1.08 Revolution (working title) Ancestry and Hogwarts

A/N: Here is the eighth chapter! I know it's been ages and what not, but I finally got there! I've been moving (which includes a rather large amount of boxes and what not) and I've also been a bit slack when it's come to this. Unfortunately, I've lost the momentum I had back when I was writing the next few chapters so I'm now going to be releasing chapters every 2-4 weeks, as I write the chapters steadily. It's also amazing to see so many people following and favourite my story! I never expected this much (though I may have hoped for this)! Thank you to all of you loyal readers out there!

This chapter details the history of House Potter, explains how Harry was able to change so much in the Ministry and also details their return to Hogwarts! Please be warned, there is some pomp and circumstance in this one!

13,799 words

Disclaimer: the majority of the characters and settings in this story are not original; they belong to Her Majesty Joanne Rowling the First. Some characters are however original. Any relation to any person; whether alive or dead, is purely accidental and coincidental, other than where the author states otherwise.

Rated T for language. This chapter details September 1st

Please Read and Review.

Chapter Eight: Ancestry and Hogwarts

A bright red and gold phoenix watched with curiosity as its evil master slowly and grumpily walked around his office. Fawkes was always fascinated by how easily human's emotions could change and how temperamental they were. Being an ancient being, Fawkes could not change his emotions so quickly. He could express others emotions, but not his own.

Phoenix's were created thousands of years ago, in a massive volcanic explosion. Partially fuelled by magic, the explosion resulted in the birth of phoenixes. Some hundred thousands were born and flew off in all four corners of the globe. The stunning and ancient birds were all solitary, meaning that they never mated. They also happened to be immortal, but could be killed. It was, however, hard to kill a phoenix; one must catch them at their most vulnerable – when they are but a pile of ashes – and destroy them.

Over the thousands of years, the vast majority of phoenixes had perished. Today, only some fifteen hundred remained. Most had been hunted, while a large proportion had perished from being at the wrong place at the wrong time (such as suddenly burning up while flying over the ocean).

While they did not mate, phoenixes could certainly find companionship with other beings. These beings ranged from humans to centaurs. Fawkes knew that some had even bonded with merpeople and had ultimately transformed into water phoenixes. There were other such "hybrids", though they were few and far; there was even a group of phoenixes that had special prowess with wood and magical beings. This group had bonded with the best wand maker in the world; Ollivander. It was, in fact, the secret behind the success of Ollivander.

How phoenixes were such pure creatures was a matter of opinion. Phoenixes themselves knew exactly how. The magic which had fuelled the volcanic eruption, and subsequently, the creation of the species had been entirely divine in its nature. The magic had ensured that no phoenix could bond with an evil wizard.

What this magic had not counted on was that a wizard which try use magic to force a phoenix to do its bidding. That was exactly what one Albus Dumbledore had done with Fawkes. Fawkes had been bonded to a very kind and caring master, one Andrew Longbottom, who had later been killed by Grindlewald. Fawkes had left in grief and had been discovered by this bloody madman. Before the poor phoenix could do anything, the wizard had forced himself into an unnatural bond with the pure creature. The magic had been very powerful if it had been able to overcome the phoenix bond.

Phoenixes could not really be considered birds. That would be insulting to a divine power. Phoenixes were more along the lines of dragons, except with feathers. Their companionship was also different. Phoenixes could actually feel exactly who was meant for them. Their gender was also of little importance, though for all intents and purposes Fawkes was a male.

While they might not be able to mate with anyone, phoenixes could reproduce children, but not with other phoenixes. Such cases were rare, but not unheard of. In fact, one of Fawkes' "friends" had sired with a snowy owl. The granddaughter of this phoenix was the familiar of one of the students at Hogwarts. Ironically, this student was the wizard that felt like the perfect match for Fawkes.

The only thing that Fawkes could do now was be patient and wait for an opportunity to be close to the boy. If he was close enough then Fawkes could be stripped of the dark bonds and join his proper companion. The reason he had not before was because he couldn't feel the wizard before. Something must have happened.

An attribute of phoenixes was that they were smart and sentiment. They could easily understand what humans talked about. The thing that stopped them from talking like that was the lack of proper vocal cords and the abundance of a beak.

Fawkes continued to gaze at the Evilly-Cunning-Self-Centered-Bastardly-Dark-Lord-Pretending-to-be-Light. Another attribute of phoenixes was their love of names, very strange and long names. The Evilly-Cunning-Self-Centered-Bastardly-Dark-Lord-Pretending-to-be-Light was pacing and checking over some documents.

Albus Dumbledore was preparing for the start of term at Hogwarts. There was a lot to do before the Welcoming Feast. Usually September first was spent by the teachers relaxing, unless you were one of the Heads of Houses, in which case you had to check over your student's timetables, the dormitories and other minor things.

The Headmaster was also supposed to be busy, but usually Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, talking to himself, and occasionally the bird, while making plans for the boy and sucking lemon drops. His duties as Head were mostly administrative and Ward-based. He delegated his administrative duties to the Deputy, and the Wards had never really detected any sort of major attack.

Today was different. He had to do all the things that were usually done the day before, but, as it had been a Wizengomat meeting day, there had not really been time. So today was the day for staff meetings and some such.

The first order of business was to appoint an acting Head of Slytherin, as well as informing them that Potions class would be cancelled until a new Potions Master could be found. There was also the matter of checking the Hogwarts Express, which was why Dumbledore was up at six in the morning. He had to get to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters by seven for the three hour inspection.

Before he could do anything however, a familiar snowy-white owl arrived. Dumbledore took the parchment off the bird. The owl hopped over to Fawkes and hooted. Dumbledore meanwhile smiled. Perhaps the boy has decided to return to my welcome open arms? That was not what the letter said.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

The Board of Governors had unanimously supported the appointment of Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black as Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Black was proven innocent at a snap trial yesterday by the Wizengomat.

Professor Black shall be arriving at Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. The Professor has already expressed his desire to set up his classroom and Potions lab on the first floor as he says that "the Dungeons are the most dangerous place to brew Potions and certainly too close to the Slytherin Common Room".

You will find the signatures of all twelve members of the Board of Governors representing nineteen votes (Lord Malfoy was sentenced to death and his seat remains vacant) below. Professor Black also wishes to inform us that he will refuse any appointment as the Head of Slytherin.

The Board also wishes to inform you, Professor Dumbledore that your actions as Headmaster are now under scrutiny and that your actions are being watched. Please do not attempt to overwrite the appointment for reasons such as "he may intimidate students due to his history". The Board has already reviewed this and accepted this appointment.

The Board also wishes to voice its displeasure at your acceptance of the resignation of Professor Remus Black, who is, according to both students and members of staff, the best professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts in more than a decade.

Yours sincerely,
Andrew Grain,
Chairman of the Board of Governors

Below this were twelve flawless signatures, all accepting the letter above. Dumbledore was furious. Other than the signature, the letter seemed to be written by the Potter brat himself! How could he have rounded the entire Board to accept Black as a professor the very evening that Black was freed? It was obviously Potter's doing!

He would show the boy! How dare he come into Dumbledore's domain and shake things up like this. Black was now the Potions Master! How could that happen? He needed to find out more about Potter and draw up some new plans!

With these thoughts running through his mind, Dumbledore raced from the room. Fawkes gave a joyful shrill as he was now able to move around freely without being a so-called "distraction" to the Dumb-One. Hedwig looked at the beautiful phoenix and gave a hoot. Fawkes turned around and phoenix and quarter-phoenix owl began "talking".

Dumbledore was not the only angry wizard in the country that morning. In fact, there was a group of angry wizards who were gathering in a small, cramped office at the Ministry of Magic. Amongst these angry wizards was the probated Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, Pius Thicknesse, who worked in the DMLE, Albert Runcorn, John Dawlish, an auror and a number of other wizards.

Amongst this throng of men was a single woman. Though most would say that calling her a woman was an insult to woman all over the world. Dolores Umbridge was the only witch present, but mattered little. This entire meeting was for those who disagreed with yesterday's actions and who believed in pureblood supremacy. Fudge banged his fist to silence the meeting.

'This meeting is at a start. Now then, where should we begin?' said Fudge.

'The Potter brat!' shouted Umbridge.

'I agree. Potter is the cause of all of this, we must act!' said Thicknesse.

'I agree with you both, but the problem is that this will get out tomorrow,' said Fudge.

'Well stop it then! Tell the Prophet to not print anything!' said Umbridge.

