Chapter 13: Chapter 12: The Final Failure of Albus Dumbledore
Summary:
McGonagall makes another announcement, Rita finally makes her move and Harry, well he just wants to relax for a day.
Chapter Text
Cirilla walked the darkened halls of Hogwarts confidently despite the fact that her bright blue robes marked her as a student of Beauxbatons rather than a Hogwarts student. Her confidence was born from the fact that she'd walked the halls many times since her school arrived for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and she had thus grown familiar with its halls as a result. There was also the fact that she was an Enchantress level witch and thus beyond the grasping hands of many of the wizards within the castle student and staff alike.
Hogwarts was a rather interesting place and not just because it was a castle that played host to a school but because it had been an ancient magical stronghold long before the time of the school's founders. The place stood out to her senses in a way that even now intrigued her despite the time she'd been here. At the moment she was following after a small mote of magical light that floated ahead of her but at a pace where she didn't need to run to keep up with it. Due to the darkness of the hour the light was easily seen as the halls were only dimly lit by the magical flames spaced out along the halls. The halls themselves were only sparsely populated as thought it was technically morning; it was still early enough that not even the first ray of sunlight had touched the Scottish Highlands.
Ciri was no stranger to early mornings; in fact she'd become quite well known amongst the students and staff of Beauxbatons for how early she was up as she usually trained for at least two hours before most were even awake. That ritual had not been broken just because she'd come to a new area, though she required a change in wardrobe to replace the lighter fabrics she'd worn in France. Finally, the mote of light zipped through the door of one of the numerous abandoned classrooms informing her that she'd reached her destination. Taking a breath, she knocked on the door three times with a small pause between each knock before stopping. She had to wait for only around 15 seconds before the door opened just enough for her to slip inside. As the door closed behind her it faded away blending into the wall as if it had never been there. Unknowing and uncaring of this at the moment the young witch was more concerned with the two witches currently seated in front of her, one with vibrant red hair and the other with hair dark as night.
"Sorry I'm late." Said the young woman as she made her way over to join them.
The three of them had been meeting like this at least once a week since she'd first arrived on Halloween. Their first meeting had been an emotional one, it had been the first time the three of them had been together in a very long time and the last time they'd seen each other they hadn't exactly been in the best of states.
"It's fine. We heard that you were spending some time with a certain young man." Said Yennifer almost as soon as she settled into a seat.
"If you mean Harry then yes, though not for the reason you are thinking. We were talking about a tutoring exchange, he's interested in learning swordplay and offered to help me with combat magic." Said Ciri.
"That makes sense, he has been rather resistant to seduction." Said Triss getting a look from Yennifer
"Please tell me you two aren't doing this again." Said Ciri beginning to rub the bridge of her nose.
"The situation is decidedly different in its circumstances." Said Yennifer lightly.
"She's right. Besides its not like he doesn't already have a coven forming around him." Said Triss.
Ciri said nothing simply looking between the two people who aside from their beauty had once both been known for their political acumen and groaned realizing that they were already in the midst of a plot, and she'd just given them the means to include her.
The power dynamics within the House of Slytherin had changed from this time the previous year. Throughout her time at Hogwarts, it had been clear to Daphne that it was the Death Eater spawn who controlled the House and while Draco Malfoy had been considered the person in charge of her year he hadn't been in charge of the House as a whole. His gambit of joining the Quidditch team in 2nd year had certainly given him a boost amongst the upper years but that was all it had done.
Now after the coming of the ICW the snake den had seen massive changes. The vast majority of death eater spawn had lost their power as their parents amongst that group were all either dead or in prison leaving them without their outside muscle. Draco was one of the few that hadn't been negatively affected, his quick action of abandoning the Malfoy name in favor of the Black name being the main reason why. For as well off as Lucious Malfoy had portrayed himself to be the majority of his influence had come from his control of the Black fortune and Wizengamont seat both of which he'd have lost access to anyway once Sirius was proven innocent in his trial and claimed the Lordship of the Black Family. Still as a member of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Draco was actually in a better position than all of the other death eater spawn even if he was not the heir of that house.
