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Chapter Text

“Oh dear,” Professor Filius Flitwick muttered to himself as he trotted down the third floor corridor leading from his classroom, headed towards dinner in the Great Hall. Beside him walked Harry Potter, who'd been in his fifth year class at the end of the day, along with Rubeus Hagrid. They'd spent the lesson on grooming charms for magical creatures and Hagrid had supplied quite the menagerie for the series of classes.

Ever on the alert for danger, Harry heard his professor’s words and looked down towards the far end of the hallway and shuddered at the sight. “Oh dear is right. Incoming pink toad on a rampage.”

Hagrid, more inclined to be the strong, silent type in confrontations such as this, just surreptitiously pulled his wan…oops, pink umbrella out of his capacious coat pocket. Always stalwart, he'd be the first to volunteer to step up to protect Harry if he could.

As Umbridge got a little nearer, it became more clear that she wasn't just shrieking nigh on inarticulately, but was basically squawking her complaints at a pitch nearly high enough to disturb any nearby dogs…for a mile or two radius.

“You…you! Potter! How dare you accuse me of hurting you, and to those foul little Goblins, no less? What right have you to tell anyone what happens here at Hogwarts? I am the High Inquisitor! I have the trust of the Minister, and his authorisation to do what must be done to sort this place out!”

Hagrid, showing that he'd never really been taught the lesson that discretion is the better part of valour, couldn't help but interrupt at this point, bravely (if futilely) attempting to defuse the situation.

“Now then, wha’ is young Harry supposed ter have done?”

The response came with a rise in both the pitch and pacing of the DADA professor’s complaints. “That foul child has proved himself doubly a liar. First, saying that He-who-must-not-be-named is back, and now, telling those odious toads at Gringotts that I am causing him harm!”

Harry, despite the elevated tensions in the hallway, couldn't resist a snort at the thought of this much hated professor calling anyone else a toad. Unfortunately, he drew her attention more closely, by that brief moment of mirth.

Still half a hallway from the trio, the monstrosity in pink halted long enough to direct a glare at the fifth-year boy, and pointed at him accusingly. “You, boy, will be contacting Gringotts and denying there are any problems at all. You will confess to them that you were lying to create trouble…you will be in nightly detention with me for the next month!”

“But I haven't said anything to anybody,” Harry cried in protest, then muttered under his breath (just barely loud enough for Flitwick to hear), “I end up bleeding and with another scar just from writing lines, but nobody seems to care, as usual.”

Putting two and two together very quickly, the Charms professor snatched up Harry's left hand and saw clear evidence of the use of a blood quill. That alone was enough to get his dander up and, in the blink of an eye, his wand was in his hand.

Calling across the space between himself and that loathsome DADA professor pretender, he threw out the accusation. “Madam, you have clearly been using a blood quill on at least one student in this school. How many others have you tortured and mutilated since the school year began?”

He paused a moment, then asked an additional, critical question. “And how did you get your hands on such a prohibited device? The treaty of 1787 bans the ownership of such devices by Wizarding kind and reserves their use to within the walls of Gringotts only.”

The rational accusation seemed to push Umbridge over the edge. “I do not answer to you, you disgusting little half-breed. Of course, you'd stand up for your Goblin kin.” By now, the High Inquisitor's own wand was also at hand, Flitwick noted, and he readied himself for potential battle.

“You must be mistaken, Madam Umbridge,” the Ravenclaw head very insultingly denied her any superior title. “I am both wizard and Guduriak. Not Goblin at all.” It was a matter of semantics in a way, but he was tired of being addressed by such a disparaging title. It was time to stand up for his own identity.

Flitwick continued, “However, I will be reporting this incident to Gringotts and they will be sure to launch an investigation. I fear it will not go well for you, with such clear evidence against you.”

By this time, Harry had fished his own wand out of his robe pocket and even Hagrid was raising his pink umbrella, ready to cast if needed. Neither expected this confrontation to end well, given the enraged shade of puce that adorned Umbridge’s face.

“Another liar, it seems. I'll see you run out of this school as well. You will not stand against me! I shall not tolerate another moment of insolence from anyone in this school. Not from the staff nor the students!”

With that declaration, the High Inquisitor decided it was time to punish all three miscreants before her. Hogwarts should never have been a school to welcome half-bloods and half-breeds, and she'd be the one to run them out of the castle. That decision was the seminal moment of her break with reality. In merely a second, her irrational emotions took over and suddenly, spells of all colours arced down the corridor at the only somewhat shocked trio.

In no time, both Flitwick and Harry had adopted a fighting stance and were returning fire, though they were thwarted by the witch’s surprisingly strong shielding. Hagrid, knowing the risks of him casting on the woman from the Ministry and the chances of him returning to Azkaban, kept his umbrella at hand as a last line of protection.

However, the dueling lasted less than a minute when an intervention from a very unexpected source occurred. Dobby, the house-elf Harry had freed from the Malfoys and who'd been working in the Hogwarts kitchens, appeared just to the side of the trio.

A snap of Dobby's fingers saw a large round fiery portal appear behind them and a wave of the smaller creature's arm saw Hagrid, Flitwick and Harry swept backwards through the opening. The motion was accompanied by the heated cry, “You shall not hurt the great Harry Potter, or his friends. You will be punished.” A final snap of the fingers saw Umbridge stunned and bound in ropes, dropping unceremoniously to the hard stone floor. It also resulted in the collapse of the fire portal, leaving no sign of the three wizards that had been attacked by the repulsive Ministry toad(ie). It would become a mystery that would not easily be solved.

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The absence of the three professors at dinner was a noticeable one, particularly as Filius Flitwick was dedicated to his duty as Head of House, showing up to all meals. Hagrid, having an appetite that easily matched his size, was also not one for missing dinner. He sometimes would be called away with an emergency with one of his creatures, but he had always been diligent about letting either Dumbledore or McGonagall know what was going on. And needless to say, Umbridge didn't skip any meals, determined as she was to lord her authority over the students and other professors. Which meant that half an hour into the dinner period, the Headmaster and his deputy were questioning the other staff members for any information about their absences.

Simple concern elevated to considerable alarm when Hermione Granger approached the Head Table and reported Harry Potter's unexplained non-attendance as well. While the fifth year wasn't above skipping meals, particularly when at odds with the school population, it was an additional worry.

Concern bloomed to fear when Hermione pointed out that Harry had stayed back after Charms class to talk with both Professors Flitwick and Hagrid about some questions he had about the spells they'd covered that day. A certain Potions professor scoffed at the fussing of the other teachers, particularly in regard to the Potter boy, but was quickly hushed by that boy's own Head of House.

Dumbledore, wanting to present a facade of being unworried and in control to the students, delegated McGonagall and Snape to investigate, diligently ignoring the Potions Master’s sneers and snide remarks as always. The pair headed out via the staff egress behind the Head Table and were soon climbing the Grand Staircase, headed towards the Charms classroom on the third floor. Snape's continued muttered complaints finally pushed Minerva, at the second floor landing, to sharply interject, “Oh do shut up, Severus!” Surprised by the blunt remonstration, he did exactly that.

The remainder of the climb towards the third floor corridor where Charms was held remained silent, until they came across the bound and stunned form of the High Inquisitor halfway down the hallway. Minerva began to cast “Rennervate” when Snape pushed her wand away from Umbridge’s body.

“If that toad is woken, we won't get any useful information from her. Best we investigate a little first.” McGonagall realised the sense of her colleague’s suggestion and nodded her agreement.

Snape suggested, “I'll stay here and watch over things, if you'll continue on and check Filius’ classroom and office? I doubt they'll be there. Something obviously happened here. But we'd best be thorough and ensure nobody is lying injured.”

“Good idea. Perhaps you can secure her wand while I'm gone. Albus will fight us, but I have a feeling we’ll be in need of the Aurors before the evening is done. Best ensure the evidence remains intact while we can.”

Minerva headed down the hallway further as Severus quickly followed her suggestion. He could cast ‘Prior Incantato’ as easily as any professor seeking answers to the fights between students in Hogwarts. But it would be best if the examination of Umbridge’s wand was done by someone from the DMLE. The woman simply had too much influence with Cornelius Fudge to ignore the political circus this would inevitably become.

Within minutes, McGonagall returned to report no sign of the missing trio. With Umbridge still down for the count, they held a brief conference over what the next steps should be.

“Albus will want to keep this under wraps, but Umbridge has walked all over him since school began,” Severus observed. “She's going to raise hell when she wakes up, and given she's barely rational on a good day, she'll be impossible to deal with after this.”

“Agreed. The only person I've ever seen successfully stand up to her is Amelia Bones,” Minerva replied. “It does seem the sort of thing that should be handed over to the Head of the DMLE, don't you think? Especially with two professors and a student also missing.”

Snape did not miss the innocent, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth look that the Deputy Headmistress sported. He couldn't help but respond with an answering smirk.

“Is your Floo still open to the Ministry, Minerva? Perhaps we should get that investigation rolling before we have a couple of hundred students wandering through.”

“An excellent suggestion. Do you mind standing guard again while I make a quick Floo call? I shall return as soon as I can.”

At Severus’ nod, the Transfiguration professor took off at speed, headed to her office two floors below. A silver streak of a cat Patronus appeared before she even reached the stairs. Severus nodded in approval; his colleague definitely understood the urgency of getting the Aurors here before the students appeared or Albus could interfere. The quick Patronus message to Madam Bones was sound thinking on Minerva's part.

Fortunately, and unsurprisingly, the busy head of the DMLE had still been at the Ministry when McGonagall's feline messenger had arrived. Amelia Bones had used the same expedient method to bring two of her trusted Aurors to her office, with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Gawain Robards arriving through her doorway as McGonagall's head appeared in the Floo. Minerva quickly explained the situation and asked the three of them to come through. None of the invitees expressed surprise that someone had finally retaliated against Umbridge and her excesses.

Less than ten minutes after leaving Severus to mind the stunned DADA Professor, McGonagall returned with the investigators in tow.

“So, Potter was last seen in the company of Flitwick and Hagrid, then his classmates all went to dinner, correct?” Shacklebolt was keen to lock down the timeline. Meanwhile, Auror Robards was examining spell damage to the castle walls further down the corridor and Madam Bones had taken custody of Umbridge’s wand.

Robards returned to join the group, reporting, “It looks like she was casting some fairly dark spells, if the residual damage to the walls is anything to go by.”

“Let's see exactly what she did cast then,” Amelia responded. Holding Umbridge’s wand in her off hand, she touched her own wand tip to the other and cast, “Priori Incantato.”

Immediately, an echo of each of the most recent spells cast appeared before them. It was shocking, though not terribly surprising, to the assembled group when the Cruciatus spell appeared several times, along with cutting and bludgeoning spells. Truth be told, after seeing that array, they were half surprised she hadn't thrown an Avada Kedavra or two as well. This was an out and out attack that Umbridge had launched; she'd not even made an attempt to disarm her opposition.

“Well, that's going to set the Kneazles amongst the Golden Snidgets at the Ministry,” Madam Bones commented with an air of wry understatement. “Fudge is going to utterly lose it when he finds her in a holding cell and I tell him what she cast within a school corridor, and likely at two professors and the Boy Who Lived.” Amelia rubbed her forehead at that, anticipating the inevitable migraine that would follow that confrontation.

“Not to mention that those three are still missing. And Boss, I picked up an odd magical signature further down the hallway, beyond where the spell damage is. It sort of feels like a Portkey, but at the same time, it's a form of magic I've never seen before.”

Shacklebolt’s observations had everyone else wanting to try their hand at identifying the odd magical residue, though to no avail.

“Probably need to bring in the Unspeakables. I'll contact Croaker,” Bones decided, then set up the rest of the plans. “Minerva, you'd better fetch Albus. We might as well get the disappointed grandfather's looks and lecture out of the way. What's the best way of searching the Castle? Can we use the house-elves to do it?”

Unsurprised but not thrilled to be the one to have to brief Albus, McGonagall sighed then replied, “Aye, the house-elves would be the most efficient option.”

She then called out, “Tansy, may I speak with you?”

Immediately an older looking, though immaculately groomed, house-elf popped in. “How can Tansy be helping Professor Kitty?”

“Professors Flitwick and Hagrid are missing, along with one of the students, Harry Potter. Can you organise the rest of the house-elves to search the Castle? Time is of the essence.”

Tansy paused a moment, as if mentally reaching her way into every corner of the castle. “They is not in Hoggywarts Castle, Professor Kitty. Head house-elf can always tell who is in the castle and where they be.”

“Oh dear,” Minerva answered. “But how could they have disappeared without being seen leaving the castle? They'd have had to come past the Great Hall to get to the Apparition boundaries.”

Tansy squirmed awkwardly, having recognised the echo of house-elf magic further down the hallway. She was unwilling to get another house-elf into trouble, even if the young fellow was more than a little odd with his ideas of freedom.

A many years veteran of getting the truth out of recalcitrant students, Minerva recognised the signs of withheld information. “Tansy, if you know anything more, it's most important that you tell me. They could be in danger for their lives.”

“Tansy thinks they was more in danger here with Professor Umbitch. She could have killed them, you know.” The group couldn't help but smile at Tansy’s uncharacteristic bluntness and less than kind nickname, though nobody disagreed with the sentiment.

The house-elf melted under McGonagall's stern gaze (managed with great effort, because she'd wanted to roar with laughter at Tansy's comment).

“Dobby has made a fire doorway to help them escape. Dobby is very devoted to his Master Harry Potter sir, since he was freed three years ago. If Dobby saw they was threatened, he would have taken them somewhere safe.”

“But where?” Robards asked, quite intrigued with the whole scenario.

Tansy just shrugged in response. “That Dobby be a crazy elf. Anywhere be possible.”

Minerva had been both cogitating and industrious during Tansy’s explanations, and thus had scribbled a note to Dumbledore, asking him to join them in the Charms corridor on the third floor as soon as possible. At least this way, she'd avoid the interrogation all the way from the Great Hall.

As they all waited for the Headmaster, Madam Bones took a leaf out of Minerva's book and sent a Patronus message to request Head Unspeakable Croaker's attendance at Hogwarts and to bring any experts he had on house-elf magic with him. Tansy, after invisibly popping Minerva's note into Dumbledore's hand, then went to McGonagall's office to escort the Unspeakables to the Charms corridor when they arrived.

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It would be a complete understatement to say that Dumbledore was not a happy wizard at the sight of the Head of the DMLE, two Aurors, and now, an approaching Croaker, the Head Unspeakable.

“I hardly think anything that could happen here at Hogwarts would warrant this degree of attention from the DMLE and Department of Mysteries. My dear Minerva, you should have spoken with me first, before taking any action.” The admonition was accompanied by a distinctly diminished eye twinkle and a disappointed grandfatherly tone of voice.

McGonagall bristled at being told off like a child and took a deep breath, ready to give the headmaster a piece of her mind. Amelia, recognising the signs of rising rage in her old friend, intervened before things got any more out of hand.

“You think a Ministry-appointed professor casting Unforgivable spells at a student and two professors should just be swept under the rug then, Headmaster?” Her tone was icily formal. “And let us not forget that the victims of these crimes, who clearly cast defensive spells only, are now missing and we have no idea where they have been taken. The fact that one of those missing, a student in your care no less, is the Saviour of the Wizarding World, and you think we don't need to make a fuss about all this?” Amelia just shook her head at the thought.

Albus immediately backpedalled, in a placating tone that was almost an insult to her integrity.

“Well, of course there must be an investigation, my dear. But surely you can see the need for us to be discreet. We could at least have waited until after curfew and dealt with the issue then. I'm sure Filius just found a way to keep young Harry and Hagrid safe, and they'll return momentarily. It's all just a tempest in a teacup really.”

The DMLE head wasn't sure who Albus was trying to sell that hippogriff shite to, himself or the rest of the party. Needless to say, nobody was buying.

As Minerva and Severus looked on, barely concealing smirks over Albus being dressed down, Croaker then added his two knuts worth and made it very clear why they considered this a matter of urgency.

“This corridor is the main pathway to Ravenclaw tower. If we waited until after curfew, the magical residues that are our only clues to locate Flitwick, Potter and Hagrid would be irreparably tainted and useless for attempting tracking or locating them. You will need to post staff to detour students via another route until the investigation is done.”

Having essentially dismissed Dumbledore with those words, he turned back to Minerva and Severus to question what they'd seen in their own explorations, and then called Tansy back in to confirm that house-elf magic had allowed the trio to escape Umbridge’s attack. It was going to be a tricky investigation; so little was known about the unique magic used by these creatures who were mostly ignored by the Wizarding world at large.

Dumbledore stood uselessly for a long minute after the dismissal, before turning with a dramatic sweep of his neon pink robes with orange fwoopers flying about, to take care of the task that he'd been set. It surprised no one that this was followed by a long, brooding sulk in the Headmaster's quarters.

Chapter Text

Harry was rather winded when the motion of the portal ended, unlike his pair of travelling companions. Despite his duel with Voldemort at the end of the previous year, he was hardly at the same level of battle fitness as the duelling champion charms master or Hagrid, who routinely wrestled recalcitrant beasts. Even as he half mentally acknowledged both points, teenaged ego couldn't help but kick in and ascribe the windedness to their odd mode of travel.

“Bloody hell, Dobby, what was that?” Harry asked, before taking a quick glance around, not recognising their surroundings at all and asking, “And where in the world are we?”

