Chapter Eight: Olden Days in Gryffindor Tower Returns

When the feast was over, and once Harry was certain the first years were all being led to their individual house towers, Harry hurriedly took shortcuts up to Gryffindor tower. As Harry approached the Fat Lady, she asked, "Password?"

"Really? You really want a password from the acting headmaster, Fat Lady?" Harry asked.

Fat Lady looked down at Harry as she asked, "Oh! Well, well! So, Harry Potter himself is back!" Fat Lady revealed the entrance as she said, "Of course you may pass. Professor McGonagall did warn me that you'll be coming and she did ask me to let you through without question."

Harry climbed through the entrance and looked around the Common Room with a bright smile, remembering the first time he had stepped into that very room when he was only eleven years ago, which seemed so long ago to him. Looking around, he snapped loud enough for everyone that was up in both the girls and boys sides of the dorms, "GRYFFINDORS! Come down to the Common Room! All of you! Immediately! That's a direct order from the acting headmaster!"

Harry soon heard excited chatters coming from upstairs, and the ones that he heard clearly were, "He's here! He's back! Harry Potter is back!" Soon, the rapid footsteps that were rushing down both staircases that led up to the boys' dorm and girls' dorm were heard growing louder and louder, and it was matter of time before the students crowded around him and picked him up over their shoulders, chanting, "Harry Potter, our greatest Seeker, is back!"

Laughing, Harry cried out, "Alright, alright! Put me down, you guys! The first years are on their way!" When the kids put him down, he looked around with a bright smile, saying, "First off, where's Ginny Weasley?" Ginny pushed her way through the crowd and Harry quickly hugged her close, quietly saying, "Sorry I didn't visit over the summer. I had a lot of things in mind and forgot to visit. I would have visited, Ginny. I really would have, but I couldn't take my mind off of everything's that's happened."

Ginny hugged him back as she told him, "Harry, it's okay. Don't worry. Sirius died in front of us when we went to Ministry of Magic, and you witnessed Dumbledore's murder. It can't be helped." She soon took a step back and looked behind her as she ordered, "Guys! Let the Muggles through!"

As Charlie and his friends came forward, Harry asked with confusion, "Ginny, aren't you a Head Girl?"

"Yeah, but I asked Collin Creevy to lead the first years," Ginny said, almost rather regretfully.

Suddenly confused, Harry asked, "Collin? Why Collin?"

"He's the Head Boy," Dennis Creevy, Collin Creevy's younger brother, replied.

Harry groaned, muttering under his breath, "Wonderful." When Charlie and his friends reached him and Ginny in middle of the crowd, he looked around at the students, telling the Gryffindor students, "Guys, I'll be staying with you guys until these Muggles go back to their own school, which is who knows when. First, I'll have to figure out how these kids ended up in our world, and why these kids are here! And until these kids return to their school, I need to make sure that Gryffindors are not under any kind of attack! Since I'm the one who's the best in defense when it comes between me, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, it's been decided that it'd be safer for Gryffindors if you kids had the one with higher defense since you guys are more likely to be the main target by the Muggles that are with the Slytherin students! Since Hermione is the smartest out of the three, it's agreed that she stays with the Ravenclaws so she'll be able to guide them through things that Ravenclaws may not be able to figure out! As for Ronald, well, he's been put with the Hufflepuff because they're better at defense than he ever will be." Looking at Ginny with slightly apologetic look, "No offense to you or your brother, Gin."

Ginny laughed as though he was crazy, saying, "None taken! I'm better at defense than he is, for crying out loud, Harry! Heck, Fred was better than him! And George is better, and you know it!"

As the students started to laugh hysterically, the entrance opened up as the first years filed in. Harry raised his hands to silence everyone and he quietly pushed his way through the crowd as he heard Collin's voice say, "And this is the Gryffindor Common Room, where all the Gryffindor students hang out to just study and hang out." Suddenly, Collin sounded confused as he asked, "Why are you all down here? Get back up to your rooms now before I give you all detention!"

