Time passed so fast, almost like a blur, to the point where Harry needed to rewind it in his mind. He was pretty sure that he lost more than a few moments of his life, which was not a good thing. The Dementors arrived and several members of his compartment reacted badly.
Neville, who had been one compartment over, also reacted quite badly. Ron appeared to not have the best reaction, but thankfully he did not hit his head and injure himself any further. The twins were quick enough to cushion his fall. As Ginny rightfully remarked, there was not that many brain cells left for Ron to spare. That much was for sure. The red haired girl thought about everything that happened in the Chamber and Harry sensed that she was having a bad time of it.
Thankfully they were saved.
"No one here is hiding Sirius Black underneath their cloaks!"
'No, just as a dog,' Harry thought, seeing Voldemort arrive in his memories, killing his father, blasting his mother into a coma. The heat vision actually was a good moment, which made Harry skeptical as to why the Dementors made him relieve it. Surely they had to make a person relieve their absolute worst memories.
Harry noticed something far more unsettling then the Dementors. Namely the mustache on this man, and while he's seen some rather suspect mustaches in his time, and Aunt Marge had a hell of a mustache, this one made Harry think that this particular individual should be accompanied by porno music every time he walked into the room. He would have fit into some kind of seventies lounge setting, just chilling, with his mustache, in a jumpsuit with way too much chest chair, and surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke.
Harry shook his head, being exposed to Dementors made him think some weird things. After all a wise man once said never judge another man by their facial hair.
Okay, maybe no one said that, but they would have said it, if they would have thought about it. Although another wise man might have said to never judge another man by his pornstache. Harry was rather shaken, grabbing his head and trying to remain rather calm even after those terrors ran off. Ginny leaned back on the chair, eyes widened, and there was no reason why. Astoria and Hermione were affected about as much as Harry but Daphne was looking at Harry.
"What happened?" Harry asked as he tried to return himself back to normal, he never had a reaction that weird.
Daphne bit her lip before letting him know. "You um you blacked out, sorry."
'Well fuck,' Harry thought, he felt annoyed at the weakness he exhibited, but thankfully, it was around people who hopefully would not spread the word.
There was a loud smashing sound and Harry saw that the man with the really unsettling pornstache began to break up a large chocolate bar. There was a moment where Harry paused, there was something familiar about him, like he encountered him before, when he was extremely young.
The wizard shuddered a little bit, that did not sound as nearly unsettling as it did in his head, but never the less, the wizard waited for him to pass chocolate around.
"Eat, this will help," porn mustache man stated and Harry nodded, sure enough chocolate was a remedy for those Dementors. The wizard watched him.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, casting a few scanning spells to make sure the chocolate was not drugged or anything. Better to be safe than sorry, especially when someone had a pornstache this unsettling.
"Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Lupin responded as he watched them, making sure they ate the chocolate.
"So Professor Tonks isn't coming back," Hermione stated, but Harry shook his head.
"One year, remember," Harry whispered to her, taking the chocolate and the others followed his lead.
Lupin moved off for a moment to no doubt check to make sure anyone else was not affected by the Dementors.
Amelia Bones was normally a fair woman, who tried not to lose her temper but there were instances where she tended to have that very virtue tested by the very idiots that ran the Ministry. Today was one of those times where her patience was tested one hundred percent. The witch ran over the scenario that happened in her mind, and she had her misgivings about sending those foul things to guard a school full of children, especially one of them being her niece.
Fudge and Umbridge countered her attempt to get the Dementors removed, with Lucius Malfoy offering his two knuts to the situation. Despite what happened last year, Lucius came out of the entire Chamber of Secrets incident smelling like a rose. And his cronies in the Ministry followed him, with Fudge being a high class one. As for Umbridge, well she always latched herself to the most powerful wagon.
No one liked Umbridge, but she had that unfortunate characteristic of popping up around every corner and exerting her authority. It was extremely unsettling for Amelia but it was the way things worked at the Ministry. The woman took a moment to consider everything, and stood next to the young Auror next to her. The daughter of Andromeda, someone that Amelia considered to be a close friend and one of her few allies.
"Auror Tonks, make sure you continue to get as much information as you can," Amelia stated in her sharp voice and Tonks nodded, striding towards the scene but careful not to stay too close. The Dementors were at the edge of Hogsmeade, waiting to be deployed at the entrances. She waited patiently for Tonks to return and about ten minutes later, she did.
"An entire train load of students, most of them pretty shaken up, and Lupin has given me the report," Tonks reported to her and Amelia inclined her head. "Harry Potter blacked out for a moment. He is on his way up to the school, so do you want me to check up on him?"
"Yes, I will come with you, its best if I brief him in person," Amelia stated briskly, the thirty six year old woman walking with Tonks. She could not believe Fudge thought it was a good idea to keep someone in the dark. Dumbledore naturally agreed. Amelia thought that Dumbledore should have stepped down fifteen years ago, he was coasting by on reputation more than anything these days.
Tonks walked forward, seeking out Harry in the crowd. He edged forward and she greeted him.
"Hey, Harry," Tonks stated in an excited voice as she reached forward to hug Harry, but he pulled her into a long kiss. The Auror thought that she should try and be a bit more professional, but really she did not care all that much. "So….I'm here, to guard your body."
"Oh, you are, aren't you?" Harry asked with a wink, and Tonks smiled as she grabbed him by the hand. He halted her for a moment and stopped the brunette bookworm before him. "Hermione, could you do me a favor and make sure Amanda and Emily get up to the school alright?"
Hermione nodded, Harry warned her that those two could be a handful but somehow she felt that hanging around with Harry for almost two years made her able to handle anything. Ginny saw Ron walking up to the school, looking a little bit punch drunk but Harry mouthed "later" and "keep the rat in your sight." She nodded and set a determined expression on her face.
"Dementors on the train, Harry," Tonks whispered and Harry stared at her.
"Professor Pornstache told you," Harry remarked in a tense voice and Tonks responded with a brief nod. Harry sighed. "Just as well I guess, that's a weakness I endeavor to correct."
He was not going to moan about being weak but rather he was going to do something about it.
"Harry, don't worry about it, most people wet themselves around Dementors," Tonks told him in a quiet voice but the careful expression on Harry's face told her that now was not the time. She amended hastily. "And I know you're not most people…."
"No, I'm not," Harry remarked as Tonks walked with him. "So, Bones wants to see me?"
"Yes, she is going to debrief you on what the security situation is," Tonks stated, and she lead Harry by his hand. If Harry had to have security detail, he supposed that he could do far worse than a hot Metamorphmagus female. "Madam Bones, I told you I could get him in one piece."
"I knew you would, Auror Tonks," Amelia answered, before she turned properly to face Harry. "Mr. Potter, I am Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Pleased to meet you,' Harry responded, shaking the hand one of the few competent politicians in the Ministry or as Andromeda said, a flower within the dragon dung. "I heard about the Sirius Black situation. From what I could find out, he was one of Voldemort's most dangerous Death Eaters."
Amelia offered a courtesy flinch, not because she feared the name, but because she had been near people who flinched so much when they heard the name, it was a reflex action.
"It goes deeper than that, allegedly, he betrayed your parents and sold them out to Voldemort, before he killed the thirteen people," Amelia stated but Harry caught onto the skepticism in her own words. "That falls into the term of common knowledge, but the only official Ministry record is a transcript that indicates Dumbledore gave Bartemius Crouch his word that Black was the secret keeper."
"Andromeda told me there was no trial," Harry answered, before Amelia shook her head.
"No record that I've been able to find," Amelia confirmed in a brisk tone of voice, the more and more she looked into this entire business, the more she did not like. The woman felt a certain amount of suspicion with what the Ministry did and how they're handling this entire Black fiasco. "I think that you are correct to be suspicious about that."
