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A few days after the second task, Fleur was only slightly surprised when Harry Potter approached her after dinner. They had become less distant from each other after his heroic rescue of her sister, but he was still a little boy, and little boys always wanted one thing.

"Fleur, can I speak to you please?" Harry asked.

Fleur shot her friends a look telling them to go on without her. "Let us walk outside, Harry."

They strolled towards the lake, while Harry appeared to regather his courage. It was behavior Fleur was used to with males, so she waited tolerantly. Finally he said, "Fleur, can I ask you something without you cursing me or whatever?"

Fleur rolled her eyes, her suspicion confirmed. Boys, always wanting to ask about her allure. "Yes Harry, I promise not to curse you."

Harry gathered his thoughts again for another long minute before speaking. "I'm not sure if this is one of those things like House-Elves that I just don't understand because I'm Muggle-raised, or one of those things where the Wizarding world really is backwards, like using quills instead of pens. That's why I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't kill me for asking. But, like, are Veela really creatures? I’d think, since they can breed with wizards, that they’d be just, like, another race of human or something? Like how there are both Wizards and Muggles?”

Fleur stopped walking and gaped at the boy. That was certainly not the question she had expected. She could tell, from Harry's nervous expression, that he was not making fun of her; he was genuinely confused. Fleur would have blamed the British Wizarding education system if it wasn't just the same in France.

"Come and sit on the shore with me," Fleur said, allowing herself time to gather her own thoughts. She knew the answer, of course, but the question was how to explain it to Harry. They finally reached the rocky shore of the lake and sat on two larger stones. Harry turned to face Fleur expectantly, and she cleared her throat before starting.

"Many centuries ago, there were no wizards. There were humans - what we now call muggles - and non-magical animals. There were also the Fae; the Fae were the first and only magical creatures, and they were pure magic. The Fae mated with humans, and their children were the first wizards."

"Wait-" Harry interrupted her, "Does that mean that if you go far enough back, every wizard, even the purebloods, have muggle ancestors?"

Fleur smiled, "yes, and it means that technically they are also half-breeds."

"Wow!"

"So the fae bred with birds," Fleur continued, "and created the magical bird-fae called Vila. Vila bred with other birds to make Phoenixes, Augerys, Fwoopers, Diricawls, and other magical birds. The Vila also bred with Wizards to make the Veela."

"That's why you're like a bird!" Harry burst out.

"Yes," Fleur didn't think she had shown him her form, but it wasn't surprising that he was aware of that aspect of the Veela; it was almost as well known as their allure. "The Fae also bred with mundane horses, creating the magical breeds like Abraxans, Thestrals, etc, and with komodo lizards to make the wyverns - the first dragons. Fae and sea creatures bred to make the merfolk, selkies, and sirens, Fae and Lions to make the sphinx, Fae and great apes to make the Yeti. They even bred with smaller primates, originating the species that would eventually become the goblins, elves, and dwarves."

"That's incredible!" Harry was wide-eyed. "So all of the magical creatures and beings are descended from the Fae just cross-breeding with normal creatures?"

"Essentially, yes. Often these species cross-bred further. The goblins, elves, and dwarves led to even smaller humanoids, such as pixies, Faeries, Doxies, Imps, Erklings, Leprechauns, and Gnomes. The larger creatures, such as the Yeti, also cross bred, making the giants and trolls. The sphinx led to the griffin, manticore and chimera, the horse breeds led to the hippocampus, kelpie, and hippogriff, as well as the centaur when they re-bred with Fae."

"Now, the Fae also had a number of humanoid shape-shifting descendants. It is said that these are the children of a Fae-human, or wizard, and a Fae-animal. Just as the Veela is the descendant of a Wizard and a Fae-bird, or Vila. So this kind of thing results in a Wizard-Wolf shapeshifter, or a Wizard-Bat shapeshifter, or a wizard-Dolphin shapeshifter."

"Is that where werewolves come from?" Harry asked.

Fleur chuckled. "You catch on fast, Harry. At first, they were simple shape-shifters, able to control their power at will, just as an animagus does. Then, at different times and for different reasons, they were cursed. The wolf-shifter who was cursed became the first werewolf. The bat-shifter became the first vampire. Hags, Banshees, Dementors; all were cursed."

"Like the quintaped!" Harry exclaimed. "That family that was cursed!"

"Yes, exactly!" Fleur clapped, delighted that he caught on so quickly. "Each time a creature was cursed in such a way, they created a new species. But all of them are descended from the Fae. In fact, it is believed that every magical creature, animal, or being is descended from the Fae, as that is where their magic comes from."

"And those who are human-like can breed with Wizards and Muggles. The most common are Veela, goblins, giants, and banshees, though Centaurs, Merfolk, Hags, and Leprechauns are also not unheard of in recent history."

"So, could any humanoid creature breed with a Wizard?" Harry asked. "Like a doxie or a Yeti?"

"Yes. Only the truly humanoid can, if you could get both parties to cooperate and use a little magic to overcome any size differences. Those with only minor humanoid aspects, such as the face of the Sphinx, do not have the appropriate parts to cross breed with other Humanoids, though they could cross with a Manticore, as their reproductive parts are both lion-based. In fact, the Humanoids can cross breed with each other as well. So, to take your example, the doxie and the yeti could cross breed, again, if you could get both parties to cooperate."

"Wow!" Harry's expression suddenly switched from amazed to horrified. "What would their children look like?"

Fleur laughed brightly. "Oh Harry! You are so amusing!" They spent a moment laughing together at the mental image that his comment had evoked. When they settled, Fleur resumed her impromptu history lesson. "So essentially, all of them are, genetically speaking, siblings; all descended from fae. And wizards are just one more descendant - the mix with Muggles. Had things gone a little differently back in history, Veela or Goblins or some such could be the ruling society and wizards could be the equivalent of house elves."

"And in fact, as a Veela, I have more Fae in me than a “pureblood” wizard, so I'm technically more of a pure-breed than they are. Muggles are also pure-breeds, while wizards are half-breeds, Muggle and Fae."

"I would love to see Malfoy's face if you told him that!" Harry chuckled. Fleur didn't know whom he was referring to; presumably some arrogant pure-blood here at Hogwarts.

"So, to answer your original question, Harry, basically, any of the humanoids should be considered beings, by virtue of how closely they are descended from the Fae. Though they are not necessarily smart enough or considerate enough of the other races to self-regulate, but some of them are "more pure," as we discussed, than Wizards. This is part of the problem with the classifications of beast, being, and creature."

Harry considered this for a moment, before jumping to his feet, pacing angrily along the shore. "This isn't right! We need to fix this!"

Fleur shook her head gently. "It will never happen. Wizards are the ones in charge, and you can't get them to think differently about other beings. They just won't do it."

Harry spun back to her and growled. "Like hell! I'm Harry bloody Potter! If I say this is going to change, then it is going to change!"

Fleur knew that the Veela had been promised things like this before, but nothing ever changed. Wizards were too ingrained in their thinking and their feelings of superiority over all the other races. Still, Harry was young, and there was no reason to burst his dreams now. So instead of laughing at his proclamation, she said, "That would be nice, Harry."

Fifth year saw Harry keeping his head down as much as possible, given Umbridge's vendetta against him. He spent much of his spare time in the library, though to Hermione's consternation, his grades didn't reflect his new study habits.

When Hermione convinced him to run the DA, he took advantage of the idea and began having each member stay late for a special personalized session. For some this meant combat training, but with some Harry spoke about various aspects of the Wizarding World and asked them to research projects for him.

Umbridge's eventual discovery of the DA put his plans on hold, but the exit of the Weasley twins actually fast-tracked part of his plan. He regularly spoke with Sirius via their mirrors, as his Godfather had been raised in the higher echelons of pureblood society, and had a unique viewpoint that Harry needed.

It was during one of these conversations that Harry's scar flared with pain, and he was stuck by a vision. As the image of Sirius' pained face faded from Harry's sight, he found it replaced by the worried expression of the real Sirius.

"What happened, Pup?" he asked.

"A vision, from Voldemort!" Harry gasped out. "You were in the Department of Mysteries, and he was torturing you!"

"Stay there!" Sirius commanded. "You and your friends just stay put and keep your heads down. I'll call you back when I can." With that, the mirror went dark.

Harry quickly went downstairs to the Common Room and found his best friends still up. For several hours, Harry distracted himself by debating with Hermione and Angelina Johnson over the best way to pursue rights for House Elves while Ron and Neville played chess.

Finally, the mirror in his pocket vibrated, and Harry jumped up and ran back to his bunk, Hermione and Ron on his heels. "Sirius?" he practically yelled.

Sirius appeared in the mirror, looking disheveled and with a small cut across his cheek, but otherwise appearing fine. "Hey Pup!"

"Sirius!" Harry yelled again.

Hermione tried to grab the mirror. "Are you alright? What about everyone else? What happened? Was Voldemort there? Was Dumbledore?"

Sirius grinned widely. "First things first, kids. Voldemort was trying to set a trap for you. The Order set one for him instead. No one on our side was killed, though a few will be spending a little while at St Mungo's. The good news is that the Minister himself saw Voldemort, as did a dozen other department heads, including your pink toad."

"Hah!" Ron crowed.

"The better news is that we captured three Death Eaters, and one of them was Lucius Malfoy."

Ron crowed even louder. "That'll put Malfoy in his place! Daddy dearest in Azkaban!"

"The best news, though..." Sirius began, then trailing off expectantly.

"What? What?" Hermione asked.

"Really?" Harry guessed, knowing that gleam in his Godfather's eyes. "You caught him?"

"Who?" Hermione demanded.

"Wormtail!" Sirius and Harry cheered together.

"Sirius, that's wonderful! You'll finally be cleared!" Hermione congratulated him, giving Harry a big hug.

"Good for you, Mate!" Ron added.

"And the first thing I'm doing is getting you out of the Dursleys," Sirius promised.

Harry thought he had never been happier.

Harry's sixth year was busy, but uneventful. True to his word, Sirius had been waiting at the Platform at the end of the school year, and Harry had spent the summer with him. Sirius had begun to teach him everything he needed to know as a Potter, as well as helping with his grand plan. They also played pranks, especially on the Weasley twins, completely redecorated Grimmauld Place, and replaced Kreatcher with Dobby and Winky.

Harry spent hours in the Black library, eventually finding a spell to unstick Mrs. Black's portrait, as well as an incredibly helpful text on Occlumency. By the end of the summer, he and Sirius were both proficient, and Sirius had found the practice helpful in rebuilding his mind after so many years in Azkaban. The Ministry had also provided him with a Mind-Healer from St. Mungo's as part of their effort to make up for his illegal incarceration.