Ginny snapped angrily, "No one here is getting detention, Collin!"

"Says who, Ginny Weasley?" Collin snapped back. "We have the same powers! You can't order me around!"

Harry stood up straight as he growled, "But I have power over you, Mr. Creevy. None of these students will be getting detentions. Understood? If I catch you in act of being rude again, then I'll be forced to take your Head Boy badge away from you, and Miss Weasley will be the one that has all the powers as a Head Girl." Collin's eyes widened slightly as Harry hissed, "Do I make myself clear, Mr. Creevy?"

Collin squeaked with horror, "Yes, Harry. I mean, headmaster."

Harry took in a deep breath as he asked, "What happened to you since my sixth year, Mr. Creevy? You were slightly hyper child, and kind hearted." When Collin didn't reply, Harry snapped, "I do hope that it's not the power that's letting you get to your head. I'm certain even Professor McGonagall will not approve of your actions. Mr. Creevy, please go up to the seventh year students' section of the boys' dorm room before you let the power of Head Boy get to your head any further tonight."

When Collin walked away after a bit of hesitation, Ginny cried out, "Thank you! He's been getting on my nerves even last year!"

One of the students suddenly asked, "Harry? Why are you wearing your school uniform, though?"

"I just felt like blending back in with the Gryffindors again," Harry replied rather sheepishly with a shrug. "I mean, I didn't get to come back last year to do my seventh year since I was out looking for several things." Looking around with a smile, he told the students with assurance, "And, guys, I get that you guys are used to calling me by my name, so feel free to continue to do that unless if the staff members are around. I don't want you kids to get into trouble."

One of the first year students that were closer to the entrance said rather nervously, "But, headmaster, wouldn't it be disrespectful of us to call you by your first name? I mean, you are our headmaster for who knows how long."

Harry turned towards the first year students as he asked, "Who said that? Step forward so I can get a better look at your face and state your name."

The one that had been sorted in last stepped forward as he said, "Jason Ziering, Professor Potter, sir."

"Woah!" Harry cried out. "First off, don't ever call me professor!" Looking around, he quickly added, "Any of you! All the staff members already know that I didn't really want to be a replacement headmaster! They all know that I want to be an Auror! So please don't go around calling me professor! That's my only request while I'm back here at Hogwarts!" After a moment, Harry quickly added, "Don't tell Collin Creevy, though."

Every eyes turned to look at Dennis and Dennis cried out, "I won't tell!"

Once all the attention had returned back to Harry, he turned to look at Ziering, saying, "Now, to answer your question, Mr. Ziering, no it wouldn't be disrespectful. Or at least not entirely in my opinion. I just feel a bit uncomfortable being called headmaster." He looked around as he said to the entire house, "Kids, I have several things to go over before I send you kids up to your rooms. First off, the rule of girls being allowed to visit boys up in boys' dormitory while boys can not go up to girls' dormitory is still in place. Just because I'm back with Ron and Hermione does not mean it's changed. And if I did change it and Hermione was to find out, I'm a goner." The students burst into laughter and Harry raised his hands, laughing a bit himself, crying out over the laughter, "Alright, alright! Settle down, you guys!" The students eventually calmed down, and Harry continued, "Also, until the Muggles go back to their academy, which is who knows when, I have to set up a strict rule. And the seventh years, if you kids remember from your first year and second year, and this year's sixth years going back to your first year, when the basilisk was on the loose with belief that the students that were half bloods and Muggle born were under attack, as well as when everyone thought that my godfather Sirius Black was a murderer, the rule of no wandering around has to be put in place once more. Once ten at night hits, no leaving the tower! I will be enforcing this rule to the other houses as well, so this is just a heads up warning to you kids."

"If Hermione's with the Ravenclaw and Ron's with the Hufflepuff, who's going to make sure that the Slytherin house is kept in line?" Ginny questioned.

