A/N

Thank you for your ideas and tips about the school. Some of them confirmed what I already intended to do, others will be stored away for later use (please remember that Sirius is still a wanted criminal).

About Petunia: Potions was the one subject I've seen in too many stories associated with her. Because of this I wanted to use something else.

.

End of an Era (Part 2)

.

Pinegrew Manor – Daphne's Bedroom – 19th of April – Wednesday Morning

.

"Good morning, honey."

Slowly Daphne turned around and frowned at her boyfriend with a small smile lessening the impact. "What's with you and these silly nicknames? Thinking about eating too much? Turning into a Weasley slowly?"

At least she's smiling, Harry relaxed. Without answering her directly he sat down at her side and gently pushed some strands of hair out of her face. "My aunt gave me a few things yesterday evening, things that belonged to my mother: Some books, her wand, some pictures, a bit of jewellery."

Daphne sat up, leaned against the back of her bed and nodded, listening intensely now. "That was nice of her. So… are things better between you two?"

"A bit," Harry sighed. "I mean: It's not like she's my favourite aunt now – that's still Ana – but we're really trying to get away from the former hate and disgust. Perhaps we have a chance. Surprisingly Dudley is far better at leaving all that behind and being a real mate."

"I think being away from his father is helping him the most."

Harry nodded. "I spoke with them about Vernon and they… they want to stay here for a while. Petunia is thinking about a divorce. She doesn't like the influence Vernon had on Dudley. And our conversation yesterday reminded her of her former dreams – dreams Vernon forbade her to continue. But it's too early for a decision. She'll need more time."

Daphne leaned forward and hugged him. "I'm happy for you."

Harry gulped and gently freed himself. "There is something else. Among mum's things there were her rings." He glanced nervously at her. "I know it is too early for…" he faltered.

Daphne put her hand on his. "Go on, I don't bite. It's too early for biting."

Harry smiled at her. "You're the silly one." He sighed again. "I want to show you and everybody that I am serious with you being my girlfriend and all." Slowly he presented her a little box and opened it. Within was a simple platinum ring with a small diamond, nothing too ostentatious or impractical at school. "It's a promise ring, Daphne. Would you accept it?"

The answer was an embrace and the sweetest kiss. "Yes."

.

Same time – Breakfast Room

.

"It's going well," Roxanne stated. "With the testimonies we'll hear today it should be enough to sack the old fool."

"But he'll still be out there, trying to play his games. And he'll be out for blood after this. We'll have to be careful." Agatha took a sip from her tea with a hint of whiskey. Despite the early time she needed it today.

"Shouldn't we try to go for a trial against him? Not only sacking him as a Headmaster, but also getting rid of him for real?"

"That won't be possible," Ana interjected, shaking her head sadly. "He's far too precious for your society. His political cloud is too wide-spread, too many people own him their voice. With every other man it would be possible and the witnesses would be enough, but not with him. But the most important point is his position as the chairman of the ICW. A conviction in a trial would mean a loss of this position too. Britain would lose this very important position. Even among our allies there will be some unwilling to pay this price."

Roxanne nodded sadly. Ana was right, she knew. The International Conference of Wizards – while not a real government – had much influence worldwide and Dumbledore's position as its chairman had been one of the reasons of Great Britain's reputation.

"And he had been the one to defeat Grindelwald. Far too many people would forgive him everything for this deed. No, I fear the best we can achieve for now is to separate him from Hogwarts."

.

Hogwarts – Great Hall – 19th of April – Wednesday Midmorning

.

With a contented smile Harry watched the scenery. Minerva and the other teachers were sitting together, their faces showing their annoyance quite clearly. Since the end of the meeting yesterday Albus had tried to get into contact with them, something he apparently continued this morning. That none of them was willing to speak with him – to 'adjust their statements' – only caused him to intensify his attempts. In the end Flitwick had put a silencio on the Headmaster and walked away.

Now the second day of the meeting had started. Dumbledore had mumbled something about 'helping the Weasleys'. "They always had been friends of mine and staunch supporters of the light. In the war against Voldemort" a shudder went through the audience as he had obviously intended "they sacrificed so much. I saw it as my duty to help them. Molly Weasley wanted to engage her daughter to Mister Potter, a pairing I can only support personality-wise and regarding their standing on the side of the light."

"Blah… light… blah… greater good… blah."

Harry's voice wasn't as low as intended. He blushed when he realized this. Dozens of people were staring at him, many of them sniggering. Daphne elbowed him; Hermione gave him a slap on the back of his head.

"Mmm, sorry. Please go on, great light-master of giddiness… I mean goodness." Harry's grin threatened to split his face as he noticed Dumbledore's shocked frown. The Headmaster needed a while to get back his composure and to continue without stuttering.

"I only spoke to her. I wanted to convince her and had the feeling that she needed a bit of self-confidence. Miss Weasley believed that she wasn't worth of becoming Mister Potter's fiancée."

"And so you decided she wasn't worth having her own opinion." This time there was no humour in Harry's voice. That nobody interrupted him and not even Augusta stopped his outbreak showed how much Dumbledore had lost in reputation and standing.

"My boy, that's not what I…"

"I'm not your boy. And that's exactly what you did. You influenced her, you frightened her, and you charmed her and left her no other escape. Do you really not see what you did? Are you really so stupid, stubborn and careless, that you're unable to comprehend that you nearly killed her with your meddling? She nearly died, you old bloody moron. Without the intervention of Daphne and the Weasley twins you would face a charge of manslaughter and not this meeting."

