Chapter 1

Stepping into a new self

Author's Note: This belongs to JK Rowling. All of it. The fact that she is okay with us swimming in her world doesn't make the water any less hers.

Midnight struck the calm rows of houses on Privet Drive. The inhabitants, done with their busy work and status games for the day, were enjoying their well-earned beauty sleep.

Almost all of them were; there was one denizen of Number 4 Privet Drive who couldn't sleep at all.

But then, Harry Potter wasn't a normal resident of Privet Drive, was he? As his normal relatives so loved to tell everyone, he was a freak. The fact that he was sent to a school one rung below a penal colony, atleast to the knowledge of everyone normal there, only reinforced said belief. But now he was back for the summer vacations, and everyone would keep a wary eye on Petunia's errant nephew. Her son was problematic enough as it is; how much worse would the boy who influenced Dudley be? (to their naive minds, that is…)

But Harry couldn't sleep. How could he? He had witnessed a brave man die for naught, merely because he was the "spare". Then he had been insulted and humiliated, doubted by everyone; the Ministry was probably running a smear campaign against him, Dumbledore had been avoiding him, and his friends were off to live their own peaceful lives without his interference.

He was alone, yet again. But then, loneliness was the story of his life, yes? He had survived 10 years at the Dursleys, all alone, without even having knowledge of magic. Abused and hated, living on tiny portions and Dudley's castoffs. But he had not taken the lessons his childhood taught him to heart, had he? He had gone into the magical world trusting blindly; he had trusted Dumbledore, he had trusted his friends; everyone kept failing him, didn't they?

It wasn't their fault, either. He just seemed to forget that he WAS a freak. Sure, he wasn't a freak in the sense that the Dursleys meant, but he was an oddity. He was an orphan, a boy who had survived the killing curse. Surviving alone would have been good, but the odd part was that he managed to bounce it straight into Voldemort.

Normal people with normal parents, like Hermione or Ron, wouldn't understand why he was the way he was. But he had allowed them to lead him around the nose a bit too much, right? His happiness at gaining friendship made him slow down in academics to not offend Ron…remember how curious he was in First Year? Then Hermione joined the "Golden Trio" and he stopped trying to compete for fear of offending her. She was rather competitive; he remembered the awe (and hidden jealousy) that she had shown when he managed the Patronus.

The Triwizard had actually helped him, Voldemort's return notwithstanding. He had begin to brush up on things that he had passed aside in earlier years, and with fewer classes to attend (he didn't attend them, ignoring the detentions…surviving dragons was more important), he managed to bring back a semblance of the student he had been in his childhood.

While he wasn't a Hermione, he had spent a large part of his childhood hiding in the library. After spending some days grieving, he had vowed to do better; Voldemort was back, and it was time for him to stop holding himself back.

Today he had returned home. As he was a bit older now, the Dursleys didn't bother harassing him or locking him in. Helped by the fact that they knew Sirius was on Harry's beck and call. They didn't know that he was innocent, because he had managed to keep that bit from them. He had written a letter to him after the events of Third Task, getting a cryptic reply saying Dumbledore was pulling something off and that he had found a place to stay. He wanted to meet him in the summer to discuss stuff. The way Sirius spent time as a dog in the cave in Hogsmeade showed how much he truly cared about Harry, and he didn't have too many people like that on his side.

For now, he needed to get away. This place was not safe. He couldn't get better at magic sitting around. So he needed a place to stay. While he COULD stay in the Leaky Cauldron, that was the first place anyone would look. He knew the house had to be magical, because how else would he practice magic? He knew magical environments prevented underage magic from being tracked. The Weasleys were out because Dumbledore was their God, and he hadn't given his permission yet.

He had no idea why he made Harry return here every year; he had gone to request him again and gotten turned down. Which was why meeting Sirius was key; he had found a place according to his last letter, and and earlier promised to take him away from the Dursleys. It wouldn't be much of a difference, what with Privet Drive being a prison and Sirius an escaped prisoner.

There were other things to be done. Moody, with all his paranoia, had gotten kidnapped when Voldemort came calling; he needed better equipment, instead of a wand he couldn't use for fear of permanent expulsion (which Fudge was just itching to give him). He had learnt from discussions in Gryffindor that dodgy shops in Knockturn alley sold everything; including wands without the legally required Trace; although they cost a lot more.

Then there was the fact that he wanted to learn more about his financial status. In the event of a war, he didn't want everything to be seized (which could happen under some legal pretext). He needed to keep some of his wealth liquid for that reason. He also needed to stop hiding his money from the Dursleys by wearing those ridiculous oversized clothes. He had been putting of proper clothes shopping for some time now, but one's appearance has a major impact on how people perceive you; the way the Ministry was trying to make him out to be a liar would only be helped if he dressed like a homeless beggar. That and the fact that girls would not even glance at him (well, the girl he liked, anyway), if he dressed like a bum.

So clothes, a wand, a place to learn in peace, a visit to the Goblins, shopping in Diagon Alley, and training for the war that was coming; a tall list to fulfil. He knew he needed help; fortunately, he knew someone who could help him.

But he couldn't call him now…so good night it is. If he could get sleep with all the nightmares, that is. His scar were acting out ever since Voldemort returned, and he wanted to see if he could fix it somehow. It was a connection to Voldemort, and Harry wanted nothing related to that murderer.

