Chapter 22 Some Minor Smack Downs

February 28, 1995

A few days later Mr. Roberts came after classes with a young man who looked like a snob with his well-cut robes and expensive suit, brown hair, slicked back like that jerk Malfoy's, and hard brown eyes and granite features that screamed arrogance. The lawyer beckoned Harry to the magic room. When the three of them got there, Harry conjured seats while Mr. Roberts put up silencing wards.

"Harry, this is Mr. Jake Butcher." He waved toward the brunette man, who was standing stiffly by his chair. "He's the one who has the closest political views to yours, though he has agreed to vote in your stead as you deem it. Mr. Butcher, Harry Potter."

"Hello, Mr. Butcher, it is nice to make your acquaintance," Harry said formally, walking over and holding out his hand. He was curious as to why Mr. Roberts thought that this obviously rich, haughty, young man would be the best proxy for him, since they seemed to be complete opposites. But, since the attorney hadn't led him wrong yet, he'd give the guy a chance.

"Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure," the brown-eyed man said as he shook the offered hand. He stood around the same height as Mr. Roberts, so average. The two shook hands, nodded heads and took their seats.

"I have a few questions," the tri-color haired teen said, sitting up straight as the whole affair dictated decorum. He pulled it off even if he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Luis would be proud. "First, what do you think of Albus Dumbledore?" To him this was the most important question.

Mr. Roberts had told him the laws the old man had voted on as Harry's proxy, and while most of them were things the teen would have agreed with, there were some he most definitely did not. Such as, the law that prevented pure-bloods from getting the same trials as others, which Harry was completely against.

"I believe, like Mr. Roberts, that the man has too much power," Mr. Butcher said with a sniff. "I do not think he uses that power wisely. He gives too many second chances and innocent people suffer." He was a teenager in the last war and most of his family had suffered at the hands of the 'reformed' Death Eaters. The laws those people have passed since the war, systematically cut off Muggle-borns from ever holding a place in the government. Were he to get this position it would be a great achievement, and he would be thumbing his nose at those arrogant bigots.

Harry nodded in agreement and then went on with the interview. "My second question, and please, don't be offended, is, what is your blood status, and how do you feel about the class structure in this country?" he asked, keeping his voice and face as apathetic as possible, not wanting to give away the fact that he hated Britain's class system, especially the pure-blood elitists.

"I am a Muggle-born. However, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, therefore can navigate through the pure-bloods and the only way they know I am not of them is by my name. I feel the pure-bloods will wipe themselves out in the next hundred years," the formal man said, sitting stiff and ready to leave if this Yank was an extremist. There were a few half-bloods that sided with the pure-bloods, Snape comes to mind. He had had to tolerate that man when he was here in Hogwarts, but now that he was on his own, he didn't bow down to anyone. If by some twist of fate the Boy Who Lived was a bigot then he would decline the job, prestige or no.

"So, why do you want this position?" Harry asked, noting the man's stiffness and correctly guessing the reason for it.

"I have money enough in both worlds and do not want for any material things. Unfortunately, I have no political pull and would like very much to make a name for myself, starting with being your proxy." The stiff man relaxed a bit, when no snide comments came his way.

"Will you be giving or receiving bribes? And if not, will you sign a contract on your willingness to not receive any?" Those were two loaded questions, but Harry knew politics almost required 'gifts' to get some laws passed. He had already talked to Mr. Roberts about it.

"If I have to 'donate' to a good cause, then I do not see why that should not happen. On the other hand, I am not charity and have no need of 'donations'," the other man said as he sat up straighter in his chair, if that were possible. "I will be more than willing to sign a contract and, if need be, give a vow that I will do my best to vote as you like, 'gifts' or no."

"My proxy will have a separate vault for 'donations', but I like the fact that you won't take any." The teen waved away the concerns and then addressed the next question, "I have been having an issue with mind altering spells and potions. How do you fare with those?"

"I am a very good Occlumens, and my wife will make sure that I do not declare my undying love to someone who is not her."

Harry nodded his head, grateful that the man had a backup plan for such things, and then he turned to his barrister. "I like him," he said with a smile. His whole body relaxed and he now looked like his normal punk self. "He'll give those assholes a run for their money." He then turned back to Mr. Butcher and offered him his hand again, this time remaining seated. "If you'll put up with my bullshit, then welcome aboard, Jake."

Jake Butcher was confused, what happened to the well-mannered young man he was just talking to? How did he go from that to a cussing guttersnipe in under a second? Mr. Roberts said the teen would be different, but really. He took the offered hand, still bewildered, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. I will do my best for you. Mr. Roberts has given me the list of your political standing and I am most happy to comply."

"Right," Mr. Roberts said, pulling out some of his never-ending parchment from his bottomless briefcase, well it seemed that way to Harry. "Here are the contracts my firm drew up. Read them over and we'll see if you both agree. If you have any questions, we'll go over them as best we can."

