One shots pt 2

The stranger:

The stranger was able to destroy every horcrux, apart from the snake. But he knew he could get Nagini before he put the rest of his plans in motion. It had been a long year, but all his plans worked. The horcrux in young Harry Potter was taken care of by a dark potion, now young Harry will never have to worry about Voldemort again, in any way.

The stranger had waited until Harry had been staying with his muggle relatives, then using magic, snuck quietly into the house. He put the three Dursley’s into an enchanted sleep, then using his invisibility cloak he snuck quietly into the boys room. He cast a few charms around the room, then placed Harry into an enchanted sleep before he used the dark potion, which was dripped onto the lightning shaped scar. He stood but as soon as he saw the piece of Voldemort’s soul emerge from the scar, he cast a shield charm around the boy that also protected him. The soul could not leave the room thanks to his charms, so he just watched and waited until the soul dissipated. He had got the information about the soul from the ones that offered him the chance to return. If the soul could not find another host within a few minutes, it would basically die, and that’s what it did.

Now no one in the magical world will ever have to face another war with Voldemort and his death eaters. The stranger had been given the chance to “fix” things, mainly because of what Harry Potter was willing to do to protect and save the magical world. He was told that he could not do anything that had already happened, but they had information on what would happen which they gave to the stranger. When he heard everything, the stranger could not say no. He was given all the information he needed, which was needed. Now was the time to finish Voldemort, so the magical world could once again live in peace. But also, for Harry Potter to finally get what he always wanted. And one thing the boy wanted was to be thought of as just a normal teenage boy, and have a family that cares for him.

Before the boy’s fourth year, the stranger had arrived and begun to take care of the things like horcruxes and death eaters. He still had plans and even though the boy would go through a terrible year at Hogwarts and go through the triwizard tournament, the stranger will take care of Voldemort so the boy would never face him again.

He walked silently and invisible behind the man, but he wasn’t concentrating on the man, he was concentrating on the snake. As soon as he got a clear shot, he cast a silencing charm then quickly sent a reducto at the snake. The snake ended up cut in half. The man had no idea the snake was killed only a few feet behind him.

The stranger made it look like the death eater killed the older boy, but he had confunded the death eater while using the imperius curse to make the man send a harmless spell at the boy. The spell was green, exactly like the killing curse. The small body of Voldemort never realised the boy was just knocked unconscious. That was the first part of this plan, to make sure the older boy survived.

He allowed the death eater to remove blood from the young boy and place the blood in the cauldron with Voldemort. As soon as the last ingredient went into the cauldron, the stranger stunned and shackled the death eater, he stood, under the invisibility cloak and waited.

When the skeletal figure of Voldemort appeared, the stranger sent a strong cutting hex at Voldemort’s neck, severing his head. He placed the head beside the body then turned to the two boys. He removed the memory of arriving in the graveyard, made sure they would stay unconscious for twenty four hours. He had both their hands stuck to the triwizard cup, then waited until they disappeared. Their hands would un-stick the moment they arrived back at Hogwarts. He knew they would arrive near the entrance to the maze, but this time Cedric Diggory would survive and Harry Potter would not be harassed because he told the truth about what he saw. No, this time Harry and Cedric would be congratulated for winning the triwizard tournament, but also for helping each other.

Now the second part of his plan was done and it went as he hoped, but he always had a backup in case anything went wrong. This time it didn’t.

The stranger grabbed the shackled death eater, cast the strongest disillusionment charm on him then he turned on the spot, disapparating.

At Hogwarts Harry and Cedric’s friends were frantic. They saw the boys both holding the cup, declaring them both the winners, but they also found out their friends were unconscious and hurt.

Poppy Pomfrey took control of the boys and took them straight to her hospital. She did not want to deal with the headmaster or the minister. She also did not want them to wake the boys and try to question them before she had healed them. She knew what Albus was like and she had heard enough about Cornelius Fudge to know he was an idiot. She would not allow either man near her patients until she had time to heal them, then allow them to rest.

Albus and the judges announced that Harry and Cedric both won the triwizard tournament, so they will share the thousand galleons prize money. They also informed everyone that they will find out how the two boys were and let them know.

Amelia Bones had finished interrogating the prisoner the stranger brought to her. The stranger’s name was Mr Evans. She had never seen him before and her aurors had no idea who the stranger was. The head auror and two senior aurors were with her during the interrogation, to make it official. She wasn’t sure how the minister would take this news, but when the stranger informed her he was the new owner of the Daily Prophet and the story about Peter Pettigrew would be on the front page the following day. Because of that, she realised Fudge would have no choice. The full truth will be printed, how Pettigrew was a death eater, how he betrayed the Potters and how he set Sirius Black up for murder when he, Peter had killed the muggles. Once it was known by the wizarding world, the ministry will have no choice but to do the right thing and declare Sirius Black innocent of all charges and send Peter Pettigrew to Azkaban.

