Chapter 19

The day of the Boo Board contest finally arrived. James and the other fathers had agreed to let their children participate in the event. Harry and Ron were in one age group. Missy was in another and the twins were in the other. Sirius and James signed up for the older age bracket. Lily thought they were nuts, but they were going to do it anyway.

James and Sirius stood with the other contestants, most of them a good ten years younger than they were, waiting their turn. A couple of the boys were laughing, and one of them said to Sirius, "Hey, old man. The Muggles have a saying, 'if you can't run with the big dogs, you should stay on the porch.'"

"Sirius," James warned. Sirius just smiled, turned into Padfoot, and started to growl while bearing his teeth. "I think you insulted him," James said to the boys.

"Sorry," the boys said, and they quickly backed away.

Sirius turned back to normal and called, "Come back when you can play with the big dogs!"

"Sirius, you're crazy," Harry said while walking and fighting to pin his number on his winter robe.

"Hey, it taught them to not call me, Gramps," Sirius said to Harry as he took the number from Harry that he'd gotten for him.

"Well, we better go line up. Missy's age group goes first, and she's fourth," Harry said, starting down the hill where the others were starting to gather.

The kids in Missy's age group kept things simple and didn't do too many stunts. Missy didn't win. She did come in second place, though. A boy a year older than Missy won, but only because he accidentally did a loop when he lost control of the board. If he had crashed while doing it she might have won, but since he didn't, he won.

Harry and Ron's age group was next. It was sometime while they were waiting that Harry learned how badly his friend wanted to win the board. Ron went fourth and was in the lead. Harry had gone last. The longer things went with the other kids messing up or wiping out, the more it became clear that it was down to Harry and Ron.

Now, Harry knew he could win, or that's what he thought. The trouble was that Harry didn't want to win any more. He had the feeling that if he actually asked for one, James would buy him a Boo Board for Christmas. Ron's parents couldn't afford one. Harry knew it, and Ron knew it. This was Ron's only shot at getting one.

So, when it came to Harry's turn, he did the noble thing and messed up enough to come in second, behind Ron. He did it by knocking his glasses off during the event. Harry knew he couldn't see without them. Not being able to see properly gave Harry a good reason for falling off his board and landing in the snow. What Harry didn't count on was the landing. He landed a bit too hard and ended up hitting the same shoulder he had broken playing Quidditch during school this year.

"Harry," Ron and the others rushed over as the boy sat up holding his left shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said, looking around at all the blurry faces.

"Here," James said, putting Harry's glasses back on his face.

"Thanks," Harry said, noticing that his glasses had broken in the fall.

Josh and Mitch rushed over looking worried. "Are you okay?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just lost my glass; that's all," Harry said.

"Man, you need contacts," Josh said.

"What are those?" James asked.

"They're lenses that fit on your eyes. They correct your vision like glasses do, but don't fall off like glasses do. They can pop out, though. Muggles created them, but I think there is a kind for wizards now. You can have them spelled so that you can keep them in all the time," Mitch said. "Our sister has them, hers are charmed to change color with her mood."

"Oh, I wonder if you can get them even if you don't need them to see," Susan said.

"I don't know. You can check," Josh said.

"Well, right now, Harry needs a Healer," Lily said, helping her son to his feet. "Come on."

"Yes, Ma'am," Harry said, wincing in pain as he moved.

Mitch and Josh told Ron that he had won. The others stayed behind to celebrate with him, while Lily took Harry to the Healers' tent with James close behind. The moment they were out of earshot of the others James leaned close to his son and said, "That was nice what you did."

"Did?" Harry said puzzled.

"You know what I mean; I would have done the same thing for Moony. So, if I don't win a Boo Board. I'll buy you one for Christmas," James said.

"If?" Lily said eyeing her husband. "James, I have a bet with Alice that I'm going to be taking you and Sirius to the Healers' Tent by the time this day is done."

"I'll take some of that action," James said smiling.

