Chapter Fifty One – A New Spy

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Fifty One – A New Spy

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-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Luna was released from the infirmary that evening to find all her things that had been stolen from her and hidden, had been returned and were neatly stacked on her bed. The elves had been called by Professor Flitwick, and everything that was tainted had been cleaned and, where necessary, repaired.

When she was released, Harry escorted her to the Ravenclaw common room and pointed out to everyone she now wore on her upper left sleeve the Potter Crest showing she was now a Protectee of House Potter.

No one missed the implied threat.

After she had happily put away all her returned things and changed into fresh clothing while Harry waited in the common room - and glared at anyone who even thought about saying anything - Harry took her across to the Come and Go Room where the others were all waiting doing either homework or just chatting.

Daphne had already convinced the others to allow Luna to be a part of their group. Though, it took little effort. Which also meant she was shown how the Room worked.

Because she was behind on her assignments, due to the number of times her homework had either been damaged or stolen, the group helped her set up a schedule to get back up to speed. And provided her reference materials and advice to speed the process along.

One time, she burst into tears and it took a while for the girls to calm her down. She explained the reason for her tears was that, other than the time the group had allowed her to ride in their carriage on the Express with them, no one had shown her a kindness during her time at Hogwarts until Harry, that morning.

"Well, that part of your Hogwarts experience has ended," said Susan firmly. "We'll be here for you, and you don't need to worry about any more bullying. That's now been taken care of."

"And, you know you just need to talk to Harry or the rest of us, if it starts up again," said Neville. "Harry doesn't take his role as Protectee any less than completely serious. You'll see."

"Thank you," she sniffled. "I haven't had a friend in what feels like forever."

Harry frowned and said, "I thought Ginny Weasley was your friend."

"She's - more of an acquaintance now, really," she replied sadly. "She's been nice for the past few weeks. I didn't tell her what's been happening as I think she's still traumatised about Tom. And I think she thinks I don't want to be her friend, anymore."

"Well, that's up to you, what you want to do about it," said Daphne. "But this Room and what it can do, is our secret. So, we don't want you telling anyone about it, alright?"

"Alright," she said. "It is a marvellous room and I can understand why you feel the need to protect it. You make very good use of it."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The next morning the Seven plus one took seat at the Gryffindor table. Again, Harry sat with his back to his own.

He was sitting with Daphne on one side and Luna on the other when Ron Weasley walked in and saw Luna sitting with the Seven. He got angry.

"What's Loony doing..." was as far as he got, calling out loudly enough for many others to hear before Harry was up and out of his seat and had the other boy by the throat, squeezing. His magic was roiling around him in waves.

Professor McGonagall was up and moving as soon as she heard the invective, 'Loony'.

The twins were up as soon as Harry moved. However, they were sitting on the other side of the table and it took them a while to circle around it and come up from the other side.

"Mister Weasley," growled Harry, squeezing enough to completely cut off the other boy's air supply. "Either you are mentally defective or you have a death wish. I care not which."

"Mister Potter!" called Professor McGonagall, hurrying up.

Harry hesitated a moment before calling back, "This - student - seems to either believe he is exempt from retribution I mete out to those who attack either of my Protectees; that what Professor Flitwick made clear to the entire student body, last night, means nothing to him; or he truly is mentally deficient.

"I am trying to determine which is the case."

"Harrikins, please," said one of the twins as they arrived from behind their brother.

"Let us deal with him," said the other.

"Mister Potter, it was you who pointed out I'm responsible for discipline in this school," pleaded Professor McGonagall. "He will be punished, I assure you!"

Harry released Weasley and stepped back. "Fine," he growled as the twins stepped forward to catch their brother from falling. "I will not act in my role as Protector of Miss Lovegood out of respect for you, the twins and Miss Ginny Weasley. However, this is a one-time free pass."

"Thank you, Mister Potter," said McGonagall with a sigh of relief.

She turned to the twins and simply instructed, "Bring him." And marched out the double doors.

The twins frog-marched their brother out right behind her.

