Harry Potter and the Tribe of Mystics

by Lord of mystics

Harry Potter is competing in the Triwizard tournament as someone is out to get him again. meanwhile, Susan Bones is trying to get to him. But what is the interest of mystics in Harry Potter? Who are they and why are they interested in Harry Potter? Why the blue eyed slytherin want to get to Harry Potter? Starts at end of year 4. [COMPLETED]

25. Chapter 25

A/N- I had this written and it was being updated while I was busy with other task during the last week. This chapter will mark the end of summer and we will reach Hogwarts and some new characters would walk into the story. I hope you all will like it.

Thank you Hypergym for the edit.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS. I AM OVER WHELMED.

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The Wizengamot

The Wizengamot was a circular chamber where the old houses were given seats in the centre signifying their importance while other houses were sitting in their spaces in other adjoining rows. The Minister had a seat beside the Chief Warlock and the head of DMLE had a seat on the other side of the Chief Warlock.

The older houses were each allowed a chamber in the Wizengamot and as such, there were chambers for the houses of Black, Potter, Longbottom, Bones etc, in a row. The regents or the Lords could stay there until the session was called or they could floo into the chambers directly, saving them from the hassle of coming through the ministry entrances.

This morning, Harry Potter flooed into the chamber of the House of Bones since his house's chamber would not be opened until after he had been invested. Likewise Sirius and Remus had accompanied him with the Bones Ladies to their chamber. Harry was wearing the traditional robes for the Wizengamot members with his house crests on the right side of his chest under a disillusionment charm (it was to be lifted after his investment became official). Arthur had also arrived with Bill and Charlie and was sitting in the spectator gallery. The spectator gallery was meant for people who wanted to see the proceedings but did not have a seat on the Wizengamot. There was a small enclosed sitting area which was meant for Heirs of families and all the heirs who were at school like Draco Malfoy, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Ernie Macmillan, Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis etc and some grown-ups too were sitting in that section waiting for the session to start.

After an hour-long wait, Amelia left them in the chamber for House Bones telling Harry and Susan to come when their names were announced. The teens were nervous at the prospect but they were assuring each other by gestures that everything would be alright.

The Chief Warlock banged his gavel, "Let the session of the Wizengamot for the month of August 1996 begin. Before we proceed to main business, is there any preliminary business to be conducted?"

Amelia stood from her place, "Yes Chief Warlock, it has recently come to light that a new lord has come into his heritage and as such, it is time to invest him into his rightful seat on the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore, who obviously knew the first bomb was about to be dropped, adopted an impassive expression and said, "Who is this lord, Madam Bones?"

Amelia smiled, "Ladies and Gentleman of the Wizengamot, I present to you Lord Harold James Potter."

Harry walked in the chamber confidently projecting his magic outwards, his face impassive and his eyes shining with power, his cloak billowing behind him while the chamber erupted in outrage. The first to find his voice was obviously Cornelius Fudge, the minister of Magic who bellowed at the top of his voice, "Amelia, this is not a place to jest. He is a minor. He cannot be invested."

Amelia's voice adopted a cold demeanour, "It is Madam Bones to you, Minister. I am the chief of DMLE and Regent of House Bones and you will address me as such."

Fudge who cowered before her stern gaze, rallied valiantly, "But he cannot be a lord. He is a minor."

Harry smirked, "Of course you would resist my investment Minister. But the Council of Lords, the predecessor of the Wizengamot had it decreed that if the Lord of a House is not alive or is otherwise incapacitated and unable to attend to his duties, then the heir can ascend to the position of Head of House and to the hereditary seat of the family at the Wizengamot. Also, I was forced to compete in a tournament against my wishes during the last academic year at school, a competition which was solely meant for wizards of age meaning I am now of age now in the eyes of magic. Also the family magic has accepted me as the Lord."

He flashed the Potter Family ring on his finger to Fudge and smirked evilly at him, "This means Minister that I am invested now and eligible to sit on the seat." He sent a stack of Parchments to the Chief Warlock who banished copies to everyone, "This is an official document from the Goblins regarding the investiture of Lord Potter."

Dumbledore turned to the chamber in general, "Does anyone have any more objections before we proceed?"

When no one said a word, Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Lord Potter, you may take your family seat now."

Harry climbed to the centre aisle and took his seat beside Lord Macmillan who smiled at him and he returned the gesture while Fudge was sweating bullets. Having the boy on the Wizengamot would lead to his downfall and he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He just hoped there would be no more bad news for him today. Of course he had no idea how wrong he was.

Dumbledore started again, "Are there any more matters to be addressed before we proceed?"

Harry stood up and Fudge cringed. Harry employed Occlumency so that he appeared outwardly to be calm and impassive, while inwardly he was revelling in the minister's discomfiture. He was just getting started.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Chief Warlock, I have with me a parchment which contains the results of my inheritance test conducted by Gringotts. By the right of inheritance, I claim the seats of Peverell, Black and Rosier."

The chamber erupted in chaos with everyone trying to say something at the same time. Lucius Malfoy looked like he might burst a blood vessel. Fudge was looking pale as if he had lost all the blood in his body. When the chaos did not settle down for a few minutes, Dumbledore banged his gavel loudly and roared, "Silence! This is not how this auspicious body is supposed to work. Those who have objections to his claims can make their objections known one by one."

Lucius stood first, "How dare he claim the Lordship of Black? He does not have any right to it."

Harry stood and waited to be recognized by the chief warlock then said, "I am aware of Lord Malfoy's claim. While Sirius Black was illegally incarcerated and later hunted, he was unable to ascend as the rightful heir apparent when Lord Black passed on. Draco Malfoy then became the heir apparent in his stead and not yet being of age, was also unable to ascend. As his parent, Lord Malfoy assumed the regency of the House of Black. Since then, Sirius Black has been exonerated as per the emergency session of this august body the previous month. Being the primary blood heir and there being no Lord Black, he immediately became the de facto Lord Black. As such, he blood adopted me and named me as his heir apparent whereupon he immediately abdicated his lordship in favour of me. By this process, I am the Lord Black. This has been confirmed as the family magic has also accepted me as the Lord Black. It also follows that since there is now an able and active Lord Black that the regency of House black is terminated. I hope that this answers Lord Malfoy's question", and he resumed his seat.

Lucius roared, "No half blood can claim lordship of the House of Black."

Watching Malfoy's outburst, Harry just laughed inwardly. The more the man ranted, the more he looked like an idiot. Nobody had forgotten how he stomped out of the previous session of the Wizengamot. Outwardly, Harry remained impassive as he stood and waited to be recognized again. He began, "Please, correct me if I am wrong Chief Warlock. But does not the ancient law provide that anyone who is child of two magicals is pure blood and not a half blood?" He sent another stack of parchment to Dumbledore who distributed the copies to the members.

Harry continued, "Lord Malfoy, if you will review the document which has just been distributed to you, this is a certified copy of my inheritance test. It clearly shows that Lilly Potter nee Evans, my mother was adopted. By birth she was the daughter of Vincent Rosier and Emilia Weber Therefore, I am a pure-blood wizard on both sides of my family" and he sat down again.

All the members started reading the document with great interest as if it were some very interesting book. After a few minutes, Lucius stood indignantly, "I still object to his claim as Lord Black.".

Harry scanned the lords and ladies and thought to himself, "How long will Malfoy be allowed to act like that? He had been out of order three times now and not even given a warning." Well, he wasn't going to feed into Malfoy's game he would continue to be above it.

According to procedure, Harry stood and waited to be recognized again. "Lord Malfoy, I have given satisfactory answer to your every question, with supporting documentation. However if you believe that your son, Draco Malfoy is still the rightful heir to the house of Black then let him summon the spirit of the family magic. If he can do it, I will abdicate my claim." Having dropped the challenge, he sat down again.

Lucius was in a fix. If he allowed Draco to try to summon the spirit of family magic and he failed, he would be subject to ridicule from others. If he didn't that also would make him the laughing stock of the Wizarding World. Finally after some contemplation, he turned to Harry, "Let us see you summon the spirit of the Black Family magic and if you can do it, I will abdicate my claim."

Maintaining his impassive expression, Harry stood and waited to be recognized. He had Lucius right where he wanted him and now was the time to make him the subject of public ridicule. He raised his wand and chanted, "domine deus meus familias magicas' and an ethereal adder appeared beside him. As everyone watched in fascination, the adder bowed low to him before disappearing. Those who understood were in awe of the teen's power as not all Lords had such power over the spirit of family magic. After some time, Harry turned to Malfoy and raised an eye-brow at him, "Now, Lord Malfoy, if you please. Would your son care to make a similar demonstration?" And he took his seat again.

Lucius hung his head and whispered, "I abdicate my claim, Lord Black" and he finally sat down.

Dumbledore knew that he could have ruled Malfoy out-of-order at least three times already, but did not intervene. He was deeply gratified to see how young Lord Peverell was dealing with the bellicose bullying Malfoy. He knew that the lad was winning a lot of hearts today so he let it go on. With Malfoy soundly defeated and humiliated before the whole Wizengamot, it was time to put an end to this show. He turned to the assembly and said, "Lord Potter has also claimed the seats of House Rosier and Peverell. Are there any objections?"

There were none however everyone looked at the top most tier of the central aisle where the seats of the three oldest families namely Le Fay, Pendragon and Peverell were kept vacant because there had not been a lord for those families in centuries. The seats were usually covered but today, the Peverell seat was uncovered, something that had not been seen in living memory. Those who understood family magic were also wary of this new wrinkle because they all had heard legends about the Peverell magic being the magic of War mages. If the magic had accepted him, things would go pear shaped for the dark side very soon.

Harry walked up to the Peverell seat and sat on it. An attendant approached him with a golden pin which was to be pinned to the front of his robes identifying him as a member of the Wizengamot giving him unrestricted access to the Ministry of Magic except for the Department of Mysteries.