They spent more than a half an hour going over the contracts, making sure all the i's were dotted and all the t's crossed. There was nothing the pure-bloods could do or say about having a Muggle-born on the Wizengamot, the contract was ironclad. In Harry's opinion those stuck-up jerks could kiss his ass, it was his right to appoint whoever he wanted to represent him. When all was said and done, Mr. Butcher left with a gleam in his eye and ideas running around his head.

"Well, that was fun. Tell me what's going on, why hasn't Dumbledore been arrested for attempted Oblivation?" Harry asked, a bit upset that the old man was still sitting in his throne at the Staff Table.

"Fudge," came the succinct reply. Then Mr. Roberts shook his head, "The main problem is that he didn't actually do the spell, he only threatened in a roundabout way, so there is nothing that can happen just yet. The Minister is standing by his side on this and won't let the DMLE do anything. The FBI: Magical Division is working on finding something to bring him up on charges, right now they only have him for attempted kidnapping by stunning us and holding us against our will."

"Right, well, I'll leave them to that. How is the lawsuit going?" the relaxed teen said, swinging one leg over the arm of his chair.

"Well enough, considering Fudge is trying to get it thrown out of court. However, since it is a civil suit, he doesn't have the pull. The Wizengamot doesn't want to set a precedent by letting the Minister overthrow a pure-blood's civil case." He was putting his parchments back in his briefcase. "That might come back and bite them later, or that the very least, their family and friends."

"I don't get it, how is one different than the other, aren't they both lawsuits?" the confused boy asked, pulling his leg around to sit up straight. "Didn't you say that kidnapping a pure-blood was a crime? Why aren't they being brought up on charges for that?"

"Fudge has a lot of pull in the DMLE, if he says that his friends, such as Lucius Malfoy, were under the Imperius Curse and didn't need Veritaserum to stand trial then the department bows to his wishes. Even though it was former Minister Bagnold, then that is that, it is the same concept. Like I just explained, if he says Dumbledore didn't do anything, again the DMLE has to take his word, especially since you have the old man's wand." He paused to put his thoughts together. Bones was furious that that bumbling man had shut down her investigation, again.

Harry was about to argue when he was stopped by the raising of a hand.

"However," the lawyer continued, dropping his hand when the teen's mouth closed, "in the civil side, only three members of the Wizengamot hear those cases, so Fudge has no say. Now, Sirius isn't pressing charges for kidnapping, he is filing a lawsuit for endangering his life," the man explained, putting his briefcase to his side. "Dumbledore or Fudge could still try and bribe them, but Fudge mostly takes bribes and doesn't like to part with money, whereas Dumbledore doesn't want to do anything that will get his hands dirty. Malfoy won't interfere because he has always wanted to take down Dumbledore. Right now, it's Black vs. Crouch and Dumbledore. The Headmaster is keeping his head down with all of the agents running around. Crouch seems distracted and isn't really paying attention."

"You never did tell me, how much are you suing for?" the teen asked, trying to keep what the man was explaining from giving him a headache. Man, he hated politics. Magical Britain's were even more of a headache than America's. Their laws contradicted one another, and there was too much corruption and bribery going on.

"Well, we're asking for a few million Galleons, but we don't expect to get it," he answered. "This is more about public humiliation than money."

"Oh, yeah, I guess I understand that," Harry said, running his hand through his hair.

"Well, if you have no more questions, I must be off," the lawyer said as he stood and gathered his ever-present briefcase.

"Once again, thanks for doing such a bang-up job in finding what I need," Harry said as he too stood and shook the man's hand.

"It is what you pay me for," the man reminded him and then left the room.

Harry went to join his friends and they played some Yahtzee until dinner, which was only twenty minutes away. After a dinner of spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, they did their homework and went to bed.

Harry lay on his bed and looked at the ceiling deep in thought about what was going to happen next. Jim had told him what to expect, but he needed to reassure himself that he was ready. With the Deathly Hallows and the map of Hogwarts, he knew he had great tools, but was he powerful enough to face the challenges? Not to mention the abduction at the end that Jim warned him about. He was very proud of the way he was raised, but would it be enough? He stewed on that for a while, until he fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning, sitting at their table, the SMI students noted the lack of suits. It had been interesting to see them swarm the castle and the teens were told that the agents were now going over the clues they collected. Harry had heard from his aunt that they suspect three people in the castle of being sleeper agents, but they wouldn't say who. If Harry were to guess it was that greasy-haired guy, the foreign headmaster and the creepy one-eyed dude. It was disconcerting to be sitting in a room with people who might want to see him dead.

Because of this bit of info, Harry could no longer leave the houseboat without escort. Agent Mumford and her new sidekick, Agent Isaac Stanley, were constant companions of his. He got on with them well enough, but still he liked his privacy. Stanley was behind him at this moment, looking all dark and foreboding, just daring anyone with malicious intent to come near his charge. Harry knew the guy was a marshmallow when he wasn't on duty.

"So," Cedric asked as he sat across from the youngest champion, "did your government leave?" eyeing the man behind kid.

