Amelia's POV
After Mr. Lupin left, Amelia started making a mental list of who to recruit. She didn't want anything written down, and she had to be careful who she asked. She knew many of her men, and women, were in the pockets of important people. She had no idea what would happen if Fudge or You-Know-Who found out what she was doing. She was still sure that Dumbledore was needed, but the blasted man was in the wind. She might have to go outside of Britain to get the help she needed.
First, she had to get Potter to hear the prophecy, which she only found out about during the questioning of Snape. There might be something in there that would help this investigation, and he was the only one, besides the Dark Lord, who could get it. The You-Know-Who was the last person she wanted to hear the prophecy. Perhaps, she could get Potter to destroy it. So, she wrote him a quick letter, and then started on the huge pile of paperwork on her desk. The sooner she got her desk cleared, the sooner she could start on this latest task. Daunting though it is.
She was almost done when one of her men that had been assigned to Hogwarts came in. She couldn't tell if it was good new or not due to his poker face. He was one of her most trusted men, and she felt that maybe he could be one of the ones she could pull to help with this hunt. Asking him would have to wait until she had a full team together, in her head.
"Shacklebolt, what do you have to report?" she asked, putting her quill down and rubbing her aching hand.
"There's no sign of the Headmaster," the tall man stated, standing at attention. "We tried to infiltrate the castle, but only a few of us could get in. It's like the wards read our intention and then either let us in or left us standing outside. At least three of the officers couldn't get through the gates. This doesn't say anything good about them." He gave her a very concerned look. He always felt that some of his coworkers were on the wrong side of the law, but to have it pointed out so blatantly was shocking. He now knew who he couldn't trust, and who he could. He was very glad the those he had made friends with were on his side, so to speak.
Madam Bones sighed, removed her monocle, rubbed her the bridge of her nose and nodded. "I know, I know. Just… for now don't let those men near the school. Assign them to patrol Diagon Alley. Give me a list of who it was. We really don't know what the wards look for, so I can't just fire them. I'm hoping to… cleanse the department soon." If there was going to be a war soon, she really needed to get the sympathizers out of her department. The last thing she needed was infighting. However, she was hopeful that with the soul piece in her safe, they could stop it before it began. There had to be a way, and with the right knowledge and people it could work. Leaving those that were questionable on staff was risky, but with the Ministry cutting her budget, she had little recourse.
"Yes, ma'am," Kingsley said with a nod.
"Shacklebolt, do you support Dumbledore?" she asked shrewdly. She always liked this Auror. He was strong fast in his belief in the law. She wondered if she could recruit him in the horcrux hunting. He might also be an in to the Headmaster, depending on if he was agreeable.
He had to think about that for a moment. Right now, he was unaffiliated. While, he admired Dumbledore, the man had broken the law and fled, which made Kingsley's view of him less. "I cannot say for sure, ma'am. I am of the opinion that his is wrong to run. However, I was raised that he is a great man, who did great things. I cannot just shuck off that belief," he answered truthfully.
"Very well, I might have an assignment for you. However, it is high security. I need to know that I can rely on the people I give it to. Let's leave that off for the moment. Did anything else of interest happen?" she asked, really hoping not. She just got to the end of her paperwork and was not looking for more.
"The Shrieking Shack seems to have disappeared," he answered carefully, not sure if that was the kind of information she was looking for. However, it was a well-known landmark and he felt it should be noted. While he waited for her response to that, he was thinking about the secret assignment. Could he put his thoughts of Dumbledore aside? It was something he was going to have to ponder.
That bit of information gave her a moment's pause, then her quick mind figured out that it might be where Black was hiding, so he could be close to Potter. That only made sense, seeing as to how he man was still vilified in the public. There were still cries of foul play, paying off officials, and injustice. However, since he was a free man, she waved it away.
"Just keep an eye on the area and make sure that nothing nefarious is going on," she ordered, not telling him her thoughts. Sometimes it was better to let them figure it out for themselves. It made better Aurors.
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a curt nod.
