Chapter 23
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PATRONUS' WERE TRICKY, BELIEVED ADHARA. They were also a pain. And stupid. They were meant to aid against dementors, which are fear incarnated. So, how the fuck was one suppose to think about a happy moment when faced with one? It was idiotic.

Regardless, it seemed as though some of her schoolmates were able to conjure one.

They had been practising the patronus charm for weeks now, and some finally started to show their corporal form. Adhara already knew what Harry's was: a stag, the same as his father's. Though, while usually he was quite happy about the fact, lately he seemed annoyed by it.

But Ron's patronus, a dog, was running circles around Harry's stag seemingly playing with it. Harry looked quite amused. Adhara thought the dog — whatever the breed was — matched the redhead's own boundless energy quite well.

And Millie just produced hers.

"A dolphin? Fitting."

"You think so?"

Adhara hummed.

"My dad's a falcon. I thought I'd get something similar, another bird or something. But I quite like mine."

Adhara watched as an otter joined the shimmery animal.

"It's beautiful, Millie," said Hermione.

"Why, thank you." Millie tried to look cocky, but her red cheeks gave her away, revealing her timidity. It made Adhara snort.

"Your turn now, Adhi."

Adhara's smile fell. So far, she was one who had the most trouble producing a patronus. She was the last one to even produce sparks of white light, and even now she still had difficulty with that.

The patronus charm was stupid, after all. How was it possible to think about happy memories while facing possible death? Adhara didn't think she even had any happy memories to use.

Her thoughts were apparently noticeable to her friends because they started to coax her.

"Remember the day you received your Hogwarts letter?" said Hermione.

Adhara rolled her eyes at the deliberate attempt. She huffed, crossing her arms. "Yes. Matron made me beg her to give it to me"

Hermione pressed her lips together.

Millicent tried another approach. "Remember when you battled with that troll in our first year?"

Adhara raised a brow, but Millie only shrugged in response.

"It was worth a try. How does the memory make you feel?"

"Annoyed. It was a very stupid thing to do, and it only happened because Ronald was an arse."

"Oi!" came from behind her.

"Well, you were!"

Hermione nudged her. "Come on. You've got to admit that it was at least a tiny bit fun."

"And that, my friends, is the difference between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor."

"Hey," admonished Hermione, but there was no heat behind it.

Millie seemed to have had another idea. ""How about that night inside the Chamber of Secrets? When you mouthed off the Dark Lord?"

Adhara's lips twitched.

Harry and Ron had joined them at this point, listening.

Millie, encouraged by Adhara's reaction, continued. "Or when you wrote your first article for the Quibbler?

Adhara did remember that. She also remembered her friends' reaction and how they kept reciting it over and over again for the rest of the week. She wouldn't be too surprised if they still had it memorised.

"What are you doing?" questioned Ron.

Hermione sighed at the bluntness, and stepped on his foot.

"Ow! Bloody hell, 'Ermione!"

"Helping Adhi find a happy memory."

Harry gave Adhara a meaningful look, but didn't say anything. Millie urged her to try the spell again.

"Come on, Adhi! Just give it a wave!"

Adhara huffed. She thought back at the Quibbler articles she has written so far, the one about Umbridge being her favourite. She tried to picture Tom Riddle's face when she reminded him of his own blood status.

It did spark joy, after all.

Adhara lifted her wand, whispering quietly, "Expecto Patronum!"

White light shot out of the tip of her wand, light that sparked and twinkled brighter than it did the last time she tried.

"That was better," Hermione consoled.

Adhara shrugged, but she didn't deny anything.

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"Do you remember that first summer you came to Privet Drive?"

Hermione, Millie and Ron returned to their own devices, apparently understanding that Adhara needed some time to herself for now. Harry, like the leech that he was, stayed.

Adhara was grateful that he did, but she would never admit it. Not even over her dead body.

"When we went into London almost every day and returned late?"

Adhara sighed. "...yes." It was the summer she dared to ask Matron something for the first time. When she convinced herself that the only reason she even met up with Harry everyday was because she needed an excuse to get out of Aleyne.

It wasn't a complete lie. But it definitely wasn't the whole truth either.

Harry was smiling. "Or the summer after that? When we spent an entire month at the Leaky Cauldron, away from the Dursleys and Matron. It was like we were free."

