Chapter 11: Making Waves-2

Harry could feel a rage heavy set in as he watched the emotion the man was experiencing. It all came back to Riddle, it was all because of him. Harry placed a hand on the man's shoulder causing him to look up.

Xenophilius could see a brightly simmering emerald fire and could feel the magic pulsing through the boy. It was powerful, yet comforting.

"I will sir" Harry vowed. "I will stop him if it is the last thing I do" he added quietly.

They spent a little more time with the man and his companion, who turned out to be a priest who had conducted the funeral of the young girl. After listening to the man tell stories about his wife and daughter, Harry was reminded of that moment he had witnessed on the ferry to France between the young girl and her father. It seemed much more important to him now, that small moment. Not that he had taken it for granted but now after meeting a grieving father who had lost his daughter it truly put into perspective how important those moments were.

The young man and the headmaster left the Lovegood home feeling truly humbled. Harry knew he had done the right thing by visiting because if anything it had steeled his resolve further and caused the words of the headmaster he spoke at the graves of Molly and Ginny to set in. He could not hold himself accountable for every catastrophe, both Arcturus and Dumbledore had told him and he had even witnessed it in the pensieve with what his grandfather had allowed to happen to him by carrying his guilt the way he did. It made him truly appreciate his grandmother even more who always managed to keep her husband thinking clearly and not burdening himself with things he could not control. His grandfather had learnt the hard way, but harry would not allow things to come to pass for himself in that manner. He understood his limitations although he did not like them at all. But he was one man after all as Dumbledore had said and there was little he could do to change them. He had his responsibilities and they were his to face but it was not up to him to accept the responsibilities of others. He would fight for all of them but they had to fight for themselves also, it was the only way that they would win.

(BREAK)

Dolores Umbridge was feeling very happy at Hogwarts despite having to put up with the disgusting children here. With Dumbledore out of the way she had managed to take control of the castle and even subdue the children to a manageable degree. She had her inquisitorial squad on continual patrols and the staff had also been quelled in their continual attempts at interference. She had Cornelius to thank for that. Not only had he given her the headmistress position he had even provided her with 3 of his personal guards to ensure there was no resistance. If there was then the perpetrators would find themselves expelled instantly and if the staff was stupid enough to try to intervene then they would find themselves dismissed from the castle just as quickly rendering the small amount of protection they gave the students completely useless. How could they protect them when they were not here to do so? Yes she had seized the hold on the school that she wanted to. There was however, one small problem.

She knew from since before Christmas that a certain group of students had been meeting in secret, discussing who knows what, and though she could not prove who they were she had her ideas, but their luck was going to run out soon enough. All she had to do was wait, one of them would slip up and when they did they would all be made to pay.

She rolled one of her treasured blood quills through her fingers and smirked at the thought of seeing them suffer. 'Yes, they will pay for disobeying me' she thought to herself.

(BREAK)

A week had passed since the funerals and Harry found that since he had grieved he was starting to feel much better, though the rage he felt towards Riddle and his followers had not subsided, he doubted that it ever would and secretly hoped that it wouldn't.

Arcturus and Dumbledore had been spending a lot of time together discussing their plans and seemed to be working well together, surprisingly. The two men had helped Harry complete his plan and he was ready to enter the castle via one of the secret passageways, he of course would be using the map and his cloak knowing that he could enter and roam the castle at will undetected. He had been studying the map and had noticed that there was always a presence in the corridors, a few labels he did not recognise and some he knew too well. The Slytherins seemed to have gained some kind of authority from what he observed as there was always some of them present from fifth year and up in the corridors. The rest of the houses seemed to spend all of their time away from lessons in their common rooms or dormitories, something that Harry found odd. Overall the castle seemed to be much quieter than he was used to but he did not dwell on it, it would certainly make collecting the diadem much easier.

(BREAK)

Hermione Granger had been working very hard since the students had returned to school to arrange a meeting between the usual attendees, it had been quite some time since the last. Life in the castle had simply become unbearable it resembled more of a prison than an educational establishment. All incoming and outgoing mail was scanned and read before it was allowed to make its way to the intended recipient. Umbridge and her squad of sycophants had well and truly taken control of the castle in Dumbledore's absence, an absence that was questionable at best as the students had not been given an explanation as to why.

At first the students had been relieved by the presence of the 3 aurors thinking that they would rein in and prevent Umbridge from being as terrible as she was but that relief had been short-lived. The three men were just as bad as she was and would report students for the most trivial thing and enjoy seeing them being punished. Hermione could not understand how these men were aurors, the forefront of protection in the magical community.

Ron and the twins had returned to the castle shortly after the funeral. Hermione suspected that they weren't finished grieving but from what the trio had said they could no longer stand living with their great aunt any longer. They had been subdued and very quiet since they had come back and it was a sad sight to see, particularly with the twins, who were always able to lift the mood of the students no matter how bad things were. There had been an announcement of Luna and Ginny's deaths but it was executed without emotion and seemed more of a footnote at the end of the other less meaningless announcements at the return feast.

It had taken almost 3 weeks to set the meeting up and here they were now. There were no smiles and many of the students looked tired and completely disheartened.

"Does anyone have any news?" Hermione asked the group.

"We can't even get mail without it being invaded" Susan Bones sighed irritably. "I tried to speak to my aunt about everything but she was barely home all holiday because of the problems with Azkaban and the whole Pettigrew thing" she explained.

"All I know is that this place is unbearable now" Tracey cut in. "Malfoy and the rest of her squad are even making our common room and dorms miserable" she continued exasperatedly. "We can't even do our homework without them breathing down our necks and having a private conversation is impossible" she complained.

