Andromeda had taken the news well. She was, just las the rest of the family worried of where Bellatrix had gone, what she was planning. All they knew was that the insane woman had been injured when the goblin warriors attacked Riddle Manor but that she had somehow been able to escape with her life. They didn't know where she was, what she was planning or how she had taken the death of her master.
Harry was worried that Bellatrix'd go to Gringotts and find out that she had been disowned, if she hadn't known that already. That would only make her angrier he was sure.
So they worried. It was pretty certain that Bellatrix would come after them just as she had when Voldemort was first defeated and she, together with the Lestrange brothers attacked the Longbottoms. Harry checked the Wards of Grimmauld Place one last time and talked to Kreacher. The Elf would make sure that Bellatrix wouldn't touch them.
Harry had gone back to the Potter Manor after he was sure well, he wasn't sure. Andromeda was a true lady of House Black powerful, smart, cunning and caring and she would be fine. But Bellatrix had been her sister once and now, well now they were all pretty sure that one of them would have to take care of the mad woman. Harry just hoped it wouldn't have to be his Aunt.
First thing he did was check the wards here too before he went to check up on Hedwig and the three owlets. He was there just in time to see Hedwig teaching her chicks how to fly. Trying to at least. It was an adorable thing to watch, the owlets were growing very well and soon Hedwig could leave them free around the Manor. Harry couldn't wait to get to know them better. He just hoped that they wouldn't be as bossy as their mother.
"Hey girl, are they doing alright?" Hedwig hooted doubtfully back.
Harry could see why but he said, "Well, this was only their first lesson, right? I'm sure they will improve."
His friend flew to sit on his shoulder so she could start preening his hair. Harry had missed her doing this. She had been taking care of her chicks for such a long time.
Selene and Helios were as beautiful as their mother, snowy owls just with different colored eyes. Helios had gold eyes like Hedwig and Selene had the same orange eyes as Othello. Hermes meanwhile was looking more and more like Othello every day.
Harry was planning to give one of the owlets to Hermione if she and one of the owlets had a connection. Othello spent most of his time with Hedwig so it would only be fair to give Hermione and her parents another owl. He was pretty sure that Hermes would be the one since he had the closetst connection to his girlfriend. The owl moped for a whole day after Hermione had to leave again after their date.
He'd keep the other two here at Potter Manor so that he could start filling the owlery again. He probably had a lot of letters to sent in the future with the two Lordships to his name.
When he got downstairs the next morning he was surprised to see Dobby and Effy dancing around doing chores all around the Manor while actually dancing together. He didn't know that House-Elves could do the Salsa, and do it well too.
Dobby barely stopped his dusting when he told Harry, "Bonding went very well Master Harry Potter Sir! Dobby and Effy be having lots of magic now for chores and fun times. Dobby and Effy be going now for more chores in big wonderful dusty Manor!" With that he and Effy popped away together to do some more work upstairs.
Fun times? Ugh, he did not want to know.
Harry really loved those two Elves. They were a part of his family. He was very glad that the bonding had gone well and that the two were so very happy together. Thought they did seem a bit high on the magic of their bonding. Ah well. The Manor would be as clean as it has ever been after the two Elves were done with it.
Winky was happy too for the two Elves. According to a blushing Effy, Winky'd told her that she was a very good nanny Elf to both human and Elf babies.
He ate his breakfast alone this morning and took the chance to read his mail at the breakfast table. Picking the letter up he dropped it again as if it burned him. This was Dumbledore's handwriting. He had a letter from Dumbledore. How did that letter get here? Had Dumbledore broken through the wards? No, the wards were as strong as ever. But how had the letter been delivered? Was Fawkes able to flame through the wards? If that was the case then they had been very lucky that Dumbledore hadn't thought to use the Phoenix before.
Still, this was a potential dangerous situation. While he had a wand of his own it would be better to ask for help in this instance. Harry hadn't learned the spells for checking his mail yet beyond the one for checking for simple pranks. So he called for Kreacher, "Kreacher!"
The old Elf popped in and asked his Master, "What can Kreacher be doing for Master?"
Harry was glad to see the old Elf again. While he still saw Kreacher when he visited Grimmauld Place, he had kinda missed the old Elf's cranky presence in Potter Manor. He'd liked eating breakfast every morning together with both Dobby and Kreacher.
He told Kreacher, "It is nice to see you again, Kreacher. I was wondering if you could check these letters for tampering? Dobby and Effy are kinda busy righ now otherwise I would have asked them," At Kreachers nod he continued, "I hope I didn't call you from something important?"
Kreacher looked touched at his Masters words and said, "Master be kind to think of old Kreacher. Kreacher be always willing to help Master Harry. Kreacher be checking letters now." The Elf clicked his fingers and the letters floated over to him.
