75

CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE:

The Ministry of Magic was suffering from just as much upheaval as Hogwarts, and Amelia was once again suffering from the aftereffects of an all-nighter with the prospect of another long day ahead. A knock on her door was followed by the new Head of the DMLE entering her office, giving first her, then her protective detail nods in greeting.

"Report, Shacklebolt," she said curtly, knowing that he hadn't gotten any more sleep than she and trusting that he didn't expect her to waste any formalities on him.

"It appears that the prisoner had been planning on going to Nurmengard and freeing Grindelwald, giving the man all of his memories and magical power before his death," Kingsley informed her evenly, keeping his tone and demeanor professional despite the gravity of the message.

Amelia took a moment to assimilate that properly, her face entirely blank. "Lovely," she said once she was entirely sure that she had understood Dumbledore's plan. "When was he planning on executing this plan?"

"Monday morning," Kingsley replied promptly.

"Lovely," Amelia repeated blankly. "Just lovely. Thank Merlin Harry insisted on his trial being held as soon as possible," she said with more feeling. She didn't even want to consider what might have happened had she scheduled the man's trial for Friday as she had originally intended.

"Keep him as secure as possible, Shacklebolt; I don't even want anyone outside the Auror Corps knowing where he's being held. Ward his cell to high heavens and keep him closely monitored and subdued at all times. And get Skeeter – she's going to write us a book, and the sooner, the better."

OoOoO

Meanwhile at Grimmauld Place two men were poring over the Daily Prophet, noting with surprise that almost all mention of Harry had been taken out of the transcript and there was very little information on him included in the articles. No mention of either Lily or Snape being given a love potion, nor any hint about Harry's life with the Dursleys; it seemed that the time traveler's words had been followed to the letter.

"Good; Harry doesn't need that crap," Remus said decidedly, and Sirius agreed.

"I'm going to go get ready for my trial," the animagus said when they finished perusing the newspaper; Remus wasn't sure when he had last seen Sirius so nervous. "Got to look presentable!"

"You've never looked 'presentable' in your life," Remus objected with a grin.

"I'll have you know that I'm perfectly capable of looking presentable," Sirius turned up his nose the same way Hames had to Harry when leaving Privet Drive – not that he knew how similar he and the time traveler could be.

"Suuure," the werewolf retorted, his grin more of a smirk now. "Go on then, make yourself 'presentable' for the nice witches and wizards of the Wizengamot," he mimed a shooing motion with his hands. Only once the other man had left the room did Remus turn his attention to his own robes – it wouldn't do to turn up to the trials of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew in such shabby clothing. Oh, it hadn't been mentioned anywhere that Peter would also be on trial, but Harry had mentioned that the Aurors had him, and it was only logical that they would have him questioned right after Sirius had proven his innocence with a Veritaserum-influenced testimony. Unfortunately Remus had no better robes – but just as he was about to cast a series of charms on his clothing he thought of a better idea.

"Dobby?" he called, smiling when the house elf popped into the room. "Could you ask Harry if I can borrow a set of robes from him? I'm afraid I don't have anything suitable for today's trial." Normally Remus wouldn't have even thought of asking someone else for clothing, but for some reason he felt that Harry would prefer he ask than magically repair his shabby clothes.

"Master Harry is telling Dobby to bring Mister Lupin to Hogwarts!" Dobby declared when he reappeared, holding out his hand for Remus to take. Remus thanked the house elf and stood before taking the offered hand, finding himself at Hogwarts a moment later.

"Remus," Harry said warmly, and Remus turned to take his cub in a tight hug despite having seen him the previous day. "I'm glad you asked for Dobby, and you're welcome to take anything from the wardrobe," the young man gestured at it. "It's all Dad's clothing, so it doesn't fit me quite right, but a few sizing charms and it fits just fine. I can't stay," Harry said regretfully, "but take anything you want, okay? Just call for Dobby when you're ready to leave, and I'll see you at the trial. Give Sirius my best!" After another brief hug Harry left the room that Remus thought he recognized as one of the guest rooms in Gryffindor territory.

