Tuesday July 24, 1996

Grimmauld Place

Remus paced around the house, just waiting. Remus hadn't had much to do lately, with so many of the known Death Eaters in Azkaban, thanks to Harry and friends. That was what worried Remus, that now Voldemort would be staffed by people that they hadn't pegged. At least with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle and their ilk, they knew who they were dealing with. This quiet was very disconcerting, Remus too had noted the lack of visions that Harry was getting. Remus had to admit that if he was in Voldemort's position he would be reminding Harry about Sirius' death every chance he could, to hopefully drive the boy insane.

As it was, Remus was worried about Harry's mental health anyway. He wasn't convinced by Harry's bland assurances that things were better with the Dursleys, this was the second summer in a row that Harry was forced to go there soon after witnessing a death. Dumbledore amazed Remus sometimes, the man had spent a lifetime around children, but did not seem to understand how to handle them. Remus was not alone among the Order in wondering what Dumbledore was going to do next summer when Harry turned 17. Remus and Tonks both had dropped a few hints about it, but if Dumbledore even knew himself, he wasn't saying. Remus again thought that Voldemort too wasn't handling his end of the war well, not that he was complaining of course. If Remus had been in charge of the dark side he would have forced the final confrontation as soon as possible, before Harry got any better trained.

No, Remus didn't know the Prophecy. That said, both Dumbledore and Harry would have been horrified to know how many Order members had guessed its content, if not its exact words. All the clues pointed to some sort of final showdown between Harry and Voldemort: the hiding of Harry at Privet Drive, the lack of information Harry was given about both current events and his past, Dumbledore keeping Snape so close. What Remus couldn't figure out is why Dumbledore had been so tolerant of the shoddy Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching over the last five years. There had been two good teachers Remus thought, himself (Remus was modest, but even he knew this) and the fake Moody, Barty Crouch Jr…..Death Eater though he was, Harry and his friends swore up and down that they learned loads from him, Harry now knew how to throw off the Imperious Curse, something few wizards could do quickly…..another puzzling happening as far as Remus was concerned, why would a Death Eater have gone to so much trouble to make his enemy better? On the other side of the balance sheet, there were three years when almost nothing was learned, what with Quirrel and his stuttering, Lockhart and his preening, and Umbridge…Remus couldn't think about Umbridge without wanting to rip something apart, so he stopped that line of thought.

Dumbledore had been hinting to him that he might be getting the Defense job back this year. Once again there was a problem filling the post and Dumbledore seemed quite reluctant to give Snape the job…if Snape truly wanted the job, Remus had heard the rumors along with everyone else, but Snape had never flat out said it in front of him. Remus wanted the position, he liked being around kids and being able to spend some time with Harry. He felt that if he'd at least gotten another year at Hogwarts that he and Harry would have a much better relationship, and the last wouldn't be so untrusting. Maybe this year would be different, quiet. He knew this was wishful thinking.

Privet Drive

Noon

Dear Harry,

Did you see those OWL scores! An 'A'! What are those examiners thinking! Either that or Hagrid, I knew we should have had a proper teacher all this time. I know if that Professor Grubbly-Plank had been there the entire time I wouldn't have gotten an 'A'. Honestly, teaching us about all those monsters didn't help us one bit! And Defense! I messed up on one spell, one! It wasn't even that big a mistake, so I mispronounced Relashio, did I deserve a grade lowering just for that!

Two Ravenclaws beat me, not one, but two! How can I ever show my face in the library again? I sent my protest off just now with Errol, this is going to get fixed if I have to howler the entire Ministry of Magic. At least we both did better than Malfoy, the git didn't even get the Potions award. Maybe if we had classes with Ravenclaws I would have been challenged more, I just know I'm smarter than Lisa Turpin and Terry Boot. Ugggghhhh.

I hope you're doing well Harry, I'm not sure how much I believe your letter. I'll see you when Dumbledore allows you to leave your relatives, hopefully it will be for your birthday, I know that Ron and I both miss you, please write to us more often. I hope you are doing what the Headmaster says and that you're not arguing with him, he knows best.

Yours,

Hermione

Harry read this letter with a resigned kind of attitude. This was so typical of Hermione, competitive to the end. It was so nice of her to congratulate him on how he did (sarcasm). That girl…..Harry gritted his teeth. Harry agreed with her about Hagrid, in principle, but notwithstanding the man's unwavering faith in Dumbledore, Harry would always have a soft spot for the half-giant who had first told him about how he was a wizard. He would never tell Hagrid that he wasn't that hot a teacher though, even if he wouldn't put it past Hermione to go spare on the guy when she got to school.

The line about not being challenged by anyone in her classes had rankled him quite a bit, after all he had beaten her in three of the seven classes that they shared (Defense, Charms, and Care of Magical Creatures), though she had solid victories in the other four, as well as O's in her other elective classes (Ancient Runes and Arithmancy). Harry knew that Hermione was very smart, but that in wizard life there was book smart, and practical smart. Harry realized that in terms of book smarts Hermione was way ahead of him, but that he was capable of narrowing that gap somewhat if he worked harder, as he certainly planned to. Practical-wise they were about even; Harry better in Charms and Defense, Hermione in Transfiguration and Potions. He figured he could have closed that gap in Transfiguration if he studied harder, though that wouldn't be a factor now that he was leaving.

….and it hadn't escaped his attention that there was no mention of her relationship with Ron, so much for the 'you told us not to write you' excuse. He knew he wasn't going to bother writing back to her, after all, what was there to write back to? Respond to one of her rants? Harry felt that he'd rather do something productive, like going outside to watch the grass grow.

That was a good idea now that he thought about it, he probably should at least get some fresh air, even if he stayed in the yard. He would do that after he read Ron's letter:

Hey Harry,

Good job on your OWLs mate, Bill showed them to all of us when he stopped by for breakfast this morning. 12 OWL's, that's as many as Percy got you know, and he made Head Boy. Mum and Dad said to send their congrats too. Mine were better than I had feared they would, but not as good as I'd hoped for, I wanted at least one 'O', but I guess it wasn't to be. No Auror training for me it looks like, but I bet they'll still let you in, even if you don't take Potions. No more Snape anyway, that's the one bright spot.

Mum thinks Dumbledore will let you out of there for your birthday, she says we'll have some kind of party at Headquarters. Oh yeah, we're moving there on Thursday, for the rest of the summer. Mum is doing more and more work with the Order, now that there's just Ginny and I at home. Work is going fine, I have more money in my pocket than I ever had before, its hard not to spend it, but I've been good. I know that Hermione has a letter here for you, she wouldn't let me read it but I can guess what it says. Oh well, I'd better floo off to work, Fred and George won't like it I'm late. See you soon Harry, don't let the muggles get you down

Ron

Harry noted the sad tone of the letter, it didn't make him feel too good either after reading it. Ron's shot about his Auror chances hadn't gone unnoticed by Harry, but he dismissed it, he would have been somewhat bitter too if he had gotten those marks. Harry couldn't think of anything that he could write to Ron that wouldn't sound like he was rubbing his marks in Ron's face. Even a 'cheer up, they weren't that bad' likely wouldn't go over too well. Ron's pride was very touchy most of the time, and it had taken quite a blow yesterday. Plus, from what Bill had told him and from the undertone of Ron's own letter, Hermione hadn't helped anything with her whining. Harry knew that this might be the last straw (no pun intended) with Ron, especially after this weekend. The two of them did most of their studying together and his scores had been much better, Ron only beating him in Potions. He felt sorry enough for Ron that he could hardly be mad at him for hiding his thing with Hermione.

He put his likely soon-to-be former friends to the side for the moment, and headed outside. No klaxons went off when he touched the front walk, and no wizards appeared out of no-where, so he assumed he was allowed out. He went to the middle of the lawn and laid down, soaking up the fresh air and the sun.

Thursday, July 26, 1996

Privet Drive 5:00 pm

Peter walked up to Number 4 Privet Drive lost in thought. His Occlumency lessons with Harry the last two days had gone very well. It was pretty clear that the kid could learn quickly with a decent teacher. He knew that Harry still wasn't quite ready to face Snape and Dumbledore for any extended period of time, if for no other reason than Harry might well try to curse them the moment he saw them. Harry had always had good control of his emotions, outside of a few notable incidents, but just hearing the word 'Snape' put a look on his face that would boil cheese.

He rang the doorbell, and Petunia let him inside. On Tuesday Peter had realized that he needed a cover story in case Dumbledore or one of the minders approached her about his frequent visits. He and Petunia had kicked around ideas and came up with the plan of telling them that she was taking an exam to get her Real Estate license in a couple of weeks, and he was brother of one of Vernon's co-workers that they hired to tutor her for it. It sounded fairly odd to Peter, but he figured it would pass muster with any wizard. So far so good though, Petunia hadn't seen or heard from a wizard outside of Harry's new circle since King's Cross. She and Vernon had been reasonably friendly toward him in the last week, but it was never far in the back of Peter's mind how they had treated Harry for 15 years. He agreed with the lad that they were being nice merely because the end was near. Another factor was the fear that Harry would do something to him when he reached his majority, Harry had introduced Dobby and Winky to them on Tuesday and made it clear that they would protect him for any attacks. When he had said 'any' he looked straight at Vernon, causing the man to flinch noticeably. Nothing had happened though, Vernon had not thrown one insult his way since he had been back…..there were so many wizards and wizard 'friends' threatening him that he didn't know who to fear most.

The muggle emancipation hearing the day before had gone as well as could be expected. Peter had brought his wand with him just in case he had to do a little helping, but thankfully he was not forced to use it. The civil servant they dealt seemed almost not to care about their story, and after a few cursory questions and checking Harry to make sure he had not been beaten in any way, issued a ruling that conditionally emancipated Harry come his 16th birthday the next week. The condition was only that he not get into any trouble with the police over the next two years, if that happened, then his situation would be revisited. The six of them left the government building with large smiles on their faces, and compliments flew around the car (which Peter had enlarged) all the way home. Peter had never seen Harry more relaxed, he now had the freedom to not return to Privet Drive after this was all over, and not to return to Hogwarts if he was willing to go strictly muggle for a year.

He made his way upstairs into Harry's room, which he had enlarged on Tuesday so that the two of them could pace around in it if need be.

"All right there Harry? How's your reading coming?"

"Pretty well Peter, I'm just reading the books now to get a handle on them. Once I've done that, I'll go through them again and take notes. Since I can't practice the spells for a few more weeks, I might as well learn the theory a bit better."

"Good plan Harry, the theory may be a bit boring, but it will help you put more power into the spell if you understand why. Remember, spell casting seems to be your strength, and you should always hone your strengths. It will help with Transfiguration too, I know you got a good grade, but that's the other main spell casting subject and you can always improve."

They spent the next hour doing Occlumency, Harry getting better and better at forcing Peter out of his mind. It wasn't so much that Harry was getting quicker at it, though he was getting better at that too, but that his force-outs were much more powerful. After the last one of the session, Peter had needed a few minutes to recover, given that he was knocked back about five feet from the chair he was sitting in. Rubbing his elbow where he had nailed it on the edge of the desk, he congratulated Harry.

"Ok, let's stop there, I think you have the hang of it now. I'm confident that you can resist Snape if need be, at least for a minute or two anyway. I have some big news for you, and I wanted to wait until your lesson was over so as not to distract you."

"What is it?"

"I have a meeting set up for us with Minister Fudge, for tomorrow morning at 10 am, the subject of which will be to discuss your emancipation petition, which I hand delivered him about three hours ago."

"How did he react?"

"He wasn't the least bit shocked Harry, which only confirms my opinion that one of the watchers outside must be from him, not that he admitted it when I asked him. Ever since the first day I've put some disguising charms so that I wouldn't be recognized by any Order members, but his person or persons must have pegged me from that first day. Trust me, Fudge can't hold a poker face that well."

"Ok, so he wasn't shocked…did he seem pleased at all?"

"He looked satisfied, and that's good for us."

"How much is his help going to cost me Peter?"

"Probably nothing, if you convince him that you are North America bound sometime next month. Fudge is not quite so bold as to openly ask for a bribe, so I don't think you need to bring any money with you. Now the thing to remember is this: Whatever happens, don't lose your temper with him. The man is obtuse sometimes to be sure, so we just have to roll with those punches and let the situation unfold in a very calm way. I can tell you that he no longer believes that you made up the Voldemort revival, but please resist temptation to rub his nose in it. I repeat, this is not a time to settle scores Harry. If you really are taking on Dumbledore, we can't have Fudge as an enemy too."

"I understand Peter…can I taunt him if he turns us down?" He smiled saying that, which relieved the other man greatly.

"No Harry, no gloating….unless you want to make total peace with Dumbledore…which of course means total surrender to the old man…"

"Ok, ok, I get it. I'll be nice to Fudge if that's what you're telling me."

"That's what I'm telling you. Now I've already talked with your aunt, she's going to drive you into London tomorrow so that you can keep the appointment, I'm willing to bet that they don't have muggle transportation with which to follow you directly, they'll have to rely on their tracking charms, your not leaving this place yet this month has probably made them somewhat complacent. We're going to meet at the Leaky Cauldron and floo over to the Ministry from there. Right before we floo, I'll remove the tracking charms that are on you right now. Dumbledore should get an alert when his charm(s) is/are taken off, but he won't know where you're going until its too late."

"Am I really coming back here afterward? What if Dumbledore comes with Snape?"

"Then you run out the backdoor and use the emergency portkey I'm going to give you after our Fudge appointment, it will take you straight to my office, and I have a plan from there. Now the letter, did you write it?"

Harry nodded and brought it out:

Dear Professors Dumbledore and Snape,

This is to inform you that Professor Snape is not under any circumstances welcome in our home. We would prefer no wizards at all but we know that given your callous disregard for our wishes in the past that that is unlikely. However, you will respect our wishes on this. We're not concerned with what supposed lessons that Harry must take, you have him 10 months out of the year at that school, plenty of time to teach him whatever you think is so important.

