Disclaimer: This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy. No ships. Bashing around everyone.

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These chapters (33 to 36) were written first and guided the whole story about the diaries of Lily Evans and Magical Null Space. Then we'll get to what happens afterwards and in winter and spring terms 1996.

The previously published '33. Trial' chapter comes after these chapters. Apologies.

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33 Ending Autumn Term / 03 December 1995

It was a regular morning in the Great Hall when the postal owls arrived during breakfast, and Harry noticed that many of the Slytherin students received letters from many different owls. There were hushed conversations along the table involving students from every year. And Harry noted that Professor Severus Snape looked concerned for his students, but he didn't dare walk among them.

To handle Slytherin, Professor Aurora Sinistra and Professor Septima Vector had taken the position as Joints Head of House after the attempt by groups of students to ambush Severus in the hallways. Word was that Snape dared not show his face in the potions laboratory or the classroom.

'Will we get a new professor in January? Is Snape worried about his students or himself?' Potter wondered as he turned his attention to Headmaster Dumbledore carrying on an animated conversation with Judas Goat McGonagall.

He smirked, 'I'm gonna slip and call her that to her face someday. Yeah!'

During the autumn, Minister Cornelius Fudge had managed to strip Albus Dumbledore of the positions of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and as the British representative to some foreign office. That loss cost Albus his position of global influence. The elderly wizard remained only as headmaster at the school, but no one had noticed an increase in the time he spent with the professors or any students.

This morning, observant students noticed that the Slytherin students didn't allow the news they'd received to affect their behaviour except for Draco Malfoy. The obnoxious teenager was offended when Nott refused to listen to his monologue. Glancing around the Great Hall, Draco located another person to spout off to – Harry Potter.

Malfoy grinned and celebrated internally, 'The Boy-Who-Lived seems to be on the outs permanently with Weasley, and the mudblood vanished over the summer along with many other mudbloods.'

In the hallway between Charms and History classes, Draco Malfoy got close enough to mouth off. The entire term, Harry had ignored Draco because he had too many wands in the fire already to pay attention to the spoiled boy. But today, Dracon refused to be ignored.

"Hey, Potter, I got big news this morning in a letter from my father!"

"Congratulations, Malfoy. I hope news was good," Potter replied, a proper and neutral response that didn't solicit any information about the news.

This response left Malfoy speechless for a full minute, by which time Potter was beyond range of a hex or a verbal retort. Frowning in frustration, Draco massaged his left elbow with the ghost memories of the reflected hex he'd cast at Potter two days earlier as they entered the DADA class.

He'd tried to blame Potter for casting the hex but with Umbridge's 'By the Book' rules for the classroom, the DADA professor had been forced to check first Potter's wand and then Malfoy's wand. The check proved that the hex had been cast by Malfoy and somehow it reflected and hit his elbow.

The professor and High Inquisitor Umbridge refused Draco any relief. Worse, the DADA professor, another retired Auror, assigned him detention with Filch cleaning out animal pens near the greenhouses – which meant handling dung.

Determined to delivery his news – to scare Potter – Draco ignored his Slytherin classmates to sit beside Potter in the history class. The only other student seated near Potter was the squib Longbottom, so Malfoy ignored everyone to share his news.

Ignored for five minutes, Draco whined. "Potter! I'm talking to you!"

Looking up from his textbook, Harry's face appeared to mirror surprise. He inclined his head respectfully and said, "Mr Malfoy. How can I help you?"

Glancing around and seeing every pair of eyes in the room watching, Draco swallowed nervously but then said, "My father sent me a letter that included an important announcement! Everyone who is anyone important in Slytherin got one from their father or guardian too."

Harry waited and Draco eventually blurted out, "Don't you want to know what it is about?"

"If you wish to share this important announcement with me, I shall be glad to hear it and give it the consideration it deserves."

Draco noticed that Longbottom nodded his head, signalling to Potter that the Boy-Who-Lived had responded properly when in conversation with a pureblood.

So, Malfoy blundered on, saying, "There is to be a magnificent dinner at Malfoy Manor to celebrate Yule this year! My parents always invite the most important people to the Yule Observances in our home beside our hearth."

Feigning ignorance, Harry asked, "What date is this Yule celebration held?"

