Hey everyone and welcome to the first chapter of the New Year! Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I am utterly slammed with work this quarter. My class schedule is pretty full and my work schedule means I have just enough time to eat and sleep during the day. I am NOT going to abandon this or put it on hiatus, but updates will be coming painfully slowly. In better news I graduate in about 5 or so months, and after that I have all the time in the world, sans my job. So if you bear with me it will get better. This chapter has the first major time skip, which I had intended to do after chapter 4, but it just worked out better the way it did. At least I think it went well, did it go well? Anyway tallyho ladies and gentlemen.

Thetford, Norfolk

24 August, 1990

Royal Junior Thetford Academy

Mess Hall

It was three years to the day since Harry had come to the Academy, and he could honestly say that it had been the best three years of his short life. In the time he'd been in the academy he'd gained more friends than he would have ever imagined he could have. Hannah, the Carrow twins and Walter were still in a squad with him, and were some of his closest friends. Some of his friends had left, Cedric and Ariel had both gone to Hogwarts after their eleventh birthday, and some of the older students that Harry had gotten to know well had left to join Her Majesty's military. Of course not everything was all chipper and dandy. There had been an increase in pressure from the Ministry of Magic for the Academy to lose its funding, to which Prime Minister John Major had apparently told the magical Prime Minister to 'stuff it'. Apparently the Wizengamot, the magical form of parliament, had grown increasingly nervous about children of magical heritage being trained to be soldiers. They obviously hadn't done their research into what the academy did, but stupidity breeds fear. Harry had been pulled into a meeting the previous week with Lieutenant Colonel Jameson and a fair number of other bigwigs Harry didn't recognize. Apparently if it came down to it Her Majesty was unwilling to upset a majority of Her subjects for the continuation of one training academy. The Prime Minister agreed with her, however with the knowledge that a Wizarding World hero was attending the academy, the politicians believed that they could lean on the Wizengamot if it came down to it. With that idea in their heads they had gone to Harry and Jameson, for permission. Harry had been amiable to the suggestion, knowing that without his backing the Academy he now called home could very well become non-existent. After the half a dozen politicians had left, Jameson had kept Harry for a few minutes.

~~Flashback~~

"Harry, while I am glad you are prepared to stand up for the Academy, I must warn you of what this will mean for you." The Lieutenant Colonel had been grim faced throughout the meeting, and his facial expression hadn't changed.

"What do you mean Sir?" Harry sat towards the edge of his seat, awaiting his superior's wisdom. Harry wasn't worried about having to speak up for his Academy, but if his Commanding Officer believed there was a reason to be, he was willing to listen.

"What I mean, is that for the most part we have been able to keep the fact that you attend this Academy a secret from the magical population. If they had known there was a fair chance that you would have been hounded by fans, reporters, and perhaps targeted by the remnants of Voldemort's forces." The Lieutenant Colonel stopped for a breath, looking Harry up and down. "If the knowledge that you attend this Academy comes to light, those things could very well come to pass." Harry nodded, looking down at his trainers in contemplation.

"What could we do in the event of such a thing?" Harry asked, glancing up from the floor.

"At minimum we could increase security, at most we could move locations. With the larger influx of cadets we've been receiving, it may be prudent to move locations anyways. However we'd like to do our best to avoid such a thing from occurring outside of our control." Harry nodded when Jameson finished.

"Well I may not have to speak in front of any sort of wizarding parliament anyway, but if it comes to pass that I must, I'll do whatever I can to limit the fallout for the Academy." Harry spoke with a conviction in his eyes that impressed Jameson.

"No need to worry about that for now Cadet Potter, for now just focus on your classes and your decision on how to continue your education." Harry nodded once more. "Dismissed."

"Yes Sir." Harry said spinning on his heel and walking from the room.

~~Flashbacks over now~~

At the moment Harry was sitting with the Carrow twins and Hannah in the Mess Hall, trying to decide on what to fill out on the form the administrative staff had use handed out. There were three options presented to them. They could go to Hogwarts, to learn magic. They could stay at the Academy to learn a mix of magic and muggle options, as well as later commit to focusing more on the military aspects. The last option was to leave the Academy and go to a normal non-magical school. Harry had ruled out the third option, but honestly couldn't decide between the first two. On one hand, Cedric and Ariel had both gone to Hogwarts, and most of his squad were probably going to do so as well. On the other hand, the Academy had become more of a home to him than Privet Drive had ever been, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave it or not. Not to mention there was a large part of him that didn't want to leave behind the non-magical education he was receiving.

