Previously on A very Black Plan: The day of Harry's prank has arrived. But before he even got to breakfast in the Great Hall, Winky gave him a letter. In that letter was a warning from Gringotts from BoB. Whose name apparently meant Breaker of Bones instead of just Bob.
Dumbledore and Wesley Weasley, Head of House Weasley and Arthur's Great-Uncle, planned to force Harry and Ginny in a Marriage Contract. If they both came to die then all Harry's wealth and titles would go to the Head of House Weasley. Luckily, as Harry was declared an adult as the Lord of his Houses, the contract couldn't be made without his approval.
Asking Ginny about it, he was very relieved to see her shock and anger. Ginny was furious. Assuring both Harry and Hermione that she and her parents hadn't anything to do with this, she went to write her parents a letter.
The prank was a succes. All students got a new hairstyle and voice inspired by Hagrid, Dumbledore or one of the Heads of Houses. That day also came the second of Rita's article. In this she revealed a lot shocking facts of Harry's first year at Hogwarts. She also shared that Dumbledore could have been sick up to twenty years and asked the public about what that man could have done in all his important positions.
Amelia, Gran and the Board finally had enough to get Dumbledore out of this school. Arriving, they told him he was fired and asked Dumbledore to leave the school. Amelia also asked Dumbledore to come with them peacefully so that they could bring him to Saint Mungos.
Dumbledore refused and fled the school.
Harry was roughly woken up early that morning by Hermione shaking him awake with the words, "Harry! Wake up, my leaf has fallen down!"
Harry opened one eye, saw the sun was only just rising and mumbled something vague back, still half asleep. Hermione wasn't really here, his sleepy brain decided, it was just a dream.
"Harry, wake up!"
A very insisted dream. A dream that could poke him apparentely. Opening both eyes this time, he saw that Hermione was actually there, in his dorm, standing at his bed with an excited look on her face.
"Alright, alright, I'm up! What's going on?"
Hermione climbed on his bed and suddenly Harry was wide awake. Hermione. Laying. In. His. Bed. With him.
"Shh! You wanted to keep this a secret didn't you? You're going to wake the other boys. Like I told you before, my leaf has fallen. I got the potion you gave me but you said I needed a buddy before taking it in case of accidents." She barely breathed while talking and Harry had to smile. He loved it when she babbled like that. It was adorable.
Sitting up he cast an extra privacy spell while closing the curtains around his bed. Neville had woken up while Hermione rambled about her Mandrake Leaf but he clearly chose to ignore the girl in their dorm room as Harry nodded to him. Neville clearly agreed with Harry that it was way to early for this, but unfortunately, Harry had offered his friends his help in this.
"Alright then. You know what to do, righ Mione? Just get comfortable, take the potion and I'll keep an eye on you while you search for your inner animal."
With a nod she straightend her shoulders and said, "Right. Well, here I go."
She knocked the potion back and laid down on the opposite end of the bed. Waiting until she fell asleep only took a few moments and from then it was a waiting game. Harry was very curious to see what Hermione's inner animal would be. Perhaps a owl of raven? Maybe some kind of feline or something cute like a otter or bunny?
Keeping half an eye on his girlfriend he thought back on the last few days with Dumbledore gone from the school, he was glad to say that the castle was doing much better. Professor McGonagall had been instated as Headmistress and she had begun making changes already. Good ones.
In a speech given to the students she announced her plans for Hogwarts. She wanted more subjects taught and was in the process of hiring teachers for the next year. Professor McGonagall also told them that she had asked the goblins to come and check out not only the wards but also the rest of the school.
She wanted the school to be safe again. Hopefully there would be no more dangerous creatures in Hogwarts or any Dark objects. The wards in full power would not allow it. They didn't know what Dumbledore had done to the wards but if they had been at full power then the Troll or the Cerberus would never have been able to even get on the grounds surrounding Hogwarts. Neither could have the Diary Horcrux that possessed Ginny in her first year.
