Plots, Plans and Schemes

Harry stepped from the Underground station at Kings Cross into the main area and headed for Platform 9 3/4. Hedwig would be on her way to Hogwarts once she finished her delivery to Gringotts. The Goblins for a fee had agreed to keep an eye on the business he had started in the non-magical world while he was out of contact for the majority of the year.

Today began his final year at Hogwarts. A year that would see justice meted out to all those who had wronged and betrayed him. He knew without a doubt that Dumbledore expected to use the year to somehow convince him to forgive him and the wizarding world for their final betrayal, but he had no intention of obliging the old man. In fact if things worked out the way he planned, his opening salvo in this campaign would be fired during the first week of school. He just hoped he was there to see it when it happened.

Once he stepped through the Barrier, Harry heard the silence spread outward like a wave as those closest to the Barrier spread the word that he was on the platform.

The wizards and witches stared at him silently, not sure what to do or how to act. This was Harry Potter the Destroyer-of-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the young man they had betrayed. Finally one parent gathered up his courage and began to move toward the Boy-Who-Lived and that seemed to be a signal to the others.

As the mob of people began to move toward him, Harry gripped the straps of the backpack containing his shrunken trunk and the books he was going to be reading throughout the year. After wandlessly putting up a shield to keep them from being able to touch him or get too close to him, Harry started moving through the crowd. There were yelps from those who first encountered the shield as they were knocked off their feet. That gave those further away enough warning so that they didn't get too close to him, but they still shouted their thanks and good wishes. Harry responded to none of them. He wanted none of their praise or their thanks.

Once he was settled into a compartment, Harry pulled out a few books and after restoring them to normal size, settled in to read. He ignored the noise outside his compartment and most of the students who were getting on the train were not stupid enough to enter his compartment.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

As the students were getting ready to leave from Platform 9 and 3/4, Dumbledore and the teachers were going over last minute details that needed to be taken care of before the new school year started.

Professor McGonagall brought up one final subject that had been on the minds of all the teachers. "Headmaster, given how powerful Mr. Potter has shown himself to be are you sure it is safe to have him here? I mean given the animosity he must feel for the other students because of the events that occurred last year and the fact that you have basically forced him to come back to Hogwarts, what is to stop him from taking his anger out on his fellow students?"

The expression on Dumbledore's face was serious as he said. "I wouldn't have forced the issue with Mr. Potter, if I thought he might prove to be a danger to the other students. Part of the reason those laws were enacted was so that he would have to come back here and resolve the issues he has with us and with his yearmates."

"Personally," Snape commented, "I can't see why the Wizengamot went to so much trouble over one arrogant brat. If he didn't want to come back to Hogwarts, then I say good riddance. I am sick of the wizarding world bending over backwards to accommodate that Potter brat."

"No one has ever bent over backward for that child!" McGonagall countered stiffly.

"Oh no. Then who made the brat Seeker during his first year here, against all the rules?" Snape questioned. "Not to mention bought him the newest broomstick on the market at that time."

Before an argument could start, Dumbledore spoke up. "Severus, there are a number of reasons why Harry must come back to Hogwarts, not the least of which is finishing his magical education."

Snape eyed the Headmaster suspiciously. "What are the other reasons?"

"Due to what has happened to Mr. Potter over the last year, he has a great deal of unresolved anger toward the wizarding community." Dumbledore told the assembled teachers. "We have one year to try and work through the anger, so that we do not lose him. He needs the wizarding world as much as we need him, though he does not realise it yet."

"Why only one year?" Professor Flitwick inquired. "I thought he was being put in the sixth year classes. Are you changing that plan?"

"No, Filius, Mr. Potter will be taking sixth year classes." Dumbledore assured him. "There is no way he could possibly be ready for the NEWTS by the end of the year. However, given that he will be eighteen next July, the decree put in place by the Wizengamot will no longer apply to him. And if he doesn't wish to return, we will have no way to force him to comply."

"I still don't see why we should be forced to teach an unwilling student." Snape complained. "The ones who actually want to be here cause more than enough problems. Mark my words, Dumbledore, whatever meddling you are planning on, it will blow up in your face."