Harry's school year continued the trend. He continued to study, trained with his friends and fellow DA members, (though the club itself did not meet) and gleefully enjoyed being reinstated to and made Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. His Mirror talks with Sirius continued regularly, as well.

Dumbledore attempted to pull Harry into some mysterious quest against Voldemort, but Sirius put his foot down. If it came to extra training, Harry would be given a choice, but anything else the Order should be handling. Dumbledore had been displeased, but Sirius had held firm. Thus Harry's year passed uneventfully.

On the Train ride home, Ron was gloating about Draco being caught out of bed by McGonagall the night before when he wasn't scheduled for Prefect patrol. Apparently it was not the first time, and she had assigned him detention for that night as well as the first two weeks back, come the fall.

As uneventful as his school year had been, Harry's summer was packed. His "heir" training continued, and he attended the first two meetings of the Wizengamot that summer, sitting in the visitor's gallery and watching Sirius and the others. He also kept up correspondence with his friends, and visited several, testing his etiquette training.

For Harry's seventeenth birthday, Sirius threw a ball, which he assured Harry was customary. Neville was expected to have one as well, and they convinced his Grandmother to allow for a joint one. Thus, on the night of the 31st, at the Ministry's ballroom, (Which Sirius had somehow managed to secure) the young Lords Longbottom and Potter were presented to Wizarding society.

Neville and Harry spent the night socializing and dancing - things they wasn't the best at, though both had become much better with Sirius' tutelage. They also made sure to be seen with the right connections, having carefully scripted small talk with certain people that Sirius and Madam Longbottom chose. It was enough to give Harry a headache, though he had understood why Sirius orchestrated all of it. He probably wouldn't have borne it so well if Sirius hadn't allowed the boys a private birthday party with their friends the night before. And Harry couldn't begrudge the social networking. After all, it was Harry's own master plan that they were working towards.

August first was the next Wizengamot session, and to the surprise of many, Harry not only attended, as he had earlier in the summer, but also claimed his seat on the council. It had been held in proxy by Dumbledore before, though for the last year Sirius had been Harry's real proxy. Now, Harry sat in his purple robe, on an uncomfortable high-backed chair, and looked out over the room. Two years ago he had been on trial for underage magic here, and now he was a member!

Of course, everyone else was going to be appreciating that irony in a moment too, according to Sirius' plan. After the other opening business was taken care of, the Chief Warlock called for new business. Sirius was the first on his feet.

"The Chair recognizes Lord Black," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Fellow members of the Wizengamot," Sirius began, unusually sober, "as you are no doubt aware, I have a personal reason to be concerned with the standards of hearing that this esteemed body maintains. Since my own incarceration without a trial was finally recognized and rectified, I have been working hard to ensure that no other miscarriages of justice were carried out by either this or previous administrations."

Some of the members had rustled at the implication that they were responsible, but settled back down when Sirius emphasized the word 'previous.' Granted, many of them were old enough to have been in the Wizengamot when Sirius was arrested, but it was long enough ago that they seemed to be ignoring that. Or perhaps, Harry mused, they had assured themselves that, had Sirius actually been given a trial before them, he would not have been found guilty.

"I am saddened to report that mine was not the only case I discovered in recent history," Sirius continued, drawing shocked mutters from the crowd.

"The first of these miscarriages was one of the most recent, though not actually the most recent. However, I have discovered that these incidents tend to fall into different categories. The first being the misalignment between severity of crime and severity of trial or punishment."

"In my first example, I cite the case of Wizengamot member Lord Potter, who just two years ago was called in front of this body for a case of underage magic. I would remind the court that the usual procedure for a case of underage magic is for the child and a guardian to meet with the committee for the misuse of magic to discuss the situation. further punishment is then taken, which usually includes, for the first infraction, a warning, for the second, restriction on their wand while out of school, and for the third, the possibility of having their wand removed."

"Lord Potter used magic while underage, but in a clearly proven case of self-defense of both himself and his Muggle cousin. A Muggle who had been made aware of the existence of magic from a young age, due to the presence of Lord Potter in his house. Thus, the statute of secrecy did not apply, and the only valid charge was the charge for underage magic. Had Lord Potter and his guardian been called in for the standard hearing, the case of self-defense would have been proven, and the blemish removed from his record."

"However, Lord Potter was called before a full hearing of the Wizengamot and denied the presence of a guardian. Additionally, he was misled about both the time and location in an effort to make him miss the trial altogether! I think you will all agree with me that this category of mistrial smacks of, if you'll pardon the pun, a witch-hunt!"

Sirius' pronouncement was met with disgruntled muttering from several of the older members and mild cheers from many of the younger. Had Fudge still been in office, Harry was sure he would have protested, but as it was, Scrimgeour just glared at him. He was not pleased that Harry had, supported by Sirius, refused to be his posterboy over the past year.

"The second category is that of improper incarceration without trial. This is, as you will remember, what happened to me. I have found indicators that this happened to several other people at the same time. Unfortunately, most of those poor sods have already kicked the bucket while imprisoned. Barty Crouch would have a lot to answer for, were he still alive. I would hope that Amelia Bones will be more responsible. However, this is not solely ancient history."

"It has come to my attention that one Stan Shunpike was arrested several months ago on suspicion of being a Death Eater. His arrest was authorized by the Minister himself! I would point out that he has not, in the months since, had a trial. Nor, in fact, has anyone even questioned him or examined him since his arrest. They haven't even checked to see if he has the Dark Mark! This is a clear case of history repeating itself!"

The grumblings and cheers were both louder this time, though the former might have been more for the mention of the Dark Mark than any real opinion on Stan's case, Harry thought. Scrimgeour, however, looked ready to kill. Harry resisted the urge to smirk at him; he was pretending to be a responsible, adult Lord while in these rooms.

Sirius shuffled his papers and then continued. "The third category I discovered is that of improper representation at trial, a clear example of a figure being railroaded during their trial, and a bonus helping of not one but two undeserved incarcerations!"

The outrage was much louder this time, only quieting when Sirius began to give the details of Hagrid's unjust expelling and wand snapping, and then his second arrest by Fudge during Harry’s second year. As Sirius laid out the events, quoting testimony from Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hagrid, Harry hid a smirk. This was part of his plan, as well as the repayment of a debt he owed to his first friend. And this was Harry's first - first of many, if he had his way - chance to make the Ministry realize just how powerful Harry intended to become. Of course, he was fairly certain that most of them would never realize that Sirius’s plan today was actually Harry’s, but that didn’t make the victory any less sweet.

On August second, the most visible stroke of Harry's plan went into effect. He would have liked to save this move for after he had left Hogwarts, but his time frame was restricted; his options were September first, or some time in August, and on that scale, he wanted to move as early as possible. They had prepared for this for two years, but the longer they had to implement their plan, the better.

So Harry found himself at the gates of Hogwarts on the second, standing beside Neville, Anthony Goldstein, and Hannah Abbott. "Are you ready?" Harry asked.

Neville looked nervous, but he nodded when the other two did. Hannah and Anthony had done the research for this, so Harry turned expectantly to them.

"Now we should just step onto the grounds and we'll be recognized. We are all seventeen now, so the Wards should acknowledge us," Anthony said. “There weren’t specifics on how we would be recognized, but the Headmaster will certainly be alerted, as he is the current ward-holder.”

"Once we’re acknowledged, we'll have to actually find the ward anchor to claim the school as ours, but with all four of us we should have no problem taking over," Hannah added. “The heirs have always worked in concert before, and Harry’s claim is solid, according to our research.”

"And the Wards should direct us toward the anchor," Anthony confirmed. “We couldn’t find anything more specific than that, but once the wards recognize us, then we should be drawn to it or directed to it or something… the translation wasn’t very clear, but we should know it when it happens.”

"Alright," Harry said, "let's do this."

As one, the four stepped through the gate and across the boundaries of the wards. Harry felt like he was being doused in warm water as the Wards accepted him. It tingled all the way down his spine and to the soles of his feet. From the looks of awe and surprise on the others' faces, they were feeling something similar.

"Welcome My Lords and Lady," a voice said in Harry's mind, causing his jaw to drop. The others mimicked him.

"Hogwarts?" He asked the only thing he could think of.

"Yes, Lord Gryffindor-Slytherin," the voice replied.

"Did you know it was going to actually talk to us?" Neville whispered to the others. Hannah and Anthony both shook their heads.

Hannah gulped. “None of the things we found mentioned that. I’d think I was crazy if I was alone.”

"Hogwarts, can you lead us to the Ward Anchor?" Anthony asked.

"Of course, Lord Ravenclaw. It is on the third floor, in the abandoned classroom three doors down from the History classroom."

"That is a very odd place for it," Hannah said cautiously.

"No, that is a very Slytherin place for it," Harry smirked, leading the way into the Castle. "We were expecting some place like the Headmaster's Office or the Great Hall - exactly the kind of place where an attacker would look for it."

"The location was chosen by the original Lord Slytherin," Hogwarts confirmed.

The main doors were waiting open for them, and the staircases were already aligned in the correct direction. The four quickly found the classroom that Hogwarts had indicated, and they piled into it, looking around. Harry soon spotted a small carving of a snake, along the edge of a stone, much like the one in Myrtle's bathroom. Inspecting it more closely, he realized that it appeared to be in the exact center of the wall.

"Look on the center of each wall," he directed the others.

Hannah found her badger in the center of the next wall, close to the door. Anthony's Eagle was hidden behind a painting, while Neville had to balance on a chair to reach above the window for his lion.

"Well done, My Lords and Lady," Hogwarts said. "Now you must cut the palm of your hand and place it on your symbol."

Their research into wards had suggested the need for a blood sacrifice, so each of them was carrying a small knife. Quickly they cut their hands and held them ready. "On the count of three," Harry said. "One, two, three!" All four slammed their hands onto their symbols.

There was a bright flash of light and Harry felt another wave of magic wash over him. It was warm, like before, but more like being cocooned in blankets rather than the earlier dousing of water. It still tingled down his spine all the way to his feet. As Harry blinked the bright flash from his eyes, he saw the others doing the same. Neville appeared to have fallen off his chair.

"Congratulations, My heirs, you are now in command," Hogwarts declared.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to feel the wards. According to Hannah's research, he should find them if he concentrated. In his mind's eye, he saw Hogwarts as though he was flying above it. The wards were a bubble of layered colors, largely grouped over the school itself, though some spread out in a thin film over the rest of the grounds and the town of Hogsmeade. If he concentrated, he knew he could pick each one out from the group and determine its nature, origin, and effect.

At his thought, the image zoomed in, and suddenly he was looking down upon this room, seeing the four of them from above, each with their name and title written in the air above them. In fact, it reminded him of something. "Did my father come here?" He asked suddenly.