Dumbledore cleared his throat in an effort to get the attention of the chamber, "Is there any more preliminary business before we move to routine matters?"

Cornelius was hoping that there were no more such matters. He had already taken more than he could take for one day. In fact he was sure that the effects of the happenings of this day would be talked about for years, if not decades. He was ready to bolt from the chamber when Augusta raised her hand. He was sure that there was a pattern to these happenings because all the members of the former Great Alliance had taken this day to make it a catastrophe. He cast a glance at his Undersecretary Weasley who was focused somewhere and as he followed his gaze, he found Arthur Weasley to be sitting in the stands. Arthur never came to a session unless it was imperative. For some reason, Fudge had a deep feeling of foreboding about him being here today, though he did not know why. He also noticed Andromeda Tonks sitting in the stands and this sent a chill down his spine. He was sure there were more catastrophes coming his way.

Augusta stood and addressed the chief warlock, "The House of Longbottom is ready for its Lord to return to his position as the head of Family. I abdicate my duties as regent in favour of Lord Frank Jeremy Longbottom who along with his wife has recovered from the effects of over exposure to the Cruciatus curse."

Frank Longbottom and his wife strode into the Wizengamot and everyone including Dumbledore was gaping in surprise and wonder at them. Dumbledore found his voice first, "Welcome Lord and Lady Longbottom, the Wizengamot is honoured to have you among us again. I cannot express my happiness enough to see you up and about."

Dumbledore was truly surprised because Harry and Harsh had not informed him about the successful ritual. Neville also had not informed him either. He had so much on his mind that he had not asked Croaker either. To sum it up, it was a prank which was played on the entire Wizengamot and no one knew what to say about it.

Frank bowed his head a little and smiled, "Thank you Chief Warlock. I am thankful to you for your warm words."

While Alice and Augusta went to sit in the seats reserved for family, Frank ascended to his seat where other Lords welcomed him boisterously, shaking hands with him and congratulating him.

Dumbledore said one more time, "Are there any more preliminary matters before we proceed to the daily business?"

No one raised a hand this time and he breathed in relief however he was sure that the day was far from over yet. He raised his voice, "Now we will proceed to the houses to see if they have any declaration to be made."

As the House of Abbott, Ainsworth and few others had no business today it passed quickly until he turned to Harry, "Does the House of Black have any declaration to be made this day?"

Harry stood up and Fudge really wanted to run. He had already had enough for one day. Percy also had understood from what was happening that this perhaps was the day that the minister would be thrown out of his mighty chair and Percy would go down with him. What he did not understand was why his brothers were here. Charlie had a job in Romania and he did not believe that he would leave it just to watch a session of the Wizengamot. The answer to his question which he had been pondering was that Harry Potter had been preparing the downfall of Cornelius Fudge.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Chief Warlock, the House of Black has reinstated Andromeda Tonks nee Black into the family and her family line will be considered a cadet line to the House of Black henceforth. Additionally, the House of Black also recognises the marriage of Septimus Weasley and Cedrella Weasley nee Black and as such, the house of Weasley will be a cadet line for House Black henceforth. Also the marriage of one Bellatrix to Rudolphus Lestrange has been dissolved and she has been cast out of the family. Henceforth she will be known as Bellatrix Nameless."

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well, Lord Black. Is there anything more?"

Just in case anyone thought that they were going to be able to pull anything while Harry was occupied at school, the next announcement will relieve them of that delusion. He grinned in anticipation as he answered Dumbledore, "Since I am a student and cannot give proper attention to the Wizengamot session as is required of me, I hereby appoint Andromeda Tonks as Regent to House Black till I come of age and am ready to resume my duties."

Dumbledore replied, "Very well Lord Black." He turned to the chamber, "Is Madam Tonks here?"

Andromeda rose and Dumbledore asked her, "Do you accept the responsibility given to you by Lord Black?"

Andromeda replied firmly, "I do."

Dumbledore turned to the chamber in general, "Is there any business from House Bones to be announced?"

Amelia stood up and even Dumbledore had to wonder how catastrophic this session was going to be. She addressed him, "Chief Warlock, The House of Bones is ready for its heiress. Susan Bones has been accepted as Heiress of the House of Bones by the family magic and will be invested as such."

Susan entered the chamber amidst warm applause from the members of the Wizengamot and went to sit in the enclosed area for heirs of the houses.

Dumbledore addressed Lords Boot & Greengrass who had no declarations at the moment and he came to Lord Longbottom who stood, "The House of Longbottom is ready for its heir, Neville Frank Longbottom who has been accepted as such by family magic."

Neville entered the chamber amidst warm applause from the members of the Wizengamot and went to sit in the enclosed area for heirs of the houses.

Then the Chief Warlock turned to other houses who had no declarations to be made at the moment till he came to Peverell and Harry stood, "The house of Potter, Peverell and Rosier have a declaration. In order to effectively dispense my duties towards this auspicious chamber, I appoint Sirius Orion Black as Regent for House Rosier, Remus Lyall Lupin as Regent for House Potter and Amelia Susan Bones as Regent for House of Peverell."

Murmuring spread through the chamber and finally Lord Nott stood, "Remus Lupin is a werewolf."

Harry glared hard at the man, "Lord Nott, there is nothing in the charter of the Wizengamot nor in the house charter of House of Potter that anyone afflicted with lycanthropy cannot be appointed as Regent. Even the anti-werewolf laws written during the first war do not provide anything which would preclude this decision or stop me from making this appointment."

As much as anyone may have wanted to object to the decision, and there were many including among the alliance, they held their peace. There simply were no legal grounds to object. With all these changes, people in the assembly were beginning to wonder how the day was going to play out. With Harry Potter directly controlling seats for four houses, it seemed that something major was still to come.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Very well. Are Mister Black and Mister Lupin present here?"

Sirius and Remus entered the chamber and Dumbledore asked them, "Lord Potter here has appointed Sirius Black as Regent of House Rosier, Remus Lupin as Regent for House Potter and Amelia Bones as Regent of House Peverell. Do you all accept this responsibility?"

The three of them stood and said in chorus with each other, "We accept". Remus walked to the Potter seat, Sirius went to the Rosier seat while Madame Bones resumed the seat for DMLE Head.

Dumbledore again rapped his gavel, "Are there any motions to be presented by any of the Houses before the session moves to administrative matters?"

Harry stood again and everyone sighed. This was beginning to be one of the most tiring and exciting sessions ever. No other Lord had before presented so many motions before the Wizengamot in one day and yet they could not do anything but listen. Harry turned to the Chief Warlock, "Chief Warlock, I want to address a matter which is of significance to this august body."

Dumbledore replied, "The floor is yours Lord..."

Harry replied, "I hereby request this august chamber to henceforth recognise me as Lord Harold James Peverell as has been decreed by mother magic and accepted by the family magic."

Dumbledore, who was considering all that this announcement implied, was thinking about having a long talk with Harry about it later, said, "So recognised, Lord Peverell. The floor is yours."

Harry turned to the gathering, "Lords and Ladies of this august body, a few decades ago an injustice was perpetrated in this chamber towards one of our Ancient and Most Noble Houses by one of my predecessors Lord Black only because a daughter of the house married for love. A motion was passed by the Ancient and Most Noble and Ancient and Noble Houses whereby the said house was ousted from its rightful position from this body and since then they have been subjected to scorn by the Wizarding World. Despite belonging to the Sacred 28, the family has been treated as being inferior to other houses. I say that they have been punished enough. I am of course talking about the House of Weasley. Let us right this wrong and restore them to the Weasley family seat, here in this assembly. They are also entitled to inherit the seat of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Prewett by reason of Molly Weasley nee Prewett being the last scion of the said house. I move for reinstatement of House Weasley to its hereditary position and status of Ancient and Noble House to them which would be upgraded to Ancient and Most Noble should they continue contributing for the betterment of the Wizarding world."

As he sat, there was applause for his speech which kept going for some time before Dumbledore banged his gavel again, "Does anybody second Lord Peverell's proposal?"

Surprisingly Lord Cyrus Greengrass stood up, "I second Lord Peverell's proposal. It is only right that a family like Weasley's should be given their rightful place upon the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Now, before we vote on the issue, if anyone one has any objection then come forth or forever keep your peace."

When no one objected, he announced that the voting will take place. Of 160 members of the Wizengamot, the light faction led by Dumbledore and Lord Harold Peverell (he was the de facto leader for the great alliance) had 50 votes now. Lord Greengrass with 60 votes of the neutrals voted in favour of the motion while there were 40 votes against with 10 abstaining.

Arthur was called up and given a set of Wizengamot robes with the House crest stencilled on the front of his robes and Arthur took his seat on the Wizengamot and Bill was named his heir. When Dumbledore asked which of his sons would be invested as Lord Prewett, he proposed Charlie to be named as such and Charlie was invested as Lord Prewett and given a set of robes bearing the house crest. Instructions were given to the scribe (ironically who was one Percival Ignatius Weasley) to send a missive to Gringotts to open the family Vaults of the Weasley family and the Prewett family and to give access to the contents therein.

Fudge had a sense of dreadful unreality. This session of the Wizengamot seemed like a nightmare from which he could not wake. Dumbledore banged his gavel for what he hoped to be the last time before they moved on to administrative matters. But no, there on the other side of Dumbledore, Amelia Bones stood up.

Percy just had no words to express his astonishment. Previously, he had the perception that Harry Potter (Peverell Now?) was nothing but trouble for his family. But, there he was, keeping a cool head, showing nothing but perfect manners and an absolute rigid determination to follow procedure no matter what Fudge and Malfoy did. And he had returned the Weasleys to their rightful place. Yes, Harry is trouble, but for Fudge and Malfoy, not the Weasleys. It looked like Fudge was having a really bad day, courtesy of Lord Peverell, and the day wasn't over yet. "Perhaps", Percy thought, "this would be a good time to accept that he had made a grave mistake in not trusting his family."