Fudge huffed: 'I can't. I tried to do so yesterday, but the Editor said that they were under new management, and that the new owners would not accept any bribes,' said Fudge.

'Well we'll go to the new owner! Who is it?' asked Umbridge.

'Potter owned thirty-five percent of the paper, but seemed to have bought another thirty, giving him control over it,' said Fudge.

'Then shut it down!' screamed Umbridge, red faced.

'We can't! Not without proper reasons!' said Fudge in an equal tone of voice.

'They're going against us!' Umbridge screamed.

'That doesn't matter! They're reporting the truth, whether we like it or not! The laws are very clear that all news agencies must actually publish the contents of sessions of Wizengomat! Under law, it must be released to the press!' shouted Fudge.

'Where does that leave us?' asked Dawlish.

'We have to get rid of Potter to undo the damage!' said Fudge.

'What about heirs to Potter? If we kill him, won't his power go to the Ministry?' asked Runcorn.

Fudge shook his head. 'If there's no Will, then his titles and such would go somewhere. The problem is, is that with so many titles and fortunes, it would be a massive court battle which would last years. Chances are that he has a Will and has split it already. If his appointment of proxies is anything, then he's giving his fortunes and titles to Longbottom, Bones and Black,' said Fudge.

'Speaking of Bones, what can we do about future trials? We need to get rid of that bitch,' said one of the men.

Umbridge nodded eagerly. Fudge, however, shook his head.

'I'm on probation, meaning that I can't ask the Wizengomat to support my removal of her from office. It also requires sixty-five percent of the vote. Only the Wizengomat, of its own accord, can remove Heads of Department right now,' he said.

'So she's stuck there?' said Dawlish.

Fudge nodded. 'I'm afraid so.'

'Well, brilliant! We have a fourteen year-old boy pulling everyone's strings! Two of the Heads of Department - the most important Departments, by the way – are no-nonsense, law-loving people. We have that muggle-loving Weasley as the newest Head, and the old fool is now under threat! Just perfect!' said Dawlish in outrage.

The others all nodded. They were told to come up with ideas as to how to get rid of Potter and undo the damage. The group disbanded at eight o'clock, leaving for their respective jobs.

Ronald Weasley - oops, sorry, Prewett – was unhappy this morning. He had woken up in his new, uncomfortable, back-breaking bed to his mother's shout of outrage at the newspaper. He had gone to the kitchen to see why she was screaming and had discovered that the world had changed quite a bit overnight. Sirius Black was now free and Snape was gone for sure. Ron wasn't sure where the scales tipped. On one hand, Potter's godfather was free, on another, Snape was gone for sure!

His mother, however, was unhappy at Dumbledore's removal from the Chief Warlock position and was absolutely furious that Potter had somehow gotten onto the Wizengomat with an unspecified number of votes.

'The brat's got even more power now!' she screamed.

Ron left her and went to take a shower and to get ready for the first day of school. Ron had been dreading this for a week now. He would be taunted by everyone, and when the story came out about them, as he was sure it would, he would be outright hated by everyone for "using" Potter. It was unfair! The paper had bought some relief though; Malfoy would probably not be the biggest taunt, given that his father was now dead.

At least Potter would be weak, and he, Ron would be able to beat him to a pulp for stealing his rightful money (in his small mind, Ron believed that he had more than deserved that money). He had no idea that Potter would not be so easy to beat.

At the Burrow, everyone was already up. Bill, Percy, Fred, George and Arthur were all up and having breakfast. They had all sworn that their mother was the best cook in the world, until recently, when both Arthur and Percy had revealed themselves to be extremely proficient in the kitchen. It had been a god-send.

Bill was preparing to send off his brothers, before heading back to the bank for his first day of work since the revelation about some members of their family. Percy was also set to go to work, but after seeing off his brothers, given that the Cabinet had, in fact, taken up Potter's suggestion and had decided today would be a half-day off. Arthur was excited, as the last time he had even seen the Hogwarts Express had been when Charlie had returned from his last year at Hogwarts, which had been Fred and George's first year there.

All five men looked tired and haggard. Arthur had bought out the firewhiskey last night as celebration of his promotion, and had allowed Fred and George a "bit". They were all paying for that, but thankfully, Bill had some hangover potion left over from some previous event.

The talk at the table was about Harry Potter and about the Prophet in front of them. The cover featured a large picture of the recently-freed Sirius Black with his godson Harry Potter. Both were smiling widely and happily. Another article in the paper featured an angry Snape and Malfoy being dragged away from court. Yet another picture was of Dumbledore and Umbridge leaving the court, or rather, in Ymbridge's case, being dragged from court.

Fred and George were ignoring their father and brothers in favour of talking about what they would do about Harry.

'We'll apologies for our families actions and beg for forgiveness,' said George.

'How? Where will we find them?' asked Fred.

'Search the entire train, if we have too!' exclaimed George. 'But we will find him and ask for forgiveness.'

'Okay, but we'll have to phrase it correctly, he is a Lord now, don't you know,' smiled Fred.

'Yes, it looks like our Ickle Harrikins is now playing with the big fish,' said George. Both laughed at their little joke and the others looked at them strangely. George suddenly had a question.

'What about Ron and Ginny?' he asked everyone.

'As I understand it, they'll both be going. I think Dumbledore's personally paying them in the hope of them continuing what they started,' said Arthur. 'On that note, I would ask both of you to keep yourselves in check this year. Something tells me that you've only avoided a bunch of expulsions because Molly was your mother. Now that you've joined Harry and Dumbledore he may try and use a prank as justification for your expulsion.'

'Don't worry, Dad,' smiled Fred.

'Yeah, don't worry,' smiled George.

Bill looked at both of them, with narrowed eyes.

'What do you know?' he asked.

Fred and George looked at each other, grinning mischievously.

'We've read the entire School Charter, including all the rules of the school. We know that we should have been expelled only about three times. We'll not stray to those extremes this year, and if Dumbledore tries to stick it to us, we'll just ask McGonagall. We know that, secretly, she loves our pranks, as does Flitwick,' said George, looking back at his family.

'Yeah, both can't condone it, but we know that they're pretty impressed with the spellwork, as is Sprout and Pomfrey,' said Fred.

'Those two like our use of potions and plants,' smiled George.

'How do the two of you know that?' asked Percy.

'We once "accidently" came across a door that happened to be the door to a small social gathering by them four, as well as Vector and Sinistra, who also like the pranks,' said George.

'Poor Hogwarts, no break at all,' said Bill.

George looked at Bill and turned serious. 'Actually, the Hogwarts Charter supports creativity in its students, apparently Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and even Slytherin enjoyed pranking each other and believed that it was a good outlet for teenagers,' he said.

Bill raised his eyes in surprise. 'That's certainly interesting to know. Why isn't it talked about at school?' he asked.

'Purebloods and Dumbledore,' answered Fred.

'How?' asked Arthur.

'Purebloods are all stuck-up and believe that such activities are beneath them and are for peasants,' said Fred, adopting a posh tone.

'Dumbledore wants to make his life easier and not deal with such activities,' said George. 'He can't actually remove the Charter or change anything, but he can change the curriculum and ban teachers from talking about certain things, such as these rules.'

'Well that's certainly good to know,' said Bill. The others nodded, and went back to breakfast.

At Potter Manor, Sirius, Harry and Hermione were having a late breakfast. It was nine-thirty, and they would be leaving the Manor at ten-fifteen, for a target time of arriving at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at about ten-fifty.

The elves had outdone themselves. All of them had been busy preparing to leave, as Harry had ordered that they would all go work for Hogwarts, while coming back once a week to maintain the Manor. At Hogwarts, they would serve as Hogwarts elves, but would primarily be loyal to Harry, Sirius, and on Harry's orders, Hermione.

Each of them had their own private elf. In a muggle world, they would be somewhat of a valet or maid, but for the three of them they weren't relied upon so heavily. They were generally used to bring a snack, or a comfortable blanket. But bathing and dressing and trivial things like that were more private. None of them were used to having servants on hand like that, and were uncomfortable with it.

The three of them had laughed over the Daily Prophet and were now talking about Hogwarts. Sirius had accepted Harry's suggestion of becoming Potions Master and Harry had made some calls last night to the other members of the Board of Governors. He had informed them that the Board would essentially serve as a judicial and legislative body for Hogwarts, while Harry would be the Executive part, although if Dumbledore was removed then the new Head would become the Executive part of the school, though Harry had given Dumbledore quite a bit of control. The Board had accepted.

