When Harry returned to Hogwarts the next day at lunch, he was greeted by massive applause by the Gryffindors and also some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins were mostly reserved while many children of those who had been named as Death Eaters sneered at him. But they couldn't do anything. Malfoy was sulking. Now with Harry being the adopted son of Sirius Black, his chances to inherit the Black title upon the death of his mother's head of house were zero.
Some of the older Slytherins tried to figure out how to use Harry's new position to their benefit. Being allied with the chosen speaker of the spirit of Wizengamot would definitely be beneficial for their families and their own ambitions. It was just too bad, that Harry Potter wasn't overly fond of most of Slytherin house after the last two years he spent at Hogwarts. And few were honest enough to confess, that it was their own fault. They had been the leading party in his isolation in the previous year. The rest of the students had been too stupid to see that if Harry Potter had truly been the heir of Slytherin they would have protected him for their own benefit, not ostracized him.
Harry was slightly on edge because he feared Dumbledore would now try to interfere with his life more than before, but his father had clearly told him that if Dumbledore wanted to speak with him in his office, he was to get Minerva to attend too. And like Harry had suspected he was called to Dumbledore shortly after he had finished his lunch. Harry went to Professor McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall, would you please accompany me to the headmaster's office? I was told that he wants to meet with me, but my father has instructed me that I am only to speak with the headmaster if you or my father were present at the same time." He explained.
"Of course, Mr Potter-Black I will gladly accompany you. I am interested why he wants to see you." She replied.
Minerva was not happy with Albus' behaviour. The only reason for him to call for Harry would be if it somehow concerned his schoolwork but Albus didn't know how well Harry did in class and even then he shouldn't call the boy. This was obviously another of Albus' stupid plans to take control of the boy. But she would stop this nonsense here and now.
They reached the gargoyle that hid the entrance and Minerva gave it the password 'jelly slugs' and they took the stairs up. Minerva knocked at the door and they were called in.
"Ah, Minerva and Harry. Nice of you to escort Harry here, Minerva. I don't want to keep you from your duties, Minerva, I just have something to discuss with Harry." Albus said smiling with twinkling eyes.
"I'm sorry, Albus, but Mr Potter-Black's father has given clear instructions that his son isn't to be left alone in your presence. He doesn't trust you anymore after you left him in Azkaban all those years. Either myself as Mr Potter-Black's head of house or Sirius is to be present. As his father Sirius has the right to demand this." Minerva stated.
Albus was clearly not amused. Damn Sirius. This made his plans so much more difficult.
"I understand. Well, what I wanted to ask is if you could tell me more about your experience with the spirit of Wizengamot Harry. I am curious as such an event is unheard of." He tried to keep his calm.
"Excuse me, headmaster, but that is private. And I would really prefer if you would only call me for school related things that my head of house can't deal with. After the things I have learned about what you have done, I have some difficulties to trust you as I did in the past. I don't like to think that a man I admired as a wizard condemned me to a decade of abuse at the hands of my relatives and broke the trust my parents put into him as witness to their will. That this man didn't do his duty as Chief Warlock and made sure that everybody got a trial before being sent to Azkaban. Those are inexcusable offenses, Professor Dumbledore, and at the moment I have problems to see the sense in them." Harry denied the request.
Harry's words hit as hard as he had intended them to do. Dumbledore could do nothing against the truth under the watchful eyes of Minerva. He inertly frowned. This was more difficult than he had expected. Perhaps getting some distance for a bit would be best to mend the relation with the boy.
"I understand, Mr Potter. I was just curious as you can perhaps understand." Dumbledore said.
"My name is Harry Potter-Black, sir." Harry said politely. "Being adopted gave me a happiness that I have never before experienced and I want to honour my father by wearing his name. I will never forget my birth parents and what they did for me, but Sirius Black is now my father and I want to honour him like I would James Potter if he was alive."