It was.

The light looked like a very bright lumos, at first, except it remained lit for longer. Streaks of white flowed out like cooling water. Adhara twirled her wand in the air, her eyes fixed on the steam of light it left behind. It undid a knot in Adhara's chest, one she didn't even know was there until she released her breath and her chest didn't feel so heavy anymore.

It wasn't corporal. Yet. But it was more than Adhara had ever managed to produce. And she was going to take what she could get.

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Winky materialised right in front of Adhara, stepping on her feet. She stumbled back, confused.

"Win — Winky?"

The elf looked frantic. She waved her hands about, looking at Adhara with widened eyes. "He's coming!"

Alarmed, Adhara searched for her brother, finding the boy talking to an equally frightened Dobby. Their eyes met, and Adhara understood what she had to do.

"Winky, grab as many people and apparate them back to their dorms."

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry's voice boomed through the Room of Requirement. "RUN!"

"Miss—"

Adhara didn't have time for this. "Now, Winky! And don't you dare hurt yourself."

Harry grabbed her arm, pulling her away when he saw that she was still talking to Winky.

"We've got to go, Adz!"

And they ran. The rest of the D.A. had already scattered, Adhara could see Winky hold onto whoever she could before apparating away. Harry hadn't let go of Adhara. He was pulling her, dragging her somewhere when —

"Trip jinx, Potter!"

Harry was on the floor. Adhara whirled around, wand already out and directed at Malfoy. He looked happy, weirdly. Happier than he had looked all year, almost as though he had forgotten about all of his problems.

But then he noticed Adhara's wand and the smirk wiped off immediately.

"Yo — you can't curse me."

Harry was already standing back up, but there was no way they were escaping now. Adhara could already hear Rosier's voice loud and clear.

"Black—"

"Levicorpus!"

When Rosier finally reached them, Draco Malfoy was dangling in the air by his feet.

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Sirius wasn't very sure why he was here. Only that Dumbledore had sent a patronus and called him into his office immediately, and Sirius and Remus were already on their way, using the man's floo. Cornelius Fudge was there — along with Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minerva McGonagall, some muscular fellow and the Weasleys' stupid sprog — and he was not happy to see him.

"Was there any need for him to be here, Albus?" The man threw an annoyed glance at Sirius' direction, and he could only reply with a grin.

"If what you're suggesting is actually happening, Cornelius, then I suppose a member of the Board of Governors should be here, don't you?"

"And him?"

"Ah, I'm afraid we come in a pack, Minister," replied Sirius.

He didn't know why he was at Dumbledore's office, currently. But he must admit, if it was to see the absolute look of irritation of Cornelius Fudge's face, then it was all worth it.

Then, after a moment, Victor Rosier entered the office, dragging Adhara and Harry by the elbow.

Ah, he thought. That's why.

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"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No."

"You don't know why you're here?"

"No."

Remus wanted to burst out laughing. Sirius already was, and even Adhara smirked. He even caught Dumbledore winking at Harry.

Percy Weasley looked offended.

Fudge looked completely taken aback. Victor Rosier looked like he was about to lose it, with the way his face had turned almost purple.

It was getting more and more difficult not to laugh.

"So you have no idea why Professor Rosier has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"

"School rules? No."

"Or Ministry decrees?"

"Not that I'm aware of," said Harry blandly.

Remus looked up at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath. Sirius didn't seem to care. He was grinning at Harry like he was the proudest parent on the planet.

Rosier pulled on Harry's shoulder — Sirius took a step towards them at the action, but Remus held him back — making the kid look at him. Harry maintained his undisturbed expression. Adhara turned to look at Rosier, too.

"I found you both, with Draco Malfoy dangling from the ceiling. Are you saying you had nothing to do with that, either?"

"Oh," said Harry, "Malfoy does that often. He likes to hang around."

"Did he just—" mumbled Sirius.

"Yup," confirmed Remus. "Do. Not. Laugh."

Kingsley coughed into his fist. Rosier looked incredulous.

"Then, it must be news to you, that an illegal student organisation has been discovered within this school?" Fudge, on the other hand, was not amused. He looked about the burst.

"Yup." Harry tried — key word, tried — to look surprised at the news.

