Prodigy

Harry continued to sit at the table while the other students filed out towards their houses. The professors also made their way out, and soon, it was just him and Dumbledore left in the large hall.

“Harry, would you mind accompanying me to my office? We can discuss the plans for your education there. I've asked that the assistant Headmistress and your Godfather both be there. I hope that is not a problem?” Dumbledore asked gently.

Harry smiled. Well, it was a good of a time as any to finally meet his Godfather. “That's perfectly fine, Professor.”

Harry followed Dumbledore through the different corridors until they were standing in front to two gargoyles.

“Sugar Quill,” Dumbledore said evenly, making Harry look up at him confused. What was the Headmaster talking about now? He realized, though, as the gargoyles moved from their place to reveal the passage to the Headmaster's office that the phrase must have been a password of sorts.

Harry followed the Headmaster up the circular staircase to come to the office he had popped into earlier that day. There was a man seated in a chair that he recognized as the man that had sat outside his house for so long a couple years ago. Next to him, also seated was the older woman who had done the sorting. Harry smiled at them both, and took a seat as the Headmaster moved behind his desk. The man, his Godfather, looked to be more than a little nervous, but Harry didn't know what to do about it.

“Well, this was a most unexpected event that occurred tonight with your sorting, Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore said, breaking the silence. “Not only were you not sorted into any particular house, but it took the better part of an hour to get to that point.”

There was a bright twinkle Dumbledore's eye as he spoke.

“Well, sir, I didn't expect that either, but I have to agree with what the sorting hat decided. I don't really think I would fit in with the other students academically at least. Socially fitting in will be something I can work on,” Harry answered honestly.

“Indeed. We face two problems now,” Dumbledore spoke. “First, where you should stay, and secondly we need to plan on what to teach you.”

“If I might suggest that we have Mr. Potter give the Faculty a presentation of sorts so we may have an idea where exactly he is, schooling wise?” Professor McGonagall offered.

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Harry said. “I can have something ready by the end of the week.”

“It'll take that long?” Sirius asked curiously. It was becoming clear that no matter how much the little boy looked like his deceased best friend that he definitely took more after his mother than his father.

“That sounds fair to me,” Dumbledore said before Harry had a chance to answer. “Until then, I think it would be best if Mr. Potter stayed in the guest quarters.”

“Sounds, good to me, Professor,” Harry said.

“By himself?” Sirius and McGonagall asked at the same time.

“That will be fine,” Harry said. “After all, I've been by myself for the last several years.”

“Well then, I'm glad that settled. Why don't we plan and seeing Mr. Potter's presentation next Saturday.”

Harry nodded his acceptance. He had a lot to put together.

“Professor Black, if you could escort Mr. Potter to his quarters?”

Sirius smiled and stood. “No problem. What about your trunk, Harry?”

Harry pulled out the shrunken object from his pocket and showed it to Sirius. Sirius chuckled, obviously not expecting that. Together they headed from the room.

Once in the hallway, Harry decided to sort of clear the air.

“I understand that you are my Godfather,” Harry said.

“That's right,” Sirius said with a smile. “I was best friends with your dad all through school.”

“I don't really know what it's like to have a family, so you'll have to be patient with me.”

“That's ok, Prongslet. I'm sure will grow to be fast friends.”

Harry smiled. At least the man wasn't smothering him like he had feared. Sirius was probably as lost as he was.

“How long have you been teaching here?”

“Ever since I got out of prison,” Sirius said. “I understand that it was your disappearance that enabled that, so I should thank you.”

“I really didn't do anything,” Harry said, confused. “I guess you can tell me about that later.”

“That's sounds excellent. There is another friend of your fathers I should introduce you to as well. If you're really as smart as the headmaster seemed to indicate, I think you'll really like him. His name is Remus Lupin.”

“I remember seeing a picture of him at home,” Harry said.

“Excellent. You know it's there's a funny story about me teaching here. Before I got the job, there hadn't been a single Defense teacher that lasted more than a year here for the last thirty years or so. Some people thought that the position was cursed.”

