Reading Time: 107 Minutes

Title: Magical Intent
Author: Meri
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Drama, Pre-Relationship, Time Travel
Relationship(s): Harry Potter/Bill Weasley, background Ron Weasley/Daphne Greengrass
Content Rating: PG
Warnings: Discussion of child abuse
Beta: Many thanks to SerpentsGarden for their stellar beta of this story. I also used Grammarly and TextAloud.
Word Count: 74,293
Summary: One night, right after the end of third year, Harry has a very vivid dream. Or at least, he thinks it’s a dream. Whatever it is, it changes the trajectory of his life as well as the lives of several other people in his world. He finds out it’s all about getting the correct information at the right time and then finding out who your friends are. Even more importantly, figuring out who your enemies are.
Artist: NotSally

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Chapter 1

Harry Potter knew he was dreaming. The world around him was all white and grey, and it wasn’t like clouds either. Just there in a weird way. At least it wasn’t nightmarish the way his dreams sometimes were. He walked along a path that he couldn’t see. There was something up ahead that called to him, and even though he was wary of it, he continued to move forward.

It was kind of like a compulsion, but it was one he could ignore. Maybe. And it didn’t feel harmful or threatening.

Two people came into view. They looked kind of like Hermione and Ron, only way older. And look at Ron’s belly sticking out! Hermione had wrinkles on her face, and while her hair was pulled back, he could see it was streaked with gray. Ron’s hair was still very red, but his face was also very round.

“What happened to you?” Harry blurted out, horrified.

Hermione laughed, seemingly unconcerned about her age or what he’d said. “We got old. It happens.”

“Speak for yourself, Hermione!” Ron said, knocking lightly into her shoulder.

Harry forced a laugh. And waited. This was a very strange dream. That he knew it was a dream was even stranger. But he was getting more and more used to weird things happening to him.

“We have a lot to tell you,” Hermione started. “There’s so much you need to know and don’t yet.”

“Well, of course, he doesn’t know yet.” Ron laughed, but the smile didn’t get to his eyes. “We haven’t told him yet.”

Something about the way he said that surprised Harry. “What?” he asked more tentatively.

“First Ginny — ”

“We talked about this, Ron,” Hermione said, glaring at him. “Ginny is not first. The Horcruxes are first.”

“No. We’ll get to that, too. But Ginny is my sister. I can’t leave her to suffer.” He looked first at Hermione and then at Harry. “She needs help. As soon as possible. My parents don’t realize how badly she was damaged by the diary and Riddle in her first year. None of us in this time understand that he hurt her mind.”

For a second, it looked like Hermione might argue again, but instead, she sighed. “All right, Ginny gets worse through the years and eventually can’t hide it anymore.”

“What happens?” Harry asked. “Does she go mad?”

“Yes,” Ron said. “And she messes up a lot of people’s lives. Your’s and mine. But most of all, she nearly destroys our world and everyone in it.”

“But as bad as she is, she is not as bad as Dumbledore,” Hermione said. “He set everything into motion and then let it play out no matter what the cost.”

Harry was shocked by the anger in her voice. It was like she hated the headmaster. “What are you talking about? How can you say that? Dumbledore is a great wizard.”

“Let’s finish with Ginny first,” Ron insisted. “You need to convince my parents to get her help right now.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Harry nodded towards the door that wasn’t there. If it had been, it would have been locked. “I’m stuck here all summer.”

“That’s another thing, your relatives.” Hermione looked sad when she should have looked angry. “They don’t hate you.”

“Oh, yes, they do.” Harry shook his head. How would she know anyway? She’d never met them. And she certainly didn’t understand what they’d done to him over the years.

“Not really,” Ron said with a sigh. “They were made to hate you by Dumbledore.”

“What? That’s not true. You’re wrong.” He knew the headmaster would never do something like that. He just wouldn’t. He was a great man.

Ron ran a hand over his face. “Dumbledore is not the great wizard you think he is, Harry. My family supported him, and it was to our downfall and your detriment.”

“Ron’s right, but we need to move on,” Hermione said. “We have a lot to cover. Let’s do it in order. Back to Ginny. You need to convince Ron’s parents to get her help.”

“Even though they’ll say they can’t afford it,” Ron said. “They need to do it. Bill might be able to help. And Charlie. You should probably get in touch with Bill first.”

“Bill?” Harry tried to remember which one of Ron’s brothers he was. There were too many to remember all of their names without meeting them.

“My oldest brother.”

“The one you went to see last summer?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded. “He works for Gringotts. But he’s coming home for World Cup. And you should meet him then.”

“Wait,” Hermione interrupted. “Maybe he should contact him before that. So, Bill’s not blindsided.”

Ron shrugged. “I don’t know. It couldn’t hurt to drop him an owl to let him know you want to talk to him.”

“Because that will go over so well,” Harry muttered.

“You can probably contact him through Gringotts.” Hermione pulled her wand out. “Remember that.”

Something seemed to move through him. “What did you just do?” Harry wasn’t crazy about anyone pointing a wand at him. Even Hermione.

“You’ll remember about Ginny,” she said. “Next up is your Horcrux.”

“My what?”

“Voldemort left a piece of his soul in your scar. It connects you both,” Ron said, looking a bit sick.

Harry felt sick, too, so they were even. “What is a Horcrux? And how is it even possible for it to be connected to him?”

“It’s the darkest, most awful magic possible. It takes the murder of an innocent to break off a piece of your soul,” Hermione said.

He touched the scar, and even in a dream, it hurt. “Oh, no.”

“I know. And Voldemort did it six times.” Hermione stopped to take a breath.

Ron picked up from her, “He embedded the soul fragments in objects. Most of them anyway, and if we’re lucky, he won’t be able to create the snake as the last one.”

“Snake?”

“Let’s not worry about that one yet. The rest are Slytherin’s locket, which is in #12 Grimaud Place. That’s the Black London townhouse. Kreature has it.”

Before Harry could ask who or what Kreature was, Hermione went on, “The next one is Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. Which is in Bellatrix Lastrange’s vault at Gringotts. Riddle’s mother’s family ring is heavily warded and has a compulsion charm as well as a really nasty wasting curse. It’s at the ruins of the Gaunt family home. Ravenclaw’s diadem is in the room of requirements at Hogwarts.”

“The room of what?” Harry was numb. He was never going to be able to remember all of this.

As he thought it, Hermione waved her wand and said, “Remember,” again.

The magic washed over him, and he relaxed a little. Maybe he would remember.

Ron cleared his throat, and Harry looked over at him. “You’re going to need to find them all and destroy them –”

“How? I’m sure it’s not easy.” Because nothing in his life was easy. And they had just added more complication. He couldn’t even imagine how he’d deal with this.

“No, it’s not. But you can use basilisk venom, which the Sword of Gryffindor absorbed when you killed the basilisk with it. So, you can use that too. The only other thing that will work is fiendfire.”

“We need to move on,” Hermione said. “Your lordship is next on the list.”

Of course, she had a list, and that was comforting. But —

“Wait. My what? Lordship?” Harry asked. That was even more insane than Horcruxes or Dumbledore, being the cause of his aunt’s hatred of him.

“The ancient and noble house of Potter,” Ron said.

“I thought it was Black.”

“That too. And you are heir to that through Sirius’ will. And he needs to claim his Lordship. But now let’s talk quickly about the Goblins and claiming your lordship’s ring. Which you can do now, and you should. You need a regent and someone to act as your proxy until you come of age. Preferably someone who will teach you to manage your properties.”

What are you talking about?” Harry was really confused. “I’ve seen the vault. There isn’t that much in there.”

“That’s your trust vault, not your family vault.”

“Why hasn’t anyone told me about this?”

“You need to write a letter to the Goblins at the bank. Ask who your account manager is. Also, ask them for an accounting of your holdings and tell them that you’d like to have your ring. Also, tell them you need another ancient and noble person to be your regent. Also, ask about the will that your parents left.” Hermione raised her wand again. “Remember.”

“We don’t have a lot of time left. And we’re not sure how many times we’ll be able to get back here. If at all. Let’s go over the wards that are keeping your aunt and uncle angry and unhappy. They are slowly being driven insane by them.”

“How do you even know that?”

“Because Dumbledore did the same thing to Snape.”

“What? How did you know it was Dumbledore?”

“After Snape died –”

As much as he hated Snape, he didn’t wish him dead. Well, mostly not. “Snape died? When?”

“Near the end of the war. Voldemort killed him. Despite everything he did, he really was a spy for the light.” Ron looked disgusted. “He was best friends with your mum when he was a kid.”

“What? No. That just could not be true.” Harry could not believe that. He could not be friends with his mom. That was too horrible to consider.

“It’s true,” Hermione confirmed. “They had a falling out in fifth year, and your father and Sirius bullied him mercilessly. Which is why Snape hated Sirius so much. But that’s for another time.”

Harry just stood there and started to tremble. This was already more than he could take in at one time. Even with the spell, he was never going to remember it all.

Hermione plowed right on. “There was a new potions master after the war, and she couldn’t understand why she wanted to favor Slytherins. She had no house affiliation at all.”

“Yeah, she came from France,” Ron said. “The wards in Snape’s quarters were keyed to you specifically, but also any student who wasn’t brilliant at potions or who wasn’t a Slytherin.”

Hermione grimaced. “And after that, we checked your aunt’s old house on Privet Drive and found the wards, just like in Snape’s quarters. But these were keyed just to you. The thing is, they were also in the house that Dumbledore moved the Dursleys to after you left at the beginning of seventh year.”

“And Dumbledore was dead by then,” Ron added.

“Wait, Dumbledore dies? When?”

“End of your sixth year.” Hermione sounded impatient. “Obviously, he had a contingency plan. He must have gotten the place before he died. Every single thing that happened to you was planned in advance by Dumbledore, up to and including sending you to your death.”

“I die?” Harry gasped at that and had to take a deep breath to keep from panicking. This was too much. How was he supposed to deal with this?

“The first time,” Ron added. “Unfortunately, Ginny arranged the second one.”

“Ron –”

He cleared his throat. “When we removed the wards on your aunt’s place, it drove both your aunt and uncle mad. They wouldn’t have treated a dog the way they were forced to treat you over the years. Dudley was hospitalized for a long time but was eventually able to leave the hospital and go on with his life. But your aunt committed suicide. Your uncle never left the hospital.”

Harry was reeling. “What can I do to fix that?”

“At this point, it’s already been more than ten years. You can mitigate the wards with runes, which will probably help Dudley the most. We talked to some mind healers, but we were told there isn’t much that can be done for your aunt and uncle. The realization of what they did to you was just too much for them and likely would be at this point, too.”

“Why?” Harry asked. “Why would he do that?”

Hermione sighed. “Partly because he wanted to control you. How much did you love Dumbledore because he rescued you from a horrible situation? There is a word for that. It’s called grooming?”

Harry just looked at her. He didn’t know what that meant and was pretty sure he didn’t want to know.

“It means he was setting you up to follow him because you see him as a great person. Someone who had rescued you from a horrible situation.”

“You said partly?” Because he could not cope with what she had just told him. And it rang too true to him. Before tonight, that was exactly how he saw Dumbledore. “What was the other part?”

Ron looked at him and then looked at Hermione. “Dumbledore doesn’t like muggles or muggle-borns. He’s as bad as some purebloods. Only he hides it better than most of them.”

“I can’t believe this,” Harry finally said.

“And, of course,” Ron said. “There’s more. He never does anything to fix the situation with Sirius, and it ends badly for Sirius.”

“No. He has to help Sirius! He promised he would.”

“Think about it, Harry. Instead of using his power as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot to demand that Sirius get a trial, he has you and the younger me rescue Sirius and make him a fugitive. He didn’t want Sirius to have contact with you. Sirius is your rightful guardian.” Hermione sighed again. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves again. We need to finish the situation with the wards.”

The back and forth of the topics were making Harry dizzy. He just nodded. “Okay. How do I do that? Fix the wards?” Because he was sick to his stomach at the thought that this had happened. “And what about Snape? And what about Sirius?”

Hermione pulled a piece of paper and a wand out of her purse. “This wand will help you with the runes for your aunt’s house. It’s untraceable because it doesn’t exist in this timeline.”

He wasn’t going to question her on that. He took the paper and the wand. “Where do I put them? How?”

“You can put them on the foundation, which would be best, or anywhere they won’t be seen. It’s easier than it should be.” She explained, and it sounded pretty easy. “It won’t make your relatives like you so much as neutralize the other ward. And it ensures they won’t be able to think about what they did to you. Their anger will ease away. It’s the best we could come up with. Dudley will have a chance at being a better person without realizing why.”

Harry was going to object, but Hermione held her hand up. “What happened to them wasn’t their fault.”

That stopped Harry for a second. And he thought about it. If this was all Dumbledore’s doing, then she had a point. Even if he didn’t like it that much. “What about Sirius?”

“You need to get in touch with Amelia Bones. She is the head Auror right now. She is honest and you must convince her to quietly start looking at what happened.”

“How will I do all of this. I’m just–”

“One person? You’re going to need to find people to help you. My brother Bill is one of them. Sirius can also help. Madam Bones is another person. But my parents will not be an option until after you talk to Bill.” Ron looked right at him. “You can’t let Dumbledore know what you’re doing. And whatever you do, don’t trust him. He does not have your best interests at heart or anyone else’s for that matter.”

“Ron, we’re running out of time,” Hermione said. “You can’t trust Professor Lupin, either. He is very loyal to Dumbledore.”

“If you can get the wards on Snape’s quarters and possibly his house fixed. He’d be another resource for you. And once he’s not mad at you anymore, he can teach you occlumency, among other things.”

“It’s time,” Hermione said.

“We haven’t even gotten to the Tri-Wizard tournament.”

Hermione looked at Harry. “You’re going to be entered in the tournament next school term, even though you’re underage and not trained. But what they don’t tell you is that the person who entered you is the one who made the contract. They made the contract, and they will lose their magic. Not you. Dumbledore and the others will try to force you to compete. The pressure will be huge. Resist it. You don’t have to compete. Remember that.”

They both started to back away.

“Wait,” Harry said. “You can’t just leave this with me.”

Hermione gave him a second parchment. “This has some information. We’ll try to come back to you. But if we can’t, you’ll need to step up and deal with this. This is your life Dumbledore has been trying to manipulate.”

“Next time,” Hermione promised as she and Ron disappeared.

*****

Chapter 2

Harry woke with a start. That was a weird dream. And it had seemed so real. He started to turn over and felt the wand and parchments in his hand. “Merlin,” he whispered, sitting up, holding the wand out to look at it.

Would it even work? Would the ministry be able to track it? He swirled it. And it sparked nicely for him. It felt like it would do what he wanted it to do.

The first things, first. Harry needed to go down to the basement and see if he could draw the two runes. He looked at the crumpled piece of parchment. It said to prick his finger and use his blood to draw the runes. That was kind of gross.

He waved the wand at the locked door. It opened. The coast was clear, so he made his way to the stairs. The floorboards squeaked, and he froze. He knew the stairs squeaked, too. What should he do? In the back of his mind, Hermione told him to use his brain. He was a wizard, and there were silencing charms he could use on the floor and his shoes.

A couple of quick spells and there was silence again.

Once he was in the basement, he sat on the cold stone floor and pulled out the parchment. It didn’t look that complicated. He used a knife he picked up in the kitchen to cut his finger. Petunia liked her knives sharp for cooking. He’d cut himself many times cleaning those knives.

He drew the rune into the brick with his blood. When he was done, it glowed for a second or two and then seemed to sink into the brick.

After repeating the procedure with the second rune, he got up and wiped off his hand. He used a basic healing charm so that it wouldn’t hurt.

Back up the silent stairs, he’d almost gotten to his door when Vernon came out of his room and into the hall. He froze for a second when he saw Harry standing there.