Sneering, Draco replied, "The evening of the twentieth of December. There are rituals to renew magic on the longest night of the year."

"Yes!" Harry agreed. "I remember now. And there's a special log burned in the fireplace, correct?"

Draco sneered but had to agree with Potter's statement. "Do your muggles even have a log for a fire?"

"Malfoy, please share with me and everyone in the room," said Harry to remind Draco of the audience listening to the conversation, "what is so important about this gathering to celebrate Yule this year?"

Embarrassed and aware that the Slytherins were staring at him with cold eyes. Those with families invited were displeased to have the secret shared with everyone in Hogwarts. The Snakes who were not invited would make certain their families heard the news. To deflect everyone, Draco repeated his words detailing the elegance of Malfoy Manor and the excellent food provided. Believing that Draco would back down for a time, Harry congratulated the other wizard and returned his attention to the textbook.

In the hallway outside of the History classroom, Harry walked slowly to separate from the crowd of Puffs and Lions headed for the library. The nest of Snakes attempted to remain coherent, but Draco insisted on separating from the other Slytherin students again and approached Harry for a third time in a single day.

As a way of greeting, Harry asked, "Malfoy, are you going to write your history essay on the Goblin Rebellion of 1376 or the Goblin War of 1649? I think the latter is more interesting just because there were more beheadings."

Glancing around, Draco felt emboldened because he was alone with the Boy-Who-Lived. Now was his chance to scare Potter. Taunting the muddy boy, Draco asked, "Remember the dinner and Yule observances that I mentioned?"

"Yes, vividly," Harry replied. "The excellent cuisine, the Yule Log, and the golden plates."

Blinking rapidly, Draco tried to remember if he'd mentioned the gold plate that would be used on the long dining room table. But Potter added, "I heard that the gold plate used at your dinner table belongs to Lord Black and that your father was served notice that the loan was over. Something about returning the plate or annulling Narcissa Black's betrothal agreement."

"What are you talking about! I am to be Lord Black! As soon as I turn seventeen, I shall put on the family ring and be the lord!"

"Well, congratulations again, Draco! That will be a memorable day at the bank," Potter replied.

Confused, Draco asked, "What are you going on about, Potter?"

"I am trying to have a proper conversation following the pureblood rules."

"That's not important now," Draco insisted. "I want to tell you about the guest of honour at our Yule Feast!"

When Harry did not ask any questions, Draco grew impatient, and demanded, "Don't you want to know who it is?"

"Not particularly," Harry said innocently.

"But you've already met him! Earlier this year! My father said you were there in the graveyard when the Dark Lord was raised from the dead," Draco whispered leaning in closer to Potter.

"Malfoy, I was poisoned by the spider bite that night. I don't remember much," Harry stated, keeping to his story.

Stamping his foot in frustration, Draco exclaimed, "My father was there with the other faithful followers when the Dark Lord threw you against a headstone."

"You say that your father was there?"

"Yes!" Draco declared.

Harry said nothing else but remained calm as Draco Malfoy suddenly realised what he had admitted. Potter's memory could be viewed by Director Bones, shown to the whole of the Wizengamot, and his words printed verbatim in the Daily Prophet.

Draco was unable to contain himself and continued to sputter and reveal secrets. "The Dark Lord will be at our Yule Party, Potter! He will command the wizards and witches to obey his commands and bring all Magical Britain under our rule – his rule!"

Not certain he understood Draco's purpose, Harry asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to be afraid! When I return for the winter term, I shall have met the Dark Lord, and I shall tell you all about him!"

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Target Selection / 07 December 1995

At the end of the second day of the end-of-term exams, Harry chose to escape from his classmates for a while. In the Room-of-Requirement, he sat in a comfortable chair, drank hot chocolate and nibbled on biscuits provided by Winky. Kreacher reported that the goblins had used the fiend fire charm to destroy Hufflepuff's Cup, the Gaunt Family Ring, and the bit of soul that had resided in Harry's scar since destroying Slytherin's Locket. The Secret Magic Users summoned the elf each time to have a witness to carry the news to Lord Potter-Black.

And when Harry entered the Room of Requirement to his default Lily Evans IFI Ritual Room, he'd discovered that Hogwarts had created a permanent gold circle with the four compass points laid out in gold as well. He wouldn't have to draw the perfect circle any longer here at Hogwarts. Tired and almost ready for sleep Harry stared at the golden circle and had an idea for a devious prank.

