hpb41-50

"Mr. Nighbert," Dumbledore spoke for the first time. "Is there any other way that you know of to quickly teach someone Occulmency, if there is not enough time to go through the method you proposed?"

"There are no shortcuts to teaching someone Occlumency unless you don't care about the person your teaching being sane at the end of the lessons. And if that is the case, then it would be far kinder not to teach them at all and just kill them with poison or a knife." Nighbert asserted. "You should know that, Headmaster. I understand you are a Master Occlumens yourself."

"One last question, Mr. Nighbert." Boet told him. "Would you ever teach someone you disliked?"

Nighbert gave the matter a lot of thought before answering. "Only if I couldn't avoid it, and then it would depend on how much I disliked the person. If it was someone I hated, then I would asked that they be given another teacher, because I know that I might not be able to put my feelings aside and do a good job teaching them what they needed to know."

"I have no more questions for Mr. Nighbert, Madame Bones." Mr. Boet concluded.

"Does anyone else have any questions for Mr. Nighbert?" Madame Bones directed the question to the Wizengamot members and then looked toward Dumbledore and Snape. When they all indicated they didn't, Madame Bones told the elderly wizard. "Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Nighbert."

"Madame Bones," the ancient wizard bowed slightly toward her in respect and then turned and bowed toward Harry giving him a slightly deeper bow before he returned to his seat.

Harry just nodded.

"Next I would like Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to take the witness seat." Mr. Boet requested. "Also Madame Bones, since Headmaster Dumbledore has been known for keeping secrets from my client as well as the rest of the wizarding world, I must ask that he be given Veritaserum as well as swear a magically binding oath, to insure that we get the truth and not just what he wants us to hear. Given that Headmaster Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard it is possible he may be able to overcome most if not all of the effects of veritaserum."

"Are you implying that the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot would lie to us?" One of the wizards on the panel demanded.

"No, not lie, just not tell us the whole truth." Boet countered smoothly. "For the past almost twenty years, Dumbledore has been keeping secrets from my client, deciding how much my client had the right to know, when he should have been told the whole truth the first time he asked about it. But Dumbledore didn't want to risk destroying his Great Experiment. The Muggles call it the Nature vs. Nurture Theory."

"The what vs. what theory?" Another member of the panel asked.

"Muggle Psychologists have been debating for years on which is stronger." Mr. Boet explained.

"Whether it is the inherent nature a person is born with that makes them what they are? You know whether a person is born good or evil. Or is it the way they are raised that makes them what they are? Ever since the death of Mr. Potter's parents, it is my belief that Headmaster Dumbledore has been conducting this experiment, using Mr. Potter as the lab rat, to try to prove to himself that nothing he could have done would have stopped the person who eventually became Voldemort from going Dark. His actions insured that Mr Potter was raised in a similar environment to the one Voldemort was raised in."

After the expected flinches at Voldemort's name, Mr. Boet continued, "This may explain why it was so easy for him to believe that Mr. Potter had indeed killed Neville Longbottom. He thought his experiment had failed, and so he wanted to get Mr. Potter to somewhere he could be contained, so he couldn't cause any more damage.

But this has little to do with the matter before this court. I have requested that Headmaster Dumbledore be given Veritaserum, so we can get the whole truth of the matter before us and I don't believe he will give it all freely. I also give my Wizard's Oath I will ask no questions except those which I believe pertain to the matter before us."

There was a brief conference between the Wizengamot members on the panel, before Madame Bones announced, "Your request for Headmaster Dumbledore to be given Veritaserum is granted as well as swearing him in under a magically binding oath."

Dumbledore looked very reluctant to take the witness seat, once he heard that Boet was going to be allowed to question him under Veritaserum and that he was going to be bound with a magically binding oath, but from the look on Amelia's face he knew he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of it. He also had no choice about refusing to take the witness seat, since he had been called.

Once the oath and Veritaserum had been administered, Boet asked a few innocent questions until he heard the flat tone that indicated the veritaserum had finally taken hold. Dumbledore had fought the good fight against the potion though but Boet could tell that by the sweat on his forehead and the slightly glazed look in his eyes that the potion had finally won the battle.

Boet chose his first question with care. "Headmaster Dumbledore according to Mr. Nighbert you are a Master of the art of Occlumency, is this correct?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said nothing more.

"Why then did you send Professor Severus Snape to Grimmauld Place shortly after Christmas in 1995 to tell Mr Potter that he would be teaching him Occlumency?" Boet asked.

"I could not take the risk of seeing Mr. Potter face to face." Dumbledore replied in a monotone. "I knew the anger he was feeling wasn't all his, though some of it was because I had kept him in the dark and prevented his friends from writing to him or telling him what was going on. Voldemort was using the link between them to try and take control of Harry or at the very least to gain information from him without his knowledge"

"And you chose not to tell Mr. Potter that you thought that Voldemort was trying to use him to gain information, is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Why not? Surely if Mr. Potter had known the reason behind the need for the lessons, he might have been more willing to learn what Professor Snape was going to teach him." Boet pointed out.

"I couldn't take the chance of Voldemort finding out, that I knew about his attempts to influence young Harry or use the link between them to gain information." Dumbledore told them.

"Given that you are a Master Occlumens yourself, why did you not teach the boy yourself? Surely knowing how Snape felt about Potter you should have known that you would be a better choice to teach him than Snape," Was Boet's next question.

"I couldn't take the risk that Harry might master Occlumency as quickly as he had the Patronus Charm, because then he might learn things I wasn't ready for him to know," was Dumbledore's answer.

 "I was the only one who knew the whole of the prophecy and I wasn't ready to tell it to Mr. Potter yet. If he stumbled upon it accidentally, I might lose what control I did have over him, especially if he told his godfather to contents of the Prophecy. I also couldn't take the chance of Voldemort using him as a conduit into my mind, if he learned from Harry's thoughts that I was teaching the boy how to protect his mind."

"Why did you assign Severus Snape the task of teaching Mr. Potter Occlumency?" Boet moved onto the next topic, even though there were a number of questions he would like to ask about why Dumbledore wanted to maintain his control over Potter, but his Wizard's oath wouldn't allow it since it had nothing to do with the matter of Snape's abusive actions toward his client.

"Professor Snape was the only other master of Occlumency available to me." Dumbledore reported. "All the others were at the Ministry and given the fact that the Minister was trying to destroy me, Mr. Potter, and Hogwarts, I didn't feel it was a good idea to ask the Minister to let me use one of their Master Occlumens to teach Harry."

"What made you think he would be able to put aside his anger long enough to teach Mr. Potter how to block his mind from Voldemort? Surely you knew he hated the very fact that Harry Potter existed." Boet knew the one problem with Veritaserum was that you had to know the right questions to ask, because if you didn't you might not get all the information you needed.

"I was certain that Severus would be able to put aside his anger toward James Potter for the greater good." Dumbledore countered. "After all he wanted Voldemort gone just as much as the rest of the wizarding world."

"Are you certain of that?" Boet couldn't help asking.

"Of course I am."

"Did you ever attend any of the Occlumency lessons that Professor Snape gave to Mr. Potter?" Boet already knew the answer to this, but it was leading up to his next question.

"No, I did not." Dumbledore admitted.