That was another hit to Dumbledore's plans. Harry was becoming his own person. He displayed a strong personality, something that couldn't be allowed to continue if he wanted his plans to succeed, but with Minerva present he could do nothing against it. Additionally as an acknowledged founder's heir Harry had the protection of the castle itself. He wouldn't be able to use the ghosts or portraits to spy on him like he could on the other students. A founder's heir was entitled to a private space that the ghosts respected above anything else.
His best bet was to leave moulding Harry to Severus. The man's undying hatred of James Potter and in conclusion his son Harry would keep Harry humble. And Sirius was never that brilliant at potions that he could tutor Harry into becoming so good in the subject that Severus couldn't find something to punish the boy for.
"Of course. It is just a matter of being used to call you with your birth name. Please forgive an old man his quirks." He said falsely repentant.
"Apology accepted, Professor." Harry answered. "May I leave now? I still have some homework to complete after my absence for the trials."
"Of course I don't want to keep you from your studies." Dumbledore reluctantly said.
Harry nodded and left the office while Minerva stayed. When the door closed she glared at Dumbledore.
"Albus, just leave the boy alone. He is still adjusting to this new situation. After everything you put him through you should be careful what you do in the future. Your reputation has taken a major hit and you don't want to be in a position of disadvantage when You-Know-Who returns, as you have told me for years. If you lose your standing, you won't be able to do the necessary things to stop his ascension. We both know that Fudge is a fool and won't be able to lead the Ministry through a crisis of that proportion. And while Harry could rally those who are against You-Know-Who behind him, if he comes back too soon, Harry will still be too young to be the leader against the Death Eaters. The boy is only thirteen after all." She told him off.
Albus was miffed on the one hand that she dared to criticize him but mollified on the other that she thought of his importance in the fight against Voldemort. And he could accept her advice as valid. If he lost his good public standing he wouldn't be able to lead the light and be seen as the saviour once again. While losing total control over Harry was a problem, as long as the public still saw him as the leader against Voldemort, he would be able to achieve his goals. He would have to adjust his plans a bit, but as long as he didn't totally drive the boy away, he would be able to succeed.
"You are right, Minerva, I am sorry. I probably lost the details in the bigger picture. I am concerned about the many attempts Voldemort made to return. Two attempts in the last two years are a reason to worry. And sadly Harry will be affected by this when Voldemort returns more than anybody else."
"Then you should probably support Harry and help him by giving him things to learn or information about his opponent. Information can be a big advantage and Harry needs every advantage he can get. You-Know-Who has decades of experience on Harry, something you could level a bit. Think about it, Albus. I have to go, my next class starts in fifteen minutes." McGonagall said clipped.
"Of course, Minerva I will think about your suggestion." Dumbledore answered.
Minerva left the office, allowing herself a small grin. Albus didn't suspect anything. She was sure he would think how to manipulate the situation to his advantage. For the moment Harry was safe and could learn all he wanted. The teachers kept his level of abilities quiet and Albus would look for something he could give away without telling too much like always. This should give them another month or two. And there also were the Christmas holidays.
Petunia Dursley was sitting in her living room thinking about the new gossip she had heard from her neighbour living at Number 7. The British Economy was turned around by this new noble who had appeared a few months ago. The man was really secretive and obviously intended to take over big parts of the economy. The best part of the gossip was that nobody knew how this man looked like. He kept his privacy and did his business through emissaries. Naturally all the house wives in their residential area were speculating what kind of man he might be.
She heard the door, signalling that Vernon was home. She stood up to greet him, intending to get his opinion about the new economical player. When she saw Vernon, he seemed a bit worried.
"Hello, Vernon dear, how was your day?" She asked.
"Hello, Petunia dear. Well, I will be busy the next few months. I am sure you have heard about this noble upturning our economy?" He asked back.
"Yes, we had a nice five o'clock tea at number 7 and discussed how he was taking over so many businesses in so short a time." She confirmed.
"Well. Obviously he isn't only doing business in his own name but also in the name of his adopted son, some kind of Lord who is still attending an elite private school for some years. The name of the son is kept a total secret to protect the boy from vultures that would try to get close to him for his wealth. This son is the majority stock holder of Grunnings. All our departments are ordered to do a thorough accounting to spot waste of resources and eventual fraud. We are also evaluated for our performance in our jobs and social life.
