On their way back to the common room after their last lesson for the day, Harry, Hermione and Lily got to know each other better.

After they reach the common room, they luckily find the good armchairs next to the fireplace empty so they sat down with Hermione taking her homework out while Lily kept asking about whatever made her curious.

“Come to think of it Harry, why did Umbridge get so frightened when you mentioned courtroom?” asked Lily.

“Oh, I wondered about that too!” chimed in Hermione.

“It’s nothing major really, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I learnt a little bit of Occlumency, just to protect myself” said Harry, “After the trial a few weeks ago, Umbridge was there and tried to use Legilimency against me, I protected myself and counter attacked her. That seemed to have left a scar”

Harry snickered, remembering her expression on that day.

“What trial?” asked Lily a confused expression on her face.

“Oh, right. You don’t know about that” said Harry, “They had me on trial for underage magic and violation of the Statute of Secrecy”

Lily looked dumbfounded at the new information.

“Oh, the horror!” she exclaimed, a clearly dramatic flair to her tone, “My new friend is a criminal. Where did I go wrong with my life?”

Lily stifled a sob, “It’s okay Harry, even if the world turns against you, I’ll still stick by your side!”

“You really do like being dramatic don’t you?” asked Harry, laughing at her antics.

Lily laughed along, “So, what did you do to go as far as a trial. I don’t think underage magic is severe enough for a trial though”

“Oh, my cousin, who’s a muggle and I were attacked by Dementors so I used a patronus to drive them away” replied Harry, “The Ministry wanted to expel me immediately and destroy my wand but Dumbledore stopped them so Fudge did the next best thing he could think of, he called for a full court trial”

“An entire court? Seriously?” she asked, incredulously.

“Fudge has been trying to discredit and defame Dumbledore and me for the entire summer, ever since the whole tri-wizard fiasco. So he took this chance to do everything he could to harm me and Dumbledore” said Harry. “Not that any of it matters anymore, he’s gotten himself arrested and the new Minister seems to have a much better head on her shoulders”

“How do you know that? She might be as bad as Fudge, though I’ve only ever heard good things about Minister Bones” said Lily.

“Oh, I met her before we left for Hogwarts” replied Harry, “She seemed much more competent and reliable than Fudge”

“That’s good to know” said Lily, before her expression turned a little tense as she glanced at Harry, “So, is it true?”

“Is what true?” asked Harry, confused at her sudden change of topic.

“Is it true that you-know-who is back?” she asked, a little fearfully.

“Unless it was another man who looks like a snake and can command the death eaters around, then yes, it’s very much true” replied Harry. “I did happen to see him in the flesh after all - more than I wanted to see to be honest”

“So if that’s the case, why was Fudge trying so hard to claim nothing of the sort would happen?” asked Lily, her face distorted into a grimace.

“He was a moron who was sure that Dumbledore and I had cooked this up because Dumbledore wanted to be Minister and I wanted more fame” replied Harry, distastefully. “I’m surprised you believe me that easily. Despite whatever the Prophet has said in the last few days, they have been trying to make me out to be an attention-seeker all summer. That’s not an opinion people would change so easily”

“My family and I never really believed the Prophet to be honest. Dad’s always been a huge fan of Dumbledore and claimed that if the man had his way around the Ministry then the Wizarding world would be on the right path and my mom has always had a soft spot for you” replied Lily.

“A soft spot?” asked Harry with a surprised expression, “Why?”

“She thinks you’ve had a really hard life” replied Lily then continued with a laugh, “she’d adopt you in a heartbeat if she had the chance”

“That’s sweet” smiled Harry, “I definitely want to meet her”

“End of the year then” replied Lily with a smile.

After that, they wiled away their time chatting. Ginny joined them a little later and the three had fun doing their best to disturb Hermione’s studying.

Eventually, they headed for bed having exhausted themselves thoroughly and having also gotten a scolding from Hermione.

The next few days flew by in a flash, much more peacefully than Harry had gone through in his previous life.

‘Must be because Umbridge didn’t have the guts to give him detention anymore’ thought Harry with satisfaction.

Unlike the last time, Harry was able to attend the Gryffindor team’s Keeper tryouts.

