With a heavy heart, Lily Potter laid down the copy of the Daily Prophet she was reading and went to make herself another cup of coffee.

It had been a very long week since they'd sent the children away, and it had culminated yesterday with the bloodiest battle between the goblins and Ministry yet. According to the reports, over two hundred wizards had stormed the gates of Gringotts in attempt to free the hostages that the goblins had taken from Diagon Alley.

The wizards had apparently succeeded in breaking into the atrium of the bank, but once inside were met with fierce resistance from armed guards. The goblins had been prepared and were able to cut down over fifty wizards in the close quarter fighting. It was estimated that the goblins sustained even larger casualties, but the paper was unable to provide specifics as the goblins weren't sharing that information.

"All these lives lost over a bloody cup," muttered Lily as she thought about the item they'd retrieved from the Lestrange vault.

At that moment, James entered the kitchen and saw his wife getting worked up over the paper and he quickly put his arms around her to provide a sense of comfort.

"You can't blame yourself for this, dear," said James, as he looked down at the latest headline proclaiming the number of fatalities at the bank. "Goblins and wizards have distrusted each other for hundreds of generations. We aren't the cause of this war, it's the bigoted way in which each side treats each other that is to blame for the reoccurring conflict."

"I know," said Lily. "I just wish we could find a way to destroy the Horcrux without damaging the cup so we could take it to the goblins and show why we were really at the bank that night."

"At this point, I don't think it would do us any good," said James as he grabbed a slice of toast off of his wife's plate. "Too much blood has been spilt."

Lily could only sigh at her husband's words. She knew where he stood on this issue. He was in favour of destroying the Horcrux as soon as possible and finding a way to resolve the conflict with the goblins after, while she believed it was possible to use the cup to settle matters with them and was therefore against using Fiendfyre to destroy the artefact. Amelia shared the same opinion that the cup could be used as a powerful diplomatic tool while Frank and Alice sided with James in that they needed to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux as quickly as possible.

Without being able to come to a unanimous decision on what to do with the cup, they'd agreed to lock it away in a case that was stored in an underground chamber beneath a tree in the backyard, but Lily could tell that her husband was not particularly happy with this solution. In fact, he'd confessed to her that he'd woken up more than once this week in the middle of the night because of a nightmare where the Horcrux called out to him.

Unfortunately, Lily could only sympathise with what her husband was enduring as she had never come into physical contact with the artefact like he had and therefore had yet to feel the full effect of its power. She had noticed though that as the week went on everyone was growing more and more irritable, and while she believed that mostly to be the result of the growing conflict with the goblins, James believed it was the effect of being in such close proximity to one of Voldemort's soul pieces.

As James reached for the last sausage on her plate, Lily was broken from her reverie as she looked directly into her husband's tired eyes.

At that moment, Lily knew that she couldn't make him wait any longer.

"We'll do it tonight," she whispered, as she laid her head against his shoulder.

James immediately stopped his eating to look at his wife before a smile graced his face as he understood her words.

"But, before we do, I want to make one last effort today to convince the goblins of the truth."

James only swallowed the food in his mouth before asking his wife what she had planned.

"We take the letter to Sharptooth and show him that we were invited to the bank that night by a Gringotts employee."

"They'll never let us get anywhere near him," said James with a shake of his head.

"They will if we show up unarmed under the pretext of a ceasefire," countered Lily.

"You would have us walk into the bank defenceless?" James asked. "Lily, in case you've forgotten, the goblins want us dead."

"I haven't forgotten," said Lily with a roll of her eyes, "I just think it's necessary to show them some trust if we're going to have any hope of convincing them to meet with us. Besides if we get into trouble we can have Hedwig flame us to safety."

"I don't know," said James. "This seems like a massive unnecessary risk with very little chance of accomplishing anything for it."

"But there's a lot we could get out of it," said Lily. "At best we broker a peace with the goblins and put an end to the fighting, and at worst we come closer to finding out who set the trap for us."

"How so?" James asked, as he speared another forkful of eggs and lifted them to his mouth.

"Well, given that he's gained the most from Ragnok's death, I think it's fair to say that Sharptooth is the most likely culprit for the attack," reasoned Lily. When her husband nodded his head in agreement, she continued. "Watching his reaction to us bringing in the letter – the last piece of evidence that exists from the ploy that set up Ragnok's death – should confirm whether he was involved."

James immediately stopped chewing his food and swallowed it before leaning over and kissing his wife on her cheek.

"Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?"

"Not today, no," laughed Lily, as she embraced her husband.

Sharptooth was most pleased when he received word that James and Lily Potter wished to meet with him that day.

He'd been hoping that today, being Christmas Eve, would lull the wizards into a false sense of security as they celebrated the muggle holiday. Originally, he'd been planning to attack them unaware, but now, out of the blue, he'd been presented with a much more promising target. Evidently, the Potters were in a festive mood and were hoping to plead for peace.

Of course, Sharptooth had no interest in brokering peace with the wizards, but if two of the culprits behind the attack on his people were promising to willingly walk into his halls unarmed if he was willing to listen to what they had to say, well, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and turn them away.

It seemed like more than a fair deal to him given that, he'd have over fifty armed guards with him in the room ready to strike them down before the meeting concluded. The chance to parade their heads on a stake before the goblin nation would surely increase the support for his leadership.