"He was going to kill me!" the boy croaked as he was marched out.

As he watched them leave, from behind, Harry heard the voice of the Headmaster. "Was that really necessary, Mister Potter?" asked the old man with his 'I'm so disappointed in you' voice.

Slowly turning around, Harry glared at the Headmaster and said, "No, Headmaster, it was not. You simply enforcing the school charter, specifically where it states 'No student shall be permitted to bully another', would not have seen Miss Lovegood bullied for a year, would not have seen Ravenclaw House near-decimated of students and with what will be the lowest number of points in it's history since the point system was established, and would not have seen that idiot boy walk in here and put himself in a position where it would have been lawful for me to kill him."

"Harry, you need to learn to forgive," said Dumbledore.

"Are you a Headmaster or a priest?" asked Harry with a growl.

"I'm Headmaster, of course," replied the old man, becoming flustered.

"Then, please, stop trying to do a priest's job for them," said Harry. "You're the Headmaster; please, do that job. Telling your students they have to forgive those that trespass against them isn't in the job description."

"I'm still the Headmaster of this school, Mister Potter," the old man getting angry. "And you will treat me with respect."

"And when have I not, Headmaster, while we've been having this little tête-à-tête?" he asked right back. "I have addressed you by your title and I have used courteous language. There is nothing in the law, or rules of this school, that forbid me from arguing with you, so long as I maintain those marks of respect. That you do not like what you hear is not a sufficient reason to take offence. I also remind you, it is you who sought this exchange by coming down here and initiating this conversation."

"My office, now, Mister Potter!" the Headmaster barked, turning around and storming away.

"As has been made clear to you, Headmaster - both verbally and in writing by my magical guardians - you are required to provide me seventy-two hours advance warning of a request to meet with you," called Harry. "You are also required to submit that request to me in writing. Therefore, Headmaster, I must decline and shall await your written request."

Dumbledore spun on the spot, glared at him again, and stormed off. No request was later sent.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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"Impertinent, impudent child!" ranted the old man, as he stormed into his office.

"I take it you're again referring to young Mister Potter, Albus?" asked the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.

Dumbledore sighed and looked at the portrait. "Yes, Phineas; I was. You seem to know me well."

"Well, I was your Potions Master when you were a student here, Albus," replied the portrait.

"And I was your Headmaster," said the portrait of Dexter Fortescue. "You've also been Headmaster for almost forty years, Albus. Don't you feel it's time to allow another to step in?"

Dumbledore scowled and said, "I still have too much to do to step down."

"And little of it is the work of a Headmaster," said Phineas. "You're far too focussed on that thrice-bedamned prophecy to give the role of Headmaster the attention it deserves."

"You need to determine where your priorities lie, Albus," said Dexter a touch angrily. "Is it this school or the prophecy?"

"It has always been the Greater Good of the wizarding world," growled Dumbledore. "The position of Headmaster - as were the positions of Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock - has been in support of that purpose since the prophecy was made."

"And what makes you think you're even on the right track?" asked the portrait of Everard Twycross. "You always were pants at Divination. Or, have you forgotten?"

Dumbledore just grumbled and glared at the portrait.

"Ah, yes," said the portrait of Armando Dippet. "And, is it truly the Greater Good; or the same Greater Good your friend, Grindelwald, espoused?"

"Enough!" snarled Dumbledore, waving his wand without looking, to temporarily lock the portraits down. His problem was, as he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, he missed the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.

Making a decision, Phineas drifted out the side of the frame.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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In Grimmauld Place, Sirius was carefully going through the books within the house library to place under protections those he considered far too dangerous to leave out in the open on a simple shelf.

"Sirius Black!" he heard a voice call down from up the stairs. "Where are you, you bloody disappointment?"

Frowning, Sirius rose from where he was sitting and listened. He checked the wards and knew no one had come through them other than him and Remus. So, it had to be something else.

"Sirius!" the same voice bellowed.

Popping his wand out, Sirius crept up the stairs, careful not to step on the creaky ones, and made his way to the Tapestry Room.

