Tin Foiled
Harry was feeling ill after his second Occlumency lesson. He got back to the Tower with difficulty, stumbling and tripping over himself.
Once he got back he just collapsed on the sofa next to Hermione. Ron was on the floor and playing chess with Crookshanks, who was beating him.
"Knight to E3," Ron smiled smugly as his knight moved forwards.
Crookshanks just stared at Ron and let out a loud meow. Crookshanks figure moved across and had demolished Ron's knight.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M BEING BEATEN BY A CAT!" Ron nearly screamed.
Harry and Hermione laughed at Ron, who was looking like he was near to tears for the humiliation of being beaten by a cat.
"How's your head, Harry?" Ron asked, while still locked in a staring match with Crookshanks.
"So sore," Harry complained. "I just wish I could learn Occlumency another way."
"Occlumency, did you say," came a voice from behind Harry.
Harry turned around quickly to see who it was that overheard him mention the word. Fred and George Weasley, twin menaces and pranksters extraordinaire.
"Is someone trying to read your mind, Harry?" George, or was it Fred, asked.
Harry sighed and dropped his head in exasperation. "Snape and Voldemort," he said, ignoring the flinches from Ron and Hermione.
"We have a way to avoid mind intrusion," Fred said.
"Otherwise we would have been caught for every prank we pulled when we were be in Dumbledore's office."
Now this conversation was getting interesting. He found out from Snape that Dumbledore was a very powerful mind reader. If the twins didn't get caught by him they must have strong shields.
"What's your tactic?" Harry asked, feeling eager.
"We can't tell you our secret-"
"-in front of our brother-"
"-or the Gryffindor genius."
They finished their twin speak with a little bow to Hermione, who blushed at the praise of being called the 'Gryffindor genius'.
"Meet us on the Second Floor in thirty minutes in the abandoned classroom," the twins said, before sneaking out of the Common Room, probably to conduct a prank on Umbridge.
Harry wasn't happy that he couldn't involve Hermione and Ron, but a quick memory of them not keeping him updated on Summer events made him quickly change his mind.
"We'll come with you mate," Ron instantly said.
"No Ron," Hermione interjected. "Harry doesn't need us right now. And I'm quite sure he needs his own space."
Harry gave Hermione a grateful look and tried to do some of his homework with Hermione's help. He had a dreadful headache from the Occlumency lesson and couldn't focus very straight.
Thirty minutes later he found himself in the abandoned classroom on the Second Floor with Fred and George.
Fred cast a privacy charm on the room and George checked to make sure no portraits were awake. According to the map Filch was in McGonagall's office with Draco Malfoy and the Deputy Head. Harry easily guessed Malfoy must have been caught out of bed and was now being delivered a detention. Despite the High Inquisitor controlling detentions Umbridge couldn't do anything if the perpetrator was caught red-handed and punished by another teacher.
"Now for our greatest secret to be bestowed upon you, Son of Prongs."
Harry gave a chuckle. The twins discovered back in the Summer that Sirius and Remus were Padfoot and Moony and that Prongs was his own father. They acted as if he was a god sometimes and it was amusing.
"This is our greatest secret," the twins spoke at once. They raised their wands and pointed them at their own heads. "Revelio."
After the incantation was spoken Harry noticed the twins were wearing tin foil hats. He stood there, his mouth agape. "What is that?"
"We read that Muggles believe that a tin foil hat prevents mind intrusion," they explained. "So we made a tin foil hat, put it on our head, cast a Comfortable Charm and disillusioned it back in Third Year, when you just started here. Needless to say it works perfectly."
"How do you know it works?"
"Snape dragged us to his office less than an hour of us wearing it, believing we were responsible for a prank," Fred smiled. "I will always remember that day. We know Snape tried to enter our minds because he locked eyes with us and then he fell off his chair."
"Where can I get the tin foil?" Harry asked, eager to try it out.