Signed,

Vernon Dursley

Petunia Dursley

Dudley Dursley

PS: I should tell you Professor Dumbledore that I agree with this, do not send that man to our home.

Harry Potter

"Nice Harry, your uncle's handwriting?"

"Yeah, I wrote out the text and we had him copy it, then we all signed it. I think he had a good time with it."

Both of them smiled, indeed Vernon Dursley had been itching to write a letter like that for five years. Now he was doing so with Harry's consent and active participation. It was a world gone mad.

"Okiedokie Harry, lets go ahead and send it."

Harry walked over and gave the note to Hedwig, "You remember how to get to Headquarters girl? Make sure this goes right to Dumbledore, and no one else. Don't wait for a reply, just come right back here, Ok?"

Hedwig hooted twice and took off out of the window.

"Harry, its not too late to back out of this scheme. You have until Snape gets here to change your mind."

"I won't change my mind Peter, I'm in this all the way. Snape deserves payback for what he's done to me all of these years. I'll never forgive him for goading Sirius, I won't back out."

"Fair enough Harry, I just wanted you to know that you have choices, you're not locked in. I can safely speak for the rest of us when I say that we're in too. Easy for me to say of course, since I have no ties to Dumbledore as the rest of you do. Whatever happens should be interesting."

Friday, July 27 1996

8:30 am

Little Whinging

Harry and Petunia left the house very nervously and got into the car, though no one stopped them or even tried to interfere. This was the first time Harry had left the property and the protections of the Blood Charms, and he was fairly surprised that nothing happened, maybe his watchers were being fooled. He was not wearing his glasses, as part of a last second inspiration to try to throw his watchers off the trail. They drove off in the direction of London, saying almost nothing to each other as they made the trip….perhaps waiting for the ride back, if all went according to plan. They arrived at The Leaky Cauldron, and Petunia agreed to wait in the bookstore across the street until Harry was done.

"Good luck Harry."

"Thanks Aunt Petunia." This was almost a hugging moment, but the détente between the two of them hadn't quite reached that level. He walked into the pub as casually as he could, where Peter was waiting for him by the front door, it was now 9:45 am. Tom the barkeep was not in sight, and Harry and Peter took a table in the corner, away from the front door.

"Did you notice anyone following you?"

"No, and I was looking behind us all the way over here. No one followed us in a car that I could tell. How quickly can they follow us with the tracking charms?"

"Not quickly enough, we'll be at the Ministry before they get here, though they will know we were here. We have to hope that they think you went into Diagon Alley to visit the twins or to go to your vault at Gringotts."

"What about when we get to the Ministry? Someone there will tip off Dumbledore won't they?"

"Good point, and one that Fudge and I have already planned for. At precisely 10 am the floo here will fire, initiated from Fudge's office on a direct connect. We'll hop in there and go right to the man himself, bypassing the corridors and all the prying eyes who might make a beeline to call Dumbledore."

"I really hope this works…what about Tom? What will he say?"

"Tom is Fudge's man through and through Harry, he always has been, it's the only way he would be allowed to be the keeper of the gateway to muggle London." Peter then proceeded to eliminate the tracking charms on Harry's person, and checked himself out again for the same kind of charms, finding nothing.

They sat there for a few minutes and contemplated things, and at the appointed time the floo fired up. The two walked over and in turn entered the floo, since it was a direct connect, no address needed to be called out for any hidden listeners, though there did not appear to be any other customers.

Office of the Minister of Magic for Great Britain

10 am

Harry tumbled out of the floo and was caught by Tyson, who had gone first. They brushed themselves off and Harry looked around at Fudge's very impressive office, which was very large and quite well decorated…..as befitting the head of a government, even Harry could admit that. The man himself was standing up in front of his desk, with a smile on his face.

"Hello Harry, Peter."

"Hello Minister," They both said at the same time. Harry took a deep breath and walked over to the Minister, holding out his right hand to shake. Fudge's smile widened a bit, and he shook Harry's hand, then Peter's as well.

"I can appreciate the ambivalence you must be feeling right now Harry, I was half wondering if you'd come out of the floo cursing me."

"Peter wouldn't let me sir, he said I have to appear calm and cool." Harry smiled when he said that, and Fudge and Peter both had a laugh, though only Peter knew how close to home that joke was.

"Well I'm glad you're here anyway, and under friendly circumstances."

"Will Percy not be joining us sir?"

"No he will not, we can't be having Dumbledore knowing about our little meeting can we?"

Harry's jaw hung wide open at hearing that, and even Peter looked astonished.

"So he was working for Dumbledore the entire time?"

"Of course he was, the whole break was fabricated by Dumbledore, Arthur, and Percy to try and spy on me…..let's just say Percy should check his apartment for listening charms a little bit more often."

"Yet you haven't sacked him, or Arthur."

"Not at all, Percy is useful in his own way, and he tells Dumbledore nothing that I don't want him to know. All my private business is conducted privately, without him there. As for Arthur…well loyalty to Dumbledore aside, I have a certain fondness for the man, and he does do an excellent job in his department. Besides, from what Peter told me yesterday at least three of his sons are on your side in this, perhaps his loyalty won't be as absolute as it has been." Harry decided to cut to the chase:

"Are you inclined to grant my application Minister?"

"I am Harry, but first I would like to know whether or not you are truly set against returning to Hogwarts."

"I will not be a student at Hogwarts as long as Voldemort is alive and Dumbledore is Headmaster there."

"So even if we removed the old man, you wouldn't stay there?"

"No sir I wouldn't. He would still be controlling things from behind the scenes."

"What about your friends, I know you won't want to leave them. Are you wanting to leave to keep them out of danger?"

"That's part of it, yes sir…..but I just have the feeling that I'll be much safer if I'm as far away from Dumbledore as I can get."

"Why is he so obsessed with you Harry?" Harry and Peter looked at each other for a second. They had discussed this the night before, and had decided that Fudge might need to know about the Prophecy.

"He is under the impression that I'm the final weapon against Voldemort." He was surprised to see Fudge chuckling.

"Oh come now Harry, I had that part figured out long ago. As soon as you started Hogwarts I've known about the old man's coddling of you, I always thought he was keeping you in reserve for something. He never believed that He Who Must Not Be Named was gone, and even though I disagreed with him, I knew he had something planned for you."

"You didn't think his concern for me was just me being 'The Boy Who Lived?"

"I'm sure that was some of it, yes, but no one monitors someone as closely as he does you without a better reason than that. I take it a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries talks about this final weapon status?" For crying out loud, Harry thought….if Fudge of all people could figure this out, why had Dumbledore gone to so much trouble to hide things?

"There is, yes. It's what Voldemort wanted so badly, only he or I could touch it, so he tricked me into going in there."

"Yes I know, he was planting visions of Black being tortured…Dumbledore told me, don't look so surprised."

"Yes, that's why I went to the Department of Mysteries."

"And how are you coming with your Occlumency?"

"Peter has me almost where I need to be, after only four days of lessons. I don't know if I can keep Voldemort out yet, but I'm much further along than I would have been otherwise."

"Good enough. Now there is something I need to know: Do you believe in all this Harry? Do you believe you're the final weapon against him?"

Harry was silent for a moment as he thought about this. Even Peter, in a week full of long conversations with Harry, had never asked him this…perhaps on purpose, perhaps not. He had asked about whether Harry believed the Prophecy…but that wasn't the same thing necessarily.

"No Minister, I don't. I don't believe the source of the Prophecy, I don't believe that someone like that could predict something like this."

"Who is the source?"

"Trelawney." Fudge burst out laughing again, and almost fell out of his chair.

"No, seriously Harry, who is the source?"

Harry's facial expression didn't change, and Fudge realized that he wasn't kidding.

"Well, well, isn't that interesting. Hmmmmm…let me ask you another question Harry, one that you must have thought of: If you do go abroad, a lot of people are going to call you a coward, that you're too afraid of Voldemort to stick around. What would you say to that?"

"They never liked me anyway, most of our public is so fickle they wake up on a different side of the bed every morning. Even if the Prophecy was real, I don't want to risk my life for them."

"That's very cynical of you Harry…..it's quite accurate of course, but very cynical."

"The press, Dumbledore…and yes you Minister, you've all trained me quite well."

Fudge's smile was reduced a little bit, but he was nodding in agreement.

"Indeed we have. Where will you go from here?" Peter handled this one, since Harry had no concrete idea.

"My wife Jennifer has relations in the United States, and through her efforts and some of my own, I've comprised a list of the pros and cons of the various magic schools over there. There are four of them: one in northern California, one in western Oklahoma, one in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the last one in western Massachusetts. The one in Michigan seems to be our best bet Harry, the Headmistress is no fan of our friend Dumbledore and will protect you from him."

"What about Canada? I have that vault in Toronto after all."

"True, but the Headmistress at the Maple Leaf School of Magic is a longtime friend of Dumbledore and I doubt she'd be willing to enroll you there if the old man objects. Admission of foreign students is taken on a case by case basis at most schools, and is not often granted. I doubt there are more than two or three foreign students at Hogwarts at any given time. Great Lakes is the second best academically of the American schools, but the Salem Witches Institute, which does take boys despite the title, is run by another ally of Dumbledore. No, our best bet is in Michigan Harry. What do you think Minister?"

"I agree with Peter, Maple Leaf and Salem are more likely to hand you back over to Dumbledore than to keep you, whereas there is some enmity between Dumbledore and Madam Murray, who runs Great Lakes. Its not going to take the old man long to figure out what you're up to once he finds out about your emancipation…yes Harry, I'm going to grant it."

Harry had rarely felt more relieved in his life, and then something occurred to him:

"Why does he need to know at all? Can't we keep this quiet until I'm long gone?"

"We can probably hide it for the rest of the day, but not after that. All legal decrees made by the Ministry, which this is, must be filed with the Wizengamot to be considered legal and binding. So we have a choice here: I can have it filed within ten minutes of your leaving here, which would tip Dumbledore off if he reads his mail promptly; or I can hold off until the end of the day, though as a consequence you would not be able to use magic until I have the decree filed."

"Best to wait Harry, if Dumbledore knows you have wand rights then he'll either come with Snape tonight or send others who'll try to force you to do what he wants. He might even send Molly to tug on your emotions, and I know you won't use your wand on her." Harry was in agreement with this, but wondered at telling Fudge of the plan for Snape. Fudge anticipated this:

"Just don't use any Unforgivable curses against him and you'll be fine….though it would be better if he fired first, if you what you truly want is to have him arrested…..oh yes, don't kill him either, that would hard to explain away, no matter what he did to provoke you."

"You're not opposed to what we're doing?"

"Of course not, having Dumbledore's favorite professor arrested would suit me just fine."

"I won't do anything illegal Minister, you have my promise on that."

"Good, now on to another subject, the trials of Lucius Malfoy and his gang. They are to take place the first week in October, and we will need you back to testify."

"Why the long delay?"

"It's the first week we have available for the volume of evidence that will be presented." Fudge looked so smug saying that, that Harry couldn't resist:

"And another three months in Azkaban for them wouldn't be so bad either eh?" Fudge winked at him.

"I don't have total control of the schedule Harry, its what the Wizengamot wants. I'm going to arrange to have the defendants put under the influence of Veritaserum….and if more than one of them admits to seeing Peter Pettigrew live and in the flesh, I'll immediately write a full pardon for Black." That rocked Harry a little bit, who had been waiting for a chance to bring Sirius up.

"Thank you Minister, that's very good of you. I'm guessing that's why Sirius' will is being allowed?"

"In a manner, we have little jurisdiction over Gringotts matters as you might know, and I'm not willing to bargain the influence we have over something like a will."

"That makes sense."

"We have our moments. Now Peter, what are your plans for Harry tonight after Snape is dealt with?"

"We're going to hide you in muggle London Harry, at one of the chain hotels, and under a different name. When I get back to the office this morning I'm going to set up a meeting with Madam Murray from Great Lakes, hopefully to take place as soon as possible."

"I'll arrange for as many portkeys as you need Harry, though you might want to take muggle air transport to get over there."

"Why is that sir?"

"The younger you are, the more dizzying the effect of international port keys, it can cause some ill effects."

"He's right Harry, I've always had it in the mind for you to leave here via Heathrow Airport, or Shannon Airport in Dublin. Even if they find out about it, they can't risk doing anything in a muggle airport." Fudge nodded his agreement, and took a piece of paper out of his desk.

"Best that I don't know any more than what you've told me Harry, that way I can be more convincing to our friend." With that, he signed the paper and pointed his wand at it

Duplico Duplico

There were now three copies of the paper, and Fudge handed Peter and Harry one each. Harry looked at it and saw that it was his emancipation petition, now officially approved by the Minister.

"As soon as this is filed with the Wizengamot, you are legally an adult Harry. I'll send you an owl right after I do the filing, so don't use your wand until then."

"Yes sir, and thank you sir."

"You're welcome Harry, I'm sure we'll talk again after your Snape encounter."

"I hope we'll both be smiling when that happens Minister."

"As do I Harry, as do I." Peter stood up, and Harry followed suit.

"Minister, if we may use your floo one more time, Harry and I need to do some business at Gringotts."

"Certainly Peter, good luck tonight."

"Thank you sir."

"Oh yeah, Minister, if I may ask a question?"

"Certainly Harry."

"What happened to Umbridge? Peter says that she hasn't been seen since the centaur incident."

"That madwoman is in St. Mungos where she belongs Harry. Her mind was clearly breaking even before the beasts got to her, whatever it is that they did. Rest assured that if she does recover sufficiently she will be brought to trial for what she did to you."

Harry doubted this very seriously, but he was hardly in a position to call the man a liar (to his face). He was having difficulty reconciling this conversation with his recent history with Fudge, and this cooperation was making him feel dirty, he would have to take another shower the moment he got back to Privet Drive.

"Thank you for telling me sir."

Fudge activated the floo (a security measure in this office was that only the Minister could activate the floo system from this end), and after another round of handshakes, Peter and Harry tumbled into Gringotts. Peter took a miniature cloak out of his pocket and enlarged it.

