After checking in with Glenda for any updates, Amelia was headed back to her office to collect some unsuspecting aurors. The DCW still hadn't had any luck tracking down the Potter's wills or a suitable guardian for their child. Unfortunately for Glenda that was now the preferred task, the rest of the department was dealing with the Hogwarts issue.

How do they explain their lack of involvement while Minister Fudge and the Hogwarts board was involved. Did they back the minister or should they throw him under the broom? Not to mention Dumbledore. Glenda had gotten herself into a political mess that Amelia wanted no part of. She was more than happy to leave that mess in the hands of those who had created it.

She spotted the two aurors she was looking for in front of the map of Sirius Black sightings. "Come with me, I have a new assignment for you".

HP_HP_

Walking into the meeting room Amelia was surprised to see Potter with two familiar solicitors. She had not expected him to bring in his own legal representation, especially not these representatives. Fudge had better be grateful she had stepped in to give him advice, otherwise he would be sitting in the fire instead of just hot water with Howards involved. Getting in front of this as quickly as possible was the best course of action.

Taking a second look at Potter, she wasn't sure why she was surprised by what she saw. After everything she had heard from the Dursleys she shouldn't be shocked to see how skinny and small he was. The boy was dressed in his Hogwarts uniform and some ratty muggle shoes. Seeing the boy brought everything into perspective, she was not here for political maneuvering, she was here to right the wrongs committed against this child who saved the wizarding world at the cost of his family and childhood.

"Hello Mr. Potter, I am Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. With me are trainee Nymphadora Tonks and Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"I thought this meeting was to discuss my client's guardians. Are you here to arrest him?" Howards asked in a tone she heard often during trial.

"Quite the opposite Howards. They are here for Mr. Potter's protection, but we can talk about that later." She explained moving further into the room.

"Hello Madam Bones, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you don't mind that I invited my solicitors along. As you know, I grew up in the muggle world and I'm unsure of how things work. I'm even more confused about what happened with my relatives. When I met Minister Fudge he didn't say anything about my relatives being arrested."

Getting comfortable Amelia explained her visit with the Dursleys and their following arrest.

Amelia pulled out a blue orb and rested it on the table in front of Harry. "This Mr. Potter is a reviewer. It is often used in investigations to record witness testimony. If you can, I would like you to explain your home life in your own words. This can be used during their trial so you don't have to testify in person." The orb started to glow a royal blue after a quick spell to activate it.

Amelia struggled to contain her anger as Harry explained his life at the Dursleys. She had been disgusted with them before, but hearing the child explain what they did to him made her want to curse those muggles and let them rot in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. From the faces of the others in the room, she wasn't the only one with violence on the mind.

The poor child was red with embarrassment and wouldn't look up from his hands. Amelia wasn't the most maternal woman, but at this moment she very much wanted to reach over and give the boy a hug and tell him everything would be okay. That she would make things okay for him.

Reluctant to have him continue she asked "could you please, in your own words, tell us what happened the night of Friday August 6th."

It would seem that the Dursley woman was just as bad as her brother. It was unfortunate she wouldn't remember being blown up.

"Thank you Mr. Potter, you did very well. Is there anything you wanted to add before I turned off the reviewer?"

"I had a health evaluation done on Saturday and I was told the results would help with your case." Harry said, handing over Aurora's documents. Amelia tested the authenticity of it and was again shocked to see that the documents came from a goblin healer. Not wanting to draw attention to this on the record, she kept any comments to herself and turned off the orb.

"We were also able to obtain the Potter's wills and we will be holding the reading on Wednesday. Here's a copy of the will and I'm sure you'll be interested to note who they listed as suitable guardians. I will be reaching out to the DCW after the reading to discuss the best solution for my client." Howards said, handing over the copies.

"Thank you Howards, I'm sure they will find this very useful and will appreciate Mr. Potter's input in finding him new guardians." Finally, it was nice to have good news for once.

Switching gears she turned back to the poor child who still hadn't lifted his eyes. "I know I've already asked a lot of you today Mr. Potter, but if you could, I would appreciate you explaining the events of your second year regarding the basilisk. I talked to my niece Susan and she was able to give me some information of what happened, but I was told you were in the thick of it. Would you be willing to explain what you know?"

Before he could answer Howards broke in "in what context are you questioning him? Is he under investigation? Is he a suspect?"

"No, not at all. We are however investigating the events that took place and why the aurors weren't brought in to help."

"I see." He said leaning back with a bit of a smile. "In that case, you may continue Mr. Potter, if that is what you want."

"Yes," Harry said, finally looking up again. "I don't mind telling you what I know."

Amelia reached forward and the glob started to glow for the second time. Twenty minutes later Amelia wished she could go back in time and stop herself. Giant basilisk petrifying students she was prepared to handle. Dealing with teenage dark lords trying to resurrect themselves had not been on the agenda. It was a little comforting to see everyone else looked as horrified as she felt. Harry Potter had saved them from an evil manic for a second time before he had even reached his majority. This small, malnourished child had gone up against a basilisk and a dark lord and won. What the fuck was going on at Hogwarts!

Composing herself as much as possible she asked, "Do you have anything else to add Mr. Potter?"

"No…. wait I have one more thing to add. Since we now know that Tom Riddle opened the chamber and caused the death of Myrtle Warren, can Hagrid be cleared and allowed to use magic again?"

"You make a good point. I will look into Hagrid's case and see what I can do. Anything else?"

"No, I think that is it."