"Your father turned seventeen during his sixth year here," Hogwarts said, "He was unable to take control of the wards, as he was the only Heir present, but he was able to see the wards by touching the Gryffindor icon."

"So that was how he came up with the Marauders' Map?" Harry asked. Neville's eyes widened, realizing what Harry was talking about. The effect he had experienced was clearly what the map had been created to mimic. The other two hadn't seen the Map, but they were busily exploring the wards themselves, given their expressions.

"The Headmaster is in the Hospital Wing!" Hannah suddenly exclaimed.

Harry closed his eyes and quickly focused on the Hospital Wing. Sure enough, Dumbledore was in there, on a bed, with McGonagall by his side. Madam Pomfrey and Snape were also in a corner, talking.

"His arm and neck are black," Neville said, clearly having done the same thing.

"And he's shaking," Hannah added.

"The Professors look worried," Anthony said.

"Hogwarts, can you tell us what is wrong with him?" Harry asked.

"The former headmaster is suf-"

"Wait, former Headmaster?" Neville asked.

"When the Heirs claim the school, they are tasked with choosing the Headmaster. Until they make a choice, the position is filled jointly by them." Hogwarts explained.

"Thank you for the explanation, Hogwarts," Harry said.

"That explains those references to the Headmaster changing," Anthony said, clearly working out something that had puzzled him. "It didn't happen every time, but two times it said that the Headmaster changed after the Heirs took over."

"Three groups of Heirs felt that their current Headmaster was the best choice for the job," Hogwarts explained. "Two chose to change."

"I think we'll hold off on that for now," Harry decided. "Could you now elaborate on Dumbledore's condition?" He had based the timing on his plans on Dumbledore being healthy and prepared to interfere with any part of Harry’s plan not aligning with Dumbledore’s own ‘greater good,’ as he had so many times over the past year.

"Of course, Lord Gryffindor-Slytherin. His hand was cursed last summer, and the curse has been growing worse all year. This summer, he also drank a slow-acting poison. Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey have done what they can, but they do not believe he will survive till Yule."

Harry frowned. If he had known that Dumbledore wasn’t going to be an issue, perhaps he could have waited to fully claim the school until graduation. Oh well, there was no use wondering about what could have been. They had decided to set things in motion today, and today they were going to be.

"How long do you think he has left, Hogwarts?" Hannah asked.

"Had he stayed in the Hospital Wing, as ordered, he likely would last much longer. However, he has refused to rest, continuing his duties with the Order, the IWC, and the Wizengamot. He is in this state today because of the effort he expended to appear normal at yesterday’s Wizengamot meeting. If he continues to push himself and ignore Pomfrey’s advice, then at this rate he will likely not make it to the first day of school." Hogwarts declared.

Harry nodded. "Right, that will actually make our plans go much more smoothly. We intended to change the Headmaster, as well as several other positions. With Dumbledore unable to actively work against us, we have slightly more time to get things together. We can speak to Flitwick and have him begin to work on our changes while Mcgonagall and Snape are busy in the infirmary."

The others nodded. They had spent the last two years researching, planning, and discussing the changes they wanted to make at Hogwarts, so they had all been prepared for a bit of a fight. Though none of them had wished for Dumbledore's death, they recognized that his incapacitation could certainly work in their favor.

"Let's go meet with Flitwick now and get things rolling," Harry suggested. They had just under a month, but he hoped that, come the first, the returning students didn't even recognize their school.

As the students entered the Great Hall on September first, most of them noticed the changes up at the faculty table. Gone was the Headmaster's throne, and instead Professor Flitwick appeared to be in the centermost seat.

The Gryffindors were the first to notice and comment on the fact that Snape was gone. As the excitement rose, others noticed that Trelawney, Burbage, and Filch were missing as well. Instead, Firenze was talking to an unfamiliar woman with black hair, while also answering the questions of the dark-skinned couple on his other side. Flitwick was cheerfully chatting with an older gentleman with a beard that rivaled Dumbledore's. Mcgonagall was speaking with a burly red-headed man whom only a few students recognized, though several others guessed that he was a Weasley. Another unfamiliar woman with blonde hair began to attract the attention of the males in the Hall, though she was engrossed in her conversation with-

"Professor Lupin's back!" came a shout from the Gryffindor table.

In all of the flurry over the faculty, few students noticed that several of their fellows were missing from the House tables. The students all chattered eagerly until finally the doors to the Great Hall opened. Another young man with a limp - unfamiliar to all but the most dedicated Quidditch fans - led the First Years in, while Hagrid brought up the rear.

As soon as they were standing at the front of the Hall, Professor Flitwick stood and shot off sparklers from his wand. The students quickly focused on him, the Hall becoming silent.

"Thank you for your attention!" Flitwick said. "As you have no doubt noticed, there are several changes being made at Hogwarts this year. The first is that I have been appointed the new Headmaster." This announcement was followed by cheers from most of the students; Flitwick was well liked. At his gesture, the older gentleman beside him stood.

"As such, your new Charms teacher will be Professor Basil Horton Jr. Some of you might recognize his name - his father was the Basil Horton, co-founder of Comet brooms." This brought a loud cheer from the Quidditch enthusiasts. "He has chosen to turn over the company to his daughter and spend his retirement teaching. He is also to be thanked for partially covering the cost of acquiring new brooms for the school."

As the din from that cheer died down, Flitwick gestured towards Lupin. "I am sure that our fifth through seventh years will remember Professor Remus Lupin, who is rejoining us as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. During the full moon, while Professor Lupin is indisposed, you will have guest lecturers, supervised by the other faculty."

The news of why Lupin would be indisposed at that time quickly raced down the tables, but Flitwick spoke again before it could build, gesturing for the dark haired woman to stand. "As you have also no doubt noticed, Professor Snape has left us." He was forced to stop his speech, as fully three quarters of the Hall burst into riotous cheers. Flitwick shot off another round of sparklers before he was able to continue. "Yes, well, he is being replaced by Professor Andromeda Tonks, who comes to us from St. Mungo's. She is the cousin of Sirius Black, who I am sure you have read about in the paper recently." The applause for Andromeda was interspersed with laughter at the final comment. Sirius had been in the paper at least once a week since Pettigrew was discovered just over a year before.

"Professor Binns has passed on, and has been replaced by Professor Amelie L'Oiseau, who will be our new History teacher. Those of you who remember Fleur Delacour from the Triwizard Tournament will be unsurprised to learn that they are cousins." A rustle of whispers followed this announcement, as most of the girls speculated as to her possible Veela heritage.

"Professor Trelawney has left Hogwarts, so the position of Divination Professor will be taken over on a permanent basis by Professor Firenze," Flitwick continued to scattered applause. "Many of you will remember Angelina Johnson, who graduated two years ago and who is now dating Mister George Weasley of Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes?" Flitwick asked, receiving scattered confirmation from the older years as the dark-skinned couple stood.

"I am pleased to announce that both of her parents will be teaching here this year. Professor Aaron Johnson will be the new Muggle Studies teacher, while Professor May Johnson will be the Wizarding Studies teacher. Both Muggle Studies and Wizarding Studies will be required courses for all students, first through fifth years. Those who used to take Muggle Studies as an elective should have received notice with their book lists as to the change and should have picked up the books for their new elective. Books for both of these new courses will be provided in class."

This announcement was met with considerably less enthusiasm than most of the previous ones, but Flitwick plowed on. "We are also quite fortunate to have a rearranging of positions. Our caretaker and groundskeeper duties will now both be taken on by one individual. Some of you might recognize Timmothy Bell, former reserve keeper for the Appleby Arrows, and cousin of recent graduate Katie Bell."

The applause for Timmothy, who bowed from his place near the first years, was more hearty than that for the Johnsons, but several students were now pointing to Hagrid and wondering why he had lost his position.

"Our last new faculty member is Professor Charlie Weasley, who is on loan to us from the Romanian Dragon Preserve," Flitwick announced as Charlie stood, grinning. "He will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures to the upper years."

The applause was still hearty, but the whispers rose. Hagrid looked like he was trying to keep from crying, but his wide smile belied any angst. "And, to satisfy your curiosity, I have one last faculty-related announcement," Flitwick said, also smiling cheerily. "As many of you should be aware, a few weeks ago Rubeus Hagrid was cleared of any wrongdoing in the case of the attack fifty years ago. As it was judged that his expelling and wand-snapping were unjust, he has been given a new wand and will resume his studies. He will be joining the third year class of his Former and now restored House, Gryffindor, and will finish his studies with them.” The applause in the hall was riotous from every table except Slytherin, and even many of them were seen clapping politely. Bursting into tears, Hagrid made his way to the Gryffindor table, where the seventh years immediately greeted him and pulled him to a seat.

Flitwick waited for the applause to die down before clearing his throat. "Finally, as I know you are waiting for your meals, I have one final pre-dinner announcement. The first years will not be sorted at this time, but will instead have their own table." With a flick of his wand, a new round table appeared in the back of the hall. Short benches lined the sides, while four chairs were stationed evenly around it. Sitting in the four chairs, and sparking another wave of whispers, were Harry, Neville, Anthony, and Hannah. Timmothy Bell directed the first years to sit, and they hurried to do so. He then made his way to the faculty table and took the empty seat on the end.

"Rest assured that the rest of your questions will be answered after you eat!" Flitwick called over the din. "For now, let the feast begin!" As the food appeared, a few, like Ron, immediately began to eat. Most students, however, were too caught up in speculating about all the changes to tuck in as heartily.

When the four heirs had finished introducing themselves to the new Firsties, Harry took charge. "I'm sorry that you lot had to go through all that tonight," he started, his voice carrying across the round table clearly, but not beyond the localized muffling ward around it. "But a lot of changes are happening at Hogwarts this year, and unfortunately for you, you had to stand there while the older students were told about it. I know some of you have older siblings here who might have told you stories, but generally speaking, everything here is new for you!"

"Yes, you don't know the former teachers, so what does it matter if they are gone!" Hannah added.

"Exactly!" Harry clapped his hands. "Just know that there are a lot of upheavals coming for the upper years, but you all get to start with a clean slate. Now, as for your sorting. How many of you know about the House System here?"

About half of the students raised their hands. "Good. Forget all of it." Harry declared. "There is a new House system starting with your year. The olders will stay where they are and phase out, but you are the first class in the new system. All of you, in your first year, will be in the Merlin house. You will be in this House all seven years you are at Hogwarts. You will share a dorm and classes, though your classes will be broken into smaller groups."

"For instance, there will be two class periods for all of the core classes," Neville explained. "That means that your new best friend might be in History, Herbology, and Charms with you, but not in Muggle Studies, Wizarding Studies, Transfiguration, and Potions. And your other friend might share History, Charms, Wizarding Studies, and Potions with you, but not the others. It is completely randomized."