"Here, put this one and pull the hood over your face. Now we need to go to the foreign exchange counter and get you some muggle money. Do you need any galleons for the time being?"

"That depends on your fee, I have a thousand galleons in Gringotts' drafts, will that be enough?"

"Yes it will, and I knew about them from reading that letter remember. Do you need any for another reason?"

"Do the Americans use the same kind of money? I have about thirty galleons and some sickles and knuts left in my money pouch."

"Don't worry about the Americans just yet, there's plenty of time to prepare there. That should be enough wizard money to get you by for a week, given that you'll be in muggle London the entire time. Let's go, its right over here." They headed over to an area that was far away from the front doors, but near the east floo (there were two of them, and one never knew which floo that you would come out of), a counter that Harry remembered seeing Hermione go to before second year. Harry pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and it indeed made it very hard to see who he was. Peter led him over to the counter and the goblin appraised them casually, he was used to men skulking in here. Peter addressed him quietly:

"My friend here would like to change some galleons into muggle pounds, and we would like to get him a muggle credit card and driver's license for him as well."

"Let me have your key, 'friend'"

Harry handed it over and the goblin had a very slight reaction when he saw whose it was…..but so slight you had to be looking for it.

"How many muggle pounds will you need young man?" Harry looked at Peter for the answer.

"I think we'll go with two thousand pounds for now, we may be back at a later time for some more."

"And the spending limit on the credit card? You can have from two hundred up to five thousand pounds."

"The maximum please."

"Very well. The current exchange rate is one galleon for two and a half British pounds. There will be a fifty galleon charge for the driver's license, add our exchange fee of two percent, and your vault will be charged 4,170 galleons. The muggle credit card of course can only be used in the muggle world, and the five thousand pounds in are non-refundable, you must spend them out there to utilize them. Go into that door over there so we can take your photograph for the license." He pointed to a doorway off to the right. Harry and Peter went over to it.

"Why do I need a credit card and a driver's license?"

"You need them for the time you'll be living as a muggle next week, as well as any time in the future you need to hide."

"Won't that give me a paper trail that Dumbledore can follow?"

"Not this time, the hotel room is already reserved for you, under my wife's name. I have some muggle and squib clients, so I have uses for muggle money and credit." They entered the room and Harry was directed by a different goblin to stand against the wall. He gave a nervous smile as his picture was taken, and they were then told to have a seat, as the goblin brought out some forms for Harry to fill out. They called for an address….an address?

"What address do I give? I don't have a home."

"Just use Privet Drive, I'll set up a postal box for you to get your muggle mail forwarded."

Harry shrugged, and finished filling out the forms, handing them back to the goblin.

"Wait here for ten minutes, then go back to the foreign exchange counter, your things will be waiting for you there." Without waiting for a response, the goblin left with the forms and the camera.

"Where do we go now? Back to the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Not exactly. I have a portkey that will take us to the loo inside the bookstore where your Aunt is waiting. The Leaky Cauldron is liable to be crawling with Dumbledore's people right now, unless he doesn't know that you've been anywhere that you shouldn't have." However, Peter didn't look hopeful that that would be the case.

After another few minutes of waiting, they left the room and went back to the counter that they started at. The goblin, who did not introduce himself, handed Harry an envelope.

"All the things you requested are in the envelope. I have been instructed by Fortrap, the manager of your account, to ask you when you might be ready to hear the reading of a certain will."

"Tell him that any time he sets for next week will be fine, he can reach me at my solicitor's address."

"Very well, good luck young man."

"Thank you." They walked back into the photography room and used the portkey.

Thankfully there was no one in the loo when they got there, and that it was wide enough.

"Sit tight, I'll go arrange things with your aunt."

He reappeared a few minutes later.

"I put a disguising charm on her and sent her round back, where the car is parked. You go back there in five minutes and she'll be ready to go…and for Merlin's sake don't tell her about the money, we've come too far for them to flake on us now. We'll see you tonight, and we'll be ready."

"Thanks Peter, I'll see you then."

Harry ran around to the back and climbed into the car…a car that he now had a license, though not the knowledge of how, to drive. After an hour in the car, Peter's disguising charm dissolved and Petunia was back. Few words were exchanged, only an acknowledgement that everything had gone to Harry's satisfaction. When they pulled into the driveway, Harry stopped her from getting out of the car right away. He leaned over to her, put his hand over his mouth, and muttered quietly:

"Are you three going to be here for this tonight?" She mimicked his actions and replied.

"Yes, this is our home, we won't be driven from it."

"Just keep out of the line of fire." She nodded, and after Harry put on a different pair of glasses (ones that he had gotten on the sly two summers earlier) they got out of the car. It was now just shy of 1 pm.

Flashback to 8:30 am, in the middle of Dursley front lawn.

Hestia Jones, sitting in a lawn chair under a Disillusionment Charm, watched Petunia and Harry drive off. She did a scan of the house to make sure that no one was still inside. She then moved outside the anti-Apparition ward and popped off to tell Dumbledore, who ironically enough was at the Ministry, doing some Wizengamot business.

"Did they have any bags or anything with them? Harry's trunk perhaps?"

"No sir, the only bag being carried was Petunia's handbag. I checked the car last night, and it has about ¾ of a tank of petrol in it."

"Enough to make it to London and back at least."

"That's not the direction they were headed sir, the main road to London is northeast, and they made the turn in the opposite direction, toward the new mall in Little Whinging." Dumbledore thought about this for a minute, but he wasn't unduly worried.

"They may just be doing some food shopping."

"There was one curious thing sir."

"Yes Hestia?"

"Harry wasn't wearing his glasses. He bumped into the car twice while trying to enter it." Dumbledore looked rather relieved at hearing that.

"Well that should explain it then, he was going to get a new pair. It should take a couple of hours to get that accomplished. Be back at Privet Drive by 11 am Hestia. I have to be here the rest of the afternoon, I doubt I will be returning to Hogwarts before this evening. I'll see you at Headquarters."

"Yes sir."

Back to present time:

Hestia revealed herself and approached them.

"You were gone quite awhile Harry, I was getting worried." Harry kept himself as calm as possible, and reminded himself that he had four more hours before he could use his wand….that said, there was nothing forcing him to respond, so he didn't, he kept right on walking.

"Harry?"

"Get away from us freak, come no closer or I'll call the police. I'm sure someone there knows about your filthy kind." Harry just walked inside like there was no witch outside, followed by Petunia.

"You haven't done that in awhile, must have felt good." She gave him a tight lipped smile and disappeared into the kitchen to make some lunch.

At 4:55 pm Harry got the promised owl from Fudge, who wrote him that he filed the decree five minutes after Dumbledore left for the day. Harry was praying that Dumbledore wouldn't be going back to his Hogwarts office, which is where both he and Peter figured the hub for the tracking and listening charms were. As soon he got the owl he went upstairs and removed the tracking charms from his trunk and Hedwig's cage.

"Ok girl, go to the twins' shop and stay there for a few days, I'll either collect you there or they'll tell you where I am. I'm sorry Hedwig, there's no other way." She nipped his finger lightly, and flew out the window. He shrunk her cage and put it in his trunk, along with his clothes and other things (his books were already in there). He put the trunk by the door and went downstairs to watch television….never letting his wand leave his hand the entire time.

Grimmauld Place, 6:30 pm

The bustle around Headquarters was loud as people moved in and out of the halls. If the portrait of Mrs. Black had still been hanging there she would have been shrieking like crazy. The problem of the portrait had been solved by Bill and his tomb raiding experience, he simply took out the wall around her. As she came off the wall she started screaming with a fervor that would have made a banshee proud, it had taken an all at once Reducto by Bill, Remus, Tonks, and Hestia to put her out of their misery. Kreacher had been sent off to Narcissa Malfoy after a massive memory wipe by Dumbledore, afterwards Kreacher knew his name and that he was to serve the House of Black, but that was about it. Snape strode through the house as if he owned it, looking for Dumbledore, sneering at those he passed by. The irritable Potions Master had returned from Halifax, Canada the day before from his conference. He ignored those who asked how it went and seemed to be in a worse mood than usual.

Remus noted that the house didn't seem quite as full as it could have been. Notably missing were Bill, Fred, George, and Charlie Weasley. Charlie had arrived that morning from Romania after an owl from Bill, ostensibly on a visit to his family, something he did a couple of times per year. He had immediately gone into a huddle with Bill, and then gone with him to work, not to return yet. Fred and George were at their shop presumably, since both Ron and Ginny were here, as well as both Molly and Arthur, and Hermione. Tonks and Kingsley were the only significant absences, they were on guard duty at Harry's house, they had volunteered for tonight, understanding that Snape would be there.

Remus followed Snape into the kitchen, where Dumbledore was talking with Molly Weasley.

"Yes Molly, Harry will be coming here for a visit tonight so he can have some quality time with his friends."

"Oh really, and how am I to get your golden boy back here Albus? Or have you taught the brat how to Apparate?"

Dumbledore answered that by taking out a portkey and giving it to Snape. "Just have him say Headquarters while he has hold of it, and it will take him here. I have another one ready for his return."

"How long am I expected to waste my time there?"

"An hour should suffice Severus, we don't want to overwhelm him the first time. Just review the basics and have him practice. The spell I gave you, Temparo Indulcli, will only disable the blood protection for one hour, then you must be gone from the house."

"Fine, just so you know I believe this is a complete waste of time, that idiot has no aptitude for this."

He made to leave and Remus called out for him to stop.

"Oh Snape, if Harry doesn't come back with you I'm immediately going to apparate over there to find out why…..and if you've had anything to do with it…." Remus trailed off, leaving the threat a bit more than merely implied.

Snape yawned, and left the room. Molly looked after him with a slightly fearful expression, she was aware of what he might do to Harry.

"Molly, Remus, everything will be fine, Harry will be here by 8:00pm and we can enjoy ourselves for a few hours. I'm sure Ron, Ginny, and Hermione are eager to see him."

Remus and Molly nodded, though he wasn't so sure about that. Ginny was eager to see Harry of course, though she had only recently been able to say a complete sentence in his presence. Ron and Hermione, Remus knew, were ready with some hard questions about what Harry had been doing, or not doing. Remus knew that Harry rarely appreciated being under the third degree, so he was grateful that no one would be able to use their wands.

Privet Drive 7:00 pm

Snape strode up to the door at Number 4 Privet Drive, and after he used Dumbledore's spell, didn't bother to ring the doorbell or knock on the door, he simply grabbed the knob and tried to turn it, only to find it had been locked. He didn't turn a hair and took out his wand:

Alohomora

The door clicked open and Snape strode inside, seeing no one in the living room he yelled out:

"Potter, get your stupid Gryffindor self in here now!"

Meanwhile Dobby had apparated to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, his instructions were to find the Auror on duty. After a polite, but hurried question, he was directed to the office of Senior Auror Travis Biller. Dobby introduced himself as Harry Potter's elf (Biller's eyes shot right up when he heard that) and gave Biller the note:

Dear Auror,

Please help me, I'm in trouble. There's a wizard in my house, Severus Snape, he's yelling at my nephew and threatening him with with his wand, my husband and I are muggles and we can't help him. Please hurry.

Petunia Dursley

Biller reacted immediately, after the fiasco last summer it was standing orders that anything to do with Harry Potter be acted on immediately. Biller ran out of his office:

"Graham, Westbrook front and center, we have a Potter emergency, MOVE!"

Rob Graham and Sarah Westbrook ran into the room and assembled in front of Biller and a very wide-eyed Dobby.

"Ok Dobby, are they still at the address in Surrey?"

"Yes sir Mr. Biller, the same house and everything."

Biller grabbed a cricket bat that was clearly a Port-key and the other aurors grabbed on. He looked at Dobby, who nodded and popped back to Privet Drive, right at the front door. Biller activated the Port-key and the three Aurors disappeared.

One Minute earlier:

Winky did her task and popped out to the back hedge, there she saw Harry's allies: Peter Tyson, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and George, Fred, Bill, and Charlie Weasley. She nodded fearfully, the expression on her face was all they needed and they silently ran up to the kitchen door, which was already ajar, done by Dudley at Harry's request. Fred and George led the way, and they all assembled in the kitchen, joining a clearly frightened Dursley family as they listened to Harry and Snape yell at each other. Fred and George were next to Dudley, and motioned to him that everything would be ok. Dudley looked around at seven very tense wizards, who all had their wands drawn, and decided that if he wasn't safe now he never would be. He looked at his parents and silently communicated that message to them, they nodded and looked less afraid (no they don't have ESP or telepathy, you can do a lot with facial expressions and body language). George stared hard at Dudley for a few seconds and seemed to come to a decision, he conjured a beater bat, and offered it to Dudley. Dudley took the bat without hesitation, this was his home, he wanted to defend it.

Back to the Living Room: One minute ago

Nothing happened after Snape's yell, he repeated it:

"Potter, in here NOW! Or I swear I'll deduct 200 points from Gryffindor the first day of classes."

This got a response out of Harry (not that he cared about points in the grand scheme of things), he walked downstairs, wand in his back pocket, right where Moody said not to put it, but stealth was more important here. He was really going to enjoy this.

"What are you doing here? I thought we told you that you weren't welcome in this house!"

"Do you honestly think that the Headmaster or I care about what you think Potter? So like your dead daddy, thinking that everyone should bow and scrape to your whims."

"Don't you dare talk about my father, he was 10 times the wizard you've ever been, Death Eater."

"Yet somehow I managed to be alive right now and he's rotting in a grave….a grave that you're not even allowed to visit."

It took every ounce of self control for Harry not to pull out his wand and yell out Avada Kedavra, he wasn't sure if it would work, his Cruciatus hadn't been very good, but it would shut Snape up at least. He concentrated on the fact that he needed Snape NOT to shut up, at least until the Aurors got here. He mentally counted the seconds, it must have been at least a minute, they should be here any second now.

"Be that as it may Snivellus, you are not welcome here, so told by the owners of this house. Leave now."