Amelia decided to get Cornelius Fudge the watch the memory of the interview and what the stranger said. That way he will realise that if he tried to cause trouble, the stranger will also informed the magical world that Fudge had been told by Harry Potter that his godfather was innocent more than a year ago, but Fudge decided to believe a death eater, Severus Snape. That would also be another big story for the Daily Prophet. But if Fudge followed the law, and did the right thing then nothing would be written how he ignored a man’s innocence for more than a year and still had an order out for Sirius to be kissed. He could even be praised for the truth to be revealed and an innocent man to finally be free.

The papers were signed by the minister and Amelia straight away, as head of the department of magical law enforcement, she could sign off on someone’s innocence. Fudge was the one blocking her before now, mainly because he listened to people like Lucius Malfoy. The head auror, Rufus Scrimgeour was taking a statement to the Daily Prophet and he was making a statement on the WWN. Senior auror Proudfoot and senior auror Shacklebolt were to find Remus Lupin so he could contact Sirius Black. By morning everyone will know Sirius Black was innocent, but what most people wouldn’t know, at least not straight away was he was still Harry Potter’s legal guardian. Sirius Black would be informed as soon as he signed some forms at the ministry, but the stranger was also going to notify Harry so he would know he would never have to return to the Dursley’s and no one could do a thing about it.

The stranger watched and listened in on the conversation going on in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. No one could see him, he made sure of that, so even someone as powerful as Albus Dumbledore could not see him. Albus kept asking when the boys would wake as he needed to know what happened. Alastor Moody was walking back and forth staring at the two boys, but mainly Harry. His wooden leg clunking with every other step it made. All Poppy kept saying was they were her patients and they were going to heal before anyone disturbed them.

The stranger had one more thing to deal with that night, he just had to wait for the right time. He had a few others he needed to deal with but the one that night was going to be dealt with as soon as he returned to his room.

Hermione, Ron, Neville, Cho and Marietta were all sitting next to the beds, waiting for their friends to wake, or in Cho’s case, her boyfriend to wake. Poppy had healed all their injuries that they received in the maze, but she admitted she had no idea why they were still unconscious. If they hadn’t woken by the morning, she would need to bring in a senior healer who could do some diagnostic charms on the boys.

Remus Lupin had been surprised by the two aurors when he opened his door of his cabin. As auror Proudfoot explained about Peter Pettigrew and how Sirius is now free, Remus got a smile and a nod from Kingsley Shacklebolt. They needed Sirius to be escorted to the ministry, guarded so he would be safe and everything could be made official and he will have his wand returned. He would only have guards until everyone finally heard the news that Sirius Black was innocent.

Remus explained to the two aurors that Sirius was hiding in a cave in Hogsmeade so he could be close to his godson and help him if it was needed. They apparated to Hogsmeade and made the long walk up the hill to the cave. Sirius must have seen them or heard them as he was in the cave in his dog form, hiding in the back and in the shadows. It took a while before Remus was able to convince Sirius that he was now free. The two aurors gave their oath that what Remus had told him was true.

Sirius finally turned back into a man and was hugged by Remus. Sirius was in shock, not just that he was finally free, but as Kingsley reminded him, he was still Harry’s legal guardian. That would also be sorted at the ministry.

The following morning Poppy saw Harry and Cedric awake, but both looked confused.

‘Do you remember what happened after the took the triwizard cup from the middle of the maze?’ Poppy asked the moment she looked at the boys

Harry’s brow furrowed, but so did Cedric’s, ‘I can’t remember anything from when we both decided to take the cup together,’ Harry said still looking confused.

‘Same here. Harry and I helped each other in the maze, so we decided to tie for the win. But I have nothing after that.’

‘We believe you went missing for around forty minutes from the time you touched the cup. Both of you arrived outside the maze and you were both holding the cup and unconscious. We could not see what happened in the maze so we are unsure of exactly what took place. I healed all the injures you received while inside the maze, but I could not find any reason why you were unconscious.’

‘Maybe it was the spider’s venom, both of us were bit,’ Cedric said looking at Harry who was in the bed next to him.

‘Yeah, we were. You were hit with the cruciatus curse by Krum, which could have done it, but I wasn’t, so that can’t be it.’

‘What do you mean you were hit with the cruciatus curse?’

‘I came upon Krum cursing Cedric. I stunned him then explained to Cedric that his eyes were weird, I worked out that he was under the imperius curse. I only got to know Krum a little, but I don’t think he would do that if he wasn’t cursed.’

‘At first I didn’t notice, but Harry pointed out his eyes. That’s when I remembered the lesson Professor Moody put us through, on fighting the imperius curse.’

‘I will make a note in your files. I know the headmaster wishes to speak with both of you, so you will probably hear from him. After breakfast you can both leave. Just please take it easy for the next couple of days.’