It was with a complicated smile that Remus turned and opened the wardrobe, breathing in the lingering scent of James Potter. "You'd be so proud of him, James," he whispered to the memory of his friend. "He's turned into a fine young man." Running his hand through the robes, Remus picked out a shirt that he remembered James having him try on once, the old compliment echoing in his mind as he pulled on the garment. Today he would be surrounded by his old friends.

OoOoO

The Gryffindors had all gathered back in their common room, mostly split into smaller groups to discuss the revelations of the morning.

"So are you gonna change into a completely different person now that Professor Dumbledore isn't drugging you anymore?" Seamus Finnegan asked Harry with a worried frown.

"I'm not sure," Harry replied, "but I don't think so. I mean, I'll definitely try to stop rushing into danger and use my head a bit more," he said with a sheepish grin, "but otherwise I feel pretty much the same. More Slytherin, though – did you know that the Sorting Hat wanted to put me there but I talked it out of it?"

Lavender gasped. "No way," Parvati gaped at him.

"Yeah," Harry grinned ruefully. "I'd probably be in the dungeons if not for Dumbledore's spells, and now that I don't have the spells on me anymore I don't mind that. I mean," he amended, "it would be pretty terrible to be stuck there with Malfoy and his sidekicks, and I'm pretty sure the Death Eater kids would have been pretty rotten to me, but I think otherwise I would have fit pretty well into Slytherin."

"He's got a point," Ron pointed out. "I mean, look at Hames – er, that's what we call Harry Potter-Black. It's too confusing calling them both Harry."

"Hear, hear!" the Weasley twins called as they dropped in on their group.

"Anyway, Hames is pretty damn Slytherin, no?" Ron pressed on undeterred. "Look at all the stuff he's managed – you've got to have some Slytherin traits to do that!"

"Cunning,"

"Intellect,"

"Wit,"

"Why weren't we sorted into Slytherin?" the twins exclaimed together, looking at each other with exaggerated looks of confusion.

"Probably because Dumbledore thought Snape would have enough headaches with you in another House," Ron muttered loud enough for the whole group to hear.

"You wound me, Ronniekins!" one of the twins clutched his heart dramatically.

"Our own brother!" the other twin feigned a faint.

"And what about Snape, eh?" Seamus said, awe in his voice. "I'd've never figured he'd apologize to anyone for anything!"

"Actually, he apologized to me in private for his attitude towards me," Harry said with a crooked grin. "It was pretty weird, but he seemed pretty okay to me. He'll probably apologize to you, too," he said to Neville. "Did you see the look he gave you after his public apology earlier? He seemed to really regret how he's treated you."

Neville seemed pretty uncomfortable at the thought of his most feared professor apologizing to him, but nodded hesitantly.

"Snape told me about my father yesterday," Dean said suddenly, everyone's attention turning to him. "It's mentioned in the transcript that Professor Dumbledore used a love potion on my mum and Blaise Zabini's dad, and Snape took us both aside yesterday to explain to us that we're half-brothers. It was real decent of him." At the surprised looks he nodded seriously. "And Blaise accepted his word without question, too, so I figure if he says something, he really means it," the boy said meaningfully. "When he doesn't have spells affecting him, anyways."

"I think you're right," Hermione nodded earnestly. "The Slytherins probably know him best, since Dumbledore probably didn't have many spells or potions interfering with how he treated them."

"I wonder what Potions class will be like now," Parvati said curiously.

"Probably not very different," Harry said realistically. "I doubt he's about to change his teaching style overnight, after all, and it might be hard for him to stop reacting the way he's gotten used to. I figure he'll make an effort to be more patient, though," he grinned at Neville.

"I don't think he has any patience when it comes to me," Neville said resignedly, clearly still afraid of the Potions professor.

"I think he might be more open to us pairing up, though," Hermione smiled at him reassuringly. "I'll ask him in class tomorrow." Neville looked surprised that she would offer – Ron, however, looked less pleased but wisely kept his mouth shut.