Pansy had also fared well with the changes, though she hadn't abandoned her family name her mother's quick separation from the previous Lord Parkinson sent a message. Pansy as the heiress of House Parkinson, an Ancient and Noble House would have normally been granted a level of protection from that alone. With the LPA in effect, however, Daphne was sure it would have only been a matter of time until one of the few high scoring members of the house had broken her mind. As such her return to Hogwarts bonded to a Weasley, even one as lowly as Ron, had saved her from such a fate.
Then there was Daphne herself, her power level combined with her reputation gave her the sense that she would have fared well in this new climate, even if she'd have been forced to fade into the background. Instead, she'd returned to Hogwarts as a bonded witch, bonded to none other than Harry Potter himself, the Boy-Who-Lived and more importantly the heir of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, meaning she would one day be Lady Black. That on its own made her untouchable and had been a huge factor in giving her a massive level of influence within the house of snakes, but the reveal that he was also the true Heir of Slytherin had boosted her influence and solidified her position.
Being only a 4th year, her influence still only went so far but hers was no longer a voice that could be ignored nor was she forced to be the background player that Harry once accused her of being. Even better Snape was gone, and Professor Sinestra was not allowing the junior Death Eaters the free reign that Snape granted them. Still, she was now part of The Council, which consisted of the three most politically influential people within the House and the two 7th year prefects. She was one of only two witches within the group, the other being the female 7th year prefect and unfortunately she'd learned that a prefect's influence on the council only went so far.
Another unfortunate fact was that amongst this group was Thomas Selwyn who had apparently been smart enough to take on his family's Lordship upon his father's sentencing. As a Lord that put him ahead of her in terms of influence as officially she was still only an Heiress, and the influence of a future title only went so far. Thankfully he was a 7th year so she only had to ride out the rest of the school year at the worst then three of those positions would be open. Dennis Fawley would return but Daphne would be able to wrestle control from him easily enough, especially if she could get Harry to bond with Professor Sinestra under a Mistress spot.
As of now Thomas had used his position to take control of the Council and used that influence to make a few changes. The first was that within the snake pit witches would only be allowed to wear their underwear, Daphne hadn't been able to stop that but had done her best to limit that. Instead of being all witches, it was all unbonded witch's 3rd year and above and while she'd argued against the inclusion of 3rd years he'd argued successfully that it would prepare them for their time participating in the LPA. As such currently amongst those old enough to participate in the LPA only four witches in Slytherin House could move around fully clothed as all of them were bonded which included Daphne, Tracy, Pansy and Sally Sterling, the 6th year prefect Draco bonded over the summer.
Professor Sinestra had been against it when informed of the decision but hadn't overruled it. As an Enchantress she didn't really fear for her body but more for her career aspects and livelihood, especially with the influence that Selwyn had. As both Head of Slytherin and an alumnus she understood the importance of and influence of the Council. It had been the brainchild of Salazar Slytherin himself, to give the House their first taste of politics and a goal to aim their cunning towards. Thankfully for Daphne's peace of mind her sister Astoria was only in her 2nd year and still had a bit of time before she needed to worry about the LPA. Daphne was also determined that the first thing she would do next year would rework that rule so that only those that fell under the LPA would be subject to it.
Regardless it was for this reason that Daphne was currently one of the few LPA qualified witches within the House that was always fully clothed, as she was now sitting within a highbacked chair within the common room. The common room was richly decorated with antique furniture that was layered with charms and runes designed to maximize the comfort of the occupants. Daphne had claimed her chair as a first year moving it from its previous position to where it was now by one of the windows that looked out into the lake. Astoria was in the alcove window stretched out while the seat on the other side, Tracy's seat, was currently empty as Tracy had stayed the night with her bonded.
Slytherin unlike other houses within the school went to all of their meals together and as such the two Greengrass sisters were currently waiting on the rest of their housemates to arrive within the common room which they'd been doing slowly since the two girls had claimed their seats. As a first year she'd learned that this practice had been put in place as they were the shared enemy of the other three houses and while their main rival was Gryffindor they were not truly on positive terms with Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw either. This year some of that tension had faded but they had seen no reason to stop the practice to this point.
"Heiress Greengrass."
