Chapter 17

Excitement was bubbling under the surface of everything the first years' did at Hogwarts this week, even those like Susan Bones who'd visited there many times before were looking forward to showing their friends around the ministry. The positions were now reversed as the muggle borns were trying to discover what they could expect to see on Friday.

Millie was packing her stuff and getting ready to leave Charms when Pansy whispered that she'd like a private word. They headed off down the corridor before slipping into an empty classroom.

Millie didn't want to waste any time, "What's the problem Pansy?"

Pansy was wringing her hands from nerves, "I need you to do something for me. Draco is about to make a very big mistake and I need your help in stopping him."

Millie appeared confused, "What can I do?"

The nervous Slytherin took a deep breath before replying, "You can tell the Potters of his plans to attack them."

This really flummoxed Millie, she couldn't figure what Pansy was up to. "Why would you want me to do that?"

Pansy tried to explain to her fellow Slytherin. "My father was in the court public gallery the day Sirius Black was freed. He maintains Harry Potter played the entire room for fools before stitching up the minister in front of the press on his way out. He has warned me not to cross the Potters on any account, if Harry wasn't already married my father would have a betrothal contract with my name on it sent to him. My father is a very hard man to impress but Harry Potter managed it."

Millie was now more confused than ever, "I'm sorry Pansy, if you think Harry is going to leave Hermione under any condition then you're delusional."

Pansy rolled her eyes, "It's nothing like that, it's Draco I'm worried about. They plan a surprise ambush on them. Should they be successful and harm Hermione in any way, what do you think Harry would do?"

Millie now understood, "I think we both have a very good idea what Harry would do, Draco wouldn't stand a chance."

"Exactly, the attack would probably fail anyway. If they know it's coming, it should lessen the chances of anyone getting hurt. They plan to ambush them as they make their way back from Quidditch practice on Thursday night.

Millie could see the sense in that plan, it might even stand a chance of working, if it wasn't against Harry and Hermione Potter. "I'll let them know Pansy, I also stand by what I said, you're far too good for Draco Malfoy. Once you start hanging around with some real friends, you might realise that."

-oOoOo-

Their extra defence lesson that week was fantastic. The atmosphere between Tonks and Remus was bursting with fun and mischief. This carried over to the first year duels, with Tonks acting almost as a cheerleader and Remus providing hilarious commentary, learning had never been so much fun. Harry of course won the impromptu tournament by virtue of no one being able to hit him with a spell.

Remus then challenged him under the same rules and faired no better. Harry's movements transcended fluidity and he appeared to anticipate where the spells were aimed before they were even cast. A sneaky Tonks attempted to help her new boyfriend by firing a stinging hex from behind him, only to find it blocked by Hermione. This started a duel between the two witches, still sticking to the same rules and laughing at each other's attempts.

Harry managed to slip a jelly-legs through his opponent's defences, only for Remus to cast a finite.

"Hey, not on the allowed list, that's cheating!"

Remus was enjoying himself immensely, "I'm a marauder, of course I'm cheating!"

Harry was also having a good time, normal lessons had been less than challenging for both of them. Here was a chance to have fun without giving away their abilities so both he and Hermione were entering into the spirit of the duel. "Well I'm the son of the marauder's leader so I know a fair bit about cheating myself."

Harry spun away from his opponent's latest spell and cast a stinging hex at Tonks' backside, her surprised yelp froze Remus for an instant. That was enough for Hermione to hit the marauder with a stinging hex, signifying the end of the duel.

The cheering from their year mates reverberated around the castle, two first years had taken down an auror and the Hogwarts security advisor. All be it a limited spell duel but it was still a victory.

Tonks was still laughing though, "Hey Remus, why are we teaching these two again?"

"I don't know, I do know I was winning my duel until you interfered!" this led to another stinging hex hitting Remus and a quick apology to his girlfriend from the marauder. Much to the added amusement of everyone there.