After she stood, Amelia paused just long enough to let the tension build before she spoke loudly and firmly, "I hereby present a motion of non-confidence against the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge on the grounds that he has utterly failed to serve the public interest as he has sworn to do."

The chamber fell silent. The spectators were gawking in wonder while the Lords and Ladies who were in the know were smirking at what was to follow. The other Lords were quickly assessing their position and deciding whom to support because while Fudge was incompetent he was also a fool who was useful. To lose a fool and for him to be replaced by a cunning and shrewd person was risky and they were deciding the perks and risks before they would throw in their lot with one side or the other.

In the heir enclosure, Draco Malfoy could feel heat coming off his neck and was feeling shown up by Potter of all people. He had ousted Draco of his rightful inheritance, humiliated his father and now was on the verge of ousting the Minister of Magic.

The other heirs were sitting in contemplation of what would happen eventually. For all intents and purposes Harold Peverell was now a force to reckon with and none of them had been able to recognise him at once. He had changed so much in the last month and it looked like he would change more as time passed. He was no longer the little underfed boy who had trod the corridors of Hogwarts but someone whose manners screamed Pureblood from afar. The way his magic was being projected outwards as he made his entry had chilled them to the bone. Then he had taken the Black Lordship and showed up Lucius Malfoy and now they were sure that he was behind Madam Bones's demand for Fudge's head on a platter.

They all knew that by the time the day was over, Cornelius Fudge would be history. The other event had been Lord Longbottom's return and taking up his seat and the return of House Weasley and House Prewett to the Wizengamot and together, this all made up for rather interesting day.

Daphne Greengrass was thinking and thinking fast. Her father had made the right move to support reinstating House Weasley considering that Harry Peverell was partial towards them and this would put Cyrus Greengrass in the good books of the light faction. Peverell had shown up Malfoy and she was watching him eliminate the Fudge factor all together. Next there would be a new minister of magic by the end of the day. Tracy was looking at her intently knowing what she was thinking and preferred not to say anything saving her jibes for later. Right now, the Wizengamot was amusing enough.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Is there any second for the motion?"

Lord Macmillan stood up, "I second Regent Lady Bones' proposal."

Dumbledore announced, "The motion is seconded. We will continue with this business after a two hour recess for lunch."

Harry looked at his watch and found it had been 4 hours since they had been sitting. Dumbledore took him to a large chamber which was set apart from the others with a thestral on the door. Harry touched his ring to the lock and it opened. The room was twice the size of other chambers and was bare save for a large table with chairs around it. While it was kept locked, the room was surprisingly clean. As Harry sat at the position of Head, Amelia, Sirius, Remus arrived followed by other Lords of the alliance. As they were sitting down for lunch, the heirs of the houses also arrived and Dumbledore called an elf which was assigned to take care of the chamber. The elf produced more chairs then brought refreshments for everyone. Lunch followed shortly. As they were getting started, an elf brought him a missive from Lord Greengrass which invited him, Sirius and Lord Longbottom for a meeting before they went to vote. Since Dumbledore was acting as Chief Warlock, he made himself scarce lest he be accused of being partial towards them.

Lord Macmillan opened the conversation, "Lord Peverell I must accept that I had not expected things to change so quickly. We had only hoped for ousting Cornelius Fudge but you made the alliance the biggest block on the Wizengamot. Quite a few surprises you had up your sleeve."

Harry smiled, "Please call me Harry, Lord Macmillan. I intended to turn the Wizengamot on its head and so I did. Now we have to decide who will be our ministerial candidate after Cornelius Fudge is thrown out."

Lord Ainsworth asked, "Do you have someone in mind, Harry?"

He shook his head, "Since we are all allies here, I did not wanted to presume until we could all meet and discuss it. We all need to agree on this decision."

Sirius who had been sitting quietly said, "We have the ideal candidate with us for the post."

Amelia asked, "Who are you talking about?"

Sirius said, "Who better than you?"

Amelia shook her head, "No Sirius, I will not do it. I am already Regent for two houses along with being head of the DMLE and that is a huge task in itself."

Arthur dropped his two knuts in, "May we consider Lord Longbottom as the next minister? He is very popular and can lead us in these times with his experience, determination and bravery. Besides we all remember his valour in the last war where he escaped you-know-who three times."

Frank looked at him mock- scowling, "Arthur, I will get you for this."

Remus smirked at him, "But will you do it?"

Frank shrugged, "I will do it if Alice has no objections."

Alice who had been sitting in the room immediately said, "Don't you dare use me as an excuse to try and wriggle out of this Frank Longbottom."

Harry looked at the other Lords and asked, "Is there anyone here who has another name to put forward as a potential candidate?" And he waited a minute to let them think it over.

Of course, nobody was putting forth Dumbledore. He had made it clear that his position as Head Master of Hogwarts was much more important to him. He knew that being the Chief Warlock that could not be bribed or coerced was essential for maintaining order in the Wizengamot. He was most effective right where he was.

Looking around the room and seeing that nobody had anything to add he then asked, "If any of you have an objection or concern with putting Lord Longbottom's name as candidate for the post of Minister of Magic please say so."

None of the Lords raised any objection since everyone knew that Frank was from one of the old families and had been extremely popular in his day as an Auror.

As they ate lunch, it was decided that Frank would indeed accept the nomination as was proposed. As the lunch was winding up, Cornelius Fudge sought a meeting in private with Harry and Amelia. While the other Lords took a cue and left, Sirius, Remus and Frank remained behind.

Seeing Fudge close up, he looked like he had aged 20 years in the last four hours. Far from the bigger than life bullying prat who had opposed Harry's ascension to Lord Potter at the beginning of the session this morning, he now looked stooped, frightened and had approached Harry with his green bowler spinning through his hands, "Lord Peverell, I would like to make a request of you."

Harry said, "Please do go on, Mr. Fudge, I am listening."

Fudge noted that Harry had not addressed him as minister. In Harry's mind, this was already a done deal. The green bowler spun faster as his face went from apprehension to anger to pleading, "I- I want you to stop this non-confidence motion."

Harry decided to have a little fun at Fudge's expense. The man may be a corrupt fool, but; you didn't get to be the minister of magic without knowing who is really pulling the strings and Fudge had gone straight to the source. Harry adopted an air of mock innocence, "Mr. Fudge, you surprise me. The motion was brought by DMLE Head Madame Bones. What makes you think that I could block it?"

The hat was spinning faster now, Fudge was looking sick, "Lord Peverell it will serve no purpose. Besides I have not done any harm to you."

Harry dropped his innocent act and became earnest now, "The purpose it will serve, Mr. Fudge, is to replace you with a person who will be effective, diligent and honest in his duty to serve and protect the public trust. As for having caused me harm, here are a few incidents: At the end of my third year at Hogwarts, I told you that Sirius here was innocent. Something you could have easily verified with a memory from any of the four witnesses who were there when Peter Pettigrew confessed. You instead chose to bring in Dementors of all things to execute him. And when he escaped, you continued to hunt an innocent man.

This year, you have been conducting a smear campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and myself in an effort to cover-up the return of Voldemort, delaying vital preparations to stop him, placing the entire wizarding community of Brittain at risk . Again the facts could have easily been proven by a simple memory check.

You have also allowed several death eaters to remain free who were witnessed returning to Voldemort's side the moment he called for them. Many of these individuals are working to undermine the ministry, even now. May I remind you that the only reason Pettigrew was captured is that I captured him while I was running for my life from the graveyard? That is why Sirius is free now. Not due to any action of yours.

Finally, you have consistently blocked funding for the DMLE, recruitment and training of new aurors when they are already understaffed and there is a war coming. Now, Mr. Fudge, why should I support you?"

Fudge had stopped spinning his bowler, but he had to try again, "Lord Peverell, this is simply unimaginable that..."

Harry cut him off, "That is the first thing you have gotten right all day, mr. Fudge, it is unimaginable that you have let things go this far. No thanks to you, they will go no farther. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend." He led the charge as the four of them brushed past and headed towards the Greengrass chambers.

The previous evening, Harry had met with Lord Greengrass and his guest at the Rosier Manor house in Whales. Harry and Sirius had chosen the location for the meeting and lifted the stasus charm from the property the night before. During that meeting, Lord Greengrass had pledged his support to Harry and the alliance for what was happening today. He reaffirmed his promise as they told him that the light faction was putting forth Frank Longbottom as the next Minister.

There was a fair amount of murmuring in the assembly hall as the lords and ladies of the Wizengamot made their way back to their seats after lunch. Debates and gossip which had been the topics during the entire break were now spilling over into the session time. When Chief Warlock Dumbledore could see that most members were in position, he wrapped his gavel smartly and called the session to order. The stragglers quickly found their seats and the noise ceased.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "A motion of no-confidence is before the Wizengamot. If any member wishes to speak to this motion, now is the time."

To make a long story short, Madame Bones presented a long list of failures of the minister to adequately fulfil his duty to the public. She added charges of liable and slander in his smear campaign against Lord Peverell and the Chief Warlock and multiple abuses of his office to assert undue influence and deliberate suppression of evidence that would have exonerated an innocent man. She stated that this is not the person to lead the ministry and called for his immediate dismissal from office. Her remarks were greeted with a loud, "Here! Here!" from most of the members of the assembly. There were one or two feeble remarks against the motion, which gave more of an effect of damning the minister with faint praise than anything else. These remarks were greeted with a combination of polite applause and grumbling.

After a scant half hour of debate, Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Does any other member wish to speak to this motion?" he paused, "There being none, I now call for a vote. All in favour?"

A forest of hands rose from the light side, accompanied by not a few of the neutrals, led by Lord Greengrass, and even a few on the dark side. They may be Voldemort's supporters, but it didn't hurt to join the landslide when it was already a done deal.

When the count was done, Dumbledore spoke again, "All opposed?"