The voice had her looking up to see that the Draco was coming towards her causing her to sigh.
"Scion Black." Said Daphne lowly.
Draco to his credit didn't react, while he was no longer Heir Malfoy, being recognized as a scion of a House such as the Blacks was considered a step up socially. Still being a simply scion was a massive step down in terms of importance to a family from being an Heir.
"Something is going to happen today. Make sure you read the Prophet." Said Draco causing her to pay immediate attention.
"Can you be more specific?" questioned Daphne.
"No, my mother sent me word by H.E.E.D this morning and requested I inform you."
H.E.E.D was an acronym for House Elf Express Delivery, a name that Sirius had come up with over the summer that had caught on when they started sending short notes to each other about the Accords that way. While they still send the majority of their mail via owl things that were deemed urgent within the group were sent via H.E.E.D now. She would have to take the warning seriously, Narcissa had been the true power behind house Malfoy and somehow even now as a Mistress to a Lord rather than a Lady her social standing hadn't suffered at all. With that in mind it almost certainly had something to do with Harry as Narcissa was a Black first and foremost and Harry was Heir Black. Narcissa had no easy way to get in contact with Harry now that Sirius was out of town and as such the quickest way was to contact her son and have him inform her. Sure, it was a roundabout way of doing things but considering their bond, it was the best way without direct access.
"It's Skeeter, she made her move." Said Hermione over the bond.
"You sure?" questioned Susan.
"It's her." Said Harry confidently.
"I see. Do give your mother our regards." Said Daphne causing him to nod before he moved on.
"I wonder why it took her so long." Said Katie over the bond.
"Timing. She let everything from the First Task die down a bit, whatever she says will have a greater impact since there's a low chance of it getting buried now." Said Parvati.
"Harry you may have to bite the bullet and bond with her. She's too much of a wild card to have running lose." Said Padma
"Daphne time to go." Looking up she was greeted to the sight of Astoria standing up running her hands down her skirt to straighten it before throwing her robe on.
The Great Hall was packed for breakfast that morning. The members of the Potter Coven found themselves seated at the Gryffindor table along with the House of Lions and the students of Beauxbatons. There were a number of other faces that had become regular fixtures there as well and they were all thankful that the tables were spelled to grow to always fit the number of people trying to sit at them. Word had spread from the prefects that the Headmistress would be making an announcement today and they would all need to be in the Great Hall by a certain time. The attention of the Hall was soon called to the Head Table where Professor McGonagall currently stood at the lectern.
"Good morning students, I thank all of you for arriving promptly. I know you are all curious so I will not keep you waiting. After much council with the portraits previous Heads of this school I have decided that as of this moment monthly Hogsmeade weekends are hereby cancelled." Said McGonagall causing a stunned silence to take over the room.
"Instead, we shall be reverting things to how they used to be where student's 3rd year and up were free to visit the village every weekend." At this the silence was broken as cheering broke out throughout the hall which she allowed for nearly 30 seconds before holding her hand up and commanding silence once more.
"Furthermore, those students with the signed permission slips who possess their own brooms are allowed to explore the Hogwarts Valley to the south and Hogsmeade Valley to the North. Do keep in mind however that the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden." Said McGonagall looking around the room as if she locked eyes with each student.
"This is a trial period that will begin after you all return in the new year. Should things go smoothly then I along with the Board of Governors will consider making this a permanent change and allow you all a bit more range to travel. Regardless due to these changes Madam Hooch is now sponsoring a broom racing club. 2nd years are allowed to join this club but will be relegated to the castle grounds. For further information on that you can see Madam Hooch at your leisure." Here she paused yet again looking across the room seeing the level of excitement rising amongst the students.
"Finally, those of you wishing to participate in the inter-school competitions such as Dueling and Broom Racing for the Tri-Wizard Tournament tryouts for those teams will be held next Saturday. That is all."