The Wizengomat session, however, was different. To an outsider, it may have seemed as if Harry could act as the Government by himself, but this was not the case; he was only able to work within a limit of Laws. He was able to seal and unseal the Wizengomat in accordance with the Charter of the Ministry in his role as Royal Wizard. He was also able to order investigations and remove orders in accordance with the Laws. The order for a Dementor's Kiss on sight for Sirius was illegal in itself, as Sirius had never been convicted.

As for repelling Laws and forcing Death Eaters to reveal themselves, that was all in accordance with four series of Laws; the Ancient Laws, the Old Laws, the Queen's Laws and the Laws of the Wizengomat.

The Ancient Laws were formed a few thousand years before Christ. A group of magical came together and created the Laws with the sole intent of protecting Nature itself and all things that were magical. That meant ensuring magical creatures had rights and could be somewhat represented. The laws were written into the very fabric of magic, and abuse of these Laws resulted in punishment.

House-elf bonds were such an abuse of these Laws, but because an elf lived off of the bond and that the bond was impossible to undo, some leniency was given. The Potters, for example, owned elves, but not because they had forced it before but because they had bought them with the intent of saving them from essential slavery, instead making them into servants.

The Ancient Laws were the basis for all magical users. There was never a written version of the Laws, but because of the nature of the Laws, most magical could feel when they abuse these Laws. The punishment has, generally, been a reproductive one; most pureblood families could produce no more than one or two children, and even then, with great difficulty. These children were also often squibs and relatively weak wizards. Because of this weakness, the pureblood-led government of 1784 outlawed the measure of magical power in witches and wizards, which, up until then, had been conducted once a year for every student at Hogwarts.

The Merlin Scale, as it was called, measured on a scale of 1000. The highest recorded was Merlin himself at 1017 (there was a discrepancy in the scale), while the average for purebloods was 260 and for muggle-borns it was 350. The Scale itself was not outlawed, and some records have been kept. Dumbledore, for example recorded himself as 786, while Voldermort was 819.

The Old Laws were recorded in the Ninth Century, and House Potter actually had some part of it. These laws were designed for the fair treatment of muggle-borns and "lesser" witches and wizards, such as werewolves. It also outlawed all forms of human slave-bonds, which almost destroyed both the magical and muggle world, as sex slavery was one of the most lucrative businesses in Europe.

These laws were punishable by Clan vote. At the time, both the Muggle and Magical World had no sense of countries, but rather lands and clans. Asia was more progressive in that regard, as it had empires. But because there was no real structure of magical government, the Old Laws were intended to be upheld by Clans themselves.

The Queen's Laws, or rather, the Crown's Laws are all the Laws of England. These Laws were created in the twelfth century, and were meant to be upheld by Clans and the muggle Crown itself. At the time, muggles and magical were not differentiated between, and as such, all of them fell under the rule of the Crown.

This setup resulted in the Crown's Laws, which essentially state that witches and wizards will never use magic on muggles in an "evil" way. These laws ultimately led to the Witch Hunts throughout Britain, and also resulted in the Hunts throughout Europe, though none of that happened for another five centuries.

In the fifteenth century, following the example of France, the British Isles formed a Ministry of Magic. This Ministry caused problems for the muggle Crown, as Britain was still divided amongst England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Ultimately, it was decided that the English Crown's Laws would be used, and that all witches and wizards would answer to their respective Crowns, based on their location. This proved a sore point in terms of Hogwarts, which closed for three years while the political mess was sorted.

In 1456, the Ministry of Magic finally resolved the mess and were officially declared a part of the government of then King Henry VI. Two centuries of peace followed, and Magical Britain prospered along with its muggle counter-parts. Under Elizabeth the First, Magical Britain became obsessed with fine china and dressings, and in the seventeenth century, it became obsessed with art, as they visited France.

Travel between countries was highly popular and encouraged, mainly for the purposes of learning what was called Cultural Magic, magic unique to various cultures. At the time, the Magical World was united and enjoyed the best of its neighbors, as well as helping each other out.

The prosperity, the co-operation between magical governments and, most importantly, peaceful living between magical and muggle people ended in 1657. On an unknown night, a group of drunken wizards raided and destroyed a small village in Eastern England. Such things were not uncommon, but in most cases, the wizards, when they sobered up, repaired the damage, and offered compensation in the form of magical help for some time. Such was the norm. But in 1657, this drunken group refused to pay and continued on with such raids. They were later called The Muggle Killers; one could call them a seventeenth century form of Death Eaters.

These Muggle Killers were not limited to Britain. Their actions influenced others on the Continent and in Asia that muggles were lesser beings and should be enslaved. The Killers reigned fear for months unchecked, until the French King declared War.

In 1613, the magical governments of the world came together and formed the International Confederation of Warlocks. It was to be used to try and sentence international magical criminals, as well as forming Laws that had to be followed by all member nations. The fact that Magical Britain, today, ignores some of these Laws annoys many other nations, all of whom are blocked to take action by Albus Dumbledore, the Supreme Mugwump and British Representative to the Confederation.

The fact that the King of France became the first ever muggle ruler to declare War on magical was something that shocked both worlds, but it was quickly followed by other rulers, including the English King. Wizards and witches scrambled about, trying to hide. This movement was mistaken for mobilization of fighters and only escalated hostilities, until 1679, when the real fighting began. This fighting devastated the muggle world, while nearly causing the extinction of the magical world. Hogwarts closed again, this time for a record thirteen years, as student numbers dropped to record lows.

The War really finished in 1685, when almost all of the Witches and Wizards of the World were hiding. All major magical locations, such as Diagon Alley and Hogwarts were Warded from muggles. Ironically, when muggles visited Hogwarts and saw it seemingly ruined, they believed that they had destroyed it.

In 1689, the International Confederation of Warlocks passed the Statute of Secrecy, forever sealing magic from muggles. It was officially enacted in 1692, which, coincidentally, was the year of the Salem Witch Trials. No muggle, other than a direct family member of a muggle-born, could know about magic. It was deemed suicidal.

In 1690, witches and wizards finally walked out of their homes with relative safety. The Ministry had passed hundreds of pieces of regulation that ensured that muggles would never find out about magical. Hogwarts was deemed safe enough to attend and opened its doors for the first time in thirteen years in 1692, with much pomp and circumstance. The number of guests was so large, that the Room of Requirement was used, and became what is described as the single largest room Hogwarts ever accommodated, after the Room of Hidden Things.

The Ministry Laws were finally drafted in 1689 and became law. It was the first and remains the only set of laws that hinder the rights of magical creatures and muggle-borns and elevate the rights of purebloods. It also marked the formation of the Wizengomat, which, at the time, had one hundred and twenty seats. Over time, ascension laws changed and resulted in about forty seats being altogether abolished and many others absorbed. House Potter was the luckiest of all, as marriages resulted in such ascensions.

The Statute of Secrecy was reviewed in 1807 and changed, making it legal to inform the government of the muggle realms. Magical Britain held off until well into the reign of Queen Victoria, where they revealed themselves to the muggle Queen, who, surprisingly, knew about them from other magical. Apparently, the Royal Family had some magical blood.

All of these laws allowed Harry to do what he did the previous day at the Wizengomat session and allowed him to seemingly control the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengomat.

Harry was distracted by a grey eagle owl flying in through the window and landing in front of Sirius. He took the letter from the owl and read it, his face forming a frown.

'What is it?' asked Hermione.

'My cousin,' answered Sirius.

'Which one?' asked Harry.

'Narcissa Malfoy,' he answered. Harry sprayed his drink over Hermione.

'Harry!' she shouted.

'Sorry,' he said. She grumbled something about "mouth" and "juice".

'Malfoy?' Harry nearly shouted, as an elf appeared and handed Hermione a towel.

'Yes, she expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the imprisonment of her husband and has begged for the annulment of her marriage,' said Sirius.

'She wants to leave?' asked Hermione, surprised.

'Most marriages between purebloods are arranged. Cissy was set up with Malfoy. She provided an heir, as expected of her and hasn't let the bastard touch her since. She wants to leave, and as her Head of House, I can annul her marriage,' said Sirius.

'What are you going to do?' asked Harry.

'I'll ask to meet her this Saturday. She says she hates her son, or Death-Eater-in-training, as she calls him and wants out fully,' said Sirius.

Harry nodded, and resumed eating. Hermione also continued on.