Anthony took over the explanation. "This is so that you get to know your fellow year-mates better. You will have to sit with different people, work on projects with different people, and study with different people for each class."

"What if my older sister is in Ravenclaw?" a girl near Hannah asked, quite upset. "She said I would be with her!"

"There is a cross-year common room near your dorm," Hannah explained. "While only Firsties can go into the Merlin dorm and common room, you can go to the cross-year common room to meet with older family and friends. However, your visitors have to obey the rules. A Slytherin cousin and a Gryffindor brother are equally allowed into the common, and they are not permitted to fight with each other in there."

"We have a zero tolerance policy for fighting and similar abuse," Neville said sternly. "And unless you want to spend a night running laps around the Quidditch pitch or something equally exhausting, you'd better not break our rule."

"We won't have to scrub cauldrons?" one lanky boy asked.

"No," Harry snorted. "Why bother when a cleaning charm can do the same in less than a minute? No, you will be exercising. Running laps, swimming in the lake if it is warm enough, running up and down the stairs... something to get your blood pumping. If you still have the energy to fight after that, then clearly you weren't pushed hard enough. We'll have to double the time."

Many of the Firsties blanched at that idea, and Harry hid a smirk. Magic made many witches and wizards fairly sedentary. "Now, as for your classes. Schedules will be waiting for you in your dorm. Your roommates are assigned this year, though in future years you will be allowed to pick. There are four to a room, and your names are on the doors. Your trunks have already been taken to your rooms. Everyone's schedule will be on their trunk. Any questions?"

"What about our Head of House?" asked a short boy who strongly reminded Harry of the Creevy brothers.

"Ah, I knew we forgot something!" Neville said, snapping his fingers. "You see that red-headed man at the head table; Professor Weasley?" Most of the first years glanced at the head table and then nodded. "That's your head of house. He's got six brothers and sisters, and two of those brothers were the Weasley twins." Recognition showed on most of the faces - even most of the Muggleborns had been to the twins' store when getting their school supplies in Diagon Alley.

"Not only that, but Charlie has spent the last decade working on a Dragon preserve. There's nothing you lot can throw at him that he can't handle," Harry said confidently. "And his room is right off your Common Room. Not only that, but there are prefects, who will be asked to stand at the end of the feast. I know they are sorted into the older Houses, but they are able to help you anywhere outside of your common room."

"And you can always come to the four of us," Anthony added. "We will be available just like the Prefects, and our rooms are just a staircase away from your dorm. We'll show you after dinner."

"One last thing," Hannah spoke up. "Tomorrow morning you all start the week with Wizarding Studies. However, for this first class, you will instead be meeting us after breakfast for a tour of the school. We'll take you to all your classes, the library, the Hospital Wing; everywhere important."

"Now, I'm sure you still have questions, but save them up for a few minutes while we eat," Harry teased. "Get to know each other. And if we don't get to you tonight, or you think of something else, I promise we'll cover it on the tour tomorrow."

The Firsties eagerly began to chat with their neighbors, while the four heirs tucked into their own dinners. Harry thought that this stage had gone fairly well, at least for the newest students. The older years were going to be harder to convince, and part of him wasn't looking forward to that series of announcements after dinner. At least Charlie and Timmothy would be getting the Firsties well away and off to their dorms before that uproar started.

As soon as Charlie and Timmothy had lead the Firsties to their dorm, the doors to the Great Hall banged shut again. Harry and the others had made their way to the front, and now they stood in front of the Head Table. Harry chose to casually lean against it as though he hadn't a care in the world, which made Neville smirk.

"What's going on?" Someone shouted from the Ravenclaw table.

"What's with the Firsties not being sorted?" A Hufflepuff demanded.

"Come off it Potter!" Shouted a Slytherin.

"Where's Malfoy and Parkinson?" Demanded another Snake.

"Where's Dumbledore?" That was from Gryffindor.

Finally Harry held up a hand and shot off some of Flitwick's sparklers. The Hall quieted again.

Harry pointed at the Gryffindor table. "Dumbledore is currently in a coma, and not expected to last the week." He pointed at the Slytherins. "The wards have been changed so that no one with a Dark Mark may enter, hence the absence of Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle. Incidentally, that ward is also responsible for keeping Snape out." Harry smirked. "And I will not ‘come off it.’"

He pointed at the Hufflepuffs. "The House system is phasing out, and students will now be housed by year. The Firsties are together in their own dorm, just as every year will be from now on." He switched to Ravenclaw. "And finally, what's going on is that we Heirs have claimed the school." With that, he relaxed back against the table again and let the resulting furor wash over him.

"Blunt much?" Anthony muttered.

Harry shrugged back. Some of the steps of his plan called for subtlety, but this was not one of them. Harry and the others were in charge of Hogwarts and they were going to be making changes almost faster than the students could handle. They'd best get used to it now, because Harry was not going to hold back. He needed this year’s Firsties, and the second and third years if he could wrangle it, fully in his camp by the time they graduated.

Finally the clamor died down enough for individual questions to be heard again.

"All four of you are Hogwarts Heirs?"

"For which house?"

"What happened to Dumbledore?"

"How did you get these changes past the School Board?"

"How did you change the wards?"

"Why do we have to learn about Muggles?"

Harry shot a burst of sparklers from his hand again. So far no one appeared to have noticed that he wasn't using his wand - courtesy of a boost in power on his birthday and a book from the Black family library.

"Hogwarts, I think it might be time for a little pomp," Neville suggested quietly.

Suddenly the Sorting Hat popped into the room, sitting on its usual stool directly in front of Harry.

The brim opened and it proclaimed, "Lady Hogwarts recognizes each of her heirs when they come of age. When heirs of all four houses are present at once, they may claim the wards and take over the school. This has happened five times in history. A month ago, the heirs made their claim for the sixth time. May I present Lady Hufflepuff!"

Hannah stepped forward to loud applause from her house.

"Lord Ravenclaw!" The hat announced.

Anthony also stepped forward and gave a slight bow.

"Lord Gryffindor!"

Neville stepped forward and also gave a bow. The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers.

"And Lord Gryffindor-Slytherin!" The hat shouted.

Harry gave a jaunty wave of his fingers as the whole hall seemed to gasp en masse.

"Slytherin!" "Gryffindor-Slytherin?" "He *was* the heir!" The shouts seemed to come from every side at once.

Harry was content to let them freak out for a few moments, but Anthony had other ideas, and he sent off a batch of sparklers. It wasn't enough, however, so he looked at Harry beseechingly. Harry just smirked, so with an exasperated smile Neville used his wand to fire off a cannon blast. The students abruptly quieted.

"Hat, if you would elaborate my bona fides, please?" Harry said, shooting his fellow heir an amused look.

"Lord Potter is Lord Gryffindor by birth, like his father and grandfather before him. Lord Potter is Lord Slytherin by conquest, like his mother Lady Slytherin, who defeated the last of the Slytherin blood line, Lord Tom Riddle."

"Thanks Hat," Harry said, barely audible over the noise of the hall as the students again devolved into chaos. From somewhere along the Slytherin table a bright red curse suddenly flew at Harry. It was stopped a few feet in front of him, splashing harmlessly against an invisible shield. A wave of Harry’s hand saw one of the Slytherin sixth years slump unconscious on the table.

"Tut tut," Harry said, appearing unconcerned with his near miss. "First of all, I'm disappointed in you. Slytherins are supposed to be cunning. That shot clearly came from the Slytherin table, placing the lot of you under suspicion. And with the doors to the Great Hall closed, no could get out of having their wand checked with priori incantantem. Sloppy."

"Second of all," Harry ticked off on his fingers, "I've battled the Dark Lord and won, so aiming at me is just stupid - something Slytherins are not supposed to be. A true Slytherin would have aimed for the easy target like Anthony-"

"Hey!" Anthony protested.

"Or even one of the other tables of students, if you wanted to create a hostage-type situation. You never try a direct assault on your most powerful opponent."

"Third, I had already mentioned fiddling with the wards, an intelligent opponent might suspect that I knew about personal wards, and would have tried a ward-breaking curse first. Hell, even a bombarda or some other shield-breaking spell would be a good place to start."

Harry held up another finger, “Fourth, if taking on an opponent stronger than you, the wise move is always strength in numbers. Have your first wave start with the spells to bring down shields and wards, then send in the damaging spells. Classic battle tactics.”

"Fifth,” Harry held up his hand and wiggled his fingers in a pert wave, “if you're going to go ahead and use an unforgivable, and you’re not going to go with the AK to ensure that your opponent doesn’t get back up again, at least pick the Imperious and have some other poor bugger shoot the Cruciatus for you. Plausible deniability and all that."

Andromeda stifled a laugh behind him. Harry winked at her and then continued. "I thought that by getting rid of Malfoy's Gryffindorish impetuousness and without Dumb and Dumber bringing down the average I would finally see some Slytherin-like behavior coming from this House. I've got to say that, just like the last six years, I'm sorely disappointed in you."

"Of course, you're still playing into the stereotype, Mate," Neville pointed out with a smirk.

Harry looked at his friend. "I didn't want to throw too much at them too quickly, you know? Didn't want to completely break them before the first day of classes."

"What's Longbottom talking about?" Zabini called out from the cluster of seventh years at the closest end of the table.

"You really want to know?" Neville asked, a challenging gleam in his eye.

"Yes!" Bulstrode yelled.

"Hat, tell us about the original Lord Slytherin, please." Neville said.

"Lord Salazar was married to the sister of Helga Hufflepuff," the Sorting Hat announced. "They had seven children together and he was a doting father to all of them. In fact, the lack of resources to educate his children in fields that were not his personal specialty is what led him to seek out Gryffindor and the others to create Hogwarts."

"What were his defining characteristics?" Harry asked with a smirk, even as he heard quiet denials from the Slytherin table. The doting father thing had gotten him too, the first time that he heard it.

"Lord Salazar was highly intelligent, and very cunning. He developed several wards to protect the school from those who meant harm to the students. He was also a prodigy with magical creatures, bringing several in for the defense of the school, including the Centaur herd in the forest, the giant squid, and the basilisk. He was ambitious insofar as he had the idea for the school, but he was content to remain a teacher and father. He declined the Headmaster position the first time that Lord Gryffindor offered it to him, though he did eventually take it upon Lady Ravenclaw’s death."

"Did he hate muggles or muggleborns?" Neville asked, his smirk as wide as Harry's. The mutters of disbelief were spreading across the hall.