As the Headmistress moved away from the lectern and to her seat the Great Hall exploded with noise as the voices of the students could no longer be held back. Before conversation about this topic could get truly started the attention of the students turned to the ceiling as the owls made their way in for the Saturday mail delivery. The Potter Coven smiled as Hedwig landed in front of Harry and the love he had for his owl flooded the bond. All of them had seen the memory of Hedwig's death and none of them could claim to have been unaffected by it. Hedwig carried a trio of letters on her person, one from Remus, one from Ted and surprisingly one from Martin Clearwater, Penny's dad. Tucking the letters away for later he looked up just in time to see Hedwig taking flight and looking down realized she stole an extra slice of bacon instead of just the two set aside for her.
Chuckling he turned his attention to his meal ignoring the fact that the Daily Prophet had also been delivered. As he ate he ignored the feelings he felt over the bond knowing that if he paid that paper any attention he was more than likely going to forget the rest of his breakfast.
"Harry." The soft call of his name from beside him several minutes later had him sighing before looking over into the concerned gaze of Hermione.
"You really need to see this." Said Hermione softly.
Pushing his plate back he accepted the paper and upon seeing the front-page headline almost immediately wanted to get back in bed.
The Final Failure of Albus Dumbledore: By Rita Skeeter
In late May earlier this year Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore died just a few days after suffering a heart attack within the Headmasters office in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Many came from all over the world to attend his funeral and witness him being laid to rest. While his funeral was held within the Great Hall of Hogwarts the late Headmasters body was taken to St Jerome's graveyard in Godric's Hallow and laid to rest within the Dumbledore Mausoleum.
In the following days there were many stories released about the man all of them glowing in their praise. This is not one of those stories, instead this is the opposite and while not meant to be an attack it is a critique on both the man and our government, both the Wizengamont and the Ministry to have allowed such a catastrophic failure to have occurred. This is also what I believe can be the final lesson learned from Albus Dumbledore, a man who I now believe held far too much responsibility than any one person should handle.
As previously mentioned, Albus Dumbledore died due to a heart attack, what was never known was the cause behind that attack, most wrote it off as he was 111 years old and would have turned 112 in just a few short weeks. I was one of those people and until just a few weeks ago, just days prior to the First Task of the revived Tri-Wizard Tournament hadn't even thought to question why. Interviewing the three champions ahead of the first task everything was going well until I asked a final question to Harry Potter, an innocent question on my end but one that caused him to suffer what I have since learned to be an immediate panic attack. While I struck the question from the interview, I could not, would not forget what he said as his bonded Fleur Delacour helped escort him from the room with the aid of Headmistress McGonagall.
"My childhood, I wouldn't have wished it on Voldemort himself."
Harry froze as just below this line, clearly a quote was a picture of him with clearly haunted eyes.
I don't think I, or anyone else were meant to hear those words, I don't think he even realized he said them, least of all to me. I couldn't believe it and it left me full of questions, at least after I recovered from the shock of hearing those words and who he named. After recovering from the shock, I decided I needed to learn more and after I did I knew this was a story that needed to be told as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and our newest and youngest Order of Merlin First Class Award earner is also the final failure of Albus Dumbledore.
To understand everything I have to take you back to the beginning, to the final days of the Blood War and the attack on the Potters home in Godric's Hallow. As we now know from his trial in the summer the first to arrive on the scene was Sirius Black, at the time Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. It was Sirius Black who discovered the bodies of James Potter and after hearing his cries found young Harry within his crib in his torn apart nursery along with the bodies of Lily Potter and the robes of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Rubeus Hagrid, then just the Keeper of Keys and Groundskeeper of Hogwarts arrived on the scene and was entrusted with delivering baby Harry to Hogwarts infirmary where his injuries could be seen to while Sirius Black, at that point a renowned Hit Wizard went looking for Peter Pettigrew, the Secret Keeper chosen by the Potters for the Fidelis Charm on their home. Later that night Sirius Black is tricked and framed by Peter Pettigrew and tossed directly into Azkaban without trial in a power grab play by Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy, a ploy that gave Fudge a direct route to become Minister of Magic. That however isn't the full story, one part that was never revealed in Black's trial was what enabled him to be sent directly to Azkaban with no trial was a practice put in place during the war by Barty Crouch Sr, then Director of the DMLE, former Minister Millicent Bagnold and Albus Dumbledore, then Chief Warlock.
