Disclaimer: All Harry Potter™ characters and settings are the sole property of JK Rowling. No money is being made with this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended. All that belongs to me is the plot!

Spoilers for all five books. It's rated at PG-13 for now and there are no romantic pairings at the moment, but that is subject to change depending on future plotlines. Comments can be sent to [email protected]

In the quiet little town of Little Whinging, there stood a rather unremarkable house. The Dursleys, the family who resided at that house supposed themselves to be quite normal thank you very much, but they harboured a secret, Harry. The thin, tall teenager with messy black hair and round glasses, wearing clothes that were several sizes too big.

Luckily for the Dursleys, this particular summer Harry would often spend the majority of his time in his small room. In fact that very morning, Harry was standing at the open window in his bedroom, looking at the clear blue sky for any traces of his owl, Hedwig. Finally with a sigh, Harry moved back to his bed and picked up the letter that he had received two days previously.

Harry rolled his eyes at the mention of Fudge and Dumbledore. Fudge was obviously inept, but Dumbledore ... Harry's feelings regarding the Headmaster was far less clear. He wondered whether he could trust him fully. He had little doubt that the Headmaster had his interests at heart, but it lay low on his list of concerns, the safety of the Wizarding world being paramount. Still, Harry was expecting a letter from Remus, or another member of the Order, soon in response to his owl.

With a sigh, Harry put the letter aside and picked up one of the books that Remus has sent. It was a book on Intermediate and Advanced Level: Occlumency and contained several practical exercises. For the last three weeks or so, Harry had been religiously practising the art of occlumency and meditation. The loss of Sirius and his part in that drove him with a strength he had not fully appreciated until now. Harry knew he was now successful in blocking several attacks on his conscious and unconscious mind, but he could not wait until someone tested his barriers so he could be certain.

Voldemort no longer plagued his dreams, but were instead replaced by Sirius, Cedric, and his parents. Then there were the faceless figures that haunted his dreams. The guilt plagued him, but it was what also drove him. He had asked Remus and Hermione to send him several books and he had reviewed many of his old ones in the preceding weeks. His occlumency and meditation exercises had a useful side effect of improving his ability to retain the information. Of course, he was nowhere near the level of Hermione, but then Harry was predominantly concentrating on Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions.

Harry settled down to read Charms: An aid to Duelling and he became so engrossed that he lost all track of time. It was with a start that he noticed a tawny owl at his window. Harry approached the owl and realised that it was carrying the latest copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry frowned as he offered the owl a treat. After the lies and taunts from the paper the previous year, Harry had cancelled his subscription and had forgotten to renew it for the summer. He offered the owl some water and opened the paper.

'In another surprise move and amongst the increasing threat from You-Know-Who, the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation which further extends it's control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry skimmed the rest of the article until he reached the final paragraph.

Harry's eyes were drawn to the neat red scrawl under the article.

'Fudge's being an idiot again. I wonder if this is retribution for Dumbledore and you being right. Still, is going to put a major dent into the way Hogwarts is run!'

'Hermione' Harry thought. 'Of course, she'd be annoyed at this. She's secretly been harbouring hopes to be a Professor whatever else she might be considering. Not that she has anything to be worried about. Still, looks like Fudge is being a pompous idiot again! Politics ... bleugh'

Harry threw the paper away since he did not feel upto reading about horror stories and fake sightings of Voldemort. The occasional flashes of visions and nightmares were quite enough for him. Harry sat back down with his book but could not concentrate on the words. Eventually he slammed the book shut and left his room. He walked down the stairs and past Dudley, who was watching a television show, and Aunt Petunia, who glared at him as he passed through the kitchen.

"Make sure you don't get any dirt on you since I'll be the one to clean it up!" she screeched.

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing that she was indirectly referring to the warning she and Uncle Vernon had received from the Order at the beginning of summer. He snagged a apple from the fruit bowl. "Yes Aunt Petunia" he replied and walked into the back yard.

Harry lay down on the lush green grass and closed his eyes. It was then that he allowed himself to actually consider the thoughts running through his head. The new legislation for the Hogwarts Teaching Accreditation Scheme was the cause of his concern and worry. Though he still wanted to be an Auror, a small part of him wondered what it would be like to be a Professor, perhaps even teaching Defence. That was if he survived Voldemort.

Harry remembered the secret meetings in the Room of Requirement for the DA, Dumbledore's Army. Harry admitted he had been somewhat forced into leading the DA though Hermione did have the best interests at heart. It was that feeling of satisfaction, of pride, when he saw the other students perform a spell that he had taught them. It was different to successfully performing a spell himself ... it had a lot more weight. It was a responsibility that he had not thought he could cope with, yet nearly everyone had benefited from it.

Many had commented that his meetings were much more interesting and informative than the previous Professors, but then, with the exception of Remus, and perhaps the fake-Moody, the others had admittedly been gits. Quirrel who was too scared of his own shadow, whether is had been an act of not. Lockhart, well the less said about that idiot the better. Finally there was Umbridge. Harry's mood always became worse when he thought of that toad-faced cow. The only satisfying thought was that she was in St Mungos, but Harry would have dearly loved for charges to be brought against her.

Unfortunately, there were few witnesses and it was unlikely that Fudge would admit to Umbridge's unethical decisions. Whether Harry was once more in favour and the golden boy of the Wizarding World or not. Harry knew that he had made an enemy of Fudge, but that was small picking when compared to Lord Voldemort. Even so, one more than one occasion, Harry had imagined the expression of Umbridge's toad-like face when a list of charges were announced, including ordering a Dementor attack and attempting to use an Unforgivable.

Harry sat up and cleared his mind of thoughts of petty revenge. He began to eat the apple and allowed himself to come to a conclusion, if not a decision. If it were at all possible, Harry decided that he would keep his options open. Merlin only knew what Fudge had in store for those wanting to become an Auror. If it were possible, Harry would attempt to gain entry on the Teaching Accreditation Scheme but if it clashed with his aspirations to become an Auror, then so be it..

Harry sat aside the apple core and allowed himself to fall into a meditative state. His eyes were closed and his muscles became relaxed as his breathing deepened and grew slightly longer. Harry's intentions were to strengthen the barrier around his mind, to prevent unwanted intrusions as well as to reflect upon the reading that he had done earlier that day.

Harry could not wait until he could perform magic again and put into practice the new spells and techniques he had studied and learnt that summer. A final foreboding thought flitted though his mind before he fully immersed himself into his inner core. 'Somehow, I get the impression this won't be the only action Fudge takes this summer. I think my life is about to get even more complicated, and that's also including the complications with the Prophecy and Voldemort'