First: I'm terribly sorry that this story wasn't updated earlier. I simply lost track of it. I hope you still enjoy the new chapter.

Hogwarts' Decision

Shiho and Harry were busy with the development of the gaseous form of draught of living death. This would help their side in the war tremendously, should they manage to make it work. The problem was that the potion in itself stayed in fluid form and heating it up, which was the normal way to turn fluids into gases, made it lose its properties. They had already calculated the Arithmancy behind the potion and were not happy with the results. By now they had spent a whole week working on nothing else on this problem and were quite frustrated.

"I don't think that we can manage this with the normal recipe for the potion, Harry," Shiho commented, "We need to take the properties of the ingredients into consideration and the cooling phase at the end, which makes the potion useable in the first place, is a problem."

"I know. If we don't want to develop a new potion that has the same properties, we need to think of something different," Harry agreed.

"And the development of a new potion is always difficult. I think we should see to it if we can't make the potion be absorbed through the skin, instead of having to have it ingested. That's easier than having to change the state of aggregation of the potion," Shiho suggested.

"A good idea, Shiho. And not too difficult. Draught of living death is a clear potion with a consistency similar to water. That means, we could load a grenade with it, if we also enchant it to turn the potion into mist. That is easy to do and wouldn't interfere with the potion's properties at all," Harry pondered.

"We would only need to load up a secondary potion, one that doesn't interfere with the draught, and which will make the skin of the ones hit with it permeable like a root that takes in water. Like automatically sucking up any kind of fluid that the skin comes into contact with for a set period of time. Perhaps an hour at most. I can think of two potions that have that effect without having to do any research. We would only need to find out if the potion would react to the draught of living death," Shiho commented.

"We should definitely try it. The potion to make the skin permeable would be the biggest help if it would work within a second upon making contact with the skin, so that we could perhaps work around any reaction problems by timing a double explosion. One for the first potion, also set to create mist that acts upon skin contact and then a second one, two to five seconds later, which will set the draught of living death free," Harry suggested.

"If we can't find a potion that doesn't have any reaction, we could work around the problem that way, but it would be much better, if we could just set both potions free at the same time. This way the enemy can't escape by apparition or emergency portkey before we take them out of the equation," Shiho pointed out.

Harry nodded. Shiho was right with her warning. They pooled their knowledge on the first type of potion and then went and did some calculations about reactions between both potions, which kept them busy for the rest of the afternoon.

Shinichi returned from snooping around the city, having observed some popular meeting places for Death Eaters and general pureblood bigots. As he wasn't known to them at all, not to mention that Voldemort never knew that he got a fake prophecy and needed to look out for somebody besides Harry, he was perfectly suited to walk around and gather information. Of course he still used the spells that Sirius had taught him to not be noticed more than being around. He wasn't suicidal after all. But his magical signature wasn't known, and Moody was concerned that, what with the takeover of the Ministry, the dark side might have got their hands onto the files of known opponents of the dark side.

Aurors had their signatures on file to prevent that their spells were confused during investigations, then criminals had theirs on file and some notable others as well. Anybody that had ever visited the Ministry for something also had theirs registered, which was done in the process of checking the wand, which each visitor needed to do, even if he only wanted to do something simple like registering a new floo access. Meaning the Ministry had files on nearly the whole adult population of their country. Only those that never went there, which was a minority, never was registered. After all, most witches and wizards wanted to apparate around the country, and the licences were given out by the Ministry as well.

"And, anything interesting?" Sirius asked.

"Not really. I saw some of the people that are on the list, but they didn't talk about anything important. Mostly they are busy with some ball that will take place at Yule at Malfoy Manor. At least the witches were. I can't count how many conversations about ball gowns and hair styles I overheard. And we don't even have December yet. Then the usual gossip about who is cheating on who, possible illicit affairs with high-ranking politicians and guessing who might be promoted now that the Ministry was 'under proper leadership'," Shinichi informed him.

"Well, it was to be expected. At least there doesn't seem to be any immediate concern, otherwise they would have talked about things like new campaigns against muggleborns and the like," Sirius stated.

"Hardly a long-lived topic, as, shortly after they published their muggleborn-registration commission, the remaining muggleborns fled the country. They don't have anybody they can convict now. I overheard that a woman named Umbridge was furious about it last week when I was out collecting information. How far have Harry and Shiho progressed?"

"Well, they have decreased the number of potions for their plans to two that they are testing in combination with the draught of living death. Harry thinks that they shouldn't need more than a week at most to have it finished. And that means having the grenades with the enchantments ready as well," Sirius answered.

"That's great. I don't like having to wait, but we can't risk an attack before we have the means to subdue large groups with little risk to our side," Shinichi commented.

