Choices and Consequences

Despite Tonks's worries about Harry's potential mental state after the trials and tribulations he'd had to face in his life, she still chivvied him off to bed. Harry's mind was all awhirl after the evening's events and he reckoned he'd have difficulty getting to sleep, but the fight had perhaps tired him more than he'd thought, and it wasn't all that long before he drifted off.

When he woke the next morning, he was a little disoriented by the unusual surroundings that greeted him. He had slept in fits and starts as, although he hadn't returned the memory of Voldemort's return to the wizarding world into his conscious mind, he still had the memory of reviewing it, and in itself that was enough to disturb him.

He wondered why it was only now that it was affecting him, but given that he'd avoided thinking about Voldemort's return as much as he could, reviewing it had obviously re-awakened the fear and adrenaline of the day.

It took him a moment or two to get his bearings, but soon remembered that the strange bed he was occupying was of course in the Grangers' spare bedroom, and as Harry levered himself out of bed he realised that the house was very quiet, as though he was the only one awake.

The red light of the digital clock that sat on the bedside cabinet informed him that it was already ten o'clock, and his stomach rumbled a little in protest at leaving breakfast so late.

Taking a quick shower in the well-appointed bathroom across the landing, and changing into the clothes he had brought with him took around twenty minutes.

A bleary-eyed Tonks was seated at the kitchen table with a large mug of coffee under her nose when he entered the room. This morning she had changed her hair into a purple-tinged crew cut, but aside from that she wore the same clothes as the night before and it looked as though she had been awake all night.

"You okay?" Harry asked her. "I thought you were going to get some sleep and Moody was going to take over on guard duty?"

"Oh, he did," Tonks replied, with a yawn. "He had to go again at nine though, so I only got about four hours kip."

Harry grimaced in sympathy, remembering times when he'd had to operate on minimal sleep. "You're back to purple hair, today, then?"

"Yeah. I always feel better with purple hair. It's easy to do and makes me feel a bit more human."

Harry blinked as Tonks explained this, not quite making sense of her logic, but she continued nonetheless:

"Moody doesn't like it though - he reckons it's too conspicuous to be worthwhile maintaining, since I can't use it when I'm out on duty."

They both looked up as Hermione pushed the kitchen door open and joined them. It looked to Harry as though she too had found sleeping difficult: she hard dark shadows under her eyes, and looked distinctly pale.

"Morning Harry, Tonks," she greeted them. "I'm really sorry about last night, Harry."

"It's okay Hermione, I'm getting used to women falling asleep on me," he joked, "She seems to do it every time we're on the train," he added, pointing a thumb at Tonks.

"Hey!" the young Auror protested, distracting Harry from Hermione's confusion. "I told you, it's a necessity in my line of work. You need to start worrying though, if women fall asleep on you at some slightly more crucial moments," she added.

Hermione watched the by-play between the two of them with amusement, as Harry blushed at Tonks's suggestive comment.

"That wasn't really what I meant, Harry," Hermione attempted to explain as such filled the kettle and set it boiling. "Coffee?"

"Yes please - black with sugar," Tonks said, as she drained the dregs from her existing cup and passed it over.

Harry accepted a coffee too, as well as an offer of toast to put a dent of some sort of in his hunger.

"I know, but it was too good an opportunity to waste," he added, returning to Hermione's apology.

Tonks rolled her eyes at Harry's comment. "See what I have to put up with, being forced to be around this prat everyday," she noted to Hermione. "I mean, could you imagine living with this full time?" she asked with a wave of her hand at Harry.

Hermione pretended to ignore Tonks's comments and turned back to Harry to continue her apology, as the kettle boiled and she filled their cups. "No, I'm not sorry about that," she said with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. "I'm sorry that I inveigled you into showing me that memory. Even though you warned me that it was really bad, I never expected it to be quite as horrific as that, nor how bad it must have been for you, and I'm sorry that I made you confront it all over again."

"It's okay, Hermione, really. I'm just glad that you chose to come out of there when you did, because to be truthful I'd had enough, myself, even though we'd probably seen the worst part."

"It didn't get any prettier after that, Harry," Tonks interjected from halfway down her second cup of coffee. "Let me see, after You-Know-Who's re-birth there was all the Death Eaters turning up, Wormtail getting a replacement arm, Harry being tortured with the Cruciatus curse while still tied to the gravestone and then in a duel with the Dark Lord, having to resist the Imperius curse, the reverse spell effect bringing shades of your Mum and Dad back, and running for your life to get the Portkey back to Hogwarts. Not exactly a little picnic, was it Harry?"

"Well, no, but nothing else was quite so gruesome," Harry replied.

"Anyway, I'm really sorry that I asked," Hermione apologised again. "I can't believe that Dumbledore sent you straight back to the Dursleys' after that!"

