Chapter 8:
Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, sat on an uncomfortable cot in a small cell within the Ministry. He knew that with his trial before the Wizengament the next day that he would never be free, at least in the sense that he was used to.
Try as he might, he could not figure out how Harry had caught him. Once he had seen the babe. He knew that the dead mother was the girl that had stood by Harry back in his third year. With that knowledge he tried to hurry back to his Lord to tell him the news.
Now he was stuck in this miserable place and his Mark was really beginning to burn. The Dark Lord was getting impatient. No doubt wanting information that he didn't have. He had found nothing on Potter, his spawn, or the spawn's mother. Whoever the mother was, their identity was hidden well.
The mark was really beginning to hurt. The pain was increasing and it was soon unbearable. Nothing else mattered but answering the call. Trying to focus, the traitor tried turning into his animagus form.
To his surprise he did. Quickly he made his way to the cell's bars, intent on slipping in between them to make his escape. But just as his head was half way thru, the spell on the bars caused them to enlarge.
The rat never felt his head being crushed by the bars. He was dead before he realized it.
Far away, Voldemort gently pulled out of Pettigrew's mind just before the final death blow was struck. Those at the Ministry would never know that he had murdered the traitor instead of what they would assume was a suicide. It was one less problem to worry about.
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Harry arrived at Stonehill, glad to be home after a rather long week teaching at Hogwarts. He was looking forward to spending some quality time with Lily and Susan. Especially after the emotional rollercoaster that he had been on lately.
(Flashback)
Harry made his way towards the classroom after arriving by floo to his office. He heard a noise coming from out in the hall. Opening the door he saw that nearly ever Gryffindor fourth year and up were outside, waiting for him.
"Harry!" shouted Colin Creevey.
"Mr. Creevey. Please address me as Professor or Sir. I am, after all, your teacher."
"But…"
"But nothing, Mr. Creevey."
Ron stepped forward. "Sir, we feel that you owe us an explanation."
"I owe you nothing Mr. Weasley. However I'll set a few things straight."
(End Of Flashback)
The explanation took over fifteen minutes. Many understood why he had refused to teach them Defense and thanked him for the courtesy. But a few didn't, like Ron. The git also couldn't get into his head that Harry could no longer play Quidditch with the House team. To Ron that was a greater sin than Harry graduating and teaching. The redhead refused to accept that he was being left behind.
After that he had to teach first year Slytherins and Gryffindors. It was that class that set the rest of the day.
(Flashback)
Harry had finished with attendance and set about rearranging the students so that two Slytherins and two Gryffindors were in the same group. He could see the confusion in most of their face. But thankfully no looks of hostility.
"This is how the seating arrangements will remain for the rest of the term. Each group is a team. Each team will work together on a project."
A small Slytherin girl's hand rose.
"Yes Ms. Hosmer?"
"What project would that be, sir?"
"Each team will choose a spell to research. It must be a group decision and effort. If I discover that some of you do little or nothing to help your teammates then you will fail. Meanwhile the other members of your team will be given extra credit. At the end of the term each team will make a presentation in front of the class on that spell. Does everyone understand?"
He saw several nods of agreements and no one raised their hand to ask another question.
"Then let's get started."
(End Of Flashback)
That had been the easiest class of the day. He had a harder time with the third and fourth years when he put them into groups. The Slytherin and Gryffindor fourth years had at first refused to comply. It was after he gave the entire class detention did they do as he asked. He knew that this one class would try his patience all the time.
Then when he came home and after putting Lily to bed, did he found another surprise waiting for him.
(Flashback)
Harry was very tired. Who knew that something as simple as teaching could be so tiring? No wonder Snape was such a snarky git. Thankfully Lily went down with little fuss. He entered his room, stripping as he headed towards his bat. Not once did he look around to see if anyone else was in there with him. If he had then when he finished getting ready for bed he wouldn't have been caught so unprepared.
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Susan watched with wide eyes as Harry literally did a striptease for her without even noticing that she was in the room. Just as she was going to call out to him, he shut the door.
Once she realized that Harry had no idea she was there, she began to giggle and get more comfortable.
About fifteen minutes later Harry emerged from the bat. He was wearing only pajama bottoms. Susan got a much better look at his defined chest and abs as he walked closer to the bed. He still hadn't noticed that she was there.
