Dolores, there is something that we don't fully understand," admitted Minerva sitting there acting as Head of the school for moment. "How is it that, you and Harry, became close enough for him to learn History of Magic from you as well as advanced DADA? I know you said that you were working with Amelia, but we would like to know if there is something else that we can learn about this situation. It is a shock too many of us already, that you don't hate the young man like that which was being portrayed."

"As you know," began Dolores getting comfortable. "Harry has been angry since the beginning of the year. Having a hard time coming to terms with what happened at the end of last year was hard enough. To have been tried by the Wizengamot for underage magic was even harder. We learned that Dumbledore has been doing things to him that should not have been done. We also learned that Dumbledore was the one to cast the Fidelius Charm on the Potters that night. The Ministry has records of things like this. It is no secret that the Potter home in Godric's Hollow was under the Fidelius Charm. What is not known to many is that Dumbledore himself cast that spell and offered to be the Secret Keeper."

"He is one of the few that actually can cast that spell," said Filius nodding. "I was asked by James and Lily, but Dumbledore stepped in and did it in the end. I often wondered why he insisted upon casting the spell."

"So he knew that Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper," summarized Minerva. "He knew that an innocent man was in Azkaban for something that didn't happen. As Chief Warlock, he is the one that could have put a stop to all of that and he did the opposite of what the laws dictate. He also knows that Peter Pettigrew is still alive. I don't doubt Harry's word that the man still lives."

"We have a book that records all deaths of Wizards and Witches in the Department of Mysteries," said Dolores carefully. "I am going to tell you all something that I don't want to leave this room. I am an Unspeakable. I knew that Pettigrew was still alive and had been in this castle. I was unable to act upon it due to the fact that I was under orders from the Ministry to not get involved. Dumbledore made a play and won before we could do anything about it. We have spies in the Ministry that are working for different factions."

"What do you mean?" asked Severus. "What spies are you talking about and who do they work for?"

"It is simple," said Dolores. "You have spies that belong to Albus Dumbledore. You also have spies that belong to the Dark Lord. You even have spies that belong to the Ministry itself. Those of us that have the title of Unspeakable have special privileges that many others don't. We have access to more records and such that even the Minister doesn't have. We know and learn things for the betterment of our future."

"So how does this play out for Harry Potter?" asked Pomona. "What is his role in all of this?"

"We knew, as did the goblins, of his heritage," she said. "We had been trying to get a spy here in the castle to help with the situation for some time now. We suspected that Dumbledore was putting more pressure on Lord Potter than was necessary or warranted. It was our biggest break through when we were able to get someone from the Ministry that we could trust here in the castle. Amelia Bones is one of those that are NOT in anyone's pocket. Therefore, she is more knowledgeable about what is going on than most as we feel it best that she know what is going on."

"Is she working to get Sirius freed from prison?" Minerva asked. "That would be the best course of action for Harry. He is close to Sirius and it would be to the benefit of the young man to have his godfather out from the scrutiny of the public as a mass murderer on the run."

"We are working on that," admitted Dolores. "However, between Dumbledore and Fudge, they are determined to get the man out of the picture. They want him dead. Dumbledore wants him dead as a way to get to Harry and Fudge doesn't believe that he is innocent. So we got someone here in the castle to keep a watch out over Harry."

"Does he know that you are an Unspeakable?" asked Severus. "Does he know what is going on?"

"He does," admitted Dolores again. "He is a very intelligent young man. I have been instructing him since the beginning of the year. When he came in for the first detention, I made sure he understood what was happening. I also made sure that he was NOT to change his attitude towards me in any way that would throw a suspicion that he was not being punished. We want him trained and the easiest way to do it is to make others think that he and I hate each other and we were fighting constantly. Admirably on his part, he has done a wonderful job."

"So only your department, Amelia Bones, and now us know of this?" Severus asked cautiously.

"Yes," said Dolores. "We have to make sure that Harry is able to defend himself from all outside forces. His strength lies within this castle. It is unfortunate that we may not be able to save Sirius Black, but we are going to do our best to keep him alive for as long as possible. We also want Harry to come to the Department of Mysteries to remove the prophecy. We suspect that it is a fake, but we won't know unless Harry or the Dark Lord takes it and listens to it. We are able to keep the Dark Lord out of there, but we want Harry to come and retrieve the prophecy so that the Dark Lord doesn't get his hands on it at all."

"So this is why you are helping him behind the scenes," said Filius nodding his head. "What about you Severus? Why have you been helping him?"

