Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

Some of the concepts that will be in this fic are from other Fan fictions about Harry Potter with my own twist on them. So I would like to acknowledge all the Harry Potter fan writers on this site for great work and hundreds of hours of reading. This is an AU story.

A/N - Sorry for the long wait, like I said, I'm not giving up on this story… another chapter is already in the works. So it shouldn't be another three years. I'm not giving up on my SG1 crossover either. I just need to shift gears for a while to this and another story I'm writing. It will continue. There is already a chapter written but I'm hold off on posting it until a get a couple ahead.

I'm also changing how I do scene breaks. They will have place and date in them. It's to help you and me keep track of who, where, and when.

So on with the Story.

Previously - Dumbledore and Quirrell get into a fierce duel and Quirrell is killed, Voldemort escapes but not before McGonagall and Sinistra are severely injured. Harry puts the school in lockdown, Hermione passes out from seeing the vicious duel, Susan calls in her aunt. Dumbledore is finally arrested.

-oo0 Ministry of Magic, DMLE, Friday, September 14th, 1991 0oo-

Albus was worried, since being brought to the Ministry of Magic and placed in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's holding cell the night before; he had been feed, given clean plain robes, and left to his own thoughts. He wasn't worried about himself, not at all, he knew he could get out of just about anything; he was worried about his plans for Harry. For the most part they had all been Avada Kedavra'd at this point but he was sure given time he could work with the changes and get things back on track, Voldemort was still out there after all.

The prophecy may not have been real but it had been set in motion those eleven years ago. If he was right and he almost always was, Tom Riddle had made a Horcrux, all the signs pointed to it. He also knew, Harry had a part of Tom Riddle's soul stuck behind that scar on his forehead.

It wasn't a Horcrux but the residual magic in Harry's scar showed that Tom had performed the necessary rituals just before coming to the Potter cottage. It was very likely that it was Harry who was holding Tom back from moving on. If that was the case, then Harry needed to die in order for Tom to become mortal once again.

The spirit of Voldemort that possessed Professor Quirrell now knew the prophecy was a fake but the parts of Voldemort he had placed in however many Horcruxes he made, didn't know that information. Albus's only conclusion at this point was that the Prophecy was still in play if Voldemort was reborn from one of those.

Albus did realize though that he had made many mistakes where Harry was concerned. So many plans down the drain at this point. He had lost control and didn't see yet how to get it back. Everything hinged now on what Amelia was going to do to him and how much power he retained after this was all said and done. He really didn't think of himself as a bad person for what he had done, it was after all for the greater good.

'What is that greater good?' a small voice in the back of his mind asked. Albus ignored it.

His thoughts were stopped as he heard the lock of his cell door being opened. Standing, he faced the door and put on his best grandfatherly face and smile. He would get through this he thought. The door opened and in stepped two Aurors.

"Mr. Dumbledore, please raise your wrists." the first Auror, a large dark skinned, bald man asked.

"Ah, Kingsley, it is good to see you again. How have you been?" Albus replied with his eyes twinkling. Albus didn't recognize the other Auror with him.

"Again, Mr. Dumbledore, please raise your wrists." replied Kingsley. Dumbledore frowned a bit but followed the instructions this time. The second Auror moved forward and placed magic suppressing cuffs on his wrists then stepped back.

"I'm sure there is no need for those, I am cooperating." Stated Dumbledore.

"Please follow me Mr. Dumbledore." Kingsley instructed as he turned and walked out of the cell, not even acknowledging what Dumbledore had said.

Dumbledore followed him out of the cell and down the hall. He was directed into one of the lifts, both Auror flanking him. Kingsley called out level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement causing the lift to start on its journey. When the lift doors opened two more Aurors joined the escort as they walked down a long white hallway that was lined with gray colored doors.

Dumbledore thought he knew every place in the Ministry but he didn't recognize this place. It certainly wasn't the main offices of the DMLE.

The escort stopped at a door about three quarters of the way down the hall. Kingsley opened the door and directed Albus into the room. Inside Dumbledore found a blank gray room with a medium sized metal table in the center that had two chairs, a smaller table in the far corner with a single chair near it, and on one wall was a large recessed mirror.

The Auror that had bound his wrists directed Dumbledore to one of the two chairs at the main table while Kingsley walked to the smaller table and sat down.