"Sirius!" the same voice bellowed yet again.

The bellow almost made Sirius jump in fright. With his heart beating firmly in his chest, Sirius carefully made his way into the room, scanning everything.

"There you are, Disappointment," he heard turning to the sound with a curse on his lips. Something was - different.

"Oh, put that away!" He saw the portrait of his great great grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, moving within the portrait frame that had been empty since he'd returned to the family home after his release.

"Phineas," said Sirius, reholstering his wand. "I'd call this a pleasant surprise, but I'd be lying,"

"And I'd know you would be," snarked the portrait.

"What do you want, Phineas?" asked Sirius, a little annoyed.

"I want to talk to you about my great great great grandson, Harry James," replied the portrait, becoming all business-like, "The Potter boy."

"I know who Harry is, Phineas," snarked Sirius right back. "He's my godson."

"Sworn?" asked the portrait, looking back with an intensity Sirius had only ever seen on his grandfather, Arcturus's, face; and when he looked in the mirror. It meant what he replied was very important to the man.

Sirius hesitated for a moment and, believing an honest answer wouldn't hurt, replied, "Yes."

"Good," said the portrait, relaxing a little again. "It appears you aren't as big a disappointment as you were in your youth. It makes what I need to tell you easier."

"And what would that be?" asked Sirius. He'd tolerate his ancestor's back-handed compliments if it meant even a small bit of aid in Harry's safety.

"Dumbledore," snarled the portrait. "The man's gone too far."

Now showing his own expression of intensity, Sirius asked, "What has the old fool done?"

"There's a prophecy about the boy," replied the portrait.

Warily, Sirius asked, "Will you report what we discuss with Dumbledore?"

"No," the portrait frowned back. "I take it, from your expression, you're aware of it?"

"I am," nodded Sirius.

"Good," said the portrait. "It saves me having to find a way around my oath to tell you, then."

Sirius waited.

"Dumbledore is bent on seeing the prophecy come to fruition under his terms," said the portrait, frowning. "He's attempting to engineer situations that will bring the prophecy to pass in the way he wants, possibly far sooner than intended."

"Idiot!" snarled Sirius. "What can you tell me about these plans?"

"He's focussed on controlling young Harry James. He calls him 'the primary'," said the portrait. "There's another boy he calls 'the secondary'."

"That would be young Neville; Neville Longbottom," said Sirius.

"Correct," said the portrait. "Dumbledore's original plan was for Harry James to be cared for by his maternal aunt and uncle, the muggles named Dursley. He made sure all communication from the wizarding world sent his way was blocked, claiming it was for the best if the boy not receive any. He believed young Harry James would constantly receive fan mail, that his enemies would try to use owl mail as a way to find him, or even portkey him away from there. He wanted the boy to have a normal, happy childhood. However, it was also about controlling what information the boy received.

"Then there's the blood wards. Are you aware of them?"

"Yes, replied Sirius. "However, they'd be gone by now. Harry needed to be at the house for at least a month or more each year to restrengthen them. That's well and truly past."

Nodding, Phineas said, "Harry James was already protected from Voldemort and his followers by the blood magic his mother employed to save him in the first place. Otherwise, how could he have survived the Killing Curse? Therefore, he could have been placed anywhere and still been afforded those protections. As long as someone loved and cared for him, the protections would remain in place.

"Without checking first if it was the right thing to do, Dumbledore disconnected the anchor from Harry James, himself, and anchored those protections to his muggle aunt's home. Once Dumbledore realised that was a mistake, it was too late. He couldn't move the protections back. His mother designed the runes and spell to only protect a single person; never an entire house. If Dumbledore had left well enough alone, those protections would still be afforded the boy. It was a mistake that may well yet cost Harry James his life.

"Dumbledore was aware the Dursleys and magic did not mix. However, he believed, since the aunt had sent a letter asking she be allowed to attend Hogwarts, she would not be adverse to having a magical child in her household. He expected Harry James to be well cared for, if not loved.