"Petunia, is there any way that we can prevent the freak from ever returning here? It would look bad if he was ever seen with us. As you know we told the neighbours that he attends St. Brutus to avoid them ever finding out about his unnaturalness. Couldn't we just tell them that there was nothing the school could do and that he now is locked up in a juvenile facility or so? Then we would be portrayed as the relatives who really tried to make him into a valuable member of society but sadly failed. It would be a dark spot but we did all we could." Vernon suggested.
"I don't know, I have written those freaks a letter that we don't want to see the boy ever again. Do you think they would investigate the matter in depth? You know if they checked the enrolment list of St. Brutus they will find out that the boy never attended there." She reminded him.
"I don't think so. We have the backing of the neighbours who will attest that the boy never made a normal impression. So we shouldn't have to fear anybody finding out about the freak being just that, a freak of nature." He said.
The Dursleys set to have dinner not knowing that their fate was already decided and the consequences of their neglect and abuse of their nephew over the years would come back to bite them soon.
Harry sat in a compartment of the Hogwarts express with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville. It was the first time he wouldn't spend Christmas at Hogwarts but with his father. He hadn't managed to worm out of his father where they would go to. He had just grinned and told him it was a surprise.
During the weeks between the trial and the start of the holidays Harry had managed to convince Neville to change his elective from Divination, it was just cruel what Trelawney the fraud did to Neville with constantly predicting his death, to Care of Magical Creatures. While Neville was worried that he would get hurt by the creatures or anger them with his clumsiness, Harry had ensured him that Hagrid was giving interesting lessons that were still perfectly safe. And Harry was proud that Hagrid was following his suggestions how to still show interesting creatures without endangering the students. Harry had accompanied Neville to Professor McGonagall to ask her permission for Neville to switch classes. As both boys promised to make sure that Neville caught up with the rest of the class until the end of the year, she had no problems allowing the change. Secretly she was glad that Neville got out of a class where the teacher constantly predicted his death.
She knew Augusta was a bit overbearing and had sometimes ridiculous ideas what her grandson should be like, but she also knew that she loved Neville. If she just could see beyond her expectations of Neville being more like Frank when he had so many character traits of Alice. Thankfully a long discussion between Minerva and Augusta had made the matriarch of house Longbottom see reason that a non-compatible wand would only hold Neville back and not allow him to find his true potential.
The third weekend into the school year he had gone to Ollivander's and finally got his own wand. The results were immediately noticed by his teachers as he began doing spells right by the end of a lesson instead of the third lesson on a topic.
At the moment Hermione and Ginny were discussing some rumours Parvati had spread just before the carriages were timed to take the students down to Hogsmeade station. Harry watched Neville getting trounced by Ron in chess while reading a muggle fantasy book. He still thought that muggle novels were better than wizarding novels. Perhaps because for wizards most things weren't fiction but reality, they had problems coming up with interesting stories. Well, except for Lockhart but he really only stole the fame of others so he didn't really count for thinking up good stories.
The normal visit from Malfoy was interesting.
"You will regret what you did, Potter." He said menacingly.
"It's Potter-Black." Harry answered calmly not even looking up from his book.
"You think you are so great but you are only a poor imitation of a pureblood you blood traitor," he spewed his cronies behind him threateningly flexing their muscles.
"You are just jealous that my family goes farther back than yours Malfoy. And your father was arrested because the spirit of Wizengamot was tired of all the corruption that has taken hold in the wizarding world. I was only the speaker the spirit used. And you can't really think the spirit Merlin created would keep quiet forever, do you?" Harry didn't even raise his voice, which made Malfoy even angrier.
"You will get what you have coming to you, Potter, when the Dark Lord returns you will regret your actions." He said.