Before sitting down, Dumbledore looked at the younger Auror. "Are my wrist to stay bound?"

Kingsley replied before the younger man could. "Yes Mr. Dumbledore, they are."

Albus frowned again but took the seat indicated to him. The young Auror then left the room with the other two escorting Aurors. Albus turned to Kingsley. "I do not recognize this room or the hallway we arrived in. I thought I knew every room in the Ministry."

Kingsley looked at Dumbledore for a moment trying to decide if he should answer the question, but it wasn't a question at all, just a statement. He was saved from commenting when the door to the room opened again to admit Amelia Bones.

"Good morning Mr. Dumbledore," She greeted Albus with a smile. "The reason you do not recognize these rooms or the hall is that they are a recent addition to the DMLE. After Minster Crabtree was voted into office our budget was increased, allowing for us to make some improvements to the offices. We got the idea of these rooms from the muggle police. They are called interview rooms. Of course their version of interview and ours differ but the room setting is quite nice, wouldn't you agree?"

"A little on the drab side I would have to say. The room could use some color. It is of course nice to see you again Amelia." replied Dumbledore.

Amelia took the few step needed to reach the table and the chair on the other side of it. She then stood there for a moment. "I would, under other circumstances, return your sentiment, however, with things as they are, I must say, what the hell is wrong with you?" Amelia then sat down in the chair opposite Dumbledore.

"I see. I am disappointed that you feel that way Amelia." replied Dumbledore while putting on his best disappointed look.

"That little trick will not work for you today Mr. Dumbledore. I do not care that you are disappointed in me or anyone else for that matter." Amelia replied.

She then turned to Kingsley, who was still sitting in the corner at the small table. "Auror Shacklebolt, are you ready?" She could see the dicta-quill set up on a stack of parchment already working on the desk.

"Yes Director." he replied.

"Please active the runes." She ordered him.

Kingsley pulled his wand out and tapped three runes on the wall next to him that Albus hadn't noticed until that point. As he touched each rune there was a small flash.

The first one he activated caused the shackles on Dumbledore's wrist to attach themselves to the table and glow for a moment. The second rune caused the lighting in the room to brighten ever so slightly.

Dumbledore couldn't tell what the third rune did as there was no outward sign of anything happening. He did feel differently though, and the shackles attaching to the table didn't make him feel like this was just going to be a simple chat.

"Director Amelia Bones, interviewing Albus Wulfric Brian Percival Dumbledore on multiple charges. The time is…" Amelia looked down at a watch on her wrist. "14:27 on 'September the 14th, 1991'. Also in the room is Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt acting as scribe and controller of the truth wards."

Dumbledore's eyes widen hearing that last part. Truth wards were not the same as veritaserum, in that he absolutely had to tell the truth, but the wards would indicate if he lied while answering a question. He would have to watch his words very carefully. Truth wards could be much worse than veritaserum as every lie would be recorded.

-oo0 Founders Tower Common Room, Saturday Morning, September 15th, 1991 0oo-

Harry was sitting in the Founders common room, thinking over the events of the past couple days. Hermione hadn't been released from the infirmary as he expected for dinner the night before. There hadn't been a special addition of the Daily Prophet either, which was a surprise. The Prophet was normally very well informed when something happened in the magical world and the duel between Dumbledore and Quirrell was huge news.

He was also worried about what was going to happen to the school now. He didn't expect Dumbledork to return and if he did, Harry was pretty much done dealing with him. As the Lord Hogwarts, he could fire Dumbledore and appoint a new Head… that thought brought up the question of the Board of Governors. He had planned to disband the board in the coming weeks and appoint several advisors that would help him manage the school until he graduated.

He was going to leave them in place even after he graduated since he wanted to travel the world for a few years before coming back. His plans for the years following Hogwarts were still only ideas, wants and desires. He knew that eventually, hopefully years from now, that he would have to take over as Headmaster - it was his school after all. He just wasn't sure what he was going to do in the years between graduation and then. He didn't even know if he liked teaching.

The only thing holding him back from making any concrete plans was not knowing if he would survive the coming years. Having had Voldemort in the school had definitely made that outlook of surviving less likely.