"All students were welcomed at Hogwarts, including those of Muggle birth," the Hat said. "Lady Hufflepuff and her sister, Lady Slytherin were both muggle-borns. Lord Slytherin believed in removing muggle-born children from their families at the first sign of accidental magic, to save them from the deadly religious hysteria that was prevalent at the time. While many of his protections were aimed specifically at repelling Muggles - he is the inventor of the Muggle-repelling charm, incidentally - he did not advocate attacking Muggles except in self-defense or in defense of those who could not help themselves, such as children."

The whole Hall was full of murmurs now, but Harry had one last question to ask. "What was the cause of the disagreement between the Founders that ended their halcyon era?"

"There was no large disagreement. They had their arguments, as all people do, but there was never a defining fight. Lord Slytherin was more likely to fight with the Lady Slytherin than any of the other founders; he spent many a night sleeping in his office, he did. The so-called halcyon era of the founders ended approximately one hundred and fifty years after their deaths, when the husband of Lady Slytherin, Salazar's granddaughter, slept with the then Headmistress Lady Hufflepuff and she bore his child. Lady Slytherin left the school, as did Lady Hufflepuff."

"But in Hogwarts, A History-"

"I'm so glad you brought that up, Hermione!" Harry cheered as beside her Ron dropped his face into his palms. “You just earned me a Sickle from Ron! Hat, please elaborate!"

"The first edition of Hogwarts, A History, was written just under three hundred years ago, and spelled to be updatable. It has been updated regularly since then."

"Hat, was the author an Heir?" Harry asked.

"The author was not an Heir, nor did they know one. There were no publicly acknowledged heirs at that time, nor for at least twenty years before or after. The author never consulted myself or any of the Hogwarts ghosts from the era, nor did any subsequent updaters."

"Roughly how much of the copy I showed you last week is false?"

"Approximately three-quarters of the book is, at least, misleading. Fully half of that is completely inaccurate. The most accurate portions are those written after the initial publication, though even those chapters are not without their problems."

"Thank you Hat," Harry said cheerfully.

"Now, before the distraction of Bole's curse - which, by the way, he’s expelled for, just in case any of the rest of you were thinking of taking my advice and trying again - we were answering some questions." Harry waved his wand, and a series of questions appeared in ribbon-like writing, floating over the Head Table.

"What happened to Dumbledore? How did you get these changes past the School Board? How did you change the wards? Why do we have to learn about Muggles?" Harry read them out. "Excellent questions! Take it away, Nev!"

"Dumbledore has been suffering from some months from a curse, obtained in the war against Lord Voldemort," Neville said calmly. "There is no cure, and that curse will soon take his life. He knew this was coming, and was able to put his affairs in order before becoming completely incapacitated. However, his end is near."

"Next!" Harry called out.

"The school board only exists to rule in the interim when no Heirs have claimed the school," Anthony said. "As we have claimed it, the board has become defunct."

"They were also corrupt and keeping this school in the dark ages," Harry snarked.

"Quite," Anthony agreed. "Since the board is now defunct, we have disbanded it. The members were notified before school started. We have no need to run our ideas past anyone, save Hogwarts herself, though we will listen to the wise counsel of certain others." He offered Flitwick and the Hat each a nod.

"Next!" Harry called again.

"As for the wards," Hannah took up the tale. "We control the school. We claimed the wards, so we are able to change them however we like. The wards also include a scheme for personal defense, which we reactivated. Thanks to Mister Bole for allowing us to demonstrate that aspect."

"And I get why you have to learn about Muggles!" Harry said gleefully. "So, how much of what you "knew" about the founders was just proven wrong tonight? How much of what you "knew" about Hogwarts was just proven wrong? How much of your knowledge about Muggles are you now willing to bet on?" The students looked at each other uncomfortably.

"I'll tell you right now that if you've taken muggle studies at this school, you're at least, what, two centuries behind? Hermione? Justin?"

"At least two centuries," Hermione admitted, clearly upset at having to admit that.

"Even older, for legal matters," Justin added.

"Some of it is just dead wrong, too!" A Ravenclaw piped up.

"The Beauxbaton students were appalled!" A Hufflepuff added.

Harry spread his hands out in a 'there you are' gesture. "Did you know that Muggles have a way to kill every one of us in an instant, making this land uninhabitable for generations to come, without risking a single Muggle life and easily bypassing every ward we have?"

Disbelieving muttering filled the room. "They can't do that!" was finally heard clearly from the Slytherin table.

Harry's grin grew. "Muggle-raised! Four words: jet, nuke, satellite tracking."

"What's the visual range on the Muggle-repelling and notice-me-not wards?" A Ravenclaw asked.

"A few hundred meters," the Hat answered.

"Then yes, they could do exactly what he is saying," the Ravenclaw said seriously. Others quickly agreed, while those who knew nothing of muggles began to look sick.

"So," Harry asked gleefully, spreading his hands again, "why should you learn about Muggles?"

No one dared to answer him this time.

"Any other questions before you toddle off to bed with those sweet thoughts?" Harry asked.

A Slytherin sixth-year snorted. "I take it back, you make a good Slytherin, Potter."

Harry grinned. "Why thank you. Now, no questions?" The Hall was silent. "Then off you go!" With a wave of his hand the great doors opened. The students quickly filed out, as did the teachers. Andromeda and Flitwick walked over to the Slytherin table, where Bole was stunned and stuck to his seat. A wave of Harry's hand released the former student, and the two teachers hauled him out.

Once the hall was clear, Harry looked at his fellow Heirs. "Well that went better than expected." He tossed Neville a galleon. "I knew I shouldn't have bet on the AK - with Malfoy gone, none of this batch has the guts for it."

Neville smirked as he pocketed the coin. "I told you."

"Well, shall we reconvene here in the morning?" Hannah asked tiredly.

"Oh yes, got to give the Firsties their tour!" Harry crowed. The four walked together to their wing and then each entered their own personal suite. Harry pulled off his outer robe and tie and then flopped across his bed, grabbing his mirror to call his godfather. He owed Sirius a galleon too, the git. The way he kept losing bets, he would need to change his plan for world domination into a get rich quick scheme instead.

By the end of September, most of the students had settled into their new routines and were accepting of the changes around Hogwarts. The younger students were even thriving. Though the second and third years were still sorted by House, they had each also been given a cross-House common room to study in, and many of them were taking advantage of it. Several commented that the past year's Hogwarts seemed like a dream compared to this year's.

The changes in the teaching staff were welcomed by all, even the Slytherins who had initially bemoaned the lack of Snape. Instead, they found that without his presence and biased point-taking, the other Houses were more accepting of them, and cross-House friendships began to form in every year. Classes like History and Potions were now favorites, and even the new Muggle and Magical Studies classes were interesting enough to engage most students.

With several Quidditch players on the staff, as well as a college footballer, Madam Hooch had been promoted to the head of physical education, supervising all of the sport teams and only occasionally refereeing a game.

The new Quidditch program, which featured teams created by year, was a hit for the first through third years. Each year could form as many teams as there were interested players, who would compete in a round robin tournament. The upper four stuck to the old system, but the Heirs intended to phase that out, just like the House system.

Additionally, Mr. Johnson had formed football and cricket teams, with a first and second year league, a third and fourth year league, and a fifth through seventh year league. He also had announced regular times when he would be out on the field to supervise pickup matches for those OWL and NEWT students who were too busy to commit to a league team.

Finally, Timmothy Bell had supervised the creation of an indoor recreation area in an abandoned area of the castle. There was a field and a scaled-down Quidditch pitch, where those teams could practice and play during the winter. There were also a gym and pool with certain open hours when students could come to work out or swim under supervised watch.

Many teachers had also agreed to sponsor new clubs, including ones for chess, photography, board games, gardening, literature, and several foreign languages. The House Elves had agreed to teach a cooking club to those interested, and even the Headmaster got into the spirit by creating a realistic dueling club. Regular meetings and tournaments were scheduled, as well as several demonstrations and exhibitions.

With the students so busy with sport and club activities, few had time for Inter-house rivalries. Their tendency to come to curses and blows diminished even further after the first few punishments were handed out. Even the hardiest quidditch and football players couldn't manage to run around the pitch for their entire detention period. The fact that repeat offenders were forced to miss class, thus bringing their grade down, saw even fewer attacks.

For the younger years, the House point system was reformed. All four heirs had agreed that they saw no real advantage to earning points, other than the shame that came from large losses. And of course, for their entire Hogwarts careers, Dumbledore and Snape had completely skewed the system, the one giving points to Harry almost as fast as the other took them away.

Thus, all students worked at earning points for their year. At the end of the month, each year with a certain number of points would earn a reward. The Heirs hoped that instead of competing with each other, the students would find a unity in competing for rewards. It would also deter students from setting each other up, as they could no longer attempt to cost another House points, as Malfoy often had. Saboteurs would only hurt themselves, which, paired with the grueling detentions, would hopefully be a deterrent.

Another dramatic change was the introduction of field trips. One week the astronomy classes visited a muggle planetarium and space museum. Another week the potions classes visited an ingredient farm, where they watched wranglers milk acromatula for venom, breeders pluck the stings off Billywigs, and gardeners carefully harvest ripe boom berries. Care of Magical Creatures students visited both Muggle and Wizarding zoos, and it was rumored that the NEWT students might be visiting a Dragon preserve before the end of the year.

Runes students took a portkey to Egypt for the weekend to see the Tower of Babel housed in the Wizarding museum there, and then also viewed it's Muggle counterpart, the Rosetta stone, back in London. History field trips to battle monuments and museums were followed by visits to muggle malls and sporting events for muggle studies. Equinox celebrations at Stonehenge were attended by all, after studying them in Wizarding Studies and History. There were plans to take all of the students to an art museum and a Quidditch match in the spring, and some of the clubs were talking about planning their own trips over the holidays.

Guest lecturers were brought in in History of Magic, to relate important events from the point of view of other races. Native American shamans and Tibetan monks were brought into Divination to explain the way their cultures practiced the arts. Muggles of various professions appeared to explain their jobs, while their Magical counterparts did the same. A host of Order members, now under the command of Moody, substituted in Defense Against the Dark Arts each full moon, talking about defense tactics and specific battles in relation to the wars with Voldemort.

Various creature wranglers were brought in to talk about the specifics of their field for COMC, while several potions inventors came for a round-table discussion on the process of potion inventing. The same was done with spell crafters in Arithmancy, and a delegation of Gringott's curse breakers visited the runes class to talk about the importance of runes in their work.

For the first time in recent memory, students could be found hanging around in classrooms after the period had ended, desperate to keep the lesson going. The library was also seeing a boom in non-Ravenclaw users, while teachers were engaged in lively discussions of their fields outside of classes.

By the time the Winter Hols approached, even the Upper years were getting into the spirit of the new Hogwarts, and the few skeptics among the faculty were all converts. Inter-House rivalries were at an all time low, even between the Seventh Year Gryffindors and Slytherins, though some attributed that to the stresses of their NEWT year.

