It's My Life
"Harry, mate…Your house is huge!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry had to chuckle. "I know…I'm jealous. Might be bigger than mine," Draco remarked.
"Oh, come on…It's not a contest." Harry informed Draco.
"Dobby shall send the elves back to work until it's time to return everyone home." Dobby stated as he waved the other elves back into the house.
"Thank you, Dobby." Harry smiled. Dobby bowed his head and followed behind the other elves inside to get to work. "Come in, I've already adjusted the wards to allow guests in. I apologize you couldn't floo over, for security reasons."
"Don't worry about it, dear," Molly said gently as she cupped Harry's cheeks and placed a kiss on each of them with a warm smile. "How are you? Eating well? Have everything you need?"
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you," Harry replied.
"Where is Severus?" Lucius inquired.
"Where do you think, Mr. Malfoy? His favorite place in the house." Harry reminded.
"The potions lab…" Narcissa, Lucius, and even Draco all sighed, shaking their heads.
"You have a potions lab here?" Hermione asked.
"Down in the basement. Apparently my ancestors were potion masters and created some of the stuff that still gets used today like Skele-Gro, Pepper-Up, and Sleekeazy's Magical Hair." Harry shrugged.
"Wicked, Harry," Fred and George said together.
There was a crack of apparition as Harry saw Sirius and Remus arrive. "Just in time, you two." Harry told them.
"Sorry, cub. Dumbledore is onto things not being right, but we think we dissuaded him…" Remus informed.
"Is there a problem?" Came Severus's voice from the doorway.
"There was always the chance the fool catches on. If he went to Privet Drive, he'll know that the 'Harry Potter' that is there is just a stand-in." Lucius remarked.
"Everything is fine," Sirius informed. "We got him off the trail, but be careful, Harry…He's very insistent to wanting you to do whatever it is he wants. He's not going to stop, and he'll just try harder. Watch your back when you return to school…"
"We'll watch his back," Draco assured. "All of us."
"And you've become quite proficient in Occlumency, Harry…I'm quite proud. I dare say that you might become as good as I am with it. I mastered it young too." Severus stated.
"Thank you, sir," Harry nodded. "I'm starting to worry less and less about Dumbledore finding out, though. Honestly, what can he do? I'm under guardianship of you and his actions are surely going to be viewed as immoral and neglectful. I don't see how he'd ever be allowed to keep any kind of guardianship over me. The blood wards in Surrey are useless because the dark lord never attacks me there when he could because I was always outside of them and down at the playground when chores were done and my relatives just wanted me out of the house. Voldemort attacks me at the school, always at Hogwarts, so in theory the least safest place for me is there…" He shrugged.
"And he definitely can't get here," Remus added.
"And he can't access any of your accounts," Narcissa reminded.
"All Dumbledore is going to do is keep trying to get me to do what he wants, which is probably to destroy Voldemort, and I plan on doing that anyway. I just don't want Dumbledore's particular brand of assistance in the task. The snake-faced bastard hasn't beaten me in any of our encounters…" Harry remarked.
"Harry Potter! Language!" Severus glared.
"Sorry…" Harry muttered and then repeated the same word in Parseltongue.
"Do not use Parseltongue to get around using curse words, Potter…I can't give you detention, but I can ground you…" Severus warned.
"You said language, I assumed you wanted me to say it in another language. That's your fault for not clarifying," Harry argued.
"Cheeky brat…" Severus muttered.
"Aw, come on…You know you love me." Harry chuckled.
"Regretfully," Severus rolled his eyes. "Go on, have your party, Harry. I'll be along soon."
"Yes, sir," Harry nodded.
"Everyone you invited is aware that this is a secret, yes?" Severus questioned.
"Of course, Professor." Harry reassured. Severus then headed off to get back to the basement as Harry brought everyone inside more. "I'll show you around." He added.
. . .
Harry did take the group on a tour of the house, showing them the main floor and second floor, but only where his and Severus's rooms were as the rest was all extra bedrooms. Harry took the friends and other guests downstairs to see the basement potions lab. Now, they'd returned to the main level and gone into the ballroom, which was set up perfectly for a party.
The teenager got the music player going and while the adults were sitting together to talk, the kids were having a good time. The hours ticked by as it was soon 9:30 pm and the party was still going, as intended, until midnight when they'd ring in the new year together. Harry was happy to see his Gryffindor friends, and Luna, as the one Ravenclaw, getting along with those in Slytherin. Harry was glad too that Remus, Sirius, and Severus were playing nicely, as well Lucius and Arthur.