"Thank you Mr. Potter." Amelia said, stopping the recording. She would have Hagrid's case pulled as soon as she got back. She remembered the groundskeeper fondly and would be happy to clear his name. She could use a little happiness after this interview. She would also be having a long talk with Cornelius about how the justice system worked.

"I have to say Mr. Potter, it was very brave of you to go after Ginny Weasley like that. I know you thought you would have the help of a professor, but if anything like this occurs in the future, please floo the DMLE. The fireplaces in the common rooms and teacher's quarters are all linked to the DMLE in case of emergencies. However, I will endeavor to make sure this is the only year you are put in such danger at school." Amelia hoped she could follow through considering what she had just learned.

"I hope so. I would much rather have a troll running around the school again than a basilisk."

"What?!" The question was shouted out from multiple directions and had the child flinching.

"I'm sorry for our outburst Mr. Potter. This is the first mention of a troll in the school. Can you please elaborate." As Harry started to explain the situation she realized that she would have to stop him and start recording again. Was she too young for retirement? Would she be able to live with herself if she grabbed Susan and ran before He-who-must-not-be-named found a way to return?

"Well Mr. Potter, you have been very helpful today. I will keep you informed about your relatives' trial. You are welcome to come, but no one would think less of you if you decided to abstain. Now, on to my last point for today."

"Excuse me Madame Bones, before we move on, I would like to inform you that Mr. Potter has decided to harvest the basilisk as is his right. He will be working with the goblins and they are set to begin on the sixteenth. We would like to invite a representative from the DMLE to come verify that the basilisk is dead and that the school is now safe."

"Thank you for the invitation. I appreciate the opportunity to secure the chamber and verify that the threat is gone." Amelia would be going herself to see the monster that had terrorized the school and endangered her niece.

"I would also like to have an investigation started into Hogwarts' handling of the situation. They knew that there was something/someone hurting the students and didn't ask the DMLE for help or even inform the student's guardians if I'm not mistaken."

No, Howards wasn't mistaken. She hadn't received any messages from the school, and after her talk with Susan last night, she learned the students were under the impression that notices had been sent out. Susan thought she knew what was going on and didn't bring it up during Yule because she had spent most of it dealing with a ring selling illegal dragon's blood. She had only really been home for the actual holiday. Susan hadn't wanted to bring up anything depressing during their limited time together.

"We would also like to know why mandrake root wasn't just ordered for the petrified students. Yes, it can be expensive on the market, but some of those students missed out on months of school and life. The expenses could have been worked out. Or better yet, why weren't they transferred to St. Mungo? The healers would have been better qualified to handle things and they might have had mandrake root in stock."

Howards made a valid point. And she wasn't the least bit surprised he was going to pursue a civil suite. "Send me the paperwork and I'll have a team assigned before the ink dries."

"I have one more thing I would like to discuss today. Since Mr. Potter will be staying at the Leaky Cauldron without any adult supervision until September 1st, the ministry would like to assign trainee Nymphadora Tonks and Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Tonks has a rare talent, she is a metamorphmagus. It allows her to change her appearance at will. She will be your main guard. Shacklebolt will stay in the background and help keep an eye out for Sirius Black."

"Why would I need to watch out for Sirius Black?"

Sweet Merlin! Did he not know? Had no one warned him of the danger he was in? Maybe if she stepped aside and let Fudge drown in his incompetence they could have a decent Minister.

Howards thankfully took over. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter. We assumed you already knew. Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban a few weeks ago. The Ministry has put together a country wide manhunt, but nothing has been reported yet. In the future we will make sure to confirm your knowledge of things."

"But why would I need protection from him? He's my godfather isn't he? I saw it on my inheritance test yesterday." Potter asked, looking confused. And for good reason, If Black showed up on his inheritance test then he was the boy's magical godfather. Oaths had to have been taken. Was Black mad enough to sacrifice himself for his long dead master or were the guards mistaken? At this rate, she should just open a Harry Potter department and let them focus on all of the issues surrounding the boy.

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Potter, what color was his name?" Kingsley asked. Yes, if the line wasn't still active then maybe Black had broken his oaths and had already been punished in some way.

"It was black. The same as Alice Longbottom's. She is my godmother."

Well that was unfortunate news. That was another life line cut from the child. However, Black's active line brought them right back to where they started.

"Be that as it may, Sirius Black is still a convicted Death Eater who has broken out of prison. Whether he truly means you harm or not, he is still dangerous and participated in the attack on your family. He is not to be underestimated." She hated to bring up his parents' deaths but hopefully a light reminder of what Black did will help him see the need for guards.

"He helped Voldemort kill my parents!" Well, there was the anger she was looking for. The confusion not so much. How did Harry Potter not know his own story? Nevermind, she knew how. Those Merlin forsaken muggles!

Explaining Black's role in his parents demise was harder than she thought it would be. He went from angry to devastated to raging inferno. Anger did wonders for his presence. That small, abused child had become quite the fierce wizard. She could very well imagine this boy battling a giant basilisk and going head to head with a body snatching dark lord.

With a little extra probing from Howards, he agreed to the guards for the rest of the summer.

I loved going through all of the reviews from the last chapter and seeing what you guys thought of Harry's new solicitors.

I found this little gem and had to share. Story Recommendation: Fate Is A Four Letter Word by Philo,

Harry Potter/Kingsley Shacklebolt/Severus Snape

Harry's only aim has been to create a safe and happy life for his family, but his efforts are destroyed one spring afternoon. Harry meets new friends and old enemies, old friends and new enemies, whilst trying to find a path through a changing world.