A goblin team would get here somewhere in the next few days to search the school and fix the wards.
Harry couldn't wait.
It was really interesting to watch someone take the Animagus Potion. Neville had lumbered around on all fours with some growling after he had found his animal and Harry knew that he himself had been jumping around growling playfully. Hermione just yawned and curled up, gently purring.
Well, she was probably not a bunny or otter then. Or bird. Purring meant a feline.
She stretched out like a cat and Harry had to stiffle his snickers. Mid stretch she woke up and seemed to realise what she was doing.
Hermione blushed but then did that cat thing where they pretended that you didn't see them do so something undignified. Cats, doing something undignified? No, sir, not them. What are you talking about?
That look.
Hiding his smirk he watched her straighten herself out from the potion induced vision and asked her what she saw. Hermione immediately started another excited babble with shining eyes.
"Oh Harry, she's beautiful! I'm a cat, some kind of leopard I'd think, but smaller then I thought leopards were. I shall have to look them up in the library, do you think they have a book on muggle animals here at Hogwarts?"
"A leopard? Well, that certainly fits you, don't they? Smart, strong, cunning and not to mention beautiful creatures."
She blushed at his sincere words but the look in her eyes was proud. Hermione too, had come a far way from the insecure girl she had been in her childhood. Hermione might have come over as confident but her know-it-all habits were born out of insecurity, Harry knew. It was nice to see her confidence grow.
Casting a Tempus Harry saw it was getting time for breakfast. Asking Hermione even though he knew the answer already, "Do you want to go down for breakfast now so we still have time to go to the library?"
"Yes! Let's go eat breakfast now." She pulled his arm so he had no choice but to follow her as she jumped out of his bed and towards the door.
"Um, Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if I get dressed first?" She dropped his hand and turned around to look at him, standing there in his pyjama's with his messy bedhead.
She offered a sheepish, "Oops?"
Harry just laughed. He loved her enthusiasme and drive. Quickly using the bathroom and dressing in his school robes, he went down the Common Room where Hermione was waiting for him.
The other boys were still sleeping back in their dorm but Harry didn't wake them up. It's still early after all. Offering his girlfriend his arm Harry asked, "Shall we, love?"
Love. It just slipped out. Hermione looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before she smiled and kissed him tenderly on the mouth.
Taking his arm she said softly, "I'm ready if you are."
Oh good, he didn't make a giant blunder with calling her love. Hermione even seemed to like the endearment. Perhaps he should call her that more often? He loved her, he was pretty sure of that so it wouldn't be a lie.
Arriving in the Great Hall they saw they were one of the few students there. Sitting down, Harry started plating up his usual breakfast when a few owls started sweeping down with the newspaper tied to their legs.
Accepting one, Harry rolled out the Daily Prophet to see Bellatrix Lestrange cackling face on the front page.
Bellatrix Lestrange: Arrest, Trial and Sentence.
My dear readers, as you know it hasn't been long since Lestrange has been arrested again after she and two other Death Eaters dared to attack the Hogwarts train full of students. Luckily, thanks to our very own Boy-Who-Lived, she was defeated and taken in by the Aurors. Harry Potter bravely went out to meet her after she treatened the students and together with his best friend, Neville Longbottom, they handedly defeated the three Death Eaters.
In her Trial she was questioned by our very own Head of the DMLE Amelia Bones and Croaker, the Head of the Department of Mysteries. They questioned her on her crimes and also for other Death Eaters they might not have known about yet. This led to sixteen other arrests.
The crimes of Lestrange are too horrifying to share in this dignified newspaper where our younger readers might read them but for those interested, one can ask for the trial transcript with only a short letter sent by owl towards the Ministry.
Keeping her crimes in mind and add her clear insanity, her sentence had been decided. They will not sent this horrible woman back to Azkaban, the prison she had already escaped once. No, Bellatrix Lestrange has been sentenced to the Veil. All her liquid assets will be gifted among her victims and put in a fund for muggleborn students to help them adjust to our world.