"Has Harry seen the paper today?" Sirius asked Severus.
"He doesn't typically read it," Severus answered. "But I have. I can't say I'm surprised…Harry's already been facing that with Umbridge at the school."
"That undersecretary to Fudge?" Lucius inquired. "I've never liked that woman."
"Nobody likes that woman," Severus drawled. "She's been targeting Harry at school, I'm afraid I haven't been able to do much."
"Targeting him how?" Remus asked.
"The pink nightmare told him he had permission to speak out on why he called her a liar, so Harry did, and then she turned right around and gave him detention for it." Severus informed. "Over and over again, for seventeen days. I didn't even know until Draco dragged Harry to my room after midnight to tell me that Umbridge had been making him use a blood quill, doing lines for hours."
"A blood quill!?" Narcissa and Molly screeched with shock.
"Carving the same sentence into his hand for hours, days." Severus said.
"What line?" Arthur wondered.
"I can't remember. Harry!" Severus called.
"Yeah?" Harry looked over from where he was with his friends.
"What line did Umbridge make you write over and over again?" Severus asked.
"I must not tell lies." Harry replied. "Why are we talking about her?"
"We got on the subject of how your year has been going." Severus mentioned.
"And if you'd seen the paper today because they're attacking you as a liar," Remus added and Severus glared at him.
"What?" Harry arched a brow, walking over now and the friends following.
"Show him," Sirius insisted. "He might as well know."
Severus sighed and summoned the paper to his hand and gave it to Harry the Daily Prophet paper he had. The front page revealed a shot of Harry with the title; The Boy Who Lies, and Fudge saying all was fine and Voldemort wasn't back.
"He's been attacking Dumbledore as well," Arthur informed.
"Fudge is using all his power, and influence to smear anyone who talks of the dark lord's return." Sirius explained.
"Why?" Harry pushed.
"Fudge thinks Dumbledore is after his job." Remus said.
"That's insane." Harry snorted. "No one in their right mind would think Dumbledore would-,"
"Exactly the point, my boy," Remus said. "Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear. Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold dear. Now, he's returned and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid revealing that awful truth."
"We believe Voldemort wants to build out his army again. Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all matter of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily like before. But gaining followers isn't all he's after this time. We think he's after something-," Sirius said.
"Sirius," Remus warned.
"Something he didn't have last time…" Sirius continued.
"You mean like…A weapon." Harry asked.
"No. That's enough." Molly stopped the conversation and walked over to snatch the paper from Harry. "He's just a boy." She reminded, being a protective mother all the way. "You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order straight away."
"Good, I want to join." Harry said. "If Voldemort is building an army, then I want to fight." Sirius took a drink, giving Harry a small wink, then clapped his hands once and sat back with a smile. Harry smiled too.
"The Order is only of age wizards and witches only, Potter." Severus said. "Aside that, it's run by Dumbledore."
"Good thing we have our own army," Seamus grinned, high-fiving Dean.
"What?" Narcissa asked. "What?" She looked at the students.
"Not everyone knows about your little defense group at school," Severus sighed.
"You know?!" The adults demanded.
"Of course, I allowed it." Severus told them. "And I supervise."
"Explain," Lucius remarked.
"It was our idea," Hermione spoke up. "Professor Umbridge won't teach us anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts, it's all text book work and copying notes three times over."
"One time we were sitting with Harry and talking about it, Hermione made a comment that Harry could run a better class as he's fought the dark lord. So we got the idea to start up a secret Defense class," Ron added.
"It's made up of students from all houses, and all ages," Luna informed.
"And Harry heads the class as teacher." Neville piped up.
"He does brilliantly as such," Ginny remarked.
"Even Professor Snape has said Harry would make a great teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts," Fred and George said together.
"You're all in it?" Molly blinked.
"Us and many more. There's thirty-five in total." Dean stated.
"Professor Snape just supervises things, jumps in to explain something if Harry doesn't know the answer. But Harry does all the spell teaching." Seamus nodded.
"We call it Dumbledore's Army, but not because we're fighting for him. It's just a cover that if we ever get caught; he'll get in trouble for allowing the students to form a group taught by a student. Severus will deny all knowledge. Dumbledore claims to know what all his students are doing, so if we're caught; he'll end up blamed." Harry grinned.
"That's very dark, Harry…" Arthur frowned.