The next morning saw a fresher Harry awake, quiet early. The fact that he had decided to do better had done oodles of good to his mental process. Yeah, Cedric was dead, but that was because Harry had been kind instead

of being greedy. Would that makes kindness bad? No. The fact that he had gone through this same kind of hell when he killed Quirrell helped. That was even worse, living like a prisoner until the Weasleys rescued him.

Now, time to call the cavalry.

"Dobby"…

…

Harry Potter sir calls for Dobby …the great Harry Potter sir thinks of Dobby …how may Dobby help the great Harry Potter sir!?

That was one overenthusiastic elf. Anyway, he managed to talk over his requirements with Dobby. It turned out that Dobby was already bonded to Harry, a fact the half crazy house elf had managed to conveniently hide. He only worked at Hogwarts because it allowed him to stay close to Harry. The fact was that house elves thrived on their masters' magic, or the magic of their residences' wards. Knowing this fact, Harry quickly told Dobby to call and bond Winky to him, to prevent her from dying.

He knew that while Dobby was enthusiastic, Winky was kinder and more stable, and thus could be trusted to do simpler tasks sensibly, unlike Dobby whose love of multi-colored socks and garish clothes was legendary.

Long story short, house elves could transport people. Similar to apparition or portkeys, but a lot more comfortable. Which allowed Harry to walk into Gringotts early in the morning, before a large crowd could mob him. On inquiry, he found that his account was being managed by a goblin named Gobdook; a meeting with him helped alleviate a lot of his doubts.

Yes, Harry had access to another account, a family account he could access now due to a last-of-the-line clause in place. Visiting that was a treasure trove and a half, but Harry only picked up a few; a tome on family history, the family history log maintained by Heads of Houses, and enough money to perform some very thorough shopping. He also picked up a very nice necklace, which, according to a note kept alongside it in the vault, allowed a person to change his appearance. That was an unexpected surprise, and would help him move his base of operations to the Leaky. He also found a cool multi-compartment trunk, apparently owned by his great-grandfather Charlus Potter, with multiple features like magic warding (preventing internal magic from being detected), temperature control, and so on. The trunk in question was specifically kept for him; he found a letter stating him to take it.

No, Gringotts was not a hospital, a law firm or a stock exchange. They were bankers. He did obtain a self-updating account book for his holdings from them. It was costly, but at 100 Galleons, Harry knew it would help him immensely instead of constant visits. He did obtain recommendations from the goblin on places in both the alleys for his requirements. He did manage to talk his account manager into setting up an anonymous, oath-bound health check with a freelance healer named Turner on the Gringotts payroll: they needed to keep their curse breakers alive, after all, and contracting freelance healers was better than maintaining a hospital in Gringotts.

Once he had taken a room in the Leaky Cauldron: wasn't hard to fool Tom with a disguise provided by the necklace, he kept his stuff in the room and went off for some shopping. Firstly, he needed clothes. Muggle clothes were a sure- fire way to trouble on his next port of call in Knockturn Alley. He obtained good quality clothes with various features like auto- resizing, magical pockets etc.… Obviously, normal clothes would need him to go shopping in the normal world (he refused to call them MUggLe).

A wand maker in Knockturn who focused on custom jobs was his next stop. He was probably the one who made Lucius' wand-in-the-stick job. He was expensive enough that most would think ten times before visiting him. But he could be trusted to give a high-quality wand. To protect himself from further problems, the wandmaker swore an oath to not to reveal his clients' info, which only made him more useful in Harry's eyes. Harry walked out 300 galleons lighter, but carrying on both his arms two holsters for both his wands. His holly wand was his first love, sure, but the newly made blackthorn, thunderbird feather wand made him feel like Gandalf the White…power oozed through him, and he had given the wandmaker extra 50G to buy his silence and stay on his good side.

He would go book shopping later, but for now, he needed to catch up to the basics of magic. Which meant returning to the same books he had read with curiosity before going off to Hogwarts.

He spent the next two weeks catching up to his magical knowledge. He found that his lackluster performance had been due to his below-average knowledge of magical fundamentals, like the role of will, proper incantations, proper training and so on. He breezed through the early year's spellbooks with ease. The trunk's multiple compartments contained a treasure trove. The best part? It was designed specifically for him. By none other than Charlus Potter. He had been alive when Harry was born, having outlived his wife Dorea Black, as well as his son and daughter-in-law(who died of dragon- pox). Knowing his grandson James' tendencies to rush bravely into the fire, he prepared the trunk in the final year of his life to guide Harry with the knowledge of the Potter family. Thus he had placed a copy of all the books owned by the Potters, a copy of his own portrait, and some other paraphernalia into this trunk and placed it into the family vault with a letter addressed to his Harry.

According to the history book, as well as the Log, the Potter's were one of the Wizarding World's anomalies. While they were purebloods, and one of the Ancient families, everyone knew that they never cared about blood purity; it was commonly suspected that multiple witches who had married into the Potters were of less that PURE blood. They were also a very secretive family, who kept mostly to themselves, unless one of them decided to shine bright. This included former Minister's of Magic, a Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, multiple heads of Ministry departments, quidditch players and so on. One had even been Head Unspeakable, according to the Log.

Charlus Potter's final account in the Log specified how he had made the ancient home of the Potter's, Potter Manor, unplottable. Having placed the property on stasis, he asked the house elves to hide themselves until a new Lord Potter arose to take his rightful position.