When they finally did show up, Sharptooth was ready and waiting to receive them in the throne room.

"State your business."

While James kept his eyes on the guards, Lily looked up at Sharptooth sitting on what was formerly Ragnok's seat and could immediately tell from the grin on his face that he thought they wouldn't be leaving the bank alive.

"We're here to convince you that we did not come to the bank on the night of Ragnok's death with the intention of assassinating him," said Lily, her voice firm.

"Oh, so you just happened to be in the same corridor of the vaults as him and his guards, a corridor in which you had no business being I might add?"

"We did not kill him," said Lily. "We were framed."

"But you did kill goblin guards, or do you deny that too?" asked Sharptooth.

"Only in self-defence because they attacked us first," said Lily.

"And what proof do you have to validate your claims," said Ragnok.

"This," said Lily, as she pulled the letter from her pocket and brandished it in the air, carefully watching Sharptooth to see his reaction.

Sure enough, the goblins eyes grew wide at the sight of the paper before he collected himself and sneered at her.

"This is your defence? A piece of paper?"

"It shows that we were invited to the bank by the Lestrange Account Manager to retrieve an artefact that was wrongfully stored in their vault."

Sharptooth knew only too well what that piece of paper said, and with a quick hand motion, one of his guards lunged forward and snatched it from the witch's grasp and brought it up to him.

"Here's what I have to say on the matter," said Sharptooth, as he ripped the letter into pieces. "Either you stand trial for your crimes amongst the vaults or you allow wizarding Britain to be brought to its knees economically."

"We came here hoping for peace," said James, speaking up for the first time. "Do you not want to spare more of your people's blood from being split?"

"There's your peace," spat Sharptooth in rage as he pointed at the shreds of the letter on the floor by his feet.

"Very well," said Lily. "Just know that we have more than one copy of that letter, and we'll make sure the truth is known."

Enraged, Sharptooth motioned for his guards to seize them but before they could, a large silver and white bird flashed into existence and in another split second the two wizards in front of him were gone.

Furious, Sharptooth turned to his men and ordered them to carry out a new attack on St. Mungo's. Only now he gave them special instructions to write the words 'surrender the Potters' in the victim's blood.

The following day, Dan and Emma sat in the kitchen as they discussed the recent development of their daughter dating Harry. It hadn't escaped either of the parents notice that their Christmas gifts that morning were much more personal than ever before. Harry had given Hermione a gold necklace with the letters HJP on the front, and Hermione gave Harry a locket with a couple of photos of the two of them inside.

While Emma was absolutely thrilled for her daughter, Dan was less enthused about the idea of his little girl growing up. He knew that Harry could do a better job protecting her than just about anybody on earth, but the thought of his daughter dating sent a shiver down his back. He'd always known this day would come and had long since prepared to intimidate the crap out of any potential suitor, but with Harry, he honestly didn't know if he could do that, as the boy had faced dangers far greater than he could ever hope to imagine.

"You forget that Harry is not going to pressure her or take advantage of her," said Emma. "Remember this is the same boy who's brought her out of her shell and helped her make friends. He's always supported her and encouraged her to pursue her interests. He's never been intimidated by her independence or jealous of her intellect. He's also never stood idly by when she's been threatened, and most importantly, he's made her happy. To find a boy who can do all that is a rare thing, and honestly, I can't imagine anyone better."

"I know how great a kid Harry is," said Dan, "it's just nobody will ever be good enough for Hermione in my eyes."

"Give Harry some time and I'm sure you'll change your mind about that," said Emma with a smile. "He's already proven that he'll walk through hell for our little girl."

"I just... I didn't expect this day to come so soon," sighed Dan.

"Oh please! You had to have had some idea," laughed Emma.

Dan could only hang his head as he agreed that there were plenty of signs of a potential relationship blossoming based on how the two treated each other.

After all, it wasn't just Harry who treated Hermione with respect and adoration. Hermione had always done the same for Harry. He was the person she probably trusted and put more faith in than anyone else. She'd proven time and time again that she would put herself in danger for him, or bend the rules whenever he was concerned, as his safety was always her primary concern.

"They do share quite a bond," remarked Dan thoughtfully.

"They'll be good for each other," said Emma. "Hermione brings the best out of him – be it academically or emotionally, and Harry does the same for her."

"I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that my daughter's going to start dating," confessed Dan.

"I know they're young, but I really do think its true love," said Emma. When Dan groaned and only lowered his head she only laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm still giving him the father-boyfriend talk," said Dan.

"You're welcome to try," laughed Emma. "Although Harry would never lift a finger against you, you know that if you harm that boy in any way you'll never hear the end of it from Hermione."

Dan was about to agree with his wife when all of a sudden they heard a scream from another room in the apartment.

Immediately, Dan and Emma were out of their seats and racing towards the children to find out what happened.

When they reached the entrance to the living room, they saw that Hermione's hands were bright red and she was crying in pain.

"It was the letter," said Susan, as she pointed to one of the envelopes that were laid out on the table in front of them.

"It sprayed this black liquid on her when she opened it," said Harry, as he held a shaking Hermione in his arms.

"I think it was untreated Bubotuber puss," said Neville. "Harry vanished it almost immediately, but any contact at all is enough to cause some nasty boils."