Former Minister Bagnold when asked to comment on this revealed that this practice was proposed by Barty Crouch Sr who discovered that during war time the three of them or rather three people in their position could act as a triumvirate and send suspects directly to Azkaban on a temporary basis but they would in the aftermath of the war need to face trial within three months. Bagnold's term as Minister had been extended due to the war and per the Ministry charter she stepped down once the war was declared over, just 3 weeks after Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban.
Dumbledore and Crouch however continued to serve until Barty Crouch Jr was revealed to have been a Death Eater and part of the attack on the Longbottoms which prompted Sr to step down from his position in disgrace, leaving only Dumbledore remaining as part of the triumvirate who served as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont until his death. To verify former Minister Bagnold's information, I was granted an audience with Director Croaker of the Department of Mysteries who verified that this law did indeed exist. However, he also revealed that he was unsurprised with what happened to Sirius Black as despite his reputation and actions during the war both Dumbledore and Crouch Sr suspected the current Lord Black of being a spy for the other side simply due to the fact that he was a Black in Crouch's case and for his willingness to use lethal force in Dumbledore's. Frank Longbottom the current Head of the Auror Department backed this statement and gave one of his own.
"Crouch hated Sirius, we all knew it and he never really tried to hide it. It was so bad James submitted a formal complaint on Sirius's behalf against Crouch which didn't go over well with Sr. He confronted James about that and whatever he said pissed James off so bad that Charlus Potter came into the office the next day. If you knew James, you knew he hated involving his father in anything, but he was still Lord Potter and one of the heroes of the Global Wizarding War. In front of our fathers and Sirius's grandfather Crouch was a bug with an overinflated sense of self worth and we all knew that too."
Still for the time being Sirius Black was in Azkaban believed to be the Right-Hand man of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Within a few weeks of this the Longbottoms were attacked in their own manor which had also been under the Fidelis Charm at the time. Frank and Alice Longbottom would become residents of the long-term care ward within St. Mungo's for nearly the next 13 years. How does this relate to Harry Potter, it turns out Alice Longbottom is his godmother.
With both of his parents and godparents indisposed young Harry Potter our newly dubbed savior was left with no one to care for him. There was a will with a list of trusted guardians that was mysteriously declared sealed and guardianship of Harry Potter was claimed by Albus Dumbledore. The story has always been told that he was living in some hidden manor with expert care. The truth however is that he was left in the muggle world on the doorstep of his mothers estranged sister and her husband.
Harry Potter would spend the next ten years of his life being treated as a slave. He lived within a cupboard under the stairs while his cousin, the son of his aunt was granted two bedrooms, one to sleep in and one just to store his discarded and broken things in. Harry Potter was beaten and starved on a regular basis while being forced to work until exhaustion and then work some more including doing the cooking for his relatives and only being allowed to eat scraps. His medical records are extensive and go into detail of not just the injuries he received at Hogwarts but in the muggle world as well and how they were obtained, including the fact that his magic had been bound by over sixty percent. I'll not go into detail beyond that, just remembering what I read was scaring enough for me that I've decided to remove the memories after the completion of this article.
This treatment went on for years without notice and continued even after Harry Potter returned to the Wizarding World and began attending Hogwarts. The only change in his circumstance was that after he was personally collected by Hagrid when his Hogwarts letters went unanswered his relatives moved him into his cousins second bedroom in fear that they were being watched. In the summer prior to his second year of Hogwarts he was rescued by three of his housemates who had to literally pull bars from the window in order to free him. They discovered the door was locked from the outside and a cat flap was used so that they could slide a meager amount of food to him.
One of his housemates who requested to remain anonymous that Potter made numerous requests to never return to his relatives. Unlike most students when they left for the Christmas holidays Harry Potter would remain at Hogwarts. Near the summers he would request to be allowed to stay at Hogwarts or make arrangements to stay with housemates only for his requests to be denied and his arrangements cancelled. In the meantime, he and his friends would be put through one strange adventure after another that would last the entire school year. His first year he and two friends stopped the theft of the Sorcerer's Stone which had been moved from a vault in Gringotts and into Hogwarts and placed into a corridor which Dumbledore announced forbidden to students unless they wished to die a horrible death.