"Yeah. If not for the common problem that emergency portkeys would take our opponents away if they merely were knocked out during a fight, we could have a much easier time. But ever since the Weasley twins tested their own version of knock-out bombs, we know that the portkeys are charmed too well to have an easier way for doing things. We need to have them all registered as dead to the portkeys, which the only way to achieve is the draught of living death, shy of actually killing the bastards," Sirius growled.

It had been an unpleasant bit of information, as there had been the suggestion to simply stun or otherwise knock their opponents out and then drug them with the normal version of the draught of living death. It seemed that somebody on the other side had realised that weakness in their way of fighting and had found a simple solution.

"At least we found out early enough. It would have been a much bigger problem if we were surprised by the tactic in a battle. After all, they would only need to enervate their fighters at the safe location and then let them come back into battle from a direction we didn't expect them. And with apparition it is very easy to do," Shinichi pointed out.

"True. Well, let's see if we can help Akemi in some way, as Harry and Shiho won't come out of their lab until we force them to eat dinner," Sirius commented, "I swear, if we didn't drag them out, they would work through the mealtimes, as they are so caught up in their research. They are actually giddy about the things they learn by experimenting on this."

"Well, they do suit each other rather well," Shinichi shrugged, having known for a while that his best friend and Shiho had similar interests, even if Shiho was harder than Harry.

"I wonder who will take the first step," Sirius pondered.

"Harry, once the war is over. I can tell that he is interested and Shiho is too guarded and afraid of being hurt to risk anything," Shinichi stated convinced.

"I probably better don't argue with you over that. Your ability to observe things and deduct is too good to risk it," Sirius shrugged, "At least my pup will finally find somebody to love that can understand him."

As sad as it was, Harry had been betrayed nearly as much as Shiho had been and he understood where she came from. A girl, raised to be a certain way from the time she was a young child, forced to work for people that only wanted to use her abilities for their own goals, with no care for her well-being. The MOB had done the same to Harry, only that Harry had had the one person to help him flee in Sirius that Shiho had lacked, as her sister was nearly as trapped in the organisation as she had been. Shiho couldn't risk exposing her magic to the organisation, as they would abuse it, not to mention that they kept Akemi under watch, which forced Shiho to obey their commands, otherwise her sister would be hurt. And as Akemi was a squib, she couldn't use her greater freedom of movement to help her sister out either. She also didn't have the contacts needed to get Shiho out.

It was only now, while the organisation believed Akemi dead and had no idea where Shiho was, that the sisters could breathe easier. It had already been discussed by them that they would use a potion to permanently change their features to be safe. Slight changes in their facial form and hair colour would do a lot already.

"Which room does Akemi want to tackle today? I honestly never knew that it was possible to get through that kind of thick dirt that we found in that bathroom with normal cleaning supplies," Shinichi pointed out.

"Well, the two women have used liberate amounts of the stuff, and they insisted on buying the good stuff as well. I have no idea about muggle brands for cleaning, but I have to admit, the bathroom was never as clean as after they were done with it," Sirius declared.

He had honestly believed that the colour of the sinks was grey, not the cream colour that got out after the women had raged through the bathrooms. Those had been their first targets, insisting on having proper places to take showers or baths. And the handles and other metal parts gleamed now. Not even when his parents had still been alive, the bathrooms had been that clean. And back then Kreacher had still been working properly.

"Ah, there you are. Ready to tackle the formal dining room?" She asked.

"Why would we need that one clean?" Sirius asked.

As the house wasn't used as headquarters anymore, as nobody wanted to expose the Miyano sisters to anybody, they didn't really need the space.

"Simply because I thought it would be nice to have some of your closest friends invited. And I know that you are thinking about offering your friend Remus and his wife to move in here, simply to give them more protection, especially as your cousin is pregnant," Akemi pointed out, "While eating in the kitchen is all well, it is easier to have the table as space to prepare things for the meals instead of having to work with just the plates under the cupboards. After all, there isn't too much space there. And I'm not magical, so I can't just have tools work on their own while I do other things."

"That makes sense. And yes, I'm going to offer Remus and Tonks to move in here. I know that Remus is very worried about what new laws will be passed, now that Umbridge couldn't get the muggleborns into her hands. He thinks the woman capable of decreeing forced abortions of children with mixed heritage, which would include werewolves like him," Sirius nodded, a serious look on his face.

"Then let's get started on the room. I have no idea what kind of house elf you had before, but he certainly didn't do his job," Akemi stated, "You would have been better off having a normal charlady come in once a week to clean this place. That would have been more useful."

"I can just imagine how my dear mother's portrait would have reacted to that," Sirius cackled.