As Emma ran to fetch Remus to see if he knew of a magical remedy for Hermione, Dan reached down and picked up the offending letter. He only read the first line before his temper flared and he scrunched the thing up and threw it at the wall. The thought that someone would anonymously attack his fourteen-year-old daughter over some absurd insinuation that she'd used a love potion to drug the boy-who-lived made him want to spit fire.

Trying to keep his cool, he looked over at the pile of unopened letters on the table, and then at the kids.

"I don't want you opening any more of these things until Sirius and Remus have checked them for curses."

As the kids nodded their agreement, the two men in question rushed into the room with Emma right behind them.

"Let me have a look," said Remus as he knelt down next to Hermione and opened up the first aid kit he'd brought with him. As she slowly unwrapped her fists he could see that her trembling fingers were badly burned, with a few open wounds already bleeding.

"I'll do what I can, but I think it's best if we take you to see a Healer," said Remus as he gave her a pain relief potion.

Hermione only nodded her head and drank the offered potion. Immediately the pain in her hands began to subside as she felt numbness spread over her body.

Remus then had her dip her hands in a bowl of murtlap essence before carefully wrapping them in bandages.

"There," said Remus once he was done as he admired his work. "The pain should be gone now and the scars will heal in a couple of days. You might want to have somebody reapply those bandages though. I never was very good at that."

"It's much better, thanks," choked Hermione as she looked down at her hands and flexed her fingers.

Dan and Emma also expressed their thanks as they wrapped their daughter in a hug.

"If you don't mind, I'll be taking these for further examination," said Sirius, as he transfigured a rag into a sack and levitated the pile of letters into it.

Of course, nobody had any objections. They were all only too happy to see the letters gone.

"We should've placed a damn owl ward around the property," growled Dan, as he watched Emma guide Hermione out of the room.

"We couldn't have expected this," said Remus, "but from now on we'll make sure each property we stay in has one erected."

Dan only nodded his head before turning back to look at the rest of the children.

Clarissa, Sarah, Matthew, and Joshua all looked petrified by what they'd just seen, while Susan and Neville were whispering amongst themselves. What drew his attention, however, was Harry's reaction. Dan had known Harry Potter for a long time, but he'd never seen the boy look so angry in his life.

Inwardly, Dan wasn't sure whether he should be pleased to see that the thought of someone hurting his daughter elicited such a reaction from him, or if he should be upset with the boy given that it was his association with his daughter that had gotten her hurt.

James was none too pleased about being awoken after a long night by the sound of his mirror ringing at five thirty in the morning. He'd only just drifted off to sleep a couple of hours ago after the trying ideal of destroying the Horcrux.

However, when he saw his son's face in the mirror, the memory of destroying of destroying the soul piece with Fiendfyre fled his mind and he awakened immediately.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

As Harry filled his father in on the details of Hermione getting attacked, James quickly started getting dressed.

"I'll go down to the Daily Prophet right now and get them to print a retraction in this morning's paper," said James, as he pocketed his wand. "Rita Skeeter had no right to publish that tripe of an article."

"Thanks, dad," said Harry, before his face vanished from the mirror.

Before James could sneak out of the room to use the Floo, Lily rolled over and realised her husband was no longer in bed.

"James?"

"Go back to bed dear," whispered James. "I've got to go take care of some House business."

Lily looked like she wanted to protest, but as James assured her all was fine she merely nodded her head and went back to sleep without a word.

Five minutes later and James was standing in the Daily Prophet office waiting to speak with the Editor in Chief of the paper.

After twenty minutes had gone by, and he'd still yet to be invited in, James simply marched right past the secretary who tried to get him to retake his seat and entered the man's office. He never was good at waiting on people, especially when they were clearly trying to test his patience.

"You're supposed to wait outside until I've sent for you," said the plump-faced man behind the desk. "In case you haven't noticed, we're rather busy at the moment."

"Rita Skeeter published an outlandish article about my son and his girlfriend that led to them being attacked," said James, ignoring the man's efforts to dismiss him. "As Head of House Potter, I demand you print a retraction and a formal apology in today's paper."

"I will not," grunted the man. "Freedom of speech is a critical element of the press."

"And I'll remind you that libel is a crime," said James. "Either you print a retraction or you'll be hearing from my lawyers."

"You can't control everything that is written about you or your family," said the man. "In fact, my advice is to get used to people writing things about you that you don't like. There are quite a lot of people in this country who want to see you locked away in Azkaban."

"I think you're forgetting who you're speaking to," said James, his frustration growing rapidly. "Between myself and my political allies, we own the majority of shares in this company. I could drag this paper through the mud and have both you and Rita Skeeter kicked to the curb if I wanted to."

"I'm perfectly aware who I'm speaking to," said the man as he stood up and leaned over his desk. "Quite frankly Mr Potter, I have no interest in complying with your demands."

"Then I have no choice but to take…" but before James could finish his statement, the man shouting over him.

"My wife and daughter both work in St. Mungo's, which in case you haven't heard, was attacked by the goblins last night!" shouted the editor, as his face contorted in rage, before he collapsed back into his seat and put his head in his hands as he took several deep breaths to calm himself. "I don't even know if they were one of the victims," he finished in a quiet tone, his voice filled with despair.

James was brought up short by the man's reaction. He had been ready to tear the man apart and threaten to expel him from his job but all of that anger evaporated as he heard about the enormous stress the man was under with his family's safety in jeopardy. He was a compassionate man after all and could sympathise with his want to blame him for the ordeal that he was under, but nonetheless had to remind him that he was under certain professional obligations.