‘We will,’ Cedric said with Harry nodding. He was happy that the matron was not going to insist they remain in the hospital.

A house elf brought them both some breakfast. As they were just finishing, Hedwig flew into the room with a letter. Harry gave his faithful owl some bacon then read the letter.

‘Bloody hell.’

‘What is it Harry?’ Cedric asked.

‘Last night some strange bloke caught Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort. He took Peter to Madam Amelia Bones and they questioned him using veritaserum. He was found guilty of betraying my parents, of being a death eater and setting my godfather up for murder. My godfather, Sirius Black was declared innocent last night as well. He wrote to tell me that he is still my legal guardian and I can finally live with him and get away from the muggles. The aurors went to retrieve Voldemort’s body, while other aurors escorted Sirius to the ministry so he could sign all the legal forms.’

‘So Sirius Black is really innocent. What about when he broke in here?’

‘He was after Peter. Peter, Sirius and my dad were unregistered animagus when they were at school together. They were friends, along with Remus Lupin. Peter was hiding as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers. He broke in to get the rat, but he escaped. We tried to tell Fudge, he refuse to believe us so Sirius had to go into hiding. Hermione and I helped him escape, with help from Dumbledore as well. He knew Sirius was innocent. He didn’t, not until he heard the truth from all of us. But he couldn’t get Fudge to change his mind, so he told Hermione and me to help, we rescued Sirius before Fudge could get the dementor to suck out his soul.’

‘If he’s innocent, then I’m happy his been free. But what’s this about you-know-who? I heard you killed him as a baby.’

‘Dumbledore said he didn’t actually die, his body was destroyed, but his soul remained. I saw his soul in my first year. He was possessing Quirrell.’

‘Are you saying you-know-who was actually teaching us a few years ago?’

‘Yeah, but when Quirrell touched me, his body sort of disintegrated and Voldemort’s soul left Quirrell’s body. Dumbledore said he’s trying to get a body. By the sound of Sirius’s letter, he managed it, but was killed by this bloke that captured Peter.’

‘Damn. We all knew you were involved in something at the end of your first year, but never would have thought it was about…him.’

‘Yeah, so much happened that year, but Dumbledore didn’t want to panic everyone when he was still in spirit form. He told a few people, so they could be ready for anything. Anyway, he’s really dead this time and I wasn’t involved, so no one can give me another name. I might finally be just Harry.’

‘You just might mate. But you mentioned muggles. Do you live with muggles?’

‘Yeah, my mother’s sister, Petunia and her husband and their son. They don’t like us, so I’m not really treated that well. I try to get to Ron’s place during the holidays but I have to stay there for a few weeks. It’s all to do with the wards Dumbledore did to protect me right after my parent’s were murdered. I don’t really know much about wards, but he linked them to my mother’s blood and her sister. I’m sure they’ll throw a party when they find out I won’t be back. I might do the same.’

‘None of us ever knew where you were hidden away. We grew up hearing the story of the-boy-who-lived. A lot of people thought you lived in some big castle with dozens of witches and wizards raising you.’

Harry scoffed, ‘So I’ve heard. But I didn’t even know I was a wizard until my eleventh birthday. The muggles used to tell me my parent’s were drunks and were killed in a car crash and that’s how I got the scar. Hagrid told me what really happened, even if he couldn’t explain everything. Anyway, I get to live with my godfather and Pomfrey is releasing us from jail before I thought she would. I want to get out of here in case she makes us stay. I’m sure your friends want to make sure you’re okay.’

‘Good idea. Let’s go before Pomfrey changes her mind.’

Both boys quickly dressed and left the hospital. They shook hands before they went their separate ways. Cedric to the Hufflepuff rooms, Harry to Gryffindor tower. He planned to write to Sirius, Hedwig must know this as she stayed on Harry’s shoulder all the way to the tower. Now he couldn’t wait for the holidays.

All the Gryffindor’s cheered when Harry stepped into the common room. Then the questions started, Hermione leading the way, which Harry expected.

‘We don’t know what happened after we agreed to tie for the cup. Pomfrey said we went missing for about forty minutes. Something happened with the cup, since it was a portkey which was supposed to bring the first person to touch it back to the judges. We came back at the entrance to the maze, so it must have malfunctioned. Anyway, what’s everyone saying?’

‘A lot, but many didn’t understand why you were both holding the cup,’ Lee said.

‘You said you agreed to tie for the cup. Why?’ Hermione asked.

‘We helped each other right through the tournament, then we both got to the cup at the same time. Cedric helped me with one of Hagrid’s spiders and I helped rescue Cedric when Krum had him under the cruciatus curse.’ Harry waited until everyone stopped yelling before he could answer, ‘Krum was under the imperius curse, I just don’t know who did it or why.’