The trio plus house-elf were in a large stone cavern, brightly lit with glints of gems and minerals shining in the torchlight. Currently, they were the only occupants, though a certain member of their party knew that would only last momentarily.

“Ahh, we're in the normally private, staff only transit point in Gringotts in Diagon Alley, if I'm not mistaken. It's normally only used by Guduriak staff, though some trusted Wizarding employees are granted access also. It's surprising no one was here when we arrived. Though…yes, that is about to change,” Flitwick finished, as the sound of a set of boots echoed in the nearby corridor.

Their new companion rushed into the arrival hall; he'd only taken a moment for a bathroom break, but as always seemed to be the case, that's when unexpected arrivals showed up.

“Ah, Hazeblade, sorry to arrive without any prior warning, but it was rather a dire emergency we were escaping.”

Hazeblade was rather dumbfounded by that statement. Professor Flitwick was a bit of an anomaly within the Guduriak community, given his half-blood status. However, the fact that he was a second cousin to Buruzagi Ragnok, chief of the clan and head of Gringotts, and was well liked by his cousin, saw him reach a level of inclusion in the clan that was previously unprecedented.

Seeing he'd rendered the transit portal officer speechless, Filius continued. “Yes, quite unbelievable I know, to be attacked by the Ministry appointed High Inquisitor, and her casting Unforgivables no less.” Hazeblade’s jaw had dropped in disbelief at that bombshell.
Aware of the impact of his words, Filius got down to the brass tacks of what he needed. “We have information that we believe needs to be addressed by Buruzagi Ragnok, and quite urgently. Would you please send a message and ask when he might see us?”

The polite request was followed by a phrase spoken in Guduriak, a preplanned code to indicate that Flitwick was not under any duress in requesting the audience with Ragnok. Now reassured, Hazeblade snapped back into his normal state of efficiency, rushing to his podium to scribble a quick note that disappeared when placed into a box sitting on the shelf below.

His critical duty done, he invited the surprise visitors to a well appointed waiting room just around the corner, to wait for an answer. Fortunately, for the four who'd missed their supper in all the excitement, platters of sandwiches and bowls of thick vegetable soup appeared on the buffet table, which at least made a dent in their hunger.

Over their light meal, the conversation was low key and everyone deliberately avoided the questions of what would be happening next. There were simply too many unknowns to speculate, and whatever Buruzagi Ragnok had to say would decide much of their next steps.

Harry did take the opportunity to have Flitwick explain why he used the term Guduriak versus Goblin and was quite incensed on his professor’s behalf to learn that the term Goblin was a Wizard imposed title, and rather derogatory to boot. The remainder of the time was spent in Filius teaching a few words of greeting in Gudurian (Gobbledygook also being an offensive term).

Harry and Dobby managed the rather guttural tones quite well, given they weren't exactly designed for human vocal cords. Sadly, Hagrid, who actually had a voice that could suit Gudurian well, butchered the words just as badly as he did his native English. Ever the teacher though, Filius had to mentally give him house points for trying.

An hour after arriving, Hazeblade returned to escort them to Buruzagi Ragnok's office. They were greeted by his deputy, Firelock.

“Greetings, cousin.” Firelock addressed Flitwick first, after running an assessing eye over the ragtag group. “It seems you've had a…challenging day?” A hint of a smirk accompanied that pause in the sentence.

“Indeed, Firelock. May I present to you Harry Potter, Rubeus Hagrid and Free Elf Dobby?” The trio offered their greetings in rudimentary Gudurian, much to Firelock’s amusement. He couldn't wait to see the Buruzagi's face when that experience was repeated in a moment or so.

“Good to meet you all and welcome. Well, Buruzagi Ragnok is ready for you. Shall we head in?”

He ushered the group into the chieftain’s office suite, and was as amused as he had expected to be at the proferred Gudurian greetings. Soon the six of them were settled around the conference table. Glasses of sparkling fruit juice appeared, along with piping hot meat pies and pasties for those still feeling peckish, as well as pastries leaning more towards dessert offerings. Hagrid and Harry were happy to tuck in and leave the explanations to Flitwick, while Dobby couldn't resist the call of a chocolate eclair.

It took about a quarter of an hour for Flitwick to relay the details of Umbridge’s use of a blood quill, with Harry's hand providing clear evidence that she'd illegally obtained the object. The report of suspected use of a blood quill and the call for her to attend an inquiry had come from the legal department of Gringotts and hadn't been escalated to Ragnok's attention to that point.

Dobby confessed that he was the one who'd left the letter for the Head of Legal, asserting that nobody was allowed to hurt his Harry Potter sir like that. The attack in response by Umbridge had been an unanticipated consequence and he was quite contrite about inadvertently putting Harry in more danger. On Harry's part, he was having flashbacks to second year, when Dobby nearly got him injured or killed several times, while trying to save him from harm.

However, one of Dobby's decisions had been very wise. In creating the transport portal, he'd scanned the thoughts of his three companions, seeking where each one considered themselves most safe. Flitwick’s perception of Gringotts certainly beat Harry's cupboard under the stairs or Aragog’s cave in the Forbidden Forest, and so that's where the fire portal had delivered them to.

The what next portion of the discussion wasn't nearly as easily settled. Some things were relatively simple. Madam Umbridge would be subject to arrest and Guduriak justice for theft and use of a blood quill (particularly on minors) if she were ever to step foot in a Gringotts branch again. In the meantime, her vaults would be frozen until it was agreed that justice had been served.

If, and Ragnok had his doubts on this mostly due to Dumbledore's manipulations, the DMLE became involved and Umbridge was tried before the Wizengamot, a clause in the Treaty of 1482 allowed for Gudurian input into the sentencing, if the Wizarding punishment was considered inadequate by Guduriak terms. Given theft of a blood quill carried a ten year prison sentence, with an additional ten years for each victim who was subjected to its use, the pink toad was headed for twenty years in Azkaban or similar. More if they could prove she'd used it on other students.

The funny thing is, though she'd never admit it, Umbridge would be better off imprisoned by the Guduriak. Their punishments were much more humane than a trip to Azkaban and the Dementors. Wizarding prisoners were spelled to suppress their magic and were then assigned to either the bank or various civic buildings to provide all the cleaning services the hard way, via manual labour. Tracking spells ensured no chance of escape and they were portkeyed back to the jail each night, where they at least had beds, blankets and decent meals. Not that a bigot like Umbridge would appreciate the improvement over Azkaban.

That left the question of what happened next for the Hogwarts refugees? At first, Hagrid argued that they had to return to the castle, that Dumbledore (fine wizard that he is) would take care of everything and Harry would be safe with Umbridge gone.

Ragnok could only shake his head at the half-giant’s persistent naivety. Like most Guduriak, he was aware of Voldemort’s return (the vault had switched from an inactive to active condition), and was highly cognisant of the risk that dark lord posed to the entire magical world, not just the Wizarding portion of it. And there was no telling the amount of death and destruction he would rain down on the non-magical world. He also recognised that the Wizarding world put a lot of weight and responsibility on Harry's shoulders to be their Saviour, and as far as he could tell, had done little to nothing to prepare the teenager for any chance of success.

Flitwick knew these thoughts were crossing his cousin's mind. They'd had more than a few discussions along these lines over the years, particularly since Harry's return, and Ragnok greatly appreciated Filius’ ability to see the situation from both sides of his heritage.

So, hushing Hagrid and asking him to give Harry time to think what he wanted, Flitwick posed the question he'd rather been itching to ask since Harry's return to the Wizarding world.

“Harry, what do you want to do? What do you want from life as a wizard? I've observed you're very uncomfortable with the fame and notoriety of being the Boy Who Lived. Not to mention the attention your ‘adventures’ bring at school each year. You have a chance here to make a clean break and determine what you'd like your life to be. And I promise, I will do my best to support you in whatever you choose.”

The fifteen year old boy slumped in his seat at his professor's words, completely taken aback. Nobody had ever truly asked what he wanted from life or offered to help him achieve it. He couldn't even organise his thoughts enough to begin to verbalise what he felt and what he wanted; it was an entirely alien experience for him.

Realising the boy needed some time to get himself together, Ragnok suggested they may need to institute some counter measures to ensure the four of them couldn't be tracked to Gringotts.

Filius spoke first. “I scanned us all in the waiting lounge. Harry had a tracking charm that I removed but the rest of us were clear. At some point though, we will need some clothes and belongings, even if we only stay a day or two to allow Harry the thinking space he needs. I would be concerned that anything retrieved from Hogwarts might be compromised.”

Hagrid spoke up then, having it seems decided to roll with the punches for now. “Wha' 'bout Hedwig, Harry's owl. She'd be easy ter track or follow. He'd be righ' upset if she got hurt.”

Dobby nodded his head briskly, ears flapping. “Dobby could go to Hogwarts and bring back all of Harry Potter sir's things. Dobby can also check for bad spells and remove them before coming back. If Professor Flitty and Hagrid be making a list of what you is wanting, Dobby can also be getting those things too.” The free elf was eager for a chance to remain an active participant in any plans to take care of his Harry Potter.

The mention of Hedwig and keeping his few belongings safe had jolted Harry out of his deep thoughts for a short while. He didn't have many things that were truly his own and he treasured the photo album Hagrid had made for him, his broom from Sirius and his Dad's cloak. The last thing he wanted was his things being held hostage at the castle to try to force his return, if his decision was to leave. Little did he realise this was the first crack in his link to Dumbledore's influence on him, and the first step to making an independent way in the Wizarding world.

“I'd like that please, Dobby. Can you pack everything into my trunk and fetch Hedwig as well? I…I don't know how everyone will react…and Ron…well, he's got a temper and doesn't always think first. It would just be safer to have everything here.”

And that was the second crack in Harry's ties to Wizarding Britain. Between Ron’s jealousy over the TriWizard Tournament and his two friends acceding to Dumbledore's wishes to keep him isolated and in the dark all summer, as he was grieving Cedric's death and fearing what Voldemort’s return might bring, the Golden Trio was on decidedly rocky ground.

A thought crossed Harry's mind. “Oh no, what about Sirius? He's locked away in…umm…er…I can't say. But he's innocent and we need to get him a trial. Plus, I think he needs some help. He kept confusing me with my dad. But if I disappear, what's to stop someone threatening to give him up to the Aurors to make me come back?” Harry's trust in Dumbledore was waning at quite the fast pace now.

Flitwick was surprised by the issue of Sirius Black, not being an Order of the Phoenix member. But it didn't take much explanation to cover the salient facts for Ragnok, Firelock and Filius.

After a silent communication of looks and nods between the Buruzagi and his deputy, Ragnok announced, “Don't worry about Black, Harry. We'll take care of it. That's another vault all tied up because of the legal mess. It would be worth our while to get that gold back in circulation and your godfather freed. Dobby, can you get to the place where Sirius Black is staying?” The free elf nodded enthusiastically.

“I'll arrange a portkey that can take him to the Gringotts branch in Luxembourg. They refused to join the ICW when it was created and conveniently have no extradition treaty with the British Ministry of Magic. That will keep him safe from the Ministry, Wizengamot and Chief Warlock. We can also arrange for Healers to see him there, Harry. Then we'll set the legal department to create an open and shut case to present to the DMLE.”

Ragnok smiled at Harry's fervent thanks. He was developing rather a soft spot for this orphaned boy who'd had such a rough go in the four odd years he'd been back in the Wizarding world. He'd go a long way to make things right for the lad. After all, someone should…for once in his life.

“Alright then, it's getting late, you've had an eventful evening and we all have a lot to contemplate and plan. Dobby, sorry to give you more work, not that you mind, I know. Would you please retrieve those belongings from Hogwarts. When you get back, I'll have the letter and portkey for Mr Black ready for you to deliver. Harry, would you like to add a note as well?”

Harry nodded and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.

Ragnok continued, “Firelock, can you arrange for a visitor’s suite to be readied for our guests? I think it would be good for us to all get a good night's sleep before making any big decisions. Let's meet back here at 8 am and we'll discuss what you want to do next over breakfast. Firelock, can you clear my morning? I think we'll have much to talk about.”

Firelock grabbed parchment of his own to get all those balls rolling and urged the visitors to grab a cup of tea or more sparkling juice, and enjoined them to help him finish off the pastries, lest his wife take him to task over his diet yet again. A chuckle went around the table at that and everyone was happy to oblige. Harry finished his letter to Sirius, explaining what the Guduriak were planning in order to help free him, then happily polished off the last treacle tarts, just to keep Firelock out of trouble from feeling obliged to finish them himself.

Dobby returned shortly, everyone's belongings shrunk down into a drawstring bag. He then popped out to Grimmauld Place, finding Sirius alone there. Harry and Ragnok's letters helped explain things and the plans they'd made, but it was Dobby's description of the duel with Umbridge and a report he'd received from Tansy while he'd been at Hogwarts, that Dumbledore was unhappy he couldn't cover the whole thing up, that sealed the deal for Sirius agreeing to go to Luxembourg. Dobby had him packed in no time and fifteen minutes later, the erstwhile fugitive was comfortably ensconced in a guest suite at the Gringotts Bank that was hidden within the ramparts of the walled city. His only regret was not getting to say goodbye to Harry in person.

As Sirius was getting settled into his new quarters, Harry, Filius, Dobby and Hagrid were doing the same in Gringotts London. Magic expansion charms had adjusted Hagrid's room to the perfect size, while Dobby's had been shrunk accordingly as well. With individual ensuites and a good sized living area, they'd be very comfortable for however long it took to decide what their next steps would be. Filius urged Harry to take the Dreamless Sleep potion that had been left on his bedside table, knowing the boy would just stay awake and fret otherwise, before patting him comfortably on the shoulder and wishing him goodnight. All Harry could think, as the potion took over, was that this was the closest he'd ever gotten to being tucked in at night. Sleep carried him away as the thought floated through, ‘Being taken care of was kind of nice.’

Chapter Text

By breakfast time the next morning, the entire school knew something of importance had happened the evening before. The cordoning off of the charms corridor hadn't stopped the lookie-lou's from peering down the hallway and seeing both Aurors and Unspeakables at work, even though Umbridge had been secured in a side classroom until she could be locked away in the Ministry holding cells. Amelia Bones was taking no chances of Minister Fudge exerting influence and freeing his Undersecretary, before she could enact her own plans to keep the woman under lock and key.

McGonagall, the night before, had asked Hermione to keep quiet about Harry's disappearance for now, but that warning had come to naught. The fraught fifty year hadn't been able to refrain from spending a hand-wringing, anxious evening, emoting all over Ron. She may have been whispering in a corner with her friend, but the Gryffindor tower residents tended to be pretty attuned to the antics of the so-called Golden Trio, so it was obvious something was up. When Harry didn't sleep in the dorm that night, the rumours began to fly even more strongly, and quickly spread to all the other Houses.

Dumbledore sat mutely at the Head Table, aware of the gossiping students (and staff for that matter), but perhaps for the first time, at a loss for how to spin the circumstances to look like he had things under his control. He'd lost a lot of credibility within the Wizarding world, with Fudge’s campaign to discredit his assertion that Voldemort had returned. In the end, he made a simple announcement that the three absent professors had been called away on an emergency and made no mention of Harry at all.

Minerva McGonagall had spent an uncomfortable night in self-reflection. She'd been forced to take a hard look at herself when admitting to Madam Bones that Harry had tried to report issues with his detention with Umbridge and she'd shut him out, telling him to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. When Auror Robards had found the blood quill in the witch’s office, with traces of blood from more than one student, and presented that evidence to his boss in clear sight of the deputy Headmistress, she'd been shocked to the core. The normally poker faced Severus Snape, waiting to make his own statement, was visibly startled also. He even offered to customise a scar removal potion to treat the notoriously difficult to remove scars for any student impacted by Umbridge’s actions. He too had a night of uncomfortable thoughts as he contemplated the fact that Umbridge had been torturing Lily's son for months now, and he'd failed in his promise to protect the boy.

The loud flutter of many owls winging in caught everyone's attention. The Daily Prophet had arrived, later in the breakfast meal than normal, though no one was surprised once the headlines were revealed. It seemed the Ministry was leaking like an old cauldron, as per usual.

‘UMBRIDGE ARRESTED FOR ATTACK ON STAFF AND STUDENTS AT HOGWARTS!’ read the headline.

The smaller headlines fanned the frenzy. ‘Aurors investigating missing professors and Boy Who Lived’, ‘Students tortured by Ministry appointee’ and ‘Minister Fudge denies all allegations’ got all tongues wagging in the Great Hall.

When Madam Bones appeared and made an announcement that any student who'd had detention with Professor Umbridge should remain behind after breakfast, the uproar rose even further in volume. In the end, Professor McGonagall had to shoot off a series of popping sparks to calm things down, upon which she sent students off to their lessons, minus those Amelia had requested to stay behind. Within an hour, six students were under Madam Pomfrey’s care for blood quill damage in the Infirmary (all were Muggleborn or Half Bloods and none with influential parents), with another three sleeping off calming draughts after realising how close they'd come to being physically tortured as well. By lunchtime, those details had spread throughout the school, of course, and parents received letters with all the gory details by the time they sat down to dinner that evening. Needless to say, none of the information stayed out of the hands of Daily Prophet reporters.