"Yes, well I'll be having words with him myself on that score, I can assure you," Tonks noted grimly before Harry could reply to Hermione's uncharacteristic criticism of the Headmaster. "I'm sure that if you'd been at a Muggle school and you'd experienced or witnessed something of such a violent and horrific nature you would have been referred for counselling and victim support," she continued.

Hermione nodded vigorously. "Especially these days," she put in. "There's a whole new school of thought about how trauma affects the psychological development of teenagers.

She bit her lip and looked close to tears, torn between the horror of what Harry had been put through and the lack of proper help that Harry was given to deal with it.

Harry got up from his seat, and shuffled round the table to where Hermione was standing, sipping her own cup of coffee. "Don't worry Hermione," he said gently, pulling her into a hug very carefully to avoid spilling her drink.

Tonks reminded Harry to return the memory to his mind, and they spent a while discussing less distressing topics while Hermione bustled around the kitchen pulling together some lunch for them. Tonks repeatedly offered her assistance, but mindful of the number of mishaps the metamorphmagus had encountered in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place the previous summer, Hermione didn't seem keen to let her do very much.

Harry also offered to help, but Hermione seemed excessively solicitous, perhaps feeling a little guilty still at forcing Harry to revisit Voldemort's resurrection, and refused his assistance as well.

After lunch, Tonks advised that they really needed to get Harry back to Little Whinging, since she had to report in at work that evening, and had to get some sleep before then. She apologised to Hermione for dragging Harry away against after such a short visit, but Hermione waved the apology off, realising that it was rare enough for Harry to be allowed to visit at all, though she promised to call Harry on the phone the next day.

The train journey back to Surrey was fairly uneventful, though Tonks used the opportunity to rib Harry some more about having Hermione in his arms, despite Harry's observation that it wasn't exactly a romantic experience. Once again, Tonks elected to use Harry as a pillow when they got onto the final leg of the trip, from Victoria station to Little Whinging, though by now Harry was getting accustomed to the concept and leaned into her, allowing himself to relax as well.

Safely back at Number Four Privet Drive, Tonks said goodbye to Harry and that she would see him the next morning, but that after that it would likely only be on weekends that she would be around, as Dumbledore had arranged for someone else to start working with Harry on the weekday mornings. Of course, he tried to worm out of Tonks who exactly it was that was coming to train him, but Tonks either didn't know or wanted to keep it as a surprise.

Harry had mixed feelings about this. He'd enjoyed spending time with Tonks, whether they were working on his fitness or talking about stuff, and he was sorry that he wouldn't still be seeing her every day, but another part of him was keen to find out who the new tutor would be, and what sort of things he would be teaching Harry. In the end, he figured that he'd probably been left with the best of both worlds, since Tonks would still be by at the weekends.

He supposed too, that she didn't get a lot of free time if she was working as a full-time Auror as well as helping the Order by keeping an eye on Harry, and he felt a little guilty that he was selfishly taking up so much of her time

He spent the evening working with his Pensieve, doing what he realised perhaps he should have done before allowing others to see his memories, and that was to review them himself first. He went back, mostly through the five years he had known he was a wizard and pulled out memories that he thought it was likely that Hermione and the others might be interested in seeing, and forced himself to re-live them, so that he was sure that Hermione's horror at the scenes would not be repeated.

The first year didn't seem to be too much of a problem, but he hesitated before reviewing his experience of the Chamber of Secrets in second year, and only eventually decided that he needed to view it because he was aware that Ginny must have been through an even worse nightmare. They had agreed that if she felt up to it, it would be helpful to see the events from Harry's point of view, to get some perspective on what had happened.

On review though, it didn't actually present too much of a problem. Whilst Harry was sure that the tension and fear would permeate even the most thick-skinned of people, it wasn't a horror on the scale of Voldemort's resurrection, and as he viewed it he marvelled at the way that he had managed to remain calm enough, even as the basilisk venom was killing him, to defy the shade of Tom Riddle and thrust the basilisk fang through the diary that had dragged them all into the mess.

This was what Tonks had talked about when they had their first session, Harry realised: the ability to remain calm under pressure and still do what was required. When he thought about it, he was pretty sure that he hadn't felt calm at the time, but there was obviously something deep within him that recognised that there was still work to be done, however desperate the situation, and that prompted him to react the way that he did rather than simply panic.

Turning to his third year, the only memory that he selected to review was that of his and Hermione's efforts to save Buckbeak and then rescue Sirius. Although Hermione had been present on this particular occasion, he thought this might be one that Ron might be interested in seeing, having been restricted to the Hospital Wing at the time. Reviewing it again, he realised that Hermione had more or less taken charge of the whole adventure, and he was surprised at the confidence and strength she exuded as she directed Harry in what to do and not to do while they were effectively in existence twice simultaneously.