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Harry moved towards the bed on auto pilot. He set his watch and wand on the bedside table. Then he slipped under the covers. Lying on his left side, facing the wall, he was just starting to fall asleep when he felt a hand come over his right shoulder from the middle of the bed.
"AHHH!" yelled Harry as he fell out of bed, grabbing his wand as he did so.
A giggle caught his attention. Then he saw the mass of red hair.
"SUSAN!"
"Har….Harry! That…. was…so…" She couldn't finish as she was laughing so hard.
Harry growled as he picked himself up off the floor.
"Care to tell me why you felt the need to scare me to death?"
Still laughing Susan replied "I tried to get your attention earlier but you just did your little striptease for me and went into the bath. Next time try to be a little closer. I missed some important spots that time."
Harry blushed bright red. "Susan!"
"What?" she asked before breaking down into the laughter that she had been holding back. She continued for a few minutes while Harry continued to glare at her. Finally she calmed down enough to speak, but she still had a smile on her face.
"It's your own fault Harry. You didn't even look when you walked in. What would Moody say about that?"
"He'd probably chew me out for not practicing 'Constant Vigilance'. Now why are you in here?"
"Trying to sleep."
"What?"
Susan sighed. "Harry, Aunt Amelia knows that I'm here. In fact she sort of suggested it in the first place."
"I don't follow."
"For all the knowledge that you gained from Hermione, you sure do lack the ability to connect the dots."
"Huh?"
She sighed again. "Harry we're getting married in less than four months. Nothing is going to stop that except if one of us dies. With that in mind I realized that we barely know each other. So Aunt Amelia suggested that I move into your rooms a little early so that we could get more comfortable around each other. She trusts me not to do anything that I'm not ready for and I trust you. I know that you will be a gentleman, probably too much of one. But will never push me to do anything that I'm not ready for."
Harry just stared at her with his mouth opened.
Susan continued. "That doesn't mean that we can't explore some. I think that it might help us later on. Besides I enjoy a good cuddle and I think that you could use a few of those as well."
She leaned over and gave him a kiss before laying down in the bed, patting the place beside her.
(End Of Flashback)
That first night had been the hardest. He had a hard time relaxing with Susan in the bed. But after that he found her presence rather comforting. They would spend at least half an hour just talking about what ever struck their fancy or do a little snogging. Nothing heavy but it was still nice. Something that Harry had no real experience with.
Tonight, however, he wasn't going to get his cuddle time. At least right away. He, Susan, and Amelia were heading out to attend the Ministry Ball. Harry really didn't want to attend but as this was important to both Susan and Amelia he would. The fact that both women knew he didn't made them appreciate him more. Beside he was going to stick it to Fudge. Anything to make that man upset was worth the trouble.
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The Ministry's annual Ball was already in full swing by the time that Harry and Susan arrived. Amelia had arrived earlier so that she could 'walk' the room, trying to see how certain people were going to vote in the upcoming elections.
"Do we really have to be here?" whined Harry.
"No but I hate to think of the rant that Aunt Amelia would give if we didn't."
Harry shuddered. He had seen one of those and it still bothered him and he wasn't even the one getting ranted at.
"Alright but as soon as we can we're leaving."
"I think that can be arranged. Uh oh."
"What?"
"Don't look now."
"Why?"
"Fudge is on his way over here."
"Great." muttered Harry.
"Harry, my boy! So good of you to accept my invitation. Can I show you to my table?"
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"I said no, Fudge. We're here as Amelia's guests."
"Amelia's? As in Amelia Bones?"
"Yes, the one and only. Susan's after all her niece."
"Perhaps I can introduce you to some of our more, uh, prestigious young ladies. I am sure that they and their families could help you in your endeavors."
Harry eyes turned ice cold, as well as his voice. Those around him began to back up almost immediately. "Are you saying that Susan, my betrothed, isn't good enough for me?"
Fudge didn't realize how thin of ice he was on. "Of course not! I had no idea that you had entered into an arrangement with the family!"
"Not that it's any of your business but our betrothal was written long before either of us were born."
"Who wrote it?" asked someone that Harry didn't know.
"Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff's husband."
That statement literally shut down most of the opposition. No one could fight a contract written by a founder and a founder's spouse. Even if they wanted to.
But Fudge wasn't one of those people. "Are you sure of that Harry? After all anyone could state that they had such a contract in order to convince you to merge their family with yours."
