Previously on A very Black Plan: Bellatrix Lestrange attacks the Hogwarts train and demands Harry comes out and face her. Of course, Harry being Harry, he agrees. But not before sending Prongs to Amelia for back up. Harry, Neville, Susan and Hermione have been training for this and quickly have a plan. Neville and Harry will go meet Bellatrix while Susan and Hemrione approach from behind. Hannah will keep an eye out for opportunities while staying hidden inside the train.
Bellatrix has brought two others with her and after bringing up the night she and her husband and brother-in-law attacked the Longbottoms, Harry has enough. He decides to start talking back. After all, he's quite good at pissing off both Death Eaters and their dearly departed Master.
They fight.
Harry and Neville win, barely. Thanks to Hannah's intervention which spared Neville from a nasty curse. Of course, it's only after the fight is over that the Aurors and Amelia arrive. Fudge tried stopping them but Moody made sure he and Amelia and her team went to the train with a handy little curse.
Arriving at Hogwarts Harry and his friends listen to a new song from the Sorting Hat and watch the firsties be sorted. Then finally, after the Welcoming Feast, the long awaited Daily Prophet appears.
Taking Hermione's hand into his under the heavy wooden table Harry opened the newspaper on the first page and started reading. Harry could already hear Neville try to hide his snort at the headline. Harry had to agree, Skeeter certainly had a way with words. Together with Hermione he continued reading the rest of the article they'd asked for.
Deeply Demented Dumbledore!
Dearest readers, as you might know, I, Rita Skeeter have always been the one to tell the people of our great country the hard truth. The truth you might not want to know, but the one the people need to know.
Now the time has arrived for me to give the people of our wonderful country another truth. It has taken a great deal of effort and investigation for this journalist, but here it is.
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Leader of the Light, Chief Warlock, Alchemist etc. has been keeping some secrets of his own. And what kind of journalist would I, Rita Skeeter, be, if I didn't share my findings with you, my loyal readers?
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. So many names. So many titles. Yet we know so little about him. Where did he come from? What drives this man we've chosen as our leader? We all know him as our teacher, headmaster or friend. But that is not all he is, dearest readers. He is also our Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock and the former Supreme Mugwump. All these titles ask for the best witch or wizard possible, but is Albus Dumbledore really that person?
Well dear readers, I will let you decide that for yourselves.
This investigation into Albus Dumbledore started with an anonymous tip. Apparently, some people noticed a curious thing about our dear Headmaster, and contacted me with their worries. Because the Headmaster had aquired a dead blackened hand. Cursed.
So this dedicated journalist dived into the books and what she found, dear readers, was shocking. Shocking indeed!
According to the books I found, the black, dead hand of the Headmaster of Hogwarts is the result of the obscurely dark and very much deadly Flesh Eating curse. This horrible curse is so dark because it has no known cure. The curse begins where it has hit its intended victim and then continues to spread through the body until it can't survive anymore after to many organs have been eaten by this curse. A horrible way to die, indeed.
But good news my lovely readers! While normally the Flesh Eating curse is truly dark and very much deadly but our wise Chief Warlock, Headmaster and Alchemist seems to have found a cure!
Still, Professor Dumbledore's hand is clearly dead and that worried a lot of people. After all, the man didn't hide his new injury and so we knew that he had been cursed for at least two weeks by now. For those who aren't aware, most victims die within a few days after being cursed.
How did he manage it? Is Albus Dumbledore now, other than his hand, completely free of the nasty curse?
Well, this concerned and curious journalist decided to look into it a bit deeper. Take a good look at these pictures, dear readers, and let me tell you what I discovered.
With help from a trusted Healer who we shall call Healer M for their own protection as a source, well, this diligent journalist discovered some shocking facts! Albus Dumbledore is sick. Not from the dark Flesh Eating curse, no. Our Chief Warlock is suffering from more than that.
Dementia.
For how long exactly my trusted advicor couldn't say for sure but Healer M did assure me that Albus Dumbledore is far from clear minded. Apparently the man has been suffering for years!