"Why didn't you monitor their sessions, Albus?" Madame Bones asked the next question. "Even I knew that Professor Snape hated Harry Potter. Why would you allow him free access to Mr. Potter's mind, unsupervised?"

"I had to keep the Ministry from finding out that I was having Mr. Potter taught Occlumency." Dumbledore told them. "If I had gone down to the Potions lab where Harry was supposed to be having Remedial Potions, and the High Inquisitor found out that the sessions weren't remedial potions lessons, then the Minister would have known something was going on. As for Severus violating Harry's mind, I knew he wouldn't because he knew that Harry was just as important to the side of Light as he was."

"So basically it would be safe to say that you the Headmaster, who was responsible for the physical safety and well-being of all the students in your charge, decided to leave a young man's mental health and safety in the hands of man who hatred of the young man's father was damn near as legendary as the hatred between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Is that correct?" A witch on the panel asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed.

"I have no further questions." Mr Boet told the panel.

The panel apparently had no further questions for the Headmaster either, because the antidote was quickly administered and he returned to his seat looking thoughtful.

"The next witness called will be Harry James Potter." Boet spoke up. "Since he is now old enough for there to be no harm to his mind or his magic, I also ask that he be given Veritaserum and I had already had from Mr. Potter his permission to administer a magically binding oath, so that Professor Snape can not claim later on that he was lying in his testimony."

Harry took the seat without a moment's hesitation then after swearing the oath and answering a few questions from the Potions Master, who was going to be dosing him with the truth drug, swallowed the three drops that were placed in his mouth.

After the first few questions Harry could feel the potion take hold and it gave him a kind of floaty feeling like he was there and yet really wasn't.

"Mr. Potter, when were you first told about the Occlumency lessons you were to attend?" The question seemed to come from a great distance.

"It was a couple of days after Christmas." Harry responded. "Snape had stopped by Grimmauld Place and after insulting Padfoot for a few minutes, he told me I would be learning Occlumency in the upcoming term."

"Did he tell you why you were to receive these lessons or what they were to do?"

"He said it was a magical defence of the mind against external penetration. I assumed he meant possession, but then I thought he had to be wrong, because we had all agreed I wasn't possessed when I saw Nagini attack Mr. Weasley." Harry told them. "The only reason he gave me for my being taught Occlumency was that Dumbledore had ordered it. He also said no one was to know about the lessons."

"How did you feel when you were told that you would be learning Occlumency from Professor Snape?" Boet wanted to know.

"I felt like the Headmaster had just punched me in the gut with a bludger." Harry admitted. "I also couldn't help wondering what I had done to be condemned to spending more time with Snape. I couldn't understand why Dumbledore would leave me in the hands of someone who hated the very ground I stood on, for something that wasn't even my fault."

"What happened during your first lesson with Professor Snape?" Boet inquired.

"I had no sooner come in the door and Snape started insulting me." Harry reported matter-of-factly. "After explaining some of the reasons why I needed to learn Occlumency, he told me to stand and take out my wand. I was instructed to try and disarm him or at least to defend myself while he tried to break into my mind. He wanted to see how well I could resist."

"And was he successful at breaking into your mind?" A woman's voice that Harry identified as Madame Bones inquired.

"Yes ma'am," Harry told her. "I finally managed to drive him out when he started getting very close to a personal memory."

"Then what happened?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"He insulted me some more by telling me I had wasted time shouting and that I needed to remain focused, so that I could drive him out with my mind and not my wand. I pointed out to him that I was trying, but that he had never told me how to do it. He then told me to close my eyes and clear my mind and let go of my emotions, but he still never told me how I was supposed to accomplish that. He attacked me several more times with the Legilimens curse." Harry recounted the rest of the first lesson.

"Was each lesson like this?" Harry recognized the voice asking the question as Dumbledore's.

"Pretty much." Harry admitted. "After the first lesson, every time I came into the Potions Lab he would tell me to take my wand out and clear my mind and then fire the Legilimens curse at me over and over, insulting me and my parents in-between rounds of the curse. Every night I would leave there feeling as if my head had been a target for the bludgers."

"You were never given any books to study so that you could learn how to clear you mind and calm your thoughts?" Another unfamiliar voice asked.

"No," Harry told them simply. "Why would Snape bother telling me if there were any books on the subject, when it was clear from the first lesson that he considered the whole thing a waste of his valuable time?"

"What finally brought the lessons to an end?" Madame Bones asked.

"I had a look at Snape's memories in the Pensieve Dumbledore had given him and he got mad at me for looking at my father's humiliating him in front of the whole school." Harry told them.

"At the time I thought it was only fair. He'd been poking around in my memories for months, so why shouldn't I be allowed a look at his. Personally I think he was looking for an excuse and since Dumbledore wasn't there to force him to continue the lessons, he just stopped them, using my looking into the pensieve that he left out as an excuse. I was kind of glad even though I had seen how much of a bully my father was to him. It reminded me a lot of Dudley's 'Harry Hunting'. I was just glad I never had to go back."

"What is Harry Hunting?" It was Dumbledore's voice again.

"That has nothing to…" Mr Boet spoke up, but it was too late.

Harry had started answering the question. "It was a game my cousin invented. He and his gang would hunt me and if they found me they would beat the crap out of me. Once I was going to Hogwarts and wasn't around quite so much they started hunting the other smaller kids in the neighbourhood and beating up on them."

There was silence in the courtroom for several minutes, before Madame Bones said, "I think we've heard enough from this witness."

Harry returned silently to his seat. He wasn't pleased that he had mentioned the 'Harry Hunting' but it was a little late to worry about it now. It wasn't like those in the wizarding world would do anything about it. On the whole they were highly ineffectual at anything even remotely resembling true justice. He wasn't too worried about that. He would see justice done to Dudley. Even now he had a private detective following Dudley around and taking pictures of his activities.

Dudley wasn't back at Smeltings this year. He had been expelled at the end of the previous year for assaults on the younger boys. It had taken a sizable chunk of Vernon's money to cover it up, but he had managed to avoid his son going to jail.

Vernon and Petunia were still very blind to all of Dudley's faults and misdeeds. If the detectives he hired were efficient enough then he might have himself a wonderful Christmas present from the Dursleys for the first time in his life, when nothing Vernon could do would prevent his son from going to jail.

Harry had been so involved in his daydream of seeing Dudley get what was finally coming to him, that he missed seeing Snape take the witness seat and taking the oath and Veritaserum.

Boet was asking his first question. "Professor Snape, we have heard from Mr. Nighbert how he would teach a student who had no experience in the mind arts how to master Occlumency. And we have heard from Mr. Potter how his first lesson with you went. What I want to know is why you didn't use the method recommended by Mr. Nighbert on with Mr. Potter?"

"Because Mr. Potter should have already known how to clear his mind." Snape answered, managing to sound snide even under truth serum. "He is a wizard after all. He should know the proper meditation techniques to clear his mind. I shouldn't have to start him off at the beginning."

"Would you have taught say Miss Hermione Granger the same way?" Boet inquired.

"I wouldn't voluntarily teach that arrogant little know-it-all Occlumency, but if I was forced to by the Headmaster of course I wouldn't use the same method, I did with Potter. She's muggle-born, she wouldn't know the first thing about the proper meditation techniques." Snape responded.

