What If… Harry Potter

The duelling platform was surrounded by eager students as they watched Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy climb up onto it. Most of them watched Harry as he walked to the side with Professor Lockhart, mainly because a lot of the girls thought the DaDa professor was absolutely dreamy. None of them saw Professor Snape as he whispered some advice to Draco.

“Take your positions.” Lockhart said. “Present wands.”

The two boys stepped forwards and raised their wands in front of their faces.

“You are fighting to disarm only.” Lockhart reminded them, not that it was going to change what would happen.

“Scared, Potter?” Draco asked, arrogantly.

“You wish.” Harry responded.

Several students in the crowd muttered in response to the interactions.

“Begin!” Lockhart exclaimed.

Draco whipped his wand almost like he was throwing a fastball. “Serpentsortia!”

To everyone's surprise, a cobra seemed to shoot out of his wand and the very irritated cobra snake landed on the duelling platform between the two opponents.

The cobra hissed angrily as rose up and flared its hood open. “Bite! Attack!”

Harry was only surprised for a moment by hearing the snake talk, then he noticed the intriguing butterfly pattern in the hood that couldn't be seen normally. “Oh! Aren't you a handsome one!” He hissed back.

Everyone froze at the exchange, as did the snake. For a moment, anyway.

“A Speaker!” The snake hissed happily and slid forward in only a second and climbed right up around Harry to rest its body on his wand arm and looked right into his face. “You wouldn't believe the day I've had!”

Harry couldn't help himself and laughed a little at the thing. “I think I have some idea.”

The cobra let out a hissing laugh and its hood shrank back into its main body. “Do you have a nice plump mouse on you anywhere? I'm a bit peckish.”

Harry laughed again and used an index finger on his left hand to pet the top of the snake's head. “I'll need to ask Hagrid for something and I'm sure we can find you a good meal.”

“Thank you, Speaker.” The cobra hissed and slid back up his arm and wrapped around his neck to lay down. “You are nice and warm.”

Harry didn't bother telling the thing it was cool to the touch, since he knew it needed external heat for its body temperature. “My shirt collar is too tight to let you down inside.”

“Inside?” The snake hissed and its tongue flicked out along the edge of the cloth. “You are right. I cannot fit in there.”

Harry had to put his wand away to loosen his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

“Thank you, Speaker!” The snake hissed and dove into the opening.

Harry giggled as the snake tickled him and slid down into his shirt and out of sight.

Not one single person moved or spoke as Harry took his wand back out. He used the Petrification spell on Draco and the boy's arms and legs snapped together and he fell face first onto the duelling platform.

“Th-th-the winner.” Lockhart whispered and pointed to Harry. “Harry Potter.”

No one seemed to react to the declaration until one of the students spoke. “You can talk to snakes?”

Harry turned to see a boy in his year from Hufflepuff. “Yeah. I found out a couple months before getting my Hogwarts letter and Hagrid told me I was a wizard.”

The boy's mouth dropped open from shock, as did almost everyone else. They had all thought he grew up with wizards.

“Did you know there's a reason the Slytherin House mascot is a snake?” A pretty blonde girl in Slytherin robes asked and Harry shook his head. “Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth.” She said and saw Harry's confusion. “He could talk to snakes, too.”

“Oh.” Harry said and the weight of what just happened seemed to hit him. By the looks on everyone's faces, he knew they would all think he was the Heir of Slytherin. “I didn't open the chamber and I don't hate muggleborns.”

The blonde girl chuckled. “Of course you don't. Your friend is one, as was your mother.”

Harry looked at Hermione and saw her worried face, then looked back at the blonde. “I probably shouldn't say this...”

“Then don't!” Hermione gasped.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out. “The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin.”

The blonde girl gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.

“You lie, Potter!” Snape spat.

Harry glanced at the angry man and couldn't stop his smile, because he knew that what he was going to say next was going to change things. He just didn't realize the extent of those changes or what it would mean for the wizarding world.

“If I hadn't met the arrogant bully named Draco Malfoy, I wouldn't have begged the hat to put me ANYWHERE but Slytherin.” Harry admitted for the very first time and motioned to the still immobilized blond on the duelling platform. “I would be wearing green and silver robes right now if it wasn't for him.”

Everyone gasped this time, especially all of the Slytherins. The blonde girl stared at him as if she had never seen him before and nearly everyone in the Great Hall felt the fundamental shift as everyone's opinions and beliefs changed from what they all knew to what was right in front of them.

Harry Potter, the so-called Griffindor Golden Boy, should have been a Slytherin all along.