"We live in dark times, Mr. Weasley. It's survival of the fittest, or rather…Kill or be killed. You do what you must to live. Dumbledore wants to think he can control me, I'll throw his old ass under the bus faster than he can say quidditch." Harry remarked, arms folded.
"You do realize if Dumbledore gets removed as Headmaster, we deal with Umbridge?" Draco reminded.
"What does it matter? Dumbledore is already letting her run the school, he's just sitting back and letting her wrongly punish students. Hurting them. Let her take over, I'll show her why she shouldn't have ever crossed me." Harry scoffed.
"You're talking like you're challenging her, Harry, and I don't like it. She's still a teacher at Hogwarts, and the undersecretary to the minister of magic." Severus sighed.
"I don't care if she is God herself. She started this battle when she decided to let me call her out, then punish me after saying she wouldn't if I spoke my mind. She's the liar. I didn't start the war, Professor…But you can bet that I'll finish it." Harry assured. "She can't beat me."
"She's a fully trained witch, Harry. Don't get arrogant…" Remus offered.
"So is Voldemort." Harry countered firmly. "The dark lord is probably in his late sixties by now having been born in 1926, I believe…He completed his Hogwarts education, fully trained and assumingly a master of the dark arts…He hasn't beaten me and I've barely battled him. He lost when I was a baby, he lost first, second, and fourth year to me too. Don't tell me I can't beat Umbridge when I can stop Voldemort. She wanted a fight, she'll get one. In the form of when Voldemort decides to rear his snake-face again; I'll laugh and say I told you so to her and the ministry. Then we'll see who has the last bloody word." Harry remarked.
His friends snickered. "Ah, good day in class…You left her red-faced and speechless, mate," Ron patted Harry's back a few times.
"I'm usually against disrespecting a teacher, but I fully supported this," Hermione agreed.
"What did you say? I've yet to hear the entire exchange." Severus asked.
"He bloody slayed her," Blaise chuckled.
"Dobby?" Harry called. The elf popped next to Harry.
"Harry Potter has summoned Dobby. What can Dobby do for his friend?" The elf asked in a bow.
"Can you bring me that object hidden in the closet of my room?" Harry inquired.
"Yes, sir!" Dobby vanished, then returned with a silver disk that had liquid in it.
"You have a pensive?" Lucius remarked.
"I found it while cleaning out the room, it must have belonged to my family and that's why it's here. Either way," Harry let it float into the middle of the table as he grabbed his wand and pulled a light blue memory from his mind and sent it into the pensive.
"Where did you learn that?!" Severus asked.
"Read about it in one of those books you let me read from your library," Harry shrugged before tapping the tip of his wand to the pensive and bringing the liquid upward like a screen. "Just like I learned this trick too." He chuckled. "Now you can all see it."
The scene began with Harry sitting at his desk and Umbridge at the front of the class, the voices now coming in for everyone to hear.
/Flashback-Harry's Memories of 9-6-1995/
"And why do you believe I'm lying?" Dolores asked.
"I'd rather not get in trouble for what I'd say." Harry refused.
"Go on, my boy. Speak your mind…I won't punish you." Dolores invited.
"Since you asked…" Harry looked right into her eyes, leaving no room for doubt in his own. "You weren't there, Professor Umbridge. You can't call me a liar when you've no proof that I am. Cedric and I were both port-keyed out through the cup. He was killed by Peter Pettigrew, on Voldemort's command. Vividly going off memory, Voldemort said kill the spare."
"Pettigrew used a very dark spell and potion to return Voldemort back to a physical body because he never died all those years ago. He was defeated, not destroyed and now he's back in the flesh. I saw him. I spoke to him. I fought him. You've no right to tell me what is and isn't truth. You and the ministry are trying to cover it up to save yourselves a panic, keeping everyone under prepared." Harry revealed calmly. "You can't speak for what really happened and I'll gladly surrender my memories of a couple months ago to be seen."
"If not and you want to keep believing your own lies because you're scared…You go right ahead. Fear won't stop Voldemort from killing anyone in his way and it won't stop him on his quest to dominate the world. You be as scared as you want, but it won't save you." He paused. "Voldemort is back and sooner or later, you'll see that for yourself and I can't wait to watch it first-hand so I can tell you I Told You So, then watch you turn around and ask me to fight him for you."
"Merlin, Harry…" Ron stared, shocked but smiling.
"You refusing to teach us won't stop him from coming and it won't stop us from fighting to truly protect ourselves and those we care for. But you don't have the right to tell me I'm the liar. I was there. You were not so take your own advice and don't lie to save face because you're scared. But I am not. Not scared of him…Not scared of you." Harry said firmly.