Lord Potter. That was what he would be, soon. Charlus had the foresight to see Voldemort for the menace that he was, and thus had taken the correct actions. He had declared war on Voldemort according to the Potter Charter. Because no Potter had declared the war ended, this war was still ongoing. Because survival was paramount to Ancient Houses, they made every effort to protect their lines. This included putting in provisions into the law saying that in times of war, the last heir of an Ancient House would ascend to the Lordship at the age of 14. The only block to this was that a cleansing ritual needed to be conducted by the prospective heir, which was probably why James hadn't managed to be named Lord Potter in hiding. Harry had written a letter to Turner and obtained his willingness to conduct said ritual.

The healing was conducted at a room provided by Gringotts for a fee, at Harry's request.

Turner managed to uproot a few nasty things. Firstly, there were multiple half-healed parts of Harry that needed his fine attention. He managed to cleanse Harry's scar of dark magic residue using the cleansing ritual. Turner did express shock that Harry could function at all with the drain that the scar had placed; Harry ended up bouncing on his toes once the magical energy boost from no longer having a leech hit him. A strict potion regimen was designed, and with Dobby's help, Harry was a lot better at the end of the first month. His eyes healed in time naturally; apparently, they were poor because of the dark magic remnant.

(Meanwhile, in Dumbleland)

Dumbledore and his band was in chaos. The first few days of the summer had been busy, what with losing his positions and scrambling to reorder the Order of the Phoenix. Once the Fidelius and other stuff was done, he placed forth a proposal to keep a guard on Harry.

Only, funnily enough, Harry wasn't there when the guards got there. The blood wards had blanked out, and Petunia said she hadn't seen him since the first day.

The goblins refused to give up information, and he just couldn't find Harry. (Harry did see Remus and a few others, including Dumbledore, acting frazzled in a the alley, but decided to keep quiet and enjoy while he could.)

The removal of the leech gave a significant boost to his studies as well. Spells were significantly more powerful, and his speed at picking up new spells almost doubled. But learning spells alone was not enough. He kept learning more and more about the magical houses and the wizarding world, gaining significant insights from Charlus' portrait.

According to Charlus, himself a warrior who fought Grindelwald in the 1940s, nothing could beat practice. No matter how many spells one knew, until they were instinct ingrained into your bones, you didn't know them. According to Charlus, Potter Manor contained training rooms with magical dummies for this very reason.

He had also begun to learn the basics of an art called Occlumency. This art was vital to protect your secrets from magical access through means such as Legilimiency, which Dumbledore was apparently fluent at. Some books in the collection helped him learn the basics of meditation, focus and getting started with memory regulation. The emotional benefits also included a better understanding of the events of his life so far, and helped him get through the grief he felt for Cedric's demise. That and the fact that his focus was now way better and he could study a lot longer than he could earlier.

He had written letters to his friends, informing them that he was safe. He received only one letter in return, from Hermione (others had been sent with tracking charms on them, but got redirected due to his necklace). She tried to bully him into telling her where he was and returning to the Dursleys, and spoke nothing about where she was, other than a veiled hint about Snuffles. So, she was living with Ron at the same place Sirius was; all the more reason to meet up with Sirius.

Harry had asked Dobby to find his godfather, and Dobby had managed to track him magically to an area in London, but then got lost. Maybe Sirius had hidden the same way his parents had, the Fidelius charm? But then why were Hermione and Ron with him? More questions than answers. Finally, Dobby managed to corner Sirius and gave him Harry's letter (the man had sneaked out for fresh air). Harry was awaiting a response; Sirius had been told to give his response to Dobby.

He collected his Lordship ring before his 15th birthday. While he saw Dumbledore, fortunately for him, Dumbledore couldn't recognize him.

The ring, while being nothing special by itself, made him Lord Potter officially in the eyes of the law. This detail would be updated in the ledger at the Wizenagamot automatically, but didn't come to public notice.

Sirius managed to reply within the day. Apparently, he was living in the Black Family Townhouse in London, which Dumbledore had placed under the Fidelius. The Order of The Phoenix had been granted permission by Sirius to use his home as a meeting place, something that Sirius was regretting as Molly was bossing him around. It was just another prison for him now. He wanted Harry to come over and promised him he would take his side in any tussle with Dumbledore. His disappearance had caused a massive uproar in the Order; no one knew where he was. They had tried sending letters with tracking charms on them but the owls failed to find him. Only Hermione's untouched letter could find him. Fawkes had come to meet him once with a letter from Dumbledore pleading him to return, but after Harry requested him to stay away, Fawkes began to disappear whenever Dumbledore tried to send him to Harry again. Perks of being on the good side of a phoenix, huh.

Harry and Sirius managed to meet again with Dobby's help and plotted a way to get Harry into Grimmauld place. While Harry's access to his family's book collection was helping him a lot, he would not ignore the advantages provided by access to the Black library, which, according to Sirius, was the finest magical collection anywhere in the Isles (Hogwarts was poor in its non-light magical collections).

The plan was to send a letter to Dumbledore and the order. Without disclosing his current location, Harry expressed willingness to come to Grimmauld place. He tried to spin it as sentimental drivel about meeting and living with Sirius. One thing Harry made clear to Dumbledore was that he would NOT be returning to Privet Drive; no matter what they tried. What could they do? Kidnap him? Lock him in like the Dursleys? While it would cause problems with sheep like the Weasleys, to whom Dumbledore's word was law, he wasn't going to live at the Burrow, but at his godfather's house.