"Nope, they're at The Three Broomsticks, going over all the stuff they gathered. Well, the FBI is. The MIA left and from what I've heard they're concerned that your Dark Lord isn't as gone as you guys thought," Harry said, with a bit of remorse in his voice, not wanting to spook his friend, but felt he and everyone listening had a right to know. Whispers exploded around the table and everyone was now paying attention.

"Oh," the gobsmacked Hufflepuff said. "Ummm, are you sure?" he asked in too much in shock to be overly worried. He'd break down later, in private, with his girlfriend, probably. Right now, though, he wanted to keep his cool.

"That's what I heard," the younger boy said with deep sympathy. "But, they also said that if things get as bad as before, they have your non-magical Prime Minister's permission to come and help, also a blessing from your Queen. And I gotta tell ya, our magical army is very, very good." He hoped to give everyone listening something to grab on to. He had heard of all the budget cuts for the DMLE and didn't think the British Magicals were ready for an all-out war. It was something he was going to have his proxy work on.

"Well, that is something," Cedric said as he shakily dished up some eggs.

"Do you know what the third task is?" Harry asked, changing the subject. He had given his warning; it was up to these guys to figure out what to do with it. Hopefully, they'd join the Ravenclaws in training in defense.

"Well, I know that there will be a maze and some creatures to fight." He gave a shiver at what he thought Hagrid would come up with for the task. The creatures they had to face so far in the Care of Magical Creatures were enough to scare the pants off any student. That's not even counting what the man kept hidden in the Forbidden Forest. Plus, they didn't have Harry to talk to the creatures, unless they somehow got a dragon in that maze.

"Yeah, it's the same in all the past tournaments, the only difference is what animals they put in the maze," Harry suggested vaguely, finishing off his coffee. Because of Death's warning he wasn't helping any one win the task. He didn't want anyone to get killed, just because they happened to get the cup first, but he didn't want them to go in blind.

And the talk went from there, spell suggestions were thrown around and theories on what animals they would be facing and how to combat them. No one came and disturbed the breakfast. It seemed that McGonagall's putting Granger in her first ever detention made enough of an impact that the girl finally backed off.

The next week, Harry, Jordan, Neville and Luna trained with the two bodyguards on magical creatures that may be in the maze. They had a hard time convincing Luna that the officials wouldn't use things like nargles, since they couldn't be seen by a non-seer.

Cedric suggested that they visit the Grounds Keeper/Care of Magical Creatures Professor, the half-giant Hagrid. When they did, they were horrified at his newest breed, the Blast-Ended Skrewt. They weren't sure if the guy had created them himself or if they were just little known creatures. They did know they had never heard of them. If these things were going to be in the maze then it was going to be a fucking nightmare.

Right now they were only three feet long and extremely ill-tempered, making it hard to get close to one, not that any of the SMI students wanted to. The ugly things were starting to grow grey, shiny armor over their pale bodies and beginning to look like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs. According to Hagrid, by June, the Skrewts will grow to be ten feet long, and will be incredibly dangerous and probably quite lethal. They will resemble giant scorpions with stingers curled over their backs. Their shiny armor will deflect most spells, and they can use their blasts to propel themselves at a foe. Its single undefended spot was its armor-less underside.

"Well, that's going to be fun— not," Harry said as they made their way back to the boat. It was a clear day, albeit cold, and they were enjoying the outdoors. "If this guy created them, he's off his rocker."

"At least you know about them and can train to get around them. I wonder what else they're putting in that maze," Neville said, holding Luna's hand as they took in the cool air.

"Remember, the underside is vulnerable," Agent Stanley said cheerfully. He was a younger man who also graduated from SMI and wanted his charge to do his best to get through the task. He and Claire had already been brought into the plans for what would be happening after, and when they weren't watching Harry, they were training. "All you have to do is either get underneath it or get it to rear back. I suggest hitting it with a tickling charm and then a simple cutting curse and you're done." He clapped the teen on the shoulder, hoping to relieve some of that tension.

Harry nodded to the man and then turned to Luna and asked, "You used to go to this godforsaken school, what other creatures had this Hagrid been rumored to have?"

"Well, in the year before I got here there was talk of a Cerberus and a baby dragon, both Hagrid's pets. I heard his hut almost burnt to the ground. Anyway, then in my first year there were rumors of giant spiders and a Basilisk, though I think the snake is dead now. Last year we did have a Boggart, which was rather scary, and a Hippogriff," she answered in that dreamy voice of hers.

"Acromantulas!" the tri-colored teen yelled, waving his arms about in complete frustration. "How the hell did this place get those? They aren't indigenous to this country. Not to mention the rest of that menagerie." The more he learns about this school the more content he was that he didn't attend. He remembered the stories about the last three years here at Hogwarts, but to know the Grounds Keeper was responsible for the Cerberus was different. And now giant deadly spiders, probably cared for by the same man.

"Hagrid," was the simple reply, confirming his suspicion. "Well, except the Basilisk, that is rumored to be Slytherin's monster."