"Have you suddenly become a seer, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, before his expression became serious once more. "I am willing to take that risk and I am asking you all to take it with me. I, for one, will not allow the anger he is carrying around to fester within him and warp him into something evil, the way anger turned another promising young wizard named Tom Riddle into Voldemort. We have a lot to make up to Mr. Potter for, not the least of which was our lack of faith in him last year, which led to his unjust incarceration."

Everyone had fallen silent at the mention of the Dark Lord's name and some of the teacher's flinched.

"So Potter is going to be given even more special treatment." Snape looked disgusted.

"No Severus he will not." The Headmaster countered. "He will be treated like any other student."

"You however might try seeing Harry as a person instead of as James Potter, Severus." Professor McGonagall put in. "It might help if you think of him as Lily's son instead of James'."

"I will treat Mr. Potter as he deserves to be treated." Snape declared loftily.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

Shortly after the train pulled out of the station, a steady stream of people began coming by the compartment Harry was sitting in. He managed to stop most of them from trying to come in, by giving them an icy stare worthy of Severus Snape. The only one it hadn't worked on was Luna Lovegood. She had just met his stare with one of her own and then sat down in the seat opposite him and began to read her copy of the Quibbler. He didn't bother to try and force her to leave partly because she had been Neville's girlfriend and partly because she wasn't trying to talk to him.

It had been an hour since the door last opened, but when it slid open again, Harry readied his icy stare to get rid of the intruder. It turned out to be a pair of them this time: Granger and the Weasel's kid sister who was standing slightly behind Granger wearing a cap pulled low over her forehead. Granger was already dressed in her school robes and he saw she wearing the Head Girl badge. No real surprise there, she been acting like she had it ever since first year. However that badge and those robes clashed with her pale thin face and the red-rimmed eyes.

Arrogant know-it-all, Harry thought to himself, just as bad as Percy. Always thinking she's right and that those in authority are never wrong. At least not til her face is rubbed in it.

When the pair remained standing in the doorway, despite the fact that his expression was clearly telling them they were not welcome, Harry began to wonder just what the traitorous Weasel was hiding under that hat. Giving into his curiosity, Harry waved his hand in the direction of the hat, knocking it off her head and smiled when he saw written in neon pink letters the words: 'I AM AN IDIOT!' So she was one of the ones who had sent him a letter or package.

As he watched the colour of the lettering changed one letter at a time from pink to orange as the girl's face grew beet red. He didn't remember adding a colour changing charm that was tied to a person's emotional state to the spell on the returned letters, but that didn't matter. He was quite pleased with the effect. Especially how quickly the colours changed as Miss Weasley started looking around for her hat.

"Were you wanting something?" Harry asked sarcastically, when they still made no move to leave.

"I... uh..." Ginny began before stammering to a stop and then trying again. "I... um..."

"Oh that was really intelligent of you." Harry sneered. "Is it actually possible for you to finish a whole sentence, or are you so narcissistic that the only word you can say is 'I'?"

If it were possible, the girl's face grew even redder.

Seeing that Ginny was too upset and nervous to say anything, Hermione spoke on her behalf. "We came to get you to remove the hex you put on Ginny."

"Sticking your nose into other people's business again, Granger?" Harry's voice was now filled with venom. "What's the matter? Couldn't a know-it-all like you remove the spell? I thought you knew everything. At least that's what you've had us believing. Nice to know it's not true."

Hermione's face flushed as she looked down at the floor of the compartment.

"The spell stays." Harry told them. "It's quite useful really. It lets people know right up front she's an idiot without having to figure it out for themselves, quite a time saver really. Now if that's all, why don't you just go on about your Head Girl business and take the traitorous idiot with you."

As the two girls left, Luna spoke up for the first time. "Nice spell. I liked the way you got the words to change colours depending on the person's emotional state."

Surprised by the comments, Harry said, "I take it they aren't two of your favourite people."

"Not anymore." Luna looked up from the Quibbler. "They are idiots. Anyone with brains should have known that you didn't kill Neville. Nor would you have joined the Dark Lord, no matter what he promised you. That would have betrayed your parents and your godfather who all died trying to protect you. I may not be a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, but I can recognise an honourable person when I see one. I tried to speak up for you that day and wanted to speak up for you at your trial, but no one wanted to listen to Looney Luna."

