Owl Post Again
"Harry!"... before Dumbledore locks the door -"
"Yes, the danger isn't over yet," Remus said sternly.
"Okay," ... "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"
Albus glared at Severus. Why would he presume he'd make things difficult? Just because he wouldn't want an innocent man to be executed! His older self was clearly senile if he thought this was okay but still...
"As soon as Macnair returns... exactly how you saved him. . . . "
Amelia was furious. Fudge wanted to execute a man just because he was embarrassed?
Harry clenched his teeth... then they heard a cackling ahead.
"Peeves!" the twins cried out in horror.
"Peeves!" ... broke into a run again.
Bode could not believe how lucky these children were. That's presuming they made it back in time.
"Hermione - what'll happen ... "One minute!"
Amelia considered the question. "It could result in criminal charges."
They had reached the end of the corridor... "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak. . . . "
Everyone glared at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore beamed at them... Am I allowed to look after my patients now?"
Madam Pomfrey was livid. She resembled a dragon about to breathe fire.
She was in a very bad mood.
"Of course I was in a bad mood!" Poppy grumbled.
Harry and Hermione thought it best to accept their chocolate quietly.
"Good idea," Sirius murmured.
Madam Pomfrey stood over them... What do they think they're doing?"
Everyone seemed to be counting down until whoever was shouting burst into the ward.
"My money's on Fudge!" Lee said.
"Nah, it's definitely Snape," George said with a shrug.
Harry was trying to hear ... When this gets out -"
Amelia groaned. The man was a literal moron. "This is why you call in the aurors when you have a criminal locked in the castle."
She wasn't sure why she was bothering. It was clear that calling law enforcement was not a priority for these teachers. They were just so used to playing vigilantes. Maybe that was the problem. They'd let the Order of the Phoenix get away with too much during the war. And as for Fudge... There were no words for him.
"Hey!" Sirius grumbled.
"Even if you were innocent, they should have called in aurors," Amelia said. "For one thing, I imagine we were all eager to know how you escaped Azkaban. And you'll never be free without a trial!"
"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!"... THIS - HAS - SOMETHING - TO - DO - WITH - POTTER!"
A couple of people chuckled, Severus included, although he did his best to hide it.
"Severus - be reasonable... he looked as though he was quite enjoying himself.
That earned the headmaster several glares.
Fudge appeared angry... "Control yourself!"
Severus frowned. He thought he had more control than this.
"See here, Snape... "You're talking nonsense!"
A couple of lions smirked. They loved the idea of getting one over the Slytherin bat. Severus, however, looked ready to have his older self committed.
"YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER!" ... any point in troubling them further. "
"Surely, the entire staff knew Granger had a timeturner?" Remus said shrewdly.
"Either my older self has forgotten in his fury or he's not quite insane enough to accuse them of breaking international law," Severus said thoughtfully. He was personally leaning towards the former.
Snape stood there... "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore. "
A couple of people laughed. He'd been singing the man's praises not ten minutes ago.
"Oh, he's not unbalanced,"... I'll be a laughingstock!
"He already is a laughingstock!" Moody huffed.
Well. . . I'd better go and notify the Ministry... Perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance. . . . "
Hagrid looked momentarily excited at the thought.
Tonks laughed. "He's actually lost his mind."
"Hagrid would like that," ... helping himself to some more chocolate.
Everyone sat in bewilderment. How had that crazy plan worked?
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the hospital wing... Bin celebratin' all night!"
Hagrid grinned at Harry and Hermione. He really couldn't thank them enough for saving his Beaky.
"That's wonderful!" ... but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night. . . . "
Remus sank into his seat in relief.
"What?" ... He's packin' now, o' course. "
Severus gave Remus an apologetic expression. That really had been quite vindictive.
"SEVERUS!" several of the younger teachers exclaimed in shock.
"He hasn't done it yet," reminded Harry.
"He's packing?" ... Says he can't risk it happenin again. "
"And he's not wrong," Remus said with a sigh. It was much too dangerous. His older self had that much right.
Harry scrambled to his feet... there's anything we can do -"
"He can say goodbye," George said, shaking his head. Sometimes those two could be rather stupid.
"I don't care... It was the Marauder's Map.
"Please tell me he didn't give you that map back," Minerva groaned.
Harry smirked, saying nothing.
"I just saw Hagrid,"... loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard.
"Yeah, that's what it was," muttered Sirius and Severus.
So he - er - accidentally... That must never happen again. "
Several people in the chamber looked like they agreed with him. Harry glared at them all. He agreed that Remus should have been more careful. He probably shouldn't have been on the grounds at all for the transformation, but it wasn't a reason not to be allowed to teach. Greater protection was all that was needed.
"You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Harry. "Don't go!"
"That's true enough," Theo said. Blaise nodded his agreement.
"Better than Umbridge," Draco said.
Lupin shook his head... Tell me about your Patronus. "
Everyone smiled at the reminder of Harry's incredible feat of magic.
"How d'you know about that?" ... that's why we called him Prongs. "
"It is incredible that your patronus took his form," Sirius murmured softly.
Lupin threw his last few books into his case... find uses for it. "
Minerva frowned.
Harry took the map... never found any of the secret passages out of the castle. "
"That's true," Sirius chuckled. "He'd have been mighty disappointed."
There was a knock on the door... "Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said.
Everyone who had had Remus for a teacher looked sad to see him leaving in the book. He really had been their best DADA teacher.
"Thank You, Headmaster. "... Lupin wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
"I'm not the best at goodbyes," Remus admitted.