Jordan was shaking his head. "Cerberus, Dragons, Acromantulas, Hippogriffs and Blast-Ended Skrewts what is wrong with this school? The scariest thing we've ever had to face was the Boggart. I don't think the government would even allow most of those creatures anywhere, except animal reservations or zoos."

"Hagrid," again was the response.

"Okay, I can understand the love of dangerous creatures, but to have them around kids that can't fight them, well, I can't get behind that. I mean, Hagrid seems like a nice guy, but he can handle those things, children can't," Harry said, wondering why the gentle half-giant was allowed to harbor all of his pets on the grounds. "Why the hell does Dumbles let him have his… pets?" he yelled again. He didn't get an answer.

"Let's get back on task, so to speak," Neville said, bringing the subject back around to the maze. "We now have an idea of what you're facing, so we'll study up on them and make sure you have the spells to sneak past anything you don't want to tangle with. With your Cloak and some other spells there's a good chance you won't have to fight any of these creatures."

"Yeah, I'll brush up on silencing my footsteps and spells to get rid of smell. You're right, I might not have to fight them," the streak-haired boy said as they made to the shore. They Jumped to the boat and continued to go over plans.

The next day the group of teens and Claire went to visit Gilly and Sirius. They Jumped to the cottage and knocked on the door. Sirius answered, looking rumpled as usual, making the kids roll their eyes. "Don't you guys ever stop?" Harry asked, pushing past his godfather.

"Why would we?" the smirking man asked as he ruffled his godson's hair when he passed.

"Because you're old," was the snide comeback, batting away the hands.

"Oi, I'm not old," the dogman said, swatting at his head.

Harry just laughed and ducked, making his way to the living room and flopping down in one of the comfy chairs. The rest followed. "Mr. Roberts said that your lawsuit was delayed. How is it going now?"

"Great, we have it scheduled for next week. Sorry, guys, it's a closed courtroom and during the week, so you guys can't come. Harry will be there, since he was a witness," he added at the teen's defiant look. "Kinda negates the public humiliation we were going for, but hopefully it will leak to the press. I still don't know how that Skeeter woman gets her stories."

"That's something I guess. So you got past Fudge?"

"Fudge is easy to deal with if you know how. One owl from the President and another from the Prime Minister, and boom, suddenly he has better things to do. He always was a coward. It's his Undersecretary you have to worry about; she's a real power behind that throne, so to speak." He gave a full body shudder just thinking about that pink toad.

"Oh," Harry said, trying to remember if he ever met the woman, "I'll keep a lookout for her."

"Where's Aunt Gilly?" Neville asked, just realizing his aunt wasn't in the room.

"She's in Diagon Alley, talking to the goblins about something," Sirius said with a mischievous grin.

"Wait, then why were you all rumpled?" Jordan asked.

"I will have you know, I was taking a nap," the dark-haired man said with a sniff.

"Then why did you let us think you were… you know?" the brunette waved his hand back and forth, trying to convey his thoughts.

"Why would I let you think different?" the dark-haired man asked, with a big grin and a wink to the female bodyguard, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Asshole," was the teens' chorused response, from all but Luna.

Sirius just smirked and they talked about non-essential things for a while, until the kids had to get back. The youngest champion relished the relaxed atmosphere. When they got back to the boat, Harry and Claire went and told Mr. Scott about the court date, so Harry could have that day out of classes. The Vice Principal nodded and made a shooing motion for them to leave so he could get his paperwork done.

The week went by quickly, with classes, studying and training to keep him busy, Harry was surprised that the date for the hearing was there. He, Agent Stanley, Gilly and Sirius all gathered at the Three Broomsticks and went to London. They crammed into the defunct phone booth and dialed the number. They gathered the badges and the floor sank.

Passing over their wands to the guard, bar Gilly, who got a sneer for not having one, they went to the courtroom. It was set up like most courtrooms, with a long judges' bench, which was occupied by one woman and two men. The woman was, Madam Bones, who everyone was happy to see, since it was rumored that she was still upset at Fudge for closing down another one of her cases, so probably wanted to see justice done.

Near the doors was the visitors' area, which where Gilly and Harry were to sit, Agent Stanley had to wait outside. Then there were two tables, one for the defense and one for the prosecution. The Headmaster and Crouch were seated at one, sans a lawyer. Mr. Roberts and Sirius took the other table and waited for court to come in session.

It appeared that Madam Bones was in charge; she banged her gavel and brought the court to order. Everyone was made to take a vow to tell the truth. Dumbledore was questioned and he reiterated that it was all for the tournament and that neither Sirius, nor anyone of the hostages, were ever in any danger.

Crouch said he had nothing to do with the placing of the hostages and didn't know why he was being sued. He was reminded that this was a Ministry event and since he was the representative he responsible for the safety of everyone involved. That caused the man to grumble; he was still more worried about whether or not he was going to Azkaban and not this petty lawsuit.

Sirius on the other hand, pointed out that they were not asked, and what would have happened if he didn't know now to swim. He made the argument that there was a small Veela put in the depths of the Black Lake and it was a well-known fact that Veelas hated the water.