"What can we do about it?" Neville asked.

"Nothing unless you want to be expelled, you heard Umbridge talk about her zero tolerance policy, she definitely means it" Hannah Abbott answered.

"We have just under two months to get through" Hermione tried. "At least we managed to get all of our spell work down for our OWLS earlier on in the year" she added clearly relieved by that at least.

"I bet Potter is glad he didn't come back this year, he seems fairly happy" Astoria said with a grin.

"Shut up Tori" Daphne hissed through gritted teeth.

She figured that her sister was taking advantage of the fact they were away from Malfoy and his cronies and could openly bait her sister.

Before anything else could be said there was a sick and sweetly voice heard from the doorway.

"Oh dear" the voice simpered. "A group of students meeting without permission and admitting to breaking the rules, tut tut" she continued. "Round them up" she commanded the group who were stood in her wake waiting for the go-ahead to bring them in.

The students who had been caught did not hesitate and began firing spells at Umbridge and her group knowing that they now had nothing to lose. They managed to break free from the room and split up to confuse their pursuers. Things were finally coming to a head at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

(BREAK)

Harry apparated into Hogsmeade and made his way to Honeydukes so that he could make his way through the passage there. He had decided to use this passage instead of the one in the shack as it took straight to the fifth floor and much closer to where he needed to be. It didn't take him long to access the passageway as the shop was still busy so he slipped through the crowd with ease.

Upon reaching the end of the tunnel he removed the map from his jeans and consulted it to check that the coast was clear, it was. There were a few small groups dotted around but most of the students were either in the Great Hall with Umbridge and her goons or in their common rooms.

He exited the tunnel and followed the instructions that Pettigrew had given him. He reached the 7th floor and found the tapestry of Barnabus the barmy teaching some trolls how to dance, it was quite an amusing depiction.

He walked backwards and forwards thinking that he needed the room of hidden things and on his third pass a large very old oak door appeared.

He entered the room and was amazed at what he found. The room was stacked from floor to ceiling with various items of furniture, books and many other items. Instead of wasting an opportunity like this he called for Dobby who appeared instantly wearing what seemed to be a dragonhide jacket and matching trousers.

"Dobby" he addressed the elf. "I want you to go through this room and find anything that could be useful" he instructed. "If you find anything valuable then open up a new vault with Gringotts and place it in there, I'm sure the school could use the gold" he finished.

"Yes Harry Potter sir" Dobby answered with a salute and began the arduous task.

Harry went about his own task looking for the diadem and found it much quicker than he had anticipated, he felt it before he could see it. He could feel the strong wave of hatred coming from the item that was conveniently boxed for him.

"Dobby" he called again. "Could you take this to Baron Black please" he requested. "Do not touch the thing inside the box though it is very dangerous" he instructed firmly.

Dobby shuddered as he took the box but disappeared nonetheless. He appeared again a moment later and informed Harry that he had done as he asked to which Harry thanked him.

Harry left Dobby to his work and exited the room. He opened the map again to make sure the coast was clear for him to leave unencumbered. What he saw made him frown. The majority of the students were in their common rooms as before but there were around 40 people in the Great Hall, a strangely mixed group that Harry suspected would not be in such close proximity of each other voluntarily. He checked the time and saw that dinner had been finished some time ago. Harry was confused and looked at the other groups on the map. Nothing seemed particularly out of place. He recognised some of the names and they all seemed to be with people in their own houses, he shrugged.

He was making his way down the fifth floor corridor again when he heard a raised voice coming from a classroom on his right and paused to listen.

"I should of known you and your disgrace of a sister were fraternising with the enemy" the familiar voice shouted. "Hold her still I'm going to teach the whore… argh you dare hit me? Crucio" the voice finished with a roar.

Harry was immediately furious. He had been on the receiving end of the curse himself and knew how painful it was. He didn't hesitate, he flicked his wand into his hand and aimed it towards the door, blasting it into a thousand pieces.

The occupants of the room were shocked to see a rage-filled Harry Potter enter looking murderous.

Harry recognised them all immediately; Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott. Malfoy had his wand pointed towards the crumpled form of Daphne Greengrass who was twitching and screaming on the floor.

Harry growled and fired a bludgeoning hex at the blonde boy banishing him face first with a sickening crunch into the wall. The other three simply gaped at the turn of events and before they could react they were all stunned and bound on the floor in thick black chains.

He approached the prone form of the quivering girl and reached out to grab her shoulder gently so not to startle her. She whimpered and recoiled further at his touch.

"It's ok Miss Greengrass, you're safe now" he comforted her quietly, causing the girl to turn to him slowly her eyes full of tears.

"Potter?" she asked just above a whisper in disbelief.

"Yeah it's me" he replied with a soft smile.

Without hesitation the girl flung herself into his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Harry instantly wrapped his arms around her and held the distraught girl to him closely.

"It's ok you don't have to worry anymore" Harry whispered attempting to both calm and comfort the girl. "I will make sure he ends up in Azkaban" he vowed to her.

It seemed to ease the girl considerably being held by him and he couldn't help but notice how comfortable it was for her to be there, something just felt right. It wasn't like a hug that Mrs Weasley would give him nor Hermione. This was gentle and did not suffocate him the same way. He could feel a tingle running through him at her touch and her scent was something he had never experienced. It was simply intoxicating, a smell he would never forget. Reluctantly he gently removed the girl from his arms and looked at her, she was definitely much calmer now.

"He was going to rape me" she suddenly said clearly still shocked by what had happened.

"Is that right?" Harry replied, his expression darkening considerably.

"That's why I kicked him" she replied quietly and began to shake again.

