Chapter Four

Melanie had to admit she was just a little excited when she found out that she would be fulfilling a records request for Harry Potter. The first part was a request for the voting record of the Wizengamot, she decided to include the minutes from the meeting as well-the ones that weren't sealed by order of the Minister or the Chief Warlock…previous few those were, hoping they would also be useful in helping young Potter prepare himself for when he took up his lordship.

A few geminio spells later and the records were ready. She really loved the geminio spell, it made her job a LOT easier; it was a shame that it couldn't be used on books, well not on wizard published books. Wizard publishers used several enchantments to prevent their works from being magically replicated, the enchantments themselves were the industry's most closely guarded secret, if the enchantments were known than people could devise work-arounds.

She moved on the second part of the request "Accio, Sirius Black's trial records" she said…nothing happened, she tried again but still nothing. She didn't think that trial records were sealed but she decided to check the list…sure enough the records were not on the list. She decided to try and see if she could summon records from another trial "Accio Lestrange trial records" the records for the trials of Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan Lestrange and some other older Lestranges all soared over to her which meant that the problem was with Sirius' records in particular and not trial records in general. The only other place Sirius' records could be was Amelia's office, she occasionally kept trial records that contained information she deemed pertinent to other investigations that were still ongoing so she decided to head downstairs and ask.

When she arrived Amelia was at her desk working on same paperwork

"Madam Bones, do you have a minute?"

Amelia looked up "a few, what's this about?"

"Sirius Black's trial records aren't in the Department of Records-do you still have them here?" Melanie questioned

"I don't think so, but let me check" Amelia replied. Amelia went to her files and found Sirius' she was shocked to find it very thin, particularly for a maximum security prisoner like Sirius Black. She opened it and found that there were only 3 things in it, the original arrest warrant, Alastor Moody's report of Sirius' arrest and an order signed by Barty Crouch and countersigned by Albus Dumbledore and former Minister Bagnold for Sirius to be transferred to Azkaban, there was nothing else, no trial, no sentencing order, not even an examination of his wand! Amelia was infuriated with pretty much the entire ministry at that point, she was a deep believer in both the rule of law AND the right of the accused to have a fair trial but it looked like Sirius Black never had ANY trial, fair or unfair! It was several moments before she remembered Melanie was still in her office. She turned to the muggleborn in question.

"I don't have the trial records either, please leave"

"What am I supposed to tell Mr. Potter?" Melanie asked

"Potter-he's the one who requested this?" Amelia questioned

Melanie nodded "He wants to know why his father's supposed best friend betrayed his family."

"I would like the answer to that myself" Amelia muttered softly.

"I'm sorry" Melanie apologized "I didn't quite catch that"

Amelia shook her head "Never mind…just tell Potter that there is an irregularity with Sirius' records and it will take longer than normal to review his request."

Sirius Black the whole issue was something that had never sat right with her. She had been head of the auror office during the war and James and Sirius had been two of her best aurors only Moody surpassed them in terms of captures and even he was very hard pressed to defeat them both in a duel. She could recall numerous occasions when one of them had jumped in front of a particular nasty curse aimed at the other to save them from serious injury. However she had felt that she could not disregard the law and free Sirius from Azkaban based on nothing more than her feeling that something was wrong…although now it turned out that certain individuals had no problem SENDING people to Azkaban based on nothing more than 'because we know he's guilty' hearsay.

Amelia went to go find Alastor Moody. The old auror had said that he was thinking about retiring but he hadn't done so yet. She found Moody in his office "Alastor, may I have a quick word, please?"

"Fast" Moody said

"Very funny, Alastor" Amelia responded sarcastically and then she closed the door and cast every spell she could think of to prevent eavesdropping.

Moody's eye (the non-magical one) widened in surprise but he said nothing, trusting that the reason would become clear when Amelia spoke

Once Amelia was satisfied that the room was secure she turned back to Moody and asked "Do you remember Sirius Black's trial at all? As the arresting auror, you would have been asked to testify."

Moody thought for a moment "…No, I don't"

"I was afraid of that" Amelia said

"Why the sudden interest?" Moody questioned

"Melanie over in the Department of Records received a request for Sirius Black's trial records from Harry Potter and no one can find them…"

"He never got a trial" Moody concluded

Amelia shook her head "No, he didn't…but he IS going to get one soon, better late than never."

