Harry yawned as he sat up in bed, though this wasn't really his bed, it was a bed in the hospital wing. The events of last night flooded through Harry's brain, while he was rather pleased with how well he did, he wished he did better. All of Harry's spells, the spells he put hours and hours into practicing, ended up being useless because he was disarmed before he could even shoot a spell off.
Quirrell might have been a creepy bastard but he had expected Harry to attack and had reacted quickly, he was faster than Harry and Harry really didn't like that. This wasn't like the Dursley's where he was outnumbered by people naturally bigger than him, Harry had always prided himself on his speed, it was how he avoided getting hurt a lot.
Speed was something that could be improved, and Harry vowed to improve if only so he could actually start firing off spells when a duel starts. He would need to start devoting more free time into drawing and using his wand. Maybe he could start practicing like muggles do with guns, where he would holster it then draw it and shoot before putting it back in the holster and repeating the process until he was faster. He needed to get better, the Dursley's might have ruled in the muggle world but this was the wizarding world, here was where he belonged. He was no longer an animal in a cage, he was wild and free.
"Are you alright?" Jet hissed as he crawled onto Harry's lap.
"I have you with me," Harry smiled as he petted Jet's head. "I'll always be fine with you here."
"True." Jet easily agreed. Any further conversation was cut off by Professor Dumbledore walking into the hospital wing.
"Hello Harry," He greeted as he stopped at the foot of Harry's bed. "how are you?" He asked.
"I'm fine sir." Harry replied just as Jet climbed up Harry's shoulders.
"Are you? Are you really?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Physically, I'm fine sir." Harry answered.
"Physically?" Dumbledore repeated.
"I am...admittedly disappointed in myself sir." Harry sighed.
"Disappointed? Whatever for?" Dumbledore asked, looking completely baffled.
"I spent the last year practicing and practicing, I practiced all of my spells repeatedly and I even practiced taking my wand in and out of wand holster. I practiced and practiced and then when it really mattered I was disarmed before I could even cast a spell." Harry said in frustrated voice. "I don't expect to beat everyone sir, but I was hoping I would have done better. If it wasn't for Jet and the miracle burning then I would probably be dead right now."
"Harry," Dumbledore sighed as he sat down on the bed and looked at Harry. "did I ever tell you about the first time I lost a duel?"
"You may or may not have forgotten sir, but we don't really talk much and the few times we have talked we have had more important things to discuss." Harry reminded him.
"True," Dumbledore chuckled. "but indulge me for a moment please. When I was a young student I was much like you in that I was the best in my year, teachers and students praised me, I felt like I could take on the world and win. But then I lost my first duel, I was facing a third year at the time and it was still a rather surprising loss as I had accidentally tripped on a book and fell into a disarming spell. I remember how disappointed I was in myself, it didn't matter to me that I was winning the duel before I tripped, I just couldn't believe I lost.
I practiced and practiced, and eventually came back and won. I hated losing, but as I grew older I realized something important. Defeat does not make you weak, nor does it make you a bad wizard, defeat is merely an opportunity for growth. Learn from it, use it to see where you can improve and then allow yourself to improve. Do you understand, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"I think so." Harry said after a moment.
"That is good, though I must ask, what is your reason for working so hard, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "What is it you desire? To be the best? Power?"
"Well...both of those, sir. But it's not just that."
"Oh?"
"Well, when I lived in the Dursley's I was always unable to fight back. I was unable to be who I wanted to be because I had to work on staying out of the way and not getting in trouble." Harry admitted. "Now, I'm here and not only can I freely try my best at something but I can also finally be strong, you know? I'm no longer weak little Harry who lives under the stairs, I'm proud Harry Potter, first year wizard. And also...I just..."
"Just what Harry?" Dumbledore asked, when it looked like Harry was struggling to put words to his thoughts.
"I just...love magic, you know." Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not going to pretend that I love each and every bit of magic but I do love it, I mean magic is just...wonderful. It's brilliant and like something out of a dream, the purebloods don't seem to think it's special, probably because they lived with it their whole lives. But the muggleborns and muggle raised like me, I think they're...disappointing." Harry admitted.