They had disposed of the portrait thanks to Shiho using the pragmatic way. Extremely potent paint thinner, magical ear plugs and a normal spatula. She had worked on the portrait for one hour, then the painting was gone fully, even if the frame was still stuck firmly to the wall, as she couldn't lift the permanent sticking charm. Still, the silence was heavenly. Sirius was considering to put a picture of some landscape there. Nothing that could make any sound.

The group of three took buckets and cleaning supplies with them and went to the formal dining room, where Akemi instructed them in which order things would be done. First was letting Sirius and Shinichi vanish all the dust in the room, then scrubbing the walls down from ceiling to bottom and Akemi was using some special wood cleaning stuff, neither of them cared how it was called, only that it worked and didn't harm the wood itself, to loosen the dirt that didn't simply get caught with vanishing charms and then scrub them as well, before applying generous amounts of polish to make the wood as shiny as possible.

Neville looked over the assembled members of Freedom at Hogwarts.

"We will strike in one week. I got confirmation that Liberty and our graduated members have finished their preparations into the development of the potions that will be essential in taking our enemy by surprise. Right now they are producing everything in numbers that will be needed to let us take the school back. The Death Eaters on staff will be prevented to escape with their portkeys," Neville informed his allies.

"But how will that be possible? I mean, we got information from Liberty that stunning them only triggers the portkeys. And we are students, not soldiers that are trained to kill," Hannah Abbot threw in.

"That's why the strike was delayed for three weeks since we first started planning. A grenade with two potion components was developed that works around that problem. Harry and another witch he has met in the country where he went to after our fifth year, have worked out a combination of two potions that will turn into mist and immediately take out those trapped in the mist. As far as I'm told the combination of the potions in the grenade allows for the draught of living death to be absorbed through the skin. The Weasley twins then added clothes that protect against this effect, as we don't want our own people to fall to it," Neville answered.

"Wasn't Harry always bad in Potions?" Lavender Brown asked.

"Hard to be good when Snape sabotages you more than any other," Parvati Patil scoffed.

"His godfather got him great tutors that found out that Harry inherited his mother's talent in the subject, but which was suppressed by Snape. Harry seemingly is really good in developing and modifying potions. I was surprised myself when I heard that," Neville informed them.

"What will happen once the school isn't under the control of Death Eaters anymore? I doubt that their boss will let that stand," Terry Boot asked.

"We will use portkeys to evacuate the students to Beauxbatons in France," Luna spoke up now, "Our allies there have agreed that the protection of the students is our highest priority. And shortly after the school is taken back, a strike against the Ministry building will follow. Face it, if we manage to get both strikes done in short order, the enemy won't be able to react to the new tactic. Once the Death Eaters that run the Ministry are captured, we will imprison them in the dungeons here at school, which will be put under fidelius charm. Hogwarts assures me that it is easily done, with the secret keeper being the portrait of Headmistress Derwent."

"I didn't know that a portrait could be secret keeper, but Headmistress Derwent was one of the most beloved and integer heads that Hogwarts ever had," Ernie Macmillan commented.

"There are many things that aren't known these days, simply because nobody ever asks anymore. Hogwarts can teach us many things," Luna stated.

The others nodded at that. Luna's unique way of talking to the castle was a reason why they were doing as well as they did in their rebellion.

"How will we get those grenades?" Padma Patil asked.

"A house elf will deliver them to us. That's the one safe way to get things into and out of the castle that isn't watched," Neville answered.

"Okay, makes sense. How many teams will we set up and how will our allies get into the castle undetected?" Anthony Goldstein wanted to know.

"We have about forty members that are sixteen years and older. They will be the ones that assist in the actual attack, meaning we have eight teams with five members each. The younger members of our group are on medical duty, in case something goes wrong. We have to consider assistance from the Slytherins for the Death Eaters after all. Not to mention that we will also become the retreat and emergency point for those that get injured in the take-over of the Ministry. Once the school is back in our hands, we need to secure all entrance points and also get rid of the useless teachers that will attempt to stop us.

"While about half of the staff consists of Death Eaters, we also have to think of those that supported Dumbledore. They can't be allowed to gain any kind of influence again. It would only lead to our downfall. It was proven after all, thanks to how easy a time the dark side had in the take-over, how badly those following Dumbledore's ideas messed up. They allowed the dark side to infiltrate the Ministry over a decade, once the first stigma of 'imperius victims' was gone, or simply because they didn't investigate thoroughly enough and didn't know of their allegiance.

"That can't be allowed to be happening a second time. I don't want my children to also have to fight the same opponent over and over again. We will do a thorough spring cleaning this time around and hurt egos aren't going to play any role in this," Neville declared.

"Hear, hear," Ernie chuckled, "But you are right. This time around, we will do it right. No more mercy, no more bribery, no more corruption. Who will we have taking over the wards of the school? I mean, we can't trust McGonagall after all."

"Luna?" Neville addressed their contact to the school.