"And Pettigrew….they never found a body," Harry commented, trying to plant a certain seed in Amelia's mind. Sure enough, she followed his train of thought quite nicely.
"That is another part of the investigation that I'm trying to determine," Amelia answered, racking over the situation in her mind.
There were certain fundamental flaws about the situation that really stuck out to Amelia, for one the bodies that were found were intact. Granted, that was only a minor part of the investigation. The lack of knowledge of what type of spell Black used also vexed her. A simple blasting spell would not have accounted for the way that Pettigrew's body was destroyed.
Which made Amelia even more suspicious and also realized that there were a lot of incompetence in the Auror Department back in the day, but she endeavored to correct that.
"I will investigate the matter but your concerns do merit consideration," Amelia remarked carefully, taking a moment to think things over.
Something was not right about this entire situation but what was not right, she'd figure it out in due time. She took a few notes and continued to investigate.
"You seem to be in optimal health for someone who has encountered Dementors," Amelia answered, but Harry paused for a second, before he nodded.
"They do affect everyone quite badly," Harry remarked, more of a statement than a question and Amelia inclined her head with a brief nod that much was for certain.
"Yes, they are feared for a reason," she agreed before snapping into a more business like mode. "I will leave you in the rather capable hands of Auror Tonks, until Black is apprehended and the Dementors can be recalled back to Azkaban."
Amelia wondered when that would be, although she suspected mounds of red tape to get in her way.
"Thank you for your time," Harry responded as he gave Amelia a firm hand shake and a light kiss on the hand.
She was caught off guard by his action. Granted, it was traditional for pureblood society, even if it was fake and artificial as many other things about it. This action seemed sincere and she could not help but feel a pleasurable tingle fill her body.
"It was no problem at all, Mr. Potter," Amelia stated, closing her eyes. He was a young man of immense power, not to be rendered catatonic by the Dementors. Especially given the fact that there was a strong likelihood that those worst memories were that of his parents dying; these were memories that Amelia that did not envy anyone from having to experience.
Harry inclined his head with a brief nod, and turned towards Tonks.
"Is it time yet?" Tonks whispered to Harry and Harry turned to her.
"Ginny is keeping the rodent in sight," Harry answered her and Tonks turned her head around, smiling for a little bit.
"Well you have Ron tracked, but what about Pettigrew?" Tonks asked and Harry's eyes flashed with mirth, as the two head up to the school.
As it turned out, the Sorting was wrapping up, just in time. Harry was not sad to miss the school song, and he saw Ron at the edge of the table. He noticed that Amanda and Emily found their homes at the Gryffindor table. Although he suspected that both of them could have done well in all four of the houses; they had the same traits as Harry that would land them in the Gryffindor house.
He eyed Ginny and they needed to play their role.
"He still thinks he's your friend," Neville whispered to Harry, as both of them noticed Ron trying to catch their eye.
"Of course he does, never was the brightest bulb in the box, and that was before all of the head trauma," Harry answered but Hermione shook her head.
"I don't think you could do much damage with someone was that far gone but…maybe we're giving him too little credit," Hermione responded, but that statement came before she watched Ron shovel his food into his mouth, nearly inhaling it. She closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose. "And maybe I'm trying to give him too much credit."
"Just a little?" Ginny asked in a teasing voice before she dropped her voice. "When do you…."
"After dinner, don't want to make his night totally bad," Harry responded as he looked at the young redhead before him.
"He eats like a pig," Amanda whispered to Emily who shook her head and faced her sister with narrowed eyes.
"Why must you be so cruel to pigs?" Emily asked, looking at Ron with disgust.
Ron thought he was something obviously, having a higher opinion of himself than he should but Harry watched him with a certain level of disinterest and a very high amount of distaste. He did note that having Ron choke on his food would make him much easier to take down and get the rat.
The feast was over, as was Dumbledore's announcements, and Harry and Ginny locked eyes.
"Now," she mouthed.
"Now," Harry responded as the two walked over. He decided to get the weasel's attention. "Hey, Ron!"
"Harry, mate good to see you, I mean…it's been a while but…it's going to be a bloody good year at Hogwarts, isn't it?" Ron asked slightly slurring his words. Harry supposed that would be the effect of two concussions. And the Weasleys wouldn't be able to afford the proper treatment for Ron.
"Ron, I need your rat," Harry said without any preamble.
"Rat?" Ron asked, obviously forgetting that he was in the possession of a pet rat.
"Yes, Ron, you know furry, four legs, a toe missing, marginally better hygiene than you," Ginny prompted, waving her hands, rolling her eyes, and clicking her tongue rather impatiently.
"Oh you want…"
Ginny thought Ron was being too slow on the uptake, so she aimed for the fences and knocked Ron for a loop with one huge rocketbuster of a punch to the face. She hexed him one more time to make sure and Harry subdued the rat before it could make its escape.
"I could have gotten it from him without violence, you know," Harry responded but a sweet smile appeared over Ginny's face.
"Oh, I know."
The grin on her face offered a hint of innocence but the hint was the only thing that was in place. They scooped up the rat and offered their nod to Tonks. She knew what to do with him now. Amelia likely had not quite returned to the Ministry yet, she mentioned that she would be in Hogsmeade for the next few days, to ensure that the investigations went off without a hitch.
Rose could not believe it, Pettigrew was in custody and Sirius's name would be cleared. Although how long that would take, she could not even begin to guess. The redhead woman stood in her office, with Harry deciding to check in with her.
"So much could have gone wrong, but it went right," Harry responded, giving his aunt a tight hug. The woman smiled as she relaxed into her nephew's embrace, his muscular arms wrapped around her waist. The two exchanged a triumphant glance through their green eyes. "Although Sirius does have a long way to go before his name is actually cleared. And the Dementors will still be here."
"Amelia and Andromeda will do what they have to do to make sure he gets free and clear," Rose answered, and Harry leaned down, his aunt was a few inches shorter than he was and he planted a light kiss on her forehead.
"Yes, they will but the wheels of justice turn swiftly and slowly," Harry offered as he watched his aunt's reaction and a smile crossed her face. "I hope that…."
"I hope for a lot of things as well," Rose admitted, pressing herself even further to allow her forehead to rest on his chest. "Sirius may have his faults….but no innocent man deserves to be condemned to twelve year's worth of utter hell."
"No they don't," Harry offered, thinking that Sirius remained in rather good spirits despite the bad lot that life dealt him. Of course, Harry did wonder if he was just merely adept at masking a great deal of pain. "I'll see you later, Professor. I've got to check on the twins."
"Tell them I've said hi," Rose responded before Harry gave her a brief kiss, turned around and left, slowly walking. This allowed the newest Hogwarts teacher to busy herself.
Rose decided to get together the lesson plans for the next day, her predecessor left together quite the mine field for her to navigate. She did not relish having to step around each one as she tried to make the course into something worth learning. The red head woman crossed her arms together and continued to move through the lesson plans. To the point where she did not notice the footsteps that echoed behind her but if she did not notice the footsteps, she noticed the crisp voice that echoed over her shoulder.
"Rose, it's been a long time."
Rose winced; she recognized that voice, the creep that he was. The woman saw this oily bastard many times when she was a child, visiting Lily. For a moment, Lily was convinced that he was her friend, until she found out what an obsessive stalker and a creep he was. For all of the faults that James Potter had, that paled in comparison to the waste of human life and rabies infested pile of bat droppings standing next to Rose.
"Professor Snape," Rose answered, knowing that he was one of the reasons why she hid as long as she did.
"Now, there's no need to be so informal to a colleague, Rose," Snape stated in his most silky voice. "I assumed that you were dead after all of these years. Imagine my surprise when I found out you were alive."