The remaining hands on the dark side went up and a few, scattered neutrals.

When the count was done, Fudge had been ousted by a vote of 100 to 40 with 20 abstaining. Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Carried". He turned to the former minister of magic, "Thank-you for your service, Mr. Fudge. Please take a seat in the spectator stands till the session is adjourned."

All eyes in the room watched Fudge make the walk of shame back to the stands where people scooted away from him.

Dumbledore rapped his gavel again, "The post of Minister of Magic being vacant, we will now hear nominations for the office."

As had been decided, Lord Ainsworth stood up, "I nominate Lord Frank Longbottom for the post of Minister of Magic."

Dumbledore spoke, "Lord Ainsworth has nominated Lord Frank Lonbottom for the post of Minister of Magic. Will anyone second that nomination?"

Charlie Weasley (Lord Prewett) rose to his feet, "I will second that nomination."

Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Let the record show that Lord Prewett has seconded the nomination". Then he addressed Frank, "Lord Lonbottom, do you accept nomination?"

Frank rose to his feet, "Yes, Chief Warlock, I accept nomination."

Dumbledore wrapped his gavel again, "Thank-you Lord Longbottom. Are there any other nominations for the post of Minister of magic?"

Lucius Malfoy rose, "I nominate Lord Irwin Yaxley for the post of Minister of Magic."

Dumbledore, following procedure, spoke again, "Lord Malfoy has nominated Lord Irwin Yaxley for the post of Minister of Magic. Will anyone second that nomination?"

Walden Macnair, known death eater and would-be executioner of Buckbeak rose, "I will second that nomination."

Dumbledore tapped his gavel down, "Let the record show that Lord Macnair has seconded the motion", then turning to Yaxley, he said, "Lord Yaxley, do you accept nomination for the post of Minister of Magic?"

A tall well-muscled man with cold, cruel eyes rose from his seat, giving a defiant glance in Harry's direction before turning to face Dumbledore, "Yes, Chief Warlock, I accept nomination."

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled briefly then he said, "Thank-you Lord Yaxley. Are there any more nominations for the Post of Minister of Magic?"

There was a pause for a minute while people in the room began to talk among themselves, but; nobody addressed the assembly.

The Chief Warlock wrapped his gavel twice to call for order and the people fell silent once more, "There being no further nominations, I give you your candidates. Please come forward my lords."

Frank and Yaxley made their way down to the floor. One death eater and one auror. The two opposing sides could not have been better defined. They turned and bowed to the assembly.

Then Dumbledore spoke again, "My Lords, Lognbottom and Yaxley, we will return from recess tomorrow morning at 8:00 Am. Yu have until then to prepare to address the Wizengamot", The Then addressing the assembly, he said, "There being no Minister for Magic at this time, we can do no business. I, therefore, declare a recess. We will re-convene at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning at which time we will hear from our candidates." He tapped the gravel twice and the members rose from their seats as the noise level in the room began to climb.

As they were leaving, Harry asked others to go on while he went with the Longbottoms to Diagon Alley. When Sirius asked if he would be safe, he cryptically told him that he was being guarded every moment he was out of the Townhouse. He sent a patronus with instructions to Himvat and proceeded to Diagon Alley with the Longbottoms He took the floo because he did not wish to advertise that he could apparate.

As they arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, he gracefully stepped out of the floo. Tom who had watched the party arrive did not recognise Harry or Frank and Alice at first glance and Harry was rather thankful for it. Harry accompanied the Longbottoms to Ollivanders and this time, he could sense the magic pervading the shop making his skin tingle very distinctly. He could also feel Ollivander's magical signature coming from behind one of the shelves where the wandmaker was stocking wands.

As the wandmaker came out, he said, "Merlin's beard! I had not hoped that I would live to see this day. Lord Longbottom and Lady Longbottom, it is a pleasure to see you up and about."

He turned to Harry, "Welcome back Mr. Potter. Holly and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches, a powerful wand indeed. How is it working for you?"

Harry hesitated telling him, "Regrettably, Mr. Ollivander, my wand was destroyed in a duel at the third task last June."

His brow furrowed, "So he is indeed back. Send him back where he came from, Mr. Potter."

Neville took that moment to interject, "It is Lord Peverell now, Lord Ollivander."

Ollivander's eyes opened wide in surprise, "Lord Peverell! That is an interesting development indeed."

He then turned to Neville, "Finally you come to be fitted for a wand, Mr. Longbottom. Are you not a bit late?"

Neville chuckled, "I am using a family wand which serves me well, Lord Ollivander."

Harry gave Ollivander the missive from Dumbledore which he read and his brow furrowed in confusion, "You have a wand in the holster attached to your arm Lord Peverell, admittedly better than I make them. Why do you need an off-the shelf wand?"

Harry was a little surprised that the wand-maker knew about the wand in his holster but hid his surprise well and wordlessly scanned the shop for wards and found one which would send an analysis of a person to the wand-maker when they entered. Really ingenious, he thought. He had left the Elder Wand in his trunk in the part under Fidelius because he did not want to advertise to others that he had it.

Ollivander was smirking, "Albus is an old friend and so I will fit you with another wand. If you would not mind too much, Lord Peverell, may I inspect the wand you are carrying?"

Harry remembered that he had been cautioned about showing his wand around, but he was curious to hear the wand-maker's opinion about Shilpagya's work. Reluctantly he summoned the wand and gave it to Ollivander who inspected it thoroughly and cast one or two detection spells and kept muttering, "Ingenious."

Harry had a hard time hiding his smirk but he employed occlumency and his face returned to its impassive expression and he held his hand out to Ollivander who reluctantly handed the wand back to him and said, "Lord Peverell this is a master-piece, the likes of which are very rare. In fact I cannot recall if there is anyone else in wizarding Britain who has the like. There is only one wand-maker who is capable of crafting such a wand. I am happy to know that he is still alive after all these years. He disappeared years ago and I feared that he might be dead. I don't know if there is a wand that will suit you among my humble wares, but we will give it a try."

He started pulling out boxes and kept trying them but none of them seemed to fit Harry. The mystic's words echoed in his ears that none of Ollivander's wands would fit him.

At length, the wand maker disappeared into the back of his shop to re-emerge befouled with dust and cobwebs, carrying a dust-covered box which spoke of a wand both ancient and forgotten. He used his own wand to clear away the sediment of decades to reveal a beautifully crafted box of polished mahogany. When he opened the box, it revealed a wand of unique design. It was about 13 inches long, had a groove in the handle and pliable. He handed the wand to Harry carefully as if it were some dangerous thing. The wand felt comfortable in his hand and his magic reacted well to its presence. He aimed that wand at a water pitcher and shot an animation spell at it, making it grow wings and fly. Ollivander was clapping his hands in enthusiasm while Frank was looking at him interestedly and so was Alice. Ollivander summoned the pitcher back and undid his animation.

Harry turned to the wand-maker, "You did not tell me about its wood and core, honoured wand-maker."

Ollivander started as if lost somewhere in the past, "it is one of the first wands that I made under the tutelage of my master. In all these decades, I have never found anyone, including myself, who could wield it. Finally, I forgot all about it, but; while I was trying to fit you for a wand today, it came forcefully to my mind, as if it were calling you. It is made of Acacia, which makes for tricky wands and often refuses to produce magic for anyone but for their owner, and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. The core is Thestral hair with Dragon heartstring intertwined together. Now it has chosen you and would only stop working for you if someone equally powerful as you manages to best you in a duel."

He turned to Lord Longbottom, "Oak, 11 and quarter inches, Dragon heartstring, springy, wasn't it? Do you still Have it?"

Frank proudly showed him the wand and the wand-maker examined it eagerly and pronounced himself satisfied as he conjured a flock of canaries and returned the wand to him. He turned to Alice, "Lady Longbottom, as I recall you had Cedar, Unicorn tail hair, 12 inches, unyielding. Was it retrieved?"

She shook her head, "The mad witch Bellatrix Nameless snapped it in two. I will need to be fitted with a new wand."

Ollivander happily started pulling boxes off the shelf, trying to fit her with a wand and after trying 10 or so wands, he pulled out a wand which sent red sparks as she held it and she cast a few charms with it before pronouncing herself satisfied and Ollivander happily wrapped it for her all the while muttering, "Ash wand cleaves true to its one true master and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, because it will lose power and will. The core is Unicorn hair so the tendency would be even stronger. Use it with care."

After paying for the wands, Harry left for the manor house where Himvat and dozens of mystics were waiting for him. He raised his fist to his heart and said, "Dharm aur Maan' and Himvat repeated the gesture, levelled his wand at the teen and asked him, "What did Guruji transform those two free boarders into?"

Harry smiled, "He transformed them into partridges and threw them into the air from where they were devoured by Griffins."

The mystic asked him, "What we can do for you, Harry?"

Harry recounted the entire day of happenings at the Wizengamot for him and said, "I want you to watch the houses of members of the Neutral and Light factions for tonight because I fear that Voldemort will send his agents to try to terrorize or kill some of them so that the candidate for the dark will win. We want to keep our hand hidden if we can. I ask that if you do encounter any of Voldemort's agents that you confound and obliviate them so that they believe that they have carried out their orders and have no recollection of you whatsoever."

Himvat replied, "What you ask can be easily done, Harry, but; would it not be simpler to make them quietly disappear? Besides, that abomination is a skilled Legilimens and is certain to discover our deception."

"Indeed he shall", said Harry grinning, "Remember that Tom Riddle is a being full of fear. He does not understand love or loyalty. When the election is done and his candidate has lost, he will look to his people to discover the reason why. Then he will punish those who failed. And they will resent him for it. And he will know that we can get to his people. And that, my friend, will leave him wondering what else we can do."

Himvat gave Harry an appraising look then nodded, "Very well then. We will try it your way. We will keep an eye on them for tonight and ensure that no misfortune befall them. Good Luck, Harry."