“Noooo!” A young girl's agonized voice called out and everyone turned to look and saw a redheaded girl as she dropped to her knees and a diary fell to the floor from her limp hand.

“Ginny!” Fred and George called out and ran over to her to kneel on either side of her. One held her tightly and the other picked up the diary.

“Who's T.M. Riddle?” George asked and stared at the thing before he started to flip through it.

Before anyone could say anything, a ball of flame appeared and faded away to show a partially flaming bird. It snatched the book from George's hand with its beak and then it was consumed in another ball of flame and disappeared.

“We all just saw that, right?” George asked and looked around at everyone. Only a few of the other students nodded. No one saw Snape as he swiftly strode away and exited the Great Hall through a side door.

“That was a phoenix.” Hermione whispered and no one contradicted her or said she was crazy.

Today was a huge day for firsts, apparently.

*

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office as a feeling of dread settled into his bones after Severus left. Fawkes had retrieved the diary and Albus had planned to return it to the youngest Weasley at the first opportunity.

It was essential to his plan to test and temper Harry for her to continue opening the Chamber of Secrets on occasion and keep the school in a constant state of fear and danger. What his Potions Professor and spy told him was much too concerning for Albus to dismiss, however.

The savior of the wizarding world was a parselmouth.

Albus took out the stacks of letters from his desk from his squib spy and started to go through them again. Instead of skimming them like he usually did and dismissing the barely hidden connotations, he read them thoroughly and each and every one had something in it.

Being excessively meek and distrustful of adults, despite living with a loving family. Harry was overly thin and weak from not eating and it wasn't because he had a slim build. Large bruises and black eyes that shouldn't be explained from boys being boys. Cuts and burns that no normal child could conceivably get on their own.

Suddenly needing stronger glasses after being hit with a frying pan. Limps and sometimes sore arms and back that were damaged much more that just the child being clumsy. Having absolutely no friends whatsoever, despite the neighborhood being full of children. Multiple mentions of Harry living in the cupboard under the stairs.

Albus took out another few letters from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Again with the underfed, smaller than normal observations, and meekness. The last one was concerning, too. Bars on the bedroom window and the Weasley Twins rescuing him from starvation, that both he and the redheaded parents had dismissed as over-exaggerations of excited teenagers going on a joyride and needing an excuse.

All of the justifications that Albus had given himself at the time of first reading them, were washed away with the clarity of hindsight. He knew that the boy would face dark times from living with his family, because of his magic, and Albus had planned for it. He had not planned on it being so excessive that the boy would have gone into Slytherin if it wasn't for the sheer luck of him meeting Draco Malfoy, the epitome of pureblood fascism.

Albus dropped the letters and rested his head in his hands. His plans for Harry would have to be changed somehow. It had been something he spent over a decade putting into place and he wasn't sure that it could be changed, now that it had already been cemented into action.

From the moment Harry Potter stepped into the wizarding world, all of his actions had been planned out meticulously, including the fierce rivalry with Slytherin and a friend to goad him into it, despite Harry's natural tendency to stay out of things. According to Mrs. Figg, all Harry wanted was to be left alone.

It was just unfortunate that was never going to happen, even if Albus managed to change the plans already in motion. Little did the headmaster realize that by the time he had come to the right conclusions, he was a little too late to derail how events were going to play out as nearly a hundred owls had already flown away from the castle with the day's events.

*

A week later, Sirius Black sat in his high security cell in Azkaban Prison and he had no idea what time it was or what day it was. Time had no meaning on the constantly dark and dreary island that the prison had been built on. He was always cold and constantly shivered in his prison garb and he was never given anything to alleviate that. Until today.

The cell door opened for the first time since he had been tossed into the cell and the radiating warmth of the large mug of hot chocolate was like a blast furnace in the middle of a snowstorm. Sirius gulped half of it down before he realized he had burned his throat. He didn't care about that as he hugged the mug and cradled it like it was a newborn babe.

“Letter for you.” The guard said and handed him the already opened letter.

Sirius was too out of it to read the thing, let alone understand what it said.

“Sign this.” The guard said and handed him an already inked quill.

Sirius was surprised that his hand didn't shake at all and he scrawled his name across the spot the guard pointed to. He didn't even feel the words as they etched into the back of his hand briefly and then it faded away.

“Thank you.” The guard said with a smug smile and tossed a bag stuffed with food onto the man's lap. “I suggest making that last.”