"Well," said Severus thoughtfully. "I have suspected for some time now that there was something wrong with him. His father was quite skilled in Potions even if he didn't use them. You have to pass the subject with an EE to become an Auror. Lily was a prodigy in the subject often working with me on the side on potions to improve them. So when Harry was doing so abysmally in the art, I took an interest in his studies."

"Yes, but you are helping him in all of his subjects," pointed out Minerva. "Not just potions. Did you find out what was going on with him that we need to know?"

"As you may or may not know, Dumbledore wanted me to teach him Occlumency," said Severus with a sigh. "I saw things that made my blood boil. For once, I talked calmly and treated him as an equal rather than subject him to my normal ways. He started to open up to me. He began to cry on our third meeting. I am disgusted with the Dursleys for doing what they did to him. I hope that Amelia will be able to deal with them. After that, he and I agreed that he could come and sit with me in the evenings that he wasn't serving detention with Dolores so that I could help him with his school work. A friendship formed from there. Granted it was a rather shaky one at first, but it formed none the less. He is VERY intelligent. I was able to convince him to stop holding back in class."

"Well it seems that between the two of you his abilities have sky rocketed," stated Pomona. "I am impressed with his knowledge of things. From what we can see, he is passing ALL of his subjects with ease now. I would not be surprised to learn he is the top of his year this year."

"As the Deputy Head, I have access to all records and grades and such," said Minerva. "I can tell you that he is the top in the entire school right now. He has the highest GPA in the school at this moment. Mrs. Potter is sitting right there. I mean the difference in their GPA is minimal. It is only due to the fact that Harry is better in DADA than Hermione that he is above her. I don't know what you are teaching him Dolores, but I can safely say that I have never seen anyone do so well in the subject and that is saying something as I have been in this school for thirty some odd years."

"As I stated," Dolores replied with a smile. "He is a very intelligent young man. He is actually learning at a seventh year level. I have hopes that he will become an Unspeakable when he graduates. He currently has what we are looking for in that aspect. So does his wife."

Later that day, the entire school was called to assembly in the Great Hall. They were all chatting with each other quietly while waiting for everyone to show up. When all were in attendance, Minerva stood up and handed each person a sheet of parchment while Filius handed out quills and ink.

"What we would like for everyone to do, is to write down what you would like seen in the school that will bring it back to the title of the best in the world," said Severus. "We only have one rule. Those pieces of parchment that has the words mudblood, blood traitors, or purebloods are better will receive an automatic fifty point loss for their house and will serve one week's worth of detention. This school has to work with all students equally. This doesn't mean that we will favor one over another due to their blood status."

"When you are all done, just bring your parchment up to one of the professors and we will mark your name on it and review it," said Pomona. "We are going to take ALL suggestions seriously. Therefore, it is in your best interest to actually write down something that will make you look like intelligent people instead of mentally challenged fools. Every professor in this school is ready for you to turn in your ideas."

"You may begin," said Dolores. "Take all the time that you need. Today is for the students to help us better improve this place. Our goal is to have a brighter future. The way things were done in the past, need to stay in the past. We need to move forward and let the world know that we are finally catching up with the times."

With that, the students sat and began their work. For hours, they chatted and decided. One after another, they all turned in their sheets and waited for the outcome. The professors were busy recording the most common complaints about the school on one piece of parchment while they were recording other ideas on another. When everyone was finished, they sat and waited while the professors tallied up the results of the poll.

"Ok students," said Minerva standing and getting t heir attention. "We have found that there are a few complaints that are common amongst most of the student body. Therefore, we are going to address those issues first."

"It would seem that most of the students feel that I favor my own house above all others," said Severus. "I would like to put your minds at ease on this topic. While I may not call down my house in public, I do punish them behind the scenes. Many of you feel that I favor Draco Malfoy above all others. I will ask that you trust me when I tell you that I punish him just as much as I do everyone else. Recently he lost two hundred points from me for issues that he was the center of. To put your minds further at ease, I will, from this day forward, make sure that I lessen my admonishment publicly of all other students. While many of you feel that I am harsh, I want to point out that one wrong mistake on your potion could have devastating effects. It could not only cause damage, it could even cause death if not done correctly. Therefore, you will not have me any less harsh on you for wrong potions, but I will not "pick" on you like I have been in the future. Furthermore, in the future, my door will be open to ALL who wish extra help in potions. Even you are welcome Mr. Longbottom."

The students all laughed at this. Even Neville gave a nervous giggle at the proclamation.

"We have a majority that feels that it is time for Professor Binns to retire and have a live person teaching History of Magic," said Filius speaking up. "We, as the staff, happen to agree with you. We will begin to look for a live person to teach History of Magic."