"Look, Sir, I'm truly sorry that your family members were injured. We're doing our best to remedy the situation with the goblins, but that doesn't change the fact that your reporter acted unprofessionally and if you don't do anything about it I'll have no choice but to take action myself."

"Do I have to call for security to escort you out?" questioned the man, who by now was red in the face with anger. "My answer is no!"

Without a word, James rose from his seat and made his way towards the door.

As he reached for the doorknob to let himself out, he turned around to say one last thing.

"When this is all behind us you're going to owe me a big favour for saying no to me today, because nobody says no to James Potter and gets away unscathed for it."

The next day, the team and their entourage left for China, which meant the family would no longer have to deal with howlers and poisoned letters, as they were able to stay in an apartment that was owl protected.

They weren't there for long, only three days before they departed for Japan, but those three days couldn't have gone much better.

Harry kept his undefeated record by catching the snitch and winning the game 390-280. Sirius and Remus had successfully negotiated a deal with the Chinese Minister of Sport to broadcast the Quidditch World Cup in China if they could manufacture 3000 communication mirrors before summer. Even Narcissa had success in her search, making contact with a woman who had an affair with her husband for the first time since Spain, and planned to stay in Shanghai instead of travelling to Tokyo to meet with her.

Remus had offered to stay behind with her to accompany her, but Narcissa had turned him down, insisting that he stay with Harry and the kids as he'd promised to do.

However, now she was selfishly regretting that decision.

She had a lump in her throat and could only manage short, shaky breaths as she nervously walked towards the door of the woman's home.

Even after searching for months for one of Lucius' illegitimate bastards, she still dreaded the thought of actually finding one. She didn't love her husband anymore, that was for sure, but finding one would be the ultimate proof that he didn't love her either.

"I'm doing this for Draco," she reminded herself, as she knocked on the door, her whole body shaking in trepidation.

After a few moments, a woman in what was probably her late twenties opened the door. She had black hair and wrinkles under her eyes, but other than that Narcissa hardly noticed anything about her.

She was too busy staring at the young girl sitting on a chair behind her.

She didn't have the Malfoy blonde hair she expected to see, but there was no mistaking the child as her husbands'.

She had the same shaped mouth and nose as Lucius, but most telling of all was her eyes.

They were the exact colour of her husband's, and Narcissa knew as she stared into those orbs that her search had come to an end.

With James sending word from home that the Daily Prophet was not going to condemn Rita's actions, Hermione became more devoted than ever to finding out the secret of how she was spying on them.

She spent hours every day pouring over books on magical detection and brainstorming ways that she may have used to conceal herself.

The rest of the family helped too when they could, although most of them were too busy. Sirius and Remus were constantly scheduling meetings with diplomats, while Harry was practising with the team from sunrise to sunset. Dan, Emma, Matthew, Joshua, Clarissa, and Sarah all pitched in and helped, but their knowledge of the magical world wasn't as great as hers, Neville's, and Susan's so they mostly deferred to them. Still, Hermione couldn't have been more grateful for their assistance, as she still struggled to use her hands to complete even the simplest of tasks.

It was rather frustrating not being able to turn the pages in whatever book she was reading because of the bandages or perform even the simplest of wand movements. She even had to rely on someone else to cut her food.

Everyone was only too happy to assist her with whatever she may need, but Hermione couldn't help but miss her independence.

"Again please," said Hermione with a sigh, as she waited for Susan to reach over and turn the page for her.

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong," suggested Neville. "Maybe she's not using an invisibility cloak or a disillusionment spell, what if she's using polyjuice potion or some other method of disguising her appearance."

"No she must be concealing herself somehow," said Hermione with a shake of her head. "Mason doesn't allow anybody except for team personnel on the pitch during training sessions, and she's already published information that she couldn't have known unless she eavesdropped on those discussions."

"But maybe she's impersonating one of the coaches," offered Susan.

"Unlikely," said Hermione. "I doubt Rita knows enough about Quidditch to successfully pose as a coach."

"I just wish there was some way of tracking her," said Neville.

"Maybe we could get the Marauders to create a new map of the Quidditch grounds the team uses to train back in England?"

"It would take too long," said Neville. "I was thinking more along the lines of casting a spell on her."

That suggestion gave Hermione an idea, and she quickly asked for Susan to flip through the pages of the book she was reading until she came upon a spell called Homenum Revellio.

It was a complicated N.E.W.T level spell, but they could always get one of the adults to perform it. It wouldn't be able to tell them the method Rita was using to conceal herself, but it could identify the location of all people in the vicinity, and that would allow them to figure out when she was spying on them.

Excited, the kids quickly hopped out of their seats and went to find Remus or Sirius to see if they knew of the spell and could cast it tomorrow when England played Japan.

Lily could hardly contain her excitement as she bounced on her feet, waiting to see her children and the rest of the family. Beside her, she could see that Alice was very much in the same condition, while James and Frank stood with Amelia looking more composed but also anxious.

It had been a long couple weeks for them being separated from the family and having to deal with the chaotic situation with the goblins. Being reunited would serve as a most welcome distraction from the escalating violence.

Unfortunately, their time together wouldn't be for long, as the older kids would have to return to Hogwarts in a couple days, but Lily was very much planning on making the most of their time.