Dumbledore looked very pale now, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on the land. Harry allowed Daphne to pull him down on his seat again. "I hope you burn in hell for what you did."

.

"Madam Pomfrey, please tell us what you know about the events of the 12th of March."

Poppy nodded towards Augusta and started to speak. Her words came slowly, the sadness of the experience clear to everyone. To watch someone die without being able to help must have been terrible for the Nurse.

"On the afternoon of the 12th of March I was working in the Hospital Wing. There weren't any other patients to care for, so I had time for cleaning and preparation work. Suddenly one of the house-elves apparated into the Hospital Wing with Miss Greengrass and Mister George Weasley, who was carrying his sister. While Mister Weasley put his sister on a bed, Miss Greengrass sent the house-elf to fetch Miss Granger and Mister Fred Weasley."

"A clear breach of the regulations of Hogwarts," Dumbledore interrupted. "Only the headmaster is allowed…"

"Albus shut up," Poppy stopped him, her voice more than annoyed. "Please leave it to the Ministry to complain about regulations in a life-and-death situation." This raised a wave of laughter in the Hall, as even some of the Ministry officials dared to smile. "Slowly I understand why some people fear that you're getting senile."

Shaking her head she turned towards the Board of Governors and continued: "Without the help of the house-elf Ginny Weasley would have been dead before my arrival to the tower."

"If I may," Minerva interrupted. "Ciddy, the mentioned house-elf, received a letter of thanks from Miss Weasley in the meantime. It is now hanging on the kitchen wall and the pride of Ciddy."

Poppy smiled shortly before she got serious again. "The condition of Miss Weasley was very dire. She had used a kind of contaminated sleeping draught. The effect was too strong for her magical core and it had already stopped fighting its effects. She was magically dead and my spells and potions didn't work anymore."

Murmurs and sobs could be heard from everywhere, making Dumbledore's comment only the more stupid. "It was a cry for help from Miss Weasley, obviously."

Totally flabbergasted Poppy stared at him. "You dimwitted, deaf dunderhead: What about 'magically dead' is too difficult to grasp for you? Dead, you know, DEAD. No cry for help, no lukewarm attempt – that girl saw none other choice than to kill herself, and she nearly succeeded too." Poppy left her seat, her voice rising. "I couldn't help her. With her core dead no healing spells or potion would work." Menacingly she stepped nearer. "Do you have an idea how I felt watching her, having to tell her brothers that I couldn't rescue her? It was your duty to protect the girl and not to force her to do this."

"Poppy, I really never intended to…"

"For you, Mister Dumbledore, I'm Madam Pomfrey from now on. And I'm sure we all know what you intended. You're lucky that I don't want to touch you; or I would show you what my fist is able to do with your nose. But I fear your dumbness may be contagious."

In stunned silence about her outbreak Poppy went back to her place.

"Luckily I only had to fight a breeding mother dragon in my first task and not her," Harry whispered, again not quietly enough. This earned him more than one agreeing nod.

"I told the Weasley twins that my magic was unable to help their sister. At that moment Miss Greengrass offered to cast a very special spell: Sanguis Familiae. She had already used it before to help her sister recover from a nasty spell. It links the magical cores of family members with each other. Theoretically it would then be possible to restart Miss Weasley's magical core. If successful my own healing spells and potions would be able to work on her again."

"As I understand," Lucius Malfoy drawled "this spell is very dangerous to the caster." No, you wouldn't use the spell, bastard, Harry mused, not even for your own son.

"It is. Miss Greengrass explained to the twins that they risked damaging their own cores in the process. What she didn't tell them was that the same counted for her threefold."

Harry glared at Daphne. He had assumed something like that, but until now Daphne had avoided to answer him on the matter.

"And you allowed this spell?"

"No, I didn't." Poppy shook her head sadly. "I feared that Miss Greengrass was too inexperienced and I had never used the spell myself. It is too exotic and used too rarely. I tried to stop her. Luckily Miss Granger trusted Miss Greengrass enough to stun me."

Laughter, blinking eyes and stares were the answer to this statement, followed to Dumbledore's assessment: "She should be expelled for…"

That he stopped to share this nonsense was only to the fact that Filius cast another Silencio on him. "Sorry, Lady Longbottom, but I would really like to hear Poppy's statement without this… noisy sound… in the background."

"We'll allow Headmaster Dumbledore to comment on this at a later time. Please continue."

"After that Miss Greengrass prepared and cast the spell. The twins had been willing to take the risk and luckily it succeeded. Not only did Miss Weasley's core start to work again, but there was no damage to the participants. It was a miracle."

.

Poppy had spoken about the recovery time and healing prospects for a while, but now it was time for something different.

"We heard something about Headmaster Dumbledore's general behaviour," Augusta started slowly "and about the suicide attempt itself. But we're still missing an important link. I would like to hear someone who hopefully will be able to enlighten us. Please take a seat Miss Ana Hernandez."

Ana left her place. When she passed Harry, he whispered: "Auntie? Don't forget: No prisoners." She grinned shortly and took her seat.

"I don't see any connection between this woman and this meeting," Dumbledore drawled.

He has no idea what's coming onto him, Harry grinned. Do I see a few beads of sweat on your forehead, old man?