Steeling himself to return to the memory of Voldemort's re-birth, Harry took a deep breath before immersing himself into the Pensieve for a final time that evening. Again he witnessed the horrors that had been inflicted upon him and to which he had been a witness, as the Dark Lord was reborn before his eyes, the thirty or so Death Eaters returned, and he duelled the most evil wizard alive, barely escaping with his life.

Even watching it for a second time in twenty-four hours didn't lessen the impact, and Harry still felt sickened once again as he watched the events unfold before him.

* * *

At Hogwarts, Dumbledore was settling back into his normal summer routine now that he had made it back from Bulgaria where he had travelled to enquire whether Durmstrang's current Transfiguration teacher might provide some additional tutoring for Harry over the forthcoming months. The trip had been most successful and he'd spent an enjoyable week looking up friends across Europe as he returned across the continent, including a stop at the Beauxbatons Academy where Madame Maxime had entertained him at a wonderful dinner.

He returned to his office somewhat refreshed for the break, and was more than a little annoyed to find that Minister Fudge had already booked himself an appointment immediately on the Headmaster's return, and stopped to wonder what on earth the Minister wanted this time.

Hearing the Minister's approach, he braced himself for what was likely to be a difficult meeting.

"Good evening, Cornelius," he greeted the Minister with a cordial smile that he wasn't feeling inside, as Fudge knocked perfunctorily on the door and barged his way inside. "How can I be of service to you?"

Fudge was extremely red in the face, and looked pretty close to blowing a gasket as he shook Dumbledore's hand perfunctorily, and waved a piece of parchment in the air in between them.

"This!" he blustered. "I can't believe the insolence of the boy! How dare he accuse me of using our honoured Order of Merlin for my own political ends!"

Privately, Dumbledore considered that whatever the accusations might have been there was a fair chance that Fudge was mostly upset because they struck quite true.

"Ah I see you've had a reply from Harry about your decision to award him the Order of Merlin, third class," Dumbledore assumed.

"A reply?" the Minister's voice went up an octave as he screeched out his frustration. "Oh yes, I've had a 'reply', as you so blandly put it."

"So whatever is it that has you so worked up, my dear Cornelius?" Dumbledore asked evenly, not especially wishing to provoke the Minister, but somewhat amused by his extreme reaction to whatever Harry had written in his letter.

"Well look at the damn thing," Fudge responded, still waving the parchment around, as he continued to gesticulate agitatedly leaving Dumbledore with little option but to snatch it from his hand as it passed close to his face.

Dumbledore read through Harry's letter, concealing a smile as he realised that Harry had refused the honour that the Minister was so eager to award him, and coughing noticeably as he read Harry's declaration that he wasn't to be used as a political tool.

Given the maturity with which Harry had been acting so far this summer, he wasn't surprised at the polite yet cynical tone of the letter, but did start a little at Harry's perceptive note about how the Ministry seemed little inclined to investigate some of the other details of Harry's description of what had happened when Voldemort returned, such as the presence of Peter Pettigrew and the names of Death Eaters that had attended.

When he had told Harry that there was really no rush to ensure that Sirius's innocence was proven, he'd half-expected a bucket full of objections, and when they hadn't really materialised he had thought that perhaps Harry would let it slide, despite Alastor Moody's apparent backing. Clearly that wasn't the case, as this letter proved. Still if Harry was planning to push forward this line himself, perhaps it meant that Dumbledore wouldn't need to take such an active role in proving Sirius's innocence.

Returning his thoughts to the present day, where Fudge was still staring at Dumbledore, seething and looking as though he wanted to wring a response out of the Hogwarts Headmaster, he simply placed the letter calmly on his desk.

"What appears to be the problem, Cornelius? I can't see anything in this letter that could have make you so angry, so what's your real issue here?"

Fudge spluttered for a moment or two before an actual semi-coherent sentence formed on his lips.

"The ... the ... sheer temerity of the boy," he began, spittle flying from the corners of his mouth as finally got to the point. "Telling me that I should be concentrating on seeing You-know-Who defeated, rather than offering such an award. The fact that he accuses me ... ME! ... of playing politics with the Order of Merlin, and of being responsible for the filth that ...that ... rag ... printed about him, as though I cared one way or other about what the public think of the ungrateful little wretch!"

Dumbledore eyed him closely and with regret, wondering how such a prominent political figure could be so naïve as to believe what he would like to be true rather than what the evidence actually indicated. He remembered Fudge's insistent denial of the Dark Lord's return and despaired for the future of the Ministry if Fudge was re-elected.

"So you deny any involvement in any of the stories denigrating Harry last year? Despite the fact that you were the one who was warned about Voldemort's return," Dumbledore paused to let the Minister compose himself after hearing the name. "Nobody in the press had access to the story in the first place, so why would they suddenly be interested in making him a figure of fun, unless there was pressure from the Ministry to do so?"