"He then expected Harry James to be a happy, well adjusted boy; but, completely clueless of the magical world. Because knowledge is power, he hoped to control Harry James through controlling the information the boy received. In that way, Harry James could not act until he, Dumbledore, provided him the information Harry James needed to act. Dumbledore would be the guiding hand that would point Harry James in the direction he wanted him to go.

"However, Harry James arrived at Hogwarts having far more information concerning the wizarding world and his heritage than Dumbledore expected. He did not expect Harry James to be so - proactive - in gathering information; to absorb such information at such a prodigious rate; to have already claimed his Headship; or discover he was contractually betrothed to the daughter of one of the Lords on the Wizengamot he is unable to control. And Harry James accomplished all this in only six weeks!

"Without being able to control the information Harry James receives, Dumbledore now cannot control him through that method. He has tried to use his charm and grandfatherly persona to gain Harry James's trust; but it, too, has failed. Harry James sees right through it.

"So, I worry the fool will now try to use other, shall we say, less legal forms of control. You and I both know there are Charms and Potions he could use that will not show any outward effect. And, while Dumbledore received an Outstanding in Potions, and went on to work with Flamel in Alchemy, it's his loyal Potions Master, Severus Snape, who will brew the Potions he needs.

"But, Harry James wears the Head of House ring for House Potter, and Dumbledore believes he may have other methods to detect such Charms or Potions of which he, Dumbledore, is unaware. However, Neville Francis and his other friends do not. They represent a weakness in Harry James's psyche. And Mister Longbottom is the secondary.

"You care for him - Neville," said Sirius.

Phineas nodded and said, "He's another descendant. He's my great great great grand nephew through granddaughter Callidora. She married the Longbottom. Its over there, on the tapestry. Dumbledore's determined to have Harry James under his control so he can guide the boy towards his destiny; the way he sees the boy's destiny. If Harry James fails, then he will have young Neville Francis in place to step up and complete the prophecy. In other words, that bastard is attempting to mould two of my descendants into weapons which he controls."

"But, Voldemort didn't mark Neville," said Sirius. "How does he see him as being the possible one written in prophecy?"

Phineas shook his head, "You aren't seeing it. Try to at least think like a Slytherin, Sirius Orion; before I put you back on my Disappointment list. Just because Neville Francis hasn't been marked by Voldemort yet, it does not mean he won't be in future."

Sirius looked back in shock. They hadn't thought of that. And the truth of it was obvious.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Cygnus, Isabel and Augusta pulled out of the Greengrass pensieve. And none of them looked happy. Sirius, from where he leaned on the back of one of the chairs in the office said, "Well?"

Cygnus replied, "It doesn't surprise me Dumbledore seems to have completely forgotten Phineas Nigellus's oath to House Black takes precedence over his oath of confidentiality to the Headmaster. As long as Phineas sticks to talking about threats to Harry and Neville he's in the clear.

"Otherwise, I dare say he would have locked the portrait down or moved it to another part of the headmaster's quarters where it wouldn't be able to hear plans."

Turning to Gran, Sirius asked, "And how are you, Augusta? After seeing that."

"If that whiskered old wanker comes anywhere near Neville - or Harry, for that matter - with a potion or charm..." she fumed.

"We don't know he's actually going to do it," said Sirius. "That could just be Phineas imprinting his own Slytherin tactics on Dumbledore. At least, Dumbledore hasn't mentioned anything like that in his office while Phineas has been able to hear. Nor has he said anything within Remus's excellent hearing range."

"I'll tell Harry, Daphne and Hermione to use their rings to check for either Potion or Charm for Neville and the others, anyway," said Cygnus. "It's already good that they constantly shift tables and even they don't know at which table they'll sup until one of them walks into the Great Hall and chooses.

"Ah! I forgot. All tables except one. Ravenclaw is now on their personal ban list. Harry discovered one of the female Second Years has been systematically and maliciously bullied since just after she started at Hogwarts. He only found out when he discovered the girl huddling and crying behind a tapestry on the seventh floor early one morning a few days ago.