"Thank you, Shacklebolt. That will be all," she stated, dismissing him with a wave.
He gave one more curt nod and then left to go and think over what she said. He wanted to get that assignment, so he was going to have to think hard on where his loyalties laid.
Amelia then went back to her paperwork, determined to finish what little she had left, before she tackled the problem of the horcrux(es). She had just completed the last page when a snowy owl delivered Potters response. She nodded at his agreement to come and listen to the prophecy, jotted down the time, and resumed work. She signed the last page with a flourish. Absolutely ecstatic that she was done, then she frowned at what was next. She looked to her safe, turned back to her desk, and played with her quill. All the while, making a list of people she thought would help.
Earlier, Harry's POV
After Sirius and Harry returned from romping around London, they came back to the Shack. Remus told them what happened at the Ministry, which made Harry thoughtful. They talked for a bit and then the teen went to find his friends.
He found them doing their studying in the Great Hall. So, he took out a book on magical theory and joined them. Other than giving him inquiring looks, they didn't ask, instead they worked on their own papers. He reread the passages in Gryffindor's book that were more like a telling of a story than classwork.
The rest of the gang were finishing their homework. Like Neville, they had fallen behind due to all the excitement of learning new and wonderful magic. They now understood why Harry didn't go to class. However, they didn't have the amnesia as an excuse to stop, which was why they were scribbling away on parchment. Well, not Hermione, she was caught up, but felt that she needed to revise.
A few hours later of silent studying, and the gang completed all they were going to. It was now near dinner, so they just put their books in their bags and waited for the meal. Harry grinned at the part he just read, and when the sound of shutting books filled his ears, he looked up. Seeing his friends putting away their stuff, he followed suit.
"So, Harry, what did you do today?" Hermione asked, but not in a bossy way. Now that she wasn't quite as demanding, she found that she actually learned more from her friends. They talked more around her, without fear of being reprimanded. It was a more comfortable atmosphere. She had to say, she liked it.
"Me and Sirius went to London. He wanted to flirt with women. It was great, we even played hide-and-seek with the bobbies. They were trying to get us back to school. That would've been fun to explain," the dark-haired teen answered with a huge smile. He bounced a bit at the retelling, because it had been fun running from the coppers. They had swerved through alleys, jumped fences, and dodged cars. Harry had to say that the police were very out of shape. He wondered how they caught criminals when a couple of teens could out run them. Oh well, it wasn't his problem.
His bushy-haired friend bit her lip so she didn't scold him. Even though she had gotten over her worship of authority, playing with the constabularies was dangerous. They could have been locked up, or somehow exposed the Wizarding World trying to escape. It was just too risky. Still, she held her piece.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Luna asked, seeing her only female friend fighting with herself. She too was worried that the two pranksters were playing a dangerous game. She didn't know much about Muggle Aurors, but it couldn't be healthy to tease them.
"Not really. We didn't get to do much shopping," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "Sirius was more interested in watching the girls. I swear that man is trying to make up for years of going without, in just the few weeks he's been free. I keep telling him to pace himself, but he doesn't listen." He shook his head and then smiled as dinner appeared on the table.
Everyone grabbed what they liked best, while continuing their conversation.
"I know if I were locked up for that long, I would do the same," Fred stated firmly, sharing a look with his twin. The mere thought of not being around women for that long made them shiver.
"Too right, brother of mine. I'd have to try and bag at least five women a day just to catch up," George said with a very serious nod.
"Can we please talk about something else?" Hermione all but demanded. She really didn't like the way they were discussing women. She knew it was the hormones talking, but really. "Something that doesn't have to do with treating women like sex objects," she huffed, giving them each the evil eye.
"Right," Neville said, searching his mind for something that wasn't as volatile. He wasn't comfortable with the current topic either, and it wasn't polite in mixed company. He may not know much about girls, but his gran did teach him manners.
"Sorry," came from the other three teen males.