After breakfast, the three of them went upstairs to prepare themselves for the runway. Harry and Hermione put on jeans and shirts. With the tan that they had spent thirteen months on, as well as their lean and well-developed bodies, the pair looked like models. Both would drop jaws at the Platform. Harry had, at first, been uncomfortable with the idea of so much attention, but Hermione, surprisingly, had convinced him.

Sirius, meanwhile, dressed in his professional best. His hair had already been cut by one of the elves (who was proficient in hair-dressing) and he was now wearing a tailored suit, making him look very professional.

The three of them gathered their trunks and descended to the entrance hall. The hall was filled with what seemed to be all of the Potter elves. Harry gave them all their orders, and after tears from practically all of them for their "Master", they left with a pop. It seemed that the fact that they were going to work in the same place that Harry was going didn't matter. Only Tanny remained.

'I will see you later, Master Harry!' she said, smiling happily.

'Yes, you will Tanny,' said Harry, smiling.

He, Sirius and Hermione exited the Manor. They heard a loud noise, as if metal was straightening out. Harry knew that this was Tanny sealing the Manor. The three of them walked for ten minutes, before walking beyond the Wards of the Manor. Sirius grabbed a hold of both of them, and they Disapparated.

They appeared in a small side alley. Harry knew that this was about a fifteen-minute walk from Kings Cross Station. After getting rid of the sick feeling from his stomach after the Apparation, the three of them walked through London to Kings Cross. There they went towards Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Walking through the barrier, they went unnoticed at first. But the few stares they got were quickly replaced with the entire station. It seemed that they proved quite popular. A girl came up to them.

'Hi, er, who are you?' she asked. Harry realised she was Katie Bell, one of the Chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Sirius decided to begin the introductions.

'Hello, I'm Lord Sirius Black, your new Potions Master,' he said loudly. A few people's jaws dropped. Katie's eyes widened. A few screams were also heard; obviously not everyone had read the Prophet.

Harry decided to go up next. 'Hello, Katie, nice to see you again,' he said.

'Harry!' she said in shock. A few more people's jaws broke as they recognised the Boy-Who-Lived, who looked better than he ever had; wearing clothes that fit him snugly and without his glasses.

'I think you know who I am, Katie,' said Hermione, rounding them up.

'Hermione!' Katie practically screamed. This time most of the guys broke their jaws, as they recognised the Brightest-Witch-Of-Her-Age. 'Holy Crap, you're hot!' said Katie. Quite a few guys seemed to agree. Harry was able to adopt a poker face, as he was at risk of laughing at some of the obvious bulges in guys' pants. It seemed discretion was left behind when it came to Hermione Granger, although that thought made Harry quite angry, for no obvious reason.

Harry led them through the mass of people. Chatter and normalcy seemed to return to the Platform, this time a bit louder. Harry and Hermione soon spotted a bunch of red-heads, and walked towards them. They soon came across the Weasley's. It seemed five of the six were there. Harry assumed that Charlie was in Romania.

'Hey guys,' said Harry.

Fred and George turned to look at them and dropped his mouth in surprise.

'I warned you,' said Arthur. The twins nodded.

'What did he warn you about?' asked Harry.

'Your hotness levels,' answered Bill, smirking a little. Fred gulped and then got down on one knee, as did George.

'Oh, Your Hotness-' began Fred.

'Your Highness,' whispered George.

'-please accept our most humble apologies for our family and for ourselves,' continued Fred.

'And for failing to protect you from the evil mechanics of our youngest brother and sister,' finished George.

'You're forgiven,' laughed Harry. Both of them grabbed Harry's hand and pretended to plant a kiss.

'Oh, thank you, Your Most Noble and Greatest-' began George.

'-loveliest and sexiest Hotness!' finished Fred.

Harry and Sirius laughed.

'It's good to see you all here,' said Harry.

'Harry, I've officially disowned Molly, Rona and Ginny from our family,' said Arthur.

'Yes, I know, thank you Mr Head-of-Department,' said Harry, smirking a little. Arthur blushed, while his family laughed.

'Get on board all of you,' said Arthur. Fred, George, Harry, Hermione and Sirius all climbed aboard.

'Sirius, where are you going?' asked Arthur cautiously.

Sirius laughed. 'You must not have heard me over there Arthur. I'm now the Potions Master at Hogwarts,' he said.

'That's brilliant!' exclaimed Fred and George.

'Yes, it is. The first thing I'm doing is moving the lab to a ground-floor classroom with windows,' he said.

'Why?' asked several voices.

'It's an utter miracle that no one has died at Hogwarts under Snape and Slughorn. Potions need to be brewed in a place where fumes and combustion aren't dangerous. A dungeon is the last type of place for that,' said Sirius.

'That makes a lot of sense,' said Fred. George nodded.

'Yes, well, I think we should get on already,' said Sirius. The others nodded and continued on to find a compartment. They found an empty one, and were able to claim it as their own. Fred and George decided to join Harry, Hermione and Sirius there.

'So, where's your stuff?' asked George.

'At Hogwarts; I ordered the elves to take it to our rooms there, and to work at Hogwarts for now,' said Harry. Fred and George nodded.

The five of them talked and laughed for another five minutes, before Fred's expression darkened.

'Look who it is,' he said, staring out of the window.

The other four looked through the window and saw one Ronald and Ginerva Prewett on the platform, along with their mother. Molly looked as if she owned the platform, as did Ginny. Ron, however, was looking around nervously, unsure of something.

'He looks nervous,' commented Sirius.

'Good,' answered four voices. He laughed.

Another five minutes later, the Hogwarts Express pulled out of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and set off towards Hogsmeade Station in Scotland.

Half-an-hour into the journey, Fred and George left the compartment claiming they needed to catch up with some friends. When they left, Sirius stood up and closed the door. Sitting back down, he looked over at Harry.

'When we were training, I didn't get much time to tell you about your own family, Harry,' he said, sadly. Harry nodded.

'I think that seven hours is more than enough time to tell you a short summary of the history,' he continued. 'Now then, House Potter is so big, and rich, and powerful, because of its roots and a good deal of good luck along the way.'

'I must be the counter-weight to all that good luck,' muttered Harry. Sirius smiled grimly.

'It seems so,' he said. 'Anyway, Potter House originated from a small Welsh and small English family. Both of these families were close to each other and the two lived in completely different villages. They were, and are considered to be, the clan chiefs of their villages. They happened to be pretty charismatic, which, in those days, was useful. They were also good warriors and as such good for fights. They somehow, I'm not sure how, heard of the Roman Empire and its grandeurs, so they travelled to Eastern England, before traversing the Channel and making their way through Europe. Magic helped, of course, and they arrived in Rome itself. At the time, magical people were not common amongst muggles, and as such, they were very useful and very sought after.'

'The Emperor of Rome heard of these families and invited them for an audience. The families couldn't say no to the Emperor and so they met with him. You could say that had that meeting not happened, both the muggle and Magical world would be very different today, and probably much worse off. The Emperor offered them a lot of gold for their services, and they accepted. Using magic, the Potters helped Ancient Rome to conquer much of Europe. But during the end of Rome, when corruption and greed started to take hold, the Potters fled to their native lands in Britain. There has never been a corrupt Potter, see?'

Harry nodded. Sirius continued: 'Because of the enormous wealth that they had amassed, House Potter began to live a bit more comfortably. When Gringotts first opened in 498, Potter House was one of its very first clients and as such began making a lot of interest on all the gold and jewels that they had barely touched, as the market in Britain was pretty much non-existent for such items.'

'For a few centuries, Potter House lived here and there, helping out where needed, whether in Britain or abroad. Finally, in the eighth century, they managed to help Merlin himself and became allies with him. Potter House became much stronger for that alliance. The two were close, but were never actually interrelated, that is until over a thousand years later, when the direct descendant of Merlin; Lily Evans marries the Scion to House Potter; James Potter.'

'Anyway, House Potter helped Merlin in his explorations and experiments, earning quite a bit of wealth along the way. In the tenth century, Potter House helped the Four Founders to set up Hogwarts; in fact, the land that Hogwarts was built on was originally Potter land. As a result of that alliance, the Potters mixed with some of the Founders children and strengthened Potter House even more.'

'In the eleventh century, House Potter helped William the Conqueror conquer. As such, House Potter became even richer and, this time, politically powerful and also royal, after one of William's great grandchildren married a Potter. Ironically, the Queen is directly descended from a Potter daughter, while you, Harry, are directly descended from a few royals, one from that century, and one from the last century.'

