Like most professors, Professor Potter's rooms were in the same corridor as his classroom, and the new Potions classroom was on the ground floor. Charlus tried not to take it as a less than subtle hint about his welcome that his rooms were the closest to the main doors. After the feast he made his way back to his rooms, intending to go over what he planned on teaching the next day, but as he was just settling into an armchair with his notes and a glass of Ogden's there was a knock on his door. Knowing it could only be his grandson and possibly his friends, he called for them to "Come on in!" When the door opened revealing the full trio he just asked, "Is this a social visit or has the headmaster called you already?"
Hermione held up a note and told him that the headmaster had called her and Harry, which had surprised Charlus. Surely Albus couldn't mean to try and punish Hermione for a shield charm? He sighed and put down his papers and tapped his whisky with his wand, casting a stasis charm. Technically the charm was made for potions if you had to take a break in brewing, but it serviced just as well at keeping the ice in his glass from melting before he got back.
On the way to the headmaster's office Charlus decided that it was probably best if Professor McGonagall was there as well, so they stopped by her rooms to get her. As Ron wasn't called to the headmaster's office, he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, telling Harry and Hermione that he would be waiting for them when they got back. The gargoyle moved aside when Professor McGonagall said the password, and soon they were knocking on the headmaster's door.
"Come on in" called the voice from inside and Charlus walked in first. He saw a slight frown of frustration cross Dumbledore's face at seeing him and Professor McGonagall escorting Harry and Hermione, but he didn't say or do anything about it. Charlus assumed that Dumbledore had already accepted that with him in the castle now, any time Dumbledore tried to talk with Harry, he would bring Charlus.
"Please everyone sit down." Dumbledore gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. Charlus kept a straight face as he decided what to do. Yesterday, the headmaster had invited himself into Charlus's new office and started talking about procedures for the school, only instead of accepting the chair Charlus had for guests/students, he had transfigured one of them into a gaudy overstuffed armchair. Dumbledore had been showing Charlus that despite his assignment to the position by the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, this was his castle and what he says goes. This was another one; he had called two students so there were only two chairs, forcing them to choose who got to sit.
Harry was just offering the chairs to the ladies and leaving the gentleman to stand, which would have been a fine move if Charlus didn't have a better idea. "No, Harry, give me a second, I have this." Charlus may not be on the level of McGonagall or Dumbledore, but he did have his N.E.W.T. in Transfiguration. A quick wave of his wand, and where there had been two chairs before there was now a large sofa that could comfortably seat all four of them. It wasn't a brilliant Transfiguration, the sofa was rather boxy in shape and it was all one solid colour, but it was functional and it looked a lot more comfortable to sit on than the ornate wooden throne Dumbledore had. However, Charlus expected that the headmaster had laid enough cushioning charms on his chair that it felt like sitting on a cloud.
The four of them sat down, with Charlus and McGonagall sitting at either end and the two teenagers sat between them. "Right, let's get down to business, shall we? We need to talk about how to punish the two- '' Dumbledore started, but Harry cut him off.
"Excuse me professor but I must not have heard you correctly. Did you just say the two of us? All Hermione did was cast a shield charm, something that is in no way deserving of punishment," Harry said, advocating for Hermione.
"She was involved in the fight, and as such is just as culpable," Dumbledore said, sounding a little smug."
"A fight that was started by your employee. Let's not forget who the one who started to fight was. Miss Granger would never have cast a shield charm if someone you employed at a school wasn't casting spells at a student," Charlus said with a hard edge in his tone. He knew that there was no chance Harry would walk away without punishment, but that didn't mean he was going to let Dumbledore do whatever he wanted; the punishment had to fit the circumstance and Hermione hadn't done anything wrong.
"Professor Potter is right Albus. Miss Granger only cast a Shield charm, so punishing her is not appropriate." Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"So you think. I disagree, I thi-" Dumbledore started but again he was cut off this time by Professor McGonagall.
"If that's how you want to play it, fine. Miss Granger, five points from Gryffindor for using magic outside of class. There, it's done. Now Albus, move on. Miss Granger, why don't you go wait outside?" Professor McGonagall was starting to get a hint of Scots brogue in her voice that was a sure indication that she wasn't as calm as she looked.
