Knocking on the door of Dumbledore's new office, Harry entered to realise that it looked exactly like his old one, just without all the portraits on the wall.
"Ah Harry, Cho, it's good to see you two again," Dumbledore said with a warm smile. Beneath all this warmth, however, Harry could feel a very tired soul, overwhelmed by his duty.
"How have you been doing Professor?" Harry asked as he took his seat in front of Dumbledore.
"I've been doing alright, tired? Yes, but otherwise alright," Dumbledore smiled back, "while I appreciate your concern Harry, I'm afraid that we have more pressing issues to address today, starting off with the fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."
"We have been keeping track of the Death Eater attacks in the Order and they are very much not keeping quiet, there have been twelve instances of attacks, all of which are in the muggle world, the muggle Prime Minister has been notified about these and muggle London is in high alert, curiously however, the Death Eater attacks have largely not been conducted by Death Eaters themselves, rather, done by their mercenaries, they are called Death Troopers by the Death Eaters and while they are far from Death Eaters ability wise, they are still at least average and are rather dangerous, the Order and the Auror office have been working to undermine their operations and pick off their members, we have been achieving limited success thus far but the situation has been improving for us."
"What about the Death Eaters themself, do you know what they are planning?" Harry asked.
"We are still unsure about the Death Eater's activity, I however, suspect that they are using the Death Troopers to test out the Ministry's capabilities before deciding how to proceed with their operations, I strongly believe that they will be making targetted strikes at the Wizarding communities very soon."
"Which would be at people like us," Harry said which Dumbledore nodded to.
"The Order will definitely be targetted, so as high-ranking ministry officials, we have started setting up elaborate protection charms on our safehouses and private houses, something that William contributed greatly to, placing his Curse Breaking skills to great use."
"That's good to hear," Harry agreed, "what about the Horcruxes, have you had ever luck in finding them?"
"I actually have," Dumbledore smiled cheerfully, bringing out a container with what seemed like a ring floating inside, "this is the Gaunt Ring, belonging to Voldemort's grandfather, Alastor and Sirius travelled to their run-down shack and retrieved it with me, thanks to Sirius' intervention, I avoided being fatally cursed by the Ring itself, hence why it's in the contained box here."
"So this was the Ring you saw in the spell?"
"It is."
"Then why not destroy it now?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's in to ensure that Voldemort himself does not get tipped off that we are searching for his Horcrux, it's my belief that should we destroy enough of his Horcruxes, he will begin to feel them and thus warn his Death Eaters to better protect his Horcruxes."
"So you are just going to store it and destroy it all at once when we have collected all?" Cho asked.
"Well thought Cho," Dumbledore replied with a smile, "I in fact, have an elaborate plan for the final phase of the plan which I will share when we have finally collected all the Horcrux spare the snake as that will always be beside Voldemort."
"The next thing I want to talk to both of you about is your stay at the Dursleys," Dumbledore continued, "after some negotiating with Vernon and Petunia, they have allowed both of you to stay with them for one month during the summer, they however, refuse to make meals for the both of you (Dumbledore said with visible annoyance) so you two will, unfortunately, have to settle your meals by yourself."
"I can cook for us," Cho replied, "as long as allow us to use their kitchen at least."
"They thankfully have, but they emphasised that their kitchen has to be spotless afterwards and that they get the first priority," Dumbledore replied, clearly unhappy, "as for the stay itself, you both will be placed back into Harry's room, I have added another bed into the room and repositioned the items in the room to provide you more space, however, there isn't much I can do without magically expanding the room so you both would have to deal with the more confined space."
"Works for us," Harry said which Cho agreed to.
"Good, the next most crucial point is about your safety, every week, you will be allowed to visit muggle London or Diagon Alley for one day, whenever you want to do this, Sirius, Lupin or your parents (referring to Cho) will be there as protection, you are still allowed to explore the areas close to Privet Drive but I will have to request that both of you return by night and always have your wand and Lupa with you," Dumbledore continued, "ah yes, about her, I have gained the Ministry's approval, you will be allowed to keep it with you during the stay, Vernon thankfully allowed its stay as well but he insists that it will kick it out immediately if it dirties his floors so be careful about that, Newt have also shared that your wolf is likely able to shapeshift and that it can appear like a dog which will have to be on when you are exploring the areas in muggle London."
"Understood."
"In terms of magical use, you both no longer have the Trace on you which enables you to use magic outside of Hogwarts, after some convincing, the Ministry has also allowed magic to be performed inside the house itself, I however, have to inform you to not perform magic in front of the Dursleys, they are historically not welcoming to magic so I have heard."
"They are not," Harry confirmed.