Harry was afraid to breathe. Vernon could do serious damage to him. But he looked at Harry as if he’d never seen him before. He shook his head and then headed down the stairs without a word. Like he’d forgotten, he’d locked him in last night.

He was up and out, so he took a quick shower before heading downstairs to make breakfast. Unbelievably, Petunia was already down there making breakfast herself.

She served Vernon first but nodded to Harry. “Sit down,” she said and served him eggs and bacon. “Eat.”

Harry didn’t need to be asked twice, wolfing down the food as fast as he could, hoping Petunia wouldn’t change her mind.

Neither she nor Vernon spoke to him through breakfast, and Dudley grunted at him when he came down. After she’d served Dudley, she dumped the rest of the eggs and toast on his plate without a word.

Harry cleaned up after breakfast without being asked. Vernon went to work. It was the most bizarre meal he’d ever had with them.

Petunia dropped an envelope on the table. “This came in the mail this morning.” She looked like she was going to say something else, but she didn’t. She shook her head and looked slightly confused, much like Vernon had. Then, she left him alone without another word.

After he dried his hands, he picked it up. It was from Hermione. He ripped it open.

Harry,

Professor Dumbledore said we weren’t to send you owls or contact you in any way because the Ministry would be monitoring you. But he didn’t say I couldn’t write to you in a Muggle way. Even though it will take a day or two to get each letter, we should be able to stay in contact over the summer.

If this works, I can also get letters from Ron and post them to you.

Also, Professor Dumbledore let slip that there are mail wards on your aunt’s home. You can’t send things from there. But if you get Hedwig to meet you somewhere else, like in a park or even a field near your house, you should be beyond the mail wards.

Write me back,

Hermione

Hermione was brilliant. Who would have thought of using Muggle mail! It was still all so overwhelming, but a full stomach and hearing from Hermione were enough to get him moving. Harry raced up the stairs. With his life at stake, he had to meet this head on. There were a lot of letters to write this morning.

*****

There was a park just a few blocks from his aunt’s house. It took him some time to figure out what to say to the Goblins, but finally, with what Ron and Hermione had suggested from last night, he got it written. Hedwig took the letter.

After that, he wrote Hermione a quick note, asking her to meet him in Muggle London in two days. He needed to tell her about what was happening. Likely, she could get word to Ron without anyone else knowing about it. If there was one person he knew he could trust, it was Hermione.

When he was done, he relaxed a little and sat in the sunny park, waiting for Hedwig to return.

The Goblin’s reply was prompt.

Mr. Potter,

Your request for an appointment with your account manager has been arranged, and a portkey has been created to take you to and from Gringotts in Diagon Alley. Please use it to come to the bank tomorrow at 10:00 am. See any teller in the lobby to announce yourself. You will be met by your account manager.

Enclosed is a list of all Potter assets.

Sharprock,

Manager, customer accounts.

Harry glanced at the parchment and then looked more closely. Wow! That was unexpected. But he shouldn’t be so surprised after everything he’d found out in the last day. The amount of money, properties, and assets he owned was unbelievable. He was rich. Really, really rich.

And he’d been lied to. Information had been withheld, and he needed to sort it all out. And he knew that he needed help with this.

*****

By the time he returned to Privet Drive, it was well past dark. He was exhausted. And hungry.

“Where have you been?” Petunia asked, her voice hard but not furious. “You missed dinner.”

He wasn’t expecting dinner. He’d gotten breakfast and lunch. That was the most food he ever got during the summer. “Sorry.”

Petunia folded her arms over her chest. But it wasn’t anywhere near as threatening as it usually was. “I put some food on a plate. Get into the kitchen and eat it.”

Again, he didn’t need to be asked twice.

“In the future, we eat dinner at 6:30. If you want to join us, you will need to be here on time.” She turned and walked away.

Things just got weirder and weirder. He found the plate in the microwave and ate it as fast as possible.

He would have done the dishes, but Petunia had already done them. When was the last time he didn’t have to do dinner dishes? Whether or not he’d actually been given dinner. Those runes were totally worth a couple of bloody fingers. When things settled down, he wanted to learn more about how they worked. This was amazing.

Upstairs in his room, he pulled out the parchments he’d gotten from Gringotts. He had to figure this out. He tried looking at the documents but couldn’t stay awake.

*****

Harry was walking along a path again with sort of gray clouds around him. This was just like last night.

He gasped as a very old Ron came into view. While last night’s Ron had been older and had a big beer belly, this Ron was thin to the point of emaciation. His hair was all white and thin on top. He looked horrible. Like he’d been sick. Or all the joy had left his world.

“Where’s Hermione?” Harry asked as soon as Ron approached him.

Ron just shook his head.

“How are you here? How did you get here again?” Without Hermione went without saying.

“Magic. Hermione figured it out. And it was worth our life force to warn you. I don’t have much time left.” He handed Harry a piece of paper. “Use the wand we gave you to mitigate the wards in Snape’s house on Spinner’s End and his quarters at Hogwarts with the runes on this sheet. Get Hermione and the other me to go with you. Use the invisibility cloak. He’s got the place warded and probably has all kinds of traps.”

“How do I get him to let me in?”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Ron said. “But if you can talk fast enough, you might be able to get out enough for him to listen.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Ron chuckled. It was a dry, sad sound.

“What else?” Harry waited.

“We forgot to mention the reason Dumbledore is obsessed with you is that there was a prophecy given by Trelawney –”

“No way!”

“Yes. Apparently, it was a true prophecy, or at least both Riddle and Dumbledore believed it.”

“Them believing it does not make it true,” Harry said with a deep sigh.

Ron shook his head. “It doesn’t matter because if they believe it, they will make it true.”

That made too much sense, especially from what little Harry knew about the Wizarding World. “What does the prophecy say?”

“We don’t know. We were never told the exact words. Just that it existed and that you must fight Riddle. And one of you would have to die at the hands of the other.”

“Where can I find the actual words? Is Dumbledore the only one who knows?”

“No, Snape heard part of it, and that was how Voldemort heard about it.” Ron held up his hand. “Before you go off and kill Snape, consider that if Dumbledore hadn’t wanted Voldemort to know the prophecy, then why did he make sure Snape was there to hear it.”

Harry sighed at that. “Still, if Snape hadn’t gone to him with it.”

“Then someone else would have been tasked with it. Snape regretted it his entire life.”

“Go on,” Harry waved a hand. It was probably true that Dumbledore had set it up. It seemed like Dumbledore had spent a lot of time organizing Harry’s life to suit whatever plans he had.

“The prophecy is stored in the hall of prophecies in the Department of Mysteries. You can request to hear it. Or even destroy it. Voldemort wanted to hear the whole thing.” Ron looked at his wrist. “I don’t have much more time. And you’re not going to like this part, but you’ll need all the help you can get. Draco Malfoy can be turned. And the way to do it is to offer Narcissa, his mother, a way out that does not include cuddling up to Dumbledore.”

“What! No way. He’s a little Death Eater! Just like his father,” Harry said, not believing it for a minute. Draco Malfoy was everything that was wrong in this world.

“Except that he isn’t. Not really. He seems spoiled rotten, but truly, he’s not. And he doesn’t want to kill anyone. Not even you.” Ron ran a hand through what was left of his hair. “I know that you can’t see it now, but trust me on this. His mother is Sirius’ cousin. She can help you with learning about wizarding culture.”

“Why do I need to learn that?” Because with all of this, that seemed, well, frivolous.

“You and your Hermione both need to know about it. That’s why most Magical people don’t like Muggle-borns. They aren’t taught and don’t learn about wizarding culture. It’s completely different from Muggle culture.” Ron met his eyes. “It’s why Dumbledore stopped teaching it. He hates Muggle-borns so much he wants them to fail. He’s destroyed the curriculum of the school.”

“You’ve said that. But I can’t believe it. ”

“You should have your Hermione compare the curriculum of other schools and Hogwarts. And international test scores. It’s appalling.”

“Since when do you even care about that kind of thing?”

“Since I realized my parents mortgaged their lives to send seven of us there, and in the end, I didn’t get a decent education.” Ron sighed and ran his hand over his nearly bald head.

This was getting so complicated.

Ron looked off into the distance and laughed a little bitterly. “I’m almost out of time. I’m not going to be able to come back. I probably don’t even exist anymore. One more thing, if you can get your Ron to look beyond his house prejudice, he’d do well to try to court Daphne Greengrass. Tell him a full-blown pure-blood courtship.”

“Really?” Harry could not believe that. And there was probably no way to get Ron to listen to him about anything that dealt with Slytherins.

“I was always attracted to her. And when I met her again, later in life, she and I were perfect for each other. If I hadn’t hated Slytherins so much, I would have tried to ask her out at school. And maybe we’d both been saved from bad marriages.”

“Who did you marry?”

“Hermione. Nearly destroyed both of us. Ginny managed to manipulate my mum into believing that she was your soulmate, even though you weren’t all that interested in her.” Ron snorted. “What utter rubbish!”

Harry had no idea about bonds of any kind. That was something else he’d need to look into. If he ever got time.

Ron continued, “But between them, Dumbledore and my mother arranged things so that you married Ginny, and I married Hermione. Except that Ginny went crazy and tried to take the world apart, starting with you. My mother never recovered from knowing she’d helped Ginny make such a big mess of things. Hermione and I divorced, and that almost destroyed our friendship.” Ron made a face. “And you know my mom. She has a hard time admitting she’s wrong. She doubled down for as long as she could. Then when Ginny was finally melting down, there was nothing anyone could do. My mum finally saw the light about Dumbledore, but it was too late. We’d all seen it for years, but mostly after we all grew up and left home.”

Something sparked in Ron’s dull eyes, like a lightbulb turning on. “That’s something I’ve never thought of before. What if he did something to the Burrow? I mean, even in your time, Bill and Charlie were reluctant to join the Order. But they were more agreeable to it after they were home for a while.”

“I’ll write to Bill as soon as I can. I’m seeing the Goblin’s tomorrow and meeting Hermione in Muggle London the day after,” Harry said.

“Don’t forget to get quietly in touch with the younger me, too. He, I’m very jealous right now, and you’re going to change more than he’s going to be able to deal with. But he loves you and deep down wants to be a good friend. He just doesn’t know how. Merlin, that’s another thing that Dumbledore did to him, me.” Ron sighed. “If you include him, that will go a long way.”

“Okay.” Harry knew Ron could be jealous. Just like he could be envious of Ron’s family.

“That and you might mention to Bill that Ron doesn’t have new clothes for this year. All he’s ever had were hand-me-downs. But this year is worse because my Dad used some of the school money for something else.”

“I never have new clothes either. And mine don’t even fit,” Harry pointed out.

“But you get new school robes every year.”

Harry hadn’t thought of that. “You’re right. I could –”

“No,” Ron shook his head. “Neither Ron nor my parents would ever accept that. It needs to come from Bill or Charlie. And I think they both would like to help out. If Ron could start the year on an even playing field like everyone else, then I think that would help a lot. You can get him a nice Christmas present this year.”

Harry nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but Ron shook his head. “I need to go. Trust Hermione and Ron. And don’t let yourself be isolated. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, and Draco Malfoy are potential friends and allies.”

He didn’t know who Luna was and had barely ever spoken to Susan. That wasn’t what surprised him, “Neville?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded. “He’s your Godbrother. His mum was your Godmother.”

His Godmother? How? Why hadn’t he known that? More important, why had no one told him? “I never thought to even ask about that.”

“I’m betting there were many things you never thought to ask about,” Ron said.

Okay, one thing at a time. “I’m going to tell Hermione about you and coming to visit me in dreams.”

“Good idea. After what happened with Sirius and the fact that Dumbledore didn’t ever do anything to help. She might be ready to hear he’s not a great man.”

“I hope so.” Because it still came as a blow to Harry. And Hermione was much more invested in the belief that people in authority were always right.

“Tell her everything. I am sorry –” Ron faded away without saying anything else.

Harry woke with a start, clutching the piece of parchment Ron had handed him.

*****

Harry stumbled as the portkey deposited him off to the side of the main lobby. As instructed, he approached the teller. “Excuse me, sir. I’m supposed to see my account manager.”

“Name?” the Goblin barked.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know. I was just told to see any teller.”

“Fine,” he said and pressed a button. A guard appeared and led Harry to an office.

No one was there to meet Harry, which he thought was very strange. Almost as soon as he thought it, the door opened, and two Goblins walked in.

“Um,” Harry said. “Hi.”

“That is an incorrect greeting, human,” snapped one of them. The younger looking one.

“Well, it’s not like I’d know, is it?” Harry started to fold his arms over his chest but realized he probably didn’t want to insult someone in charge of his money. “Forgive me, sir. What is the correct greeting?”

The Goblin looked him up and down as if he were assessing whether or not Harry was serious. “I’ll give you a book on Goblin etiquette. I am Sharprock. I am your account manager. This is my assistant, Cliffhanger.”

“Good to meet you both,” Harry said politely.

Something seemed to soften a little in both Goblins. “Yes. I understand from your note that you had no idea that you had more than your trust vault.”

“I was told nothing by Dumbledore.”

“All right. Take a seat.” Sharprock said, pointing a thin finger with a wicked, sharp-looking nail at a chair.

Harry wasn’t going to argue and sat where he’d indicated.

“I sent you a summary of your holdings. Do you have any questions?”

“It’s sort of overwhelming. I don’t even know where to start.” Harry thought for a moment. “I need to claim my lordship.”

“That is why we are here.” A bowl and knife appeared on the table between them. “You will cut your hand. Enough so that your blood should run into the bowl. Then, you will swear on your life and magic to uphold the Potter family name, honor, and magic. If magic accepts it, the ring will appear on your finger. You don’t actually need to be here to do it.”

“Is there an exact wording?” Because this was totally not something Harry wanted to screw up.

“No. Magic is about intent.”

Harry picked up the knife and sliced his palm. The blood ran free and dripped into the bowl. “I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life and magic to uphold the Potter name, honor, and magic. So I have sworn, so it must be.”

A wave of magic hit him. It felt good, like home, or what he hoped home would be like. Not what he’d known so far.

A gold glow surrounded him and then flashed. He felt a ring settle on his finger. And that warm feeling of family and magic settled inside him. It felt like an embrace.

“Excellent, Lord Potter.” Sharprock smiled. All pointed teeth and menace. “Now, let us get down to business.”

“Business?” Harry asked.

“Yes, once your family magic has accepted you, it won’t let you go. There is nothing anyone can do about it.”

Something in the way he said that clicked with everything else. “And there would be someone who would want to do something about it?”

“I think you know the answer to that without me verifying it, don’t you?” He looked smug for some reason. “No doubt he will attempt to have you relinquish it.”

“And could I?” Not that he would. This feeling of belonging was not something he would give up willingly. And at this point, certainly not for Dumbledore. Not for anyone.

“Only if you want to reject your heritage completely. Once done, it can’t be undone,” Sharprock’s tone was grim and pointed.

It told Harry all he needed to know about that. “Can he force me?”

“No. It must be voluntary. Though Dumbledore might frame it as a temporary measure until you are of age. But it would not be reversible.” Sharprock looked right at him.

Harry could tell he was serious. That Dumbledore would lie to him to make him give this up and lose it forever. “What can I do about it?” Because he still wasn’t sure how he could fix this. He needed to be at Hogwarts, or his wand would be snapped.

“There are many things you can do to better your situation. But first, you should be seen by a healer,” Sharprock said.

That was an abrupt change of subject. “Why?” Harry asked.

“Because you are clearly undernourished, and there is dark magic coming from your scar.” He said it as if Harry should know this.