He turned and approached the boy on the ground and looked at him with disgust.

"So you've gone from being a nuisance to a disgusting criminal have you Malfoy?" he questioned the blonde who was looking terrified. "What's wrong Draco? Don't like it when there is someone who can fight back?" he asked. "You are going to Azkaban you filthy little bastard and good riddance to you, but first" he continued looking at the boy with complete contempt before stomping with all of his might between the boys legs causing him to scream. "That's what you get for trying, had you succeeded I would have removed it" he spat.

He bound the boy in chains as he had his companions and turned to face the girl again.

"What the hell is going on in this castle?" he asked her.

"Umbridge" Daphne answered simply.

Harry removed the map and checked it and saw that the same group were still in the Great Hall.

"What is that about?" he asked the blonde indicating the strange assembly of people.

"Oh no, she caught them all" she noted worriedly. "We have been meeting since the beginning of the year and she and her idiot squad caught us" She explained.

"I assume that's not a good thing" Harry intoned.

"They'll all be expelled" Daphne responded.

Harry let out a deep breath. "How bad is it?" he questioned the girl.

"Unbearable" she replied despondently.

"Ok I'll check it out" he conceded, this was not the plan but it seemed like he had no choice now seeing how bad it was for himself especially what he had witnessed here.

"I'm coming with you" Daphne said clinging to him again.

Harry could see she felt vulnerable and didn't want to be alone.

"Ok" he replied removing his cloak from his pocket. "Cover those morons with this, we will have to take them with us" he instructed.

"Wow an invisibility cloak" Daphne said in awe taking the cloak. "And what is that map?" she asked pointing to the parchment.

"Something my Dad and his friends made" he replied dismissively.

Daphne covered the other 4 in the cloak and walked back and clung to Harry again.

"Why are you here anyway, shouldn't you be with your harem or something?" she questioned the boy a little bitterly.

Harry just raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head.

"You shouldn't believe what you read in the media Miss Greengrass" he suggested.

"So you're not holstering your wand all over the world?" she asked with a smirk causing Harry to sigh.

"You read that article too?" he questioned her exasperatedly.

"Oh come on Potter" she responded. "There must be some truth in it, you said yourself that there is some truth in rumours" she pointed out.

"Not in this case" he denied vehemently. "I can assure you I have not been holstering my wand anywhere" he denied sincerely.

This certainly silenced Daphne. Either Potter was a very good liar or he was in fact telling the truth.

"Do you know the disillusionment charm?" he asked her to which she shook her head. "Ok come here" he requested.

He placed the charm on them both and pulled her close to him so not to lose her and levitated the four beneath the cloak behind them. They made their way to the Great Hall and entered to another scene that made Harry very angry.

He saw many people he recognised cut or injured to some degree sat at a single table on the left, the rest of the furniture had been banished to the other side of the room.

He saw Hermione, Ron and various other members of his house and others even a couple of Slytherins. The state of them made Harry see red.

Umbridge was stood at the head of the table with three aurors and a collection of older Slytherin students clearly keeping watch over the roughly handled group. His anger rose to the point where he lost control of his magic and the disillusionment charms and levitation charm ended causing the four under the cloak to hit the ground with a loud clank.

Everyone turned to see Harry Potter stood in the door way with his arm wrapped around a Slytherin girl. The group at the table simply stared open mouthed at the two while Umbridge and her cohorts stared dumbly.

"What the fuck is going on here" Harry demanded angrily.

Umbridge snapped out of her stupor and approached him addressing him in a sickly voice that made his skin crawl.

"Ahh, Mr Potter I assume?" she questioned. "And Miss Greengrass, we have been looking all over for you" she simpered.

Harry instinctively pulled the girl behind him protectively.

"You must be Umbridge" Harry replied neutrally. "I heard that you looked like a toad but I didn't realise the resemblance was so uncanny" he said with disgust causing the woman to flush in anger and a few stifled bouts of laughter to break out from the seated students.

"How dare you" she screeched.

It was then she noticed the four bound students that were partially visible from where the cloak had slipped off.

"Oh I will have you locked up for this" she hissed gesturing to the students on the ground.

Harry saw some of the Slytherin students stood with the aurors reaching slowly for their wands.

"If any of you reach any closer for those I will peel your arseholes up over your ears" he warned dangerously causing them to stop in their tracks and look at one another stupidly. "And you will find it will be Mr Malfoy who will be going to Azkaban and I will push for him to be executed, the Cruciatus does carry a life sentence after all" he said knowingly to which Umbridge blanched.

"You Mr Potter are trespassing" she screeched. "You are not a student here this year and whatever happens within these walls is not your concern" she spat.

"I think you'll find that when students are being treated like this" he said gesturing to the seated group, "then it is everyone's concern" he retorted.

Umbridge began backing away to the safety of her own group and spoke when she reached them.

"You will regret this Potter" she vowed to the young man wagging a finger towards him. "These aurors are going to be taking you in" she told him confidently.

"Aurors?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows. "Aurors are supposed to protect the magical community and if they are allowing some of the most vulnerable people in it to be subject to this then they are not aurors they are scumbags just like you" Harry replied casually readying himself for the inevitable attack.

"Dawlish" Umbridge screeched. "Arrest him" she commanded.

Dawlish stepped forward with a sneer on his face. He drew his wand but he was not quick enough. In a blink of an eye Harry had drawn his wand and fired a bonebreaker hitting the man in the knee, causing him to collapse to the ground screaming in pain. He then hit Daphne with a cushioning charm and wandlessly banished her to the side.

The other two aurors drew their wands and went on the attack. Harry dodged the spells with ease making sure the line of fire was not aimed at the students.