As the mystics left, Sirius flooed in just behind Remus and they both cornered him, "So pup, did you forget to mention or did you willingly omit telling us about Frank and Alice?"

Harry had the audacity to laugh, "Augusta Longbottom swore me to secrecy. Besides it was great to see your faces."

Sirius wanted to whip out his wand and hex the teen but knowing his prowess with a wand, chose not to. Instead he asked, "Why are we meeting at this manor, Prongslet?"

Harry off-handedly replied, "This manor is part of the dowry of Cedrella Black which I intend to hand over to the Weasley's at the end of the meeting today. I want you to back me up when they try to refuse."

Sirius nodded eagerly, "Of course pup."

An hour later, Frank Longbottom arrived with his heir and as he stepped out of the floo the marauders mobbed him. After a teary heartfelt embrace, they reluctantly let him go and he teased both of them, "Look at you two, getting all teary eyed for poor old Frank. Nobody would have believed that back in the day when you both made my life hell for snitching on you to McGonagall."

Sirius answered him with a stinger and they continued bantering for sometime before Harry had to tell the Marauders to behave.

Lord Greengrass arrived after sometime with Daphne in tow. Harry bowed to him, "Lord Greengrass."

Cyrus Greengrass shook his hand and said, "It is improper for you to bow to me, Lord Peverell. You are Lord of an Ancient and Reverent House."

Harry shook his hand and said, "Please call me Harry when we are not in the Wizengamot. It makes me feel old to be called Lord at this age."

Cyrus chuckled, "Call me Cyrus then. May I present you my heiress, Daphne Greengrass."

Harry bowed to her and took her right hand pretending to kiss her knuckles, "Heiress Greengrass, I could swear that you look even lovelier than you did when you were sneaking into the hospital wing to visit me."

Daphne blushed with Cyrus looking on curiously. He decided that he would ask his daughter about this later.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Lords and Ladies arrived (most had brought their heirs or heiress with them). Amelia Bones sat at the head of the table, "This meeting is about the voting for the new Minister for Magic tomorrow. While we are meeting here, Chief Warlock Dumbledore is rallying his supporters to vote for Lord Longbottom and I believe Lucius Malfoy is sending threats to members of the neutral faction to vote for Yaxley."

Harry said, "There is no need to worry on that account, Lady Bones. I have already seen to the security of the members and families of both the light and neutral factions. Those who would serve the interests of Voldemort (most of them shuddered) will not be able to approach them."

Everyone nodded their approval while Cyrus watched everything with a critical eye. Harold Peverell's body language exuded confidence and his words did not sound as if he was boasting. To arrange for the security of 100 odd families was no mean task.

Daphne sat watching him and eyeing Susan who only had eyes for Harold Peverell. She could sense that if she did not make a move, she might as well forget about Harold James Peverell. The way he was cosy with Bones, she would have no problem in ensnaring him.

The meeting lasted for an hour where they tallied their votes and Lord Greengrass promised him the support of the largest block of Neutrals and to ally his family and friends with the Light after the voting.

When the meeting was over and the lords and their heirs were leaving, Harry drew Arthur to one side, "Mr. Weasley, a word please."

Arthur turned to him, "Yes, Harry?"

Harry handed him a stack of parchments, "These are the papers of ownership for this manor. As is the custom, your mother should have been given a house as part of her dowry which was not paid. Consider this as a part of her dowry. Five hundred thousand Galleons will be transferred to the vaults of House Weasley when the Goblins give you access to them."

Arthur, as Harry had expected, refused, "Thank you Harry, but I cannot accept such a generous gift."

Harry let his magic leak a bit and adopted a formal tone, "Lord Weasley. This is not a gift. This is proper payment of a dowry which was unjustly denied to your mother. Honour demands that I pay it. And honour demands that you accept it on her behalf. I ask that you do not shame me by refusing."

Sirius, who was standing by Harry's side, said, "You had best do as he asks, Arthur, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side."

Arthur accepted the stack of parchments and sighed in resignation, "Very well, Harry, if honour demands it, then I accept. Thank you. But, you must never force me again."

Harry gave him a bright smile, "Mr. Weasley, you have loved me as you would your own son. You were generous and kind to me when I thought I had nothing and no one. Now I have more wealth than I know what to do with and this, to me is but a trifle. I would gladly give you more if I thought you would not resent me for it. As it is, this is yours by right and by law."

Arthur had no answer to that, so he merely smiled.

Before they left, Bill proposed to put the manor under a Fidelius charm telling that they could use it as a safe house in the event things turned pear shaped which they agreed upon. The Burrow would officially remain their family home for the world to see while the family would be shifted here. Harry cast the spell, causing Bill's eyes to expand so much that Harry feared they would pop out and Mr. Weasley agreed to be the secret-keeper.

When he returned to the Black Town house, he found Dumbledore at the table in the meeting room. Harry took a place at his right while Sirius sat on his left and the rest took their seats likewise. As they waited, the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet arrived which contained the front page news:

"HAROLD JAMES PEVERELL- LORD OF FOUR HOUSES

-By Mallory Allerton

This morning when the Wizengamot convened for this month's meeting, nobody had inkling as to how this session was going to change the politics in the Wizarding World for good. As Chief Warlock Dumbledore called for any preliminary business to be conducted, Lady Regent Bones presented none other than the boy-who-lived, Harold James Peverell to be invested as Lord Potter. When the former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge called his investment into question, Lord Peverell quoted the law of the Council of Lords which allow him to ascend to Lordship in case the Head of House is either dead or incapacitated (For laws of Council of Lords, see p. 14). He also advised the minister that by forcing him to compete against his wishes in a tournament meant for adult Wizards, the ministry inadvertently had accepted him as an adult.

The real shocker came when Lord Peverell claimed heirship of House of Black, Rosier and Peverell (For information on Ancient and Reverent House of Peverell see P. 13). When Lord Malfoy protested his claim as Lord of Black, he presented a writ from Gringotts which testified that he was the magically adopted son of blood heir Sirius Black apart from being his godson as he was named so by James Potter and Lily Potter. To quell the doubts about his claim, he summoned the spirit of family magic which showed that he is the Lord of Black now. As his ancestry was called in question citing he was a half-blood, he reminded the Wizengamot of the ancient system of determining someone's blood purity telling that since his parents were magical, he was a pureblood. He further revealed that Lily Potter was not a muggle-born but a daughter of House Rosier being born of the union of Vincent Rosier and Emilia Rosier nee Weber of the House of Weber of Germany and had been given in adoption to muggles (For more information on House of Weber and Rosier, see P. 8).

As his first order of business in the capacity of Lord of Black, he reinstated Andromeda Tonks nee Black back into the family and established her family line as a cadet line to the House of Black. In another move, he undid the injustice meted to House of Weasley decades ago by former Lord of Black, Orion Phineas Black and reinstated Cedrella Black into the family again while establishing the House of Weasley as a cadet line to the House of Black. He further petitioned to reinstate House of Weasley on the Wizengamot as Ancient and Noble House of Weasley which was passed with an overwhelming majority. In addition, Arthur Weasley's son, Charlie Weasley has taken the mantel of Lord Prewett as Molly Weasley nee Prewett is the last scion of the House of Prewett (For more information on House Weasley and Prewett, see P. 9).

In his last show down, he annulled the marriage of one Bellatrix Nameless and cast her off from the family for bringing a bad name to the family (For more on Bellatrix see P. 16).

The next shocker came from Augusta Longbottom, the erstwhile Regent of House Longbottom who abdicated her position as regent of House Longbottom in favour of Lord Longbottom who along with his wife Lady Longbottom, have recovered of their ailment from over-exposure to the Cruciatus curse (To read more about the incapacitation of the Longbottom's, see P. 7).

The House of Bones and Longbottom also declared their next heirs, Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom respectively who are currently studying at Hogwarts and have finished their fourth year of education.

Lord Peverell also appointed Regents to his houses with Andromeda Tonks being named Regent for House Black, Sirius Black named as Regent for House Rosier, Remus Lupin for House Potter and Amelia Bones for House Peverell.

However the day was far from done and Lady Bones brought a motion for the removal of Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic which was supported by the leader of Neutrals, Lord Greengrass. Lord Longbottom and Lord Yaxley are nominated to contest for the post of minister with voting to be conducted tomorrow.

This day left a lot of questions behind with the prominent one being, "Is the great alliance again sitting upon the Wizengamot? (For the great alliance, see P. 12) "With one of the Reverent houses sitting again on the Wizengamot, what will be the far reaching consequences? What will happen in the voting with the neutral apparently leaning in favour of Light?

This reporter tried to contact Former Minister Fudge but we have been told that he obtained a port-key and has left Wizarding Britain for the continent. Likewise Lord Greengrass and Lord Peverell were unavailable for comment.

The Daily prophet would also like to remind its readers that this is the biggest family merger giving the boy-who-lived a more hyphenated name however he made a request to the Wizengamot to be identified as Harold James Peverell which was granted."

As they all finished reading the paper, Dumbledore turned to him, "My boy, would you answer some of my questions?"

Harry grinned, "I think that now is hardly the time, Headmaster. I would happily agree to a meeting in your office at Hogwarts, perhaps over some tea and breakfast."

He left Dumbledore sitting there after taking his leave giving excuses that he was tired and wanted to finish some exercises before he went to bed. Time was down to the last two weeks of summer and Harry had not worked on any of his school summer assignments yet. Although he had all the theory down pat and his penmanship had improved immeasurably, those scrolls of parchment were not going to write themselves and that took time. When it came to the potions assignment, he took particular pleasure in not only covering the properties and uses of all the assigned ingredients, but gave additional information on suitable substitutes with resulting variation in effect and side-effect of each substitution. Even the dungeon bat would have to give him an 'O' for that paper. After two hours or so he set up some wards and retired to bed determined to wake up before dawn.