"Good-bye, then, Remus,"... proud of yourself after last night. "
Mrs Weasley huffed. She didn't like the way Dumbledore always encouraged the children's recklessness!
"It didn't make any difference," ... You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate. "
There was a murmur of agreement around the chamber but it was subdued. They couldn't understand why Dumbledore didn't step in as Chief Warlock. Not to mention, he really shouldn't have directed two underage students to break the law.
Terrible... stranger than usual, you mean?"
A couple of people laughed. Professor Trelawney looked highly offended.
"Yes... was she making a real prediction?"
Professor Trelawney smiled. Finally she had proof that she was a real seer. Even if she couldn't really share it with anyone.
Dumbledore looked mildly impressed... I should offer her a pay raise. . . . "
"He did too," Sybil said with a smile. "Not that I knew why at the time."
"But -" ... That makes it my fault if Voldemort comes back!"
"Hardly!" Amelia said sharply. "You did the right thing. Sometimes even doing the right thing has bad consequences. That is often the cost for good behaviour."
"We don't know the outcome of our actions," Claudius nodded. "We just have to do our best to follow our own sense of right and wrong."
"And the law," Amelia added pointedly.
"That too," Claudius conceded. "Although even the law and our own moral compass clash sometimes. That inevitably always leads to issues."
"It does not," .... You did a very noble thing, in saving Pettigrew's life. "
"It's certainly not something to be ashamed of," Remus said gently.
"But if he helps Voldemort back to power... his servant in the debt of Harry Potter. "
Several people nodded, Tom included.
"I don't want a connection with Pettigrew!"... very glad you saved Pettigrew's life. "
Harry smiled. That life debt had saved his life once. He didn't regret it anymore. Not really.
Harry couldn't imagine... "He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it. "
"Yes, he would have," both Sirius and Remus agreed.
Harry looked up at him... you have your mother's eyes. "
Everyone was quiet again.
Harry shook his head... Prongs rode again last night. "
Sirius and Remus exchanged a look. This might actually be the best end of year conversation Albus had had with Harry so far.
It took a moment ... You found him inside yourself. "
"Our lost loved ones are always within us," young Luna said.
And Dumbledore left the office... he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper.
Lucius rolled his eyes. He'd felt relieved when he learned of the hippogriff's fate.
Percy Weasley... his girlfriend, Penelope.
Amelia actually laughed. Her department had absolutely nothing to do with this fiasco.
Though the weather was perfect... "Maybe a vampire," suggested Dean Thomas hopefully.
"Or a death eater," Dean muttered under his breath.
It wasn't only Professor Lupin's departure... it was now impossible.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Sirius muttered.
"Not your fault," Harry said.
The exam results came out... itching to place them around Harry's throat.
Severus eyes widened in horror. That was it. He was booking a slot with the mind healer.
Percy had got his top-grade N. E. W. T. s.
The Weasleys all cheered.
Fred and George had scraped a handful of O. W. L. s each.
More cheers from the Weasleys.
Gryffindor House... I've decided to drop Muggle Studies. "
"That's a good idea," Tonks said. "To be completely honest, you could probably sign up for self study and pass without trying."
"But you passed your exam with three hundred and twenty percent!" said Ron.
"How is that even possible?" the Grangers all asked.
Most people shrugged. They had no idea.
"I added my own questions and then answered them," Hermione said with a shrug.
"Why would you do that?" Ron asked, completely baffled.
"I know," ... "We're supposed to be your friends. "
"You do realise you don't have to tell your friends everything," Mrs Weasley said. "Hermione is welcome to keep her secrets and you can keep yours."
This looked like it was news to Ron and Hermione. Harry, however, just rolled his eyes.
"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone,"... "Oh, cheer up, Harry!" said Hermione sadly.
"Easy for you to say," Sirius muttered.
"I'm okay," ... Dad can usually get tickets from work. "
All the younger ones sat up a little straighter at that. It would be awesome to hear about the world cup.
This proposal had the effect ... though nothing with chocolate in it.
"Yes, I imagine you've all had enough chocolate to last a life time," Sirius said.
Remus looked personally offended.
But it was late in the afternoon ... "It's from Sirius!"
"Thank goodness he's safe," young Andromeda sighed in relief.
"What?" ... "See! I told you it was from him!"
Multiple people rolled their eyes.
"Yes, but he hadn't jinxed it, had he?" ... permission to visit Hogsmeade on weekends.
Everyone smiled at that. It wasn't fair that Harry had to stay at the castle. Just because his muggle family were abusive.
"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!" ... "Keep him?" he said uncertainly.
Mrs Weasley looked surprised. She'd never learned where Ron got the owl from. "Thank you, Sirius."
Sirius shrugged. It wasn't like he'd done it yet.
He looked closely at the owl for a moment... "He's mine. "
All the gryffindors laughed.
Harry read and reread the letter... "If it's another form for me to sign, you've got another -"
Sirius and Remus growled.
"It's not," ... "You haven't got a godfather!"
"Shows what he knows," Sirius muttered angrily.
"Yes, I have,"... check if I'm happy . . . "
Moody barked a laugh at that. "Clever! Well done, Potter."
And, grinning broadly at the look of horror... a much better summer than the last.
"Well, that was..." Flitwick didn't quite know how to describe that book. So much had happened and he hadn't know about any of it. "A surprise," he settled for in the end.
"Time for lunch," young Mrs Weasley said, ushering everyone down the hall to the dining room.
"Wait!" Tonks muttered to the other aurors. "We still haven't all shouted at old Dumbles."
Young Kingsley laughed. "There's still plenty of time after lunch."
The chamber was deserted when there was a sudden flash of light and a new book appeared on the coffee table.