Distant voices slowly brought Harry out of his slumber. He felt warm in the soft bed and really didn’t want to wake up but the clearing voices wouldn’t let him drift back off. Rolling onto his left side, Harry pulled his covers tightly around him as he buried his face in the pillow. A soft pain shot through his right side as he moved but it quickly faded. It took Harry a long moment to remember why he was in pain in the first place. He remembered the attack on the Hogwarts Express. He remembered getting hit by a Reductor curse and he remembered the look on Sirius’ face.

He had vowed not to cause his guardians any more pain and had broken that vow after a few hours.

Sirius extended one hand to Remus. Remus looked at it and raised an eyebrow.

“I have to add something to that list of yours Moony,” Sirius said. Remus took the parchment and quill from his pocket and handed it to Sirius. Sirius furiously scribbled on the parchment as he muttered, ‘hopeless’.

Was this what his life was going to be like now? It had been his first day ‘out of hiding’ and there had been an attempted kidnapping. The Death Eaters had made it clear that they would do whatever was necessary to find out what was wrong with their master. Did this mean his life would revert back to the way it had been in his third year when everyone believed Sirius Black wanted him dead?

It wouldn’t surprise me.

“I assure you, Mr. Black, Professor Umbridge only did what she felt was right!” exclaimed the voice of nervous voice of Cornelius Fudge. “She would never intentionally endanger the life of a student, especially the-boy-who-lived. How was she to know rouge Death Eaters would attack the train with Dementors?”

“Uhh, lemme see,” James mocked tapped his chin, “Because Dumbledore told you?” he shrieked.

“Rogue Death Eaters?” Sirius’s voice asked angrily. “These were not rogues. They wanted my godson for their master! For Voldemort! You were warned months ago and have you done anything? No! You leave a child to protect a train full of children! Get off your pompous arse and do something! How many more deaths will it take for you to realize that this isn’t something you can shove under a rug?”

“No one can accuse Sirius of being tight lipped,” Lily said biting a smile.

“Mr. Black!” Fudge exclaimed. “I understand you are upset for the injuries Mr. Potter sustained but we have no proof the attackers were following anyone’s orders but their own! There have been no sightings of You-Know-Who in the past two months. Honestly, I don’t know what you’ve been telling people, Dumbledore, but this has to stop. The public—”

Remus smacked his head and dropped on the bed. Holding his head with his hands he rocked from side to side on the bed moaning.

“Moony,” James asked worried as Lily and Sirius got closer to Remus, “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Remus moaned.

“Then why are you moaning?” Lily asked.

“Because Fudge is too much for anyone to stomach!” he moaned.

“—has the right to know that a feared killer has returned,” Dumbledore calmly interrupted. “You are playing directly into Voldemort’s plans. He wants the wizarding world to be unprepared for his return. If you still refuse to believe that we have entered dangerous times than you have doomed the wizarding world before the war has even begun.”

“Now, now, Dumbledore,” Fudge said in annoyance. “There is no need to be overdramatic. The attackers have been dealt with. They will serve no further threat to Mr. Potter or anyone else. Mr. Potter will receive a formal gratification from the Ministry for his services. When he is healthy, I’m sure Professor Umbridge will be able to take his statement concerning the events that occurred in June.”

“Unbelievable!” Sirius cried.

“He can’t do that!” James bellowed.

“I’m afraid we can’t allow that,” Remus said instantly. “It would be a conflict of interest. Professor Umbridge is Harry’s teacher. It is her duty to instruct Harry in the ways of Defense Against the Dark Arts, nothing more, nothing less. The ‘events that occurred in June’ are none of her business.”

“You tell him Moony!” Lily cheered.

“Dolores Umbridge is a Ministry employee!” Fudge exclaimed.

“Not anymore,” Remus countered calmly. “When you appointed her as the Defense teacher she waved her responsibilities and privileges as your Undersecretary. She has not forfeited her position but she may not act as both. After all, considering what happened yesterday, the stress on her to teach her students to defend themselves must be incredible.”

Sirius hugged Remus, “Ah Moony, I love that way you have of making people feel like idiots… when it’s not directed at me of course,” he added an as afterthought.

“Not just her,” Sirius added. “You, Fudge, were the one that appointed her. Professor Umbridge’s teaching abilities will reflect highly on you. I’m sure when everyone learns that an entire train of children ranging in the ages of eleven to seventeen had to rely on one fifteen-year-old child the parents will demand for their children to be taught how to defend themselves. I would say that Professor Umbridge has her work cut out for her.”

“And why do I have the feeling that Sirius will be sending the letters informing  the parents personally?” Lily asked approvingly.

“N—now s—see here, Black!” Fudge stuttered. “I will not be threatened like this!

“Who threatened you?” Remus asked, “Sirius merely pointed out a fact.”

 You have interfered with investigation after investigation. I should have you arrested and thrown back into your cell at Azkaban! You claimed that Potter wasn’t ready to talk in June yet he had told all of you—”

“Harry said nothing to us then since he couldn’t talk!” Sirius shouted angrily. “We saw his memory!”