The students left the class in tremendous spirits, raving about the real or imagined moves they'd pulled during the tournament. With the promise of learning more spells and then more duelling next week, this was quickly becoming their favourite class in Hogwarts. They all agreed that this was how defence should be taught, not a stutter or turban to be found anywhere!

The kids had barely left the classroom when Tonks sprang into her boyfriend's arms. Remus was gradually becoming acquainted with all the women who went into his girlfriend's make-up. He wasn't talking about the physical changes she could do, more the different personalities her condition appeared to demand.

This was 'playful Tonks' and probably her most used persona. When he tried to have a serious talk with her over his condition, 'auror Tonks' appeared and told him in no uncertain terms that she could handle it. Her exact words still made Remus chuckle, "Listen wolfie, I take down bad guys for a living. Compared to some of them, you're a pussycat!"

The gauntlet had been thrown down, she was an auror who was trained to handle the worst their world could throw at her. If Remus pursued this matter, he would be questioning her abilities on a personal and professional level. He had made some arrangements so she could see him when transformed, if she was ok with that then maybe they had a chance of being a couple.

If she wasn't then Remus for one wouldn't blame her, it was a lot to ask of anyone. The marauder tried not to think too much about that outcome, in a very short space of time this witch had breached defences he'd spent years refining. If she couldn't handle it he would understand, that didn't mean he wouldn't be heartbroken.

Tonks found herself falling harder for Remus every time they met, she understood his concerns but just didn't see it as a problem. So they had to arrange their lives around the lunar calendar? She was prepared to accept he was an animal once a month to get the sweet guy she really liked the other twenty-seven days.

Having dated her fair share of arseholes, her new boyfriend's good points far outweighed the monster he saw himself as. How anyone so kind, gentle and fun could consider themselves a monster was beyond Tonks' understanding.

It was obvious even just from tonight that Remus was a gifted teacher, engaging the children to the lesson was no easy task. His sense of fun kept the lesson light but at no time was his control of the lesson anything less than total. His quips of commentary during the duels were hilarious and had everyone in stitches, his students were learning while enjoying themselves. Tonks couldn't think of a higher accolade for a teacher than that.

-oOoOo-

Thursday was over in a flash as the much anticipated visit to the ministry was now almost upon them. Harry and Hermione took their usual route back to their room from Quidditch practice. Harry preferred his own shower, or perhaps the company, so they always left to walk back themselves while the rest of the team used the changing room's facilities. They were in the middle of a corridor when two disarming spells shot out of a darkened alcove and left them both without a wand.

Draco swaggered out from the shadows, flanked by his Slytherin posse of Crabbe, Goyle, Weasley and some older boy who was unknown to them. "Not so clever now, are we? You messed with the wrong people and now it's time to pay, let's see how well you do without your wands. Crabbe and Goyle here also need some Quidditch practice but seem to have brought their bats and no bludgers. Too bad, for you two that is!"

Greg and Vin ambled forward, smacking their bats off their free palms while the other three covered them with their wands. All eyes were on them so no one noticed the cat who'd quietly observed the entire episode, that was until the cat transformed into Minerva McGonagall.

"I think I've seen all I need to here, I'll take those bats gentlemen."

Minerva cast a summoning charm at the bats and couldn't believe what happened next. The bats easily jumped out both boy's hands but they had them secured to their wrists by a strap, this appeared to really interfere with the deputy headmistress's spell.

The bats swung back and hit both the large Slytherins squarely on the jaw, this saw them stagger backward and swing their arms in an attempt to maintain their balance. Swinging your arms with a heavy bat still attached to your wrist can be dangerous, especially in an enclosed space like a corridor. Jason was just beginning to think he'd made a major mistake in listening to Draco when Crabbe's beater bat hit him on the temple and he wasn't thinking about anything else for a while. Goyle's caught Draco also in the face with enough force to break his nose for the second time in his short Hogwarts career. The wrist straps though weren't built to take these types of stresses and strains, both snapped and spun away apparently out of control.