"I'm Ana Katharina Hernandez," Ana started after a gesture of Augusta. "Through marriage I'm related to House Pinegrew. Mister Potter and Miss Greengrass call me 'Aunt Ana' and I've been the one to teach Daphne the Sanguis Familiae spell." The last part wasn't completely true because she had only gifted the book to Daphne, but it was close enough.

"And what do you want to speak about?"

"In the last three months it had been my duty to examine my niece and her friends for any signs of influencing magic."

Eat this, bastard. Harry smirked, noticing that Dumbledore nearly fainted. Hastily he tried to stop her statement: "How can we believe anything she says? She's a foreigner and as a relative of the Pinegrews not really unbiased."

Ana raised her left hand and dispelled the disillusion spell that had formerly hidden the heavy signet ring on her middle finger. "I'm speaking today as Capitan Ana Katharina Hernandez, member of the Muggle Security Department of the Spanish Ministry – something like a special subgroup of your Aurors. I'm Consejero – magical consultant – of Cardinal Marcelo, Archbishop of Toledo. What I speak is true. To doubt my words means to insult my country. Do you wish to doubt my words, Headmaster?"

"I knew it," Harry grinned, but Daphne watched Ana totally mesmerized. Her Aunt stood there, from tip to toe a Spanish Grandessa, unwilling to take shit from Dumbledore and ready to challenge him to a duel.

Slowly Dumbledore shook his head – to Harry's regret: "No, I believe you."

"Pity!"

"Now with this question resolved, please tell us about your examinations."

And this she did. "You have to know that the Church of Spain knows much more about magic than her British counterpart. There is much paranoia among the higher echelons, fear that someone could magically influence them. Because of this it is my duty to examine them regularly for charms and similar ways of influence. I did the same on at least four opportunities with Mister Potter and his friends. Because of this I have a good idea what had been done to them and when."

Augusta nodded and gestured her to continue. Dumbledore made the impression of someone trying to hide below his seat.

"In the three weeks before the second task someone used quite a number of spells on them. This 'someone' tried to hide his activity through casting them low powered or using area spells instead of personal ones. Among the used spells was a broad range of compulsion spells to promote strife between them. To prevent Mister Potter's friends from realizing his change of behaviour, this someone used Confundus Spells on Miss Granger and Mister Longbottom. In addition I found traces of Compulsion Spells on Miss Ginny Weasley and Mister Viktor Krum. All spells carried the same magical signature."

"Do you know this signature?"

"To my regret I do not." Dumbledore had to struggle hard to avoid taking a deep breath. "Obviously it was the work of a very knowledgeable wizard. Without my intense experience I would have overlooked the hints."

"And you're really sure about this? Someone used Compulsion and Confundus spells on six different students, apparently to mess with their relationships and general behaviour?"

"I'm sure, Lady Longbottom, especially after consulting another Charms master about the matter: Professor Filius Flitwick."

The paleness and beads of sweat returned on Albus' face. The broad smile on Augusta's face was impossible to miss. Since she had been told about Neville's magical misalignment, she had been royally pissed with Albus. She would never be able to prove his guilt on the matter. This was at least, and at long last, a little revenge.

"I would like to hear Professor Flitwick's thoughts about this," Lucius Malfoy drawled, his pleasure even more visible than on Augusta's face. "But before this I have another question. Miss Hernandez, as far as I know you also examined Mrs. Petunia Dursley, Mister Potter's Muggle Aunt."

"Yes, I did. But please ask her about it. It concerns herself and her family. I told her everything regarding the magic in her case, but I would like to leave it to her to decide if and what she wants to reveal."

"Mrs. Dursley, are you willing to testify this afternoon?" Augusta asked.

Petunia glanced at Harry, unsure about what to do. "It's your decision, Auntie. You don't have to."

She looked around, only marginally noticing Emma Granger attempt to reassure her. Then her eyes came to a rest on Headmaster Dumbledore. Her insecure face changed into a grim mask. "I would dearly like to testimony, Lady Longbottom."

.

"I'm Filius Flitwick. I've been teacher for Charms and Head of House Ravenclaw for several decades now. I hold a Master Degree in Charms."

"Very well, Professor Flitwick," Lucius Malfoy sniffled obviously not impressed by the petite professor and his partial goblin status. "Can you tell us more about the spells that had been used on Mister Potter and his friends?"

"Yes, Lord Malfoy. On February the 25th, circa an hour after the end of the second task, Lady Pinegrew informed the Headmaster, that she wishes to spend the rest of the weekend with Mister Potter and his friends. She invited me to join them. I agreed. There I met Miss Hernandez, who told me about her suspicion of charms being used on the four teenagers. I examined them and the result was that indeed someone had used a broad range of Compulsion and Confundus spells to influence their behaviour."

"Where you able to detect who had cast those spells?" Malfoy asked, maliciously grinning in Dumbledore's direction.

"I have to interpose that signature reading is a very uncertain skill and not allowed in court," Dumbledore started, but was immediately stopped by Augusta:

"This is not a court, Headmaster. This is the meeting of the Board of Governors. Professor Flitwick, in your best knowledge and belief: Who had been the one to cast those spells?"

Filius sighed deeply. He looked around, his eyes resting for a while on Harry and his friends. Slowly he began: "I have been at Hogwarts for a long time now, a marvellous time. For the last decade I hoped to die here, to someday have my body being carried out of one of my lessons. But then this happened. I can't stay here anymore with you around, Albus, I'm sorry old friend." He addressed Augusta and the other governors again. "In my opinion there is no doubt that those spells were cast by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself."