The students started to murmur among themselves and Harry snapped, "Silence!" The kids immediately grew silent as he told them, "Don't worry about the Slytherins. Slughorn is most likely be the one to go back to being the head of the Slytherin house like he used to be when Voldemort," the students froze at the name, but Harry ignored the sudden fear, "was a student here as Tom Riddle. Heck, from what I'm aware, he was a trustworthy teacher when my parents were his students! If my parents turned out great for Gryffindors and he favored my mom a lot when he was the head of the Slytherin, and, believe me, he wanted my mother in his house because she was quite a smart student when it came to potions! At least that's what he told me in my sixth year two years ago! If he favored even a Gryffindor student as a Slytherin head, I have faith in that man! I can't doubt Dumbledore's judgments about him as well, and I want to respect Dumbledore's last judgments, so that's that."

Ziering sounded surprised as he asked, "Wasn't your mother a Muggle born, though, sir? Don't all Slytherins want only pure bloods in their house? And isn't it true that they have only pure bloods?"

"Not necessarily, Ziering," Harry replied. He walked over to a couch and sat down as he told the kids, "Guys, all of you take a seat on the ground. I want to tell you guys something." The kids immediately sat around Harry as though they were small children getting ready for story time. Harry thought for a while and soon said, "Guys, when I first found out that I was a wizard, it was some time after my birthday. Hagrid came to get me from my relatives, because my aunt and uncle kept burning my letters up, afraid of what I would do if I found out that I was a wizard. The time flied and before I knew it, I was here. At Hogwarts. It was like a dream come true for me. Before I walked through the doors of Great Hall like you first year students did tonight, I met a boy named Draco Malfoy. He's a pure blood and the moment he declared that the famous Boy Who Lived arrived to try and draw attention to himself, as well as to draw attention to me, I had a strong feeling in my guts that there was something about this boy I didn't like. He was making fun of Ron, all because he was Weasley and wearing hand-me-down clothes. I stood up for Ron because he was the first friend I ever made after years of getting beat up and pushed around by other kids. Malfoy made it into Slytherin, of course. I made it into Gryffindor, but I was close to being placed in Slytherin." Harry looked towards Ziering as he said towards Ziering, "Just like you were about to be put into Slytherin tonight, Mr. Ziering. That's what reminds me of me when I look at you, because the Sorting Hat told you that you'll be better off in Slytherin, and yet, you got put into Gryffindor. Why were you put into Gryffindor exactly, Mr. Ziering?"

"I chose to be in Gryffindor, sir," Ziering replied. "I wanted to be in Gryffindor, because I believe that it's not fame and glory that matters most in life. There are other things, such as friendships, that are more important than those."

Smiling, Harry said, "Exactly. You CHOSE to be in Gryffindor." Harry looked around as he told the students, "It's really your own decision, guys! Just like Mr. Ziering chose to be in Gryffindor, I chose to be in Gryffindor myself! I didn't want fame or power or glory! I had enough of that already just for managing to survive on my first encounter with Voldemort when I was a baby!" Harry looked around as he asked, "How many of you here recall the Potions teacher, who had become Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher on his last year of teaching, by the name of Severus Snape?" Most hands shot up in the air and Harry asked, "Now, how many of you knew that he was in Slytherin?" All the hands that were in the air stayed. Smirking, Harry asked, "Now, how many of you know that his mother was a witch and his father was a Muggle?" All hands went back down and Harry saw shock in the children's faces. Not being able to stop himself from laughing, he cried out, "Exactly my point! He was a half blood, kids! He was a half blood, and he got into Slytherin! Now, ask yourselves this. How did he get into Slytherin when he's a half blood and Slytherin consists of only pure bloods. He got into Slytherin because he wanted to be in Slytherin! Not because the Sorting Hat decided for him!"

"That's not enough of proof for us," Harry heard one of the students protest.

"You really want another example, then?" Harry asked. "Fine. Voldemort himself is another example that I can give you kids. His mother was a witch and his father was a Muggle."