'Snape's been a bastard to me again. What if those exploding Howlers that Snape sent to Magical Null Space returned? He used Deletrius so the burning pieces of paper can return to fall on him. Maybe the voices too,' Harry mused.

But then he considered how tired he was, and the level of tension at Hogwarts with Snape being ambushed by his own students. He decided to wait until a more appropriate time. Seeing his three elves watching him, he sat forward and announced, "I have chosen three targets for IFI spells later this month. I'll use IFI to restore stone banished by the Defodio charm to fill in…return the targets to their original state."

The elves waited patiently, and the teenager continued, "First the Chamber of Secrets underneath Hogwarts that will be my test to see if it works. Then I'll restore the rock that became Azkaban. I want to destroy the Dementors and Death Eaters in the prison. And finally, I will put back all the stone dug out to created Ministry for Magic in London."

"That's be lots of stone and dead peoples," Dobby noted.

"No one dies when I fill in the chamber. It'll just entomb the giant basilisk corpse under stone."

"That's be good," Dobby replied. "There be poison nasty gas getting loose in Hoggiewarts Hotel in a couple years if nothing done with rotten messy carcass of giant poisonous snake underneath castle full of childrens."

"Huh? Poison gas? Does…" Harry began to ask but then fell silent. He believed that Dumbledore wouldn't move to prevent a crisis like poison gas rising from the Chamber of Secrets.

He snorted, "The headmaster would blame me for any poison gas and use the Wizengamot to fine me a million galleons from the Potter vaults. And then he'd throw me into Azkaban."

The elves waited quietly for Harry to think and nodded when the young wizard said, "I know there are other prisoners in Azkaban besides the Death Eaters, and there are guards."

"The prisoners all be crazy – like bad son, Sirius Blacks," Kreacher insisted. "And guards all be outside for changing of shift rotation rollover at morning eleven every day, rain, snow, or fog.

His curiosity piqued, Harry asked, "No sunshine?"

"The sun never shines in Azkaban," Kreacher replied as he hummed a tune from muggle radio.

Harry nodded. He'd think about it someday but not while Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore lived. The young man used elven wording to ask, "When is the ministry magical most full of worthless wizards and witches?"

"After a disaster be announced," Dobby replied, and Winky and Kreacher both nodded. "Old bad evil master always met with Fudgie and all his friends in Wizen-cock-a-doodle after disaster occurs."

"But there are some good wizards and witches," Harry stated to remind himself. "I can't be responsible for everyone dying."

He looked horrified and said, "I can't do the spell if it killed Susan's aunt and Neville's grandmother! They are the only family they have left."

Winky took a deep breath and offered an opinion that Harry listened to carefully, "Mr Harry Potters, Winky be thinking maybe might be best to wait before turning whole of Ministry for Magic into stone again. It can always be done a month laters but can't be undone by no magic youse knows."

Taking a deep breath, Harry decided, "Okay. Just the Chamber of Secrets and Azkaban."

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More Targets / 09 December 1995

Harry sat in the deserted Great Hall, lost in thought. After breakfast on Saturday, everyone had hurried to the library, or the dormitories for more revision before exams resumed on Monday. This afternoon, he was free to study as he pleased and after eating a filling lunch, the teenager spent twenty minutes reviewing his targets for the Improved Finite Incantatem spell created by his mum just before he was born. As proof of concept (he loved the muggle term), Harry would restore the Chamber of Secrets underneath Hogwarts. The natural cavern spaces would be left but the excavated sections would be returned to their natural state.

Then he would use IFI to destroy Azkaban by pulling back the stone that had been excavated by the Evanesco charm to create the tunnels and cells in the stone prison that stood above the sea. Again, any natural caverns would remain, but all excavated spaces would be filled in with the banished stone.

And after two days of consideration, Draco Malfoy's declaration that the Dark Lord would be at Malfoy Manor for the Yule Celebration, Harry had another target that was impossible to ignore. But first, he had to figure out how to pull stones back from Magical Null Space and send them to a different location than they were before being removed. If he could accomplish this and obtain a good image of where the celebration would occur, he would smash the Dark Lord and his minions.