He caught the spell of one of the aurors and hissed at it, sending it back to its caster with blistering speed. The spell found its mark and as it hit the man a very large green snake appeared and coiled itself around him, wrestling the man to the ground.

"Hold him" Harry hissed at the snake which quickly subdued the auror it had in its grasp.

"Avada Kedavra" the last man screamed and a jet of green light hurtled towards Harry who did not have time to dodge. Instinctively he conjured a brick wall that managed to form just in time to be struck by the curse smashing it into several dozen pieces which Harry quickly banished at the man, hitting him with several of the fragments. He then quickly bound him in the same black chains he had used earlier and did the same to the whimpering Dawlish who was still clutching his legs.

"Crucio" he heard Umbridge screech and felt the curse hit him before he could react.

There was no doubt in his mind that it was painful but it was nothing compared to Riddle's or even any other types of pain he had felt in his life. Umbridge really was a weak witch.

He turned to look at her in annoyance as she was trying with all of her effort to cause as much pain to the teen as possible. Harry growled and simply banished her with a flick of his wand and bound her the same way he had her cohorts.

He turned to see the rest of the students looking at him in awe. Before he could even think of saying a word a brown blur had launched itself into his arms and he found himself in the crushing embrace of Hermione.

"Harry" she shouted with joy. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"It's good to see you too Hermione" Harry replied shaking his head. "I had to get something" he spoke in a tone that meant she should not ask any further questions which she understood.

"Decided to show yourself at last then" a bitter voice cut in.

Harry turned to see Ron who looked terrible. The boy was glaring at Harry who was just shocked by his attitude and appearance.

"You come back and save a snake, but where were you when my mum and Ginny needed you?" the redhead shouted. "What we aren't good enough for you anymore, is that it? you didn't even come to the funeral" he spat in disgust.

Harry was furious with the boy. He felt bad for him but he would not allow him to vent on him or blame him for things that were out of his control.

"I think you'll find Ronald I was at the funeral" Harry replied coldly. "I went under my cloak so I wouldn't be a distraction when that day was about them" he explained.

Ron just gaped but managed to compose himself.

"They still died Harry, and where were you, you're supposed to be this great and powerful wizard but you couldn't save them could you" he spat again. "And then you just turn up here and you're using dark magic and saving snakes" he added.

"Let me explain something to you, all of you" Harry replied addressing the room. "It is not my responsibility to save you all if I can then I will but you have to take responsibility for yourselves, I am only one person I can't save everyone" he said heatedly. "Let me ask you something Ron" he continued to the shocked room. "It's been almost a year since you've known he's back, what have you done to prepare?" he asked rhetorically. "Let me guess, you've sat on your arse talking about quidditch and slacking off" Harry deducted and seeing the guilty look on the boy's face, he knew he was right.

"We've been practicing" Hermione cut in timidly.

"What have you been working on?" Harry asked slightly surprised.

"Stunning and disarming and a few jinxes you learnt last year" she explained causing Harry to shake his head.

In a flash Harry had drawn his wand and stunned her and turned to address the shocked group.

"If you were in a fight and you found your friend like this" he said gesturing to the unconscious girl, "what would you do?" he asked.

Neville stepped forward and pointed his wand at Hermione. "Ennervate" he said confidently rousing the girl.

"Don't you think the Death Eaters know that?" Harry asked them exasperatedly. "Stunners are for aurors wanting to arrest someone and have no place on a battlefield" he intoned shaking his head.

"Then why don't you teach us?" Neville asked.

"I can't teach you what I use" Harry replied shaking his head.

"What because you'll go to Azkaban for using dark magic" Ron asked sarcastically.

"No because it is my family magic" Harry explained causing those who understood to nod. "But I have some books that I can send you" he offered.

"So your family is dark?" Ron asked. "I knew it, that's why you saved the snake" he said nodding. "That's it" he suddenly said in realisation. "It must have been one of the snakes who snitched on us" he shouted triumphantly.

Harry just shook his head at the boy.

"How do you know it was a Slytherin?" he asked the redhead.

"Oh come on Harry" he pleaded. "You can't trust any of them they're all on his side, there has never been a decent person from slytherin" he finished confidently.

"My grandmother was a Slytherin" Harry replied coldly causing his friend to pale. "And she was a healer and was not dark" he added glaring at the boy.

"Your grandmother was a snake" Ron stammered.

"Yes, Dorea Potter who was born Dorea Black" he explained to the gaping group who had speculated on this very subject. "And I would have been a slytherin also if I didn't meet that prat before the sorting" he explained pointing at Malfoy. "I had to beg the hat not to put me with him" he finished a little bitterly.

"You were almost a snake?" Ron asked wide-eyed.

"I am just as much a Black as I am a Potter" Harry answered with a shrug. "You soon learn though that houses mean nothing away from here" he explained. "Everywhere you could get a job will have a mix of houses, it means nothing" he finished firmly.

The students in the room thought on what Harry had said.

"Where are the rest of the professors?" he asked the rest of the students.

"They have to stay in their own quarters after 7pm" Daphne answered shyly.

Harry shook his head and placed his wand to his throat.

"Can everyone in the castle please come to the Great Hall" his amplified voice sounded throughout the building.

"Expecto Patronum" he intoned quietly and whispered to his Thestral which then galloped out of the castle.

"Miss Greengrass I am going to be taking these to the ministry" he explained gesturing to the bound people. "Would you mind coming with me? Your father will be there, I just need you to explain what happened" he requested of the girl who just nodded her consent.

"Thank you" Harry replied giving her a warm smile and causing her to blush.