The next day

The next morning, Harry woke up to go for his exercises and as he was about to open the door to his room, he felt someone standing outside. He sent a silent homnum revelio to find four persons standing outside his room, waiting for him to come out. He immediately knew who they were- the marauders and the twins who were out for his blood. He calmly pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, wore it and stepped out of his room. As the door opened, spells flew and were absorbed in the cloak. Harry smirked inwardly. He saw Remus casting a homnum revelio and wanted to laugh. Sirius tried to summon the cloak but it did not move an inch. He calmly levitated himself and bringing out his wands he thoroughly doused the four standing there and tied them with chains before leaving.

This morning he went to Hogwarts and started running laps around the Black lake which was twice the size of the lake in Adrishpuram, as such it would give him some sense of satisfaction of being thoroughly tired. As he was completing his fourth lap, he found Severus Snape coming towards him in long strides and grinning inwardly; he set some glamour charms upon himself to change his appearance and waited for the potions master to arrive.

Severus Snape, as he had expected, pulled his wand and levelled at him, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

He calmly replied, "I am running around this lovely lake for some physical fitness. May be you can do the same. It works wonders for one's physical being."

Severus sneered at him, "Who gave you permission to enter these grounds?"

He goaded the potions master further, "I do not need permission from anyone, Professor."

The potions master had a dangerous glint in his eye accompanied by the trademark Snape sneer which generally preceded some form of misery being inflicted on Hogwarts students. He said slowly and clearly, "Don't get smart with me."

He cheekily replied, "If I became smart, professor, it certainly did not happen in your class."

Snape who evidently was at the end of his tether, shouted, "I am warning you for the last time. Answer my question or duel me."

Harry was really in the mood to jest with him now, "Do your worst, Professor."

Severus shot a spell at him, "Legilimens!"

While this was a surprising choice of spell, Harry understood that the potions master wanted to see his secrets He did not bat away the spell but waited for it to connect, not even having pulled his wand. As the spell hit him, he found Severus knocking on his mind shields, having been surprised at the presence of a well organized mind. Harry found and pulled the perfect memory to distract the potions professor. He allowed Snape in his mind and presented him with the image of a Basilisk lunging to kill him. As Snape flinched, he threw the potions master out of his mind.

Severus was mad at him now and started with his first spell which was cast inaudibly. Harry had not heard of the spell but he recognised that it was a dark cutter spell and swatted it away with a flick of his wand. The potions masters started casting darker spells at him which he batted aside. He was advanced beyond the point that a single opponent could give him any challenge. He either swatted his spells aside or side-stepped them, laughing all the while.

Severus had lost all control and was firing everything he knew without even bothering about his aim. Harry caught one of his spells on his wand (he was using Ollivander's wand now) and sent it back at the potions master who realised in time what was happening and jumped aside. After that Harry started sending Bone Breakers, Bone Crushers, and Bone Exploding hexes at the potions master who could barely dodge and was using shields. Harry started casting with his full power and kept breaking through his shields. After he had amused himself enough while he practiced his casting and he could see that Snape was swaying dangerously on his feet. He sent an ascendio at the potions master sending him spiralling upwards however before the Potions Master could fall to the ground again; he banished him into the Black Lake mid-air. After sometime, he retrieved the flailing Severus Snape by a summoning charm. Just for fun, he bound the potions master in chains then shampooed his hair before drying him off. On a whim, Harry transfigured Snape's hair into a golden, wavy perfect replica of Gilderoy Lockhart's trademark style and left him there. Later when he was retrieved by Dumbledore, he told the Head Master about the mysterious fighter who had defeated him easily. Dumbledore had a good idea who it was and chuckled before saying, "I like the hair, Severus. It is a good look for you." But he refused to explain anything to Severus knowing it would be interesting to see Severus's face after he realised who had bested him.

The Ministry of magic

The Wizengamot convened at the required time and a few lords from the Dark faction were missing who had been sent to intimidate the members of the Light and Neutral faction. Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "We will now hear the platform speeches of our candidates. Lord Longbottom, Lord Yaxley, please step forward."

Dumbledore waited a few moments while the candidates made their way to the floor before he spoke again, "Lord Frank Longbottom, in as much as you were the first to be nominated, you will be the first to speak. You will have five minutes to address the Wizengamot."

Frank scanned the chamber, making note of which seats were empty and the expressions on the faces of those who were present, making eye contact with many of them before he began, "My fellow lords and ladies of the Wizengamot. (Dumbledore turned the hourglass that was sitting on the table in front of him) Ever since the establishment of this august body, the office of the Minister of Magic has carried with it an obligation to serve and protect the public trust. These are duties which I recognize and accept with the greatest of gravity…"

By the time Frank finished his speech, he had promised a complete audit of the ministry's budget and spending, reforms to policies regarding relations with intelligent magical beings of other species, a complete overhaul of the wizarding prison, Azkaban and finally a budget increase for the DMLE and an end to the hiring freeze for aurors. Before the last grain of sand had fallen to the bottom of the hourglass, he thanked the members present and fell silent. Most of the people there, including the spectators, rose to their feet, cheering and applauding. There were some who remained seated, thumping on their tables, calling out, "Here! Here!"

After what seemed an appropriate amount of time, Dumbledore wrapped his gavel twice to call for order and the cheering passed into a shuffle of chairs as the members took their seats again.

Dumbledore spoke into the silence, "Lord Irwin Yaxley, in as much as you were the second candidate nominated, you shall be the second to address this assembly. You have five minutes to speak."

The tall blunt featured man sent a cursory glance toward the seats of the dark faction. His eyes widened with astonishment when he realized how many seats were empty, and worse, all of them were known to him to be his fellow death eaters. The significance was beginning to sink in and he got off to a rocky start, "Chief Warlock, fellow members of the Wizengamot, I thank you for your nomination and your support. I am honoured to receive this nomination and hope to serve you right, er well…"

His speech contained all the pure-blood tripe, protectionism and exclusivity one would expect from a death eater. He promised prosperity for all and assured them of continuation of the status quo between magical species as is right and proper. He was still blustering on when the last grain of sand fell through the hourglass and, as is procedure, Dumbledore began to clap, demanding that he end his speech. The man clearly caught wrong-footed muttered out some sort of thank-you while a smattering of polite applause, lead by Malfoy greeted the conclusion of his rambling speech.

The applause, what little there was of it, died out quickly. Dumbledore did not have to call for order this time, "Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, your ballots are in front of you. Please mark your selection for the post of Minister for Magic and hold your ballot high when you have folded it in the indicated manner."

Malfoy protested, "Some of the members of my faction are absent and as such, I move that the voting be postponed until they or their duly appointed proxies are able to attend."

Dumbledore turned to Percy, "Mr. Scribe, do we have quorum for this meeting?"

Percy already anticipating where Malfoy's question was going had a ready answer, "Chief Warlock, according to our charter, to elect a new minister for Magic, quorum is a minimum two thirds plus one seat represented either in person or by proxy. The number required is one hundred and eight. This morning's attendance shows that of the 160 seats, one hundred and forty-five are either here in person or duly represented. We have quorum."

Dumbledore spoke again, "Thank-you Mr. Scribe." Then turning to Malfoy, "Lord Malfoy, your objection is over ruled. As this ministry cannot operate without a minister, under Article 25 of our charter, we have quorum and I am invoking my duty as Chief Warlock to call for a vote to select our next minister of magic." Then addressing the assembly, "We will proceed with the voting."

Percy rose to his feet. As the members held up their ballots, one by one, he summoned their ballots until he had collected the last one. He then retired to a chamber just off of the main assembly hall with Lord Prewett (Charlie) and Lord Macnair to count the votes. The vote was not even close. Frank Longbottom was elected minister of magic by a whopping majority of 100 to 45 with fifteen absent.

After Frank was sworn in, Dumbledore rapped his gavel, "Is there any more preliminary business or motion before we move to Administrative matters?"

No one raised a hand and he sighed in relief and turned to Madam Bones, "The first order of business has come from Madam Bones. Madam Bones the floor is yours."

Amelia stood and turned to the Wizengamot, "Respected Lords and Ladies, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which is responsible for law and order within the wizarding community has been dealing with severe issues which were brought to the attention of the former Minister. Unfortunately, he chose not to address them. Having been an Auror myself, I know that we do not have enough Aurors to patrol our establishments, or provide sufficient security to the general wizarding population. The training program for Aurors was curtailed by the previous administration citing that we do not need Aurors who are trained to kill. The former minister even had the audacity to freeze the recruitment of Aurors for the last few years. The standards have been falling so much that in the previous few years, we had just one Auror pass the training program.

We all know that from time to time there have been dark wizards who attract followers and seek world domination Although none of them has ever succeeded, each time one arises, we pay for their defeat with our dearest blood. The most recent example of which was you-know-who. Although he was defeated at length, many of his followers went free. We saw clear evidence of that in the aftermath of the most recent world cup of quidditch. There have also been some wizards who had been in hiding from the ministry like Peter Pettigrew who was the real culprit and responsible for betraying the Potters to their murderer. If a new dark lord arose today, we would be woefully ill equipped and unprepared to deal with such a situation and many members of our community will perish. This shall not stand! To that end I move the following three measures:

First, that the hiring freeze for aurors be lifted immediately.

Second, that the funding to the DMLE be doubled to pay the additional expenses required to hire, train and pay for sufficient aurors to meet our current need.

Third, that the entry requirements for auror recruits be re-examined and relaxed, slightly, to allow more witches and wizards to apply. Thank you all."