"Disappointing?"
"Yeah, I mean I fell in love with magic but they just sort of...I don't know...got used to it. I mean, do you know who Hermione Granger is?"
"Ah yes, I believe I do, a Gryffindor in your year, I believe. I'm told she is quite the impressive student."
"Yeah, she might be but she doesn't have a passion for magic. Her passion is in getting good grades, that's why she work so hard. Me, I see the good grades as just a bonus, an indicator that I'm doing well. Magic is such a beautiful thing but people don't seem to care about it after a certain while, I mean I understand that people get used to it but nobody has that sense of wonder anymore."
"The drive to learn as much as possible is gone," Dumbledore continued for Harry. "it's become a part of everyday life and they take it for granted."
"Exactly!" Harry agreed quickly. "I don't think I can ever do that, if it wasn't for magic then I wouldn't have my best friend." Harry said as he gestured to Jet.
"I understand, Harry." Dumbledore said in a soft voice. In that moment Harry reminded Dumbledore of two people, Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort, and himself. Tom had a passion for magic because he wanted the power and strength from it, just like Harry. But when Dumbledore was younger he also felt the same as Harry, believing that magic was something to be appreciated and that it was disappointing that people didn't have the same passion for it as him.
"Professor, what's going to happen now?" Harry asked. "With the stone?" He added, masterfully playing the innocent schoolboy.
"I've talked with Nicolas," Dumbledore replied. "we've both agreed on what to do, the stone will soon be destroyed."
"But won't Flamel die?" Harry asked with a frown.
"He has enough elixir to get his affairs in order," Dumbledore responded. "he is over six hundred years old, Harry. He has lived a long life and wishes to go out on his own terms."
"Sir, if the stone's gone then...does that mean that Voldemort won't come back?" Harry asked in a hopeful voice.
"Ah, I'm afraid that there are ways in which he can return." Dumbledore said in a tired voice. "Tell me, have you been wondering why Professor Quirrell couldn't allow you to touch him?"
"The thought had crossed my mind a few times." Harry nodded.
"It's because of you mother," Dumbledore said, surprising Harry. "she sacrificed herself for you, and that kind of act leaves a mark. No, no," He said when Harry was about to raise his hand to touch his scar. "this kind of mark is an entirely different one. One that lives in all of your skin, all of your body."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"Love, Harry."
"Love?" Harry repeated with disbelief.
"Do not underestimate its power," Dumbledore smiled. "I see it every time I see you and Jet together. You both love each other and I have no doubt that you'd die for each other, the same way your mother did for you. Do not underestimate it Harry."
"Thank you, sir." Harry said in a quiet voice as he digested what he was told. Was love a real power? Harry had his doubts, but this was a world where anything is possible so it could be true.
"You are quite welcome, Harry." Dumbledore nodded. "I'm also sorry about not letting you have more time to rest, but two days from now I will be bringing you with me to the Ministry."
"Sir?"
"There will be a session in which we will discuss who shall be your new guardian," Dumbledore explained. "though I have also arranged for you to come in earlier to talk with someone about the Dursley's."
"Sir?" Harry repeated.
"The Dursley's will be brought to justice," Dumbledore replied. "but I and several others believe it'll be better if they are not handled in such a public manner. You have already revealed their crimes to the world, there is no need for it to be done a second time. You will give a statement about your time at the Dursley's and then answer a few questions, after that we should hopefully be able to have a half an hour to eat before we head over to get your guardianship sorted."
"Okay," Harry nodded after taking a moment to process all of that. "my new guardian, who is it going to be? What if I don't like the person?"
"Your new guardian will be decided when we go there, however if you don't like the person then you may refuse. If you accept and then find you don't like this person after a while then you will come to me, I will be here to make sure you are not placed with someone who won't look after you."
"Thank you, sir." Harry nodded, an appreciative look on his face.