.

"How could you, Filius?"

Harry turned around to watch the conversation between Professor Flitwick and a 'very sad and very disappointed' Headmaster Dumbledore. Augusta had ordered a small lunch break and everyone had been leaving their places to fetch some juice and sandwiches the elves had prepared at the back of the Great Hall. Now many people turned around and listened.

"We have always been friends. I had never expected you to betray me like this." Dumbledore shook his head very sadly. "That you were willing to believe the lies of these Pinegrews… you really should have seen through their deceit."

Slowly Harry's humorous side slipped away and he felt his anger rising. How dare he? He growled.

"To quote a famous colleague, Albus: You're a pompous dunderhead. Nobody betrayed you other than you yourself. Somewhere along the line you forgot what you were fighting for. You stopped caring for others, stopped seeing them as humans with emotions and own thoughts. To use memory charms and compulsion spells on children… really? How could you? Yes, we have been friends. But you changed this. You changed, Albus. I can't allow you to continue with this. You have to leave Hogwarts, Albus. It's for the greater good."

.

After the break Harry escorted a slightly trembling Petunia Dursley to the witness' chair. She smiled weakly but thankfully for his support and took a seat. Nestling with her handbag she waited for the questions, trying to concentrate on the people in front of her and to ignore the audience.

"I know," Agatha Pinegrew began "that this place is very strange and frightening for you, Mrs. Dursley. Please try to forget where you are. This is only a simple hall and you're speaking with the governors of a simple school regarding its headmaster."

"Okay," Petunia nodded with a weak smile, but a bit more relaxed now.

"You're here because we wanted to know something about you and your life with your nephew Harry Potter. As you know there has been an article in the Quibbler about it. I assume that everyone read this article…" She looked around and got a nod from every governor. "To shorten this: Do you agree with the article? How close to the truth has the description of Harry Potter's life in your home been in this article?"

Petunia glanced towards Harry. She knew that he was uneasy to hear about those years and wanted his consent before she answered. "It's alright, Auntie. Please answer."

"Yes, Lady Pinegrew," she agreed a bit meekly "the article has been correct."

Agatha had to enforce silence in the audience before Petunia was able to continue.

"His life hasn't been easy. Certainly it was very unlike to what your people expected." She fetched a small booklet from her handbag: "The childhood and youth of Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. A very nice book and I assume it describes how you hoped his life would be. But unfortunately it is very wrong. Harry experienced a lot of pain in my household. Not physically, be assured. But every parent, every teacher knows that emotional pain can be even worse. He got no love from us, no compassion for his loss. We told him horror stories about his parents and called him a freak. Never did we accept him as a member of our family. Harry was more like a servant in our house. We told everyone that he is the worthless son of two drunkards, barely tolerable."

"Silence," Agatha hissed when murmur erupted again. "And how did you explain that he was away most of the time the last three years?"

"We told our neighbours that we sent him away to the 'St. Brutus Correction Facility for Problem Children'."

This time Agatha had to use a small thunder spell to enforce silence.

"Now we know how Harry lived. I understand that you hadn't contact with the magical world in this time. Is this correct?"

"Mostly, yes."

Agatha blinked. This was new even to her. "Please explain."

"We didn't like magic. No, let us be correct: We hated magic. The reasons had been explained in the article. The most important were my feelings about losing my beloved sister first to magic and later to this wizard-maniac – a maniac who had already killed my family and whose sole reasoning was his hatred for people like me. So we tried hard to forget magic and reacted very poorly to every incident of accidental magic around Harry. A very few times someone tried to visit him, but we sent him away – according to our wishes and according to our agreement with Headmaster Dumbledore."

"So Headmaster Dumbledore knew about all this?"

"Dear Governors, we should really stop this nonsense. It is quite evident that someone messed with the mind of this poor lady. To listen to this babbling is ridiculous."

Harry wanted to jump up but was stopped by the hand of his Aunt. She shook her head before she – very calmly – left her seat and went to Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Headmaster Dumbledore…"

Harry blinked. He had never heard his aunt like this, very sweet and very falsely purring. This was so unlike her that he had to look twice.

"Yes, my dear?"

"You're right about the messing with my mind part." For a moment a smile was visible on his face, before it contorted into a grimace. Harry couldn't believe it. Petunia, nice, well-bred Aunt Petunia just kneed Dumbledork into his balls. Without allowing him a second to react she grabbed his head by his ears and slammed her forehead into his face, breaking his nose.

Dumbledore staggered back a few steps before he went down in a heap. The audience stared, unbelieving what just happened. Filled with rage Albus reached for his wand, only to be the target of half a dozen Expelliarmus spells. Augusta was the fastest, with Filius, Harry and all three Pinegrew ladies close behind.

With an unnatural calmness Petunia gestured Daphne to step forward and at Harry's side. "Your wand, Harry, please give it to Daphne."

"Why?"

"Just do it, Harry." Her tone was serious enough and so he followed the command.

"To answer your question, Lady Pinegrew, and Headmaster Dumbledore's comment as well: Yes, he knew. He visited us once a year to renew the contract, to give us a small amount of money and to prove Harry that the authorities wouldn't help him in case he tried to call the police or some officials. The money we regretfully never used on Harry, but according to our agreement it wasn't even meant for him. The Headmaster paid us 'for our troubles'."