"As if I would stoop so low as to accept orders from muggle trash like your family, they must be scum if the same bloodline bore you!"

"Get Out!"

"The Headmaster has insisted that I waste your time by teaching you Occlumency Potter, if you had learned it last term your hound might still be licking his fleas."

Snape really knew what buttons to push didn't he?

"I'll never let you teach me anything, if you call your incompetence 'teaching'"

"Sit down Potter and we will begin this."

"Are you deaf? Get your oily head out of here!"

"If you do not sit down, I'll force you to Potter, it will give me great pleasure."

Harry was roaring with laughter on the inside, this pensieve memory would be perfect for DMLE use, this couldn't have gone better if he'd written Snape's script for him.

"I'll never again do anything you say, if you think I'm going to let you into my mind you're crazy."

"Very well, if you insist." He raised his wand and shouted:

Petrificus Totalus

There was only one problem, Harry had dodged out of the way, and was standing four feet to the left of where he had been before. Snape looked furious, cursing that old fool Dumbledore for putting him through this torture. He decided to up the ante:

Stupefy

Harry ducked this time and did a roll on the floor, the spell making a large black mark on the living room wall. Snape took advantage of Harry being on the ground and fired again, just grazing his leg and sending him to the floor. Snape walked up to Harry, as the lad was quickly rubbing his now numb leg.

"And now I have you Potter, I'm so going to enjoy this….I've been waiting for this moment for years." He raised his wand:

Re-

But he raised his wand just a bit too leisurely, Harry had spent a week practicing his quick draw technique, hoping for just such a moment, he let the hate flow through him and give him even faster reflexes:

EXPELLIARMUS!

Snape was just one meter away and was hit dead in the chest…

WHAM!

Snape flew back three meters and crashed against the wall next to the kitchen door. Harry quickly leapt up and fired again:

PERCUSSIO!

The percussion hex hit Snape just where Harry intended, on his right shoulder….the same side of his body as his wand arm…not that he had his wand anymore, it was lying on the floor next to Harry, who hadn't tried to catch it as it flew toward him. He had just two more spells to use:

Wrappendo!

Magical ropes flew out of his wand and wrapped themselves around Snape, binding him very tightly. Harry picked up the wand at his feet and snapped it in half…..and then walked over to Snape and stuck the pieces carefully up Snape's nose. He then drew his wand and smiled large:

Rictusempra

Snape was only barely conscious, but started twitching anyway. Harry just stood there panting, and looked to the door, wondering where the Aurors were…..and speak of the devil.

The door burst open, and Travis Biller, Sarah Westbrook, and Rob Graham ran into the house. Biller didn't even look at what was going on before yelling.

"Ministry of Magic, I want everyone to put their wands on the floor…Immediately!"

Harry put his wand slowly and carefully on the floor, the tip pointed at himself, and held his hands in the air in muggle fashion. Snape was still only semi-conscious on the floor and twitching. Biller looked around and saw Harry standing there, he easily noticed the mark on the wall and the one on the floor. He walked over to Snape and looked him over….and did his professional best not to smile (it worked, but only barely).

"Harry, my name is Travis Biller, I'm the Senior Auror on duty tonight, we came as soon as we got your message. What happened here Harry? For Merlin's sake put your hands down."

Harry put his hands to his sides and tried to catch his breath. The 40 seconds he was dodging Snape's spells and firing back seemed like 10 minutes. He took a series of deep breaths as the three Aurors all stared at him.

"Snape came into my house, without knocking I might add since the door was locked, to supposedly give me Occlumency lessons. My family sent a note to him yesterday telling him very clearly that he was not welcome here, but he came in anyway. I repeatedly told him to leave, but he refused, and mocked the deaths of my father and godfather in the process. When I refused to sit down for his 'lessons' he started shooting spells at me, one Petrificus Totalus and two Stupefys if I remember correctly. I was busy dodging them so I might be wrong. He grazed me with the last stunner and let his guard down, that's when I responded. I used one disarming charm, one percussion hex, and the tickling charm that's on him right now…I did that to try and distract him from any wandless magic that he might be capable of. You came in ten seconds after I used the tickling charm." Biller, Graham, and Westbrook just stood there in shock, and were not a little impressed. .

"Harry, I was under the impression that you are over a year away from your majority…and I don't see any Ministry owls here. How is it that you used magic?"

"I was emancipated this afternoon, I have the document if you would like to see it, signed by the Minister."

"Yes please I would." Harry had the document (he had copied it a couple more times that afternoon) in the other back pocket of his jeans and he gave it to Biller, who quickly read it over, and recognized Fudge's signature.

"This looks legitimate, but we had better check anyway. Sarah, go back to the Ministry and make sure there was no underage magic warning alarms going off for this house. I don't see any of their owls in here, but make sure anyway."

Sarah nodded and walked outside to apparate to the Ministry.

"Don't get the idea that I don't believe you Harry, we just have to make sure." He then turned to Snape, Graham's wand had never left the now fully conscious Potions professor (the tickling charm had not been a powerfully cast one, and had largely worn off). Biller had always hated this man, the 35 year old former Gryffindor had been a target of Snape and his Slytherin cronies while he was at Hogwarts. Like everyone in the Auror Command he knew that Snape was a former Death Eater who had somehow regained Dumbledore's trust, and a job at Hogwarts. Biller had no children, the reason he was on duty tonight, and was glad that he would never have to send any of his progeny to a Hogwarts staffed by Snape. He pointed his wand at him, and was rewarded with a look of fear:

Finite Incantatem

The magical ropes disappeared, and though Snape could barely move his right side, he managed to bring himself up to a sitting position, as well as remove the wand pieces from his nose.

"Ok Snape, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I am here by order of Headmaster Dumbledore to teach this fool Occlumency, I didn't want to, but I did as I was instructed." He even looked a bit smug at that, as if saying that would solve his problems…..he hadn't fully heard the part about Harry saying he was legal now, and assumed that the Aurors were here to arrest Harry.

"And….? That's it? Dumbledore ordered you here, so you illegally entered a locked house that you were previously told you weren't welcome in and then proceed to fire curses at a defenseless kid who didn't have his wand out?"

"I am here under Headmaster Dumbledore's orders. The brat wouldn't sit down for his lesson so I attempted to force him to, and then he attacked me and snapped my wand, I'm pressing full charges."

For his own part, Harry just stood there fascinated at this exchange, was this really Snape's defense? Be arrogant and dismissive and count on the old man to rescue him? Sarah Westbrook entered the open door, she walked up to the group:

"Travis, no instances of underage magic have been reported for this house. The last magic performed here before tonight happened this afternoon, a series of spells by an adult wizard." Harry raised a hand acknowledging that it was he who had used the spells.

"Thank you Sarah. Well Harry…." Biller took a minute to think…."Where are your relatives? Can they confirm this letter you sent?"

"Yes sir they can. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon! Could you come out here please!" Biller handed back the paper and motioned to Harry that he could pick up his wand….and Snape's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

In the kitchen Peter motioned Petunia and Vernon to go to the living room, they were needed to put the final nail into the coffin of Severus Snape. They had listened the sound of spells hitting the floor and walls, but no cries from Harry and no words of triumph from Snape, so they knew Harry was getting out of the way. Fred and George had quickly handed out Extendable Ears, even the Dursleys used them once they were shown how. They heard Harry fire off his spells, and the snap of Snape's wand. They then heard Biller and his group come in the door and the discussion that followed.

Petunia and Vernon walked into the living room and immediately noticed the black marks on the wall and floor (they were so large it was hard to miss them), as well as the injured wizard on the floor. They looked at Harry, who was none the worse for wear, having caught his breath.

"Hello, I'm Vernon Dursley, this is my wife Petunia, Harry's Aunt." They shook hands all around (not Snape of course) and Biller introduced himself and his crew.

"Mr. Dursley, where were you when this was going on?"

"Umm….well we were hiding Mr. Biller, we knew that that man was coming and we wanted to stay out of the way…..we're not wizards you know, we wouldn't know how to defend ourselves from him. Harry hasn't painted that nice a picture of the man…..as you can see. Harry wanted us to stay out of the fray, and we agreed."

"Harry said that you all sent a letter to Snape, telling him not to come here. Is this true?"

"Yes sir it is, though I think that the letter was addressed to Dumbledore as well as this man. We all signed it, even Dudley and Harry. We didn't want him here and we still don't."

"Was the door locked Mr. Dursley?"

"Yes Mr. Biller it was, we always lock our doors at night."

"Mrs. Dursley, is there anything you would like to add?"

"No sir, its how my husband and nephew said…..we were listening at the door after you came in, and we know what he told you."

Biller looked around at the people in the room, it was obvious as to what had happened, he just wanted a minute to consider how to do his next actions. This was going to be huge, the arrest of a Hogwarts professor for attacking Harry Potter. Unbeknownst to him and the others, Winky was hidden behind a window outside taking pictures with Peter's camera, as she had since Snape had started firing spells.

He took the end piece of Snape's wand and pointed his own at it:

Priori Incantatem!

The spells Snape used to attack Harry quickly came out, as well as the spell to open the door and the one to disable the Blood Protection…which was all the Auror needed to see.

"Well it's clear that the law was broken here, and its just as clear that you fired first Snape…..Mr. and Mrs. Dursley are you pressing a complaint against Snape here?"

"Yes sir we are, we want him prosecuted to the fullest extent of your law," Vernon answered.

"Harry, what about you? Are you making a complaint at him for attacking you? You're willing to testify against him at the Wizengamot?"

"Yes Mr. Biller I am, I want him in Azkaban for what he did. I'm not even safe in my own home."

That was all Biller needed to hear, he turned to a still sneering Snape:

"Severus Snape you are under arrest for unlawful entry into a muggle residence and assault on a person who you believed was unable or not allowed to use magic. If convicted of both these charges you may receive 10 years in prison. Anything you'd like to say?"

"Are you crazy! There is no way that brat is legally an adult! I want him arrested now!"

"Harry Potter is now a legal adult Snape, he has the paperwork, and there are no owls to scold him or other Aurors here to arrest him. Do you have anything relevant you'd like to say?"

"Dumbledore will have me out of your control before the night is over, this is not the last of this."

"Not on my watch Snape. Harry, do you need any of us to stay here with you? Do you feel safe enough now that he's being taken away?" Harry didn't get a chance to answer that question, as the front door was opened by a wizard for the third time in less than fifteen minutes.

Flashback to the minutes previous:

Outside the Dursley home, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt had watched all of this go down with a mounting sense of confusion. They saw Snape enter the house unbidden, and each of them sighed, as this was not the right start to the session. They knew about the letter to Dumbledore and Snape, demanding that Snape not come tonight…..and while

both of them fully agreed with Harry (who they felt had put the muggles up to writing it), they knew that Dumbledore would do what he wanted, and that would be to dismiss it. They heard the insults and they crept closer to the house, and then they heard the breaking point: Snape's Petrificus Totalus. They were under orders from the old man not to intervene in the lesson, but this was beyond the pale:

"Ok Tonks, get back to Headquarters and tell Dumbledore what happened, get him over here, I'll make sure Snape doesn't actually harm the kid."

Tonks nodded and ran to the Apparation point, then disappeared, just getting out before a muggle car came into view.

Tonks burst into the front parlor of Grimmauld Place and screamed:

"Dumbledore!"

The entire house came streaming into the parlor, Molly in the lead, she grabbed Tonks:

"What happened, is Harry ok, what did that man do to him?"

Dumbledore came up to Tonks and much more calmly asked her what happened.

"Snape and Harry started yelling at each other as soon as Snape walked into the house…..and then he took out his wand and started firing curses at Harry." There was a hushed silence as they waited for Dumbledore's reaction…well not everybody, Molly lost the tiny amount of composure that she had left (and she rarely had a lot to begin with lately):

"I told you not to send Snape in there, you knew something like this was going to happen eventually! I swear, if anything happens to Harry you will regret it for the rest of your short life!" Ron and Ginny froze immediately, their mother had just threatened to kill Dumbledore.

For reasons passing understanding, Dumbledore ignored Molly, and didn't even take his wand out.

He closed his eyes and said a quiet prayer, fully expecting that he would soon find a dead body of some sort. Without opening his eyes, or even acknowledging what Molly had said, he spoke:

"Don't say it Remus, yes you told us so. Let's just get over there and fix this. Its obvious Harry panicked somehow and Severus took something he said the wrong way. Kids (he looked at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione), you come too, maybe you can talk to Harry better than we can."

He summoned two brooms (ones for sweeping) from the closet and made them into port-keys. The 10 of them (Dumbledore, Remus, Hermione, four Weasleys, Hestia, Tonks, and Moody) grabbed on to the brooms and vanished at a command from Dumbledore.

Kingsley watched the battle inside unfold with an unreal sense that he was at some Quidditch match. He saw Snape down Harry…..and was amazed at Harry's quick draw response. He let out some laughs as Harry did his thing with Snape's wand….and then he saw his Auror colleagues appear, and the subsequent conversation, all the while wondering if he should intervene at some point…but he eventually decided to do nothing until Dumbledore got there, cursing them for taking so long.

They soon appeared outside Privet Drive, and Kingsley threw off his invisibility cloak to go meet them.

"Come with us Kingsley, let us see what has happened here." Dumbledore looked very tired at that moment Remus thought. He was privately ecstatic at the mess Snape had caused, and he was probably going to get himself arrested to boot. Dumbledore would have a hard time covering this up, whatever it was.

They filed up to the door and Dumbledore entered the unlocked door, he found Harry and the Dursleys talking to the Aurors,

End Flashback

Harry saw the robes and white beard and whipped out his wand, screaming out:

"Stay where you are! If you move one meter further into this house I will attack you! And I will fight to kill!"

The Order members and youngsters stood crowded in the doorway as they clearly heard what Harry said, but just as clearly could not believe their ears. Dumbledore saw the look of pure hatred on Harry's face and wisely decided not to move, but Harry hadn't said that he couldn't speak.