Adhara didn't even bother to try. She regarded the Minister with her usual air of disinterest. "What organisation?"

Fudge, who was about to go off again, did a double take when Adhara spoke, looking completely stunned. Remus took Sirius' hand, and breathed in again.

Rosier seemed to have had enough. "I have never seen such insolence! But what else could you expect from a bunch of ruffians raised by wolves!"

For a second, the entire room went quiet. Remus instantly grabbed Sirius' arm.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

The kids, too, lost their looks of absolute blankness. They were shooting daggers at the man's direction.

Except, Rosier looked quite pleased with himself. "Now, if we're all done pretending, why don't I call in our informant?" He sent the kids and Sirius a nasty look, lips curled into a smile. "Shall I, Minister?"

"Of course, of course." Fudge, on the other hand, sent the same sort of look towards Dumbledore. Apparently, the man was still too blind by the power of his own seat to realise the true villain of the story. "There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?"

"Nothing at all, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He did not look happy. Not even disappointed. He looked like he had completely given up on Cornelius Fudge, and that was something coming from Dumbledore himself.

Sirius whistled, catching his kids' attention and then beckoned them over. Harry and Adhara quietly approached.

Percy didn't like that. "Excuse me, but you can't—"

No one listened to him. Adhara stood right in front of Sirius, who put his hands on the girl's shoulders as she turned to face the crowd. Surprisingly, she didn't push him away. Harry went to Remus, who rested a consoling hand on the back of the boy's head, knowing he wouldn't like too much contact right now. There were already too many people in the office already.

Rosier returned, followed by a curly-haired girl, wearing a blue tie. She was hiding her face, so Remus couldn't recognize her.

Harry and Adhara stiffened at her presence.

Rosier looked at her with a sneer, his nose angled high. "Come on, then, girl. Tell them what you told me." He pushed the girl forward, closer to Fudge, and Dumbledore's desk.

The Minister looked flustered. The girl was still not looking up, face still hidden, and Remus thought he could hear the girl sniff.

Rosier closed his eyes, exasperated. "Miss Edgecomb's mother works for the Department of Magical Transportation, Floo Network offices. I hear she polices the Hogwarts fires."

"Jolly good, jolly good!" said Fudge heartily. "Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to — galloping gargoyles!"

The girl — Marietta Edgecombe, Remus recognized now — finally looked up, making the Minister leap backwards. There were spots on her face. Big and angry red and purple, some of them seemed to be oozing white, and it spelled out SNEAK right across her face, over her nose. Seeing the reaction, Marietta cried out, hiding her face in her collar.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look. Remus tried to direct a pointed look at the kids, but neither of them were facing his way, so it was of no use.

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Adhara held Harry's hand, preventing him from doing something stupid. Her uncles were right behind them, though still crouched on the ground.

Adhara heard McGonagall cough, brushing off dust. She was holding onto Edgecombe.

Adhara watched as Dumbledore's phoenix flew up to him, she watched as the man grabbed the bird's tail feathers and clapped his hands together. He disappeared into a burst of flames, but not without throwing a wink in her direction.

Well, she thought, it looks like he's finally putting himself in harm's way.

No longer will Albus Dumbledore remain unscathed.

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It truly was unfortunate when the head of a government was an idiot, especially one so drunk in power that they became blind to the truth. They start to believe that their success was a result of their own actions, when in reality, it was other people who ensured they remained because they were just so malleable and stupid.

Cornelius Fudge named Victor Rosier the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, and the man threw a party to celebrate. Almost no one attended.

And with his new position, there was nothing stopping him from forming his Inquisitorial Squad, a group of snotty students who were so desperate for approval, they were ready to betray even their closest friends.

"Percy would have loved it," muttered Ron.

Harry and Adhara stayed quiet. But they remembered the red-faced bespectacled boy in Dumbledore's office, they remembered the way he behaved, and they couldn't help but agree.

Adhara's gaze flickered over to where Malfoy was, steering through the crowd of students in the entrance hall with a sneer. It looked as though he returned to his usual pompous self, jeering with his pointy nose held high, docking points like he could still run to his father.

And, well. Perhaps he could, now that Lucius Malfoy escaped Azkaban.