"If you doubt my word then ask the Goblins. They're the ones who told us. Now excuse us. I see Amelia trying to get our attention."
Harry led Susan around the soon to be ousted Minister and over to her Aunt.
"That was bloody brilliant, Your Grace." smirked Susan.
"You are so going to get it when we get home and it's your 'Lordship' until we get married."
"Promise?"
Harry just growled at her as she giggled.
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Ron was busy in his dorm room, cleaning out a spill in his trunk. He had meant to throw away the potion that spilled earlier but had forgotten about it during the last month. Besides if his father or Merlin forbid, Harry, ever discovered it he would wish for death. Either of them could make his life miserable.
His heart was slightly heavy and he felt a little guilty over what he had done. Thankfully he hadn't gotten too far in his attempts to win Hermione. He was only following his mother's suggestion to Ginny about getting Harry. He had snuck the ingredients from his mother's private cupboard and brewed the same potion that she had mentioned to Ginny.
Slowly he began to give it to Hermione. When he saw that things hadn't changed, he upped the dosage. He kept at until they went their separate ways for the summer. Then Hermione had to go and die. It just wasn't fair! His thoughts were interrupted by Neville.
"What is that awful stench?"
"Umm, sorry mate. I spilled a potion in my trunk."
"What kind of potion? A stink bomb?"
Ron gave a weak chuckle. "Umm, no. A failed experiment."
"You? Experimenting with potions? Right!"
Ron gave another weak chuckle. "A moment of weakness."
"Let me help you then." Neville said, reaching for the bottles in Ron's hand.
Ron began to panic. "That's okay Nev, I'm almost done."
"I don't mind. The sooner it's done, the sooner the smell will leave."
A slight tug of war began before Neville got a hold of one of the unbroken bottles.
Hermione's Love Potion! it read.
"Ron?"
"Nev, look, I…."
Neville's face turned to stone, putting the bottle in his pocket. "You better tell Harry about this before I do."
"I can't Nev! Harry'd kill me!"
"Maybe, but I can guarantee that he will definitely kill you if I tell him."
"Please Nev! What harm is there in letting this stay between us. Harry's got Bones and Hermione's gone. I lost all the way round."
"Because Harry deserves to know the truth, Weasley. You have one week."
Neville handed the vial back and left the room.
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Harry did his duty. He danced with every woman that Amelia and Susan introduced him to, as well as the two Bones women several times. He charmed, flattered and was nothing like his true self the entire time.
Not that he didn't have any fun. He did. Several times, Fudge and his cronies tried to interrupt, interfere, or just plain sabotage Amelia's efforts by trying to force Harry over into their court. Harry saw through their schemes and acted accordingly. The last time he quite loudly said so that everyone within several feet of him could hear that 'if he continued in trying to get him away from the crowd, that he'd sic the aurors on him and charge him with stalking'. That had several in the crowd trying to cover their amusement as Fudge turned bright red from embarrassment. After that Fudge and his cronies left him alone.
"I think that we can leave now Harry." whispered Susan in his ear as they danced.
"Thank Merlin." He muttered quietly to himself. Susan still heard it though and giggled.
Amelia looked at the young couple in amusement. She knew that Harry didn't like all of the attention that he received. But she was proud of him. He had charmed her supporters and several of those that hadn't decided on whom to vote for. She was rather happy with the results of the evening. She hoped to never use him like that again but knew that the possibility was likely.
Harry was very surprised when Amelia drew him in for a hug as he and Susan left the dance floor.
"Thank you. I know you didn't want to do this but I'm glad that you did." she whispered into his ear. Releasing him, she turned to Susan and smiled.
"Take him home and snog him within an inch of his life. He deserves it after tonight's performance."
Susan got a twinkle in her eye. "That's one order that I have no trouble in obeying." She grabbed Harry's hand and literally pulled him to the Floo. Both could hear Amelia chuckling behind them.
Once back at Stonehill, the young couple checked in with Marble. They then checked on Lily briefly before going to their own room.
"Now, Ms. Bones, I believe that I owe you something for your attitude tonight." said Harry, trying to sound stern as he advanced on her after shutting the bedroom door.
"Think so do you? What sort of punishment do you have in mind?" she giggled as she backed away slowly.
"A form of sweet torture." Harry smirked as he advanced even more on the now fast retreating witch.