Harry though, appeared to have perfected the prat seeking missile wandless spell as both bats homed in on their target. Ronald Weasley didn't even have time to think 'not again' before both bats impacted hard enough to make a portrait's eyes water. The pain from his groin was beyond description, Ron swayed about like a cheap self-assembly wardrobe before joining his fellow Slytherins crumpled and crying on the floor.

Minerva was gazing at her wand as if she'd never seen that particular piece of wood before, her summoning charm had felled five students in as many seconds.

The Slytherin groans and moans were interrupted by Harry, "Wow Professor McGonagall! You have to teach us that spell. We thought Remus and Tonks were great at defence but that was in a league of its own."

Hermione was struggling to contain her laughter at Harry's praise, knowing full well her husband had orchestrated the entire thing using his wandless magic.

Minerva was at a loss to explain what had just happened, neither Potter currently had a wand and she severely doubted if the Slytherins had done it to themselves. She was delighted that the Potter's trusted her with this task tonight. Minerva never asked how they came upon the information, she just assumed one of their friends in Slytherin had forewarned them.

Draco was lying dazed on the floor with blood once again pouring out his broken nose. He kept wondering what went wrong with his perfect plan and why was it always his nose that got hit?

"Mr and Mrs Potter, could you please make your way back to your quarters. I shall clean up here."

Harry bent down to recover their wands and managed to break Draco's with his foot at the same time. That the wand was still in Draco's hand and Harry heard more than one crack helped to make his night. The general noise emanating from the other four Slytherins drowned out Draco's new cries while McGonagall was speaking with a house elf about warning Madam Pomfrey and getting some assistance in moving these students to the infirmary.

Harry and Hermione managed to make it back to their quarters before collapsing into each other's arms and howling with laughter. Hermione wasn't sure what was the funniest, McGonagall's expression as her spell went awry or the five Slytherins getting their comeuppance. It was close but the sight of Ronald in pain was always going to get her vote.

They had laughed themselves silly before Charles knock signified there was someone at their door, they managed to pull themselves together before going to see who was calling.

Neville and Millie were waiting patiently outside their door, the rumour mill was already in high gear as five Slytherins were spotted being levitated toward the infirmary. Hermione invited them in and had barely got the door shut when Millie could contain herself no longer.

"What happened? There's rumours flying around of a massacre, didn't McGonagall appear on time?"

Hermione was trying to tell the story with a straight face but the image of a bewildered McGonagall kept threatening to crack her up. "Yes, the professor was there in her cat form. She heard everything and appeared the instant we were in any danger. She cast a summoning charm on the gruesome twosome's beater bats but apparently Draco didn't trust them not to lose the bats on their way to the ambush. The bats were tied to their wrists and swung back against the spell, smacking them in the face before they battered into each other in a comedy of errors. It was hysterical!"

Harry was now laughing along with his wife, "You could just tell Draco was desperate to say 'wait until my father hears about this'. Not being able to probably hurt him more than getting smacked in the face by Goyle's beater bat. I know it's wrong to laugh at other people's misfortune but after what Draco had planned tonight, he got off lightly. Tell Pansy thanks from us Millie and explain what happened. Had we not been expecting it, there's no way those spells would have hit. Madam Pomfrey would currently be trying to remove the bat I stuffed down Malfoy's throat!"

"I'll tell her Harry, she'll understand. Do you think they'll be expelled?"

"I doubt it will go that far but you can bet McGonagall will punish them. We went to her for help, if she doesn't deal with them then people will start taking care of their problems by themselves."

Neville glanced at his watch, "Millie, we need to get you back to your house before curfew. The prefect rounds will be extra vigilant tonight, we'll see you guys for breakfast and then we're off to the ministry."

With them gone, Harry headed for his much needed shower.

-oOoOo-

Minerva was listening to Poppy give her report while running punishments through her head, that none of these first years would now be going to the ministry tomorrow was a given. Letters home wouldn't do much good since Crabbe and Goyle were the only ones with a parent still at home. She was considering Weasley when Poppy mentioned his name.