Fudge’s eyes widened at the statement. “You used a Pensieve?” he asked nervously. “W—why didn’t you say so? We could have avoided so many of the—er—unpleasantries that occurred in the past few months. I—er—trust you still have Mr. Potter’s memory in this Pensieve?”

“No,” Remus quickly answered for Sirius. “We thought it would be best not to risk anyone from viewing the memory for their own benefit or worse, to use what happened against Harry. He had witnessed the murder of a good friend and needed to deal with it properly. If you want, we could wake Harry and ask him if he will let you see what happened. At least it would extinguish any doubt to what happened that night. ”

They all snorted.

“Like he’ll want proof that he’s wrong!” Sirius said rolling his eyes.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder at the four blurry wizards in the dimly lit hospital wing. Even with his poor vision Harry noticed that Fudge was shifting his weight nervously. Sirius and Remus had pushed him into a corner. If he witnessed the memory then there was no denying the fact that Voldemort had returned. “What proof do I have that Mr. Potter’s memories haven’t been altered?” Fudge asked suspiciously. “You have had Potter in you care for months. For all I know you had him Obliviated to believe what you want him to believe.”

“Okay, I seriously hope I never meet this guy because I am one second away from hexing him into oblivion!” James grunted.

“We would never do that to Harry!” Sirius exclaimed as he approached Fudge and grabbed him by the cloak. “How dare you accuse us such a thing? If you weren’t so bloody stubborn you would accept the truth! GET OUT! DON’T YOU EVER COME NEAR MY GODSON OR I SWEAR THE ENTIRE MINISTRY WILL LEARN WHAT A POMPOUS OAF YOU REALLY ARE!”

“I agree that Fudge is irritating but that will not help matters Sirius!” Lily scolded. Sirius shrugged. He actually was very envious of his future self right now.

Remus managed to pry Sirius and Fudge apart allowing the Minister to hurry out of the hospital wing. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore, Harry rolled onto his back, letting out a hiss when pain once again flared from his right side in the process. The small noise was enough to alert the remaining wizards in the room that Harry was indeed awake.

Sirius and Remus rushed to Harry’s bedside as Harry tried to sit up and instantly pushed him back down. “Not so fast Harry,” Remus said gently. “You’re body is still healing from that curse. Poppy’s done everything she can to heal your wound but there were some muscles that were severely injured. It will take a little time before they heal completely.”

Harry let out a sigh as he looked up at the blurry faces of his guardians. He could only imagine the worried looks that had to be on their faces, what they had been going through since he had passed out. “What time is it?” he asked in a scratchy voice.

“It’s almost half past four in the morning,” Sirius answered sounding a lot calmer then just a moment ago. “I’m sorry for waking you up. I just couldn’t control myself anymore. You can only handle so much Fudge before you start to feel ill.”

“Here, here,” the four said together.

Harry had to smile at the comment. Trust Sirius to start cracking jokes. His smile faded when he remembered why his guardians felt the need to protect him in the first place. He had caused his guardians so much worry because a madman’s followers wanted information he couldn’t provide. “I’m sorry,” Harry said softly. “I don’t mean to cause so much trouble. They wanted to know what I did to Voldemort. They killed the driver to get to me.”

Sirius gently pulled Harry into an embrace as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Now you listen to me, Pronglet,” he said firmly. “You can’t start blaming yourself for what happened yesterday. It’s because of you that no one else was hurt. Even after you were injured you took charge and made sure someone called for help. You didn’t panic even though you were in a lot of pain. We are proud of how you handled yourself but that doesn’t mean we want you to start risking your life like that. Your heart is still healing and besides, I don’t think ours could handle it if something happened to you.”

“Okay, I just have to say this,” Lily said, “That was very mature of you Sirius.”

“Thank you,” Sirius said puffing his chest.

“There’s a fist time for everything,” she finished and Sirius scowled as the other two laughed.

Harry returned the embrace, his head resting against the chest of his godfather. He knew Sirius was right but that didn’t stop him from feeling guilty that someone has lost their life. “You can’t save everyone,” Remus had told him. “Attempting to do so would only drive you mad.” Maybe someday Harry would be able to accept the fact that people dying at the hands of Voldemort and his followers wasn’t his fault. Today just wasn’t that day.

---

Two and a half hours later Harry found himself in the Great Hall trying to focus on anything but the long conversation he just had with his guardians. He couldn’t believe that Professor Umbridge had canceled the Auror placement on the train. Both Fudge and Umbridge had claimed that they had no way of knowing that the train would be attacked and simply thought Professor Dumbledore’s request was unnecessary. ‘An unfortunate mistake’ was what it had been called.

Sirius and Remus had repeated their warnings about Umbridge and the Ministry before they left. They seemed even more nervous about the new teacher with the events that had happened the day before. Harry wanted to believe that they were overreacting but the problem was it was a rare case that Sirius and Remus overreacted together.