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Amelia was quietly contemplating how to tell Harry the news about Pettigrew when he, Susan, and Lily joined her at the breakfast table the next morning. Taking a sip of her tea she set out to deliver the news.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Last night, before the Ball, Pettigrew died in his cell."
Harry's head snapped up from his plate. "How?"
"According to the recording charm, he was delusional. Mumbling to himself and such. He also scratched at his Mark a great deal. Then for some reason he went head first into the cell bars. They reacted as they were spelled to and his head was crushed."
"Do you think that Voldemort had anything to do with it?"
"I have no doubts about that. We hadn't questioned Pettigrew too much as several members of the Wizengament refused to let us. We were banking on the element of surprise during his trial."
Harry scowled at hearing that. No doubt several of those that he met last night were the ones that blocked the questioning.
"I thought that you ought to know. Now where are the three of you headed to today?"
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Monday morning Harry had the 'pleasure' of hosting Umbridge in his class. Every time she tried to interrupt him, he would ignore her and continued on with the lesson. He could tell that she was frustrated and angry over the snub that he was giving her. She pounced when his last morning class left for lunch.
"Mr. Potter!"
Harry refused to look up from his notes that he was going over. Dewey quietly popped in with his lunch and quickly left. He made a few adjustments to them on his laptop.
"Mr. Potter! Do not ignore me!"
"Hard to do with your screeching." muttered Harry to himself. "Yes Madam Umbridge? And its still Lord Potter or you may address me as Professor Potter if you wish."
"That remains to be seen."
Harry had to hide his smirk. The witch was almost as red as Fudge was during the Ball. He wondered how long it was going to take for her to explode.
"Professor Potter, I can not help but notice that you are not using the Ministry approved text for this class."
"That's right. So what?"
"The Minister went to a great deal of trouble to acquire the usage of this text. I think that it show poor taste and judgment to not use it. Now as a representative of the Ministry I am ordering you to stop with your lessons. You are to use the materials that have already been approved by our top people."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"I said 'no'. The Ministry has no say in what I teach. The Board approved the book. Since it was too late to add it to the book list, I paid for them myself." Harry picked up the Ministry book. "This" he said as he threw the book at her feet, "is the worst dribble I have ever had the privilege of reading. The author was either an idiot, terrified of the subject, or both. I'm inclined to believe it was both."
"Regardless that is what is approved for this class. Now I will ask you once again to use the text that we have provided!"
"And I'll tell you once again NO! Now get out of my classroom!"
Harry watched her stiffen in anger. She flounced to the door threw it open and turned around.
"Be it on your head then what happens." she spat as she left.
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Neville waited over a week before approaching Harry about the potion. He knew that Ron was too much of a coward to go to his former friend and confess. Catching Harry alone wasn't easy though.
Finally, Neville caught a break as classes were dismissed for the weekend. He stepped in as the third year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws exited the room. He wasn't too surprised to see how excited the kids were. After all Harry Potter was their teacher.
"Professor?"
Harry looked up. He could tell from the look on Neville's face that what ever he wanted to say was important and could have devastating effects.
"Come on in Neville."
Neville stepped in and shut the door. Locking and charming it after coming into the room. He didn't want to be interrupted. He turned to face Harry. He knew what he had to say but the words just wouldn't work their way out.
Harry sighed. "That bad, Nev?"
Neville sighed and slumped into a nearby chair.
Taking in those actions, Harry followed suit. "That bad."
"Harry, what I have to tell you might come as a shock."
"Nev, I've had more shocks this year than I can count. I doubt that what you have to tell me will matter. Just say it."
Neville took a deep breath. "Last week I went into the dorm room where I saw Ron cleaning up a rather foul smelling mess from inside his trunk."
"Yeah?"
"Believe me it was one of the worst things I've ever encountered and that's with working with some of the smelliest things in our world."
Harry had to smile. "True. Some of those plants are down right foul."
Neville returned the grin briefly before getting serious again. "Anyway, I offered to help him clean it up and discovered something that could be criminal."
"Don't leave me in suspense, Nev."
Neville took another deep breath. "One of the vials was labeled 'Hermione's Love Potion'."
Harry sat stunned. He knew that someone had given her one, but Ron?