"Harry, did you find a way for the diadem to be used?" the little blonde asked quietly as she leaned against her 'friend'. While Harry thought they were too young to be anything more than friends, she was at the budding stages of puberty and wanted him to notice her. She wasn't worried about him regaining his memories, she was of the firm belief that he wasn't going to change much.
The dark-haired teen did notice her, but his reasons were still the same. He gave her a soft smile, kissed her on the top of the head, and then gently sat her up. He wanted to keep his arm over her shoulders like he used to, but that might lead her on, and he didn't want to do that.
"I did, but it needs to be adjusted more. Right now, it'll answer what you ask, but it still tries to give way too much information on the question. That and most of the information is outdated, or irrelevant. So, while it is a great tool, it really can't help much. I'm attempting to add a bit more knowledge and filters to its… well, brain isn't right, database maybe. Like the computers in Star Trek," he said remembering that she had watched the show. He chuckled at the confused looks of the males of their group. "I'll explain later," he told them.
"Okay, Harry. Let me know when it's done, alright? I want to be with you when you give it back to the school," the disappointed girl stated with an overly cheerful smile. Yeah, she understood his reasons for being standoffish, but it still hurt that they weren't as close as they had been.
"I will. I was thinking…" Harry said, only to be interrupted by a large owl landing in front of him. He gave the official looking bird an evil eye and carefully took the letter. After reading the missive, he got contemplative. Noticing the questioning looks on his friends' faces, he just shook his head. "Anyway, I was thinking about giving the school the key to the vault that Sirius set up at the same time. This would help his reputation a lot, and hopefully he can resume his true identity," he finished as he tucked the letter in his TARDIS pocket.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Hermione stated, clapping her hands and bouncing in excitement. She was so very happy that the school would be getting funds that she was sure they needed. She had had doubts about Mr. Black handling the funds, but he did a great job. From what he had told them, the vault was up to over twenty thousand galleons. That was more than enough to fund a scholarship for a few years, and if they invested then it would never run out.
Everyone agreed that that was a great idea, and with that they settled in to talking about schoolwork and other unimportant things. A few glances were thrown around; Harry was making sure they knew to go to the Room when dinner was done. So, that's where they went and after settling in chairs, the gang looked at Harry, making him sigh and take out the letter, which he held in his hands. He twirled it around thinking on how he was going to say what he needed to say. He wanted to disclose more information to them, because if they needed to protect themselves then they needed all the information he had.
"Before I tell you what this says, I need to tell you what happened last night," he started, then gave a short description on the removal of the horcrux. He left out the crews' help, and made it sound like it was all meticulous mind work, which it was, just more detailed.
The gang cringed at the thought that he had had a soul piece of the vile Dark Lord in his head, exchanged looks over Harry turning the ball over to an adult, and then sighed when he finished his rendition.
"This," he started, "is a letter from Bones. She wants me to go to the Ministry and hear the prophecy," he stated, holding up the letter.
"Don't you already know the prophecy?" Neville asked, tilting his head.
"No, I just know there is one, but only vaguely what it says. So, I'll go and hear the whole thing and hopefully it will give me clues on how to defeat Voldemort," Harry sighed, hating that there was something that said he was destined to fight a Dark Lord. Why couldn't the fates just leave him the hell alone. Let someone else deal with wars and such.
"Well, remember you have friends and family to help you. You don't have to do anything alone," Hermione stated, putting her hand on his arm. She had stood by him all this time, she'd be damned if she left him now. No, no matter that they did fight on occasion, he was still her best friend.
"Thanks, Hermione, that means a lot," the green-eyed teen said with a grateful smile. He looked at all the nodding heads and his heart swelled. "Let's get you guys changed into your Animagus forms," he said, clapping his hands together and standing. "Who knows, it might be helpful come later." A shiver ran down his back at those words.
They all agreed and worked until curfew, all but Hermione were able to change. She, however, did get wings and a beak, which made the boys snicker. Until she showed them how painful that beak could be, by pecking the floor at their feet. Other than that, they had a great time, but soon wandered to bed.