When they finally flashed into existence in the middle of the waiting room, Lily and Alice had their arms around their children in a heartbeat, with James, Frank, and Amelia not being far behind.

"Come on let's go home," said Sirius, as he guided the group towards the exit.

Like the other adults, James was reluctant to release his children from a hug so soon after not seeing them for weeks but relented nonetheless. He didn't say no however when Clarissa asked to be carried, and also held Sarah's hand as she walked beside him discussing what she'd learned from visiting different temples and cultural sites.

"Did you have fun in Asia?" Alice asked her boys, as Matthew and Joshua both nodded their heads frantically and launched into an in-depth explanation of everything they'd done on the trip.

Beside them, Amelia walked next to the Grangers and inspected Hermione's bandages.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to do anything more for you," said Amelia. "Our position with the Ministry is rather precarious at the moment."

"I'm fine," said Hermione with a shrug of her shoulders. "I just wish I could figure out how she's spying on us. I thought I had her when I read about this detection spell called Homenum Revellio, but when Remus cast it after the match in Shanghai we didn't find her. Do you know if there are ways of avoiding the spell?"

"Not that I know of," said Amelia, "but there are limitations to the spells use. For example, since it only locates the presence of human beings in the immediate vicinity it wouldn't be able to detect creatures like goblins or house elves."

Hermione only frowned at that comment.

"I still think she could have bugged you using muggle technology," said Dan, as he walked beside them holding Emma's hand. "Surveillance equipment is getting better every year. I've read that you can remotely listen in on people's conversation from over a hundred meters away now."

Amelia was about to respond and remind Dan that a high concentration of magic disrupts the radio frequencies that such devices rely on and would render the equipment useless but before she could do so Hermione turned and hugged her father emphatically.

"Dad that's it!" she cried in excitement.

"What's it?" asked Emma, as she and Dan only looked down at their daughter in confusion.

"She's got us bugged," laughed Hermione, "only not in the way you're thinking."

When Dan, Emma, and Amelia only stared at her she hastened to explain. "I've noticed a beetle flying around Harry, Coach Mason, and various other players at different times over the past couple months. I never thought anything of it until now, but I bet you that beetle is Rita Skeeter in her animagus form! I'll have to check the Ministry records to confirm my theory, but it would explain why the spell didn't detect her as she wasn't human at the time."

As Emma and Dan both expressed their excitement about catching the reporter who had harmed their daughter, Amelia could only marvel at the brilliance of the young girl before quickly excusing herself to talk with Frank about the unexpected discovery.

Needless to say, Frank was also quite embarrassed to learn that Hermione had discovered, in a matter of days no less, a weakness in a spell that they'd been using throughout their entire tenures in the DMLE.

"Just when I thought I'd gotten used to being shown up by teenagers," laughed Frank with a shake of his head.

"Something tells me this won't be the last time," said Amelia.

All too soon, it was time for the kids to return to Hogwarts, which meant once again braving the crowds at Kings Cross to board the Express.

When they arrived, they soon discovered that unlike in the past, they were greeted by numerous glares and jeers from other wizards and witches, as opposed to the finger pointing and poorly concealed whispering that went with Harry's fame.

The parents had expected this sort of reaction, however, and had warned the children to be on their guard in advance. Tensions amongst the people of wizarding Britain were at an all time, and much of that anger was directed at their family after the events of the Gringotts invasion and its aftermath. When the kids had learned of this, they'd at first been worried that some would call for them to be sacrificed to the goblins, but the parents had been quick to put those fears to rest. No matter how angry they were with them, there was virtually no chance that wizarding Britain would surrender esteemed members of their society to goblins.

However, that wasn't to say that the family didn't have to concern themselves with the perilous situation their society was falling into. In the wake of the bank closure and escalating violence between the two species, crime had sky-rocketed in their society and many had lost their jobs due to the fractured economy.

With those thoughts in mind, the kids chose to keep largely to themselves on the Express, as they quickly found an empty compartment and Hermione applied a one-way visibility charm on the window and a colloportus on the door.

The only visitors they allowed were Luna, Hannah, Ginny, Fred, George, Oliver, and Penelope. However, they still heard the remarks of their classmates as they exited the train and boarded carriages for the castle.

"There they go," spat an older looking bloke with black hair and blue trimmed robes. None of them recognised him, but they could clearly see the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Roger Davies, amongst his friends scowling at them. "Some Gryffindors they are. The cowards can't even apologise for getting the bank closed."

"My family couldn't even afford Christmas gifts," remarked a first-year girl with pigtails.

"Mine had to resort to stealing Christmas dinner from muggles," said another with distaste.

"I've heard they still have access to their gold somehow," said a blonde haired boy.

"They should be paying us compensation for all the trouble they caused," said a red-haired witch.

"I still can't believe the Ministry just gave their family a slap on the wrist after what they did."

The kids did their best to avoid the jeers and pointed looks. It wasn't very hard for them given the practice they'd had the year before during the Heir of Slytherin nonsense.

Unfortunately, if they thought this would be the extent of the troubles they'd face at Hogwarts they were sorely mistaken as awaiting the return of the students at the staff table in the Great Hall was a short toad-looking woman in a hideous pink cardigan.

From the simpering look she had on her face, Harry had an immediate gut feeling that this woman was bad news, and her opening speech only confirmed that.