“You could tell that just by looking at it?” It must be the Horcrux. Harry had almost forgotten about that. There was too much information in his mind, and he couldn’t keep track of it all. It was all going to overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

Sharprock sighed. “No. We scanned you.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes. Everyone who enters the offices beyond the lobby is scanned. We don’t want anyone who is ill to infect our people.” Sharprock folded his arms over his chest. “You’ll need to see a healer.”

“First, I want to know about my….” Harry waved a finger around impotently. He didn’t even have the words to tell the goblin what he wanted.

“Estate is the word you’re looking for, I believe,” Cliffhanger added. He’d mostly let Sharprock do the talking.

“Yes. That. And I need to know…what I don’t know. And that’s a lot,” Harry said, still nearly overwhelmed by the magnitude of what was happening. He couldn’t imagine how he would deal with all of this at one time.

“Why should we help you?” Sharprock asked very seriously.

That stopped Harry. It seemed out of place. Like they might be testing him or something. He wasn’t sure what he had to offer, but he had plenty of money. And Goblins liked money. “Maybe we can help each other.”

Sharprock smiled at that. “Good. We can work with that.”

Harry nodded. “Okay. Did my parents leave a will?”

“Yes. Though it was never executed by the Wizarding Courts.”

“Why not?” But at this point, Harry could guess. “Can I have it executed now?”

“Yes, and you should. It will give you some protection from Dumbledore and others who would take advantage of you.” Sharprock was silent for a moment. “It will take a few days to work out the details. Is there anything else?”

“I need a way to access my money here and in Muggle London, too,” Harry said.

“We can help you with that as well.”

*****

“Harry,” Hermione called as she came down the street towards him. They had agreed to meet on the corner of Oxford Street, not too far from Marble Arch and not anywhere near Diagon Alley.

He was so glad to see her that he hugged her before she could even hug him. “Hermione. So much has happened. I have so much to tell you.”

She pulled back from the hug and frowned a little. “What? How? It’s only been a week since we left school.”

“A lot can happen in a week.” Harry took another breath. “A lot. Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

“There’s a café just up the street. Do you have Muggle money?” Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. “I got a card from the bank yesterday that I can take pounds out of the cash machine and also use as a credit card.” He held up a black card with no writing on it.

Hermione’s eyes widened. “How? Why?”

“Not here. Not where anyone can hear.” He led her down the street, and she stepped into the doorway of the place. It was dark and crowded. They were given a table at the back. As quietly as he could, Harry cast a muffling spell.

Hermione looked up sharply at that. “Aren’t you worried about –”

“No. Not with this wand,” Harry said.

“That is not your wand.” She seemed torn between wanting to ask a hundred questions and horror.

“It is. Sort of.” Harry pointed to the menu. “We should get something to eat.”

And after the waitress took their order, he saw Hermione waiting expectantly for him to say something.

“So, I had this really vivid dream….” He launched into a detailed explanation of what had occurred in the last few days.

Her initial look was disbelieving, but as he went on, he could see her come to accept some of what he was saying. There was a long stretch of silence as Hermione seemed to digest what he’d said.

“And you believed them?” Hermione finally said. “Just like that?”

“Yes. They knew too many details about what had gone on. Plus, it was just so clearly you and Ron. Even so much older like you were. I know you. And if there was anyone in this world I would believe almost without question, it’s you.”

She looked down and smiled at that. “Thanks. I just can’t believe Professor Dumbledore would do something like that. Do you think it could be something else?” She sounded worried, scared even. “Maybe some kind of trick?”

At this point, Harry thought that was very unlikely. “All the information they gave me was verified by the Goblins. I am Lord Potter.” He held up his hand with the ring on it. “Dumbledore never told me about it. He hasn’t done anything to help Sirius except make him a fugitive. And the Dursleys. They are….”

He couldn’t even describe what they were. “After years of starving me, they are feeding me now. My aunt keeps saying I’m too thin and that I need to eat more.”

“Starving?” Hermione asked very carefully.

Harry nodded. There would never be a time when he wanted to talk about that.

Her face was pale, Hermione squared her shoulders and gave him a wan smile. “We need a plan if we’re going to do all the stuff we have to. We’ll need to tell Ron, too.”

“The older Ron told me to talk to Bill Weasley. He’s Ron’s oldest brother. I’m going to write to him today. But I’m not sure what to say since I haven’t met him yet,” Harry said.

“Let me help you with that. But you’re right. No one listens to children or young teenagers. We need to give him a reason to believe us.” Hermione thought for a moment. “Maybe mention you heard something about the wards at the Burrow.”

“But how would I know?” That was the thing. He couldn’t say how he knew. He could tell this Ron about it, but how could he tell Bill? More importantly, how could he get Bill to even begin to believe him?

“Maybe you could ask someone at Gringotts to intercede on your behalf?” Hermione suggested.

That might work, Harry thought. “But I still need to talk to him. And get him to believe me.”

“If you can come across as steady and sure of yourself, you might be able to convince him,” Hermione suggested.

“I don’t know.” Harry was silent while the server gave them their lunch. At the rate he was eating this summer, he was going to put on ten pounds by the fall. But maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Are you going to see a healer?” Hermione asked, breaking the silence.

“I think I need to, but I’m not sure how to set it up without Dumbledore finding out. The Goblins will probably help me for a fee.”

“It will be worth it,” Hermione said. “Didn’t you say you needed a regent for your title? Maybe they could give you a list of suggestions.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah. I have another appointment with Goblins tomorrow. Let’s get the letter to Bill written. The Goblins can tell me where to send it.”

*****

Harry bowed slightly as Sharprock came into the office. He’d found time to look at the book that Sharprock had given him on Goblin greetings. “Greetings.”

“Greetings to you.” Sharprock also bowed slightly. “How can I help you?”

“Can you see that Bill Weasley gets this note?” Harry asked politely. He hoped this worked.

“Of course.” Sharprock took it. “Is there a reason you wish to contact Mr. Weasley?”

“Yes. He’s my best friend’s older brother.” Harry rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. “And I need the names of people who would be able to be regent for me –”

“You could ask your head of house, Minerva McGonagall,” he suggested. “Or Augusta Longbottom.”

“Would either of them want to do it?” Harry asked.

“I believe they both would. Professor McGonagall is head of house for the Ross family, which rules on the matriarchal line. And Lady Longbottom is holding the seat until her grandson comes of age,” Sharprock suggested. “Or you could also wait until your Godfather is exonerated.”

“Since we have no idea when that will be, I think I should take care of this now.” Harry ran a hand through his hair. “Is there anyone else?”

“Those witches are not acceptable?” Sharprock asked, sounding surprised.

“I don’t know how close Professor McGonagall is to Dumbledore,” Harry said. He wasn’t inclined to trust her because of that association. But maybe she was trustworthy. There wasn’t a way to know for sure. And that worried him.

Sharprock seemed surprised by his reluctance. “The horde has always found her to be fair.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t listen to me.” It had only taken one or two tries before Harry gave up trying to tell her anything.

“Professor McGonagall could also help you with Amelia Bones. They are friends.” Sharprock gave him a pointed look. “This would be a good option for you. And your parents asked her to be regent in their will.”

Right. The will. “What is going to happen with that?”

“It requires seven days of public notice, and all of the beneficiaries must be notified before it can be executed.”

“So, Dumbledore will know?” Harry said, disappointed.

“Not necessarily. It does not state that the public notice must be published in the Daily Prophet. Just that it must be a public notice.” Sharprock grinned. “Such as a notice in the bank lobby.”

That made Harry smile. He was beginning to develop a healthy respect for the Goblins. “Thank you.”

“You are paying for our expertise. It benefits us both.”

Harry just nodded. It was nice to have someone championing him. Even if he was paying for it.

“Okay, so when the will is read, Professor McGonagall will be my regent anyway. I just hope I can trust her.”

“You may ask for a wizarding oath, and she would be obliged to give it, if she wanted to serve,” Sharprock suggested.

Harry made a mental note to do some research on that subject. Hermione could probably help him as well.

“Can you give me a list of healers I could see, who wouldn’t report back to Dumbledore?” Harry asked.

Sharprock nodded. “I can. Or we have Goblin healers who can treat wizards.”

“That would be even better.” Because, really, a Goblin was less likely to want to give information to Dumbledore.

*****

Harry found himself in a Healer Mairax’s office. The Goblin was taller than most others he’d seen, and she looked more like Flitwick than Sharprock or Cliffhanger.

The exam took only a few minutes. Mairax just cast a few spells, and the results appeared in front of her. But not in a language that Harry could read.

He cleared his throat, and Mairax looked at him. “Yes. Yes. There are several problems.”

Great. That shouldn’t be a surprise, but it was. “What can I do about it?”

“The malnutrition can be fixed with potions for a few months. That should get you back to where you should be. You’ll never be as tall as you should have been. But you’ll be healthy, and your bones will be strong. Right now, they are quite brittle,” Mairax said.

And the rest?” Harry asked because there had to be more.

“That will be harder to fix.” Mairax sighed. “The magic in your scar is very dark. I believe there is a tiny shard of the Dark Lord’s soul stuck in there.”

Somehow, hearing that assessment made it more real. Harry was horrified. “How do we get it out?”

“I’ll need to research it. But the larger question is, how did it get to be there in the first place? Even with a killing curse, that should not have happened. Unless his soul was prepared to be split,” she said thoughtfully.

Of course, Harry had no idea what to even say. “I…”

Mairax waited a minute and said, “I’m fairly sure that splitting your soul is a deliberate act. Not accidental. Dumbledore may or may not have realized this when he examined you. But he could not have missed the dark magic of the soul piece.”

Another nail in Dumbledore’s coffin as far as Harry was concerned. “He knew. And didn’t do anything?”

“I believe he must have known. It’s not like he could miss the magic coming from your scar. Not with as strong as he is, himself.” Mairax looked annoyed. “And if he did know. What has he done about it?”

That was a good question. Some part of Harry still found it hard to believe that Dumbledore was that bad. But with every new incident, it seemed more and more damming, and this was just another one. Harry wasn’t ready to deal with the disappointment of what Dumbledore had done to him, and he couldn’t do anything about the rage he was feeling yet.

*****

The following day, Harry received a portkey from Gringotts with a request to come when it was convenient for him. Which was right now. When he landed in the familiar office, a tall, red-haired man was waiting for him.

Wow, he was so cool looking with long dark red hair and an earring. He didn’t look like Ron at all. Harry wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this wasn’t it.

Harry bowed slightly.

The bow was returned. And the man smiled. “I’m Bill Weasley.”

“I’m –” Harry started to say, but Bill raised his hand to stop him.

“I know. And I’m very curious to hear why I’ve been called home from Egypt and a very important project.”

The ‘by you’ was missing. But Harry heard it. “I had a dream –”

“What! You’re joking.” Bill did not look pleased.

Clearly, this wasn’t the way he should have started this conversation. But Harry plowed on, “That Hermione and Ron from the future came to tell me that Ginny needed help after being possessed by Voldemort’s diary in her first year. There would be dire consequences if she didn’t get that help.” Harry stopped to take a breath, kind of surprised that it came out coherently.

Bill’s eyes widened, and his mouth turned down in a frown. “You mean to tell me that my parents did not have her seen by a mind healer?”

“I don’t think so,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Apparently, things will get very bad in the future. And there were other things they told me as well.”

“I’ll get to other things in a moment,” Bill said in a very measured tone. Like he was angry as hell and didn’t want to let it show. “I told both my parents they had to have Ginny looked at by a trained mind healer. I know Dumbledore told them she was fine –”

“But that’s one of the other things they said,” Harry broke in. “That Dumbledore isn’t what he seems, and that he’s been manipulating things behind the scenes so that Sirius won’t get a trial. And the Dursleys were warded to hate me. And probably Snape, too. The very old Ron said maybe he’d warded the Burrow to make sure you were all loyal to him, and that probably made me believe I should be loyal to him, too.”

“More like follow blindly,” Bill muttered. He turned to look at Harry. Right in the eyes. His were very blue. “Tell me everything,” Bill ordered.

Harry could not believe it was going to be that easy. But clearly, Bill had some issues of his own with Dumbledore. He started with the dream the first night and everything that had happened since.

When he was done, Bill’s face was as red as his hair. “I will check the wards on the Burrow as soon as possible.”

There was a knock on the door, and Sharprock came in.

Bill looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow. Harry shook his head. He hadn’t told the Goblins about the dreams. Bill stood. “I need to check on my family.”

Sharprock nodded. “Do you wish to take Mr. Potter with you?”

But Bill shook his head. “Not yet. My parents will tell Dumbledore immediately. Harry is supposed to come to visit after his birthday and stay for World Cup. Somehow, my father got tickets.

That got Harry’s attention. “Why wouldn’t he get tickets?”

“They aren’t easily found or cheap to come by.” There was something weird in Bill’s voice. “And when I say they aren’t cheap, I mean they are very expensive.”

The way he said very expensive brought Harry up short. “That would be why Ron doesn’t get new clothes for school,” Harry blurted out. Ugh. He hadn’t meant to bring it up like that. His face heated up. He needed to think before he spoke.

“Was that an issue?” Bill asked. “Because it’s not like he got new clothes…well, ever.”

“Old Ron specifically mentioned it for this year.” Harry had no idea. “He said that I would change and that Ron, my Ron, would have a difficult time dealing with it. He’d be jealous. And that you could maybe help out. And possibly Charlie.”

Bill nodded. “That won’t be a problem. If it will help, I’d be glad to, and so would Charlie. I’ve wondered why my parents never asked either of us. I bet even Percy would help. He’s got a ministry job now, too.”

He turned to Sharprock. “I’m going to check on the wards on the Burrow. I’ll be back presently.” And he left the room.

“What should I do?” Harry asked.

Sharprock fiddled with the portkey for a few minutes and then handed it back to him. But before Harry could use it, Bill came back. He didn’t look happy.

“I apparated to the Burrow and ran a quick check on the wards. As the heir, I have access. There are at least three different strands with Dumbledore’s signature on them. They are woven tightly into the wards. And they are at least a decade old.”

“Can you pull it apart,” Harry asked.

“He should be able to do so, but it might take time,” Sharprock said.

“Yes. I could tell that at least one of them was a loyalty compulsion ward. One of the other was a strengthening of the protections on the Burrow. I didn’t have time to identify the third one. And there may be others.”

“Old Hermione gave me runes to fix the wards on the Dursley’s house,” Harry said.

“It’s a good idea,” Bill agreed. “But what she gave you won’t work on the Burrow. The wards on your aunt’s house were specific. I suspect I will need to find a runemaster to mitigate the wards.”

“Are they hard to find?” Harry asked.

“It would be easier for me to undo Dumbledore’s wards rather than mitigate them. But I need to get my father’s approval to do anything.”

“There in lies your problem,” Sharprock said. “As you well know, we have rune experts working for us. But you would need to know exactly what Dumbledore has done.”

Harry was so angry with Dumbledore right now. How dare he do this to the Weasleys? They were such a wonderful family. It was so wrong. He needed to do something to help, but what? “Can I do something?” Harry asked.

Both Sharprock and Bill turned to look at him. “Not now, Mr. Potter. This portkey will take you home.”

*****

Chapter 3

Harry was back at the bank a few days later for the will reading. Both Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were there. As was Professor Lupin. Fortunately, none of them tried to talk to him when he came into the room. There were several people in the room that he didn’t recognize.

“Let’s begin,” A Goblin that Harry didn’t know said decisively. “My name is Ragnok. I’m head of the bank.” He cleared his throat. “This is the last will and testament of James Potter and his wife, Lily Evans Potter.”

Ragnok went on and on about the size and scope of the estate. Snape looked sour. McGonagall seemed very sad. And Lupin looked uncomfortable.

