Chapter twelve

After Harry spoke with Professor Sprout, she agreed with Harry and his friends. Harry seems to have a sixth sense, so she said that she would make sure all the badgers would be with Harry so he was never alone. She also said she would make sure Mad-eye Moody would not get inside the Hufflepuff rooms. She told Harry that unless he did something illegal there wasn't much else she could do, but she would keep a closer eye on him. She was concerned especially since Mad-eye Moody was very good friends with Albus Dumbledore.

Harry felt relieved but he was going to make sure he didn't drop his guard, neither were Susan, Hannah and Neville.

One thing Harry noticed over the next few days, McGonagall and Snape seemed to stare at him, Snape would glare. Harry knew McGonagall wasn't happy with him either especially with the way she kept pursing her lips when she looked at him. They must know that Harry was part of the reason that Albus Dumbledore was no longer at Hogwarts. He didn't care what those two thought of him, his old head of house never helped him with anything including the way Snape treated all the students that weren't in Slytherin. Harry called Snape a bully, so he didn't care if the person who was protecting him inside the castle was now gone. Hopefully now he wouldn't be able to pick on all the students, even if Harry wished Snape would leave.

Harry was in the library the night before they went home for Christmas, Susan was beside him, Neville and Hannah sitting opposite. They wanted to make sure they had at least one or two of their holiday assignments done so they could just have fun over the holidays.

'Harry, could I ask you something?'

The three puffs and one Gryffindor looked up at Hermione, 'Sure, I can't guarantee to give you an answer though.'

'Why did you have Professor Dumbledore arrested?'

'Tell me this first Hermione, since I know you follow the rules. Do you think someone, no matter who it is should get away with breaking the law and not just once but multiple times?'

'No, of course not.'

'Then I had him arrested because he broke the law, a lot of laws. He knew Sirius was not the secret keeper since he cast the fidelius charm. He allowed Sirius to sit in Azkaban for twelve years. The Bones manor has as many protections on it as Hogwarts yet Dumbledore placed me with Petunia for protection. Amelia is my godmother, she would have looked after me. Then think about wills, they are legal documents, Dumbledore ignored them when he took me to the Dursley's yet he knew my parent's stated I was not to go to them. He broke so many laws Hermione, he needed to be punished for that. He caused all the problems I had growing up, I want him out of my life, so I did it legally, by informing the head of the DMLE. He was Chief Warlock, he was supposed to enforce our laws yet he kept breaking them. Does that answer your question?'

'Yes, it does, he should not have done any of those things. I'm sorry I had to come to you but no one would tell me why he lost his jobs after being arrested.'

'Adults can make mistakes just like we can, but someone like Dumbledore who is powerful, can make big mistakes if he is not held accountable. It's time to look at the person and what they do right now, not what they did to get a name in the first place. You're smart Hermione, no one denies that, but sometimes you miss the obvious.'

'I know, I missed so much that it lost me my friend.'

'If you want friends Hermione, whether it's me or others, you have to stop with the attitude. Okay, you're smart but not everyone thinks like you do, they don't want to work all the time. We're kids, we have a few years here before we have to go out in the world to find work, have families. Use this time to have fun, but still study, just don't overdo it or expect everyone else to be like you. You're an overachiever, I respect that. I like to study, I spend every evening in here with Susan, Hannah and Neville, we do our assignments before they are due and we get good marks, yet we still have time to just be friends.'

'That sounds like good advice Harry, maybe when I can unlearn bad habits you won't mind us talking, occasionally.'

'Maybe we will.'

'I'll leave you four to your studies, thanks for explained about Professor Dumbledore.'

The four at the table watched as Hermione walk away, 'Do you think she will change?' Hannah asked.

'I think she will, this with Dumbledore showed her just how wrong she was to trust him completely. I can see her starting slow, maybe speaking with one of the girls in Gryffindor, she might even speak with you Neville. She knows you don't really hang around any of the boys in there.'