This was a distinct upside to the rumour mill’s efficiency at Hogwarts and the Ministry, Amelia would muse to her old colleague Alastor Moody, a few days later. She'd recalled the grizzled retiree to service as a favour between friends, primarily to ensure the security of the Ministry lock up, and that no one would spirit Umbridge away and avoid justice.

“The outrage over the use of a blood quill on students has had quite an interesting effect on public opinion about many things. It's been fascinating to watch,” she commented over a cup of tea she was sharing with the old Auror.

“Aye, wizards may be a gullible lot and believe whatever the Prophet prints every morning, but they are protective of their children,” Mad-Eye responded. “If Potter shows up with a scar from that toad, it'll likely turn public opinion completely around about Voldemort’s return.”

“That's what I'm hoping for, Alastor. With any luck, we'll get a vote of no confidence and Cornelius will be out, and we can go after Voldemort and his Death Eaters. When that happens, I want you to run a taskforce to ensure we cut him and his supporters off at the knees. He's going to be done for good once you and I have finished with him, if I've got any say in the matter.” Amelia's voice rang with determination.

“Amelia lass, you have yourself a deal. Let's take the dark bastard down!” and they sealed it with a clink of drinking flask to teacup.

Elsewhere, in an undisclosed location, said dark bastard shivered slightly, as though someone had walked over his grave. He soon forgot the sensation but it appeared Magic wouldn't and had taken Amelia and Alastor’s vows entirely seriously.

++++++++

Saul Croaker and his crew of three Unspeakables were enjoying themselves more than most that morning. They'd spent a good portion of the night crawling over every inch of the charms corridor, recording all manner of trace magics, including detailed evidence of each spell bearing Umbridge’s magical signature for Bones to use in prosecution. But what had gotten them excited the most was the chance to examine and trace the magic of a house-elf executing a fire portal. The phenomenon was so rare, and they were seldom called in so soon after the event to examine the residual magic or to be able to track where those using the portal went.

In the early hours of the morning, Croaker had been prepared to try to follow the portal's path and left behind two of his staff to finish the investigation at Hogwarts, while he took the third Unspeakable with him. Croaker wasn't the sort of wizard to stay ignorant of the non-magical world. You didn’t get to run the Department of Mysteries if you lacked a curious mind. So he was very aware of Muggle technology and transportation and had noted a similarity between the fire portal and the contrails left from the passage of jet aeroplanes.

He briefly explained the phenomenon to his coworker, then expressed it wasn't a visible magical trail they would be following, but a faint path containing the fire portal signature. The main issue was it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to determine the original direction they'd travelled, and he was hoping like crazy that the portal could only travel in a straight line, as the crow flies. His plan was to make a circuit of Hogwarts using Apparition, a short distance outside of the castle boundaries, and try to pick up the contrail. Once the direction was determined, they'd be making short hops to follow that trail, hoping to determine a final destination.

To Unspeakable Twenty-two’s surprise, he saw his boss pull a shrunken wad of Ordnance Survey Maps out of his cloak and expand them to normal size. At his questioning look, Croaker barked, “We're going to be short hop Apparating the length of this country. I'd prefer we didn't land in some Muggle's living room. We wizards have nothing like the Ordnance Survey maps. Use the best tools you have available, I've always said, no matter the source.”

That matter settled, they split the area around the castle in two, proceeded to hop to a dozen locations apiece at a distance of a mile away, then reconvened at their original meeting place. Croaker had gotten lucky and picked up the trail south-southeast of the school. They did roughly five mile hops then, triangulating from each position to plot the fire portal's trajectory. By the time they were thirty miles from Hogwarts, Croaker was fairly convinced they were headed towards London, though there were a few mixed communities of Muggles and magicals, like Ottery-St Catchpole that sat between London and the coast that could not be ruled entirely out.

By the time the sun was up, they'd reached London and done a sweep south of the city to ensure the portal hadn't travelled any further. The last contrail signature was picked up roughly in the vicinity of Diagon Alley, but couldn't reveal any greater specificity than that. Given the background of the Charms Professor/Head of Ravenclaw House, Croaker had strong suspicions of where the four had landed, but he'd be sharing his thoughts with Amelia Bones only. He simply did not trust anyone else at the Ministry with such information.

But first, he'd be getting some sleep. He was getting way too old to be short hop Apparating the entire length of a country anymore. The information would hold a few hours yet and he was sure Amelia had plenty of other things to manage for now. With that, Croaker Apparated one last time into his office, sat in his chair and put his head down on the desk. Within seconds, he was dead to the world and would stay that way until a house-elf popped into his office with a tray bearing his usual lunch order.

++++++++

Bolstered by a good night's sleep, the four Hogwarts escapees reconvened in Ragnok's office over breakfast as planned. They had plenty to do, and a couple of things to add to the agenda now that the story had hit the presses.

“Harry, Filius, Hagrid, we've received three owls to our general mail delivery office, from Madam Bones. There were no trackers on the letters, so they're safe for you to open.” Firelock passed out the correspondence.

Filius quickly opened and scanned the contents. “She's wanting to take our statements and agrees to meet in a secure location of our choosing.”

“I have found Madam Bones to be quite the trustworthy individual in my dealings with her over the years,” Ragnok commented, continuing, “She also shows little of the bias and bigotry most Ministry officials show towards my people. I think it would be a wise thing to accede to her request.”

Both Hagrid and Filius agreed with Ragnok's observations. The DMLE head had a good reputation for even handed dealings those she encountered.

Harry's letter was quite a bit longer and his face fell at the final paragraphs. He passed the letter to Flitwick, who quickly perused it and then handed it to Ragnok.

“I don't think I'm going to get a say in anything that happens next. She's very clear that I'm a minor, absent from school and without the supervision of a guardian. If I go to that meeting, I bet I end up portkeyed back to Hogwarts and under the Headmaster's control by tomorrow night.” It seemed that a good night's sleep had Harry even more clear headed about the fact he'd been manipulated by Dumbledore since his return to the Magical world. Even Hagrid seemed to have considered things a little and was more open to criticism of the man, given he didn't have a single objection to Harry's bitter observation.

Ragnok addressed the downcast teen. “I know we only met last night, but do you trust me to represent your interests with the DMLE and even the Wizengamot, if needed?”

Harry seemed cheered at having Ragnok on his side, but didn't see how that changed things, given he was a wizard and subject to Dumbledore and the Wizengamot’s orders. The trial for underage magic over the summer had made that all too clear.

Having heard the boy’s concerns, the Buruzagi offered a solution, one that could be taken up by all four of them. “If you were to request asylum with my people, something guaranteed by multiple treaties, this would put you under our protection and allow me, as the head of the London clan, to act on your behalf. That would let me negotiate for a change in guardianship, because it is clear Dumbledore isn't serving your best interests, perhaps putting Filius or Hagrid in his place, as well as controlling the access the Wizengamot and DMLE have to you.”

He paused for a moment to assess reactions to that news, then went on, “However, that would also show our hand as to where you have hidden yourselves. But as long as you remain in the bank or in the Enklabe, our underground home right below us, you would be safe on Guduriak sovereign territory. We also have means of connecting to Enklabes around the world, so you wouldn't necessarily need to remain in England long term, if you wished to move elsewhere.”

Turning to his deputy, Ragnok said, “Why don't we get that other correspondence done at my desk and we'll leave this lot to chat?” With that, he filled a plate with a selection of breakfast offerings from the platters in the centre of the conference table and went to his desk on the other side of the office suite. Firelock followed suit and the pair were soon hard at work with other Gringotts business.

The Hogwarts refugees, realising that they also needed to eat, soon had filled plates and were engaged in a discussion of what their next steps would be.

Filius took the lead in the discussion. “Show of hands for all who agree to make a statement to Madam Bones about Umbridge’s actions. As long as our safety and Harry's in particular can be guaranteed.”

Four hands quickly went up, and it seemed Dobby was thrilled to be invited to vote and have his opinion heard.

“So, let's talk about requesting asylum. Pros and cons everyone?” Filius was making his way through a mental list of issues to be discussed.

Harry piped up first. “I feel safer here than I think I've ever felt at Hogwarts. It seems there was always some sort of trouble or danger ahead for me there. If we don't go back, there's people and things I'll miss. But I won't miss the school turning against me for things not under my control, and honestly, not having any of the professors stand up for me either.”

Both professors were shamefaced at Harry's last words. Dumbledore had engineered a school culture of letting the children sort things out and non-intervention by the staff. They could see that in hindsight now, and were not thrilled to have permitted themselves to be manipulated in such a fashion.

“Sorry 'bout tha', Harry. The headmaster always said yeh were coping jus fine an' I trusted 'im. I was wrong ter do so.” Hagrid was much chagrined.

“Indeed. It seems we became too permissive and trusting, and you were subjected to extreme bullying more than once. I apologise to you as well, young man.”

Harry, recognising the honesty in his professors’ apologies, readily accepted their words. Though he had one more thing to say on the issue. “Whether we go back to Hogwarts eventually or not, something needs to be done about all the bullying. Malfoy picks on Neville Longbottom all the time and some of the Slytherins sabotage our potions most classes. I ran across a girl in Ravenclaw, sir, and she keeps having her things stolen because she's a little different. I've been ostracised by most of my dorm mates this year because of what's been in the Daily Prophet. Those Potter Stinks badges were worn by students in every House last year. It's a lot bigger than the professors realise.”

“Ah, I thought I'd stopped the bullying of Miss Lovegood. Apparently not well enough. You make very valid points, Harry, and I think we can make significant inroads towards addressing what's been going on at the school. Though I think we should save that discussion for another time. Back to the topic of requesting asylum. Shall we vote? Raise your hand if you wish to ask for Guduriak protection.” Four hands went up even faster this time and that issue was settled.

“Harry, you perhaps have the greatest to risk in this whole situation, given how you are perceived by the Wizarding public, not to mention the expectations Dumbledore may have for you.” Filius was speaking very openly and plainly now, this was no time to beat around the bush. “Do you wish to stay in Britain or would you like to make a fresh start somewhere else?”

“I…I think, overall, I'd prefer to go somewhere else. We know Voldemort is back and he won't stay quiet forever. When that happens, we also know most wizards and witches will expect me to sort him out, because of what happened when I was a toddler. But I'm only fifteen. Nobody has bothered to give me any special training and why should I have to be the one to do it all?!? Seems to me, if I'm gone, they might have to take proper action, defend themselves and fix their own problems.”

Dobby let loose a shower of applause at Harry's words. He'd always thought his Harry Potter sir was treated most unfairly by the Wizards. Filius and Hagrid couldn't help but join in with the enthusiastic elf.

“Yeh've hit on the truth there. 'Bout time the adults did their job.” Hagrid, too, had worried about some of the demands that had been forced onto his young friend.

Turning serious again, Filius went around the table to discuss the issue of leaving Britain. He led off with his own views.

“I have taught at Hogwarts for nearly thirty years now and would certainly miss my colleagues and students, not to mention some of the unique quirks of living in that castle. However, teaching is a mobile profession and I have had many offers over the years, from other magical schools and universities around the world. I’m open to leaving this country. And as Ragnok mentioned, the interlinking of the Enklabes allows us easy travel. We could return here if needed, to deal with legal matters or even to see friends and family. As I see it, we became comrades under fire yesterday evening. I would like us to stay together and find a place where we can all thrive.” Another round of applause greeted those words.

Harry then gestured to Dobby, knowing it wasn't easy for the free elf to express his wishes thanks to years of Malfoy abuse. “What do you want to do?”

Dobby's ears perked up at being singled out for his contribution to the discussion. “Dobby wants to stay with the great Harry Potter sir and the professors.” He paused, as if wanting to say more and not sure if it was his place to speak up. Harry squeezed his hand gently in encouragement and so he continued. “Dobby hears there is some countries where elves is having more rights and freedom. Can we be moving to a place that is good to house-elvies?”

The agreement to that request was quick and vehement. Firelock, who'd been keeping half an ear on the discussion, sent off a quick memo to the research department to obtain the information Dobby had requested. Ragnok just smiled at his deputy's actions and continued working through his correspondence.

“Guess 's me turn. I'm stayin' with you lot,” the big man spoke. “But, yeh know they was wrong ter expel me an' snap me wand. Can we go someplace I can get me wand back again?” Another memo shot off to the research department from Firelock’s quill.

“I can tell the authorities what really happened to Myrtle and in the Chamber of Secrets,” Harry offered. Filius realised the young man was actually the only one with all the pieces to prove Hagrid's innocence. He compared the teen with Dumbledore, and all his positions of authority, who had elected to keep Hagrid under his thumb, when he could have pushed for a hearing and Harry's testimony to be heard. It was yet another callous act to lay at the headmaster’s door.

“Thanks, Harry, yeh're a good friend.” Hagrid rounded the conference table and near hugged the stuffing out of the teenager, stopping just in time for the boy to avoid turning blue due to lack of oxygen.

Ragnok and Firelock had watched the antics with considerable amusement. Seeing the discussion was over for now, the pair sat back down at the conference table. “So what's the verdict?” the Buruzagi asked.

Filius played spokesman again and gestured around the group, “We formally wish to ask for asylum for all four of us. And further, we seek your assistance to relocate to another country outside Britain.”

Ragnok nodded in satisfaction at the decision, then had each in turn stand and formally request asylum from the Gobelako Guduriak Londreson (Warriors of Gobela in London), which was the formal clan name.

That formality taken care of, Filius and Hagrid sat back down to write their formal and immediate resignation letters to Dumbledore, then copied them to McGonagall and the Board of Governors, so there'd be no cover up of their reasons for leaving. It was a necessary act, given they were citing institutionalised cruelty and bullying, the Headmaster's complicity in keeping Harry in an abusive home, along with the need to protect an at-risk minor as the critical issues at play.

While the professors were quitting their jobs, Dobby had gleefully returned to Hogwarts and cleaned out Flitwick’s quarters and Hagrid's hut entirely. A much bemused Fang suddenly found himself transported to the Enklabe below Gringotts, where Firelock’s animal loving teenage neighbour, Spatspoke was eagerly waiting to spoil the boarhound rotten. Hagrid got to visit the pair later that day and wondered if he'd ever get his dog back, but couldn't argue with the adoration and care he was receiving.

While all this was going on, Harry was caught in an internal debate of whether he wanted to, or even should, write to Hermione and Ron. Their friendship had been deeply harmed by his friends’ actions, or more accurately inactions, over the summer. That they'd so readily obeyed Dumbledore’s orders to keep him isolated and in the dark had been extremely hurtful. Perhaps more than anyone else, they knew what had happened at the end of the TriWizard Tournament, with Cedric's murder, Voldemort’s return and the things that he'd seen during the duel, not to mention enduring the Cruciatus curse.

Ron, thanks to sharing a dorm with Harry, was also very aware that he'd returned to the Dursleys suffering from nightmares every time he tried to sleep, and had to have some idea of how that would not be welcomed thanks to his previous encounters with the family. Hermione was also smart enough to put the pieces together to realise that his relatives were neglectful, if not outright abusive, and hadn't considered how isolating that would be, after a year of being reviled for so-called cheating his way into the tournament. And yet, they’d unquestioningly gone along with Dumbledore's orders. As had Sirius for that matter, but he wasn't entirely right in the head after twelve years in Azkaban.

The issues with Hermione and Ron’s desertion over the summer had been compounded by their expectations that Harry would just forgive all and let his pain and disappointment go. Perhaps they thought him so desperate for friends that he'd put up with any sort of bad behaviour and just move on. His other reason for being reluctant to write to the pair was his absolute certainty that they'd lay the letter in Dumbledore's hands, within minutes of its receipt.

In the end, despite a couple of scribbled drafts, he held off writing the duo. He was, however, more than happy to write a letter withdrawing from Hogwarts, with the wording carefully checked over by Filius and Ragnok to make sure he'd left no loopholes for Dumbledore to exploit.

Chapter Text

Amelia Bones was rapidly approaching the end of her tether when Saul Croaker strode into her office in the early afternoon. She took one look at the head Unspeakable and snarled, “You got sleep, you bastard. And I just had Fudge in here bleating at me for the last hour, insisting it's all A Misunderstanding and demanding the Toad's release!”

Croaker absorbed the epithet with equanimity. He'd pulled all-nighters before too, and to have to deal with mewling administration officials on top of that, well, being called a bastard was quite mild, all things considered.

“Hmm, Fudge has apparently been spending too much time around Dumbledore, who always seems to be encountering Misunderstandings and not major crises.”

The DMLE director had to swallow a laugh at Croaker's comment before she was fit to ask, “At least tell me you have some idea where Potter and the others are. I can only hold Umbridge for forty-eight hours without formally charging her and I'd feel more comfortable attaching sworn statements to the parchment work that I have to file.”

“I can understand that reasoning,” replied Croaker. “The trail ended in Diagon Alley. I can't identify a more specific location than that. But you know where they are, given one of the professor’s heritage and the fact they've gone totally to ground.”

“They're at Gringotts then. I rather hoped they'd gone to the Guduriak. With any luck, they'll claim asylum and we can add the weight of the treaties to put pressure on Fudge and the Wizengamot to act properly in handling this case.” Amelia developed a rather evil grin as she added, “It's been a good long while since I prosecuted a case in concert with the Gringotts lawyers. It should be loads of fun.”

“For you perhaps, Amelia,” was the chuckled response from Croaker. “Less so for anyone else in the courtroom, particularly the accused. I look forward to the show and especially the fireworks.”