Harry and the other Heirs were the busiest of all, though many of the DA members were still working on special projects for Harry. In fact, some began to suspect that Harry had a time-turner, he was juggling so many things. Whenever he was asked, however, Harry would just wink and change the subject. And as long as he also used it to also catch up on his sleep, unlike Hermione had in their third year, Harry knew that he was unlikely to be caught.

Over the holidays, Harry put another plan into action. One of his many projects over the last months was to write his true biography, with the help of a writer that Sirius had found. This was the true story of his life, including his years with the Dursleys, and all of his escapades at Hogwarts. While being true, it didn't exactly paint Dumbledore in a good light, nor the Ministry.

Through Sirius and Gringotts, Harry had purchased a publishing company, though there were secrecy clauses in all of the contracts so that no one could reveal that he was the owner. He needed the ability to publish whatever he wanted, without it being associated with his own name, and this gave him that chance.

But, the company, like the book, were just minor elements of his next big strike.

The Wizengamot meeting on January first was supposed to be rather uneventful, as everyone was still recovering from their Yule and Christmas celebrations. Harry, however, changed that.

"Are there any new orders of business?" Chief Warlock Melia Marchbanks asked once she called the meeting to order.

"I have one," Harry said, standing.

"Lord Potter?" She sounded surprised; though Harry and the other Heirs had been excused from Hogwarts to attend the meetings since claiming their positions in September, they had never spoken up before.

"I have a very serious matter to bring to this court's attention, and it has the power to affect every single witch and wizard in Britain - perhaps even the world!" Harry launched into his prepared speech.

"I am talking about the amount of illegal and untruthful information that our society has been fed as fact. Did you know that Lord Macmillan was secretly a squib? Or that Lord Greengrass had a secret son kept chained in his basement?" Harry had deliberately chosen one staunchly light and one staunchly dark member. "Of course you didn't, because neither of those things is true. However, I could have those lies published in the Daily Prophet tomorrow and most of the public would believe them. I could even get people swearing to be witnesses, or hell, just use a quick-quotes quill and invent the witnesses."

"What's more, I could write a book, take it to any publisher I liked, and see the whole thing printed! I could even make a profit from these lies! And short of also writing an article in the Daily Prophet or writing their own book there is nothing that Lords Macmillan or Greengrass could do about it."

"I know this seems far fetched," Harry said in a calmer tone, "but I am about to show you some memories that will make it exceedingly clear what I mean."

With Auror Shacklebolt serving as his assistant, Harry allowed for the memory of his parent's deaths to be projected for the courtroom. He then displayed passages of the dozen or so books that he had found written about himself. Each one contained a section about the night Voldemort had been defeated, which Harry presented. Harry then talked through the night in question, asking who would have been a living witness to the events. The Wizengamot was forced to agree that only Pettigrew truly knew what happened, and until his recent interrogation he hadn't told anyone.

Thus, Harry questioned, where did these books get their information? None of them cited sources, and with regards to his childhood, most of them had conflicting information. Of course, as Harry further pointed out, none of them were even close to the truth.

"And yet, the very first time that I met my now best friend Hermione Granger, she said to me, "You're Harry Potter! I read all about you!" Harry concluded. "This is an eleven year old girl who has read how many lies?"

Harry then went on to repeat the Sorting Hat's condemnation of Hogwarts, A History, and reveal that, aside from the Hat itself, no less than three ghosts and over fifty paintings and tapestries from Hogwarts could have provided the authors with accurate information from the era of the Founders, but none had ever been consulted for the book.

Next was the Lockhart fiasco, and Harry's projected memories were again used. Cho Chang had, over the last two years, contacted several of his victims, based on what circumstantial research her team had managed to find. They had put those people in touch with a Mind Healer who specialized in the obliviate spell and hypnosis-based therapy. Harry now presented the Healer's reports and the restored memories of a dozen people whose actual adventures had formed the basis of Lockhart's books.

Finally, he brought out a collection of Daily Prophet articles, which Dobby had carefully curated for him. In them, Harry showed direct contradictions, outright lies, and, especially where Skeeter was concerned, implausible situations.

Again with Shacklebolt's help, Harry first read aloud the articles she had written about him during the Triwizard Tournament, and then projected his memory of the events. He also included his memory of Riddle's resurrection in the graveyard, and the subsequent articles calling him a liar, which were particularly bad for Fudge. The interview with the quick-quotes quill, when Harry had spotted some of Skeeter's writings, was the most damning, but the ones that proved her to be an illegal animagus also caused an uproar in the court.

His memory of the hate mail sent to Hermione, especially the dangerous letters, was also provided, as proof that the wizarding public would believe and act upon the lies in the Prophet. Harry then pointed out that he had been forced to turn to the Quibbler for accurate reporting - a magazine that most thought of as a joke, but one whose editor actually had an ethical standard.

Then Harry used the stepping stone that Sirius' earlier motion had laid. He pointed out that several hundreds of articles had been written about Sirius's alleged betrayal of the Potters, both at the time and after his escape from Azkaban four years ago. And until the capture and interrogation of Pettigrew, not a one of them had been accurate.

What would have happened, Harry asked, if just one journalist sixteen years ago had asked to interview Sirius to find out why he'd done it? What if one journalist had asked for a source? What if one journalist had looked for a trial transcript or interrogation recording? What if Sirius hadn't been wrongfully imprisoned, but instead had been cleared back then and been able to raise Harry himself? What about those other cases of wrongful imprisonment or bungled trials that Sirius had found? Did every wizard and witch have to fear, not only the real chance of being thrown in Azkaban while innocent, but also by being found guilty in the court of public opinion because of one reporter with a quick-quotes quill?

Finally, Harry was ready for the master stroke. "My fellow Lords and Ladies, I have just shown you, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is no integrity to our press or publishing industry. And yet our public believes everything that they read at face value. If you did not believe before that I could start a rumor about Madam Bones' lovechild with Minister Fudge - my apologies, Ma'am - and have it be considered the truth by suppertime, I hope you now do."

"I hereby call for strict guidelines for truth and integrity in reporting. I call for accountability from publishers. I call for laws, and proper enforcement, so that the Wizarding public can believe in something again. Because while most of the examples I have given today have been of negative impact to me, the next article from the Prophet's poison pen could be about any one of you. Thank you."

Harry retook his seat, more than a little worn out. But he could tell that he had them. The Light-leaning crew were appalled by his memories, especially the inadvertent proof of Voldemort's return. Those on the Dark side were realizing that this could save them from accusations of being a Death Eater one day. Harry was betting that there were also a few taking note of the fact that a fourteen year old had battled Voldemort to a standstill, and were reevaluating which side they would be taking.

In the end, there was less than an hour of deliberation, and most of that over specific wording of the clauses, before two new laws were created. One dealing with the Prophet, Wireless, and other news sources, and the other with publishers and book sellers. A task force in the DMLE was also founded to enforce the new laws.

Harry announced that he was immediately authorizing his lawyer to go after the publishers of every book written about his life for unauthorized consent and slander. He also intended to take on the Daily Prophet, seeking a series of retractions. At that point, Harry slipped in an "accidental" reference to his own upcoming book, knowing that the reporters in the gallery would catch it and run with it.

As the Wizengamot meeting broke up, Harry turned over all of his evidence to Madam Bones for the task force, while also mentioning that his lawyer had a copy, and hinting strongly that someone should form a group to help Lockhart's victims.

Harry also gave several statements to the reporters who asked for them, including the information that he was a shareholder in the Daily Prophet, as well as an interested party in the DMLE's task force. He warned them that if he saw one article misleading the public about this day, misquoting him, or saying that he was unavailable for comment without actually trying to contact him, heads would roll. Several of the reporters made quick exits after that, causing Sirius and Shacklebolt to exchange smirks with Harry.

He figured that he would need to back up his threats once or twice in the next week, but by the time school started again the week after, Harry expected the whole country to be turned on its ear, again.

By the end of his Seventh year, several of Harry's plans had born fruit. Hogwarts was thriving, and in a student poll, every single one was pleased with at least the majority of the changes. The breakdown of the House System was still the most criticized by the older years, but much to the pleasure of the Heirs, the lower years were thriving.

In fact, soon after the Holidays, the Second Years voted nearly unanimously to switch to the new system, and asked the Heirs to let them. The Heirs let them chose from the two remaining House names: Djullanar the mermaid leader and diplomat, or Chiron the Greek centaur teacher and healer. They voted for the former, and soon their own dorm was constructed, with a statue of Djullanar as it's door guardian.

To Harry, it was proof that their new Hogwarts system was working. Soon after the school year ended, he received even more tangible results, as the Hogwarts OWLs and NEWTs were graded. In addition to several students achieving record high scores, including all four heirs and Hermione, the school as a whole had the highest number of passes in decades. More students passed their Divination, History, and Muggle Studies OWLS than in the last fifty years, while Potions was seeing the end of a 20 year long drought of both OWL and NEWT students.

In the - fully sourced - article that appeared on the front page of the Daily Prophet, parents were quoted as being thrilled with the changes, and it was shown that Hogwarts had jumped from having the eleventh highest ranking among European schools for NEWT success to the seventh, and from ninth to fifth for OWLS.

Harry even gave them a quote, vowing that Hogwarts would reach the top three in both within three years, and challenging the students to help him achieve that goal.

Of course, with the bulk of the DA graduating, the largest waves of Harry's plan could move forward. Several of them got jobs in the Ministry or research, while others took a little time off to work on their projects. Within several months, Hannah spoke before the Wizengamot, launching the most ambitious, and in Harry's mind, boring, campaign.

Hannah called for a committee to examine the Wizarding legal system. She pointed out that several people had been the victims of legal confusion, from Sirius and the other wrongfully imprisoned, to those who were fined for breaking laws that were no longer relevant. She also made the argument that students who were interested in apprenticing as barristers would be confounded by a number of repetitive, contradictory, or outdated laws they had to study.

Her most convincing example was a series of laws that were all technically still on the books: one from 1601 that regulated the construction of Flying Carpets in Britain; one from 1649 that regulated speed limits on flying carpets; one from 1785 that amended the 1601 construction law; one from 1818 that further amended the 1785 and 1601 laws; one from 1857 that regulated the import and export of flying carpets into Great Britain; one from 1930 that expanded the 1857 law to include Northern Ireland; one from 1951 that further redefined the 1857 and 1930 laws to reflect the new composition of the UK; one from 1966 that established minimum punishments for variously defined acts of reckless carpet flying; and finally one from 1979 that banned the creation, import, export or use of flying carpets in the UK.

Why, Hannah asked, were the first eight laws still current, enforceable, and punishable, when the final one existed?