The escort for his entry was supposed to be Remus, but an entire troupe was waiting him for him at the decided pickup point: Moody, a witch with pink hair, Fleur, Bill and a few others. Harry could only shake his head at their antics. This was supposed to be their conspicuous guard? Anyway, somehow he got to see the written secret and entered the house, where Sirius was awaiting to give him a big hug (they had decided to hide the fact that they had met for secrecy reasons).

More confusion reigned in the lobby of the house, what with a portrait of a screaming Walburga, Nymphadora-call-me-Tonks tripping over her own feet, Ron and Hermione running to him. While the hug from their side was good, Hermione wisely decided to shout at him over Walburga's voice about how he should have done this and shouldn't have done that and what not. If that was not annoying enough, they hustled him into their meeting room and tried to wring him dry of information, which Harry pointedly refused to tell them. His rudimentary occlumency helped him recognize probes from Dumbledore and even Snape, but by refusing to meet their eyes again and aggressively managing to overpower his mental focus, he managed to prevent them from learning a lot. He wasn't yet good enough to keep out active attacks, but as what they were trying was illegal, they couldn't try those, atleast not in front of everyone. Much as Dumbledore tried, Molly tried, even McGonagall tried; he refused to tell them where he had been, and made it quite clear that he was here to stay with his godfather and that's that.

Not that they could do much, could they? Molly tried to put him up in a room with Ron, but Sirius fortunately intervened, bringing up growing boys and their need for privacy.

Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione was waiting outside. She tried her own guilt tripping methods, but, worry for a friend notwithstanding, Harry was getting a bit pissed. Who was Dumbledore to interfere in his life? Why should he live with his abusers? She didn't have to suffer anything, did she? Her refusal to back down and accept that would cause further problems in the future. While he had forgiven her for giving up his Firebolt to McGonagall, he hadn't forgotten it. Her love for authority meant that anything he told her she would definitely tell Dumbledore if asked. Ron clearly had the hots for her, and the way they had been holding hands earlier, there was something going on there.

Finally, he managed to escape with Sirius to the room that had been prepared for him.

According to Sirius, the Order had tried to put a guard at his house within a week of returning, only to realize that the horse had already bolted. Panic ensued, with searches going on everywhere. Harry decided to keep his secret method secret; who knew if he might need it again, and Sirius assured him that what he didn't know he couldn't tell. He managed to get permission from Sirius to enter the Black library, but only if promised to stay away from the cursed items.

After introducing both his house elves to Sirius, Harry decided to lock himself away. He had been hurt by the lack of trust Hermione continued to show in him. Maybe he wasn't entirely insane? She always acted as if he was an idiot who should do as he was told by the closest adult, or herself. Well, Harry had put a lot of thought into his friendships. Why hadn't he made friendships with others? That had been the reason everyone was so quick to jump the gun in second year; people fear what they do not understand. There were other houses besides Gryffindor. And for who? A girl who kept acting like his mother and a boy who could never kill his jealousy? See, Harry loved his friends, sure, but friendships cannot come at the cost of self-respect.

Showing a cold shoulder to the two was also part of his plan. He had hidden his second wand and new trunk in the recesses of his pockets, so no one could know. He'd also spelled his Lordship ring to be invisible to prevent further furor. Which was lucky, as Snape was apparently part of the Order; Sirius didn't trust him, but Dumbledore did. Well, how could they know whether he was spying on Voldemort or FOR Voldemort? The item that was being guarded in the Department of Mysteries had something to do with Harry, that Sirius knew, but he didn't know what exactly the item was! Even Voldemort had his eyes on the item, according to Snape. Well, Dumbledore could keep playing his games, but Harry wouldn't enter the fray unnecessarily, untrained as he was. Sirius was helping him train, and with active spell and duelling practice, Harry had gotten a lot better.

Not that the path had been easy, mind you. Molly had tried to prevent him from using magic in the house, but Sirius and Moody over-rode her concerns, saying it would be easier to keep himself alive this way. Ron joined in sometimes, but Hermione refused, stating that just because she couldn't be caught, she wouldn't break the law. Remus, Tonks and even Moody joined Sirius and Harry sometimes in the training room in the basement. Harry's casting speed had improved a lot. They had worked on his dodging as well, with Moody specially putting Harry through his paces with his sudden attacks. His natural seeker reflexes only helped. The increased activity also helped Sirius, who had previously been drinking heavily. Well, a more sober Sirius was a safer Sirius.

Not that Harry was confined or a prisoner, that is. Without telling anyone other than Sirius, he had gotten out multiple times with Dobby's help. While he could argue with them and fight it out, he didn't want the drain of arguing with Molly. It was on one of such trips, when sitting at Fortescue's eating an ice cream, that Harry had the good fortune to see his crush with some of her friends. Well, Harry was a teenager, huh? There was this girl in an different house that he'd had his eye on for some time. Couldn't do anything due to the Triwizard last year, but this year he would definitely try and ask her out. He hadn't intended to snoop on them, but he did end up hearing some interesting things. According to her, the Ministry was trying to interfere at Hogwarts by sending their own Defence professor. That would be interesting to watch. He couldn't blow his cover to go and talk to her, so he'd have to wait for Hogwarts.