"Mr Potter, what are you doing loitering in the hall?" screeched High Inquisitor Umbridge. The witch in pink robes stood just inside the door and Harry berated himself for allowing her to sneak up on him. If he'd heard her heels clicking on the stones of the entry hall, he could have disappeared underneath his cloak and avoided the forthcoming conversation.

"I don't know how you escaped from my attention back in August…"

"Weren't three people killed?" asked the impertinent boy. "I know one victim was a squib, but the other two were purebloods…it was very sad."

Her complexion turned pale to be reminded of that unexpected consequence and Dolores hissed with displeasure.

To continue winding the witch up, Harry smirked and said, "High Inquisitor, there's no reason to use such vile language in my presence. And your accent in Parseltongue has too much gecko rather than snake for anyone to think you speak the sacred tongue naturally."

Confused by the boy's response, Umbridge demanded, "What do you mean?"

"You attempted to curse me in Parseltongue just now, but you used muggle profanity, rather than a true magical curse…and your accent is lizard, not serpent."

Realizing that Harry Potter had insulted her twice – accusing her of using muggle profanities and possessing a lizard's accent – Dolores blushed and almost hissed a second time. But she managed to keep her temper and said, "This winter…during the winter break, I shall spend my days with Minister Fudge and share with him your disappointing behaviour and beliefs! Dumbledore has spent the entire autumn creating rumours and problems for the good minister!"

Harry said nothing, and Umbridge continued, "Cornelius will grant me more power at Hogwarts during the winter term! In winter term, I shall give you detention and teach you the error of your beliefs!"

When the boy remained silent, Dolores decided he was cowed and would remain silent. She would return after the winter break and begin to take control of the school. Now, she just had to convince Cornelius to allow it.

As High Inquisitor Umbridge waddled away, Harry's mind whirled through memories of conversations in late August. It was very clear in his mind that Madam Bones had said, "The work order for the two Dementors could not be found anywhere! It would have included the Dementors by number, their destination, and who they were to hunt."

The young wizard hefted his book bag and headed for the library, 'I have to find samples of Ministry Orders, so I know exactly what I'm going to call back from Magical Null Space and deliver to the desk of Director Bones. I'll use IFI to stop that toad.'

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Winter Break Begins / 15 December 1995

End of term examinations were complete!

The students hurried through breakfast in the Great Hall and then headed for the Hogsmeade Station. The Hogwarts Express was to leave for London promptly at 9:00 AM and no one wanted to be left behind – there was always a fuss about anyone forced to linger around the school the whole day until the train reached Kings Cross Station. Only when the train arrived were they allowed to use the floo and travel instantly to London.

As he approached the doors of the Great Hall to leave for the train, Draco took one last moment to taunt Harry whispering, "Remember Potter! I am going to meet the Dark Lord!"

"Will your father invite the Dark Lord into your home? Into Malfoy Manor?" asked Harry, stepping closer to Malfoy.

Draco was surprised by the question but answered, "Of course. Every Death Eater offers the Dark Lord shelter under their roof. This will be when the Yule Log is burned in the fireplace."

"How large is the fireplace in your manor? Please describe the elegance of the mantle over the fireplace," Harry asked earnestly. Unable to resist the opportunity to brag about Malfoy Manor, Draco spoke for three minutes about the size of the hearth, the black marble of the mantle and the stately windows on either side of the fireplace.

The Slytherin remembered the room full of guests at previous holiday parties, with his father and mother as perfect host and hostess. And the images of the ballroom at Malfoy Manor slipped into Harry Potter's mind with passive Legilimency. When Malfoy stopped gushing information, Harry possessed a clear image of this new target.

Glancing around to make certain no one else was listening, Harry leaned closer and said, "Draco, your Dark Lord has bad breath and stinks like a snake. Wormtail used too much snake venom in the resurrection and now Tom Riddle is a cold-blooded golem who must sit in the sun or in a heated chair all winter long. I fear you will be disappointed in your Dark Lord."

Confused Draco ran out the front door and down to the train station. His mother and father would explain everything.

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The first term of the 1995-1996 school year concluded without any problems for the students. High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge had created problems for the professors, but she had little if any interaction with the students. And despite her best efforts to spy on Harry Potter, Dolores never caught him pranking other students, never wandering the halls after curfew, or even speaking ill of anyone.