"What on earth is going on here?" the shocked voice of Professor McGonagall rang throughout the hall.

"Just dealing with some vermin Professor" Harry replied giving the older witch a cheeky salute.

"Potter?" She asked disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?".

"Just visiting" Harry answered with a shrug. "It turns out that Madame Umbridge and her associates" he said gesturing to the various bound people, "were either torturing or allowing people to be tortured" he explained clearly disgusted.

"It had gotten that bad?" the witch asked clearly upset.

"It had" Harry replied. "But I will be taking them with me so you shouldn't worry" he spoke comfortingly.

"You have to call the aurors" she replied urgently.

"Professor three of these are aurors, apparently" he responded gesturing to the men in the red robes.

"Potter you are going to be in so much trouble" she gasped worriedly.

"Well I have apprehended an attempted rapist who also used the cruciatus curse and 3 so called aurors who attacked me and clearly allowed other students to be mistreated" he explained causing the woman to pale considerably. "Oh and that disgusting toad who tried a piss-poor attempt at using the cruciatus on me" he added. "I'm sure the wizengamot will be lenient" he finished.

"Rape?" she gasped disbelievingly.

"It seems that our resident ferret here like to get his kicks like that" he replied coldly.

"And why is Mr Malfoy in such a deplorable state?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Self-defence Professor" Harry replied innocently to which the woman just shook her head.

It was then that Harry noticed a small girl at the front of the crowd who had blood on the back of her hand and clutching a red quill. He frowned and approached.

"Can I see your hand?" he asked kneeling in front of the girl who looked very nervous but passed it to him. What he saw made him furious.

"How did this happen Miss?" he asked her.

The girl said nothing but handed him the quill which was clearly not ordinary.

"Do you know what this is?" he turned and asked McGonagall showing her the quill. She just frowned and shook her head.

"It is a blood-quill" Snape cut in in shock.

"I assume it is dark if you know what it is" Harry replied.

Snape nodded.

"And very illegal, they are only to be used for signing certain documents, they are heavily regulated" he explained still apparently shocked.

"Did Umbridge make you use this?" Harry questioned the girl who nodded.

"Ok, I want you to tell professor McGonagall all about it" Harry instructed. "She will make sure it gets passed to the aurors" he finished. "Is there anyone else that this has happened to?" he asked the room and several tentative hands were raised.

Harry growled.

"All of you write down what happened and pass it to a professor" he instructed them all.

"What is your name?" Harry asked the young girl softly.

"Natalie McDonald sir" she answered quietly.

"Well Natalie, I'm Harry" he said giving her a smile. "Colin?" he called causing the mousey-haired boy to approach. "Could you take a picture of this?" he asked gesturing to the wound. The boy complied immediately and Handed Harry the photo which he pocketed along with the quill.

"Now Natalie, would you like me to heal that for you?" he asked the girl again who just nodded shyly. "OK it might hurt a little at first but I promise it will feel better after" he explained.

He drew his wand and traced the wound hissing gently in parseltongue. The girl hissed a little in pain but didn't pull away.

"See" Harry said placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, "all better" he added with a smile.

"Thank you" the girl whispered.

"Now all that is left is for me to receive my reward" Harry declared with a nod.

The girl hesitated for a moment but reached in to her pocket and pulled out a single silver sickle and held it out to Harry.

"It's all I have sir" she said disappointedly.

Harry just shook his head and chuckled.

"I already have more money than I could ever spend" he informed her. "I was thinking something more along the line of a hug from a pretty girl" he added with a grin.

The girl looked around clearly looking for a girl that he could hug.

"I meant you" Harry confirmed with a chuckle and opened his arms.

The girl approached him nervously and Harry pulled her into his arms and picked her up causing her to giggle.

"Definitely worth the effort" he declared placing her gently back on her feet.

"For fuck sake Potter you come here for the simplest of things and I find you here hugging children, angling for Fudge's job are we?" Arcturus asked entering the room.

"Never" Harry replied firmly. "But I am planning on giving him a huge kick up the arse" he added. "Now make yourself useful you grouchy old git and start taking these" he instructed gesturing to the bound people. "You did call the meeting?" he finished questioningly.

"Watch your tongue you insolent bastard, you're already in for a cursing and yes I called the meeting, I, unlike yourself am not a complete moron" he retorted angrily.

"Language, there are children around" Harry pointed out.

"No worse than what they say" the older man grumbled but began levitating the people out of the hall, he made several portkey's and placed them on the bodies causing them to disappear. "The old coot is waiting for them in the antechamber" he explained.

Without saying a word he left the castle and headed towards the gates to apparate, he was not fond of portkey's.

"Shall we Miss Greengrass" Harry addressed the girl offering her his arm which she blushed at but accepted.

"When will we see you again Harry?" Hermione asked.

"We will catch up soon, I promise" he replied sincerely to his friend. He was sad to be leaving but he had other things to attend to.

Before they exited Tracey gave Daphne a grin and a wink to which the girl blushed at an even deeper shade of red.

Harry led the blonde through the gates.

"Have you ever apparated before?" he asked.

"Yes, my father takes me along sometimes" Daphne replied.

Harry took her arm and apparated them away, it was going to be a long night.

(BREAK)

The pair appeared outside the ministry and Harry caught Daphne as she stumbled to which she smiled nervously. They quickly made their way through the empty atrium and past the guard on the desk who just seemed to stare at Harry apprehensively while checked their wands in. It wasn't long before they found themselves in the antechamber Where Arcturus and a very angry and upset Dumbledore were waiting for them.

"Is what I have been told true?" the headmaster asked sadly.