To Professor Lupin, his parents had left 50,000 galleons and a house near Oxford. The will asked that McGonagall be Regent for Harry and left her a stipend. She was asked to teach him what he needed to know about wizarding society before he got to Hogwarts.

The will left Harry’s guardianship to Sirius, and if for some reason he couldn’t do it, then it went to Alice and Frank Longbottom. After that, Andromeda and Ted Tonks. Then, finally, if there was no one else in the wizarding world, they mentioned Petunia, but only with her permission.

There was a special letter to Snape from his mom. And everything else was left to him.

There was also a codicil on their will dated September 1981. “We want to state for the record that Peter Pettigrew was our secret keeper. After talking with Professor Dumbledore, we realized that Sirius Black was the obvious choice and that he would be an immediate target. With that in mind, we chose Peter. If something happened to us, it was Peter who betrayed us.”

There was a collective gasp. And then the shouting started.

Even expecting it, Harry was still surprised.

*****

After the chaos subsided somewhat, Professor McGonagall motioned Harry to a smaller room off the side of the large conference room. It looked pretty similar to the one they had just left, with wooden paneled walls and a table in the middle.

“Before we begin to talk, I’ll need to give you an oath of service.” She closed the door, and it was suddenly very quiet.

Harry nodded, happy she brought it up rather than him having to ask for it. “The Goblins said you would.”

“It’s for your protection as well as mine. As your sworn Regent, anything you tell me will be held in confidence. I won’t be able to speak of it. To anyone.” McGonagall looked him right in the eye when she said that.

“Do you mean that you can’t? Or that you won’t?” Because they were two different things as far as he could see.

“It means that I literally can’t. Not without losing my magic. But I would probably pass out before that happened,” McGonagall said.

“Thanks.” He held her gaze briefly to let her know he knew what she was saying.

She pulled her wand out of her sleeve. “I, Minerva Ross McGonagall, head of the ancient and noble house of Ross, do swear on my life and my magic that I will deal faithfully with the house of Potter, and as Regent, I will keep the secrets of its heir for as long as needed and expected. So, I have sworn, so it must be.”

The magic swept over them both. It felt good. Solid. She looked at him. “That doesn’t mean I’ll let you get away with anything at school. Though, I will keep all of your confidences.”

“Thank you. I didn’t expect any special treatment at school,” Harry said.

“I must apologize for some of the things that have happened in the past,” she started, her tone changing. “I’ve never told you about the connection between your family and me.”

“I did wonder why my father made you my Regent,” Harry said.

“Your grandmother, Doria Black Potter, was my best friend until her death,” McGonagall said. Her eyes glittered for a moment.

Harry was surprised by that. And he wasn’t sure why. She obviously loved his grandmother a lot. “When did she die? How?” Harry asked.

That was something else. It was kind of appalling that he had to ask and showed how little he knew of his own family history.

“She died of Dragon pox right before your parents. Both your parents loved her so much and were still grieving her loss when they went into hiding. She loved you so much,” McGonagall said with a sad little smile.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” He looked up at her. “I mean, maybe not before, when I was in the Muggle world, but after, when I came to school. Someone should have said something about my family and my history. Because how would I know anything?”

A deep frown etched on McGonagall’s face, and she said, “I don’t know. I had planned to talk to you before school started. I had hoped that I would be the one to come to tell you about the Wizarding world. But Professor Dumbledore insisted that he would do it.”

“But he didn’t,” Harry said, not trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone. “Hagrid came to tell me all about the Wizarding World.”

“Sweet Merlin!” McGonagall looked really scandalized. “He probably forgot half of what he needed to tell you.”

“Like how to get on to the platform at King’s Cross?”

“No!” McGonagall straightened. “How did you manage it?”

“Carefully placed Weasleys,” Harry suggested, realizing it had to be a set-up. “I’m coming to realize that nothing is what I thought it was. I think you know the problem.”

“I know that Professor Dumbledore has been arranging your life for a long time. Far more closely than he should have done. He might be the leader of the light, but he’s nothing more than your school head.”

Harry breathed out sharply and tried to figure out how much to tell her. Even with an oath. “It has to do with a prophecy that was delivered to him by Trelawney–”

“That fraud! She never delivered a real prophecy in her life,” McGonagall snapped.

“Apparently, she did manage to get one out. Or at least, Dumbledore –”

“Professor Dumbledore –” she said absently.

At this point, Harry didn’t think he deserved all that much respect. “I’ve heard that she gave him a prophecy, which changed everything for him.”

“Do you know what it said?”

“Not really, just that it exists.” It was too bad Ron hadn’t heard it.

McGonagall tipped her head to the side. “Perhaps that’s why he keeps her on.”

Harry just nodded. “I don’t know. She’s pretty fixated on my death.”

“You’re the one who insisted on taking her class,” McGonagall pointed out. And she wasn’t even wrong, either.

But now was as good a time as any to start to change things. “Yeah, about that. Is it possible to switch to something else? Like Runes?”

“Ancient Runes is a cumulative subject. To be ready for the fourth year, you would need to study this summer, take the third-year final exam, and get at least an acceptable on it. You would need to do it before school started.” She looked as if she didn’t believe he would do that.

But the idea of the runes intrigued him, and he felt it would be worth the effort. “Where would I find a teacher, if I wanted to do that?”

She blinked. “Are you serious?”

There was a joke in there, but he just nodded.

“I can arrange one for you,” she said, moving towards the door of the small room. “If you’re sure about it.”

Harry smiled. “I am. It was so cool —”

“What was so cool?” McGonagall asked.

He knew that suspicious tone. Did he tell her?

“Do I need to remind you that I’ve sworn an oath to keep your secrets?”

Harry hesitated. She might have sworn that she would keep his secrets, but there might also be some magical loophole he didn’t know about. As much as he knew he would need adults in his life that he could trust, and Harry wanted to believe McGonagall might be one of them, he didn’t know for sure yet. Still, he had to trust someone. “I used runes to fix the wards on Privet drive.”

“And where did you get the runes?” McGonagall asked, opening the door but not letting go of the doorknob. The noise level hadn’t gone down in the main room. Everyone looked like they hadn’t left either.

Before he could answer, a tall woman with short gray hair stepped out of the big fireplace at the back of the room. She was wearing red robes and a monocle.

*****

“Who is that?” Harry asked out loud. He’d never seen anyone in the wizarding world look like her. She was impressive.

“I’m Amelia Bones,” the woman said. “I’m head of the MLE.”

“Magical Law Enforcement,” McGonagall whispered at his nonplussed look.

Madam Bones cleared her throat. “I understand there was a revelation about Sirius Black and the possibility he might be innocent?”

“I told Minister Fudge that last year, but he didn’t believe me or Hermione,” Harry said, coming to stand near Madam Bones.”

“Hermione?” Bones asked.

“Hermione Granger, my best friend.”

“I see,” she said. “Why don’t we sit down, and you can start from the beginning?”

Harry sat down, and McGonagall sat next to him.

“I’m Regent for the Potter estate, as well as his head of house,” McGonagall said by way of an explanation for her presence.

Harry started to speak. And it took a long time to go through the whole story of last year.

“So,” Madam Bones said. “If I understand this correctly, Sirius Black never had a trial. And Minister Fudge was told this. But refused to believe you because he felt you were confounded? ”

Harry nodded. “Dumbledore didn’t back us up either. And Snape went nuts because he hates Sirius.”

“And do you believe he would lie because of that?” Madam Bones asked, her tone careful.

“I don’t think it was a lie exactly,” Harry said. He couldn’t believe he was going to defend Snape. But a lot of things had happened in the last week or so that he couldn’t believe. This was just one more. “It was more that he was unconscious when Peter was revealed, and then, you know, the whole Professor Lupin turning into a werewolf happened about then, too.”

Madam Bones blinked at that. She looked at McGonagall. “You knew about this?”

“Not all of it. Professor Dumbledore neglected to mention the part where they used a time-turner to rescue both Buckbeak and Sirius Black. He did mention that the children thought that Sirius might be innocent.”

“So, he knew?” Madam Bones said.

The expression on McGonagall’s face said it all. “I believe he did. But he couched it in terms of him indulging his favored students. Not that he actually believed it.”

“Yet, he let the kiss on sight order stand?” She sounded kind of surprised by that.

Well, no more so than the rest of the people who heard that Dumbledore wasn’t the wizard they all thought he was.

“What can we do about it?” Harry asked. Because that was why he was doing all of this. Why old Hermione and Ron had come back. To save Sirius. And everyone else, too.

“Right now, probably nothing. I’ve got to check into it. If it’s true that Sirius Black never had a trial, I’ll speak to Minister Fudge about Black and attempt to convince him that having an innocent man kissed will be bad for his political career. Especially one that is heir to an Ancient and Noble house.”

“Not to mention how Sirius would feel about it,” McGonagall said tartly.

*****

There was more general chaos, and everyone was talking at the same time. Nothing was really being said. It felt overwhelming to have to stand there and listen to it. Harry tried several times to interject something, but no one was listening to anyone else.

Finally, Harry used his portkey and left. It would all be there tomorrow. Before he left, he agreed to meet with McGonagall the next day. He still needed to explain. He also managed to avoid talking to Professor Lupin. It bothered Harry a lot that Old Ron and Hermione warned him against the professor. He had enjoyed his class and the special lessons.

He’d ask Professor McGonagall about it tomorrow.

But right now, he was so exhausted and just wanted some quiet. It was hard to believe that Privet Drive had become a sanctuary from all the noise and chaos of the wizarding world. But there it was.

Before he went to bed, he wrote a note to Hermione and another for her to forward on to Ron. He’d post it tomorrow. Petunia might not mind if he used the phone to call, too.

*****

The next day, he met Professor McGonagall in Muggle London. He got there a bit early and stood outside the café that she had chosen. Again, it was across town and far away from Diagon Alley. As she approached, he almost didn’t recognize her. She looked just like a regular Muggle. It must have shown on his face.

She laughed. “My father was a Muggle, Mr. Potter.”

Wow. Harry had no idea and would never have guessed she was anything other than a pureblood. “You know, you can call me Harry.” He grinned. “We’re not at school.”

“And you can call me Aunt Minerva or Min.”

At Harry’s shocked look, she smiled a little sadly. “Your father called me Aunt Min. Not at Hogwarts, of course, but when I visited his mother. Which happened often during the summers.”

“Now, we have many things to discuss. First, I’ve found a teacher for you to study runes with over the summer. Professor Babbling said she’d be happy to tutor you.”

“Doesn’t she want a break?” Harry asked. He couldn’t imagine working in the summer, too.

That got a laugh from McGonagall. “You’re going to pay her for it.”

Well, that made sense. Babbling probably didn’t make that much as a teacher. “Of course.”

McGonagall sat back and looked at him. “I also understand that Bill Weasley has done a complete scan of the wards on the Burrow.”

“How did you know that?” Harry asked because he hadn’t told her everything yet.

“On the Goblin’s advice, Bill came to me to tell me. I’m your Regent. He assumed I knew some facts that you neglected to mention.”

“I haven’t had time yet. I was going to tell you yesterday. But…” Harry shrugged.

She chuckled. “It’s all right, lad. This is a right mess, isn’t it.”

“What did Bill tell you? Are things worse than they thought?” Harry asked. Because everything that was related to Dumbledore was always worse.

“I’m afraid so,” McGonagall confirmed. “There was a vicious anti-Slytherin ward on the property. Anyone who was exposed to it would have been hard-pressed to resist it. And the longer you were exposed to it, the worse it was.”

“Like the anti-Harry ward at the Dursley’s?” Harry asked.

McGonagall snorted. “Unfortunately.”

“What about you?”

McGonagall blinked at him. “What about me?”

“What about your quarters or office at Hogwarts?”

She paled. “I’ll check on them. Though my vow to you would override any kind of wards. I haven’t felt anything.” Her shoulders straighten. “But then I wouldn’t know if I were influenced by them. Do you have something specific in mind?”

“Well, first year when Ron, Hermione, and I came to you about the philosopher’s stone. You brushed us off.”

Her brow furrowed. “I vaguely remember you and your friends waking me up about some nonsense. But I don’t remember exactly what it was.” Her face grew red, and she bit her lip like she was concentrating. Then she sighed. “There were other times?”

Harry nodded. “At the end of first year, I asked if I could stay over the summer.”

“I don’t remember that.” She looked at him as if she was judging whether what he was saying was accurate or not. “What did I say?”

“That students weren’t allowed to stay over the summer. Same as Dumbledore.”

“Except that isn’t true. Students have been known to stay for the summer for various reasons. I didn’t ask you why you wanted to stay?” she asked.

“No. You just said that it wasn’t possible,” Harry said. “You should have someone else, like Bill, check out your quarters.”

*****

Chapter 4

Dad,” Bill said, standing as Arthur entered an office at Gringotts. “I’m glad you made it.”

Arthur sighed. He hated taking time off work, but Bill had said it was urgent and could not be discussed at home. “What is this all about?”

“I don’t even know where to start…”

“Maybe with why we aren’t having this conversation — whatever it is about — at home. And why your mother isn’t here.”

Bill ran a hand through his long hair. “There are two things I need to discuss with you. The first is Ginny and why you haven’t done anything to help her –”

“Albus said she was fine –”

“Albus Dumbledore is not a healer. How would he know? No matter how she seems, she is not fine. She needs a mind healer, and she needs one now. I don’t know what Dumbledore said to you, but Ginny is your daughter, and she is suffering.”

“She seems fine.” But Arthur had always thought they had been too quick to dismiss the possibility of damage. There were little things that popped out at him, but when he said anything to Molly, she dismissed it. And after a while, Arthur forgot about what each thing was. He couldn’t think of any of his observations off-hand.

“That doesn’t mean that she is fine. She was possessed by a dark artifact for ten months. She needed to be treated for that.” Bill sighed. “Both Charlie and I are willing to help pay for it. I think that Harry would as well.”

“Harry should use his money for his education. He doesn’t have that much, you know. Plus, I would never take money from one of Ron’s friends.”

Bill looked at him, his eyes widened, and his mouth hung open for a moment. “Dad, where did you get the idea that Harry isn’t extremely well off? The Potter estate is massive. Not that I think you should take money from him, but where did you get the idea that Harry was anything other than enormously wealthy?”

“Albus said…” Arthur stopped. He knew the Potter estate was one of the richest in the country. And there was only one Potter left. Harry inherited everything. “Albus has said Harry didn’t have that much… and we believed him.”

“Dumbledore has said many things that don’t add up,” Bill said, his tone annoyed or even angry. Which was surprising since Bill was very even-tempered.

“We need to look into a healer for Ginny. I will do that.”

Bill looked down at his hands and back at Arthur. “The second thing is directly related to the first. I looked at the wards on the Burrow. And there are three distinct wards with Dumbledore’s magical signature.”

Arthur nodded. He knew about the wards. “Years ago, he put a protection ward on our house. Are you saying there is something else?”

“He also put a powerful loyalty ward on the house. That would affect anyone in our home. It was such that no one would question Dumbledore’s word on anything. It was all-pervasive. If he told you something in the house, you would believe him without question.”

Before Arthur could even begin to digest that, Bill went on, “And there’s also an anti-Slytherin ward. It was aimed directly at Molly and Ron, but it affected us and anyone else in the house. Like Harry.”

“That would explain why Molly and the kids hate Slytherins as a group.” Arthur didn’t want to believe that Albus would do that. “But why?”

“To ensure that Ron didn’t let Harry become friends with Slytherins.”

All of this had been well planned, Arthur realized. Right from the beginning. Albus had told Molly to look out for Harry at the station. That Hagrid had “forgotten” to tell him how to get to track 9 3/4. He’d suggested that Harry might need a friend.

“How would you even know how to look for something like that? Why would you?” Arthur asked. As horrifying as it was, he knew he was missing something.