It was a good place to be interrupted then, when Amelia's secretary Mila raced in with several letters bearing the Gringotts seal. “Just arrived by Express Owl, Director Bones.”

Amelia cracked the seals, Saul unashamedly poised himself to read over her shoulder. The first letter was a formal acknowledgement that the three wizards and one free elf had been granted asylum by Buruzagi Ragnok, on behalf of the Klan. The second letter invited Madam Bones to attend Gringotts at ten the next morning, where statements could be taken. The possibility of Veritaserum use and the copying of Pensieve memories was not explicitly ruled out, which led Amelia to believe everyone was going to be open and helpful when it came to extracting evidence. It was honestly the best case scenario all round, given that bringing them into the Ministry for this process would have led to utter chaos, not to mention being a security nightmare.

Quickly, Amelia penned a response that she would be there and would likely bring several Aurors and the Head Unspeakable as well. She didn't think Ragnok would be too perturbed by the plan. The longer the Hogwarts refugees were kept out of the Ministry, Wizengamot and Chief Warlock's hands, the better, in her opinion.

++++++++

The four Hogwarts escapees had enjoyed a lovely, lazy afternoon in the depths of the Guduriak Enklabe deep below Gringotts, in the summer quarter known as Udara. Firelock had taken them to the beach house he and his wife owned and provided a lovely beach picnic. Filius had charmed spare clothes given to them all as swimsuits and they'd enjoyed the fact that out in the regular world it was mid-winter. The four had been pleasantly tired on their return to their quarters in the bank and it had been just the ticket to distract them from fussing about the interviews with Madam Bones the next morning.

When morning came around again, there was a planning meeting in Ragnok's office for the asylum recipients and their strongest supporters, in Ragnok and Firelock. The strategy was pretty simple. They'd only allow one interview at a time, so nobody could be confused or led astray with the questions, particularly if Veritaserum was used. Ragnok was fixed on one point though. Harry was a minor and would not be subjected to Veritaserum; Pensieve memories would have to suffice. And truly, the memories of his detention with Umbridge were horrific enough that further detail should be unnecessary.

Which is essentially how the whole morning played out. It took several hours to gather the statements and other evidence, but for Bones and Croaker this would be an open and shut case. The only deviation from the planning sessions on both sides was when Hagrid admitted to having his ‘umbrella’ at the ready if push came to shove in the Umbridge confrontation.

“Well, I couldn' let her hurt Harry no more, so I took me chances.” Hagrid wasn't going to shy away from owning what he'd done.

Harry, having been frustrated by the issue since his encounter with the young Tom Marvolo Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, couldn't keep quiet any longer.

“But it isn't fair that Hagrid's wand was snapped! He didn't petrify anyone at school and I don't know how they blamed him and Aragog for that. Acromantula only kill; they can't petrify, you must know that. And I proved it was a basilisk anyway. Killed it too…after it nearly killed me. Good thing Fawkes was there to save the day.”

Harry looked around after his statement and was a bit surprised to see every adult's jaw dropped in shock and surprise. “What, didn't Dumbledore tell you all what happened at the end of my second year? The shade of Voldemort, or Riddle as he was at school, possessed a student, woke up the sixty foot basilisk which caused the petrifications and he nearly regained a body. Hermione was petrified, so Ron and I went to save...um…the possessed student, only Lockhart tried to turn on us and there was a rock fall that blocked the tunnel so I had to go on alone.”

Harry had pretty much run out of words at that point. The problem was every single adult in the room, Guduriak and human alike, was at a total loss for how to respond to that revelation. Weirdly enough, it was Hagrid that regained the power of speech first and he clapped the teen on the back approvingly.

“‘S good o' yeh ter take up fer me. Thanks, lad.”

Harry beamed at the kind words. For all he'd done at Hogwarts, the people he'd saved, directly or indirectly, it was quite rare to receive any genuine thanks. Sure, the Wizarding public liked to fawn over him, but as far as Harry was concerned, what had happened when he was fifteen months old was either engineered by his parents or pure accidental magic and nothing he'd ever be able to replicate. Claiming to be some kind of victor had always felt wrong.

Amelia was the first to recover the power of speech after this latest revelation. She asked Harry for the memory of his encounter with the school-aged Riddle and he was happy to oblige. She and Croaker viewed the memory privately at first, and they were each amused and shocked that Voldemort had revealed his true identity so readily. Neither Ministry official was a fool. They knew that broadcasting this memory in a Wizengamot courtroom would be the first nail in the world-be dark lord's coffin. Riddle was not a Wizarding name and that revelation would inevitably torpedo the pureblood agenda.

Harry didn't realise he'd just fired the first shot that would ultimately win the war, though Madam Bones and Croaker had an inkling that such was the case. Still, there was much yet to be done (not the least was ridding the Wizengamot of Death Eaters) so there'd be no premature celebrations just yet.

In the meantime, Madam Bones promised to restore Hagrid's wand rights, even if she had to go to the ICW to rectify the problems. Croaker had immense fun pointing out to Hagrid that, despite his truncated education, which would normally limit him from using his wand, even at his age, with just a single OWL under his belt, he'd become a fully qualified wizard with no restrictions on wand use.

Hagrid, excited by his prospects, took the hint quite readily and wondered how much studying he'd need to take the OWL in Care of Magical Creatures, given he was teaching the subject. Croaker volunteered to send over a study guide and a couple of pertinent books, then cheerfully asked, ‘So would a fortnight be long enough for you to review, Hagrid? I can schedule the exam any time. Might as well strike while the iron's hot.”

Hagrid was a bit flustered by the speed at which things were moving, but soon realised the wisdom in making sure Harry had another (legally) wanded wizard at his back.

“Yeah, I reckon two weeks ought ter do it.” The big man grinned broadly, as the remaining adults in the room shuddered a bit at the thought of Hagrid running loose with a wand. Harry merely smiled. He'd take another fierce protector looking out for him any day of the week.

++++×××+

Returning to the Ministry, Amelia and Croaker's luck finally ran out, when they exited the Floo from Gringotts to find Dumbledore stepping out of the fireplace to their left. Unfortunately, as Chief Warlock, and with the Umbridge case inevitably headed for a Wizengamot trial, he had some standing to wish to discuss how things would proceed.

Amelia, wanting to avoid airing the evidence and charges before the entire Ministry, could not avoid moving the discussion to her office, where it would be much harder to expel Dumbledore from later. However, when Croaker made noises like he'd leave the two of them to get on with and return to his own office, he found his arm held in a death grip and ended up with little choice but to follow the DMLE head meekly.

Of course, the wizard who wore too many hats, could not confine his curiosity to the Umbridge case and upcoming trial. His first question was, unsurprisingly, “Where is Harry Potter?”, before rapidly asserting that it was unsafe for the boy to leave Hogwarts, not to mention that, as Harry Potter's magical guardian, he had the right to know everything that was going on.

That last assertion had Amelia raising her eyebrows and questioning if Dumbledore truly was the boy's guardian. She knew from her discussions with Harry that morning, that his Muggle relatives weren't good to him, and had left the bank resolved to explore the lad's situation further. She swiftly wrote a memo and folded it into a plane before sending it airborne.

Her actions caught Dumbledore’s curiosity and he asked, “May I enquire who you just contacted, given we are currently engaged in a private discussion, my dear?”

Croaker had to swallow his chuckle. He knew his colleague had just started something he'd enjoy watching. Seeing Dumbledore caught up in his own machinations was a rare treat.

“Oh, I just requested that Liam Childe join us, and bring Mr Potter's records from the WCWD.” (Wizarding Children's Welfare Department)

“Oh surely there's no need to interrupt his busy day.” Dumbledore found himself on the back foot, a place he was unaccustomed to being.

“Given Mr Potter will be providing key evidence in Umbridge’s trial, we need to make sure all is in order with his home life and guardiancy. There are some on the Wizengamot who are ruthless enough to use any minor discrepancy, such as a guardian's authority to allow his testimony, to ensure Umbridge’s freedom.”

Dumbledore opened his mouth, likely intending to argue or offer platitudes, his usual form of manipulating people, but was interrupted by the arrival of the Welfare Department chief.

Liam Childe had no compunction in confronting Dumbledore. “Why does Mr Potter's file contain only an Order from you, as the Chief Warlock, sealing the case file and circumventing all the protections in place for orphaned Wizarding children? Not to mention, the case file itself is layered with Notice-Me-Not charms bearing your magical signature?”

“It was critical that Harry be secured immediately. There were still many Voldemort supporters at large and Minister Bagnold, along with the then DMLE Director Crouch agreed he needed to be somewhere out of the Wizarding public's eye. They agreed that it would be best if I was given the role of magical guardian, because I was more closely acquainted with James and Lily Potter, and their wishes for Harry.” Dumbledore spoke assertively on the issue, convinced he was in the right.

“Oh well, because it was you three who ‘decided’, that makes the whole thing legal then...NOT!” Liam was beyond incensed. They'd broken just about every single law he'd worked hard to get in place for the protection of their world's orphans.

Dumbledore began to attempt to bluster his way out of trouble, but was quickly stared into silence. “If you recall, I was appointed the WCWD director in 1979. Surely you didn't consider me to be a Voldemort supporter at the time Harry's parents were killed? It was my department's job to investigate if there was evidence of the parent's wishes, and absent that, take over as magical guardian until such time as a suitable long term option could be found, cleared by my department and ratified by the Wizengamot. Madam Bones, I wish to formally notify you that our normal departmental protocols are now in place, and I will be Mr Potter's legal guardian until further notice.”

Amelia readily agreed to that change and asked Liam to wait after the meeting, to discuss Harry's situation further. She then turned to Dumbledore and coolly advised him he'd be notified via the usual means when Umbridge’s trial would be convened, and that they had nothing further to discuss. Croaker happily assisted the Chief Warlock to the door, before shutting said door and sweeping for listening spells. To nobody's surprise, there was indeed a listening spell active in the room, while Amelia and Liam had both been hit with tracking spells. Dumbledore, it seemed, was not ready to give up his attempts to control the situation.

Amelia informed Childe that Harry and the professors had taken sanctuary with the Guduriak. Knowing he had no authority in their sovereign territory, the WCWD sent off a request to Buruzagi Ragnok, to allow him to interview Mr Potter and ensure his well-being and discuss future plans. He'd have to wait for a reply. With that done, he returned to his own office, frustrated by Dumbledore's manipulations of an orphaned child.

Amelia Bones and Saul Croaker also left her office shortly after. Having all their ducks in a row with the statements and memories they'd collected that morning, they had great delight in descending to the holding cells and formally charging Umbridge with possession of a blood quill and seven counts of assault on a minor with a banned magical object. Their joy at silencing the horrible witch and watching her stomp and rage at their audacity made the last few days feel incredibly worthwhile.

++++++++

It was nearly the end of the workday when Croaker heard a voice in the Department of Mysteries lobby area that had him cringing once more. How Dumbledore routinely managed to bypass the department’s security measures always drove him crazy. Knowing it was easier just to acquiesce to the encounter than play silly power games, he headed to the lobby.

“Thank you, Unspeakable Fifteen. I'll take it from here.” Turning to the wizard in the always lurid robes, he asked impatiently, “What is it now, Albus?”

Dumbledore followed Croaker to his office before answering. “You must understand, it is imperative that Harry Potter be returned to Hogwarts and under close supervision. For reasons I am unable to share, you have to see that he is key to defeating Voldemort.”

The head Unspeakable snorted in disbelief. “And I suppose it's to the greater good that you're the only one who knows why? Have you ever considered what would happen if you were suddenly incapacitated or died, old man? We'd all be left without key information, particularly that fifteen year old boy that you like to put so much onto. No, Albus, I will have nothing further to do with you or your plans if you continue to keep me in the dark.”

Dumbledore could see that Croaker was resolute in that declaration. Yet, at the same time, he had the potential to be the best ally in his planning to defeat Voldemort. Reluctantly and with more than a little recalcitrance, the older wizard finally folded. He wouldn't share everything, but enough to get Croaker on the side of the Greater Good.

The headmaster opened with, “Back in the early summer of 1980, I was interviewing Sybill Trelawney for the Divination position. During the interview, she made a prophecy that the one to defeat the dark lord would be born at the end of July, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times. Unfortunately, one of his spies heard the first half of the prophecy and relayed it to him, leading to the attacks on the Potters and Longbottoms. Both boys were born at the end of July, one day apart in fact.”

“Oh Merlin,” Croaker exclaimed. “You're basing your strategy to defeat Voldemort on the words of a sherry-soaked witch who hasn't been sober in the last twenty years? You've lost your mind, old man.”

“But it came true. Harry Potter's family was attacked, Voldemort marked him with a scar as his equal, and ended up almost destroyed in the encounter. So I think we can rely on the validity of the prophecy.” Dumbledore's last words had an air of ‘So there!’ to them.

“Have you never heard of self-fulfilling prophecies? Voldemort knew half of it and of course that paranoid fool put the prophecy into play. But have you rechecked the prophecy orb since? After all, young Harry survived the encounter, while his opponent could barely be considered alive afterwards.”

“No, I don't have access to the Hall of Prophecy, as you very well know.” Croaker easily picked up on Dumbledore's sense of disgruntled entitlement with that statement.

Responding with asperity, Croaker replied, “Well, if you'd ever shared this information with me, or even asked to see if a prophecy you had witnessed had been fulfilled, you'd have your answers, wouldn't you? I suppose you'd better follow me.”

Rising, the chief Unspeakable led Dumbledore through a series of corridors and back rooms, finally arriving at the staff entrance to the Hall of Prophecy. It was a bit of a longer route, but at least it let him skip the room of spinning doors, which always gave him a bout of vertigo. He consulted a ledger by the door and led the way to row ninety-seven, then to an eye-level shelf about a third of the way down the row. The orb was completely black, not even the dimmest of dim glows emanated from the smoked glass globe. Either Harry's survival back in 1981 had met the conditions of the prophecy or Dumbledore had been completely wrong in who the prophecy was in relation to.

“Noooo, it's not possible.” The shock was evident on the elderly wizard's face and in the tone of his voice. “Harry must be the one to defeat Voldemort now that he has returned. Voldemort will certainly continue to target the boy, and after all, there is the matter of the scar.” He tapered off there, suddenly realising he wasn't alone, and it was a wizard the calibre of Croaker who was party to his thoughts.

For the second time today, the headmaster found himself caught in the Unspeakable's iron grasp; this time he was propelled back to Croaker's office and shoved into the chair facing the desk.

“Explain about Mr Potter's scar…NOW!”

Dumbledore began his usual obfuscation, babbling that the knowledge was too dangerous to share, and only he knew how to handle the situation. However, the death glare he received from across the desk soon penetrated enough to shut him up, and the threat of Veritaserum had him spilling the secret. Somehow, he'd forgotten that Croaker, as Head Unspeakable, had the authority to use the truth potion and rumour had it, the Department of Mysteries version was considerably more potent.

In minutes, Dumbledore had shared his suspicions that Harry's scar contained a Horcrux, a piece of Voldemort’s soul, from that Halloween night attack in 1981. His ‘evidence’ was Harry's destruction of Quirrellmort in his first year and the encounter with the diary Voldemort in second year (which he asserted was also a Horcrux), along with how the boy's scar pained him when he encountered the dark lord.

Croaker couldn't help but groan at Dumbledore's assertions that Voldemort had created Horcruxes and that Harry was one.

“Let me guess. You've never actually verified the presence of foreign magic or a Horcrux in Harry's scar, right? Maybe contacted us Unspeakables? Or had him visit the Guduriak healers?”

The older wizard immediately got defensive. “I didn't dare. My scans the day after the attack indicated dark magic to be present, but it appeared to be contained. Can you imagine if it had gotten out back then, that The Boy Who Lived carried a piece of Voldemort inside him? The Wizarding public would have torn him limb from limb!”

“You old fool,” Croaker snarled, “I'm not talking about taking out an ad in the Daily Prophet. But surely you could have discreetly consulted experts in the field. And if you had done so, you'd have found that we Unspeakables have definitively proven that Horcruxes die when attached to another human being. We established that well over two centuries ago!”

“Ahh, but what about the wraith and the diary? And Voldemort’s return?” Dumbledore refused to be dressed down like one of his students.

“My guess would be they were created through ritual magic and not via splitting the soul. I would have to examine the diary to know definitively, as well as take a look at Mr Potter's scar and discuss Voldemort’s return. But I’ll tell you loud and clear, Harry is not carrying a Horcrux, so feel free to cancel any plans you might have had to use the boy as a weapon against Voldemort.” Meanwhile, Croaker was mentally rearranging his schedule for the following morning to spend it gathering more information from Harry.

Dumbledore, however, wasn't ready to yield. “I insist I be permitted to witness whatever testing and interviews you wish to undertake with young Harry. As his magical guardian.
..”

Croaker had had enough at this point. His voice got very low and pointed. “You are not Harry's magical guardian, you have no expertise in soul and ritual magic, and you have no standing whatsoever in this case. Now leave. One of my Unspeakables will be at Hogwarts at eight tomorrow morning to collect that diary. Do not attempt to stop that from happening or you will not like the consequences.”