"Come with us," the twins said. "And we'll get you it."
|\/\\/|
Severus Snape glared murderously at his students as they entered his classroom. He did not have a good night and felt like making the young children scared. He just hated every single one of them, except for his own house. He only favoured Draco Malfoy because of Lucius. He bonded with the man over the beautiful torture of a filthy Muggle back in the war. And now Draco was handed a two week detention for being out of bed. Umbridge tried to change it, but was warned by the Minister just this morning not to act suspicious by favouring one house over the other. He enjoyed seeing the squat woman's fury at not being able to handle the situation.
He glared murderously at the Potter brat as he sat down. The boy glared back at him. He gave the boy a sneer and decided to try his luck and wandlessly peek into the boy's mind.
Big Mistake.
Snape found himself instantly ejected before he could even enter and fell backwards, falling into the cauldron that was right behind him. Unfortunately the cauldron wasn't empty and he fell into a large pile of hot red and gold gloop.
Seething with absolute anger, he climbed out of the cauldron and was met by stares. He looked at Potter, who merely smiled at him. The brat then gave an amused snort, starting a row of laughter in the room. He tried to glare at the pupils but nothing worked, especially as his hair had turned red and gold as well.
Oh hell, no. He realised. He was a Gryffindor.
|\/\\/|
"Alright, Harry," Dumbledore asked gently. "What did you do?"
Albus Dumbledore was not happy with having to call this meeting with Harry. He had been avoiding the boy since the Summer but what happened in the Potions classroom required his immediate attention. Severus kept yelling that it was Harry Potter and he was unable to have Minerva deal with the situation. She had just laughed and said he deserved it for humiliating and bullying Gryffindor students throughout the years and he knew if Dolores Umbridge got her hand on the situation she would try her best to get Harry expelled.
So now here was Harry Potter in front of him in his office and the boy was glaring at him in a very uncomfortable manner.
"Worth your attention, now am I," he said.
Dumbledore flinched. This meeting was already going downhill with that statement. He was hoping Harry would see it from a mature point of view.
Wondering what was going on exactly in the boy's mind, he looked into the boy's eyes. White hot burning rage appeared in the boy's eyes as he tried to connect.
BOOM!
Due to the force of his intrusion he was thrown off his feet and launched into the air before colliding painfully onto the small ornate table which housed a few of his trinkets.
Grumbling, he lifted himself up and looked at the damage.
Uh-oh. He had fallen on top of the very trinket that kept the blood wards at Privet Drive strong and it had smashed. Harry's blood which was connected to it ran right at the boy who had now left his office without a backwards glance.
The wards at Privet Drive had fallen. There was now no chance to return the boy there for the Summer. He sighed as several years of planning was falling and he couldn't do anything about it.
|\/\\/|
Lord Voldemort was ecstatic.
Today was the day. The day that he would have the prophecy in his hands. After months of failure and the Death Eaters bungling things up he was ready. His Death Eaters were here before him, ready to go once he planted the memory in his nemesis' mind.
Voldemort looked at the cauldron of potions that were stationed just behind him that the Death Eaters were going to be using in the Ministry raid. There was also a Magical Time Bomb they were going to use to try and destroy the Ministry. With the attitude of Minister Cornelius Fudge regarding his return, he would just chalk it up to be a terrible accident than admit that he himself was back.
Voldemort closed his eyes and focused hard.
Harry was doing his History exam when he felt his scar tingling. Having a bad feeling, he forced the disillusioned tin foil hat down further on his head so he would cover the scar too.
Lord Voldemort focused his will at trying to transfer the false memory into Harry Potter. He did not know or understand how he had a connection to Harry Potter, but it was very dangerous and advantageous to have it.
He found the point where he could enter the brat-who-foiled-him-too-many-times mind and pushed, and failed spectacularly which led to his demise.
He felt like he was struck by lightning as he was thrown out violently which lifted him into the air and tossed him several feet, landing in the cauldron that housed the brewed Draught of Living Death that was made to poison Potter's friends. The force of his landing dislodged the cauldron from its restraints and it fell to the floor and rolled over.
As the cauldron rolled over it touched the detonator for the explosive. Voldemort's limp hand had accidently brushed against the trigger which activated it.
The Death Eaters stood there staring in horror at what was happening, not seeing that the detonator had been triggered.