"What're you thinking Harry?" Hannah asked him, nibbling on the end of her pen.

"Debating what to do, while I would love to go to Hogwarts I just can't bring myself to leave the Academy." Harry missed the anxious look the three girls gave him, as well as their already filled out papers.

"Whatever you decide Harry, we'll stick with you." Hestia said from his left side, pushing her long brown hair back from her face.

"She'd right Harry, whatever you pick, we won't desert you." Flora agreed from his right side. Harry was happy that his friends would be behind him.

"Thanks guys, but don't let me make the decision for you. No matter what happens we'll still be friends right?" Harry posed his rhetorical question to the three girls.

"Of course Harry." Harry nodded at their answers before turning back to his slip of paper. He knew what they wanted to do, all Hannah had talked about this week was finally being able to go to Hogwarts. He wasn't afraid to admit he had a small crush on his best friend, he was just scared to admit it to her. He knew that Hestia and Flora were excited to finally learn magic as well. Walter on the other hand… Well Walter was a squib, so he knew what he was going to stay at the academy for the moment.

Harry knew there was more than an eighty percent chance he was going to go to Hogwarts, but he just couldn't make the decision. On one hand Harry was enjoying his classes at the Academy, and the light military aspect that was beginning to come to the forefront. On the other he also knew that the Academy was only going to teach basic charms, light offensive spells and a heavy amount potion making. Harry wanted to learn lots of magic, but he could always self-study at the academy. The same could be said for his non-magic classes, he could always self-study. Harry nodded to the trio of girls and excused himself from the Mess Hall, hoping that some fresh air would make his choice come easier.

Harry wandered the grounds for twenty minutes, accompanied only by his thoughts. He wandered past the motor pool, the armory, and the obstacle course. He nodded respectfully to the older cadets he passed, and gave the officers the respect he was required. At the end of his walk, Harry had come no closer to the answer he was seeking. He began to make his way back to his dormitories before he walked, quite literally, into Hannah. After a moment of apologies and helping each other back to their feet, and laughing, they sat down on a small pile of cinder blocks. "You okay Harry?" Hannah had a look of concern in her eyes.

"Look I didn't hit the ground that hard." Harry said with a chuckle. He noticed the look of annoyance that Hannah gave him before she opened her mouth again.

"I didn't mean that, I've hit you harder before. But you've been really quiet all through lunch and then you just took off, I figured something had to be wrong." Hannah eyed him up and down. "Is it about the school choosing?" Harry shook his head as she cut right into the heart of it. He relayed what was troubling him quickly enough, watching as she waited patiently for him to finish. "I know what you mean, ever since my parents died this place has been as good as home. Leaving it isn't going to be an easy choice to make, but it isn't the Academy that's home." She paused for breath, but continued at Harry's expectant look. "It isn't the building, or the classes, or the events. It's the people that have made this place home, you and Cedric and Ariel made me feel welcome in this place. You guys made it bearable to exist after mum and dad died." She looked at him with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "That's why where I go depends on you - without you and the team, I'm almost no-one." Before the words were out of her mouth Harry was already shaking his head.

"You aren't no-one Hannah, no matter where you are or who you're with you're always going to be my best mate. You're always going to be the girl with blonde pigtails that tripped over a pile of books in the dorm the second day we were here. No matter what happens, I'll always be around and I'll always be there for you when you need me most." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, leaning back and resting his palms on the concrete around him.

"Thanks Harry, we have to go and get ready for class. I'll leave you to your thoughts but don't be late." She waved at him as she trotted off to their dorm. However Harry didn't need to be alone with his thoughts, Hannah had just made up his mind for him.

He was going to Hogwarts…

As always many thanks to my beta Pixel and Stephanie Forever (who had very little to do this chapter – Pixel). Next chapter should be interesting, I'll try and show off a bit more of how the Academy is affecting the Wizarding World. In other news my laptop finally gave up and died while I was writing this chapter, so I finally had a reason to get a new laptop. In case anyone wants to know, I listened to Be Somebody by Boyce Avenue the entire time I wrote this chapter, it's a pretty good song.