"Next we will address the one complaint that is pretty much noted by everyone," stated Minerva. "Many of you have had encounters with or grievances about Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris. This is something that we, as the staff, have been complaining about for some time as well. Once more, we will begin to look for a new caretaker for the castle. Your grievances about him and his cat have been duly noted and we will take care of it."

"Many of you have taken up the cause that Lord and Lady Potter have stated," said Pomona. "We would like for all students to put their name on a notice that we will post in your common rooms regarding tutors. If you are struggling in a subject and you want to improve, then please, don't be shy or embarrassed about putting your name up on the notice asking for help. On a similar note, all of those that would like to be tutors please add your name on the second notice that we will post. This will ensure that others will know that you are willing to donate your time to assist where needed."

"As Professor Snape has already mentioned, we as the staff will also be leaving our doors open to you all for extra assistance in the subjects that we teach," stated Minerva. "The only thing that we ask is that you all remember that we are teaching all of you. So if we don't have time right then and there, you can be assured that we will set up a time for you."

"Lord and Lady Potter," called Dolores. "We were wondering if the two of you would be willing to head up the class with Professor Burbage to assist the pureblood students with the happenings in the muggle world."

"I have no problems with that," said Harry while Hermione nodded her head at his side. "With permission, we can have anyone who wants to learn about muggle ways away from the Professor's class to meet us in classroom thirteen every Sunday evening after dinner. We would be more than willing to give up our evenings to assist with this project."

"I think I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that is acceptable," assured Minerva. "You have our permission to do so."

"We will ask that if you are going to come to the class that you act like someone who has a brain in their heads," stated Hermione. "We will not tolerate people coming to the class just to badger others or to cause problems. Should this occur, we will ask the professors to prevent you from coming to further classes."

"Should that happen, dock points and send them to us for further punishment," said Dolores. "We want to improve the standards of Hogwarts. As Lord and Lady of the Castle, you have the rights to dock points. Both of you are intelligent enough to know what is right and wrong and act accordingly. Just send us a note letting us know what was said and such and we can deal with it from there."

"Thank you Professors," said Harry with a grin. "We will not disappoint you. We will do our best. On the same note, we ask you all to remember that while many of us are more than interested in tutoring others, that you remember that we need time to study as well. Those of us that are giving up our free time, do it gladly. However, we still need to study as well. Like the rest of you, we have exams coming up and we also wish to do well. I see no reason why the unused classrooms around the Great Hall area can't be used as tutoring rooms. With the permission of the Professors, we can maybe allow those that are being tutored and the tutors, allowances to be out after curfew provided they are going to and from tutoring sessions only."

"I will personally see to it that you have a stack of passes to give to the students," assured Minerva. "Anyone caught abusing this privilege will be summarily punished and allowances not be made again for you."

"With that being said," remarked Severus. "We would like for you all to enjoy the rest of your evening. Those of you that want to be tutors, meet us in classroom eleven in fifteen minutes so that we can set up a schedule for you all."

The students all left the room with lots of conversing going on. Harry, Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Draco, and a few others all stood and headed to classroom eleven so that they could hear what the professors had to say.

"This is something that will help us all out in the future," remarked Draco while they headed out. "I am actually looking forward to being a part of this new age. It seems like a good thing to do with those that need the help."

"Look on the bright side," said Harry. "The Malfoy name can improve by being known as those that help their fellow classmates rather than egotistical bullies."

Draco laughed along with the others and nodded his agreement. They entered the room and decided to start setting it up. Hermione and Harry created different areas for different subjects. Each was set with its own blackboard and such. It would be easier to work with the students if they had their own section to work with. Harry had the castle expand the room to accommodate each and every subject taught in the school. When the professors all entered later, they were amazed at the work that all the teens were doing.

"This is absolutely amazing," said Minerva entering and clapping in delight. "This will work out great for all of those that need it. This is a brilliant idea."

"Now we have to decide who is going to tutor what subject," said Severus sitting down with a clipboard in his hand. "Who wants to begin?"

"Draco and I will work together to tutor those that need it in Potions," said Hermione. "Harry has opted to take DADA and History of Magic. Neville and Daphne will be the ones that will work on Herbology. Luna and Parvati will work with those that want to do better in Divination. Padma and Cho will help people with Transfiguration. Millicent and Blaise are going to help with Charms. Of course Harry and I will work with Muggle Studies on Sundays. As of yet, we have not found anyone to help in the other subjects. I guess for now Harry and I can tutor those that need it until we get more volunteers to assist in the tutoring project."