"How?" Moody blinked

"You forget, I am not JUST head of the DMLE, I am also Lady of the most Ancient and Noble House of Bones. I can call an emergency session of the Wizengamot but first we need to speak to Sirius-ask him who he wants as his counsel. I would do it myself-"

"Bad idea" Alastor interjected "When this breaks it will be a massive scandal, we don't Black being killed 'for trying to escape' before he has his day in court just so some bureaucrat doesn't get embarrassed. You'll attract too much attention, I'll do it. I'm supposed to be there tomorrow anyway"

Amelia smiled "I was going to ask you to do just that, thank you Alastor"

"…I just can't believe that I didn't realize this sooner" Moody said ashamed of himself

Amelia's smile left her face immediately "You're not the only one Alastor, we ALL failed Black." Then she walked away.

Alastor Moody arrived for his shift in Azkaban early. Every auror on the force had to work Azkaban at least once a month, it was for the mental health of the guards who were frequently stationed at Azkaban to have some relief from the prison beyond going home. Moody volunteered to patrol the maximum security wing…no one fought him for it, that area of the prison had the highest concentration of dementors.

Padfoot quickly changed back to Sirius when he heard footsteps coming. It was a good thing to because the patrolling auror stopped directly in front of his cell.

"Hello Sirius" Moody greeted "how are you holding up?" he also cast some spells to prevent them from being overheard

Sirius blinked in surprise, Moody had been down in the maximum security ward a few times before and had refused to even look at Sirius each of those times…why was he talking now?

"Hello Moody…do I really need to dignify that with an answer?" Sirius asked

"I suppose not…look, Amelia's just found out that you never got a trial, she's working on getting one." Moody replied

"About damn time" Sirius responded angrily

"Anyway she sent me to talk to you, ask you who you want to act as your legal counsel?" Moody said

"Why would I tell you?" Sirius asked

"Look Sirius, Amelia and I both want you to have a fair trial but there are other people who may not." Moody responded

"Like Crouch?" Sirius surmised

"…Possibly also Minister Fudge" Moody began but Sirius cut him off

"Fudge, who the hell voted for that imbecile?! A house elf would have been better!"

"Not me" Moody said "anyway, Fudge hates scandal of any kind and you not getting a trial makes every day you're imprisoned here a crime in and of itself, this could well be the mother of all scandals…prisoners have been killed 'while trying to escape' for far less. Amelia and I don't want that to happen to you, so we'd like to involve as few people as possible until you're actually in front of the Wizengamot"

"I'm surprised…I didn't think Fudge had the stomach for that." Sirius said

"I doubt he PERSONALLY gave the orders, that's not his style. He prefers to turn a blind eye while his associates make his problems disappear…using any means necessary." Moody responded disdainfully

Sirius nodded that fit what he knew of Fudge "I'll be my own counsel, I don't trust any lawyer to do it right"

"Very well, are you willing to testify under Veritaseruem?" Moody asked

"So long as I get to read the questions before hand. I also have pensive memories that can prove I wasn't the secret keeper, I was just the decoy." Sirius answered "I'd be willing to submit those as well."

"Really, who was the secret keeper?" Moody questioned

"Peter that miserable rat if ever get my hands on-"Sirius began but Moody cut him off

"You killed Peter" Moody pointed out

"I wish" Sirius said bitterly "bastard blew the alley up himself, cut off his finger and then slipped into the sewers like that rat he is."

Moody had to admit that would fit the evidence. Peter's finger had been cleanly cut not something you'd expect to see from something blasted off and his robes were found intact, if Peter had been killed by a blasting curse, his clothes should have been ripped to shreds.

"How did he escape?" Moody asked

"He's a rat animagus, he simply transformed and scampered in to the sewers with the other rats." Sirius answered

Moody was skeptical, he didn't think Pettigrew would have had the ability…but if he had James, Sirius and Remus helping him, maybe.

"Amelia's going to try and get your trial set up as soon as she can. Hang in there, Sirius" Moody said and then he began walking away.

"Wait!" Sirius called a bit desperately "My godson Harry, is he okay, who did he end up with?!" Sirius was fairly certain that he hadn't been with the Longbottoms, Bella would have mentioned it when she ranted about what she had done at the Longbottom's cottage if he had been there.

Moody looked thoughtful for moment…Sirius sounded genuinely worried not something one would expect from Voldemort's right hand man "he was living with some muggle relatives of his-"

"WHAT?!" Sirius exploded "WHO IS THE ABSOLUTE DOOFUS WHO THOUGHT IT WOULD A GOOD IDEA TO PUT HARRY WITH PETUNIA?!"