"And Mr. Potter was raised in the Muggle world so how does that make him any different from her?" Boet sounded as if he were confused by the logic.

"Because he's a Potter of course." Snape answered as though that should have been obvious. "They are always different."

"That still doesn't explain why you expected him to know the proper meditation techniques to calm and clear his mind. Things that he would have learned only if he had grown up in the wizarding world and not the muggle one." Boet continued to sound puzzled. "You do remember that Mr. Harry Potter had no contact with the wizarding world, until he attended Hogwarts don't you?"

"Yes I of course I know that." Snape growled.

"I put it to you, Professor Snape that you really didn't want to teach Mr. Potter how to block Voldemort from his mind." Boet suggested. "That you took the chance of having unrestricted access to Mr. Harry Potter to pay his father back for what he did to you while you went to school. What I want to know is why you would attack a student who has never done you any harm?"

"So what if I did?" Snape countered. "The arrogant little brat deserved to be taken down a peg. Waited on hand and foot in the muggle world and then lording it around Hogwarts just like his father did when he was in the wizarding world. Acting so smug and superior, even when he was clearly in the wrong."

"So you admit to using the Occlumency sessions to deliberately attack Mr. Potter?" Madame Bones wanted clarification.

"No, I did not attack Mr. Potter." Snape told her. "I wanted to show him he wasn't special. It was up to him to find the information he needed to succeed in learning Occulmency on his own. If he couldn't, then it was his own fault if he suffered for it."

"Did you even tell him there were books or other things that needed to be done to succeed at Occlumency?" Madame Bones asked.

"I told him to clear his mind." Snape told her. "He should have been able to figure it out from there, after all he's a Potter ."

"And what teaching method would you have used if I had been there, Severus?" Dumbledore sounded disappointed. "Would you have used the same method or would you have changed it because there was a witness?"

"Of course I wouldn't have used the same method." Snape admitted. "You didn't want your precious golden boy hurt and that would have taken three times as long to teach."

"You've heard him, Madame Bones," Mr. Boet pointed out as Snape was given the antidote. "He doesn't even feel that he has done anything wrong. Professor Snape feels that he was perfectly justified in attacking Mr. Potter and why, because he is a Potter. Instead of burying the grudge he still feels for Mr. Potter's father, and doing what was necessary to help Mr. Potter protect his mind, Professor Snape admits to repeatedly attacking him."

As Snape returned to his seat at the table, the Wizengamot members conferred. Nothing was heard because of the silencing charms that had been put up by Madame Bones. They even spent some time reviewing evidence from a pensieve

It was nearly fifteen minutes before the silencing charms came down and the oldest wizard present on the panel, Martin Bellacote stood to give their judgement. "Professor Severus Snape has been found guilty of deliberately and repeatedly attacking Mr. Harry Potter. It is this panel's belief, that Professor Snape should have been able to put aside his grudge against James Potter long enough to teach his son what he needed to keep He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of his mind.

Professor Severus Augustus Snape, you are hereby sentenced to serve five years in Azkaban for the assault and mind rape of Mr. Harry James Potter. You will also serve one additional year for being willing to provide Veritaserum to Delores Umbridge who was neither licensed to have or dispense this potion, so that it could be used on the person of Harry Potter."

"I did not provide veritaserum to Umbridge." Snape countered. "It was distilled water."

"Was it indeed?" Bellacote looked at him in disbelief. "Madame Umbridge was not aware of that fact. She acknowledged that you provided her with veritaserum upon her request for it."

"I told the Headmaster upon his return to the school what I had done." Snape told the panel.

"Be that as it may," Bellacote countered, "given your rather well displayed hatred of Mr. Potter, I think that the only reason you probably provided her with fake serum was to avoid the possibility she might dose you with it, or learn some things you didn't want her to know, not because you were trying to protect Mr. Potter. The sentence stands."

Bellacote turned his attention to Dumbledore.

"Albus, it is you I am most disappointed in. I realise that you tend to expect the good out of everyone around you, but Professor Snape's hatred of Mr. Potter is very well known. How could you allow him to have unrestricted and unsupervised access to a student he has shown nothing but hatred for since before he even started school?

It is believed that you have too many things to oversee, Albus as evidenced by your neglect of your duties to Hogwarts and the students there who should be your primary responsibility. Given past issues, such as the Dark Lord and his minions gaining access to your school not once but several times, it has been decided that for the next five years Hogwarts shall be monitored by the Wizengamot.

There will be unannounced inspectors and inspections of all teachers and their teaching credentials. Don't worry this won't be like when Fudge tried to take over your school. Also for the same five year period, your duties as Head of the Wizengamot shall be delegated to others so that you can focus on your primary responsibility the students at Hogwarts."

Mr Boet stood up at this point. "Esteemed members of the panel I would like to request two further additions to Professor Snape's sentence."

"And those are?" Madame Gwendolyn Hill inquired.

"First that Professor Snape's teaching credentials be removed." Mr Boet told them. "If you check with the Board of Governors of Hogwarts you will find there have been a number of complaints about the man's teaching methods over the years. He has terrorised any number of students to the point where those who might have considered a career in Potions decided otherwise out of fear. I am not saying that Professor Snape should not pass on his skills, but it is just quite clear the man should not be teaching in a classroom environment. He may have better luck one on one, but if he does take on an apprentice, then I strongly recommend that the Master/Apprentice relationship be carefully monitored."

"And your second request?" Madame Bones spoke up.

"It involves the delicate matter of an unpaid life debt." Mr Boet told them. "Professor Snape incurred this life debt when Mr. Potter's father saved his life in their fifth year. Whether it was because he was saving his own neck or not, James Potter did put his own life at risk when he saved then fellow fifth year student Severus Snape.

That life debt was transferred to Mr. Harry Potter when it remained unpaid at the time of James Potter's death. Technically, Professor Snape's unjustified attacks on Mr. Potter could be considered a violation of that debt if Mr Potter wanted them to be and he could suffer the loss of his magic.

However Mr. Potter has told me what he would consider fair restitution for the life debt and the violation of that debt. Once he is free and for the remainder of Mr. Snape's life, every month near the time of the full moon, he must make all the wolfsbane potion necessary for the Remus Lupin Foundation."

"That's preposterous!" Snape declared loudly. "That life debt was paid during Mr. Potter's first year. I saved him from falling to his death when Professor Quirrell who was possessed by the Dark Lord jinxed his broom."

Harry coughed before saying, "Actually that was Granger. She knocked Quirrell into the seats in front of him, in her hurry to reach you to set fire to your robes. That's what saved me. She broke his eye contact with my broom."

"There is an easy way to settle the matter." Bellacote told them, taking out his wand. " Geall eadaraibh Snape anoar Potter. If there is no debt owed, then there will be no bond of light between you. Also the one owed will have a glow around them."

A few moments later a thread of yellow light appeared, joining Snape to Potter and Potter was the one surrounded by a glow.

"Yes, you have attempted to repay the life debt Professor Snape, but since you are still bound by a thread of it to Mr Potter, those attempts have not been completely successful in releasing the debt."

The members of the panel conferred for several more minutes, before Martin Bellacote announced, "Both requests are valid. From this day forth, Professor Severus Snape's teaching credentials are suspended.

