A/N so we come to the last chapter! I hope you have enjoyed the ride and this chapter clears up the loose ends. If there are any I've missed let me know and I'll edit this chapter to include them. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 14

Of course the Boy-Who-Lived leaving Hogwarts just screamed scandal and as the wizarding press well knew, nothing sold newspapers quite like a good scandal. A reporter that got an interview with Harry could see their career made in one day. The problem was that no-one could find out where he was. The Dursleys spent weeks fending off reporters from their front and back doors, at all times of day and Obliviators were required more than once when things got out of hand.

With only a finite number of magical schools, it was perhaps inevitable that the interview-seeking journalists would eventually turn to the muggle world to look for their saviour. The fact it took them five years to do so was testament to Flitwick and Griphook's powers of deception and the sheer numbers of false leads they created. It was August of Harry's fifth year before a lucky reporter quite literally stumbled upon him.

"Sorry" the man mumbled.

"No problem" Harry replied as he pushed his glasses straight. In doing so he knocked his fringe out the way, revealing for an instant his lightning bolt scar.

The reporter stared. "Mr Pott-Potter?" he asked in shock.

Harry stopped dead. "Sorry sir, do I know you?"

"Forgive me Mr Potter. Terry Brook, Daily Prophet."

"Pleased to meet you sir." Harry held out his hand for the other man to shake. "Can I do anything for you? It's just that I'm on my way to collect my exam results and all my friends will be there before me if I'm not careful!"

"Exam results?"

"Yeah it's GCSE results day, how could you not know?!"

Terry took a deep breath. "I couldn't ask you a few questions could I? The whole world wants to know where you've been and what you've been doing!"

"I've been here and I've been going to school, what else did you think I've been doing?!" Seeing the look on the reporter's face, he added, "talk to Professor Flitwick, tell him I sent you and you two can sort something out between you. I've really got to go now!"

With that Harry took off at a dead sprint.

The deal that Flitwick struck with the journalist was simplicity itself. The only condition was that Harry have finished school before he gave the interview. Flitwick even gave all kinds of concessions: the reporter would have exclusivity, all questions were acceptable although Harry did not have to answer any he didn't want to, an approved dictation quill could be used and he could even bring a photographer.

What most definitely was never mentioned however was the name of the paper that would be printing the story. It was a plan worthy of one and a half goblins. The Daily Prophet was heavily edited by the Ministry and the Quibbler full of nonsense. Therefore their ideas turned towards muggle newspapers.

One thing Harry was not lacking in was money, especially with how Griphook had been investing it, so he let Sirius purchase The Daily Telegraph as his guardian. It took only a few weeks before the first magical edition of the newspaper came out - wizarding news interwoven with the muggle. It was news the common witch/wizard wanted to know and anyone could submit an article about anything. By and large, over the course of a year the wizarding community switched from the Ministry controlled Prophet to the Telegraph.

Harry wanted to experience sixth form and take his A-Levels so he wouldn't finish his schooling until he was eighteen. Since no-one knew about their deal and other reporters were now following a lead that said Harry had run away to America, Terry Brook was persuaded to wait the extra year.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The day after Harry had taken his last A-Level exam Flitwick approached the young man.

"Hi Harry" Flitwick started nervously.

"Um hi Professor, how are you?"

"Oh fine, how about you? Happy now your exams are over?"

Harry grinned. "Oh yes! Glad I'm not planning on university yet though, now I can just chill."

"Before you relax completely there's just one more thing I'd really like you to help me with if you wouldn't mind?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Pick you up here at eight tomorrow, it's a Ministry thing."

"Ministry? Sorry Professor I thought them and I didn't get on since I told them I wasn't going to sort their "Dark Lord" problem?"

"We'll apparate straight to where we're going. And I believe it was the execution of your telling them that that the Minister and Albus mainly objected to, although they were sad that you didn't want to help."