Fudge tried to bluster out some excuse of having nothing to do with it, but he couldn't hide the guilty flush that rose in his cheeks, overtaking even the purple blotchy look that he had been sporting in his anger a few moments previously. He finally admitted that someone in the Ministry might have taken it on themselves to ensure that Harry Potter's name was devalued so as to maintain stability in the Ministry, for the 'good of the country'.

"So, back to Harry's letter then," Dumbledore suggested. "Is any of it untrue? What lies is he telling? Or is it now an offence to tell the truth, as your previous actions seem to have implied? Dolores Umbridge certainly seemed to see it that way, and I was under the impression she was working to your command?"

"That's NOT the point," Fudge insisted. "The point is that he should have more respect for his elders and betters and for tradition in the wizarding world, instead of brashly denouncing me."

"And how would he have learned that you are his better, Cornelius? Or that the traditions that you hold so dear are worthy of respect? You've spent the last twelve months ensuring that Harry's faith in authority was undermined even further."

"Damnit, Dumbledore, that's YOUR responsibility. You're the one who's supposed to be ensuring that our children's education provides them with respect for our traditions."

"I'm sorry, Minister, but you're wrong," Dumbledore noted coldly. "Whilst I don't deny that I might have erred in some of my past judgements, particularly where Mister Potter is concerned, my responsibility is to provide Hogwarts students with an education that allows them to determine for themselves whether such traditions are worthy of respect. It is not my remit to brainwash them into believing that the Ministry is always right or that we live in a free and just society, because that isn't the case.

"In the first instance, it is up to the Ministry to provide leadership that actually engenders respect, and in the second, you already know my views on social justice."

Fudge growled a little at Dumbledore's lecturing manner and condescending tone.

"I warned you when you brought this up in the Wizengamot that awarding Harry the Order of Merlin would be counter-productive if you planned on using it to boost your personal status," he continued. "But you had it approved behind my back. You've brought this on yourself - what do you want me to do about it?"

The Minister ummed and ahhed a little before finally getting to his point, still slightly red in the face.

"I want you to get Potter to change his mind and accept the award,"

Dumbledore looked sternly at the Minister, who was almost pleading his request. Not many had come under the gaze of the Hogwarts Headmaster when he was angry, and it was all that Fudge could do not to scurry out of the office with his tail between his legs at the power that Dumbledore radiated.

"So, after all you've just said, all you really want is for him to accept the award and hope that it helps you get re-elected?" Dumbledore murmured almost to himself, a question that, to the man almost cowering opposite him, rolled like ominous thunder, as he waited for the wrath of the most respected wizard in Britain to rage over him.

It never happened. Dumbledore maintained control of his mounting temper, but looked at Fudge with contempt.

"I will do no such thing, Cornelius. He has made his decision and, quite frankly, I can fully understand why. I suggest that you take his questions on board and do something about them, rather than seek to preserve your own skin at the expense of those in the community whom you are supposed to be serving."

"Fine! If the two of you won't help me, you're going to regret it!" Fudge snarled.

"Threats, Cornelius?"

"You'll see exactly what sort of influence good and proper wizards, who have respect for authority, can wield in this community, Dumbledore!" The Headmaster merely raised his eyebrows at the Minister's words, as he continued to rant and rave. "You might think you've got it nice and easy up here in your little fiefdom, but you'll soon find out that the Ministry has more control over what you can do in this school than you think."

With that, the Minister stormed out of Dumbledore's office, slamming the door closed behind him, and set off at a rapid pace towards the exit, bundling Professor McGonagall over as he barged through the entrance hall. McGonagall picked herself up from the floor and hurried to the Headmaster's office both in curiosity at what had prompted the Minister's fury, and in the knowledge that Dumbledore would no doubt want to share some information with her.

Pushing the door to his office open, she was surprised to see that Dumbledore was leaned back in his comfortable leather chair with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, in a relaxed looking posture.

"Ah, come in Minerva," he greeted her without opening his eyes. "I assume you've just seen our beloved Minister on his way out of Hogwarts."

"Indeed. What have you done to stir him up this time, Albus?"

"Me?" he queried gently, the twinkle in his eyes becoming even more prominent than normal. "I'm sure you're aware that I've only just returned from a relaxing week abroad. What could I have possible done?"

McGonagall looked at him sourly and uttered a cynical snort that eloquently conveyed her disbelief.

Relenting, he passed Harry's letter, which the Minister had left on the desk, across to her.

"He's not best pleased that people are starting to see him as the political animal he is," Dumbledore said with a sigh, as his deputy read through Harry's rejection of the Order of Merlin.

"Oh my!" McGonagall commented as she read the letter, then looked up at the Headmaster with just the traces of a smile on her lips. "Are you going to get this framed?"

Dumbledore's day didn't get any better. After Professor McGonagall had left and he was about ready to settle down for the evening, he had another guest.

The purple-haired and very annoyed Nymphadora Tonks left him in no doubt that the Headmaster's treatment of Harry Potter was unacceptable.

