Charlus spent well over twelve hours asking questions of the Dursleys, needing to dose the two repeatedly as the effect of the Veritaserum wore off multiple times. Every answer he got was enough to drive him into a rage. Slowly, the Dursleys' answers built up a picture of Harry's life with them. Barely enough food, no new clothes, sleeping in a cupboard, overly harsh discipline, no love or affection, beatings, and worked until he dropped. It was heartbreaking.
There were two reasons he hadn't killed them or worse. One, the director of the DMLE herself was well aware that Charlus knew about these muggles, so if anything excessively violent was to happen to them then he and Sirius would be the first people she would investigate. And as much as Charlus was prepared to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban for Harry if he had to, Harry didn't have enough family that he could lose any from his life.
The other reason was the result of a simple question he had asked the Dursleys again and again throughout their interrogation. Why? He had asked repeatedly for their motivation,, and each time the two had clamped up and gone silent. That was something that was impossible under normal Veritaserum conditions, which told Charlus that there was something else happening that was preventing them from speaking the truth about something. He wanted to find out what was going on before he went ahead with any of the particularly nasty things his imagination was conjuring to make the Dursleys pay for what they had done to his grandson.
Now, without the effects of Veritaserum, the Dursleys were stuck to chairs and looking terrified. They remembered everything they had said in the past twelve hours and it was obvious they weren't expecting Charlus to be merciful. They wouldn't be if it was their Dudley that had been treated that way. When Charlus pointed his wand at Vernon and started muttering spells without saying anything to them, it didn't surprise any of them that the big overstuffed walrus of a man cried out in fear and pissed himself, even if all the spells were diagnostic charms used by healers. The first check was easy; despite living with Harry for years, there shouldn't have been any active magic on them, maybe only some magic residue if Harry had lost control of his magic over the summer and done a little accidental magic around or on them. So when Charlus found signs of active spells on the two of them, the next step was to find out exactly what the spells were.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry was sitting with Hermione on his bed in his dorm, listening to her grumble. "Why did he have to choose Lavender, though? She is so annoying, and all she ever wants to talk about is hair, makeup, and boys."
Ron had asked out Lavender after Harry pretty much told him to just do it. Ever since then, the two of them had been all over each other and it was winding up Hermione. "Well I wouldn't worry about it too much. You know as well as I do that it will probably burn out before long. Most relationships our age do." Realising what he had just said, Harry quickly added. "Hardly anyone gets to find a relationship as perfect as ours their first time."
Hermione laughed at Harry quickly backpedalling to show he didn't mean his words. "I know what you meant Harry, and you're right. Ron dating Lavender probably won't last long, but she was bad enough asking all sorts of questions about Ron when they were just interested in each other. Now that they are together it's going to be so much worse."
Harry grabbed the bottle of water he kept on his night stand and offered it to Hermione (who refused) before he quickly drained a quarter of it and returned it to its normal location. "Just tell her it would be more of a bonding experience if she was to learn the answers from Ron. Besides, just think of the benefits."
"What benefits?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Well for one, he and Lavender will be on their own date during the next Hogsmeade visit. That means we won't have to ditch him so that we can have some time alone." Harry gave her what he thought of as his seductive smile.
"Oh and just what do you plan to do to me on this date you're planning?" Hermione asked, teasing Harry a little. "Because whatever it is, you'll have to be quick. You said you'd buy Ron his dress robes for Christmas, remember, so that means you need to take the two of them shopping at Gladrags."
Harry suddenly had a vision of what Lavender would be like buying dress robes and couldn't suppress the shudder that went down his spine. "Any chance I can fight another dragon instead?" Harry joked.
Hermione laughed. "Nope, and do me a favour: stay away from any more dragons. At least any fully grown ones, the first task scared the hell out of me."
Harry pulled her closer to him. He really shouldn't be joking about the dragon, he knew it had scared not only Hermione but his entire family. Yet sometimes the only thing that kept him from panicking about the tournament was for him to make flippant jokes about it. It probably wasn't the best method to cope with the stress, but it was effective.