"Minerva, I'm seriously concerned about that boy, since term started he's had three injuries of increasing severity to his groin. His body is hardly getting time to heal and he didn't have a lot of magical reserve in the first place. Between the attack on Miss Granger, the accident with the broom and his participation tonight, I don't think the lad could sustain another hit to that spot in the near future without losing his ability to reproduce. I'm going to insist he wears a protective cup but his parents should be informed of this development in case they want to withdraw him from Hogwarts. Malfoy is in much the same position with his nose, a squinty snout though is hardly as serious a condition."

Minerva was aware Poppy didn't raise issues like this unless they were serious, a pureblood being unable to reproduce due to injuries he received in Hogwarts was very serious. "Very well Poppy, I'll write that letter. Spending all their free time between now and Halloween in detention might keep them out of trouble."

Minerva would write to Charlie Weasley tonight, she didn't think he would withdraw his youngest brother as there was no where else for him to go.

-oOoOo-

At the ministry next morning, everything was ready for the first visit from Hogwarts. Amelia had actually sent two of her aurors on a public tour of the muggle houses of parliament as a fact finding mission. She had also ensured that one of them was a pureblood so she could have two different sets of opinions. Amelia was actually pleasantly surprised when both returned with praise for the guided tour and some fresh ideas that they had implemented for today. She'd run them passed Cornelius and he'd loved them. When did she start thinking of him as Cornelius?

They had suspended the trials for today as a trip to the Wizengamot chamber was always planed as being one of the highlights of their day. It wouldn't do for a visiting student to see a relative on trial, they had cooked-up something special though that she was sure they would like.

The trials would be completed next week, the Wizengamot had taken the unusual step of waiting until they had heard all the trials before passing sentences. Amelia assumed they were trying to assess the magnitude of the problem before committing themselves to a specific course of action. She hoped they weren't just trying to gauge public opinion before putting these people away for a very long time. Having been involved in most of the trials and reading the transcripts of those she wasn't, she would personally have ordered up a dementor's feast. A nice open air picnic in Azkaban with death eaters on the menu, these animals deserved nothing better. She was drawn out of her musing as the students started tumbling out of the fireplaces, it was showtime.

Remus was getting worried, he saw the kids begin to lose interest as they were shown around another department and given essentially the same lecture on how important this department was by someone who worked in it. Tonks had hinted they had something special lined up but he was beginning to suspect she meant lunch.

Finally they made their way to the auror department, unfortunately and disappointingly to be met with the same format as every other department. Suddenly four men burst into the department and started firing curses at those giving the talk, Tonks went down to a curse and then all hell broke loose. Remus and Pomona immediately raised shields to protect the children while Minerva was transfiguring everything she could lay a spell on into walls for the children to hide behind. Harry and Hermione though didn't hesitate, the person who hit Tonks went down to two stunners as they then turned their attention to the other three. Seeing this, their year mates soon had their wands out and stinging curses were raining down on the attacking wizards. Two of them were on the floor while the final one hid behind a desk before Amelia managed to yell for everyone to stop. She couldn't help but noticed the other children looked to the Potters to see if they should comply, that they had stopped firing but still had their wands drawn set the benchmark for the rest of them to follow suit.

Amelia was left shaking her head, their big plan for a simulated attack on the auror department was supposed to throw some excitement into their day had certainly met that objective. They were then going to prosecute the 'criminals' this afternoon in the Wizengamot chamber with the children playing parts in the trial.

It had been a good idea but apparently a shit plan for a number of reasons. In their wisdom they had went for realism and complete surprise to their visitors, unfortunately they had forgotten to take account of their visitors reactions to the attack. Remus was currently standing over Tonks in a very protective stance and his wand threatening anyone who even looked in their direction. Harry and Hermione Potter's wands also continually scanned the room searching for threats. When three aurors burst into the room and were met with a volley of stinging curses, Amelia knew it had gotten out of hand. In the space of twenty seconds their plan had turned into waste parchment.