For once it wasn't just the fact that he had left Harry with his Aunt and Uncle that was at issue, a scenario that Dumbledore already regretted having now seen what the Dursleys were like and how they had treated the boy who was saviour to the Wizarding world.

She'd seemed so reasonable when he'd let her through the Floo into his office with a request for a quick word about Harry's welfare, and he hadn't been prepared for the whirlwind of anger that ripped through the room once she got started.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Tonks stormed at him, pushing him back into the comfortable chair. "You're supposed to be responsible for the welfare of the three hundred students here, aren't you?"

Dumbledore nodded as he backed deep into the seat. He was sure that he could explain whatever it was that he'd done this time, if he could only get her to listen for a moment. He considered reaching out for his wand and casting a quick silencing charm on her, but decided to weather the storm.

"How could you send the poor boy back to those ignorant assholes after such a traumatic experience?" she yelled. "You didn't even check that they would arrange counselling for him!"

"Now, now, Nymphadora," he defended himself. "There's no need to get counsellors involved. Harry's a strong-willed, capable young man."

Tonks ground her teeth together, suddenly aware that she wasn't getting anywhere at all.

"You don't understand at all, do you?" she growled, suddenly letting Dumbledore recover his position. "First of all, he should never have had to go through such trauma. Secondly, he should have been provided with help to get over the horrific experiences he endured. Thirdly, he needs to be loved and nurtured, not simply abandoned to the Muggle world between school years.

"Do you even care about the nightmares he's suffered? The pain he feels through the scar that links him to You-Know-Who?"

"I've engaged him a fully qualified tutor in Occlumency-"

"-That's not going to help him deal with his issues, damnit!" Tonks shouted, emphasising each of her words with a thump of her fist on the table before her.

Turning abruptly, she stopped her ranting.

"You're not even listening, are you? Fine! I'll talk to some people that actually have Harry's interest at heart instead of someone who only sees him as the means to an end."

With a final, angry slash of her wand that obliterated a number of objects that had only recently been restored after Harry's visit to the office at the end of June, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind her even more forcefully than the Minister of Magic had done earlier in the evening, leaving a shell-shocked Dumbledore wondering whether in fact he might head back to France and the sanctuary of the holiday he had just returned from.

* * *

The next morning once again saw Tonks working with Harry on some of the exercises that the Aurors used to develop their fitness and battle-readiness, though Tonks admitted that the routines were not as taxing as ones that were in some of the older instruction manuals. Since Moody's official retirement from the force, the level of Auror training had been allowed to slip somewhat, and the number of Aurors had dwindled as there had been no new intake into the training programme for three years to replace those that had retired.

Harry assumed that this was partially down to the Ministry not wanting to spend resources on something they felt was unnecessary since Voldemort was supposed to have been defeated, but it did leave the wizarding world a little vulnerable, especially if he were to pick up the pace of attacks once again.

So far there had been little in the way of confirmation to the wider Wizarding world that Voldemort had resumed his attacks. Those over the weekend had been the first of their kind and the reaction to their report would be interesting.

Even when you added those that had broken out of Azkaban earlier in the year added to the Death Eaters that had escaped a prison sentence, there were probably fewer than forty Death Eaters in Voldemort's service. With eleven captured at the Ministry in June and the three that had been captured at the weekend, those numbers had been reduced even further.

A fresh wave of attacks, publicised through the Prophet would polarise opinion - those who were afraid might go to ground, whilst closet supporters of the Dark Lord's aims might choose to officially side with him and swell the Death Eaters' ranks.

When they rested, Tonks and Harry talked about the attack at the Grangers two days before. Tonks explained why she had pulled the table in front of them, pointing out how it prevented the Death Eaters from getting close and using their bulk to simply overpower the two of them physically. She had been impressed that the other three had come up with a similar tactic in the living room with the chair, and commented on how well it had worked.

There had only been a very brief mention of the attacks in that morning's Sunday Prophet, which basically identified only the three captured Death Eaters and commented that they had been on a failed raid to kidnap unnamed persons from residences owned by both wizards and muggles, and that, according to the Prophet at least, there didn't seem to be much in the way of connection between the attacks or that were any significant injuries or casualties.

The Ministry hadn't released details of who the targets were, which Harry felt was just as well given the increased press coverage there would have been if it had been known that his friends had been specifically targeted or involved in fighting off the attackers. The article merely finished with a warning for everyone to be on their guard now that it was confirmed that You-know-Who had returned and was returning to his old tactics.

The Prophet played down the significance of the attacks, and the likelihood of further ones, but made it clear that those who publicly opposed You-Know-Who were most likely to be targets. Harry was pleased to see though that despite this the editorial urged witches and wizards not to be intimidated.

"Brave of them," he suggested to Tonks, intimating that they were making themselves the biggest target.

"It's a calculated risk," she replied. "If You-Know-Who wants his atrocities reported to spread fear, he needs a functioning press. If he were to run them out of business he'd have to find a tame publisher himself."