The only kind of teaching relationship that the Ministry or the Wizengamot will sanction for Potions Master Severus Augustus Snape is that of master to apprentice and that teaching relationship will be carefully monitored.

 Also it is laudable that Mr. Potter doesn't wish the world to suffer the loss of a great Potions Master, so the terms of Mr. Snape's repayment for the remainder of the life debt will be as requested by Mr Harry Potter. Every month once he has served his sentence and for the remainder of his life, he will make all the wolfsbane potion necessary for the Remus Lupin Foundation."

"This hearing is adjourned." Madame Bones pounded the gavel on the bench before her.

When Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts around dinnertime, he was greeted by a standing ovation from everyone in the Great Hall except the Slytherins and Harry.

The Slytherins were looking toward the Great Hall doors, waiting for their Head of House to appear.

When Snape still hadn't appeared by the time Dumbledore had taken his place at the Head table, the Slytherins began talking amongst themselves in low voices trying to figure out where he might be.

Dumbledore gestured for the cheering students to resume their seats. When the Great Hall was silent once more, he spoke. "You have no idea how pleased I am to be back among you all. After dinner I would like the Staff, Head Boy and Girl, as well as all Prefects to meet me in the Staff Room."

Silence greeted Dumbledore's announcement and he started to sit down.

Malfoy got to his feet before Dumbledore was completely seated and asked. "Headmaster, where is Professor Snape?"

Dumbledore got back to his feet and told him. "I would prefer to discuss that at the meeting after dinner, Mr. Malfoy."

"We have the right to know where our Head of House is, sir." Malfoy disagreed, gesturing to the Slytherins around him who nodded their heads in agreement.

Seeing that Malfoy and the other Slytherins were not going to yield on this matter, Dumbledore sighed, "very well Mr. Malfoy. Professor Snape is unfortunately on his way to Azkaban. The tribunal found him guilty on all charges."

"On what charges?" Malfoy wanted to know.

"That is none of your concern, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore told him.

"Can you tell us how long he will be in Azkaban and when he will be coming back here to teach?" A third year Slytherin girl asked.

"Once Professor Snape has been released from Azkaban, I am afraid he will not be returning to Hogwarts." Dumbledore told the silently waiting students.

There were loud cheers from the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables at this news.

The Ravenclaws didn't look all that surprised by the news, given his teaching methods, but they were largely silent.

The Slytherins on the other hand looked positively murderous. They knew who was responsible for Snape's incarceration and some of them started planning what they were going to make Potter pay.

Draco Malfoy, however, was not going to wait to make Potter pay for his actions. If nothing was done to stop the arrogant Gryffindor, Draco was willing to bet he would continue to decimate Slytherin House of its best, like his father and godfather.

The Great Hall was still in an uproar as Draco moved cautiously down the far side of the Slytherin table, trying to avoid detection. Not that anyone would have noticed him, given the chaos and crowd of people trying to get to the end of the Gryffindor table, where Harry Potter was currently seated. It looked like quite a few of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were trying to congratulate the arrogant git, but from what he could see of the expression on Potter's face, he wanted nothing to do with any of them.

Draco reached the best vantage point just as Potter apparently decided he'd had enough because he got up and started pushing his way through the milling crowd of students.

Draco waited until he had a clear shot before raising his wand and firing off the curse.

A moment later there screams as students scattered out of the way of the curse that was heading toward Potter. Those who were closest to him noticed that Harry made no attempt to dodge the curse as they had done. Instead he raised his hand in a halting motion and the curse stopped just before it would have hit him. However instead of dispelling the curse with a finite as they expected, Potter seemed to be studying it, then he made a shooing gesture with his hand and the curse sped off back the way it came.

As it reached the far side of the room, near the Slytherin table, the watching students saw it swerve as if it were looking for someone or something. The Slytherins were scattering out of its way like the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had a few moments before as the spell sped down their table, so all anyone saw was a burst of yellow light as the curse found what it was looking for.

In the almost deafening silence that filled the Great Hall they heard a squeak and several students caught sight of a streak of white on the stone flagged floor that was headed toward the Great Hall doors.

"Not this time." Harry commented making a gesture with his hand.

The white ferret flew backwards and came to a halt in mid-air in front of Harry. It was trying to curl up into a ball as Harry studied it.

"I wonder which Slytherin you are." Harry murmured. "I also wonder if you were stupid enough to try and make the transfiguration permanent."

"It's Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" Ron shouted. "Remember fourth year, Harry."

This announcement earned Ron laughter from his fellow Gryffindors who remembered the incident where Moody or at least someone pretending to be Moody had turned Draco in to a white ferret. The laughter quickly stopped however when Harry gave Ron a death glare, that would have rivalled one of Snape's. Ron quickly vanished into the crowd of students as Professor McGonagall strode up to Harry, looking furious.

"Mr Potter!"

Harry spoke up before McGonagall could get started. "I believe you may want to take care of Mr. Malfoy, Professor. He seems to have had an accident with a spell he cast."

"Mr Potter, how could you be so foolish?" McGonagall glared at the young man. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. That curse could have hit anybody when you sent it back. Why didn't you simply dispel the curse once you stopped it from striking you? "

"It wouldn't have hit anybody." Harry countered. "I put a return to sender charm on it, so the only one who was going to hit with it would be the one who sent it in the first place."

"Nevertheless you endangered your fellow students." Professor McGonagall went on. "You should have just dispelled the curse, so no one was hurt."

Harry just stared at her his face an expressionless mask. "I'm a big believer in reaping what you sow, Professor. Malfoy sowed this, so he should reap it. I do hope you are able to reverse the transfiguration, otherwise the Malfoy line will end right here."

He turned on his heel to leave and then turned back for a moment and glared at the ferret. The silence in the Great Hall was again almost deafening, so everyone heard his final words. "Malfoy, consider this your last warning. I have had enough of you and the rest of the Slytherins. However if you or any of the other Slytherins are stupid enough to try and harm me, let me warn you here and now, you will not like the results and your children's children will be feeling them, that is a promise from me to you. We just have to get through this last year together and then we can go our separate ways and never see each other again."

Turning on his heel, Potter left. Those nearest the Great Hall doors saw him walk out the main doors of the castle and on to the grounds.

.....

Hagrid found him sitting on a large boulder near the lake, watching the glittering surface change colours as the sun began to set.

"'ello 'arry," Hagrid greeted the younger wizard cautiously.

"Hagrid," Harry didn't take his gaze off the surface of the lake. "Did they send you out here after me?"

Hagrid settled down on the ground beside the boulder, before he answered. "No, I came on me own. Thought ye might want someone ta talk to."

"Well you were wrong." Harry told him. "You and I have nothing to talk about. You chose your side last year and it wasn't mine."

"I don't know what yer talkin' about." Hagrid sounded confused. "I never chose anyone's side."

"Oh, but you did, Hagrid." Harry countered. "I know that you were the one who kept Remus from coming to that farce of a trial the Ministry gave me."

"On Dumbledore's orders," Hagrid told him. "He didn't want Lupin puttin' 'imself at risk. I was the only one strong enough ta keep him 'ere at Hogwarts."