"You think we need your protection?" Dolores asked.
"I don't think…I know." Harry countered. "After all, Professor…I am the boy who lived. No one else who has stood up to the dark lord has lived to tell about it. Whereas I have survived him first year, second year, and fourth year. If you could protect yourselves, I'm sure the ministry would have stepped in to stop Quirrell in first year when Voldemort possessed him."
"I'm sure the ministry would have done something about the Chamber of Secrets being reopened and killing the monster that was petrifying students and nearly killed Ron's little sister. And I'm sure the ministry knew Voldemort got someone to turn the cup into a portkey, and they would have stepped in to stop an innocent boy from being murdered and protected its residents of the wizarding world, right?" Harry asked. "Oh…But we're forgetting something, aren't we?" Dolores narrowed her eyes at him.
"You people didn't do anything, did you? No. You ignorantly ignored it because you refuse to accept the truth. Do you know who did do something about it? Me. So it's not a matter of think, Professor…I know you won't do anything to protect us because you've already failed three times and twice…People have paid the price. Ginny almost being killed. Cedric actually being killed…"
"Mr. Potter…" Dolores warned. Harry felt a wave of caution wash over him as he glanced to his hand and saw both of his rings glowing black. Was he in some kind of danger?
"You're right. Cedric's death was a tragic accident…One you could have prevented if you'd accepted reality. His death might have come at Pettigrew's hands…But it's on the ministry's hands. You should have all known something was up when a fourteen-year-old got entered into the tournament cause I sure as hell didn't put my own name in the goblet. Did the ministry stop it? No." Harry told her firmly. "Don't worry…I'll always be around to do the right thing since we can't rely on the ministry to protect us."
"Detention!" Dolores glared.
"Thanks for proving my point you're a liar." Harry folded his arms over one another.
"Excuse me?" Dolores remarked.
"You said I could speak freely and you wouldn't punish me. You lied by giving me detention because you can't handle the truth." Harry said. Dolores stiffened.
"Y-You baited me, letting me give you free speech to purposely make me react." Dolores said.
"I simply did what I was told." Harry told her.
The two stared one another down before students began to move quickly and some screamed. "I will have order! Back to your seats," Dolores ordered.
"De-Dementor!" Pansy pointed. Students rushed out of the room, but Hermione and Ron stayed because Harry hadn't left. It was assumed someone was going to get help.
Dolores turned quickly, gasping and trying to back away as it closed in on her. "I command you to leave," She said as firm as she could. It didn't listen.
"Seems you don't have as much control over them as everyone believes…" Harry said, never leaving his seat. Was this the danger he was in? Harry looked at his rings again, but they weren't reacting to a dementor, so that meant Umbridge was the trouble. Something to report to Severus later on.
"D-Do something!" Dolores told him.
"Oh, you want me to help you?" Harry asked. "I thought it was the ministry's job to protect everyone. So go on…Prove that everything I just said isn't a lie and you keep us safe." He challenged.
"PLEASE?!" Dolores begged.
"Harry, get away from that thing. You know they like you just a little too much!" Hermione warned.
"I'm fine, Hermione…It's not after me this time." Harry told her. "I know how to protect myself, just stay back."
"Potter, please?!" Dolores pleaded as the dementor neared her.
Harry sighed as he stood up and pulled his wand and flicked it forward as a blue light emitted from the tip of his wand and a large stag in the same light appeared to get between Umbridge and the dementor. The stag kicked the dementor back and chased it through the window and away. Harry flipped his wand downward and returned it to his pocket before looking at Dolores. He crossed his arms over one another.
"For the record, I learned the spell in my third year and I very well know it's not taught until seventh. But the best defense against the dark arts teacher this school has ever seen taught me it so I could protect myself. And you dare say that we don't need to know how to defend ourselves because the ministry will. What I just saw was proof of everything I said, and with witnesses, the ministry just failed in its duty. I have zero faith in the ministry so I will never place my safety in their hands. I'll protect myself and those I hold close."
/End Flashback/
Sirius immediately hugged Harry. "That's my boy," The man said proudly. "I'm proud! Your parents would be too. Never taking anybody's nonsense!"
Remus only sighed and shook his head, but smiled in agreement with what Sirius said. "I do agree,"
Harry's friends were laughing and high-fiving at the memory while the adults just sat there, completely shocked by it.