Sirius had no idea what he was talking about and was surprised when the cell door shut and he was allowed to keep the mug with the Everwarm charm on it. It quickly became his most prized possession. He ignored the fact that it was his only possession, besides the now empty cloth bag that he wore as a hat to keep his head and ears warm.

*

Harry wasn't surprised that he had been ostracized after Hermione had failed to stop everyone in Griffindor from turning on him. Them finding out that he was a Slytherin wearing Griffindor robes was a bit too much for them to accept.

Ron's words were quite a lot more shocking, though. He was supposed to be Harry's first friend and he had said a lot of mean and horrible things, the least of which was calling him a slimy snake. He was currently in the hospital wing being treated for a cobra bite and suffering from the poison trying to eat him out from the inside, which was the last straw for Harry's housemates.

It didn't matter that it was Ron's fault for grabbing Harry's arm and hurting the snake first, which made it retaliate. Harry was branded a traitor for setting a snake on a friend and everyone hated him for it.

Hermione was in tears as Harry apologized and told her, in no uncertain terms, that she couldn't be seen associating with him. They would always be friends, just never where anyone could see them together. It was safer for her to stay as far away from him as possible, especially in public.

It was just too bad that their Head of House completely agreed with him.

*

To three quarters of the school's surprise, Harry Potter entered the Great Hall for breakfast on Monday morning and wore plain black robes and a grey tie. There wasn't a lick of Griffindor colors anywhere on him and they all stared as he walked over to the far wall and a small table appeared there with a single chair. Nearly all of the Griffindors glared at him, too.

Needless to say, Albus Dumbledore was shocked to see this. When he turned to stare at Minerva McGonagall, she unreservedly told him about censuring the boy for nearly killing Ron Weasley and had exiled him with a nearly 100% majority vote from everyone in Griffindor House.

There was only one down vote by Hermione Granger and two abstentions from Neville Longbottom and Ginerva Weasley. She did not tell him that both girls cried themselves to sleep every night.

With no choice in the matter, now that it had happened and he couldn't do anything to mitigate it, Albus began the meal and almost everyone started eating. It wasn't a surprise that Hermione and Ginny looked devastated and kept giving Harry furtive glances instead of eating the food in front of them.

They were the first two people to notice the pretty blonde Slytherin girl as she walked across the hall with her empty plate over to Harry's table. As she reached it, another chair popped into place across from him and Harry's eyes widened as the girl sat down and helped herself to the smaller platters of food on the table.

She didn't speak or anything and just ate her food. After a few minutes, Harry gave a little shrug and kept eating, too. They both ignored the flight of owls that entered the Great Hall to deliver the mail. The talking and glares increased afterwards and both of them kept ignoring it.

When the meal ended and the desserts had been consumed, the girl gave him a pointed look, a quick nod as she stood, and walked away.

Harry stared at her retreating back until Minerva McGonagall appeared next to him and handed him a new schedule. She informed him of his month of detentions starting that evening and Harry ignored her as he read the schedule. He wasn't surprised to see that he was no longer in the Griffindor classes.

What was a surprise was that he had been added into the Slytherin classes. That they still crossed with Griffindor classes a lot was apparently ignored by the woman and she walked away without comment.

With no other choice but to follow the new schedule, since he had no one to complain to, Harry went back to the abandoned room on the third floor that he had made into a temporary dorm, and retrieved his books. Since the corridor on the right-hand side had been a taboo place all year last year, no one, not even the professors, went there.

Harry went to the first class on the schedule, Potions, and stood outside the classroom to wait for the door to open. As the Slytherins and Griffindors gathered in the hallway like usual, there was a distinct lack of crowding around where Harry stood between them. At least there was until that blonde girl arrived with a dark-haired girl.

The blonde whispered something to her friend before she walked over to him and stood beside him. The friend walked on and stood with the Slytherins, which surprised everyone. They all stared at Harry and the blonde, especially the Slytherins. The classroom door opened and Snape growled at them to get inside.

To Harry's surprise, the blonde stayed with him and they sat at a table on the Slytherin side of the classroom. Not one single person asked why there was enough room for him to do that, considering they were usually paired off to sit at the tables, because of the even number of students.

Harry looked around and saw Ron as he sat with Dean and Seamus and Hermione sat beside Neville. He had to squash his envy that Ron could so easily ditch him and then attach himself to someone else, as if they had been lifelong friends.

“So, you finally see it.” The blonde girl whispered as Snape pointed at the board and revealed today's recipe.

Harry didn't ask her what she meant. Instead, he asked her a very important question. “Why are you doing this?”