"Very good," said Dolores handing each of the named tutors a special badge to put on their robes. "These badges will act like a recording device. When you are in session with a student, just hold the badge and mention their name. When you are done, speak their name and state that they are heading back to their dorms and it will inform whoever is in the Head office that said student is heading back to their common room. Lord Potter has graciously allowed us the use of his map. So we can keep an eye on the students that way."

"We shall have a list of each student by the end of the week that is in need of assistance," said Severus. "We thank you all for this and we look forward to seeing the rise in grades in the subjects. Just note that if it is something that you can't teach them, then you are to refer them to the Professor in charge of that particular subject. Like you, we will do our best to help the students. We may even step in from time to time to assist you with your tutoring sessions."

"For now we wish you all a pleasant evening," said Pomona. "We need to have a private word with Lord and Lady Potter."

Harry and Hermione bade the others a good evening and waited for them to leave the room. When the other students left, they looked with interest at the assembled Professors.

"We need to take Harry to the Department of Mysteries tomorrow," said Dolores. "We want him to remove the prophecy regarding him and the Dark Lord. We know that it is a fake, but the spells on the spheres only allow those it is made about to remove it. Once we have it, we can listen to it and figure out what we can do to counter it. Once that is done, we feel that it is in the best interest of Harry to send a copy with assurances that it is a fake to the Dark Lord. This may or may not keep him from attempting to harm you again in the future."

"I seriously doubt that," remarked Harry. "However I am more than willing to give it a try. I would like for the both of them to just leave me alone and let me live my life. I am so tired of people telling me that I am not allowed to enjoy my life. Between Voldemort trying to kill me all the time and Dumbledore thinking that he can control my every move, I have yet to actually enjoy my life."

"We are going to work with Amelia to make sure that your relatives are punished for their part in all of this," said Minerva. "I argued with Dumbledore for hours about leaving you with those horrible people. He told me to shut up and mind my own business. Of course you know how well I took that."

Everyone present broke out in laughter. It was common knowledge that Minerva didn't like people telling her to shut up when she felt she was correct about a situation. Now that everyone knew that Harry and Hermione had the backing of the staff of Hogwarts, it was easier for Harry to breath.

"I wish to speak with you two about another matter as well," said Dolores. "With the grades that the two of you get, we were hoping that you would consider going to work for the Department of Mysteries when you graduate."

"I can't," said Harry simply. "I have a school that I have to run. As the heir of all four founders, I feel that it is my duty to make sure that I learn as much as I can beginning this summer so that I can learn how to run the school and become the best Headmaster that I can be. Were it not for that, I would be honored to be considered to work in the most proficient and powerful section of the wizarding world."

"I will consider it," said Hermione. "I am flattered to be asked. I am happy that I meet the qualifications so far for that prestigious spot."

"The two of you have the highest GPA on record," said Minerva with a folder in her hand. "We went back and looked at a lot of the grades and such and we have discovered that Dumbledore has been marking Harry lower than we graded him on. In all of the tests and such that we have reviewed and such, the grades that we gave you don't match what Dumbledore recorded in your files."

"I have always scored poorly in Potions," said Harry with a confused brow. "History of Magic was no easy class either."

"I may have stated that you scored low, but you have never scored anything other than an EE at the very worst and an O+ at your best," said Severus. "In History of Magic, you have been scoring between an Acceptable and EE until this year where you are now the top in the school in the subject."

"Well Professor Umbridge pointed out that most of what Binns teaches can be read in the books," admitted Harry. "I may not be able to comprehend him, but it is easy to read the book. I have been doing so all year. History is rather fascinating. To bad he makes it so dull."

"Just give us a couple of days," said Minerva grinning. "We will have a competent teacher that actually is alive teaching the subject. Tell me Harry. What have you been doing that is making your grades so much better in all of your classes? You seem to have a new respect for learning and you enjoy doing well on your tests."

"It was a hint by Professor Umbridge and Snape both," admitted Harry with a grin pointing to each. "I read each chapter well in advance. From there I sit and write a short theory of each chapter. That way when we actually have homework on a certain subject all I have to do is modify what I learnt in the book as compared to what I learned from the actual professor and you have a good homework assignment already partially completed."

"That is brilliant Harry," said Hermione kissing her husband. "Why did you never do that before? You could have been at the top of our year with me this whole time. While it is being said that you have been doing better than we thought, what I don't understand is why you didn't take a better interest in your classes before."

"Two reasons," said Harry to the group. "First, my magic and such had a block on it if you care to remember. Secondly, my relatives would beat me and starve me if I did better than Dudley."

When Harry realized what he had just said, he grew silent and very embarrassed. He looked down to the floor and refused to lift his head. He didn't want to see the looks that were on everyone else's faces. Everyone else was looking at Harry with sorrow and in some cases anger at what he had suffered at the hands of his relatives.