Hermione gripped Harry's hand, probably intending to stay and support him, but Harry quickly whispered "Go," to her, and she nodded and walked out of the office before headmaster Dumbledore could object.
"Well, on to Mister Potter. I trust you aren't going to try to argue that breaking a professor's nose is something that should go unpunished?" Dumbledore sounded condescending as he spoke.
"Of course not, as long as the punishment is proportional to the situation and not an abuse of authority from a headmaster throwing a hissy fit because he lost his pet Death Eater," Charlus said.
"Still, I think detention every Saturday for the rest of the school year and the loss of Hogsmeade privileges is quite reasonable," Dumbledore said, his voice beyond any inflection.
"That isn't happening. For one, you don't have the authority to keep me in the castle. I can go to Hogsmeade whenever I like." Harry said, himself sounding a little smug.
Dumbledore was overly not happy with Harry talking to him like that but he stayed calm and said, "I think you will find I have the authority to ban any students from visiting the nearby village."
"Students, yes. Triwizard champions, nope," Harry said, a slight cheeky smile reminiscent of the one his father used to wear on his face.
Charlus jumped in before Harry got too cheeky for his own good. It was nice seeing Harry's confidence build, a feat he credited as much to Hermione's influence as his own, but he didn't want to risk Harry crossing the line here. "He is right, you know. The Triwizard champions were all supposed to be of age this time. When you consider that and the difficulties of the tasks, it was written into the contract that the champions could leave the castle whenever they needed for tournament purposes. Any attempt to keep Harry from leaving the castle would probably be seen as interference by the Goblet, and your signature is on that contract Dumbledore. I hate for you to lose your magic for breaching the terms of the contract you failed to keep my grandson out of." Charlus then just looked at Dumbledore for a full thirty seconds without doing anything. Finally, he added, "You know, the same could easily apply for excessive detentions. Preventing Harry from preparing for the next task. The Goblet could see that as interfering. Out of curiosity, Professor McGonagall, if a different student were to punch another student and break their nose, what punishment would you give them?" Charlus turned to the professor and asked.
Professor McGonagall thought about it for a few seconds and said, "In the past I have given between three to six detentions for a fight resulting in a broken nose."
"Compared to that, every Saturday for the rest of the school year seems excessive, don't you think Albus?" Charlus turned back to the headmaster.
"Well in this case he struck a professor, someone who was in a position of authority," countered Dumbledore.
"Authority he was in the middle of abusing," Charlus shot back.
"Then he should have come to me, not taken matters into his own hands," said Dumbledore. Harry let out a snort of derision. "And what is that supposed to mean, Mr. Potter?"
"I think what Mr Potter is trying to say, Albus, is that he wanted something more to happen than him having to listen to a lecture about how Professor Snape has your complete trust while you do nothing about him," Professor McGonagall snapped at the headmaster. "Let's face it Albus, Severus has been punishing Mr. Potter since he arrived here at the school. Everyone has their breaking point, and Severus found Mr. Potter's and it blew up in his face. If you had done something about his behaviour sooner like I kept asking you to, none of this would have happened. But no, the great Albus Dumbledore had to keep giving him chance after chance to change on his own. Well he didn't, and he finally pushed a student too far."
"He was still a professor," Dumbledore tried.
"Exactly, he was the professor and Harry is the child. You can't expect a teenager to act with the restraint and control of an adult when they are in such a hostile situation," Charlus countered. Harry glared a little at Charlus for being called a child, but Charlus didn't say anything; Harry would learn one day just how young a fourteen year old is in comparison to him.
Dumbledore didn't look happy that every point he raised was being countered so easily, and he really didn't seem to like Professor McGonagall disagreeing with him. Charlus thought it was Dumbledore's own fault. The man, by the look of it, had been letting things slip for years, barely doing enough and only patching up the leaks in the cauldron. Now, when the cauldron had split, he still didn't want to own up to the fact that it was his responsibility to keep things from getting this bad in the first place.
"I suggest that Mister Potter serves a week's detention with me and loses 50 house points," suggested Professor McGonagall. "I can be flexible around when he serves them to accommodate his Triwizard preparations, with a minimum of two a week until he has served them all." She nodded to Charlus, telling him without a word that she wasn't going to do anything to risk Harry in the tournament.