Still, he had more pressing issues to deal with. The school was going to need a new Headmaster. His first thought was of Professor McGonagall since she was the current deputy but he quickly crossed her off his mental list. He had forgiven her for helping Dumbledork place him with the Dursleys but he hadn't forgot it. She was too much in Dumbledore's pocket as far as he was concerned.

His next thought was Professor Flitwick, Harry really liked the little Professor, he had helped Harry immensely since Harry got to Hogwarts but he had also been firm in what he would and wouldn't allow Harry to do. Flitwick had also shown that he genuinely cared for his students by what he did with Hermione.

Harry was just sitting in one of the lounge chairs going through all this in his head when Remus joined him that morning. Remus had spent the night, after begging Sirius to be the one to return to Potter Manor. He had even taken an oath to not retaliate against Sirius for the next five pranks, that was how badly he wanted to spend time in the Founder's library.

Harry had slept pretty well considering what had happened. It was a wonderful side effect of being able to compartmentalize his memories when he needed to. He had been up for a couple hours as was his norm with a book from the Founder's library in his lap even though his mind had been on other things.

He didn't always go down to breakfast in the Great Hall. He was going to go down today though and was just waiting on Neville to wake up. Susan had spent the night in the Hufflepuff dorms to be close to her friend Hannah.

"I'm expecting the news of what happened to be in the Daily Prophet today." Harry started the conversation.

"I'm surprised it wasn't in a special addition last night… and good morning to you Harry." Remus replied with a grin.

"Sorry. Good morning Remus. Have you heard from the mutt yet?" Harry asked. His occlumency shields were up at about half strength so he wasn't showing a whole lot of emotion on his face. He was still upset about what had happened and with Dumbledore but didn't want it showing. His eyes were their normal green.

"Not yet, I expect he's either still sleeping, or he's prowling around the Ministry trying to get information about Dumbledore." Remus replied as he sat down on one of the comfortable chairs facing Harry.

"Most likely sleeping then." Harry stated. "I'm just waiting for Neville to wake up before going down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I want to see the reaction to the news. Besides, Hermione should be out of the infirmary by then and I want to see how she's doing. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me in last night. Said Hermione still needed rest."

Remus took a minute to reply. He sat there contemplative for a moment. "What she, and the rest of you witnessed was straight out of a horror show, I'm not surprised that Neville and Susan are taking it so well. Then again, they grew up hearing about some of the horrors of the first war and what duels like that are like. It's just part of being wizard born.

"Hermione is muggle born, and from what you've told be about her, she's been pretty sheltered most of her life. That was traumatic in the extreme, I expected you to be a little more…"

Harry cut him off before he finished. "I've buried it deep in my mindscape, plus after living with the Dursleys… I'm numb to violence… I don't like it, but I'm numb to it."

Remus didn't reply. He just nodded his head to what Harry had said with a sad look on his face. Harry had told him and Sirius all about his time at the Dursleys, there was no need to bring it up again. They had helped Harry get over it as best they could and were still doing so by showing him the love and support he never got from them. It was things like this though, that highlighted the psychological aftermath that they hope to one day repair.

"So, when do you expe…." Remus didn't finish his question as the subject of the question entered the common room at that moment from the Gryffindor suit.

"Good morning Neville." Harry called out.

-oo0 Great Hall, Saturday Morning, September 15th, 1991 0oo-

As Harry and Neville entered the Great Hall for breakfast the noise almost instantly cut off as everyone turned to look at them. Remus had stayed in the tower to have his breakfast after Harry had set one of the walls to view the Great Hall.

This was the whole reason why Harry didn't like eating in the Great Hall all that often but did it because he needed to, and because Professor Flitwick had asked him too. He understood the reason, if he constantly separated himself from the other students at school, it would start to look bad, like he felt he was above them all.

Having everyone stare at him had almost completely died down, but it looked like it was back in full force. He hadn't really done anything this time except put the castle in lockdown. It wasn't like he had been directly involved. He did notice that for the most part, they were all just looking at him inquisitively. There were four students from the Slytherin table scowling at him, and one from Ravenclaw.

He didn't know what their problem was though, they were all sixth and seventh years by the look of them.