He'd purchased some more books at both Flourish and Obscurus books. Obscurus had been a treasure trove of greyer magical content; obviously the cost was a lot more. He did end up buying a foe glass and a magical proximity sensor; both would come in handy during his studying. He had stopped using the rooms in his trunk except early in the mornings because he didn't want everyone to know. Hermione specially would throw a fit if she found the Potter library in his trunk; they were his possessions, and he didn't want everyone to treat them as communal property.

According to Sirius, she had done the same with the Black library, when he had refused her access for her own safety (he had been clearing out the dangerous books at the time). Now that it was safe, she was spending a lot more time there. That or hiding around kissing Ron. They had tried to keep that little fact secret, but Harry had gotten the info from Dobby, who saw it when he was on guard for Harry.

The access to better food and nutrition, along with the healer's potion regimen, had helped him immensely. He was waiting for Hogwarts to start so that he could stop publicly using the fake glasses that he had bought for himself, to prevent Dumbledore from learning about it.

Not that he cared, but the old man did interfere a lot in his life.

All was going well, until one fine day a letter arrived from the much vaunted Ministry of Magic. Apparently someone had performed a Patronus charm in Surrey, and the blame was being placed on Harry. But funnily enough, Dudley had already been kissed. Well, that was a nice pickle, eh? For multiple reasons. He couldn't tell them where he had been living because he was living under a Fidelius, and Dumbledore was telling him that he would clear up matters, except Harry didn't trust Dumbledore anymore, did he?

That and the fact that this provided a wonderful opportunity for Harry. Firstly, he wasn't the one who did it. Secondly, even if he had, he was allowed to. Why? The fact was that he was Lord Potter, and thus allowed to perform magic as long as it didn't break the Statute of Secrecy. That and the fact that there was still a war ongoing for his family.

This provided an opportunity, one that Harry would try to seize. Plus the fact was that even if they seized him and broke his wand, he had another wand now. He'd purchased an overpowered portkey to escape the Ministry if things got heated. The Order tried to make him rely on Dumbledore, telling him to let him stand in as his defence, but Harry had a surprise awaiting them all.

The trial was scheduled for 12th August. Harry had decided to prepare himself for legal defence on all fronts. Firstly, he refreshed his wand by performing some basic school based spells. He didn't want them noticing the advanced nature of the spells he'd been practicing. Secondly, he spent time going through old trial records and such.

According to everyone knowledgeable in these matters, he would have a trial with Amelia Bones, Head of the DMLE; although Fudge might try to interfere. The Patronus in question had actually been performed by Moody, so his testimony was of paramount importance. Another important facet of the case lay in the fact that Dudley had been kissed. Petunia would kill him if she knew, but he wasn't going back there anytime soon. As Dudley was family, he could spin it as an attack on himself, getting both some much needed public sympathy as well as the fuel for the next stage of his plan.

If Fudge did press on the pedal and hold a full trial (which he might, according to Charlus, for a high profile case such as this), it would only play into Harry's hands.

Harry had updated his wardrobe with a costly visit to Twilfit and Tattings. Appearance would be vital if his plan was to be successful. He'd looked up ways to enter the Ministry and figured out using the Floo would be best. Arthur had tried to convince him that going the non-magical way would make the best impression, but Harry felt that would be counter-productive. You see, Harry wasn't going there to play the weak child; he was going there to set off a bomb, and vindicate his call that Voldemort was back…

He had practiced flooing to-and-fro to the Burrow and back enough times to get over his bad habits. Now his floo entry was a lot smoother. He kept his secondary wand at home, not wanting to risk it. Then, after a healthy but light breakfast provided by Dobby, along with a plan in place to rescue Harry if required, and with good wishes from everyone, Harry went off to defend himself. Punctuality was good, so he decided to go a bit earlier than needed.

After registering his wand and obtaining a visitor badge, Harry waited for Moody to show up. As a retired Auror, Moody knew the Ministry in and out. While not entirely happy with Harry's resistance to the Order, he'd been amenable to Harry once he'd explained his reasons to keep himself safe. Unlike most of the Order, Moody respected Dumbledore without worshipping him. The fact that Harry had managed to not be found despite active searching by the entire Order, and his willingness to train rigorously, had placed him in Harry's corner.

Why Moody? Because even though he was retired now, he had a lot of respect in the Ministry. Yeah, they considered him paranoid. But he had cast the Patronus, and no one would doubt his word. That alone would exonerate Harry, specially if Moody's former boss Amelia Bones was in charge. He'd explained about his Lordship to Moody, in strict confidence that he wouldn't tell Dumbledore until after the trial. Harry was fortunate it wasn't someone like Tonks who'd cast the Patronus. There was no reason for an active auror to be there; plus, that would raise eyes on the Order. It was well known that the one-eyed auror was an expert at defensive magics as well as Dumbledore's friend, so his presence could easily be explained.

It was fortunate that Harry showed up early; Fudge tried to play a cheap trick by changing the location and time. Courtroom Ten, according to Moody, had been used for the severe criminals and death eaters during the war; was Fudge certified insane? Anyway, the entrance went better than they had expected.

What they had expected was a frightened teenager walking into a courtroom meant for criminals. What they got instead was the door rocketing open and Harry walking in confidently with Moody at his back.

That set them talking. Why was the arguably Mad Auror here? And Harry was looking better than some of them had been led to believe; he was dressed in Blue robes, with a gold sewn Potter crest on his robes. The seats were high up and Harry could only see Minister Fudge, a square-jawed short-haired witch with a monocle on (Amelia Bones had been well described by Tonks), and another witch on Fudge's right whose face lay in shadow (this one was probably the famous Umbridge).