‘Word is going around that Mad-eye Moody wasn’t the real bloke,’ Fred said.

‘Yeah, the real one was unconscious and trapped in his trunk,’ George said.

‘They found the body of some old death eater, but he was in Mad-eye’s clothes,’ Lee said.

‘The eye and leg was beside him,’ Ron said.

‘So he must have entered me, but why?’

‘So far there’s been no answer to that. We thought maybe you would hear before the rest of us,’ Hermione said.

‘Well, I do have to see Dumbledore later, I’ll try to find out.’

‘We all read the prophet about Sirius, Peter and you-know-who,’ Hermione said.

‘Yeah, Sirius wrote me a letter. He is my legal guardian so I get to live with him. He’s working on buying us a house now so it’ll be ready when the holidays start. I have to go write to him.’

Harry spoke for a few more minutes to everyone before he headed up to his dorm room, ready to write to his godfather.

Harry and Cedric explained to not only Dumbledore what happened, but also to Fudge. Once the information was given the boys followed Dumbledore and Fudge to the great hall where the two men presented Harry and Cedric with five hundred galleons each, then praised them for working together so they came away with minimal injuries. There were photo’s taken of the minister shaking hands with Cedric and Harry. When skeeter tried to interview both boys, they told her to take a hike then turn their back on her and spoke with Luna who was doing an interview for her father. They didn’t want anything to do with Rita Skeeter after all the lies she printed. She mainly lied about Harry, but she also never mentioned Cedric or the other champions and also wrote many lies about Hermione. They read that Skeeter wasn’t working for the Daily Prophet anymore, so they wondered who she was writing the article for. It didn’t matter since neither boy would have anything to do with her.

After Harry finished speaking with Luna, he hurried over to Viktor Krum, but so did Cedric. They wanted the seeker to know they didn’t hold anything against him, and that they knew he was under the imperius curse. The three boys ended up shaking hands before Fleur joined them. She kissed first Harry on the cheek, then Cedric and last was Krum, before she said goodbye.

All the students headed outside to see off the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Gabriel, Fleur’s little sister blushed brightly as she hugged Harry and kissed him on the cheek before she ran off to join her sister.

The stranger was sitting in the back of the Leaky Cauldron, having a drink and waiting for his girlfriend. He never planned to get involved while he was here. She had bumped into him in Flourish and Blotts, literally. After apologising many times, she wanted to buy him a drink and lunch at the pub, as a way to say sorry. He tried to politely turn her down, but she wasn’t listening. When he realised he would be spending time with her, he figured it couldn’t hurt. He used to have a crush on her, maybe that crush could turn into real feelings.

After that first lunch, they saw each other when she wasn’t working and he wasn’t working. He never told her he was working, he just said he was visiting family. He had things to do, so even though he had begun to get close to Dora, he couldn’t allow her to take his time away from his plans. But now most of the important plans were done, there was only a few plans left that he could take his time on. They were necessary, but after a long year, he really wanted to take some time just for himself.

The stranger smiled when he saw her step into the pub. She headed straight for him and he stood to greet her. He gave her a small kiss as soon as she reached him.

‘How was work?’ he asked.

‘It was a mad house. No one wanted to talk about anything except you-know-who along with Pettigrew and Crouch. I spoke with my cousin earlier today, he tied one on last night. I can’t blame him.’

‘Yes, I read about your cousin. I’m sure you will find out sooner or later Dora, but I was the one who brought in Peter Pettigrew, I also removed Voldemort’s head. I saw him be reborn, but it took me a while to get past this blasted huge snake before I got to them.’

‘So you’re that Mr Evans?’

He smiled, ‘Yes. I have some contacts who told me something strange was going on in the graveyard, so I went to check it out. I never expected to see someone who was supposed to be dead, well, two people since everyone thought Voldemort was dead as well. Madam Bones said I will get a reward. I explained to her that I have old family money and that it would be best going to the auror department. She said I have no choice but to accept it, then it’s up to me what I do with the money. I plan to donate it to the auror office.’

‘We could use it, but are you donating it because we’re dating?’

‘No, I heard how Fudge kept cutting funds to that department and I believe it’s one that needs more funds and more aurors. It won’t look good for Fudge when the story is released how I donated the money to the auror department because I believed they needed more funds especially when it’s the aurors that keep their world safe and Fudge was cutting their funds. Imagine if Voldemort did return? There wouldn’t be anywhere near enough aurors to stop him this time.’

‘We know Fudge listens to Lucius Malfoy, who we all know was a death eater.’

‘He was and he probably knew Voldemort had a way to return so he made sure there would hardly be any resistance. Can I ask you something about the law and evidence?’

‘As long as you don’t expect an answer on anything I have to keep confidential.’

‘It’s not like that. What this is about is a crime that many would not believe. If you could be shown a memory of this event, could you arrest the person?’