They chatted and hung out together until it was starting to get towards the time when some people started to go to bed, so Hermione told Harry goodnight and left, as the chances were that their quiet and out-of-the-way spot was about to get a lot more crowded. She gave him a kiss that practically guaranteed that she would be making an appearance in his dreams that night, and with one last "night Harry" she disappeared down the boy's staircase.
-ϟϟϟ-
Vernon Dursley was afraid. He was locked in a small windowless bedroom at the mercy of someone with whom he had no hope to fight against, and he had not too long ago finished giving about a thousand reasons for the man to straight up murder him. Petunia was in a slightly better state, but that was because she had passed out a while ago, too exhausted by everything that had been happening.
Vernon looked back on everything that had happened that day, and the freakishness that had made both him and his wife answer all those questions was disturbing on a deep level. Yet there was one thing that was disturbing him more, that one question that had been repeated again and again. "Why?"
Why had he and his wife done everything they had? Didn't they pride themselves on being normal? Being forced to recount everything he had done over the years had shown him that what they were doing was anything but normal. Normal would have been raising Harry, if not like his own son, then at least fairly. It wasn't normal to make a child sleep under the stairs. They lived in a four bedroom house, there was plenty of room for the boy. Why had he acted so freakishly? It disturbed him that he didn't know the answer.
It seemed to upset the freak's freaky grandfather as well. He kept getting more and more agitated. Vernon had half expected to die considering how agitated the man was, but instead all that had happened was that he had waved his stick around making Vernon and Petunia glow in different colours. It didn't mean anything to Vernon, but it seemed to mean something to the old freak, and whatever it was it had stopped him from hurting them and he had instead locked them in this room.
The door hadn't budged when he tried to open it, the walls felt like they were solid, and there was no window. Escape was impossible. Vernon would have thought it was a dungeon or a prison cell, but the furniture in the room was the type of thing you would expect to find in a bed and breakfast. Vernon could do nothing but lay on the bed next to his wife and wait for the morning.
Charlus didn't know what to do again. He was in his room alone with a bottle of Ogden's while he tried to work it out. The problem was that he had found that both Vernon and Petunia were suffering with mind altering charms. Normally this would have been good news, Harry's family weren't responsible for what happened, so he could undo the charms and let them go. But, and it was a massive but, the charms on the two Dursleys were not compulsions to mistreat him. They were charmed to prevent them ever developing a familial bond with Harry and to encourage animosity between them. Normally this would lead to an unloving home with lots of shouting and arguments.
This meant that the abuse was all on the Dursleys. They were not what anyone would consider good people, at least not in his opinion. But they also were not entirely to blame, without those charms Harry would have had a chance to be one of the family, or at least in a less hostile place to grow up. So could the Dursleys be held responsible? And what of the caster, how responsible was he? Charlus was referring to the mystery magical as a he because he was sure he knew who it was; after all, not many people knew where Harry lived, and some of the petty bullshit they subjected him to had started on day one.
"Why couldn't this be easy?" He asked the empty room. "Why couldn't it have been either bad Dursleys or good Dursleys with magical compulsions on them? I had plans for both of those. Now I'm stuck in some crazy limbo where it's both?" In his head he admitted a part of him just wanted to kill them both for what they had done to Harry, but another part, the part his wife had always jokingly called his soft side, wanted to be lenient. He was barely going to get any sleep for the rest of the night.
-ϟϟϟ-
The walk to Hogsmeade was a cold one this time of year. Ron and Lavender were walking with Harry and Hermione, and the new couple's constant act was starting to grate on their nerves. It had started out as cute and funny but Harry was sure if he had to listen to Ron call Lavender "Lav-Lav" one more time he was going to charm a snowball to bury itself in Ron's mouth.