"Fat chance, Malfoy. And I told you it's Potter-Black. Tom Riddle is probably in hiding again because he is so weak after losing his body in 1981. He had two thwarted attempts to come back and guess who both times was the one to face him? Why, yours truly of course. This makes three times I have escaped him now. First time when I was one, second when I was eleven, third when I was twelve. Somehow I doubt he will be more successful next time, if there is a next time. And with all those supposedly innocent Death Eaters, what was their excuse, oh right, imperius curse, who are now questioned under veritaserum and will tell the whole truth, out of the way I don't think he would be able to gain control over Britain. And believe me they will be punished accordingly for their crimes. No amount of gold will let them get off again.
"One thing I always wanted to know is why the hell you blood purists are even following him if you despise halfbloods so much. He is a halfblood and he doesn't even have a muggleborn father, he has a muggle father, so tell me about hypocrisy. Now leave I want to read my book." Harry said never even giving Malfoy the satisfaction of jumping onto his insults.
Malfoy now had lost his cool and pointed his wand at Harry. He fired a curse but was blasted back immediately and hit his goons and then the wall hard.
"Stupid inbred idiot. If he had been taught properly he would have known that heir rings protect those who wear them." Harry mumbled.
"Heir rings?" Hermione asked interested.
"Every old family has a head of house and an heir apparent. As there were times when enemy families tried to weaken each other by killing the members of the other family and heirs especially, the families had to think of ways to protect their heirs. Most families had rings crafted, some even by the goblins, which they enchanted giving the heir who wore the ring a special protection in areas the family valued most or feared their opponents using against the heir." Neville explained.
"Oh, so your ring gives you protection against curses Harry?" Hermione wanted to know.
"One does, yes. The others have different abilities. The Black ring for example protects my mind from intrusion and I haven't really figured out what the Ravenclaw ring does yet. Well, I have time to find out later." Harry said.
"But, wouldn't enemy families try and take the ring from the heir when they capture him?" Ginny asked.
"No, it isn't possible to separate the heir from the ring except the heir does it voluntary. It's a safety measure all heir rings have. And severing the hand is also impossible, that was a common method in the early stages of families using the rings. Over time they learned how to best protect their heirs. And the real danger wasn't when the heir was at home but studying at Hogwarts or another magical school because the family couldn't protect them then." Neville told them.
"Is that part of what you learn as heirs?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, it is. One of the first things I ever had to learn when my family began training me actually. Today most people know not to mess with the heirs because it is pointless, but some seem to have forgotten what being an heir truly means. Well, probably Malfoy will remember now." Neville concluded, getting laughs from Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
Sirius anxiously waited at platform 9 ¾ waiting for Harry. He was getting impatient; he just wanted to see his son again. Due to the old coot getting cranky Harry had spent the last two weekends at Hogwarts instead of coming home to learn. Many people were staring at him, he didn't expect anything else. After all, his face had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet for weeks. His spectacular trial had been the main topic everybody was talking about for weeks.
Rita, knowing that her job depended on reporting the full truth, had written some scathing articles describing the trials. Neither Fudge nor Dumbledore nor Crouch had come out in a good light. In a side article she described the real circumstances surrounding Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor's conflict. It had been taken in with utmost surprise by the wizards and witches in Britain. After all, who would have thought that the revered founders could have behaved like that?
Finally the Hogwarts Express came into view. A bright smile adorned Sirius' face. Very soon he would see his son. And he had planned a wonderful Christmas holiday. He had gone through the Black properties and had found a nice villa at the Mediterranean Sea coast. They would spend two of the three weeks there. The last week they would spend at Grimmauld Place, which was completely modernized now. Kreacher and Dobby had finally finished the last changes to the old house a week ago. None of his family would have recognized the old place now.
The train stopped at the platform and the doors opened. Very soon the first students milled out of the train, looking for their families. It took five minutes until Harry finally exited the train. Probably he had waited until most of the other students had left the train. It would make it easier for him to exit without being questioned the whole time. Harry had written him that while he tried to be polite and patient, with time the constant questions were annoying him. He was glad to get away from that for a few weeks.
Harry spotted him and walked over with a bright smile. He soon reached him and Sirius didn't wait to pull him into his arms. Harry returned the hug.