Or, she pointed out, how could there be a law from 1802 decreeing that the obliviate spell was a legal self-defense move while dueling, while an IWC international law from 1946 found it unsportsmanlike and illegal? The two were contradictory, and, as Harry and the 'Gilderoy Lockhart v Marion et all' trial had just proven, outdated but still active laws like that could be cited by criminals in an attempt to escape justice.

Hannah proposed the creation of a committee, peopled largely by DMLE members and legal wizards, to go through the legal code and find such incidents. They would then regularly bring them to the attention of the Wizengamot, where the laws would be voted on.

With support of Harry and several other prominent members, Hannah's motion passed, and DMLE interns Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley immediately applied for the committee.

By the August meeting, the committee brought a list of twenty sets of contradictory or outdated laws to the Wizengamot. All of them were from the Middle Ages, and were considered barbaric by today's standards, but the laws were still active. As the committee's leader, Undersecretary Percy Weasley pointed out, these kinds of laws could be used by Dark Wizards to escape justice. The Wizengamot unanimously voted to strike all of the offending laws from the books.

Each month, the group brought in no less than a dozen legal tangles to be voted on, and in every case they were stricken with little argument. In fact, soon it became a permanent fixture of the meeting that all members tried to hurry along so that they could get to the real motions.

One such motion, that a self-updating compendium of Wizarding laws be created, was passed without so much as a question, and Harry privately ticked off another item on his list.

Then, Harry struck the next salvo, spearheading a campaign for Werewolf equality. He argued for werewolf DNA registration, so that proper persecution and punishment could be taken on rogue werewolves. He implemented a foundation, largely employing werewolves, to manufacture and distribute the wolfsbane potion at reduced cost to werewolves who desired it. He offered monetary incentives to Potioneers who could improve the potion, in any of the areas of effectiveness, side effects, taste, and brewing complexity, resulting in several changes over the next two years. He also put out a one million galleon prize for whoever found a cure.

Then Harry proposed a law to make the taking of wolfsbane mandatory, arguing that if it was enforced, then even without a cure the werewolf could become extinct in the UK in only a few generations.

Once those steps had been made, Susan, now the head of the Legal Compendium committee, put forth their most daring list of outdated laws to date. She cited over a hundred laws regarding werewolves, all of which were either already defunct, or which had been made so by Harry's advances. It passed with only a minimum of debate.

And suddenly, just like that, Werewolves were no longer banned from employment in any field, they didn't need to announce their condition when entering the Ministry or applying for work, they were no longer treated as lepers at St. Mungo’s, and they were re-classed as beings.

The Heirs promptly removed werewolves from the Care of Magical Creatures course and changed the wording in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Course to reflect this.

But Harry's team didn't stop there. Neville put out the same incentives on cures for Cruciatus exposure and other long term spell damage cases. Sirius proposed that those convicted of heinous crimes would have their lands and vaults confiscated and given to the victims, which saw the fortunes of several Death Eater families turned over to the Potters, Longbottoms, Boneses, and others on the Light side, as well as sizeable contributions to St. Mungo’s.

Hermione, working through Neville's position on the Wizengamot, proposed new legislation regarding House Elves. It mandated levels of care, acceptable living and working conditions, and enforced punishment for abuse. It was the adult evolution of SPEW, heavily influenced by Dobby, Winky, and other House Elves she had consulted.

And a little while after one of these changes was put through, Susan and Justin's team would come along, getting rid of the old laws that their new motions had made defunct. It was a subtle web of action, but it was slowly but surely changing the Wizarding World.

In fact, Harry was so engrossed with his plan, he mostly managed to forget that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were still at large.

With more tolerant attitudes and a changing perception of Salazar Slytherin at Hogwarts, Voldemort was unable to recruit many of the younger generation to his cause. With Sirius's early work, Azkaban's wards had been improved immensely, and after Voldemort's "outing" at the end of Harry's fifth year, the DMLE had gone on the offensive.

Thanks to Andromeda's potions classes, and the remedial NEWT studies that she offered to recent graduates, the Auror Corps had seen a leap in applicants, as had St. Mungo’s, and the DMLE was almost back to the levels it had been at at the height of the first war with Voldemort.

The seizing of Death Eater property had also cut heavily into Voldemort's finances, as well as his recruiting. The wards that repelled those with the Dark Mark from entering Hogwarts or the Ministry had seen many of his prominent followers without a job, and had also proven a deterrent to potential new followers, who wanted to finish their education or retain their jobs.

With the radical changes in the lives of werewolves, and Harry's promise to do the same for other races, even the dark creatures were hesitating to come to Voldemort's side. And with the Daily Prophet required to print the truth instead of fear mongering, any attack that Voldemort did carry out was detailed clearly in terms that were respectful to the attacked, but which assured readers that the DMLE was on the case.

More often than not, such articles were also accompanied by Voldemort's personal history as a half-blood, his varied defeats at the hands of child wonder Harry Potter while at Hogwarts, and common sense recommendations for what the average person could do to reduce their risk if Dark Wizards did attack, such as preparing a portkey in advance, warding houses and business, employing secret keepers and passwords, and even suggestions to fight back if outnumbering the Dark Wizards.

Harry had been attacked twice: once in Diagon Alley, where several bystanders helped to fight and the aurors swarmed the place within minutes; and once just outside of Hogsmeade, where he activated the school's attack wards and shredded his opponents. Both times the press had been allowed to tout the victory to the public, to raise morale and the will to fight back.

The Order of the Phoenix, under the direction of Alastor Moody, was still fighting against Voldemort behind the scenes. Many members reportedly were doing some last quest that Dumbledore had sent them on, but Harry kept out of it. He was far too busy with his own plans, which had, in the two years since he graduated, been proceeding splendidly.

While Harry and several others were making big changes in the Wizengamot, and Hogwarts was reeducating the teenagers, Harry's plan also called for a subtle initiative in the average Wizarding home. While the improvement in the quality of the Daily Prophet was making progress with the adults, Harry was also making inroads into the way the children thought.

Augurey Press, which Harry covertly owned, had been busy in the last two years. After Harry's only authorized biography had drawn some attention to the company, people had eagerly sought out the books it published.

The first wave were a series of textbooks, many of which were picked up by Hogwarts right away, but some of which were aimed at younger students. Amy Bird's Beastly Acts of History told the true stories behind several well known historical events, usually with a view sympathetic to so called beasts such as Goblins, Centaurs, Veela, and Werewolves. Professor L'Oiseau had praised it for its accuracy, and immediately added it to the Hogwarts book list.

Another new text was May Your Enemies Tremble...; a treatise on Goblin culture and history co-written by Ash the Axehammer and Ernie Macmillan. This was immediately required for the Wizarding Studies course, as, among other things, it provided tips for getting better service at Gringotts, such as using a traditional goblin greeting, speaking respectfully, and using a goblin's titles. The younger generation eagerly embraced this advice, and saw their financial pursuits considerably easier.

Andromeda Tonks was persuaded to write a Potions for beginners text, which covered the most basic element of ingredient selection and preparation, brewing techniques, handy spells, and what to do if something went wrong in the lab. It included color-coded charts of how common potions should look, how the most common mistakes affected the potion, and how to reverse those effects if possible. Aimed at those who were just shy of Hogwarts age, through to second years, and a required text for Hogwarts Potions class, the book found immediate success. Even Harry and Ron used it to successfully brew potions, with Harry joking in a rare public endorsement, "If this book can teach me to successfully brew a potion, it can teach anyone!"

One of the more controversial books was published under the name Goldie Flowers, and it detailed the history of the Fae and the origins of the common magical species, just as Fleur had told them to Harry. It immediately received a scathing review from the Ministry, while the Daily Prophet printed, in the same issue, an editorial letter praising it. The book's sales tripled in one day, selling out in Diagon Alley. Everyone wanted to read this contentious book and see what the fuss was all about.

Another big seller was Hermione and Dobby's collaboration, Subservient: A History of the House Elf. In addition to detailing the Fae-bred origin of the House Elf, it discussed the way that House Elves had become subservient to Wizards, changing from partners to slaves. They also wrote down House Elf oral histories and customs, and uncovered the way that unscrupulous House Elf traders forced infant House Elves into the "proper" mindset to serve.

Most surprising to the common witch or wizard was a section on House Elf magic, which included several of their little-known abilities and detailed several momentous events in House Elf history. This included times when House Elves had saved their masters, or been used in assassination plots, or ways that House Elves had miraculously survived things that would kill a normal witch or wizard. It even detailed Dobby's work against Malfoy in Harry's second year, and the power he had to toss the man down the stairs for even thinking of hurting Harry.

This book also received mixed and polarizing reviews, driving up the market demand. When asked in an interview, Harry commented that the entire book was, to his knowledge, accurate, and that the section regarding Dobby and Malfoy was entirely true. That admission ensured that nearly every magical person in the UK read the book.

Hagrid, who was thrilled to be back in school, had also been persuaded to spend his summers and other free time with a ghostwriter creating a book, which he insisted be titled Misunderstood. It covered many of the creatures he loved and the lesser known details about them. Treating the creatures less clinically than Fantastical Beasts, and reading in some parts like a biography, it also included anecdotes about the raising and handling of several feared creatures.

Another book that originated in Hogwarts was the new Divination text, Looking Inward, Looking Outward. Co-authored by the Patil twins, it was an anthology, with each chapter featuring the interview or writings of a different Divination expert from various cultures. Firenze contributed to the chapter on Centaur Stargazing, while other experts taught of Native American shamanism, Goblin bloodletters, Tibetan monastics, Mayan astronomers, Merfolk tidewalkers, Aboriginal Australian dreamers, Norse Viking numerologists, Chinese Taoist shell readers, and Ancient Roman alectryomancers.

Instead of claiming to teach the non-gifted to use a divination gift, as most texts had, this book was more of a survey of practices around the world, teaching the lay witch or wizard how the gifted actually used their gifts. Much to Harry's amusement, Hermione found the text fascinating, and swore that, had Trelawney taught this book, she wouldn't have dropped the class. He even convinced her to say as much to the publisher, and her quote was used, much to her embarrassment, in several of the book’s promotions.

Of course, the best selling books that Augery Publishing put out were a set, compiled by Lavender Brown: The True History of Hogwarts and Founders, Friends, Foes. Both books included interviews with the Sorting Hat, the Hogwarts ghosts, pictures, and tapestries, former students and teachers, and, through the Heirs, Hogwarts herself. The books immediately shot to the top of all the best-seller lists, even outside of Britain, replacing Hogwarts, A History as the definitive text on the school.