"Are you telling me that, the idiot known as Dudley Dursley had to do better than you in school or you were abused for it?" asked a furious Minerva. "Are you telling me that your health issues are due to you not being given three square meals a day in that house? Tell me all of it and do it now!"

"From the time I was four I was made to do all the cooking and cleaning," whispered Harry to the horror of the assembled professors. "If I didn't prepare it right or fast enough, I was not permitted to eat. If I didn't do it like they wanted, I was hit and made to redo it and then I was sent to my cupboard."

"WHAT?" Minerva yelled in righteous anger. "Are you telling me that you were placed in a cupboard for not cooking their food properly?"

"It was," began Harry before he lost his voice. "It was my bedroom until I got my Hogwarts letter."

"I AM GOING TO KILL DUMBLEDORE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM!" yelled Minerva. "I TOLD HIM NOT TO PLACE YOU THERE. DID HE LISTEN? NO! HE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS FOR THE GREATER GOOD."

"Minerva," said Severus. "You need to calm down. We don't have to worry about that anymore. You can always send for Amelia and have her arrest the Dursleys. They need to be punished for what they have done to Harry. It is no wonder that Harry is small for his age. I am just as angry as you are about this, but there is no need to shout like this in front of Harry. He is frightened and embarrassed enough already."

"Of course Severus," she said taking a deep breath. "I do apologize for my outburst Harry. We will see to it that those horrible relatives of yours are never going to hurt you again."

"Just let it go," said Harry with a sigh. "They can't get to me anymore. I don't have to go back there now that I am the owner of this castle. I can just stay here and not worry about them. It is not worth the effort to bring in three muggles that have probably been brainwashed by Dumbledore in the first place. I don't want anyone else to get hurt due to this situation. I am going to hold my head up high. I am going to excel in my studies. I am going to be the best wizard that I can me right along side of being the best husband that I can be."

The older witches and wizards standing there were beaming at Harry in happiness. His maturity and outlook on life was refreshing to many. It was due to things like this that many in the staff were so fond of him.

"Well said Harry," said Dolores with a smile. "That was a very noble and good thing that you have just done. We will send someone out to your relatives. However, we are only going to check them to make sure there are no spells and what not on them. If they have spells that were placed upon them, it would be better if they were removed for their safety."

"I can agree to that," admitted Harry nodding his head. "However, if no spells were placed upon them, then I am granting whoever checks them permission to threaten them. I may not want them hurt, but they need to understand that what they did was wrong. Just make sure that they understand that if there were no spells that I never want to see them again and that I will be taking control of Grunnings so that they can know that I will be watching."

"I am very impressed," said Minerva. "Who would you like to run the company for you while you are here and training?"

"See if Griphook or Ragnok knows of anyone they would trust to run that company," said Harry thoughtfully. "If they do, then we can be sure that they will know how to make a profit. I don't want Vernon dipping his hands into my money anymore if I can get away with it."

"I will deal with this for you," said Severus. "I am sure that they will know of someone that can run a muggle business and improve it for you."

"If I don't have any shares or do not own it, have Griphook and Ragnok make sure that I buy it outright," said Harry. "I want that company under my complete control by no later than next week. Also get them to make sure that we get all stocks and such of the Daily Prophet. I want to own that paper as well."

"Why would you want the Daily Prophet?" asked Dolores confused.

"Simple," said Hermione smiling at her husband. "We don't want people like Rita Skeeter telling any more lies about us. We also want to point out that she is an unregistered Animagus. I caught her at the end of last year. Draco Malfoy had been giving her gossip about Harry all year. From there she did her normal thing and embellished his reports even further."

"Well I think it is safe to say that the Goblins of Gringotts will take this to task for you," said Severus thoughtfully. "I am sure that if you send them an owl that they will take care of both of these situations immediately."

"We wanted to talk with you about one other issue," said Dolores with a small smile. "Dumbledore planted the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. We were wondering if you would be willing to help us by coming with me soon and removing the prophecy so that we may here the contents of it. As we stated earlier and got off track, we need to get that prophecy to safety and heard before more happens that doesn't need to happen."

"By doing so, we may finally understand why the Dark Lord is taking so much stock in it," assured Severus. "We want him to leave you alone as much as possible. If he were to hear that the prophecy is a fake and that you are not a threat to him, he may just leave you alone and let you live your life without the hassle of looking over your shoulder and wondering if he will be there or not."

"I think that is a good idea," said Harry thoughtfully. "We can get it out in the open and finally understand what is being said. With that we can decided what to do from there."