"As for your magical training, I will be picking up both of you every Sunday afternoon and will apparate both of you to a safehouse where I will train both of you, as an additional request, I would appreciate it if you learn the art of Occlumency," Dumbledore said looking at Cho, "Harry is a skilled Legilimens and can teach you Occlumency, that however, will require him to tap into your mind, are you fine with that?"
"Yeah, I am," Cho answered, nodding.
"Fantastic, that leaves two more things, the first is a party which I would like both of you to attend."
"A party?" Harry asked confusedly.
"Yes, a party being organised by Horace Slughorn, you see, Horace was once a professor at Hogwarts and taught Voldemort himself, it's to my understanding that he was the one who gave Voldemort the information about Horcruxes, not knowing the monster that he would become, I also believe that through Horace, we can find out exactly how many Horcruxes Voldemort have."
"Don't we already know it? Through all the visions?"
"I personally am not sure about how accurate the spell I created was," Dumbledore admitted, "to my knowledge, it can very much just show us some of the Horcruxes Voldemort has made, while it's unlikely that he went beyond that number, taking a risk in a high-risk operation like this is something I want to avoid."
"I see, but why do you want us to go?" Harry asked curiously, "Can't you ask him yourself?"
"I have tried Harry, Horace however, is ashamed of the role he played in Voldemort's rise to power, this is why I need you to convince him."
"Me? I don't even know him Professor."
"You don't, but Horace is obsessed over fame and glory, that's why he is organising this party, inviting his ex-students who have since ascended into powerful positions, you, as Harry Potter, have the opportunity and chance to convince him to give you the much-needed information, another added benefit is that your mum was his favourite student, being her son gives you a better opportunity."
"I see," Harry thought deeply, how he was going to convince Slughorn however, he had no idea."
"Last but not least, I would insist that you both keep this on you every second you are with the Dursleys, especially when you are out in Diagon Alley or muggle London," Dumbledore said, giving both Harry and Cho a black coin, something that can easily hit in their pockets, "this is an emergency portkey, it will trigger when you say the phrase, "flying Fawkes", this will transport you into a safe house and inform me that you were in trouble, this is of the utmost important Harry, do not stick around to fight the Death Eaters, your survivable means more than you know."
"Understood Professor," Harry nodded.
"This will be it then, I have to make my leave once again for order business, good luck with your examination you two."
"Ah yes Mr Potter," Professor Tofty said as he entered the examination room for his DADA practical portion, inside the room was Professor Tofty, an old man with a bald head and a well-trimmed white beard, inside also sat Mrs Weasley, who beamed brightly at Harry when he entered, "I have been looking forward to your practical session, rumour has it, you are the most promising student to come out of Hogwarts in a while."
"I won't say that but I will do my best," Harry smiled back, taking out his wand and preparing for his examination.
"I'm sure you would," Professor Tofty smiled back, "firstly, I would want you to perform a Standard Shield Charm."
Without hesitation, Harry casted his Shield Charm, doing this non-verbally which impressed Professor Tofty.
"Excellent Shield Charm! Non-verbally as well? Great job Mr Potter," he said, observing the integrity of the Shield Charm.
"I can do a more powerful version of it as well," Harry said.
"Well, show me then, for some bonus points," Professor Tofty said, giving him a wink.
"Fortis Aegis!" Harry shouted, summoning a powerful gold shield around himself, shocking Professor Tofty who yelped.
"Fortis Aegis?" he said in shock, "This is some advanced magic Mr Potter, bonus points for you, next, I want you to perform the Limbo Mist anticharm."
Immediately responding and performing the charm which would have been very useful in the 3rd task last year, Harry performed the anticharm perfectly, earning him points.
"Excellent excellent," Professor Tofty responded, "would you perhaps have any additional surprises that are related to this anticharm?"
"Not exactly," Harry responded, "though I have learnt a mist charm which would cover an area with controllable black mist, pretty useful when you are having a duel."
"Atra Caligo?" he said in shock.
"Yeah," Harry said before performing the charm non-verbally, bringing a dark cloud of mist into the room and clouding everyone's vision, Harry then removed it and Professor Tofty was once again left shocked.
"Bonus points!" he said, "You are truly impressive for a fifth-year Mr Potter, I would have asked you to perform the Riddikulus Charm but after the 3rd task last year, I do not believe that that is necessary, I would award you the points there, next, how about the Impediment Jinx?"
Performing it on the practice dummy non-verbally with ease, Professor Tofty clapped happily, seeing a perfect Impediment Jinx on display.
"How about the Disarming Charm?"
Harry immediately casted his signature spell on the dummy, blasting it back while its 'wand' flew into the air, using the Summoning Charm, Harry summoned the 'wand' into his hand and caught it.