Harry stared at her: Money given to her but not for using it on him? Dumbledore had been in their house? He couldn't remember to have seen him before Hogwarts.

"How should the Headmaster's visits prevent Harry from calling for help?"

"It did, because he visited us in the disguise of the social worker, who was responsible for Harry. It wasn't a very good disguise, but it was only to deceive a child, not us, so it was well enough."

Agatha paled. Now it became clear why Petunia hadn't spoken about this before. Now she knew why Dumbledore tried to stop her and why Petunia had asked for Harry's wand. With a cry of pure rage Harry raced towards Dumbledore and tackled him to the ground, pounding him with his fists. It needed Tonks and three other Aurors to separate them. The Headmaster was visibly shaken by the outburst. The audience was grinning. It had been obvious to them that Tonks and her colleagues had needed a bit too long to decide that an intervention was in order. But Amelia Bones' expression showed all too clearly that she would have waited a bit longer even.

"This has to stop now," Augusta Longbottom thundered. "I understand the outburst of emotions. But we should try to behave from now on. I won't accept such a behaviour again, not even from you, Harry."

"I understand, Lady Longbottom. I'm not sorry, but I understand." Daphne hugged him and rubbed his back. No word of scolding was uttered from her.

Without much compassion everyone watched as Madam Pomfrey cared for Dumbledore's wounds. Perhaps she cast the Episkey on his nose with a tad too much energy, but who would blame her?

"Mrs. Dursley, you told us about Harry's life at your home. And you spoke about the reasons why you hated magic. Were these the reasons you treated him so poorly?"

"In a way, yes," Petunia agreed. "You have to understand that I'm still not comfortable around magic, I lost simply too much to it – with you being more like a foreign nation or even a foreign race to me. Perhaps this will never change, despite Harry's best attempts. You know, he even gave me a very interesting book of Lily's school time about Arithmancy."

Some groans erupted from the audience and even a few governors winced. To answer Petunia's questioning look, Agatha explained: "Arithmancy is an extremely complicated and not very well-liked subject. Most of us tried to avoid it at school and even I – despite absolving it with an E – struggle to forget it."

"But why?" Petunia asked flabbergasted. "It is fascinating. There was this one chapter about Euler. He was a mathematician of the 18th century. 'Euler's number' is the basis of many very important functions in my world. And apparently it had its uses in yours too."

She continued to speak about the importance of Euler's Number in the formulas for portkeys and apparition. The number of groans increased ten-fold. Professor Vektor smiled: A kindred spirit. Daphne and Hermione grinned, their grins intensifying as they noticed Harry pounding his head on the table in front of him. Finally Agatha felt enough pity to stop Petunia.

"Err… right. As I wanted to explain: Yes, in a way magic was the reason. But normally I wouldn't have followed these emotions. You know: Harry is family. You don't treat family like that. You may hate family members, you may be disgusted to even think about them, but you never treat them like this. There isn't enough family around to do this. A young daughter getting pregnant, your son being in conflict with the law or even a nephew 'infected' with magic – or in case of a magical family a Squib: You don't leave them behind, you just don't."

Never before had Harry felt so proud to have Petunia for his Aunt. And he really hoped that some of those pureblood parents around him thought about these words in the future before disowning their rebellious child.

"But regretfully another part in the Quibbler article was correct too, the part about someone influencing me. Last week I got a visit from Harry and Professor Snape."

Dumbledore's head whirled around. Accusingly he stared at Snape who reciprocated with a smirk.

"They wanted to speak with me about Harry's parents. In the course of the afternoon something happened. I got a horrific headache and blood dripped from my nose. As I learned later from Miss Hernandez and Professor Flitwick these were results of a seal breaking, that had closed off a number of my memories before. They were memories about my sister, especially about some meeting between us shortly before her death. Until then I had always blamed my sister for our parents' death, but in one of those meetings we became reconciled."

Petunia put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I shouldn't have hated Harry like that. I should have known that I still loved my sister when I found him at my doorstep. But I had no chance to be the Aunt he deserved."

"Were these memory charms the only influence on you?"

"No." Petunia stepped forward at the table of the governors and put her music box on it. Harry grimaced, watching intensely the reaction of the Headmaster. Dumbledore was pale again, trembling. He knows that he has lost, Harry recognized.

"This is a music box I long thought to be heirloom from my mother. I never allowed anyone to touch it and even now – broken – I would never toss it away. Only last week I learned that it never belonged to my mother. Professor Flitwick examined the music box and found some spells on it. It enhances some emotions, negative ones, around it and dampens others like love and friendship. Not only is it to blame for a large part of Harry's childhood but it also disrupted my family."

"Do you know who cast those memory spells or the spells on this music box?"

"As a Muggle I can't examine this myself. But according to Professor Flitwick both were done by Headmaster Dumbledore."

.

"Before we call it quits for today," Augusta addressed the audience "we would like to hear a last witness. Tomorrow Headmaster Dumbledore will have a last opportunity to explain the mentioned events and actions before the Board of Governors will decide on the validity of Mister Weasley's complaint. But now: Please take a seat, Professor McGonagall."

Petunia, Daphne and Harry had returned to their places again and struggled hard to calm down. Emma returned the favour from before and did her best to soothe Petunia's mind. It can't be easy to admit to having been an ass for more than a decade, Harry mused. Even harder should it be to speak about this kind of mental rape. He was still uncertain about his future relationship with Petunia and Dursley, but he intended to give it a try at least. They deserved it.