"That was a surprise to you, wasn't it?" Rose asked, closing her eyes as she watched Snape, he was not the type of guy to take your eyes off of. "Is there any point to this visit, Snape?"
Snape smiled, and it was a type of smile that made Rose's skin crawl, that was not an endearing and happy smile to say the very least. "Rose, it's a shame what happened to your sister."
"Yes, I'm sure, you wanted her as a trophy," Rose responded as she eyed him with distate. "Word of warning, stay away from the twins."
"If the two Potter girls are troublesome, I'll make sure to correct their behavior," Snape whispered in a low tone a seedy sort of tone dripping from his voice. Rose reached over and prepared to grab her wand but as a duelist she was fair, but a bit out of practice. Lily was far better and Snape would eat her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "And perhaps you should show some respect."
"I don't respect you," Rose countered, feeling Snape up against the desk but she pushed him away.
Snape smiled, standing back for a moment and adjusting his stance, before carefully spinning around on his heel. "You'll find that the doors have locked before I got in here."
Rose slashed her wand at Snape and drew some blood, causing him to back off. The blood splashed from his face and Snape was not deterred, in fact he prepared to go for the kill.
There was no time for him to react with what happened next. There was a blast of light that impacted against his wand arm. The effects of which were absolutely horrifying, one moment his arm was whole and the next thing he knew, most of it was gone. Wand, hand, and forearm all disintegrated in a flash of light and searing heat. All that was left of Snape's right arm was a cauterized stump that ended at what was once his elbow and the smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air. He stared at it shock, before he collapsed to his knees and the greasy Potions master gave a yell of agony.
The alarm on Rose's office went off and Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived, just in time to see Snape on the ground clutching what once was a functional right arm.
"He tried to….he's…."
Before Rose could say what Snape tried to do, he made his way to the Floo in her office.
"St. Mungos!"
Snape knew that if he got treated at Hogwarts, it would get out to the students. He slipped out but the situation with Rose distracted the two instructors for now.
"Rose, are you alright?" Minerva asked gently and in response the red head woman nodded.
"I'm fine," Rose answered swiftly, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in disappointment.
He assumed that most of Snape's darker impulses left him in the past but it appeared that an assumption that was wrong. The Headmaster could tell that he was about to have a very long and potentially unpleasant conversation with his deputy Headmistress later tonight. She went to him with several complaints about Snape and whispers of wrong doings by Slytherins.
Nothing too serious mind you, at least no assault of the sexual variety, at least Dumbledore hoped not, but he began to wonder what was going on underneath his own nose. Lockhart's misdeeds with the memory charms last year opened a very real truth to him. It was like he was starting to lose touch and retirement should be staring him in the face. Not yet, Dumbledore had a few more years, at least five before he could safely retire.
He had a successor thankfully in place although he did have a chuckle at the irony that Voldemort was the one that chose the one that would take Dumbledore's role. The night of Halloween 1981 was when it occurred. Still Dumbledore had a few more affairs that he needed to get squared away before he stepped out of the spotlight and towards the Next Great Adventure.
Of course, as many would tell you, the spotlight was far harder to shake than one might realize.
Rose edged her way down the hallway; she needed to go for a walk to clear her head. She knew in her heart that after her initial attack, Snape could subdue her. Thankfully she was able to hold him off or some long that someone could jump in and save the day.
The redhead woman smiled, she knew who that someone was. His private room was there, and she arrived, with a knock on the door.
Harry answered the door after Rose waited for an instant.
"Rose, come in," Harry stated, seeing that his aunt might not feel secure after what happened tonight. "Tonks is in the next room, she's taking a shower. I was thinking about joining her but seeing as you're here…."
"Thank you Harry," Rose interjected, before she threw her arms around him. Harry returned the hug, his red haired aunt, his hot red haired aunt, pressing her curves against his body. The two fit so naturally into each other's embrace that it was extraordinary.
Harry brushed her hair away from her green eyes, so much like the eyes that belonged to him. The two leaned forward, Rose feeling the tight embrace between the two of them, before the two of them exchanged a tender kiss.
Well the kiss was tender at first but it got passionate rather quickly. Their hands roamed over each other's bodies, with Rose's robes slid off immediately. She wore a blue blouse, a short black skirt, and heels, that were kicked off immediately to reveal the set of stockings that adorned her legs. Harry pulled her into a kiss, deepening it and tipped her back. She wrapped her arms around him along with her legs.
The two rocked back onto the bed and Harry deepened the kiss, planting several on her mouth and then on the side of her neck, sucking on her skin and unbuttoning her blouse to reveal the treasure that rested underneath.
"I have a question," Harry stated out of the blue to Faora who raised an eyebrow before facing him. The three of them, Harry, Kara, and Faora, sat in the dream scape cross legged.
"This is what these sessions are for, to learn everything that you can," Faora responded, grabbing him around the hand, and Kara watched him.
"I have a question regarding my twin sisters, Amanda and Emily," Harry told her and Faora paused. "You said the crystal altered my mother so she was able to give birth to me, to act as the vessel for our father."
"Yes Har-Zod, I understand this would be a concern," Faora replied to him before pausing for mere moments and giving the answer after some thought. "Your mother was altered enough where she would also pass down certain genetic traits of Kryptonians. They would have some of the abilities, although which, I cannot say. This is uncharted waters, and we're dealing with untested science."
Harry allowed that to sink in a little bit, putting a hand to his chin and thinking about it. The little he saw and heard about the twins, they were rather strong witches. To give them powers on top of that, that would make them rather prodigal indeed. Then again, it was useful to have more than a few powers at their disposal.
The wizard kept his eyes on Faora and Kara, the blonde in particular smiling.
"So did you have any new powers develop yet?" Kara asked him and Harry answered with a nod.
"I escaped one of the Weasley twins and their bludgers by flying off my broomstick," Harry informed her and Kara looked excited.
"That's one of the powers I'm looking most forward to using, flight," Kara answered, wishing she could reach forward and grab Harry in a tight hug. But once again, the limitations of the mind scape prevented that. She mentally counted down the moments where she would be able to touch him. Oh she would make up for lost time.
"It is a useful power to get around," Faora stated as she watched him. "The heat vision, the X-Ray vision, the gale force breath, the expanded lung capacity, and the flight, all powers that are amazing and extremely practical."
"Don't forget super speed," Kara added in an excited voice, bouncing up and down. She realized that Harry's eyes were on her, watching her swaying breasts, the material stretched tightly around them. So she gave herself another bounce. An innocent smile spread across her face as she watched Harry watch her and the blonde acted like there was nothing strange about her actions.
"That can be useful," Harry stated, seeing that it helped him in the incident with Snape.
"So, where did Snape run off to?" Faora asked him and Harry shrugged.
"He bolted as soon as the heat got hot, I supposed that he thought he was untouchable," Harry responded.
Kara turned around, eyes locked onto Harry's before she offered him a smile. "And he thought that he could get away with doing what he did. I don't know how."
"He's been untouchable for a long time, he helped Dumbledore and Dumbledore decided to vouch that he's changed, given him a second chance," Harry responded as he watched them.
"You know, Dumbledore's ability to see the best in people can be easily exploited," Kara commented before she shrugged as Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm just saying."
"I know, I know what you're saying," Harry answered her, that was one of Dumbledore's fundamental flaws since the very beginning, but he supposed that could work towards his advantage. "He couldn't have known."
"He's not omniscient," Kara stated with a shrug.
The first week had gone by without that much of a problem, but the Dementors were still there. Until Sirius was found, Tonks would still have to be his bodyguard. Andromeda advised Sirius to wait a little bit before coming forward, because the Ministry might forget to rescind the order to have the Dementors kiss him and then Pettigrew being caught would be irrelevant.