"Exactly," Harry nodded in confirmation. "You chose Dumbledore over me. During my time in Azkaban, it would have been nice to know that someone out here didn't think I was capable of murdering Neville."

Hagrid stared at him shocked. "I never thought you murdered Longbottom. An' my bein' there would'a done ye no good. I couldn't a stood up fer ye, me bein' a half-giant 'n all. They never would'a listened ta me."

"You wouldn't have had to testify on my behalf. All you would have had to do was let me know you were there for me but you didn't do that." Harry told him. "If I had known you and Remus believed in me and that you weren't there as a part of the group that was convinced I was guilty, it would've been a great comfort to me, but in choosing to do what Dumbledore told you, you denied me that. You chose the easy way out by remaining silent, instead of standing up for what you believed. You wouldn't do for me what I had done for you more than once. I stood by you and helped you when you did stupid things, like trying to keep a dragon, when you knew it was illegal not to mention dangerous for you to do so. And I risked my life to help clear you of the charges that got you sent to Azkaban when the Chamber of Secrets was reopened. Not to mention got you cleared of the original charges that got you expelled from Hogwarts."

There was a pause as Harry got to his feet. "So you see we have nothing to talk about. You and I clearly have different ideas about loyalty and what being a friend is. You stay with the side you chose and leave me alone."

Hagrid watched as Harry walked back up to the castle, and tears filled his eyes at the realisation that he had lost a very precious gift… Harry's friendship and he didn't have any idea about how to get it back.

.....

Dumbledore entered the Staff room after dinner his face solemn. The only prefect missing was Draco Malfoy, but he knew from Professor McGonagall that it might take some time to figure out how to reverse the transfiguration spell.

"I will get to the most important matter first, so that the Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl can be about their duties." Dumbledore began. "With Professor Snape no longer here, you will need to keep a close watch on the students in your Houses. I am not blind nor have I ever been blind to how Professor Snape favoured his own House and allowed them to get away with things that he would punish the students of the other Houses for. Those students, who have been ill-treated by the Slytherins, may try and revenge themselves against the perpetrators, since they no longer have to worry about retribution from Professor Snape." He paused for a moment eyeing the Slytherin Prefects earnestly. "Slytherin Prefects, I must also ask you to keep a watchful eye on those in your House. They may also decide that the absence of Professor Snape gives them license to get vengeance of their own for acts perpetrated on them, or their families."

All the Prefects, Head Boy and Girl agreed to do their best to keep things from getting out of hand between the houses, given the absence of Snape, who they all agreed had been the only thing holding the other Houses in check from trying to get any kind of revenge on the Slytherins. They also acknowledged at least privately that Snape was the one who had kept the Slytherins marginally under control. The teachers also agreed to help, since the Prefects, Head Boy and Girl couldn't be everywhere.

Once the students were gone, Dumbledore turned his attention to the remaining matter. "Until we replace Severus, I will teach Potions. I would like all of you to give some thought over the next few days to who would be best to fill the post of Potions teacher. A Potions Master would be preferred, but they are few and far between, especially those of Professor Snape's calibre. I would like to try and replace him before the Christmas break if possible."

The teachers nodded and then all but McGonagall filed out of the Staff Room.

"Albus, I need to speak with you about Mr. Potter." McGonagall spoke up after closing the door and casting a silencing charm on the room.

"What about Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore looked old and tired.

"I am beginning to have my doubts about the wisdom of having him back at Hogwarts." Minerva told him honestly. "I know you want to try and get him to forgive those who wronged him last year, but I don't think Mr. Potter has any intentions of going along with your plans. He made it quite clear the day you and Severus were arrested, that this wasn't the only thing he had in mind."

Dumbledore nodded his head in acknowledgement of her concerns. "Yes, that young man has a lot more anger in him than I originally thought. Most of it unfortunately is justified, given our actions last year. All we can do Minerva is help him work through it."

"Headmaster, that plan will only work if the boy is willing to be co-operative," McGonagall pointed out. "And so far he has proven to be very rebellious. From what I and the other teachers have seen so far he has no intention of co-operating with us. He has racked up more detentions in the past couple of weeks than the Weasley twins did during any of the years they attended Hogwarts."

"We must wait him out Minerva." Dumbledore told her. "Maintaining that level of anger day in and day out will soon become very tiring for Mr. Potter and then we should be able to make headway in bringing him back to us."

McGonagall sighed. "I hope you are right, Albus."

It was near the end of September that a note from Mr. Ollivander was delivered to Harry by a small barn owl, advising him that he would be there on Friday around noon with the completed staff. Harry had to admit to being slightly curious about what the staff would look like, even though the only use he would probably get out of it was as a walking stick, since there was no one at Hogwarts who would be able to teach him how to use it. He also had no doubt that as soon as the students and staff saw the staff in his possession the grapevine would be humming like a hive of bees since there hadn't been a wizard since Merlin who needed one.

Harry grimaced as he realised that his having a staff would undoubtedly make him even more desirable as a husband, given the fact that he had to be an extremely powerful wizard to use a staff instead of a wand to channel his magic. In fact he had already had a number of young witches from the other houses trying to get his attention over the past few weeks and this would probably make the foolish girls redouble their efforts in trying to snag Harry Potter: The-Boy-Who-Lived-And Destroyed-Voldemort as their husband.

Remembering the one and only time he had seen the Malfoys together Harry was willing to bet that in the old and influential wizarding families arranged marriages were usually the norm and that love was not a factor; power, wealth and influence were. However he now knew that he was now the target of some of those families having accidentally overheard a conversation a few weeks ago between several girls that he knew came from those proud old wizarding families. The girls were doing their level best to try and snag him as a husband obviously on the orders of their parents. Apparently they were willing to overlook the fact that his mother was a muggle-born, in favour of getting their daughter married to someone as powerful as he was proving to be.

In fact, several of them who never would've even looked at him before, had tried to get him alone in the past few weeks. They were apparently counting the fact that he was largely ignorant of wizard courting customs, to try and trap him into a situation where he would be forced to marry them. Ginny Weasley had been the most persistent of those trying to snag him as a husband, refusing to believe that Harry didn't desire her, given that she desired him. He had been very careful not to eat or drink anything she might have had contact with, just in case she decided to escalate matters and try a love potion. He still remembered the giggly conversation she and Hermione had had with her mother about love potions that summer before his fourth year when they were staying at the Burrow for a month.

He wondered what their parents would say if they knew that his mother had been a direct descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw and not a muggle-born at all. He was half tempted to tell them the truth and watch them keel over in shock, but he was saving that until the end of the year along with his really big surprise.

Harry couldn't help wondering just how gullible they thought he was, given how he had been treated by the wizarding world over the last seven years. Maybe they believed if they treated him like a hero, that he would forget the past year and their previous ill treatment of him. Did they really think his memory would be that short? Obviously their memories were if they thought that treating him like a rock star would make him forget how quickly they had turned on him not once but many times. Well that would happen… never

He shook his head, willing to bet that in their minds they were already revising the events of the past seven years and especially this past one to make themselves look better or at least feel better about their actions. He couldn't help wondering what the next generation of witches and wizards would be taught about Harry Potter and how he defeated Voldemort. By the time the wizarding world was done, he had no doubt that they would have it firmly established that Harry had deliberately allowed himself to be placed in Azkaban to trap and then destroy Voldemort, instead of facing the truth that they had all betrayed him and that no one in the wizarding world had bothered to stand up for him. For them that fantasy would be far more palatable than reality, because they definitely wouldn't want the truth getting out that they could turn on someone who had never done them any intentional harm like a pack of hungry jackals.

