A/N: and here i am again with another chapter with the great help form HowInMadeHowie. I am really glad that he had offered his help all those months ago, because without him i would not know how good those chapters would be in regard of continuity and overall quality.

With this chapter we end the second year and prepare for the third year, with a small summer break for our hero's in between.

*Strange dark lord*: Execute Order 66.

*Author*: you mean chapter 66? Sorry took a bit until we got there, but here you go.

Thanks to you readers once again for liking this story so far. Have fun and be safe

Lucius Malfoy returned to his manor after a short trip to St. Mungos, angry at the whole world. He was not as good at mending broken bones himself, and that brute had broken his wrist in Hogwarts while holding Lucius back from cursing Potter.

As he walked through the halls, he thought about what all went wrong today. First, he could not throw Dumbledore out of Hogwarts because Lucius had overlooked a formality and then he lost his servant because Lucius had not looked at his master's diary when Potter gave it to him. He should have seen that sock sticking out of it, and now he had to think how to procure a new house elf to clean his house. He would not ask his wife, as the housework could hurt her and then his trophy wife would not be so good looking to bolster his standing in social gatherings. He soon opened the door to his bedroom, tired after everything that had happened today he was just ready to sleep and hoping that all of this was just a bad dream.

The next day, he found himself on his armchair in front of the fireplace, which he had to set ablaze himself as Dobby did not answer his call before he remembered that yesterday's events was not a dream after all and he had lost the elf. With a bottle of firewhiskey at his small coffee table, he held a glass full of the liquid and tried to plan up his next step. It was a bit early for such a strong drink, but his wrist was still a bit sore even if it was healed completely.

He enjoyed the burning feeling while drinking the whiskey that also soothed the pain in his wrist a bit. He looked up as an owl landed on the perch he had installed for them when they brought a letter for him. Normally he would ignore the owl until he had his drink, but something was catching his attention on this envelope. It was the seal of the board of governors, something he had used himself often enough when conversing with the other members. Walking to the perch with the glass in one hand, he grabbed the letter from the owl's leg and then walked back to his chair. The owl took flight again, signaling to Malfoy that there was no urgency to answer. Placing the glass on the table he opened the letter and began to read.

Mister Malfoy

We send you this letter to inform you that we had an emergency session to discuss your standing in the board of governors. After receiving a report from Headmaster Dumbledore that you had tried to suspend him without the full support of the board, we had decided that you are no longer fit to be in this board due to misuse of power. Because of this, we discussed and voted on whether you should remain on this board, and we all voted for your removal from it. You will find all the signatures at the end of this letter. The reason being the misuse of power you possessed, and we received reports from the behavior of your son who tried to intimidate his classmates with your position. We also inform you that your replacement is Dowager Longbottom after Mister Greengrass did not want the post in the first place. This is just for future correspondence if the behavior of your son will not be corrected in the future.

With the hope that you are in good health, we wish you a good day.

The Board of Governors.

Lucius crumbled the letter into a small ball and tossed it into the flames of his fireplace, afterwards he downed the rest of his firewhiskey in the glass in one gulp; needing the burning sensation to calm him down a bit. He seemingly fucked up badly, but he was sure that if his son had not tried to get the control of Slytherin the way he did this would never happened in the first place.

After all, the only reason why Lucius tried to get his master's diary to do his thing was to distract Dumbledore and the rest of the staff from his son and his endeavor to take over Slytherin house. Lucius even restrained himself to inform Severus about this plan, as with the position of a teacher the risk of Severus reporting to the headmaster that something was afoot when the attacks would begin to ramp up and the first dead mudblood would appear.

But this was now all for naught, and Lucius will need more money to keep his "friendship" with the Minister up. He heard a knock on the door, walking over to open it to see what his wife did want from him now.

As the door opened, Narcissa had to hide her grin at her "husband"'s angry face that told her that his plans did not work out as they should have. She still had to play the loyal wife, so she just told him that Mr. Smith was in the hall and asked for his presence. Lucius nodded and told her to go back to her study and wait for him to call her.

Smith was in the hall and sat on one of the chairs, waiting for Lucius to speak with him. Smith already knew what had happened in Hogwarts, but he still had to play his role to gather more information for the future.

As he noticed the head of House Malfoy enter the hall where Smith was sitting, he stood up to greet Malfoy. "Mr. Malfoy, I hope you had a good day until now and forgive me for my intrusion. I got some information about the person who killed Greyback. According to my sources, it was a Witcher called Geralt of Rivia, and as this person is a known associate of Letho of Guleta it is sure to assume that this Geralt was also one of the two Witchers that had visited Hogwarts as you have told me." Looking at Malfoy's face, Smith noticed that the patriarch's face was now paler as it was before.