"So you really are a muggle hater after all, Black" Moody stated

Sirius glared at Moody "don't be ridiculous, I don't hate muggles. I KNOW Petunia and I know that Vernon pig she married. Did you know that Petunia went to Lily's wedding only to call her very existence a crime against humanity and spit on her? Lily was a wreck after that but she STILL wanted to make up with her sister so when Harry was a few months old she took him over to Petunia's house for a surprise play date with his cousin. Do you know what happened?"

"No, but I am guessing that it wasn't pretty."

"H No" Sirius said "Petunia wouldn't even let them in the door. She said that she didn't want her precious Dudders to be contaminated with their freakishness. She also declared that her sister DIED the day that Lily got her Hogwarts letter. How could anyone expect a woman like that to take proper care of a magical child?!"

Moody didn't respond

Amelia corned Moody early the next morning "How was he?" she asked

"Very good" Moody responded "for someone who's been in Azakban for over a decade. He was mostly sane."

"Mostly sane? Are we talking about the same Sirius Black that tried to talk me into letting him train a Cerberus to hunt Deatheaters?" Amelia repeated with a raised eyebrow

"Okay, he seemed about as sane as he was when he went in." Moody clarified

"How is that possible?" Amelia wondered

Moody couldn't answer the question, he didn't know the answer either "He claims to be completely innocent. He says that Pettigrew was the real secret keeper while he played decoy and that Peter is the one that blew up the street."

"Impossible" Amelia stated "Peter didn't have that kind of power."

"Not by himself but there was a gas pipe within the blast zone…that combined with a blasting curse could result in massive damage, it would also explain why the muggles came to that conclusion before the muggle worthy excuse committee thought of it." Moody responded

Amelia remembered reading about that in Moody's report. Moody and the obilvators had just managed to question the muggle witnesses and modify their memories when the muggle police arrived. They hadn't had time to repair all the damage…they weren't even certain that they knew how and certainly didn't know how to explain it but the police had examined the scene and come to the conclusion that a gas pipe had burst and they'd decided to let them think that.

"There's more. He went berserk when I told him that Potter was living with his muggle relatives. He seemed absolutely convinced that they wouldn't treat him well." Moody added

"Hmm, perhaps I should go and pay Potter a visit" Amelia mused

"Don't child abuse allegations fall under the preview of Wizarding Child Services?" Moody questioned

Amelia gave him a flat stare "Since when do you care about such things?"

"Never, but I thought you did" Moody responded

"Normally, however you DO remember who is in charge of that office, don't you?"

Moody shook his head

"Annabelle Fudge…daughter of Cornelius Fudge" Amelia explained

"Ah, never mind" Moody said. Annabelle Fudge was known to be even more incompetent than her father, it was common knowledge that she only got the job she had because of who her father was…it was also widely believed that if Fudge ever lost his job, she would lose hers soon after.

"Besides, I've heard rumors that Potter was adopted by muggles. If that's true, the DMLE should know where Potter is living now. Just in case something happens."

A couple hours later an owl arrived at the Mason household with a large parcel. Harry opened it and it appeared the be the Wizengmot records, on top was a letter with the Ministry's seal

Dear Mr. Potter,

Enclosed please find the Wizengamot voting records you requested. I have also taken the liberty of including all meeting minutes from the time period you specified that are not sealed as well. We here at the Ministry of Magic all look forward to the day that you take up the mantle of Lord Potter and it is my hope that these meeting minutes will also be useful in preparing yourself for that day.

As to the matter of Sirius Black, we have discovered an irregularity with the record so unfortunately we cannot comply with your request until the irregularity is resolved. Please be patient, I will owl you when I know more about the situation.

Sincerely,

Melanie Clark

Assistant Records Keeper

Ministry Department of Records

"What irregularity could there be?" Harry wondered, his question was answered. He showed the letter to Jen and David, David had no idea but Jen said

"They probably misplaced the file"

Both males looked at her

"What? Come on, an irregularity with the records, most likely that irregularity is that they aren't where they're supposed to be." Jen explained "they can't tell anyone that they lost the file of course, so they say that there is a vague irregularity to save face."

