It was almost two weeks before he could get out of the hospital. The skin had grown back well over his face and his eye was even better than before, but his back took the longest. Finally he was let out.

Hermione carefully kept her hand behind Harry's back as they walked, unconsciously protecting his soreness. She had accidently touched it earlier and was met with a Harry that suddenly was devoid of all emotion and expression, completely locked down for a minute. It made her want to ask the healer about something.

"Harry, I need to talk to someone, do you need me here at the moment?" he smiled at her as she tried not to tell him that she was going to check up on him with Madam Pomfrey.

"Sure Hermione, I am fine." Harry and Hermione continued into the Great Hall and were met by a roar of sound as they were spotted. Yells of champion and dragon slayer were thrown about like confetti. Harry blushed, then sat down ignoring any and all comments. Hermione left early and Harry just nodded at her as she made her exit.

Hermione entered the hospital wing with more fear about this conversation than she had about any other medical discussion in her life, including the embarrassing ones.

"Madam Pomfrey, do you have a few minutes for a private conversation?"

"Of course Miss Granger," she replied kindly.

"Harry was hurt pretty badly and I noticed that you didn't use the normal potions for pain I would have expected, did I miss something?"

"Ah, yes. Well Harry does not respond normally to pain potions so sometimes he just has to do without. I have made a nutrition draft that sometimes minimizes the pain for him, but I do not understand why this helps. I would guess it is because he has been through so much pain already." Poppy looked at her most frequent visitor's friend and saw that she was gathering up the courage to ask her real question.

"Why didn't his back heal normally?" Hermione had not been allowed to see the damage but even without visually looking she knew something wasn't right.

"He said it was a legacy from his childhood Miss Granger. I have been asked not to pursue it further." Hermione felt a tingle of magic in the air as the healer said that. She nodded as if understanding.

"Now run along Miss Granger and remember that this is confidential information, without the permission of the patient, nothing can be shared with others."

"But Madam Pomfrey, why did you tell me then?"

"I have kept that oath Miss Granger," she smiled as Hermione worked it out.

"Oh, he told you it was… Harry already gave permission?" her thoughtful expression neared a frown. How could he have given permission for a question she hadn't asked yet? If he had already done so then he knew I was going to ask. The fact that he seemed slightly amused when she said she had to talk to someone now made sense.

Meanwhile in the Ministry of Magic, Amelia Bones was having a family chat with Susan. After much coaching, she managed to get a pensieve memory of Harry Potter's first Tri-Wizard task.

"Auntie, I just don't get it. I mean at first I thought maybe he was being sneaky, but when he made that speech about assuming the guilty verdict regardless, as if he expected it, I knew better. Then the entire school except a few turned on him, thinking him an embarrassing cheater. Even his best friend, or ex-best friend anyway, Ron. That Granger was the only one who stood up for him, and she doesn't have a political bone in her body."

"Well, it appears that they are in a bit more of a bind than I thought. Susan, you are allowed to give them full and complete support, without question, if you think they need it. Don't surprise either of them, that could be dangerous." The carefully quiet Susan's eyes took on a harder edge and for a few moments she looked remarkably like her aunt, the highest ranked witch Auror in the world.

Susan walked her through the memory of Harry's fight, pointing out that the dragon was heading straight for the Gryffindor section of the stands before somehow having its throat cut by Harry while riding it. They looked carefully at Harry's expression after climbing out from under the beast. He instantly began searching for someone in the audience, then his expression relaxed.

"Who is he looking for?"

"Oh. Auntie, Hermione Granger probably. They are inseparable. Harry even changed his class schedule this year and is taking harder courses so he can sit with her in class. It must be hard since he had to have tested out of all of last year's tests in two classes to do so."

"So they are that close?"

"She told off the entire school saying he was hers unless he said otherwise a few weeks ago. Smartest girl I have met, although neither one has a lot of skill with people."

"How does he do in school?"