Before Harry drifted off, he wrote to Madam Bones and agreed to come the next day to hear the prophecy. Hedwig was there as if she just knew she was needed. After she winged her way out his window, Harry fell in to a heavy sleep, dreaming of what kind of life he would live when his memories were returned. Little did he know they already were.
Data and the crew were slowly feeding all the good memories they could find, which weren't many. Flashes of his time at Hogwarts were showing on the view screen. Happy scenes of Christmas, snowball fights, Quidditch, and just fooling around were there for his subconscious mind to see. He was subliminally learning about his friends, how great they were, and the good things they had been through together. He would relate to them better; he just wouldn't know why. So far it didn't seem to affect his mindscape, which made the crew very happy.
It was a very content teen that woke up the next morning. For some reason, he felt like he was closer to the people he cared about. He didn't even have the deep animosity that he had for the Weasley kid. Though, he still didn't want to be friends with him. Harry got dressed and went down to the common room. He waved at his old teammates and wondered if it were time to get back on the broom. He joined his friends and greeted them all with a smile.
"You're chipper today," Neville commented as they went to pick up Luna.
"I just had a good night's sleep. I think I dreamed about my past, but I don't remember. It's just a feeling," the dark-haired teen said with a shrug. He hugged Luna, put his arm around her shoulder, snagged Hermione and did the same. The girls shared a look but went along with it.
Harry, with his euphoric feels, had a wonderful breakfast. He and the gang were chatting, laughing, and eating in harmony. The boy hero felt that he could connect to them better, like putting on an old warm coat and feeling safe. He marveled at the fact that when he looked at Hermione, he knew that she would stand by his side, no matter how much they fought. When he looked at the twins, he understood that they were family. He didn't really feel any different with Luna and Neville. However, when he looked down the table at Ron, he was washed with many emotions; lost friendship, rage, betrayal, and disappointment. Still there was a lighthearted feeling about him as well. Like looking at a brother that was distant.
Shaking those thoughts aside, he continued talking and joking with his friends, tightening the bonds even further. While he ate his breakfast and bonded with them, he did get a nagging feeling that something would happen soon. He was briefly overwhelmed with the thought that he now had two enemies, if you could count Dumbledore as one, which for some reason panged his hear. He didn't know where that feeling came from, since before he could care less, but now he was more cautious. What he didn't know was that his old paranoia was coming back with his memories.
"We have to get to class," Hermione stated, looking at her watch. She then stood and gathered her things. "Try to behave at the Ministry. Stay safe and take and adult," she suggested calm, in a voice that was trying very hard not to be nagging.
"Yes, we do have to get to class," Luna said, also getting ready. "Please do as Hermione asks and take an adult," she said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.
The gang groaned as they looked at their watches. They had been having fun, like today was different, more nurturing somehow. They all got up and went to the entrance, where they stopped to say goodbye to Harry.
"Don't worry guys, hopefully I'll be back before lunch. I only have to listen to some stupid prophecy. Really, how long would that take?" the dark-haired wizard asked with a huge smile, clapping the boys on the back, and kissing the girls on the forehead.
And with a hail of goodbye's and 'be safes', he turned and made his way out of the castle. He then made himself invisible and went to Sirius and Remus. He needed one of them to tell him how to get to the Ministry. Remus volunteered to take him, since Sirius didn't want to go near the place, even if he was still glamored. Now, Harry could show the werewolf his form of transportation, which the man marveled over the whole way to the Ministry. The two made it to Amelia's office, and were soon escorted in.
"Madam Bones," Remus said, making Harry rein in a snort, which escaped anyway.
He found it funny that this woman as his mind-doctor had the same name. He knew that before, but he hadn't met the doctor until the night before. Now that he had, he couldn't help but compare the two.
When the two adults looked at him, he just waved it away with an apologetic look. "Sorry, inside joke," he said with a sincere look. He really wasn't trying to piss the lady off. No, he wanted to stay on her good side, if she was going to help fight the Dork Idiot.
Amelia harrumphed, and then waved it off as something a teen would do. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, let's go down to the Department of Mysteries and see about this prophecy," she suggested, getting up from her desk and making her way to the door.