It had been agreed that announcing the return of Tom Riddle in a session of the Wizengamot would be ill-advised. Such news might force Tom out of hiding before any real preparations to stop him could be made. Making a case to strengthen the Auror core to meet present need was more likely to gain support than a plea for emergency war measures based on a doubtful claim that the vanquished dark wizard had returned from the dead. This time, it was Lord Diggory who seconded the motion. The debate went around the hall several times. The dark side argued that there was no budget for such an increase and that it was not needed. The light side argued that the Aurors were less than half the number they had been 15 years ago and that their response time was pathetic. They were severely understaffed. The neutrals mostly stayed silent, their eyes following the debate like a slow-motion quidditch match. The last to speak was Lord Greengrass who made a fairly persuasive argument for the security of the wizarding community as a whole and got the attention of many of the neutral faction. Finally, most of the real players in the assembly had their say and Dumbledore took over.

He addressed the Wizengamot, "There being no further debate, we will now vote on the issue."

The voting was a bit closer because some members of the Wizengamot, being fat, happy and stupid, still did not believe that Voldemort was back. They were more interested in protecting their budgets than the security and welfare of the wizarding community as a whole. But, between the members of the great alliance, those who did believe and some persuasion from Lord Greengrass, the motion carried by a slim majority with eighty-five in favour, fifty -five against and 20 either absent or abstaining.

Frank turned to Amelia, "Madam Bones, you are required to draft a proposal and submit it to my office within a week and then the Ministry will deliberate upon the proposal in concert with other department heads and a decision shall be made."

Amelia bowed and returned to her seat. The session was adjourned soon since there was little to no business left.

Black Town House

As Harry arrived at the Townhouse in the evening, the twins were being very cordial to him which rang warning bells in his mind. He warily asked them, "So mates, what is the deal with you treating me like this?"

The teens smirked at him but said nothing. As Molly called them for tea and they sat at the table, he caught a subtle movement of their hand towards their wand. Wanting to make sure he wordlessly and wandlessly cast the detection spell and it showed that they had tinkered with his tea. Smirking to himself, he switched his tea with Fred and sat waiting for their prank to go off. As Fred drank the tea, he clutched his throat as if something was clogging his airway. Right before his eyes, Fred turned into something right out of an H. P. Lovecraft novel as he grew gills, webbed feet and webbed hands.

Harry recognized the effects of Gillyweed immediately and surmised that they had mixed some extract into his tea. He knew that Fred would not be able to breathe air until the effects had worn off. While the others in the room panicked, Harry conjured an over-sized tub, filled it and threw Fred into it.

After the effect wore off, Harry confronted them in private, "A joke is a joke. We all have a good laugh and forget about it, but; you could have killed me with that one. Don't do anything like that again."

Fred and George at least had the good sense to look ashamed and promised to watch it from now on.

The special issue of the Evening Prophet spoke at length about the election of Frank Longbottom, his vision and proposed restructuring to the ministry and about the minister agreeing to demands put forth by Lady Bones.

Next day, Cottage on the hill

Harry had arrived at the cottage on the hill early this morning right after his exercise. He went to find the others and found that only Moody was there. He growled at him, "Dumbledore has told me to see if you can hold your own against death eaters in a duel. We will duel each other now."

Harry asked him, "What did Alastor Moody tell me when I was leaving for India?"

Moody growled, "I told you to learn enough so that you can defeat me in a duel."

Harry lowered his wand and said, "I had to make sure that it is you."

Moody growled, "If it is all the same to you, I will have that duel now."

Harry summoned his wand (the one manufactured by Shilpagya) and bowed to the Auror who did the same. Just as Moody was getting into the stance, Harry sent a blasting hex at him which Moody swatted aside and started casting lethal curses at him and Harry dodged around his spells with ease. He kept dodging for 5 minutes all the while taunting Moody that his aim was off, that he was growing old, and that he was slowing down in his old age. After 5 minutes while Harry was dodging his spells, he sent a banishing charm at the Auror who swatted it aside. In that second Harry fired a chain of reducto, confrigno and bombarda forcing the old Auror to raise a shield. He had put all his power behind his spell and the reductor destroyed his shield. Moody ducked out of the way of the rest of his curses. After that he kept the Auror on the defensive for 10 minutes testing his endurance by casting all the lethal spells he knew of (he did not use Sanskrit spells in front of the Auror wanting to keep it a secret). He deliberately made a lull in his casting and the Auror started casting Dark spells at him which Harry matched spell for spell for quite some time. Moody sent a cutter at him and he lazily dodged it and conjured a fire whip with which he pulled the fake leg of the Auror forcing it to come off and as the Auror fell, he stunned him and bound him with incarcerous.

After he released Moody and returned his wooden leg and wand to him, he said, "Master Auror Moody, I apologize for taking advantage of that wooden leg you wear. It does seem to hamper you quite a bit and no dark wizard is going to have any qualms about taking advantage of it either."

Moody had a pained expression as he re-fitted his leg, and said, "Aye lad, 'tis true enough and that is the one of the reasons I retired from being an Auror not that I could not kill death eater scum even on this leg. But, what can be done?"

Harry said, "Let me try something." Tapping his wand to the claw-footed prosthetic, he transfigured it into a convincing mirror reflection of the ex-auror's other leg. Satisfied with the transformation, he then animated the limb, which began to move like a natural leg. Then Harry said, "Ok, now I want you to try and stand up."

Moody looked down at the leg with astonishment then slapped his forehead with his open palm, "Why didn't I ever think of that?" And he stood up. The leg worked well enough but after a few seconds, Moody stumbled and Harry cast a cushioning charm before he fell down.

Moody growled, "What was that all about?"

Harry looked a bit sheepish, "Sorry, I lost concentration. To make this really work, you are going to have to take over the animation. I think that with some fancy mind-magic, we could even give you some sense of touch in the prosthetic. What do you say?"

Moody cast his own animation and Harry tapped the leg twice more to make the transfiguration and animation permanent.

For the next few days, it became a trend for him to go for his training in the morning to the Cottage at the Hill but none of the trainers wanted to touch him with a 10 foot pole except Moody. The Auror was always able to give him some good practice in back to back duels. The upgraded prosthetic took a bit of getting used to but in the end, the old auror was getting his dodge back.

The rest of the time, he sat and watched others fight and train. At times he tried to join them but none of the rest of them would even try to match him. The Marauders, as a team, were able to give him a challenge. Soon, he was visiting the cottage when no one else was around and he would conjure dummies and fight with them practicing all his spells or practicing his animagus transformation. He had long since accepted that the transformation would happen in its own time and was content with running around the cottage on his paws, trying to get the feel of the animal so he would have no challenges when the time came to transform. Another thing which Ambar had told him to do was to transform his whole body at once to make it easier to transform every time and he would not need as much time to transform. He had seen how fluid McGonagall and Sirius were with their transformations and he was aiming for that. When he thought back about his first transformation, it occurred to him that it had been spontaneous, complete and instantaneous, but he had also lost control of the beast. The problem was not really about completing the transformation it was more about remaining Harry while obtaining the form of the snow leopard. He practiced transforming for an hour every day and it usually took him at least 15 seconds to transform and then 15 seconds to transform back but he was quite sure that he would be able to do it effortlessly soon.

Susan had been visiting the cottage and Black Town House more often. They would sit and talk for hours at a time. While his days were extremely busy he was thankful for the reprieve that her arrival was. With her being there, he could be a teenager in love rather than some ferocious war mage. He still remembered what had happened in the Three Broomsticks when he visited with Susan in an effort to make up for not coming to see her at the moment he landed in Wizarding Britain.

-Flash back starts-

He and Susan had been walking the streets of the wizarding village and she decided that she wanted a drink. Chivalrous being that he was, he offered to escort her and they entered the inn where all conversation suddenly stopped as people realised who had just walked in. As he walked up to the bar, many of the wizards and witches in the inn came up to him to say hello or to congratulate him for his ascension.

"What can I get you two?", Madam Rosemerta asked them.

"We will have two butterbeers, thank you", he replied and she nodded.

As she served them, she asked off-handedly, "Are you two an item now?"

Harry choked on his butter beer for a moment while Susan blushed. He spluttered, "I... we are not... umm... I mean we are not it right now."

Rosemerta was openly chuckling now, "Don't worry, Lord Peverell. It is just that your fathers were never flustered so easily. While James was easy going from the time I knew him, he pined after your mother, Sirius never settled on anyone before Marlene smacked him upside the head for chasing her around all the time. In the end, however unlikely it may have seemed at first, they were meant for each other."

Harry thanked her for the anecdote and left as soon as he paid for the butterbeers.

-Flash back ends-

BLACK TOWN HOUSE

There were just two days to go until start of term. Harry was sitting in his room at the manor, when Ron walked in with two envelopes in hand, "the letters and booklists have arrived."

Harry looked a bit surprised, "Book lists? Aren't they really late this time?"

Ron tossed Harry his envelope and as he read the list, he found that there were three new books for defence Against the Dark Arts. No surprise there. Every year the new DADA teacher had their favourite books. All in all, he had to buy 6 books for this year, one being the new spell book for charms, one for Transfigurations, one for Herbology and three for defence. He was excited to see what defence would be like and who the teacher would be. Dumbledore had not told him about it (The mystic had also told Dumbledore not to say a word to Harry, citing it was a part of his training) and he should see it for himself.

As he finished reading his letter, he looked up to see Ron holding a small silver red coloured Badge with P inscribed on it, the prefect badge just like the one he had seen Percy wearing on his first ever train ride to Hogwarts. Ron handed the badge wordlessly to him to inspect if it was indeed real and he wanted to laugh at his friend's expression. He thought that he should have been feeling a little jealous that Ron had been chosen for that honour over him, but; ever since he had seen Mother Magic, these things mattered to him very little. Anyhow he had much more on his plate than he wanted. He congratulated Ron warmly saying that he deserved it more than him.

With two loud craks, the twins chose that moment to apparate into the Room and were horrified at the prospect of one more prefect in the family. Fred scowled in mock horror, "Where did we go wrong with this one, George?"

George replied in an equally grim voice, "Oh! The horror! Not another one like Percy!"

Ron retorted angrily at them, "I am not like that git."

Fred waved him off and turned to Harry, "We thought you would become the Prefect. Dumbledore fawns over you and I thought he would have given the position to you without a second thought."