Later that evening once Amelia had finished her work at the Ministry for the day, she transfigured her robes into a muggle women's suit and then apparated Privet Drive. When she had taken over as head of the auror office before the war, she had required the precious few muggleborn and muggle raised aurors to teach their colleagues how to blend in the muggle world because their work brought them into frequent contact with the muggle police. Being who she was, she had taken the trainings herself as well, simply because she would not require anything of her subordinates that she did not also require of herself…she even did shifts in Azakaban when she could squeeze them in around her other duties.

When Amelia arrived at the Dursley household, the Dursleys were in the living room watching TV. Amelia rang the doorbell and before long Petunia answered

"May I help you?" Petunia asked judging from the woman's attire that she was a muggle business woman

"Yes, I apologize for the late hour. My name is Amelia Bones, I have business that I wish to discuss with you and your husband, may I come in?" Amelia asked

Since the woman's attire screamed normal and money Petunia bit back the diatribe she wanted to unleash at being disturbed so late in the evening and instead smiled sweetly and said "of course" and stepped back to let me Amelia through

Petunia led Amelia to the living room.

"Vernon, we have a visitor" Petunia said

Vernon got up and looked at Amelia "who the bloody h are you?" he asked his breath smelling strongly of alcohol.

"Good evening, Mr. Dursley. My name is Amelia Bones, I am the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement-"that was as far as Amelia got before Vernon exploded

"WHAT?! ANOTHER FREAK IN MY HOUSE, I THOUGHT GETTING RID OF THAT MISERABLE BRAT WAS THAT LAST I'D EVER SEE OF YOU ABOMINATIONS. HOW COULD YOU LET HER IN PETUNIA?!"

"SHE LOOKS NORMAL, HOW I WAS SUPPSOED TO KNOW SHE WAS A FREAK?!" Petunia responded

Dudley tried to flee the room

Amelia drew her wand and hit him with an imobilius spell

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON?!" Petunia shrieked

"Calm down Mrs. Dursley, I have simply stopped him from moving for a few minutes, he is perfectly fine…as much as he was before I arrived anyway. He is FAR too overweight to be healthy but I digress. I came here to discuss your nephew."

"Whatever law he broke, it's not our problem" Vernon said loudly "we washed our hands of him days ago."

"He has not broken any laws" Amelia said "We had heard rumors of his adoption and I came to verify them. Mr. Potter is an important figure in our world and his safety is a major concern for the DMLE. Can you tell me where he is living now?"

"He is living with the Masons…I don't where they live, but I'll find out" Petunia said and she then went to look them up in the phonebook. She wanted the freak out of their house as soon as possible and if giving her the Masons' address would get her out, she'd give it to the whole planet.

"While you are doing that, I am going to search the rest of the house, just to check and make sure that all traces of magic have been removed since you no longer have a witch or wizard living on the premises." Amelia announced

"He better have taken all his things, if I find any I'll smash them!" Vernon declared

Amelia's statement was a total lie, she was looking for signs of child abuse. Upstairs she found one room with waay too many locks, a loose floorboard and bars in the window. She suspected it was where Mr. Potter slept although her suspicions were changed when she investigated the cupboard under the stairs, she found a thin cot and a small bit of paper that said Harry's room in a child's hand taped above it.

Petunia eventually caught up with Amelia and gave her the Masons address.

"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley. I will take my leave" she then disapparated on the spot but returned several minutes later, startling the living daylights out of the Dursleys "I almost forgot" she said and waved her wand at Dudley who ran out of the room

"Oh my poor Dudders!" Petunia wailed and ran after him.

"What did you do now?!" Vernon demanded

"Canceled the spell that I placed on him earlier, that's all" Amelia explained and then left once more.

Amelia soon arrived on the Mason's doorstep and rang the doorbell

David was the closet to the door so he answered it

"Yes?" he asked

"Good Evening Mr. Mason. My name is Amelia Bones, I am the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I have business to discuss with you and your family, may I come in?"

"One minute" David answered and then closed the door. He called Jen and Harry downstairs and then went into his study and withdrew his new pistol from the safe. He'd bought the gun almost immediately after Dumbledore came told them Harry's history and had been practicing with it as often as he could in case Voldemort or his followers came after them but he hoped that he would never have to use it.

Once everyone was situated he let Amelia enter the house and escorted her into the living room

"Mr. Mason, the gun is not necessary. I mean no harm to any of you." Amelia tried to assure him

"I hope it's not" David replied "but until I am sure you are who you claim to be and that it's not some kind of trick the gun stays out."

