kbinnz - Harry's New Home

He spent the last few days of the holidays back at the Burrow, accompanying the Weasleys on their annual school shopping expedition to Diagon Alley and even wresting permission to ride back to Hogwarts with the rest of the student body on the Express. There he spent most of the ride reassuring Ginny and her friend Luna that тАУ contrary to the twins' claims тАУ troll wrestling was not used to determine House assignment. Ginny was relieved, while Luna was sadly disappointed.

Draco had at first scorned the girls as firsties, and when Luna had come up with a particularly incoherent comment about crumple horned snorkacks, he had been ready to quit the compartment entirely. Then he learned that her father was the editor of the Quibbler, and he had reseated himself, sending an admiring glance over to Harry. "Clever, Potter!" he whispered. "Very Slytherin of you! Ingratiating yourself with the Press тАУ not bad."

Harry had frowned in confusion, but then dismissed the comment as one of Draco's not infrequent incomprehensible pronouncements. At that point Ron took out a portable chess set, Ginny produced a deck of cards for Exploding Snap, and the rest of the trip passed very companionably for all the children. Crabbe and Goyle contentedly munched on the rock cakes that Hagrid had sent to Harry via Hedwig "for th' train ride" and it was a tribute to their digestion that emergency medical (or dental) care was not required.

Upon their arrival, the new second years felt quite superior watching the firsties shepherded to the boats by Hagrid while they and the rest of the school climbed into the thestral-drawn carriages. The Welcoming Feast was notable by the absence of Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, but any speculation about Dumbledore's condition was quickly supplanted by the horrifying announcement that Professor Snape was now Acting Deputy Headmaster in charge of discipline. Shudders ran through most of the student body, and the Weasley twins miserably weighed the boredom of a prank-free year against incurring the wrath of their formidable "Uncle Sev". By contrast, the appearance of two new professors was relatively understated, although many of the female students squabbled over the "dreamy" new teacher, who also happened to be a celebrity, rich, and single.

Remus settled into his faculty role with ease, though he did tend to be a more "hands on" Head of House than Professor McGonagall had been. While he didn't go so far as Professor Snape in setting bedtimes for the first years, he did make a point of spending time in the Common Room several nights a week and meeting with every student individually. And he established draconic punishments for bullying, whether intra- or inter-House.

The new Transfiguration professor was a bit harder for the students to classify. He had begun his classes with the earthshaking revelation that he would not give detention, but those students who eagerly (and foolishly) sought to take advantage of this bewildering largesse quickly found themselves the victims of pranks that were so stunning in their novelty and humiliation value that the Weasley twins approached Sirius on bended knee to beg to become his apprentices. The rest of the students quickly decided that public embarrassment was infinitely worse than private detention, and Sirius was rather disappointed with how well-behaved his classes became.

At least until the sixth-year class decided to prank him back.

For ten days the rest of the school watched breathlessly to see who would win the ensuing war, while Flitwick enjoyed the show and Snape downed multiple Calming Potions, but in the end (and surreptitiously aided by the DADA professor and a very useful map that had been bartered back from the Weasley twins), Sirius emerged as undisputed victor. The sixth years abjectly surrendered to the greater foe, and the school went back toтАж mostly normal.

Meanwhile Harry was enjoying the start of a year where none of the professors seemed likely to kill him, Dobby confined his devoted attentions to his laundry, and his da made sure to check his homework at least twice a week.

About six weeks into the first term, Dumbledore and McGonagall returned тАУ under cover of darkness тАУ to report on their progress thus far. "From what Horace has told us, and the other information we've been able to find, it seems that as a Hogwarts student, Tom became obsessed with his lineage and the fact that his maternal family was descended from Slytherin," Minerva explained, while an unusually quiet Albus sat beside her. "This seems to have led to his idealizing the Founders and coveting any artifacts which had ties to them.

"So you think that he might have used objects that once belonged to the other Founders as horcruxes?" Pomona Sprout asked. "My goodness!"

"It seems likely," McGonagall agreed. "And so we have spent the last several weeks trying to track down any possessions of the Founders that we could find. Of course, we immediately discounted Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, as that has been lost for longer than You Know Who has been alive, but that still left a few possibilities. Albus had the clever idea of going to the Gaunt's last known home, as it seemed likely that someone as obsessed with family as You Know Who would have at least visited there."

"And we found a horcrux and destroyed it," Albus' recounting of the tale was uncharacteristically terse. The other faculty exchanged surprised glances.

"That's it?" Sirius demanded. "What did you find?"

"Oh, Albus, stop sulking already!" Minerva scolded crossly.

To everyone's surprise, Dumbledore did not respond with his usual twinkle, but rather folded his arms and looked away.

"Good heavens. What is going on?" Poppy finally broke the silence.

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "In the Gaunt Home тАУ which is really nothing more than a shack тАУ we found a ring, which Albus quickly determined was indeed a horcrux. I was looking for a spot where we could safely incinerate it with fiendfyre, when to my horror, I saw that he was about to place the ring on his finger!"

The other faculty started. "Good grief, old man!" Snape snarled. "Are you mad? A Dark object like that? Crafted by the Dark Lord? Do you have any idea what kinds of hideous curses must be on it? Even a wizard of your caliber could hardly тАУ"

"Yes, yes, my boy," Dumbledore shot back testily. "You are quite correct, but I still maintain that you need not have used such a painful stinging hex, Minerva!"

"I was too far away to slap your hand," the witch retorted, unrepentant, "and I needed to make you drop it smartly!"

The Headmaster looked sulky and rubbed the back of his hand as if it still hurt him. "It was the Resurrection Stone," he explained in a near-whine to the other professors. "Naturally I was curious."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Once he dropped it, I accio'd the ring and destroyed it." At Dumbledore's poorly hidden mutter, she sighed. "Yes, I realize it was a priceless artifact, Albus, but what would you have had me do? We cannot permit any of You Know Who's soul fragments to survive, and basilisk venom is hardly a readily available item!"

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "You are correct, my dear," he admitted, his usual good nature once again reasserting itself. "And I am quite certain that, as Severus was saying, you saved me from a most painful death. It was simply a momentary madness тАУ or longing."

McGonagall gave him a compassionate look. "You will see her again, Albus, on the other side of the Veil. I just didn't want that ring to speed your reunion."

Albus reached over and squeezed Minerva's hand. "Thank you, my dear."

TBC...

*Chapter 56*: Chapter 56

Harry yawned as he headed to the Gryffindor Tower after having afternoon tea with Hagrid. He had worried a bit that Hagrid might have befriended a new first year in Harry's place, but it was clear that the giant was as devoted to Harry as ever, and his delight when the second year had arrived to visit had been palpable enough to reassure even Harry.