“Because Dumbledore put something similar on the Dursleys to make them hate Harry from the beginning. They spent ten years abusing him.”

“Oh, sweet Merlin. We knew they didn’t like him, but –”

“Harry found out about it.” Bill held up his hand. “I can’t say how. But he was able to negate the ward with blood runes.”

Arthur sucked in a breath. “Dark magic –”

“Blood magic is about intent, Dad. You know that. Dumbledore doesn’t want anyone using blood magic, so he says it is all dark, but it isn’t. And you know better.”

He did. He knew that blood magic was neutral. But even as he thought it, he could feel something inside him try and argue that all blood magic was dark. With a bit of willpower, he was able to push it away. And then banish the compulsion. It took work. He opened his eyes, and Bill was looking at him, concerned.

“All right, Dad?”

Arthur nodded. “Apparently, it can be overcome.”

“It takes knowing it was there and then pushing past it,” Bill said.

“What can we do about the wards on the Burrow?” Because that would be the issue. No one could live there now. They’d need a place to stay.

Bill looked upset. “I’m afraid the only way to negate them is to take all the wards down and then put them back up again.”

Arthur closed his eyes. He been afraid that was what Bill would say. All those generations of Weasley’s wards added power to the house. It would all be lost.

“Gringotts will also provide warders to help us put the wards back up.”

“It must be done. The sooner, the better.” Arthur rubbed his forehead. “We need to get everyone out to do it.

Bill nodded.

*****

“Are you ready, Harry?” McGonagall asked. She had met him in Muggle London again and had promised to take him to Potter Manor so he could claim it.

When he nodded, she put a hand on his shoulder, and the whole world squeezed tight. He hated apparition. But at least it was fast.

He was standing in front of the gate of a big manor house. Something he would have expected Draco Malfoy to live in. “This is mine?”

“Yes,” she said. She pulled out a small knife from somewhere in her robes. “Cut your hand, and then put it on the gate. Think or say that you are the lord of the manor and demand entry.”

He did as instructed. “I am Lord Harry James Potter. I demand to be allowed into my house.”

A house elf appeared and bowed. He was dressed in black robes over black trousers and a white shirt. There was a crest on the left side. “Lord Potter. I be Denny, head elf. We’s been waiting for you to come.”

“You knew I was coming?” Harry asked.

“Not when. But we know there was a new Lord. And that you must come to Potter Manor.” He turned to McGonagall. “Thank you for bringing our master. It be good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you again, Denny,” McGonagall said. “The rest of the elves are inside?”

Denny nodded.

“Rest?” Oh, Hermione was not going to like this at all.

As if she could read his thoughts, McGonagall chuckled. “Miss Granger has much to learn about wizarding society if she wants to live in it. Does Denny look like he’s ever been mistreated?”

Now that she mentioned it, he looked fine in his little robes. “No. But he could have been.”

“He’s much older than he looks. He has been with your family since before your father was born.”

“Wow. He does look good. But what about the rest of them.”

“No Potter elf would ever be mistreated. Just like no Ross elf has ever been mistreated. It really is rare for an elf to be mistreated. Dobby is an exception, not the rule. He was abused and had no loyalty to the family he belonged to.”

Before she could say anything else, they were transported into a giant open area inside the house.

“You be able to apparate or portkey right into the house,” Denny said. “You must be updating the wards to make sure who you be wanting to come in without you being here to let them in.”

He looked at McGonagall. “That’s correct. Do you have the Potter ward book?”

Denny snapped his fingers, and the book hovered in front of Harry.

“Only you, as Head of the Potters, can touch the book.”

He took it. And opened the first page. There was a list of people on it. Dumbledore’s name stood out. “I don’t want him here.”

The name was struck through. “Did he come here after my father died?”

Denny cringed a little but nodded. “He be taking some books and other things. Since he in the wards, we not able to stop him. But he only came one time.”

“Not your fault. He’s gone from the wards. I want the whole Weasley family, Sirius Black, Hermione Granger, and her family in the wards.”

Even as he said it, all of their names appeared in the book. There were also a lot of Weasleys. “Anyone else you can think of?”

“Perhaps you should limit the Weasleys to Arthur’s immediate family,” McGonagall suggested.

“That makes sense. I don’t know all of them.” The book updated to include just Arthur, Molly, and their children.

“You’d be lucky not to meet Muriel,” McGonagall said with a snort.

Harry just laughed. “I’ve heard of her.”

“Shall we take a tour?” McGonagall held out her hand for him to go across to the stairs.

*****

The house seemed vast to Harry. The Dursley’s whole living room/dining room area could fit into the entranceway. “Wow. My dad grew up here. This is amazing.”

“It was meant to house all generations of the head’s family,” McGonagall said.

“How would that even work? All the people living here.”

“As you pointed out, there is a lot of room. And it wasn’t as if anyone living here would fight over who had to cook. That and cleaning was done by the elves.”

As she said it, Denny popped into the room. “There be dinner soon. But other elves be wanting to meet you. If you be wanting to.”

“Of course,” Harry said, and four more elves showed up.

Denny pointed to the female elf. She was also wearing black robes, as were all the elves standing there. They looked healthy, and they were smiling at him. “This be Mavis, she be the housekeeper. This be Olive, she be the cook. This be her daughter, Pinky, she be assistant housekeeper, and this be Jobe, he be the gardener.

They all bowed. “We’s be having dinner now,” Olive said.

“Then we should eat,” McGonagall said. “Are you hungry?”

Harry’s stomach growled.

*****

“All right, Arthur, what is so important that you dragged me all the way out here.” Molly stood in the sun with her arms crossed over her chest. “And why haven’t I seen you except in passing in the last week?”

Arthur took a deep breath. Getting her out of the house and beyond the ward line probably wouldn’t do much good. But it was better than trying to do this in the house. “I need you to let me explain and not interrupt. It’s not something you want to hear. I already understand that.”

He rarely used a commanding tone with her.

“All right,” Molly said, her eyes wide.

“Bill examined the wards on our home, and they have been tampered with. In a very direct way. At least a decade ago.”

She worked it out very quickly. Smart woman, his Molly. “No. Albus wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t.”

“He would and did. He put a strong loyalty and, for lack of a better word, obedience ward on our home. As well as a fairly vicious anti-Slytherin ward. Even knowing they are there, it’s difficult to fight them. And you have spent longer under them than all of us. But because the children were so young, it affected them more directly, but hopefully not permanently.”

She opened her mouth to deny it again but then closed it. “That would explain so many things,” Molly said after a moment more.

“Because of the obedience ward, we’ve never gotten Ginny the help she needed,” Arthur said.

“But Albus said she was fine. That she didn’t remember anything,” Molly parroted what he’d said himself, just what Dumbledore had told them.

“Except that isn’t true. Our daughter was possessed by a dark artifact. For ten months, Molly! She had nightmares all last summer and this summer as well. Which means she’s having them at school, too. We are going to take her to a mind healer immediately,” Arthur said, keeping his tone firm. There would be no arguing with this.

“She starts school again in a month.”

His anger spiked, but he reminded himself that this was the ward talking, not Molly. “You’re arguing with me about our daughter’s health. Why are you doing that?”

Molly’s face turned red with anger, but she looked like she was actively struggling. “I don’t know. I agree with you. Every time I’ve gotten up to check on her when she wakes up screaming or crying after a nightmare, I think we must do something about this to help her. But every time, I think that my mind already says that it’s all fine. I shouldn’t worry about it. Ginny is fine. She doesn’t need a mind healer. But you’re telling me that she does. And I want to agree with you. She is not fine. I know she is not fine. She is my child, and I would do anything to help her. Anything.”

And with that. Molly’s face cleared. “I think I just pushed past the compulsion. That took a lot of effort. I don’t think the children could do that.”

Arthur didn’t think they could either. “The trouble is that even knowing it’s there and fighting it, you are still affected. I’ve tried to spend as little time at home as possible the last week, and it’s still hard to get past it.”

“What can we do about it?” Molly asked, her face tense.

“In the short term, Bill has a runemaster from the bank coming out to the Burrow to cut runes into the foundation. That will mitigate the loyalty and obedience ward. But it won’t be perfect. The wards are just too powerful and are fed by the power in our wards. We’ll need to tear down the old wards and erect new ones.”

“Oh, no. All those generations of Weasleys who added their strength and talents to the wards will be lost.” Her eyes flashed. “Albus Dumbledore has a lot to answer for.”

“He does indeed,” Arthur agreed. “And because we allowed him to put his wards into the house. He can’t even be charged with anything. This is why you never let anyone other than family put wards in your home.”

“I know. But who would have thought that the leader of the light would do something like this,” Molly said. She sounded disgusted.

“Exactly. We should get in touch with others in the old order to see if their houses also have these kinds of wards,” Arthur said. “As soon as we fix the Burrow.”

Chapter 5

Harry landed in his account manager’s office with only a stumble and didn’t pitch forward onto his face. That was progress. Bill Weasley was standing with his hand on the doorknob.

“Bill. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Especially since the office was empty.

“I was just waiting for Sharprock,” Bill said. “I see he’s going to be busy, so I’ll be on my way.”

Harry held up his hand to stop him. “Wait a sec, if you can. I was wondering why you told Professor McGonagall about what happened.”

“I’m sorry about that. I thought Minerva knew. She is your Regent. Was there a problem?” Bill asked, his head tilting a little as if he was trying to figure out what Harry was thinking.

“No. But I hadn’t told her yet. She asked me about it. I don’t understand how this all works yet,” Harry said, not liking the slight whine in his voice.

Bill smiled at him. “Professor McGonagall is the adult in your life that makes decisions for your estate –”

“I got that part. But it’s more complicated than that, isn’t it?” Because Harry was confused. And people always assumed he knew way more than he did. And the reality was that he didn’t understand much of anything at all.

Bill started to say something, then stopped. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I can see this has been confusing to you. You haven’t been taught anything, have you.”

Something about the way Bill said it was reassuring. Now that Harry thought about it, Bill seemed comforting to him. As if he believed in Harry. He hadn’t had a lot of that from the adults he knew.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at Bill. “I know nothing at all. I know she swore to take care of things for me and keep my secrets, but what else does she do?”

“It would depend on the estate, but with someone like you, she’s your representative in the Wizengamot. She handles the finances of your estate. If you were a prince, she would rule for you.”

“I’m not a prince, though.” The very idea made him want to squirm.

Bill laughed at that. “You are as close as the Wizarding society comes to one. You are heir to the House of Black, and you are head of the House of Potter. You are, or will be soon, a very influential person.”

“That’s why Dumbledore wants to control me, isn’t it?” Harry asked. But it was clear that was true.

“I’m sure it’s part of it. But I think he wants to control everyone and everything. Did Professor McGonagall tell you about the wards?”

“Yes. I’m sorry about that, too.” Harry held up his hand. “I know it’s not my fault, but he was trying to control me, and he used your family to do it. That’s just beyond awful.”

“I’m glad you know it’s not your fault. You’ve helped us tremendously by letting us know about Ginny and about the wards. Both of these things can be fixed. We are deeply indebted to you for that.”

“No. Not at all. Your family has been very good to me. It’s the least I can do,” Harry said. “Fixing this will take a while, won’t it?”

“I think so.” Bill sighed. “We’re going to have to take down the wards at the Burrow and rebuild them.”

“You can’t stay there when you do that,” Harry said. “It would be dangerous without any protections at all.”

“No, we can’t. We’ll work something out. Mom, Dad, the twins, Ron, and Ginny are going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Percy has decided to move into his own place. Dad says he’s going to take a couple of weeks off work, and Mum is planning to offer to help Tom with the cooking for discounted rooms.”

“No. I mean, your mum shouldn’t have to do that. You can all stay at Potter Manor. I’m going to move in a couple of weeks myself.”

“That’s very generous of you. And I’m sure my parents would appreciate you making the gesture, but we –”

“Should not be too proud to stay with me. Potter Manor is huge, seriously. It’s got like five house elves, and they all need something to do. You’d be doing me a favor by staying for however long it takes. Maybe your mum could bake me a cake for my birthday.”

Bill gave him a half smile. “I’ll have to talk to my parents about it, but I’m sure Ron could definitely stay.”

“All of you would be welcome. Please let them know. I could repay some of the kindness they have always shown me.”

“Are you sure you want Fred and George in your house? It might not survive the terrible twins.” Bill’s look was pretty amused.

And Harry laughed. “Now that you mention it….”

Sharprock came in then, and Bill left.

*****

Harry received a message from the Goblins that he should report to their hospital for a procedure and that he would be there overnight.

“Just wanted to let you know that I will be gone overnight tonight. I’ll be home for dinner tomorrow night,” Harry said as he came into the kitchen.

“Is everything all right?” Petunia asked, looking up from the book she was reading at the table.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Harry wondered if she knew something.

“Just a feeling. I’m sure it’s nothing. Good luck,” she said.

Harry didn’t know what to make of that. But he waved as he left and walked to the park. Even though it had been a few weeks, he still wasn’t used to them treating him civilly all the time. There had not been a raised voice or a threat since he’d fixed the house.

Once he was in the park, he moved over toward the dense trees, and activated the portkey. He landed in the Healer Mairax’s office.

“Please sit down, Lord Potter,” Mairax said. “I believe we have a solution to the problem. It’s complicated, but you’ll be asleep for most of it. Did you come on your own?”

“Yes. Was I supposed to bring someone with me?” Harry asked. There wasn’t anyone he could think of off-hand. Maybe Hermione or even McGonagall.

“We don’t usually treat minors without a parent or guardian present.”

“My guardians are Muggle. My regent is Professor McGonagall.” He was sure she knew that Sirius wasn’t available yet.

“I will contact Professor McGonagall as soon as we finish talking,” Mairax said. “We will use a basilisk venom-based cream to extract the Horcrux from your forehead. And then, we’ll capture it and transfer it to an inanimate object. Bill Weasley has volunteered to take custody of it and destroy it.”

“I should thank him for that.”

“You’re going to pay him very well for it,” Mairax said.

“Good enough,” Harry said, smiling. He had plenty of Galleons, and it made getting things done so much easier sometimes. “When are we going to do this?”

“Now. Please go through that door and remove all your clothes. Then, please cleanse your body with the soap provided. Put on the white robe that is on the chair.”

Harry did as he was told and came back out wearing the robe.

“Lie down,” she said, pointing to a cot. “I’m going to put you to sleep now.

Harry nodded. “Good. Thanks.”

*****

Everything hurt when Harry woke up. But most especially, his head, which just pounded.

“Here, drink this,” Aunt Min said, holding a potion to his lips.

Of course, it tasted terrible, but almost immediately, his headache started to fade. He touched the scar, and while it was tender, it felt flatter than it ever had been before. “I guess they got it,” Harry croaked.

“They did. And they explained to me what it was exactly.” Aunt Min sounded very cross right now.

“I probably should have mentioned it,” Harry said. “There’s just been so much stuff.”

“I know, Lad. This wasn’t your fault. I’m glad it’s gone. You’ll need to rest here for a few hours, and then I’ll take you to my home so that you can rest overnight there.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, relieved he wasn’t going to be alone tonight. Even if nothing else hurt, he felt weak. “I need to sleep a little more.”

“I’ll be here when you wake up again,” she promised. And he believed her.

*****

Chapter 6

Arthur sat at his desk, and a list appeared right in front of him. He glanced down at it and sighed. He’d forgotten again. By the date on the note, it was clear that he’d been trying to contact some of the old members of the order. The list was only half checked off.

Someone knocked. “Come in,” he called.

“Kingsley,” Arthur said, smiling and waving him to a seat. “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve got a report that you’ve been trying to contact certain people,” he said, dropping into the chair in front of the desk.