The only word that reached the Daily Prophet so far was that the Ministry had been following new leads in the Sirius Black case, when a fresh batch of evidence presented itself. They left it rather vague other than that point.
All they would have to do is wait and see what happened now.
The Hogwarts rumor mill flew into overdrive with the news of Snape's depature, no one was quite certain what happened, other than the people that were there. Potions classes were stalled the last few days. Snape checked into St. Mungo's briefly in order to get his arm treated, then fled into hiding before the Aurors could capture him there. The damage done to his ego, and reputation was something that was too great for many to comprehend Snape included, and now he was a fugitive from the law
Andromeda personally vowed to get Snape's head on a plate for this and there were hints that the Ministry might look into how legit Snape switching sides was.
Enter the newest Hogwarts teacher, Lucretia Malfoy, who received a late night Floo Call from one Albus Dumbledore. As it turned out, Dumbledore was in a bind. Slughorn refused to return on such short notice unless Dumbledore paid him a boatload of galleons just for showing up, so he needed to get a teacher and find one quick.
So he thought who better to be the teacher than the person who had gotten the highest individual marks in Potions over the past fifteen years at Hogwarts?
She got the job offer and Lucretia was intrigued, milking every single bit that she could about of Dumbledore. She was not about to take this job out of some charity or some obligation, no she wanted to make sure that her services were earned and the Malfoy girl got a pretty hefty salary. If she could get more NEWT level Potions students than Snape turned out that would make her rather sought out by people for private tutoring.
That would indirectly put more gold in her pocket which was never a bad thing. The first group of students was the first years, which was always a challenge. Snape called them dunderheads in the past but it was hard to find fault with a group that did not know the basics. Snape did not have any tact or any patience.
First years, she spent time, detailing the basics of Potion making. It was not in Snape's lesson plans but she did so any way. As far as she was concerned, Snape's lesson plans were a little more than kindling. Over the next few weeks, she would determine how much was known and take steps to correct any flaws. She might have to divide the third to fifth year class groups into different levels, depending on their level of Potions knowledge.
The third year was the easiest group to see who stood out among the path. Hermione, Daphne, and Harry were the top of their year. Harry and Hermione were already meeting with her once a week to check over the advanced work that they were doing to begin with, although they had to sit the classes because of the Board of Governors edict. As much as she loathed to admit it, Draco was fairly decent at Potions, although not was good as he would have liked to present himself. The rest were all across the board although she hoped to get them up to par.
"A shrinking solution is one of the more rudimentary potions that you will make," Lucretia responded as she watched them. "One extra rat tail could be the difference between a good swelling solution or a potentially deadly poison."
Lucretia tapped her fingers on the side of the desk before she pushed herself forward, into another explanation, closing her eyes as she did so.
"The shrinking solution is often utilized to isolate certain swollen body parts in the case of an infection to properly treat them," Lucretia answered as she watched them. "It is highly recommended that you don't use a shrinking solution unless it has been proven to have been created by a certified Potions Master or healer. There have been documented instances regarding people having shrunk themselves or body parts out of existence. And one particular vile case of a jealous wife using a shrinking solution on her husband in a way that it was not meant to be used."
Daphne smiled, as she, Harry, and Neville sat at the table, with Tracey sitting at the table with Bulstrode, Fay Dunbar, and Parvati Patil. That group was the lesser of many evils, even if Millicent Bulstrode was kind of a troll. As it turned out, Millicent was a very friendly troll with a love of cats and classical music, despite her less than appealing personal appearance. No one would ever know.
"So she told that story to us, someone owes me five galleons," Harry whispered to Daphne out of the corner of his mouth.
"Later, " Daphne retorted, she should have known to get in a bet with Harry and the futility of it.
Neville sat, this was the most relaxed he had been at Potions ever. Without Snape being there hovering around him, he was able to focus. Was he a Potion Master in training? Well that might be pushing things a little bit but he was fairly average even if there were things that rattled his confidence. His mother was pretty good at Potions, as Neville was constantly reminded.
He loved his grandmother but he really wished that she had judged him on his own merits and not the merits of his parents. That was something that Harry said and the more that he thought about it, Neville decided that was the truth.
Lucretia walked around, doing her rounds, giving advice to those who needed a little help. It was rather frustrating to see how many gaps they had thanks to Snape. Snape did know a lot about potions but he could not convey knowledge to students in a way that they would understand it. Thus he got frustrated and irritated if they did not understand his higher process of thinking.
Of course, Lucretia wondered if it was because of her physical attractiveness that many of the male students in the class paid attention. Naturally, it did not matter she was taking; the blonde was willing to what steps that she could to get them through their OWLs.
"You've all done adequate enough jobs although half of you need to improve and read the assignment on the board," Lucretia informed the class as she inclined a hand towards the board. "We will resume this lesson next Friday and I hope to see marked improvements. Mr. Potter, a word if you please on the quality of your potion."
She offered a nice and subtle wink that only Harry and maybe Hermione and Daphne caught. It was something that was missed by people who were not in the know. They all filed out, leaving Harry behind with her.
"I've checked your schedule, you have an hour break and very little homework to do," Lucretia responded as she stepped towards him.
"Got it all done last night except for yours."
Lucretia waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it Harry, that work is for people who were struggling with the subject. I know you can master this potion, especially given that you're doing fifth year standard work for me already and a bit of sixth year."
The blonde Malfoy woman shrugged off her robe, to showcase her white blouse that tightened around her sizeable bust. A short black skirt was revealed along with stockings and Harry saw beneath her skirt that she was not wearing any panties. This caused a tightening in his pants and he moved over.
Lucretia felt herself pressed against the blackboard and Harry's lips pressed against her in a hungry kiss. He placed a hand on her thigh, running it up and down, squeezing her from behind and working his hand over her thigh, cupping her ass.
"I think we better improve teacher student relations, Professor," Harry told her and Lucretia nodded, before she bent over the desk in the front of the classroom, hiking her skirt up.
"You know what to do, big boy," she said, wiggling her ass at him enticingly.
Harry pulled his arms around the hot naked woman that straddled his lap. Her face flushed with desire as she met Harry's lips for a passionate kiss. The two of them wrapped their arms and legs around each other, before the two of them looked at each other. There was the definite afterglow of amazing sex.
"If you want to stop by for some private tutoring before next week, you know where to find me," Lucretia told him with a purr, nibbling on his ear.
Harry smiled, he knew that he could come down here in the downtime. It would be just like the summer before his second year all over again. The dark haired wizard smiled.
"How's Vega doing?" Harry asked and Lucretia smiled.
"Going through an intense period of classes at Durmstrang but nothing she can't handle," Lucretia responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "She can't wait to see you at the Christmas holidays."
She leaned forward and gave one more parting kiss, there was barely any time left in the break, but Harry got dressed and moved off to his next class.
"So, I think I got it," Astoria concluded as she sat next to Harry in the library in a hushed tone of voice. They were going over her Defence Homework. "I mean Professor Lupin knows what he's talking about, even if I do miss Professor Tonks."
"I do as well," Harry responded, wrapping an arm around her tightly as she smiled back him. "But….you know about the curse as well as I do."
"Do you think it's really true?" Astoria asked him, having no opinion on it one way or another.
"It is a myth but myths do have some basis in reality," Harry responded as the blonde nodded.
Astoria took a moment, if she ever found out who leaked what happened to Harry on the train, she would slowly kill them. First she would skin them before their very eyes. Then she would burn them in oil. Then she would cut them into pieces and feed them to the owls.
Although she figured that might be cruelty to animals.