Dumbledore realised that this wasn't going to go his way unless he evoked his full authority as headmaster. If he did, that was going to cost him respect from Professor McGonagall, and when word got out the other professors as well. That respect bought him enough good will that burning those bridges wasn't worth it so he did the only thing he could. "Very well Minerva, but make sure they are a suitable punishment. No detentions where he just does his homework." Then he turned to Charlus. "Now in regards to your new position and the Triwizard Tournament. While you are filling the role as Professor, you are bound by the tournament rules on how professors can interact with champions. That means you will no longer be able to help Mr. Potter with his preparations for the tournament."
Charlus couldn't help it; he let out a string of language that made him glad Miss Granger was no longer in the room. "Fucking son of a bitch!" A few things in Dumbledore's office started to shake a little as Charlus almost lost control of his magic in his anger. Harry put a hand on his shoulder and calmed him down.
A little ashamed of his outburst, he turned to Professor McGonagall. "My apologies for my uncouthness."
The Scots woman waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I have been a teacher for decades. Trust me I have heard worse."
"Still, when there are ladies present, it should be that gentlemen also are present. Especially when the gentleman needs to set an example for younger generations," he apologised for his slip in manners.
Charlus wanted to argue with Dumbledore about the restriction, but in this case it truly wasn't something that the headmaster could have planned out or done anything to prevent. There was no point getting into an argument with Dumbledore over this, he would be better off spending his time and effort to find a way around the restrictions. For example, there was nothing preventing him from teaching a few new Potions to his new ward, and if she decided to teach Harry about it then she wasn't bound by the same restrictions he now found himself under.
"Will there be anything more, headmaster?" Charlus asked. Dumbledore did have a few bits, they all related to if Charlus was ready to teach his classes starting the next day. Charlus replied that he thought he was ready but that he may have some questions in the coming days, as while he had had a couple of apprentices over the years he had no experience as a professor. He then used the fact that there were classes in the morning and that both he and Harry needed to be well rested for them to end the meeting.
As the two left the office, Professor McGonagall remained behind to speak with the headmaster. Harry and Charlus found Hermione waiting for them on the other side of the gargoyle. "So how bad is it?" Hermione asked, anxious to know what Harry's punishment was.
"Fifty points and a week of detentions with McGonagall, but I can move the detentions around to fit around my tournament prep," Harry said, and he could see Hermione relax as he told her how light his punishment was compared to what they had feared.
"That's Professor McGonagall, Harry, and that's great. I was worried Dumbledore would try to expel you or have you clean the whole castle with a toothbrush," Hermione said as Charlus escorted them back to the Gryffindor common room.
"Cleaning the castle with a toothbrush? Seems like a weird way to punish someone," Charlus said, wondering how Hermione had thought of that.
"It's a common punishment in mundane militaries. The purpose is to make the task as annoyingly difficult as possible. It also takes forever, and means the person being punished will be on their hands and knees for a long time." Hermione explained. Charlus could see how that would work, but he couldn't see Hogwarts doing something like that.
"Dumbledore actually wanted to punish me a lot more, but grandfather and Professor McGonagall forced him to be reasonable. He was going to have me in detention every Saturday and totally ban me from Hogsmeade," Harry told Hermione.
Hermione's response was to point out all the reasons why Dumbledore couldn't do that to a Triwizard champion. Charlus had already left them at the portrait of the Fat Lady before Hermione had finished and started making his way back down to his rooms. He collapsed in the comfortable armchair he had left less than an hour ago and after a quick flick of his wand to remove the stasis charm. He sipped at his Firewhisky as he started to plan what he was going to do going forward.
-ϟϟϟ-
The next few days were a mix of routine and new for Harry. On the side of routine, most of his classes were exactly the same as before, and he spent a good chunk of time prepping for the second task. He was used to all of this from before Christmas. Even his detentions with professor McGonagall, while different in what she had him doing, he had some experience with. During his first detention with his Head of House, the Transfiguration professor had given him the Christmas homework from the first years and a marking guide and told him he would be marking and correcting the essays. He was told that any he was unsure of he could leave to one side, but that as a fourth year he knew more than enough Transfiguration to correct first year work.