"Director Bones, we have been reading about events of the first war and the tactics that the Death Eaters used. We know they were not above such treachery so we hope you can forgive us for being a bit mistrustful at first…I assume that it's highly unusual for the head of the DMLE to make a house call, particularly at this late hour, isn't it?" Jen said

"Indeed it is" Amelia answered "I can't blame you for being suspicious but if it makes you feel better."

Amelia drew her wand. Both Masons tensed but Amelia simply flipped it around and handed it to Jen by the handle. Jen took it slowly

"There now you are armed and I am not, feel better?' Amelia questioned

Both Masons did relax a bit and David slowly removed the bullet from the chamber of his pistol

"I don't get it" Harry said softly "they weren't like this when Professor Dumbledore showed up."

"We didn't know that you were a target then, Harry. We didn't know that we needed to be extra careful to ensure your safety." Jen answered him

"Alastor will be very pleased to know that you are taking this seriously as am I" Amelia said

"Alastor, as in Alastor Moody?" Jen asked "I thought he would have retired by now"

"He says he is thinking about it" Amelia stated "but that is not why I came here. I came here for a few reasons first I wanted to verify the rumors about Harry Potter's adoption."

"That was quick" David observed

Amelia smiled "Yes, news travels very fast in our world. The next thing is that I wanted to take a look at your security measures. Have you considering warding your home?"

"We can't" Jen said "It's illegal to ward muggle buildings"

"Normally yes, but the DMLE can grant an exemption if there is a magical person living in the building…I took the liberty of bringing this with me."

She handed Jen a piece of parchment that read:

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement hereby authorizes the placement of magical wards around the home of David and Jennifer Mason to help ensure the safety of themselves and their adopted son Harry James Potter.

Signed and Sealed

Amelia Bones

Lady of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Bones

Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

"You will want to keep that somewhere safe, that parchment allows you to legally have your home warded. I would suggest that you contact the goblins at Gringotts they have the best wards on the market."

"I thought Gringotts was a bank" Jen said

"Yes, they are but they do other things as well. Warding is one of them although I should warn you goblin wards are not cheap." Amelia explained

"…I'm not sure that we could afford goblin wards, the conversion rate for pounds isn't very good." Jen admitted sadly

"Of course you can, the Potter family is the 3rd richest family in Britain, after the Blacks and the Malfoys. If you contact Albus Dumbledore, I'm sure he would authorize the funds for the wards."

"Dumbledore…does being Chief Warlock give him the power to control other people's vaults too?" David asked

"No, but he is also Harry Potter's magical guardian, and as such he has control over the Potter vault until young Harry reaches his majority."

"Why is he Harry's magical guardian? The Potter will had a whole list of people who were to take Harry if anything happened to James and Lily, that list did not have Albus Dumbledore written anywhere on it." David said

"You've seen the Potter's will?" Amelia asked "I thought it was sealed by Minister Fudge several years ago."

"The original was" Jen said "the goblins have an unofficial copy on file at Gringotts and they showed it to us. The will also declared that Peter Pettigrew was the Potter's secret keeper not Sirius Black, if that's true, why didn't it come out at his trial?"

Amelia hesitated "…I don't think he ever received a trial"

"WHAT?!" Jen exploded "WHAT KIND OF BARBARIC, UNJUST-"

"I understand your outrage Mrs. Mason" Amelia cut her off "and I share it. This gross violation of wizarding law will NOT go unrectified so long as I am the head of the DMLE! I am working on getting a trial for Sirius as soon as possible."

"Can I go?" Harry asked

"I don't think so, most likely a trial like this will be sealed to the Public, right?" Jen questioned

"Normally yes…however members of the Wizengamot may invite guests if they wish as Mr. Black's godson, Mr. Potter would have an interest in the proceedings-"

"He's not going without us" Jen said firmly

"Muggles aren't allowed" Amelia began

"Where does it say that, I've read the Wizengamot rules of Order. It prohibits certain kinds of individuals from entering the chambers unless being tried or called to testify, it specifically lists, giants, goblins, werewolves, trolls, vampires, centaurs, merfolk, and veela but muggles are conspicuously absent." Jen challenged

David once again found himself impressed by his wife's ability to remember every word that she'd ever read

"Hmm, I will have to double check that myself. I will owl you and let you know what I find as well as when the date is set." Amelia said

"Have you examined the wards of Hogwarts at all, recently?" Jen asked

Amelia blinked "No, the wards of Hogwarts are very ancient magic, its' the safest building in Britain."