"So Lavender, what colour are your dress robes?" Harry asked. Even talking fashion with Lavender would be an improvement, and the sooner Harry could finish shopping for Ron's robes the sooner he and Hermione could peel off from them and go and have a date.
"A fairly bright teal neckline that falls down to an almost black teal on the bottom. It even has rhinestone stars in the shape of my zodiac sign," she answered, and you could see her getting excited that the topic of conversation was turning towards fashion.
"What's teal?" Harry asked, having heard the name of the colour before but not being able to picture it in his head.
"It's a mix of blue and green, Harry," Hermione said.
"Like the bathroom across from your room at Potter Manor?" Harry checked.
"Yep, though that's a pretty pale example. Lavender's dress robes start at about the same shade but get darker pretty quickly." Hermione had apparently already seen Lavender's robes; not surprising considering that the two of them shared a dorm.
They finished walking the rest of the way to the village talking about robes and current trends in witches fashions. They were pretty glad to walk into Gladrags if for no other reason than it got them in and out of the snow. The shop was pretty crowded with Hogwarts students all looking for something to wear for the ball, but as about three quarters of them were witches looking for witches' robes and their group was looking for wizards' robes, the section they were looking in was a lot less crowded.
Lavender practically dove into the men's section, pulling out robes and holding them against Ron's chest so she could get an idea of how they would look on him. All the time she was giving a running commentary of what she was doing. "Let's see here, how does this look? Nope, too baggy, with your lanky frame we should probably look at something slim fit. Oh yes that's better. Now should we go with a laser effect? Oh definitely, even with a stole you look gangly without a bit of additional bulk. Now what about colour? Oh how about a dark bottle green, it will go well with my teal dress."
"I'm no Slytherin, I should probably not wear green," Ron protested.
"Don't be ridiculous Ron. Fashion has nothing to do with what house you are in. Look at professor McGonagall, she often wears green tartan. And no offence here, but it is the biggest crime ever to fashion that weasleys always end up in Gryffindor. If there is one colour you should never wear, it's reds. Now, go try on the green robes please," Lavender practically pushed Ron into the changing area as she spoke.
When Ron came out, Harry had to admit he didn't look half bad in the green robes. He was overjoyed that they were done in less than half an hour, but apparently he didn't understand shopping for robes at all because there was some quest not just to find robes Ron looked good in, but specifically to find the absolute best set of robes for Ron. Lavender (and a not as reluctant as her protesting would indicate) Hermione spent the next two and a half hours treating Ron like a dress up doll, which was only slightly worse than the role they had Harry playing, the designated 'holder of the maybe pile.'
What really had Harry grinding his teeth at the end where he sighed the pay slip, pressed his Gringotts key into it, and tapped it with his wand to imprint his magical signature (a way stores had found you pay for for things without having to walk out of Gringotts with too much gold) was that the robes they ended up getting for Ron were the very first set he tried on. Due to the high demand for alterations caused by the ball, the robes were now with the Gladrags seamstress. They would be altered with a list that an assistant had pinned into them before they would be sent to Ron by owl post.
Harry and Hermione split off from Ron and lavender not too long after that. Harry had made reservations at the restaurant in Hogsmeade again, and as the reservation was for two there was no room for Ron and Lavender on this one. However, Harry did spot Ron a couple Galleons to take Lavender somewhere like Madam Puddlifoot's, and the robes had actually come in a little bit cheaper than Harry had budgeted for.
The restaurant was in full Christmas mode inside with decorations and a Christmas menu. They weren't the only Hogwarts couple in there either, though they were definitely the youngest; most of the other Hogwarts couples in there looked to be in their final year or close to it. Harry even spotted Cedric and Cho off in one corner as he and Hermione were shown to their table. The food was absolutely delicious. The British wizarding world hadn't had the influence of American media so they didn't have turkey on the menu, but instead had goose roasted in truffle butter with root vegetables roasted in the rendered fat. It was incredibly rich and decadent, but definitely worth it.