"Harry, put your wand down, you are underage and cannot use it." Harry saw the group behind the old man, but not all of the people who it consisted of, and said his next salvo loudly enough for them to hear:

"As of 5 pm today I am a legal adult, signed, sealed, and delivered. Your best friend attacked me and I took him down easier than I could any first year Hufflepuff….don't test me old man!" He took out his emancipation form and banished it right at Dumbledore, who took notice that the Aurors weren't doing anything to stop Harry….who noticed them as well.

"Mr. Biller, this man has come here to kidnap me, I formally request your protection and your help in removing him from this property, he is not welcome here, as you have heard in detail." This was news to most of Dumbledore's group, as he had not shared the existence of the 'stay away Snape' note with most of the Order…all of whom were still processing Harry's emancipation and the fact that he sounded like murdering Dumbledore was next on his to-do list.

Travis had no clue of what to do here, he had no love for the Headmaster, but the guy was the Head of the Wizengamot…..but laws were laws, and Dumbledore was not above them, and Harry could not have made his request with any less ambiguousness.

"Headmaster, a check of Snape's former wand indicates that he did attack Harry first, using one Petrificus Totalus and two stunning spells, and I can confirm from his own statements that he was under the impression that Harry could not fire back." Oh this was just wonderful, thought Dumbledore. He needed a moment to think though, and threw out a delaying question.

"His former wand?" Harry handled that one:

"I snapped it after I almost put him through the wall. You should teach your pets about overconfidence. I told you, I warned you: Don't send him here! But you did, and look what happened. I'm pressing charges, maybe Snape can teach Potions via owl post from Azkaban….I thought I told you not to move Dumbledore!" The old man had in fact moved, due largely to Molly and Remus pushing their ways forward. Molly got a look at the scene, and looked set to try to go to Harry (to embrace him, not to attack him), except for one small detail…Harry hadn't lowered his wand an inch., it was still pointed at the doorway and those in it.

"I have had it with you people trying to run my life! Though it wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't all made such a botch of it! Leave!" Molly's mouth closed, and Remus just stood there looking sad.

"Harry, are you sure you know what you're doing?

"I am Remus, I'm sorry that you couldn't have been there for me when I really needed you."

That was like a slap in the face to Remus, but he managed to respond in soft tones like before:

"Are you sure the water isn't over your head?"

"No Remus, the water is exactly at my head."

Remus turned and walked back to the door, and once outside the anti-apparition zone, popped away.

Finally Dumbledore couldn't take the silence anymore:

"So what has happened here Harry? Why was it necessary to attack Professor Snape, to have him arrested?"

Harry glared at Dumbledore, but said in a quiet (and very hate filled) tone of voice, "I told you he wasn't welcome here Professor. We (he motioned at his aunt and uncle) even wrote it down for you so there would be no doubt of our wishes. Snape knew about the note, so I know you got it."

"Professor Snape Harry. Yes, we did get your note. However your need to learn Occlumency is more important than your dislike for Professor Snape or your relatives disdain for our kind."

"I'll call him professor when he earns his title. I repeat, I don't want him here, they don't want him here. Period. I told him to leave and he attacked me. Surely even you can't overlook the curse marks you see. He thought I could not fire back, but he still attacked me. You have some kind of ridiculous trust in him, but I don't. Be grateful I didn't kill him…and if I hadn't sent for the Aurors, I could easily have ended him…and if they weren't here its not out of the question that I could have gotten the drop on you too, and who knows what might have happened." Dumbledore went visibly white at hearing that, and it took considerable self-control on his part not to draw his wand on his young charge.

"Harry, may I please come in and talk with you." The old man knew that this was beyond salvaging, at least for tonight, so he geared the rest of his performance to the people standing behind him.

"No you may not. I have no interest in hearing anything you have to say, and you've proven that you have just as little interest in listening to me, if past events are any indication. Leave now, I will not say it again."

"All right Harry, if you insist. I hope you will change your mind soon, it appears as though we have much to discuss."

"Says you, we're finished Dumbledore. Oh yeah, Ron? Hermione? I hope you like being a couple, it was so nice of you to tell me about it." Ron and Hermione were in the middle of the crowd behind Dumbledore, and in fact were not holding hands or showing any outward affection, they were still too stunned….the more so because they wondered how Harry had known about them.

Biller took a deep breath, and turned to Graham and Westbrook.

"Rob, Sarah, please escort the Headmaster and his companions off the property (another deep breath)…if any of them resist, arrest them." Dumbledore and his people took the hint and backed out the door, all of them trying to get a last glimpse of Harry…..and then immediately wishing they hadn't, as his wand was still pointed at them.

The adults in the group all congregated in the Dursley driveway, but Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were still on the stoop. Ginny had motioned the other two to stop, and called out to Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong? Can we please talk with you?" Harry walked to the doorway, with Biller at his side. The hate had left his face, and he was looking very tired, his wand no longer directly pointed at them, but still not pointed downward.

"Not right now Ginny, I'm sorry. I hope you can understand eventually."

"Please let us help you."

"I wish you three hadn't have been caught in the middle of this, if the middle is truly where you are right now." Ron had rarely looked more insulted, while Hermione just looked troubled. Ginny remained their spokesperson:

"You've obviously been planning this for awhile Harry, why couldn't you trust us to tell us about it?"

There was enough anger still burning in Harry that part of him wanted to go into great detail about why he couldn't trust the three of them (as opposed to his crew, still hiding in the kitchen)….however, Harry knew that he was not out of the woods yet tonight, and didn't dare give the old man any insight into what might be coming next.

"That's a conversation for another time Ginny, now its time for you and the lovebirds to go back to Dumbledore's lair, where he can ask you some pointless questions about what I might be up to. If it means anything to you, I'm sorry it had to be like this." He turned and walked back into the house. The three kids, seeing as there was nothing else to be done, walked over to Dumbledore…who had rather obviously been listening to the exchange. The only two people not grabbing on to the (regular) brooms were Tonks and Kingsley.

"Look Travis, we need to stay here to watch over the place, to make sure no Death Eaters decide to drop by."

"That's acceptable, as long as you don't set one toe on the Dursley property Kingsley, you heard what the kid said. However, if you really want to take him on, just walk back into the house, I'll send word ahead to St. Mungos for you."

"C'mon Travis, we're trained Aurors, however much muggle torture experience Snape has had, taking him out is not the same as dealing with one of us." Travis looked at Tonks with some exasperation.

"Tonks, the thing to remember about Harry Potter, and I say this having met the kid 15 minutes ago: No one in the world knows just what he is capable of magically. You and your little Order have obviously done something to piss him off, and I highly advise you not to provoke him right now. Our government is dealing with enough issues right now without the Boy Who Lived being involved in yet another duel against a government official meaning to do him harm. I am the ranking Auror on site, and I'm officially forbidding the two of you to enter that house or interact with him in any way unless he initiates contact with you first. I want to hear a verbal acknowledgement from both of you."

An acknowledgement which they both reluctantly gave. Biller was the third ranking person in the DMLE, behind only Amelia Bones and Head Auror Rufus Scrimegour, and Azkaban was full of Dark Wizards and Witches that he had put there. After Dumbledore's group was gone, he went back into the House, passing Rob and Sarah, who were escorting Snape out the door. Travis 'accidentally' bumped Snape on his injured shoulder, and had a happy moment when the grease ball winced in pain.

"Harry, if you want some free advice, get lost. Dumbledore will probably be back here very soon."

"Five more minutes Mr. Biller, and I'll never see this house again. Thank for you everything tonight."

"You're welcome Harry, the DMLE will let you know about Snape's trial, assume it will happen sometime early next week, it won't be that complicated a trial. If Shacklebolt or Tonks come near you, send your House Elf to come get me again, and I'll take care of them." He said goodbye to the Dursleys, and walked back outside. The three Aurors made sure that Kingsley and Tonks were not on the Dursley property, and apparated away with Snape.

Harry ran into the kitchen and saw his friends waiting for him. The four Weasleys were all leaning against the kitchen counter, with Luna, Dudley, and Neville sitting at the table. Peter was coming in the back door, he had been doing a scan outside. Harry's grin could be seen in Bristol, it was that large.

"Did everyone hear the show?" The tension in the room had long been released once they realized that a battle wasn't going to be taking place, so there were some easy smiles. Peter walked over a patted Harry on the back. After politely asking Dudley to go wait with his parents, and throwing a Silencing Charm at the kitchen door:

"That was masterful Harry, you did everything just fine."

"Thank God the Aurors got here when they did, I guess there were some Order people outside, they must have tipped him."

"We were ready, just in case." Bill nodded at Peter's statement, and started to smile.

"I think it was much better that Dumbledore didn't know about us, it will be harder for him to predict things if he thinks it's just you calling the shots instead of a committee advising you."

"Anything that keeps him off balance is fine with me, and it only has to last a week….but now I've got to get out of here, he'll be back any minute." Peter took a small book out of his pocket.

"This is a portkey that I got from…..well that I got from a reliable source that I do business with a lot. It will take you right to Room 214 of the Sheraton Hotel in London, the room that we have reserved for you. I sent an owl off today to Great Lakes, I should hear back from them sometime tomorrow or Sunday. All I told them is that I had a client who was interested in transferring from Hogwarts, and was under some security concerns….which doesn't flat out tell them who it is, but narrows the list down considerably." Bill took over:

"Now ideally we would like two of us to go with him and stay there tonight. There is very little chance that the old man can track him there, but we can't risk otherwise. Fred, George, it can't be you. Once Dumbledore finds out that he's not here, and moreover has taken all his things with him, your shop is probably the second place he'll look, after The Burrow. Unfortunately Dumbledore knows where I live, so that will be a place they might look too, and I don't dare deny him access, I don't want to make them too suspicious." Neville stood up.

"I'll go, I kind of figured that we might be doing something like this, so Gran knows that I might not be coming home tonight." Charlie cleared his throat too.

"I'll be the other, we need the other person to be able to use their wand in a fight, and I'm pretty good with alarm and surveillance charms." Peter handed Harry the book, and sent Dobby to collect Harry's things, he would meet them there.

"Winky!" She popped in.

"Yes Peter sir, the pictures are all taken, I got a good look at all the spells being fired. I used five rolls of film sir."

"Terrific, you come with me, we have a trip to make to the Daily Prophet, they don't go to press for another two hours. The rest of you, head back home, we'll meet in Harry's hotel room tomorrow afternoon."

Harry went up to all of them and hugged them in thanks, obviously enjoying Luna's the most (and mildly chastising himself for letting Neville get there first). Soon all had left but Harry, Neville, Charlie, and the Dursleys. Charlie sat the muggles down on the living room sofa, one last thing needed to be done.

"Now I need all three of you to be very still for a moment. I need to remove the memories of a few things from your minds. This will not hurt one bit, and will throw Dumbledore off our trail, ok? I am very good at this kind of thing, so there is no need to worry."

There were a lot of aspects to this business that all three of them wanted to forget, but they knew that Charlie wasn't going to go that far. Before the redhead could begin though, Harry walked in front of Vernon and Petunia and squatted down to face them…for the last time.

"I know we've been sort of getting along the last few weeks, but that does not excuse the fact that you physically and verbally abused me for fourteen years, all over something that I had control over whatsoever. Right now you're more afraid of me than of Dumbledore, but that might change, you might be tempted to tell him things, give him insight into what I might be doing. Someday Voldemort might come by here, and want to know a few things….Just know this Vernon, Petunia: I hate you both, I hate you just as much as I hate Dumbledore, for the childhood that I was never allowed to have. Do I need to remind you to forget about me? Because I will not forget, not for one second." Harry stood up and motioned Neville to go into the kitchen with him, while Charlie did his work.

"Harry, are you ok mate?"

"I'll be fine Neville, leaving this house forever will make a lot of things better."

"Is it forever, or are you coming back to settle with them?"

"No Neville, it's forever…..I won't give them the satisfaction of becoming like them." Charlie came into the kitchen at that point.

"It's done, let's get out of here." They took hold of the book, and at the command, disappeared. Tonks and Kingsley noticed fifteen minutes later that there were no wizards in the house.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

8 pm

The Order members sat at the kitchen table and waited for Dumbledore to come into the room, he was currently in the living room having a heated argument with Amelia Bones, who had just found out about Snape's arrest from Biller, and was giving Dumbledore all kinds of flack for what had happened. The old man was all but begging her to release Snape to his custody, but she was having none of it. There were no Extendable Ears being used by those in the kitchen, just an open doorway and Dumbledore's own uncharacteristically loud voice.

He soon entered the room, and immediately focused on the three teenagers.

"Kids, I know from your conversation with Harry that you did not know that he was planning anything, but think back to his letters, to the train ride, was there an inkling?" Hermione had been doing nothing but thinking of this for the last 40 minutes.

"No sir, I can't recall anything, and I've been trying. Harry was distant in his letters, but I really just chalked that up to grief over Sirius. I assumed he would come around eventually, especially after seeing how wonderfully he did on his OWL's." Ron and Ginny agreed with this assessment as well. Remus had a hard question to ask, but one that needed to be:

"If Harry had let you in on his plans, would you have told us?" Ron looked very conflicted, but Ginny, then Hermione, found this easy to answer.

"No Remus, I don't think I would have."

"I agree with Ginny. I'm sorry, but I could never betray Harry, not even to you Headmaster. I would have tried to talk him out of it, but that's all. Ron?" Ron looked on the verge of tears, he was cursing himself for not making a bigger effort to stay behind, with or without the two girls.

"He's never really forgiven me for 4th year, that's where this is coming from. I guess I don't blame him really. I know this, whatever you try to do to stop him, I won't help you." Hermione and Ginny were in agreement with this as well. Remus continued to look sad, and ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry Albus, but I'm with the kids on this one. I would not have betrayed him either. You left him alone for too long, both last year and this year, and that has allowed his resentment to fester…..and now its festered into hate."