"Do not thank me, Harry. I am merely doing my best to make up for past mistakes." Dumbledore said with a sad smile before he stood up, he reached out and patted Harry on his head. "You look so much like your father, even with your mother's eyes, and you hold their best qualities. I hope you continue to do so. I will leave you now, goodbye Harry, goodbye Jet." Dumbledore added before fearlessly stroking Jet's head. He nodded to Jet and Harry before leaving.
"What do you intend to do with the stone?" Jet asked Harry.
"I had thought about giving it back to Flamel but if he doesn't want it then I suppose I could put it to good use." Harry smiled. "It's a good back up for us, if we ever need to run or need more money then we'll be able to get some gold and sell it for money."
"Yes, if needs be then we'll just escape, it'll be just you and me."
"And Hedwig."
"If we have to, but if we do then I'm bringing my pet as well."
Harry was currently sat in a court room, he wasn't in trouble as he hadn't committed any crimes. At least not any that they knew of, no Harry was in a court room to discuss where and who he'd be living with in the summer. Harry was already a bit tired from answering questions and giving his statement about the Dursley's to an auror before coming here, though thankfully he was able to get some food before coming here.
Harry was sat in the middle of the courtroom, behind him were the guest stands which were full of reporters and rich people who were able to get in to see what was happening, but Harry didn't focus on them and was instead looking up at the stands full of people in front of him. Harry wasn't going to bother to pretend that he knew half of them, he knew the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, from reading newspapers. He was sitting next to a woman who looked unbelievably like a toad. Harry recognized Lucius Malfoy - he was able to do so thanks to seeing pictures of the man from Draco - who also happened to be sitting in the stands, he was quite noticeable with his long, shoulder length, blonde hair. Harry also - once again thanks to seeing pictures from his friends - recognized Theo's father, Lord Nott along with Lord Parkinson, Greengrass and Davis.
Lord Nott was a rather unpleasant looking man with brown hair and yellow teeth, Parkinson was the same except with black hair. Lord Davis was a handsome looking man with short brown hair and brown eyes, while Lord Greengrass was the same but with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Harry also recognized the man who appeared to be in charge of the whole thing, Dumbledore. Dumbledore was sat in the middle of everyone and was apparently in charge of the whole thing, though that wasn't surprising as the man was the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump.
"Thank you for your time, Mr Burgundy." Dumbledore said just before another man was escorted out of the court room, it turned out there were plenty of people willing to adopt Harry. Plenty of people willing to adopt the famous, rich, dark lord stopping eleven year old, can't imagine why. "Now, is there anyone else who wishes to try and adopt Mr Harry Potter?"
"I do," Lucius Malfoy said as he stood up. "my family is rich and we are respected members of the wizarding world, he is friends with my son and I know my wife would undoubtedly like another child to dote on." He added with an amused smile.
"Hmm," Dumbledore hummed, he knew that Lucius was indeed rich and respected in certain areas of the wizarding world but that doesn't mean that he believed that Lucius was a good enough person for Harry. Dumbledore knew for a fact that Lucius was a former death eater and that the man had been subtly building a power base and was doing his best to control the ministry by whispering into the ears of the Minister. "you have been noted as applying for the position."
"Come now, Albus, surely we could just end this now and give the guardianship to Lucius." Minister Fudge commented.
"Might I remind you, Minister Fudge, that there is a procedure to this and that there are other people who also wish to apply for the role of Mr Potter's guardian." Dumbledore said before nodding to the man near the door. "Bring in the next applicant." He said, the man at the door nodded before going out. A few seconds later he escorted three people in, the first was a man that was nearly six feet tall, he was a handsome man with light brown hair and a small brown beard plus brown eyes. Following next to him was a beautiful, regal woman with long brown hair that fell down to her shoulders and soft grey eyes. They both looked to be in their thirties, the girl following behind them appeared to be much younger.