'Moving on, Potter House was all prosperous and glorious for a few more centuries, before helping set up the bloody Ministry in the fifteenth century., and later being one of the biggest influences on the I. C. W. The House also tried to warn other wizards and witches about the dangers of the Muggle Killers, but failed. They actually exploited a loophole in the Statute of Secrecy, and informed practically the entire muggle governance that they were there. Most of the Kings accepted it, as Potter House had always been honest and relatively loyal.'

'During the eighteenth century, Potter House was able to sell a massive amount of the riches it had gotten from the Roman Empire. They fetched very high prices, as buyers from Europe wanted such riches for themselves. Because of that, Potter House became even richer. During the nineteenth century it got into a lot of muggle businesses, providing capital and such. Earlier this century, they helped Boeing – the muggle airplane company – get off its feet. They were able to purchase shares here and there, and became influential in the politics of Magical Britain. Four Ministers have been Potters, including your great, great-grandfather, Lord James Potter. Ironically, the names James, Charles and Charlus are very prevalent in the Potters. Harry is relatively scarce.'

'On the topic of the people themselves, common traits - all of which you have – include black hair, charisma, relatively athletic and smart. Three of those traits were suppressed by your relatives, but now they're there again. Also common amongst Potters is marriage of muggle-borns or half-bloods. Your grandmother, Lady Dorea Potter was the first pureblood since something like 1709 to marry into the Potters. Her original Blackness was well suppressed, I believe.'

'That was seriously a terrible pun, Sirius,' said Harry. Sirius laughed.

'You've got me there, pup,' he said.

The train continued on speeding through the countryside. Sirius continued to tell the tales of various Potters throughout the ages. At around three, Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones entered and praised Harry for his performance at the Wizengomat yesterday, which they had heard about from their respective proxies.

Harry and Hermione also saw Draco Malfoy go past, without even noticing them. Malfoy looked pale and frightened.

'He can no longer run to Daddy,' laughed Sirius. Harry joined in, while Hermione just rolled her eyes.

They also caught a glimpse of Ron and Ginny, both of whom simply passed their compartment without looking in. Ginny looked like she was set on a mission, while Ron just looked like a loser.

'I wonder what Ginny's planning?' said Hermione.

'Nothing good,' said Harry.

When the train started to slow down, Sirius led them to the door out of the carriage. He was a staff member, which meant that he had to quickly get on one of the carriages and get to Hogwarts quickly. When the train stopped, Sirius practically raced out of the train and towards a carriage, with Harry and Hermione right on his heels. They managed to get the very first carriage, which sped off with only the three of them on it.

The carriage took twenty minutes to get to its destination. It rolled up at the front door of Hogwarts, where Professor McGonagall was already standing waiting for them. She saw them and gave a rare smile.

'Ah, Professor Black, Lord Potter and Miss Granger,' she said, 'I see summer was good on the three of you.'

The three of them nodded and assured her that their summer was good. They began walking towards the Great Hall.

'Oh, Lord Potter, don't forget about your exam for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes,' shouted Professor McGonagall at their backs. Harry turned around.

'I won't, Professor,' he answered, and continued on towards the Great Hall. When they entered, they saw that the Hall was decorated as always and that there were three empty seats up on the staff table. Sirius walked towards the table and sat down in one of them, while both Harry and Hermione knew that the seat next to Dumbledore was for Professor McGonagall. The two of them went towards the Gryffindor table, just as more students started to arrive.

'Where's the Defence professor?' asked Harry.

'I don't know, maybe Dumbledore couldn't find one,' answered Hermione.

'Yeah, probably too busy trying to spy on his boy,' said Harry sarcastically. At that moment Harry felt a light presence in his mind. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and sent back a scene of being bitten by a basilisk. He heard, to his satisfaction, a few laughs as Dumbledore apparently fell out of his chair.

When the entire Hall was seated, Professor McGonagall led the very wet and the very shivering first years into the Hall. They bunched up in front of the platform at the front of the hall. She placed the old tattered hat on the stool and, after the Hat had sung its song, called out each first-year one by one, sorting them into their new houses. Harry groaned when he heard the name Dennis Creevey.

At the end of the first-years, Professor McGonagall rolled up her list, but made no move to collect the Hat. Instead she stood there, looking at it. The Hat suddenly cleared its throat and screamed: 'RESORTING!'

Those who knew what this was either dropped their jaws in shock or widened their eyes. The rest – those who didn't know – simply looked around in confusion. Up at the staff table, Dumbledore looked surprised. The hat, however, paid no attention to these reactions and continued on: 'Resorting for Hermione Granger, Frederic Weasley, George Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Prewett, Ginerva Prewett and Harry Potter!'

Dumbledore actually stood up and, with a twinkle in his eye, said: 'Perhaps you're being a bit hasty-'

The Hat interrupted him: 'No, Headmaster. These students must be resorted! Hogwarts herself demands it!'

Dumbledore forced a smile onto his face, but everyone could see he was seething. Harry and Hermione stood up and approached the Hat, along with the other five. The Hat begun: 'Neville Longbottom!'

Neville went up and put the Hat on. It took a minute before shouting: 'Hufflepuff!' The Hufflepuff table slowly applauded, while Professor Sprout seemingly sprung up in joy as one of her best Herbology students was resorted into her house. The Hat continued: 'Frederic Weasley!'

Fred went up and placed the Hat on his head. 'Hufflepuff!' screamed the Hat. Fred went towards the Hufflepuff table. The Hat continued: 'George Weasley!'

George was also sorted into Hufflepuff, before the Hat called: 'Ronald Prewett!'

Ron went up and placed the Hat on his head. The Hat took a moment to decide and screamed: 'SLYTHERIN!'

Silence. Deafening silence filled the Hall at this pronouncement. The Slytherin table looked extremely unhappy that it had gotten the worst student in Hogwarts. Ron was of the same mind. 'How can you put me in with those bloody snakes!' he shouted. The Hat seemed to decline to comment. Professor McGonagall ushered Ron towards the Slytherin table. He stormed off, and sat at the very end, trying to get as far away as possible from his new house-mates, some of whom had very malicious grins. The Hat called Ginny forward.

'Slytherin!' it cried. Ginny didn't look as unhappy as her brother. In fact, she smiled at Harry as she passed him. She probably thought that he would be sorted there as well. The Hat shouted: 'Hermione Granger!'

Hermione walked up, leaving Harry alone. She put the hat on and the Hat deliberated for a few moments before shouting: 'Ravenclaw!'

The Ravenclaw table burst into applause, as some of the students actually stood up. They now had the Brightest-Witch-of-her-Age in their House (the House which many deemed was the one she was supposed to have been sorted into). Professor Flitwick had also stood up, applauding his newest student, even shouting a 'BRAVO', while Professor McGonagall smiled a bit with disappointment. Hermione took the Hat off and went to the Ravenclaw table where she sat down. The Hat looked directly at Harry and shouted: 'Harry Potter!'

As Harry walked up towards the hat, he could feel the entire Hall leaning in a bit closer to hear what House the Boy-Who-Lived would be re-sorted into. Harry placed the Hat on his head.

Ah, finally, Lord Hogwarts, I can sort you into your proper place,' said the Hat in Harry's brain.

Not Slytherin? asked Harry.

No, not Slytherin, you're a Founder's Heir, which gives you your own set of quarters, without any association with a House. You can play Quidditch for any House you choose, and you can choose which House you'll have your classes with, though something tells me it will be that curly-haired witch that I just sorted.

Harry blushed. So how does this work? he asked the hat.

You'll see, the hat said cryptically. It then cleared its throat before announcing to the world: 'FOUNDER'S HEIR!' A bell tolled in the distance and continued to ring. Those who knew what this meant paled slightly, most of all Dumbledore. Most of the students, however, looked on in confusion. Ginny looked angry suddenly.

'Hogwarts, you have an Heir! Test him! Deem him worthy! And let Your students witness The Heir's Test!' shouted the Hat. The students continued to watch on in silence. The bell tolled again, before a golden light seemingly entered the Hall and formed into the shapes of four animals; a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger. They appeared directly in front of their respective House tables, before turning towards Harry and walking to him.

When they reached him, they began circling him, and Harry could hear them chanting. The Hall watched on in wonder as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived was tested. Four ghosts appeared from below the floor; Nearly Headless Nick, the Bloody Baron, the Grey Lady and the Fat Friar. The four of them stood next to their respective houses' animal and began telling Harry and the Hall a small story.

'To determine whether you are worthy of the responsibilities of being the Founder's Heir, you must undertake three tests,' began Nick.