-ϟϟϟ-
It took him two days, but Charlus made his decision. He was surprised that Sirius hadn't found out he was keeping two people prisoner in the manor in that time, but all the running around he was doing to help Harry prepare for the second task and spending his free time out socialising to catch up on everything he had missed while in Azkaban, he wasn't actually at home all that much during the day.
Charlus couldn't bring himself to hurt them because of the magical compulsions they were under, but he couldn't let them go free either, so he handed them over to the authorities. Not the wizarding authorities, they would be very quick to charge Charlus for what he had done, so that left the mundane police. Charlus layered both of the Dursleys with compulsion charms of his own that would make them go to the police and confess every significant crime they had ever committed.
Then he modified their memory of what had happened to them over the last few days and replaced it with memories of the two of them talking to each other and deciding they didn't like what they had become. He even added a conversation with a priest that had told them they could only be forgiven of their sins after they had atoned for them, and how that had been what had put the idea of confession to the police in their heads. He used Apparition to drop them right outside the biggest police station in Surrey and watched as they walked into the station with a defeated and resigned look on their faces. Feeling justice had been done and feeling rather proud of himself, Charlus popped to the Leaky Cauldron and bought himself a pint of his favourite brown ale.
-ϟϟϟ-
Grandfather Charlus had been right about the goblins finding in Harry's favour as to the ownership of the dragon carcass. Harry had received a letter from them two days before the end of term asking him what he wanted to do with the harvested parts and asking how he wanted to pay for their services. Harry thought about it for the day before sending a letter back with Hedwig with pretty simple instructions. He would keep the hide but he wanted the rest sold, and the rendering team were to take their payment out of the gold made selling the dragon. The rest of the gold was to be set aside so he could donate it to charity.
Harry didn't like the idea of profiting off killing a mother defending her nest. Yes it was just an animal, even an incredibly dangerous one. He had just tried to stun it with the first lightning bolt, and the killing blow had only been used when it was him or the dragon, yet he still didn't feel right keeping the gold. He didn't know what charities there were out there, but he was going to ask around. Ron had grown up in the magical world so maybe he would know, and Hermione would probably know where to find a book on it. And if all else failed, he could just give the money to the wizarding hospital Sirius had told him about.
Soon the Christmas break started, but unlike most years the castle remained almost two-thirds as full as usual. Nearly all of the first and second years pretty much disappeared overnight. While there were more third years than normal for Christmas, most of them had gone home as well; the ones who stayed were probably the ones who were lucky enough to get a date for the ball.
For Harry, it was kind of surreal. He was staying at Hogwarts like he did every year, and while he was actually looking forward to the ball and was enjoying practising a little dancing with Hermione for the opening dance, in truth he thought he would for the first time since he started Hogwarts and go home for the holiday. It wasn't about getting away from the castle, nor was it about seeing his grandfather and godfather. The two of them, and also ex-Professor Lupin, visited the school often enough to help him prepare for the second task that he didn't really have an opportunity to miss them. It was the idea of a real Potter Christmas and what he could have had this year (if it wasn't for the bloody tournament) that made him wish he could go home like the younger students.
-ϟϟϟ-
Charlus reread the letter in his hand and grinned as he passed it over to Sirius, who was halfway through his breakfast at the time. Sirius set aside his cutlery and gave the letter a read, a wide grin also appearing on his face. "Oh, please let me be the one to go tell Albus and Snivellus about this." He sounded as though Christmas had come a week early.
The letter was from the Secretary of The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, the body that governed what it was to be a Potions Master in magical Britain. It was officially informing Charlus that his petition to have Journeyman Potions Master Severus Snape reassessed on his certification due to his disregard to established safety protocols has been accepted. The letter went on to outline what was going to happen and over what timeline. It did say that it was on Charlus, as the one to make the complaint, to make the arguments that Snape needed to return to the level of Apprentice.
The society had decided to hold the evaluation during the Christmas holidays in consideration of Snape's current employer. They wanted to keep the disruption to the students as low as possible. If Snape was found to be unsuitable for his role, the Society of Potioneers would also appoint a Potions Master to the school to teach, either until the end of the school year or until the school could find a replacement they were happy with.