"This year, it looks like he is always second. I mean the only place where he is lower is in Snape's class, but even then I think he is near the top. He just started Arithmancy and Runes and is easily holding his own, although I think that is because of Hermione. Well, then there is defense. He is loads better than anyone else in class in that subject, he is probably better than half the seventh years, according to one professor I heard." Susan's voice took and a slightly wistful quality and Amelia chuckled.

"So you like him."

"Well, I mean it would be better if he weren't so small, but he is anything but weak. You saw how he was flying around that dragon. He doesn't use a charm on his broom to handle the hard turns and sudden accelerations and stops that the profession players use. I don't know how he can even stay on the way he flies."

"Nicely diverted, Susan." The girl blushed slightly at the compliment and the topic of Harry Potter.

"I wonder how many people see Harry, instead of his reputation." Susan added with a grimace.

"Well, if he and Miss Granger don't work out, that would be a good thing to get to know more about." Amelia smiled at the expression on Susan's face.

She enjoyed these talks with her niece, but also enjoyed teasing her. They continued talking for some time as Amelia explained in better detail just what kinds of support she was authorizing for Susan to give.

At the same time another student was finishing a letter to Gringotts.

"Dear gold master,

It has come to my attention, or at least suspicion, that (HJP) certain highly ranked individuals in my school are likely not being given the harry facts of their station. I even without the legal implications, I would be as unable directly interfere with a great house's inter affairs and I would be able to make Pottery from water. The real issue at the base of his problems, and I won't even mention his gender, is that no one seems to be completely on his side. One would think that the last member of a great house, with no living magical relatives would have been apprised of his or her situation and allowed the privileges his or her rank entitles him to.

One other concern is the excessive amount of control the headmaster seems to exert over certain students. Why just the other day a boy (I'll call him James) was entered into a dangerous tournament against his will with absolutely no legal representation.

I have enclosed the card from a legal representative that may want to contact the young person, if I were able to tell you who to contact.

Unfortunately, I am unable to interfere. An open confrontation would be most ill advised. I positively hate the attention, but have been pleased with the discretion of Professor Flitwick and his relation to the smartest student in the school, who is completely loyal. She is involved in probably every secret my friend has and would move the world to help him.

Please reply with my account status and a brief audit of anything like wills or large account changes in the few years since Halloween 1981.

May your gold only be exceeded by your honor." The letter was unsigned.

"Master Silverfang," the goblin mail teller raced through the bank with a letter from a student in his hand.

Bursting into the office of the most senior bank official on the surface waiving a parchment obviously written by a wizard was considered a good way to end up cleaning out the sanitation tunnels for the rest of your life. "Ironfoot, what is this madness?"

"Master Silverfang, this is an important letter about financial misdeeds done to one of our dearest clients, sir." The excitement suddenly drained out of the young teller's face when he realized he had just broken several laws and even more taboos by charging into a ranking goblin's office. Silverfang read the letter, easily reading the less than subtle message. If anyone knew subtlety, it was the goblins.

"Teller Ironfoot, you are dismissed. Your punishment will be decided later." Silverfang hurried to pass this message on.

Great Hall was erupting when Harry finally walked in. Two Hufflepuffs were standing toe to toe with Draco, Crab and Goyle. Even though they were dwarfed in size, Hannah and Gracie were not backing down.

"He is just a glory hound, looking for fame because his ran out," Draco was almost yelling.

"He didn't put his name in. He didn't want to compete. Everyone who thought he did should be ashamed." Hannah was beginning to work up a full charge when Gracie put her hand on her arm.

"Hannah, you may end up with detention." Both girls looked at each other, then walked back to their table leaving Malfoy to argue with the crowd in the middle of the room.

"Headmaster," somehow Harry's voice penetrated through the noisy room. Albus Dumbledore looked up at the tone, not liking this independent strength he thought he heard. The hall grew quieter. "Professor Dumbledore, are you going to settle this?" He received only twinkling silence.