Years!
And that is not the worst of the medical report. Albus Dumbledore knew about it and has been self-medicating with Wit-Sharpening potions! According to my trusted Healer friend, Albus Dumbledore has been self-medicating and overdosing himself on the potions.
We all know how dangerous it is to self-medicate on potions if one is not a Healer who knows their stuff. And after a good talk with the Healer M, I couldn't agree more.
People overdosing on Wit-Sharpening potions are likely to experience these symptoms: a lack of appetite, digestive problems, anger issues, impulsiveness, hallucinations and if continued long enough, brain bleeds.
How did we, the people from Magical Britain, not know about this? How could a man lauded as brilliant all across the globe, think this was a good idea? But most of all, what has our Chief Warlock and Headmaster done in the years while his mind was fogged up by his disease?
Rest assured, dearest readers, Rita Skeeter will find out.
Harry never read through something so fast. Hearing the gasps of the students around him, Harry had to fight to keep the smile of his face. He could hear the horrified noices at the pictures Skeeter included in her article. A clear picture of the dead hand of the Headmaster was bad enough, but another picture showed the results of the medical report.
Every one knew one could not fake the results of a magically done medical check-up. So now everyone knew Albus Dumbledore is not himself and hasn't been for a while. Soon, people would start thinking about the man and his actions. Hopefully it would result in some critical thinking skills in the people of Magical Britain. After all, they've been following after an old man with dementia for year like tame sheep like they didn't need to think for themselves.
This was only part one of a series of articles Rita'd planned. Harry and his friends and family couldn't wait for the fall out. Skeeter had promised to keep his name out of it to keep him and his friends and family safe. They were gonna give her the information but otherwise they will only be mentioned as a trusted source with a fake name.
Hermione squeezed his hand in warning. Harry looked at her and followed her gaze towards where Dumbledore was sitting. Well, seething was more like it.
The magic was swirling around the man and the students closest to the Head Table were starting to feel the oppressive magic that felt like a thunder storm pressing up to them. The new Potions Professor looked queasy at the magic in the air and Snape was sitting there looking stoic. Professor McGonagall, who had been reading from her own newspaper, looked pale. She knew most of what Rita's article talked about but it was different now. The pictures of the dead hand and medical report made it truly real.
She felt the furious magic around her too. Yet, Professor McGonagall didn't falter in the face of the Headmaster's anger. Harry even thought he saw her elbow the Headmaster in his side in warning.
Minevra McGonagall was truly the bravest of them all.
A sharp word from Professor McGonagall later and Dumbledore pushed his magic back in and stood up, "Students! Welcome at a new year at Hogwarts! Now your bellies and minds are full it time to leave for your respective Dorms. Please follow your Prefects and get a good night rest for lessons are starting again tomorrow."
The Headmaster was clearly trying to be his usual self but even nitwits like Crabbe and Goyle could see that the man was angry. His eyes didn't twinkle at all and he still looked kinda stiff around the eyes. The muttering continued but after a sharp look from their Head of Houses, the Prefects stood up as the Headmaster asked them to do.
Deciding to ignore the eyes burning in the back of his neck Harry turned towards his girlfriend.
"Shall we, my lady?" Harry asked Hermione as he held out his arm for her.
Hermione smiled and took his arm with a bright laugh, "We shall, my lord."
Neville just snorted at his friends antics and together they walked toward the Gryffindor common rooms.
The next morning found the five friends in the Room of Requirement. Susan and Hannah joined them with the exciting news that the Hufflepuffs were starting to doubt Dumbledore, just like the Gryffindors.
The Gryffindors would never truly believe that the Headmaster was an evil mastermind but dementia? Dementia was something random that could happen to anyone. Albus Dumbledore was one of the elderly after all so they weren't that surprised to hear he was starting to slow down. As for the rest, well they were a bit angry about that.