"What about the editor?"

"I'd say he's fairly safe," Tonks noted after weighing up her words for a moment or two. "Making a martyr out of him would probably be a mistake."

Harry grunted. "But it's okay to make one out of me?"

"You're a special case, Harry. You're already a martyr in some respects, but as far as You-Know-Who is concerned, killing you is probably more of a priority. It would be a real coup, almost as devastating to public morale as if he were to get Dumbledore."

Harry sighed lustily and scanned the rest of the paper for anything interesting, but didn't find much to amuse himself.

The two of them talked about Harry's memory of Voldemort's return, and Tonks again pointed out how well he'd done under extreme pressure. She added that if he ever wanted to talk about that night, or about any nightmares he had about it, then she was prepared to listen, and hopefully lend some comfort. She understood a lot better now why Harry had been so angry the previous summer, and suggested that he might still want to go and see a counsellor - if Harry wanted to, she could arrange for a visit to a Muggle psychiatrist she knew of who had regular dealings with the wizarding world, and to whom the Aurors occasionally referred attack victims.

Harry thanked her for the offer, but decided that at least for now he didn't need to see a counsellor. He agreed privately that it might have done some good the previous summer, but that it was probably much too late now, though he stored the offer in the back of his mind in case he wanted to take it up at a later date.

Before leaving, Tonks warned him that Dumbledore was going to drop by that evening, along with his new tutor to introduce them. Apparently he'd heard how vigilant Harry had been when he had first met John Christopher, and wanted to make sure that they got off on the right foot this time, since he had spent a lot of effort convincing this chap to teach Harry.

She sounded a little tense about Dumbledore's visit but didn't give any reason when Harry asked her about it.

Early in the afternoon, Hermione called to check that Harry had made it back safely, as she had promised. She tried to apologise again to Harry for encouraging him to show her the memory she'd asked, but Harry reassured her that it was okay. She thanked him for looking after her afterwards as well.

"I'm really sorry for falling asleep on you, Harry. I don't know if you were really joking about it with Tonks or not, but I'm sure you were uncomfortable with it, and I just wanted to thank you for letting me cry on you."

"Really, Hermione, it's fine. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Well, yes, but I wasn't sure you'd be particularly comfortable with that - I was worried that you might take it personally and think I was trying to get too close to you."

Harry laughed. "No, you don't need to worry about that, even though Tonks does keep trying to get me to think about who I'd really like as a girlfriend. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be looking for though. To listen to Ron, you'd think it was easy to make that sort of decision, but it doesn't seem so straightforward to me. I'm trying though.

"Anyway, you needed comforting and I was there. It's nothing to make a big fuss over," he insisted. "You didn't mean to make me feel uncomfortable about it, and I really wasn't thinking anything of it."

He thought Hermione would press the issue further, but she had apparently been distracted by something else Harry had said.

"What was that about Ron?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing important," Harry lied with a grin, a little embarrassed at the thought of discussing what Ron thought was important in a girlfriend with Hermione. He was pretty sure she didn't want to hear about Ron's fixation on large boobs.

"Well in that case I'll have to find a nice girl to set you up with, Harry."

He wasn't sure if she was just trying to get him flustered or if he'd said something wrong, but there was a catch in Hermione's voice that sounded as though she was a little bit upset about something. He couldn't tell what it was though, and answered pretty honestly.

"I think Tonks is already working on that - or at least she's threatening to," Harry said resignedly. "Perhaps you should compare notes with her?"

"Oh, I might just do that. Thanks for the suggestion," she laughed. "By the way, I got an owl from Ron and Ginny, well, from Ginny really, letting me know that everyone was okay at The Burrow and to pass that message on to you, too."

"That's good to hear. I hope they weren't too disappointed that they had to go home so early."

"Well you can understand it Harry. Besides, I'm sure there'll be other times we can get together. I mean, when we're back at school we're hardly out of each others sight!"

"True, though it'll be a bit different this year with us taking slightly different class loads. Especially if I'm off training all hours of the day!"

"Well hopefully we'll still have time for each other as well. Anyway, I was just about to write back to Ginny - is there anything you want me to add from you?"

"Nah, not really. Just let her know that you passed the message on to me, and that I'm glad everyone's okay. I'll write to her and Ron soon."

With that, Hermione rang off, though she promised to ring him again at some point fairly soon, so he didn't get lonely all on his own, and encouraged him to keep studying hard.

Harry spent the afternoon catching up on some of the studying he'd originally planned to do over the weekend but which had been pushed to the back of his mind after the events at the Grangers. He started working his way through one of the books that Dumbledore had recommended on Defence, Curses and Counter-curses for staying alive, and spent an enjoyable few hours thinking of ways that he might be able to use some of the curses described in a duelling situation, or where he might be fighting for his life as he had done at the Ministry.

