Life at school seemed to get quiet after that eventful period. Professor McGonagall, as acting headmistress, introduced some changes. She found someone live to teach history. Binns wasn't sacked, but history lessons were moved to a different classroom. It didn't bother Binns even the slightest.
She also decided to remove the dangers from the third floor. Hagrid took Fluffy out and let him live in the forbidden forest. The whole corridor was sealed, assuring that even the most knowledgeable seventh-year would be unable to break in, certainly not without alerting the whole castle.
She also updated the wards, making sure they would stop whatever dark artefact anybody tried to bring into school as well as dangerous creatures. That forced Hagrid to move some of his "pets" to the forbidden forest since they were too dangerous to stay at school despite his reassurances. The updated wards also stopped any howler. While Molly Weasley was finally forced to stop using them, other parents occasionally sent such letters too. This habit was no longer acceptable at Hogwarts.
Unlike Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall didn't compromise about school rules. She made it very clear that bullying was unacceptable and would be severely punished. After she suspended two bullies with the threat of expulsion, bullying practically stopped. Surprisingly, both were from Ravenclaw.
The Potters and their friends enjoyed learning new stuff in a safe environment that was much more conducive to learning. They were somewhat surprised when Draco started joining them whenever he could. He found their company conducive to studying, helping him achieve better grades. He also found that having friends felt much better than having cronies. He was hesitantly making some friendships, not quite sure how to act.
Unlike his dead father, his mother actually encouraged him to make friends of all ancestries. "You already know that the merits of one ancestry over another are just lies. The only true difference that is sometimes associated with ancestry is the kind of education one gets. Most magical families don't send their children to school before reaching eleven but teach them about magical customs and heritage. Muggle-born children, and some of the other ancestries, go to muggle schoolswhere they study quite a bit about the world, but nothing about magic, of course. I talked to Professor McGonagall and she intends to offer lessons to cover these gaps. When she does, I expect you to learn all you can about the muggle world. It's not worse than the magical one. Some even consider it better. It's certainly larger. As such, you'd do better to know as much about it so you can fit in whenever a need may arise."
–..–
Dumbledore didn't get well. His health stayed unstable and his mind even more so. Minerva felt surer with each visit that he would never return to any of his positions. He rarely identified her and even then, what he said to her made no sense, except in his own mind. The healers were refraining from putting him in the long-term wing only due to his fame and his fragile health. They feared that the less intensive care there would cause him to die soon after they moved him there. Nobody wanted to be blamed for such a death.
–..–
With the 'dark' faction losing most of its power, many of the laws passed by it were repelled, including some laws about werewolves. Allowing these unfortunate people to work legally and earn enough money to live and even to buy the wolfsbane potion each full moon was a welcome change by all, except one – Fenrir Grayback was not happy about this change. If all the weres would become respectable citizens, he would be unable to continue his evil actions. He tried to threaten some of his former pack members, first. He then tried to turn some others, but the Aurors, now free from enforcing useless laws were quick to act. He managed to escape a few encounters with the law but was eventually caught.
Under Veritaserum, he told everything, making some of the investigators lose several meals. It was then a simple decision. He was sentenced to the veil and was executed less than an hour later. Nobody lamented him.
–..–
After the demise of all the Death Eaters, only one prisoner in the high-security wing survived – Sirius Black. Considering what he had been accused of, this was quite a surprise. The information was passed to the DMLE and eventually landed on Madam Bones' desk.
As expected, she asked to see all the information they had about Sirius Black before she could form any opinion. She had not been the head of the DMLE at the time and was not even sure she remembered much of that time. She had had her personal tragedy to deal with and an orphan niece to care for. Everything else had seemed irrelevant.
A few days later, she was appalled at what she had found, or hadn't, actually. All she had about Sirius black was a thin dossier where the last document was a ministerial command to put Black in Azkaban, declaring a trial unnecessary. There was no document about interrogation, not even a minimal one, and certainly no trial, not even a belated one. For all she could find in the file, Black could be innocent. There was only one way to proceed, the way she saw it – bring Black to the DMLE for interrogation, to allow factual decisions to be made.
–..–
The Potter couple was unaware of all these things, as children their age normally are. They enjoyed learning new things, mainly by reading library books. They had already read the course books several times and knew all that the books taught, and even the classes seemed almost boring. The pace was still excruciatingly slow, in their opinions. Besides, they tried to learn to do everything wandlessly and silently. They would learn the wanded version later in class or reread the book to learn it, but they found the silent and wandless casting simpler and more rewarding. Well, that was no news for them.
Their normal school life was interrupted by an unexpected visit. They were called to Professor McGonagall's office to meet the visitors. Harry had a good look at the two men who came to visit him. One wore shabby clothes, had light-brown hair with some white in it and a kind face, although somewhat scarred. The other looked sickly thin, although he was wearing clothes of much higher quality. He had black hair, a short goatee, and a moustache, and his eyes looked haunted even when he smiled.
The Professor made the introductions. "Mr and Mrs Potter, these are two old friends of your parents, Mr Remus Lupin and Mr Sirius Black. Each was kept away from visiting you by some external circumstances that have recently changed."
Black was the first to react. "Harry! Please forgive me for not staying at your side since that fateful Halloween. I acted in haste and lost my freedom until recently. I promise to try and make amends for that." He crouched and opened his arms for a hug.
Harry wasn't quite sure how to react, but he sensed that Sirius was sincere and presented no danger. He reluctantly stepped into the tight hug. Sirius seemed to lose control of his actions. He cried and laughed all at once, mumbling some indecipherable words in Harry's ear. Harry wasn't sure how to react but endured it all patiently, sensing that the man needed this release.