Self-medicating on potions was one of the first things they learned not to do. To hear their Headmaster and Leader of the Light had done it himself was shocking to the students. Some of the smarter ones were clearly worried about what a powerful man like Dumbledore had been able to do while sick.
The next article was scheduled for tomorrow and that one would cover some of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts. That one would hopefully cause Dumbledore to be asked to step down or fired as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. It would be nice if Harry could feel truly safe here at Hogwarts again.
Telling and giving proof about his years at Hogwarts is an important step. It would prove that Dumbledore hadn't been acting in his right mind for years now. Harry couldn't wait.
Gran also told them that it would also give Harry a lot more credibility. People still changed their mind about their boy hero way too often. When his adventures were actually known and proven to be true, well, that would change things. They would have to take him seriously.
While Harry didn't want to think about his future in politics, he had to admit Gran made a good point. He was the last of his line. Harry would be one of, if not the youngest person in the Wizengamot. He needed people to take his words seriously.
But this morning, before breakfast, Harry and his friends decided to continue training. But first the girls asked if they could watch Neville and Harry while they practised their Animagus transformation. They were curious for when it was their time to start the Transfiguration process. Harry and Neville really didn't want them to see it this early in the process but they couldn't say no either when it was their girlfriends asking.
Harry just hoped he would look less like a walking fur this time.
Both Neville and he went to sit down and tried to ignore the staring of the girls. Soon Harry found his wolf and started his transformation. It was getting easier every time he was relieved to note. It took a lot of concentration, yes, but Harry felt one with his wolf. He just had to practise and know every part of his new body before he could make the transformation all at once.
Concentrating hard, he felt his body change.
He felt his fur grow and his nail sharpen into claws. His arm started to change too when his concentration broke as he heard a loud snort. Opening his eyes he saw Hermione staring at him with big sparkling eyes and her hands in front of her mouth in embarrassment.
She blushed when she saw that his concentration had broken because of her and apologised, "Merlin, sorry Harry! It's just that, well, you just look just like Cousin Itt!"
Then Harry had to laugh too. Even Susan and Hannah understood Hermione's reference to the Addams Family since Hermione showed them the movie when they all went out in the muggle world together on one of their breaks this summer. They laughed even harder when there came a very loud snort from the left of him. Neville too had only his nose Transfiguered into the snout of a bear again.
Susan and Hannah where rolling on the ground, laughing their arses off and Hermione and Harry weren't far behind them. Unfortunately, Neville couldn't laugh with them with his nose and mouth transfigured into the snout of a bear.
Though, apparently one could still pout when having their face half transformed into a bear, which set them all off again.
After calming down, Harry and Neville tried again to transform while the girls went to spar. Harry managed to transform his arm in a proper wolf paw while Neville now got the shaggy fur of a brown bear.
It was good progress for their age and the time they had been doing this. According to the book Sirious left him he knew it took the average person around a year to even find their animal let alone change into it. But Sirius also mentioned in the book that if one had a good relationship with their magic, respected it and their inner animal, that it would be easier. Having above average magical strength would also help with the transformation.
Harry had faith that he and his friends would be able to make the complete transformation within the year.
Then it was time for the boys to join the spar. They went all out and it was a brilliant feeling. The Room of Requirement adapted so well that eventually they were fighting in a rocky landscape that Hermione thought up. They basically played a game of paintball Dudley used to talk about. Only with stunners instead of paint.
Hermione won after she stunned him in the back. After waking up it was time for breakfast in the Great Hall and the rest of their lessons. Professor McGonagall handed out their schedules and Harry was happy to see he was allowed to join his year of Runes.
Harry had studied them very seriously this summer and a bit in the last summer too. After talking with McGonagall about his new studies last week and a exam later, he was allowed to join his year Runes class.
But first there was Transfiguration, Potions and then Runes. Hermione had the same schedule only with Arithmancy added and Neville had the same as Harry only without Potions and Runes. He did have some extra advanced Herbology classes that the rest of them didn't have.
A full schedule for all of them but Harry didn't mind it anymore. He would do his best and make his family proud, all of them.