Adhara rolled her eyes. She grabbed Millie's arm. "We're going ahead. I've had enough of Malfoy's face."

Harry and Ron laughed, though Hermione looked admonishing. Millie only shook her head in amusement and let Adhara lead her away.

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"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," said George.

"What do you mean, 'tried'?" said Ron quickly.

"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."

Maybe if Harry hadn't known Montague he wouldn't have given the twins' action a second thought. But Montague and Adhara were friends, as much as either of them wanted to deny it. Harry could see Adhara was fond of the boy, and despite some of the stupid things the boy had done, Harry thought that perhaps that was more to Montague than what he led people to believe.

What was Harry kidding? Of course there was. Otherwise, Adhara wouldn't be friends with him.

Oh, she was not going to like this. She already did not like the twins.

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Remus rubbed his eyes, leaning his head against the back of the sofa. He rolled up the paper and threw it aside.

He heard Sirius pick it up and unroll it.

"Don't do anything," warned Remus.

They subscribed back to The Prophet once news about the Azkaban breakout was released. They didn't like the Prophet, but it was one of the best ways to stay informed about the bullshit the Ministry was up to. And lo and behold...

THE BOY-WHO-LIVED LIVING WITH A WEREWOLF?

"They interviewed Rosier," said Sirius in a low and dangerous voice.

Remus peaked an eye open and saw that the paper was crumbling under Sirius' fingers.

Remus wasn't necessarily hiding his lycanthropy that much anymore, not since his secret got spilled to every parent with children at Hogwarts. The Wizengamot even brought it up during Mariam Black's trial. The general public however, those who cry fake concerns about Harry under a pretence of good will, they hadn't known.

"Don't be rash, Padfoot."

Rosier's animosity against Sirius was obvious. There were whispers about how he had wanted the orphanage for himself when Hallewell got sentenced, but lost the rights to Lord Black embarrassingly quickly. He parodied with a different method then, hoping for some sort of alliance with Sirius regarding Aleyne, to ensure his secret would be well kept. But that didn't work. Sirius didn't want to hear it, and he had made that quite clear.

Apparently, Rosier didn't like that.

Sirius crumpled the paper and burned it with a silence spell — which was hot, but not now. Hands on his hips, he paced the den while shaking his head.

"I should've seen this coming. Harry wrote to us, complaining about the comments he's been making."

"This isn't your fault, Pads. The man's a bigot, there's nothing to do."

Sirius paused, turning to Remus with both his eyebrows raised. "Nothing to do? You think I'm not going to retaliate? You think I'm going to let this no good bastard speak—"

"Yes," said Remus firmly, "you won't be doing anything. Because if you remember, Rosier is now the headmaster of the school your niece and nephew attend." He rose from the sofa, crossing the room swiftly. "You didn't let him join in on Aleyne's ownership, and he did this. I'm not blaming you in any way, this ain't your fault. But all he did was talk bad about me in the newspaper. What do you think he'll do to Harry and Adhara if you decide to get revenge?"

Sirius did not look appeased. He crossed his arms, throwing him an admonishing look. "Even if I don't, do you honestly believe that the kids are going to stay quiet about this?"

Remus paused, realisation dawning.

"Adhara humiliated Umbridge and Fudge when she found out about Harry's detentions. Harry found out a way to burn down Walburga's portrait, which was held up by ancient blood magic might I add, when he noticed she was bothering Adhara. And these are just some recent things."

Oh, fuck.

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Adhara put together the pile of dead wood while Harry started up the fire. He stood in front of Adhara, because no matter how much she wanted to see the papers be burnt, it didn't mean she was suddenly cured of her fear. Harry ripped apart the many copies of The Prophet they got Dobby and Winky to gather and threw them piece by piece into the fire.

The sun hadn't set yet, but the Forbidden Forest was already dark. The glow of the fire was the only thing illuminating their surroundings.

"What are we going to do?"

Adhara stared at the fire, with more anger than fear. "Rosier changed the curriculum, right? Changed it after Umbridge left?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"Did he add pixies back on the list?"

Harry furrowed his brows, not really understanding where his sister was going with this. "I think so."

Slowly, a wicked smile took over Adhara's features. She didn't look away from the fire. Harry could see its reflection in her eyes.

"Haz, what do you know about changelings?"

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