"Yes Professor" Harry replied. "Malfoy and his friends here did try to assault Miss Greengrass in that disgusting way and the aurors here facilitated Umbridge and her disgusting forms of Punishment. She and Malfoy both used the cruciatus curse also and the last 3", he indicated to Nott, Crabbe and Goyle, "were helping Malfoy in his attempt" he finished angrily.

"I see" he sighed. "I am sorry you had to experience that Miss Greengrass" he said remorsefully.

"You have nothing to apologise for sir" the blonde replied genuinely. "It was lucky that Potter was there" she added, swallowing at thought of what could have transpired.

Harry saw this and put a comforting arm around her.

"Cornelius really is not going to like this" Dumbledore mused shaking his head. "These are some of his personal guard, his secretary and all of these students have parents in there" he finished.

"Well Fudge should have kept a tighter reign on his staff and chosen his associates more carefully because right now I don't give a damn about Fudge, this might not get him kicked out of office but it will certainly give him some much needed accurate publicity" Harry explained angrily.

"Or he could ruin your reputation and have you thrown in Azkaban" Arcturus pointed out.

"I don't care about my reputation either and I very much doubt that Azkaban would be so difficult to break out of without the dementors" he shrugged in reply.

"Very well" Dumbledore intoned. "The room is ready and I believe Baron Black managed to inform the media" he added, his eyes gently twinkling once again.

"We can't afford for him to cover it up" the other man explained.

(BREAK)

Cornelius Fudge was very annoyed as he sat in his seat waiting for this no doubt pointless session to begin. He had been at home enjoying a very fine glass of scotch when he got the call and of course he immediately sent for Lucius as he always did for aid in meetings such as these.

He was at the edge of his patience when the door to the chamber opened revealing Albus Dumbledore and Arcturus Black, just the sight of them had him on edge. He was about to address the pair when he spotted none other than Harry Potter and an unfamiliar blonde teen, it was what the boy that was levitating behind him that caught the man short.

"Daphne?" Jonathan Greengrass called to his daughter who immediately ran in to her father's arms. "What is going on?" he questioned the girl.

"It's ok Dad Harry stopped them" She answered cryptically.

Before the two could speak anymore Fudge found his voice.

"How dare you Potter, those are my aurors and my Senior undersecretary" he roared spraying spittle in various directions and turning purple.

Harry was undeterred by the man's anger and was immediately filled with rage himself.

"No Fudge, how dare you" he replied dangerously. "How dare you expose school children to filth like this" he hissed gesturing to the pile of bodies.

"Excuse me?" the man replied clearly taken aback by the lack of fear and venom in the boys voice.

"You heard me" Harry growled angrily. "Your undersecretary and these sorry excuses for aurors were torturing children and this disgrace of a human being" he added pointing to Malfoy, "attempted to rape a young lady" Harry finished, the emerald fire roaring in his eyes.

Fudge just sputtered dumbly clearly not knowing what to say.

"Is that my son?" Malfoy asked disbelievingly and wide-eyed.

"Yes it is" Harry spat. "He and his friends here tried to rape Miss Greengrass and your idiot son used the Cruciatus curse on her" he explained to the blonde man who was quickly looking nervous.

"Is that true" Jonathan Greengrass roared as he got to his feet.

"It is sir" Harry replied. "But they were unsuccessful beyond the curse" Harry answered trying to placate the man. "There is an abundance of proof and I am happy to be questioned in any way you see fit, I am sure those four won't be so keen to be questioned under veritaserum" he finished knowingly.

The entirety of the room was in shock, this was not something they had envisioned would be occurring during this meeting.

Jonathan simply wrapped his arms around his daughter and took his seat again looking very pale at the thought of what could have happened to his little girl.

Harry took advantage of the silence and addressed Amelia Bones.

"Madame Bones, what is the current sentence for attempted rape?" he asked.

"Attempted rape is 5 years in Azkaban" she replied shaking herself from the shock.

"And the use of the cruciatus curse?" he followed up with.

"That would get you a life sentence or execution" she answered, her expression darkening.

"And the killing curse carries the same even for aurors unless it is a life or death situation, am I right?" he asked further.

"Indeed you are Lord Potter" she informedm.

"And what about this?" he asked removing the quill and the photo from his pocket and handing it to her. She paled when she recognised the offending item.

"Where did you get this?" she asked seriously.

"Madame Umbridge was forcing children to write with it as punishment" he explained. "The other students are all writing statements and I imagine they will find their way to you soon enough" he surmised.

"Well that will most definitely see Madame Umbridge in prison for the rest of her days" Amelia responded.

"Can you not see the boy is lying" Lucius Malfoy tried desperately.

"I have more than enough evidence to prove it Malfoy, are you questioning my honour?" Harry asked the man dangerously his eyes beginning to glow again.

Malfoy faltered at the glare the boy was giving him and swallowed deeply. He was rescued from the staring match by Fudge.

"For goodness sake the boy is clearly deranged" he shouted pointing accusingly at Harry.

"The only persons mental credibility that should be questioned is yours Fudge" Harry retorted. "Your own aurors, you own secretary and the son of your closest associate, it doesn't look good does it?" Harry questioned sarcastically. "And let me tell you I don't trust you to lead a waltz and yet you are leading our entire country" Harry finished shaking his head.

There was a significant amount of cheering at this.

Fudge was simply dumbfounded. He hadn't really noticed the implications of the people involved. The boy was right, it really did not look good.

"Surely Lord Potter" he began in his best political tone, "we can find a way to deal with this without having to send usually upstanding members of our society to prison" he tried reasoning with Harry. "It must have been a momentary lapse in judgement, they must have been caught up in the heat of the moment" he explained with a nod.

