The atrium of the Ministry of Magic was a huge open space, dominated by a massive golden sculpture that Hermione noted presented the wizard as higher than any other, with the witch lower, and the centaur, goblin and house-elf standing in support of them. An unlikely scenario, given the way the Ministry and the pureblood traditionalists ran things. Making a mental note that it would be melted down and used as currency, both actual and political, when she became the Minister, she glared again at the summons in her hand. She was not alone in this, all of the Chaos, with the obvious exceptions of Sirius and Remus, had received them, demanding their presence in court to answer to charges of underage magic occasioned by the kerfuffle at the Quidditch World Cup. Of course, knowing how bureaucracies functioned (badly), they had decided to arrive as a group, and early for the first hearing.
Upon arrival, they discovered that someone, let's call him Mr F, had chosen to upgrade the charges to require a full trial, and had changed the timing and agenda of the trial in order to catch them off-guard and try them in absentia. They now had ten minutes to reach the courtroom, something they would not be able to manage... at least, not without Ginny.
In Courtroom Ten, chosen for its intimidating structure and the Death Eater Trials it had held thirteen years ago, Cornelius Fudge looked over at the defendants' bench, which was occupied only by Amelia Bones. As the Wizengamot members took their seats, with several rather telling absences in certain chairs, he smirked. The resounding boom as the chamber's doors sealed and the anti-apparition wards he'd insisted on went up shook the chamber, and the plump little man that was the current Minister did a little mental jig. He'd just opened his mouth to begin his speech, no doubt intended to castigate and condemn the children for their absence and 'obvious disdain for the law', when a flare of flame and a muffled 'whoomp' drew everyone's attention to the now occupied bench.
Madam Bones smiled at her niece and her friends, clad in their Chaos of the Tigers garb, but with the hoods down, and the children quickly handed her a bundle of wands. As 'defendants', they weren't permitted to carry their own wands, and from what she knew, they were very capable of defending themselves without them.
"I protest!" Fudge was seeing all his carefully laid plan shred before his eyes. The children were obviously all present, and equally obviously showing a united front. If they'd been absent, he could have carried the 'trial' through to expulsion from Hogwarts and snapping their wands, and insisted on Obliviation. Now, their testimony, especially with Veritaserum, would clearly show their use of Underage Sorcery to have been Reasonable. He really loathed whoever had put that word in the decree. As the Chief Warlock, eyes twinkling, dismissed his protest and proceeded with the 'trial' that was supposed to be a mere hearing, Fudge saw much of his political influence evaporating. "But I'm the Minister for Magic," he thought furiously, "they're supposed to be doing what I tell them!"
In the end, all charges against the Chaos were overturned. The charge against the Statute of Secrecy had been laughed at, for the Minister's own standing orders for the arrangements surrounding the World Cup had the muggles in the area being memory charmed of the events anyway. Other loopholes that Madam Bones had brought up included the use of such magic to save lives (check), the use of such magic to apprehend known criminals (terrorism was a crime, too) and the use of such magic in self-defence (again, check). Further, the DMLE had the group listed as a trusted civilian resource. That resulted in a good ten minutes of explaining the term 'need to know basis' to an increasingly irate Fudge. Madam Bones' closing statement was very pointed.
"These young men and women are a credit to their teachers, and an example to us all. My esteemed colleague, the Minister, would have you believe them as guilty of wrongdoing as the Death Eaters they opposed. He has presented a list of charges above and beyond the Underage Sorcery hearing that would be called for if it were almost any other children. Of course, I am sure there are some children who wouldn't even have to worry about the inconvenience of such a proceeding due to their parents' influence. I have seen no charge on this docket that can be supported by the evidence we have seen today. Since they certainly tidied up the area, I wouldn't even support a charge of littering. I apologise for the time that has been stolen from your no doubt busy schedules, especially so close to the day our children are supposed to return to Hogwarts."
Fortunately, the Chaos had planned to get their Hogwarts shopping out of the way today, and the extra time they spent in the Alley allowed Ron to pull Harry aside. The look on the redhead's face was a serious one. "Harry, can you do me a favour?"
Ron asking for something was a rare enough occurrence that he had his friend's full attention while Hermione and the other girls were looking at the robes in Madam Malkin's. "Go on," he replied.
"I've got a bad feeling about this year, so I spoke with Luna," Ron said, "you know she sees more than I do. She said this year is a bad one, too, but there's a few good things in it, or could be. So I did what Professor Trelawney told us, and just sat and cleared my mind. Harry, I saw two rings and a cake. A wedding cake. Then I saw a coin spinning, and I saw dull green and brown eyes, with no spark, no life, no magic. It's about you, mate. You need to be carrying those rings, or... I have no idea how bad it'll get."
The word had gotten around about Ron's occasional bouts of prescience at school. It was never the 'big stuff' as he'd termed it, always little things. This was the first time he'd ever seen two outcomes to a vision, or even a vision at all. Harry nodded. "They're going to be busy for a while here, mate. Want to come to Gringotts with me? Maybe the rings you saw are in the Potter vault."