"As you will all soon become aware, the Ministry has deemed it necessary for Hogwarts to undergo great changes in the coming term in order to put an end to the alarming reports of impractical and disreputable teaching environments and preserve the school's great tradition of learning. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what this means and I understand that change can be a frightening thing, but not to worry, you have my assurances that change for the sake of change will be discouraged while we will strive to preserve that which ought to be preserved. We're all friends here dedicated to pursuing the same ideals of higher learning and a just society."

This statement produced a wave of whispers throughout the hall, and Harry could see that several students, including his friends, were wearing frowns on their faces. If there was one thing that all teenagers hated it was being called a friend by some strange adult. Umbridge, however, seemed unperturbed by the fact that the whispers were predominantly negative things being said about her, and instead waited for the noise to die down with the same simpering smile on her face.

"Very good children. Now to ensure that you're all on your best behaviour and that the school is allowed to operate smoothly, I've taken the liberty of drawing up a few simple rules that will be effective immediately."

This time the Great Hall was silent as Umbridge paused for dramatic effect before continuing her speech.

"Firstly, as High Inquisitor, I will be conducting examinations of my fellow teacher's classes to judge their aptitude for their positions."

This statement prompted mix results from the students, some were delighted thinking that this would surely mean the removal of teachers like Snape or Trelawney, while others questioned as to why that responsibility had been stripped of the Headmaster.

Harry was one of those who fellow into the latter category, although he noted when looking up at the staff table that Dumbledore was the only Professor besides Umbridge who didn't have a scowl on his face.

"Secondly, as High Inquisitor, I will become the ultimate authority on all rewards and punishments, meaning I have the power to override any house points given and taken by another Professor, and can administer detentions as I deem necessary."

That statement certainly generated a buzz from the gathered students.

"Well it looks like the House Point system's going to be a joke this year then," whispered Neville to his left, only for Hermione to kick him underneath the table in an attempt to stay quiet. Harry didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she was already thinking they'd been prime targets of this woman given the vendetta the Ministry currently had against their family.

Sure enough, when Neville attempted to respond, Hermione fixed him with a withering glare that she then turned on Susan and Harry, as if she was daring them to misbehave.

Harry merely smiled and pretended to zip his mouth shut. He knew Hermione was only trying to look out for their best interests and that her anger was really with this new Professor.

"Thirdly, as the Ministry is no longer able to deploy Auror guards outside the castle given the ongoing conflict with the goblins" – here Harry swore that she looked directly at him – "the Dementors will be reinstated at Hogwarts for security measures against outside threats."

Immediately, the smile was wiped from Harry's face and to his dismay, it looked as if Umbridge's only grew larger. Either his mind was playing tricks on him or this woman already had it out for him.

Further up the table, he could hear the twins whispering to Angelina and Alicia about what a brilliant idea that was.

"Yes, because no one ever got hurt because someone had the genius idea to station dementors around a bunch of defenceless children."

Umbridge, however, either couldn't hear them or pretended not to and continued on listing her new rules.

"Some of you may have noticed the pile of luggage outside the entrance hall that was being sorted by our hardworking caretaker Mr Filch. You'll be pleased to know, that as an added security measure all owl post and luggage being brought into the school will be scanned for contraband."

This time, Umbridge directed her attention towards the Weasley twins and Harry could see the identical grins they wore in response. Clearly, they thought of this as a challenge.

"Fifthly, students who wish may sign up for my own Inquisitorial Squad that will report any rule-breaking and unsavoury behaviour directly to me."

Again there was another wave of whispering throughout the Great Hall. Some students were already glowering at others, either because they thought they would snitch on them or because they figured it was an opportunity to get one over on somebody else.

"Lastly, all clubs, teams, and organizations will be henceforth disbanded and must seek my permission to be reformed."

Unsurprisingly, this statement generated the largest response from the student body, as several students began shouting in outrage.

As if she was completely unperturbed by the uproar she'd caused, Umbridge simply sat down in her seat and poured herself a cup of tea which she drank with that same simpering smile still plastered over her toad-like face.

Up and down the house tables, students were talking about the injustice of these new rules and what it meant for the future term. Most were protesting over the cancellation of Quidditch, but there were also a few who were bemoaning the end of their favourite study groups and extracurricular organizations.

Harry could see that his Quidditch teammates were all visibly upset, with Oliver looking as if he might faint at the thought of not getting to play in his final year.

"How can she cancel the buddy program?" Susan questioned. "All it does is help new students get settled."

"Because it's meant to help new muggleborn students get settled," said Hermione with a frown, as if that was all the answer needed.

"And I guess she's got something against students passing their classes too?" asked Susan.

"I got a sinking feeling that she only cancelled those organisations because it was our family's idea to start them," said Harry.

"You don't think she's that petty do you?" asked Neville.

"I think Harry's right," said Hermione. "She's targeting us. Did you not see how often she looked over directly at us?"

"Well, I don't know what this woman's problem is," said Neville with a harrumph, "but she's already my least favourite Professor."

Harry could only nod his head in agreement. It looked like it was going to be a long second term at Hogwarts this year.

Thursday afternoon, Hermione, Neville, and Susan found themselves waiting outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom with the rest of the third year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

In the few short days since she'd been at the castle, the school was buzzing with reports of what like Umbridge's classes were like, and the three friends were moments away from finding out for themselves.