"I was only trying to do what was best for him, to protect him." Arthur didn't like the idea of jumping on Dumbledore as well, but he felt the need to get his views on the record.

"But you didn't protect him Albus, not really. Harry is alive right now due to a combination of good genes, a ton of luck, and outstanding Quidditch reflexes….nothing you have given to him or taught him. Right now you need to take a few steps back from Harry and see if the rest of us can fix this."

"There is nothing to fix Arthur, in a few days Harry will calm down and things will be back to normal. We'll figure out a way to keep him protected away from Privet Drive, something that I admit I should have taken more seriously before." Remus couldn't believe that Dumbledore had missed the point by such a wide margin.

"He doesn't want your protection Albus, you either give him too little when he's at school or too much when he's not."

"It's not about what Harry wants or is comfortable with Remus, we need to think about what is best for our society as a whole. And in reality he does not know what he wants. I will admit that we have not handled Harry as well as we probably could have, but nothing has happened that's irreversible." Remus was now on the verge of walking out of this room for good, if that's how far it had gone. There was one last thing to find out though.

"What are the details of the Prophecy Albus, how does it detail Harry's role?" Everyone in the room leaned forward to hear the answer, not that they thought it would be a straight one.

"That is between Harry and myself, you don't need to know the details."

"What a surprise, and yes we do need to know the details. The loyalties of the people in this room are beyond question (these are the same people who comprised Dumbledore's group at Privet Drive, minus Tonks and Kingsley), and everyone of us risked their lives to safeguard what it contained. Add that to the likelihood that whatever you told Harry about it probably put him on the path he's traveling now. We need to square things with Harry Albus, and I mean right now…..and we need all the information we can to make that happen. We know he's the final weapon, it would be helpful to know how."

"Harry will come around, I'm sure of it. The best play right now is to let his anger dissipate."

"You're betting all of our lives on that, you realize this don't you?"

"I'm right Remus, you have to trust me on this." There was a note of finality to the old man's voice that the werewolf knew all too well. He threw up his hands (literally) and went quiet. Dumbledore stood up and made to leave.

"I'm going to return to Hogwarts now and see if our tracking charms will give us any clues, though I'm sure Harry removed them. I will see you all tomorrow, good night." With a sweep of his robes, he left the kitchen. They could hear the floo fire and he was gone. Hestia and Moody said their goodnights as well, leaving the kids with Remus, Molly, and Arthur. Remus went to the living room and looked around. He didn't find what he was looking for and returned to the kitchen, whispering in Arthur's ear. They took out their wands and in unison, cried out:

Accio Albus Dumbledore!

But nothing happened, the old man was truly gone from the house.

"Molly, if you would please, go get to the floo and get the twins, if anyone in the Order knew what was going on with Harry before tonight, it's them." She left the room.

"You think they helped him? What would they know about the emancipation process?"

"Moral support Hermione, no matter how he seemed tonight, Harry had to trust someone with his plans. The three of you have various marks against you with Harry: Ron's jealousy, Ginny's crush, and your idolization of Dumbledore Hermione. The twins have no such marks, and the shop situation makes them even more loyal to him. Plus, they are the most devious good people I know of, and they would be an asset to him for that fact alone."

"Do you think he just walked into Fudge's office and said 'hey, let me be an adult.'?"

"He could have done exactly that Ron, and I doubt Fudge wasted five seconds thinking about it before signing on the dotted line. He had to have known it would tie Albus into a knot." They mulled this over for a few minutes until Molly returned with Fred and George. Arthur stared hard at his twin sons, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Remus' theory was correct.

"All right you two, what do you know and when did you know it?" Fred and George just stood there, and Fred shrugged.

"Know what Dad?"

"Don't play with us guys, this is important. What is Harry up to? We need to know." The twins looked at each other for a moment, they had known all along that this was coming, and what they were about to say had been okayed by Harry and Bill.

"Maybe you do, but that's not our call to make. Your problem, and we agree that you do have one, is with Harry, and you need to wait until he's ready to talk with you….if he ever is."

"Is it that far gone, he hates us that much?" George sighed, and Fred started pacing as he answered.

"He doesn't hate you lot Dad, for Merlin's sake, he loves all of you….he just doesn't trust you as far as he can throw you, and I don't see anything that will change that. The mere fact that you're sitting here in this room right now is proof of that. He sees you as Dumbledore's people, and we can certainly acknowledge that he hates Dumbledore. From his vantage point, the only difference between you and the Death Eaters is that you won't torture him and they will."

"I agree with George folks, you would have to kill Dumbledore in front of Harry to make this right."

"Yet he trusts you two."

"Yes he does, and we've said as much as we can and still keep that trust. We knew what was going down tonight, yes, but we know very little of what's coming next…just in case Dumbledore decides to do some Legilimancy on us. I'll tell you a couple of things: One, Harry is not going Dark; and two: You can't stop what's coming next, so don't even try." Molly tried next, but was taken aback at how serious both of her sons sounded.

"Fred, George, we're your parents, you need to tell us what is going on."

"I'm sorry Mum, but no we don't need to do that. You love Harry like a son, he knows that…but you're here in this kitchen, doing Dumbledore's bidding." Hermione had been surprisingly quiet, but had a question.

"Do you know the Prophecy?" They were prepared for this as well.

"No we don't, and we don't want to know. Harry volunteered to tell us, but we wouldn't have it. Some things need to remain a secret." This was the most serious lie the twins had ever told their parents, but their word was their word.

"He's not returning to Hogwarts, is he?" George let out a sigh, and Fred had a faint smile on his face as he answered:

"Put yourself in his position Remus, put yourself in his life…..would you go back there?"

"Now we've said all we're going to say on the subject of Harry to you lot The best thing you can do for him is to leave him alone and not interfere."

"I can't believe you won't help your own parents."

"We're choosing the right path, not the easy one Mum. George and I have watched fate, Voldemort, and Dumbledore mistreat Harry time and time again over the last five years…it stops now. Goodnight all." The twins walked to the front door and exited that way. Remus got up and began making some more tea (he preferred doing it the muggle way).

"I think we've been put in our place, and I'm not sure that those two aren't correct."

"What can we do now? Do we keep helping Dumbledore? Will he let us be neutral in this?" Ginny looked sad and confused, she worshiped the twins and found their new found gravity to be very confusing. Hermione got up to help with the tea.

"I think we should just wait until Snape's trial, and do nothing until then. By then Harry will have cooled down some, and Professor Dumbledore may be willing to negotiate with him."

"Will Harry listen to him though?"

"I don't know Ron….I don't know if we really understand Harry anymore. He's had burdens and pressures that we have never fully grasped, and we know him better than anyone. I think hearing the Prophecy might have made him finally start to crack." Ginny started to cry at hearing that, and Ron and Hermione weren't far behind her. This had been an incredibly stressful evening for all six of them, and Molly herded the kids off to bed, While she was upstairs, Remus poured some fire whiskey in his and Arthur's teacups.

"Do you think he'll go back to Hogwarts Remus?"

"No I don't Arthur, he'll either go abroad or disappear into the muggle world. I have a good idea of what James and Lily left him, and what Sirius is going to leave him, he can afford to do it if he wants to."

"Will he get this house too? It would be interesting to see if he kicks Albus out of it."

"A nice thought, but it's not going to be that simple. From what Padfoot hinted to me, I'm probably going to get the house…so I'm the one who will have to make that decision."

"I have to wonder if it's just the twins on his side, he would have needed more help than those two, however devious they are."

"I'm sorry Arthur, but we have to assume that Bill is helping Harry as well, and with Charlie visiting…" he trailed off, the implications being clear to both of them. Both of them, and one can assume Molly as well, had been wondering about Bill ever since his non-appearance at Privet Drive.

"Bill will protect him Remus, better than any of us ever could it seems."

"The look of betrayal on Harry's face when he saw me, I don't know how I can ever face Lily and James when I get to the afterlife. He thinks I chose Dumbledore over him, and I can see how he would."

"What do we do about Dumbledore? Do you think there's anything that will mollify Harry, short of killing the old man like the twins said?"

"No Arthur, I don't think that there is. We just have to let this play out and see what Harry does. Like it or not, we're spectators here."

Saturday, July 28, 1996

The main headline of the Daily Prophet said it all:

Hogwarts Professor Attacks Boy Who Lived! Snape Arrested!

Two of the juiciest photos were on the front page, and fifteen more of Winky's masterpieces were inside, as Peter's hand-fed story to Daily Prophet cub reporter (and Harry's former Quidditch teammate) Alicia Spinnet (the scoop given to her at Harry's request), detailed every second of Snape's attack, Harry's defense, and the subsequent arrest. Detailed histories of Snape and Harry were given, as well as over a dozen anecdotes of their incidents, helpfully provided by Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown, who had been contacted on Peter's advice (the only ones really who would have cooperated, besides Neville).

Every issue was sold within minutes, as Prophet Managing Editor Augustus McRae called in a favor at the Wizarding Wireless Network and had their on-air personality Harry Turtledove talk about the article on the air. The presses ran again, and over five hundred copies were printed and immediately sold.

The response was swift and staggering: Over three hundred Howlers were sent to Dumbledore's office in the first hour, with two hundred more arriving by noon, with a few dozen more spread amongst the Hogwarts teachers (even Binns got a few)….not a one of whom liked Severus Snape in the slightest, nor had they ever (and Flitwick, McGonagall, Vector, Binns, and Sprout had known him since he was 11 years old). The Howlers all detailed disgust in allowing Snape near Harry without supervision, and many helpfully included past incidents involving Snape being horrible to somebody. Hogwarts castle was not a quiet place this day, and trickles of Howlers were still coming over three weeks later.

The newspaper article mentioned Harry's emancipation prominently, and it was heavily implied that Harry had been expecting an attack of some sort, but certainly not from one of his teachers, even one who he had never gotten along with. Peter promised the Prophet an interview with Harry in the coming week, to be shared with The Quibbler…as long as The Daily Prophet's coverage was satisfactory to Harry, Peter reminded them of the hatchet jobs they had run on Harry in the past, they had some proving to do…but he assured them that Harry was willing to let bygones be bygones. One last condition was that Peter's name never appear in any article concerning Harry, a condition that was readily granted. He could almost see McRae drooling over the thought of covering a Snape trial with Harry as the prime witness, with Harry talking to the Prophet afterward.

For his own part, Harry had been enjoying some relaxation time. He, Neville, and Charlie had availed themselves of room service at the hotel, and then they had spent a few enjoyable hours watching television and teaching Dobby (and Winky once she got there) how to play poker. Dobby couldn't bluff to save his life, but knew the ins and outs of knowing when to hold them and when to fold them, knowing when to walk away, and when to run…..and he wound up doing the best of the five in the end.

Peter got there around 3 pm, and he had copies of the Daily Prophet for each of them.

"I just stopped by the DMLE, and Snape's trial has been set for Tuesday, at 10 am. I ostensibly was there for business for another client, but the whole place was buzzing about the news, my eavesdropping skills didn't get much of a workout."

"When will I find out officially?"

"Good question. I owled Fudge this morning and asked him to instruct the DMLE to send all notices to you in care of the twins. They had a pointed talk with their parents and Remus last night, so its known that they're in your corner."

"Are they in trouble with them?"

"I'm not entirely sure that they care at this point, but Fred said that no yelling occurred. Charlie, your parents didn't admit to sussing out you and Bill, but they're not stupid, they'll have to be wondering why the two of you weren't anywhere in sight last night."

"I can handle Mum and Dad, don't worry Harry. This isn't Percy redux, they'll understand that."

"I hope so Charlie, I don't want you four sacrificing anything for me. Any word from Great Lakes Peter?"

"That's my other piece of news, I got an owl response from Joanne Murray, the Headmistress there. It turns out she's in Ireland right now doing some traveling, muggle style, so the owl didn't have to go across the Atlantic. She has to go back to Michigan tomorrow, but we've set up a floo appointment where we can talk, at 8 pm this evening."

"Okay, are we going to do this in your office then?"

"WE aren't going to be doing anything quite yet Harry, your name has to be kept out of this, just in case. I'll talk to her and explain the situation, I'm sorry Harry, but if you go there, you'll have to do it blind."

"Fair enough, I can handle that. What should I do in the meantime?"

"Exactly what you've been doing, relaxing and doing nothing. Heck, go for a walk, go out to dinner tonight if you want to, see a movie. Just don't go anywhere near Diagon Alley or the Ministry (Harry's hotel is roughly seven kilometers from Diagon Alley), and use your wand only if you absolutely must. The twins are going to be your backup tonight, and Luna and I will take over tomorrow afternoon."

"That should be interesting, trolling the London nightlife with Fred and George."

"Just don't get anyone pregnant. One last thing, I sent an owl to your Gringott's account manager, requesting that the Black will be read Tuesday morning at 9 am, and I got a return message indicating that the time was fine with him. He will notify Remus and Tonks of the time."

"That's close to the trial time, what if those two try something?"

"The goblins will be all the protection you need, the most powerful anti-apparition wards in Great Britain are in that bank, and make sure that neither of them touch you, we don't want them activating any portkeys. I personally don't think Remus will try to kidnap you, but Tonks is a wild card and we have to be careful."

"It's too bad really, I like her. Now you're not going to be there, right?"

"I will be if you want me to be, I'll be in the courtroom in any case, so my involvement may well be unmasked there."

"Well let's take a chance on that Peter, let's see if we can keep you my secret weapon….oh yeah, how will I get to Gringott's? Do I dare use The Leaky Cauldron?"

"That won't be necessary. Tomorrow when I come by I'll have a portkey ready for you that will take you to the twins' shop, and you can floo from there."

"You have everything planned out…I'll always be grateful to your grandmother Neville, she made a very wise choice the day she hired Peter here."

"I'll tell her you said that Harry, you can always count on our family."