In his second year Potter battled and killed a basilisk within Salazar Slytherin's famed Chamber of Secrets retrieving the Sword of Gryffindor in the process, the action which earned him his Order of Merlin. What went unreported was that the school had been under attack and students petrified throughout the year before this battle took place. In his third year he was attacked by Dementors, not once or twice but three times throughout the year while also discovering the truth about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.
He and his friends managed to successfully capture Pettigrew only for him to escape due to the untimely arrival of Severus Snape then Potion Professor of Hogwarts who proceeded to try and get Sirius Black kissed by Dementors that night. Instead of that happening Potter ended up swarmed by dementors and while he managed to hold them off for the most part one caught him from behind and proceeded to administer the kiss to Harry Potter. This news, not stress due to his age and workload, but that Harry Potter had been Kissed by a dementor is what triggered Albus Dumbledor's heart attack.
In the DMLE records of this case I was given access to Harry Potter revealed that he died that night. However, he was able to return as his body housed two souls, his and the other being part of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that had been lodged into his scar the night he attacked the Potters. When questioned about all of this Lady Amelia Black nee Bones in her position as Head of the DMLE revealed that the Child Welfare Agency was never made aware of the residence of Harry Potter and subsequently had never been able to visit his home and see to his wellbeing and instead everything regarding Harry Potter was being routed directly to the Chief Warlock's office. When questioned on why no action was being done in regard to Harry Potters relatives she revealed they died three nights before Mr. Potter was admitted to St. Mungo's when their house caught fire, it was most certainly not a resolution she was pleased with but allowed the following quote
"I don't know what game Dumbledore was playing at. Harry has his theories certainly as all of us he'd spoken to have. Was Dumbledore to overworked, was he purposely neglectful or trying to create a successor, a new Leader of the Light in a trial by fire? Did he know that part of that mad man's soul was in that scar, was he purposely trying to kill Harry only for him to survive, is that why he had the Tri-Wizard Tournament revived? Or could he have possibly just been an old man who wanted to believe the best in people and didn't see things and people for what they were? I don't know, none of do and he's too dead to give us answers."
Lord Black was unavailable for comment but his second bonded Narcissa Black allowed the following statement.
"Though I don't know him well personally, I can say that Harry is a survivor. Everything he's been through, it only made him stronger, more resilient. Was hiding him in the muggle world the right move, I don't know one thing I can say is my former husband and his associates were certainly frustrated they couldn't find him. At the same time, he is a Black, the Black Heir and my sister Andromeda would have surely took him in and I know Lady Augusta would have as well. Regardless Harry survived and he had the last laugh, after all if Dumbledore hadn't died he'd probably be in an ICW prison right now as even if he meant well child neglect is still a crime. I can certainly see why the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin, even if he chose Gryffindor instead. I bet Lucius and Fudge are certainly cursing crossing him now. It's almost like James and Sirius combined into one person."
Albus Dumbledore was a great man, but he was still just that a man. For all of his age, magical might and knowledge he was still just a single man and everyone man, woman, witch or wizard makes mistakes all of us fail it one point or another. Harry Potter was assuredly Albus Dumbledore's final and perhaps greatest failure, and it is my hope with this story that the Ministry and Wizengamont will not let what happened to our savior happen to any other child under its care.
As the article ended Harry set the paper down and absently placed his elbows on the table with his fingers steepled. This had certainly not been what he was expecting, especially not from Rita Skeeter of all people. Where he expected a hit piece to tear him down this was something else entirely. Hell, it didn't even tear Dumbledore down, certainly painted him in a negative light but it wasn't as vicious as Rita could be. There was certainly a personal touch here and there but none of the poison he expected, the damned thing was even respectable.
"Who talked?" questioned Ron looking up with a glare.
"Leave it Ron, we weren't exactly secretive with what we were doing." Said Hermione.
"What do you think?" questioned Harry looking to Daphne.
"An emergency session of the Wizengamont will likely be called due to this. She has quotes from the Head of the D.M.L.E and D.O.M." said Daphne.