"Really, so does that mean the buildings in Britain have possessed people frequently wondering around in them?" Jen questioned

"Possessed people, what do you mean?" Amelia asked

"Harry can explain better than I" Jen said and everyone turned to him

"Professor Quirrell was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort last year, he was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone." Harry said

"I'd like to know who the imbecile was that thought brining an object like the stone which is BOUND to attract criminals and scumbags like moths to a flame into a school full of children was a good idea…I'm guessing it was headmaster dumb as a door." David added

"I don't know anything about this, how did you find out about it?" Amelia asked

"That's a long story" Harry said

"I have time. I need to investigate these claims and to do so, I need as much information as possible" Amelia replied

"Well, it started on my birthday. Hagrid gave me my Hogwarts letter"

"Hagrid?" Amelia blurted out

"Who's Hagrid?" David asked

"The gamekeeper, he's really nice" Harry said

"Yes, he is nice but he's also not the best person to introduce a young child to the wizarding world, as a half giant he has little experience with muggles." Amelia explained

"Half giant?" Jen questioned "how…never mind, I don't want to know"

Harry blinked he hadn't realized that but it hindsight it should have been obvious

"Well at least he gave you the pamphlet, right" Amelia stated

"What pamphlet?" Harry questioned

"The one that all muggle raised children receive before they begin magical schooling to help them adjust to life in the wizarding world." Amelia answered

"…I never got one of those" Harry admitted

Amelia smacked her forehead "Ask Melanie over at the department of records, they have lots of them"

"Anyway, Hagrid gave me my letter and took me to Diagon Alley. Our first stop was Gringotts, we went to my vault first and then Hagrid asked to be taken to vault 713 and took out a grubby package. I later found out that Gringotts was broken into that day but the vault that was broken into had already been emptied."

"What a coincidence" Jen said…not entirely convinced it WAS a coincidence

"Anyway, I got my Hogwarts stuff." Harry continued at this point he decided NOT to say anything that was not connected to the stone or Voldemort…he didn't want Jen and David to think that Hogwarts wasn't safe, they'd pull him out of the school; although he worried that the way things were looking, they might do that anyway.

"At the welcoming feast Dumbledore announced that the third floor corridor was off limits-"

"Why?" David asked

Harry shrugged "he didn't say. Anyway a bit after that Malfoy challenged me to a wizard's duel"

"A duel…wizards still do that?" Jen asked

"Rarely, to settle very egregious disputes they aren't meant for school boy grudges." Amelia said "there are dueling tournaments both those are different."

"You refused right, Harry?" Jen questioned

"Well, I didn't accept" Harry began

Jen breathed a sigh of relief

"Ron agreed for me" Harry added

Jen moaned

"Anyway, we were supposed to meet him in the trophy room at midnight-"

"Let me guess, Malfoy didn't show" Amelia said

Harry nodded

"Like father, like son" Amelia muttered

"We did though, along with Hermonie and Neville. Soon after we got there, we heard Filch coming so we fled. We got to a locked door, Hermonie used some sort of spell to unlock it and we all ran inside. We waited until Filch left but then we heard something growling at us. We turned around and there was a giant three-headed dog behind us."

"WHAT?!" all the adults exclaimed

"HOW DID A CEREBREUS GET INTO THE SCHOOL?! THERE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE ANY IN BRITAIN!" Amelia added

"Apparently Fluffy didn't get the memo." Harry said

"Fluffy, why would you call a thing like that Fluffy?" David asked

"I'll explain later" Harry responded "Anyway, we ran out of the corridor and didn't stop until we got to Gryffindor tower, once there, Hermonie said that she noticed the dog had been standing on a trapdoor which meant it was guarding something. At the Halloween Feast Quirrell came running in and screamed that there was a troll in the dungeons…and then he fainted."

"Wasn't he supposed to be the Defense teacher?" Amelia questioned

Harry nodded "Anyway Professor Dumbledore sent us all back to our common rooms. We later found out the Fluffy had bitten Snape's leg that night"

"Why wasn't he in the dungeons with the other teachers?" Jen asked suspiciously

"Because he thought someone let the troll in as a diversion so that they could sneak in and steal the stone." Harry answered. He didn't like Snape but Snape wasn't the villain of this story…correction, he wasn't the main villain of the story.