'These tests will determine whether you are worthy of the position,' continued the Bloody Baron.

'Whether you can take the mantle,' continued the Fat Friar.

'And whether you can protect Hogwarts and its students as was deemed worth by my mother; Rowena and my father; Salazar,' finished the Grey Lady.

The Hall gasped in surprise, most of all Ravenclaw itself. No one had known that the Grey Lady was the daughter of Ravenclaw. No one had known that Ravenclaw and Slytherin had been together in any way.

The ghosts stood silent while the animals continued to circle Harry.

'The first test is to see whether you can use the Founder's objects,' began Nick. 'You must call upon Gryffindor's sword…'

'…Slytherin's locket…' the Bloody Baron continued.

'…Hufflepuff's cup…' the Fat Friar picked up.

'…and Ravenclaw's diadem…' finished the Grey Lady.

The Hall leaned forward a bit closer. Other than Gryffindor's sword, no one knew where the other three objects were, especially the diadem. Up at the staff table, Dumbledore had paled even more.

Harry stood up and called: 'I call upon the sword of my ancestor, Godric Gryffindor. I call upon you at this moment of need!' The sword appeared in Harry's outstretched hand.

Harry decided to continue: 'I call upon the cup of my ancestor, Helga Hufflepuff. I call upon you at this time of great feats!' The cup appeared in his outstretched hand and he immediately dropped it.

The cup landed, as Harry took a step away from it. He could feel the darkness protruding from it. Suddenly, the four golden animals hissed at the object, while three of the ghosts stared on in shock. The Grey Lady, however, did not bat an eyelid. She looked at her Lord and said: 'It is dark Milord. I can warn you that my mother's diadem has also been contaminated,' she hissed the word, ' in such a way.'

Harry, still shocked, bowed to her. 'Who has done such a thing?'

The Grey Lady looked back at the Hall full of students. They were all staring at the cup, as it produced an aura of utter evil. Dumbledore was looking on in shock, as what he had feared had indeed come to pass. The Grey Lady turned back to Harry.

'One who was known in these halls as Tom, but who later sought vengeance against a people for the crimes of his father. One who used a monster to terrorize these halls, and then blamed the innocent. One who rounded followers as his charming self covered the darkness underneath him.'

'How can I get rid of the evil?' asked Harry, knowing full well who she was referring to. It seemed some other knew as well. Hermione looked absolutely pale, as did Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Sirius. The Grey Lady looked at him carefully before floating closer. She leaned her head towards his ear.

'Basilisk venom. You know better than I where to find it. Take it - using protection - and coat the cup and diadem. If the locket is also Dark, then open it and throw the venom in. You have a few days for it to go without affecting anyone. But you will have to act quickly. This weekend is best.'

Harry nodded. The Grey Lady floated back and said: 'Call upon the others, but quickly remove themselves from thy person.'

Harry nodded and carefully reached a hand up to his head to snatch the diadem of it. His scar prickled a bit, but he stood steadfast.

'I call upon the diadem of my ancestor, Rowena Ravenclaw. I call upon you at this moment of learning!' The diadem appeared on his head and he snatched it of his head, just as the wards screeched in alarm, alerting the entire Hall of their existence. The diadem dropped onto the floor, where it lay beside the cup. The darkness didn't seem to just double, it seemed to multiple by a factor of ten.

'Tanny!' shouted Harry. The elf appeared before her master and bowed. Harry carefully picked up the cup and diadem and began whispering furiously.

'You are to take these to my quarters. There you will use your magic to seal the influence of the darkness within. You will put it on my table. I will call you in another minute and give you another such object and further instructions,' he said. The pale, wide-eyed, scared-looking elf nodded, trembling slightly. It took the cup and diadem and apparated away with a pop. Harry straightened out and looked back at the ghosts, preparing to bring the last object to its rightful place.

'I call upon the locket of my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. I call upon you in this moment of sentiment!' The locket appeared on Harry's neck, along with a small creature beside Harry. Harry snatched the locket off before looking round at the creature, which turned out to be Sirius' elf Kreacher.

'Kreacher?' Sirius asked in shock. Kreacher rounded on Sirius.

'Kreacher is protecting Master Regulus' locket from thieves!' shouted the elf in his bull-frog voice.

'Tanny!' Harry shouted. Tanny appeared beside Kreacher. Harry leaned down to the two elves.

'Kreacher, I will take the darkness out of this locket, but it is rightfully mine, as the descendant of Salazar Slytherin. You MUST not interfere, do you understand?' Harry said fiercely.

The elf looked at Harry for a moment, expression unreadable, before nodding and popping away. Harry turned to look at Tanny.

'You will do the same thing with this locket that you done with the others. You will then take the next day to prepare a potions kit to take out basilisk venom. I will need it by Saturday. Do you understand?' Harry asked. Tanny nodded, this time with determination. She took the locket and popped away. Harry stood and bowed before the ghosts.

'That unexpected interruption has, for the moment, been dealt with,' Harry said. The ghosts nodded, all looked furious. They approached Harry.

'You have completed your first test and, as such, you have been deemed partially worthy,' said the Fat Friar.

'Your second task is one which you completed about fifteen months again, coincidentally,' said the Grey Lady.

Harry furrowed his brow and the Hall burst into whispers as to how Harry had already completed the test.

'In June of nineteen-ninety-three, you opened the Salazar Slytherin's Chamber to rescue a fellow student, even if she has deceived you now,' said the Bloody Baron. Behind him, Harry could see the Weasley twins sending daggers at their two younger siblings.

The Bloody Baron continued: 'Because you have accessed the Chamber, you have proved that you are indeed Salazar's descendant, while you wielding the Sword of Godric Gryffindor was the proof of your descent from Godric Gryffindor.'

'Your willingness to follow a student you did not know shows your relation to Helga Hufflepuff,' picked up the Grey Lady. 'Whilst the wit and knowledge you used in that Chamber, such as stabbing the dairy, which is, in fact, a dark object just as those three were, proved your family with Rowena Ravenclaw.'

'With that already done, we will move to the third and final task,' said the Fat Friar.

'You must show you are able to control your magic as well as the wards of the castle. You must enchant something and then ward it with Hogwarts. What to enchant you may decide to yourself,' said Nick.

Harry nodded and began thinking furiously, aware that the entire Hall was waiting patiently for this, a miracle given that they were probably all starving. Harry's gaze flickered around, and passed Malfoy.

Wait a minute, I usually protect myself with a shield and attack with some sort of fire, Harry thought, a strange and weird idea forming. Harry turned to look at Snape and pulled up his wand.

'Protego!' shouted Harry, stunning the crowd with his choice of spell. Snape flinched as the shield came out in front of Harry and formed a perfect, rectangular barrier. Waving his wand, Harry shouted: 'Fiendfyre!'

The entire Hall gasped at Harry's choice of spell. The staff moved to pull out their wands and intercept, but the ghosts formed a barrier.

'He is doing an amazing feat of magic,' said the Grey Lady.

'He's gonna burn the castle down!' roared Dumbledore.

Harry shouted: 'Fiendfyre controllis!' and began making elaborate movements with his wand before stabbing it into the air and calling: 'Protego capturis!' The second shield charm hit the first and trapped the few strands of Fiendfyre in between the two shields. The Hall and staff fell silent as they watched Harry muttering a few things under his breath and a red glow encased the piece of art and then disappeared.

What the Hall saw was what seemed to be a pane of glass hanging in mid-air, with strands of fire flickering around in the glass, causing spectacular rifts. Most in the Hall were entranced, watching the flames licker around. Harry guessed that most of them could watch it for hours, but they needed to finish this.

'Tanny!' Harry called for the third time. Tanny appeared again, bowing. 'Tanny, please take this – artwork – to the Entrance Hall and hang it there. Let everyone see it.' Tanny bowed again and popped out of the hall, with the shield and Fiendfyre going along for the ride. Harry turned to face the shocked looks of the staff.

Dumbledore swallowed and said: 'Harry, Fiendfyre is dangerous and unpredictable, it can run rampart. You must allow us to get rid of it.'

Harry held up a hand. 'There's no point for two reasons. First of all, the wards will automatically destroy the Fiendfyre if it miraculously escapes. The second and more important reason is that it is controlled Fiendfyre.'

'That's impossible!' scoffed Dumbledore.

'It is possible for the family members of the creator of the original spell,' Harry said.

Everyone, even Sirius, looked shocked at this. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but Harry got there first.