Fudge had apparently expected Harry to be late due to his trick, unfortunately for him, it didn't work. The presence of Moody was also a spanner into his plans. Percy was acting as the court scribe for the hearing; he refused to meet Harry's eyes. So, ambition over family.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking notes at once, "into offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

"Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley."

This was followed by a reading of the supposed charges: performing magic in front of a Muggle, breaking the Statute of Secrecy, and breaking the Reasonable Restriction on Underage Magic. The expected punishment was expulsion and wand being snapped.

"You are Harry James Potter, of number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?", Fudge asked with a glare.

"Not entirely true" was the cryptic answer by Harry.

"What? You are not Harry James Potter?" a flummoxed Fudge asked.

Harry decided to go straight for the kill. "No, I am Lord Harry James Potter, Lord of the Ancient House of Potter. I have not resided at Privet Drive since last year. My current residence is none of your concern."

Sudden whispers began across the courtroom. Fudge himself did a double take. LORD? This boy was only 15 years old!

"Preposterous!" the Minister exploded. "You're only 15 years old, boy! You are no Lord! And what is Moody doing here!?"

"I will explain if you allow me to explain, Minister!" Harry himself shouted. He'd placed a mild sonorous on himself with Moody's help, and it was time to twist the knife. "This trial of yours is preposterous! First the Ministry tries to kill me, then it accuses me of a crime I did not commit, and which is no crime at all. Then you, Minister, try to change trial proceedings last minute to suit yourself without sufficient notice! I am innocent for multiple reasons, which I will explain to you!"

Fudge tried to intervene, but Harry kept going on with the momentum.

"Firstly, I did not cast the Patronus in question. It was cast by retired Senior Auror Moody: he is here as my witness. Secondly, I do not take kindly to the Minister's attempt to get me killed by sending two dementors to my former place of residence! Thirdly, my current place of residence is none of your business!" he voiced before the Minister could poke in.

"As for how I am Lord Potter; well, my great- grandfather declared war on the man calling himself Lord Voldemort in 1980. My parents were murdered by this same terrorist. I am the last living member of House Potter. As per the Ancient House charter which is applicable to everyone in Wizarding Britain, I have every right to be emancipated on turning 14 years old, as long as my magical preparation was tested comprehensively.

I am the winner of the Triwizard Tournament conducted last year; which, according to the Educational Charter No 15, is one of the valid forms of recognizing magical readiness. I have been emancipated since 26th July 1995! Long before your dementors attacked and kissed my cousin! So even if I HAD used the Patronus, it was legal. As is any and every bit of magic I choose to perform from now on. Unless you are going to amend the millennia old Last of the Line Clause in the Ancient House Charter? (The purebloods would never allow THAT to happen, as everyone knew).

As for performing magic in front of a muggle; my good sirs, Dudley was my cousin, fully aware of my magical background, and had seen countless events of underage magic. I don't think your case has a basis to stand on. What I would like to know, Minister, is what 2 dementors were doing in Surrey of all places!" Harry thundered.

Shock and awe.

The silence was broken by the doors being blown open and the Headmaster's grand entry. But even that was not shocking.

"Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore", Grindelwald's defeater thundered in his grandfatherly but powerful tone. Then he took a closer look at Harry, glanced at Moody, glanced at the shell-shocked looking Wizenagamot, and on being told by Harry that he would call him as needed, transfigured a throne for himself to sit.

Fudge had summoned up his courage, but before that, Moody started his own tirade.

"Retired Senior Auror Alastor Moody, reporting as witness for Lord Harry James Potter. I had been sent by Headmaster Dumbledore to check up on Harry's relatives. Due to events of the recent past, he wanted to ensure that they were safe. On apparating to Little Whinging, I found the atmosphere cool; too cool to be natural in the summer. I quickly reached a deserted playground where 2 dementors were feeding on a stout boy of about Lord Potter's age, which I later determined was Dudley Dursley, his cousin. I cast a patronus to drive off the dementors, but it was too late. As evidence of the dementors presence, I also cut off two swathes of their cloaks." Saying this, he drew out the aforementioned pieces of evidence and floated them to Amelia Bones. A tiny check of the magical residue on these was sufficient to establish that they were connected to the dementors.

Fudge was looking comically red. The ugly, toad-like witch to his right was looking murderous. Before Fudge could make an even bigger fool of himself, Amelia Bones intervened.

"Those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges?"

Well, it had gone well. More than half of the hands were raised. The light families would clearly support the one they considered their poster child; the neutrals had been impressed by his posture and the fact that he was a future peer had also been considered. Even most of Fudge's sycophants knew that going up against Moody's testimony would set them up for attention they did not need. With a clear majority, Harry was exonerated of all charges.

He wasn't done yet, though.