"Only a teacher that has taught at least a full year and was acknowledged to have done right by the students will be accepted as headmaster or headmistress. Going by what Hogwarts says, both Professors Sprout and Flitwick aren't suited. The former doesn't have the magical power to activate the dormant wards, even if she would put the welfare of the students over anything else. If she had the magical power, she would be the best candidate. She will be a valuable ally though. Professor Flitwick never took action within his own house over issues like bullying of students, which Hogwarts takes offence to. While she considers him a good teacher, he isn't a good head of house. Snape is considered a disgrace to the name of teacher by the way, and McGonagall a weak-willed idiot. Hogwarts certainly has strong opinions," Luna told them in her dreamy voice.

"Then there are Professors Sinistra, Vector, Grubbly-Plank and Babbling. None of them has the magical power needed, nor are they very invested in keeping the students safe. Hogwarts thinks that they just rolled over and let the enemy take over the school. Hm, this is interesting. Had he actually taught that year, Alastor Moody would be Hogwarts' first choice, but he didn't, as he was a prisoner of the imposter Barty Crouch. Madam Pince isn't suited, she only cares for her books, Mr Filch is a squib, Professor Hagrid too naïve and a Dumbledore follower and a ghost can't be headmaster. Oh dear, really?"

"What choice did Hogwarts make?" Padma urged.

"Remus Lupin is the only suitable choice," Luna stated.

The members of Freedom looked at each other and then burst out in full-out laughter.

"This is too good. Imagine the faces of the bigots once they find out that the castle chose a werewolf as the next headmaster," Neville brought out after a while of laughing hard.

"Oh yes, this is gold. And I agree with the school. He was the best teacher for DADA that we ever had and he always had an open ear when we needed help. Not to mention that he is one of our best fighters against the dark side," Susan Bones added.

"Will anybody be able to protest his nomination?" Lavender asked concerned.

"No, the headmaster may be proposed by others, but the one accepting him or her has always been Hogwarts herself. Normally she accepted the choice of the previous headmaster or -mistress for their successor, but she is known to refuse them at times, which then requires for a new one to be chosen. Umbridge and Snape never held any control over the wards, as far as Hogwarts can tell me. The wards can be easily breached right now from the outside," Luna explained.

The others exchanged looks.

"I guess their reputation just kept people out, as everybody 'knew' that Hogwarts was the safest place in the country," Seamus commented.

"That's true," Luna nodded seriously.

"What about Dumbledore? Was he in control over the wards?" Neville wanted to know.

"Yes, he was, as at the time when he became headmaster, he wasn't as rotten as he later became. While Hogwarts was concerned about some of his leanings, he was the best choice among those that were available. And no matter what number of flaws he had, which were numerous, he at least was willing to protect the students from enemies. His reasons were not good and just, but he had the power to charge the wards and protected the students. It was the best Hogwarts could get at the time. She was waiting for a better candidate to come to the school, which would have been the time when she shifted the wards, factually dismissing him as headmaster, but his choice of teachers prevented it. Hogwarts isn't sure if he knew of that, but she certainly is very annoyed about it. And she was even more annoyed when Snape got rid of the one teacher that she had finally found that could take over the wards and become a much better headmaster than Dumbledore," Luna relayed the answer of the castle.

"I see. Oh, what about Professors Trelawney and Firenze? I just noticed you didn't mention them before," Parvati suddenly asked.

"They aren't considered full teachers, as neither of them teaches the full range of their subject. Not to mention that Professor Trelawney isn't strong enough for the wards and Professor Firenze can't connect to the wards. You need at least partial human heritage for that magic," Luna answered.

It shocked some of the diehard Trelawney fans, but they had to accept the vote of the castle.

"Okay, who is going to tell Remus that the castle wants him as the new headmaster?" Ernie asked.

"I'm going to do it and I'll see if I can't get Harry and Sirius Black there as well. They would certainly get a laugh out of it," Neville stated.

"Definitely," Dean Thomas agreed, still chuckling.

They all knew that Professor Lupin had resigned after it was found out that he was a werewolf, not to mention that he feared that he would forget his potion again, which he couldn't responsibly risk. But well, there were ways to ensure that he didn't forget, not the least by having two people tasked to always control it and hand him the potion. Having a werewolf as their headmaster would be different, but there certainly wasn't anybody that would deserve the job as much as Remus Lupin. He had got a horrible hand in life, from first losing all his friends in one night, to then thinking he had lost them again, simply because Harry and Sirius couldn't risk him or anybody else knowing about their little stunt, as it would have got back to Dumbledore. And while he had once been under the thrall of the headmaster, he had broken away once it had come out what kind of crimes the MOB had committed. They could certainly see where the school came from in wanting him as the new headmaster.

That's it for this time. I'll try not to let the story fall to the side again.