“I know,” Remus said with a suffering sigh.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sirius asked narrowing his eyes.

“That you overreact all the time Padfoot but Moony doesn’t. So, if Moony is overreacting too, it has to be serious,” James explained calmly.

“I do not overreact!” Sirius cried.

“Of course not,” Lily pacified him and then she said in a loud whisper to James, “Do you want him to make a scene?” Lily was the one ducking pillows now.

Could Professor Umbridge really be that bad? Harry wouldn’t know for certain until he had a class with her.

Turning the page of the book he was trying to read, Harry couldn’t help but think about what had happened in the past day, especially the events that happened after he passed out. The two Death Eaters had been taken to the Ministry but somehow killed themselves before they could be questioned. The Dark Mark had been found on their left forearm revealing them as Death Eaters but so far their identities hadn’t been disclosed to the public. This had been a severe blow to the Order. All of the proof that Voldemort had returned had been so close. Now there was nothing stopping Fudge from having the ‘Daily Prophet’ publishing whatever he wanted.

The only problem was the fact that a fifteen-year-old student was the one that defeated them, something that everyone on the train and the Ministry officials that came to the ‘rescue’ knew. There was also the attack in itself. Remus and Sirius had been right when they pointed out that parents will demand action to be taken. There was no doubt that owls would be leaving in the dozens if they hadn’t already. Students will want their parents to know that the-boy-who-lived had saved them. So much for not attracting attention.

“I think parents will be more angry at the fact that their kids were left unprotected,” Lily said calmly.

“Yeah, but will they believe Fudge or Dumbledore?” Remus asked skeptically.

Sitting up straight, Harry let out a wince and instinctively grabbed his right side as pain flared. The potion he had taken to help with his heart condition couldn’t be mixed with any pain relieving potions meaning Harry would have to simply deal with the pain for a few days. It’s going to be a long few days. Since Harry was now at Hogwarts that meant it was easier for Madam Pomfrey to examine him. Every morning before breakfast Harry had to report to the hospital wing for his daily potion and for Madam Pomfrey to check on his still healing muscles. Rest was advised but with classes starting today Harry knew there was little chance of that happening.

Deep in his own thoughts, Harry didn’t even realize he wasn’t alone until someone plopped down on the seat to his right followed by someone doing the same on the seat to his right. There were only two people who could do the identical action like that. “Morning, Fred, George,” Harry said softly.

There was a brief silence. “You okay, Harry?” asked Fred. There was a touch of nervousness to his voice that really didn’t suit the cheerful Fred that Harry was familiar with. “We tried to visit last night but Remus and Sirius said you weren’t going to wake up soon. I think the entire Gryffindor House was in shock last night. I don’t think a lot of them believed that it’s dangerous out there.”

“I don’t think it was just the Gryffindors,” George said, his tone sounding exactly like his brother’s. “It was really quiet during the Welcoming Feast. For once no one cared about eating. They just wanted to know if you were okay. I think seeing you collapse outside the train really hit people hard. People were panicking when we couldn’t get through the doors and windows to help you, Harry. We really wanted to help, you know that right?”

“I know,” Harry said softly.

“Well, I didn’t,” Sirius huffed crossing his arms. The other three scowled with him.

He could still hear the sounds of the students pounding against the glass in frustration. Facing the Death Eaters had been bad enough. Watching someone face them and being unable to help must have been unbearable. They must have felt so helpless.

“All the pounding after they were stuck was all nice and all but it doesn’t change the fact that not one of them offered to go with Harry check on the driver,” Lily huffed.

“It all worked out though, right? It’s over and done with so let’s please talk about something else.”

“I hate how Harry dismisses it like it was his job to save everyone. He should say, ‘Yeah, you should have come’, so maybe next time they actually do,” James scowled.

“That’s just not Harry,” Sirius said annoyed, “And it’s all Dumbledore’s fault!”

“Sirius,” Remus asked, “How exactly is it Dumbledore’s fault?”

“Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys,” Sirius started ticking off things with his fingers, “Dumbledore let Harry fight off Voldemort and Basilisks in his school instead of doing it himself.”

“We still don’t know how that happened exactly so maybe there is a reason,” Remus started saying but quickly shut up when his three friends crossed their arms and glared furiously at him.

Fred and George took the hint and informed Harry that Angelina was the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Tryouts for a new Keeper were scheduled on Friday at five in the afternoon and attendance from current team members was required. Harry was surprised that tryouts were so early but he figured that Angelina wanted plenty of time to train the new Keeper properly.

It wasn’t long before students started filing into the Great Hall and every single one of them noticed Harry sitting in between of the Weasley twins. Some gathered the courage to approach the-boy-who-lived and thank him while others just stared and whispered. Gryffindors quickly took the nearest open spot by Harry. Students of the later years talked to Harry like they were old friends while the younger years simply stared at Harry in admiration, appearing to be too nervous to say a word.