Most annoyingly, Malfoy decided to make several snide remarks, from behind a safety net. It seemed like Lucius got wise to the situation and managed to arrange some favors to have some fairly capable sixth and seventh year students to watch dear Draco's back at all times. That made taking him out and teaching him a lesson to be a complete pain.
Harry did seem to not let this bother him but of course in some ways it did.
Katie Bell arrived and whispered into Harry's ear.
"Wood wants me to pass you a message, Quidditch practice is now five times a week, after dinner every day," Katie responded but she paused as she saw Astoria.
"Don't worry, whatever happens in Quidditch isn't relevant to me," Astoria responded with a shrug, although she would become a big fan if Malfoy crash landed and broke his neck. Actually that would be something that she could pleasure herself to.
Astoria knew that there was a way to hurt Malfoy, big time. Of course, the fact that he knew that Harry was fucking his older sister on a regular basis and he could not do anything about it was a rather solid beginning but Astoria was not going to stop at that. She wanted to rip Malfoy's heart out and stomp on it, to make sure that he knew that Harry was superior to him in every single way conceivable.
Astoria and Harry exited the library, where Emily, Amanda, and Ginny all waited outside. Amanda greeted Harry with a tight hug, and he responded by giving her a light kiss on the cheek, which caused her to grow red. Ginny offered a knowing smile. Harry greeted Emily with more of the same.
"Ron was sent to St. Mungos, for the neurological damage that was done to him, but he's being discharged and sent back home," Ginny informed them but Astoria shook her head and frowned.
"Does he even remember how to eat at this point?"
Ginny offered Astoria a smile. "If Ron ever forgets to eat, you might as well pack it in."
"Isn't that the truth?" Amanda concluded, the twenty minutes she knew Ron so far was about twenty more minutes than she wanted to.
"Maybe we could put him in a helmet?" Emily suggest, raising an eyebrow.
"Ron in a helmet, so appropriate for many ways," Ginny answered as she thought about it. Ron tended to get the short end of the stick in many ways due to Molly's obsessive desire to have a girl.
The problem was that magical pregnancy tended to cause havoc on a witch, one could get away with having three children at maximum but most stopped when they had a son. Molly was in the reverse, she stopped at a daughter. Bill and Charlie turned out fairly decent. Percy was a bit of a stuck up idiot but he did have some level of ambition. The twins tended to be ambitious as well, although not in the way Molly would have liked them to be.
Ron on the other end….well he got the short end of the stick. And Molly's bloating from pregnancy did not go away. She used to be fairly attractive but the ravages of having seven children were not a pretty one. For both her physical appearance and her personality, both of them were not good.
"Well, maybe he'll complete his Hogwarts education within the next ten years," Harry responded with a shrug and Ginny hung her head.
"Well maybe he would and maybe he wouldn't complete it, even if he was here the entire time," Ginny responded, throwing her hands up with a sigh. "Not without constant assistance."
"Well his performance the two months here wasn't exactly stellar."
Hermione showed up now, on her way to the library.
"It's closed for the night," Harry responded as Hermione's face fell, like her pet had been killed.
Amanda snickered as she looked at Hermione and the expression on the third years face.
"With our OWLS…."
Astoria placed a hand on Hermione's mouth.
"You're going to get Outstandings on them, even if you take them blind folded," Astoria told her sternly as she held her hand over Hermione's mouth.
"For sure, I would say you need to get laid, but I know better," Amanda added as she watched Harry with a smile.
"Maybe she needs to get tied up and punished," Ginny suggested, waggling her eyebrows as she watched Hermione and her reaction.
Hermione was not going to lie, this was turning her on so much.
"Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to do that, Wood's monopolizing a fair bit of my time," Harry remarked before he got up to his feet and addressed the girls. "Last year for him, late night Quidditch practices, you know how obsessive he is, don't you?"
"Yeah, I heard a rumor," Hermione remarked dryly, shrugging her shoulders for a moment.
"So talk to you all later," Harry answered before he hugged the twins goodbye, and gave Hermione and Ginny a kiss. Astoria grabbed Harry around the waist and attacked his mouth with a hungry kiss.
There was a moment of time where Harry would have been surprised but in reality, he was not too surprised. Astoria took a step back and winked at Harry.
"Just giving you something to consider in the future," Astoria told him, as she watched him for a reaction. After she stood out the door one night and got a front row seat to him and Daphne's latest round of sexcapades, she was horny for his cock.
Harry smiled and grabbed her, before tilting her back and giving her another kiss. This kiss caused Astoria's mind and body to flush, the blonde Slytherin moaning deeply and lustfully into his mouth, closing her eyes as Harry attacked the blonde's mouth with his tongue. The blonde gave a breathy moan before Harry pulled away from her.
"See you all later," Harry concluded as he spun around to head off to Quidditch Practice. Wood might pitch a fit if he was even a second late.
He bumped into a rather stressed out looking Penelope Clearwater. Then again, given that it was NEWT year for her, the fact of matter was that a stressed out seventh year student was not out of the ordinary. Yet, she looked particularly stressed out.
Her expression brightened as she caught a glimpse of Harry.
"Harry!" Penny stated in an excited voice as she hugged her lover tightly. She appreciated the feeling of his hard muscles pressing against her her tightly, just as he appreciated the sensation of her shapely body embracing his.
"Nice to see you Penny," Harry responded in a warm voice, feeling her body against his. "You look rather stressed out, don't you?"
Penny frowned before she watched Harry. "It's just…being head girl is stressful given who my partner is."
"That would be the pompous ponce known as Percy Weasley," Harry said, he could feel her pain, he really did and Penny nodded, feeling a bit of stress fill through her body but Harry increased the pressure of the hug holding her tighter against him, smiling as her body pressed further into his. He tilted her head back and kissed her.
"You'd think that he's been elected to the emperor of everything given the way's he acting," Penny offered, throwing her hands into the air. "And it's not even…it's just Head Boy, we have no real power. Just make sure to police the prefects, that's about it. It might look good when applying to the Ministry but it's nothing of true value."
"More of a status thing," Harry chimed in and Penny nodded her head feverishly.
"And Percy just has to compensate for something," she responded in a careful voice and Harry's face crossed in a smile.
"Tell me more," Harry responded and she smiled, strained a little bit as she did.
"Well it's just that….well he was under the assumption that we were dating and tried to promise me to wait for him, until his career picked up," Penny stated as her eyes rolled a little bit in the back of her head and she offered a scoffing motion. "Him and Ron…they really got the short end of the stick."
Harry nodded, he would not be surprised. Percy did not seem that perceptive all things considered.
"So how is your NEWT year?" Harry asked her, figuring that Wood could blow as many gaskets as he wanted.
"Fine, although studying to be a healer is a consuming job," Penny answered but it was something that she wanted to do. Of course, given what she heard about St. Mungos, she wondered if that was a place that she wanted to work. The place was run by purebloods, many of which treated each other like dirt at the best of times, never mind half-bloods and muggleborns. Magic drove people to being sociopaths more often than any of them would have admitted. "But hey, what is life without a few challenges?"
"Not worth living," Harry answered as he threw his arm around the waist of the older girl. "So, best of luck to you, I got to get down to Quidditch Practice."
"Hey Penny I need to…"
An Asian girl with silky dark hair and dark eyes showed up, before she paused.
"Um hi," the girl remarked in a small voice as she watched Harry.
Harry smiled as she watched him. "Hello."
He suspected that those robes were hiding some tight curves, although he would have to watch her more closely to make sure.
"Harry, this is Cho Chang, Cho this is Harry Potter, I'm helping tutoring Cho in Charms, in exchange for her family giving me a reference to get an internship," Penny responded and Harry nodded.