Neville continued. "After what you told me about Hermione, I knew that he had to have been the one to poison her. He's almost as bad as I am at potions. I gave him a week to tell you himself but I knew that he wouldn't. He's too much of a coward to do that."
Harry sat in silence. It was starting to get to Neville.
"What are you going to do about it?"
Neville's question brought Harry back to the present. "What? Oh nothing right now. I don't think that he intentionally tried to poison her even though that was the outcome. Letting him know would probably hurt him far more than not. At least I know the truth."
"What if he tries it again on someone else?"
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"You're a better man than I am Harry Potter."
"No, I'm not, but I doubt that Amelia would want to bail me out of jail for hurting the little shit like I want to."
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Ginny Weasley was not happy. In fact she was miserable. Her one saving grace at the moment was that she was still in the Gryffindor tower. Not that Malfoy wasn't trying to change that by stating that as a betrothed couple they were entitled to private rooms. But she had refused to move to them. So far Malfoy hadn't insisted that she do so, but he was enjoying the use of them she was sure.
She had little going for her in Gryffindor. Her year mates knew about what she and her family had tried to do to Harry. About how it had backfired on her, causing her to be betrothed to Malfoy. In fact it was as if she were a stranger to all of them from the way that they treated her.
Then there was Harry, himself. In class he basically ignored her. Although he did grade her work fairly, unlike Snape. But he was Harry after all. She still hadn't figured out who the baby's mother was. If she didn't know better she would have said that Hermione was, but there hadn't been enough time for her to do so. No someone else was the mother. Someone that had Harry wrapped around their finger far more than she ever had.
Oh how she wanted things to go back to the way they were before all of this.
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The moment that Harry landed, he was striding purposely towards the training room. He was in desperate need to blow something up. He ignored Susan and Amelia as he walked by.
"I wonder what the problem is?" questioned Amelia out loud. She noted that Harry looked even angrier than when Delores tried to push that book on him the week before. That temper fit had the house elves working through the night repairing the room. By the look on his face, Amelia wondered if the room was still going to be standing by the time he ran out of steam. Suddenly the house shook and groaned, as if an earthquake was taking place.
"I don't know but I'm going to find out." stated Susan as she ran for the door.
Amelia followed behind. As they approached the training room, the magic rolling from it was almost overpowering. In fact Amelia had to stop twice to rest. Something she had never done before. Susan, however, practically ran to the room. She threw open the door and was shocked at the devastation of the room.
"Harry?"
Harry ignored her as he continued firing spell after spell at a conjured mannequin of Ron Weasley.
Susan walked slowly towards him. She made sure to make some noise as she walked up behind him to let him know she was there. She reached out and touched his shoulder.
"Harry?"
"He poisoned her."
"Who?"
"Ron."
It took a moment for Susan to understand. "Ron poisoned Hermione?"
Harry could only nod. Tears were now streaming down his face.
"Was it intentional?"
"No" Harry croaked out. "The git was trying to get her to love him instead of me so that Ginny could have me."
Amelia walked up behind the two. She had often wondered about whom had poisoned the young witch. She had to ask though. "How did you find out?"
"Neville."
"Neville Longbottom?" asked Susan.
"Yeah. He came across Ron cleaning up a mess in his trunk and found a bottle. Ron all but admitted to giving it to her."
"I see. Then what did you do?"
"Nothing. I finished my day and left. I couldn't take the strain of holding it in once I landed, so I came in here to cool off."
Staring at the destruction of the room, Amelia couldn't help but be impressed by Harry's control. He was much better at it than most of her Aurors. Looking back at the teen she saw that Susan now had Harry in a hug as he cried on her shoulder. Their relationship wasn't the most ideal but they were honest with each other. At first she had several reservations about it, given Harry's history. But he never compared Susan with the Granger girl. He was slowly opening his heart to her niece and for that she was grateful.
"What do you want to do about it?"
"I don't know. I don't think that Ron intentionally tried to poison her. But I do question how he knew how to make a love potion in the first place. It's not something that Snape has covered yet in class. And I highly doubt that he would do research to find one."
"I agree with Harry. Weasley wouldn't have put that much effort into it." added Susan.
"No, but Molly would. I think that we need to meet with Arthur, at least to make him aware of the problem. Even if no charges are filed against the boy."
"Alright, but this will kill him."
"I know."