Unafraid to hide his menacing side now, the head Unspeakable had the perverse delight of manhandling Dumbledore out of a room for the third time that day, despite the older wizard's protests. All that was left to do was make a couple of quick firecalls to Amelia and Ragnok to relay the most recent events and he was off home. After all, his wife had mentioned she'd be roasting a leg of lamb for dinner and she'd promised a nice Barolo to go with it. Still, after the day he'd had, Croaker felt he deserved a shot of fire whiskey first thing. He felt the need to let off a little steam, and that pun was absolutely intended.

Chapter Text

Despite feeling like it had been an age, the four asylum seekers had realised over breakfast that they'd only been gone from Hogwarts for a little over two days; it all seemed rather surreal. They'd spent their mornings dealing with the insanity that had erupted following Umbridge’s attack and their afternoons relaxing in the Guduriak Enklabe deep below their feet. Two days before, they'd spent the afternoon on a summery beach, yesterday it had been learning to cross-country ski in Negua, the wintry portion of the Enklabe. Who knew that Filius Flitwick was an afficionado of the sport or that Dobby would take to it as well, as if he'd been born to it.

The memories of freedom and joy however were being consumed by the stresses of the newest information they had to take on board. Somehow, in only three days, it had become habit for the Hogwarts escapees to take their morning meal with Buruzagi Ragnok and his deputy, Firelock. This morning, they were joined by Head Unspeakable Saul Croaker, bearing the less than comforting news of the reasons for Dumbledore's paranoia.

Separated as they were from the cult of the Greater Good, it took only the work of minutes to explain the fallacies of Dumbledore's assumptions about Harry's role in defeating Voldemort. This was swiftly reinforced when Unspeakable Fourteen arrived with the destroyed diary and every question of Horcruxes being involved was easily ruled out.

Instead, between Croaker and the chief Healer of the Guduriak, Harry's scar was examined, an Avada Kedavra trace linked to Voldemort was discovered (something heretofore unknown given Harry's unique survival of the curse), and the dark magic residue was easily cleansed, which allowed the scar to heal fully at last.

Given the Guduriak Healer was there and Harry had given a few hints that his home life with the Dursleys was less than ideal, in short order, Filius persuaded Harry to permit a full healing scan. By ten o'clock that morning, all signs of malnutrition had been reversed, the forehead curse scar was gone, Harry had perfect lens free eyesight and he was already showing signs of gaining weight and muscle bulk. Both Ragnok and Firelock found themselves doing a double take when they all came together for their lunchtime meal, the changes were that dramatic.

That morning's Daily Prophet had little substantive information to add to the whole farrago. Unfortunately, it did not stop the editor from allowing specious and reckless flights of fancy from being published in the name of news. Sadly, Rita Skeeter had been allowed to speculate on Harry's absence from the castle, and it was less about the attack by Umbridge (in fact, those details were entirely absent) and more about the ‘fact’ that Potter had bowed to his innate cowardice and refused to take his assigned detentions as any other Hogwarts student would readily do.

The icing on the crap cake came in the form of four letters from people who should have known better. Hermione and Ron had each sent missives enjoining Harry to return to Hogwarts, and into the Headmaster's guiding hands, to sort out all of the Umbridge issues. The accompanying overtly patronising letter from Dumbledore, reiterating the same drivel, stirred Harry not at all. He was used to that trio slavishly bowing down to the Greater Good agenda.

What did hurt was the Howler he received from Molly Weasley. It had been a painful enough experience to simply witness the phenomenon that she'd dealt to her own children over the years, but to have the woman who was closest to a mother figure in his life accuse him of becoming one of Voldemort’s own, simply for standing apart from the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, irreparably broke something in so-called Boy Who Lived. It was the experience that inadvertently severed Harry's last tie to Wizarding Britain, and those ties of Filius Flitwick, Rubeus Hagrid and Free Elf Dobby as well. The now tightly bound group would forever have each other's backs. The only spots of light, in that morning, were letters of support that Harry received from Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, who'd somehow perceived that Harry had stood as their champion.

++++++++

Madam Bones was having no less of a challenging morning. Despite overwhelming evidence of Umbridge’s guilt, she was still having to deal with Fudge’s machinations, along with those within the Wizengamot who'd prefer to further the Toad's ugly ambitions.

Still, her evidence was overwhelming and having the additional memories from Harry about Voldemort’s half-blood status would hopefully do wonders. She'd been trying to stir up the middle-of-the-roaders for years; since the last war ended actually.

The permissive attitude of ‘we've always done it this way’, seemed to be the default position of many in the Wizengamot, not to mention the broader population as well. That attitude had allowed the rise of Voldemort once and so many deaths in a population that could ill-afford those losses (including the greatest part of her own family).

Amelia vowed to herself that she'd be damned if she allowed a repeat of those times and made a mental note to see if Harry would permit her to take Pensieve memories of Voldemort’s return ritual as well. The shock value of witnessing the so-called dark lord turning himself into something visibly less than human might change a few more minds. Identifying those Death Eaters who answered his call would be a worthwhile undertaking as well.

Liam Childe was due to visit Harry that afternoon, so perhaps she could tag along then. In the meantime, she arranged to send out notices that Umbridge would go to trial a week from today at 9 am, before the full Wizengamot. She'd be personally acting as prosecutor, knowing it would allow her to judge more readily when and how to spring Harry's testimony on the audience.

The DMLE head then scheduled an inquiry hearing (not trial) into Hagrid's wand snapping incident, knowing that she could slip more of Harry's memories into the more informal proceedings. Perhaps, if luck was on her side, they'd also be scheduling a vote of no-confidence thanks to Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge’s actions shortly after both events. Amelia couldn't help but cross her fingers for that to happen.

The visit to Gringotts with Liam Childe went as well as Amelia had anticipated, better in fact regarding one aspect of her plans. When she'd collected Harry's memories of Voldemort’s return, he'd also offered further recollections regarding Fudge’s response to the news of Voldemort’s return. The fact he'd summarily ordered Barty Crouch Junior to be Kissed (an act well outside of his Ministerial powers) and then totally denied Harry's experience of Voldemort’s return would seal the deal. Now she just had to make sure that vote of no confidence happened next week.

++++++++

In the week between Madam Bones' last visit and Umbridge’s trial, the four asylum recipients continued to take advantage of the generous Guduriak hospitality. Hagrid spent much of the time studying madly for his Care of Magical Creature OWLs, leaving the bank only one time under a rather robust glamour charm cast by Flitwick, to brush up on a few practical aspects of the class at the Welsh Magical Zoo.

The four continued to take breakfast each day with Ragnok and Firelock, with discussions about future plans usually following for an hour or so each day. Liam Childe, as Harry's temporary magical guardian, had ruled that while he remained a minor and under protection of the Guduriak, the Wizengamot had no authority to assign a permanent magical guardian for the boy.

That decision both simplified and complicated their decision making process for where to go next. They basically had a year-and-a-half until Harry reached his majority, and he would have to stay largely out of sight of the Wizarding world and particularly Wizarding Britain for the duration. That essentially ruled out transferring Harry to another magical school in a different country. None of the adults would put it past Dumbledore or Voldemort’s supporters trying to snatch Harry and return him to Britain.

Hagrid came up with the best laid plan, surprisingly. He'd found he was enjoying being a student again, and was rather hoping to catch up so he could take additional OWLs with Harry at the end of the school year, and maybe even progress to NEWTs and consider a Mastery. He was painfully aware most considered him ‘simple’ thanks to his speech and former naivety regarding Dumbledore and his intentions.

Filius had been pleasantly surprised by how quickly Hagrid took to being a student again, and was full of support for the large man’s goals. When Dobby also intimated his interest in taking some classes, if it could be arranged, that sealed the deal. Especially when Harry, now thoroughly exhausted with being the Boy Who Lived, expressed a desire to stay out of the public eye as well. That settled things, all three would become Filius’ tutoring students for whatever classes he could cover and they'd hire others to teach additional subjects.

Money was no object for this undertaking. They'd be living rent free in whatever Enklabe they chose to settle in. Harry had his trust vault which he’d barely accessed and both Hagrid and Flitwick, having lived simply year round at Hogwarts, had considerable savings as well. Filius also had his Guduriak inheritance vault from his father, so they were well set for the next eighteen months or so.

Education plans now in place (with both Ragnok and Firelock vowing to make sure any vaults were topped up as needed), attention turned to just where they could execute such plans. The Buruzagi and his deputy were all for the four to stay in the London Enklabe, having grown quite attached in the few days that they'd spent together. But they also knew that Dobby would have few freedoms remaining in Britain, and Harry wouldn't be able to escape the media and public’s attention that would only grow when it was proven that Voldemort had truly returned.

Firelock had been busy with his research and presented more than a few options. One solution was to join Sirius in Luxembourg, where the Wizengamot would not be able to extradite any of them should they be discovered.

The cons to that suggestion were that creatures (elf Dobby and half-giant Hagrid were included in that designation) were restricted from accessing Wizarding education and were subjected to some less than kind restrictions over their life choices. Harry was also a bit concerned about being so close to Sirius while he was healing, afraid that his resemblance to his father would cause setbacks. Filius’ teaching options were also limited there, as there was no magical school or university. Most students attended Beauxbatons.

Other places in Europe were ruled out simply because of their proximity to Wizarding Britain and the risk of discovery and forced repatriation. Most European nations also had similar limited house-elf rights as Britain, as well.

They spent almost a full morning considering other English speaking nations. Ragnok and Firelock, returning from a meeting in Amsterdam derailed all their assumptions by reminding them that non-Guduriak Gringotts employees had access to a patented spell that would allow them to become fluent in another language in just a week or two, and they'd be happy to permit its use. Given that the group consisted of an elf, a half-giant and a half-Guduriak, along with Harry as the wizard control, it would be a nice little experiment for them, if they ever decided to market the spell for public use.

So then it came down to deciding which country could offer the most freedoms to all four of them, given the mix of magical races involved. The most permissive countries for house-elves were Canada, Australia, Madagascar, Seychelles and most of the Caribbean islands. The smaller island nations offered the same limitations as Luxembourg, with students mostly going elsewhere for a magical education. They stayed on the list but at a lower ranking.

America was considered an option as it was relatively friendly to the creatures, though there was not a large population within the country. House-elf ownership had never really fit the ethos of the nation. Dobby was of an age where he'd like to marry, start a family and perhaps run a business, so the US was not ideal.

It came down, then, to Australia and Canada. Australia also had a smaller house-elf population, though better than America. However, they'd discovered that given the considerable time difference between Australia and Britain, there was a travel lag effect similar to jet lag in Muggles. While Enklabe hopping allowed for quick movement around the globe, the group expected to frequently return to the London Enklabe for visits and just didn't want that hassle.

With that, they concluded the discussion for the day, with Hagrid going to his books, Harry to charms tutoring with Filius, while Dobby took care of a few household chores he insisted on doing, before settling down with a Herbology textbook, determined to join Hagrid and Harry in their studies. By late afternoon, brains full to bursting, they headed to the Enklabe for another beach picnic and some swimming. Hagrid managed to steal Fang back for a few hours from his minder and they had a marvellous time.

Two days before Umbridge’s trial, having exhausted their other options, the four sat down to seriously consider Canada as their new home. Firelock pointed out that various Canadian provinces had more freedom to self-govern, the magical population having mirrored the government system used by the Muggles. The most liberal province in terms of creature rights was Québec, with the magical community mostly centred around the historical Québec City.

Firelock sent out one of their Muggleborn employees to one of the bookstores on nearby Charing Cross Road, for guidebooks on the region, as wizarding guidebooks tended to be prose heavy and outdated. As the asylum recipients pored over the books, it was easy to see they were rather enamoured with the beauty of the region and particularly the old walled city. When Firelock passed over the guidebook created by Gringotts for new employees transferring to Canada and they saw the details of the Québec City Wizarding community, it was all over bar the shouting.

Ragnok personally contacted the Québec City Buruzagi, Digne-Joi, to explain the circumstances of the group's emigration plans and that they would remain under his protection, regardless of where they ended up living. Digne-Joi was touched by the story, Harry's in particular. It didn't hurt that she had a son around the same age, and would hate to see him forced into the same position. By the end of the day, she'd sat with the Elders and related the situation with the four Brits, and received quick approval for them to move into the Québec Enklabe. The timing of the move was yet unclear, but having settled on their future home cheered everyone considerably.

That left the last day before the trials would begin. Madam Bones and Saul Croaker spent several hours with Harry and the others, going over the security details, as well as what to expect when giving testimony in the courtroom. Fortunately, the amount of exposure inside the Ministry could be managed through the use of a secure Floo connection to the witness waiting room, both of which were controlled only by Madam Bones as Head of the DMLE.

For additional security, the courtroom would be sealed and they'd be escorted in by a team of Aurors when called as witnesses. Harry was given permission to wear his invisibility cloak in the hallways and additional protective spells in and around the courtroom would be activated to prevent the use of portkeys.

Harry would also be accompanied at all times by Liam as his magical guardian. Ragnok (with his deputy at his side) would also be in the courtroom thanks to their declared interest in the illegal use of a Gringotts artefact. Knowing he'd have so much support close by made Harry much more comfortable with the proceedings.
After such an intense morning, all three students and their tutor, Filius, were happy to skive off from their lessons and replace that with some ice-skating and skiing in Negua, in the Enklabe below.

Chapter Text

The morning of the trial of Dolores Umbridge started early for Madam Bones. She spent breakfast reviewing her notes, given she was also acting as the prosecutor. She'd heard her opponent was a pureblood hack named Chauncey Buttonwood, who tended to use the ‘we can do anything because we're purebloods’ defence. She looked forward to bursting that bubble when she revealed that Umbridge was actually a half-blood.

The trial went about as Amelia expected. Harry and the other witnesses arrived early and were safely secluded in the witness waiting room, while Ragnok and Firelock happily made a very ostentatious entry into the courtroom.

Amelia's first point of order was to call for Dumbledore, as Chief Warlock, to recuse himself from the trial. She argued that, given his role as Headmaster of Hogwarts and theoretical supervisor of the accused, that he could find objectivity difficult in handling this case. A quick vote of the assembled Wizengamot members saw Dumbledore taking his regular voting seat, while the most senior Wizengamot member, Griselda Marchbanks took over his role. The headmaster was fuming, but there was little that could be done to overturn the decision.

Amelia then explained the presence of Ragnok and Firelock in the court, explaining that given a Guduriak proscribed artefact was central to the case, by treaty, they had standing with the court. There was much muttering by the Wizengamot members, but when presented chapter and verse of the relevant treaties, they were forced to retract their objections.

Finally, Umbridge was brought into the court, struggling against her bindings and Auror guards, while loudly proclaiming she'd have their jobs for this insult to her person. Amelia could only sigh; she'd not expected Umbridge’s cooperation, but a little decorum wouldn't go astray. Fortunately Madam Marchbanks was of a similar mind and ordered her silenced by the attending Aurors. She would be permitted written communication only, until she was called to give testimony.

Harry's Pensieve memories of how he'd been baited, his detentions and the final attack on the foursome pretty much sealed her fate. While signed depositions from the six other students had added to the gravitas of the case, it was Harry the Wizengamot wanted to hear from. Though after the testimony they'd seen, only a few follow-up questions had been asked and most were inane attacks by Chauncey Buttonwood that were quickly shut down by Griselda Marchbanks. Amelia sighed in relief at having an effective person in the centre chair at last and started wondering how she could engineer the WEA head to stay there permanently.

Having presented Harry's memory of the attack and escape the ‘Hogwarts Four’ had undertaken (as the Daily Prophet had taken to calling them), Amelia didn't even need to call the others for their testimony.

Seeing that Buttonwood’s defence had floundered and she'd presented the key points, an unobtrusive signal to Griselda Marchbanks had her calling for a vote. While not unanimous, there was a clear majority voting for Umbridge’s guilt and in short order, the assembled members were called to decide on a sentence. Ever renowned for pandering when they could, the verdict was guilty, but the sentence was only ten years in Azkaban.

To the dismay of all of the purebloods on the Wizengamot, this was where Buruzagi Ragnok stepped in. Amelia Bones quickly reviewed once more the aspects of the treaties between the two nations that gave the Buruzagi standing in the trial and the assembly finally settled. Ragnok then proceeded to lay out the consequences of the verdict as ordered by the treaty. Within ten minutes, Umbridge was sentenced to an additional seventy years as a Gringotts magically suppressed cleaner. She was dragged out by the Aurors, silently kicking and screaming. Ragnok decided he'd have to show these Pensieve memories to his asylum seekers over dinner in the Enklabe. It was some of the best after dinner entertainment experienced by all those assembled, including Amelia and Saul Croaker who'd somehow managed an invitation as well.

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The next day, saw the Wizengamot overseeing quite the novel experience of the Inquiry into Hagrid's persecution and wand being snapped, over fifty years before. It was a pretty simple process in the end. Griselda Marchbanks, remained in the chair for this Inquiry, thanks to a second vote that Dumbledore was involved in the case, and should recuse himself once more.

Hagrid testified that the only creature he'd raised at school had been Aragog, the Acromantula. An expert from the Department of Mysteries provided information on the effects of an Acromantula bite (agonising death, not petrification), as well as a review of the magical creatures that were capable of petrifying a victim (it was a very short list).