"Hello Cho…you're the new seeker on Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Harry asked and Cho nodded her head slowly.
"Wood isn't plotting my assassination, is he?" Cho asked, trying to lighten the mood a little bit and Harry smiled a mysterious smile.
"No, not yet," Harry responded as he watched Cho carefully. "Although you have to be a step up from the previous seeker."
"Yeah, he couldn't fly straight," Penny stated with fond remembrance. "And you two didn't get to play against each other last year because of….Quidditch being cancelled."
"It wouldn't have mattered, broken wrist last year," Cho commented and Harry nodded. "But I'm one hundred percent."
"I hope so, I could use a challenge," Harry responded as he eyed her and smiled. "Talk to you both later, I have to get down to the field."
Harry left Cho and Penny to their business, before he slipped off.
Astoria waited in Harry's room patiently, Daphne had been in here so many times and now it was her turn. The nearly thirteen year old blonde Slytherin sat at the edge of the bed, dressed in a green negligee and a barely there pair of green panties, wiggling her bare legs and feet. Sitting at the foot of the bed was a sack, charmed to muffle the noise of the occupant inside. They could see everything but not be seen. They could hear but not be heard. There was also a steady flow of oxygen because Astoria did not wish for her little gift to suffocate on anything but her lord and master's cock.
She knew that Harry took a shower after Quidditch practice, so she waited for him to come out. She smiled, having summoned his clothes and hid them. They were not needed for tonight's endeavor, that much was for sure. The blonde smiled as she patted the bag.
"Soon my pet, you will experience a real man and not some pompous little man bitch who's likely way too into his father anyway," Astoria stated as she trailed her fingers slowly across the bag, slowly.
The shower water stopped running in the other room. Astoria smiled, she would have jumped him in the shower but that was not nearly as much fun as what she had in mind. It was about the element of surprise and the blonde could hardly wait for the fun they were about to have.
Harry stepped out, wrapped in a towel from the waist down. Astoria had to admit, he looked quite delicious from where she was standing. The water rolling off his hardened muscles, off his sculpted physique, it was quite the sight.
"Hello Harry," Astoria remarked in a seductive purr, her eyes batting, blue eyes kept on his body and she licked her lips, sensing what was about to happen. The blonde reached forward and placed her hand on Harry's abdomen, smiling. "Did you have a nice shower?"
"It was pretty good," Harry stated as he looked at the peak of her breasts poking out before him and he placed his hands on her hips. He looked into her deep blue eyes, a smile crossing his face. "So, tonight, that was just a teaser, wasn't it?"
"You better believe it, I've been dreaming of that huge cock of yours for a long time," Astoria responded, running her hands down his body, feeling his muscles and she got wetter the more she touched him.
Harry noticed the bag. "So what's in the bag?"
"It's a surprise," Astoria told him, biting down on her lip and watching Harry with a pouty expression on her lips. "We don't want to let it out too early."
Knowing Astoria, Harry wondered if he even wanted to know what was in the bag.
The sexy young blonde dropped to her knees in front of Harry, preparing to worship her god and give him a night of pleasure he'll never forget. She wanted his cock and there was nothing that would stand in her way.
"Well, you didn't kill her, her heart's still beating," Astoria breathed, before she hooked a collar on Pansy. Harry raised an eyebrow. "You got to keep your pets tagged."
Harry responded as Astoria threw herself over his lap and kissed him heatedly., his little nympho was ready for another round.
The Quidditch game with Hufflepuff, not Slytherin, as Draco Malfoy was a conniving little bastard who faked an injury. Sure the hippogriff attacked him but Draco provoked it and it was a tiny scratch. Nothing that could not be patched up with a little time in the hospital wing but no, he milked that injury for weeks and weeks, to the point where Harry wanted nothing better than to give that tool a real injury, that would make him suffer.
The Ministry was rather slow at recalling the Dementors and thus they decided to show up unannounced at the Quidditch game. Thankfully, Harry descended to the ground before he could crash and make a spectacle out of himself. His Nimbus 2000 broom was not as lucky, having been smashed to bits by a tree. It was unfortunate; Harry was quite fond of the broom.
The good news is that the Firebolt racing company owed him a favor.
"So, I heard about your broom, Harry."
Harry stood outside of Remus Lupin's office that next day, he had called Harry behind after class. Of course, he wondered if he should agree to meet Lupin. Still, mentally scarring facial hair aside, it seemed like he was a nice enough guy.
"No way to salvage it I take it?" Lupin inquired and Harry responded with a swift nod.
The teacher sighed and Harry noticed there was something that resembled guilt. The wizard raised an eyebrow as he watched Lupin.
"They planted the Whomping Willow here shortly before I went to Hogwarts and if anything it has gotten more violent over the years," Lupin answered as he turned to Harry. "Boys used to play a game to try and get near enough to touch the trunk."
'Surely people could not be that stupid,' Harry thought to himself.
"A boy nearly lost an eye and we were forbidden to go near it, but naturally people still tried," Lupin responded.
"Of course they did," Harry responded with a sigh. He hated to say this but he needed this man's help. "So do you think….you've chased off a Dementor on the train, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," Lupin confirmed, knowing where this was going towards. "But that was one Dementor, not countless and…"
"I do not wish to be weak, that is not who I am," Harry said in a fierce voice.
Remus Lupin shuddered, it was like looking into a time warp and seeing Lily Potter stare back at him from years and years ago.
"So do you think that you can help me?" Harry asked him as a smile crossed his face. "Teach me this magic that will allow me to banish the Dementors."
Lupin paused and Harry wondered why he was pausing.
"Unless you don't think you can teach me this magic," Harry amended, making a direct play to take a hit at Lupin's ego.
"It's nothing like that," Lupin stated as he waved his hand. "The magic is beyond most in Hogwarts, or even beyond…"
"I'm beyond most at Hogwarts," Harry countered as he stared at him. "I'm sure you've seen my grades."
"I have, " Lupin agreed as he watched Harry. Your parents would have been proud."
"You act as if you knew my parents," Harry stated, there was something in Lupin's tone that he picked it. "Did you?"
"I did but only at Hogwarts," Lupin remarked a bit evasively, there was still a bit of bitterness in his mind about not being chosen as the Secret Keeper. Over Sirius or apparently Wormtail now but the Ministry was still trying to hash at that point. He needed to remain professional and detached. "But…I suppose that…"
"The Dementors are a threat and they seem to have locked on me twice now," Harry answered with a bold claim, his eyes narrowed in determination. "I don't know if I'll be lucky a third time, without some kind of defense. Surely they're sentient enough to realize that I'm not someone who will go down easily on my own. They were holding back, I could feel it."
Lupin decided to clear his throat, taking a deep breath.
"Very well, I will teach you the Patronus Spell," Lupin responded as he watched Harry. "But not until after the holidays."
"That is inadequate, Professor," Harry argued through narrowed eyes, watching Lupin and trying to gauge his reaction. "I need to learn as soon as possible."
Lupin sighed, he may have looked like James but he had Lily's ability to guilt trip him down to a tee. "Very well, a week from Saturday."
"I'll see you then, Professor," Harry agreed as he spun around, edging off where he had some letters that he had to respond to.
Dear Harry,
Hey, sorry it took me a while to get back to you but school and stuff got in the way. You know how it goes, second year and I'm already about to tear my hair out by the roots. It could be worse but that's what it's like when you make the jump from primary school to high school.
So you did send an owl. Pam was laughing at the look on my face. I thought that you were being facetious. Guess that will teach me a lesson.
There's this dork named Eddie, he thinks he's being clever, stealing people's stuff and leaving riddles to their locations. It's weird, he might get away with it once and in a while. But he has this obsessive compulsion to leave riddles, almost like it's a sickness even. Thankfully he's leaving next year, which is weird because he just transferred in.