"I see. In that case…" He turned to Draco Malfoy. "You have spent a lot of time putting me and just about everyone here down because you think you are better than everyone else. I would ask you, what is your reasoning? Does money make you better or name or blood? Your family got much of your prestige from the Black family by marriage. To those who were born into the Black family heritage you would be of lesser rank. I wouldn't brag about the money either, Mister Malfoy, unless you want to explain to the room exactly where this money was made."

At some point during this Hermione had come up and hooked her arm through his. He leaned over and whispered something to her as she pulled him toward the Gryffindor table.

"Let's find a less stuffy place shall we?"

"Let's, I am not that hungry anyway," Hermione replied.

The hall was still buzzing as they made their way back to the doors when Madam Pomfrey entered.

"Mister Potter, you need to eat to regain your strength," she immediately said. Her clear voice carried across the hall.

Hermione looked at Harry and he nodded slightly.

"Madam Pomfrey is the entire health of a patient treated in your excellent care?" Hermione was the one to speak and she was just getting started.

"Yes Miss Granger I care for all of my children, but both of you need to get more to eat. You are too thin." The maternal instincts in the healer were evident in her tone of voice.

"Then if the mental and emotional environment of a patient was clearly poor it may be a good trade to have less physical needs met to gain an acceptable environ for these things, correct?" Poppy had not been taken in by the clear line of reasoning but was forced to agree.

"I believe that Harry and I will be not be eating in the Great Hall for this meal. The environment has been poisonous for the last month. It is, after all, a health hazard." After this speech they both left.

The Ravenclaw table instantly erupted in noisy conversation.

"What was that about? Do they mean to imply that their social treatment has been worse to their health than skipping meals?"

"Starvation for human kindness kills more easily than starvation of the body," Luna Lovegood added in a lilting voice. "Why else would it be called love-sick?"

This started another series of discussions.

At the head table, Madam Pomfrey was listening to Professor Sprout fill her in on the conversations that had just occurred in the hall. Her subsequent glare at the headmaster was sizzling.

Outside, Hermione was attempting to calm Harry down.

"You know their opinions don't count. Most of them know nothing about the situation and are making wild guesses and are just going along with the others." She spoke in soothing tones. She didn't appear to be making much progress, so she tried a different tact.

"Did you hear about the Yule Ball?"

"What about it? Did you want to go? I wasn't planning to have any more public appearances." Harry's voice was carefully neutral since he really did not want to go.

"No, that is fine. You are right we don't want the extra publicity." She was disappointed, but didn't press the topic. Harry was dealing with enough right now.

"Harry, why did you give Madam Pomfrey permission to tell me about your medical assessments?"

"Because I trust you, Hermione. You are just about the only person who is always looking out for me and on my side." Hermione looked at him carefully. He had his mask partially back on. She started to say something but instead just watched his expression.

That night they had training with Professor Snape.

He first worked with Hermione for a quarter of an hour before she was exhausted. Then he turned to Harry.

"Mister Potter, let's see how far you have fallen with your recent injury." The professor cast the legimens spell and began to test his defenses. It was twenty minutes later when Harry's shield suddenly collapsed and Snape was in his mind.

Begin Memory

"Get up you lazy freak and make breakfast," Petunia screamed. He was dragged out of his cupboard with a broken arm and forced to cook bacon, eggs and toast. He was struck with the hot frying pan when the toast was cold and thrown back into the cupboard with nothing except the food he had managed to sneak as he cooked. He was six.

The scene shifted again and now a nine year old Harry was strapped to the coffee table. There was plastic sheeting under it to catch the blood from the whipping.

"Happy Birthday boy," his uncle hissed into his ear. It was another hour before he passed out. Harry spent later that day trying to set a broken leg by himself. He was successful.

End Memory

Professor Snape was suddenly violently expelled from Harry's mind as Harry's shields came up over twice as strong and his magic exploded causing the entire castle to hum.