Lucius had to make a double take when he heard that name. Geralt of Rivia was a Witcher that even his master was afraid of, as back in the last war the Dark Lord had tried to recruit this Witcher and was pushed back so clearly that he did not try anymore. Malfoy still remembers how he had to dodge those fireballs from the Witchers and their company of sorceresses while retreating and hoping to survive. And now understood how this Witcher killed Greyback so easily that there was no trace left of Greyback, only the rest of his pack and some piles of ashes around the cave Lucius had known he lived in after Greyback had returned to Britain. "Thank you Mr. Smith for this information. It does line up with the things I found out yesterday in Hogwarts. I guess it was Geralt of Rivia who killed the basilisk?"

Smith was now looking questioningly at Lucius, so he explained to Smith what Dumbledore had told him yesterday.

Now stroking his chin, Smith was looking at Malfoy with a curious expression. "According to my information, Geralt of Rivia is currently in Romania so he could not have done it. That would suggest that there is a third, unknown Witcher involved in this event. A Witcher strong enough to kill a 1000 year old basilisk in its own lair." Smith now saw that someone like Lucius Malfoy could become so pale that he was almost transparent.

Lucius slowly sank into a chair in the entrance hall as he realized that if there was a third Witcher, an unknown, involved Lucius would have to tread carefully from this point forward. Geralt of Rivia was bad enough, but he was a known quantity. Dealing with an unknown was more dangerous than dealing with a known threat. Looking up at Smith, Lucius decided to utilize this man's resources. "Find out who this unknown Witcher is."

The rest of the school year flew by with the only noticeable event being that the two petrified victims from the basilisk were restored with the potion made from mandrakes which were raised by Professor Sprout.

Quicker than the students realized, it was now the end of Year feast. Dumbledore stood up from his chair to make his end of year announcement, so the students quieted down to listen to him.

"I want to thank Professor Sprout for her professional handling of these dangerous plants and her knowledge so they could grow up so fast. Also, I want to thank Professor Snape for his speedy brewing of the potion needed to restore Mrs. Norris and Mr. Creevey. Now before we eat enough to almost burst at the end of year feast, we still have the house cup to attend to. And just like last year, thanks to a splendid final Quidditch match, Gryffindor wins this year with a good lead before Ravenclaw which were hot on their heels. Now let's eat and be merry." Dumbledore sat back down on his chair and began his meal, while the students filled their plates and talked with each other.

One student was quiet though, as he looked at this empty plate and not feeling too good. Yes, the school year was over, but the punishment he and his friends had to endure still lingered in his muscles. Draco Malfoy was still angry that his father could not lift the punishment, but the letter he received a few days later explained many things.

Flashback

A day after his father was in Hogwarts, Draco was hoping that the letter his family owl delivered was the one who would free him from his punishment. His muscles still hurt from the running Wulf' had made him and his friends do, and tonight they would have to clean the potions classroom again. Opening the letter, his hopes were crushed in the hardest way he ever could have thought of.

Draco

After yesterday's meeting, I must say that I am disappointed in you and what you did. If it would have been normal as a Slytherin is expected to act, I would have sent you a Howler to even embarrass you more, but seeing that you are punished enough for the rest of the school year, I refrain from it. I would suggest that you plan further ahead as you have done until now if you want to walk further down the true Slytherin way. I will no longer try to free you and your friends from said punishment. And when you return back home, you will do some chores in our house as another punishment from me because of your stupidity. And as I have lost my position on the board of governors because of your behavior, you will do house work like a common house-elf, hopefully this will teach you that you have to be more cunning in the future and plan for everything eventually to counter. Prepare yourself.

Father

Malfoy was looking at the letter as if it was a bad joke, but even after reading it for the fifth time he had to acknowledge that it was genuine. He crumbled it up and put it in his bag, looking defeated and just hoped that the year was finished soon enough

Flashback end

The feast soon was closing up and the students were walking to their common rooms to pack the rest of their belongings into their trunks for their trip back on the Hogwarts Express.

Harry was just closing his trunk when he heard Hedwig coming in to land on his shoulder. He smiled at his familiar knowing when they would return home. As Harry scratched her head, he asked her a question. "Hey there Hedwig. Are you here to say goodbye for now? I guess you would rather fly back home yourself. Or do you want to travel with me? But then you would have to be in your cage."

Hedwig hooted softly and jumped over to the cage to climb inside herself, showing Harry that she would like to travel with him. Also this way she would not be exhausted when they would be back in Kear Morhen, so this was reason enough in her opinion.

Looking at his dorm mates, he saw that Neville had also finished packing his trunk and closed it, as even if they had still their pajamas on; Harry noticed that Neville also had a smaller bag next to it where he had his clothes for the next day for better access when they would arrive back in London.