"I'm Minerva McGonagall, Professor for Transfiguration, Head of House Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress. Ginny Weasley is one of my students, as are Mister Potter, Miss Granger and Mister Longbottom."

"Professor McGonagall, how would you describe the Headmaster, especially his behaviour towards the students?"

"He cares for them and wants to protect them. He really does. But sometimes … he is unable to see that he could be wrong. You have to admit that the Headmaster is a very special man and has been for a very long time. More or less since the forties everyone praised him, everyone sought his advice, and everyone listened to his opinions. This can certainly get to your head. In earlier times he listened to us. We were not only his friends but his advisors too. He – as our mentor – was always the senior but still he listened. But this stopped somewhere around the last war.

"Since then Albus was convinced that only he knows what is best. He decided and we had to follow. Who didn't want to comply was against him. This was the reason he was against Agatha – I mean Lady Pinegrew. She criticized Albus, so she had to be dark. Her daughter stayed on her mother's side, so she had to be dark too. He even forced me to stop the apprenticeship I had offered her. I complied, something I dearly regret today.

"Everything about Harry Potter belonged into the same 'I know it better' category. He decided – against the wishes of Harry's parents and against our advice – to put him into the Dursleys' care. He decided that Harry – and Neville – had to be Gryffindors like their parents. He decided…"

"STOP." Neville jumped up, reacting faster than the still stunned Harry. "Professor, what do you mean 'he decided to put us into Gryffindor'? It's the hat who decides, isn't it?"

"Minerva," Dumbledore started only to be interrupted by a fuming Augusta, her wand in her hand, her knuckles white: "ALBUS, shut up. It wasn't enough that you messed with Neville's core, you also had to mess with his sorting?"

Dumbledore was completely white now. Amelia Bones' icy voice broke through the deathly silence: "One after the other. Lady Longbottom, what do you mean with messing with his core?"

Augusta hissed: "Someone – you know: SOMEONE – messed with his core, misaligned it some years ago. We were only able to correct this a few months ago."

The silence was stunning. Every pureblood knew what an affront such a spell was. To mess with the magic of a family heir was a major criminal act and could easily lead to a walk into the veil.

"Since then," Minerva added with a low voice "Mister Longbottom changed from a very mediocre student into one who belongs to the upper third overall. His performance is still rising and we expect him to belong to the best ten OWL students next year."

"We can't prove who this someone was, but we all knew the culprit. Don't we, Albus? But now back to the other question: How did he mess with the sorting, Minerva?"

"The Headmaster is able to influence the Sorting Hat. It isn't normally done and only thought as a security measure to protect children from abuse. We can't prove it now – only the next Headmaster could – but he spoke a bit too often and a bit too enthusiastically about Harry and Neville being in the same houses their parents were. And while Harry could be a Gryffindor, he has quite a few attributes that should put him into another house. About Neville: He may be brave – he proved it right in his first year – but I assume that nobody doubts that someone with this amount of loyalty and diligence is nothing else than the epitome of a badger." Neville Longbottom smiled, Madam Sprout beamed, and nobody contradicted her.

A still fuming Augusta fetched Agatha's handbag and withdraw a silvery flask. With a smile Agatha watched her friend taking a gulp of her finest Ogden's Whiskey.

"Whiskey at this hour, Augusta?" Amelia mock scolded her.

"It's this or blasting him out of his office." Her glaring eyes left no doubt who 'he' was.

"I'm still against the Whiskey," Amelia answered drily.

.

"Please continue, Minerva."

"The whole time Albus influenced Harry's life, from allowing him to be part of the Quidditch team in his first year till letting him being a part of the tournament."

"Do you mean that he influenced the Goblet too?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. I think he would be capable of doing this. But I meant something else. In the Champions' chamber, immediately after the choosing, Mister Potter expressed his wish not to be a part of the tournament. He considered Mister Diggory as Hogwarts' Champion and himself too young and inexperienced. He bade Headmaster Dumbledore to let him go. The Headmaster denied his wish. After the first task Miss Granger visited me and asked me about any possibilities to get him out of the tournament. She had searched for something but had been unsuccessful because the corresponding books belonged to the restricted part of the library. I used the winter break to search for some way to help her, but regretfully it is not possible. I told you so, Miss Granger."

Hermione nodded sadly.

"But what I didn't tell you is that the Headmaster had the opportunity back then. Immediately after the choosing, within 24 hours, he could have used his power as the hosting Headmaster to revoke the selection. Obviously he decided against it."

"Are you certain, that the Headmaster knew about this?"

"Yes, I asked him. He answered with his usual sentence: It's for the greater good."

.

A short time later the examination of Minerva was finished. Just as she wanted to leave, Augusta stopped her for a last question. Augusta's face was very thoughtful, her mind troubled with ideas about her old friend Minerva and how she was feeling now – surely blaming herself for all that happened, a feeling that was not completely unfounded.

"Professor – we heard from Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick that they intend to leave Hogwarts should we decide in favour of Headmaster Dumbledore. Would this also be your intention?"

Rapt attention everywhere – a third Professor leaving Hogwarts, worse even a third Head of a House would be catastrophic. So it caused some sighs of relief when Minerva shook her head.

"I can't do this. I let them down far too often in the past. I can't continue with that, I can't leave my cubs in his clutches anymore."

Amelia Bones coughed slightly. "What exactly do you mean by this, Professor? What exactly do you intend to do?"