"Okay; if I win, you have to be nice to Severus for the entire time we're here. No rude remarks about him or to him," Lily said.

"Deal," James said. Harry thought his father made a mistake making this bet, but he didn't say it. He wasn't about to destroy his chance to get a Boo Board for Christmas.

Harry had been right; James did regret making that bet. He and Sirius both ended up the Healers' Tent. James had lost his glasses, except he didn't do it on purpose the way Harry had. James' landing was just as bad as Harry's, and he broke his right arm. It was while the Healer was working on his arm that James told Harry that they were both going to get contacts. He was sick and tired of losing or breaking his glasses. Harry didn't mind and thought it might be fun to have contacts.

As for the other events, Fred won for his age group, and he promised to share his Boo Board with George. Molly had talked Ron into sharing his board with Ginny. Ron didn't mind at the time because he was still on cloud nine about winning it. It wasn't until later that Ron realized he had actually agreed to share his board with his sister.

He complained to Harry that night as they were getting ready for bed. "I can't believe I have to share it with her," Ron said.

"Come on, Ron, it isn't like she'll ride it all the time. Besides, it's still your board," Harry said.

"You didn't have to share your Nimbus with anyone," Ron said.

"Oh, didn't I?" Harry asked, sitting up in bed and holding his sore arm.

"Um, well …" Ron started to stutter at that. Harry had shared his Nimbus with someone even though he didn't have to. It had been Ron, and he knew it. "Okay, I'll share."

"Good, now let's get some sleep. My arm hurts," Harry said, dropping down on his bed to get some sleep.

Neville was smiling from the other side of the room. He had guessed what Harry had done and why. He didn't think Ron knew it, and was pretty sure he wouldn't like it if he had known. He would keep it a secret. He did know, though, that Harry was a better person than Ron and maybe even the rest of them were. He thought more about others than himself. Neville wondered if Harry realized that this was why everyone looked up to him, even boys Percy's age. Neville didn't think so. He figured Harry would never see it.

Monday morning, Petunia, James, Sirius and Frank headed back to London to face a long day of meetings with the Wizengamot, leaving the others back at the Longbottom cabin. As the group made their way into the Wizengamot Chambers, it was clear to all that the others were on edge about today. The room was quieter than normal, and everyone was jumping at any sound.

"I think there are a lot of guilty people in this room," James said to Sirius.

"You bet there are," Frank said.

The group made their way to their seats and sat waiting for the room to fill. Lucius and his wife were close to the last to arrive. Lucius took his seat with Narcissa sitting beside him. James and Sirius both wondered if Narcissa had her hand on her wand as she sat there. They had a hunch she did because Narcissa's hand was in her robes the entire time she sat there.

Finally, the room was full and Fudge took control of the meeting. He was going to lead the Wizengamot until a new leader was voted in. This wasn't going to happen until everything was settled with the marked Death Eaters. Albus wasn't the leader any more; he had lost the position because of the events that took place at Hogwarts. He wasn't event there today. He had turned the care of his seats over to his daughter Helga. She was sitting in her father's seat watching everyone. As she sat there, she had the same expression and half-smile on her face that her father always had.

"I think everyone knows why we're here; so, we might as well get to it. Is there anyone here who has been marked as a follower of You-Know-Who," Fudge asked the room.

"I knew he couldn't say his name," Sirius said to Petunia.

"Shhh," Petunia said, as she sat there watching as everyone around her looked at each other wondering who would go first.

Slowly, one-by-one people in the room started to stand up, the first few weren't shocking, as they came from families for which such allegiance was expected, like Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. They were always Lucius' followers, so it was clear that they would be marked. Richard Nott was easy to pick out as well. It was people like Madam Edgecombe, a Fudge staff member, that Petunia wouldn't have guessed to be a marked Death Eater.

All-in-all, twenty people were standing, and five of them were full Lords. Fudge nodded and the group sat down. This is when the fun began; and by the time the fighting was over, it was clear that the Pure-bloods had taken a hit.