Her execution shall take place on the 23 of September.
Her two accomplices have been sentenced to 12 years in Azkaban and a hefty fine.
For more information on the Veil see page 14.
For more information on Croaker see page 23.
Quickly eating their breakfast so they'd have as much time as possible before their Potions class, they went to the library.
Hermione asked Madam Pince for a book on muggle animals, preferably felines and luckily, the Hogwarts Library did have some. Quickly finding them on the bookshelve where Madam Pince pointed the book out at them, they went to task.
Harry hadn't know there were so many kind of felines and even so many different kinds of leopard breeds. So many different breeds! Harry was glad that his wolf had been a lot easier to find. Showing her the pictures everytime he found something that looked like Hermione's discription of her inner animal, they eventually found the right one.
A Clouded Leopard.
De Neofelis Nebulosa was the smallest of the big cat species and one of the most acrobatic. One of the only big cats that can purr and a very good climber. They have very big canines compared to their small size and are sometimes called the 'modern day sabre-tooth'.
Harry thought that it fit Hermione perfectly. She too was very happy with her animal and asked when they could start practising with actually changing into her animal. Hermione made a copy of the page in the book about her animal and then they went to Potions with Professor Slughorn.
Harry had never known that Potion class could actually be kinda fun but with their new teacher it was actually a lot better. Even their classroom looked happier without Snape there. Slughorn was a good teacher though he was a bit of a slug, if Harry was honest. If only the man wasn't so obsessed with 'collecting' those his students who were powerful, brilliant or famous. It made things awkward.
Thanks to his summer project of brewing the Animagus Potion, Harry was a lot better now then last year. Not that he had ever been as bad as Snape made him out to be. Harry liked making potions if he could do it without Snape breathing down his neck. It was relaxing in the same way cooking was for him. Potions and cooking were both a lot more fun without Snape and the Dursleys.
In this lesson there was even a price to be won. Hermione won a small vial of Felix Felicis which was a luck potion. Potions got even better with Malfoy's pouting after Hermione won the vial after brewing the best potion of their class. Slughorn even ignored Malfoys bragging about his grandfather who Slughorn apparently knew.
Lunch time brought him a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Dear Harry,
We cannot apologise enough for the actions of our Head of House, Wesley Weasley. Ginny told us what he and that Dumbledore had been planning and we are horrified. Please believe us when we tell you that we had noting to do with his awful plans for Ginny and yourself. Rest assured we will take care of it on our end.
We own you a debt for more than one reason and the actions of the Head of House Weasley is a shame to us all.
And Harry dear, please, if you still feel comfortable, come visit us sometime when school has let out? We missed you this summer.
With love,
Molly and Arthur
While it wasn't certain that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had nothing to do with the botched contract, it was still a relief. Harry believed them. He cared for that family and it seemed that other than Wesley Weasley, they cared for him too.
Though Harry did wonder what they meant about taking care of it on their end. Oh well, it was Weasley's own fault for getting on the bad side of Mrs. Weasley. Not to mention Ginny's brothers and father.
No one hurt the only girl of the Weasley family and got away with it. The man really should have known better, being the Head of their House. Deciding to write them back later this evening, he and the rest of the students continued with their classes of the day.
After dinner, Harry and his friends met in the Room of Requirement again. First they did their homework together before getting to training. It was then when Susan shot up with a disgusted look on her face.
"Guys, my leaf fell down."
Well that was great timing. Now she could practise the Animagus transformation with the rest of them. Harry called for Kreacher and asked him to grab a vial of the Animagus Potion from the Potion lab of Grimmauld Place.
After thanking Kreacher and giving the potion to Susan he told her, "Here, just drink it all at once and find a place with some space to lay down."