However, on the side of the strange and unusual was things like looking forward to Potions. Professor Potter, and no Harry hadn't slipped up and called him grandfather in lessons yet, was a far more popular professor than Snape and his lessons. It wasn't just that Professor Potter held his lessons in a brightly-lit well-ventilated classroom, or that he explained all the hows and the whys while talking them through making the potions they were working on. He also had a much warmer attitude and didn't insult any of the students. The only ones who weren't singing the praises of the new Potions professor were a handful of Slytherin students, who were upset at the loss of the favourable treatment they had always gotten from Snape.
The other main thing that was weird was how happy a lot of the school was with Harry. On his first full Friday back, no less than twelve students had come and asked to shake the hand that had broken Snape's nose. It didn't matter how much Harry said he had very little to do with Snape being sacked, a lot of the students still seemed to want to give Harry the credit for that as well for some reason.
On the Friday of their first week back, Harry got a letter from Gripsack–Anne Twist during breakfast.
Mr. Potter,
We were directed by Warlock Potter to look into the legal status regarding your parents' home 'Potter cottage, Godric's Hollow, Wales.' The focus of this investigation was to discover who legally owns the property and, if the Ministry has taken possession of the house, could we either return the property to you or force the Ministry to pay you for the property they took from you.
It is our sad duty to inform you that the ministry has legally taken the house and has refused to pay for it. However, while going through the documents for this case, we have discovered that the ministry specifically mentioned the building in their documents and failed to mention anything else. This means that anything inside it, and more importantly the land that the house sits on, still belongs to you as your parents' next of kin.
This has presented us an opportunity that we need your permission to go forward with. As the Ministry is storing their property on your land, while refusing to pay for said property, it is the recommendation of this firm that you sue them for rental/storage fee arrears, and that you set up a standing charge going forward.
Sincerely,
Gripsack
Harry re-read the letter again and realized he would have to talk with his grandfather about it before he made a decision. He looked over at his grandfather, who was sitting up at the professors' table, and saw that he was reading a suspiciously similar letter. Harry wanted to go and talk to him, but lessons would start soon and he didn't have time.
"Is everything alright mate?" Ron asked, sounding concerned as he built himself a second breakfast sandwich.
"I'm fine," Harry said as he folded up the letter and put it in his school bag.
"So we should drag you to the hospital wing then?" Ron joked, causing Hermione to laugh.
When Harry looked at them confused, Hermione said, "Harry you would say you're fine after waking up from a three-day coma, or after fighting a sixty foot snake, or a horde of Dementors. You say you're fine when you want to avoid the hospital wing but know you need to go. Honestly, you saying your fine is practically a cry for help at this point."
Harry couldn't really say anything about that, they were right after all. "It's just some legal stuff I'll need to talk to my grandfather about. Just not sure what I'm gonna do about it."
"Are you in trouble or is Uncle Charlus suing everyone again?" Hermione asked, a little concern in her voice that it may be the first one.
"Grandfather's solicitors want to sue someone again, I'll tell you more once I have spoken to him. I won't have a chance to talk to him until lunch, but it is conveniently right after Potions for us today," Harry said.
-ϟϟϟ-
It was only Harry's second Potions lesson since coming back from his enforced Christmas break. Professor Potter had spent the last lesson drilling the standard safety charms into them and had told them repeatedly that he expected them to use them or he would be taking house points. Pansy Parkinson had scoffed at the idea and had been the first Slytherin to lose house points in a Potions lesson for over a decade.
Professor Potter's style was for the whole class to work on that day's potion step by step together. Today they were working on the Blood Replenishing potion. The first thing they had to do was mince up a pound of giant newt livers, and Professor Potter first demonstrated how to mince the liver and showed them the consistency they were aiming for. Then, while the class was mincing their own, he walked around the classroom looking for anyone who hadn't understood, all the time lecturing on the properties of giant newt livers and explained what role they played in the potion and how they would react with the next ingredient they were going to add.
By the end of the class everyone, including Neville and people like Crabbe and Goyle, had a usable Blood Replacement potion. Sure, some were better than others; Hermione's and a few others were particularly of a quality St. Mungo's would use, while everyone else's ranged from "over the counter at an apothecary" to "better than nothing in an emergency."