.....

They were halfway through lunch when Dumbledore appeared in the Great Hall followed by Mr. Ollivander who was cradling a long slender bundle wrapped in grey cloth in his arms. Silence began spreading out from the doorway as the students saw the wand maker with his odd bundle and wondered why he had come to Hogwarts. He very rarely left his shop in Diagon Alley. In fact the last time he had been at Hogwarts had been three years ago at the wand weighing for the Tri-Wizard's Tournament.

The students started whispering when they saw the Headmaster and the wand maker approach Harry Potter who was seated at the end of the Gryffindor table.

There was a brief conversation between Harry and the wand maker that was too low for those Gryffindors closest to Harry to make out, but after a few moments, he got up and followed the wand maker out of the Great Hall.

"I am sorry it took so long to finish your staff, Mr. Potter, but some of the cores were very temperamental." Ollivander told him as he searched for the best place to do the binding ritual. "It took a little time to get the thunderbird feather and phoenix ash to work together with the basilisk and horntail scales. And then I went through several clusters of Tourmaline before I found one the staff would accept."

"I thought I'd already chosen a cluster for the cap."

Ollivander looked a little sheepish. "It shattered the first time it was mounted. While it was responsive to you, it apparently wasn't compatible with your cores once they were all within the staff."

Ollivander stopped when he got to a spot halfway between the castle and Hagrid's hut and Harry stopped right beside him.

Laying down the cloth wrapped bundle, Ollivander undid the wrapping, but didn't pick the slender ash white staff up. Instead he used the cloth to roll it onto the grassy area between them. "Please extend your wand hand, palm up, Mr. Potter."

Harry did so and Ollivander pulled a slender dagger from a pocket in his robes.

"I'm going to make a shallow cut across your palm, then I want you to pick up the staff and set the tip of it on the ground." Ollivander instructed.

"Why?" Harry didn't sound concerned that what they were doing might be classified as Dark magic, since there was blood involved and the Ministry usually classified any magic than involved blood as Dark, even the ones meant to help.

"In order for you to be able to use the staff at all it must be bound to you." Ollivander explained. "This requires blood containing your magical signature, so it will know who it belongs to."

"You make it sound as if this staff were alive and going to become my familiar." Harry commented.

Ollivander shrugged. "In a way it is. Everything within it and even the staff itself were all living things at one point in time. As for the other, that is equally true, because once this staff is bound to you, no one else will be able to touch it with their bare hands without causing great harm to themselves." He paused a moment then asked, "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded.

Ollivander dragged the dagger across his palm and blood welled up in the cut it made. Harry waited a moment before kneeling down to pick up the staff.

As soon as the tip of the staff made contact with the ground, those few who were brave enough to follow the pair outside, saw the top of the staff burst into life with deep emerald green fire that flowed down the staff and met a deep golden glow that rose up from the ground. The two merged, encasing Harry in an emerald green and gold swirling sheath that gave off occasional bursts of gold and green sparks.

The minute the staff touched the ground, Harry felt as if there were something he couldn't see starring at him, judging him inside the swirling green and gold shield that surrounded him. It took all his determination not to try and look around to find the source of that feeling.

You do not want us, mage. A chorus of voices spoke in his head. Why did you have us made if you do not want us?

I did not have you made. Harry told the staff at least he assumed it was the staff. You were commissioned by another.

Yet you co-operated in our making, otherwise we would not exist, the staff's chorus told him. No staff can be made for one who is unwilling. So we ask again, Mage, why did you have us made if you do not want us?

Harry mentally shrugged and told the staff I had two main reasons for not wanting a staff. The first being that I have no intention of remaining in the wizarding world after this year is up and a staff would not be needed in the non-magical world.

And the other, prompted the chorus.

There is no one in the wizarding world who could teach me how to use a staff.

We see that you do not intend to give up your magic once you leave the wizarding world, so you will need us to help you keep it under control. The chorus of voices decided.

I've been doing just fine without you so far. Harry pointed out dryly. And I would still need someone to teach me how to work with you.

That is what we are for, the chorus told him. Your reasons while sound have no affect on us. There is much good that can be done by you whether in the magical or non-magical world. We accept that you are ours to guide and teach.

"Great, just what I need," Harry grumbled, "a bossy staff."

He heard the chorus chuckle as the green and gold shield vanished from sight.

"I take it the bonding was successful?" Ollivander inquired. 

"I would say so," Harry glared at the staff. "I'm now the proud possessor of a very bossy staff. When you said it was alive, you weren't kidding."

As Ollivander chuckled, Harry caught sight of the small group watching them.

The expression on Harry's face made the group of students scatter to the four winds. For some it was because they didn't want to face his wrath and for the rest, it was because they wanted to be the first to tell their classmates that Harry Potter was the first wizard since Merlin who had a magical staff.

Professor McGonagall met Minister Fudge and his entourage at the main entrance to Hogwarts. She was relieved that all the students were in class, so they wouldn't know about his arrival.

McGonagall led the group to the chamber off the Great Hall. "Gentlemen and Ladies, if you would please wait in here until we return," she requested. "Minister, the Headmaster has requested that I bring you to his office."

"I have come to see Mr. Potter, not the Headmaster." Fudge told her as he followed her to the Headmaster's office.

"I am aware of that Minister, but as he is presently in class, you will have time to see the Headmaster first." McGonagall told him.

"I know what he intends to try and do Minerva. He wants to try and talk me out of giving Potter the honour due him by awarding him the Order of Merlin." Fudge's tone made it quite clear he had no intention of being talked out of anything.

"Maybe you should listen to his reasons, Minister." The deputy headmistress told him as they came to a halt by the stone gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. "Mars bars."

Dumbledore looked up at the knock on his office door. "Enter."

Professor McGonagall came in followed by Minister Fudge.

"Ah Cornelius, good to see you," Dumbledore got to his feet and gestured toward one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

"No thank you, Dumbledore," Fudge declined the offer. "I have some very important business to take care of today with young Mr. Potter, so let's get this over with so I can do what I came to do."

"That is what I wish to speak to you about, Cornelius." Dumbledore told him. "I would like to request that you wait until at least after the first of the year, before you present this award to Harry."

"And why should I want to do that?" Fudge demanded. "We at the Ministry have had numerous owls telling us we should have done something long before now to show the wizarding world's appreciation for his destroying He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I have also heard rumours that Mr. Potter intends to leave the wizarding world once this year is over. Right now the rest of the wizarding world doesn't know about his intentions and I intend to see to it that he stays here. He is needed here."

"I am well aware of Mr. Potter's stated intention to leave the wizarding world behind Cornelius." Dumbledore tried to keep calm. "This is what we are trying to avoid. I agree with you that we need him, but he needs us just as badly. However, given his present level of anger over what he sees as the betrayal of the wizarding world, not once but several times, he is unwilling to acknowledge this fact. I also believe that because he has never wanted or sought the spotlight, that young Harry will not be too appreciative of the honour you want to bestow on him. We must work through his feelings of anger and betrayal first before Harry can properly appreciate his place in our society."