Very few of the curses that the book covered were ones that Harry had heard about in his classes at Hogwarts, and he assumed that either they were considered too advanced for students to be learning prior to fifth year, though Harry couldn't see why that might be the case, or they were a little too close to being Dark Magic and Dumbledore didn't officially approve of them being taught at Hogwarts. Given that it had been he who had recommended the book to Harry, it didn't appear that this was the case either, which confused him a little.

On the other hand, perhaps they simply weren't a priority given the wide range of other magic Hogwarts students were taught, or maybe they should have been taught in one of the years when the Defence teacher had been especially poor, Harry thought, Gilderoy Lockhart instantly springing to mind.

The curses were quite interesting though. Harry came across a jinx that made the target drunk, and another one that was supposed to create a mirror image effect in the brain, where the victim ended up doing things totally the wrong way around, for example if the wanted to raise their right hand, it was actually their left hand that they raised, and vice versa. Harry could see some really good creative opportunities for using these sorts of spell in his duelling, which would give him a distinct advantage if they hit.

When the doorbell rang at around eight o'clock, Harry was a little surprised. Since the Dursleys had left a week ago, there had been very little in the way of post or telephone calls, and no visitors at all.

He went down the stairs and opened the front door, to find Professor Dumbledore standing in the early evening sunshine with a man that Harry didn't recognise. The man was around Harry's height and was dressed in robes, so Harry assumed he must also be a wizard and that given that Tonks had said that Dumbledore was supposed to be introducing him to his new tutor, this must be him. He had a fairly athletic build from what Harry could see through his robes, but had a sparse amount of straggly grey hair that identified him as considerably older than Harry had initially thought. Like Dumbledore he exuded an air of authority.

"Hello, Professor, please come in," Harry invited them, and led them through into the living room, which was relatively clean and tidy despite having a few of Harry's books strewn across the floor.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Fabian Gaarder," Dumbledore introduced them. "Fabian, Harry Potter." They shook hands, and Harry was pleased to note that the newcomer had a firm handshake, rather than the wet fish that Lockhart offered around.

"Pleased to meet you, Mister Potter," Gaarder greeted him in a rich, slightly accented, voice. "I've heard a lot about you."

Harry looked at Dumbledore with a bit of a mixed expression on his face. Had Dumbledore already been telling this man about Harry, or had he picked up on what the press had been saying about him?

"Nothing too nasty, I hope," Harry said nervously, which earned a chuckle from the Headmaster as the three of them sat down in the Dursleys' best seats.

Gaarder smiled slightly. "I'll not judge you on what I already know," he promised.

"Good," Dumbledore began. "Professor Gaarder is here to teach you a few things this summer, Harry. Firstly, I'd like him to work on your Transfiguration skills, since although you performed admirably in your OWL tests, I am sure there is much more potential to be unleashed. Professor Gaarder has been teaching at the Durmstrang Academy for the past few years, and I prevailed upon him to take an interest in your studies, Harry, because I believe that he has skills that could provide significant aid to you in future."

Harry nodded, looking at Gaarder with respect. "Yes, sir."

"I'd prefer you to call me Professor, if that's okay, Mister Potter," Gaarder informed him. "I'm used to the honorific from teaching at Durmstrang, and it makes life a little easier for me."

Harry agreed readily, since he called almost all his other teachers 'Professor' anyway. It was only John that preferred to be called by his given name.

"Professor Gaarder will also be working with you to see if you have any talent for developing elemental magic, which is a skill that we don't currently teach at Hogwarts. From the way you've already picked up some extremely difficult skills, I feel that it would be worth introducing you to this particular topic."

"That is," Gaarder interrupted, "if you display any aptitude for the subject."

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "But if you do not, then we shall have to find other areas in which you excel and develop those, Harry. We need to give you every opportunity to accrue the skills you need to defeat Lord Voldemort, now that you have fully accepted the challenge."

Gaarder nodded too and merely stood once again. "If we are finished for now," he said looking at Dumbledore for confirmation and receiving it, "I shall be going. I shall be back here tomorrow morning at eight o'clock to start your lessons, Mister Potter. Please be ready at that time."

Harry rose too, and shook Gaarder's hand, showing him to the front door.

"Goodbye, Albus, I shall see you in a week or so to discuss Mister Potter's progress," he informed them, and walked to the end of the front drive then apparated away just before he would have become visible to anyone walking past the entrance to the Dursleys' property.

Dumbledore turned back to Harry and suggested they return to the living room to talk further. Harry asked for further news on the attacks on Friday night, but there wasn't much that Dumbledore could add to what had been in the Prophet, other than that small group had attempted to attack the twins as they returned home from a long day at Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

Fortunately they hadn't been aware of the alarms that were set at The Burrow, as at the Grangers, and before they could the upper hand Mr and Mrs Weasley had been out like a shot to help, along with Charlie who had been home for a brief visit. On top of that, Dumbledore explained, the alarms had alerted Order members to the situation and Remus Lupin and Mad-eye Moody had also joined the fray. Despite being outnumbered, they held the attackers at bay, and once Moody started firing off some very nasty curses, the Death Eaters decided that they had better make themselves scarce, though not before Fred had caught one of them with a tickling jinx, and he couldn't concentrate to apparate away, leaving him an easy target for Mr Weasley to stun and capture.