The entire room were watching Harry, waiting to see what the young man would do. This could be a defining moment for him, this is how people would see him from now on, how he responded in this moment.

"Stop trying to make excuses for them, this was not a heat of the moment thing, this has been a continual and systematic approach to discipline by your staff, and these morons", he added gesturing to the students, "decided they wanted in on it, but they took it too far" Harry replied unwaveringly.

"Then you will be arrested also for attacking them" Fudge spat angrily.

"Fair enough" Harry shrugged and held out his wrists. "It just makes you look even more incompetent than what you are and what do you think the public will think when they learn that you had me locked up for stopping their children being tortured by your staff?" Harry questioned.

Fudge was clearly in a bind. Either way this was not going to end well for him. The boy would not be swayed to drop the matter and Cornelius knew that either way he was going to have to be making serious reparations in some form. He sunk back in his chair defeated knowing that it would be much better for him to just accept what had happened and weather the storm instead of adding fuel to an already roaring flame.

The members of the wizengamot were more than a little surprised at how well the fifteen year old handled himself. They knew that one day he would be quite the political force, be it ally or opposition.

"And just who are these other three students" Amelia asked having written down the major points of the meeting.

"That would be Crabbe, Goyle and Nott" Harry replied to which Amelia wrote down.

There was a sudden shout of rage from one of the gathered members and a man stood up pointing his wand at Harry.

"You dare attack my son and accuse him of such a disgusting thing" he roared. "I will kill you Potter" he finished breathing heavily.

To everyone's surprise it was Lucius Malfoy who intervened.

"Sit down Theodore" he hissed. "We will handle it" he said with a sharp look.

Harry knew that Malfoy was already formulating a plan to get his son off the charges but he would do everything he could to stop it.

"No" the other man shouted in rage. "I will not have this half-blooded bastard accuse my son and get away with it" he finished shaking in his anger.

"Well Lord Nott" Harry replied casually. "You could always make that a formal challenge, if you so wish".

"Theodore" Lucius hised warningly.

"Oh and you think you can take me do you?" the man asked laughing at the teen. "Then so be it Potter, I am going to wipe the floor with you" he spat.

"That didn't sound like a formal challenge to me" Harry intoned with a raised eyebrow.

"I, Theodore Dominus Nott challenge Harry Potter to a duel by the honour of my family" he stated firmly.

The gathered people in the room gasped. It was a very rare thing for a challenge to be made in such a way.

"I get to pick the place and you can pick the date" Harry replied not wanting to be caught in a trap.

"Fine" Nott spat.

"Then I accept" Harry declared, causing a red glow to surround the two.

Lucius sat back in his seat defeated. The Dark Lord was not going to be happy and Nott had no idea what he had just gotten himself in to. Chances are he was either going to be killed by the Dark Lord for his foolishness or by Potter in a duel.

"If that is all" Amelia cut in. "I have some prisoners to process" she explained. "Notification of trial dates will be issued to all of you pending the gathering of evidence" she informed the room.

With that the wizengamot filed out, headed by Nott senior who stormed from the room.

"You did well Potter" Arcturus praised. "And good job on not backing down from the challenge, it would have not looked good on you if you had" he said knowingly.

"It's his funeral" Harry replied to which the man grinned.

"Remember, never underestimate an opponent" the older man warned. "The Nott's are well known for their duelling ability" he informed the younger man.

"Who said I was going to duel him?" Harry asked. "As far as I am concerned it's a fight. I know he doesn't plan on playing nice so I won't either" Harry declared firmly.

"Good" the older man replied. "I will see you at home" he finished nodding over the teens shoulder.

Harry turned to see Jonathan Greengrass approaching with Daphne still wrapped in his arms.

"Lord Potter" the man inclined with a bow. "It seems that I have to once again thank you for coming to the aide of my family" he added with a shake of his head.

"It will always be Harry Sir" Harry responded. "It does seem I have a knack for it" he chuckled.

"Then you may call me Jonathan" the man replied. "You, if anyone, has earned that right" he spoke sincerely. "You do seem to have a tendency for it" he added. "A tendency that I am of course grateful for" he finished.

"And your family seems to have a tendency for landing themselves in these situations" Harry pointed out causing the man to chuckle.

"That they do" he mused. "Well then I can only hope that you are around to get them out of them" he added with a grin.

"You can count on it" Harry replied looking at Daphne whose cheeks had turned pink.

"Well Harry I must be getting my daughter back to school" the man intoned much to the obvious displeasure of his daughter which Harry caught.

"I'd be glad to escort her, if you don't mind?" Harry offered.

Mr Greengrass smiled knowingly.

"You know" he said scratching his chin. "There is no man I would trust to escort my daughter anywhere apart from myself" he continued. "But I think I can add to you that very exclusive list Harry" he finished with a warm smile. "Thank you" he said sincerely offering the young man his hand which Harry accepted immediately.

"Anytime" Harry returned.

"Well Daphne I imagine your Mother will be writing to you first thing, enjoy the peace while you can" he advised. "And I will see you soon" he added pulling his daughter into a final hug. "I hope we get to see you soon also Harry" he added before making his exit.

The teens followed shortly with Harry escorting Daphne out of the ministry and apparating her back to Hogwarts. They walked together to the front doors in companionable silence and reached them quicker than either of the teens wanted to.

"Well Miss Greengrass" Harry began. "I do hope we get to meet sometime under better circumstances" he spoke sincerely. "And when you don't feel the need to shout at me" he added with a chuckle causing the girl to blush.

"I'm sorry about that" she said quietly. "I was just confused" she continued shaking her head.