There was a slight glow on both letters and Harry could feel that the letter from Dumbledore felt a bit malicious. According to Amelia's training, this meant nothing good. Then Kreacher did something with his hands so that the letter from Dumbledore lost the dark glow on it.
Kreacher put the letters back on the table and said to Harry, "Letter from beetle lady be charmed for only your eyes to read. Letter from crazy Headmaster was be cursed to make Master want to go to him. Kreacher made that curse go away but beetle lady charm stay if Master agrees?"
Harry nodded and replied, "Thank you for your help Kreacher. Do you want to eat some breakfast with me before you have to go back to Black Manor?"
Kreacher nodded gratefully and waited for his Master to take a seat before he went to sit down at the table himself. Kreacher would never tell his master this but he had missed eating their breakfast together with Dobby. Even if Kreacher thought Dobby to be terribly undignified for a House-Elf of their Noble House.
Harry left the letter for after breakfast since he now had company and started eating. It was after breakfast that Kreacher left again that Harry went to open the letter from Dumbledore.
Harry my boy,
I am very disappointed in you for leaving your relatives. I had expected better from you. All your friends are very worried about you, my boy, so I expect you to come see me at your relatives house tomorrow. It is for the Greater Good that you life at your Aunt and Uncle's house for as long as I find it necessary for your own safety.
Your Aunt and Uncle love you and are very concerned about you running away from them. They miss you and want you back as soon as possible as they, just like myself, have been worried sick about your. I hope you know how much you scared them with your immature behavior, Harry.
I will see you tomorrow on Number 4, Privet Drive.
Sincerely,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts
Harry was kind op flabbergasted with how delusional this letter was. His relatives loved him and were worried about him? As if! Don't make him laugh. And his friends were worried about him? He had been in contact with all his friends this summer unlike all the summers that had come before.
And again the man told somebody it was for the Greater Good. Why did that sound so familiar? He would have to ask Hermione about that phrase sometime soon.
At least he had now a prime opportunity for Amelia to discreetly take him out of the picture. It was clear that the Headmaster needed to be looked at by a Healer. By force if necessary. He'd talk to Amelia and Andromeda today about it. It was time for all this nonsens to stop.
The next letter was probably from Rita Skeeter since Kreacher said it was from the 'beetle lady'. He opened the letter and started reading.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Thank you very much for the new assignment. I was already looking into the man but this is still a very nice thing for you to do. And I heard from your lovely little friend that you had some memories to share with me about your expierences at Hogwarts and with the Headmaster? Please owl them to me at your earliest convenience.
I do hope that after this is done that my debt is payed off and you call of that friend of yours?
Sincerely,
Rita
Harry was glad to read that the woman accepted the task even if she had already been looking into the Headmaster. He went to get some vials in which he could put his memories from the last few years. He started with his first year and continued until he was done with his fifth year at Hogwarts. He grabbed an extra vial so he could include this summers memories of Albus Dumbledore.
He included the memories with all the meetings he had with Dumbledore at Hogwarts and this summer. He also put the memories of all his adventures in the vials. This way he also hoped she could finally clear Sirius name to the public. And perhaps this could help with a case agains Umbridge. That vile woman deserved to rot in a prison.
And maybe there could finally be some changes made to Hogwarts so that what happened to him in his years there would never happen to another child.
Dumbledore might be ill, but he had made the decision to take those potions he was now addicted to. Dumbledore had made the decision to not seek professional help. This meant to Harry that all the things the Headmaster had done were his own fault. He deserved to go to prison for all the harm the man had done to Harry and who knows who else.
Perhaps a nice cell next to Umbridge, Snape and Bellatrix would suit the barmy old man.
He closed all the vials and carefully put them into a package. He spelled the package unbreakable and weightless before he went to the owlery to see if there was an owl there able to deliver the package for him. If not he would have to call for Dobby or Effy but he wanted to give them as much privacy as he could. It was their honeymoon after all.
Luckily it seemed that Othello had come for a visit but when Harry wanted to give him the package he got pecked by a offended Hedwig.
Apparently she was ready for a small trip now that Othello was there to look after the owlets for a while. And so he bound the package to her leg and cuddled her for a while before she shot away to deliver her burden to Rita Skeeter. Hedwig clearly needed some me-time after focusing her owlets for all those weeks.
He watched her fly away for a while before he turned his attention to the chicks and Othello. He played with them for a while but then it was really time for him to go to Longbottom Manor.
He met with Hermione in the Entrance Hall and he told her about the letter he got today. She agreed that it was a good idea to try and ambush Dumbledore and get him to a Healer and then a trial. She was also glad that Skeeter seemed to take her new assignment seriously though she snorted at the last part about the debt being paid off.
Hermione would never forgive Skeeter for her writing that horrible article about the so called love-triangle between Harry, Krum and Hermione. All those hate letters and even attempts to harm her had done a lot of damage to her mental wellbeing.