The older couple were wearing simple robes, this girl was wearing black boots and trousers with a red shirt that was barely poking out from under her black robes. The robes themselves were fitted with silver studs, she was also wearing fingerless gloves and an odd necklace that looked like it was made of strings and had several bronze orbs hanging off of it, she also had a pair of orange earrings. Her hair was a mousy brown color and in terms of age she looked like she had just recently left school.
The man who brought them in took his place near the door while the three walked forward and stopped a short distance away from Harry, standing on his left. When the man and woman stopped they greeted with a nod and smile which Harry returned, the girl stopped behind them a second later and looked at Harry. Instead of nodding like everyone else had she simply smiled before she raised a hand and gave him a wave. There was something so disarming about the smile that Harry couldn't help but smile and wave back.
Jet took this moment to slither out from his spot in Harry's right sleeve, everyone in the courtroom looked at Jet as it appeared like they had all forgotten that Harry had a snake for a familiar. Jet looked at the new family that had just walked in, the man and woman stayed still, hoping that was the right move. The girl on the other hand looked at Jet with slightly widened eyes before smiling and waving again.
"I like this family," Jet hissed to Harry. "do you?" He asked.
"Well, they don't look bad." Harry commented before nodding to Dumbledore.
"Now," Dumbledore said, bringing the attention of the room back to him. "our next applicants are the Tonks family: Mr Ted Tonks, Mrs Andromeda Tonks and their daughter Miss Nymphadora Tonks." Dumbledore announced.
"He had to say the name." Harry heard the girl say to herself, he looked at her and his eyes widened slightly when he saw that her hair was now slightly red, a second later it turned back into brown.
"Now, you wish to apply for the position of guardians for Mr Potter, is that correct?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, we do." The woman, Andromeda, nodded in a firm manner.
"Tell us why you would be good guardians for Mr Potter?" Dumbledore said before gesturing them to start talking.
"Well, me and my wife may not be the richest people in the country but we are fairly well off, money isn't an issue for us." The man, Ted, said. "I'm a lawyer and I can do most of my work from home, my wife is a potions mistress, she makes and sells potions in her free time and can also do most, if not all, of her work from home."
"And what of your daughter?" Dumbledore asked. "I seem to recall that she graduated top of her class, last year."
"I did," The girl said with a bright smile. "I'm apprenticing under old Mad-Eye Moody, sir."
"Under Alastor? That is an impressive achievement," Dumbledore said with a proud nod. "are you planning to become an auror?"
"Yes sir." She nodded.
"Excellent, excellent." Dumbledore said to her before turning to the other two. "Are there any other reason for why you wish to become Mr Potter's guardians?" He asked.
"Yes, there is." Andromeda nodded. "Firstly I wish to point out that Mr Potter and myself are in fact related through his grandmother."
"Grandmother?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Dorea Black." Andromeda smiled. "She married your grandfather, Charles Potter. I..."
"Ahem." A girly voice interrupted with a cough, everyone turned to the toad like woman who was sat next to the Minister. "Pardon the interruption," She said in a sickly sweet voice. "but does that not also mean that you are related to Sirius Black? The mass murderer? And not just him but you are also the sister of mass murderer Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Black?" She asked, Harry's eyes widened and he looked at the family.
"And you would be?" Andromeda asked in a calm voice.
"Dolores Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic." She said, her voice was filled with pride but also a hint of annoyance at the fact that Andromeda apparently didn't know who she was.
"Well Miss Umbridge, I have no control over who I am related to." Andromeda replied. "You mentioned my sister and my cousin but not my aunt who is Harry's grandmother and not my own grandfather who fought in the war against Grindelwald along with Harry's grandfather. I have no control over my family's actions, good or bad."
"Slytherin?" Harry asked suddenly.
"I beg your pardon?" Andromeda asked, looking towards him.
"You're a Slytherin, aren't you?" Harry asked with a grin.
"I was." She nodded with a small smile. "We Slytherin's can always spot each other, can't we?"
"The good Slytherin's can at least." Harry nodded, he was tempted to judge them by their family but stopped himself, knowing that he certainly wouldn't want to get judged for being related to the Dursley's, any opinions Harry would make on them would be based on how they act.