Sirius finally let go of Harry and stood up, with Remus giving him a helping hand. His mind had probably engaged again since he suddenly noticed something. "Are you two married? Aren't you too young to be married?"
Harry, who took Hermione's hand back in his as soon as he could, answered, "Yes, we're married. We may look too young, but Magic didn't mind our ages, so it seems."
While Sirius was trying to understand that, Remus stepped forward and offered to shake Harry's hand and then kiss Hermione's knuckles, making her giggle and blush.
"It looks like you have a lot to catch up to. Why don't you move your meeting into some unused classroom? I'll also ask the house elves to bring you some refreshments if you like," the professor suggested.
Sirius turned a smile at her. "Thank you, Minnie. We'd appreciate it." He then turned to the children and offered his hands. "How about you lead me to wherever you find appropriate?"
Harry took one hand, but he held Hermione with the other. Playfully, Remus took the other offered hand as they went out of the office.
There were quite a few unused rooms nearby and Harry led them into one. Hermione cleaned the dust and dirt with a flick of her wand and then transfigured some of the chairs and desks into three well-padded couches. Harry and Hermione sat on one, letting the two men have a couch each. Both seemed surprised at the display of such complex magic done by such a young girl but said nothing.
Sirius took the lead. "I'd really like to know how you two are married at such a young age, but I think I should first let you know me better. As said, I'm Sirius Black, the only white sheep in that dark family. Along with Remus and another person, we were your father's closest friends since we started Hogwarts. We were a group of pranksters, known as The Marauders. When your parents went into hiding, they thought of making me their secret keeper. I thought I was too obvious and suggested playing decoy, while Peter – the fourth Marauder – took that role. Unknown to us, he had already joined Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He disclosed the secret to Voldemort as soon as he had a chance, resulting in what happened at Halloween."
Sirius stopped to calm himself a bit. "I had previously cast an alarm ward on that house, to alert me if they were attacked. It triggered as expected, but I was too far away to reach them in time. When I reached the house, it was too late. They were dead and you were crying in the crib."
He stopped again to try and arrange his thoughts. "You should also know that I was made your godfather a few days after you were born. I swore on my life and magic to protect you to the best of my ability. Had I been the secret keeper, I would have been unable to betray you. I would have been dead as soon as I tried. You should also know that I blood-adopted you when you were a month old, making you my legal and magical heir as long as I had no children of my own. That would have also prevented me from betraying you.
"Back to that night, though. When I found that you were the only survivor, I wanted to take you to a safe place and raise you as my own. You were already in my arms when another person arrived – Hagrid came on Dumbledore's orders and was adamant about taking you to Hogwarts, as ordered. I thought you'd be safe enough there, allowing me to try and trace the traitor and arrest him. As an Auror, it was also my duty."
He took another deep breath. Remus held his arm momentarily as if passing some reassurance to him. "It took longer than I expected. I only found Peter two days later. In the fight we had, he tricked me, blasting the street and killing several people. He then quickly cut a finger, cast some spell at me and transformed into his rat form before I could do anything. I was too shocked to react on time. His spell probably made me laugh hysterically. That's how the Aurors who came to investigate the magic in a muggle area found me. I was arrested there, stunned, and woke up in Azkaban – the magical prison, without any trial or even interrogation."
Harry could see some tears in the man's eyes but said nothing.
"I was there until a few weeks ago. Then, when all the Death Eaters died in that mysterious plague, I was the only survivor. This attracted the attention of the new head of the DMLE. She made sure to check my files, found the lack of interrogation and trial and acted to correct it, resulting in giving me back my freedom. I still had to get some medical treatment to regain my health. Azkaban is not known for its care for the inmates. I came here as soon as the healers let me go, if only for a day."
Harry felt touched by his story. "I appreciate your dedication and hope you get well soon. Who put you in jail without a trial?" He was almost sure of the reply.
"There were several people involved, but I now think that Dumbledore was the one who pushed for it. For some reason, he wanted to have complete control over you, and I was an obstacle to that."
Harry sighed. "Unfortunately, that is very plausible. I believe he's responsible for many innocent deaths, mainly because he lost connection with reality. He was already too old and stubborn to accept that he needed to resign even then. It only got worse since."
He then turned to Remus. "What is your story? Were you imprisoned too?"
Remus sighed and shook his head. "No, I stayed free. I was out of the country at the time. When I returned, I heard about Sirius becoming a traitor and going to jail, and about your survival. I wanted to visit you, but Dumbledore said you were kept in a safe place and any visit may disclose it to the enemy. He was unwilling to tell me where you were and I had no idea even where to search. Where have you lived these years?"
Harry sighed in frustration. "Dumbledore left me the next night on the doorstep of my maternal aunt – Petunia Dursley. They hated me there, never treated me right and even abused me, making me do all the chores I could, and even some I was barely able to cope with, punishing me for everything that went wrong in their lives, even when it had nothing to do with me. He never checked on me and didn't mind when I tried to tell him, after reaching Hogwarts."
Sirius seemed stunned. "Petunia? She has no blood connection to your mother. Her parents thought they couldn't have a child and adopted Petunia. A year later, her mother found herself unexpectedly pregnant, bringing Lily."
Harry smiled bitterly. "The old man either didn't know or didn't care. He told me I was sent there for my protection since my mother's sacrifice made me safer with her blood relatives. Just another lie."
Remus replied to this. "At the time, we all saw him as the leader of the fight against the Dark Lord. We were slightly aware of some problems with his leadership, but since we were freshly graduated from Hogwarts, it was natural to trust the Headmaster. It was a misplaced trust, as I see it now."
Harry could only nod at that.