"Hi, Pa, I missed you." Harry said happily.
"Hi, Harry, I missed you too. Let me have a look at you." Sirius said, holding Harry at arm's length.
"Well, I have to say, you are looking good. Soon the girls will fight over you." He announced grinning.
"PA!" Harry indignantly yelled, blushing madly.
Sirius laughed. He liked riling Harry up in good fun. But what he said was true. Harry was a handsome boy and he would likely grow into a man, women would try to win for them. With the blood adoption Harry had gained some of the Black elegance. It was a family trait. While James' had possessed a boyish-rogue charm, he (Sirius) had always had a swift elegance and grace. It also showed in his cousins Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix. All three were beautiful, elegant women. Well Bella had been before she was put into Azkaban. That place simply deprived anybody of good looks over time.
Harry went over to introduce Sirius to Ginny and Neville as he hadn't properly met the two yet. The Weasleys were greeting their children and Neville stood with his grandmother next to them.
"Pa, I want to introduce you to my friends. You already know Hermione and Ron; these are Ginny Weasley, Fred and George Weasley (they had decided it would be best if they didn't tell the Weasleys that he already knew the twins well) and Neville Longbottom. Well, you have met the Weasleys already but I thought proper introductions when you are not disguised would be appropriate." Harry said grinning.
Sirius just laughed nodding.
"Everybody, this is my adoptive father Sirius Black." Harry said to the Weasleys and Longbottoms.
"It's nice to finally meet you without my disguise. I wished it wouldn't have been necessary to do so, but it was the only way to have a chance of proving my innocence" Sirius said smiling.
"It's no problem, Lord Black. It was a disgrace for our government to imprison you without a trial for twelve years. And I am glad that you have been able to help young Harry to get away from his horrible muggle relatives. While I don't believe everything the Prophet prints and take it with a grain of salt, what I read painted a terrible picture of his home life." Augusta answered.
"Thank you for your support, Lady Longbottom. I appreciate your concern for Harry. I can guarantee you the Dursleys won't get away unpunished. I have already contracted a solicitor to deal with them." Sirius said with a grim look on his face. Then he turned to Neville.
"It's nice to meet you, Neville. I knew your parents really well. They were good people. It's horrible what happened to them and I am sorry that members of my family have played such a role in it."
"Thank you, Lord Black." Neville said a bit uncomfortable.
"Just call me Sirius. I would feel weird if my son's friends called me by my title, it makes me feel old." He offered the boy, who nodded smiling.
"The same is true for you too." He said to the Weasleys.
Everybody smiled at the easy way Sirius treated people. He was not what many had expected him to be like. After all, he was perfectly capable to blend in with the pureblood high-society.
"So, Harry, are you ready for a nice long vacation?" Sirius asked smiling.
"You bet, will you finally tell me where we are going to?" He asked.
"When we are at home, Harry. I don't want the press finding out where we are. This is a family vacation that means only the two of us. But believe me if I say you will like the place I chose." He answered.
While Harry hated having to wait longer to find out he could understand the need for secrecy.
"All right." He said, then turning to his friends.
"Have a nice holiday everyone. I will write you when I am back or floo call. We could meet after New Year and exchange how our holidays have been so far." Harry suggested.
"Sure thing, mate." Ron agreed.
Neville looked at his grandmother and she nodded smiling a little bit. It was nice seeing her grandson having good friends like these.
"I will wait for your call. I am looking forward to meeting you." Neville said.
"Of course, Harry. You will have to tell me about the place when you are back." Hermione said.
"What Ron said." The twins answered, while Ginny nodded giggling at the antics of her brothers.
With that Harry followed Sirius to the apparition point. They would apparate to Grimmauld Place to keep their location a secret. Kreacher and Dobby had already taken Harry's luggage home. While he would normally have left his things at Hogwarts he didn't want Dumbledore having access to his trunk while he was away. So Kreacher and Dobby would go through his wardrobe and supplies and sort what needed to be replaced and get it for him.