"Ah, someone who doesn't beat around the bush, refreshing," Harry commented, making the others look at him for his turn of phrase. Only one other female adult gave it to him straight, and he didn't like her. Mostly because she was in Dumbledore's pocket. He really hoped that this woman didn't turn out to be a disappointment like McGonagall.
The Head of the DMLE led them deeper into the building, through the room of spinning doors and to a large room with many, many globes. Some were shining bright, others were dim, still more were black. It took a while of diligent searching, but they found the globe that had Harry's name on it.
"You have to remove it," Amelia said, waving to the teen.
"Right," the boy in question nodded, and then reached up and grabbed the dusty glass ball. "Now what?" he turned to the woman.
"Break it, don't worry it will reform and return to the shelf when we're done hearing it," she answered with a shrug. She had thought it over, and it wouldn't be pertinent for him to take it. If You-Know-Who came back, this might be a good trap for him. She was already in discussion with the Unspeakables.
So, Harry threw the ball on the floor, and then listened to the airy words. When they were done he scoffed, then laughed. He leaned down with his hands on his knees and tried to regain his breathe. The adults were looking at him like he was crazy. Nothing they just heard warranted laughter. The teen was just plain barmy.
"Harry, this is serious," Remus said, taking the boy's shoulder and standing him up.
"No, that's my godfather," he wheezed out, making him laugh harder.
"Harry, pay attention, you may need this in the future," the werewolf tried again.
"You really believe this bullshit?" the laughing teen gasped, looking at the older man, flabbergasted. He thought Remus was a smart man, well that's what Luna said. He tilted his head and really looked at him. Then he remembered what Neville had said about Wizards putting a lot of faith in prophecies, so he sobered up and gave the two adults his attention. Though, he was still going to try and dissuade them.
"It is in the Hall of Prophecies for a reason," Bones pointed out, not sure what the young man was implying.
"Yeah, but either it has nothing to do with me, hence the question mark by my name, or its already be fulfilled. Hell, it doesn't even say who the Dark Lord is. I mean, there must have been more than one. Or it could be a future one. There are no names, nothing pointing who it's talking about, who his vanquisher will be, or who will win," he stated, looking at the two adults. Even if it was about him, he knew the 'power the Dark Lord knew not' so he wasn't overly worried. "Look, one of my best friends is a seer, so I do get that there are people that can see the future, but this," he pointed at the reformed globe, "doesn't prove anything."
"The globe is still glowing, meaning the prophecy is still in play," Amelia pointed out. Potter was right, there was nothing saying this had anything to do with the current problem. Judging from what she had observed of this boy in her few meetings with him, she was having a few doubts that he was the Wizarding World's savior.
She decided to concentrate on the horcrux(es). She had to find a way to get rid it the one she had and see if there were anymore. She would let the boy hero sort out if this prophecy pertained to him or not.
"Meh," was all Harry could say to that. He knew it was because everyone believed it was him. It was the way of magic. "Look around you, there are thousands of glowing balls. Are they all true, and do they pertain to now?"
The two adults looked around at the glowing ball and had to concede that he had a point.
"Harry, do you really want to take the chance that this is true?" Remus asked, worried that his best friend's son was going to get himself killed. Sure, the kid was powerful, but was he trained enough to fight? No. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had decades of experience. He was very concerned that the boy's ego would be his downfall. Since he lost his memory the teen's confidence bordered on arrogant. He reminded Remus so much of James, that they could be twins. He really missed his friend, but the man had his faults, which Harry seemed to be emulating now.
"I'm not going to let a bunch of vague words rule my life. I'll do what I can to protect myself and my friends, but this, well it's just some rambling that might, or might not, relate to me." He shrugged and walked away. He'd keep this prophecy in mind, but like he said, he wasn't going to let it rule him.
They made their way through the Ministry, each thinking about the words they had just heard. As they walked through the hall, Harry's red alert went off as one of the portraits moved aside. It was a picture of a knight riding a horse.