"Poppycock! I'm afraid I must disagree with you, Dumbledore." Fudge told him pompously. "What that young man needs is to see is how much we… the whole of the wizarding community value him for what he has done in destroying the Dark Lord once and for all. You'll see, once he's had a taste of how much the wizarding world respects and admires him, it will bring young Harry around."

"Mr. Potter has already had a taste of the wizarding world's regard." Dumbledore reminded the Minister. "He has also seen how quickly wizardkind can turn on those it claims to respect… including the Ministry, if you will remember. I think I can safely say that he has no desire to return to that spotlight."

Fudge squirmed for a moment before saying, "nonsense. Young Harry is like any other young man. The attention and regard of young witches will be heady stuff to him and that will bring around, you'll see."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Cornelius, he has already had the attention of a number of the young witches here at the school since his return and he either ignores them or treats them with contempt. Please, I beg of you, put this off for a little while. Give us more time to help Harry work through the issues he has with us before you try and shove him into the spotlight. I'll warn you now, that it is a place he has never wanted to be and desires even less now. If you force this issue, I'm afraid it will backfire in ways you can't even begin to imagine."

.....

The Head Boy, Terry Boot walked down to the Care of Magical Creatures class near Hagrid's hut. He'd been sent to fetch Harry Potter for a meeting with the Minister.

The sixth year students were all sweaty and panting, but Terry couldn't see the creature that Hagrid had had them working with.

"Hagrid," he called, taking the half giant's attention away from his students. "I've been sent to fetch Potter and bring him back up to the castle. The Minister has asked to see him."

Hagrid nodded. "'Arry, ye need ta go back up ta the castle with Mr. Boot. The Minister would like ta see ya."

Harry stepped out of the group of students without a word and headed toward where Terry was standing. Once he got close enough to be heard without shouting, he asked, "Can I clean up first? I don't think the Minister would like to see me like this."

"I suppose so." Terry nodded. "They didn't say it was urgent, just that he wanted to meet with you as soon as possible. While you're getting cleaned up, I'll let Professor Dumbledore know."

"Where am I supposed to meet him?" Harry wanted to know.

"In the anteroom off the Great Hall," Terry told him. "Oh and when you change, you might want to dress nice."

"Where is he, Dumbledore?" Fudge hissed under his breath. He could see the waiting reporters were beginning to get impatient.

"Mr. Boot said he needed to clean up after the Care of Magical Creatures class." Dumbledore told him. "From what I understand, Hagrid had a baby Axex in class today and they are known to be rather rambunctious."

Just as Fudge was going to ask Dumbledore to have Boot check up on Harry, the door to the anteroom opened and a young man with messy dark hair walked in and Fudge couldn't help noticing the staff he gripped in his right hand.

The conversations of the reporters ground to a halt as they got their first good look at the Boy-Who-Lived. No reporter had really seen him since the day he was sent to Azkaban and any attempts to try and take pictures of him had all failed, because they all came out blurry. He hadn't changed that much from the last time they'd seen him. He was still rather short and very slender, but unlike on previous occasions a few things stood out. His hair while still messy was now shoulder length and he had long bangs covering the trademark scar.

Also his hair was now a mixture of black and silver, making it resemble a lake reflecting the night sky. His face was expressionless as he caught sight of the reporters, and his eyes seemed to burn with emerald fire. He was wearing a deep green and silver robe that was opened in the front and underneath it he appeared to be wearing a muggle t-shirt and jeans. Those closest to him could see there was writing on the shirt and it took them a few moments to make it out: 'Don't let your mind wander. It's too little to be out on its own.' They also noted that on the emerald green robes there were three House emblems. They recognized the ones for the Houses of Potter and Black, but they couldn't place the third, even though it looked familiar. They made a note to research that house device because depending on which House it belonged to Potter might wield almost as much power as the Minister, though most of it was bound to be economic.

The item that attracted the most interest among the reporters was the staff he was holding in his right hand. They had heard rumours that he had gotten one, but since they hadn't been allowed on the Hogwarts grounds until now they hadn't been able to confirm it. It wasn't very tall. The deep green, glowing gem cluster mounted on the top of the staff, was just level with the top of Potter's head. The staff itself was ash white in colour and from what those closest to Potter could see there appeared to be intricate grey lines, like Celtic knotwork running all over it.

Following the instructions given by the Minister, they stood back respectfully to let Potter through. Fudge had promised all their questions would be answered by Mr. Potter after he had made his presentation.

"You wanted to see me, Fudge?" The tone of Potter's voice left little doubt in the mind's of the reporters, that he was not fond of the Minister.

"Y-yes Harry," Fudge stammered.

"That's Mr. Potter to you, Fudge." Harry corrected, pleased with the effect he was having on the Minister.

"Y-yes, of course," Fudge had to look away from the icy green eyes that seemed to be looking right through him as if he weren't there.

He took a deep breath and tried again. "I asked you to meet with me today, because I wish to present you with the highest award that a Wizard or Witch can receive."

His new aide stepped up and handed Fudge a scroll, which he opened. "For saving the Wizarding World from the threat of Lord V-V-Voldemort, it is my privilege to award to Mr. Harry James Potter the Order of Merlin First Class."

The aide handed Fudge a small opened box, containing a medal. Fudge held this out to Harry, but he made no move to take it.

"I don't want your stinking medal. I didn't destroy Moldyshorts for you, Fudge, or anybody else in the wizarding world." The contempt in Harry's cold voice could be heard from one end of the room to the other. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as he continued "I destroyed Voldemort for my parents, for Sirius and Remus. I destroyed him for Cedric and Neville. And I did it for me. I also did it for those in the non-magical world who couldn't protect themselves from Voldemort and his Deatheaters. If it hadn't been for the fact that he wanted to destroy them as well as you, I would have let Voldemort raze the wizarding community to the ground."

Fudge's mind raced trying to come up with something to say as one of the reporters spoke up and said. "Surely you don't mean that, Mr. Potter. After all you are a Hero to the people of the wizarding world."

"I rarely say things I don't mean, especially these days." Harry kept his attention on Fudge. "And I'm only a hero until you need a scapegoat. I have been both to the wizarding world and I am tired of it. You are all a bunch of hypocrites, who are led around like sheep believing whatever the Ministry tells you and the rest of the wizarding world follows right along with whatever you put in print." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I have had first hand experiencing with how destructive the lies the Ministry tells, as well as the lies the wizarding press is willing to print can be."

"Come now Mr. Potter, the Ministry does the best it can for everyone." Fudge found his voice. He was not going to let this boy wreck his career or topple the Ministry, no matter how powerful he might be. Public opinion still carried a lot of weight and it favoured the Ministry and the stability it created. "We are only human and I grant you that sometimes mistakes are made, but we correct them as soon as we can."

"You are only human," the look that Harry gave the Minister had him cringing and wishing he had listened to Dumbledore. "I have my doubts about that. Human beings learn from their mistakes, or at least they try to, but the Ministry and the Wizarding world just keep repeating theirs. And none of you have owned up to or corrected your mistakes. Actually I should rephrase that last part. You do sometimes try and correct your mistakes, but only after it's too fucking late for the person you have wronged. And then only after your face has been rubbed in the fact that you were wrong ."