“Knowing Harry he is loving that,” Lily snorted sarcastically.

Harry did his best to ignore the attention and respond with a kind smile to everyone who said ‘hello’ regardless of how annoyed he was starting to feel. This is the price you have to pay for taking matters into your own hands, he thought bitterly. The unwanted attention was all the motivation Harry needed to think before taking charge again. He hated that people considered him a hero when he was just trying to survive.

Ron and Hermione arrived just as hundreds of owls entered the Hall with the morning mail. Students generously moved so Ron and Hermione could sit near their friend but with so many people around they really couldn’t say much to each other. The attack on the Hogwarts Express covered the front page of the ‘Daily Prophet’ along with the majority of the second. Questions concerning the safety of the wizarding world’s children were repeated over and over again. Apparently the world wasn’t as safe as the Ministry had been saying.

“At least not everyone is believing Fudge!” James cried relieved.

Harry didn’t even attempt to reading the article. The glances he received by everyone was enough to know his actions yesterday had been mentioned. Knowing that he was fairly close to losing his patience, Harry waited long enough to receive his timetable then left the Hall without saying a word. He needed to gather his materials he would need for his morning classes and looking at his schedule, Harry could only groan. History of Magic was first followed by double Potions, Divination and concluded with double Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was certainly going to be a long day.

History of Magic seemed to pass by slower than one could ever imagine although Harry figured it was probably that way because he didn’t fall asleep in class. His head seemed to be too full with worries to even consider it. Professor Binns didn’t notice Harry’s lack of attention or the fact that the majority of the students in his class were asleep. The teacher was a ghost and didn’t bother with anything except for droning on about giant wars which was today’s topic. Taking notes when he actually listened, Harry ignored the worried glances he noticed Ron and Hermione were giving him. They knew how much Harry hated attention but really couldn’t do anything about it.

By the time class was over Harry had learned what sitting positions caused pain and which ones caused considerably less. There was a constant ache now, something that Harry tried desperately to hide. He was trying to focus on anything except the pain but the moment he did Harry would move and a flare of pain brought him back to what he was trying to forget. It seemed to be a never-ending cycle.

The journey to the dungeons for Potion’s class had been a quiet one. The lack of bickering from Ron and Hermione proved that they were more worried about Harry than whatever differences they may have. Hermione’s comment yesterday about his health seemed to leave an uncomfortable tension amongst them. From the looks Ron and Hermione were giving each other Harry could only assume that he had most likely missed a rather large argument.

“Harry, Harry, Harry, count your blessings. You do not want to be around when they argue,” Sirius shook his head.

Entering the Potions classroom, Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats in the far back. Professor Snape had made a habit of ridiculing Harry for everything, something Harry really didn’t know if he could handle today. It was taking a lot of self control not to act on his frustrations and even more to keep his anger from surfacing. He didn’t know why but the whispers were really affecting him more than usual today. I should be used to this by now.

The sound of the door shutting pulled Harry out of his thoughts. “Settle down everyone,” Professor Snape said coldly as he walked to the front of the classroom. “As you all are aware, this coming June you will be taking your OWL exam which will prove how much has penetrated your thick skulls over the years. I expect every single one of you to accomplish at least an ‘Acceptable’ rating no matter how impossible it may seem. For your information, I only take the best for my NEWT Potions class, meaning that there will be a considerable number of you that will not be taking this class next year.”

“Charming as always,” Remus snorted.

Snape glanced at the majority of the Gryffindor students, his gaze lingering on Neville and Harry a bit longer than the others but Harry was preoccupied to care. He tiredly met Snape’s stare for a moment before looking away. He didn’t have the energy to stand up to Professor Snape right now, something Harry was certain Snape noticed because the man’s gaze lacked the usual loathing Snape reserved only for Harry.

“Now Harry, I am sure you have already been in the presence of Snape and Padfoot at the same time and know that the loathing he has in his gaze reserved for Sirius is much more intense,” Lily said calmly.

“The feeling is mutual,” Sirius mumbled.

“The potion you will be making today will be on the Ordinary Wizarding Level exam: the Draught of Peace,” Snape said as he pulled out his wand. “This potion calms anxiety and sooths agitation. The measurements have to exact or you risk putting the drinker into a deep and possibly permanent sleep.” Snape flicked his wand at the black board then flicked his wand at the door to the store cupboard. “The ingredients are on the blackboard. You will find your materials in the store cupboard. You have an hour and a half to complete this so get moving.”

“If he had stopped at “complete this” he wouldn’t have been rude,” Remus pointed out and James said shocked:

“But then it wouldn’t be Snivellus Moony!”

As everyone went to the cupboard, Harry quickly wrote down everything he would need, double checking that he had everything right. He had found that it was easier for him to have the list of ingredients and steps he had to follow in front of him rather than relying on the blackboard. Once Harry was certain he had everything written down correctly he collected his supplies and got started.

