bit unrealistic for Muggles to be able to develop something so advanced… I disagree because in my story they have been studying magic for over a century worldwide. I will go into further detail in later chapters about the 7800 and the Muggle involvement… I may make another one shot explaining it in its entirety. I can't think of a way to do it without revealing some things that shouldn't be happening till after spring in my story… until then, they shall remain a mystery.

But for now… ill say that all the 7800 have been wizards and witches that never were invited into the magical world. Shant say any more.

This chapter also introduces Harry's main motivation throughout this story. I hope it doesn't sound too angsty but I don't wanna fic where Harry's friends convince him, he needs them to beat Voldemort… that kinda stuff always annoyed me.

Anyway… I'm going to try to update frequently to catch up the timelines before Christmas… But it's doubtful I'll be able to as that's about 9 chapters within 2 weeks.

Let's see.