"Confused?" Harry asked frowning.

"I was confused about how I feel about you" she replied in just above a whisper.

"Was confused?" he questioned raising an eyebrow.

Daphne nodded. "I'm not so confused anymore" she admitted shyly looking the boy in the eye. "Thank you Harry" she said gratefully and reached up, kissing him on the cheek.

"You called me by my first name" he acknowledged in surprise.

"Then you should call me Daphne" she replied with a soft smile.

"I'm sure I can do that Daphne" he responded.

There was a momentary silence between the two in which Daphne broke.

"Goodnight Harry" she bade farewell reluctantly squeezing his hand gently.

"Goodnight Daphne" Harry returned softly.

Daphne turned to leave but was stopped by the boy.

"Daphne?" he called. "The day in Hogsmeade" he continued. "Your patronus didn't work because the memory wasn't strong enough" he explained. "Your concentration is fine" he finished with a small smile.

"That is the happiest memory I have" she replied dejectedly looking downwards.

Harry approached her, placed two fingers under her chin and raised her head.

"Then we need to give you a better one" he suggested to the girl and placed a gentle kiss on her lips to which she immediately responded to.

The pair melted in to each other, caught up in how amazing the feeling of this moment was, a moment that neither would forget.

"Try now" Harry whispered softly to her.

Daphne removed her wand and focused on the feeling she felt in that moment and allowed it wash over her.

"Expecto Patronum" she intoned quietly not breaking the eye contact she was sharing with the boy.

The misty shield she was used to seeing was not present. In its place stood a large ethereal and pure white winged horse which made her gasp.

"That is quite something" Harry said in awe noting the similarity to his own.

"I did it" Daphne uttered in disbelief.

"You did" Harry responded proudly with a smile.

"Thank you" the girl squealed and threw herself in his arms, kissing him again.

"You're welcome" Harry said warmly when she broke away.

"I have to go" Daphne sighed sadly. "But I don't want to".

"Then I had better write to you" Harry replied still smiling.

"I'd like that" Daphne admitted happily.

"Goodnight Daphne" Harry said placing a final kiss on her cheek and turned away and began his walk to the gates.

"Goodnight Harry" Daphne whispered touching the spot where his lips had just been.

Both the castle and the common room were both empty as Daphne made her way to her dorm. She entered her room to find an expectant Tracey and Astoria still awake and clearly waiting for her to return.

"Are you ok?" Tracey asked, concerned for her friend.

Daphne nodded.

"I'm fine Tracey" She responded. "Much better than anyone of them will be" she continued. "Harry tore Fudge and the rest of them a new one" she explained in amusement.

"Harry now is it?" Tracey questioned the blonde with a raised eyebrow, who began blushing instantly. "Ok spill, what happened?" she demanded.

"Nothing happened Tracey" Daphne replied trying to busy herself by preparing for bed, but she couldn't hide her smile.

"Oh come off it Daph" the girl huffed exasperatedly. "I would have been all over him the moment we left the castle" she said. "He's gorgeous, he's powerful and did you see how he handled that little firsty?" she asked. "My ovaries nearly exploded at how good he was with her" she finished.

"Tracey!" Daphne gasped in shock. "He just helped me with my patronus" she dismissed with a shrug but couldn't stop the smile forming at the memory.

"And how did he do that?" Astoria cut in.

"He kissed me" Daphne answered shyly, blushing further.

"He didn't" Tracey stated in shock. "What was it like?" she asked.

"Amazing" Daphne whispered.

"And how was that supposed to help with your patronus?" Astoria asked with a frown.

"He said that my memory wasn't happy enough and he kissed me, he said I needed something better" Daphne shrugged.

"And it worked?" Tracey asked in disbelief to which Daphne nodded.

"Show me" Tracey demanded.

Daphne removed her wand and cast her mind back to feeling in the moment she had shared with Harry.

"Expecto Patronum" she intoned in a somewhat dreamy voice and the beautiful winged horse formed before the trio.

"It's like his" Astoria whispered.

"Huh?" Daphne asked confused.

"His is a Thestral and yours is a winged horse" Astoria explained. "They look so similar" she finished.

Tracey just stood and stared, for once in her life she was speechless.

"Are they that alike?" Daphne asked quietly.

"Almost identical" Tracey breathed.

Daphne ended the spell causing the other two to snap out of their awestruck states.

"So you and Potter then?" Astoria asked her sister.

"I don't know" Daphne replied shaking her head. "He said he would write to me".

"And what about his harem?" Tracey asked with a smirk.

"I may have asked him about that" Daphne answered sheepishly. "He said none of it is true, he is either a very good liar or he was being honest with me" she mused.

"What do you think?" Astoria questioned.

"I don't think he was lying at all, the boy is too honest for his own good" Daphne answered without hesitation.

"We will just have to wait and see if he writes" Tracey responded with a nod. "But for now I am tired and need my bed, you know how grumpy I am if I don't get enough sleep" she intoned knowingly.

"Goodnight you two" Astoria said with a yawn and exited the room to head to her own bed.

Tracey and Daphne finished getting ready for bed themselves and got in, both exhausted from the day.

"Night Daph" Tracey called from her bed.

"Goodnight Tracey" Daphne replied.

Daphne stayed awake for some time replaying the day throughout her mind. It had been bad to start with and only got worse when they had been discovered by Umbridge. But again Harry Potter came to help her when she needed it most. Daphne Greengrass fell asleep that night the happiest she had ever been, her continuous smile would attest to the that.

She needn't wait long for the promised letter from Harry. Much to her and the other twos surprise, she received her very first letter the next morning at breakfast much to her relief and delight.