Seamus and Dean were both talking with each other while Dean was taking down his posters from his favorite football team and rolled it back up to store it in his own trunk. Ron was just laying on his bed, almost fast asleep. Harry knew what would happen the next morning and decided to just place everything from his ginger friend on a giant heap, so it would be faster for him to throw everything in his trunk and run down to be on time.

Dumbledore was sitting in his office and was looking at all the papers on his desk, as it was usual for the end of a school year. He would need to hire another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher too for the next school year, as Professor Merigold told him before that she would like to be an assistant again for the next year. Thinking about this problem at hand, Dumbledore didn't have long to come up with a suitable candidate for the position . Though he may have to talk with Yen and Triss about this person, just to make sure that the safety of the students would be guaranteed.

Dumbledore then came to the resignation letter from his Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Kettleburn. Maybe it was time to make another decision which Lucius would have opposed, but Dumbledorewas sure that Hagrid would like to take this position. But just to make sure that Hagrid would be ready, he would also write to another old friend of his if he could watch the classes for a while before returning to his wife and Crups.

Cortana activated her projector, which caused Dumbledore to look up from the letter he was just about to write.

"Good evening Professor Dumbledore. I wanted to tell you that Captain Lasky decided on your request for similar glasses like Harry has. But as you have a different type ofof glasses than Harry which are not practical for what we can offer, we would offer you to have an improved version that would be placed directly on your eyes with contact lenses. The glasses would then have just a sensor suit to interact with the contacts, this way it would not be suspicious as when you suddenly wear new glasses. We would like to ask you to come to Kear Morhen in the next few days, so we can give you your contacts and new glasses." Dumbledore thanked the AI and told her that he would come the day after tomorrow, so they would have time to greet Harry properly when he returns tomorrow.

After a good night's sleep, the students were once again running around to find the last things they had not packed the evening before, but Harry was carrying his trunk and Hedwig in her cage down the stairs to the carriages. As soon he placed it on the side where he would find it again, he walked back up to help his friends carrying theirs down the stairs.

While he walked past the staircase that led to the dungeons, he noticed that Malfoy was coming up behind his friends, who were carrying their trunks this time. Last year they had help from Dobby, as he was informed by the house elf what he had to do while he was bonded with the Malfoy family. Dobby even offered Harry the same service, but Harry declined it as he liked the workout even if his trunk was equipped with a featherweight charm.

Harry soon found himself back in the Gryffindor common room again, where he saw how the Weasleys were running around either searching for something or helping the others find something.

Hermione was just walking down the stairs to the girls' dorm with Lavender and Parvati right behind her. The girls were pulling down their trunks, but Hermione did not look as in much strain as she did the year before. She really was glad that she had listened to Harry and asked her parents to buy her a trunk with the same featherweight charm the others had.

Harry walked over to them and wanted them to offer his help to carry all three at the same time, but Callie almost screamed in his head that it would be suspicious to show that much strength, so he should just help one girl at a time and ask the Weasley twins to help the others. He saw the logic in that, so he did rethink his offer and decided to help Hermione first if Fred and George were too occupied.

Hermione saw Harry walking over to them and just for a short time stopping. It must be something that Callie had told him, but he just smiled so it could not be something dangerous enough to make him worry. She dragged the trunk a few steps further down the stairs when Harry appeared beside her and grabbed the handle, asking her if he could help her with her trunk.

A short "eep" later, causing the common room to have a short laugh, Harry was hefting the trunk up so he could carry it easier. Hermione walked behind him down the stairs to the entrance hall. When she saw Daphne and Tracey coming up from the dungeons and dragging their trunks behind them. Hermione also noticed that they seemed to float just a few centimeters above the ground, so there would not be much residence from them dragging their trunks on the ground.

The older students also helped the first years with their trunks, as it was their first time leaving the castle at the end of a school year. She saw how Cedric Diggory did the same as he did last year and ran up and down the staircases and helped every student that would be glad for it. Hermione also noticed that some of the girls Cedric helped were smiling at him and some were even blushing when he grabbed their trunks. She could understand their reaction, as she had to admit that Cedric was good looking with his winning smile present almost every time he talked with someone. Especially that one Asian looking girl from Ravenclaw seemed to be head over heels for the older Hufflepuff as he took her trunk to carry it down to the carriages. Hermione just hoped that it would not be so obvious who she had a crush on when she was at that age.

When Harry placed Hermione's trunk right next to his in the entrance hall, he turned around to look for who he could help next. He evaded Hermione bumping into him because she was just walking behind him thanks to his senses being so well tuned to his immediate surroundings. Looking past his friend, he saw Lavender and Parvati being helped by the Weasley twins and Ginny right behind them, as Percy had moved her trunk with a spell and led it down the stairs. Looking past them, he saw a young blond-haired girl struggling with her trunk, so he walked up to her.