The girl gave him a look that clearly told him to wait, then she went to the ingredient stores cupboard and gathered what they needed for the potion. She returned with her arms full and divided them up between them and then whispered how to prep them.

Harry did as he was told, which had been ingrained into him since he was old enough to speak, and he didn't see the surprise on the girl's face as he did what she wanted perfectly. With her giving him instructions, he pretty much worked like an extra pair of hands for her and they brewed the potion without a single mistake.

Professor Snape was too surprised by the result to berate the boy for losing his House and becoming exiled. He also didn't comment on how none of the other Slytherins dared to sabotage their potion.

Harry packed up with the girl and he stopped when he felt her hand on his forearm. He hung back with her and then she let his arm go and they walked behind the group of students. When they left the classroom and the door closed behind them, he stopped walking when her hand was back on his forearm. He held in his shiver as she leaned in close to whisper.

“That was why.” The pretty blonde barely breathed into his ear, which actually did make him shiver. “If I'd known who you really were instead of the boy-who-lived, I might have had Weasley disposed of last year.”

Harry started to smile before he stopped himself. “You... really...”

“My name is Daphne.” She whispered. “You need to call me Greengrass in front of everyone else.”

Harry knew she had a reason for that, so he nodded. Her lips lightly pressed onto his cheek and his eyes widened. Before he could turn to ask her what that was for, she was no longer beside him. He glanced around and saw her blonde hair mixed into the small group of Slytherin girls that had apparently waited for her.

When he entered the Great Hall and sat down at his assigned table, Harry was surprised when Daphne joined him again. They didn't speak, even though they both secretly wanted to. For some reason, they knew that if they became too familiar so soon, everyone would take it the wrong way. Being accused of planning the whole parselmouth reveal to get him out of Griffindor, wouldn't do them any favors.

*

Cygnus Greengrass laughed hard as he entered his living room through the fireplace. Magical travel through the floo was the best way to get to different destinations with a minimal chance to hurt yourself.

“What is it, darling?” Francesca Greengrass asked her husband.

Cygnus tossed the latest edition of the Daily Prophet onto the coffee table in front of her. “I want you to read that.”

Francesca's lips pursed as if she had tasted something sour.

Cygnus barked another laugh. “I know you usually don't read their tripe. Just humor me for now.”

Francesca nodded and picked up the paper, only to pause at the title. “The savior of the wizarding world will be the next dark lord?”

Cygnus made motions to get her to keep reading. His wife understood that she needed to read it all to get what had made him so happy, so she spent the next ten minutes absorbing the complete defaming that the paper had let their gossip reporter smear all over the front page of the paper.

“Oh. Oh, my.” Francesca whispered and felt her husband sit beside her. She leaned against him and sighed a little as he put an arm around her. “What are you going to do about this?”

“We're going to attack, of course.” Cygnus said with a knowing smile.

Francesca knew better than to question him about it. “Did you get the paperwork slipped through?”

Cygnus nodded. “No one will realize what happened until I show up at Hogwarts tomorrow.”

“So soon?” Francesca asked and then looked down at the newspaper. “Never mind.”

Cygnus gave her cheek a kiss. “Would you like a front row seat or do you want to handle the things in the background?”

Francesca had to think about that difficult decision. After a few moments, she smiled. “Background. You can surprise me tomorrow night and tell me all about the look on Dumbledore's face.”

Cygnus laughed and leaned in to kiss her on the lips.

*

All of the students and professors were stunned the next morning during breakfast when the doors to the school were opened and a large group of men and women entered unannounced. Before the headmaster could make his way around the head table, one of the group stepped forward and pointed a finger at him.

“What right do you have to allow the treatment of a student like that?!?” Cygnus accused loudly and pointed at Minerva next. “What kind of Deputy Headmistress and Head of House are you to do what you did to that poor boy?!?”

“Now see here...” Minerva started to say as she stood.

“What are you going to say to assuage the school governor's fears that you can do what you did to anyone you want?” Cygnus asked and interrupted her. “Well? I'm waiting!” He nearly shouted. “Tell them that you can't kick a student out of their House over ONE SINGLE ACCIDENT!”

“He's the Heir of Slytherin!” Ron shouted and stood. “He deserves everything he gets!”

Cygnus glared at the boy and moved his accusing finger to point at him. “You are absolutely right, betrayer of friends!”

That brought nearly everyone to complete silence.

“Wh-what?” Harry asked from his table.

“Hello, Mister Potter! It's nice to finally meet you.” Cygnus said and walked over to him. “I see my daughter has decided to make friends with you, despite your exile status.”

