(Harry's Dorm Room)
After finally finishing unpacking and setting his dorm room up the way he liked it, Harry walked over to the full-body-sized mirror he had set up in the corner and said, "Eagle calling Padfoot, Eagle calling Padfoot," all the while wondering if this was one big prank by his godfather.
"This is Padfoot," a voice coming from the mirror said as the mirror's reflection became liquid, before showing his godfather. "Everything alright, pup?" his godfather asked, obviously concerned since Harry was calling him so soon, while at the same time thinking they really needed to make a better name for it—maybe "mirroring"?
Shrugging his shoulders, "Yes, nothing too major. The Headmaster just invited me to his office for a chat, to try and get me to go to Snape's lessons," he stated.
"Did you tell him where he could stick his beard?"
"Yes, but in a bit more diplomatic terms," Harry responded. "In short, I said it was not my problem and asked why I should put up with the git."
"You shouldn't have to, especially considering you could have Snape's pale ass in jail," Sirius stated.
Ignoring the mental image his godfather had created, "Yeah, but he invited me to his office to talk about burying the hatchet, along with getting me to play nice with Snape and go to Potions class. I believe the Headmaster about burying the hatchet, but I doubt that was his sole reason. The Headmaster must have realized our votes in the Wizengamot will ensure he can pass any bills he wants. Without us, he is forced to seek the support of other houses, and if I were in his position, I would prefer to deal with one lord instead of a good half dozen like he would need."
"You're right, pup, it's something Albus would do—kiss up to you to try and get me in a more cooperative mood," Sirius stated with a frown.
"I thought so. He must also realize the bigger danger you represent, hence the effort to get you under his thumb quickly," Harry stated.
"Danger, pup? I'm no danger to Albus. While I may disagree with him and I'm not willing to play yes-man and just do what he says, I'm hardly a danger," Sirius protested.
"Sirius, think about it for one second. You hold the single most votes in the Wizengamot, and are now the rallying point for neutral factions and lords who may not be pureblood elitists, but don't agree with Dumbledore.
Also, lords currently supporting Albus, who were aligned with him to counter Lucius and his elitist agenda, may actually abandon him in favor of a more natural party. The longer you are a free agent on the political battlefield, the more of a chance you have to gather allies such as Lord Greengrass. You could very well hold the power to decide which way votes go," Harry stated, hoping Sirius would understand.
"Yeah, pup, I can see what you mean now. Forgive me for being a bit slow; it's been a long time since I've had to think about this. I never expected to become Lord Black. I always thought I could be an Auror and then open a joke shop with James and Remus."
"No problem, Sirius. Just consider it a game where you have to outwit your rivals, and use it as a chance to help reform the Ministry."
"You are so much like your mother, you know that?" Sirius said with a sad smile.
"Yeah, my Head of House said the same thing."
...
Hitting the floor, Harry started doing his normal workout routine, even though he couldn't run or practice his archery until everything was sorted out. There was no point in losing house points or getting an unnecessary detention.
After successfully completing his routine and getting himself cleaned up, he headed down to the Great Hall to try and have his breakfast in peace before the rest of the students arrived. Sitting at the table with some light fruit on his plate, he wondered what he would do this year since he had already mastered the second-year spells and theory over the previous summer for most of his subjects.
He would just have to learn the third-year material instead, even if it took longer due to the spell requirements. It wasn't like it was beyond his abilities; he could already successfully cast around a dozen third-year spells. So it was looking like his second year would be mainly self-study, which was fine in a way. Classes and homework should prove to be simple, which would let him use his free time to push ahead with his independent studies. Plus, he had the advantage of having Tonks as his training partner, along with Penny to help him out if he got stuck on a spell or two.
His pondering was interrupted with the arrival of the first wave of students, causing him to focus on the chattering of his fellow Ravens. After a while, Tracy turned up, whom he greeted as warmly as possible, considering that Tracy was a Slytherin and had begun constructing a frost-like persona like Daphne had started in first year.
"Harry," she said warmly, but quietly.
"Tracy, I didn't get a chance to see you on the train," he returned in a similar tone, but in a more questioning manner since they had planned to share a compartment the previous day.
"I'll explain later," she responded before continuing quietly so only he could hear her, "Meet at two at the Swan Nest, and tell Padma." Tracey pulled away and headed over to the Slytherin table without giving him a chance to respond. Not that it mattered; there were never any lessons on the first day back so that everyone could adjust to being back and settle in, so it would be easy to make the meeting.
Sometime later, when Padma finally arrived for breakfast, he dutifully passed on the message about the upcoming meeting. It occurred to him that they would need to come up with a new code name for their private study area that wouldn't raise eyebrows if accidentally overheard.
Now he just had to wait for his Head of House to come around and hand out the timetables so he could get on with his day. Hopefully, he could avoid being paired up with Slytherins for most of his classes. Sure, Daphne and Tracy were fine, and so was Blaise to a lesser extent, but the rest of the Slytherin second years were nothing more than an annoyance, especially when Malfoy was causing trouble just for the sake of it.
Just then, the Prophet arrived and, like he predicted, the front page had a large shot of Sirius and him, as well as a couple of smaller pictures of the rest of the family.
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