"Anyway so after that nothing happened until my first Qudditch game"

"That's right, Susan told me that you were the Gryffindor seeker" Amelia stated

Harry nodded "Anyway, the game was great until someone started jinxing my broom, trying to get it to buck me off. We thought it was Snape but it wasn't, I'll get to who it was later, Snape was casting a counter curse. Anyway, after the match-

"Who won?" David asked

"Gryffindor, I caught the snitch in my mouth while the broom was bucking" Harry answered with a grin "Anyway after the game we went to Hagrid's place and I told Ron that Snape had been bitten by the three headed dog and Hagrid asked how we know about Fluffy"

Amelia smacked her forehead "I should have known"

"We asked Hagrid what Fluffy was guarding but he only told us that it was between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. So we spent ages in the library but couldn't find him anywhere"

"You must not have been looking in the right place" Amelia stated "Nicholas Flamel is the most respected alchemist in Europe, maybe even the whole world."

"We did eventually find him on the back of a chocolate frog card but before that it was Christmas. I got a few gifts, a handmade jumper from the Weasleys, A box of candies from Hermonie, a wooden flute from Hagrid and my father's old invisibility cloak. I used the cloak to sneak down to restricted section of the library to continue looking for Flamel but when I opened one of the books it started screaming"

"Of course it did" Amelia said "All the books in the restricted section are enchanted to do that if someone opens them without a permission note from a teacher."

"Well, I didn't know that" Harry said "the screaming book alerted Snape and Filch so I fled and wound up in a room with a strange mirror. It showed me my family, all of us, alive and happy. Professor Dumbledore told me the mirror was the Mirror of Erised and that it showed us our deepest desires. He said the mirror was being moved and that I shouldn't try to find it again."

"Later Hermonie and I along with Neville and Draco got caught out after curfew, we were still looking for information on Flamel, McGonagall gave us detention. Hagrid was in charge of it and he took us into the Forbidden Forest-"

"Isn't this Forbidden Forest forbidden?" Jen questioned

"Yes and for very good reason, there are dangerous creatures living in it" Amelia said

"So your punishment for going out of bounds after curfew was to be sent out of bounds after curfew into a dangerous forest filled with dangerous creatures…that has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard" Jen said

"We had to go in" Harry protested "something was killing the unicorns there"

"What?!" Amelia explained "that's awful!"

"I take it unicorns aren't prey animals for any of the creatures in the forest?" David said

Amelia shook her head "No, unicorns are the purest creatures in the world, even purer than phoenixes, not even a transformed werewolf would harm one intentionally even if one could catch a unicorn. The only living thing that might hurt or kill a unicorn deliberately is a person…legend says that the first person who killed a unicorn was turned into a dementor as punishment."

"Dementor?" Harry asked

"They are the foulest creatures in the world" Amelia said "they feed on hope, happiness and the will to survive. If they can, they will try to suck your soul of through your mouth…it's called the Dementor's Kiss and it's the worst punishment wizarding society can give to someone. It's the punishment that awaits Voldemort if he's ever caught."

"You don't think he's dead?" Jen asked "Most of the wizarding world seems to"

"I know but where's the body?" Amelia asked "I won't believe he's dead until I have kicked the corpse 7 or 8 times."

"I didn't think most wizards would say his name" Harry said

"Most don't" Amelia replied "they don't realize that fearing his name only makes him seem scarier. Anyway, what happened in the forest?"

"We spilt up" Harry began

"You spilt up?" Amelia questioned

Harry nodded "Because the blood trail spilt up. Draco, Fang and I went one way and Hermonie, Neville and Hagrid went the other. We eventually found the unicorn, lying dead on the ground and something hooded thing drinking it's blood"

"Ghastly" Jen said

"Sounds like a vampire" David stated

Amelia shook her head "not likely, most wouldn't be willing to pay the price"

"Price"

"Unicorn blood is cursed, drinking it will save your life even from the brink of death but you will have a half-life, you won't be dead but you won't be truly alive either" Harry answered

"How do you know that?" Amelia questioned

"Firenze told me. When the hooded thing noticed us it came at us. Draco screamed like a girl and ran along with Fang but I tripped and fell"

Jen gasped in alarm

"Something jumped over me and chased the hooded thing away. When I got up, I saw that it was a centaur named Firenze. He told me about the unicorn blood and that it was Voldemort that we had just seen. He had me climb on his back-"

"He LET you ride him?!" Amelia said in shock

"Yeah, because it was the fastest way to get me to safety. Bane was furious though" Harry said

"Who's Bane?" Jen questioned

"Another centaur, Hagrid was talking to him when Firenze and I found him and he flipped when he saw me on Firenze's back" Harry explained

"I'll bet" Amelia added "Centaurs don't like wizards, for one to willingly let a wizard ride him is unheard of"
"Shortly after that, I just happened to see Nicholas Flamel's name on Dumbledore's chocolate frog then Hermonie got some book that she'd brought with her and it said that Flamel was the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone and we all realized that must be what Fluffy is guarding.