McGonagall wanted answers, and wanted them now. "Madam Bones, what in the name of Merlin is going on here? I thought my students would at least be safe in the auror department!"

Amelia held her hands up to take the blame, "My apologies for not running this past you beforehand, in our defence I would say that we have had quite the last few weeks. The idea was to provide some excitement in a controlled environment, I should have realised that when we introduced your group into the environment then we no longer had control. Your students are to be commended for their swift and courageous actions here today. Far too often my aurors are left to fight alone, despite the presence of a public who all carry wands. They must have a really good defence professor?"

This praise cooled Minerva's temper by a few degrees, she was also very impressed with her student's behaviour. She didn't want Quirrell taking the credit though, "I think that may have been one of your problems, it would appear your fake attack was against one of their favourite teachers."

The auror who had taken shelter behind the desk slowly put his head over it, waving his wand with a white hankie tied to it above his head. This broke the remaining tension and got some laughs from the students.

Amelia then noticed quite a few of them made straight for Tonks to see how she was as Remus helped his girlfriend to her feet. Remus was anxious that she was going to give him pelters for being overprotective, instead, she hugged the relieved marauder and whispered 'thanks' in his ear.

The revived 'criminals' were being given a bit of a good natured ribbing from their fellow aurors about being taken out by a bunch of kids. When they pointed out that one of those 'kids' was Harry Potter, the ribbing stopped immediately.

As the kids began to realise what had happened, one or two of them began to worry that they had fired on aurors, they soon calmed down when Madam Bones started walking among them and shaking their hands for acting so decisively. They were going down to the duelling area where a more organised display of duelling awaited them.

Amelia made it a point to talk to the Potters, "I would like to thank you both for protecting my auror there."

Hermione corrected her assumption, "We were protecting our friend Madam Bones, who just happens to be one of your aurors."

Amelia also had it confirmed from Susan that Tonks and Remus had been giving them all extra defence lessons, Harry had asked and they'd both said yes. Her niece's opinion of the man whose job that supposedly was did not flatter the professor in the slightest.

Amelia though was very interested to hear that Harry had won the impromptu duelling contest before he and his wife had gotten the better of their teachers. This, combined with the times she had seen him in action gave the head of the DMLE an idea. She just hoped it played out better than her other one had today.

After watching some very impressive duelling from the aurors, Amelia stood to announce lunch was about to be served. This was her moment to discover if the Potter boy was as able as she thought. "We shall very shortly be going to lunch but it has come to my attention that you recently practiced a very limited form of duelling. I was wondering if anyone wanted to give it a try using the same rules?"

Almost at once all the children began chanting, "Harry, Harry, Harry..."

Amelia casually glanced toward the boy, Harry could see at once he was being manipulated into this but that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun of his own. He stood to much cheering before holding his hands up for silence, "I would be delighted to duel the head of the DMLE for practice, are you ready to lose in your own back yard Madam Bones?"

Harry was playing it for laughs but Amelia knew she was effectively trapped into duelling the boy. She'd been trying to think who to match him against when he'd seen right through her ploy and came up with one of his own, she'd underestimated him again. "Very well Mr Potter, stinging hexes and jelly-legs only?"

Harry nodded as they squared off. Amelia intended to put him through his paces so would start off rather easy and build up her rate of spells. The boy moved like quicksilver though and she couldn't lay a spell on him, it was getting embarrassing with all the aurors watching while the kids cheered like mad for their friend. She was now firing as rapidly as she could but Amelia was still unable to pin him down, the little bugger was so quick and agile.

A spell passed her well wide and she was just beginning to think he must be tiring when a stinging curse impossibly hit her on the arse, she glanced behind her to see Hermione with a shield up and the children going absolutely nuts in celebration. The sneaky little bastard had bounced a spell of his wife's shield to win the duel, Amelia couldn't help herself, she bust out laughing at their ingenuity. She walked forward to congratulate Harry, only to find his wife had gotten there to hug him first. Amelia shook his hand before asking the expected question. "Congratulations Mr Potter! If you don't mind me asking, how did you learn to move like that?"