“He's not a filthy Griffindor anymore, so I don't have to hate him out of sheer spite.” Daphne said and her words echoed in the silence of the hall. “That he should have been in Slytherin this whole time helps.”

Cygnus laughed and gave her a quick hug. “You always were pragmatic and saw the best way to use a situation to your advantage.”

“I learned from the best.” Daphne said and smiled a little. “Mother.”

Cygnus barked a laugh and held a hand out to Harry. “I need to ask for your forgiveness, Mister Potter.”

Harry was too surprised to say anything and shook the man's hand.

“I only just managed to get the right paperwork through to secure both your guardianship and your Founder's Heir status.”

“NO!” Dumbledore shouted and everyone in the Great Hall turned to see the old man pale. “You couldn't possibly...”

“...subvert your stranglehold on the savior of the wizarding world?” Cygnus finished for him and let Harry's hand go. “I was quite relieved to discover that you are not Harry's magical guardian as you claimed and informed everyone. Getting you to sign all rights over would have been impossible if you were.” He smiled. “Mister Black was quite happy to do so, however.”

“N-no.” Dumbledore whispered. “No.”

“What's going on?” Harry asked.

“Both I and my daughter will explain everything as the school governors have a very loud and informative discussion with the headmaster and deputy headmistress over their abysmal handling of you.” Cygnus said and motioned for Harry and Daphne to follow him. “A day off from school and a visit to Hogsmeade should be a good start to getting you in a better mood.”

Harry just stared at the man and didn't know what to say. He clenched his hand when Daphne's hand took his and he held on as if she would disappear if he let it go.

Cygnus saw this and smiled before he turned to the head table. “Mister Potter is taking a personal day on the advice of his magical guardian. Since he doesn't have a House, feel free to deduct as many points as you want for him missing today's classes.”

Harry sucked in a sharp breath and looked stunned.

Cygnus put a hand on his shoulder for only a second. “You can't serve detentions, either.”

“But... but...” Harry had served one the night before with McGonagall.

“You don't have a House for the records to be recorded in, so they mean nothing.” Cygnus informed him. “Come along now. We have a lot to talk about, now that my family will be the ones taking care of you from now on.”

Harry stood frozen to the spot and didn't move. “Wh-wh-what?!?”

“As your guardian, I'm responsible to house, clothe, and feed you. I also need to teach you everything you need to know to function in our world.” Cygnus said and saw the utterly blank look on the boy's face. “You didn't know that?”

Harry couldn't stop his embarrassed blush. “I... I didn't even know the headmaster was my guardian.”

Daphne gasped, as did a bunch of people around them, including the school governors.

Cygnus looked murderous and turned to Dumbledore. “It's true? He really didn't know anything at all about magic until the Merlin-be-damned GROUNDSKEEPER told him?!?”

Albus Dumbledore could almost feel the accusing stares from everyone in the Great Hall, especially from the school governors. Lying about it would be seen as much worse than actually keeping the boy ignorant.

“I felt it best that he be raised away from his fame and...” Albus started to say.

“That was not your decision to make, Mister Dumbledore.” The head of the school board said and nearly everyone understood the implications of the man not calling him headmaster. “The wizarding family that raised him should have told him everything about...”

Daphne felt Harry tense and looked at his still red face. “Harry?”

“I was raised by muggles.” Harry whispered and she gasped again.

“Excuse me?” Cygnus asked and tried to keep his face blank. It was very difficult to do. “What did you say?”

Harry saw that everyone was looking at him. He took a deep breath and let it out. “I was raised by muggles.”

An almost physical ripple of shock flowed across the Great Hall.

Harry was quite uncomfortable at all the scrutiny. “C-can we go now?”

Cygnus shook off his shock and nodded before he led his new charge and his daughter out of the completely silent Great Hall. When they exited the castle through the large front doors, an explosion of sound from the school governors hit their ears before the doors closed behind them.

*

The day off became a week off after Harry was taken for a check-up at St. Mungo's. It was something Harry admitted never having happen before, not even by Madam Pomfrey when she was supposed to do it during the first week of school for all muggleborns and muggle-raised, to ensure they weren't susceptible to various wizard diseases like Dragon Pox.

Harry was shocked to learn his grandfather and grandmother on his father's side died of it and that was barely twenty years ago, which meant there wasn't a cure. He had been unknowingly risking his life every day that he interacted with everyone in the wizarding world, including his new friend and new guardian. They were just as upset as he was about it, too.