Meanwhile an attack planned to occur simultaneously at the Longbottom household had gone very badly wrong. Assuming they would meet limited resistance, only two Death Eaters had been sent, and once Neville and his Gran had realised that they were under attack they fought back with great force, driving the attackers back from the threshold. As the alarms had also notified the Order, it wasn't long before Hestia Jones and Kingsley Shacklebolt had apparated into the area, at which the two attackers immediately apparated away, freeing up Kingsley to go to the Grangers' and Hestia to The Burrow to assist.

Dumbledore told Harry that, as they had suspected, the Death Eaters they had captured confirmed that the intent was to kidnap one of the students that had gone to the Department of Mysteries with Harry. This was supposed to be both in revenge for their defiance, and in the expectation that they would be able to torture the content of the prophecy out of them. They would then be kept as hostages to force Harry to come and save them, whereupon the trap would be sprung and Harry disposed of once and for all.

"Simple but effective," Dumbledore opined.

"Except not very effective," Harry pointed out.

"Well, no. They hadn't counted on was the strength of resistance you all put up or that each of the locations had alarms that alerted help to arrive, and arrive very quickly," he agreed. "They didn't get a chance to intimidate you, and expected their targets to be easy victims. They also hadn't researched their targets very well, either, since the attack on The Burrow was pretty pointless for what they had intended - Ron and Ginny were with you at Miss Granger's."

Dumbledore was most relieved that there hadn't been a greater show of strength at the Grangers' house, and praised the way that Tonks and the teenagers had handled themselves. He also appeared a little annoyed that the Order had needed to show their hand to prevent the attacks succeeding.

"I'm not sure that the Ministry will be any more keen to assist in future," Dumbledore noted sadly. "I thought we'd dealt with the worst of their intransigence last year, but Minister Fudge paid a visit to my office last night, and he was in a very bad mood."

Dumbledore stopped and pulled a piece of parchment out from under his robes.

"I believe this might have had some impact on him Harry," he said, passing it across to him.

Harry immediately recognised his own handwriting, and the letter that he had sent to the Minister refusing the Order of Merlin that he had been offered. He looked down at his feet despondently.

"I'm sorry, Professor," he apologised. "I didn't realise this would cause you problems as well." He pulled another copy out of his pocket. "I'd actually copied it down for you to see as well, but I didn't think that there was any rush."

"No need to apologise, Harry, it's an impressive letter. I haven't seen Cornelius told off so effectively in quite a while," the Headmaster told him kindly. "The Minister is quite capable of making terrible decisions without you and I telling him the correct ones to make. Whilst I wouldn't have advocated pressing the issue of Sirius's innocence at this time, that isn't really what Cornelius was bothered about. He was far more concerned with his public image, and your refusal to be used as a tool in his campaign to be re-elected."

Harry looked at Dumbledore with his mouth wide open. "I really only suggested that as a way of telling him to get stuffed," Harry explained. "I didn't really think that was what his main motive was, even though Tonks pointed out the significance of speculation about it at election time."

"Much to my disgust, he more or less admitted it, Harry. He's threatening retribution, though what he feels he can do, I don't know. Certainly he wouldn't be wise to sway public opinion against either of us with his re-election pending, so it may be all bluster and he'll calm down in a few days. Then again, if he were to get re-elected, he might try and make life very difficult for us.

"Either way, I agree with the sentiments you expressed in your letter, Harry. I might not have couched in exactly those terms, but you were polite and respectful, whatever Cornelius may believe, and you are perfectly correct: now is not the time to be giving out awards. You have my backing all the way."

Harry was a little surprised at Dumbledore's easy agreement, but then he'd given the Headmaster little choice, since he'd sent his refusal without consulting him.

Dumbledore continued, explaining that while Harry had been at the Grangers', he'd made adjustments to the wards at Privet Drive that would allow him to use magic without detection.

"Professor Gaarder with teach you here, so you will need to be able to practice your wand work," he told Harry.

Harry was delighted. Though he'd never even considered doing any of the household chores by magic, given that he had years of performing them the Muggle way, it was relieving to know that if he needed to defend himself he wouldn't be getting yet another warning from Mafalda Hopkirk.

Dumbledore cautioned him against using his magic for idle means.

"I've done this against the wishes of the Ministry, so I would appreciate it if you employ your discretion," he warned. "You've acted most responsibly so far this summer, and if you continue to do so, I'm sure there will be no need to revoke the privilege."