Harry could see that she was telling the truth. "Thank you. I think you and Remus were the only two who didn't believe I killed Neville."

Luna nodded and returned to her reading.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

The next interruption was one that Harry had been expecting. It just wouldn't be a trip to or from Hogwarts without Malfoy intruding.

Malfoy burst in with Crabbe and Goyle behind him, wand drawn and his mouth open ready to utter his curse, but Harry froze them in place with a single thought. He had left Malfoy's head free to move around. He was interested in hearing the threats and posturing the little ferret had come up with this year, especially given that he couldn't threaten Harry with Voldemort or his father.

"Well, if it isn't Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret." Harry commented as he removed the wand from the blond's frozen hand. "What did you think you were going to do to me?"

"Let me go, Potter." Malfoy growled.

"Now why would I want to do that," Harry inquired. "You come in here intending to try and harm me, possibly even kill me, so what makes you think I would want to give you another shot?"

"You're going to pay Potter, for what you did." Malfoy spat out.

"Comments like that are definitely not going to encourage me to release you." Harry pointed out. "I wonder what Moldyshorts and your idiot father would have made of your current predicament? I thought Slytherin's were supposed to be cunning, but you're acting more like a Gryffindor than a Slytherin."

Malfoy's face reddened at the insult.

"I can't help wondering if you might have been sorted incorrectly." Harry continued. "I mean you are always acting before you think and as I recall that supposed to be a Gryffindor trait. Though given who your godfather is, I'm not real surprised that you act before you think a situation through. He can't seem to think a situation through either. Your father and Snape aren't any brighter or more cunning than you are apparently. I mean they both followed a half-blood, who they believed would purify the wizarding world. At every meeting they had to grovel and debase themselves in front of a half-blood monster, believing him to be the pure blood descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Not exactly shining examples of cunning and intelligence were they? Who knows maybe the whole of Slytherin House has been missorted all these years. Maybe all of you should have been in Gryffindor. Or maybe you should have been in Hufflepuff all this time."

"I'm more than cunning enough to take you, Potter." Malfoy snapped out, unwilling to allow the insults to continue.

"Oh, please," Harry mocked him, "even with the help of those two human statues behind you, you couldn't take me on my worst day."

"I don't need any help to take you down." Malfoy growled.

"Yes, you do." Harry disagreed. "You're a bully, plain and simple, just like Moldyshorts, the monster you were going to one day follow, was until I burned him up from the inside out. Just like your idiot of a father and all those other Deatheaters who are now awaiting sentencing, though I doubt the wizarding world will give them the sentence they deserve."

"And just what would you have done to them?" Malfoy sneered. He knew Potter's type. When push came to shove they always wimped out.

"Oh I'm a big believer that the punishment should fit the crime." Harry told him. "If it were up to me, I would bind their magic then put them into a muggle style prison with the worst of muggle prisoners. I would make sure that the muggle prisoners knew that they like to hurt, rape, torture, and murder children. If the rumours I've heard about muggle prisons were true then the Deatheaters would be considered as even lower than the cockroaches to those muggle prisoners. Of course there would have be spells on the cells to stop the muggles from killing them, but other than that they should be allowed to do whatever they wanted to the Deatheaters."

Draco stared at the Boy-Who-Lived speechless, unable to believe what he had just heard. When had Potter become so vicious?

Harry sat back down, looking thoughtful. "You know who you remind me of? Ronald Bilius Weasley that's who. You both act before you think things through and you both are definitely sufferers of terminal foot-in-mouth disease. Maybe you're related. Given the inbreeding among most of the pure-bloods, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."

"There is no way in hell, I am related to that moronic little weasel or his family." Malfoy retorted.

"Draco, Draco, that's no way to talk about your relatives." Harry shook his head. "I tell you what, why don't you go talk it over with your cousin. I'm sure he'd enjoy it."

Harry waved his hand and Draco disappeared from the compartment. He then unfroze Crabbe and Goyle and told them. "Why don't you go find your boss? I'm sure he's on the train somewhere."