BOOM!
Malfoy Manor was immediately destroyed in the resulting explosion, along with every Death Eater who died in the explosion. It was the same explosion that ripped off part of Azkaban when the followers were broken out.
The cauldron that had Voldemort's still alive body flew into the air in the explosion by several feet. It flew well away from the Manor to the River Avon which wasn't far from the Manor. With a splash the cauldron landed on the water. The cauldron quickly sank to the bottom with the Dark Lord's body still in it.
As for Voldemort, he was in a complete death like state as he had ingested the potion when he fell in. He did not know what was happening as his lungs were weakening from being underwater for so long. The Horcruxes did not protect his internal organs, it only protected his soul.
The Dark Lord died from drowning that day. As his organs were of his own, the Horcruxes were rendered useless and deactivated with his death.
|\/\\/|
Harry Potter was just leaving the Great Hall after handing in his History exam when he heard a loud wailing from within him.
Before he could think on it, he fell down from the pain and his scar felt like it was ripping open. Luckily Madam Pomfrey was in the vicinity and he was rushed straight to the Hospital Wing. Before he got there a black ooze came out of his head and vanished.
"Harry, your scar has faded," Hermione said.
Harry trailed his fingers and touched his scar. It did not feel rough like it normally felt. It felt smooth and uncut.
Draco Malfoy was admitted to the Hospital Wing an hour after Harry by Snape. The boy had gone into a completely catatonic state.
"What happened to him?" Ron asked Snape, who still had red and gold hair several months on.
Scowling at them he said, "Malfoy Manor was destroyed in an explosion an hour ago. His father is dead, along with several others." He said that last part in a conspiratorial way. "I blame you, Potter."
Harry was astounded. He got Snape's meaning instantly. Was Voldemort dead?
He got his answer a week later. During that week Cornelius Fudge was arrested for Bribery and Corruption. Despite the explosion of Malfoy Manor, Lucius' secret chamber under the drawing-room remained intact. Aurors investigating the scene discovered the room along with several dark artefacts. Also in the room was a book detailing all of Cornelius Fudge's transactions over the years and veritable proof that Lord Voldemort was indeed back. After a large scouring of the area for over two miles, they found Voldemort's body at the bottom of the nearby river in a cauldron.
The discovered body of Peter Pettigrew in the wreckage raised a lot of questions and by the time school let out, Sirius Black was exonerated and had custody of his godson.
It was the best year Harry had. The tin foil hat had saved him several headaches, annoyed Snape to no end, destroyed the chance of going back to his hated relatives, and he was quite sure he had killed Voldemort after the attempted mind intrusion.
Now he was on a private island owned by Sirius lounging in the sun with his godfather.
One week later they had two new guests. Despite being extremely busy, the new Minister For Magic Amelia Bones was invited by Sirius to join them for a few days holiday. She brought along her niece Susan who was in Harry's year.
When the Minister left a few days later Susan stayed to soak in the sun and she and Harry went off the nearest shore to go to the Muggle shops and spend time together.
Before the end of Summer they were dating and having the time of their lives.
Five years later they were still together and got married. It was one of the best days of Harry's life.
|\/\\/|
Seventeen Years Later
Severus Snape glared at the new First Years. He still couldn't believe that Dumbledore kept him on this job , and yet it had been seventeen years since the Dark Lord had died.
He called out the First Year roll call and eventually reached the name he dreaded. "James Potter."
He looked up at eleven year old James Sirius Potter and shuddered. The son of Harry and Susan Potter was going to give him hell, and he knew it.
Deciding to take a little risk, he locked eyes with the boy and attempted an intrusion, only to be knocked back immediately and fell to the floor.
As he stood up and glared at the smirking child he wondered one thing, What kind of Occlumency is this?
In his seat James Sirius Potter smirked. Now he realised why his father made him and his siblings wear a disillusioned tin foil hat. This was going to be fun!
AUTHORS NOTE: I've always wondered if a tin foil hat would work against Occlumency. Tin foil hats are said to be protected from mind intrusion. After being unable to find a fic about it, I wrote this. I hope you enjoyed it.