My grades are good, thank you very much. Although I got into a scuffle with someone, Alberto Falcone I think the guy's name was. His dad's a high ranking mob boss.
Alleged high ranking mob boss, I should point out. Even though my father claims that he's dirty and he can't be stopped. Falcone's dangerous business.
His son is a bit of a push over. His daughter on the other hand, she's really scary and could kill me. And like twice my size. Thankfully she's taking care of the family business halfway across the country.
For now.
So, anyway other than my discretions, things are going rather good. I hope that they are going well for you. Write back soon and hope to speak to you before too long.
Barbara.
Harry decided to scrawl together a response, etching it on a piece of paper.
Dear Barbara:
To be fair, I did kind of warn you. You just chose to think that I was being facetious.
Well you don't have a dull moment. Me, I have to deal with soul sucking abominations of horror that are out for my livelihood and no, I don't mean the teachers.
Be careful, I know you can handle yourself, but I don't want to have to fly all the way over to Gotham and have to deal with some hit that's put out on you.
Hopefully I'll be able to see you before too long, things have gotten really quiet here. Just lessons and what not but I'm taking the second biggest year of exams here. So I'm kind of tense.
Talk to you soon,
Harry
Harry tapped his fingers on the paper and opened up another letter, this time from Pamela. He looked forward to what she had to say.
Harry,
The look on Barbara's face was so priceless that I wished I snapped a photo of it. Hilarious if I might say so myself.
I can't believe it but this year, talk about tension. The workload has doubled, although I'm sure you're feeling the burn of your own with your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. Although how much more stereotypical magic user could one get? One set of exams spell out to be OWL and one spells out to be NEWT.
I don't think your people are that self-aware, are they?
Everything is working better than I expected here. Miss Gordon got into a scuffle with some scion of a mob boss. Thankfully things got smoothed over. The little snot thought he owned the place because his daddy owns half of Gotham.
Then again, owning Gotham might not be the best thing in the world, given how much of a cesspool this city's turned out to be.
So, just hanging out here, thinking of you. Fuel your little perverted imagination with that in any way you wish to. I hope the harem is turning out nicely for you.
Seriously, I hope to see you soon,
Pamela.
Harry smiled, allowing his perverted imagination to run wild for a second.
Pamela,
Oh come on, I don't have a perverted imagination. Okay, maybe I do, just a tiny bit.
Seriously, what male or female you know doesn't have one?
I've come to the conclusion that they aren't self-aware at all, I mean, surely they must think about how they absurd they look. The pointed hats on the school list being there in the first place floored me. At least broomsticks have some kind of practical use, but what do the hats give you other than looking like a tool?
Just thought of this but those twin terrors are good for something. They gave me a map but not just any map, a map of the school. It marks people and where they are. Whoever made this map was thinking too small time. If I can get the charm work figured out, I can make a map of cities, countries, whatever, and find out what people are doing.
Truly big brother is watching.
So, I'll be getting a new broomstick after the last one got obliterated by the psychotic tree with PMS issues, but that's beside the point. I'm sure you like all plants but this one has a grudge against me.
Hope to talk to you soon.
Harry.
P.S. It's a Collective, not a harem.
The Ministry of Magic was a hub of activity, with Harry, Daphne, and Hermione trapped in the nexus of insanity as waited for the time of the hearing for Sirius Black. They edged their way forward, hoping that they would get a sense of where everyone stood.
"Mother," Daphne remarked with a stoic nod as she watched Anastasia Greengrass striding across the corridors of the Ministry.
"Daphne, it's great to see you and your friends could make it to the Ministry, despite the circumstances," Anastasia remarked as she watched them and Harry's face crossed with a little bit of a smile. "Mr. Potter, it is an honor to meet you again."
"The honor is all mine, Lady Greengrass," Harry responded as he reached forward and took her wrist, before kissing it.
Anastasia watched, her eyes widened a little bit but a smile crossed her face.
"I heard about the Black case, it's really a black mark on the Ministry," Anastasia remarked in a quiet voice.
"It is, really doesn't make it look favorable, especially Fudge," Daphne responded but her mother smiled. "He's denying having anything to do with."
"When Black first escaped, his story was that he courageously led the charge to capture him but now he's trying to deny he ever knew anything about him," Anastasia commented in a light voice.
"The Fudge not knowing anything defense does lend credibility more then him actually doing something," Harry responded as he read through what Fudge did so far as Minister. If nothing else, he set back decades of progress, which was amazing in a world that lacked much of any progress.
Fudge made his way towards them in a jovial state of mind and Harry, Daphne, and Hermione remained stoic, with Anastasia turning around to face the Minister.
"Lady Greengrass," Fudge stated as he caught sight of the group. "And Miss Greengrass as well and….oh my word, it's Harry Potter!"
Harry was not going to lie; he got a chuckle out of the Minister of Magic acting like a gushing fan girl around him. Fudge turned his head trying to look stoic and dignified, even though he failed at it.
"Nasty business with the Dementors, my boy, I don't know what they were thinking," Fudge continued, with all of the tact that was born and bred out of being a career politician.
"I'm sure they thought they were doing the Ministry's will, Minister," Harry responded as he watched them.
"Cornelius, the French Minister has arrived."
Harry's eyes stopped as he heard the sickly sweet voice behind him. Normally he would not be bothered by such a diabetes inducing voice if it was attached to an attractive woman but this voice, oh boy this voice, it sure wasn't attached to anything remotely attractive. Daphne and Hermione watched the woman.
"Of course, Dolores," Fudge stated with a smile as he ambled off.
The toad faced woman walked off, with Harry turning towards Anastasia.
"Do you mind telling me what that was?" Harry asked slowly, disturbed that such an entity existed.
"That is Dolores Umbridge, the senior undersecretary of the Minister of Magic," Anastasia informed him with a smile. "Not many people like her, yet she has a high ranking job."
The wheels spun in Harry's head.
"So if not many people like her….how does she have a job?" Harry asked before a horrifically bad image popped into his head and he waved it off, trying not to think about it. "Actually never mind that."
Daphne winced. "That's something that no one ever wants to think about ever."
"Yes, indeed,' Anastasia remarked as she walked with Harry the rest of the way towards Amelia's office. Daphne and Hermione followed behind them.
"So what do you think of the Ministry, so far?" Daphne asked Hermione.
"It's a mess," Hermione inputted as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Pretty much, yes," Daphne answered as she stepped on the ground, turning her head around. "It's any government in the world that's like this."
Hermione would have to agree, shaking her head and offering a long sign.
"Mr. Potter, it's an honor," Amelia remarked as she watched Harry enter the office. "The trial of Sirius Black is going to happen in three weeks, just before Christmas."
"Why is it taking this long?" Hermione wondered.
"The wheels of this government often turn painfully slow," Daphne chimed in and Amelia responded with a nod.
"Miss Greengrass is correct, the Ministry hasn't even released word to the paper, other than they reopened the investigation," Amelia responded as she threw her head back and sighed. This was fixing to be one huge mess. "Crouch is doing what he can with his remaining political pull to get the trial delayed, because that means he'll be brought up on charges. Dumbledore won't get tacked with anything, due to the fact that he's Dumbledore."
Amelia was not sure how she felt about that.
"Will Crouch get thrown into Azkaban?" Harry questioned her but Amelia shook her head.
"No, he'll get tacked with a huge fine that will drain his bank account," Amelia told him with a long sigh. "But still, they're trying to find a way to get it through. Thankfully Andromeda figured out a way to get around their usual tactics and is keeping both Black and Pettigrew secured. Augusta Longbottom is doing what she can as well and there are a few others in the Ministry. Fudge is playing damage control now and a few others that were around in high positions when Black got throw into Azkaban are sweating."