As he had only seen her from behind, he only recognized Luna when he stood next to her and asked if she would like some help carrying the trunk the rest of the way. She smiled at him and nodded, leaving the trunk to his capable hands. Harry tried to make some small talk, hoping that the talk with Triss did help her a bit. "Tell me Luna, did you like your first year in Hogwarts? Anything special happen?"

Luna smiled brightly at Harry, hopping beside him towards the carriages. "Oh, yes, I liked my time in the school until now. I even have some friends in Ginny and Hermione, even Daphne and Tracey help me sometimes beside Padma when I have questions about my homework and we are together in the library. And when I lose something of mine, they help me find it again. I do wonder though, how do they find it so quickly sometimes and then look angry at another student." Her hopping stopped and she began to walk normally beside Harry.

He noticed how her happy smile faltered just a bit, so she knew who would take her things from her to bully her. He told Callie to remind him to ask John if he would have the time to go visit the Ravenclaw common room and see if he could help Luna. Callie nodded and made a notification to see on his glasses as soon as he was in Kear Morhen. Looking over to Luna he said quietly to her, "Don't worry, Luna. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Harry said in a determined tone.

Luna looked back up at him and her smile returned to her face. "Thank you, Harry. It's nice having friends that look out for me."

A short time later, Harry found himself in a compartment with his friends playing cards or just talking about their plans during their summer holiday. Susan and Hermione discussed how France would be nice this time of the year while Daphne and Tracey spoke about how they would spend their time at the beginning of their holiday. Harry asked the girls to refrain from mentioning that they would visit him in the second half of their break, because he was afraid that Ron would also like to come over and see how Harry lived. It wasn't so much that Harry minded Ron, but Ron's close minded way of thinking would put some of his adopted family off.

In another compartment, Malfoy was still reeling from the punishment he had endured until yesterday. His muscles still spasmed sometimes when he moved, he was struggling with just trying to sit more comfortably. Pansy was sitting beside him and tried to feed him some pastries she had bought from the witch with the trolley. While eating, he was thinking about how glad he was that the punishment was now over and trying to plan his revenge on that stupid muggle. He also had to make sure that Greengrass and Davis would be put in their place without there being a connection to him. But he just hoped for now that when his father would pick him up that Lucius would be less adamant as the last letter would suggest.

The rest of the day flew by without anything interesting happening and when the train arrived in London, Harry and his friends were just a bit sad to say goodbye for the time being. Harry helped them to get their trunks out the train before he walked back in to get Hedwig and his own. But when he walked in the compartment they had sat before he saw that Dobby was trying to calm down Hedwig in her cage. With a small smile, Harry called the house elf and asked him what he was doing.

Dobby squeaked in surprise not hearing Harry return. "Master Harry, sir, Dobby thought that it would be nice for you when Dobby would bring you trunk from here to your room sir. After all, you had carried the other trunks out of the train and must be exhausted sir." Dobby bowed down so his nose was almost flat on the floor.

Harry smiled at his newest friend while he told him that it was a good intention, but as long as Harry would not ask for it, he would not need it. "And Dobby, please do not overexert yourself too much. Keeping Kear Morhen in one piece must be hard enough for you. It would also be suspicious when I walk out without the trunk and Hedwig, as almost all the students saw me bringing one and an owl onto the train. So please, return to the castle and wait for me there." Grabbing his trunk and Hedwig's cage, he walked out of the compartment as he heard Dobby pop out of it.

On the platform Harry was looking for Triss and John, traveling with them back via portal. He soon found them talking with Hermione's and Daphne's parents. As he got near them, he could hear that they discussed how they would visit Kear Morhen together with the Bones later this summer.

Harry arrived just in time to listen to Mr Greengrass explaining to the Grangers how they all could arrange the meeting to travel to Harry's home. "We will send our daughter`s to the Leaky Cauldron, so they can travel to Madam Bones when we return from our own holidays later this summer. As far we are aware, she was invited to your place together with her niece so that would work out great. And as those three girls have become such good friends with each other, there will be no problem with the arrangement. But now we must leave, I have some appointments at home with my lawyer and accountant. We must prepare some things for Mr. Cable that he would need later this month. Have a nice day." David placed his arm around his wife and led them to the apparition point from this platform, so they could return home that way.

John looked at the Grangers, who were not as nervous as they were last year surrounded by all those magicals. He had to commend them for their bravery, as he was sure to notice some old pureblood families watching them with disgust.

Hermione walked to Harry and hugged him to say goodbye, before she left with her parents through the platform's entrance to the muggleside.

Triss asked them if they were ready to return to the castle, as she was sure that Yen would have prepared a feast together with Dobby for their return.

Harry just laughed and waited until she had opened a portal for them to walk through. But just before Harry stepped into the portal, something in his mind made him turn around to look at the red train gleaming in the evening sun. He smiled when he turned back to the portal, knowing that Geralt would train him harder from now on, as he had slain a basilisk in his young age he should be able to take it.