Looking into Harry's eyes for a second as he began to process what he had just learned Snape was in for a shock. He knew that Harry had seen and even experienced what memory was visited, but Harry's eyes showed nothing. He just looked contemplatively back.

"I would guess that we are done with detention for the night, Professor Snape." Harry said in a near monotone.

"Yes, that is all. You two are difficult enough. Get out." Severus was desperate to get them out of his office before he had another emotional outburst.

"Come on Hermione, we can finish up on our own today." Harry took her hand and led her from the dungeons. When they got there Neville was waiting for them. He immediately walked up to Hermione and handed her a note, putting a finger to his lips.

"I need to meet with you to help, but Harry can't come. Do not speak. The walls and paintings have ears."

She looked at him, noticing that he stood almost at attention with a resolute look on his face.

She looked at Harry, noticing him measure Neville with his eyes, before he nodded. They left and he paced silently until they returned almost an hour later. As usual, no one in the common room talked to Harry as he paced near the corner.

Hermione tried to look like the conversation hadn't bothered her but Harry knew she was very unhappy. "Harry, do you remember the visitation list after you were recovering last time?"

"Sure. What is this about?"

"Trust no one not on that list. I mean no one, and you may want to take Luna off as well because she may be being influenced." Hermione's voice was so tense she was practically spitting.

Harry looked at her and she saw the compassion for her in his expression. "I learn something new about you every day, Hermione. We are becoming more alike too; I mean that sounded like Parseltongue," he finished with a smirk.

Wide eyed she stared for a second and then chuckled in a soft trickling sound. "I don't think I like turning into you, Mr. Potter."

"Well, think of the tactical advantages in a duel. Everyone would think you were as dull as me. Then you could use some spell no one has ever heard of and catch them off guard." He laughed aloud and several students looked over at him warily as they made their way to the great hall for dinner.

"They are scared of me, aren't they?" Harry said softly.

"Harry," Hermione looked over at him walking with his head down slightly. "You..." she realized that she was about to give him a lecture about feeling good about himself. Instead she just reached for his hand and didn't let go until they reached their transfiguration classroom.

In the classroom Harry was having difficulty concentrating before Hermione laid a calming hand on his shoulder. After that the class went better than either expected while they both just kept on their work. It took until lunch for the hammer to fall.

Professor McGonagall came over to where Harry was sitting close to Hermione, both eating quietly. Her stride made it clear that she was livid.

"Mr. Potter, your presence is required at an academic hearing in ten minutes."

"Professor, what is this about?"

"It is about your performance in classes this year, Mr. Potter."

"Is there a problem?" Harry had done better in classes this year than in any other year.

"You have been accused of cheating, Mr. Potter. You are to come to the transfiguration classroom, immediately."

"Very well, I should have guessed that anything I did to improve my situation would be attacked."

"Mr. Potter, this is no such thing. These are serious accusations."

"Are you saying that you believe them, professor?" Harry had a cold feeling in his chest.

"I do not know what to think, Mr. Potter. Don't try to manipulate me to your opinions."

"Yes, professor," Harry followed docilely.

They entered the room and Harry saw a large number of adults sitting at a long table that was raised slightly from the floor. There was a chair set in front of it. It looked for all the world like a trial to him. Checking off the names he knew, Snape, Vector, Dumbledore, Malfoy, and finally McGonagall, he wondered who the others were. He made eye contact with Professor Vector and she immediately turned away, unable to meet his eyes. That alone told him this was a setup. Harry quietly pulled a quill from his book bag he had been unable to leave behind and muttered 'gemini extactum.' There was no glow, but the tip quivered.

"Greengrass, Susan Bones, Flitwick, Lovegood, Delacour." He said under his breath to the quill. In the great hall Hermione was just about to put her things away when the notebook Harry gave her last week flipped itself out and the matching quill wrote, 'Greengrass, Susan Bones, Flitwick, Lovegood, Delacour." She immediately grabbed the notebook and ran to the teacher's table.