After a few seconds the noise returned and everyone went back to their breakfasts. Harry looked to the head table and found that Professor McGonagall and Professor Sinistra were still not in attendance. He figured they were still in the hospital, he'd find out from Professor Flitwick.

Neville stopped at the Founder's table and sat down while Harry continue up to the head table. Flitwick was sitting in the Headmaster's chair since both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress were out of the castle. He was, after all, the next senior Professor in the school.

Harry walked up to the table and leaned over a bit so he was closer to Flitwick. In a whisper he asked. "How are Professors McGonagall and Sinistra?"

Flitwick leaned closer to Harry before replying with a smile. "They should both be back tonight Harry."

Just as Harry was about to reply he heard his name called from the other end of the hall, "Harry!" It was Hermione, apparently she had been released from the hospital wing. Harry looked up at her call and smiled. He then turned back to Flitwick. "We should sit down later and talk Headmaster Flitwick." Harry then turned and walked back down the the Founder's table just as Hermione got there, leaving a gobsmacked half-goblin behind him.

Harry made his way from the head table down to the Founder's table arriving at it just before Hermione did only to be plowed into by the girl and given a huge hug. It took Harry a second before her returned it, all the while thinking that it felt good to have his friend in his arms.

While he had been up at the head table, Susan had joined Neville at the table and she was now smirking at the look on Harry's face that went from uncomfortable to resigned to a small smirk. She actually giggled a little even though she was a little jealous that it wasn't her in Harry's arms.

After a couple seconds, Harry let go of Hermione, stepping back then moving to his place at the head of the table. He did take notice that the entire room had gone quiet again. Looking around he saw everyone looking at him and Hermione. 'Great now they're all going to think we're together' he thought to himself.

Hermione sat down at the table next to Susan. "How are you doing Harry?" She asked as he sat down.

"I'm fine Hermione. I should be asking you how you're doing." He answered with some concern.

"The mind healer really helped. She helped me… get through what we saw."

"That's good. It was a nastier fight than normal but duels like that happen in the Wizarding world. You need to get used to at least hearing about them…" Harry replied but Neville cut him off.

"They're not as common as say a hundred years ago but the last war was particularly nasty. We all grew up hearing about it, so it's not a big a shock to wizard born."

Harry nodded as he started filling his plate with breakfast. Conversation after that dropped to what would happen to classes. Harry pointed out that they were effectively down a professor if not two at the moment and Professors McGonagall and Sinistra may need more time to recover which would mean no classes Monday.

It was into this conversation that the mail started to arrive. Hedwig doing her normal grand entrance over the head table and flying to Harry. She landed on his shoulder and dropped the rolled up Daily Prophet onto the table. "Hi girl. Anything good in it today?" Harry asked as he reached to pick up the paper.

"Bark, hoot, hoot." Hedwig replied to him. 'You'll find it very interesting.'

Harry opened the rolled up paper to the front page and again headlines were fighting for top billing.

Deadly Duel at Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore Arrested, Charges Pending

Who Will Be The Next Headmaster of Hogwarts?

Deadly Duel at Hogwarts

'What is happening at our beloved Hogwarts? On Thursday evening during a staff meeting the current and as rumors would have it, most unqualified Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts in recent years, Quirinus Quirrell, lost his mind and started attacking the rest of the staff. This reporter dug deep to try to get the full accounting of the incident where Unforgivable Curses were sent in all directions. As luck would have it, none of the Professors were killed except for Professor Quirrell himself.

Professors McGonagall and Sinistra were both severely injured but should return to Hogwarts this evening after spending two days in the very capable hands of healers from St. Mungo's.

All this reporter has been able to find out is that the incident ended in a one on one duel between Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell, with the Headmaster killing the man as he tried to force Quirrell from the school.

It is reported that the Auror were notified even as the fight was taking place by an unknown student. This reporter also found out that it was Lord Potter, also now know as Lord Hogwarts, who put the school into lockdown as the fight started in order to protect the students. The lockdown is rumored to have awakened wards within Hogwarts that have not been seen since the last days of Helga Hufflepuff. More on what we know of the ancient wards, see page 3.'