The homework was for them to write an essay on the potion explaining each ingredient and step and why it was done the way it was. Essentially, Professor Potter wanted them to write up what he had told them in class, both so that they would have something to revise at the end of the year and so that in the future if they ever needed to brew the potion they had a full step by step guide on how to do it.
The students' opinion of the lesson was extremely positive. Neville said he had never felt so comfortable in a Potions classroom before and was determined to give the subject his all this year. Even Hermione admitted she had learned a lot about the intricacies of the potion that were not in the books she had read.
After the class had let out and everyone was headed to lunch, Harry hung back to talk to his grandfather. Seeing him standing there, Charlus smiled at Harry and asked, "So how was the lesson?"
"Best Potions lesson we ever had. If Snape had taught even half as well as that, then Britain would have far more Potions Masters about," Harry said honestly. "What have your other classes been like?"
"Good. My sixth year N.E.W.T. class has practically been begging me to teach next year as well," Charlus said.
"Well I'm all for that, but it's not me who needs convincing. Dumbledore that would never let you stay," said Harry. "Still, I'm not here to talk about classes. I got a letter from Gripsack this morning."
Charlus nodded. "I got one as well. What do you think? Should we approve for them to go forward?"
"I'm not sure. On one hand, they basically stole mum and dad's house, so I shouldn't have any sympathy for them. On the other hand, I'm not even sure I want it. I…I remember that night, and I'm not sure I could ever go in that house without reliving it. Plus it's not like I need the money, and it's not like the people who took it will be the ones who have to pay. The payout will come out of the money from the taxpayers. Is it right for me to take money away from other essential services? Yet if we roll over and let them win, they will just think they can keep doing this type of thing. I'm not sure what the right thing to do is." Harry was fed up feeling like the rope in a game of tug of war, pulled in two opposite directions until one side gave way to the other.
Charlus was more distracted by one of the first things Harry said. "You remember that night?" he asked carefully. And when Harry nodded, Charlus did something that he rarely did and pulled Harry into a hug. It took the two men a few minutes to compose themselves, and when they did they went back to the conundrum at hand.
"Harry, I suggest we move forward, but gently. We unofficially present the Ministry with the bill for the last thirteen years and tell them they can return our property, or they can pay the back rent and keep paying going forward. That gives them the choice of whether or not to use Ministry funding or to just give back the house," Charlus suggested.
Harry liked that idea. He may not really want to own the house, but he really didn't want his parents house just taken either. The question he would have to answer now is what to do with whatever he got. If he got the house back, did he just want to tear it down and have a new house built there? If the Ministry paid up instead, did he want to keep the gold or did he want to use it to do something worthwhile? He really needed to talk to Hermione and Ron.
-ϟϟϟ-
After classes were done for the day and the trio had done the Triwizard prep lesson with Sirius and now Remus as well, Harry pulled Hermione and Ron into a quiet corner of the common room. He told them all about the letter he had been sent and how he was questioning what he should do with whatever he got as a result. That then led into him telling them that he was having trouble finding somewhere to donate the gold he got from selling off the rendered dragon parts as well.
Ron managed to suggest a few charities. "Well there is 'Bitten', a charity that helps people who are bitten by werewolves. They aren't popular, so they always need funding. There's 'New Hope', they help squib children learn how to live in the muggle world. Or there is the 'M.S.P.C.M.C', the Magical Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Magical Creatures; they are quite popular and do a lot of work rescuing abused Krups and Kneazles. Oh, and don't forget the Blood Curse Research Foundation. They are looking for ways to free families from old blood curses. They are all charities with pretty good reputations."
"Or you could do your own thing," said Hermione. When Harry looked at her confused, she said, "You could wait and see what you get all together and put it all in one big pile, and then do something you think is worthwhile with it. Start a Hogwarts scholarship, start an organisation that you think will make Magical Britain a better place, it could be anything you feel passionate about."
Harry nodded with a completely serious expression on his face and turned to Hermione and said, "Hmmm, something I'm passionate about. I think I have just the thing. I'll start the Hermione Granger Appreciation Society."
It took Hermione a moment to realise he was teasing her, and Harry quickly had to duck a cushion being thrown at his face. Unfortunately for him the cushion was only a distraction, and a moment later Hermione was on top of him pinning him to the sofa as the two of them laughed. The silly fun was exactly what Harry needed.