By the end of the week, Harry had been treated as much as possible and had a standing appointment every weekend to keep receiving treatments for the years of malnourishment and abuse he had received at the hands of the Dursleys. When he asked about what was going to happen to them, Cygnus would only say that they would be taken care of after what they did to a magical child.

The Daily Prophet printed a retraction for their accusations against Harry Potter about becoming a dark lord, then printed a condensed version of Harry's first medical record and about his first year at Hogwarts. Both things clearly showed Harry's abuse at the hands of the muggles and horrible treatment by some of the other students, especially Draco Malfoy and his friends.

It caused a huge uproar. Albus Dumbledore had intentionally allowed the savior of the wizarding world to be abused at home and bullied at school, right there in the Great Hall in front of everyone, and only Harry was ever punished for it, usually very harshly.

When Harry showed up at school on the following Monday morning for breakfast, he was barely recognizable. The usually broken and comically large black rimmed glasses had been replaced with stylish gold wire-rimmed frames and thin glass, which highlighted and brought out his bright green eyes, and his normally messy hair was styled and trimmed to show off his lightning bolt scar.

Harry's black robes were the highest quality that could be bought and had eye-catching silver accents, his shoes were shined to have mirror-like finishes, and he was also about six inches taller. Everyone watched as he walked into the Great Hall as if he owned the castle. Which he did.

As the confirmed Heir of Slytherin, he was the sole remaining descendant of one of the founders and all of the things that had been previously owned by them were now his. It usually didn't work that way, since there should have been descendants for the other three founders as well. Unfortunately, after a thousand years, the main families and all of the branch families had passed away.

That meant that instead of a four-way even split of the assets, where Harry would have only received a quarter of the lands, castle, and Hogsmeade village, he was the only one alive and became the uncontested owner of it all. He also owned the Black Lake and all of the Forbidden Forest.

Before anyone could say anything to him about the obvious changes in his appearance, Daphne strode over to him and slipped her arm through his and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Harry only blushed a little at that and walked over to his tiny table and he sat her down as if they were on a date. Harry sat as well and then waited.

Cygnus Greengrass entered the Great Hall and walked up to the head table. He produced several scrolls and laid one in front of Severus Snape. “I couldn't get you fired for your previous behaviour, because you've never been given a warning to correct it. It was quite deceitful for the previous headmaster to use such an underhanded method to keep you here for so many years.”

Snape scowled at him and didn't pick the scroll up.

“You are on probation and I am serving you notice. You have one week to change your teaching methods. If at any point you revert to your previously abhorrent behaviour, you will be summarily fired and all monies to be paid to you for your abysmal work this year will be forfeited.”

Snape didn't respond and only glared.

“He's not going to last the day.” One of the Weasley Twins whispered.

“He has the students he hates most for his first class.” The other Weasley twin whispered in response.

Cygnus went to the next person, Professor Flitwick, and handed him a scroll. “You are an exemplary teacher and a horrible Head of House, just like Minerva McGonagall.”

Most of the students at the Ravenclaw table let out gasps and looked scandalized.

“Mr. Greengrass, I assure you that...” Flitwick started to say.

“All Ravenclaw prefects will return their badges and each of them will be questioned about the bullying and hazing they allowed or ignored while their fellow students subjected a first year to utter brutality and verbal assaults the likes that should have them sent to prison!” Cygnus shouted.

Flitwick closed his mouth and didn't respond.

Cygnus turned away from the head table and looked at a short blonde haired girl that sat alone at the end of the Ravenclaw table. “Miss Lovegood, as the guardian of the school's sole owner, I hereby remove you from the House that doesn't deserve you.”

Luna's robes and tie lost the Ravenclaw colors and became plain black robes.

“You may take your plate over to Heir Slytherin's personal table and join my daughter there.” Cygnus said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Luna said softly and picked up her plate.

“Both Harry and I apologize it took this long for us to discover the things being done to you.” Cygnus said and Luna nodded.

Everyone watched as she walked across the hall and they all saw the huge welcoming smile on Harry's face. Before he could react, the plate dropped to the floor and a crying Luna leapt into his lap.

“Shh, it's okay now. It's okay.” Harry said and awkwardly pat her back. He hadn't ever been comfortable with close personal contact and he had no idea what to do now.

“The house elves and portraits report to the owner instead of the headmaster.” Cygnus said and turned back to look at the Ravenclaw table. “As with the disgraceful professors, I can't have you horrible people expelled for all of your previous actions.”

There were a lot of relieved faces that met that news.