Dumbledore shook his head slightly. Apparently he at least had an idea what Minerva was speaking about. But she didn't shy back, not now anymore.

"There is an old regulation, very old, going back the Wizarding wars of the 13th Century. A Deputy Headmaster or Head of a House is allowed to challenge the Headmaster for the right to become the new Headmaster." She turned her set look to Amelia. "To answer your question: Should this Board decide against Mister Weasley's complaint and pro Headmaster Dumbledore, then I'll challenge Albus Dumbledore to a Wizard Duel."

"You know that your chances are slim at best?"

"I do. But it is my duty to protect my students. A duty I'll betray never again."

.

Hogwarts – Great Hall – 20th of April – Thursday Midmorning

.

The amount of people observing the proceedings was even greater this morning. Many parents had one of their children sitting on their lap and hundreds of officials, journalists and other curious people were lining at the walls. There were even members of foreign Ministries – mostly European – a handful of Goblins, and a single Centaur listening.

Everyone was hoping for a great show. Everyone was bound to be disappointed:

Headmaster Dumbledore's chair was empty.

With a grave expression Augusta Longbottom stood up, a letter in her hands. She coughed several times to silence the audience. "This morning I received a letter from Headmaster Dumbledore."

.

Dear Lady Longbottom, Dear Governors, Dear Students of Hogwarts,

More than fifty years I have been part of Hogwarts, first as a teacher, than as the Head of House Gryffindor and Deputy Headmaster, last as the Headmaster. This all not counting seven happy and wonderful years as a student myself in a past long forgotten.

All this time I struggled to do my best to protect the inhabitants of Hogwarts, to further knowledge and work on a better future. It is very hard for me to look back now and realize that I spent too much time thinking and not enough with speaking and explaining. Perhaps I erred with some of my ideas and plans, but certainly I should have done more to integrate others into my plans.

I still hope that I did more good than bad in these years, but I accept that my past behaviour would stand against a trustful cooperation in the future. Hogwarts can't lose three of its most experienced teachers at the same time or a large number of its most promising students.

So, with a sad heart, I see no other choice than to retire from my office as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Whoever will be chosen to be my successor: I wish you luck, not too many sleepless nights and a fulfilling time. And should you ever need the advice of an old man: I'm only a Floo call away.

Sincerely

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

.

"This is so sad," Harry sniffed. "I'll miss him dearly."

This earned him some sniggers, a number of glares and a slap from Daphne. "Try to behave," she growled.

"Now," Augusta addressed the audience after the break "we have two things to do. First we have to officially retire the old Headmaster and then we have to choose a new one."

The official retirement went very fast and without much fanfare. Roxanne had explained to the teenagers, that this had to be done for the magic of Castle Hogwarts to acknowledge the turn of events. "And it's better so in case Albus tries a stunt like 'I was never retired officially, I only was in kind of vacation' in a few months."

A bit of surprise was certainly that the Board of Governors requested an official investigation of the behaviour of Headmaster Dumbledore from the DMLE. Amelia Bones promised to comply with this request, but her expression showed that she shared the opinion of the Pinegrews: There wasn't enough proof for a trial, at least not in a case against THE DUMBLEDORE.

After that it was Augusta's turn again. "Normally it would be easy. Professor McGonagall has been Deputy Headmistress for decades and done most of the administration work in the past, undertaking many of the Headmaster's duties because of Professor Dumbledore's other political duties. But I know that Professor McGonagall isn't interested in the Headmaster's office and quite frankly: She was right about her making many errors in the past decade. Minerva, you're my friend, one of my oldest and best, but as Chief Governor I have to reprimand you for your past behaviour. The Board decided that you may stay Deputy Headmistress, but you're on probation until the end of the next school year."

"I understand and I agree," Minerva bowed slightly.

"This leaves us in a difficult situation. Who should be the next Headmaster?"

"Hem hem."

A voice croaked, stunning everyone. The toad-lady in the silly cardigan hadn't uttered a single word the whole time. Some spectators had wondered if she was even able to speak.

"Yes, Miss Umbridge? Has the Ministry an opinion on the matter?" Augusta's voice showed clearly that she wasn't really interested in anything stemming from the Ministry.

Miss Umbridge stood up – not much of a difference in height – and addressed the audience with a silly smile and an equally silly good-motherly tone. "The Ministry believes that it is time for a change. After decades of Dumbledore's…"

"Professor Dumbledore" Quite a number of voices corrected her, Hermione being the loudest one. She may be disgusted by his behaviour, but he was still Albus Dumbledore and way above such a racist woman.

"Yes, yes: Professor Dumbledore's influence, it is time for something steadier. Far too long we allowed the school to drift away from approved methods, allowed weird teachers and untested ways to get hold of our students."

"You still didn't propose a candidate for the office of Headmaster, Miss Umbridge," Augusta interrupted her.

"Oh, didn't I? Silly me." Her laughter was false as was her smile. "The Ministry proposes for the office of the new Headmaster of Hogwarts… me."

With a broad smile she looked around like expecting thundering applause for her idiotic idea. To her surprise the first reaction was a deep, rumbling laugh… from nobody else than Professor Snape. "Idiotic. I thought we were speaking about serious suggestions. At least a minimum of academic knowledge should certainly be part of the job description. If I remember correctly, you were barely able to pass your OWLs and your NEWT was horrific. Without your family the Ministry wouldn't have offered you even a job in the registry."