By Rita Skeeter

Albus Dumbledore Arrested, Charges Pending

'Thanks to a anonymous source within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, this reporter has been told that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has been arrested and is currently being questioned by the Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, regarding the incident that took place Thursday night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

However, my source has also informed me that Headmaster Dumbledore is also being questioned on a number of other charges not related to the incident. These charges include the kidnapping of an Heir to a Most Ancient and Noble House, illegal use of Compulsion Charms, child neglect, child endangerment, child abuse through neglect, abuse of authority, and finally (and this one could see our esteemed Headmaster thrown through the Veil of Death), attempted Line Theft of a Most Ancient and Noble house.

Details are sketchy at the moment and we can only assume that the Most Ancient and Noble House being referred to is the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. That's right witches and wizards, it is known that Dumbledore had the Wills of Lord James and Lady Lily Potter sealed shortly after their deaths and their son, the now Lord Harry Potter whisked away to parts unknown.

While no formal charges have yet to be filed with the Wizengamot, our source has informed us that they will be forthcoming. When the charges are filed, we at the Daily Prophet will be there to get them to you the public.

We at the Daily Prophet hope any all wrong doings by Albus Dumbledore come to light. More on page 4. Dumbledore families bid to become a noble house, page 5.

By Dempster Wiggleswade

Who Will Be The Next Headmaster of Hogwarts?

With Headmaster Dumbledore in a Ministry hold cell and the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall in St. Mungo's, who is currently running our beloved Hogwarts? After looking through the Hogwarts Charter, we at the Prophet determined that Filius Flitwick, current head of Ravenclaw house and Charms Master, is the most senior Professor currently in the school and therefore should be filling the role of Headmaster until Deputy Headmistress McGonagall returns.

However, as reported on September 2nd, Hogwarts now has in residence the Heir to the Founders, Lord Hogwarts, Lord Harry Potter. How will he affect the naming of a new Headmaster, assuming Headmaster Dumbledore is cleared of any charges against him and returns to Hogwarts?

Per the Charter, created by the Founders, young Lord Potter has full control over the school. He can appoint and remove any staff, he can add or remove classes, he could even shutdown the school, be it temporarily or permanently, if he so chooses too. We at the Daily Prophet tried reaching members of the Hogwarts School Board of Governors for comment but did not hear back from them by the time we went to print.

We do know that classes have been cancelled through Tuesday morning with four Professors currently unavailable to teach. That's right, four: Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, Professor Sinistra, both of whom were hurt during the battle Thursday evening; Professor Severus Snape, who is reported to also be in St. Mungo's, suffering from mental trauma of unknown origin; and obviously Professor Quirrell, who was killed Thursday evening by Headmaster Dumbledore.

In the case of Potions Master Snape, he had already been replaced by Potions Mistress Stuart this past week. Even with Professor Stuart, Hogwarts is still short professors for two core classes and one elective.

We hope the that classes can resume quickly, parents of spend a lot of money to sent their children to Hogwarts, the greatest magical school in the world. We also wish a speedy recovery to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Sinistra.

See the full school charter on page 10.

By Phentum Phenux

As Harry finished reading the last article on the front page he dropped his head to the table, almost planting his face in his own breakfast and started whispering things to himself.

"Alright there Harry?" Neville asked seeing his friend look like he had just been hit in the back of the head with a stupid stick.

"I… k… I… fro…. some..ing." Harry replied but it was muffled as his mouth was currently kissing the wood of the table.

"What was that Harry?" Susan asked this time looking at him in concern.

Harry raised his head from the table and looked at her. "I said, I knew I forgot something."

Susan and Neville both stared at him, waiting for him to tell them what he was talking about. Hermione wasn't looking at them, she had scooped up the paper that Harry had set aside as he face planted himself, and was reading it.

Harry looked at his two friends for a second, his eyes were both brown with flecks of green, before continuing. "I forgot to send out the notices to the Board of Governors telling them that their services are no longer required. With what's in the paper, I can just see them all rushing to get here to put in their two knuts about who the next Headmaster is going to be…"

As if on cue, Hogwarts alerted Harry to the fact that eleven wizards and witches were currently at the front gate demanding to be let in. He dropped his head to the table again, this time hitting his forehead on it before looking back up at Neville and Susan. "Speak and you shall receive, they're at the front gates now."

Susan smiled mischievously at Harry while Neville looked like he really felt bad for his friend. Harry then stood up. "I think I'll finish breakfast in the tower." Harry turned to the head table and walked up to it, right to Flitwick.