On the way to the Quidditch grounds, he saw a young girl walking in front of him, carrying a broomstick in her hands. She looked rather nervous, so Harry walked up to her.

“Hey, here for the Keeper tryouts?” he asked, coming up behind her.

“Eeek” she yelped, “oh, you frightened me”

She placed a hand on her chest, then finally she turned back to Harry with a smile.

“Yes, that’s right. Though I’m not sure how I’ll do” her voice grew softer the longer she spoke. “You’re Harry Potter right?”

“Yup, that’s me” replied Harry, “And you are? Oh and which year are you in?”

“Sally Birchgrove, I’m in the third year” she replied.

“Played Quidditch long?” asked Harry.

“Since I was 8” replied Sally, “Dad’s a huge fan so he taught me to fly really early”

“Nice” said Harry, however seeing how nervous she looked, he couldn’t help but try to encourage her, “You don’t have to be that nervous, all the team members are really nice people and no one would judge you even if you do badly. Just play like you would with your dad and you’d be fine”

“Thank you, I’ll try” she replied, heaving a sigh.

They reached the grounds and the tryouts started. Harry finally saw just how badly Ron played. So much so that, he was surprised Angelina even agreed to have him as the keeper with how he performed.

A few people performed much better than Ron, a man called Geoffrey Hooper but he whined so much before and after that he quickly got on every single team member’s nerves.

Another was an upbeat, cheerful girl who did very well but after she finished she asked about practice and immediately said she would prioritise her charms club. ‘Why even try out’ thought Harry, rolling his eyes.

Sally flew up and was clearly very nervous, so Harry flew up to her side and patted her on the shoulder. “Just like with your Father, remember?”

Sally finally took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. Flashing a grin at Harry, “Thanks, I think I got this”

After that, Sally performed almost as well as Vicky had. She seemed to get along with the other team members as well so without any hesitation, Angelina picked Sally as the keeper.

The days ticked by until the start of the next week came around. After sitting through another mind-numbingly boring Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Hermione finally snapped.

“I can’t take this anymore!” yelled Hermione, on the way back to the common room.

“Take what?” asked Lily.

“How are we ever going to pass our O.W.Ls with these kinds of classes!?” asked Hermione, almost hysterical. “We have to do something!”

“Well, short of finding a new teacher, I doubt there’s anything you can do Hermione” said Harry.

“That’s it!” exclaimed Hermione, “We need a new teacher!”

Lily and Harry looked at each other and Lily quickly started another dramatic skit of hers, “Oh no! Now two of my friends are going to be criminals!”

She held onto Hermione’s shoulders and yelled, “No matter how hard it is, killing is not okay Hermione!”

‘I wonder where she gets this theatric attitude from’ wondered Harry.

“Oh hush you” said Hermione, clearly used to dealing with Lily, “How about you Harry?”

“How about me what?” asked Harry, though he already knew what was coming.

“Why don’t you teach us?” asked Hermione, “You’re really good at the practical Defence Against the Dark Arts and you’ve always been better than me as well”

Harry smiled, “I don’t really mind. The three of us can get together once or twice a week and I can teach you what I know”

“No no, it’s not enough with just the three of us!” said Hermione. “Can you imagine how many people’s futures would be affected by these classes?”

“Oh fine, do whatever you want Hermione, just let me know where to go and when” said Harry. ‘Things turned out pretty much the same, wonder if the DA members would be the same as well’

“Great!” exclaimed Hermione. “I’ll call you when I’ve rounded up everyone who wants to learn”

As they neared the portrait leading to their common room, Harry thought of something and turned to the two, “I have something I want to check out, so you guys go on ahead of me. I’ll be back soon”

“Anything important?” asked Hermione, “Want us to come with you?”

“Nah, nothing important, I’ll be back soon anyway” replied Harry, and made his way back the way he came.

In no time, Harry found himself in front of that ever familiar tapestry.

‘Time to get the next Horcrux’ thought Harry, concentrating so that he could get into the room of hidden things. As he had experienced before, a door popped up in the wall. Opening it, Harry walked in, ‘Here goes nothing’ he thought, closing the door behind him.