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Delores Umbridge was in full fury. How dare that little twerp ignore her and the Ministry after all that they had done for him! Had she known that Potter was no where near his relatives' house that night, she would have never sent the Dementors there in the first place. But she was going to have the last laugh. Oh yes she was and she was going to enjoy it.
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Albus Dumbledore was in a rather quiet mood. His spies in the school had told him that Harry and Neville had spoken privately twice. Both conversations had been obscured so there was no way for him to know what was said. He deduced that the first conversation was about Ms. Granger. The second one was a mystery but whatever was said had Harry furious. Some how the boy had contained that fury until he left the castle.
As he sat, he replayed the memory of the Will reading in his head. How had the boy known about the contract? Had Sirius betrayed them? Those were just some of the questions that had been plaguing him. But the biggest one was who the child's mother was. How did Harry know that the babe was really his?
As he was thinking of these things, his floo roared to life.
"Albus Dumbledore?"
The old man went over to the fireplace. The person waiting for him caught him totally by surprise.
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It was lunch time the next day, when a Slytherin second year came running into his classroom.
"Professor Potter!"
"Yes Ms. Stafford?"
"Come quick! The old bat's gone crazy!"
"What old bat?"
"Umbridge! She's handing out detentions to anyone caught with your text book!"
Harry stood up and began walking towards the door.
"Hurry! She's going to torture them!"
Harry began to run towards the Great Hall.
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Delores Umbridge was in her element. She now had total control over the school and its students. She was only waiting for the main star to appear.
Nearly everyone jumped as Harry Potter slammed the doors to the Great Hall open. He purposely strode up the aisle towards her. He noted that several of his students and friends were seated at the tables, writing what appeared to be lines. He stopped when he saw that blood, not ink was being used. Turning his stare towards the head table he saw that all the staff, save Snape, were bound to their respective chairs and had been silenced. He noted that Dumbledore was no where to be found.
"What the bloody hell is going on?"
"Detentions, Professor Potter."
"Detentions for what?"
"For not having the approved Ministry text."
Harry growled low in his throat. He strode purposely up to the table.
"So you decided that since I said 'no' that you could hurt the innocent ones, is that it?"
Umbridge got a triumphant look in her eye. "But of course. That is until you co-operate with the Ministry in this matter and endorse Cornelius in the upcoming elections."
"Are you mad!"
"No. I can assure you that I am not."
"You have to be! Why else would you get a kick out of torturing children!"
"I assure you that I get no pleasure from this. You and they brought this upon yourselves."
Harry said nothing more. A flick of his wand, sent a Patronus message to get help. Within minutes several Aurors and Amelia arrived. When they stepped into the Great Hall they were shocked at what they saw.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" shouted Amelia.
"A simple disciplinary problem, Amelia. Nothing for you to worry about."
"A disciplinary problem! Why are you using Blood Quills on children Delores?"
"I told you discipline. Each one of them had a non Ministry approved text book. Since they seemed to think there was nothing wrong in that, I decided to use my position and punish the offenders."
"What book?"
"My Defense book." answered Harry.
Amelia was beyond angry. "That book was approved by the Board, Delores. The Ministry has no say in it!"
"But we do! Potter should have never been selected as the professor of such a subject! He should still be a student!"
"Enough of this! Delores Umbridge you are under arrest for torture by use of an illegal device on a minor. Aurors Hancock, Rice, and Temple take her to the holding cells. The rest of you bag the evidence and take statements."
"You have no authority to arrest me! I am the Senior Under Secretary to the Minister! I have his support in everything that goes on in this school! Potter and your two lackeys have refused to use the text provided by the Ministry. That abomination of a book that they are using isn't! You have no right to interfere in any discipline that I give in this matter. Now go patrol something and leave the dispensing of justice in this matter to me."
Amelia was so shocked that she couldn't say a word. Harry however had just the thing to say.
"Stupify!"
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As Umbridge was being processed by some loyal Aurors, Amelia and Harry were in her private office waiting for Arthur Weasley's arrival. It had been a long day already what with Umbridge's tantrum and cleaning up the results from it. Luckily there was no permanent damage to any of the affected students. Every one of them was proud that they had stood up to the witch and for their professors. It showed Harry that he was making a difference. Especially after he saw several first year Slytherins helping their year mates heal their wounds. It did his heart good. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Arthur Weasley stepped into the office. He looked some what puzzled as to why Amelia had asked to speak with him. Even more so when he saw Harry seated in front of Amelia's desk as well.