"And what about the Prophet monopoly?" Harry asked.
"One problem at a time, one problem at a time," Amelia told him with a shrug of her shoulders. She hoped to get that settled but that would be done at the Wizengamot session in the spring.
She needed to maneuver quickly; Fudge was like a cornered dog, if one maneuvered him into the corner too much, he'll lash out.
Amanda panted as she was flung down to the ground, trying to block Harry's spell that he fired towards her.
"You need to keep your eye on the ball, Amanda," Harry remarked to her as he watched his sister scramble to her feet on spaghetti legs.
"Yes, pay attention to the duel more, and the dueling instructor less," Emily stated as she watched Harry, although she could not blame her sister from being slightly side tracked by his presence.
Amanda felt flushed with determination, she had something to prove and she would prove it, Harry was teaching her some of the more advanced spells. At least first through third year exams would be a breeze given what Rose taught her. Harry was more than right; the classes were dumbed down to a snail's pace.
"Remember, becoming reliant on your wand is a fool's error, when you realize that it is a thin piece of wood that can be snapped easily," Harry remarked as he blocked her volley of spells, each of them bouncing off his attack. "Most purebloods would never do it, because it's disrespect to a sacred tradition and an insult of grave proportions."
Harry paused, pivoted, and breathed, before he aimed another attack at Amanda but to her credit, she found a way to neutralize the attack. They were pretty good that extent, they always found away around the situation. Amanda held her own for far longer that she thought she would and that spoke well for her abilities.
"Not too bad, but you have a long way to go," Harry commented, disarming her. She started firing spells back without her wand but while they had a punch, she could have picked her spots better. "Remember to keep moving, never stay stationary. Wand users think they can stand like a lump and throw a shield around them, not realizing that they are more locked in for an attack than ever before."
'Focus, keep moving, pick your spots, got you,' Amanda thought as she tried to trip Harry up but he flipped over onto his feet and stuck the landing. 'Oh come on, that's just showing off, isn't it?'
Emily watched the duel, it was so intense, and Amanda was always a bit stronger than she was with the practical magic. Not that she slouched in that department but it was just that her twin was rather better. Her own strength was in the theoretical. Then again, Amanda was older by a minute and more physically active having played football in primary school, so she did have a bit of a leg up and always would. She watched the battle intently.
Amanda suddenly found herself tied up and suspended from the ceiling, with a smile crossing Harry's face. She shuddered as she realized that now she was in a position where Harry could do anything that he would want to her and she would let him do so.
"Remember, no matter what, never show off," Harry warned her and the red head girl narrowed her eyes, an intense look on her face. He did a pivoting motion in mid-air and fired off three spells disabling the target, whilst doing a somersault and sticking it on his feet. "Unless you can back it up."
"Well said Harry."
Nym popped up, having watched for a short time and she clapped slow and loudly as she edged towards the room. The pink haired Auror kept her motions, walking forward, making her way towards Harry and the twins. Amanda was cut down.
"The pillar of a well done duel is adaptation and the ability to think outside the box," Nym lectured as she watched both of them and the twins nodded, soaking up this knowledge before the Auror got into a dueling stance. She'd be checking out after the holidays, as the order was given to remove the Dementors after the first of the year. Although she did not have to go back to work until the next year and she was getting paid to bodyguard Harry, so she might as well stick around come to think of it.
The job as Harry's bodyguard amounted to having sex with him a few times a week, so Tonks thought that this was perhaps one of the best assignments that she ever got, so it would be all downhill from here.
"So how about it, a little demonstration for these girls?" Tonks asked Harry and Harry smiled back at her. "Maybe they can learn a few pointers. I think I might take you to school."
"You might," Harry agreed, a smile crossing his face as he eyed her with a predatory gaze.
Tonks and Harry circled each other as the twins watched their battle in an excited manner. Nym in particular wanted to test her skills against someone who actually knew his wand from his arse. Given some of the new recruits that she trained with, she figured that if Moody wasn't a hardened alcoholic, he was after dealing with that particular lot. The two of them circled each other, aiming for each other and trying to attack each other.
Both stinging jinxes bounced off of each other and cancelled each other. It was a rudimentary tactic that was used to make sure an opponent's defenses were worn down. Harry went to the left, Tonks swerved to the right, and Nym fired a disarming curse but Harry dodged it.
"Starting with a disarming spell, Dora?" Harry asked as he watched her. "That's so predictable."
Nym threw her hands into the air in defense. "Well sometimes the predictable becomes unpredictable."
"True," Harry agreed as he pivoted around the attack and dodged the spells as she fired them off at a rapid fire barrage.
Some spells deflected, some dodged, some blocked but Harry kept varying his attacks, so Nym had to mix up hers as well in response. Trip jinxes, bone breaking curses, disorientation hexes, the entire gambit of them, she knew that mixing up her attacks was part and parcel for a successful attack. The wizard remained on his feet, kicking things up a notch or twelve.
"And again, and duck and dodge, and spin and twist!" Harry chanted as he cartwheeled out of the way of one of the curses.
"Now he's showing off," Amanda whispered as she sat in the shielded area and Emily nodded her head.
Tonks conjured a desk and then proceed to animate it, stampeding towards Harry but Harry blasted it into pieces, while sending a net towards her. The net wrapped around the body of Tonks and she found herself dropping down to the ground, trying to push her way out of the net, struggling to get her way out.
"That was…."
"Well nice duel, I think," Harry concluded, twirling her wand between his fingers. The point was brought home that he held a wand but he fired spells using the hand that was not containing the wand.
Nym watched him sheepishly before she remarked. "So, best two out of three?"
The twins cackled madly as Harry simply smiled.
"Rejoice for a grave injustice has been undone," Andromeda remarked as she sat down, with Vega, Lucretia, Nym, Daphne, Astoria, and Anastasia looking rather pleased but there was a smile widening on Harry's face. "The Ministry finally declared Sirius free and Pettigrew has been given the Dementor's kiss before his body has been sent through the veil at the Department of Mysteries."
"Now all that we have to do is find Snape," Daphne commented, knowing that slippery fiend was on the run after all that happened.
Harry nodded, Rose and the twins were enjoying a holiday together, but they would stop by and visit tomorrow. Snape was still out there and that was a personal insult to Harry of grave proportions to think that someone like that was still out there, still at large.
"So we've decided to hold a party to celebrate our cousin being let free into society once more," Vega stated with a smile.
"Merlin help us all," Andromeda commented as Anastasia laughed, she knew that Sirius might not have been guilty for murder but he was still a handful never the less.
"Well we were going to throw a party to celebrate him being liberated," Vega remarked, placing her hands on Harry's shoulders and massaging them, before she shamelessly started removing his shirt.
Astoria threw herself over Harry's lap and began to kiss him heatedly.
"But it just so happens that the guest of honor will be spending some time at St. Mungos to make sure that he doesn't have any side effects from being under the tender loving care of the Dementors of Azkaban," Nym added, as she unbuckled Harry's pants.
"But since we were all geared up to celebrate and have a party, we've thought of an alternate plan," Daphne added, as she kissed the side of Harry's neck, pressing her ample bosom against him with the blonde running her hands down his neck.
"Yes, now time for a real celebration," Lucretia stated as she got on her knees beside Nym, with Harry's underwear being pulled down.
Anastasia watched the situation, standing there, she had a few drinks of wine, so her inhibitions were rather low. Plus she was worked up with her job and hadn't any sexual gratification since her husband died.
"Join us, Mum, it's a party," Astoria encouraged them as she pointed at Harry, smiling in her usual impish manner. "Back off girls, let my Mum sample what she's been missing."