"Professor, I'll be in the tower, I need to rest." Harry turned to leave but paused. "Oh, by the way, you have some guests at the front gate 'asking' to be allowed access. If you could deal with them, I'd really… appreciate it." Harry shrugged, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but standing where he was. "Just let them know they're all fired." Harry then turned and walked away from the table, down past all the tables, and out the doors of the Great Hall, all before Filius could reply.

Flitwick watched him as he left, wondering what Harry had meant by they're all fired, then caught on that whomever, 'them' were, they were at the gates. He stood from the chair and quickly exited from the Hall by the side entrance.

-oo0 Founders Tower, mid-afternoon, Saturday, September 15th, 1991 0oo-

After returning to the tower, Harry pulled out his assignments from his stash of homework he had done for Remus the year before and checked it against the assignments due when classes resumed. He wouldn't need to worry about them when classes started again.

Remus had left not long after breakfast as they weren't sure if Dumbledore would somehow get out of his current problems and come back to the school. Harry was really hoping he wouldn't, he didn't want to have to fire the old man himself. If the courts took care of Dumbledore, then he wouldn't have too.

He did need to do the assignment for potions though, as Professor Stuart had changed the course work enough that what he had brought with him would not suffice. Normally, he would take care of it right away but today he had a lot on his mind. The Daily Prophet was right, the school was in trouble. He didn't want to have to deal with it, it wasn't his job, he was a student right now and he wanted to remain that way for the next seven years.

Instead of working on his potions assignment, he pulled some parchment out and began writing. He need to jump ahead of this before more trouble found its way into his life. The first letter he wrote was to the ex-members of the Board of Governors. In it he thanked them for their years of service to the school and pointed out the provision in the Charter that allowed him to dismiss them. He'd ask Professor Flitwick to make twelve copies of it later.

The second letter he wrote was an open letter to the Daily Prophet, again thanking the board for their service. He also included a few other things that he was doing. After that, he wrote out five more letters, all going to people he trusted.

After writing the letters, he walked into the training area of the tower after retrieving a small chest he had in his truck, and sat down just inside the wards that prevented stray spells from exiting the area. After sitting down, he opened the small chest and pulled a feather and an eight inch steel ball that Remus had gotten for him the year before from the chest.

After pulling out the two objects, he let the ball roll away from him to the center of the area and placed the feather a couple feet in front of him. He hadn't done his wandless exercises since the start of the term, and he could feel his magic getting sluggish if he wasn't using his wand.

Even though all he could really do wandlessly was levitate, summon, banish, and small fire spells, he needed to stay in practice or all the wand work would cause his wandless ability to atrophy, Remus had reminded him to keep up with it. Both Sirius and Remus had told him that magic was like a muscle: the more you push it the more it would grow. He also needed to keep the magical pathways that ran through his body working.

Working with his wand was great, he would eventually be able to do a lot with it, but he needed to keep working his magic wandlessly or else he could lose the ability.

He moved his legs so he was sitting indian style and closed his eyes for a moment while he reached deep inside himself and found his core. After a moment, he flicked his finger at the feather and it rose up into the air about three feet. He held it there with his magic, motionless, not letting it rise or drop from its position.

He then flicked his finger again and the steel ball, which weighed a good thirty kilograms, rose into the air as well. He let it raise to the same height as the feather and held it there. He could feel his magic flowing through his body to make his intent reality, in this case holding both the feather and steel ball motionless in the air. He could feel the strain as his magic force its way through his magical pathways, down his arm, and out his finger.

He had done the exercise almost every day back at the Manor. He had gotten to the point where he could hold the two objects for an hour. Since he was already feeling it he knew he wouldn't last that long. He closed his eyes again and concentrated on what he was doing, allowing the world around him to fade away.

oo0 Founders Tower, mid-afternoon, Saturday, September 15th, 1991 0oo-

Flitwick wasn't in a good mood. Well, he was and he wasn't. He was in a good mood because he got to fire the Board of Governors; he was in a bad mood because four of them started yelling and screaming at him. The other seven, including Madam Longbottom, had just thanked him and left. The four though, while still on the outside of the gate, continued yelling about hereditary seats and other such nonsense. The loudest had been Lord Smith whose family, as rumor would have it, came from the Hufflepuff line, but it was obvious now that they either lied about it or were only a branch family.