‘Yes, it would then be investigated. If the head auror believed it was a serious enough crime then he could call for the person to be questioned using veritaserum. If this person ended up on trial, then the memories and the results of the questioning would be used.’

‘I found out, I just can’t say how, but Lucius Malfoy actually went to use the killing curse on Harry Potter. It was thanks to a house elf that saved the boy. Now from what I found out, Potter knew Malfoy was friends with Fudge so he didn’t think anyone would believe him, but also the boy doesn’t know how things work, like the law and if a memory could be used. Also, at the time he had never heard of veritaserum.’

‘If what you’re telling me is true, then we might be able to finally put that man in Azkaban. I suppose you would rather not be involved?’

‘If it’s possible to keep my name out of it, I would appreciate it. I would understand if you had no choice but to mention my name. All you have to do is ask the boy and since your cousin is his legal guardian, it wouldn’t be difficult. You could tell the boy you’re an auror and needed to know about this crime.’

‘I could also mention how many of us have wanted to get something on Malfoy for years. We all knew he wasn’t really under the imperius curse, but since he was cleared, he can’t be arrested again for that. We need something he has done since then and you just might have given it to us,’ Dora pulled her man towards him, kissing him hard which made him laugh before they ordered.

Dora, or Tonks as she liked to be called, spoke to Sirius about what she found out. Sirius instantly said he would talk to Harry about what took place then get Tonks there as an official auror. Sirius hated Lucius Malfoy and knew he had been a death eater during the war with Voldemort. Sirius had hoped one day the blond pounce would finally pay for his crimes.

Harry had snuck away from his friends to speak with the twins. He offered them the five hundred galleons so they could start their shop, but would like to be a silent partner who only had five percent share. The twins instantly said fifteen since the money Harry had just gave them would be enough to make enough products and open the shop. They had a lot of products now and they were stored at a hidden shed down past the orchard. Now they could rent the shop and move all their things to the shop. They both hugged Harry before they said one product will be named after him then they ran off before Harry could protest, which he did, but no one was around to hear him.

Harry had the best time on the Hogwarts express. He knew for the first time since starting at Hogwarts that he would not be returning to the Dursley’s. He had seen the headmaster staring at him a few times, but Harry ignored him. There was no reason to go back to the muggles now Voldemort was truly dead. Also, Sirius was his family, no one would deny the chance of Harry having a good home life with his godfather. Harry had a feeling the headmaster knew he would refuse to return to the muggles and he would just disappear if anyone tried to force Harry to remain at the Dursley’s. Then the old man would have to fight Sirius as well and right now everyone is out to make Sirius happy for the time he was in Azkaban and innocent. Sirius would just turn up at the Dursley’s and take Harry away and since he was Harry’s legal guardian, no one could stop him.

Hermione smiled as Harry raced off the train. By the time she got off, Harry was being hugged by his godfather. She also noticed that Mrs Weasley didn’t seem happy. Hermione knew Molly Weasley would not think someone like Sirius Black would make a good parent. She hoped Mrs Weasley didn’t say anything because if she did, Hermione knew Harry would not take that well and with his temper, he would probably have a go at Mrs Weasley. It could mean Harry will refuse to go to the Burrow or have anything to do with Molly Weasley.

The day after the school holidays began, there was a huge story on the front page of the Daily Prophet, about Severus Snape. The article went on about how he had been a death eater and the one that told Voldemort about the prophecy, which sent the dark wizard after the Potters.

People were outraged that he was allowed to teach when he was responsible for Harry Potter losing his parent’s. Hogwarts was being bombarded with howlers, not just for Snape, but for Dumbledore. One thing three quarters of the parent’s said in their letters or howlers, they will not be allowing their children to return until Snape was gone from Hogwarts.

‘We were told it was a death eater that changed sides but not who it was,’ Sirius growled, ‘With what you told me pup, it doesn’t sound like he changed at all.’

‘I won’t be going to his class, there is no way, not when I want to curse the bastard.’

‘Then you won’t be returning to Hogwarts until he is gone. I would like him arrested, not sure if that will happen when the old man got him out of trouble the first time.’

‘Well, you could teach me enough to pass my owls and since I don’t want to work for the ministry, it’s not like I’ll really need my newts.’

‘I’m staying away from the ministry as well. It doesn’t matter that Fudge finally listened to the truth about me, we know he listens to people like Malfoy.’

‘Yeah, he does.’

‘Speaking of Malfoy, I heard what happened between you and him after you saved the girl from the chamber of secrets.’

‘Yeah, he wanted to kill me,’ Harry shrugged.

‘My cousin is an auror and she believes if you show your memory of what happened, then Malfoy will finally end up in Azkaban. Many aurors know he’s guilty but they can’t get anything on him. Right now you have proof he tried to kill you.’