Harry's brow furrowed as he answered her, "My obese cousin and his friends used to play a game they called 'Harry hunting'. If I was caught, they used to beat the shit out of me. That's one hell of an incentive for learning to dodge."

Hermione added her own opinion to the situation, "That's why he won't ever stay there again and our lawyers are preparing a water tight case against the person who abandoned him there."

It was a shocked Amelia who could only nod at this. Every time she thought she discovered something about these two, it was not only explained away but left Amelia thinking that she had somehow failed them. Failing someone was not something Amelia Bones was used to.

-oOoOo-

During lunch, Amelia closely observed as the children interacted with each other. They may look toward the Potters for leadership but couldn't help noticing neither of the Potters expected it. Harry had taken down at least one auror with a stunner and then got the better of her in a duel. Any other boy would be lording it over their peers and swaggering around so everyone could see them, Harry Potter did neither. He and his wife sat with Neville Longbottom, the Bulstrode girl and even stranger, Pansy Parkinson stopped to chat. The whole situation appeared fluid though as the kids moved about talking to their friends.

Amelia was caught watching the students by Minerva, "Amazing, isn't it? What's even more amazing though is the same thing happens in Hogwarts. Houses and blood status plays no part in this, they talk to each other because they're friends and these old eyes never get tired of watching it."

Amelia could only agree with those sentiments, "The Potters really are something else."

"They question everything Amelia, the answer of 'that's the way it's always been' is never accepted. Not only that but you must have noticed the others follow their lead. We're looking at the future hope for our society and I don't think I've felt this optimistic in decades."

Again Amelia could only agree, "Susan speaks very highly of both Potters in her letters home, she's a very quiet girl and I was afraid she would disappear into Hufflepuff and never be heard from again. Instead, she is loving her time at Hogwarts and seeing her standing there today firing off stinging hexes at an attacker made me prouder than I can say."

"I know what you mean and would love to take credit for it but I can't, Harry saw how useless the defence professor was and took steps to ensure they all learned the subject. Everyone else, including me accepted the situation but not them. They could easily forge ahead in all their classes, instead they help everyone around them and are helping create an exceptional year. Harry and Hermione are exceptional students who have the ability to look at things differently and not afraid to ask for help to get what they need. We both know today wouldn't have happened if the Potters didn't first think of it and then do something about it."

-oOoOo-

Brian Davis had heard the rumours circulating the ministry, if it were anyone else but Harry Potter he would have discounted them as nonsense. Where that lad was concerned, anything was possible. He was spotted by Tracy who had asked her friends to meet her father.

"I'm delighted to finally meet you Lord Potter. I would ask that you allow me to pay our family's life debt for saving my daughter's life?"

Harry shook the man's offered hand as he replied, "Sir, Tracy gave us her friendship so what more could we want? There are no debts between friends."

Brian could see for himself the sincerity in the lad and was exceedingly happy with her choice of friends. As a member of the Wizengamot he'd listened all week what the blood purists had done in an attempt to chase an impossible dream. The Potter's appeared to have an entirely different dream as well as a whole new approach to accomplishing it. Brian Davis decided there and then to do whatever he could to help them, some dreams were worth fighting for.

-oOoOo-

After all the excitement before lunch, the danger of this part of the tour falling flat was massive. Instead, the importance and history of what transpired inside this chamber kept everyone enthralled. The role playing side of things was a lot of fun for the adults as well, it was refreshing to hear honest opinions without other agendas driving policy.

The minister made his expected appearance though without the usual press contingent in tow. He sat in his chair of office and just chatted with the children, Minerva found herself falling into the same trap as Amelia and thinking of him as Cornelius. He was certainly a big hit with her students.

After answering a few questions, Hermione asked one that had his advisors about to intervene before the minister held his hand up to stop them and the chamber held its collective breath.