Flitwick had just stood there for about a minute listening, before turning around and just walking back up to the castle. He had read the Charter, those four obviously had not. The board had been appointed by Helga Hufflepuff from members of the Wizards Council before she passed away. It was true the seats were hereditary within those families, but only until the heirs to the Founders - or in this case, heir - returned to the school.

Seats had been sold and bought over the years, hence why Malfoy had had a seat on the Board. He was actually happy to see them go, they had been more trouble than good for the school, especially in recent years.

He was still going to give Harry a piece of his mind for dropping that little task in his lap. Unfortunately he had other things to do before he could go have a talk with Lord Hogwarts.

After making sure the remaining Professors and the Prefects were doing their duties and watching over the students, he went up to the tower for his chat with Harry. As he entered the tower common room, he expected to see Harry in the lounge area reading, as was normal for the young man. Instead, he saw him sitting in the training area with his eyes closed, a feather and metal ball floating in front of him.

He was about to say something when he noticed the sweat beading on Harry's forehead, and the metal ball moving slightly down, then back up to its original spot. Upon further inspection, Flitwick noticed that Harry didn't have his wand in his hand. 'Wandless!' Flitwick had never seen anyone doing what Harry was. He had seen wandless magic before, but had never seen it used in this way.

Flitwick moved from the entrance to the edge of the warded area and conjured a small chair for himself, to the right and behind Harry, so as not to startle the boy if he were to open his eyes. He sat and watched Harry for the next ten minutes, not wanting to disturb whatever the young man was doing. As he watched, the metal ball would waver at times, but he could see Harry's forehead scrunch up and the ball would stabilize. The feather never moved.

After ten minutes the ball finally dropped from the three feet it had been hovering at with a solid thud onto the stone floor. Flitwick could see the small chip it took out of the stone where it hit. At the same time the feather shot up to the ceiling with great speed. Flitwick looked back at Harry just as the young man opened his eyes and looked up.

"Damn!" Harry exclaimed as he reached his hand up and the feather shot down from the ceiling into it. Flitwick couldn't help himself as he started clapping his hands excitedly. That had obviously been the wrong thing to do though as he found himself flying backwards toward the wall on the other side of the room. Just before hitting though, his flight through the air stopped, and he found himself floating about two feet off the ground, meer inches from colliding with the wall.

"I'm so sorry Professor!" Harry exclaimed as Flitwick was lowered to the ground. "You startled me."

"No harm done Harry." Flitwick replied as he turned and looked over his shoulder at how close he came to becoming a battering ram for the solid walls behind him. "That was quite impressivr, though I am wondering what you were doing." He turned back to look at Harry and started walking toward him.

Instead of answering right away, Harry pulled his wand from it holster and flicked it in the air, the time appearing just in front of him. "Damn!" He exclaimed again, then looked at Flitwick. "Sorry Professor…" Harry look ashamed for swearing in front of his Head of House.

"Forgivable Harry, now what were you doing?" Flitwick dismissed the apology, he was more interested in what Harry had been trying to accomplish.

"It's an exercise I normally do each day. Magic is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised." Harry replied.

"That is true, but you were doing it wandlessly, and I've never seen that particular exercise before." Flitwick knew magic was like a muscle, he made sure to push his a bit everyday, though for an adult wizard, normal everyday use was more than enough.

"It was something that Remus and I came up with to practice my wandless magic and to push myself with." Harry walked to where the steel ball had dropped. "This is very heavy, thirty kilograms." Harry picked up the ball with both his hands and moved toward Flitwick, handing it to him. Flitwick took the ball and almost dropped it, not expecting the weight."Levitating it pushes my magic, the longer I hold it in one spot the harder it gets over time. At the same time I have to control it, keep it from moving."

"I've seen things like this used before Harry. I did something similar when I was on the dueling circuit. Many of the competitors do this, though we use our wands. What about the feather?" Flitwick explained and asked.