‘I never thought anyone would listen to me when he’s friends with Fudge.’

‘Madam Bones will watch your memory, she will see proof and that’s all she needs to arrest him. She can then use the truth potion on him.’

‘Um, okay, but if you know this, why didn’t Dumbledore say anything?’

Sirius sighed, ‘No idea pup. He could have easily called for an investigation and had your memories seen. So can I contact my cousin?’

‘Yeah, he needs to go, just like Snape does, but at least old man Malfoy might finally get what he deserves.’

Sirius hugged his godson then went to write the letter to Dora. He used Hedwig since she was there and he didn’t own an owl, at least not yet. He planned to make those mirrors he and James used and hopefully it would mean they wouldn’t need to use owls all the time, or the fireplace to talk to someone.

That night Dora arrived with a senior auror who she trusted, Auror Timothy Proudfoot. They brought along a pensieve that would detect if the memory had been modified. Sirius wanted to see the memory as well, but he also thought Harry should that way he could put it behind him especially knowing Lucius Malfoy was about to go to Azkaban, where he belonged.

The moment they left the memory, Sirius growled, ‘You should have been taken straight to the hospital. What was that old man thinking?’

‘Let’s not worry about that now Sirius. We just saw proof that Lucius Malfoy went to use the killing curse on Harry. That is a life sentence in Azkaban.’ Dora said.

‘The elf might have stopped him, but it proves he was going to kill you Mr Potter. He may argue that he would have stopped, but he will still do time for saying the first part.’

‘At least it will be known what he is really like. Hopefully it will stop people like Fudge listening to him,’ Harry said.

‘We will take this back to Madam Bones who will officially call for him to be arrested.’

‘Thanks Dora, Auror Proudfoot.’

Harry sagged after the aurors left, ‘I was injured, I really should have seen Pomfrey.’

‘Yes, you should have and been given a few days rest. It’s like Dumbledore didn’t care how you were feeling. The girl should have also seen a healer after she went through all that. She was basically possessed by Voldemort for months. I’m sure that affected her.’

‘She was quiet the following year and never spent any time with the kids in her year. She hangs around Hermione a lot, and us since we’re together. She’s got a thing for me, I think it’s to do with saving her.’

‘She’s mixing up her feeling of gratitude for romantic feelings. Just treat her like you do anyone else, she’ll get the message sooner or later.’

It only took a week for the news to break that Lucius Malfoy had been arrested for attempting to kill Harry Potter when the boy was only twelve. The statement released by Madam Bones said that she had seen proof that Lucius was about to use the killing curse, he said the first word, Avada before a house elf saved Mr Potter by flinging the man away from the boy. They also saw the memory of how he threatened the boy and what the man said.

With that information coming to light, Madam Bones began to investigate Minister Fudge and his staff. They found out that Lucius Malfoy had paid Fudge and Umbridge if they would stop laws he didn’t want or bring in new laws he did. Fudge and Umbridge ended up losing their jobs and were in holding cells waiting for their trials just as Lucius Malfoy was.

When the students returned to Hogwarts, the staff were shocked. There were only around one hundred students. It seems the parents or guardians were serious. While Snape was there, their children would not return. Harry Potter was one of the students who had not returned, which surprised Hermione, yet it didn’t surprise Ron or the twins. When Hermione went on about how Harry should return to finish his education, the twins said that Harry would learn more away from Hogwarts because Sirius would use a warded place to teach him, something their parent’s wouldn’t do. But they also thought it was disgraceful that Snape was allowed to bully Harry, who was one of his victims.

Albus Dumbledore had been informed by Madam Bones about Voldemort, but he believed Voldemort would return, he just never told anyone his reasons. He needed Harry Potter to return to Hogwarts and he needed to get the boy to trust him so Voldemort would be finished for good.

Albus was in his office, talking to Fawkes about his plans. What Albus did not realise was the stranger had placed mirror’s in the office to listen in on Albus. The mirrors were charmed so no one would see them, even if they were standing in front of them. The mirrors would also record everything it saw or heard that way if the stranger wasn’t in his office at the time, he could go back over it when he could.

The stranger continued on with his plans, Malfoy was taken care of, so was Fudge and Umbridge. Snape was about to realise that Albus would prefer to lose him than lose the-boy-who-lived. Once Snape was gone from Hogwarts, the stranger would take care of him then he had one more job to do, one he hadn’t been expecting. But after hearing what Albus Dumbledore planned, the stranger knew he had to stop it.

It only took a few days before Albus told Severus the bad news. Severus was furious and ended up storming out of the office. All Albus could do was sigh, but hope it meant that Harry would return.