"I have a message to the Wizenagamot from House Potter. I thank Minister Fudge for convening this gathering, as I would have faced more trouble. The last Lord Potter, my great-grandfather Charlus Potter, did in 1980, with full control of his faculties, declare war on the terrorist calling himself Lord Voldemort. Due to his death, he was unable to give official notice to the Wizenagamot. The grounds for this included the attack on Potter family members, and the destruction of the Potter Family Chateau in 1979 by servants of said Voldemort, who styled himself the 'Death Eaters'. Further more, on 31st October 1981, the terrorist in question attacked James Henry Potter, Heir Presumptive, and Lily Potter, his wife, and myself, Harry James Potter. The terrorist in question has not been seen in the common wizarding world, so it has been assumed that he is dead. But until definitive proof of his death arises, House Potter remains at war with Voldemort and any of his supporters. According to the privileges accorded to Ancient Families, in times of war, self- defence is moot, and taking lives is pardonable in self-defense. My call goes out to every one of Voldemort's supporters: any attack upon my person or those I consider friends I will meet with extreme prejudice. If you have been imperiused in the past, take care not to get imperiused again. Any family wishing to join in the fight against this terrorist, who has murdered erstwhile families like the Prewetts and the McKinnons, killed countless members of Houses Bones, House Fenwick and other innocents, is most welcome to join!"

And with that parting shot, Harry turned and walked out of the Wizenagamot.

Chaos reigned at Grimmauld Place. Harry had returned home quickly and after informing his friends and Sirius, retreated back to his room. Dumbledore had arrived later, still in some shock, so his grandfather persona was a bit down. After learning from Moody about the beginning of the trial, he was even more shocked, and, deep down, scared. Harry was acting smart and cunning; too smart and cunning. Was he being possessed by Voldemort? He didn't know anything about the cleansing ritual; no one did, because Harry hadn't told anyone. Sirius was over the moon when he realized what sort of prank Harry had managed to pull off. Not only had he gotten away scot-free, he'd also managed to make the Minister look like a fool, scare people into believing Dementors were roaming wild, and declared war on Voldemort, for all intents and purposes, without getting into the nitty gritty about his rebirth. By claiming, factually, that no one had actually proved that Voldemort had died, he didn't have to fight to prove to the Minister that he had risen again!

Dumbledore aside, most of the others were happy. This felt like a victory; Fudge couldn't do anything to stop Harry short of getting him murdered, and even he wasn't stupid enough to do that! Malfoy and his imperius cronies were warned by Harry publicly to save themselves if they could; whether or not Voldemort was back notwithstanding, Harry was free to protect himself. There was no way anyone could stop the War; that was the result of the age-old war clause. It was an ancient practice that had existed in an older, divided Britain, meant to allow Ancient Houses to deal with feuds and attacks without censure and interference by the government.

Sirius had borne the brunt of Dumbledore's questioning. Luckily, Harry had told him to be ready for fireworks, without telling him what exactly was going to happen. When did Harry become Lord Potter? How did it go unnoticed? What else had he been up to?

The Weasley Twins began to emulate their second year antics, bowing whenever Harry showed up.

On a sad note, this news did end up catastrophically damaging the remnants of his close bond with Ron and Hermione. Both of them were angry at him for keeping secrets from them; matters turned sour when Harry brought up their 'secret' relationship. Ron, as expected, was jealous. If there had been a house of the jealous at Hogwarts, Ron would probably be it's mascot. They weren't too pleased when Harry told them that his secrets were his own, and that the only reason he did so was that Hermione would tattle it to Dumbledore. Hermione refused to accept that; even though everyone knew it was true.

Nothing violent happened, but a crying Hermione and an angry Ron stormed off. Ron had tried to punch him, but, with a quick shield, he bounced off. Another reason for him to be jealous, huh? So anyway, while they were still friends, they weren't as close as they used to be. Hermione for one had decided that showing him the cold-shoulder until he 'accepted' his mistakes was the way to go.

In other news, Harry informed McGonagall about his decision to self study for COMC, Divination and Muggle Studies, and willingness to take up the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy OWLs with self study. It was a practice that had fallen out of fashion, but 14 year old's were not expected to compulsorily attend classes other than Defence, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions beyond 4th year. But it did require permission from the respective teachers. Harry had been studying ahead in Runes and Arithmancy and was sure he could convince Professors Babbling and Vector about his competence. If not, he could always take his OWLs for those subjects at the Ministry.

OWLs were the last major hurdle in his path. Fudge was sure to tighten the compulsory OWL regulations to keep him under leash, now that he was free to perform magic. One could take the NEWTs at their own leisure, although it was considered standard practice to do so below 20.

Dumbledore had been avoiding Harry since the trial; he refused to meet his eyes, and even went off quickly whenever Harry came down to meet Sirius or eat. Not a bad outcome for Harry by any means, but a puzzling one all the same.

The Ministry sponsored misinformation campaign on the Prophet had lost a bit of steam ever since the news about his Lordship came out. Even with Ministry backing, the Editor wisely did not want to attack an Ancient House Lord and the Boy-who-lived to boot. A few questions had also been asked about the presence of Dementors in Surrey. The fact that Dudley's condition could be conclusively proved went a long way in raising eyebrows of people who had formerly doubted Harry's account of the Third Task.

Voldemort hadn't responded with any overt attacks, choosing to play the waiting game. The longer he kept hidden, the more the public would doubt Harry. Till then he was consolidating his forces, and keeping tabs on the same object that Dumbledore was keeping under guard.

Sirius had managed to obtain and share the 2-way mirror with Harry, and since then, no matter where he was, he was in touch with Sirius. His godfather had benefited massively from his presence. Harry had also grown close to his father's best friend. Spending time training with him, talking about his childhood growing up with James and the Marauders', stories of the pranks they pulled off had put a new life into the man. As a former Hit- Wizard, Sirius knew loads about the actual gritty happenings during the previous war, and it was one of the few topics that could sober up the jolly dogfather (that's what Dobby began calling him).