“However, I know all of your names and what you've done.” Cygnus said and that relief disappeared. “Each and every one of you that have bullied her, taken her things, broken or damaged them, ruined her homework, and tore or stained her clothing, you will be suspended from classes for a month.”

“NO!” Nearly the entire table exclaimed.

“Before you start yelling about how unfair that is, I am not unforgiving. For every item that was stolen and you return, I will remove anywhere from a day to a week, depending on the state of it. If you destroyed something she owned and buy her an equal value or more expensive item, I'll remove up to two weeks.”

A lot of the angry faces became pensive.

“You also have one week to try and undo the damage you've caused. At the end of the week, your sentences will be enacted.” Cygnus said and a few of the students nodded. “Just keep in mind that while you are suspended, you are not allowed access to either the Ravenclaw Library or the school's library.”

All of their faces drained of color.

“And no, you can't take out a bunch of books to try and counter the sentence. It's meant as a punishment and it will be enforced.” Cygnus said and looked at the rest of the students. “No helping your friends, family, or accepting bribes to help others. Anyone that does, will join them in their suspension for an equal amount of time.”

That got everyone to stop chattering and making whispered offers.

Cygnus turned back to Flitwick and saw both anger and shame there. “I was tempted to let you handle this on your own; but, you are a poor judge as to what is acceptable for a student to suffer through to build character.”

Flitwick didn't bother trying to deny it.

Cygnus moved on and delivered notices to several other professors and warned them that the school was going to be run differently from now on and that everything was going to be reviewed, including getting an exorcism for Professor Binns. That made the castle ghosts scatter and spread the word to the other ghosts. Be useful or you're out.

Cygnus took out a scroll and unrolled it. “Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bultrode, Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey...” He read off a huge list of names from Slytherin and the other houses, which meant there had been a lot more going on than everyone had assumed there had been. He also gave them the same warning that he had given the Ravenclaws.

They would have been expelled already, except they hadn't received a warning from the previous headmaster, deputy headmistress, or their Head of House. This was their first and final warning. Any misbehaviour would cause them to be immediately expelled and their wands broken.

There were so many shocks handed out by Cygnus Greengrass that no one noticed that neither Albus Dumbledore nor Minerva McGonagall were at the head table. They had already been dismissed from their jobs and expelled from the castle.

Snape was so angry about being berated publicly by Harry Potter's guardian, he didn't even make it an hour into the first class before he started bullying the Griffindors and was fired. He was arrested as soon as he stepped out through the gates of the school.

There were a lot of Aurors that had to take remedial potions lessons because of him and the man never made it to the holding cell. The Auror guiding him claimed that Snape had struggled and suffered from a failed apparition escape. They stopped looking for his head before lunch.

*

To everyone's surprise, the first student to be expelled was Ron Weasley. He apparently couldn't accept the circumstances that he himself had created and had blatantly bullied Hermione to force her to do his homework for him and to get him a meeting with Harry. Hermione was the next person to be declared Houseless because of it. The outcast table now had four seats around it and Harry welcomed her.

Luna only received half of her school books and items back, all of them pretty much ruined, because most of the Ravenclaws couldn't afford to buy replacements with their own money. Nearly all of them were outraged that their parents didn't support them or the bullying they had done, which really told everyone the mental state of the wizarding world's next generation of supposedly smart people.

Because of the next issue of the Daily Prophet that reported those students for not fulfilling their obligations, gaining them a lot of ridicule, six of the older girls in Luna's old House and two of the girls from her year, tried to get her alone to have their revenge.

Harry and Daphne had been hidden right beside Luna the entire time and took off the invisibility cloak when the students successfully cornered Luna. Upon their reveal, the girls tried to flee. Harry let them go, because it didn't matter. He knew who they were and all of the mean girls were immediately expelled and would have their wands broken before they left the castle.

Luna tried to argue against it and Harry had to explain that even if he wanted to cancel it, he couldn't, because it was school policy. They had their warning and hadn't even started their punishment before trying to bully her again. It was their own fault and not hers. She cried for them anyway.

No one was surprised when nearly half of all the students in Slytherin House had been expelled by the end of the week. The students 17 and older were also arrested and charged, because they were no longer students and protected by school rules. They went to Azkaban for their crimes and the families of all of the expelled students suffered disgrace and shame.

*

Albus sat in the upstairs room of the Hogs Head pub that his brother owned. All of his well laid plans were in ruins and there was nothing he could do to fix things. He had lost his positions faster than water down the drain and it was all because of Harry Potter.