“Is that a problem? Why would anyone care that I was trying to contact them?” He’d rather not admit to Kingsley that he wanted to ask people about the wards that Dumbledore had put on other people’s houses.

“Your owls aren’t getting through to the people you’re looking for,” Kingsley said sternly. Something that was probably meant to alert Arthur to a problem. But he could not imagine what.

“The owls haven’t been returned to me,” Arthur said, confused.

Kingsley looked at him, like he didn’t quite believe him. “People were very upset when they got owls for their parents or grandparents who died in the war, most over a decade ago. Especially from someone who should have known that. What are you doing, Arthur?”

How many had died? Arthur couldn’t remember. Even being out from under the wards for most of the day. He still had some problems with his memory. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that many people who were…who I tried to contact had died.”

“You-know-who wiped out whole families. I’ve had five or six complaints from family members about getting owls from you that were to people long dead. Why didn’t you know these people were dead?”

Arthur couldn’t believe his memory could be that bad. “Oh, Merlin. I had no idea. I’ve had some memory problems due to…”

“Due to what?”

“The wards that Dumbledore put on my house.” Arthur folded his arms across his chest, just daring him to say anything.

“I’ve heard from Amelia that there’s been some issues with some of the decisions that Albus has made. Can you tell me what is going on?”

“We’ve come to find out that the wards that we allowed Dumbledore to update more than a decade ago were, well, let’s just say, not what we believed them to be. And the aftereffects of being under them have caused memory and other issues.”

Kingsley nodded. “I don’t believe many people would have let anyone other than family members update their wards. Why did you do it?”

“I knew better. I did.” He sighed. Truth was, he just couldn’t remember why he’d let Dumbledore do it. “But it was Dumbledore, and I don’t know, he was so insistent. I just let him do it.”

“Do you think you were charmed or hexed into it? That’s actually illegal?” Kingsley asked, sounding like he couldn’t believe it either.

“Is there any way to know this far away from the event?” Arthur asked. But it seemed very unlikely at this point. He was also sure that was what Dumbledore was counting on.

“No. Probably not. I’m sorry.” Kingsley sighed.

“I wanted to warn anyone else in the…that group of people that they should check their wards.” Arthur ran a hand over his face and sighed. He pulled out his list of names and pushed it across to Kingsley. “Who on this list is still alive.”

Kingsley took the list and then frowned. “None of them. You don’t remember?”

Arthur just shook his head. “The wards have put holes in my memory. It’s worse with Molly. But the kids are actually doing better, especially since we’ve been able to mitigate some of them. “What else can you tell me?”

“Do you remember about the Bones family?”

“Yes. I wrote to Amelia about that. She had hers checked, and they had not been tampered with.”

“Marlene McKinnon and her entire family were murdered, and so was Mary MacDonald and her whole family. The Fenwick family. The Meadows family. The Vance family, too, with only Emmeline surviving. All of them, Arthur. Very few of the Order survived.”

Something in the way he said it made Arthur ask, “So you know about it?”

Kingsley nodded. “Yes. Albus has approached me about possibly needing to reinstate the Order of the Phoenix.”

Not again. Never again. “Well, as you might guess, no Weasley will be joining. And I suggest that you don’t either.”

“Oh, I agree. I’m not interested in joining a vigilante group that killed off most of its members the first time around. And the surviving members don’t remember that fact. I’m going to make sure no one in the Auror corps will join either.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Arthur said, letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

*****

Ron followed Hermione into a Muggle Park. It was supposed to be near Harry’s house, but they couldn’t go there because the wards were likely to trigger and tell Dumbledore.

He could not believe that Dumbledore was so dark. How was it possible that the Headmaster had fooled everyone for so long? But Ron knew it was true. Bill and the Goblins had done something temporary to their house to make sure they could live there until they could take all the wards down and then bring them up again without the stuff Dumbledore had put in.

Harry was waiting for them, sitting on a park bench near the pond. He smiled as he and Hermione approached. Hermione immediately hugged Harry. She did that with everyone.

“How’s it going?” Harry asked Ron.

“You know, it’s all really bloody unbelievable –”

“Language!” Hermione said. But it was clear her heart wasn’t in it.

“I know. I couldn’t believe it myself. And it’s been a couple of weeks –”

“Wait. Why am I just finding out about it now?” He hated that they kept stuff from him. It really made him angry.

But Harry was shaking his head. “I have a lot to tell you. Please don’t get angry. I have been having to move slowly so that I don’t tip off Dumbledore.”

That was all well and good, but… “You told Bill before you told me. And I don’t even know what you told him. Just about the wards on the Burrow being messed up by Dumbledore.”

“Yeah, because who believes kids?” Hermione said. “We needed to establish –”

“You’ve been in on this since the beginning?” Boy, that just got Ron’s goat.

Harry laughed at that. “Of course, she was. Who was going to make the plans to deal with all this stuff, if not Hermione? You?”

Well, when he put it like that. “Okay. Fair enough.”

“I needed adult buy-in before I could even start with the plan,” Harry said.

Ron could understand that. “So, what is the plan, and actually, how did this even start? How did you know about the wards on the Burrow?”

“Because there were wards like that on his aunt’s house. To make them hate him,” Hermione said.

Ron sucked in a breath. That was worse than loyalty and anti-Slytherin wards. “They could have killed you!”

“Possibly. Mostly, what they did was starve me and work me like a house elf,” Harry said. “And they overfed Dudley as compensation.”

Something was niggling at Ron’s brain. “How did you know about this? And how did you know how to fix it.”

Harry grinned at him. “You told me.”

That was not what he was expecting to hear. He tilted his head slightly. “You’re joking.”

“Nope, you came from the future to tell me that I needed to fix things,” Harry said, and he sounded like he really believed that.

Okay, that was really not what he’d expected. “How?”

Harry looked at Hermione, and then his face turned red. “I actually didn’t think to ask. Ron said something about life forces or something. I was too overwhelmed with the information you and Hermione were handing out. Along with the wand. And the runes.”

“This is mad,” Ron said, shaking his head. “Hermione was there, too.”

“It was a weird dream. Where I knew I was dreaming, but I was also awake at the same time. It happened twice. First, you and Hermione came out of the mist, and you were old. Like in your 40s or something. You had a pot belly!”

Ron patted his flat belly and swore that wouldn’t happen. Hermione laughed, and it was clear she knew exactly what he’d been thinking.

“The next night,” Harry continued, “You came by yourself. That was when you figured out about the Burrow. Oh, and something else.”

“What?” Both he and Hermione said at the same time.

“The second night, the really old you said that if you could get over your hatred of Slytherins, you should court Daphne Greengrass. He said you should do a full-blown, pureblood courtship.

That was too much! Ron’s head was going to explode. No one knew about that. From the first time he’d ever seen Daphne Greengrass, he thought she was so pretty. And lately, she’d gotten to be absolutely beautiful. But Daphne was a Slytherin, and that made her evil, a voice that used to be stronger said in his head.

A part of him was screaming that he could never date a snake. But another part of him was reminding him of how gorgeous she was. And that she had never done anything to him at all. Just smiled at him a couple of times. And he’d sneered at her in return. She stopped smiling after that.

He looked at Harry and Hermione. She looked surprised. But Harry looked like he was waiting for an explosion. “I need to think about that,” he finally said. “Part of me thinks she’s really, really pretty. But –”

“That, but is probably the ward still having an effect on you,” Hermione reminded him. “You should give it some time and see how you feel by the time we get to school. Though Fourteen is young for a real courtship.”

Ron took a deep breath and let it out. The tension he was feeling was annoying. But he knew he wasn’t annoyed at Hermione. “You know, I feel like I should be angry at you for being a know-it-all. And that seems out of place because you’re probably right.”

At her disbelieving look, he said, “I agree with you about the ward being why I don’t know what I feel about Daphne. But not about fourteen being too young to start a courtship.”

“Really?” Hermione seemed shocked by the comments.

Before Ron could respond, Harry nodded. “Ron’s right. It’s not that young in the Wizarding world. Most marry very young. And many purebloods still use marriage contracts here.”

Hermione stared at him. “How do you even know that?” The when I don’t, went unsaid.

“Aunt Min, Professor McGonagall, has been teaching me about some of the Wizarding traditions. You should come to those classes.” Harry sighed. “Apparently, they used to be taught in school. But Dumbledore stopped teaching them about twenty-thirty years ago.”

“Why?” Hermione asked.

“Because it helped integrate the Muggle-borns into Wizarding society, and Dumbledore wanted them ignorant. So, they would offend as much as possible with their “Muggle” ways.” Harry looked disgusted, and Ron couldn’t blame him.

“What are we going to do about this?” Ron asked. He was ready to take on anyone he had to fix it.

“First,” Harry said. “We need to get Snape on our side.”

Ron’s first response was rage at the very thought of doing anything for or with Snape. But it was getting easier to not fly off the handle and think it through. He took another deep breath. “How is he involved?”

“Apparently, he’s a victim of the hate Harry and all Gryffindors wards himself.” Harry sighed. “We need to overpower him and cut the runes into his house’s foundation. And his quarters at Hogwarts. And if it’s anything like the Dursleys, it should have an almost immediate effect.”

“Are we just going to try to floo to his house?” Ron asked. “Because I don’t think he’d let us through.”

“Of course not,” Hermione said. “I’m pretty sure he lives in a Muggle house, in a Muggle neighborhood.”

“Right, “Harry said. “Spinner’s End is near Cokeworth. Where my mum came from.”

Ron got that. “He knew your mom?”

“Apparently, they were close friends for years. Something happened, and then they weren’t friends anymore.”

“I wonder what that was?” Hermione asked. “I can’t see it just being sorted into different houses.”

“Actually, given how all of the houses are in competition with each other, that didn’t help.” And a thought occurred to Harry. “What if it’s more than that?”

Hermione gasped. And then nodded. “What if the dorms are all warded to exacerbate the tensions between the houses?”

“Wait,” Ron said, surprised by the very idea. “What are you saying? Do you think he would go that far?”

“Ronald,” Hermione said. “Think about what he’s already done. If he wanted tension between the houses, this would be diabolical. And have far-reaching effects.”

Ron was properly horrified. But he needed to focus on the here and now. “Getting back to Snape. What are we going to do?”

“We’ll take the Muggle train to Cokeworth, and then we’re going to knock on his door,” Hermione said. “When he answers the door, we hit him with everything we have and hope it’s enough.”

“You think that will work. That Snape will open the door for us?” Because Ron didn’t think that was likely.

“I think he’ll know we’re there and not consider us a threat,” Hermione said.

That might work, Ron decided. Hermione really was brilliant.

*****

“There’s one more thing, Hermione,” Harry said as she was about to leave with Ron.

“What?” She looked back at him.

“I wanted to tell you that Potter Manor,” He paused. He needed to tell her, but she would likely go ballistic. “Potter Manor has house elves. Five of them. And no, I can’t free them. They would be devastated.”

“Harry! How could you!” She started to turn red, and her fist clenched. “I can’t believe you would keep slaves.”

He could almost see the rage seeming to be building inside her.

“They are not slaves,” Ron said before he could say anything. “They get stability for their magic from the bond with a wizard or witch or family.”

“You don’t know that. Don’t you remember Dobby? He was abused and mistreated. Forced to punish himself!” And already, it was clear she wasn’t going to listen to either of them. “Dobby was miserable.”

There was a pop, and Dobby stood there. His big eyes bulging. Harry quickly looked around. This was a muggle park. But no one was around right now.

“Mister Harry Potter, sir. Dobby has been hearing you have other elves now. Dobby be wanting to apply for a job.”

“Yes. The elves live at Potter Manor.” Harry had planned to ask Dobby if he wanted to be a Potter elf. He just hadn’t had time to think about doing it yet.

“Dobby be wanting to be a Potter elf.” He looked pleadingly at Harry. “Dobby does not need to be paid.”

Harry wanted to say he’d be happy to pay Dobby, but he never got that out.

“Are you insane! Dobby, how can you want to be enslaved?” Hermione yelled at him, and Dobby cringed.

“Don’t yell at him,” Harry snapped. He was getting to the end of his patience with this issue. “You are the one that doesn’t understand. Most elves are well taken care of and well loved by their families.”

But Hermione was shaking her head. “Those are all lies to make it acceptable to keep sentient beings as slaves –”

“How do you know that?” Ron asked, his tone was more curious than annoyed. “You’ve made all these assumptions about house elves based on, I don’t even know what, and you’ve never even asked one what they thought about it.”

Hermione opened her mouth to say something else, but Harry held up his hand. “I’m sure you’ve read at least two or three books on the subject since second year.”

She nodded. “They all said that there was a relationship that was beneficial to both the elf and the wizarding families. That the family agreed to take care of the house elf, and the elf agreed to take care of the family. It sounded to me just like propaganda. Like it was justifying slavery. It’s just wrong.”

“Why don’t you ask Dobby how he feels about it?” Harry asked. He turned to Dobby. “Why do you want to be a Potter elf?

“I wants to be treated well. Bad Malfoys treated Dobby bad. Dobby wants a family to take care of. Mister Harry Potter’s family.”

Harry nodded. “You’re hired. And I will pay you a salary —”

“Dobby does not want to be paid. Dobby wants a family,” Dobby said plaintively.

“Whatever you want,” Harry said. They could revisit this when Hermione didn’t look like she might explode any second. “Denny.”

His chief elf popped into the park. Hermione stared at what he was wearing like she couldn’t believe it.

“How can Denny serve?”

“Please explain to Hermione that you are not a slave. That you work for me willingly. And that you have access to all of the Potter accounts for the house. As well as anything else you need.”

“He be correct. Potter elves be very happy. Glad to have a family to take care of.”

Harry nodded. “Thanks. Dobby is going to be joining the Potter Elves and will be my personal elf. –”

Dobby hugged his legs. “Thank you, Mister Harry Potter. Dobby be the best elf. I be going to Hogwarts with you!”

“You can’t bring him to Hogwarts,” Ron said.

“Actually, I can.” Harry nodded. “I’m the head of an ancient and noble house. I can have an elf and private rooms, if I want. I think I’m going to skip the rooms, at least for the time being. But having Dobby around would be helpful.”

“This doesn’t change my opinion that it is slavery,” Hermione said, folding her arms over her chest, with that stubborn expression that said nothing he said would change her mind.

Harry just didn’t understand her sometimes. “Why are you being so stubborn about this? It’s not like you to not listen to what we’re saying.”

“Oh, wait.” Ron tilted his head like something just occurred to him. “You know, Harry’s right. You’re not this way about anything else. Why this issue?”

Hermione paled. “Slavery is wrong. No matter how nicely it’s couched. And every time I hear anything about house elves not being slaves, I just know it’s wrong. No matter what anyone says to me. No matter how many books I’ve read. And trust me, I’ve read more than a few on the subject. Right now, it doesn’t matter that Dobby and Denny just proved your point. I still don’t believe them.”

Ron started to say something, but Harry shook his head.

“That, in itself, makes no sense at all. I’m a rational person,” Hermione said. “I’m too smart to just believe something when all the evidence says it is something else. What is wrong with me?”

She took a deep breath and shook her head as if trying to clear it. “How could he have done this to me? Why would he? That just makes no sense.”

“It makes you appear less intelligent,” Ron said. “It makes you look rigid and unable to accept facts. It gives those who don’t like the idea of the smartest witch of the age being a muggle-born something to point at to show they are right about purebloods being better and smarter.”

Harry could see that. “Can you throw off the compulsion now that you know about it?”

“Now that I know it’s there, I can get around it. But I can still feel it telling me that I should fight for House Elf’s freedom. That they are all slaves and all abused.” Then Hermione smiled, a kind of scary, toothy smile. “But I could fight for House Elf rights. Maybe so that when they are abused, they can leave their masters. Or better, since they need the bond, what about putting their masters in jail or fining them if they abuse their elves.”