"Okay, I'll be off then. Fred and George will be here by six or so, they'll have Lee close the shop down for them. If there's a problem, just have Dobby go get the Aurors." After a round of goodbyes, he popped off to his office. It was a slow day at the shop, so the twins arrived early. Charlie and Neville stuck around though, and the five of them had a fun time dining out and then playing some snooker at a pub that the twins seemed to know rather well. This was Harry's and Neville's first ever night out in London, and the group didn't get back until the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Sunday, July 29, 1996

1:00 pm

Peter and Luna appeared via portkey in Harry's hotel room, only to find their five friends still sleeping (George and Fred had somehow managed to set up hammocks in the middle of the room). Peter was contemplating how to wake them up when Luna simply went over to Neville and stuck her wand up his nose.

"AHHH!" Neville's cry woke the other four up, as Luna smiled benignly at her boyfriend.

"Good afternoon boys, time to rise and shine." After a few 'what the heck is going on here' comments, the guys did get up.

"Get some clothes on you lot, we'll go out for some lunch after I give you some news."

"How did the meeting with Murray go?" Peter didn't answer immediately, but instead fished in his pocket for a moment, pulling out a small envelope.

"The meeting could not have gone better Harry, and afterward she sent me this for you. Read it, and we'll talk." Harry opened the plain white envelope, and found a single sheet of paper with the crest of The Great Lakes Magic Institute. It was dated yesterday.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I hope your day finds you well. After my meeting with your representative on Saturday, July 28th, I am pleased to offer you a place in our junior class at Great Lakes, the junior year being our equivalent to your sixth year. Mr. Tyson is sending us copies of your grades and test results, but based on his verbal description, you should be eligible for most, if not all, the of the junior year classes.

We are located in the middle of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the nearest international airport to us is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After you book your flight, let us know when it arrives and you will be met by either me or my Deputy Headmaster. Mr. Tyson said that time was a factor, so if you need to do so, we can provide a place to stay for you for the remainder of the summer. Mr. Potter, I will personally guarantee your safety from Albus Dumbledore, you have my word on that.

I look forward to your return owl, and to you attending our school,

Joanne K. Murray

Headmistress

"That must have been some meeting, to elicit this so quickly."

"We talked for about fifteen minutes, it was a surprisingly good connection really, floo connections between England and Ireland aren't the greatest. I filled her in on the pertinent details, and she was fully on board right from the go."

"And you're dead positive that she won't turn me back over to the old man?"

"I am Harry, she will protect you from him. Word will soon get out about you being there, certainly once school starts there. She'll make sure nothing happens. I found out why she and Dumbledore don't get along, and you're going to love it:"

"What?"

"The year before Fred and George here started at Hogwarts, Joanne Murray was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts." A collective:

"WHAT!"

Sounded in the room. Peter let the dumbstruck looks fade from their faces before he continued.

"She was part of an year-long exchange program, two Americans came over here, and Flitwick and McDowell went over there. She and Dumbledore clashed from jump, it continued for the entire school year, and she left Hogwarts with a much greater appreciation of her own school, something she used when she took over as Headmistress four years ago."

"Oh my God."

"I talked to two students who had her for NEWT work, as well as your old friend Oliver Wood, and they all confirm that there was considerable friction between her and the old man. Oliver was in his second year and even he picked up on it. They all raved about her as a teacher though, and Great Lakes' Defense program is rated as the best in North America. They had no trouble attracting one of the top American Aurors to replace Murray after she was promoted."

Harry didn't say anything right away, he went over to his trunk and rooted in it for a quill and some parchment. He quickly scribbled on it, and handed it to Peter:

Dear Madam Murray,

I am very grateful that you have offered me a place in your school, and your protection from Albus Dumbledore. I accept both of them, and will do my level best to make sure you don't regret your offers.

I have a few things to wrap up here in England this week, but I will schedule my plane flight to the United States to take place as soon as possible. I will let you know the details of my travel as soon as I know them myself.

Your soon to be student,

Harry Potter

"It looks good, I'll send it off with one of my owls tomorrow. We'll save your owl for the flight information. Now I'm guessing it's way too much to hope for that you already have a passport?"

"A bit too much, yeah. Until Hogwarts I'd never been out of England, let alone the country."

"We'll do that tomorrow. You can get them the same day if you're willing to wait all day at the right office. I've already cleared my schedule and we'll go over tomorrow morning, first thing. Once we get that taken care of, we'll book your flight to Wisconsin. It will be pretty expensive, but well within the limit of your credit card…or did you already exceed the limit?" A nice laugh was had out of that.

"I never touched it last night, I used cash for the meal and for the rest. I'd actually like kind of a quiet day today if you guys don't mind."

"That's what I had in mind. Twins, Charlie, get back home, and make sure that you check yourselves for tracking charms after come into contact with any Order members." Soon after, the Weasleys left, with Neville and Luna sticking around so that they could spend some time together. It was a quiet night, with everyone resting before the storms to come on Tuesday.

Tuesday, July 31st, 1996

Gringotts Bank

9 am

Monday had been a dry day for Harry, he spent all day at the passport office, but left there in the late afternoon, passport in his pocket. Peter had phoned the airport and booked Harry on a Thursday morning flight out of Heathrow, destination Milwaukee. On a somewhat surprising note, Dumbledore had been very quiet since Friday night, he had spent all day Monday sequestered in his office at Hogwarts, doing who knows what, but not contacting Grimmauld Place at all during the day and night. Harry wondered if he was going to try and get Snape off on a plea bargain or some other kind of technicality, but Fudge had assured Peter on Saturday that while the Ministry was not opposed to a plea bargain, there would not be an approved one without prison time for Snape being attached to it.

Hermione, Ginny, and Ron all tried to send owls to Harry, but each of them was returned to sender, indicating to all of them that Harry was hiding in the muggle world (post owls would not deliver to the muggle world as a rule, Harry's Hogwarts' envelopes got through to Privet Drive because the Dursleys were aware of the magical world). They came up with an alternative plan though, one that took Harry's group by relative surprise.

Ten minutes before, Harry popped into WWW only to find five people waiting for him instead of two. Fred and George were in the middle of an argument with their siblings and Hermione. Harry immediately drew his wand.

"Don't get any ideas you three."

"Sorry mate, they got here just a couple of minutes ago."

"Harry, we just want to talk with you, and I swear we're not here on anyone's orders or request."

"Not good enough Hermione, I'm sorry, I have an appointment in ten minutes…..as I'm sure Remus told you." Ron took a step forward, undeterred by Harry's wand pointed at him.

"I swear Harry, we're not here to set you up in any way, and Remus wouldn't have it even if we were. We just want to understand what you're doing, and why. I promise Harry, whatever you tell us, we won't try to stop you."

"The problem Ron, is that whatever I tell you, Dumbledore will sift it out of your heads in less than 30 seconds! I want nothing more than to trust you three, really I do…but I don't dare. Once everything is done the way I need it to be, I'll spill it all, but until then, it's better for me if you're left in the dark…..oh boy…twins, did you check them for tracking charms?"

Fred and George swore to themselves and started waving their wands over the three teenagers. Harry did the same and they found multiple tracking and surveillance charms on all three of them.

"Bugger, he could be here any second. Fred, fire the floo!" Fred was standing nearest and threw some powder in it, just as Dumbledore and Moody came through the front door of the shop (which was technically open for business, even though there were no customers).

"Harry, we need to talk." The boy himself responded by sprinting toward the floo at full speed, even as Dumbledore and Moody both shouted out:

Accio Harry Potter!

They fired directly at him, but the twins stood in the way of the spells and they disappeared. Harry made it to the fireplace, hopped in, and yelled out

"Gringotts Bank!" And then he was gone. The three kids hadn't even gotten the chance to wish him a Happy Birthday. The two men looked darkly at the twins.

"Why did you do that? I know you must have some sympathy for Harry, but that was very foolish what you did."

"Leave our store Dumbledore, now…and you had better pray that we don't report you two to the Ministry for kidnapping."

"We had no intention of removing him from the premises."

"Sure, and Fudge is about to be crowned the King of England." Dumbledore couldn't believe this, getting flack from these two of all people.

"You two should consider yourselves suspended from The Order, your loyalty is now in question."

"If we say that's fine with us, will that get you out of our store any faster?" The two older men left in disgust, and the twins rounded on the others.

"You three had better have good explanations for those charms, or you will be very sorry." Ginny had finally had enough:

"Who the hell do you people think you are, how many times are we going to have our loyalty questioned? All we are doing is trying to find out what's going on here, but you and Harry are treating us like traitors!" Fred walked up to her, not intimidated in the least.

"Keep shouting at us Ginny, and you'll find out what George and I are capable of. Now in case it has escaped your attention little sister, Harry and Dumbledore are having a series of disagreements, and we are fully and completely on Harry's side in this, and all other matters."

"He's right you three, and so was Harry, anything you get told is the same as telling Dumbledore as long as you're staying at Headquarters. Harry cares about you three very much, but that cannot be a factor right now. Sorry, but for this match, you're not in the starting lineup. Now Ginny, it's your day to work here, Lee has a list of things for you to do in the back. Lovebirds…do whatever you need to do to keep out of our hair for the rest of the day." Ron and Hermione left, going to parts unknown. Ginny, rather sullenly, went back to help Lee. The twins just hoped there wouldn't be a battle at the bank or the trial.

Fortrap's Office, Gringotts Bank

9 am

A somewhat shaken Harry entered his manager's office, the last to arrive of the beneficiaries.

"Ah Mr. Potter, right on time…what happened? You look rather tense."

"Oh nothing sir, Dumbledore and Moody just tried to abduct me, that's all. You must be Fortrap, pleased to meet you sir."

"The pleasure is mine Mr. Potter, and I'm relieved to note that your erstwhile Headmaster has failed to take you….again." Remus and Tonks, for their parts, didn't look especially surprised at the news, but neither looked happy. Tonks spoke first:

"I'm sorry for that Harry, Dumbledore was with me when the owl arrived from Fortrap here, I left the note laying on the table, he must have read it. I did not give you up."

"Nor did I Harry, though I knew the kids were going to try to talk with you, they asked me to help set up a meeting and I thought that you would likely come into Diagon Alley through the twins' shop. He must have found out somehow and planted some tracking charms on them. Happy Birthday by the way." He reached out his hand to Harry's shoulder, only to be confronted with Harry's quick draw as the lad flinched away.

"So that's how you took Snape eh? Travis has been doing some bragging on you at Auror Command, that was pretty fast."

"I don't have any hidden portkeys on me Harry, I'm here for Sirius, no more, no less." He proceeded to give his wand to Fortrap, and Tonks took the hint and did likewise. Harry refused to mimic the gesture however, but did put his wand back in his pocket.

"Sorry Tonks, Remus, it's just so much easier not to trust anyone at the moment. I promise you that I will not fire first either way." That had to be good enough for the two adults, and they both looked to the goblin, who appeared to have a bemused expression on his face.

"I'm glad that is settled, as much as it can be anyway. Now onto the will: I need Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks to swear a written wizard's oath that you are who you say you are."

The three did this, presumably to counter anyone who might be using Polyjuice Potion. Nothing untoward happened, so Fortrap brought out one sheet of parchment and began reading:

This is the Last Will and Testament of Sirius Black, heir of the House of Black. I testify on this date of May 31st, 1996 that I am of sound mental and physical health and I am under no undue influence at all as I make these bequests.

Remus, Tonks, Harry…I know you would rather have me back alive than get what I'm giving you here, but the sad fact remains that I'm gone. I hope I had a good death, and didn't get run over by some idiot muggle car or something inane like that, but these events can't be chosen, they choose us. Please don't mourn me too much, but smile when you think of something funny I did or said, and know that I'm in a better place. I love you all, and remember that you being in my life made it so much better.

To Nymphadora Tonks (oh I love writing your first name Tonks, stop squirming) I leave the sum of one million galleons. Have fun with it girl, quit working for that idiot Fudge if you have a mind to, the world is your oyster.

To Remus Lupin I leave the sum of one million galleons and the deed to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Let Dumbledore keep using it for the Order if you like Remus, or kick him out, I don't care. Unfortunately Kreacher comes with the house, make sure his end is fitting ok?

To Harry Potter I leave the rest of my money, which as of today is 1.23 million galleons, and the deed to a small island in the south Caribbean Sea. Remember that tropical bird that delivered those letters to you Harry? That's where it came from, I had a good time hiding there, I should have thought of it years earlier. I also bequeath to you every single book in the library of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, you need them more than Remus does, Merlin knows.

One condition though: In order for Remus and Nymphadora access their gifts, they must swear both a written and a verbal wizard's oath to support Harry Potter against anyone he considers to be his enemy, which is including, but not limited to: the idiot who calls himself Lord Voldemort, and Albus Dumbledore, if Harry should find himself at odds with him. If either of them should refuse to honor this condition, their share of the money shall revert to Harry.

Please look out for and care for each other, you are my family and I miss you as much as I hope you miss me. Good luck.

Sirius Black

Harry's face was expressionless as he tried as hard as he could to hold it inside him. He was more than grateful that the will had not been a recording of some sort from Sirius, he knew he would have broken down at that. Remus didn't bother holding it in as tears streamed down his face, but he remained quiet as he gripped the arms of his chair. Tonks was smiling, she was taking Sirius' message to heart and remembering him very fondly. The fact that she was rich hadn't penetrated yet.

"Mr. Lupin, Ms. Tonks, I believe you have an oath to swear to. Mr. Black made it clear in his testimony what he wanted, and you need to decide."

"I, Remus Lupin, do swear a wizard's oath to support Harry Potter against anyone he considers to be his enemy, and I mean anyone."

"I, Nymphadora Tonks, swear my wizard's oath to support Harry Potter against all those he considers to be his enemy."

"Good, now if you two will sign these documents, you become eligible for your gifts." Both of them signed the parchments where indicated.

"Excellent, your gifts will be transferred to your vaults by lunchtime today."

"Harry, have we sufficiently proven ourselves just now? There's no way we can break our oaths."

"I'll tell you what I told Ron, Ginny, and Hermione: Whatever I tell you, you can't protect that information from Dumbledore if he really wants it."

"Are you leaving Hogwarts?"