"He got her to tell him a lot of what had been happening to her. After she sobbed her little heart out on his lap, she fell asleep. He then cast warming and sleep charms on her and levitated her down to the infirmary and called for Madam Pomfrey to come to see her."

"He got angry, didn't he," said Sirius.

"Yes, but he didn't lose his temper, this time. This time he called for his pensieve and had Professors Flitwick and McGonagall view it. It was both professors who went nuts at the students after they came out."

"Professor Flitwick?" asked Isabel. "Kindly little Professor Flitwick?"

"Yep," grinned Cygnus. "He immediately jumped up onto the end of the table and started yelling. His magic, when it flares, crackles with small bolts of lightning."

"By evening, seven students were suspended, a further fifteen were placed in detention, all Ravenclaw, all Ravenclaw prefects were stripped of their positions, including the Head Girl, the entire House lost access to the House library, and they lost over sixteen hundred house points. Ravenclaw is about to have the year when the House will have recorded it's lowest ever number of points."

"This, we've got to see," said Sirius.

Cygnus smirked and held up a phial containing a memory strand. "I come prepared. I received this, this morning." Then he switched the two memories out with Sirius returning his to his mind before they all, including Sirius, dived in."

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-==(oIo)==-

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After classes, Harry and the others had gathered in their room in the Come and Go Room and were working on assignments. The weekend was approaching and they wanted it as clear as possible so they could work on their spell casting. Harry also wanted to teach Luna the trick with flaring magic.

Harry felt his mirror warm up and buzz in his pocket. Taking it out he whispered, "Padfoot," onto the surface. It cleared and he could see his godfather smiling back.

"Hiya, kiddo!" said Sirius.

"Hiya Sirius!" he said back. "How's tricks?"

"Pretty good, pup," replied Sirius.

"Good, let's test, then, shall we?" smirked Harry. "Sit - staaaay - roll over! Good dog!"

Sirius barked with laughter and said, "That's almost exactly what your mother said to me, once!"

Harry chuckled back. "So, to what do I owe this most pleasant conversation?"

"Actually, it's a most unpleasant matter," said Sirius turning, well, serious.

"Oh?" asked Harry, warily.

"Who is currently with you in hearing range, pup?" asked Sirius.

"Just us eight," replied Harry. "I've placed Luna Lovegood under House Potter protection and she's here with us in the Come and Go Room."

"That's a good idea," said Sirius. "Anyway! We, your lovable guardians, now have a spy within Dumbledore's - service. They've passed onto us some worrying thoughts."

"Alright," said Harry. "What troubles them?"

"Well, Dumbledore had this whole plan where you would arrive at Hogwarts nice and pliable. He'd then play the role as the kindly grandfather and you would come to adore him in that role. That way he would be able to control you," explained Sirius.

"When you arrived at Hogwarts with a great deal more information that he expected you to have, had already taken up your Head of House ring, were betrothed, and seemed to dislike him; he then tried to get you to start liking him again, and again come to see him as the kindly grandfather type. That's what a lot of those early meetings you had with him in first two years were supposed to accomplish.

"He's now realised none of that is going to work. So our spy is worried he's going to try and slip you Potions or Charms that will strip your will to resist and, once again, be the pliable little puppet he really wants you to be."

"My ring should stop that," said Harry with a growl.

"Yes," said Sirius. "And this is all conjecture at the moment. We may be completely wrong. However, he may try to get to you through your friends, by getting to them first and using them to get to you. We also believe it's why he offered the DADA position to Remus. To have yet another avenue to get through to you."

"Damn it!" snarled Harry.

"What we want you to start doing, Prongslet, is for you, Daphne and Hermione to start using your rings to check the food for your entire group of friends."

"Yeah, we can do that," sighed Harry. "But it's going to be obvious we're doing it."

Sirius shook his head and said, "No. We've figured out how to get past that. If you all start passing messages to each other across and down the table, and use your ring hand to do it, you'll be able to use that gesture to scan the food if you pass the notes slowly enough."