Madam Bones once again presented the evidence of Harry's Pensieve memories from the Chamber of Secrets, particularly his encounters with diary-Voldemort (or Tom Marvolo Riddle with aspirations of grandeur really) and the basilisk he'd been forced to kill to save his own life. Given Riddle essentially confessed to setting Hagrid up, it took little time for Griselda Marchbanks to call for a vote to restore Hagrid's wand rights. It passed with an overwhelming majority, and given he was less than a week away from taking his OWL in COMC, he was to be permitted unrestricted use of his wand, as long as he passed his exam.

In the end, the half-giant spent that afternoon with Garrick Ollivander, having another custom wand made, after arrangements had been made for the wandmaker to work out of Gringotts for the afternoon as a security measure. Hagrid finally was able to retire his pink umbrella for a much more reliable wand and spent the evening performing magic like a child with his first wand.

Hagrid's case dealt with, Madam Marchbanks also directed the DMLE to further research Riddle’s background, to determine if other artefacts such as the diary might exist, concerned at its potential to possess somebody. There was much murmuring amongst the Wizengamot members over this directive, with more than a few being concerned as to where the investigation might go next. Amelia chuckled quietly to herself as she realised just how many in the courtroom were feeling some trepidation now.

To add insult to Dumbledore's injury, by right of conquest, Madam Marchbanks also awarded the Basilisk carcass to Harry as well. Harry immediately turned to Ragnok and Firelock, who'd come along for moral support, and gave them the authority to butcher and sell the Basilisk parts, with the proceeds, less butchering and management costs, being directed into Harry's day to day vault. Given they'd be the ones to distribute the basilisk parts, it would make for a profitable arrangement all round.

The next morning's Daily Prophet felt like it offered vindication to Harry, and Hagrid as well. Much was made of the fact that Riddle, who'd later made himself over as Voldemort, clearly wasn't a pureblood, despite his agenda. Fellow students from that Hogwarts era had much to say about the charismatic Slytherin student, who'd become Head Boy in his final year, all while growing up in a Muggle orphanage. And one who'd apparently killed or caused a death while still in his Hogwarts years.

Inevitably, there were the ones who confided to reporters that they knew he'd always ‘go bad’. But most readers took those opinions with a grain of salt, knowing it was someone just wanting their day in the sun.

Meanwhile, Amelia had been doing some research and found that Merope Gaunt was a near squib who potioned the Muggle Tom Riddle Senior into their relationship. She was abandoned after the potions wore off and died in childbirth. Riddle was indeed raised in the Muggle world, and some of the stories of his actions while living at the orphanage painted a much different picture from the model student persona he'd presented at Hogwarts. Strangely enough, her research somehow found its way into the hands of Rita Skeeter, and the next morning's Daily Prophet. It went without saying that Harry had informed the DMLE Head of Skeeter’s unregistered animagus status.

The media frenzy over Harry's testimony in two trials was unrelenting, as the reporters and researchers dug out more information on Riddle, particularly his blood status, and the rise of Voldemort. There was much discussion of Voldemort and Fudge’s actions, both in years past and recent events. Fudge giving Umbridge near unlimited powers at Hogwarts did not sit well with the populace, and the press and the public started to ask awkward questions about the Minister’s decisions and trustworthiness. Inevitably, the events at the end of the TriWizard Tournament came into question, with many questioning Fudge’s campaign to denigrate the Boy Who Lived, especially after he'd made such a good showing when on the stand in Umbridge’s trial and Hagrid's hearing.

The speculating whispers became loud and demanding questions. Had Voldemort truly returned as Harry Potter had described, and either way, was Cornelius Fudge the right man to lead Britain's Wizarding population? With the ‘Hogwarts Four’ stuck waiting for a week until Hagrid could take his Care of Magical Creatures OWL, it was kind of fun to watch the insanity from the security of Gringotts. The fact that Ragnok and Firelock were laughing themselves silly over the situation just added to the general enjoyment.

Two days before Hagrid's exam, the chatter in the Daily Prophet and Diagon Alley having reached fever pitch, a no confidence motion in Minister Fudge gained enough signatures to warrant the Wizengamot being reconvened for a vote the next day. The recall of the court had included a request for Harry's pensieve memories from the Little Hangleton graveyard, as well as his interactions with the Minister on his return to Hogwarts. Now an old hand at retrieving and copying memories, Harry was happy to hand them over to Amelia once again.

The replay of the memories for the Wizengamot the next day was electrifying. Within fifteen minutes, Fudge was out and looking at an ignominious retirement, as well as a serious drop in disposable income from the favours he'd sold around the Ministry. To add insult to injury, Madam Bones charged him with the illegal use of a Dementor, for ordering Barty Crouch Junior to be Kissed.

That left the question of who would be best to become the new Minister for Magic. There were calls for Amelia to become Interim Minister, but she turned it down. She knew she would be more effective remaining as head of the DMLE, knowing there would be a huge battle to bring Voldemort to justice ahead of her.

Several other names were proposed, the first being Amos Diggory, mostly as consolation for all the months they'd denied Voldemort’s return and how Cedric had really died. Amos thought about the proposal for perhaps two minutes, before declining. Since losing his son, he hadn't had the fire for politics that he might have once had, and certainly not the ability to handle a wartime ministry. Griselda Marchbanks was also offered the position, though she quickly declined also. She had plenty to keep her busy at the WEA (Wizarding Examination Authority).

A shock candidate emerged, from a caucus of the more neutral and light leaning Wizengamot members, when Augusta Longbottom was nominated. With a reputation of being an independent thinker and tough on crime, especially after the attack on her family, she was no nonsense, and wouldn't put up with much bullshite. Initially reluctant to take the post, Augusta was convinced when Amelia (who'd served as an Auror with Frank and Alice), whispered in her ear to do it for her son and daughter-in-law. Her appointment was ratified by a majority vote and it signalled the moment the Wizarding world (or some parts of it, at least) decided to start taking care of business, instead of relying on a minimally trained teenage boy.

Harry, on hearing the news, wondered how Neville was handling all the changes and wrote a quick letter to his fellow Gryffindor, the first he'd sent to a friend at Hogwarts since his escape. Deciding to go for broke, he included a short note to Luna Lovegood as well, encouraging her to go to a professor if the bullying was continuing, now that Flitwick had left. Not wanting to tempt fate that someone would try to harm Hedwig (namely Ron), he borrowed a Gringotts owl to make the deliveries. It would be the beginning of a lifelong correspondence with his two friends.

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Hagrid, under a special arrangement with Madam Marchbanks and the WEA, sat his Care of Magical Creatures OWL the next day. The big man had been exceedingly nervous over breakfast, not having studied or taken an exam in fifty odd years. But his fellow escapees and Guduriak cheer team had done their best to buck him up, and his confidence levels were stronger by the time he took the Portkey to the Welsh Magical Zoo, where it had been arranged that he would sit the exam. Hagrid returned to Gringotts late that afternoon, tired but happy, and bearing the news that Madam Marchbanks had arranged for expedited marking of his written and practical exam. He'd have his results by close of business the next day.

Over dinner, thoughts inevitably turned to when the ‘Hogwarts Four’ would be heading to Canada. Filius wanted to pay a visit to scout where they might live within the Enklabe, as well as explore (under glamour) the Wizarding community and university. While there was no hurry for them to move, Harry's education had been disrupted by fleeing Umbridge and Hogwarts, and they'd need the time to become fluent in French, using the Gringotts spell, so as to work with tutors there…who they were yet to find.

Realising the Christmas and Yule seasons were nearly upon them, they resolved over dessert to spend some days over the holidays in the Québec City Enklabe and Wizarding community, with the goal of settling there permanently after the New Year. Ragnok and Firelock, who'd become very fond of the foursome, were glad of the extra time they'd be together.

After a nerve-wracking day, spent mostly trying to distract Hagrid from worrying, an owl arrived with the results of his exam. Unable to stop his hands from shaking with nervousness, the half-giant handed the envelope over to Harry to open. For a moment, the teen thought about dragging out the reveal, but seeing his friend's face, he couldn't torment Hagrid any longer.

A butter knife off the dining table made a handy letter opener, as Harry popped the wax seal. He unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it, before announcing, “Hagrid, you passed. You had an Exceeds Expectations on the written exam with an Outstanding on the practical part. Overall grade was Exceeds Expectations. That's amazing for just a fortnight of studying. Congratulations!”

Everyone was soon patting Hagrid on the back and offering their own words of congratulations. The big man, who'd been unable to find his words yet as he was so overwhelmed with joy, was sobbing happy tears into his tablecloth sized handkerchief.

Eventually, he calmed enough to respond. “I can hardly believe it. But 's all thanks ter yeh lot fer helping me study an’ makin' me think I could do it! Now I jus’ gotta get the rest o' me OWLs.”

Filius, floating over a champagne glass of house-elf sparkling wine, appropriately sized to his colleague's hand, simply replied, “We knew you could do it. Well done!’ And if Harry was the only one who wasn't just a bit tipsy by the end of the night, well that wouldn't be mentioned again.

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With their move to Canada imminent, it was time to initiate the spell that would ensure they'd be fluent in French by the time they settled permanently. Gringotts has found that the spell's impact could be quickened by exposure to the new spoken and written language. To Harry's surprise, that meant a reunion with a familiar face, in the form of fellow former TWT champion, Fleur Delacour. Now working at Gringotts to improve her English, and dating Bill Weasley besides, they had great fun catching up on the events of the last six months, mostly all in French. Fleur was also careful to include Filius, Hagrid and Dobby (yes, the spell did indeed work on house-elves) equally in the discussions as well, and by Yule, all four were feeling pretty confident in their fluency.

One person was feeling less confident about other matters as she'd spent more time with the asylum recipients. Fleur got to witness some of the worst traits of the woman who she'd hoped would be her mother-in-law when, on multiple occasions, Howlers arrived for Harry during their lessons.

Molly Weasley had taken to sending them a couple of times a week, usually after she'd read something new in the Daily Prophet. She'd stayed silent after Umbridge’s trial, but had gone off on Harry for not offering Ron a part of the basilisk proceeds, given that he had aimed to help Harry but had been thwarted by Lockhart's actions. She conveniently omitted addressing the fact that Harry had only been in the Chamber because of her daughter's actions and that Ron had gotten stuck on the other side of collapsed stonework courtesy of a broken wand in dire need of replacement.

Given Molly had never before raised the issue of money with him, Harry sensed that Ron was influencing his mother on this issue. Ever the jealous one over Harry having money, Harry would bet that he'd been sending rather angry letters to his parents, given he'd not sent a single missive since his first letter ordering Harry to return to Hogwarts several weeks before. Hermione had sent letters several times a week, but given they mostly followed a formula of trying to boss Harry into returning to school and submitting to Dumbledore's plans, he'd had no problems throwing them in the fire each time.

Molly’s screaming rants had also addressed Harry's non-return to school and ignoring his education, as well as Harry's disrespect for Dumbledore by not returning to Hogwarts and having him replaced as his magical guardian. Subsequent Howlers were variations on the same themes. Harry was deeply saddened by the fact that the woman, who'd been the closest thing he had to a mother, could subject a (traumatised) teenager to such diatribes. It irreparably broke his links to the Weasley family as a whole, though he could still appreciate the good parts, like Bill, Charlie and the twins.

Fleur meanwhile, deeply disturbed by Molly’s actions, declined Bill's invitation to join the family for Christmas, knowing that the presence of a non-English, part Veela girlfriend would not be welcomed at all. Bill had heard a couple of the Howlers and couldn't blame his girlfriend at all. So he committed only to Christmas day at the Burrow and organised a lovely trip to Fleur's family in France for Yule through Christmas morning. He'd met the Delacours at the last task of the tournament, but he hadn't known Fleur at the time. Hagrid couldn't help but stir Bill up a bit about meeting the parents and how he'd have to be on his best behaviour, all in a recognisable, but still uniquely Hagrid, form of French. Much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Of note, regarding letters to Harry, both Luna and Neville had responded to Harry's brief letters he'd sent after Augusta Longbottom was elected Interim Minister. They both genuinely expressed a desire to build their friendships further, with Neville adding a few hilarious comments about his grandmother's sudden elevation to her new position. Luna also promised to go to her new Head of House if any further bullying occurred. Professor Babbling had taken over the role, and Luna had a good rapport with her from her Ancient Runes class. Luna also happily reported that, apart from Dumbledore, everyone's wrackspurt levels were much lower with Umbridge’s departure. There were quite a few chuckles at that comment, when Harry passed the letter around to the rest of the group. It was pure Luna.

The final letter was a surprising one for everybody. Minerva McGonagall had followed the Wizengamot proceedings closely and had been ashamed to realise how much she'd let Harry down as his Head of House. She'd not taken his side with Umbridge, nor had she taken him seriously in first or second year when he'd wanted an adult's support with the Stone and the Chamber issues. She was also essentially a non-presence in the Gryffindor common room, particularly compared to her fellow Heads. It turned out that she'd resigned the position of Deputy Headmistress, effective immediately and despite Dumbledore's protests, in order to spend more time with her Lions and to become a more effective Head.

The twins (the only other Weasleys Harry was willing to tolerate at that point) wrote in amazement at the changes. Apparently McGonagall had offered some advice on setting up their joke and prank business, and had put them in touch with her cousin who ran an apothecary business in Inverness for additional mentoring. The pair were amazed by the changes, which included regular tutoring sessions in the common room and increased office hours for private communication. They were less than impressed by the random checks at curfew, to ensure all her Lions were where they were supposed to be (thus limiting some prank set up opportunities), but admitted you couldn't have it both ways. Reading between the lines, Harry suspected they were taking the latter as a challenge to up their game.

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Yule passed quietly in their Gringotts quarters for the foursome. Dobby had volunteered to make the meal, having cadged some space in the bank's kitchen. Simple gifts were shared, most ordered via owl mail, though Dobby had somehow procured knitting needles and had made a pair of mismatched socks for each of his friends. Harry shuddered to think how long it had taken the elf to make Hagrid's pair. The ex-Hogwarts four, as they now preferred to consider themselves, thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in Guduriak culture for one of the most celebrated annual festivals.

After two big events in a few days, Christmas was a quiet occasion for the foursome alone. Harry struggled a little more than the others, given that he was accustomed to the traditions observed at Hogwarts, the first place he'd ever gotten gifts as well. The absence of a Weasley jumper, or something Chudley Can̈nons related, hit hard for the youngest of the group, no matter how much his fellow escapees, Guduriak friends, not to mention Bill, Fleur, Fred and George tried to make up for things.

Still, Harry was determined to move on and embraced the trip to the Québec City Enklabe several days after Christmas with enthusiasm. They had to transition via the Bilbao and Toronto Enklabes, but, within an hour, had reached their destination. They were warmly welcomed by Buruzagi Digne-Joi and the Enklabe elders, and taken on a tour. Like the London Enklabe, the Québecois Guduriak had elected to structure the habitat according to the four seasons. Given the ease of travel across the entire Enklabe via intent-travel, which three of the four were mastering quite well (Dobby was still successfully using elf-popping), they picked a popular restaurant in the town of Fleurs d'Udaberria (or Spring Flowers in the mishmash of Guduriak and French used in this Enklabe), trying to decide which seasonal quadrant they wished to live in.

By consensus, the winter quadrant was ruled out for permanent residency, and in truth, most Guduriak made the same choice, tending to maintain holiday homes there. The autumnal area was also eliminated given there were no towns of considerable size or amenities. It was primarily used as a rural agricultural area.

That left the summer and spring quadrants. Udaberria, the spring location, held more of the administration buildings and offices for the Enklabe, and offered more of a city feel. Udara, located along a broad river (not unlike the Muggle city above) offered a small town lifestyle, with beach access all along the waterfronts. A quick show of hands decided Udara as their favoured location, and after a bit of exploration, a good sized villa, a block from the riverfront and beach, in the town of Lilak was chosen. Not unexpectedly, the town"s streets and gardens featured flowering lilac plants throughout, something seen widely through the Québecois region over summer.

After settling on a lease with the Buruzagi's deputy, and meeting a couple of the more inquisitive neighbours, Filius applied glamours to all four of them and they went off to explore the magical and non-magical communities for the afternoon. The Rue de la Magie, the main Wizarding community, was located in Vieux or Old Québec, and ran parallel to the High Street. Emerging from Gringotts about halfway down the Rue, they explored for an hour or so, mostly to refine their French further, before exiting near the Notre Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral, via an innocuous doorway between a deli and a private home. The access point was amply plastered with notice-me-not charms to avoid notice of the non-magical community, or Les Aucun for those without (magic).

Several more hours were spent wandering the old city, including taking a funicular down to the lower town, where they wandered boutiquey shops and were amazed by the sight of the partially frozen St Lawrence river. When Harry explained the idea of hop on-hop off narrated bus tours of the city to his compatriots, there was instant consensus that they'd be taking a tour soon. Though a cold wind struck at that point and it was decided quickly that spring time would be soon enough to go into full on tourist mode. As dusk settled, they made their way back to the Enklabe and popped through Toronto and Bilbao once again to return to Gringotts London, where Ragnok and Firelock were eager to hear all of what they'd done that day.

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Two days into the new year, despite the regrets of leaving good friends behind, Flitwick, Hagrid, Harry and Dobby said their farewells and headed towards Québec City and their new home. Liam Childe had visited Gringotts the day before and authorised Filius to act on his behalf, in regard to Harry's magical guardianship. If push came to shove legally, Ragnok had promised to get the WCWD head to Canada via the Enklabes in an emergency, which made everyone feel more comfortable.