"The feather adds a second element, control. By levitating the feather I have to split my magic and concentration between the two. It adds a level of difficulty to the exercise, when I can't maintain the ball any longer, my magic shifts to the feather; I'm suppose to control it so it doesn't do what it did. It should have stayed where it was." Harry looked a bit disappointed that he had lost control of the feather. "When I first started doing this, I couldn't hold it for more than a few minutes and it really drained me. I was up to holding it for an hour but I haven't been practicing since school started. I only lasted forty five minutes and I lost control of the feather at the end…" Harry trailed off at the end with a look of disappointment on his face.

"That…" Flitwick started but paused for a half a second. "is both astonishing and amazing. Would you mind if I used this method with the rest of the students? They will have to use their wands though. Do you know how long you can hold it if use your wand?"

Harry looked down at his shoes for a moment. "I've never tried it with my wand Professor, I do it to keep and improve my wandless magic. Plus I'm not as good with a wand. I can do more with a wand... I can only levitate, summon, banish, and do some small fire magic wandlessly. My wand opens up all the other magic to me but also feels like it takes from my wandless ability. It's hard to explain."

"I think I understand Harry. A wand is a tool, it helps you focus your magic easier, but because it is tool it requires less skill and control then wandless magic. Your magic gets lazy is the best way to describe it. I am capable of wandless magic due to my goblin half but only with some goblin magic. I require a wand for human magic."

Harry listened to Flitwick, then thought about it. "That would be the best way to describe it. My magic gets lazy when I use a wand. I wish I could do more wandlessly but that's all I did as a kid. I remember summoning the gold medi-witch pin from the medi-witch's robes the day I was born, it was shiny and I wanted it." Harry actually had to stifle a laugh when he saw the look on Flitwick's face at him hearing about that.

After a minute of just standing there stunned Flitwick smilled. "You are an amazing young man Harry. Now," Flitwick's expression changed to serious and he gave Harry the evil eye. "That was not very nice of you to feed me to the wolves, some of the board were not very happy."

Harry looked down in contrition at having stuck Professor Flitwick with what was essentially his job as Lord of Hogwarts. "My apologies professor, I should have dealt with it myself but I just want to be a student, to enjoy my time learning, and spend time with my friends for the next seven years. I want the adults to handle the adult stuff for a change. I grew up too quickly living with the Dursleys, I want to enjoy my childhood a bit before having to take on all that responsibility."

Flitwick's face softened, he could understand Harry's desire, it was a sad thing that Harry had grown up the way he did and now to have the weight of the school on his shoulders was a lot to ask of an eleven year old.

Before he could reply though Harry continued. "I know I still have responsibilities though. I'm the head of several families, I own the school, and now we know Moldewarts is still out there, even if he is just a shade. Then there is the prophecy… I'm not stupidly going to take it all on, on my own." Harry smiled, even if it looked just a little forced. "That's what I have you and all my other family and friends for. Of course Dumbledore would have had me do it all on my own, the manipulative old fart." Harry's eyes had turned a bit black with that last statement.

Flitwick regarded Harry with a bit of concern. "You will have my support Harry. Now why did you call me Headmaster?"

Harry indicated the lounge area with his hand and they both moved over to it. Harry didn't notice the ball and feather float into the chest they were stored in and then disappear. He did however, notice the cold butterbeers appear on the table in the lounge area. "Thank you, Tula." He called out to the room as he and Flitwick sat down.

-oo0 Common Room, Founders Tower, Later that Night 0oo-

Neville, Susan, and Hermione had come up not long after Harry and Flitwick started their conversation in the lounge area. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation the three found other things to do. Hermione pulled out her homework and went up to the library, while Neville and Susan pulled out a wizarding chess set and played a few games.

The conversation between Harry and Flitwick went on until almost curfew, both missing dinner in the Great Hall. Thankfully, Tula was on the job and provided them with a working dinner. When Flitwick left for the evening, he had several pages filled with notes. He had help Harry learn the copy spell for the letters he wanted to send. When all the letters were ready and addressed, Hedwig appeared and took the entire stack in her claws and disappeared again.

Hermione had returned to the Ravenclaw tower before curfew, Susan and Neville doing the same for their respective houses. So Harry was once again spending the night alone in the tower, well except for Tula who was never far away from her Harry. Harry spent half an hour filling in Sirius and Remus on what had happened and his talk with Flitwick via the mirror before going to bed.

He entered his mindscape, sorted his memories, then closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day.