'I'm sorry, Professor Flitwick, but the specifics of those enchantments of both the shield charm and the Fiendfyre are Potter and Peverell family secrets,' Harry said, lying about the shield part. He had actually created it, but was keeping it quiet for now.

Professor Flitwick nodded his understanding. Harry turned to look at the ghosts. 'Can we move along, the students are hungry and I have to remove the evil from those bloody objects,' he said.

The ghosts nodded and came forwards.

'You succeeded well in your third test. You managed control over the magics and demonstrated a creative and artistic way of using magic. I shall endeavor to see that piece of artwork remain where it is as long as Hogwarts stands,' said the Grey Lady. Harry nodded.

'You have passed the three tests and, as such, we hereby declare you, Harry James Potter, Lord Hogwarts in the domain of Hogwarts!' the ghosts declared as one. A bell tolled in the distance and fireworks exploded overhead on the enchanted Great Hall. The food also appeared and, taking advantage of the moment, Harry bowed to the four ghosts and quickly sneaked off to the Ravenclaw Table, where he sat next to Hermione.

The food seemed to be the best they had ever had at Hogwarts and many other students agreed. There were also a variety of dishes that Hogwarts had never served, but ones which Harry and Hermione had seen and eaten, back at Potter Manor.

'Tanny and the others must have helped them make this and create these new dishes,' said Harry, smirking and trying to avoid the topic of "What the hell just happened".

'Must be a talent of theirs, convincing other elves to experiment,' said Hermione, seeing his attempt to avoid it for now.

They continued to eat the tasty food and, when dessert was served, ate to their hearts content. When all the dishes disappeared and all the plates were cleaned, Harry and Hermione paid attention to Dumbledore, though most students seemed to be more interested in him, Harry.

Dumbledore stood up; Harry noticed that his smile was forced and he seemed to be overcompensating with the eye-twinkling.

'Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have a number of start-of-term notices to inform you about, but must first introduce you to the new staff members,' he said, smiling around at everyone in the Hall. This failed to reassure the student body, as some began snickering, remembering that Dumbledore had been kicked off the Wizengomat.

He seemed to pay no attention to this, as he continued on: 'Your Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is running a bit late, but I'll inform you about him a bit later. However, as you all no doubt know, Professor Snape was arrested and tried last night. He was convicted of being a Death Eater, and as such he can no longer serve as Potions Master. Slytherin House is also missing a Head of House, who will now be Professor Vector, until such time as I can find an appropriate Head of House. However, the new Potions Master for Hogwarts will be the newly-freed and recently-revealed-to-be-innocent Professor Sirius Black!'

The Hall burst into applause as Sirius stood up. There were even cheers from three of the Houses, as he certainly looked better than Snape. Harry heard some of the girls talking about Sirius and smirked. Sirius, who was sitting next to Hagrid, smiled and waved to the Hall. Dumbledore managed to quiet the Hall, before continuing.

'I must also remind you that the Forbidden Forest, as its name suggests, is forbidden. Mr Filch has asked me to remind you that magic is forbidden in the corridors and that there is a list of banned items in his office. I also regret to inform you that the Quidditch Inter-House Cup will not take place this year-'

Shouts of outrage came out at this. Harry didn't pay much heed to this, as he knew that this would happen.

'-this is due to an event that will take up most of the year, and take up much of the teachers time,' said Dumbledore. 'I am happy to announce that after three years of preparation, the Triwizard Tournament will take place at Hogwarts this year.'

'You're JOKING!' chorused the Weasley twins.

'I am not joking, Misters Weasley, though I did hear an interesting one this summer about-' McGonagall coughed at this, '-er, perhaps now is not the time. Where was I? Oh, yes, the Triwizard Tour-'

Dumbledore was interrupted as the door to the Great Hall opened and a man entered. A man like no other that Harry had ever seen. This man was scarred and looked almost like an artist's nightmare. The man seemed to have one normal eye and one electric blue ye which swept the entire Hall. Something told Harry that this eye was magical. The man also seemed to have a wooden leg which clunked each time it hit the ground.

'Ah yes, please welcome your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody,' said Dumbledore cheerfully. He clapped, as did a few others, but most of the Hall remained silent. Harry saw a small group start up a discussion about Moody. Moody managed to get up to the staff table, sitting down and taking out a flask, from which he took a swig.

Dumbledore cleared his throat: 'As I was saying; The Triwizard Tournament. Now then, for those of you who know about, please bear with me as I tell those who don't know about it what it consists of,' and so Dumbledore explained to the majority of the Hall what The Triwizard Tournament was about.

When he finished, he seemed to force a smile upon his face and he panned around the Hall; though his smile faltered a bit when he passed the Ravenclaw House table. He clapped his hands together and announced: 'Now that you are all full, and now that all of the notices have been made, it is time for bed! Off you trot! Mr Potter, please come up here!'

The Hall stood up, and Harry headed towards the staff table. He was thankful that he had sat so close to the end of the table, otherwise he would have to fight through the tide of oncoming students. He reached Dumbledore's chair. Dumbledore was smiling, and Harry smiled back and said, without breaking eye-contact with Dumbledore: 'Professor McGonagall, Flitwick and Black, could you please stay with us?'

Dumbledore's smile faltered and he frowned. 'We do not need to impose on the professors Harry. The nature of our conversation is, a bit – well – private,' he said.

'And I trust the professors,' Harry said, beaming.

'I insist, Harry,' Dumbledore twinkled. Harry felt a probe in his mind. His smile fell off completely.

'Don't you dare try to probe my mind,' he hissed. Dumbledore opened his mouth in shock, but quickly closed it, while the three professors whirled on Dumbledore.

'Albus! How could you? You have absolutely no right!' McGonagall fumed.

'Probing the mind of a minor is a criminal act!' squeaked Flitwick angrily. Sirius just stood there, angrily seething.

Dumbledore smiled and looked at the three of them. 'As Headmaster, I am allowed to probe students mind to see if they are a threat, and to divulge-.' Harry cut him off.

'As Headmaster, you are allowed! But you are certainly not allowed to probe the mind of the Hogwarts Heir!' shouted Harry. Dumbledore opened his mouth, again in shock. Harry wasn't done though: 'And if you've been probing students minds, then tell me why you haven't expelled a number of students, or why, back in second year, you didn't question Ginny Prewett about the blank spaces in her memory? And don't say it wasn't at the forefront of her mind at the time; she was worried the entire year! You could have at least whispered to Professor McGonagall!'

Dumbledore looked slightly defensive. McGonagall, Flitwick and Sirius looked furious. Dumbledore saw that he wouldn't win this argument, so he decided to try another angle: 'Now then Harry, as Founder's Heir, perhaps you should return to your dormitory in Gryffindor Tower and I suggest you hand in those objects that you handed in.? They are particularly evil,' he said pleasantly.

Harry laughed. 'I don't think so, Dumbledore. You're not putting me back in with Ronald Prewett. As Hogwarts Heir, I know that I can claim the Founder's Wing. Hell, even if I weren't Hogwarts Heir, then as Head of an Ancient and Noble House, I would be able to request my own quarters!'

Dumbledore looked frustrated that he wasn't getting his way. 'Harry, surely your small misunderstanding with Ronald-'

He was cut off by a load roar of rage from Harry. 'A SMALL MISUNDERSTANDING? Is that what you call STEALING five thousand Galleons a month for ten years?' asked Harry.

McGonagall and Flitwick looked shocked, and Sirius looked angry. Harry calmed himself, lest his animagus form come out. He closed his eyes, and thought: Happy thoughts, happy place, calmness, imagine Him in a boiling cauldron and then said: 'As Hogwarts Heir, I am independent of all four houses, however, I am able to request a House with which I shall be aligned-'

'Gryffindor,' stated Dumbledore with confidence.

In a cauldron with a few Dementors beside him, thought Harry. 'No, with all due respect to Professor McGonagall, I believe she would slightly overworked being the Head of House of, essentially, two houses, as well as being a professor and Deputy Headmistress. I'd prefer Professor Flitwick and Ravenclaw.' He dared to open his eyes and sighed in relief.

Flitwick was smiling, as was Sirius. McGonagall was also smiling, though a bit more forcefully, as Harry could see some disappointment in her eyes. Dumbledore, meanwhile looked, for the first time, angry.

'Harry, I insist-' he began.