Hagrid, unsurprisingly, was the most emotional of the four, and dabbed a huge handkerchief to suspiciously gleaming eyes, as he told Ragnok and Firelock, “I can' thank yeh enough fer all yeh've done fer me, fer all o' us really, and Harry most o' all.”

Dobby, also unsurprisingly, was nearly as emotional as the half-giant, shook both their hands and offered, “Dobby is most happy to have made your acquaintance, and thanks you most kindly for all your help for Master Harry Potter sir!” The free elf had become less formal with his speech over the course of their stay with the Guduriak, but the excitement and emotion of the move had him reverting back to old speech patterns.

Harry jumped in next and was undeterred in giving both Ragnok and Firelock huge hugs, before offering his own thanks, in fluent Gudurian.

“Eskerrik asko larri behar genuenean segurtasuna eskaintzeagatik. Beti ezagunak izango zaizkigu hemendik aurrera.”

(Thank you for offering us safety when we badly needed it. You will always be family to us from now on.)

It turns out a sneaky Bill Weasley had gotten his supervisor's permission for Harry, Hagrid and Dobby to receive the Gudurian language spell, as a bit of a joke and a surprise for the Buruzagi and his deputy. At that point, two high level Gringotts executives discreetly fished around for handkerchiefs of their own.

Filius had the last words of farewell, “Thank you cousins, for all you've done for us. And we will expect you to visit in three weeks for Hagrid's birthday, or we'll send one of his creatures to remind you!”

Those words had the entire group laughing, which was a good note to end on, before hugs were shared all around once again. Moments later, they were on the Enklabe to Enklabe road to Bilbao, then Toronto, with a final destination of Québec City. Little did the residents of Wizarding Britain know it would be the last time they'd step foot on British soil for many years to come.

Chapter Text

Ragnok had great delight in sending out a press release the next day, which warranted a special edition of the Daily Prophet.

HOGWARTS FOUR LEAVE BRITAIN filled almost the top half of the cover. THE BOY-WHO-LIVED VOWS NEVER TO RETURN was printed below in barely a smaller font size than the main headline.

Needless to say, Ragnok had also instituted strict measures on withdrawals from Gringotts for the next month, wanting to avoid a run on the bank, knowing that most wizards would race around like bleating sheep going to Voldemort’s slaughter, with their ‘saviour’ gone. There were a select few he had time for: Minister Longbottom, Amelia Bones, Saul Croaker and Liam Childe to name the main ones. They'd received private word from the Buruzagi that he'd offer what help he legally could for the conflict they all knew was coming.

The Wizengamot was called into session the next day, with Augusta Longbottom formally putting the Ministry onto a wartime footing without delay. The experts she trusted within the DMLE and Department of Mysteries all agreed that Voldemort would no longer be content to watch, wait and gather strength.

There were two unusual outcomes from that meeting. The first was that Augusta Longbottom was confirmed as permanent Minister without the need for a general election, due to the dire circumstances faced by the British magical population. The second was a vote of no confidence in Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, who'd tried to propose that lethal spells be banned in battles with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He argued this on the grounds that the attackers should be given the chance of repentance when they were inevitably defeated (though he was terribly short of detail on how that would occur).

To those old enough and with exposure to the Muggle world during World War Two, it had all the flavour of Neville Chamberlain's ‘Peace in our time’ declaration just before the beginning of the war. It led, sadly for Dumbledore, to similar consequences as he found himself dismissed from his offices of both Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump. Nobody was particularly shocked when he stomped out of the Wizengamot, preaching dire predictions for a war without him in charge, with numerous references to the ‘Greater Good’.

Given the World War Two references flying amongst those who remembered, much akin to Winston Churchill's signature Homburg, Minister Longbottom's striking vulture hat soon became a common sight around the Ministry (at all hours of the day and night). She was also spotted in magical communities all around Britain, shoring up morale, and boosting campaigns for home and self protection.

Within the bureaucratic and combined legislative-judicial branches, Augusta was a new broom, sweeping out corruption wherever possible. One of her first acts was to bring about a motion in the Wizengamot that those bearing the Dark Mark were ineligible to take their seats or work within the Ministry, as a vow to Voldemort (whether voluntary or ‘coerced’ under Imperius) directly contravened the oaths of office taken as a Wizengamot member. Given that Voldemort had ordered Death Eater raids on three small wizarding villages two days before, the motion passed in the first round of voting with a modest majority. In the end, seven Wizengamot members were found to be bearing the Mark and ejected from their seats, while over fifty Ministry employees found themselves out of work and detained for questioning.

Following this, Madam Longbottom then had Voldemort declared a wanted man for treasonous actions against Magical and Muggle Britain, and added a considerable bounty on his head. The Death Eaters were declared a terrorist organisation also, with arrest on sight orders for those with the Dark Mark or Death Eater garb. Unlike many wartime situations, those Death Eaters would be subject to a fair trial with the use of Veritaserum to help determine guilt or innocence, rather than endless detention.

Emboldened by having a Ministry and Wizengamot truly at her back, Amelia Bones created the Death Eater task force, formally and officially bringing Alastor Moody out of retirement to oversee the group. Having kept a watchful eye on many since the last war against Voldemort, he was very successful in rounding up suspected Death Eaters. Later estimates suggested that these preemptive measures saved at least half the potential casualties predicted by boffins within the DMLE at the war’s beginning. It didn't hurt anything that safety measures were drastically strengthened at Azkaban, with Dementors exiled to a remote Hebridean island, while human guard levels were quadrupled. In this war, Voldemort would be denied his greatest and most ruthless supporters.

Frustrated, in late May, Voldemort would order an assassination attempt on Amelia Bones. However, thanks to faulty intelligence on his part, he missed that she had moved into the much more secure Longbottom Manor just the week before, anticipating staying for the duration of the war. That misstep would lose the evil wizard twenty Death Eaters and much of his private monetary support as dark leaning Purebloods started questioning more deeply his right to rule over them.

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While Wizarding Britain got itself onto a war footing, Harry and his compatriots were settling happily into their new home. After the use of some rather nifty long term expansion and shrinking spells, each housemate had quarters sized to fit them individually, while they shared cooking facilities, and communal areas both indoor and outdoor. Following the Basque style of homes, and given they were living in the summer quadrant, the central courtyard, complete with ornamental and kitchen gardens, was a popular spot to congregate. In fact, many of the tutoring sessions were held under the shade of the mature willow tree that was the focal point of the garden.

Buruzagi Digne-Joi had been very helpful in general, with getting the group established in the Enklabe. It helped that she had a teenaged son just a year younger than Harry, Jeu-Étoile (who went by Etty for short), who happily welcomed the British teen into the Guduriak adolescent community. Harry was thrilled to learn that this Enklabe had somehow become fans of Quidditch, with both junior and senior leagues. Within weeks, he'd been thrilled to be conscripted by the Lilak town junior team as their starting Seeker. Not only was it a good way to wear off some of the stress of their move, it helped Harry find local friends, whilst improving both his French and Gudurian.

The Buruzagi had also sorted through her non-Guduriak employees for volunteers for Filius’ tutoring programme. While Filius was comfortable with teaching Duelling/Defence and Herbology (thanks to his varied interests), in addition to Charms, they needed additional help to cover the other subjects.

In short order, Madame Francine joined their small school part time, teaching Transfiguration and Potions. Hagrid continued to teach Harry and Dobby Care of Magical Creatures, while a curse breaker named Jack Rogers from Winnipeg picked up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. There'd been a general consensus that they wouldn't even attempt History of Magic, given Binns appalling teaching, and that Harry would drop Divination, which he'd only taken to appease Ron. It turned out that, with individual instruction, Harry and the others took to the more academic classes of Runes and Arithmancy like ducks to water.

There'd been considerable discussion amongst the foursome and their extra tutors as to whether they should take the British OWLs or the Québec Province Magical Examinations. Realising there wasn't much point to getting British qualifications, having no intent to return there, Filius arranged a meeting at the bank with the head of the examinations board. After presenting his qualifications and those of the other tutors, Harry, Hagrid and Dobby were cleared to take the Examens Intermédiaires de Sorcellerie (Intermediate Wizarding Exams or EISs), under supervision at Gringotts, at the beginning of summer, if they felt ready. Fortunately, examinations were offered monthly throughout the year, so could be staggered a little if needed, as everyone shifted to the new curriculum. Thanks to the small group tutoring and the diligence of his students, Filius was certain they'd be ready for their intermediate exams once summer rolled around.

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Early in February, Harry got a letter from Sirius at last. He called everyone to gather in the courtyard, and as he was wont to do, Dobby popped in with both charcuterie and fruit trays, along with freshly squeezed orange juice.

“So wha''s tha' old rascal bin up ter, Harry?” Hagrid had always had a soft spot for the Marauders, but particularly Sirius, as he knew how hard it must have been, as a Black, to go against his family by being sorted to Gryffindor.

“Yes, indeed. We've heard nothing really, for all these months. I'm anxious to hear how he's doing.” Filius had also had his own soft spot for Sirius, as he'd been quite the adept Charms student. It was also always fascinating to see the way the Marauders had adapted spells for their pranks.

“Dobby would also like to hear how Harry P… Ooh, Dobby nearly did it again.” Chuckles broke out amongst the group. Given they were all living together, essentially as family, Harry had wanted Dobby to feel like he was an equal in the household, so had asked him to drop his extended name. It was a definite work in progress.

“Alright everybody, calm down and let me read it then,” Harry instructed, amused by their excitement. He popped the seal on the letter and settled back in his seat to read.

“Dear Harry and everyone,

First of all, Mooney says hello and he'll write to you all next. The Healers asked, soon after I got here, if there was anyone who could come and be a supporter for this rather intensive process. Well, Mooney came the moment he got my letter and has been here since early January. He loves Luxembourg! They treat werewolves as no different to wizards, Wolfsbane is supplied for free and Remus is working part-time as a researcher for Gringotts as well. Between you and me, I don't think he’ll ever want to leave. But I'll let him tell you more when he writes.

Harry, I can't thank you enough for asking Buruzagi Ragnok to help me get away from Britain and get some Healing. It's been life changing, though hard at times. I'm still a work in progress and my Healers expect me to need near daily sessions for six to nine more months, but I'm on my way.

I'd like to apologise to you, Harry, for confusing you with your father as often as I have done. For the longest time after escaping Azkaban, my mind was stuck in two time periods. Which was confusing, to say the least. I'm doing much better with that, thankfully.

Overall, the nightmares are improving, I'm staying in the present most of the time and my moods aren't swinging crazily near as much as they were. As I said, there's still a long way to go (my Healers think I need to address my family issues next, after the Azkaban stuff gets settled more), but I'm hopeful for the first time since we lost your parents.

Which has me asking a question to you, dearest godson of mine. And yes, the appropriate response from you is Uh-Oh! I know from last summer at Grimmauld, that you have frequent nightmares. You've also suffered a lot of trauma in less than fifteen years: your parents, Voldemort then and now, your relatives and Dumbledore abandoning you there, your 'adventures’ at Hogwarts, and the tournament last year, especially its conclusion and Cedric's death. Add in what Umbitch did last term and it's a lot to deal with. I'd be a terrible godfather (or dogfather as Dobby likes to call me) if I didn't encourage the adults around you to look at getting some Healing sessions for you as well. Think about it, please? This is your chance to avoid carrying all that trauma into your adult life.

Okay, enough of the serious stuff and back to the Sirius stuff. Admit it, you're laughing at my joke. Oh, I know, you're probably groaning, but nonetheless…

Legally speaking, I have to also thank you all for putting my case before Madam Bones. She has put me in contact with an Advocat (their term for lawyer) who is presenting my case to the International Magical Court (part of the ICW) next month. Her impression is that once I testify under Veritaserum, I'll be cleared of all charges and offences, and will officially be a free man once more. While it doesn't matter much here in Luxembourg, as there's no extradition treaty and I can live freely in the magical community, it would be nice to be able to travel again. I'm mostly looking at coming to visit you lot.

Amelia says I could make my case before the Wizengamot, but with the war and all, I'd put you at risk if I came back to Britain, because someone might manage to get hold of me and force me to give up your location. So, the International Court of Magic it is.

Well, enough about me. I know you're in Canada somewhere, but the Gringotts people here aren't saying more, for your security. They did assure me that letters passed through their mail system are entirely secure, so you're safe to tell me where you all are and what you're up to.

I'm guessing you're staying in the security of the Enklabe. If so, good decision. Once you're seventeen, you're much safer to do what you want and go about freely. I know that Flitwick can create some amazing glamours, so I figure you’ll be alright if you go up top, so to speak.

I had a letter from Dumbledore the other day and wanted to warn you. Honestly, I'm wondering if he's going senile. He's still convinced that you're the only one who can beat Voldemort and that you're linked to him with black soul magic.

I heard through the Buruzagis that they'd resolved any such issues, so I feel assured the Headmaster has it totally wrong. But I'm not sure he's entirely rational, and I wouldn't rule out him trying to kidnap you if you appeared openly within the Wizarding world. So please, Harry, be smart and be careful. I know you have three good fellows looking out for you; listen to them!

I think that's all really, for now. Please write back when you can and tell me all about your adventures. I hope you're getting some quality time out on that Firebolt. Think of me when you're off flying?

Looking forward to when we can meet again in person and I can hug the stuffing out of you all, for looking out for each other as you have.

Stay safe and lots of love,
Sirius”

Harry finished reading the letter with a bit of a break in his voice that had nothing to do with adolescence. He surreptitiously swiped at his eyes as he passed the letter to Hagrid to read for himself.

“Dobby thinks Harry's dogfather is doing much better. This is being a very good day, getting news like this.” Harry, who was sitting next to the free elf, gave him a quick sideways hug in thanks for the sentiments.

“Indeed,” Filius agreed. “It will be good to see Sirius when his Advocat and Healers agree he is able to travel. Though Merlin help us…he's had months to be dreaming up pranks.” Flitwick ended with a mix of a groan and a chuckle.

Hagrid contributed his opinion next. “'s good ter hear from the lad. It'll be a happy day when we see 'im again.”

Harry just smiled in agreement and raided the food trays in front of him. He wouldn't be the first teenage boy who preferred eating to dealing with emotional subjects. He grinned happily and accepted the letter back from Filius, who was the last to read it. He'd put it away safely with his other treasures later.

Filius, however, had other ideas on the subject of mind healing, thanks to Sirius’ letter. They'd all been subjected to Umbridge’s attacks, in one way or another, though Harry more than the rest. Having become the de facto leader of this ragtag group, he took the advice seriously.

“I think we should take the suggestion that we would all benefit from mind healing seriously. I'll put a feeler out to the Buruzagi for her recommendations. And yes, we're all going!’

While Hagrid just ducked his head and hoped this initiative wouldn't go ahead, Dobby was in two minds as to whether any Mind Healer would understand his free elf imperative. Harry, meanwhile, couldn't help himself. Being a typical teenage boy, the last thing he wanted was to be forced into introspection. The words broke loose from his lips with no real input from his brain. “Awww Dad, do we have to?”

A long moment or two of stunned silence followed Harry's exclamation. Then Filius rallied to supply the necessary response, with great equanimity, and a hint of humour, “Absolutely, son, yes you do!”

And that was the end of all arguments.

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next year and a half, Amelia, Alastor and the Auror task force made great gains in their fight against Voldemort. While he and his Death Eaters were making sporadic raids on smaller Wizarding communities, thanks to the public education campaigns, the populace was much more likely to fight back this time around. They were also better organised to notify the DMLE and Auror response time was now a scant few minutes. This had thankfully led to a much lower casualty rate than in the previous war.

By the time Harry's seventeenth birthday arrived, it was estimated that Voldemort had only around fifteen or twenty Death Eaters under his command, and none were terribly experienced. His worst lieutenants, Malfoy, Yaxley and McNair, had all fallen or been captured on various raids, after they'd been made targets of Moody’s inner circle of Aurors with advanced training.

Finally, in mid-July, a fortnight before Harry would come of age, Voldemort was under siege in the old Riddle Manor. Curse breakers from the DMLE, Department of Mysteries, and on loan from Gringotts combined their efforts and managed to unravel all of the Dark Lord's protections inside of two hours. It was almost a let-down once the task force got inside the mansion. The Death Eaters remaining put up a token resistance before succumbing to the inevitable and surrendering. Voldemort was captured by Moody himself, after a brief duel, where he was bested quite easily once Robards was free to tag team with his commander.

The trial in the Wizengamot two days later took only an hour. Voldemort was sentenced to be Kissed, then thrown through the Veil as an added safety measure. That sentence was carried out immediately, with Moody and Bones happy to have the honour of that last shove through the veil. Saul Croaker just observed with a satisfied smile, while Madam Longbottom dusted her hands once it was done and got back to business. Dumbledore had shown up to the courtroom, pleading for mercy and compassion. He was simply ignored as a wizard who'd gone soft in the head whilst managing to lose his gobstones (think marbles if you might be Muggleborn), and they were probably right.

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The heretofore Hogwarts Four settled very happily into the Québec City Enklabe. Though they tended to stay quite separate from their Guduriak neighbours during regular Monday to Friday business hours, thanks to focussing on education, they were very involved in their community once school was done for the week. Hagrid had befriended pretty much anyone who owned livestock or a magical creature, and he'd developed a bit of a vet practice for sick and injured animals, thanks to all his experience as the Hogwarts groundskeeper and working alongside the Care of Magical Creatures professors over the years.