"Professor Flitwick. I have an urgent message." Surprised that one of the Lion came to him he smiled and looked at the notebook she had opened. It wrote by itself.

"You are Harry Potter." He was a portly middle aged man and spoke with a sneer Harry had come to associate with a certain political party who thought they were all better than everyone else.

"Yes."

"You are here because you have been cheating in multiple classes. Hogwarts does not appreciate such a high profile student being a cheater, Mr. Potter. We are hereby recommending either your expulsion or remanding you to academic probation and we will require you to take third year classes and schedules."

Soon Professor Flitwick summoned the people in the first list of students and they adjourned to a nearby classroom. He quickly realized that each person mentioned had been present in class with Harry during one of his major tests this year.

"He is being convicted before being heard."

"Harry looked awfully calm when he left," Hermione said quietly. Everyone present listened, however, because if there was an expert on Harry in the room it was her.

"May I ask if this is a secret meeting, sir? Headmaster?"

"This is not secret. The only person here who is hiding is you, Mr. Potter."

"Headmaster, do you wish to keep this meeting secret?"

"No, Harry."

"Very well, I also have no desire to keep this a secret. Do I have any rights here?"

"Of course, this is merely a hearing."

"Who, then, is on this panel? May I have the pleasure of your names?"

"I am Cyrus Greengrass, this is Mafalda Hopkirk, Griselda Marchbanks of the Examinations Authority, Lucius Malfoy Hogwarts board of governors, Professor's Snape, McGonagall, Vector, and of course your headmaster. Is that adequate?"

"Thank you, Mr. Greengrass. Am I allowed any sort of defense at all?"

"Now see here," the middle aged lady said. She had long stringy hair and was exceedingly thin. "Mr. Potter, you aren't special. You can't go flaunting the statute of secrecy or cheating in school and believe you will get away without punishment. Both you and your accomplice will be expelled."

A sudden rippled of magic came from Harry and echoed through the room, evidently without his noticing. In a tightly controlled voice he said, "by all means, present your evidence. If you do no present any evidence, I will have to take a more direct approach."

"We don't answer to you, Mr. Potter. You will accept our judgments, or the consequences will be most severe," the headmaster said suddenly.

"Ah. Now I understand. Thank you for clarifying your position, headmaster, it make this much easier. Since this is not a secret meeting, I would like to have your verdict in writing, please, so there is no question about whether I have not understood your position. You do have a written copy of the accusations, don't you?"

"Yes, it is right here," Mr. Greengrass held up a parchment, then duplicated it so Harry could have a copy. Harry took the two steps necessary to get the document.

"I'll take the original, thank you," Harry said as he grabbed the parchment quickly. "Since you have already pronounced my doom, I ask what else you need me here for?"

"Now see here, Mister Potter, that isn't the right kind of attitude. We hold your future in our hands. You should be more respectful," Mr. Greengrass said harshly.

"Mr. Greengrass, I am not sure what you would want from me as far as respect is concerned. I believe I have been respectful, but that is very subjective. I respect your position but I would be much more inclined toward agreeing with your statements if this meeting was not a complete setup where my version of any wrong doing hasn't even been heard, let alone considered. You are all complicit in this and I will very carefully evaluate my actions before I do something I will regret. I have only had a few minutes to prepare my defense and even then no one had the faintest interest in hearing it."

"Now see here, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall was angry. "I specifically told you yesterday about this meeting."

"Then why do I have no memory of it?" Harry said thoughtfully. "Ms. Marchbanks, would you be so kind as to cast a detection spell to see if there is a magical reason why my memory has failed me in this matter?" Harry was practically pleading.

"Of course," she responded. It was the logical answer to figuring out what was going it. None of this added up very well to her, but Professor McGonagall has implored her to come, so she did.

