The Headmaster arrived just as Harry made himself comfortable.
"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore spoke up as soon as he saw Harry. "I understand there is a problem with your choice of attire."
Harry looked down at what he was wearing. "I don't see any problem with it. At least I didn't come in starkers."
"There is a uniform code, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore began.
"And unless you have forgotten, old man," Harry interrupted, "all my possessions were burned up by the pyromaniacs who live in Gryffindor tower."
"You should have gotten yourself a new school uniform then." Dumbledore told him.
"And pray tell why should I have spent my money to replace what the Gryffindors destroyed?" Harry inquired sarcastically. "Aside from the fact that that would mean they got off scott free for their acts of vandalism and arson, I didn't want to come here in the first place. Why should I buy something I have no intention of using once I leave this place forever?"
"The school requirements state that you must have and wear the school uniform." Dumbledore countered.
"Then kick me out." Harry told him. "I don't want to be here in the first place remember!"
"Tomorrow morning Professor McGonagall will take you to Diagon Alley to purchase your school uniform." Dumbledore told him. "For tonight, and tonight only, you will be allowed to attend the opening feast in what you are wearing."
"Unless you plan on making those who destroyed all my school supplies last year, cough up the money to pay for them, then she will be wasting her time and mine." Harry told him. "I told you, I will not be spend one single knut of my money to replace what was destroyed while the Heads of House made no move to stop it. They will also have to cough up the money for all the other supplies on your list, because I didn't get those either."
"Harry," Dumbledore began, but seeing the angry expression on the young man's face, quickly said, "Mr. Potter, how do you expect to pass your classes, without any of the necessary materials?"
"I don't." Harry stated simply. "I am just here, marking time and taking care of some business until I can get out of here. You may have forced me to come here, Dumbledork, but you can not force me to learn anything that your inept teachers may try and teach."
"Harry," Dumbledore said quickly. "Don't waste this chance you've been given to start over. Not many people get the chance to start over. Don't let the anger you have within you keep you from making friends and moving on with your life. You have to let go of it and forgive those who have wronged you."
Harry got to his feet and asked tonelessly. "Are you done?"
"For now." Dumbledore realised it was too soon to expect to make any headway, but he had hoped that some of the boy's anger toward the wizarding world had begun to ease, so that he might at least hear what was being said.
"Good," Harry pushed past the Headmaster and walked out into the Great Hall.
...
"I see the favouritism has begun." Snape commented once the sorting was completed. The yellow t-shirt that Potter was wearing stood out amongst the sea of black, even if the brat hadn't been sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table.
"Not at all Severus," Dumbledore assured him, then turned to McGonagall who had just joined them. "Minerva, tomorrow, you will be taking Mr. Potter to Diagon Alley to get all of his school supplies. And you will charge the purchases to the school account."
"Why the school account, Headmaster?" McGonagall had no problem with taking the boy to get his supplies, but didn't understand why the school would be paying for them when the boy clearly had more than enough money to pay for them himself.
"Young Harry had a valid point about one thing."
Dumbledore told the two professors as he sat back down after making his welcoming speech. "If the Heads of House hadn't stood by and allowed it to happen, he would have had his school supplies for sixth year as well as the invisibility cloak that belonged to James, the photo album, and the Firebolt Sirius gave him. Since no teacher made any attempt to stop the destruction of his personal belongings by students of this school, then Hogwarts must pay to have them replaced."
"And what of the Gryffindors who destroyed the items in the first place." Snape wondered. "Are they to avoid having to pay for the destruction they caused?"
"No, they will not." Dumbledore told him. "The cost of replacing one Firebolt will be divided among the parents of all Gryffindor students from second year through seventh, since we will not be able to charge it to those who were not here last year and are not here now. A letter will be sent to every parent explaining the reason for the charge. We will allow the Gryffindors to present the Firebolt to Harry. It may help to heal the rift between them."
"In that case Headmaster, we might want to turn the task of replacing the photo album and presenting it over to Miss Granger." McGonagall suggested. "It might help repair the damage to her relationship with him as well."
"An excellent idea, Minerva," Dumbledore told her.
...
Unaware of the plans being made at the head table, Harry filled his plate and ignored anyone's attempts to get him to talk. Those few who were somewhat persistent, he glared at until they left him alone.
Once they were released, from the Great Hall, Harry took the quickest route to the Gryffindor tower. He wanted to get an idea of who his dorm mates were going to be before they got there given that he hadn't been at the feast during his second year.
There were six beds in the sixth year dorm. And five of them had trunks in front of them, which made the sixth one his. The names on the trunks were vaguely familiar, but the only sixth year he knew by sight was Colin Creevy and that was only because the fool had kept jumping out and taking pictures of him like a celebrity stalker. He wrote a quick note and left it on Colin's bed warning the little fool that if he tried to take pictures of him this year, he would stick that camera of his somewhere painful.
He still hadn't decided if he was going to stay where they put him, or go to the Room of Requirement. Though that might not be a good idea, given that everybody and his brother now knew about it.
After a few moments thought he decided he would stay in Gryffindor for a few days and if the attempts to try and get him to forgive them got to be too much, he'd find some place else to stay. The Chamber of Secrets was an option if he couldn't find anywhere else, since he was the only one that could access it, though it was a bit of a gloomy option.
Opening his backpack, Harry pulled out his trunk and restored it to normal size long enough to remove his pyjamas, robe and shower gear. Once the shrunken trunk was back in the pack, he headed out of the dorm room to take a shower.
He could hear the noise in the common room as he moved down the hall toward the showers.
"Harry!" Colin's voice called. "Hermione is looking for you."
"Any idea why?" Harry asked smirking as he noticed that Colin was also sporting 'I am an idiot' on his forehead.
"She didn't say, just that she needed to talk to you." Colin told him.
"Okay, I'd better go see what Miss Know-it-All wants." Harry headed down to the common room. He wasn't really interested what Granger wanted, but knowing how persistent the know-it-all could be, he really didn't want her bursting in on his shower.
As soon as he reached the stairs that led to the common room he saw Granger waiting for him.
"Granger, Creevy said you wanted to see me." Harry told her.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall wanted me to pass on a message, since she didn't have a chance to tell you herself." Hermione told him. "She wants you to meet her in the Great Hall at eight tomorrow morning. Dumbledore has made arrangements for her to take you to get your school supplies and uniforms."
"Okay. Anything else?" Harry really didn't care, but he thought he would be polite, at least right now.
"Why didn't you get your supplies in Diagon Alley before school, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Because I didn't feel like spending good money for something I didn't want and that the pyromaniacs of Gryffindor destroyed last year." Harry snarled then told her.
"Granger, how about we keep things simple. You and I will talk to each other only when it concerns Hogwarts business. I'll at least pretend to be civil to you as long as you adhere to that boundary. If you try to get involved in my life, or try to pry into my personal business, then you will regret it. You are no longer my friend and I really wonder if you ever were. Once this year is over and we go our separate ways, I never want to see you or hear from you ever again. Have I made myself clear?"
....
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