"I'll tell you that much, yes I am. The plans are in place and there's nothing anyone can do to change my mind. I will not set foot in that castle as long as the current leadership is in place."

"Where are you going? To another magic school? To live as a muggle?"

"Sorry Tonks, that would give away too much. I'm going somewhere where no one attempted to murder a student last year, know that much."

"I guess we'll have to be satisfied with that. Once you get where you're going, please try to find a way to keep in touch Harry."

"I will Remus, now if you folks will excuse me, I have a Potions teacher to put in prison for a few years."

"We know, we're going too. Go ahead and floo over to the Ministry first, we'll come in a few minutes." Harry nodded, and turned to Fortrap.

"Thank you sir, I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome Mr. Potter, good luck at the trial this morning." Harry shook his hand (and still refused to come into physical contact with Remus or Tonks) and left the office. Tonks and Remus followed him a few moments later. By the time they got to the courtroom it was almost full, half an hour before the trial.

Courtroom A, Ministry of Magic

10 am

Fudge strode into the courtroom with as much dignity as his short and pudgy frame would allow him. The Harry/Snape mess had reflected pretty well on him, because of his decision to emancipate Harry, and a tiny bit of his swagger was back. He looked over the crowded room and saw that the Wizengamot was fully assembled. He spied Peter Tyson in the audience, as well as Bill Weasley…..though the two were not sitting together, Bill was sitting with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, along with his parents. Fudge assumed his place on the dais, and Percy quickly joined him.

"Let's get this started shall we? Bring in the defendant!"

Two Aurors led Snape into the courtroom, and he was placed in the chair. Chains did not wrap around Snape, this not being a capital crime.

"This is the case of the People versus Severus Snape. The defendant is charged with unlawful entry and assault on a minor thought to be unable use magic. I am Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic presiding. Amelia Bones will represent the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The defendant has chosen to represent himself. Severus Snape, how do you plead to these charges?"

Snape rose, and with a significant look at Dumbledore, spoke:

"I plead not guilty to both charges."

"Very well, Madam Bones, please call your first witness."

"The DMLE calls Harry Potter to the stand." Harry walked to the witness chair and took his place there.

"Please state your name and occupation for the record."

"Harry Potter, I'm a student." Snape shared another look at Dumbledore and rose from his chair.

"At this point I would request that Mr. Potter here be administered Veritaserum, as my history with Mr. Potter is well known as a bad one, and everyone here knows it, thanks to the Daily Prophet."

"Mr. Potter, do you have any objections?"

"Yes I do, I do not see this as being warranted under the circumstances. This is not a capital case, and I do not want the defendant to be allowed to ask questions about my private dealings. This is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to find out them through supposed legal means."

"What, may I ask…" Snape was interrupted by Fudge.

"No, the defendant may not ask. I agree with Mr. Potter, it would be one thing if the defendant was charged with murder, but he is not. The court rules for Mr. Potter. Madam Bones, please continue."

"Mr. Potter, rather than go through a tedious question and answer phase, I would like to use your pensieve memory of the incident to show the court what happened. Am I right in understanding that you were the for the entire episode?"

"No ma'am, I did not see the defendant enter the house. I heard him enter yes, but my pensieve memory will not include footage of him walking through my aunt and uncle's front door."

"Fair enough, please prepare your memory." Harry did, and used his wand to put the memory in the silver bowl provided. Bones pointed her wand at the bowl, and the memory began projecting so that the entire room could see.

The 'movie' started off with Harry sitting on his bed, he then heard Snape start yelling for him from the living room. It then played out as we have already seen. The three kids watched in horror as Snape tried to subdue Harry, and then Ron let out a loud cheer when Harry put Snape into the wall (earning a light smack on the back of his head from Molly). The whole place started cackling when Harry put Snape's wand up his nose, and Snape went rigid in his seat (he had wondered how it had gotten there) and if possible, went even more pale at all of the laughter. Dumbledore just sat there mentally cursing the ineptness of his subordinates, trying to keep Snape out of Azkaban was going to be much harder than he had imagined it would be.

The memory ended, and everyone took a deep breath. Bones approached Harry again.

"A few questions Mr. Potter. Did you send your house elf to the DMLE before the defendant arrived?"

"Yes and no Madam Bones. Dobby…..that's my house elf…..did not leave Privet Drive until after Snape came inside, but before he started firing spells. I know I would have a lot of egg on my face if the Aurors came and no assault had taken place….but I was willing to risk that to ensure my safety."

"Who took the pictures that were so prominently featured in the Daily Prophet on Saturday?"

"My other house elf Winky, she was stationed outside, just in case."

"So if effect, you set up the defendant?"

"No ma'am, I prefer to think of it as allowing for what might happen. If Snape had not assaulted me, then Winky's photographs would have been quite boring. If Snape had not assaulted me, I would likely be sitting here as a defendant on the charge of filing a false complaint. However, he did assault me, and I was proven correct on all counts."

"Thank you Mr. Potter, I have no further questions." Snape rose and stared hard at Harry for a few moments. He tensed up, and after briefly glowering at Harry, said:

"I have no questions for Mr. Potter at this time." Gasps could be heard all around the courtroom. Snape and Dumbledore had agreed beforehand that if Veritaserum wouldn't be allowed (and Dumbledore had pressed Fudge hard in private the day before), then Harry should not be antagonized any further. Snape had actually apologized to Dumbledore for what had happened….though more for being caught than anything he actually did. Bones wasn't surprised at all, as Fudge had filled her in on Dumbledore's Veritaserum pleas, and called her next witness.

"The DMLE calls Senior Auror Travis Biller." Biller rose from his place in the courtroom and sat in the witness chair.

"Please state your name and occupation for the record."

"Travis Biller, Auror."

"You were the investigating Auror in this case were you not?"

"I was, I was the Senior Auror on duty the night of the incident, and responded to the call."

"How did that come about?"

"Harry Potter's house elf came to get me with a note from aunt. It said that the defendant was in the house threatening Mr. Potter with his wand. It informed us that the she and her husband were muggles and could not defend Mr. Potter adequately."

"The DMLE has this note and will now enter it into evidence." It was so done. "Please continue Mr. Biller."

"Within one minute my team, which included myself, Robert Graham, and Sarah Westbrook, portkeyed over there. We found Mr. Potter in control of the scene and the defendant bound with magical ropes. We questioned Mr. Potter and the defendant and came to the conclusion that Snape had fired first and Mr. Potter responded in kind, winning the duel, if one wants to call it that."

"Did the defendant admit to the assault and the unlawful entry?"

"He admitted to the assault, and did not deny the unlawful entry, and I asked him to give a statement at the scene. I did a Priori Incantatem of Snape's wand, and it confirmed Mr. Potter's accounting of the spells fired at him before he responded."

"Thank you Mr. Biller. One final question, as part of your duties for this case, I would like you to show us, via pensieve, your interview with Petunia and Vernon Dursley."

"Yes ma'am. This morning I interviewed the aunt and uncle of Mr. Potter to confirm the unlawful entry. They willingly accepted Veritaserum and I had a brief session with them." A pensieve was put in front of him, and Travis put his wand to his head and withdrew the memory

It showed the two muggles, being rather polite for them, detailing their parts in last Friday's drama. They gave away nothing that would harm Harry, in no small part because Charlie had gotten rid of a few incriminating details. The memory lasted fifteen minutes, and concluded Bones' questioning of her subordinate.

"Mr. Snape, do you have any questions for the witness?"

"I do. Mr. Biller, did I note state to you that I was ordered to enter the Dursley house by Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"Yes you did." Bones knew that one was coming, and was ready:

"Objection, Albus Dumbledore, however much authority he has in our world, has absolutely none in the muggle world. He was not aware of Mr. Potter's emancipation at the time, so as far as he was concerned, it was a muggle house with an underage wizard living there. Add that to the note that you heard the defendant acknowledge in front of Mr. Potter, and this line of defense had no legal basis."

"The objection is sustained, but your point is made Mr. Snape."

"I have no further questions."

"The DMLE has no other witnesses. We acknowledge the bad history between Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape, and between Mr. Potter's father and Mr. Snape, but we agree that it has no basis here in this trial. We ask the court to consider only this incident."

"Thank you Madam Bones. Mr. Snape, do you have any witnesses or a statement to make?"

"I have no witnesses and a very brief statement. I was operating under orders from Headmaster Dumbledore when I entered the Dursley house, I was also acting under the assumption that Mr. Potter was a minor child with Dumbledore as his wizard guardian. It turns out I was in error, and I apologize for that. The lessons I was there to impart to Mr. Potter were very important, and when he refused them, I admit that I became angry, and I decided that he was going to sit for his lessons come hell or high water. I admit that what I should have done is go back to Hogwarts and retrieve the Headmaster, in an effort to solve the situation diplomatically." Fudge looked him over, Snape had never sounded so humble in the years that Fudge had known him.

"Are you changing your plea at this time?"

"Yes I am, I plead guilty to both counts and I throw myself on the mercy of the Wizengamot." This was not a snap judgment on his part. He and Dumbledore had also agreed that if Harry's memory played like they thought it might, then this was the best play.

"Very well Mr. Snape. The Wizengamot will now retire to their chambers to render its decision." The members left, and the courtroom started buzzing. Harry was sitting by himself in the front row, and he turned to his erstwhile friends and gave them a smile. He made no effort to talk with them however, and pulled out a book from his pocket (shrunken) and started reading.

The Wizengamot was gone for one hour, and they returned with mostly blank expressions on their faces. Dumbledore nodded to Fudge that everything had been decided, and the Minister called for everyone's attention.

"Professor Dumbledore, has the Wizengamot reached a verdict?"

"We have, Minister Fudge. Given Professor Snape's admission of guilt on both charges, we do find him guilty. We have taken into account his long record of service at Hogwarts, and his service in the last war, and have decided that it would not be in the best interests of the magical community to incarcerate him in Azkaban." He turned to Snape and looked at him with a hint of sadness.

"Severus Snape, you are to be sentenced to three years of house arrest, sentence to be served at your home in Snape Manor, Oxfordshire. You will be allowed no floo access and the house will be barred against all visitors who do not have pre-approval from the Ministry of Magic. Multiple tracking charms will be placed on you to ensure that you do not leave. If you are found to have left your home or interfered with the charms placed upon you in any way, you will be re-sentenced by this body to a term in Azkaban of no less than 20 years. Your employment at Hogwarts is of course terminated, but you may have full access to potions equipment and ingredients necessary to do private work in your field. Mr. Snape, do you understand this sentence as I have described it to you?"

"I do."

"Then it will be carried out immediately. In my capacity as Hogwarts Headmaster, I will personally make sure that the contents of your school office are delivered to you post haste."

"Thank you Headmaster."

"This court is now adjourned." The room was abuzz again and Harry took advantage of it to slip out the door as quietly as he could. He flooed to The Leaky Cauldron and took a taxi from there to the House of Commons, where he got lost for awhile before returning to his hotel.

The next night, he would have a going away party with all of his people, a kind of belated birthday party of sorts as well. He passed thanks around like candy, and he promised multiple times to keep in touch, saying that he would buy another owl once in America if he had to. He knew deep in his heart that he cared about all of them very much, and for others as well….but he never had second thoughts about his decision.

Thursday, August 2, 1996

Peter picked Harry up three hours before his flight left, but instead of going to the airport, they took a portkey to Peter's office (which Harry had not yet seen).

"Harry, I have an idea of how you can have some access to Britain on short notice, rather than rely on long-distance owls or sketchy international floo connections."

"What does it involve?"

"Just an outlay of some galleons, that's all…and a quick trip to Knockturn Alley."

"Eh?"

"Did the twins ever tell you about a store in Knockturn Alley called Trunkenstein?"

"Yeah, they mentioned something about it the other night, why?"

"You remember Moody's seven compartment trunk? The one with all those doors?"

"I do, that's where we found the fake one hiding the real one."

"Well it was made by a guy named Anthony Hook, and he has perfected a better one since then, It amounts to a normal three level trunk, with an additional four levels acting as an apartment. Now the juicy part is, it comes with a private floo that can be utilized between similar trunks, as long as the proper code word is used….and distance between trunks is not a limiting factor."

"So we would need two of them I take it."

"Yes we would. I talked with Anthony Hook this morning, and he'll sell us two of them for 4,000 galleons. This means you can cross the Atlantic with one blast of floo powder."

"Why would I want to?"

"Just in case Harry, it's always best to have options. We can station the other trunk in the twins' shop, or even with Neville at Hogwarts."

"I won't set foot in Hogwarts, I don't dare….ok, let's get the trunks. But bring him here instead, we've come too far for me to risk walking about in public." Peter nodded, and walked over to the floo.

The purchase was completed in thirty minutes, Fred arrived to take possession of the British based trunk, Anthony Hook walked all of them through the security procedures, and Dobby retrieved the promised galleons from Gringotts. Harry took his already shrunken normal trunk out of his pocket and placed it in the new one. He and Peter took yet another portkey back to the hotel, where Jennifer Tyson (whose name was on the register for the room) was in the process of checking him out. The three of them took a taxi to Heathrow Airport, where Harry made his check-in with time to spare. They sat in the waiting area, idly chatting until they called Harry's flight.

"Remember one thing Harry, keep your wand out of sight on the airplane. I don't care if someone attacks you or tries to drag you off with a portkey, the secret of our world is more important than a temporary loss of freedom for you."

"I understand Peter, I won't do anything rash."

"I know you won't Harry. Now when you go through customs in the US, just tell them that it's a good luck charm that you carry with you."

"I will Peter, thank you for everything. I'm glad we could keep it our little secret."

"So am I, it was like a muggle spy novel at times wasn't it? You look after yourself now, don't become too American on us."

"I won't Peter. It was lovely to meet you Jennifer, you take good care of this guy."

"I will Harry, be careful." They all hugged goodbye, and Harry, with only a backpack over his shoulder (loaded only with non-magical items, except for his wand), walked on to the plane, for the journey that would alter him forever.