In the meantime, he took to being a student again quite ably. Many had dismissed Hagrid as simple over the years. In truth, he had a rustic accent that made others dismiss his brains, and he'd only ever been permitted to gain second year credentials at Hogwarts before being expelled. In his sessions with Filius and the other tutors, he showed himself to be a quick study, and ended up with easy high level passes in Herbology, Potions, Defence, Charms and Transfiguration, when he took the fifth year exams alongside Harry and Dobby. He'd go on to get his Examens de Sorcellerie Supérieurs in those classes, plus Care of Magical Creatures alongside his two compatriots, much to his great joy.

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Harry thrived incredibly well with the small group tutoring process also. He achieved all As and Bs with his Examens Intermédiaires de Sorcellerie (EISs), just six odd months after they'd settled in Canada. Now that he was away from all the distractions that were Gryffindor House, the Quidditch Cup competition, the other two thirds of the Golden Trio and Dumbledore triggered adventures, he turned out to be an adept student. The fact that Dobby turned into a total swot during their first months in Canada meant that Harry felt challenged to match his efforts, and soon demonstrated he could be quite the diligent student. He received high scores on his intermediate exams, even Runes and Arithmancy, thanks to being able to properly focus on studying for the first time in his life.

The fact that his primary mentor Filius never missed an opportunity to praise him for his achievements was a balm to Harry's soul. And when Flitwick, recognising the teen had inherited his mother's skills in Charms work, offered him an apprenticeship towards a Mastery, after taking his Intermediate exams. Well, that just spurred Harry on in his studies even more. Hermione would have been greatly disturbed to find that Harry would have scored on a par with her on their OWLs, while Ron likely would have felt such an achievement was a total disgrace. Given Harry was in contact with neither former friend, it was ultimately a moot point, though both Neville and Luna, who remained in friends with Harry, offered their heartfelt congratulations.

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Dobby had decided to pick and choose his pathway after escaping Hogwarts with his compatriots. It was difficult for him to take the more wand-driven classes like Charms, Transfiguration and Defence given the different ways elves interacted with magic, but he settled into the other classes as to the manor born.

The free elf had some definite goals to achieve on their move to Canada. To begin, he wanted to prove that non-Wizarding creatures could compete equally at an academic level. When he made straight As in the classes he took at the intermediate level, he gained quite a bit of attention. Not so much in Canada, where magical creatures of all varieties were welcomed in the education programmes, but he hit the presses in the UK and Europe for his achievements. Little did Dobby know the cascade he'd set off with such accomplishments. As with his compatriots, he also scored high marks on his final exams as well. Soon, he was the most eligible elf bachelor on the planet.

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With the fall of Voldemort, Amelia was happy to return to her own home. While Augusta had been a gracious hostess for the fifteen odd months they cohabited, there was nothing quite like being back in your own familiar surroundings.

Within the DMLE, once the threats all subsided, Alastor Moody happily retired once again. He was pleased to leave behind a well trained Auror force, especially now it was in the capable hands of Gawain Robards. The new Chief Auror had promised his old mentor that he would maintain the force readiness that had become a key aspect of the department during the recent war. Sadly, two Aurors would end up with demotions for their involvement with Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. The Order had been largely ineffectual, arriving late to Death Eater raids and mostly getting underfoot of the battling Aurors.

Kingsley Shacklebolt took the demotion with little complaint, realising he'd made some serious errors in judgement. He would eventually erase most of the stain on his record and rise once more within the department. Nymphadora Tonks, busted back down to probationary status, was much more vocal about the perceived injustice and, within a year, was offered the option to be fired or quit. She elected to resign, though was soon swept up by the ICW hit wizards, given the usefulness of her metamorphmagus status. Veteran members of the Auror Department wondered perennially how the Hit Wizards managed to counter Tonks’ terrible clumsiness while carrying out their missions.

Dumbledore, as a side note, literally became a footnote in the Wizarding world once Voldemort was vanquished. Stripped of all his notable roles except Headmaster, he was ruthlessly ignored by those in power, such as Minister Longbottom and Amelia Bones. Drowning in Hogwarts related administration tasks, courtesy of McGonagall's resignation as Deputy, he was trapped by his distinct inability to hire anyone else willing to do his work for the pittance he was offering. In the first year of peacetime, he was seldom seen outside of his office apart from at mealtimes. His appearances at the Ministry or in the Daily Prophet became blessedly rare as far as most were concerned. Over the next few years, his name would become a rarely mentioned thing, much to the delight of those who actually believed in decent and honourable government.

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Sirius had also been busy in the year-and-a-half since he'd escaped to Luxembourg. He was able to spend Harry's sixteenth Christmas with the foursome in the Québec City Enklabe (accompanied by Mooney), having been given the okay to travel by his Healers and thanks to being cleared by the international courts. He was still his fun-loving self, but more toned down and mature. Harry revelled in his godfather’s attentions during the fortnight he stayed with them, while Sirius marvelled at Harry's improved Seeker skills watching the pick up game played on New Year’s Day with his Guduriak friends.

Even Remus had come more out of his shell with the move to Luxembourg, and he enjoyed many long conversations with his former professorial colleagues, Filius and Hagrid, during their visit. Dobby, of course, went to town feeding his friends and the visitors. Despite being told by everyone that, as a free elf, he didn't need to take on all the cooking, Dobby insisted that he enjoyed it and wanted to make this be his contribution to the well-being of their household.

In years to come, Sirius would continue to make Luxembourg his home, eventually taking citizenship there. He moved the Black fortune to the Gringotts in Luxembourg City and was content to live the life of a gentleman of leisure. At least until he met Emilie Robiquet, a curse breaker for Gringotts, who'd transferred from a posting in Brazil. It was the clichéd love at first sight. They were married nine months later, with Mooney and Harry standing up for him.

Sirius then followed his beloved wife on her assignments all over the world. He, surprisingly, settled in quite well into the role of the stay at home dad to the three daughters that arrived, especially given they began with twins.

Mooney remained single, though at least he dated some thanks to Sirius’ encouragement. He also continued to work for Gringotts in Luxembourg until his retirement, having reached the post of Head Researcher for the European region. He would remain the long term resident in the guest cottage at the rear of Sirius' estate even through retirement, though he would often be found in the main house where he was the beloved Uncle Mooney to the three girls.

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The intensive tutoring, often one on one, served Hagrid, Harry and Dobby very well. They took the first of their Examens de Sorcellerie Supérieur (ESSs) just before Christmas of what would have been Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts. All three scored As on their Care of Magical Creatures exam. While still working towards the rest of their subjects, any spare time was filled with Mastery studies, with Filius for Harry. Hagrid had found a mentor at the Université who'd offered to help him gain his own qualifications with magical creatures. Dobby had eschewed the idea of a Mastery. Instead, he'd asked Buruzagi Joi-Digne to help him find a business mentor. It turned out the free elf had commercial aspirations and knew he'd have a greater chance of success with good advice and training.

By the time Harry had reached his seventeenth birthday the following year, the trio had completed their ESS exams and demonstrated good grades across the board. They managed to complete their secondary education a full year earlier than their Hogwarts peers, thanks to the intensive tutoring process they'd undergone.

The Hogwarts Four found themselves in a bit of a quandary at that point. Harry was finally of age, so they were free to enter the Wizarding world openly once more. When they’d first moved to Canada, the plan had been to stay in the Enklabe until Harry's majority and then find a home in the magical community above ground. But they'd all rather fallen in love with their Guduriak home and lifestyle, so they were torn with which direction to take.

Filius took charge at that point, as he was wont to do, and called his housemates into the courtyard for a meeting. Dobby provided refreshments as usual, of a more gourmet sort than in the past, as he was practising recipes for part of his business plan. Nobody minded when Dobby experimented in this way, and he always made enough to even get Hagrid full.

Leading off the discussion, Filius summarised the situation. “We had planned on leaving the Enklabe and living full time in the Wizarding community above us once Harry was seventeen and it was safe for him to move about freely. But I get the feeling that some ideas have changed in the time we've lived in the Enklabe?” He finished with a questioning lift in his voice, hoping one of his friends would take the hint and offer an opinion.

Harry, now much more forthright about speaking his mind, since he'd escaped the Dursleys and Dumbledore’s influence, was happy to take the lead.

“To be honest, I love living here and don't really want to leave. At least not full-time. I'd like to keep this as our primary home, then maybe we could look into a place in the city up top, where Dobby can run his business, and we have a convenient place to stay if we're late getting back or want to have visitors.” That was one disadvantage to living in the Enklabe, in that non-Guduriak visitors were highly restricted.

Unable to resist teasing a little, Hagrid chimed in, “I reckon Harry here wants some place ter snog a girlfriend. Got someone in mind, mebbe?” That earned the large man a (rather ineffectual, really) punch on the arm for his cheekiness, though Harry couldn't deny the thought had crossed his mind, once or twice. Though he wasn't entirely sure it would be a girlfriend he'd be bringing home. It was something he was still figuring out.

“Now that you've managed to turn Harry beet red, what are your thoughts on where our home will be, Hagrid?” Filius interrupted before the teen imploded.

“Have ter say, I like living here. This place is pretty perfect fer us an' we've bin treated very well.”

Hagrid added another vote to staying, then finished with, “It'd be nice ter skip the carts though, when I've bin out ter the pub with the lads. Might be summat ter the idea o' having a second place.” Sadly, while more used to the carts they used on an almost daily basis, Hagrid was still known to turn green when he'd had a firewhiskey or three.

Dobby, who's speech had become much less house-elfish since coming to Canada, opined, “I'm going to start my business up in the next month or so. It would be handy to have an office space separate from our home here.”

“You've never really said what your business will entail, Dobby. Will you tell us at last?” Flitwick had managed to contain his curiosity over the preceding months, but was now taking the opportunity to find out the details.

“I am going to run a rent a house-elf bureau, to help free elves find work and provide services for wizards and witches that don't need a full time elf, or if there's a special occasion like a big party. We will also be training elves to work in different specialty fields, such as managing a greenhouse, nanny services, and providing accounting and other services for small businesses. Where we see a niche, we'll grow the business to fill it.”

“Oooh, sounds very impressive, Dobby. But you keep saying we…have you found a partner we haven't heard about?” Harry was happy to turn the tables and embarrass someone else.

Dobby squirmed a bit, and his ears were definitely shaded a little more towards red than green. “I am in negotiations with another free elf named Elodie. She has a strong herbology background and can help with training other elves.”

Sensing Harry and Hagrid would tease the elf some more, given the chance, Filius decided to share some news of his own.

“Well, I have been talking with the Head Charms Master at the Magie Université du Québec. I will be teaching part time this coming term, taking over the first year students in the Mastery programme. In fact, if you wish Harry, they would like to offer you a teaching assistant position. The greatest benefit is that you'd have access to the courses in other programmes and could diversifiy your studies, if you wished. A place to stay close to the université, when teaching evening classes, would be rather useful.”

There were exclamations and congratulations from the other three at the news. Harry and Filius would be talking more later, about the teaching assistant position, but it seemed life was looking up all round.

“So, it seems the vote is unanimous. Our primary home will remain here in the Enklabe, but we'll look for a second place, perhaps close to the université and business districts, so Dobby can set up his offices as well.” Filius gave a satisfied nod as he summarised the wishes of the group. Dobby popped back into the kitchen to grab the bottle of sparkling elf wine he had chilling in the cold box. This was something worth celebrating!

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As they'd done throughout the war, Neville and Luna, still at Hogwarts, continued to provide news from Britain.

Harry had indeed taken up the teaching assistant position at the Université, and added a Defence class to the Charms Mastery studies with Filius. At the end of that first year (Neville's final year at Hogwarts), he sat down to quite the long pair of letters from Neville and his old friend Luna. The fact that the duo would be visiting in a few weeks time was wonderful news. He was unsurprised to learn Luna would be hunting Crumple Horned Snorkacks. Neville's goals for the holiday were much more laid back. He was starting an apprenticeship towards his Mastery in Herbology in September. He planned on relaxing mostly and hanging out with Harry. Though if they came across some interesting plants, he wouldn't be too upset.

Within the hefty letter packet though, came some interesting news of Harry's former classmates. He was a bit shocked to hear (though, on reflection not terribly surprised) that Hermione's parents, not being all that enamoured with the backwards state of the Wizarding world, had insisted that she take her Muggle O and A levels before choosing whether to go on to higher education in either community. It appeared she was taking her O levels over the summer and was off to a senior college for the next school year to finalise her Muggle secondary education.

Personally, Harry thought it a wise decision; blood biases were slowly declining thanks to the considerable efforts of Minister Longbottom and others like Bones and Croaker. But Hermione would still have an upward battle for making the kinds of changes she wanted, and she still lacked the foresight to make the best approaches to others senior to her.

Ron, it turned out, had not done particularly well on his NEWTs. He'd gained Acceptable grades for Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts, but had failed his remaining classes of Herbology, Divination and Charms. His Auror dreams were shot, but he'd known that for two years when he hadn't pulled off a high enough grade on his Potions OWL to continue with the class. Last Neville had heard, he was looking to go work with Charlie at the Dragon Reserve in Romania, or he'd have Arthur find him a job at the Ministry. Harry wasn’t surprised to hear the twins had refused to hire him for their joke shop. The enterprise was highly successful and the duo were looking at opening other branches overseas. They ran a tight ship and had no use for a younger brother with no particular talent for their line of business.

Sitting in Harry's favourite Muggle pub later that evening and reading the rest of the long missive, the report soon shifted to others from his Hogwarts year. It seemed peace time was treating most people well. Dean Thomas was apprenticed to a magical portrait artist, and taking art courses at a Muggle college as well. Seamus Finnigan had returned to Ireland and would be working in the family pub he'd eventually inherit. Neville added details of plans made by a few other students from other Houses before reiterating his excitement about the coming holiday and seeing Harry for the first time in over two years.

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The End At Last…

Dobby's business took off like wildfire. The house they'd found close to the université had a carriage house that was perfect for both office space and family quarters when needed He'd initially hired eleven free Elves to fulfil his various contracts, and Elodie became a much loved member of the formerly-Hogwarts group. His housemates were a little concerned initially when another Elf's name started to appear in conversation as well, some months later. But after a hasty explanation on Elf bonding and families, Addie was also welcomed into the family. A year later, they celebrated a three-way wedding, and before anyone could figure it out, Dobby was the father to twin boys with Elodie, and a daughter with Addie. In the end, his Elf contracting business went global, and Dobby had a large clan of children all of his own.

Hagrid, a year or two later, resumed his correspondence with Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons. Now much more confident, having completed both his secondary education and achieving his Mastery in Care of Magical Creatures, he set out on an earnest and old-fashioned courtship. It took several years, but in the end, Hagrid became a professor once again, this time at the school in southern France, and the pair would eventually tie the knot. Though the couple would take many of their holidays over the years in Québec City and the Enklabe below, as Hagrid was determined to maintain his ties to the trio who'd become his greatest friends.

Filius found teaching at the université level suited him tremendously well. Much as he'd loved introducing new magic users to the wonders of Charms, he'd taught at Hogwarts for many years and it had become somewhat routine. Teaching in a higher education capacity had expanded his horizons, which let him enjoy both the individual instruction of his chosen apprentices, whilst maintaining his classroom teaching opportunities as well.

Ever the lifelong learner, he also unashamedly took advantage of the bonus of being on the faculty. He would take on Masteries in Defence and Herbology before he'd eventually retire. He also developed a bit of a ladies man reputation amongst his fellow faculty and Enklabe residents, romancing the ladies well into his old age, much to the amusement of his cousin Ragnok. The London Buruzagi liked to hop between the Enklabes for frequent visits and always teased him about there being a new lady on his arm every time. It wasn't strictly an accurate accusation, but close enough to the truth that Filius would simply chuckle each time he heard it, denying nothing.

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By the age of twenty-one, Harry had completed his Charms Mastery, while also acting as Filius's teaching assistant at the université. Taking a leaf out of his mentor's book, he also gained additional Masteries in Defence and Transfiguration, while teaching some of the first year classes in all three departments over the next six years. It turned out that, once he got the initial teaching jitters out of the way, he was a born educator. Academic life suited him very well, he decided over the years, and by the time he turned thirty, he couldn't imagine working anywhere else. The concept of being an Auror, which had mostly been a fantasy of his former friend, seemed juvenile and terribly misguided as he looked back. Though he could see that it might have come to pass if he'd been forced into the Saviour role any more deeply, by both Dumbledore and the British Wizarding public.

Harry's many remaining years would fill a book, and indeed it did when Neville and Luna, his true lifelong friends, would persuade him to write his autobiography for his one hundredth birthday. Suffice to say, Harry kept his promise to himself, to never step foot in Wizarding Britain again. Though that vow was modified a little to be above ground only. He remained living in the Enklabe much of his life and couldn't resist the parties thrown by Ragnok, so would travel back to the London Enklabe for those occasions. Eventually, the insane focus on him as the Boy-Who-Lived would die down, but by then, Harry was content with his life in Québec and the Enklabes.

As for the questions of whether Harry would get married or have a family, and what other adventures he would get into during his long life, well you'd just have to buy the autobiography and read that for yourselves.

Fin