Moving into Grimmauld place for a month had been a net benefit to Harry. He'd managed to cure his loneliness, spent time around the Twins, who had been working on their joke items. As primary funder of their enterprise, he was able to give them lots of ideas. He also managed to learn a scary amount of cool magic from them. The discussions about pranking had gained even more steam when the Twins realized that Sirius was one of the Marauders; he became their sounding board for any ideas about pranks or joke items. For two guys who everyone underestimated, Fred and George had a crazy good understanding of the fundamentals of magical theory in practice. Working with them was a wonderful bonus. He'd also worked at brewing potions in peace, without partners or a bat hovering over his shoulder. Harry's final task for the summer was reopening Potter Manor. Once their Chateau had been destroyed by the Death Eater's led by Voldemort, Charlus had wisely decided that hiding it was better than tempting fate (or, as it turned out, Lord Voldemort). He'd moved in a small, secure cottage on another Potter property. That cottage had apparently been known only to Charlus, so Harry couldn't use it until he could find its location, and removed the stasis charm. While Harry was in two minds about reopening the place, he needed the various items kept there to keep himself safe.

The Gringotts vault only had a few of their possessions. Wizards weren't stupid enough to leave everything where the Goblins could get at them; they had fought so many wars because of that same lack of trust. According to Charlus' portrait, Potter Manor had impressive hiding abilities, and although placing it under Fidelius was difficult due to its size, the fact that most of the people who knew its location were dead, meant that unless someone followed Harry there, they wouldn't find it.

With the help of Dobby and Winky, Harry located Potter Manor. It needed significant magical energies from him to re-start the wards of the house; something that would have gotten him caught if he had used his Holly wand. Lordship notwithstanding, Harry had no doubt that the Trace on his wand was still active. Thankfully his blackthorn wand was better than ever, and better yet, no one knew of its existence yet.

The grand manor was beautiful, but of more value to Harry was the number of portraits on the walls. His parents hadn't gotten one painted, but his grandparents, great- grandmother Dorea were among the many placed on the walls of the grand house. These were full of people who were curious about him and who he was, and wanted to know everything about him, and the world as well. Initially it was a bit overwhelming. What helped was knowing that even the portraits of these people loved him, in a way.

The place had greenhouses which he needed to activate, something that was helped immensely when House elves began to show up. The head elf, Tinty, quickly understood the situation. They had been instructed by Charlus to stay in hiding until the next heir re-opened the stasis. With the help of his elves, he quickly began putting the manor in order. The library contained the original copies of many of the books in his trunk library, as well as many others deemed to dangerous to copy. The greenhouses were initially barren, but with the use of magic and care from the House elves, that was easily remedied.

There were ballrooms, long halls, countless bedrooms, 3 floors and everything his heart could desire. There was even an armoury wherein real weapons of all kinds were kept, magical and non-magical. This included charmed daggers, poisonous trinkets, a goblin-forged sword, some cool daggers, 3 sets of full-body dragonhide armor and lots of cool things. He knew that he would have to train himself to use them. Why? Because a wizard was a human too. According to Charlus, over-reliance on magic was never a good thing. As the last of his line, he needed to be capable of defending himself from any and every form of attack. Magical creatures like Nundus and giants had magically resistant skin; didn't he kill the basilisk with Gryffindor's sword? But he had gotten bitten due to his lack of proper technique. Thankfully, Fawkes saved him that time.

Once the wards had been activated, it was impossible for anyone to find the place. Now he was truly free to practice any and every kind of magic he wanted to, in the real world. The unplottable nature of the property made it perfect, and not even Sirius truly remembered where it was, even though he had been here a few times.

He had informed Sirius that he was going back in hiding, but not that he was changing his location to the Manor. The Order was less concerned this time, particularly because Moody expressed his trust in the 'lad' and his ability to take care of himself. From Moody, that was high praise indeed. The purchases for the year had already been done. The prefect positions had gone to his friends, (Hermione as expected, but he didn't expect Ron), and it had already been celebrated.

His great-grandmother Dorea had been a healer and was a more than competent potion master. He'd only improved at brewing with her guidance. What helped him was that while his technique needed improvement, much of his failure in potions had been due to his lack of understanding of the ingredients he was working with. Potion making was equally a science and an art; as someone who could cook really well, once he got over his initial fear, he found that brewing potions was really cool.

The summer had done him a load of good. He was feeling better, mentally and physically. Even though he knew that Voldemort was out there somewhere, he was feeling lesser stress because he was working on protecting himself. His cleansing and the removal of the dark magic in the scar had cut off the daily headaches and pain he and the brain fog had used to suffer earlier, lifted a lot.

He was physically better, he'd gained a few inches of height. His meditation and other mental exercises were going well. His occlumency was coming on faster than it was supposed to be, according to both the book he was referring to and Charlus' portrait.

It didn't make him perfect, however. In his own year, there were students like Daphne Greengrass, who was one of the most accomplished students in their year, Terry Boot, Hermione, Padma Patil among others, who had spent a 5 years or more learning the magic that he had begun learning recently. While Harry had an instinctive grasp on the practical side, which had only improved with the loss of the leech and the amount of practice he put in this year, the others were way ahead when it came to magical theory. He would get there, eventually.

This was only the first step; the future was looking bright

AN: Had made a typo, have changed the wand-wood from blackwood to blackthorn (which I originally intended but wrongly wrote)!