The fines for the marked Lords were steep. Three were forced to give up their seats and put them up for sale to cover the fines. Lucius lost everything including his seats. He was now penniless and he was going to be forced to turn to depend on Sirius for financial help. Crabbe's and Goyle's fathers had to borrow money from their wives' fathers to pay their fines. They were moving away to live near them after the meeting today. They had no choice really. They couldn't support their families and since Lucius could no longer help them. They only had their wives families to turn to for help. In fact, many followers of You-Know-Who were moving away. They had no choice. It was either that or start over from scratch. They weren't about to start over, so they were leaving.

Fudge sighed deeply at all of this because many of his supporters were leaving him. He was now left with people who didn't respect him and wanted him out of office. He knew that the day was coming, and he had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to stop it.

It didn't help that Fudge was forced to release people like the Lestranges from Azkaban because of the law. He knew this was not going to help him with the popular vote when the election came around next fall.

As James and the others got ready to leave, it was easy to tell that they weren't happy about any of it. The Wizengamot was clear of You- Know-Who's followers or most of them. What James and the others didn't like was that several of them were free from Azkaban as well.

"I guess I better go talk to Cissy about Bella," Sirius said.

"What are you going to do about her?" James asked.

"I don't know. I would love to have her sleeping on the streets; but she is family, like it or not," Sirius grumbled.

"I feel for you, mate," James said, patting his friend on the back.

"Thanks," Sirius said while walking off.

Petunia pulled out a small pocket watch from her robe and looked at the time. "We have enough time before School Board meeting to grab something to eat, before heading to Hogwarts for the School Board meeting," Petunia said to James and Frank.

"Oh, damn; I forgot about that," Frank cursed.

"It has to be done, if the school is going to open again," Petunia said.

"Well, at least Lucius isn't on the board anymore," James said.

"No, Narcissa took his seat. I think it was her mother's originally, after all," Petunia said.

"Oh, that's right. The Black family joined the board after Phineas Nigellus became Headmaster," Frank said.

"Yes, that's correct," James said.

"Well, we better get going. I want to get home sometime this century," Frank said.

James agreed, and the group made their way Hogwarts, to spend the rest of the day and most of the night dealing with the changes that were going to be enacted when the school started up once again.

While the Wizengamot was meeting, Harry and his friends sat around in the room the boys were sharing. They were getting ready to take the potion that would tell them their talents and specialties. Each one had a piece of parchment in front of them and a quill. The kids were to take the potion then prick their finger with the tip of the quill. The quill would then magically write down their talents on the paper.

"Who goes first?" Harry asked.

"Why not do it together," Susan said.

"Okay, on three," George said.

"One," Fred started.

"Two," Dudley said.

"Three," Harry said, and the kids downed the potion together. They then quickly pricked their finger and put the quill on the paper.

After a few moments, the quills started to write. Harry read:

Power level: high

Intelligence: high

Gifts: Beast-speaker

Multi-Animagus

Charms

Transfigurations

"That's it?" Harry said confused.

"Well, what did you want a list of everything you would be good at?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Harry said.

"It doesn't work that way, Harry. What you're good at will depend on how hard you work at things," Penny Clearwater said.

"Okay, I get that, but what does it mean Multi-Animagus?" Harry asked.

"It means you have more than one form," Hermione said.

"I wonder what they are." Harry mused.

"You will have to find that out later by using another potion," Susan said.

"Okay," Harry said, and he looked at Ron's paper. "What does yours say?"

"I'm average, and I'm an Animagus," Ron said.

"That's cool, we can find out together," Harry said.

"Yeah, I guess," Ron said. He was a bit hurt that he was average.

One-by-one everyone shared what they had. Hermione, of course, was highly intelligent, but what shocked her was that her power level wasn't high. She was marked slightly above average. She was hoping for more, and she sat there sulking about it for a bit. Hermione wasn't an Animagus, either.