Snape ended up back in his old family’s home that first night after leaving Hogwarts. What he didn’t know was that many items inside the house, items Severus Snape would touch, were poisoned. It would take a few hours, but Snape would die, alone and without knowing why or who did it. But with how most of the people in the wizarding world felt about Snape, it would be impossible to find out if someone killed him or if it was something Snape did which caused his own death. If they did figure out it was someone else that killed him, they wouldn’t know who. Snape would not be found for a few weeks, when Albus wrote to him and got no answer so he paid a visit to his former colleague.

By the time Albus returned to Hogwarts, it was after dinner. He ate in his office, then sucked on one of his lemon drops. What he didn’t know was those lemon drops were poisoned. Not with the same one that killed Snape, this poison would make it seem like Albus Dumbledore died of a heart attack.

The stranger had heard that the old man was going to work on a way for Harry Potter to die and it would seem like an accident. He believed Harry had to die to get rid of the piece of soul behind his scar. He refuse to believe Voldemort was dead, no matter what Madam Bones said. He had even saw that Harry’s scar had faded since the end of the last task in the tournament. But Albus always believed he was right, this time he wasn’t and the stranger was not going to allow Harry Potter to be murdered just because the old man couldn’t believe he was wrong.

Most didn’t care when they read that Snape had died, but many were shocked when they heard that Albus Dumbledore had died due to heart failure. Everyone knew he was old so hearing something like this wasn’t really unexpected, it was just sudden.

Harry was reading the ancient runes book. He realised he should never have taken divination and should have taken ancient runes. It was too late now, but Sirius and Remus were going to tutor him in the subject so he could still take his owls if he wanted.

Harry loved learning from Sirius and Remus. He ended up enjoying potions and he was good at it. Harry always knew it was Snape and now he had proof.

‘Hey pup, got a minute?’

Harry looked up at Sirius and Remus, ‘Sure, what’s up?’

‘Now Snape is gone, we were curious about Hogwarts. Do you want to return?’

Harry put his book down, ‘I don’t know. I know there probably wouldn’t be danger any more, but I’ve been learning more here than I could at Hogwarts. Apart from Remus, we never had a decent defence teacher, now I have both of you teaching it. I really enjoy learning history, there is no use with Binns teaching. For all we know McGonagall will probably hire shitty teachers for defence and potions.’

‘We heard she hired Horace Slughorn to teach potions. He was our potions teacher, and he was good, and fair,’ Remus said.

‘He had one flaw though, he liked to have his special club, filled with people he believed would go on to great careers. He would give recommendations to get them the job they wanted. Some called him a collector, he likes to be close to any one famous.’

‘Then no, I hate how everyone stared at my scar and I hate the-boy-who-lived.’

‘It’s your choice, but won’t you miss your friends, or just interacting with kids your own age?’ Remus asked.

‘Not really, I mean I was always alone before Hogwarts and I actually hated being surrounded by so many. I could never get comfortable having so many near me and I didn’t sleep well in the dorm rooms. Some nights I would wait until everyone went to bed then went back down to the common room and sleep on the sofa.’

‘Like we said, it’s your choice. We can continue to teach you. I spoke with Moony and I finally talked him into taking a wage, since he is basically doing the job as teacher but in many subjects.’

‘I think that’s great. You are taking the place of a teacher and of many subjects and you’re a better teacher than I would have at Hogwarts.’

‘I don’t believe I could ever match Minerva in transfiguration.’

‘Maybe not, but you aren’t as cold as she is. It’s one reason why no one in Gryffindor ever went to her to talk about anything. She is just so unapproachable and comes across cold and uncaring. I spoke with a girl in Ravenclaw, she said Professor Flitwick always visited the kids in his house and everyone felt comfortable with him. She told me Professor Sprout does the same.’

‘Alright then, we’ll set up a proper schedule then, which will include ancient runes. You can take your owls in the other subjects and do ancient runes in a year or so.’

‘Great,’ Harry grinned.

‘For now though, let’s head into Diagon Alley. There are some books you will need and we can have lunch while we’re there.’

When the three of them were shopping for books, they did get asked about Hogwarts. Harry was truthful and said history wasn’t worth his time, yet he loved learning history from Remus. Defence has always been a joke, and only Remus was a decent teacher. Now he added Sirius who taught him transfiguration and charms, but he was also learning ancient runes and arithmancy from the two men. Harry knew this would end up in the Daily Prophet, so he also mentioned McGonagall and how unapproachable she was and when she was approached, she refuse to listen. Harry also spoke about the constant bullying that the teachers let happen, he mentioned about a girl in Ravenclaw that had her things stolen all the time and was locked out of the tower with no warm cloak or even shoes. Harry said that there were portraits everywhere, not to mention ghosts and house elves. They could easily report who was in the wrong and who was the worst bully’s, but nothing was ever done. Harry also spoke about the danger and how Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the world, yet between Voldemort, death eaters and dangerous creatures like trolls getting into the castle, then it wasn’t safe at all. Those were Harry’s main reasons why he would not have anything to do with Hogwarts.