Umbridge was aware that Headmaster Dumbledore forbid the young wizard from travelling to visit his muggle relatives for the winter break, but the ban did not seem to upset the boy. He was not the troublemaker she expected even when she threatened him earlier in the month.

Despite her efforts to arrange the Dementor's kiss last August, Potter slipped through her fingers – much like she slipped through the fingers of Director Bones. No one would ever find the paperwork that authorised the visit by two Dementors to Little Whinging that evening in August. Dolores was an expert with the Deletrius charm to destroy incriminating documents, evidence, and appeals for mercy. She'd never mastered Evanesco to be able to vanish a corpseand had learned to use poisons that could not be traced back to her when she had to eliminate a rival or troublemaker.

Today, as soon as the students departed, she would use the floo in her office to travel to the Ministry for Magic to talk with Cornelius. Perhaps after all these months, he would allow her to renew the smear campaign against the Boy-Who-Lived. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's reputation suffered terrible smears each week because of his claims that You-Know-Who had returned.

'If I can get the boy to say that, then Cornelius will turn me loose against both of them,' she decided. 'But Potter's got few friends only mudbloods and Heir Longbottom.'

Thinking about the formidable witch named Augusta Longbottom, Umbridge swore, 'I'll never cross wands with that witch!'

As the front door of the castle closed, leaving less than a coven of students behind, Dolores hurried to her office. Her thoughts were strange, 'I shall try hissing in front of a mirror! With a snake nearby – safely stored in a container – and see if I can find a Parseltongue curse I can use! Imagine if I could curse Dumbledore to be silent?'

Smiling, High Inquisitor Umbridge bent and stepped into the floo to leave Hogwarts until after the new year.

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Evidence Appears / 17 December 1995 Ministry for Magic

The DMLE offices were busy with normal activity. Satisfied with the way that Rufus Scrimgeour managed the multiple covens of Aurors, Director Amelia Bones stepped into her office just as a bright light appeared above her desk to drop a piece of parchment. Her security team pulled Madam Bones out of the office while other Aurors cast detection charms for other charms, portkeys, and compulsions on the paper. The results were all negative. After she read the paper, she summoned Unspeakable #23 to verify the authenticity of the document.

The parchment was standard Ministry for Magic paper and consisted of a signed order to send two Dementors (#45 and #61) to the muggle town of Little Whinging in Surrey. The Dementors were to search for and kiss criminal H. J. Potter. The authorization signature belonged to Dolores Umbridge, Undersecretary for Internal Affairs for the Minister for Magic.

Contemplating where this parchment had been hidden since August and why it was delivered to her now, Amelia knew she could consider those facts later. Today, she had the proof that was missing last summer to arrest and convict Madam Umbridge of a serious crime – at last.

"Head Auror Scrimgeour, send Aurors to Hogwarts and Umbridge's home. Wherever they find her, arrest her."

"Director, I just saw her headed toward the minister's office from the floo in the ministry atrium," Scrimgeour replied. "She's been in the minister's office almost every hour since last Friday."

"Quick! Arrest her and throw her in a secure cell – one only you and I can release her!" Amelia ordered. "And Cornelius probably will thank us after her yammering voice in his ear for two days."

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Proof of Concept #1

The weather was snowy that Monday. Elven heating charms warmed the Great Hall, the Common Rooms, the few bedrooms in use in the dormitories, and Library, but the hallways were extremely cold. At breakfast there was a flurry of loud voices from the staff table as the professors read the Daily Prophet – High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge had been arrested Sunday morning. The witch was in the ministry and headed toward the offices of Cornelius Fudge when Aurors arrested her.

The charge against Dolores was that in August, she plotted to assassinate an innocent person. Details and proof were to be revealed at her trial on Friday.

'It worked,' Harry declared in his mind. Retrieving the specific order from August that sent Dementors into Surrey required some planning on his part in the Room of Requirement yesterday, but the Improved Finite Incantatem (IFI) spell invented by his mother had retrieved the order from Magical Null Space where Umbridge's Deletrius sent the parchment paper. Lily Evans invented the spell more than ten years earlier – before she married James Potter and lost control of her life.

'Proof of concept first phase complete,' the teenager celebrated as he left the Great Hall. 'Now, to complete the second phase of my proof of concept.'

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