Concentrating on the difficult potion seemed to be exactly what Harry needed to take his mind off of everything. He followed every step, not adding materials before he was absolutely certain the measurement was correct, stirring the exact number of times in one direction before changing just like the instructions said so. He had the timer set on his watch so he knew exactly when to add the final ingredient.

With only ten minutes remaining, Snape addressed the class. “You all should be seeing a light silver vapor rising from your potion,” he announced.

Focusing on his own potion and not those around him, Harry assumed that the vapor from his potion was silver. It looked silver to Harry but he knew that the critique of color was left to the eye of the examiner. He could hear Professor Snape strolling from potion to potion. He stopped at Hermione’s for a moment to smell it but moved on without saying a word. When Snape reached Harry’s potion, Harry moved out of the way, waiting for the inevitable downgrading that was bound to come.

Like Hermione’s Professor Snape took a sniff of the potion then moved closer to Harry. “See me after class, Potter,” he hissed then moved on. “Fill one flagon with a sample of your attempt at this potion. Label it with your name and leave it at my desk for testing. Your homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, due on Thursday.”

“His potion is right why would he need to see him after class?” Sirius cried outraged.

“He’s just being his usual self Padfoot,” Remus said, “What did you expect?”

Harry did as he was told, filling his flagon, corking it before leaving it at Professor Snape’s desk. To everyone he appeared to be calm and collected but mentally Harry was panicking. Had he done something wrong? Did Snape believe he had cheated on his potion? Was Snape going to start yelling about what happened yesterday? Snape’s degrading remarks were the last thing Harry needed right now.

“Snivellus has no right whatsoever of yelling at Harry about what happened,” James scowled.

“I hate to point out the obvious again but here goes: When did that ever stop him?” Remus asked.

After telling Ron and Hermione he would catch up, Harry waited for everyone to leave then slowly approached Professor Snape’s desk. Might as well get it over with. “You wanted to see me, sir?” Harry asked softly.

“To be fair,” Lily pointed out, “I don’t think he ever wants to see Harry.”

The others nodded.

Professor Snape met Harry’s gaze for a long moment. “You’re in pain, Potter,” he stated coldly.

“Well done Sherlock. You are such a genius,” Lily snorted.

“Who’s Sherlock?” James asked and Sirius shrugged. Remus and Lily both slapped their own foreheads in despair.

 “Your escapade yesterday has obviously left something behind. Why haven’t you seen Madam Pomfrey for a pain reducing potion?”

Harry’s gaze fell as he bit his lower lip nervously. “Because it doesn’t react well with my—er—other potion, sir,” he said. “Madam Pomfrey said I’ll just have to deal with the pain for a few days until I heal completely.” Harry slowly looked up at Professor Snape as saw the man’s eyes narrowing as he inhaled deeply as if to calm himself down.

“I see,” Snape muttered through his teeth. “It appears that no one with your—condition was ever foolish enough to try a stunt like you did.” Professor Snape rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment before returning his attention to the teenager. “Very well, Potter. You may go.”

“So let me understand this,” Sirius said slowly, “Snivellus made Harry stay behind, was his usual snarky self and didn’t even have some kind of solution for the problem?”

“Yes,” Lily answered.

“What a git!” Sirius cried.

“Another Sherlock,” Lily pointed out.

“Who is this Sherlock bloke?” James cried.

“We’ll let you figure that one out by yourself,” Remus answered calmly and James and Sirius huffed annoyed.

“Yes, sir,” Harry said in the same soft voice then left the classroom. The journey to the Great Hall had been a long one. He had to admit that Professor Snape had acted strangely. The hook-nosed, greasy haired man usually used every opportunity to bash the late James Potter but not today. Why? Snape’s animosity towards Harry was a well-known fact at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors hated it, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sympathized while the Slytherins thought it was hilarious since plenty of them hated Harry almost as much as Professor Snape did.

Lunch passed similarly to breakfast but this time Harry was in no mood to talk to anyone. Perhaps it was the dreary weather outside or maybe it was just Harry felt like his head was going to burst, he really didn’t know. All Harry knew was that he was in pain and he was exhausted but still had two more classes to attend. Divination could be an easy class to skip but Harry didn’t want to miss his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He also didn’t think it would settle well if he was missing classes already, regardless of how he felt.

“Yes,” Remus said grimly. “I bet some of the Slytherin’s are quite eager to report any strange behavior from Harry and missing class would probably count.”

The moment Ron had finished eating Harry left with his friend for the Divination classroom. They traveled to the North Tower in silence, passing the large picture of Sir Cadogan, the annoying knight who wanted to duel with everyone that passed. For some reason Sir Cadogan couldn’t accept the fact that he wasn’t an actual person and therefore unable to duel anyone.