Quietly, the two best friends slipped out, letting Neville know where they were headed.
As Harry had predicted, the rings had indeed been in his vault. In fact, they had been his mother's engagement and wedding rings. Harry had gathered up both rings on a necklace, adding the simple band of gold that matched them, and the two young men had quickly made their way back to the others. Neville was praising Susan's dress robes as they arrived, while modelling a very flattering set himself. Hermione and Daphne had already chosen theirs, leaving only Harry and Ron to choose theirs. Harry went for simple robes, but the crests of House Potter and House Black sat side by side over his heart. One thing he insisted on, however, was a black tiger on each shoulder, right at the top of the arms, against the deep, rich red of the robes. The golden trim on the sleeve cuffs and the hem of the robes resembled flames, but that was as fancy as it got. As he was paying for his purchase, he overheard snatches of talk between the two youngest members of the Chaos.
"I can't see why it happens, or even if it happens," Luna was saying. From what Harry had picked up on, she was explaining her Sight to Ginny. "I can only see the possibilities, a great number of them, but by no means everything. If you want an example, look at Hogsmeade last year." Harry shuddered as a wave of depression washed over him, as the blonde witch continued to talk. "I could tell that people were going to die, and if one had been Harry, everything would have been handed to Riddle. If Hermione had... had been... killed..." It seemed quite hard for the dainty witch to speak of that, as if memories of a future averted still plagued her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to go on. "If that had happened, Harry would almost certainly have gone mad with rage and despair, and the worst Dark Lord in anybody's history, anywhere, ever, would have torn apart the world. I could see all that, and I could see that if Harry killed the Pink Monster, it would tear him up inside, but he'd get over it with his friends' help, and Hermione's love. I most certainly did not see your brother inventing a brand new spell in a moment of desperation to beat the dementors, nor did I see that they'd be able to save Hannah from a Dementor's Kiss after it had already taken her. It's like trying to see through smoke... you strain and strain, but you only ever get glimpses, and sometimes you just hurt your eyes."
"Whoa," Ginny breathed, amazed. "So what was that with Ron? I thought for a while that you were falling for him." Ginny had turned her face from Luna at that point, and although she didn't notice Harry, the green-eyed catboy was able to see her face clearly as the young heliopath bit her lip nervously. Her friend looked thoughtful.
"No," Luna said, decisively. "Maybe in some other universe, some other path through possibility, but not this one. This Ron is incredible, I admit. There were so many key points where he could have gone wrong, and he's managed to do the right thing at each." Luna rose and trapped one of Ginny's hands in her own. "But he's not the red-head for me..."
Harry chose to give them their privacy.
It was as they were boarding the Hogwarts Express that the kitty couple accosted the Weasley Twins. The two of them were speaking in a low hushed voice with Lee Jordan, handing what looked like owl order forms between them, pointing at the papers now and then. Harry waved Ron forward. "Your turn, Firefetch," he said. "Think you're up to it?" Ron nodded, and grinned.
"Hey George, Fred," he called, garbed in his basilisk-hide outfit. "I have something to ask you two." As the twins looked up, he made a spur-of-the-moment decision. Looking up and down the corridor, he saw Harry and Hermione running interference at one end, and Susan and Neville at the other. "Just for your consideration, would the two of you be interested in membership in the Chaos of the Tigers?"
"What standards..." said George (probably).
"Of entrance..." continued Fred (most likely).
"Does this require?" they chorused. Lee's eyes narrowed and Ron smiled.
"You've already been nominated and seconded, and both of you have been vetted by the others, and the only remaining requirement is the Animagus option." The twins eyes widened at that. The tales they'd followed of the Marauders said they were animagi, and they'd seen both Harry and Ginny in their animal forms. Of course Hermione was an animagus, too, but the thought that Ron, Neville and the others were astounded them.
"We're in!" they chorused, and Ron nodded to Hermione, who switched with Daphne and then entered the compartment where they'd cornered the twins. Pakhet raised her head as she lounged on the catgirl's shoulder, sneezed twice, and nodded, meowing for a few seconds before clambering into the lowered hood of Hermione's cloak.
"Toggletrust says they're good at heart, but trust them as far as you can throw them. They'll keep their word, but you've got to be certain of exactly what their word is." The bushy haired witch ran the back of her hand over her cheek and whiskers. "Here you go." She handed them the vials containing the revelation draught.
As the Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station, Ron decided he hated the universe's sense of humour. George was the talker of the twins, the salesman and ideas man. Somehow it was fitting that he had the potential to be a red fox. Fred on the other hand... Ron fought down a shudder. Sure, the other twin was the trapsmith, figuring out how to make their pranks and concoctions work, and laying ambushes and pranks practically, so it made sense... but he didn't have to like the fact that Fred could become an acromantula the size of Fang!