She looked at Dobby. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. You have a right to do as you please. I know you love Harry, and he loves you.”

Dobby stood up and seemed to peer at her. “You have bad curse. Dobby sees it now.” He snapped his fingers, and Hermione gasped.

She breathed out. “Oh, my. Thank you, Dobby. Thank you!” She knelt down and embraced him. Dobby looked like he’d won the lottery.

Harry turned to Denny. “Please make sure Dobby gets settled at the manor. Also, that he gets a uniform like the rest of you have.”

Hermione let go of Dobby. Denny snapped his finger, and Dobby was wearing a robe just like Denny.

Dobby’s grin split his face, and he ran his hand down the front of his shirt. “Thanks you!”

“Dobby, can you listen for Hermione or Ron and come if they call you,” Harry asked.

“Dobby is pleased to do that.”

“Thank you,” Ron said. “That might be really helpful.

*****

“Minerva,” Amelia said. “Good to see you.”

Minerva stepped out of the floo in Amelia’s office. With a quick wave of her wand, the dust and ash disappeared from her robes.

She sat down on the sofa across from the desk. And waited as Amelia shuffled some parchment and picked up one.

“Thank you for coming on short notice,” Amelia said, coming to join Minerva. She took the chair across from her. “I wanted to discuss what you knew about Sirius Black.”

“I told you most of what I knew at the will reading.” She looked over at Amelia. But anything she could do to help the situation, she’d try to do. “What do you want to know?”

“Mostly, I’d like to set up a timeline of what happened and when it happened. Both after the Potters were murdered and then last year when Black escaped Azkaban,” Amelia said, putting a parchment on the end table near Minerva. This is what I have.”

Minerva glanced down at the sheet. “This looks complete. I don’t know all the fine details of any of it. I only know what I was told after Dumbledore dropped Harry at his aunt’s house.”

“That’s another issue. Dumbledore left the will unread and took the child to his aunt’s. But we’ll not be dealing with that at this point.” Amelia took a breath and continued, “All right, we have Sirius arriving at the ruin of the Potter’s cottage in Godrick’s Hollow. And being intercepted by Hagrid. Then going to find Pettigrew.”

“Correct so far. Pettigrew ambushed him and killed those Muggles.” Minerva tried to keep her voice neutral, but her anger was hard to hold.

“And then, Barty Crouch, the head of the MLE, and Minister Bagnold sent Black to Azkaban without a trial,” Amelia said, and her voice was hard with disgust.

Minerva nodded, also disgusted. “As I understand it from Harry, yes.”

Dumbledore and the rest of them told the Wizarding World that Black had done it and that he had turned to Voldemort. And it had become a fact for most people. Even though there was no evidence and even though James Potter was Black’s best friend.

“You know, Amelia, sitting here now, thinking about it, it just doesn’t make sense to me.” Minerva closed her eyes for a second. “After years of fighting with his family and being disowned, why would anyone think that Sirius Black would suddenly decide to become a Death Eater? That he’d turn against the family that had taken him in after his own family had thrown him out?”

Amelia let out a long sigh. “That’s a good question. Why did people believe it?”

“Perhaps because their leaders told them to believe it. They mostly believe what they are told,” Minerva said. “But what about you and I? Are we likely to believe what we have been told? I’m not. However, I can’t rely on my own mind because it’s probably been tampered with.”

“What do you mean?” Amelia asked, sitting up straight. “Do you believe that Dumbledore did something to you?”

She told Amelia about what Harry had said about the warding in her office and rooms. “Which, as school head, he might legitimately get away with doing,” Minerva said.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Amelia said. “As much as I find it appalling, I’m not sure we can even charge him with that. He has stayed just inside the law with most of his machinations.”

Minerva nodded again. There was probably nothing they could do about what Dumbledore had done. “Sirius?” she asked.

“We’ll need to get Black in here and question him under veritaserum,” Amelia said.

“You’ll need the minister’s cooperation for that.”

“Exactly. I’m hoping to find something that will sway Fudge. His deputy has been trying to push that Harry is either confused or an attention-seeking brat.”

“Who is she?”

“Dolores Umbridge.” Amelia sighed. “She’s a nightmare. But she’s spent her career collecting blackmail information on anyone she can.”

“Can you get rid of her? Have her reassigned?” Minerva knew too many people like that in the ministry. It was a cesspool of ambitious people.

“Only with Cornelius’ agreement.”

“Don’t allow her in the room when you talk to Fudge,” Minerva suggested.

“Of course not. The key will be getting Cornelius to have a conversation with me without her there.” Amelia laughed. “She keeps him on a tight leash.”

“What else do you need from me?”

“Just confirming what happened last year.”

Minerva shuddered. “It’s a miracle that no students were kissed last year with the dementors all over Hogwarts.”

“That would have destroyed Cornelius’ career.”

“Not to mention how the student would have felt.”

Amelia snorted. “Indeed. So, as I understand it, the children used a time-turner to rescue Black and the hippogriff. Thus, setting Black up to become a fugitive and unable to claim Harry. Snape was unable to corroborate the children’s stories. The minister wrote the whole thing off as the children being confounded.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t want to admit there might have been something more to it,” Minerva said. “No doubt Fudge hated the thought of what that could do to his political career. But allowing an innocent man to be kissed would do a lot worse.”

“Undoubtedly,” Amelia agreed. “But I think Fudge is too much of a politician to completely write off the issue when presented with proof. And Sirius Black, whatever else he might be, is the scion of an ancient and noble house. There are those who would be most upset to learn he never had a trial.”

“That is how you’ll sell it to Fudge since he’s not known for his massive intellect.” Minerva knew that might work.

“True. However, he is a political animal and can be shown the wisdom of correcting the previous minister’s folly.”

“Good luck,” Minerva said, standing. “Please let me know if you manage it.”

“I will. I’ll need Harry’s help in locating Black afterward.”

“I’ll see what can be arranged.”

*****

Harry came back from his lesson with Professor Babbling exhausted. It was much more challenging than he thought to learn something like this from scratch. On the other hand, Babbling said he was doing very well and advancing much more quickly than she would have thought.

As he came through the dining room, he was surprised to find Dudley studying at the table while Petunia cooked something that smelled very good in the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked. Dinner with the Dursleys was still a new enough concept to him that he was surprised that he asked the question.

“Don’t know,” Dudley said. “Smells good, though, doesn’t it. Mum’s cooking has really gotten better the last few weeks.”

Harry refrained from saying he wouldn’t know since he’d at so little of it over the years. “I guess. Are you studying? It’s summer.”

Dudley sighed. “If I don’t pull my grades up and pass the retake on my exams at the end of the summer, then they won’t let me go on. I’ll have to repeat the year.”

That was a surprise. “You’re not stupid,” Harry said without thinking. “Do you know why you’re having trouble?”

“It’s hard for me to concentrate, especially during the beginning of the school year. And by the time it gets better, I’m always so far behind. Though the last few weeks since I’ve been home, it’s been easier for some reason.” Dudley looked relieved. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s usually worse in the summer than at school.”

Harry wondered if the wards that made him angry and hate Harry also messed up his ability to concentrate on other things as well. That would kind of make sense. And made him feel even more sympathy for Dudley. Which after everything that happened before, was kind of strange. “I’m glad it’s better.”

“Yeah, me, too. Probably staying in and studying has helped, too,” Dudley said.

“I’m sure your friends miss you,” Harry said neutrally. He’d rather not see any of Dudley’s old gang around.

“Since I’m at Smelting rather than the local, I don’t see Piers or the guys as much. It probably doesn’t hurt not running around with them all the time.” He looked at Harry. “I don’t want to be left behind. And they don’t care about that kind of thing.”

Harry didn’t know what to say to that. It was clear that Dudley was changing. And for the better. And Harry was glad of that.

But Dumbledore had so much to answer for.

Petunia came out of the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”

“It smells delicious,” Harry said.

She actually smiled at him. “Dudley, Harry, please set the table for me.”

It was rare for her to ask him to do anything nowadays. “Sure thing,” Harry said. Helping Dudley clear off his books.

*****

It was late when Amelia finally stopped in front of the door to the Minister’s office. She took a deep breath and straightened her robes. Then, she pushed through the door and addressed the young woman sitting in front of Cornelius’ door.

“Please inform the minister that I’m here to see him.”

She looked up. Clearly debating what to do. “He’s in with Madam Umbridge. I don’t think he wants to be disturbed.”

“Disturb him anyway,” Amelia ordered. “I want to speak to him.”

The secretary stood. And went to the door, slipping in. She was back in a moment. “They will see you.”

That was not how this would play out. “Thank you,” Amelia said as she passed the woman.

“What is this about,” Umbridge said. “What is so important that you had to interrupt us.”

“Last I checked, you weren’t the minister,” Amelia said. “I obviously have some urgent business with the Minister.”

“Well, why don’t you tell us, and we’ll decide how urgent it is,” Umbridge said impatiently.

Amelia looked down her nose at the woman. “As I said, I have business with the minister.”

“What do you have for me?” Fudge asked.

“It’s confidential.”

“I have every faith in Dolores,” Fudge said when Umbridge looked like she would explode.

Amelia ground her teeth but answered politely. “Be that as it may, this is for you alone.”

“Dolores,” he said, with a sigh that said this better be good. “Please leave us alone.”

“Excuse me?” Umbridge looked shocked by the request. And then mulish. “There’s nothing you have that can’t be discussed with me.”

Amelia didn’t say anything. She just waited with her arms folded across her chest.

Finally, Umbridge scowled at her. No doubt plotting her demise. But she stood and left.

“Alright, Amelia, what is so important that I needed to insult my deputy secretary.”

Before she said anything, she cast a spell that showed all listening devices in the office. There were two on his desk and one by the window.

She didn’t need to tell him what they were. His shocked expression said he already knew.

After she moved the listening devices, she cast a privacy ward. Auror grade.

“This is important for you.” Amelia put a folder down on the desk. “As far as I can find, those children were correct. Sirius Black was never given a trial. He was shipped straight to Azkaban and never even questioned.”

Fudge looked like he might pass out. “You can’t be serious. Of course, he had a trial.”

“There is no paperwork for it anywhere. None.”

“It’s too late now.”

“He is the scion of an Ancient and Noble house,” Amelia pointed out. “What do you think the Wizengamot will do when they find out?”

“They won’t.” Fudge was starting to sweat. It was clear he knew what the Wizengamot would do to him. “They can’t. There’s no one to tell them.”

“Too many people already know about Black to sweep this under the carpet.” She just stared him down.

The wheels were turning in Fudge’s mind as he ran through the scenarios. This could destroy his career, and they both knew it. “What do you suggest?”

“We get him in here, we offer whatever safe passage, and we question him under veritaserum. If he’s guilty, it’s easy. He goes straight back to Azkaban. If not, then you weren’t the minister that put an innocent man in prison for ten years without a trial.”

“Yes. Yes. That could possibly work for us. We would be seen righting a grave wrong done to the scion of house Black.”

She knew he’d go for anything that made him look good.

“I’m also sure that Harry Potter would be so grateful to have his innocent godfather back that he’d insist on taking a picture with you and his newly released godfather.”

That lit up Fudge’s face.

“What do we need to do to get this done?” Fudge asked.

“First thing, repeal the kiss-on-sight order and get the Prophet involved. We’ll need to get word to Black to come in for questioning. He likely takes the Prophet.”

Fudge nodded. “Yes. I’ll take care of that immediately.”

“Oh, and we should keep this quiet until we’re ready to announce it. I wouldn’t tell anyone about it. Especially not your deputy.”

Fudge looked like he might object but then sighed and nodded instead. Clearly, he was starting to see the writing on the wall of this one.

Amelia walked out of his office feeling better about the whole situation than when she’d gone in. Now, if she could do something about that toad Umbridge, her day would be made.

*****

Harry followed McGonagall into a large office that he was told belonged to Amelia Bones. She stood and waved them to a sofa as they came in.

“I’ll get right to the point,” Madam Bones said. “I’ve convinced the minister to give Sirius Black a trial. We have no idea where he is or how to contact him.”

And they wanted him to give them that information. “What makes you think I know where he is?” Harry tried to modulate his tone. But there were precious few adults he trusted.

McGonagall started to say something, but he shook his head.

“I was given to understand that you could get in touch with him,” Bones said. Clearly, she wasn’t pleased.

Harry had other concerns. “It’s possible I can. But what guarantee do I have that the ministry won’t continue the kiss-on-sight order? I am not going to lead him to his death. He’s been betrayed enough.”

“If he doesn’t come in, he can’t get a trial. Do you want him to remain a fugitive?” Amelia asked sharply.

Harry just glared at her. He’d heard she was fair. But he wasn’t stupid enough to believe anything without proof. Not anymore. “I don’t want Dumbledore to do anything else to him. I don’t want Fudge to kill him because he’s embarrassed. I don’t trust the ministry at all.”

“Clearly not,” Bones said. “What would ease your mind?”

“Nothing. I am never going to trust any of you. You’ve let Dumbledore hurt too many people, and nothing is being done about him. How can I expect you to deal honestly with Sirius, if you don’t even try to reign Dumbledore in?” Harry said, annoyed and ready to explode.

Bones looked at McGonagall. “What is he talking about?”

“There have been some…irregularities –”

“No. You are not going to tell me that what he did to the Dursleys and the Weasleys is legal. If it is, I’m going back to the Muggle world,” Harry promised. He could stay in touch with his friends just as easily at the Dursleys.

“What?” There was an edge to Bones’ tone.

“Apparently, Albus put an aggression ward on the Dursley’s home that made them treat Harry poorly,” McGonagall said.

“Why am I just hearing about this now?” Amelia asked.

McGonagall shot him a look that said she wasn’t happy with him. “Because we wanted to work through the issues with Sirius before we tackled anything else. Clearly, Mr. Potter has other ideas.”

“How poorly are we talking about?” She looked at Harry.

“Until recently, I was not fed more than one meal a day. I worked all summer and before and after school when I was in primary. As close to all day as they could manage.”

Bones looked at McGonagall, who just nodded. “How do you know there was a ward that did this?”

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I put these runes on the foundation of their house, and their treatment of me changed. Dramatically.”

She took the paper and looked at it. “These are very complex work. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. This negates an aggression ward and creates a ward that does not let the people who the first ward had targeted think about the aggression of the past.”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Bones.

“You know very well that I took a mastery in Runes,” Bones said. “I would be hard-pressed to create something this complex with only two Runes. And it goes without saying that you did not create this, Mr. Potter. So, where did you get it?”

He met Bones’ eyes. “I can’t tell you that. But from someone really smart.”

McGonagall cleared her throat. “Maybe a wizarding oath?”

Bones looked startled. “How much more is there?”

“Quite a lot,” McGonagall said. “Not all of it legal.”

“I had hoped to resolve the Black issue today. I will have to start a file on Dumbledore. He could have asked for a trial for Black at any point. That he didn’t is not a crime. However, creating these kinds of wards on a Muggle home is a crime. Actually, putting wards on a Muggle home without their permission is also a crime.”

“What about what he did to the Weasleys?”

“That also isn’t a crime. Most people would not allow anyone but close family to add anything to their wards because of this very issue. Doing it without permission is a crime.”

“But he made them –”

“Young man, I know exactly what he did,” she snapped. “Arthur Weasley himself said he’d let Dumbledore do it. That is the law. It doesn’t make it right. But I can’t prosecute him for it. Or for anyone else who let him into their wards.”

Harry breathed out. “All right. But what about all the rest of the stuff. Like the basilisk in second year. Or the traps in first year. Or anything else he’s done.”

“Basilisk?”

McGonagall shrugged. “I vaguely remember something about children being…something.”