'I won't ignore her or anything, I'll see what she wants first. You know she doesn't talk to Ron or Ginny anymore. I think she may have heard about the contract or she found out something else.'

'I know she wouldn't be friends with people that try to use others. Hermione told me she never had friends before. If she thinks about how close the three of us were then how other friends behave, I think she will realise that she doesn't have to keep proving herself to her friends. Anyway, let's just finish this assignment so we can have fun over the holidays.'

'Now you're talking,' Hannah said, so the four friends started their work.

As soon as Amelia, Susan and Harry arrived at bone's manor, a house elf showed Harry to his rooms.

Harry followed the house elf through the door to see Sirius standing there, 'Hey Padfoot.'

'Hey pup, ready for a good Christmas holiday?'

'Yeah, my first one with…well, family.'

'We are family, Amelia, Susan and I are your family, you could add Remus to that.'

'Where was he all those years Sirius? I didn't know anything about him until last year.'

'Remus knew he could not get custody of you so he left, he believed you would have been taken care of. He wrote to Albus often to ask how you were, he always received the same response, you were fine, healthy and a normal boy. He didn't know you were with Petunia, not until he returned and noticed how…well, small you were compared to other boys your age. It was a bad time Harry, for all of us, we suspected everyone, Remus was one we kept thinking about a lot, that he was the spy. We thought that the life of a werewolf just got too hard. With your parent's gone and me locked up, he had no one to turn to. One thing Harry, he had no idea what your parent's wrote in their wills so he did not know who you were supposed to go to apart from me. He figured Albus would keep you, at first, then he was told you were with a good family.'

'Would he have visited if he had known?'

'In a heartbeat Harry, he loved you, he still does. He is not happy with Albus right now, then he finds out that he cast the fidelius charm. I had to stop Moony from going after him.'

'It was terrible Sirius, I really hated it there, I hate them.'

'One day you will tell me all about it, but not until you're ready. We should join the two ladies downstairs then I have to continue looking for a new home, one you can visit.'

'I will, I want to get to know you Sirius, I want to spend time with you. You don't mind that I'm here with Amelia and Susan?'

'No, they will give you a good home and to be honest, I still have the occasional episode, but they are easing.'

Harry nodded then followed Sirius down the stairs, a house elf showed them to the dining room where the house elves served dinner.

'You have a very nice home Amelia.'

'Thank you, it is old, I grew up here, just like Susan, her father, her grandmother and so on. Do you know about Potter manor?'

Harry sighed as he shook his head, 'No, I only heard about the cottage in Godric's Hollow. When you told me about the other vaults I did wonder if there was a house.'

'There are many houses Harry, most are large manor homes, like this one. You have one in Greece, one in America, one in Rome and the one here. You also have shares I many companies, in the magical world and the muggle would. When Charlus met your mother she explained about some of them, he was interested so he had some people do some research. He liked what he found out so he began to invest in muggle companies. With the deaths of your parent's, you would have to be one of the top ten riches people in England,' Sirius said.

'Is the money why Dumbledore did all that?'

'No, he believed Voldemort will return one day and it will be up to you to finish him. When we question him he mentioned a prophecy. Sirius explained how Albus told James and Lily and that is the reason they went into hiding. Now, even though prophecies can be taken by the ones named, as your legal guardian and you being fourteen, I was able to take possession of the orb. Sirius and I listened to it. We both believe that it was fulfilled the night James and Lily died, yet Albus does not believe it. Most prophecies never get fulfilled Harry, the hall of prophecies has thousands of orbs and many have never been fulfilled. But there is more, Sirius and I also believe that the seer is not someone anyone should take seriously.'

'It was made by Sybil Trelawney,' Sirius said.

Harry's eyes widen then he burst out laughing surprising the two adults sitting at the table. That was the last reaction they expected from Harry after hearing there was a prophecy about him. It seems Harry Potter can surprise many people, including his guardians.