"Well perhaps telling them to eff off was a bit blunt but they weren't getting the message! Yes I'll be ready at eight, as long as you don't mind how I deal with anyone who asks me stupid questions."

"Harry you can rip them to pieces verbally if you so wish, just nothing magical and nothing illegal is all I ask. Just until the job is done."

"Understood Professor. I'll do my best." Harry winked as Flitwick thumped him on the arm with a chuckle.

On his return from the Ministry the following day Harry fell into bed without even removing his shoes. Professor Flitwick's tasks had been seemingly pointless and then he'd had to battle through crowds of gormless idiots who'd come to stare at him when they realised who he was. A couple must have been journalists because he heard some questions being shouted, but he answered none. When the crowd crowded in on him and his mentor, Harry erected a shock field around them. Any person that came into contact with the shock field would receive an electric shock until they moved away. Harry heard appreciative noises come from next to him but he was too tired to care. In Harry's opinion it was a good job he had three months off - he was going to need it to recover from this!

When he awoke, Harry found a full breakfast and a pepper-up potion waiting beside his bed. He was staring at them still when Flitwick knocked on the door ten minutes later.

"Good morning Harry! You look like a man who wants to eat that food but doesn't know why it's there" Flitwick greeted him.

"No... YES sir. Did you do this?"

"I asked a house-elf to help me. If you are anything like I was, you'll be eating like a maniac for three days. I think I ate nearly an entire cow the day after my Mastery exam."

"Oh... wait WHAT?"

"You didn't think I was asking for those ridiculous things yesterday for the good of my health did you?" Flitwick asked with a grin. "I believe the results are posted a couple of days earlier than your A-Levels are. You'll be a Master of Charms before you even leave school Harry. Won't that give you something to talk to that reporter about!"

"I can't believe you did that!" Harry retorted with a chuckle of surprise. "Well turnabout is fair play Mr Sneakypants, let's see if you can get down from there!"

Flitwick hurriedly looked around him to find himself hovering in the dead centre of the room about eight feet off the floor. Harry hadn't used a specific spell and the thread of magic holding him had no discernible end that he could use to unravel it. It could be done by someone on the floor, but hovering whilst trying to undo magical threads was much much harder.

He let out a hearty laugh. "Alright Harry you win, let me down."

"What if I don't want to?" Harry replied mischievously.

"I will have to respond in kind of course" Flitwick responded with a raised eyebrow. "Don't forget I have fifty years on you and it's not only the Hogwarts students who enjoy a prank!"

Harry mock shuddered. "Oh I can only imagine what you lot get up to in the staffroom! Ok I'll let you down, when did you set me up with that reporter?"

"Sirius should be sending him his job offer for the Telegraph today. I planned to give him a couple of days to get used to us before letting you loose on him."

Harry smirked. "How chivalrous of you."

Flitwick, now safely back on the floor, punched Harry lightly.

"Eat your food. I don't want Poppy on my case for overworking you!"

"Yes sir! Eating my food sir!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The interview was front page news in the Wizarding Telegraph. The few remaining loyal supporters of the Prophet had no idea what was going on to begin with, but by the end of the day you would have had to have been hiding under a rock in the Outer Hebrides not to know about it. Questions that no-one dared ask but all wanted to know were printed there in black and white with full answers. Neither had held back in the asking, or the answering.

Harry smiled as he put down the paper. Finally the world would get its answers! Better than that, they might even listen to them! He'd even added in that any extra questions people had they could write to the newspaper to ask them and he'd answer them if he could in a weekly "Harry's Life" column. Flitwick and Griphook had agreed that giving the public this might stop him being mobbed every time he went out. He would write a little bit about what he did during the week, and in turn everyone would let him be. It was a small price to pay for an easy life, thought Harry.

Hearing noises from the park across the way, Harry got up - leaving the paper on the table. Some guys were playing football and Harry felt like joining them. He had seven weeks to wait for his results and he couldn't do anything about them now so he might as well go and enjoy himself.