“Petrified, maybe?” Harry asked. It wasn’t fair to blame McGonagall for something that wasn’t her fault. “We need to really look at the wards on your quarters.”

“Let’s go back to the basilisk, shall we?” Bones stared at him. “Mr. Potter?”

Harry started to explain, telling her about the diary and the message and the cat. Then there were the Muggle-borns who were being petrified. She was clearly having trouble believing what he was saying, and he’d only just gotten to the part where he used parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets. “I know it’s hard to believe. But it’s all true. I wish there was a way that you could just look in my head and see the memories.”

“There is,” Bones said.

His mouth hung open because he had no idea what she was talking about. “What? How?”

“There is a way that you can give me the memory to view,” Amelia said.

“Oh, that would be so much better. How?” Harry asked.

She walked him through the steps and then pulled a pensive out of a cupboard. “Pull out the memory and put it in here.”

She and McGonagall viewed the memory. He had no interest in reliving that particular incident.”

As soon as they both pulled out, Bones stumbled a bit and made for her desk. She pulled out a bottle of something that was probably alcoholic and poured two glasses.

She handed one to McGonagall. “That was one of the bravest, most foolish things I’ve ever seen anyone do. Where were the adults to help you?” Bones asked.

“At the time, we could only find Lockhart. But really, there was never any staff around for anything. But before you say anything, I’d check all the staff’s quarters for warding.”

McGonagall nodded. “It’s looking increasingly as if the whole school is warded to react according to Dumbledore’s plan.”

“How was this never reported to the Ministry and the parents of the children petrified?” Bones’ tone was deathly quiet. “Susan never mentioned a thing about what was going on. How is that possible? There was no keeping this a secret.”

“I barely remember anything about it, beyond Mr. Potter rescuing Miss Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets. There was no mention of the basilisk. No mention of the diary.”

“The diary was a Horcrux.” Harry was surprised by their reaction. “Voldemort made it. He actually made six of them.”

“No,” Bones said. But then she didn’t say more for several seconds. “That makes sense with everything else that went on.”

“Is that enough?”

“No. He should have reported it. He should have looked for a better way to revive the children. But he has a lot of latitude when it comes to running the school. You would need to find him culpable in what happened. And you can’t with this.”

“He should have closed the school when the first child was petrified.”

“Granted. But as head, he had the right to keep the school open, and it could have been that he thought whoever opened the chamber would go home with the school closed. However, if he had warded the school in ways that were harmful, he could be removed as headmaster. But again, warding is a tricky thing. He’s beloved by most in Britain. You’d need something solid to move against him.”

That was not what Harry wanted to hear. “So, endangering everyone in the school with a basilisk running loose isn’t against the law?”

“If you could prove that he did it on purpose, that he knew it was a basilisk, then yes, it is. But you’d have to prove that. And given it’s Dumbledore, you’ll have your work cut out for you.”

“Or you do.”

“Bring me something I can charge him with that will stick,” Amelia snapped back and then sighed. “I know he’s corrupt, but so far, he’s been careful to stay within the law.”

Harry blew out a breath. This was not what he wanted to hear. He wanted Dumbledore to pay for what he’d done to him and to his family. And friends. He wasn’t giving up. But for now, he’d have to go back and talk to Hermione and Ron.

“I’ll write to Sirius. It might take a while. But I want your word that he’ll get a fair trial.”

“I will promise to do the best that I can.” Amelia looked at him. “I promised Fudge a picture with you and the freed Sirius Black.”

He snorted at that.

“That is politics. It’s a fact of life. You’re from an ancient and noble house. You have a lot of sway. And Fudge knows that and will try to use it,” Amelia said.

“Are you saying I should use my fame to get what I want?”

Amelia gave him a hard smile. “Yes. That’s exactly what I am saying. You could use it to swing public opinion. Because everyone will use it against you without a second thought. You should get ahead of that. Minerva can help you with that.”

“I can indeed,” Minerva agreed. “But first, you and your friends are going to come with me to Hogwarts, and we’re going to fix the wards in the common rooms and the teachers’ quarters. Before Dumbledore comes back from Europe.”

“What’s he doing there?” Harry asked. “He hasn’t been around all summer.”

She hesitated for a count or two. “There’s going to be a Tri-wizard Tournament –”

“Didn’t people die at the last one?” Amelia asked. “That was about ten years ago.”

“Probably. I think it’s a bad idea. But apparently, only adult students will be allowed to compete.”

“Oh, no. No,” Harry said. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

They both looked at him. “No,” McGonagall said. “He wouldn’t.”

“If he tried, that might be something that was illegal,” Bones said. “If he forced an underage student to compete in a tournament that was clearly intended for an adult, that could be reckless endangerment of a minor.”

“I’m not going to compete. So, I don’t think you’ll get him on that one. I know for a fact that even if I’m entered, it won’t be me who made the contract, and so I won’t have to compete,” Harry said with enough annoyance to get his point across.

“And how do you know that?” Bones asked, surprised.

Harry bit his lip to keep from saying something that would be insulting. “I’m not stupid. Magic is about intent. I don’t intend to compete. Therefore, if I’m entered and don’t compete, there is nothing anyone can do.”

Bones nodded. “I think you’re correct. But if you were somehow entered, would you want to risk your magic on something you’re unsure of?”

“I am sure. And yes. I’m not going to get killed doing something that I’m untrained for.”

McGonagall just sighed. “We should be heading back to your family’s house.”

*****

Chapter 7

“SIRIUS BLACK NEVER HAD A TRIAL!” the headline screamed.

Harry could not believe that Fudge was now taking credit for righting the injustice that happened to Sirius. Saying that he had just become aware of the issue. It was so typical of politicians. At least things were rolling in the right direction now.

He needed to get down to the park and send a letter to Sirius. Hopefully, he could get Sirius to come in for his trial, but Harry wanted to meet with him and tell him what was going on first.

Dear Sirius,

If you’ve seen the Daily Prophet, you know a lot of stuff has happened. I can’t go into it in a letter. But I think you’re safe now. Madam Bones of the DMLE has guaranteed your safety.

Can you come to the park where you first saw me? Before I got on the bus? I’m waiting for you.

HP

He hadn’t wanted to give any information away. But he was pretty sure Sirius remembered where the park was. If not, he could write back and ask. Hedwig sat on the back of the bench. “Take this to Sirius,” he said. And handed her the letter and a copy of the Prophet.

Hopefully, Sirius would come quickly. Harry wasn’t sure he trusted the ministry not to change its mind again. Or Fudge. He did think that Madam Bones was fair, but she still worked for the ministry.

And if the ministry was corrupt, Dumbledore was so much more so. Even weeks later, it still boggled his mind how Dumbledore had done all of the stuff he had and still somehow remained just inside the letter of the law.

*****

Sirius arrived a few minutes later with a soft pop. He glanced around and spotted Harry. “Are you all right, Harry?”

“Me? I’m fine. Where did you come from?”

“I was in my childhood home in London.” Sirius grimaced. “I hate that place.”

“Why are you staying there, then?”

“I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go that would be as safe. It’s under Fidelius. I had to change the wards to allow Hedwig through.”

Harry had no idea what that was and now was not the time to ask. “Okay. We need to talk about a bunch of stuff. I’m not sure where to start –”

“At the beginning?” But he sounded like he was joking, and this wasn’t a joking matter.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, first. You need to claim your Lordship –”

“What? Why would I want to do that?” Sirius sounded angrier than he should have at the suggestion. “I was disinherited. It could kill me.”

“According to the Goblins, you are heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black, and you made me your heir to that,” Harry told him, hoping Sirius would trust him.

Sirius looked surprised. “Why were you talking to the Goblins?”

“I claimed my ring as head of house. And I had tons of questions and no one to answer them. But you have to claim your lordship,” Harry said. This wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped. “I have a knife and bowl. If you claim your lordship, magic will judge you worthy –”

“You don’t know that it will find me worthy,” Sirius said cautiously.

“Of course, I do. You’re innocent of anything other than acting rashly.” Harry took the bowl and knife out. “I need you to do this.”

Sirius looked startled by the pushing and then like he might disagree. “If I end up dead, it’s on you…”

Harry wasn’t sure what to say to that.

After another second or two, Sirius sighed and reached for the knife. He sliced his palm open and dripped the blood into the bowl. He said, “I claim Head of House for the Ancient and Noble House of Black. I swear on my life and magic to always do what I think is best for my family and vow to return the house to its former glory. So, I have sworn, so it must be.”

A gold light flashed around him. And a ring appeared on his finger. Sirius closed his eyes and seemed lost in the gold light for a long time. When he opened his eyes, his vision was clear, and there was something else that Harry hadn’t ever seen before. He looked more at peace than Harry had ever seen him.

Sirius cleared his throat. “Thanks, Harry. That was the right thing to do. I’d forgotten what it was like to feel the full force of my family’s magic.”

Not that Harry understood the whole concept of how family magic worked, but “I didn’t think they could take it away from you, especially since you weren’t really disowned.”

Sirius rubbed his face. “I think it was partially my fault. I rejected it when my mother threw me out for not taking the dark mark.”

“But it was still there?” Again, Harry did not understand how it worked. And until he got the ring on his finger, he had no idea that he had family magic at all. But Sirius knew about it, so shouldn’t he have felt it.

“Not like it is now. It’s much stronger wearing my ring,” Sirius said.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “Me too. I’d never felt anything like that before. It just felt so good. And welcoming.”

Sirius nodded. “Exactly. I feel like the Black magic is welcoming me as its head.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do with it? I mean, as head of the family and all.” Harry had no idea what he could do with it.

“Well, I think I’m going to shake up the whole family. I’ll call a family meeting and disown several of the people who took the dark mark. Starting with Bellatrix,” Sirius said. “Maybe her sister Narcissa too.”

“Narcissa?” Because wasn’t that Malfoy’s mother’s name?

That made Sirius stare at him. “How do you even know who she is?”

“Hermione and Ron mentioned her in the dream. They said that Malfoy could be turned if you helped Narcissa,” Harry said.

“What dream?”

Yeah, Harry needed to tell Sirius about that, didn’t he? “So, I had this dream a couple of weeks ago….”

As he told his story again, he watched the disbelief on Sirius’ face grow. The third or fourth time he mentioned Dumbledore, Sirius looked very angry. “I know it’s hard to believe about Dumbledore…”

“It’s not, really,” Sirius said. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. And Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He could have gotten me a trial at any time. But my biggest problem with Dumbledore is that I worked for the Order. I was best friends with your father. No more than that, I considered your father my brother in all but blood. I made you my heir with both your parents’ blessing. I had rejected the dark so thoroughly that I was disowned. Why would I suddenly destroy my family to join the Dark Lord?”

“Well, it doesn’t make sense to me. Everyone seemed to believe it.” And the thing was, it was like a known thing. Everyone knew Sirius had done it, even though he hadn’t.

“Because Crouch, Dumbledore, and the Minister told everyone to believe it. And not a damned one of them even thought to question it.” Sirius sounded both hurt and disgusted. “Going back to Narcissa and helping her? I know for a fact that there is no way that Lucius Malfoy could be turned,” Sirius spit out with more venom than Harry was expecting.

“No. I didn’t mean him. He was a Death Eater. And he beat Dobby. And he almost cursed me in second year.”

“Wait, what?” Sirius said. “How did he get away with that?”

“Dobby saved me,” Harry said. They had gotten away from what he wanted to say. “They told me that Draco Malfoy could be saved. That in the future, he turned out okay, even if his father forced him to take the Mark at sixteen. The way to save him was to save Narcissa, his mother.”

Sirius looked startled. “What else did they say about that?”

“I don’t really believe it, but they said he would be a good friend to me eventually.”

“I am not sure I believe it either,” Sirius said. “But it’s worth looking into. I’ll disown Bellatrix and at least have a conversation or two with Narcissa.”

Sirius was quiet for a moment and then smiled. “And I’ll bring Andromeda back into the family. Her, her daughter, and her muggle-born husband.”

Obviously, that was a good thought because Sirius was smiling widely. “That’s going to shake up the next family meeting.”

“You need to be exonerated first.”

“Yes. And I will be,” Sirius said. “What about you? How do you feel about the Dursleys now that you know it wasn’t their fault?”

Harry sighed. “I don’t know, honestly. It’s been a lot to take in. I might be friends with Dudley at some point. It’s weird how much they have all changed without the ward making them crazy.”

Sirius stood. “I guess I should make my way to the ministry. I’m going to trust Amelia Bones and hope she won’t fuck me over. When this is over, and I’m free, I still want you to live with me.”

“You just said that your childhood home was horrible. What about you living with me in Potter Manor.”

“Oh, pup, I would love to. I have such good memories of that place.” The sentimental look on his face said it all.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Harry remembered something. “You know how I said the wards on the Burrow were messed up? And they had to redo them all from scratch? Well, I invited all the Weasleys to stay with me for a few weeks before school starts. You could come too.”

“There’s certainly room for everyone.”

“And then some,” Harry agreed.

*****

The following day, Harry asked Ron and Hermione to meet him in the park. He liked talking there better than at his aunt’s house. Though he didn’t think she’d mind if he had friends over, he didn’t want to push his luck. It was nice out, so being outside was good.

Ron and Hermione approached.

“All right, Harry,” Ron asked.

“Good. How are you both?”

“We’re good,” Hermione said, pushing her hair out of her face. “What did you need to see us about?”

“First, I need to tell you what Madam Bones said,” Harry said and told them about Dumbledore staying just within the law. And then he told them about Sirius taking up his lordship.

“Wow,” Ron said. “I’ve always heard that he didn’t want it.”

“I think now, he realizes that he can make changes to what everyone thought about the Blacks. He’s going to disown all of the Death Eaters.”

“Malfoy?” Ron asked, sounding hopeful. “I’ve always heard his father was trying to get the Black fortune for himself.”

“Well, it would belong to Malfoy Jr. if that happened, except that I’m Sirius’ heir. So, that won’t happen. Not like that, anyway,” Harry said. “But I told you that the older you said that Malfoy could be turned. If we save his mother.”

“Yeah, and I’m still not sure Mr. ‘Wait until my father hears of this’ can be turned,” Ron said. “But I guess we’ll see about that.”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “I don’t believe it either. But maybe Harry’s right.”

“Would you like that?” Ron asked teasingly. “If Malfoy could be turned or saved?”

“No. I don’t care at all,” Hermione said very primly.

And it sounded off to Harry. “Wait –”

“No,” she said again. “Just no.”

Ron opened his mouth, but Harry caught his eyes and shook his head. “We should talk about going to Snape’s next week.”

“We should,” Hermione agreed. “I think if we hit him with a surprise stunner all at once and as hard as we can. We should be able to knock him out.”

“He probably won’t expect that from us,” Ron said.

Harry snorted. “Probably not. But we need a strong Incarcerous to make sure he stays put long enough to let us carve the runes in the foundation of his basement.”

“I think that’s a good plan,” Hermione said. “Before we go, I want to try a charm I have been working on.

She pulled out a little beaded purse and put it on the bench. She then pulled her wand and pointed it at the purse. She said a couple of incantations, and the purse glowed for a moment. When she opened it, you couldn’t see the inside.

“What did you do to it?” Ron asked.

“I charmed it to be weightless and bottomless. I thought that would be dead useful going forward.”

“It would be,” Harry said. “Can you do my backpack?”

“Of course,” Hermione said. “I’d be happy to. You will literally be able to carry anything in it once this is done.”

“That would be great,” Harry said, amazed. He handed it to her, and she charmed it and handed it back.

“What about you, Ron?” Hermione asked.

“My book bag is at home. I’ll bring it next time I see you. Which probably won’t be too long,” Ron said.

“We might need it when we go to Snape’s,” Harry said.

*****

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