"Where did you send him?" Luna asked curious.

"The loo near the prefect's compartment." Harry told her. "Made sure he landed feet first in it."

Luna laughed.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

When the train started getting closer to Hogwarts, Luna got up to go change into her school outfit and robes.

"Harry, I'll leave you alone so you can change into your robes." Luna told him.

"Didn't bother getting another set of school clothes, after the Gryffindors burned the others." Harry told her. "I didn't see any reason to, given that I didn't destroy them and I didn't want to be here in the first place. This is what I am wearing to the feast. If they don't like it, they can go jump in the lake."

Harry stood up and let her get a good look at the t-shirt and black jeans he was wearing. The t-shirt was bright yellow and written in black across it were the words: "Don't Piss Me Off. I'm Running Out Of Places To Hide The Bodies".

"That should provoke some interesting reactions, especially from the teachers." Luna commented.

"I expect it will, especially from McGonagall." Harry picked up his book again. "I'll see you in a bit."

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

As they got off the train and headed for the coaches, Harry heard Hagrid calling, "Firs' years over here."

Harry got quite a few stares as he escorted Luna to one of the thestral drawn carriages, given that he was the only one not wearing the school uniform and the fact that he was carrying a backpack.

A couple of Hufflepuff second years joined them in the carriage, before it took off and wound its way up to the castle.

Professor McGonagall was in the entry hall of the castle, and when she caught sight of Harry, she snapped out. "Mr. Potter, where is your school uniform? You can't go into the great Hall looking like that. And you should have left that bag on the train. It would have been brought up to your dormitory."

"Why would you think I would leave anything of mine where anyone in this school can get hold of it? All my possessions were burned up the last time I was foolish enough to trust anyone in this school and leave my things unguarded, remember Professor?" Harry's face was an expressionless mask. "Your memory can't be that bad, ma'am, given that you had a front row seat for what the Gryffindor Prefects did."

McGonagall looked flustered for a moment, before she asked, "Why didn't you purchase a new uniform?"

Harry told her flatly. "I didn't destroy the ones I had and saw no reason to waste my money replacing something I hadn't damaged or outgrown, not to mention something I didn't want in the first place. If you want me to have a school uniform that badly, then I suggest you have those who destroyed my possessions replace them."

Professor McGonagall, raised her wand, and attempted to transfigure the clothing Potter was wearing into the appropriate outfit, but nothing happened to the muggle clothing. She tried again, with the same result.

"Are you finished with me yet, Professor?" Harry sounded bored. "I would either like to go into the Great Hall, or if as you say, I am not to be allowed in there, dressed like this, then I will go down to the kitchens and get something to eat."

"I must insist that you change your clothing into the appropriate school outfit, or remove the charm that is preventing me from doing so." McGonagall ordered, not realising that a small crowd was gathering in the doorway to the Great Hall behind her.

"No ma'am, I will not." The expression on Harry's face was unyielding. "So if you will excuse me, I will be on my way to the kitchens to get some dinner. Would you mind telling me where I will be staying during my time in this prison of yours and the password to get in? That way I can get in since I apparently won't be eating with the rest of the students."

"You are a Gryffindor. You will be in the Gryffindor tower, in the sixth year boy's dorm." McGonagall winced at Potter's choice of the word prison for Hogwarts. She had never thought she would hear any student call Hogwarts a prison. "The password is Victory."

"I am not a Gryffindor." Harry disagreed. "The students who make up the house you head made that quite clear last year."

She had also never thought she would see in her lifetime a student in this school openly defy her and for the first time in her life she felt trapped because of it. Mr. Potter needed to be in the Great Hall, not isolating himself, if the Headmaster's plan was to work, but she could not allow him to enter the Great Hall in an inappropriate outfit. And Dumbledore had specifically said that Potter was to be treated like any other student. "Five points from Gryffindor for improper attire. You will either change your current outfit into the correct attire, or remove the charm that is preventing me from doing so. Failure to do so will results in you having detention tomorrow night."