"That's for sure. I mean even if they aren't the same people in the seats if they want to save face the Wizengamont will need to do something. They can't let anything else slip through the cracks, not like what happened to you and Sirius." Said Pansy
"Do I need to do anything about this?" questioned Harry.
"Not unless the Wizengamont calls you in. Anything less than that you don't have to say a thing since the D.M.L.E. already has a statement." Said Susan
"I do think we need to get out of here and lay low for the day though. People are bound to start sending questions our way soon." Said Katie.
"Lav and I will handle that." Said Parvati.
"Good, I like Katie's idea though. Grab your brooms, we're having flying lessons." Said Harry
"Flying lessons?" questioned Neville warily.
"Yup. If we can explore outside of the castle grounds and Hogsmeade I'm not leaving you or Hermione behind so flying lessons." Said Harry.
"Alright meet at the pitch in 20 minutes." Said Angelina getting nods all around though a few were decidedly nervous.
Within Riddle Manner the homunculus baby that was Voldemort was seething as he got through the last of the article. That Potter brat had been walking around with a piece of his soul in his Merlin-damned scar and he hadn't realized it even after an entire year around him. That bastard Dumbledore had certainly realized it was there, had he lured him there with the Sorcerer's Stone in the hopes that he'd destroy that soul piece unknowingly? Without knowing that he'd created actual horcrux's he'd probably banked on him doing just that and thought that would transition him from disembodied to full on dead.
Worse still that brat had killed his basilisk! It was supposed to remain sleeping unless he woke it so how the hell had it woken? He'd had plans for that creature and thousand-year-old basilisk weren't creatures that could just be stumbled upon!
"Crucio"
The spell leapt from his wand and struck Barty in an instant who was already on the ground in a fetal position from the last one he hit him with. He only held it for a few seconds, enough to make his ire known and release a bit of frustration but not enough to take Jr out of commission, his role was too important for that. Okay, his position hadn't actually worsened that much, he'd only lost a giant fucking Basilisk! He'd have to launch a physical attack on Hogwarts now instead of just waking up his pet and letting it rampage but he could deal with that. Potter however had lost his get out of death free card, Dumbledore had more than likely counted on that so the brat wouldn't actually die when he killed him. He on the other hand couldn't be killed, only disembodied as his horcrux's would keep his soul anchored to the world of the living. Yes, he could salvage this and it would make his return to power and eventual victory even greater than it would have been.
Amelia did her best not to smirk behind the rim of her coffee cup. Weaponizing Rita Skeeter had been a genius idea from young Tonks, proving she certainly had the upbringing of a Black. Initially she'd just planed to bring her in and charge her but Tonks pointed out that would be a wasted resource. She hadn't gone after her though, instead Rita put herself in such a position getting caught going through D.M.L.E records only giving Amelia even more ammunition to use against her.
An emergency session of the Wizengamont had been called just as she'd predicted. Dumbledore was both old and dead, even without that his holding of three positions meant he'd have personally gotten off lightly, though most likely lost two of those positions. The members of the Wizengamont wouldn't get off that lightly, even if most of them were new appointments the people wouldn't care about that as none of them had the reputation of Albus Dumbledore and as such the goodwill to survive the wrath of the populous.
The D.M.L.E was getting a massive boost to its budget, the C.W.A was certainly going to see its fair share of that, enough to more than double its current staff. Even better the Wizengamont would be making damned sure nothing like what happened to Sirius and Harry would happen again. The idea had been floated out to create another body simply to oversee trials while the Wizengamont itself would focus on creating and reviewing laws. While she hadn't seen that idea coming she could certainly get behind that as it would perhaps reduce the influence of politics on the legal system.
"I see things went your way today." Amelia did her best not to jump at the sudden appearance of Croaker in her office.
"I'd say more like things went our way." Said Amelia.
"Perhaps. You will need to be careful deploying such strategies in the future." Said Croaker.
"I will. Truthfully I'd rather it was unnecessary but we both know how much politicians hate actually doing their jobs." Said Amelia
"I trust you will remember your end of the deal." Said Croaker.
"I'll do that. I won't make any promises on what happens afterwards however." Said Amelia
"In other news I wanted to let you know the treasure team found something." Said Croaker getting Amelia to perk up.