Still the woman was good at her job and with what they had on her Skeeter would take care to tell the truth. They really couldn't wait to see what she would find out.
The both of them walked into the training room to see only Susan waiting for them. Harry and Hermione greeted her with a slight hug and went to stand next to her. Susan explained that Hannah was here too but that she and Neville had gone on a walk together.
Apparently Hannah had taken Hermione's example and asked the boy she liked if he liked her directly instead of waiting for him to ask her. Harry was glad for them both. Hannah seemed like a nice girl and a good match for his best friend.
When Amelia walked in he went to her with the two girls following behind him so he could explain about the letter he got today from Dumbledore and if she would agree to ambush the Headmaster so that they could make him see a Healer for treatment and after, a trial.
He hoped that they would succeed.
Amelia agreed to his plan and told them that she would contact Andromeda and some of her most trusted Aurors for the job. She also told them when Neville and Hannah walked into the training room that she was running for Minister of Magic this summer since there had been a vote of no confidence for Fudge this summer. She was done with seeing the leaders of her country mess up time after time.
Amelia would fix it herself.
The people of magical Britain had stopped trusting the man after it became clear that he had lied to them about the return of Voldemort. Harry thought he got what he deserved after all Fudge had put him through just to safe his job.
All four of them congratulated Amelia but it didn't take long for her to tell them to get in position. Saluting her, they started training. After all, Amelia was still the head of the DMLE and not just a politican. She would always be an Auror at heart.
Hannah would be taught how to Apparate today and Harry, Susan, Hermione and Neville would be learning some new spells. After that they all would be starting or continuing with the sensing of magic exercise. Because Voldemort might be gone now, but Dumbledore and the Death Eaters were not. They all knew that Bellatrix was still around and probably looking for revenge or answers for her master.
It was a few hours later that Neville suddenly shot up and ran out of the room. Harry followed him, worried, but Neville seemed to run toward the potion lab of Longbottom Manor. When Harry entered the room he saw Neville standing above a cauldron and stirring in it.
Neville said without looking up from the cauldron, "My leaf fell down just then. Ugh, what is that thing horrible."
He stirred one last time and put out the fire underneath the cauldron and poured the potion in a vial standing ready next to it.
"Do you want to drink the potion right now?" Harry asked his friend.
"Of course I do! Can you tell the rest that I will be busy for a while?" Neville asked Harry.
But Harry had a better idea, "Expecto Patronum!" As the great silver stag appeared. Merlin, he loved that spell. He asked the stag to tell Amelia that Neville would be busy for a while with an important potion and that Harry would stay to keep an eye on him.
The stag nodded and ran through the walls and was soon out of sight. Harry turned to Neville and told him what Andromeda had told him, that it was better to have someone there when taking the Animagus potion so that they could keep an eye on him. That it would be better if Neville laid down somewhere.
Neville looked kind of relieved to have someone close to keep an eye on him and so he went to lay on the couch in the corner of the potion lab. He knocked the potion back and was soon falling into a potion induced sleep.
While Neville was on his quest to find his inner animal, Harry took out the book Andromeda got him to find out what kind of wolf he was. He quickly discovered what species his wolf was, the Canis Lupus also know as the Grey Wolf. One of the biggest wolf species in the world only his form was completely black with green eyes.
Still, finding his exact spiecies didn't account for how big he was. It wasn't like Harry's form was as big as the Direwolves of legend but he was still bigger than the book said muggle wolves were. Perhaps his magic changed some things?
After reading a bit more about the Grey Wolf it became clear that Neville would wake up soon. He was getting restless and seemed to be growling a bit. Harry was a bit disappointed since he had been hoping that Neville's animagus form would be a duck.
Neville woke up, shooting upright with a deep animal-like growl that made Harry laugh. It was a strange sound from his normally mild mannered friend.
As Neville sat up Harry asked his friend, "And? What did you see?"
Before he could answer, as if they knew Neville had just woken up Hermione, Susan and Hannah walked in just in time to hear Neville announce, "I'm a bear. A big brown bear." With a big smile on his face.
Harry was the first to respond with, "Congratulations mate!" And the three girls followed after him with their congratulations.
Soon Hermione and Susan would be able to find out what their Animagus form were and a little while after that the Twins and Hannah too would be able to drink the potion. Harry was also planning to ask if Luna would be willing to become an Animagus. Perhaps Ginny and Ron too. But that would have to wait until they were back at Hogwarts.
The rest of the day at Longbottom Manor was spent with planning the ambush for tomorrow. At first Harry wanted to be there with the team but Amelia wanted him to stay away from it all. It was an official Auror task force and having Harry there would only distract them and that would be dangerous for all of them.
And so it was the next day that found Harry sitting nervously in the sun room with Susan, Hermione, Neville, Gran, Tonks, Ted and Hannah. Soon, if everything went alright, they would hear from Amelia if Dumbledore was in custody.