"So," Harry shrugged, "I really don't care what you do. I didn't want to come back here anyway. Dumbledork forced this situation on me and so you're just going to have to live with it. I will not allow you to change the clothing I spent my money on into what you deem appropriate attire. If you wanted me dressed in the correct attire, then you should not have allowed the students of your house to incinerate all my clothing last year while you stood by and did nothing."

The crowd in the doorway was stunned by the tone of Potter's voice. Other than the Weasleys and Hermione Granger, no one had ever heard such malice from the Boy-Who-Lived before.

McGonagall knew she didn't have much time. The first years would be arriving in a few minutes and she must be here to greet them. Looking back toward the Great Hall she saw the crowd of student standing in the doorway and yelled, "All of you take your seats in the Great Hall immediately!" She also caught sight of the Head Girl and ordered, "Miss Granger escort Mr. Potter to the side room off the Great Hall and ask the Headmaster if he would speak with him."

"Mr. Potter," Hermione gestured for Harry to follow her.

Harry did, smirking at the other students as he was led through the Great Hall to the side room.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

The Headmaster arrived just as Harry made himself comfortable.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore spoke up as soon as he saw Harry. "I understand there is a problem with your choice of attire."

Harry looked down at what he was wearing. "I don't see any problem with it. At least I didn't come in starkers."

"There is a uniform code, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore began.

"And unless you have forgotten, old man," Harry interrupted, "all my possessions were burned up by the pyromaniacs who live in Gryffindor tower."

"You should have gotten yourself a new school uniform then." Dumbledore told him.

"And pray tell why should I have spent my money to replace what the Gryffindors destroyed?" Harry inquired sarcastically. "Aside from the fact that that would mean they got off scott free for their acts of vandalism and arson, I didn't want to come here in the first place. Why should I buy something I have no intention of using once I leave this place forever?"

"The school requirements state that you must have and wear the school uniform." Dumbledore countered.

"Then kick me out." Harry told him. "I don't want to be here in the first place remember!"

"Tomorrow morning Professor McGonagall will take you to Diagon Alley to purchase your school uniform." Dumbledore told him. "For tonight, and tonight only, you will be allowed to attend the opening feast in what you are wearing."

"Unless you plan on making those who destroyed all my school supplies last year, cough up the money to pay for them, then she will be wasting her time and mine." Harry told him. "I told you, I will not be spend one single knut of my money to replace what was destroyed while the Heads of House made no move to stop it. They will also have to cough up the money for all the other supplies on your list, because I didn't get those either."

"Harry," Dumbledore began, but seeing the angry expression on the young man's face, quickly said, "Mr. Potter, how do you expect to pass your classes, without any of the necessary materials?"

"I don't." Harry stated simply. "I am just here, marking time and taking care of some business until I can get out of here. You may have forced me to come here, Dumbledork, but you can not force me to learn anything that your inept teachers may try and teach."

"Harry," Dumbledore said quickly. "Don't waste this chance you've been given to start over. Not many people get the chance to start over. Don't let the anger you have within you keep you from making friends and moving on with your life. You have to let go of it and forgive those who have wronged you."

Harry got to his feet and asked tonelessly. "Are you done?"

"For now." Dumbledore realised it was too soon to expect to make any headway, but he had hoped that some of the boy's anger toward the wizarding world had begun to ease, so that he might at least hear what was being said.

"Good," Harry pushed past the Headmaster and walked out into the Great Hall.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

"I see the favouritism has begun." Snape commented once the sorting was completed. The yellow t-shirt that Potter was wearing stood out amongst the sea of black, even if the brat hadn't been sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"Not at all Severus," Dumbledore assured him, then turned to McGonagall who had just joined them. "Minerva, tomorrow, you will be taking Mr. Potter to Diagon Alley to get all of his school supplies. And you will charge the purchases to the school account."

"Why the school account, Headmaster?" McGonagall had no problem with taking the boy to get his supplies, but didn't understand why the school would be paying for them when the boy clearly had more than enough money to pay for them himself.

"Young Harry had a valid point about one thing." Dumbledore told the two professors as he sat back down after making his welcoming speech. "If the Heads of House hadn't stood by and allowed it to happen, he would have had his school supplies for sixth year as well as the invisibility cloak that belonged to James, the photo album, and the Firebolt Sirius gave him. Since no teacher made any attempt to stop the destruction of his personal belongings by students of this school, then Hogwarts must pay to have them replaced."