Sirius and Remus listened to Harry and finally understood that he hadn’t told them everything and there was more going on at Hogwarts than they ever realised. They would get the full truth out of him, but not yet. They wanted him to relax into his new life and get comfortable. Sirius and Remus knew Harry had reasons not to trust adults, since no adult had ever helped him before. They wanted to show Harry they could be trusted, they would just have to show him and hopefully, over the next few months, Harry would see they were there for him.

The story of what Harry said about Hogwarts was on the front page of the Daily Prophet the following day. It didn’t take long before the new governors decided to hire a new person to be headmaster, but to also change things in regards to the head of house. They were also going to work on portraits, house elves and ghosts to be witnesses.

When the governors turned up at Hogwarts, Flitwick had already found out who was being bullied in his house, what they did and how often. Ravenclaw no longer had a head boy nor prefects. The ones doing the bullying were now restricted to the common room, the library, classes and the great hall. The girl was now going to be watched constantly by house elves. If anyone attempted to retaliate in any way, those people would be instantly expelled.

By the end of the first week, half the Slytherin’s ended up expelled, Malfoy and Parkinson were the first two. There were students from each house that ended up expelled. Binns was told he was not needed any more, Slughorn was allowed to stay as long as he did not try to become friendly with any student and no more slug club. The governors changed some of the courses, divination would only be taught after students had been tested for any type of seer ability.

The new heads of house would be younger, someone that the students would feel comfortable approaching. But the head of house would not be a teacher they would be more like a guidance councillor but also someone friendly that they could talk to, about anything.

The governors also changed things so no teacher could do more than one job, so McGonagall lost her position as deputy head. Minerva almost decided to quit teaching and leave Hogwarts. She only changed her mind because she still enjoyed teaching, but also, Hogwarts had been her home for more than forty years so she decided to remain as transfiguration teacher.

Even though the governors would like the-boy-who-lived to return to Hogwarts, they knew the boy was upset with everyone and he liked having Remus Lupin as a teacher. The governors knew they could not get the parent’s to change their minds about Lupin teaching, not when they knew he was a werewolf. Many parent’s tried to complain and get Lupin away from Harry Potter. But no one could tell anyone who they can and can’t have as friends. Sirius Black was Harry’s legal guardian and both Sirius and Harry cared for Remus. He would remain as one of Harry’s tutors. During the full moon, Remus would return to his old cabin which had a secure cell which would keep Moony contained.

Harry had finished cleaning up after his lessons and went to join Sirius and Remus for dinner. He got a surprise when he walked into the kitchen. There were two other people there, with Remus and Sirius. He had met Dora, Sirius’s auror cousin, but there was a man there also, a man that had the same colour eyes as Harry.

‘Harry, come meet Dora’s boyfriend,’ Sirius said with a smile, ‘This is Hadrian Evans.’

‘Evan’s?’ Harry stared at the man.

‘I only recently found out that I was your mother’s second cousin. It seems your mother was not a muggleborn. Centuries ago, a squib was born and like many other pure-blood families, they left the child in the muggle world, after removing the child’s memory of magic. So for those centuries they believed they were muggles, until your mother was born. When I began dating Dora, I heard many stories about the-boy-who-lived, but when I saw your eyes, I decided to investigate. It does not mean you have to like me Harry, just know if you wish for any information on our side of the family, I can fill you in.’

‘We were shocked when we heard Harry,’ Sirius said.

‘We should not have been. So many squibs were dumped in the muggle world, so there could be many muggleborns who actually come from long wizarding lines.’ Remus said.

‘I wonder if I could research. It would be interesting to find out.’

‘If that’s something you would like to do, I say go for it. Hadrian could help you out by supplying the information he found, but also how he found it. You would need to do a lot of research in the ministry archives as well. Many of those pure-bloods might have obliviated the memory from the child and any that knew of the child, but the information on the birth of the child could not be erased. It could be buried, but not destroyed in any way. It’s so we will always be able to trace our family tree,’ Sirius said.

‘I think it sounds fascinating,’ Harry said

During dinner, Harry spoke with Hadrian about how he found this information. Harry couldn’t believe how excited he was about this information. He realised this is what he was meant to do, find long lost family members and prove to those pure-bloods just what their actions has caused. But also it meant that there probably wasn’t any muggleborns at all, they all came from wizarding families.

Hadrian smiled at the boy. He could see how much Harry was already changing, from how he used to be. Hadrian might have been Harry in his old life, but he had a good new life now and he also helped this Harry get the life he deserved. Young Harry had a family, more than he realised, but soon enough he would find that he was related to many and some he knew and already liked. It might not change his mind about going to Hogwarts, but it would mean the-boy-who-lived would feel like he had finally found his place in the world. The wizarding world.

The end: