It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 29

                                           Chapter 29: "And now . . .  the rest of the story"

Harry stood and picked up a piece of parchment from the table.  He looked down the page and took a deep breath before facing the four sitting in front of him, anxiously awaiting the 'new' history of the last sixteen years.

"Well, let's run over the winter and early spring events and then get to the Ministry bit, shall we?" Harry looked up and saw nods of agreement.  He consulted the list one more time and then began.

"Okay.  So, we came back here to school after the Christmas break.  Dolores was still being a pain, but we let her think she was getting away with her little subversive activities.  Severus and I started on my Occlumeny classes in earnest and I got fairly good, at a much faster pace than the first time through."  He shot a glance at the Potions Master, who nodded, with a smirk on his lips.

"The Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, but this time I knew what had happened, so my feeling Voldemort's happiness was easier to interpret and it made getting used to feeling his thoughts a bit easier, too.

"Then Voldemort learned about the fact that only I could remove the Prophesy sphere, so his plans to lure me to the Ministry were formed and implemented, via my 'dreams'."  Harry used his fingers to form quote marks and there were nods all around the room.

"The dreams about the corridor in the Department of Mysteries started soon after and became nightly occurrences, but I could mostly ignore them.  In February, I gave the interview to Rita Skeeter and we all know the Dung Bomb that turned into!"

There were snickers and smiles, as they all remembered Dolores Umbridge's apoplectic fit about the article in the Quibbler.

 "Then Dolores fired Professor Trelawney and Albus hired Firenze, much to her displeasure.  Meanwhile, since the holidays, Draco was leading the "Inquisitional Squad" on as many wild goose chases as he could, to keep them off the DA's back.  The DA, meanwhile, were perfecting their 'Patronus Charms' plus Neville, Luna, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and I were getting a crash course in 'Apparating', which we would use at the Ministry."

Emma raised her hand and Harry smiled.

"Yes, Emma?"

"I thought it wasn't possible to "Apparate" inside of Hogwarts.  However did you practice?"

"Good question.  It seems the Room of Requirement can bend the rules if it feels the need," Harry explained. 

"Ah, well, that is convenient," Rupert laughed.

"Blimey, Harry, when did you have time to do your regular studying?" asked Dan.

"Well, I didn't have Quidditch practice, being thrown off the team, so that gave me a extra couple of hours a week.  We all just did what we had to do, when we got a spare minute." Harry shrugged.  "Knew we had to . . . did what we needed to . . . to be ready."

Another quick glance at his list and Harry continued.  "Then there was the big scene in  Headmaster's office after Millicent 'told all' to Dolores, and you know how that went."

"We sure do!" Rupert grinned. "And I bet Fred and George made their exit in true Weasley style the next day, am I right, guys?"

"AH, it was our crowning achievement, here at Hogwarts," agreed Fred.

"Made Dolores' first day as Headmistress one to remember, too," added George, as everyone laughed at the memory of their glorious departure.

The Headmaster stood at that point and Harry deferred to him, sitting down next to Ginny and their children.