The reaction of the other teachers and even a few governors proved Snape to be right about this and the smiles and giggles from all sides caused Miss Umbridge to turn unnaturally red.

"Better than a former Death-Eater, don't you think so," Umbridge shot back.

Into the following silence Amelia Bones responded: "This question was already settled in the past. Professor Snape is no more to blame for his deeds in the war than the honourable Lord Malfoy."

Some coughs showed that this compliment was a bit two-edged, but both Snape and Malfoy seemed to be content for the moment.

"But to answer with a serious suggestion," Snape continued "there are other House Heads at Hogwarts with more than enough experience to handle the job – especially if Minerva is willing to help in the beginning. Something she'll certainly be."

Umbridge stared at him, then at the other House Heads. She grimaced. "I don't know. Madam Sprout is certainly a wonderful teacher and quite able to fill the position of Deputy Headmistress, but certainly she needs more experience in administration to do the Headmaster's job."

"I agree," Professor Snape bowed slightly. "This I had in mind too. But I meant that Professor Flitwick should be our new Headmaster."

"You can't be serious." Umbridge bellowed. "He's a…"

"He's what?" A grumpy voice asked from the audience. Turning towards them everyone saw the Goblins parting ways as an old, gnarled goblin woman stepped forward. She leaned heavily on her staff and limped a bit. Small, bald, her body resembled a barrel, but her eyes were easily able to pierce holes into Umbridge's head.

"Who are you?" Umbridge asked, earning a number of groans.

In contrary to Umbridge's impolite behaviour, Augusta crossed her arms in front of her chest and bowed slightly. "Mistress Ironsides, we're honoured to have Gringotts' Chief Accountant and famous Curse Breaker among us."

If nothing else, then the mentioning of her position did much to prompt quite some deference from the wizards around. Who wanted to be on the bad side of Gringotts most important accountant?

"It has been far too long, Augusta." The smile of the old goblin showed crooked teeth and a number of gaps but seemed serious enough. "But to address Professor Snape's proposal: The bank of Gringotts supports this suggestion. We heard about some of the changes that are planned at Hogwarts: New subjects, additional teachers, and a modernization of the old courses. This all will cost quite a lot of money.

"But Gringotts has always been interested in changes. We hope that a modernization of subjects like History of Magic will be part of your plans. Also we would support the idea of a new subject similar to 'Care of magical Creatures' but regarding knowledge about other races like Centaurs, Giants, Mermaids and Goblins. To show our seriousness about this support, Gringotts offers to absorb the costs for such a teacher and participate in the maintenance costs with a yearly contribution of 10,000 Galleons. But only" the old lady concluded "if you chose a Headmaster who doesn't stand for racism."

Her steely look showed clearly that she was speaking about Umbridge and her followers. The Werewolves hadn't been her only victims and it was only a question of time until she targeted the Goblins.

"You can't buy our decision," Umbridge croaked and a few governors nodded slightly.

"This is not about buying a decision," Harry's voice disrupted the conversation.

"Why am I not surprised that Mister Potter has an opinion about this?" Snape drawled.

"Because you're an intelligent man and a real butterfly on this wonderful morning, Professor," Harry grinned.

"You should be happy that I'm still stunned because of the delusions of grandeur of some attendants," Snape snapped back "to respond to this ridiculous comment."

Harry bowed slightly and smirked. "But to address the matter: We have to choose a new Headmaster. Perhaps he'll be in the office only for a few years until we find someone else." This was an idea that apparently pleased some of the more traditional governors. "Perhaps he'll be here quite as long as Professor Dumbledore. But in any case his choice will send a message. What kind of message do we want to give the world? And please don't assume that this is a purely British decision." He pointed towards the foreign spectators.

"Professor Snape observed that a minimum of academic knowledge should be part of the job description. I agree full-heartedly. But there is another point. Professor Dumbledore was a man of tradition. There wasn't much of a change in Hogwarts for decades. We still have a terrible History of Magic subject, something that already tortured my grandma." Everyone nodded.

"Muggle Lore is decades behind reality and many other changes that are overdue have been forgotten for far too long. Look at my friend Hermione Granger." Hermione blushed deeply when hundreds of faces turned towards her. "She is – I think even Professor Snape will agree with this – the most promising student from Hogwarts for generations. But still she has one weakness, something that even her magical guardian disturbed until Lady Longbottom started to work on it: As a Muggleborn she knows nothing about the Wizarding world.

"But why is this so? Why did she have to learn this by doing? Why did she have to find someone to teach her the basics out of school? There should be a subject at Hogwarts to integrate Muggleborn and Muggle-raised like me. This is only one of many changes that should be addressed by a new Headmaster.

"And besides the scholastic alterations that are needed, there is the point of cooperation. Yes, we could choose some bigot racist, someone who tries to separate in a medieval manner, someone who likes to invent new laws to suppress Werewolves, Centaurs and other races. Or we could take a stand and tell everyone: This isn't our way. This isn't what we believe in. We want to understand, we want to know. We want to offer everyone who is willing a chance to live with us in peace.

"Dear Governors: I beg you to take a stand. Show everyone that we're looking into the future and not back. That we want to leave the time of you-know-who behind us and start to live our own lives, a life together without prejudices and with an open mind. I beg you to choose Professor Flitwick as our new Headmaster."

.

"Very nice speech, Mister Potter, it was very inspiring."

"Thank you very much, Miss Granger. I learned from the best."