"That'll work," said Hermione. "You can also reach across the table to pick up a condiment, or place something on someone's plate and suggest they try a bit. I'm sure I can come up with more ideas."

Surprised, Sirius said, "Yeah, they'll work, too. You should use a combination of different methods. But scan the entire area of food before you start eating or drinking. We're also working on getting your friends rings that will be charmed invisible but have the same potion and charm detection features as the Head of House and betrothal rings have. So, we're needing five now?"

"Yeah," replied Harry. "Five would be nice."

Nodding Sirius said, "You leave that to us. I'll see that jeweller you introduced me to last Christmas."

"Okay, thanks," said Harry.

"Good," said Sirius. "Now, Cygnus said he also has some news for you from 'Uncle Algie'. I guess it's a private matter but he said you and Neville would know. He's going to come to Hogwarts to speak with both of you about it next Sunday."

Harry glanced up at Neville to see the surprise on his mate's face. Looking back down at the mirror, he said, "Yeah, we do. Thanks for passing on the message."

"Alright, pup," said Sirius, not pushing. "Take care of yourself. And look after your friends."

"I will to both. Thanks, Sirius," he said.

"And, remember: Remus is right there and you can go directly to him if needs be," reminded the old dog before he disconnected.

Sliding the mirror back into his pocket Harry said, "If anyone needs anything from home, best let me know as soon as you can. I'll get Cygnus to pick it up before he visits next weekend."

Not getting a response, except for a meaningful glance from Neville, he went back to his assignment he was working on.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

On the Saturday of the weekend, Harry, as promised, loaned his Nimbus to Ginny so she could go try out for the now vacant slot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It seemed that a boy named Cormac McLaggen in Fourth Year was the seeker the previous year and, once he found out Wood was going to hold open tryouts for the slot this year, abused him and the other players and stormed off in a huff.

Apparently the twins danced a jig in happiness.

Harry and Neville went down to watch the tryouts. Both, because he was interested in how well Ginny flew. And because it gave him time to talk to Neville away from the girls.

"I've been thinking, Nev," said Harry.

"Should I alert the teaching staff?" asked Neville with only the barest of smirks.

"Prat!" said Harry. "Here I was, about to bring you into the world of prankdom, and you made a joke abou..." He stopped and said, "Hang on. That's even more of a reason."

Neville chuckled while he watched the practice.

"Let me try this again," said Harry. "I've been thinking we should practice more speaking that twin-speak the Weasley twins do, where they finish each other's sentences; but only in our group while we're in the Come and Go Room."

"Why?" asked Neville, confusedly.

"Because, I want to play a two part prank," said Harry. I want to prank the Weasley twins by polyjuicing ourselves to look like them and accusing them of taking polyjuice to look like us."

Neville snorted. "Let me get this right. You want us to look like them. And then you want to accuse them of being the imposters. Right? I take it we'd do this in public. Such as in, say, the Great Hall?"

"Right," replied Harry. "Or in their class, or something. Next, as they already know we'll be the imposters..."

"Naturally," said Neville.

"... we take them aside and have them join us in pranking the Great Hall by having there be four Weasley twins all speaking twin-speak."

Neville smirked and said, "That's going to drive Professor McGonagall nuts. There's nothing inherently illegal about it; and it's only banned at the school for examination purposes. I like it."

"We should do it for lunch only, as the length of the evening meal would mean we'd be there for more than an hour," said Harry. "We're already going to need two doses each."

"And the owl post will give us away as the owls can see right through it," said Neville. "Do we tell the girls?"

"We'll have to," replied Harry. "They'd be worried about us missing if we don't turn up."

"And where do you plan on getting the Polyjuice Potion from?" asked Neville.

"I was hoping the girls could brew it for us in the Come and Go Room," replied Harry

"Why not use the office of the etiquette club?" asked Neville.

"Nev!" exclaimed Harry happily. "That's bloody brilliant! No one will be able to find it and fiddle with it then."

With a smile, Neville said, "Alright, I'm in."

"Yes!" said Harry with a bit of a fist pump. "We'll tell the girls, this afternoon."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/