"Excellent! I haven't seen such a powerful Disarming Charm in such a long time," Professor Tofty exclaimed in delight, "it might be even more powerful than mine, excellent use of Summoning Charm to catch the wand, bonus points for you Mr Potter."
"Last but not least, I was told by an old friend that you have mastered the Patronus Charm?" Professor Tofty said. Understanding it as a request, Harry casted his Patronus, his silvery stag flying out of his wand and ran around the room gracefully, it eventually returned to Harry, allowing him to pet it before it let out another roar, stunning both Professor's in the room.
"Merlin's beard," Professor Tofty said, stunned, "I haven't heard of a Patronus roaring before, this is one powerful Patronus, excellent work Mr Potter, I don't think that I have tested a student as extraordinary as you in my life, I look forward to your N.E. Mr Potter, hopefully, you have more extraordinary magic to show me."
"I would do my best Professor," Harry said with a smile before leaving the examination room.
Heading to the holding area, Harry spotted Hermione and Daphne sitting together discussing the examination together.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "How was your examination?"
"I reckon that I've just got more than 100% for it," Harry smiled, taking a seat next to a stunned duo.
"What did you do?" Daphne asked curiously.
"A lot of additional magic, I did a variation of the Shield Charm, the Black Mist Charm and the Patronus Charm, I also did all the basic stuff non-verbally and Professor Tofty said my Disarming Charm was one of the strongest he has ever seen."
"That's brilliant," Hermione exclaimed, "mine went well as well but I messed up my Disarming Charm."
"Huh, you were always excellent at it? What happened?"
"I missed the target," Hermione said, cheeks flushing red, "I was just nervous."
"It's fine Hermione," Daphne comforted her, "you will still get an EE at least, your written examination should be close to full marks."
"Agreed, what about you Daphne?"
"Mine went well, reckon that an O is possible," Daphne smiled brightly, "but definitely wasn't as good as yours, yours sound like something Dumbledore would do."
"Thanks," Harry chuckled, "the O. have been pretty good though, Transfiguration and Charms were easy, both should be Os for me, Herbology was alright, should be an A or EE at the very least."
"Transfiguration was slightly harder for me," Daphne admitted, "should be A or EE as well, Charms and Herbology should be Os though."
"The rest should be fine too," Harry continued, "Runes, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Arithmancy and History of Magic, Potions, Runes and Care of Magical Creatures will probably be Os while Astronomy, Arithmancy I'm aiming for EE, History… well the less about that subject the better, an A or a P will be fantastic already."
"I'm aiming for Os for all of them," Daphne chuckled, "if you weren't so lazy and actually studied really hard, you should be getting Os for them too."
"Well, for Astronomy and Arithmancy maybe, but for History, I'm sorry, Binns isn't it."
"Hopefully McGonagall take our advice for that," Hermione sighed, even Hermione had to admit, focusing during History of Magic was beyond difficult. During their session with McGonagall where they gave their advice for her term as Headmistress, all four raised the point that Professor Binns was incompetent as a teacher, something that McGonagall had to ponder about.
At this moment, Ron came out of the examination room.
"How did it go Ron?" Harry immediately asked, observing his facial expressions, it seemed as though it went fine.
"It was pretty good," Ron exclaimed happily, "should have done better for the Limbo Mist Anticharm but otherwise, it was pretty good, should pull up my written examination quite a bit."
"That's fantastic," Hermione exclaimed happily.
"How was it with your mum in your room though?" Harry teased.
"It wasn't that bad I guess," Ron admitted, "though, if she was there during Charms, that would have gone a lot worse."
Laughing at Ron's comment, he remembered Ron's dinner plate mutating into a large mushroom.
"How was yours though?" Ron asked curiously, "I heard a roar coming from the room, I assume that that is your doing?"
"Yeah, he told me to summon my Patronus for bonus points even though I had quite a few already," Harry chuckled, "I reckon he just wanted to watch magic on display, said that I was one of the best wizards he had ever seen."
"Kinda valid though," Ron commented, "I mean, you did fight You-Know-Who and his followers."
"Voldemort Ron," Harry corrected him, making Ron twitch a little, "come on Ron, there isn't much to fear about his name."
"Yes but-" Ron started to argue before realising that it was pointless. After Harry's defeat of Voldemort, he decided to stop avoiding calling Voldemort's name, he personally could not be bothered anymore. He had faced him four times and bested him three of times while escaping in one, at this point, Voldemort was more of a yearly cameo to him than an almighty villain.
"Well just six more subjects to do, we should go and study for Ancient Runes now," looking at Hermione and Daphne who nodded.