The old man sighed and opened the diary that he knew Ginny Weasley had been writing in all summer and for part of the year. He knew full well the effect it had on the girl, making her enter the Chamber of Secrets to let out Slytherin's beast. The portraits and house elves had been following the girl, so he knew she was under a trance like the Imperius Curse.

Albus spelled the room to be impassible by himself and then picked up a quill. “Hello, Tom.” He wrote in the cursed thing. After everything that had happened, this was really his only recourse.

“Hello, Ginny. Did you see Harry today?” The diary wrote back.

“I did. He even looked at me. I was so happy.” Albus wrote and felt the horcrux try to gain a foothold. He let it and let out another long sigh.

“Why don't you tell me all about it.” The diary wrote.

“His smile was bright and cheery and...” Albus wrote and wrote. He knew if he poured enough of himself into the thing, the diary's plan would come to fruition a lot sooner, mainly because he was much more powerful than an eleven year old girl. He was also grateful that he was no longer in the school and the chamber would never be opened again.

*

Three weeks later, a recreated teenage Tom Marvolo Riddle stood above the body of an old man. He was shocked to see him, because he had foolishly thought he would be absorbing decades of life from a youthful girl and not a paltry few years from a wizened old man.

After learning about someone else claiming to be the Heir of Slytherin, he would need to get to Gringotts as soon as possible. No one could claim his inheritance and get away with it. Those endless riches that Ginny told him about were his and his alone!

Tom took the old man's wand and felt power go through him. It was exhilarating and he stood there for a moment to enjoy it, then robbed the old man before he vanished the corpse. He didn't need any evidence to be found and he used a bit of fiendfyre to destroy the diary so he couldn't be put back into it. With luck, he could find a wayward child and perform a ritual to gain even more years from them.

With a plan in mind, he left the room and went downstairs. It was evening and the pub only had a few patrons, so it didn't take him long to kill all of the witnesses, along with the bartender. He robbed them of their meagre coins and left the pub at a fast walk. He made it to the end of Hogsmeade and called for the Knight Bus.

A quick trip to London later, Tom entered the Leaky Cauldron and then Diagon Alley. Barely anyone was around and he made it to the bank without any superfluous deaths. He entered the building and went to the first available teller.

“Goblin!” Tom spat at the thing. “I am here to claim my inheritance!”

“Do you have your key?” The goblin said, barely above a snarl.

Tom took out the bronze key he had looted from the old man and handed it over. The goblin barely looked at it and commanded him to follow. Tom did so and didn't question it at all. When they entered a slightly darkened room, the goblin handed the key to another older goblin.

“What inheritance do you intend to claim?” The older goblin asked.

“I am Tom Marvolo Riddle, the true Heir of Slytherin!” Tom exclaimed. “Those galleons are mine and you are to confiscate them from Harry Potter and then seize his vault to hand to me as a penalty for making a false claim!”

The two goblins exchanged looks for a moment, then both of them laughed.

“This isn't a time for laughs! Give me what I deserve!” Tom shouted at them.

“Very well.” The older goblin said and nodded.

Tom felt satisfaction for a moment, then he felt an intense pain in his heart. He looked down to see the end of a goblin sword that stuck out of his chest. “What... what...”

“It's what you deserve, thief.” The older goblin said. “This is the Dumbledore family key. When handed to a goblin without a Dumbledore near them, they are to be dealt with as a thief. Since you also claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin without any proof, especially after all of the pretenders that have tried to claim the same thing, it doubles the penalty to become instant death.”

Tom dropped to his knees and knelt on the blood covered floor. “N-no. No! You can't... do... this. I am... Lord... Volde...”

The two goblins watched as the body slumped to the floor and the thief died.

“The guard dragon will have another good feed tonight.” The teller goblin said and they both laughed.

The armored goblin behind the body wiped off the bloody sword and sheathed it.

*

Harry's life became happy after that. He had two good friends in Hermione and Luna that accepted him for who he was and he had a pretty blonde girlfriend named Daphne that showed him what the life of a wizard was supposed to be like.

He would never know that the Dursleys had been removed from existence by a group of his rapidly fervent supporters. Their devotion to a young, powerful, and influential young man would grow to a phenomenal degree by the time he graduated and married his years-long girlfriend.

With no one alive that knew about the prophecy, and Ron's rat that died when the family owl was given its last meal, Voldemort never regained his strength or returned. The prophecy remained in the Department of Mysteries and gathered dust for all eternity, just like nearly all of the other prophecies stored there.