Harry and Ron reached the trapdoor at the top of the North Tower and climbed up the silver ladder, Ron insisting that Harry go first. Entering the room, Harry was instantly hit by the overwhelming aromas of whatever Professor Trelawney had been burning. His eyes started to water as he stumbled, only to be caught by Ron. Harry quickly remembered why he hated this class so much. Trelawney seemed to have a love for predicting Harry’s death. She had large glasses and had a tendency of reminding Harry of some sort of insect. She also had the tendency to be not entirely there at times but so did Professor Dumbledore so that wasn’t saying much.

Gathering his bearings, Harry muttered a ‘thanks’ to Ron before sitting down at a small round table in the back of the class. He noticed a battered leather-bound book on the table but left it where it was. Class was going to begin soon enough. Ron sat down beside him as the rest of the class filtered in, talking quickly as they sat down, all of them unaware of where Harry and Ron were. Sitting in the back of a barely lit classroom certainly had its benefits.

“I know,” James said happily, “It’s perfect for plotting pranks.”

“Harry does not plot pranks James,” Lily huffed.

“He should,” he said seriously.

“Good afternoon,” Professor Trelawney said the dreamy voice she usually spoke in. “Welcome back to Divination. I have been monitoring all of your fortunes, especially with the omens I have been seeing lately. I am happy to announce that I have not seen the Grim in any of your paths but trying times are ahead of you. Some of you will face more challenges than others; I can not deny what I see.”

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance at Trelawney’s statement. Professor Trelawney couldn’t see what was right in front of her much less the future of everyone in the class. “Vague that up a bit, why don’t you,” Harry muttered causing Ron to snort in agreement.

“On your tables is a copy of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago,” Trelawney continued having not heard Harry’s comment. “The interpretation of dreams is one of the most important aspects of divining the future. Please read the introduction then divide into pairs and use The Dream Oracle to interpret your partner’s most recent dream. Begin.”

The class got to work, reading in the old books which took nearly the remainder of the class time. Ron instantly turned to Harry with a hopeful look on his face. Harry didn’t like that look at all. “I can never remember any of my dreams,” Ron said with a shrug. “Tell me one of yours.”

“I don’t think Harry dreams are up for interpretation in class Ronald,” Remus said sternly crossing his arms.

“I think we both know what my dreams are about, Ron,” Harry said quietly as he tried to keep any sort of irritation out of his voice. “Look up green light and screams in that book and see what you find.”

Ron’s eyes widened at the statement before he looked away with an ashamed look on his face. “Sorry Harry,” he said softly. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Obviously,” Lily snorted.

As class ended Professor Trelawney assigned a dream journal for the next month. Everyone climbed down the ladder and walked to their next class. Almost everyone was grumbling about the overabundance of homework they all had been warned about how stressful OWL year was but no one expected this on the first day. This was just cruel.

“I know,” James moaned. “Teachers are so cruel. They don’t understand we need time for more important things.”

“I don’t think planning pranks is more important then your studies James,” Lily huffed.

“But kissing you is,” he said tilting his head with his eyes closed and his lips sticking out.

Remus and Sirius laughed freely when James’ head was smacked by a pillow.

Entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Harry saw a short woman with short, curly brown hair. She had a face like a toad, her eyes were large and her mouth was wide. She had nearly no neck and was wearing a fluffy pink cardigan over her robes. Harry had to quickly look away to keep himself from staring at her—er—unique fashion. Somehow he understood immediately why Sirius and Remus had been warning about Professor Umbridge.

Lily was looking at the book horrified and couldn’t even muster any comment to the description of the new teacher.

Harry sat between Ron and Hermione and pulled out his textbook: ‘Defensive Magical Theory’ by Wilbert Slinkhard. He tried to look anywhere but at Professor Umbridge and settled on flipping through the pages of his book. It just felt odd that he wasn’t looking forward to his favorite class. Ever since his third year Defense had been the class Harry excelled in, of course it could be that way because that was when he started receiving private lessons during the summers.

“Yes Harry,” Remus said smiling, “And of course having the best teacher ever helps.”

Sirius and James just stared at Remus and Lily moaned, “Oh no, it’s contagious. You two ruined him!”

As soon as everyone had taken their seat Professor Umbridge stood up and smiled at the class. “Good afternoon!” she exclaimed. Her hesitation signaled that she had wanted a reply better than the scattered ones she received. “Now, now that certainly will not do. I expect an attentive reply. Let’s try again. Good afternoon, class!”

“Good afternoon Professor Umbridge,” the class replied.

“Where does she think she is? Kindergarten?” James asked horrified.

“Much better,” Umbridge said happily. “Now, wands away everyone and please pull out your quills.” She waited patiently as everyone obeyed before pulling out her own wand and tapping it on the blackboard. Words suddenly appeared: Defence Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles. Umbridge turned back to face the class with a smile on her face. “Now, I must say your tutelage in the past has been unique to say the least. Not anymore. Now, copy this down, please.”

“What is she implying?” Sirius said through gritted teeth.

“I hope she is referring to the first two Defense teachers they had and the fake Moody,” Lily said narrowing her eyes.