When Umbridge opened the door, they entered silently and took their usual seats in the classroom before putting their textbooks on their desk and waiting for the lesson to begin.

"Good afternoon children," said Umbridge as she stood at the front of the room. "Headmaster Dumbledore has informed me that as part of the third year curriculum you are learning about magical creatures and how to defend yourself against them. Unfortunately, when I looked through your textbooks I couldn't help but notice that the material you've been studying is… terribly misdirected. To rectify this problem, I've assigned you all a new textbook that is better aligned with the Ministry's views on what you should do in such a situation." She then flicked her wand and the stacks of books that were sitting on her desk behind her floated over her head and began distributing themselves to the students at their desks.

While Neville and Susan merely gawked at the title of the book, Hermione immediately opened hers and began scanning the index and personal comments of the author, her frown only deepening the more she read.

"Now wands away, you won't need those in my classroom," instructed Umbridge. "I want you all to turn to page 112 and read the chapter on Goblins."

A few of the Slytherins whispered in confusion about not using their wands, but Umbridge merely ignored them.

"Goblins?" echoed Neville quietly. "I thought we were supposed to begin learning about Werewolves."

Unfortunately, he wasn't quiet enough to avoid the detection of Umbridge, who had begun pacing through the hallway of desks and watching the students.

"Oh I'm afraid we won't be studying any dark creatures like that dear," said Umbridge in her typical sickly girl voice, as if she was talking down to a five-year-old. "The Ministry feels it is in the best interest to prepare you for encounters with irritants such as goblins, gnomes and grindylows, as opposed to dark creatures that you won't encounter."

"But what if we do encounter one?" said Ron Weasley in confusion from his seat where he sat beside Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. "Isn't the purpose of this class to learn how to defend ourselves in case we find ourselves in a dangerous situation?"

"You will do well to remember not to speak out of turn Mr. Weasley," said Umbridge, as she turned to focus her beady eyes on the redhead. "And nonsense, it's the Ministry's role to protect underaged children."

"So we're just supposed to wait until an official comes if we're in trouble," said Susan sarcastically, unable to resist commenting on the Professor's statement.

Dolores turned her gaze on the strawberry blonde that had spoken out of turn and with a sickly grin on her face commented, "Oh you don't approve of the new Ministry supported curriculum? Maybe if you're Aunt and the other adults with her that decided it was a good idea to invade Gringotts without contacting the proper authorities had a better head on their shoulders and do what any respectable witch or wizards ought to do we wouldn't be on the brink of war."

Hermione felt both her friends tense beside her at that statement and quickly put her hands on their legs under the table and gripped tightly, begging them to resist responding to the verbal jab. This woman was clearly trying to bait them into a confrontation.

Unfortunately, Neville and Susan were never going to sit quietly after listening to their guardians being disrespected in such a way.

"Proper authorities?" questioned Neville. "You mean the Aurors? Well, then you must be as stupid as you look."

"Aunt Amelia is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Frank and Alice Longbottom are both Senior Aurors, James and Lily Potter both have Masters in Defence, and they were accompanied by three Professors from this school. I don't think you could find a team of more talented witches and wizards if you tried," said Susan as she stood up in her seat to stare down Umbridge who she was at eye level with.

"That'll be a detention for the both of you," said Umbridge with a smile. "And as talented as your guardians might be, they haven't received the proper training for such a situation. That is why the Ministry is putting together a new Creature taskforce to handle such vermin."

Neville and Susan merely continued to glare at the Professor, when she turned and marched back to the front of the classroom to sit at her desk.

"Vermin?" whispered Lavender Brown to her friend Parvarti beside her, who merely shook her head and put her head down to begin reading.

For nearly a whole two minutes, the class was silent as they read, before Hermione looked up and raised her hand.

Dolores had clearly seen the raised hand yet chose to ignore it. Hermione, however never lowered her arm, and after ten minutes everyone in the room had stopped reading and was watching the scene unfold, waiting for the Professor to answer her question.

Finally, after another five minutes, Umbridge ground her teeth and nodded for Hermione to raise her concern.

"Professor, it says here that we should not attempt to engage with such creatures and wait for a qualified witch or wizard to appear if confronted, but it doesn't say anything about what makes them qualified. Shouldn't we be learning the type of training the members of this task force receive?" questioned Hermione.

"Miss Granger, the methods of fully trained witches and wizards to deal with dangerous creatures should not concern you, a mere third-year student. It is not your responsibility to deal with such problems. You need only be able to identify such creatures and know the protocol for calling the proper authorities."

Unsatisfied with this answer, Hermione again raised her hand, and again, she had to wait another ten minutes before Umbridge acknowledged her.

"Professor, what if we don't have time to wait for the authorities to arrive?" Hermione asked. "What if we or one of our friends are attacked and injured and we have to fight back."

"That wouldn't happen," said Dolores simply, as if that was the end of the matter.

Clearly, she didn't know Hermione Granger very well.

"Hypothetically then, if we were, what would we do," pestered Hermione.

"If you are attacked, then you've obviously done something stupid to provoke the beast when you should've withdrawn and waited for an adult," said Dolores, her frustration with the young witch quickly growing.

"That's it?" said Hermione. "What type of reasoning is that? We're supposed to be learning how to protect ourselves, not how to cower in fear."