Five years after Harry graduated, Dennis Creevey figured out how to make a magical audiobook and portable player. Auguery Publishing immediately moved to have many of their books re-released as audiobooks, including many of their recent best-sellers. But, of course, Harry wasn't satisfied with that.

Dennis and Colin, who had finally found a way to make a magical camera operate perfectly underwater without sacrificing image quality, were sent, first to Hogwarts, and then all around the globe. Together, they recorded, underwater, all of the oral histories of the various Merfolk clans. These were released as an audiobook series, Waves and Warriors, and also an anthology of Mer-music, called Songs of the Sea.

Of course, Augurey Publishing didn't just cater to those wanting textbooks or controversial historical tales. They also, over the years, released a series of children's books on fantastical creatures by Luna Lovegood. In the Imaginary series, a little girl named Selene and her pet Thestral Nova traveled around the world, discovering creatures like the Crumple-Horned Snokack, the Heliopath, and the Nargle.

Another series, Evanna and Lissy followed the daily adventures of young Pureblood Evanna and her personal House Elf, and best friend, Lissy. The popular Lil' Campie series was told from the point of view of a Hippocampus living in a Merfolk enclave in Loch Neagh. As soon as her mistress, Atarga, went off to lessons, Thessa the Hippocampus would go off on adventures around the Loch.

In addition to the popular serieses, there were many single titles, from various authors. In Campout Crisis, a young veela girl stopped hiding her nature from her friends when a sudden rainstorm threatened to ruin their camp-out and she used her powers to get their campfire restarted.

And there were many short chapter books aimed at slightly older children. Warrior Born told the story of a young Goblin deciding to have an adventure and getting lost in the tunnels below Gringotts, only to be rescued by one of the Dragons that lived there. Bindle and the Constellation was the tale of a young centaur who thought he had found a new constellation, while Pack was about a young boy turned into a werewolf who used the wolfsbane potion and then spent the night of the Full Moon frolicking with his pet Labrador, Lucky, and the other dogs of the village.

Each book or series on its own was unremarkable, but Harry knew the truth. If he got to witches and wizards when they were young, and made so-called beasts and creatures seem just like them, he would greatly reduce their prejudices. If magical children thought of young merfolk and goblins as just like them, with pets and adventures and fears and families, then when an adult said, "it's just a creature," the child wouldn't really believe it.

"Get 'em while they're young," Harry told his team of writers, now renamed as Potter's Army. "Hogwarts will reinforce it, and in seventeen years you've got a completely new society."

And it wasn't just creatures and beasts. Stories about the little muggleborn who didn't realize she was performing accidental magic and the little wizard who grew up in a mixed village hit the shelves. They were followed by the story of how a muggle family didn't notice the hijinks their pet kneezle got up to, and how a muggle family saw their wizarding neighbor being attacked by a Death Eater and knocked him out with a cricket bat. Dozens of books were published to make muggles seem more human to magicals.

Harry also slowly began to introduce Muggle stories and music through Augurey Publishing. Classic children's books like Goodnight Moon and One Fish Two Fish were soon found in Wizarding homes for the first time. Every kind of music, from lullabies to classic rock, from classical orchestral to grunge punk was soon for sale in the brand new Augurey Magical Audio Book and Disk shop in Diagon Alley. Soon every child at Hogwarts had a MAD player and a case of Magical Audio Disks. Harry knew that Muggles had actually progressed to computerized music, but that idea was a little too radical for the Wizarding world - yet. Disks were relatively handy, and similar enough to the magical gramophone and records of the older generation so as to not rock the boat much.

Finally, the last major phase of Harry's campaign went into effect. Of course, this was, in his estimation, the most likely to fail, but having spent almost a decade setting it up, he was confident.

Justin Finch-Fletchy had been promoted to Senior Undersecretary of the Wizarding Law Department; a new subsection of the DMLE. And finally, the Muggleborn wizard was able to speak for himself in a Wizengamot meeting. Therefore, at his first meeting, he made a daring proposition.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot, I doubt that I need to remind you that we are able to function on British soil because of the treaty between the Wizarding Government and the Royal British government. We are Wizarding citizens, but we are also British citizens," he began. He was met with blank stares from many of the older generation, though all of the younger Lords and Ladies nodded. That was one of the first things taught in Hogwarts' new Muggle Studies classes.

"My father was a Muggle barrister, so I am more aware of this distinction than most." Justin continued, "Now, I have spent the better part of seven years pouring through every law the Wizarding world has created, and I have to tell you something. I am appalled."

"In the first treaty that allowed the Wizarding world the right of self-governance, there was a clause stating that no Wizarding law could overrule a British law. Therefore, while we may write our own laws, we must still abide by British law. And yet hundreds, dare I say thousands of our laws directly contradict British law, which we are bound to follow." That caused a burst of muttering from the Wizengamot, but it was hard to tell if they agreed or disagreed.

"I propose that, just as we have had a team streamlining the Wizarding legal system for the last few years, which has seen the elimination of over one thousand useless and outdated laws from our legal code, we now have that same team also compare our laws to the British legal system. They would then propose to this body the culling of laws that are, by our own treaties, illegal!"

Susan, also a Senior Undersecretary in the DMLE, immediately seconded the motion, with Harry, Neville, Sirius, Hannah, and Anthony quickly agreeing. Seeing Harry and the Heirs throw their weight behind the idea, the rest of the liberal members quickly followed, dragging along the older conservatives - now finally a minority in the chamber.

With minimal fuss, Justin was put in charge of the task force, and he quickly enacted the second part of the assignment Harry had given he and Susan after a DA meeting all those years ago. At the next month's meeting, he presented his first list, much as they had with the contradictory laws seven years earlier. And, just as they had then, the Wizengamot was so uninterested, and the laws so absurdly outdated, that the culling was passed almost unanimously.

And so quietly, insidiously, the final phase of Harry's plan took off. Between the laws that broke British rule, the laws that were rendered obsolete by new laws passed by Harry and his co-conspirators, and the laws that were still regularly found to be contradictory towards other, more current, laws, the WLE department brought before the Wizengamot a few hundred laws a month. And, without fail, each law was declared null and defunct.

At its creation by the WLE team, the Wizarding Legal Compendium took up fifty books, even when using magically expanding texts. And members of the team claimed that the last few tomes were a little overstuffed, meaning that the expanding charms had a tendency to snap, spewing pages all over the office.

After five years of vigorous trimming by the team, the tomes were no longer bursting, and the fiftieth book was only half full. After three years of Justin's work syncing the Wizarding and British system, they were down to forty eight and a half volumes. Harry estimated that there were probably twenty tomes of rubbish, but he'd settle for eliminating only ten of them. Two years later, they were down to forty-five and showing no sign of slowing.

Muggle-baiting laws from the Middle Ages were particularly plentiful, as were thousands that took the tone of treating Muggles like children and bid Magicals to 'look out for their welfare.' Harry figured that those were a hand-down from the era of feudal Lords, which the Wizarding world had only barely just left.

Justin honestly believed that they could have presented twice as many laws to be culled each month, but Harry was worried about pushing the conservatives too far, too fast. Right now, this legal sorting was something bureaucratic that no one wanted to know too many details about. The last thing he needed was someone like Lord Nott getting overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cuts and deciding to protest, insisting on slowing or stopping the process, or bringing it into the public debate. Harry was going to drag the Wizarding World into the modern, democratic era, and the court of public opinion would help with that, but he was damned if he was going to give the public an actual say on getting there.

On his thirty-ninth birthday, Harry decided to call upon an old friend. Justin Finch-Fletchley had being sworn in as the new Minister last week, so the ever present retinue of guards that Harry had been forced to deal with for the last five years was finally someone else's problem. In a few weeks, Harry was going to return to Hogwarts, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. The former professor, Remus Lupin, was now a former werewolf, and he was finally taking a well-earned retirement.

Of course, being Lupin, he was retiring to travel around the globe, helping to deliver the cure and assisting other werewolves to re-acclimate to society. Still, the students would miss him.

Harry had joked that he would never miss the stress of being the minister, but just a week out of the job and he was already a little thrown off by the changes to his routine. Not the lack of bodyguards - that was quite a welcome change - but the other things.

But Harry had made a promise to himself, and to someone else, many years ago, and today he intended to deliver on it. As the Gringott's teller showed Harry to her office, he wondered how she would react.

"Madam Weasley!" he greeted her.

Fleur rose and gave him a friendly hug, kissing his cheek. "Minister! No, it is just Lord, now, isn't it?" she teased.

Harry smirked. "That or Professor," he joked.

"So how can I help you?" Fleur asked as they took their seats.

Harry dropped his smile and looked at her seriously. "Twenty-five years ago, we had a conversation; do you remember that?"

Fleur did some quick math and realized that he was talking about her Seventh Year. "For the Tournament? I supposed we had several conversations," she said. But despite her nonchalant reply, a slight frown marred her forehead, as though she was trying to remember something.

"Yes, but this was a special conversation, unrelated to the tournament," Harry said. "'Fleur, can I ask you something without you cursing me or whatever?'" he repeated quietly.

Fleur gasped.

"Do you remember what I said?" Harry asked.

In a daze, Fleur replied, "It isn't right. We need to fix this."

"And you told me 'It will never happen. Wizards are the ones in charge, and you can't get them to think differently about other beings. They just won't do it.'" Harry smiled softly. "I didn't take that well."

Fleur let out a strangled laugh. "You said, 'Like hell! I'm Harry bloody Potter! If I say this is going to change, then it is going to change!'" she remembered.

Harry's smile widened a little. "I didn't realize why you were so jaded; what a huge task I had just set upon myself. You did, but you let me believe that anyway." Harry leaned back in his chair. "So Fleur, I have to ask, what do you think now?"

Fleur thought about his question. She thought about the books that she had read to her children at night; books where her daughters could see a little Veela girl like themselves. She thought about the way the Goblins were treated now by most of their customers. She thought about the education her children had received at Hogwarts - better than Beauxbatons, she secretly admitted. She thought about the private security job offer she had recently gotten, where her proposed salary had actually increased when they realized she was a Veela, and could use her powers to their advantage.

She thought of Justin Finch-Fletchley, the first Muggleborn Minister for Magic. She thought of Birch, the young centauress who had shared a dorm room with her youngest for all of their years at Hogwarts, in the Slytherin Year House. She thought of Voldemort, defeated by the Order of Phoenix and the Aurors - Harry among them - over a decade ago, without a single follower left at his side, after two years in hiding. She thought of the Muggle music that played across the Wizarding Wireless in her office every day. She thought of the House Elf they employed; raised in kindness at the Elf Colony and eager to help, though not to serve. She thought of one Remus Lupin, former werewolf.

She thought of those things, and she shook her head. "I was wrong," Fleur admitted. "I should have known that Harry Potter could do the impossible."