"And what of the Gryffindors who destroyed the items in the first place." Snape wondered. "Are they to avoid having to pay for the destruction they caused?"

"No, they will not." Dumbledore told him. "The cost of replacing one Firebolt will be divided among the parents of all Gryffindor students from second year through seventh, since we will not be able to charge it to those who were not here last year and are not here now. A letter will be sent to every parent explaining the reason for the charge. We will allow the Gryffindors to present the Firebolt to Harry. It may help to heal the rift between them."

"In that case Headmaster, we might want to turn the task of replacing the photo album and presenting it over to Miss Granger." McGonagall suggested. "It might help repair the damage to her relationship with him as well."

"An excellent idea, Minerva," Dumbledore told her.

abc 123 abc 123 abc 123

Unaware of the plans being made at the head table, Harry filled his plate and ignored anyone's attempts to get him to talk. Those few who were somewhat persistent, he glared at until they left him alone.

Once they were released, from the Great Hall, Harry took the quickest route to the Gryffindor tower. He wanted to get an idea of who his dorm mates were going to be before they got there given that he hadn't been at the feast during his second year.

There were six beds in the sixth year dorm. And five of them had trunks in front of them, which made the sixth one his. The names on the trunks were vaguely familiar, but the only sixth year he knew by sight was Colin Creevy and that was only because the fool had kept jumping out and taking pictures of him like a celebrity stalker. He wrote a quick note and left it on Colin's bed warning the little fool that if he tried to take pictures of him this year, he would stick that camera of his somewhere painful.

He still hadn't decided if he was going to stay where they put him, or go to the Room of Requirement. Though that might not be a good idea, given that everybody and his brother now knew about it. After a few moments thought he decided he would stay in Gryffindor for a few days and if the attempts to try and get him to forgive them got to be too much, he'd find some place else to stay. The Chamber of Secrets was an option if he couldn't find anywhere else, since he was the only one that could access it, though it was a bit of a gloomy option.

Opening his backpack, Harry pulled out his trunk and restored it to normal size long enough to remove his pyjamas, robe and shower gear. Once the shrunken trunk was back in the pack, he headed out of the dorm room to take a shower.

He could hear the noise in the common room as he moved down the hall toward the showers.

"Harry!" Colin's voice called. "Hermione is looking for you."

"Any idea why?" Harry asked smirking as he noticed that Colin was also sporting 'I am an idiot' on his forehead.

"She didn't say, just that she needed to talk to you." Colin told him.

"Okay, I'd better go see what Miss Know-it-All wants." Harry headed down to the common room. He wasn't really interested what Granger wanted, but knowing how persistent the know-it-all could be, he really didn't want her bursting in on his shower.

As soon as he reached the stairs that led to the common room he saw Granger waiting for him.

"Granger, Creevy said you wanted to see me." Harry told her.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall wanted me to pass on a message, since she didn't have a chance to tell you herself." Hermione told him. "She wants you to meet her in the Great Hall at eight tomorrow morning. Dumbledore has made arrangements for her to take you to get your school supplies and uniforms."

"Okay. Anything else?" Harry really didn't care, but he thought he would be polite, at least right now.

"Why didn't you get your supplies in Diagon Alley before school, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Because I didn't feel like spending good money for something I didn't want and that the pyromaniacs of Gryffindor destroyed last year." Harry snarled then told her. "Granger, how about we keep things simple. You and I will talk to each other only when it concerns Hogwarts business. I'll at least pretend to be civil to you as long as you adhere to that boundary. If you try to get involved in my life, or try to pry into my personal business, then you will regret it. You are no longer my friend and I really wonder if you ever were. Once this year is over and we go our separate ways, I never want to see you or hear from you ever again. Have I made myself clear?"

(AN: This is just a filler chapter. The next chapter will be the first batch of revenge and the target is .... Snape Also the lettering is like a mood ring. For those of you too young to remember the mood ring or who have never seen one, it changes colour depending on your mood. Actually it was heat sensitive, and the more heat you were putting out the darker the colour would get.)