'You will not insist anything, Professor Dumbledore. If you try to change my decision behind my back, I will collect my documentation from Professor McGonagall, and transfer to Beauxbatons. I also insist that you call me Lord Potter, as both the professional student-teacher relationship requires, and as I demand it; only my friends, family or those I deem allies are allowed to use my given name, and you sir, are – perhaps my family, so I'll rephrase that to close family – but certainly not my friend or ally,' Harry said coldly.

Dumbledore looked flustered. 'Har- Lord Potter, please don't bluff your way-'

'I am not bluffing, or which you like to be the one who explains to the Daily Prophet and the Wizarding World, why the first Hogwarts Heir in almost a millennium decided to leave the school itself?!' Harry said hotly.

Dumbledore looked angry again. 'Very well, Lord Potter. There is still the matter of those objects-'

'I shall remove the evil parts of them from them, don't worry about that Professor Dumbledore,' Harry interrupted.

'Harry, you have no idea what you're dealing-' Dumbledore began, only to be cut off by Harry again.

'I know very well that they are three of at least four Hocruxes that Voldermort created,' Harry said.

The professors paled at this, Dumbledore more so. 'How do you know what Hocruxes are Harry?' he all but whispered.

'It's surprising really just how dark some of the Potter family books are,' Harry spat. He calmed down and adopted are rather fearful voice, 'Some give explicit details on some absolutely vile practices and rituals. I also know the ritual that my mother performed on herself, me and my father when I was born. She added to that ritual when she was about to die. Some would call it dark, given how it could be abused, but given my mother's circumstances, they were pretty selfless.'

Dumbledore, McGonagall and Sirius paled. 'Pup, are you telling me the Manor has some Dark books?' asked Sirius.

'Yes, but they're in the Lord's private Library,' Harry sighed. 'And there are specific wards that prevent all but a Lord or Lady to enter or anyone to remove any books from the library.'

Sirius paled a bit more, while Dumbledore seemed to have forgotten the reason they were there. He waved a hand and said: 'Professor Flitwick, please escort Lord Potter to the appropriate quarters. Professor McGonagall, please escort Professor Black to his quarters.'

The four of them nodded, and Professor McGonagall led Sirius through the side door, while Professor Flitwick led Harry out of the Great Hall. Harry slowly followed Flitwick as they made their way through the corridors of Hogwarts. As Harry passed portraits, he noticed that they all bowed to him, as did the suits of armour, and even the stairs seemed to co-operate.

They even came across Peeves, who shocked both Harry and Professor Flitwick by bowing deeply to Harry, and not even making any comment. They finally arrived at an old portrait which looked to simply be a red canvas. Professor Flitwick went up to it and tapped it with his wand. Harry watched as the seemingly-red canvas transformed into a proper portrait. The portrait was of an elderly woman standing in a field of blue flowers. She curtsied to Harry.

'Milord, I am Gwyneth, the guardian of these quarters. In order to become the primary occupant of these quarters, you must cut your palm and put some of your blood on the bottom of my frame,' she said in a clear voice. Harry got a small knife out and did just that. 'Very good, milord. Now you must set a password. As the Charms Master is your designated staff guardian, he must know the password as well.'

Harry thought about a password for a minute, before picking out a good password. 'Jacobus et Lilium' he said. Gwyneth smiled, as did Flitwick.

'Good choice, milord.' She swung open, revealing a very large and comfortable common room. It was smaller than the Gryffindor one, but seemed to be more luxurious. Velvet red sofas and armchairs surrounded a large fireplace. The walls were painted a nice white colour, which probably helped the sun to bathe the room in light during the day. The sun would come through the three windows that were on the far wall; rather two windows, and one French door, which led to a balcony, which, itself had a small table with two chairs.

One of the walls was covered by bookshelves. The wall with the fireplace was covered in weaponry, while the wall with the door was covered by four large paintings. They bowed and informed Harry that they were his personal aides, and could carry messages around the castle and even, potentially, spy within the castle.

Through the door, he came to a large, comfortable bedroom, which also had a large window. It had portraits, but not of people, rather places, such as Paris and Rome, and even Hogwarts in the tenth century. The bedroom also had its own fireplace, bookshelves and a large king-sized four-poster bed. There were no hangings, but the sheets and bedding was red and soft. Two more doors led to a large wardrobe (which had been stocked by his elves) and a large bathroom, with a shower and a separate bath.

Overall, the quarters were comfortable, less so than his quarters at Potter Manor, but Harry suspected that that was so he didn't decide to stay at Hogwarts forever. Professor Flitwick made sure that Harry was happy was fine, and after being reassured fifty times by Harry, he headed off to his own quarters.

He noticed three boxes which seemed to contain the Hocruxes. He placed the three boxes on the mantelpiece and decided to deal with the problem in the weekend. He knew he would have to show them soon to the school to show that the darkness had been removed.

Harry decided that he needed to freshen up, and so he went and took a nice long shower, saving the bath for another day. He put on a pair of boxers and lay between the covers of his bed. He could hear the rain pounding furiously against his window. He heard a roll of thunder descend. Slowly, he drifted off…

…before being woken up by some sort of scratching noise. It sounded like chalk on a blackboard, and seemed to come from his window. He slowly got out of bed, thankful that there was a deep, thick carpet instead of bare wooden floor like the boys dormitories in Gryffindor Tower. He picked up his wand and crept towards the window. He opened the curtain, just as a flash of lightning illuminated the figure outside. He sighed in relief and quickly opened the window.

'Get in! What are you doing out there in this weather? You could have flown off course!' he shouted at the figure that had flown into his bedroom. He turned on the lamps and looked at the erratically-flying bird. He swore and went towards it.

'Get down here, now!' he commanded. The bird seemed to listen as it flown down and landed on Harry's bedpost. The poor snowy-white owl was shivering and wet. Harry decided to take pity and went towards the owl, patting its head.

'What were you thinking, Hedwig? I thought you were a smart owl?' asked Harry. Hedwig hooted angrily and pierced Harry with a stern look. Harry laughed. 'I know, I know, you wanted to see me today. Well, here I am! And this is my bedroom! What do you think?'

Hedwig hooted once again and flew towards something Harry hadn't noticed before; a perch, not unlike the one on which the Headmaster's phoenix sat. Hedwig perched on top of it and Harry walked towards her, brandishing his wand.

'Let me warm you up, Hedwig. God knows it's freezing out there, as well as wet,' he said, and started casting a few heating and drying spells. Within a minute, the snowy-white owl looked as fit as rain.

'Next time you do something like that, warn me, Ok?' Harry said, looking into the owls amber eyes.

Very well, replied Hedwig in his thoughts. She didn't usually talk to him, as he understood most of her gazes and could generally feel her emotions, and so, he didn't really need to talk to her. But occasionally, the intelligent owl would converse with him. He knew that she had read a number of books in the Potter Library. Apparently, one of the elves had taken a liking to her, and, more importantly, she to the elf. Owl and elf had came up with a system where the elf would hold the book for the owl, while said owl read. When the owl required the next page, she would hoot, and the elf would turn the page.

'I'm off to bed; tomorrows the first proper day of school,' said Harry, walking back to his bed. He climbed back in and turned all of the lamps off, before falling back on the soft, yet firm mattress, and the even softer pillow.

Thank you for heating me, said Hedwig, and I have a message from the phoenix; he wishes to speak with you.

'Fawkes?' Harry questioned. He could feel the affirmative thought in his head, and thought of why the beautiful phoenix would want to speak with him. As sleep overcame him, his thoughts turned from scarlet feathers and golden beaks to brown hair and tanned skin.

There! Another chapter done! They're finally back at Hogwarts, Yay!

Now then, this should have cleared up how Harry was able to do some much in the Wizengomat and Potter Houses history. I know it didn't discuss how the Queen fits in, or how all those other families fit into Potter House, but those are stories for another time.

I considered resorting the three Gryffindor chasers; Angelina, Alicia and Katie, but decided against it. They're awesome, but they should stay in Gryffindor.

I know that some of the stuff (Harry learnt of Hocruxes) seemed to have come out of nowhere, but when I'd actually done this at first, the whole "three tests" thing wasn't there. This gives me some more to work with and I hope you but the quick explanations for how he knew of this.

Now then, Moody/Crouch is still here, but he won't last the whole year, neither will Dumbledore (far too many trials, but I'll tell you more later). The next chapter focuses on their first week (or few) back. It also has a little bit about the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengomat.

So, how did you like this chapter? Leave your thought and comments in the form of beautiful reviews and spread the word! Also 5 points to someone who can guess what Jacobus and Lilium means!

Thanks,
SeekerGranger

SeekerGranger (Alex Knight) 11.26.13