Umbridge tapped the blackboard again. The writing disappeared and the words ‘Course Aims’ appeared with three sentences underneath it: Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic, learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used, and placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

Notes were taken in silence. Once Professor Umbridge was satisfied, she assigned the class to read the first chapter of their Defense book. Harry had already read the first few chapters of the boring book but didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention from the new teacher so he just re-read the chapter. To keep his focus, Harry started to take notes on miscellaneous points the author made.

“Do you have a question about something in the chapter, dear?” Professor Umbridge asked curiously.

Harry looked up and saw Hermione’s hand in the air. “Not about the chapter, Professor,” Hermione said. “I have a question about the course aims. There is nothing written about using spells…defensive spells.”

“Yes, good point,” Sirius asked.

Professor Umbridge eyed Hermione for a moment. “What is your name, dear?” she asked.

“Hermione Granger,” Hermione said.

Umbridge smiled. “Well, Miss Granger, I believe the aims are quite clear,” she said sweetly. “I do believe there will be no situations in this classroom when you will need to use a defensive spell. Do you really expect to be attacked in class?”

“Not in class but you are supposed to be training them for when they are attacked,” James said worried. “That’s the whole point of having them train in a controlled environment.”

“You mean we’re not going to use magic at all?” Ron exclaimed. “After what happened yesterday? We need to be able to defend ourselves!”

“Yes! Thank you Ron!” Sirius cried.

“Actually, I don’t think-“ Remus started but was cut off by James:

“But he is right!”

“Yes,” Remus said calmly, “But antagonizing the Ministry’s spy at Hogwarts right now is not a smart move James.”

Professor Umbridge’s eyes narrowed. “In my class, students raise their hands to speak, Mr.—?”

“Weasley,” Ron said as he raised his hand.

Professor Umbridge smiled then turned away from him. Looking around the classroom Harry noticed that quite a few people had their hands in the air, most of them being Gryffindors. Returning his attention to the front, Harry also noticed that Ron and Hermione were looking at him in surprise, silently asking him why he wasn’t questioning this sort of teaching like everyone else.

“Because he is smart and Remus told him to keep his head,” Lily said and added at Sirius’ glare, “Remus and Sirius. And Sirius.”

“You have another question, Miss Granger?” Professor Umbridge asked.

Hermione inhaled deeply as she lowered her hand. “Professor, the entire point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells so we can protect ourselves,” she said. “What’s so wrong with learning how to defend ourselves?”

“Bad move,” Remus winced.

“Miss Granger, you are not a Ministry-trained expert in the Wizarding Educational System,” Umbridge said in the same sweet voice. “Your curriculum has been decided by witches and wizards older and cleverer than you. You will be learning about defensive spells in a completely risk-free way as you should have been for the past few years.”

“No they shouldn’t,” Sirius huffed.

Harry felt his hands tighten into fists under his desk. That sort of teaching was bound to get everyone killed. How could the Ministry do this especially with what happened yesterday? Even if they didn’t believe Voldemort is back the attack on the train should be enough proof that Voldemort isn’t the only threat. The Ministry was really going to let the seventh years graduate without even practicing on how to defend themselves?

“Apparently,” James scowled.

“Yes, you have a question, Mr.—?” Professor Umbridge asked in her sweet voice.

“Dean Thomas,” Dean said as he lowered his hand. “Well, the problem is we won’t always be in the classroom. We were attacked by Dementors yesterday and Harry was the only one who knew how to fight them. Shouldn’t we be learning the skills necessary for us to handle whatever’s out there?”

Professor Umbridge’s eyes narrowed again as her smile faded. Everyone noticed as she glanced over at Harry before returning her attention to Dean. It was obvious that she was losing her patience. “Mr. Thomas, by learning the theory of defense you will understand how to perform the spells. It is very rare that any of you will ever encounter a Dementor at such a young age. When the Ministry feels you are all ready to handle the complexity of casting such advanced spells then it shall be taught to you.”

Everyone watched as Umbridge strolled over to Harry’s desk and stood in front of him. “The Ministry has its standards,” she said firmly. “Just because a guardian chooses to teach their charge dangerous spells early that doesn’t make it right. It’s a shame that because an individual’s problems with the Ministry that a child should pay the price.”

“Excuse me? Did I understand what she just said?” Sirius growled.

“I believe you did,” Lily huffed.

“I can’t believe it!” James cried, “If Moony and Padfoot hadn’t trained Harry they would have been all defenseless seeing as no one moved a finger to help, and she is saying that is a bad thing! Unbelievable!”

Harry stared straight ahead, desperately trying to keep his anger under control. His face remained an impassive mask but underneath his desk his hands were shaking. How could she talk about Sirius like that? The Ministry had ignored the law when they didn’t give Sirius a trial. Sirius has every right to be angry with a system that sentenced him to twelve years of torture. How could she possibly believe that Sirius was to blame for what the Ministry had put him through?