"I must protest," the headmaster was on his feet. That move would be disastrous. "No one but a licensed mind healer can determine whether someone has been obliviated. Harry, you should trust me on this. It is dangerous for you to go down this path." The headmaster looked at him, but Harry wasn't looking back at the moment. He decided that perhaps divide and conquer was the next best thing.

"Ms. Marchbanks, do you agree that you are not qualified to do a simple detection spell? Would you be willing to suspend your rather harsh verdict for just a moment to see if perhaps things aren't completely as they seem to, as Mr. Greengrass pointed out, a high visibility student?" Her aged face grew stern. She could think of no real reason for the headmaster's sudden reluctance for even the most basic detection spell. Instead of answering, she simply cast the spell. She was unprepared for the shield spell that was suddenly cast by the headmaster, however. Her spell bounced off and was deflected directly to the ceiling.

"You do not have permission to cast a spell on one of my students," the headmaster's was almost screaming now.

Harry quickly backed up several feet and move laterally away from the headmaster. Nodding to the aged educator he watched as she cast the spell, only to see the headmaster put up a shield directly in from of him again. This time however, Harry also put up a shield and as the spell was reflected away, it bounced off his shield and reflected back to him while he casually stepped around the headmaster's protection and was hit directly in the chest.

"My word," Mr. Greengrass almost shouted, "there were dozens of them. How were you even able to think, Potter?"

A spell from the headmaster exploded in the room stunning everyone. The headmaster then cast several spells including a memory modification spell on everyone present except Snape and McGonagall. He looked at the frown on both professors' faces. "You know I have to guide him to his ultimate destiny. If he should gain too much freedom, he would never submit to the necessary sacrifice. He will have to remove Ms. Granger's influence immediately. She is far too direct thinking. She doesn't see the bigger picture." They both nodded, the frowns increasing.

He then turned back to the rest of the adults and began his next set of spells. "Mr. Potter attacked professor Snape and I have just apprehended him," the headmaster's voice coached at the memory rebuilding phase of the spell.

After this, the room suddenly exploded in violent conversation. Harry had been bound and in the chair.

"Well, this is a new definition to being tied up," Harry said quietly, ensuring the recording quill caught his predicament. The ensuing mayhem consisted of yelling accusations and much profanity, but the eventual result was that Harry would be demoted one grade year and any criminal charges would be withheld based on his performance in class and monitoring by the headmaster. Finally Harry was released and allowed to go back to class. He muttered into the quill, "protect the information, take no action," then went to his next class.

As the group of shocked students and one teacher finished reading the final statement by Harry, they all just stared for a moment.

"Professor, can you duplicate these and I think we should have several owled to safe locations," Hermione was instantly working toward protecting Harry's best interests as well as she could.

"Fleur, can you get me a meeting with your Headmistress?" at the older girl's nod. Hermione left the room to find Harry. She was almost in tears. Harry kept his head down and continued with his original class schedule until evening.

Harry soon was back in the great hall, just as lunch had completed. He didn't say anything to the crowd of students. No one noticed as a student in the same year as Harry received a bank owl containing a statement and another letter.

Hermione and Harry went to the library after lunch and got out their astronomy texts. Hermione was surprised when a letter she had never seen before fell from the book onto the table.

"Dear Miss Granger,

It has come to our bank's attention that a certain Gringotts account holder has been kept financially oppressed. There is nothing the bank can do to assist an underage witch or wizard, however there is a great deal of help that can be provided if the last member of an great house as specified in the Goblin Treaty of 1416 were to take up their position. Enclosed is a purely speculative account of the law that would be in effect by such a declaration.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1707

The Magic Preservation Act of 1802

The Line Interference Act of 1919

The Honor Act of 1882

There may be further implications and we will perhaps be contacting a solicitor, a Mr. Witham of Witham and Curry Associates, since no solicitor can contact someone to recruit business. Any additional information you may have concerning interesting events surrounding high profile students would be appreciated.

We expect to hear from you soon.

Ragnok"