"Thank you," Andromeda said to him before turning to the court. "and I just want it to be known that I was never a supporter of you-know-who. In case it escaped your notice, I married a muggleborn who was also a Hufflepuff." She said in a voice without shame or embarrassment as she gestured to her husband.
"I hardly think that marrying a muggleborn is something to boast about," Umbridge said in an irritated voice, looking at Ted like he had just been pulled out of a gutter. "if anything it is a mark down. Why should we allow the boy-who-lived, defeater of the dark lord, to live in a house with a muggleborn when we have plenty of pureblood families willing to take him in? I think that..."
"Ahem." A cough interrupted her, everyone turned to look at Harry.
"Pardon the interruption," Harry said in a sickly sweet voice as he looked at Umbridge with narrowed eyes. "it's very silly of me but it sounds to me like you are trying to imply that there is something wrong with muggleborns."
"Mr Potter, I was..."
"I would hope not," Harry continued, his voice no longer sweet and he was looking at Umbridge with narrowed eyes. "I would hope that you weren't insulting muggleborns in front of me, especially when my own mother was not only a muggleborn but also widely known as a war hero. Tell me Madam, did you forget that my mother was a muggleborn or did you simply just not care?"
"Mr Potter," Minister Fudge quickly spoke. "I assure you that Madam Umbridge intended no offence of any kind."
"And I feel very assured," Harry said in a sarcastic voice just as Jet began hissing threateningly in Umbridge's direction. "though I believe that you're right, I'm very sure that Madam Umbridge did not intend to cause offence, is that correct Madam Umbridge?" Harry asked, his green eyes locked onto her. She looked like she was about to say something that would likely get her into more trouble but managed to stop herself when she received a warning look from the Minister.
"Yes," She said after a moment with a forced smile. "I did not intend to offend you."
"That's nice, now you can just apologize and we'll put all this nonsense behind us." Harry said with an innocent smile. Umbridge looked like she was about to blow up with how red she was going, but another look from Minister Fudge was able to stop her from doing so.
"I apologize." She said quickly in a barely audible voice.
"I beg your pardon? My familiar was hissing too loud, could you repeat that?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"I...am...sorry." Umbridge said through gritted teeth.
"Lovely." Harry smiled as he relaxed in his chair.
"With that being said," Umbridge continued speaking. "Mrs Tonks is related to several unsavory characters and..."
"Pardon the interruption," Ted spoke up. "I have a question, has Mr Malfoy applied for the position? I'm assuming he has."
"What is your point?" Umbridge asked, looking like it pained her to just look at him.
"Well, would you consider Mr Malfoy to be an 'unsavory' character?" Ted asked.
"Of course not." Umbridge scoffed.
"And what of his wife? Would you consider her to be someone who shouldn't be able to look after children?"
"Of course not." Umbridge repeated, this time in an annoyed voice.
"But his wife is my wife's sister," Ted calmly pointed out. "that means she is also related to Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange." He said, Harry looked at Umbridge and saw that she looked like she had tasted a very sour lemon. Everyone in the room turned to Harry when they heard him start laughing, he hissed several times with Jet before he stopped and shook his head in amusement.
"Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked.
"Sir," Harry said before he pointed to the Tonks family. "I want them." He said with a grin.
A.N: Yeah, Harry and the Tonks. There are just a few things I want to say.
Number the 1: Yes, I am bringing back the 'Number the...' thing.
Number the 2: I'm placing Harry with the Tonks family for a number of reasons:
* Andromeda being a Slytherin could end up helping him and she could be a good role model
* Ted would be there as a reminder for Harry that not all muggles and muggleborns are bad.
* Tonks!
* They could all teach Harry a lot about magic and are generally accepting of the fact that Harry is different.
Number the 3: I know some people might ask me who I imagine acting as Ted and Andromeda, I usually just make up a man or woman in my head when I imagine them but this time I'm just going to imagine Angelina Jolie as Andromeda and Charlie Cox as Ted.