Since this was the Room of Requirement, Susan only had to ask before a nice couch appeared for her to lay down on. It didn't take long for her to fall under the Potions influence and fall asleep. Hannah was staying close to her best friend to make sure she didn't fall while doing whatever her animal did.
Harry, Neville and Hermione meanwhile tried to practise their own Animagus transformation. Harry had just managed to transform all of his arms and legs into paws when he heard barking coming from where Susan lay.
It broke his concentration but he didn't mind. Opening his eyes he saw that Neville also progressed some more in his transformation and Hermione had already managed to get her nails to sharpen into claws, over-archiever that she was.
Susan barked again and was wiggleing around on the couch like a happy puppy. Hannah had asked the Room for a camera and was taking a picture or ten of her best friend acting like a excited puppy.
Then Susan broke out of the potions vision and found herself in an embarrassing position with friends laughing at her. Blushing, she sat up straight.
"I'm a German Shepherd."
Hannah looked thrilled for her friend as she said, "Aww Sue, that's brilliant! A German Shepherd is just so you."
Knowing muggles used this breed as police dogs, Harry had to agree. A German Shepherd fit perfectly with his tough and loyal friend.
Hannah asked them thoughtfully, "What do you guys think I will be?"
Neville went to stand next to her and answered, "I can't say for sure, but perhaps something like Labrador dog, a horse or a bunny or something? Something sweet and loyal for sure."
Hannah kissed his cheek in thanks and laid her head on Neville's shoulder. It would be a while yet before Hannah could join them so she asked the room for a dummy while the rest of them continued with trying to transform. They had decided that Luna and Ginny would join them tomorrow. Ron declined since he wanted to take things slow as school started. The poor guy was drowning in homework.
Hannah would be ready to find her own animal just before Ginny and Luna could. Fred and George would be ready before Hannah and they had promised to call for one of his Elves for the potion as soon as their leaves fell down. Harry was planning on asking them to join their practise too when the twins found their animal if their shop allowed them to.
Every time Harry tried, he felt he was getting closer to the full transformation. He hoped it wouldn't be long now before he would be fully transformed. Harry couldn't wait to run around again as a wolf. He also couldn't wait for him and his friends to transform and play together.
Like the Marauders did before them.
Then they duelled alone and in pairs before it was time for them to go back to their dorms. Back in his dorm Harry took out some parchment and a quill and wrote back to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,
Thank you both for your reassuring words. I admit that I was afraid when I heard about the contract that you both were involved but even I knew, deep down, that you wouldn't do that to your own daughter. To me.
I would like to see you both. Would you perhaps like to come and visit me when the next Hogsmeade day arrives? Andromeda Tonks and her family are coming for a family lunch at the Three Broomsticks but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if the both of you joined us. She knows you and Mr. Weasley took care of me for some time every summer.
Ginny and Ron would like to see you too, I'm sure. We have a lot to talk about.
Sincerely,
Harry
Asking Winky to deliver the letter to the Burrow, Harry turned towards Quidditch. He was the captain of the Gryffindor team this year and while he thought it was a honour, it was another thing on his already quite full plate. So Harry asked Ron to help him.
Ron would help him to come up with strategies while Harry led the team. Oliver Wood might have been able to do both, but Harry couldn't. And Ron loved Quidditch and planning strategies so he was perfect to help him.
They made a good team and it was nice to spent some time with his old friend just talking about Quiddich. Ron confided in Harry that this is what he wanted to do after Hogwarts, be the stragetic manager of the Chudley Cannons and bring them to new heights.
Not that is was hard to bring the worst team up in the lists but it was nice to hear that Ron did have some ambition. While it wasn't the Ministry job Mrs. Weasley wanted for her children, Harry was sure she would support Ron when she saw the joy in his eyes.
Dean and Seamus asked him for a game of Gobstones which Harry was glad to play. Seamus was brilliant in this games but it was still fun for all of them. Especially when Neville and Ron joined them.
Still laughing, Harry got ready for bed. Tomorrow would be another busy day for all of them.