“Yes, if Padfoot had wanted he would have had every right to sue the Ministry for everything they had!” Remus cried indignantly.

Everyone jumped as the vase on Professor Umbridge’s desk shattered. Professor Umbridge instantly looked around at the class. “Who did that?” she asked quickly then took a step back when she saw that no one had a wand in their hand. “How odd,” she muttered as she glanced at the vase before readdressing the class but appeared to be slightly nervous now. “As I was saying, by studying theory hard enough there is no reason any of you should have a problem with your OWLs this year.” She looked around the class and noticed a hand was in the air. “Yes, Miss—?”

“Parvati Patil,” Parvati said softly. “Professor, how can we possibly pass our practical OWL if we haven’t practiced beforehand? Many of the counter curses and spells we need to know take hours of practice. The only reason Harry knows what he knows is because he had to for the third task in the Tournament last year.”

“They keep bringing Harry into this and it’s not going to help!” Remus huffed. “She wants to discredit him. She views him as her enemy and you keep giving her ammunition!”

Harry closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to keep himself calm. He had already lost control once and couldn’t afford to do it again. Why did Parvati have to bring up the Tournament? Don’t think about it! Don’t think about what happened! Concentrating on his training, Harry pushed away his feelings and focused on what he could control. Professor Umbridge’s opinion certainly wasn’t on the list. Let her simply teach theory. He could train himself. He could hide in the Room of Requirement to practice and no one would be the wiser.

“Mr. Potter’s experiences are not the basis of this class,” Professor Umbridge said as she walked back to her desk and with a flick of her wand repaired the broken vase. “I know some of you believe the allegations that a certain Dark Wizard has returned from the dead but that is a lie. The Ministry of Magic has found no proof to these allegations. Yesterday’s events appear to have all of you believing the worst. The rogue wizards that attacked your train and Mr. Potter have been taken care of. You are in no further danger. Now, please continue reading chapter one.”

Everyone reluctantly returned to reading in their books for the remainder of the class as Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk. Once again Harry took notes on selective points the author made and kept his eyes on his book. He didn’t want to chance looking at Umbridge right now. It was clear that she hadn’t expected so much resistance no matter how much she tried to hide it. She also hadn’t expected Harry to remain silent and seemed to be a little disappointed that Harry didn’t appear to be affected by the comments she made.

“Of course she is,” Lily said. “She is just waiting for the opportunity to make an example of him and he didn’t give her the chance.”

As soon as class was over everyone scurried out of the room and headed for dinner. Students grumbled, still in denial that they wouldn’t be physically practicing defense this year. It didn’t take Ron and Hermione to realize that Harry wasn’t partaking in ridiculing of Professor Umbridge and was walking a bit on the slow side which silenced any complaining they had.

“Harry, is something wrong?” Hermione asked quietly. “You’ve been really quiet today.”

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Harry looked at his friends and smiled softly. “I’m fine,” he lied. “I’m just tired. With everything that’s happened I think today took a lot out of me. I was up really early this morning talking to Sirius and Remus and we have loads of homework to do tonight.”

“So is that why you didn’t say anything in class?” Ron asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “What would it have done?” he countered. “What would it have changed? Professor Umbridge has her own view on the current situation. I may not agree with it but you all proved that arguing wasn’t making a difference. She’s not going to listen to a bunch of teenagers. She will listen to Fudge and only Fudge. That point was made crystal clear.”

“So we should just do nothing?” Ron asked in shock then leaned closer to Harry and toned down his voice. “None of us have had the training Sirius and Remus gave you. None of us could even try to do what you did yesterday. You made us realize that we’re not ready for You-Know-Who and whatever else is out there so excuse us for being angry. You were alone yesterday, Harry. You should never have to be alone like that.”

“No he shouldn’t,” James scowled.

“And again I repeat. They may have been more experienced Death Eaters but they were two against hundreds. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE HELPED!”

Sirius, James and Lily flinched at Remus yell and Sirius tried to pat his friend with a shaky hand, “Shh Moony. Calm down. It’s over now.”

“Ron has a point, Harry,” Hermione whispered. “You were right. I don’t know how to handle a Dementor. I probably couldn’t hold my own against a Death Eater but I want to learn how. Professor Umbridge has no intention of preparing us for anything other than to mold our minds to believe what the Ministry wants us to believe. OWLs are too important to waste on a power struggle.”

They walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall in silence. Harry had no idea that yesterday’s attack affected so many so deeply. It felt so strange that all of these people who had called him the Heir of Slytherin a few years ago were now looking up to him, even if they may be taller. In his mind, Harry didn’t think he had done anything out of the ordinary. He simply did what he had to in order to survive. Nothing more, nothing less.

“People are so susceptible,” Lily scowled. “They change their mind all the time. First Harry is evil because he is a Parselmouth. Then he’s back being good. Then he is an attention seeker because of that whole Goblet of Fire spitting his name out and now he’s back being a hero. Make up your minds people!”