"Take a seat, Arthur."
Arthur sat down. "What's going on, Amelia?"
Amelia sighed. There was no easy way to bring this subject up. "Arthur, something has come to light that will affect you and your family"
Arthur looked even more confused.
"Arthur, what I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential."
"I understand. Is this about You-Know-Who?"
"No and Dumbledore cannot find out."
That had Arthur raising his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because he would use this to control you and your family even more than he does now."
"I don't understand."
"Arthur, I have some documents from Ms. Granger's healer that she had been poisoned by a love potion."
Arthur's eyes widened. "But I thought that she died in an auto crash?"
"She did. But if the crash wouldn't have killed her, the poison would have. She would have died within a month of her orginal death."
"But what does that have to do with my family?"
Amelia looked at Harry, who took over. "Mr. Weasley, I know that you are a decent person and that you have tried to raise your children to follow that."
"Thank you Harry."
"But, and I hate to say this, you are not their only parent."
"You think Molly had something to do with this?"
"Sir, I remember overhearing her tell Hermione and Ginny about using a love potion on you when you both were younger."
"I had forgotten about that."
"I don't know the details but Neville Longbottom discovered a love potion with Hermione's name on it in Ron's hand. Apparently Ron was trying to clean up a broken vial of the stuff and Neville went to help him. He gave Ron a week to come clean with me before coming to me himself."
Arthur could scarcely believe what he was hearing. "But why would Neville come to you about this?"
Harry and Amelia looked at each other, not quite sure how to answer the question.
"Because Neville knew that I was with Hermione when she died."
Thankfully Arthur accepted that answer. "What are you planning to do?"
"Although your son didn't intend to poison Ms. Granger, he did knowingly make a potion that is banned by the Ministry."
"Do you intend to try him?"
"No. I think it best if we handle this quietly and privately."
"Thank you."
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Albus Dumbledore was never more surprised than he was when Amelia, Harry, and Arthur arrived at his office door.
"What do I owe the pleasure of this visit to?"
"Headmaster, I want you to call Ronald Weasley up here." stated Amelia.
"Arthur, has something happened to Molly? Do I need to send for your daughter as well?"
"No just Ron for now."
Curiosity showing, Dumbledore sent a patronus message to Professor McGonagall, requesting that she bring Ronald Weasley to his office immediately. They all waited in silence.
A small chime went off in the office, indicating that Ron and McGonagall had arrived.
"Come in."
Ron entered first. He immediately knew that he was in trouble when he saw his father standing there with Harry and Madam Bones.
"Mr. Weasley, your father would like to talk to you." said Dumbledore.
"Dad?"
"Ron, never have I had to question a child of mine's integrity until now."
"I don't understand."
"I want a truthful answer, Ronald. Did you or did you not give Hermione a love potion before she died?"
Ron paled. How had his father found out about that! "Dad, I…."
Arthur looked at his son in disappointment. "You just answered my question. Where did you learn to brew it?"
"I…..I didn't give her that much! Besides she's dead! It's not like it killed her or anything!"
"Ron, your potion poisoned that young witch. She was already dying when she was killed. Now how did you learn to brew that potion?"
Ron looked at his feet. "I heard Mum mention it to Ginny. She wanted Gin to brew it with Harry in mind. I found the recipe and snuck the ingredients out of Mum's cupboard. I didn't know that the potion was bad! I would've never given it to her if I had known."
Silence filled the room. Arthur turned to Amelia and nodded.
"Ronald Weasley you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hand me your wand."
Ron's hand trembled as he handed over his wand to Madam Bones. She broke it and threw the pieces into the fire before Dumbledore could stop her.
"Mr. Weasley, a house elf is currently packing you belongings. You will leave with your father and never set foot in this school again. Do you understand?"
"Yes" whispered Ron.
"Amelia, was that really necessary? After all the boy didn't know about the potion being poisonous. He can still help our society and redeem himself."
"Dumbledore, the boy used a banned substance on another human being. Technically he could go to Azkaban for it. I don't think that this is a bad punishment."
"And I agree with her." stated Arthur.
"But the boy has his whole life ahead of him!"
"He still knows right from wrong. Now I need to conduct a search of Ms. Weasley's trunk."
"Why?"
"To see if we have to do another expulsion."