Mr. Scott made the case by restating that no one was asked and nothing was done to prevent the creatures of the lake from taking bites out of the hostages while they were there. They were left tied to statues in the freezing cold water, with no warming charm, no wands to defend themselves and if they had come out of the spell there was a good chance they would drown before reaching the top of the lake.

Dumbledore rebutted by reiterating that he had everything under control, but couldn't prove it. He had to admit that he placed three minors under water for hours with only the protection of the Merpeople, who were also told not to interfere unless a champion tried to take a hostage that wasn't theirs. It is what lost him his argument.

In the end Sirius won his case, but not the whole million, only seven hundred thousand. Harry had no idea why he was there and not the Delacours, they were the most harmed by this. He'd ask Mr. Roberts later. When they made their way out of the Ministry, Sirius and Gilly broke off from the group to celebrate.

"So," Harry asked as they stood in the main hall, "why weren't the Delacours here?"

"Seems their Ministry talked them out of pursuing a case, they want to wait and see what the American agents come up with. They're talking about leaning a hand. They feel that Britain isn't doing right by them, and if we can make an international incident out of all this then they want in," Mr. Roberts explained.

"And why was I here?" the bored teen asked. He had to get dressed up for nothing, since he wasn't even called.

"In case you were needed, Sirius was your hostage," the lawyer shrugged.

"Right, well, I want to go home and take this monkey suit off." So he and Mr. Scott went to the Floo and went back to Hogsmeade. They Jumped to the shore and to the boat, where Harry explained to his friends about the very boring session. After much sympathy from the group, they settled once again to do homework.

Harry was hopeful that the alphabet would gather what they needed. Little did he know that the public humiliation they had wanted would be happening soon.

March 14, 1995

Once again sitting at their table the SMI group was chatting with various people from all three schools. There were some Hogwarts students that sat with them now, mostly so they could learn from the fourth school. The tours were constant on the houseboat and everyone was impressed with the entertainment and the communications. They were equally stunned by the accelerated courses. To get your Masters before you left school was the envy of many Ravenclaws, who were now feeling gypped in their education. The fact that SMI was a day school with no tuition and still ahead of Hogwarts was just salt in the wound.

Mr. Scott was receiving many requests from students and parents to transfer to the Salem Magical Institute, but they were mostly from children in their upper years and there was no way they could pass the tests. He did give them names of tutors that were located in Britain and a few that wanted to travel from the USA. The Vice Principal did warn them that it would not be cheap or easy.

Howlers from irate parents to the Board of Governors and the Headmaster were music to Harry's and his friends' ears. Well, the Headmaster's anyway, but Mr. Scott received a few from other parents who were firmly on the side of Hogwarts and one from a disgruntled Governor, demanding he quit filling the children's heads with such notions. The Vice Principal just calmly sent them brochures about his school and told them not to send howlers to his boat or he would return them in kind.

The Prophet had run an article about the misgivings that had happened in Hogwarts and on the trial. The headline read:

Are Your Children Safe at Hogwarts?

It told of all the happenings over the last three years, with quotes from the students who were scared for their lives and how they hadn't felt safe in the walls of the castle for years. There were also comments from the students that had been petrified and those that had tried to get past the Cerberus. It was reported that the Tri-Wizard Tournament was making it another difficult year for the students using the first and second tasks as examples. There were also comments on the many useless DADA Professors and how the last two were the worst. Then it went on to tell about the trial that Crouch and Dumbledore had lost. With this article both men had egg on their face, mostly Dumbledore. They had tried to sue, but were refused because the article was factual.

Harry and his peers had a good laugh at the two men's expense. "It's about time someone brought that old goat down a peg," the youngest champion said as he put some waffles on his plate and covered them in strawberries and cream.

"What do you think the FBI is going to charge him with?" Neville asked, also loading his plate with waffles, but he was adding syrup.

"I don't really know," Harry shrugged.

"So, Harry," Cedric said as he sat across from the younger boy, "any word on You Know Who?" He had had his mental breakdown and the Hufflepuffs had had their meeting. They got together with the Ravenclaws and were now studying defense as hard as they could.

"Only that he's in wraith form and is pretty helpless," the teen said, between bites. "And really, if you can't say his name, and I do understand why, just call him Tom. It is his birth name after all."

"Do they think he can get a body?" the seventh year said as he loaded his plate with eggs and sausage. "Oh, how did you know that his name was Tom?"

"Claire, my female bodyguard, told me his real name ages ago. The US government has a complete file on him. If you want to know all about the boy named Tom Riddle and how he grew in power, I'll tell you, but not here." He waved his hand at the Staff Table indicating that he didn't want them to overhear. "And well, according to Isaac, my male bodyguard, there are three ways he can regain a body, but the feds are thinking that he somehow got me into this tournament to get to my blood, hence the bodyguards," Harry said, pushing away his plate, having lost his appetite and jerking his head to Agent Stanley with a small grimace.