George said, "Alas, we did not start a betting pool for the positions of Gryffindor prefects this year or this would have made us filthy rich and you would have some very angry people after you."

Harry scowled at them, "Are you both mental? I am the same bloke who breaks a hundred rules every year, fights trolls for fun, smuggles dragons out of school, runs to fight a basilisk, sneaks out of the school when he is not supposed to and doing so can put him in mortal peril, the same bloke who can run circles around the professors single handedly. Giving me the position would have made people question his sanity."

They all laughed loudly until Hermione came running into the room and saw the badge in Ron's hands. Harry could sense that she was about to express her doubts and he forbade her with a slight shake of his head.

So, she instead hugged Ron tightly and said, "Congrats Ron. You did it. But now you will have to be responsible enough to do your duties."

George waggled his eye-brows, "yeah, like controlling your wayward brothers, telling your freakishly powerful friend to behave among other things. But it's not all bad. You'll get to take points off Malfoy's crew when they step out of line."

Fred winked, "And he will have a beautiful witch with him to help him ease the burden, brother of mine."

Ron looked around cluelessly while Hermione blushed and ran away before Harry could ask anything.

Mrs. Weasley took that moment to barge in, "I heard that the booklists have finally arrived. About time, I would say. I thought that they had forgotten it. Give me the lists and I will go finish your shopping while you lot get your trunks packed." She gave Harry a look with tape-measures in her eyes and said, "Harry, you will need all new school robes". Then without a pause, "you too, Ron and pajamas too, yours are too short now. What colour would you like?"

Fred said, "How about red to match his badge?"

Mrs. Weasley asked absent mindedly, "Badge, what badge?"

George said the words as if they were burning his throat, "His shiny, new Prefect Badge."

She said, "But Ron is not a…" Her words stopped in her throat as she saw him holding a little shiny red colored Prefect Badge and she squealed before hugging him, "Oh a prefect, Congrats Ron... that's everyone in the family."

Fred said in indignation, "What are we, next door neighbors?"

Finally she let go of her son and asked him, "So, what will it be?"

Ron asked, "What do you mean?"

She smiled, "We gave an Owl to Bill when he became Prefect, robes for Percy. Now what do you want?"

Ron smiled, "Mom, may I have a new broom?"

She smiled brightly, "Of course you can have a new broom. You have earned it."

Harry did his best to remain impassive. Harry knew that they could afford a fire bolt if they wanted to. But he knew that Mr. Weasley or Mrs. Weasley would not want to spoil him by giving him expensive gifts.

As she was collecting the lists, Harry protested, "Mrs. Weasley, I don't need robes. I have school robes."

She giggled at him, "Have you even tried them on, Harry? They fit you when you were at least 5 inches shorter and 25 kilos lighter. Your robes from last year will be too short and too tight if you can squeeze into them at all."

Harry took one of his old robes and held it up to his chin. It looked several sizes too small. Finally, he had to admit that she had a point. Sometimes it felt good to be taken care of.

That evening they had a feast in honour of the new Gryffindor Prefects and Alastor asked loudly why Dumbledore did not give the badge to Harry. He was treated to several anecdotes of his father's antics while Remus whined that he never succeeded in controlling his wayward friends when Dumbledore had given it to him trusting him to control his friends. Out of the forty or so boys in their year, he supposed that Remus was the only one with a chance of keeping a handle on his friends. Too bad it didn't work out that way.

Two days later, the Black Townhouse was in chaos. People were going up and down the stairs, packing their trunks, trying to find their stuff and in general making mayhem. Harry's trunk had already been packed by Dobby during the night. He sent the elf to pack for others in the house telling him that he wanted everyone at the breakfast table at 9:00 a.m., something which was no ordinary feat. Somehow they all managed to do it and Andromeda came by to say good-bye before he went to school. She had been coming regularly to see him and called him Harold instead of Harry telling him that he should insist that only people really close to him should call him "Harry".

After some discussion, they decided to travel to King's Cross station through the floo network. It had not taken much persuasion to get it done. A fireplace would look out of place on a train platform, however; the place was already warded from prying muggle eyes and it would greatly reduce the chances of a whole bunch of wizards and witches, running through the barrier, getting spotted. Travelling this way would not run the risks of getting stuck in traffic, being spotted on brooms, using under-aged magic, exposing the location of the Black townhouse or any of the hassles associated with using the muggle transit system. Of course, they could have used the Knight Bus and gone all the way to Hogwarts if they wanted to, but Harry who all had experience with that turned it down flat. They all queued up at the kitchen fireplace in the townhouse. Mad-eye went first, followed by Nymphadora followed by Sirius who was followed by Arthur Weasley who was followed by Hermione Granger then Ginny, Ron, Harry and the twins.

As he gracefully exited from the floo, Hermione asked him, "Since when have you become an expert in floo travel? I distinctly remember that you always fall flat on your face."

Harry mock scowled, "Miss Granger I will have you know that I am very accomplished in travelling by floo."

They stood making idle chatter when Susan arrived surrounded by two Aurors and Neville arrived sometime later flanked by two Aurors (being the Minister's son had privileges). As the train gave the signal to start, he boarded the train with the others. The twins were already off to find Lee Jordan while Ginny went to find her friends and he turned to Susan, Neville, Ron and Hermione, "Let's find some seats."

Hermione said hesitantly, "Harry, umm… we have to go and attend the Prefect's meeting."

He smiled at them, "Do go on then. Come find me when you are done and I will save you some food."

Ron chuckled, "What? After you are done sating your hunger?"

Susan and Neville followed him until they reached the last compartment on the last coach of the train where a girl with long, pale blond hair and a petite figure was sitting by herself, reading a magazine upside-down. Neville asked her, "Umm…. May we sit here?"

When she looked up from her magazine, they could see that she was wearing a very strange pair of glasses. Her face had an unfocused, dreamy quality about it. She said to them in a singsong voice, "Yes."

They took their seats and stowed their luggage in the overhead racks and as they sat she looked at Harry and said, "You are Harold Peverell."

The way she spoke, he thought it was a question and said, "Yeah. I am Harold Peverell."

She said again, "You have met the Pravirakarna Owl. They are dangerous for those of weak mind."

Harry was looking at her with his mouth hanging open, surprised how did she know about the Pravirakarna Owl.

He asked her, "Who are you?"

She replied, "I am Luna Lovegood, Ravenclaw and I know you met a large number of creatures this summer. Will you talk to me about it?"

Harry grunted something like "Uh… yeah…" and the other two in the cabin were about to laugh at him but were keeping their laughter to themselves with apparent effort.

Hannah (Hufflepuff Prefect), Ron and Hermione (Gryffindor Prefects) joined them around an hour later and the conversation was flowing easily between them till the door opened and in strutted Draco Malfoy, his green prefect badge pinned to his robe, with his two lackeys in tow.

He sneered at Harry, "Look boys who it is, Saint Scar-head Potter and his posse of friends."

Harry gave the trio an appraising look. Malfoy was used to throwing his weight around. With his two goons and Snape to back him up, he had always managed to get away with it, but; not today. Harry gave his cousin a genuine smile and even chuckled a little before he spoke, "Well, Draco. Did you sit up all night thinking up that one? What may the Lord Black do for you?"

Crabbe and Goyle were too slow to realize that their gang leader had just been insulted three ways from Sunday, but; Draco understood all of it. His sneer slipped just a little, "What do you mean by that, Potter?", as he started reaching for his wand.

But Harry had his wand out first and with a gesture too quick to follow, the wands of the trio were torn from their hiding places and in Harry's hand. "What I mean by that, cousin, is that you may address me as Lord Black or Lord Peverell if you prefer, either is correct, or Harold. You are to address myself and my associates with respect at all times and if you do not, your conduct will be reported to your mother. She as a member of House Black will carry out her duties and teach you some manners or risk my displeasure. Is that clear enough for you?"

Draco, having been brought up in the wizarding world as a pure-blood heir did understand every implication of what Harry had said. He bowed from the waste and said, "My apologies, Lord Black. It was only a jest."

Harry, knowing that Draco was a slimy git just like his death eater father and would hex him in the back the first chance he got thought, "just let him try it." Harry returned their wands, deliberately giving everyone the wrong wand back. He said, "Cousin, if you ever care to train your dueling skills, I would welcome the opportunity to use you as a whet-stone."

Draco, who remembered how quickly the three of them had been disarmed thought, "I will never let this prat get a fair chance with me", said, "I await your pleasure, Lord Black." The last two words sounding like a curse. Then to Crabbe and Goyle, he said, "Let's go find some interesting people to talk to." And the three of them were gone.

They spent the rest of the journey speculating over who the new DADA teacher would be, laughing over an article in Luna's magazine that Said Sirius Black was really a rock star called Stubby Broadman and trading chocolate frog cards. Harry was bursting to tell them what he had done to Snape at the lake earlier that summer, but; he kept it to himself, knowing how badly it would go for them if Snape thought they knew anything about it. All too soon, the train was pulling into Hogsmeade Station.

Ron and Hermione excused themselves saying that they had prefect duties to attend to. Harry, Neville and Susan moved off to look for a coach without them. As they were looking for a coach, they noticed that Luna had simply drifted along in their wake, so they invited her to join them.

Harry expected to hear Hagrid booming out, "First Yers! Ov' here." What he heard instead was a brisk female voice calling out, "First years, line up over here please. All first years to me." When he looked, he could see that it was Professor Grubbly Plank. He guessed that the half-giant had not returned from his mission yet.

As he went to sit in the carriages, he did a double take when he recognized the animal tethered to the carriage was a thestral. He could see them now and was reminded once again, why he could do so. Neville joined him in the carriage with Susan and Luna. A few moments later, Ron and Hermione joined them and the carriage went forward.

About 20 minutes later, he was sitting in the great hall of his first home, Hogwarts.

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