"What mistakes has the Ministry made that they haven't owned up to?" Harry recognized that voice as Rita Skeeter's.

"Ah, Rita, if you only knew how long I have waited for this day." Harry smiled as he turned to face her. "You are one of the ones that caused the most damage during my fourth year. If you hadn't written all those nasty articles of yours about how I was only trying to get attention and that I was delusional and dangerous, then the Minister might have believed me when I told him Voldemort was back.

I do say might, because this idiot was determined not to have his calm and ordered world disturbed by the truth. Then there were the articles you wrote about me for the trial. They were pretty much in the same vein as the stuff you wrote in my fourth year. I would have thought you learned your lesson after Hermione found out your little secret, but I guess that was too much to hope for."

"What secret?" One of the other reporters demanded.

Harry smirked as he told them. "Didn't you know? Well since Rita is so fond of the truth and getting everything out into the open I suppose it is only fair that you know." He enjoyed watching Skeeter's face suddenly grow pale. " Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus, a beetle to be precise. That is how she has been able to get into places she is not supposed to be in and write stories with her own special slant on the truth with information she shouldn't have had. But then the truth is all relative, isn't it, Rita?"

"And to answer your question Rita, actually it's the wizarding world as a whole and not just the Ministry that hasn't owned up to these mistakes, but we'll let Fudge here see if he can answer this question for you all right." Harry turned his attention back to the Minister.

"I don't know what mistakes you are talking about." Fudge glared at Potter, wondering how he could stop this debacle from happening.

Harry made a tsk-tsk sound as he shook his head. "Minister… Minster, you might want to see someone about your poor memory. We'll get into the errors you personally made in a bit, but right now let me quiz you on some history. And by the way if you reporters know the answer, you can speak up too. Some of you look old enough to know. So Minister today's question is: 'In the past say oh about a hundred years, how many witches and or wizards were sent to Azkaban without a trial, or else got the same sort of trial I got, where not all the resources that the wizarding world has available for getting to the truth were used?' And for your bonus question: 'Of those that were treated that way, how many of them was the truth not found out about, until they were either dead or had their souls sucked out by Dementors?'"

"There have only been two," the Minister told him told him confidently. "You and Black and we've made reparations for both of you."

Harry made a buzzing sound and then said, "wrong answer. And Sirius was dead by the time you admitted he was innocent." He looked over at the reporters. "Would any of you care to prove you're smarter than the Minister?"

There was silence as the reporters stared at each other, wondering just what the Boy-Who-Lived was talking about.

"What about you Dumbledore?" Harry inquired. "Surely you know. I mean after all you have been alive for more than a hundred years. Hell for all I know you were probably at the trials."

"Hagrid," Dumbledore offered.

"Yes, there was Hagrid." Harry agreed. "He was sent to Azkaban not once but twice. And the second time he didn't even receive the courtesy of a trial. The last time, I believe, it was because you Minister said something along the lines of: 'we must be seen to be doing something' when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened again by Ginny Weasley who was stupid enough to write in a cursed diary and allow the spirit of Voldemort to possess her. I could understand a muggle-born making the mistake of writing in an enchanted diary, since they wouldn't know to be cautious around such an item, but child raised in the wizarding world should have had more sense."

Harry paused for a moment allowing that information to sink into the reporter's minds and send them frantically writing. "I noticed though that neither you nor the Ministry have made an effort to get Hagrid a new wand. A wand he is entitled to owing to the fact that he was innocent and shouldn't have had his wand snapped in the first place, but we are getting off topic. Keep thinking Headmaster, there is still at least one more to be accounted for."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful, but he also seemed to be unable to come up with the last one Potter was referring to.

"Let me give you a little hint shall I," Harry offered, "Weyland."

"Kerr Weyland," the Minister spat. "He was guilty on all counts and it was proven using all methods available."

"I'm afraid I must agree with the Minister on that Harry," Dumbledore confirmed the information Fudge had provided. "Kerr Weyland was an ardent supporter of Voldemort, in fact he was one of the first to join him."

"And whose fault is that." Harry spat out, glaring at the Headmaster and then turning his attention to the room at large.

The reporters found they couldn't meet his gaze, because his emerald eyes seemed to sear them to their very souls and they found they didn't like the feeling.

Harry continued his little history lesson. "It was the wizarding world's actions with regards to his father that led Kerr Weyland into Voldemort's camp. The Ministry had his father convicted and Kissed and it was only after he was Kissed, that they found out that he wasn't guilty. It had been someone else who resembled him, but did the wizarding world make reparations to his family? No! Did anyone help his children given that their mother was dead? No! Take them in? No! He and his sisters got swept under the rug to the point where not even those who were alive at the time remember what they did to the Weyland family or I should say what they didn't do to correct the mistake they made."

"What is the point you are trying to make, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"What is the point I am trying to make?" Harry parroted back at the Headmaster. "There is a saying in the muggle world. 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Would you agree with that statement, Headmaster?"

"I suppose so," Dumbledore responded cautiously.

"Then what I am saying is that the wizarding world is corrupt, because a number of you see nothing wrong with the abuse of muggles, or of those who are weaker in power than yourselves. You all see yourselves as somehow better because you can work magic and they can't." Harry's gaze swept the room before returning to Fudge. "And Fudge in particular has abused his power in ways that would remind any muggle or even the muggle-born, if they bothered to think about it, of Hitler."

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore spoke up trying to get the situation under control. "Surely you are not comparing the Minister of Magic to the insane muggle who was under Grindelwald's control during the thirties and forties."

"Oh, but I am." Harry confirmed. "He not only had Barty Crouch Jr, who could have given testimony about the fact that Voldemort was indeed back Kissed without a trial I might add." Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Would that make him number five to be treated to the wizarding world's peculiar form of justice? Maybe not, given that he was indeed guilty of supporting the Dark Lord. Fudge also spent the whole of my fifth year here at Hogwarts doing everything he could to squash the truth. Edict after edict that controlled what we could do, how we could assemble, even what we were allowed to say or read. Manipulating the press for his own ends."

Harry shook his head. "No, I should rephrase that because they were his willing accomplices in trying to destroy my character and good name after all just so they could sell more newspapers. They didn't care who they hurt as long as they could make a profit out of it and still don't for that matter." He glared at the assembled reporters for a moment, and they wouldn't meet his stare. After a moment his attention returned to Fudge and Dumbledore. " He was a dictator in every sense of the word and it took Voldemort getting in his face in the very halls of the Ministry of Magic before he would even consider that he was wrong. And even then he didn't remove Umbridge from her position of authority in the Ministry."

Potter paused for breath. "He was more concerned with retaining his position as Minister than in doing the right thing. Even now, I'll bet that's what this award ceremony is meant to do, solidify his position, because it is probably very shaky right now. If he is seen honouring the Hero of the Wizarding World then maybe he can hang on to his job. Well no thanks Minister. I've had my fill of being used by you and the Wizarding world. From now on you can sort out your own messes. Leave me out of it."

Harry stormed out of the room before another word could be said.