"Oh, sorry," Cedric said sheepishly. "I think you should come to our defense club and explain the whole story behind… Tom."

"It's cool, I know you're worried." He waved away the other teen's concern. "I'll come to your club and tell you everything I know. Just know that I'm going to do everything I can to prevent him from winning. But, don't think I'm doing it for jolly ole England, no, I'm doing it because that rat bastard killed my parents and tried to kill me," he said forcefully, tapping his fingers on the table for emphasis.

"You've made your views very clear on that, no worries there," the older boy said with a sarcastic smile. "The club meets tonight at seven on the Quidditch pitch."

"I'll be there, and sorry for snapping, I'm still hearing things from the sheep," Harry said mulishly as he slouched on the bench. It seemed that no matter how many times he said that he wouldn't fight for them, the general population still thought he was going to do his 'duty' and stand up for them.

"Like I said, no worries."

And they went to talk about the third task, which was still months away. Soon enough it was time for class and everyone trooped to their respective lessons.

That night, as promised, Harry, Neville, Jordan and Agent Mumford went to the Quidditch pitch to give the lecture about Tom. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, with a few from the other two Houses, were sitting in the bleachers waiting for them.

Agent Mumford decided to give the speech and she stood in front of the crowd and cast a Sonorus. "Here is what we know about Voldemort," she started, ignoring the flinches. "Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on New Year's Eve, 1926 in an orphanage in London. He was born to Merope Gaunt, a near squib who was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Tom Riddle Sr. was a wealthy and extremely snobbish Muggle. Merope magically tricked Tom Sr. into marrying her and kept him under control until she finally let him go, hoping he would have fallen in love with her on his own after, but he abandoned her without a second thought. Desperate and miserable, she died shortly after choosing a name for her newborn son. Due to the fact that he was born because of a love potion it made him unable to feel love and made him the monster he was, though it would have been different if Merope survived and loved him."

Whispers and denials flew from the mouths of the students of Hogwarts. They had all been taught that He Who Must Not Be Named was a pure-blood and that was why he killed so many Muggle-borns and half-bloods. To realize that he was a child from a near squib and a muggle, well, it was not something easily grasped. When they quieted down, Claire continued.

"We know he came here to Hogwarts, when he was eleven, and he was sorted into Slytherin. He was top of his class and Head Boy. He was the one to open the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago and that resulted in the death of who you call Moaning Myrtle. He framed your Grounds Keeper, who was a third year at the time, and got him expelled. He got an award for that; it sits in your trophy room. Rubeus Hagrid was never tried, he was simply accused and his wand snapped. Dumbledore convinced Headmaster Dippet that he should be hired on." She looked around to see how they were taking these facts.

Whispers once again broke out. Most felt sorry for Hagrid and angered that he was accused falsely. Many wondered why there was never a trial for the death of a student. They knew He Who Must Not Be Named was in Slytherin, but the fact that he was Head Boy and got an award for services to the school was a shocker.

Once more waiting for quiet, the female agent started again, "After being turned down for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, Riddle took various jobs, searching for valuable artifacts. Soon after he gathered what he was looking for, Riddle left the country to learn more of the Dark Arts. In 1970 he came back and started to gather his army. Most of you know what happened after that, eleven years later he came to the Potters' house and killed them and tried to kill Harry." She indicated the boy at her side. "We believe that it was Lily Potter that saved the life of her son, and it is her you should consider the hero of that night.

"What we have confidence in right now is that Riddle is in wraith form and helpless," Claire continued, still watching. "We think he is trying to get his body back by using Harry. We have a general idea as to when and we will be doing all we can to prevent it," she took a pause, trying to decide if she should continue. Heaving a sigh, she said, "What you are doing with this club is a great start. Your government isn't listening to us, so it is up to you to protect yourself and your family. Keep up the good work." She dispelled the charm and stepped back.

The students came from their seats and started hammering the SMI contingent with questions. After an hour of answering the best they could, the group went back to the boat.

"Do you think they'll be telling their parents?" Neville asked, taking a seat next to his girlfriend.

"Oh, the sky will fill with owls in the next hour," she predicted, snuggling up to him.

"That's something at least," Harry said, flopping down in one of the chairs.

"Yeah, but do you think the adults are going to believe a bunch of kids?" Jordan asked as he went to the nearest chair.

"Don't know, don't care," the boy with the tri-colored hair said with a shrug of his shoulder. "We told them what we know, what they do with it is up to them. If they were smart they'd start with Fudge and convince him to beef up the Aurors and start doubting all the 'reformed' Death Eaters, like Malfoy, Karkaroff and Snape."

"From what we've seen of the kids, I wouldn't hold out to much hope of that happening. They're still going to want you to save them," Neville chimed in.

"Not my problem," the youngest boy said. "I'll do what I have to do because I don't want to wind up dead."

They changed the subject and moved on to more talk of the third task, which was starting to become repetitive. Soon enough it was time for dinner and tonight they were having roast duck, Kippy felt like experimenting. It was really good and they told her so. After completing homework and playing a few video games, they went to bed.

