Morning finally arrived and Severus, after checking that Harry was still sleeping, left early for the Great Hall. He was the first to arrive and the house elves promptly served his breakfast. He wasn't really hungry, but was grateful for the coffee. Shortly after he had arrived Stephanie appeared. She too was looking for coffee.

"Good morning Severus," she greeted him. "What brings you down so early in the morning?"

Severus told her about Harry's changing into a puppy the previous evening, and about the other things he had done. "I have a hard time realizing that he can actually read, and understand, the books I've found him engrossed in, but when he puts what he is reading to practical use it is unlike anything I've ever seen, Stephanie."

The attractive doctor looked thoughtful as she replied, "I believe that Harry is going to continue to amaze you. He is obviously extremely intelligent and when a subject interests him he soaks it up like a sponge. This is only part of the explanation for his ability to perform advanced magic though, I think that a large portion of it is that he has been raised here in Hogwarts. No one has admonished him for underage magic because it isn't an issue here in the castle; therefore, he doesn't realize that he is not supposed to be able to do it or that it is anything out of the ordinary."

She paused and looked at Severus for a moment before continuing.

"You will notice that Harry has had no problem with accidental magic occurrences, but almost every other wizard or witch child does. That is because the children of the magical world are told that they are too young to perform magic, that their magical core isn't strong enough. The fact that their cores are strong enough is the reason for the accidental magic. The magic has to have an outlet, therefore they have outbursts."

While the two were engrossed in their discussion the rest of the staff had appeared. Severus and Stephanie decided to finish their discussion later in the day and applied themselves to breakfast, which Snape decided he wanted after all. A few minutes later several owls appeared and one of them dropped a copy of the Prophet in front of them.

Severus glanced at the paper and promptly forgot all about breakfast. The headlines read:

Sirius Black Declared Innocent!

Minister of Magic Under Investigation!

He immediately turned to the article which read:

It has been disclosed to the Daily Prophet that Sirius Black has been in St. Mungos since January, 1982. He was taken out of Azkaban Prison by none other than Merlin himself and was immediately hospitalized for injuries and emotional problems which were a direct result of his stay in Azkaban.

In further stunning developments the Wizengamot and Merlin have called for an investigation into the prosecution of Lord Black, who is the head of the Black family, one of the oldest and most influential families of Britian's magical community. It appears that Lord Black was never brought to trial, and this fact has been the subject of one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of the wizarding world.

Lord Black's innocence was discovered when scores of Death Eaters turned themselves in to the Ministry of Magic and it was brought to light that Peter Pettigrew is still alive and was the one who betrayed James and Lily Potter. Pettigrew was also the one responsible for the deaths of 13 muggles, an act that has also been credited to Lord Black.

The investigation is expected to reach all the way to the Minister of Magic's office. Further developments will be reported as they occur.

The next day's headlines read:

Cornelius Fudge removed from office!

General Election Called!

Severus skipped hurriedly to the article, his fingers shaking slightly.

Cornelius Fudge has been removed from the office of Minister of Magic. The Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore, will fill the post until a new Minister is elected next week.

To Severus' delight the following week the headlines read:

Arthur Weasley Elected Minister by a Landslide!

The article read:

Arthur Weasley, who has worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department of the Ministry of Magic for the past 15 years, has been elected the new Minister of Magic. Mr. Weasley, who is well known for his love of all things muggle, says he plans to work towards better understanding between the muggle and magical communities.

Mr. Weasley is the husband of Molly Weasley, formerly Molly Prewitt. He and his wife are the parents of seven children and have been instrumental in the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

And the good news didn't stop there because the very next day the headlines read:

Voldemort is Finished!!

Celebrations Rock the Magical World!

The magical world is celebrating today after receiving word that Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldermort, has been captured in the magical forest located in the south of Albania. With him were Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Peter Pettigrew, all of whom committed suicide rather than being captured.

Because of extremely dark magic performed by the Dark Lord, he has lost his magic. According to Dr. Byron Stoner, of the North Britain Hospital for the Incurably Insane, the affects of dark magic employed by Voldermort are such that his magical core is dying and when the core dies so will Voldermort.

Fireworks are planned tonight all over the country. Tomorrow has been designated a national holiday and there will be a special ceremony at the Ministry of Magic where amnesty will be granted to the unfortunates that were cursed and used for such terrible things by Tom Riddle.