Dolores didn't answer her questions, instead, she simply said, "congratulations Miss Granger, you've earned a spot in detention alongside your friends for disrupting the class, now lower your hand and resume you're reading."

Bubbling in anger, Hermione lowered her hand and clenched her jaw before closing her book as she packed her things away.

Neville and Susan immediately caught on to what their friend was doing, and hastily packed up their own things before all three of them stormed out of the classroom, ignoring Umbridge's comments that they'd just earned a week's worth of detentions for their insolence.

As if things at home weren't going poorly enough, the parent's soon found out their prediction for how the winter Wizengamot session would unfold turned out to be true.

Over half the wizarding body now sided with the conservatives over the need to take stronger action against the goblins.

Several prominent purebloods, including Pius Thicknesse, were calling for the Ministry to declare war.

Thankfully, the parents had enough seats amongst themselves and their allies to prevent such a motion from achieving the majority it needed to be passed.

However, there was still great cause for concern.

Minister Fudge had made it abundantly clear which side he'd thrown his ugly green bowler hat in with, as several times throughout the session he'd refused to allow them to voice their arguments and had voiced his support in favour of some of the harshest conservatives.

In the end, despite their efforts to the contrary, the motion was passed allowing the Ministry to implement its new Creature Doctrine that would impose submission upon all sentient beings, and give the newly created task force the power to imprison any creature who refused.

Such a proposal would surely bring about the bloodshed that most hoped to avoid by refraining from advocating for full on war, but the short-sightedness of many wizards prevented them from seeing this.

It went unspoken that they had to do something to undermine this initiative.

They'd played a part in getting wizarding society into this mess, and now it was up to them to get them out of it.

Sunday night in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry found himself awaiting the return of his friends from their first detention with Umbridge.

He did his best to concentrate on reading the book that Professor Flitwick had given him, Advanced Curses for the Young Warrior, but couldn't bring himself to read more than a paragraph at a time without looking up at the portrait hole.

After over three hours of sitting in an armchair by the fire and pretending to read, he began pacing the room. The common room was almost empty at this point as most of his housemates had gone to bed.

Finally, at almost midnight, the portrait hole opened and his three friends stumbled through.

Immediately, Harry went to them.

"How was it? What did she have you do?" he asked.

None of his friends would meet his eyes and they did their best to shrug off his questions, but Harry cottoned on that something was wrong.

"She didn't hurt you did she?"

When Hermione flinched at this question, Harry felt his temper erupt. It was then that he noticed that all three of his friends were attempting to hide their hands inside their robes.

Grabbing Susan's wrist, as she was the one standing closest to him, Harry pulled it towards him and turned it over.

The back of her hand was a bloody mess, but Harry could clearly make out the scarred writing.

I must learn my place.

Harry's temper erupted at the sight of his friend's hand, and after quickly confirmed that Hermione and Neville had the same scar etched into their hand, he pushed past them and made his way towards the portrait hole.

"Harry, wait!" cried Hermione, her voice containing so much emotion that it halted him in his tracks.

"You can't attack a Professor, Harry," said Susan. "Believe me, if I could I would have."

"You'll only end up in detention yourself, or worse, expelled," said Neville, although there was no hint of humour in his voice at quoting one of Hermione's most infamous lines.

"I don't care," said Harry in frustration. "She can't just get away with bloody torturing you."

"We care, Harry," said Hermione. "We're not letting you do something stupid and landing yourself in trouble."

"Can't we go to Dumbledore, then?" questioned Harry, only to be dismayed as he saw his friends shake their heads.

"We already went to Dumbledore after class with her," said Susan. "He said his hands are tied. Dolores Umbridge is now the supreme authority inside the castle."

"Let's tell the parents then," said Harry. "We'll see how long she's in power when Fudge finds out his lackey is torturing students."

"It's of no use, Harry," said Neville. "The Ministry still has their vendetta against our family. Remember what happened when your dad went to the Daily Prophet about the smear campaign against Hermione? They won't listen to us even if we report it."

"So what? We do nothing?" asked Harry in frustration.

"That's not what we said," corrected Hermione.

"We already came up with a plan to take down Umbridge," said Susan, a smile on her face for the first time since their detention.

"It's brilliant," said Neville, a smile growing on his face as well.

"Well, what is it then?" asked Harry, calming down a little as he saw the glint in his friend's eyes.

"The first part involves a conversation we had last term," said Hermione. "Since it's clear we're not going to learn anything from that woman, we're going to form our own Defense group in secret where you can teach us and anyone else we trust how to properly defend ourselves."

Harry only nodded his head in acceptance at this statement. He'd already been teaching his friends some of the things he was learning in his private lessons, and it wasn't much of a concession on his part to expand their little group to include a few others. Besides, he was never going to say no to his friends in their plan to take down Umbridge after what they'd been through.

His friends each wore massive smiles at this, clearly having expected to have to talk him into it.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of organising everything," said Neville.

"You just have to show up and teach," said Susan.

"How does that get her kicked out of the castle, though?" asked Harry.

"That's the second part of the plan," said Hermione, a wicked grin growing on her face as she takes off her backpack and begins rummaging through it.

Harry didn't know what he was expecting her to show him, but a small jar containing a buzzing blue beetle certainly wasn't it.

"We're going to have someone tell the world the real story of what's going on inside Hogwarts."