Mr. Scott, Agent Mumford and Harry got a summons to the Headmaster's office the next day. With a put upon sigh, they mirrored Gilly and Sirius and soon they all made their way there to see what the old man had to say now. Upon receiving the invite to enter they took their seats. The usual people were in the office, the Headmaster, Snape and Moody.

After everyone was seated, Dumbledore sighed and said, "Harry, I am most saddened that you removed me as your proxy. Why did you feel the need to do such a thing?"

"It is my right to assign who I want as a proxy. Your votes don't always reflect mine, not to mention, the fact that you never asked me about any of them. Plus they were never yours to begin with," Harry said with a casual shrug. "Thanks to this tournament I'm an adult now so you have no say, not that you ever did."

"As you know, there was no way to get in touch with you," the Headmaster defended himself, once more looking over his glasses. "The Wizengamot gave me full control over your estate, including your votes. I only voted the way I felt your father would."

"Yeah, well, now I'm back and I don't agree with you or the Wizengamot. They didn't have the right to assign you to anything regarding me, and that is something I will be addressing in the future. Do not try and remove Mr. Butcher, he is there to stay," the streak-haired boy stated firmly with a defiant glare. "If you have any more questions about it talk to my law firm," he said and then smirked. "You have their card." He knew the old goat wouldn't talk to the firm, he seemed wary of them.

"What is done is done," the old man said, again sighing and turned his attention to young Black. "Sirius, I am just as disappointed in you. Did you really feel the need to sue me and poor Bartemius? Now he is under scrutiny and there is a good chance he could wind up in Azkaban, surely you know how bad that will be." He tried once again to guilt the younger man into his way of thinking.

It had come out that the man had broken his son out of prison, but he didn't know where the man was now. Crouch was now under house arrest and was to be tried as soon and Junior was found. There were even talks about trying him for leaving his ailing wife in that hellhole, but since she was dying already, well they weren't sure what to charge him with.

"And that's where he should be," Sirius snapped, leaning forward to look straight at the old man. "He broke the law. Are you telling me that he is innocent?"

"He was only trying to help his family," came the gentle rebuttal.

"So was I, Lily and James were my family and I was trying to catch a traitor, yet you seemed to think I deserved to be locked up in that hellhole." Sirius didn't back down for a minute. "I am very disappointed in you, Albus, that you deem everyone but the innocent deserving of second chances." He cut a glare to Snape and then returned it to Dumbledore. Snape scoffed, but otherwise stayed silent.

"It is to my ever shame that I was mistaken in keeping you there," the Headmaster said, looking guilty for once, which didn't change the defiant looks he was receiving from the two people he tried to chastise. Dumbledore saw that once again he was not going to win these arguments, so he turned his sights back to the youngest champion. "Harry, my boy, why did you feel it necessary to tell the children about Tom?" he asked with his patent dissatisfied look.

"Well, Albus, ole chap,"—he ignored the indignant huff— "why wouldn't I? Don't they have the right to know that they might be facing another war?" Harry returned, not the least bit intimidated by this man.

"They are far too young to have such a burden placed on their shoulders," was the contradiction, causing the SMI team to scoff. The Headmaster turned to the agent. "And you, my dear, surely you can see putting such an encumbrance on young shoulders is unnecessary," he stated.

"Not really, old man," Claire replied, she too didn't really care what the old goat thought. "Most of them are old enough to fight if they have too."

"Dumbledore," Mr. Scott said, bringing everyone's attention to him, "I have told you time and time again, you are not in charge of my students. I do not see where you think you have the right to call us here and chastise us like unruly children. I find it demeaning and completely out of place," he said, his voice hard and his glare cutting.

"It was my students you have burdened, therefore I am with in my rights to ask why you did such," Dumbledore defended himself.

"This is a free country, is it not?" Sirius asked, leaning back in his seat without a care in the world.

"Yes, it is, however, I am in charge of my students and I feel that you have overstepped your bounds," the Headmaster said, looking over his glasses at the Vice Principal of SMI.

"You are not my boss," Claire snapped, making heads turn her way, "I think it shameful that you would keep so many people in the dark about your Dark Lord. If they are going to fight him then they should know that he is just a man and not some incarnation of Salazar Slytherin."

"You will show…" was all Snape got out when he was once more blasted back out of his chair and knocked unconscious.

"Was that really necessary?" Dumbledore asked with a great sigh, his eyes roving over the people seated before him, not knowing who it was that hindered his Potions Master. He was not winning any points with this meeting, and he was very unused to people not bowing down to his reprimands, yet he seemed to hit a stone wall with this group of people.

"Yes," was the chorused response from Gilly, Sirius and Harry.

"We are done," Mr. Scott said, standing and turning towards the door. "Unless you have something to say about the tournament, then we have nothing further to discuss. As Mr. Potter said, if you have questions contact our lawyers." Hearing nothing further he and his group got up and went to the door.

"I'm telling you for the last time, keep your Death Eater on a leash," Gilly said sweetly as she followed them.