"Really?"
"Indeed, a shield brooch originally belonging to Godric Gryffindor." Said Croaker.
"So there is only one left in the wild." Said Amelia.
"We are working under the belief that one has already been retrieved and being used for the resurrection ritual." Said Croaker.
"So now we just wait." Said Amelia.
"Yes and hope this fish doesn't slip through the net." Said Croaker
Spending a few hours out on the pitch both in the air and teaching had definitely been the right call as far as Harry was concerned. The group had been joined by Madam Hooch almost as soon as they arrived, considering Neville's single failed flying lesson he understood why. They were also joined by Fleur and Ciri not long after the lessons started, though of the two Fleur was the one who wasn't a flyer. Luna and Astoria had both had medical exemptions from their initial flying class as first years though for obviously different reasons. Fleur let slip that she wished her sister Gabrielle was there for the lesson and Harry had simply countered that they would teach her over the summer. Then he'd turned his attention to helping Neville and Hermione overcome their fears, Neville of brooms and Hermione of heights in general.
Hermione had been the easier of the two as he'd reminded her of the time they rode Buckbeak together before having her sit behind him and taking slowly to the air. They started at 10 feet and worked their way up to 25 before Harry had taken them back down. Then he had Hermione sit in front of him and try her hand at controlling the broom. While she could control it she was unwilling to go higher than seven feet as any higher and her nervousness would start to overwhelm her.
Neville had flatly refused to have anything to do with the school issue brooms. Angelina let him borrow her Comet 260 though and he did rather well. Fred and George having heard about the disaster that was Neville's first lesson had been surprisingly serious and went up on either side of him and stayed that way until he descended back to the ground. Astoria and Luna got the full lesson with Madam Hooch and within just an hour had been flying around the pitch, albeit at a safe level. Alicia and Katie had been the ones to teach Fleur and Ciri who before long had been experimenting with various heights and speeds.
Following the lessons they'd spent a while just flying and having fun, Harry had even refrained from doing any of the tricks he knew and instead flew a couple laps around the pitch. After a few hours though the group split up leaving only a few of them on the pitch. Harry was currently sitting in the stands he'd finished flying some time ago but still had no desire to return to the castle. He wasn't alone though as Padma and Parvati were both leaning into him from either side.
"So what are we doing about the Yule Ball?" questioned Parvati.
"I've been wondering the same thing?" questioned Padma.
"I don't know I thought McGonagall would announce it this morning." Said Harry after a few moments.
"Well you only get to take one of us officially though you'll have a full dance card." Said Padma.
"That's the problem. I don't know who to take and I don't want to play favorites." Said Harry.
"Well you can always ask one of the Professors." Said Parvati.
"Be serious." Said Harry.
"She is. The old rules are gone Harry, it's about time we just accepted it." Said Padma
"Half of our professors want you to fuck them, I wouldn't be surprised if McGonagall is waiting for you to make a move." Said Parvati.
"Then there's Professors Drake and Marigold, they're not even trying to hide it." Said Padma
"I think you're wrong about McGonagall. I mean she was real close with my grandparents." Said Harry.
"True but she also told you she wanted to be a Potter Mistress before she met her husband. What if she still does?" questioned Parvati
"Even disregarding the Professors for now, Fleur is obviously dangling Ciri in front of you." Said Padma.
"She obviously wants you to bond with her." Said Parvati.
"Maybe she just wants us to like her friend." Said Harry.
"Harry love, you can literally access our minds. It's okay to stop holding back, that's why you didn't bond Cho even though you could have." Said Padma.
"I guess. I don't know I just feel like things are moving too fast sometimes. A few months ago, I had never even had a girlfriend now I have 10 wives for all intents and purposes." Said Harry.
"Harry it's okay to not be normal. People have different standards for that and this is ours." Said Parvati before leaning over and kissing Padma who returned it eagerly before they broke it.
"It's not normal to kiss your sister. We've been doing it for years, before the Accords were even known to us." Said Padma.
"Come on, we'll show you some other things its not normal for sisters to do to each other." Said Parvati.
With that the twins stood and after grabbing one of his hands each led him down the stands to the Gryffindor locker room.