Susan was not shocked at what she found. She fit in perfectly with her family. Hers read that she was slightly above average in everything. She wasn't an Animagus, but that didn't shock her because no one in her family was one so, she didn't think she would be one either.

Erin, Penny, and Missy were all the same. The girls were intelligent, not highly, but intelligent. Their power levels were slightly above average, and they were not Animagi. They were shown to be elemental witches. Erin was a wind elemental, Penny was water elemental and Missy was a fire elemental.

Penny explained that they could perform magic that controlled the weather and that there were only a few such Elementals in the world. She went on to tell them that this kind of magic isn't taught at Hogwarts, and if they wanted to pursue it, they'd have to find an Elemental of the same kind – air and water – to teach them, or perhaps they could learn a little from books. She stressed that the best way to learn, though, would be to find an Elemental.

Ginny's read the same as Harry's. She was also an Animagus and a beast-speaker. This shocked Ginny, for she never thought of herself as person who could talk to animals, but it seems she was. The only gift that she had that Harry didn't was healing. It said she was a natural healer.

Dennis and Colin's were like Ron's, except that they weren't Animagi. The boys didn't mind this; they always knew they were average. It was how they had always been.

Dudley's shocked him. His said that was slight above average in power level and intelligence. His skill was in potion making, and he was a Multi-Animagus.

Neville sat looking at his paper not saying anything. "What is it Neville?" Harry asked.

"I think something went wrong with my potion," Neville said.

"Everyone took the same potion, Neville," Hermione said taking the paper from the boy's hand and reading it. It read like this.

Neville Longbottom:

Power level: above average but surpressed

Intelligence: high but surpressed

Gifts: Herbology

Plant-Speaker

Empath

Animagus

"What does it mean surpressed?" Ginny asked.

"It could mean anything? Either someone has surpressed Neville's powers or something happened to him to do cause it. I think we should tell the others about this. Maybe, they can figure out what happened," Penny said.

"I don't know. I mean how this could be right. The first time my family figured out I could do magic is when my uncle dropped me out of a window and I bounced," Neville said.

"Neville, have more faith in yourself. You helped us stop Voldemort and you are one of the heirs of Hogwarts. So, it is possible that you are as powerful as this says. I think we should just tell your parents about this and see what they say about it," Harry said.

"Okay, but I still don't believe it," Neville said and the kids went on to read what their paper had written on them.

Fred and George read that they were telepathic, slight intelligent, and their power levels were just above average. They were also Animagi.

Percy wasn't shocked to find that what his read either. He always knew he was intelligent, his power level was average, and he wasn't going to be an Animagus. It was something he just wouldn't want to do even if he was technically able.

Harry looked over at Luna and asked her what her paper said. Luna put the paper down and everyone read it. Luna's power level was high, along with her intelligence. It also said that Luna was a seer.

"Wow," Ginny said shocked.

"Now, I understand why you're so strange," Erin, said.

"Erin, that isn't nice," Percy said.

"I mean it as a complement," Erin said. "Seers see the world differently than we do. It's just how they are."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"My Aunt Bella is one, or that's what Mother says. It's why she's always a bit off," Erin said.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is a seer?" Neville said shocked.

"Yes, or she was before she was sent to prison. Mother told me that she didn't know if she still was because of the Dementors. They could have killed her gift," Erin said.

"I don't believe it," Neville said shaking his head.

"Why is that, because she's a Death Eater? Maybe, the reason she was made one was because Voldemort knew about it?" Erin asked.

"She's right. It would make sense for Voldemort to have Bella around if she was a Seer," Harry said.

"Yes, I guess you're right," Neville said. He still didn't like Bella or the others who had hurt his parents. He knew from, listening to his parents talk, that there was a possibility that they could get out. Neville didn't like the idea, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he didn't say anything.

After reading their papers one more time, Harry and his friends decided to go out and enjoy the snow. They didn't know when school was going to start, and they wanted to enjoy their brake as much as possible before then.

The End

Look for the next part … "A New Hogwarts"