"Minister, what do you think the chances are of a muggle born witch or wizard ever sitting in that chair?"

"Mrs Potter, I hope that's not a comment on how well I'm doing my job?" this raised quite a few laughs before Cornelius answered her question. "The most honest answer I can give you is 'I don't know', our society is changing and we just don't know at the moment what's around the corner. I know that's not what you wanted to hear so I'll give you my best guess. It will happen some day, by your generation? probably not. By your children's generation? possibly. By your grandchildren's generation? definitely! We can no longer live in the past, I have observed how you and your classmates have interacted today and can honestly say that is the future I desire for everyone. I can only hope none of you are in a hurry to throw an old man out of his job."

This was met with some laughter but also some applause.

Hermione wore a genuine smile, "Minister, that was exactly the answer I was looking for. You didn't know something and said so before giving us your best guess. Although my husband and I are considered adults in most things, we're not yet allowed to vote. That's a pity though as we can assure everyone we would have been voting for Cornelius Fudge."

The applause that followed actually had Fudge blushing, that endorsement had probably won him the next election. Receiving praise for telling the truth was not something politicians were used too, perhaps he could start a new trend?

When Harry stood, the entire chamber waited expectantly on what he was going to say, you would have gotten long odds on his announcement though. "Minister, on behalf of our classmates I would like to thank everyone involved in making this a special day for us and only hope it can become an annual event for the new students of Hogwarts. My letter to you regarding this visit met with such a positive response that I decided to ask the same of Gringotts bank. I am delighted to say that they are as forward thinking as you and have made arrangements for the same group to visit them next Friday. None of this would be possible without your leadership, a leadership that played a major part in my wife and I choosing to stay in Britain. Thank you sir."

Harry sat to silence as the enormity of Hogwarts visiting Gringotts began to sink in to those present. Brian Davis had watched the entire thing very carefully and was now certain the minister was wrong, should Mrs Potter ever run for minister she would win by a landslide. Watching them both was an education, they complemented each other perfectly and were already a political force to be reckoned with. Their incredible achievement with the goblins saw Brian stand and break the silence by beginning the applause which soon became thunderous.

Peter Parkinson was also on his feet, his only regret being the lad was already married. He would have made a perfect husband for Pansy and a brilliant addition to his family. He would have to say though that they looked well matched and their moves were worthy of any Slytherin, who would dare object to Hogwarts visiting the goblins now.

Amelia immediately turned to Minerva, "Of course you knew but how did you pull it off?"

Minerva just smiled and told the truth, "It's exactly like Harry said, he asked and they agreed. Sometimes the simple answers are the truth. Who amongst us even thought about arranging something like today? Harry's simple argument to the goblins was they would have experienced the muggle and magical worlds, shouldn't the goblins be next? Before he's finished Hogwarts I predict gillyweed and a visit to the mervillage. Trouble is, when you're dealing with the Potters, no one will bet against anything happening."

-oOoOo-

Albus had avoided the great hall last evening, he didn't want to see all the smiling faces that would remind him his presence was actually blocked from being part of their tour. He had thought the children seeing him as Chief Mugwump might have restored some of the respect he had lost. Cornelius had forcibly reminded him that he was currently suspended before dropping the bombshell. The ministry were working with the Potter lawyers as they felt it was in everyone's best interests to discover why a baby was left on a muggle doorstep. How could they say it was in everyone's best interests? It certainly wasn't in Albus Dumbledore's best interests!

It was a rather grumpy Albus who made his way to breakfast, his mood was certainly not improved by the Daily Prophet. The editorial was full of praise on the history being made by Hogwarts, both with yesterday's visit to the ministry and next week's visit to Gringotts.

The problems Albus had were twofold, his name wasn't mentioned anywhere and it really showed just how far out of the loop he was when the Prophet knew more about the happenings inside Hogwarts than he did.

His ambition to gain influence with the Potters was looking more hopeless with every passing day.