"No, the Society will inform Dumbledore and Snape directly. And it's probably for the best if we aren't there. I do want you to mirror call Harry though, tell him what's going on and that it's probably a good idea if he and his friends keep their heads down for the next few days," Charlus told him. Sirius was a little put out that he wouldn't get to see the look on Snape's face when he found out, but agreed it was probably for the best. He finished his breakfast before going to contact Harry.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry had breakfast in the Great Hall with Hermione, Neville, and all of the Weasleys who were currently attending Hogwarts. It turns out Neville had asked Ginny to be his date to the ball the night before, and all of her brothers were giving Neville the big brother treatment, threatening him with everything from public embarrassment to defenestration if he was to hurt Ginny in any way.
Harry, who could see that Neville was starting to have second thoughts about asking out Ginny and remembering the time he had been on the receiving end of the same treatment by Ron when he realised he saw Hermione like a sister, decided to break the tension by turning to Ron and joking. "I'm not surprised at the big brother routine. I am surprised that you know what defenestration means."
Ron just grinned at him. "I don't. It's just what Percy said he would threaten someone with when someone asked out Gin-Gin and it sounded cool." Everyone, including Neville, laughed at that.
"For the record, you were threatening to throw my date out of a window," Ginny said as she gave her brother a small shove.
"He wouldn't be the first, at least I know I can bounce!" Neville joked, and Harry remembered him telling a story their first year about his uncle (or was it his great uncle?) dropping him out a window.
Harry was just about to say something when there was a shout from the professors' table. "POTTER!" Harry's head, along with everyone else's, whipped around to where the noise was coming from to find Professor Snape looking at him like he had just discovered Harry had pissed in his cornflakes.
"Potter, that's it, I have had enough of you and your behaviour. Detention! Everyday! Until I'm satisfied you can behave like a proper student should. Get to my office now!" Snape was screaming at him looking like a madman.
Harry had no idea what was going on or why Snape was targeting him. He would be the first to admit he wasn't the best behaved student in the school, but he was far from the worst. He had been far too focused on preparing for the tournament and spending time with Hermione and Ron that the worst thing he had done since his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire was to hand in a few pieces of homework late. He couldn't think of anything he had done to warrant such a harsh punishment. So he summed his thoughts in one quick succinct sentence. "What the fuck did I do?"
Luckily, none but the people around Harry heard him, and they weren't going to say anything. As Harry hadn't moved, Snape left the professors' table and stormed towards Harry, his robes as always billowing behind him. Following him was a protesting Professor Babbling, demanding to know what Harry could possibly have done, as from her perspective Harry had just been sitting there eating his breakfast with his housemates, not unlike almost every student currently in the great Hall.
Instead, Harry ended up in Professor McGonagall's office. Professor Babbling had brought him and Professor Snape here after he refused to tell her why he was issuing the detentions. He was currently surrounded by shouting professors when he heard his name being called from his robes pocket. He pulled out his communication mirror and found Sirius's face grinning at him, which quickly fell when the sounds of what was going on around Harry made its way over the mirror connection. "Harry, are you okay?"
"Not really, Snape has snapped and is trying to put me in detention every day until he says so, and I have no idea why. He just suddenly started shouting over breakfast," Harry explained.
"Ah, I think I know what's going on. I was calling to tell you Snape's Potions Mastery is being reviewed, I was going to suggest keeping out of Snape's way for a few days."
Harry could only reply with, "Well, you're late."
With Sirius able to tell Professor McGonagall why Snape was suddenly targeting Harry, she told Snape that he wasn't allowed to punish a student for the action of their guardians, with a tone of voice that sounded more like she was telling Snape to 'grow up.' Harry was able to leave not long after that and made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, eager to tell Ron and Hermione that Snape was under review. This was the best Christmas present ever.