Dumbledore and Moody stayed silent, so the SMI group made their way out the door and back to the boat. The adults and Sirius went to the office to discuss what to do next. Harry stayed in the living area to tell his peers what happened.

"Do you think he's going to try anything else?" Gilly asked as she took a seat.

"Nay, there really isn't anything he can do," Sirius answered, taking the chair next to hers. "The laws are on our side in this. For once their pure-blood idiocy works for us, even you can use it. You have records of being magical dating back to the Statute of Secrecies. Your 'Book' can be considered family magic, and that is a bonus to any pure-blood family." he gave her a one armed hug and a quick peck on her cheek.

"Still, it will do us well to keep an eye out," Mr. Scott warned from behind the desk, bringing their attention to him.

"Albus Dumbledore is a very conniving man," Claire added as she stopped her pacing and took the last seat. "He didn't get to the top just by defeating Grindelwald. He has many pieces on the board and he is not above sacrificing them. You should know that, Sirius, you used to be one of them."

"Yeah, his giving second chances to the enemy and letting his allies rot in jail didn't put him in a good light. He lost a few others over that fiasco." Sirius smirked as he remembered people coming to his side when he was let out of Azkaban.

"Nevertheless, Dumbledore is still in two powerful political positions, so let's try our best not to ruffle any more of his feathers. We will just let the government do its job and back off the Headmaster, for now," Mr. Scott said firmly. "While I commend you telling the students the truth about Riddle, I feel that may be it would be best to let them do their own research."

Gilly turned to the agent. "How's it going with the suits? My table is always full of people wanting to know how long they're going to be in Hogsmeade."

"From what I understand they'll be done soon," was all the answer she could give.

The talk turned to the end of the third task, which Mr. Scott had been told after he overheard a conversation about the plan, and they tightened what they were going to do. They would need to get all of the players in on the plan soon. It was a good thing that the USA had permission to be in the UK, for they were going to be needed on that day.

Weeks went by and the FBI had taken a closer look at the Headmaster, his pet Death Eater, his DADA Professor and Crouch. They had enough dirt on the old man to slap him with criminal charges, though only a misdemeanor, since the only spell he got off before being subdued was the stunning spell. He was given a fine and told when summer came he would have to do community service at one of the safe houses for werewolves in England. The ICW backed the FBI and told the old man he had to do the time.

This bit of news lost the man his seat on the ICW, though he did retain his Chief Warlock position, since Fudge was still on his side. He did lose a few political backers over the lawsuit, the article and the criminal charges. They felt that he wasn't as Light as he told people he was. Oh, there were still many that stood by his side when he said it was all a misunderstanding, a few bad turns wouldn't sway them that easily.

Severus Snape was warned, by the Headmaster, to stay away from young Harry if he couldn't keep his comments to himself. The way the spy was relieved of charges the last time was flimsy, since he was never questioned when he stood trial. If the US government wanted to they could try and get the British Magical Government to reopen the case, and now that the old man had lost some standing he didn't know if he could get him off again. His constant rants might be used against him, making the feds think he was the one to put Potter's name in the goblet. Snape, of course, was pissed that he was being held back from voicing his dislike of all things Potter and Black, but understood that he could be in a very precarious position if he didn't heed the warning.

While Moody was under scrutiny from the FBI, they really only had a gut feeling about him. His record was mostly clear of any criminal charges. There were a few minor things he did when his paranoia got the best of him, but since no one was actually hurt those charges were dropped. No, the FBI just didn't think he was who he said he was, but they couldn't prove it. So they got permission to tail him whenever he left the grounds, which made for a very disgruntled Death Eater because now he couldn't report to his Master. He thanked Merlin for that eye that saw everything, but still couldn't shake the people tailing him.

Crouch was finally arrested. He was now serving time for breaking his son out of prison. The feds questioned Winky, who they found at Hogwarts. She was so drunk on butterbeer that she wailed her failings to them and they soon had enough to get a warrant to check the man's wand for the Imperius curse and exhume the body of the person buried in Crouch Jr's grave. With all the evidence it was easy to put the man away.

Bagman, while feeling sorry for Crouch, was ecstatic that he now got to play judge for the last task.

Harry had been vilified in the Wizengamot. They tried to boot out his proxy, but the contract was ironclad. Sirius stood by Mr. Butcher's side and warned everyone off. When it was realized that this upstart would not take bribes, they cursed him even more. With the Potter vote and the Black vote, the Light side was now more predominate than before, since you could always count on Dumbledore to not make changes. Now, with a Muggle-born and a Blood Traitor taking up the slack, the votes were almost always near a tie. Throw in the fact that Madam Longbottom was also sitting with them, and they didn't stand a chance in getting any more of their pure-blood laws passed.

Harry didn't care one way or the other; he might just let Butcher keep the proxy until this backwards government got their act together. He would have to come back some time. He still had that promise to keep with the Gringotts dragons. Maybe he would sic Death on the goblins to have the dragons released. It was a thought.