Things were quiet for a while until one day, Hagrid told us that he had told someone he met while drunk at a pub how to get past Fluffy. We headed straight to Professor McGonagall and asked to see Professor Dumbledore but she told us that he was at the Ministry and wouldn't be back until late. We then told her that someone was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone but she didn't believe us. She said the stone was too well protected for anyone to try stealing it and that we should mind our business."

That night, we decided to go after the stone so Voldemort couldn't get it. We snuck down to the third floor but Fluffy was already sleeping because a harp was playing so we jumped through the trapdoor and landed on a devil's snare-"

"A what?" Jen asked

"A magical plant that strangles anyone who touches it" Amelia answered

"It tried but Hermonie cast a fire spell that drove it away from us…after Ron reminded her that she's a witch." Harry explained with a smirk "anyway, after that we came to a room filled with flying keys. I caught the one we needed pretty quickly and then the next challenge was a giant chessboard."

Jen breathed a sigh of relief "That doesn't sound too dangerous"

"You've never played wizard's chess" Amelia stated "Wizard chess's is absolutely brutal. If they had to play their way across the room as I suspect, they were lucky not to get killed"

Jen groaned again "Why did you have to tell me that?"

"We did have to play our way across the room, luckily Ron is brilliant at chess…but he had to let himself get captured for us to win"

Amelia gasped "No one told me a student died at Hogwarts!"

"DIED!" both Masons exclaimed

"He didn't die!" Harry said loudly "He just got knocked out when the white queen clobbered him. We wanted to stay and help him but we knew that we had to keep going, otherwise Ron would have gotten hurt for nothing. There was a troll in the next room but it was unconscious. The last test was a potions logic puzzle, there was a riddle that once solved would tell you what potion you needed to drink to get past the magical black fire. Hermonie figured it out in about two minutes but there was only enough for one of us. I told Hermonie to go back and see if she could rouse Ron and then to get help while I held off however was trying to get the stone. When I arrived in the last room Professor Quirell was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised. When Quirrell noticed me, he tied me up and told me that he had tried to kill me a couple of times over the year, like when my broom was bucking during the Qudditch match while Snape was trying to save me.

The stone was somehow hidden in the mirror and Quirrell couldn't figure out how to get it out so Voldemort told him to use me. When I looked in the mirror, the stone appeared in my pocket. I told Quirrell that I had won the House cup and he shoved me aside but Voldemort knew I was lying. He had Quirell take off his turban so that he could speak to me face to face. When Quirrell turned around, Voldemort's face was looking at me from the back of Quirrell's head."

"I've heard of people being two faced but that's insane!" David said

Amelia and Jen nodded their agreement

"He tried to get me to join him, he even said we could bring back my parents!" Harry said angrily

"Preposterous" Amelia declared "No magic can bring back the dead."

"I thought so" Harry said "and I told him that he was lying and not very well either. He ordered Quirrell to grab me, he screamed because his hands burned when touched me. Voldemort then ordered Quirrell to kill me but I grabbed his face. Then Dumbledore showed up and pulled me off Quirrell and then I passed out. When I woke up I was in the hospital wing. Dumbledore told me that Quirrell was dead and Voldemort had fled. He also said that I had managed to get the stone because I wanted to find the stone but NOT use it. He told me that he destroyed the stone and that my mother's love protected me from Quirrell because of whatever spell she used to save me when she died and that I wasn't ready to know why Voldemort tried to kill me when I was just a baby."

"Wait so he was after you?!" Jen exclaimed

"…You have given me a great deal to think on and look into Mr. Potter" Amelia said "but I am afraid I should be going now, I will contact you once I have a date for Sirius' trial. Good Night Mr. and Mrs. Mason"

The Masons and Harry wished Amelia a good night and Amelia left, almost immediately afterwards Jen and David exchanged looks and agreed they would be giving that appraisal of magical education around the globe a VERY through looking over as soon as Harry was in bed.