“Well, I'm glad you're still here,” Harry said finally. Sirius was quiet for the next several moments.

“Me too,” Sirius responded finally. “Well, we're here, Harry.”

Harry looked to see that they were standing in front of a large Portrait of an old man who was looked back at them curiously.

“The password is `Watch for falling rock.'”

When Sirius spoke the phrase, the portrait swung aside to reveal a room. Both man and boy walked in. Harry was pleased with how the room was set up. There was a desk off to the side, and a wardrobe beside it. There was a large four post bed sitting against the adjacent wall. There were a few pictures hanging on the walls to give the room color, and a fireplace in the remaining wall.

“Seems comfortable enough,” Harry said after he was done examining the room.”

“Good! I'll just leave for the night then,” Sirius said. Harry nodded and Sirius turned towards the door. The portrait closed behind the departing Professor and Harry found himself standing alone in the room. The light from the fire cast light over much of the room, and there were a few torches that were lit as well to give to room plenty of light. There was a window on one side of the room that Harry strode over to peer out of. It was night, so there wasn't much to see. Finally, he began to unpack before going to bed for the night.

The next morning, Harry woke up early and tried to locate a bathroom. After trying several of the large portraits, he finally found one beside the fireplace that opened up to reveal it. After showering and such, Harry pulled out his M-Machine to begin preparing his presentation. He quickly outlined the basic things he needed to cover: Arithmacy, Potions, General Magical Theory, and then a Practical demonstration of some of the different things. He also added a demonstration of some of the magical machines he had been working on.

The next problem he needed to solve was how exactly he was going to give the presentation. It would be easier if there was a board or something he could project different information onto, but he didn't know if there would be one in the room, so he needed a better solution.

That is how he invented the next thing to hook into his M-Machine: a magical projector. It was pretty easy to build. Harry popped back over to his home to gather some of the tools and parts that he would need.

Harry was so engrossed in his work, that he didn't even notice someone entering his room.

Sirius Black was amazed at the sight in front of him. He had come to fetch Harry for breakfast, expecting to find the boy still asleep. Instead, Harry was sitting at the desk, working with various object, obviously building something of some sort.

“Harry?” Sirius asked attentively.

“Oh, good morning, Professor. I didn't hear you come in,” Harry said after a quick glance.

“I came to get you for breakfast,” Sirius explained.

“Well that was nice of you, but now is not a real good time. I'm right in the middle of building this projector I'm going to need for my presentation on Saturday.”

Sirius was confused, and was not sure what to do. He could try arguing or in the worse case dragging Harry to the great hall, but he didn't want his second conversation with his Godson to go along those lines.

“Well, I'll just bring you something, then,” Sirius said finally.

“Ok, thanks!” Harry said excitedly without looking up. He was working delicately on the container for the liquid lightening.

Sirius headed from the room quietly, but Harry didn't notice a thing.

Harry was in the same position when Sirius came back a little later with a big plate of food. Sirius laid the plate on the desk beside Harry, who didn't even look around, seemingly extremely engrossed in his work. Shaking his head, Sirius headed off to teach the first period class of the day.

End Chapter

A/N: Ok guys, sorry but this is a short chapter. It turned out to be pretty hard to write, and I'm going to call it a day. You can expect another update tomorrow, though, for sure. For those of you pointing out several plot holes, I will only say this: be patient. Many of the things you're complaining about will be taken care of later in the story. There is a lot of story to tell still. One of the things that I'm not going to address any further is the supposed curse on the DADA position. I never liked it when Rowling introduced that in HBP, mainly because we don't really know that Quirell (or however you spell his name) was only there for a single year. There wasn't any announcement at the beginning of the year as you would expect for a new teacher in book 1. Anyways, I'm taking this theory: The curse doesn't really exist. They were going through DADA teachers so fast in the books through the direct conflict with either Voldemort or his followers. His followers in this book have basically been marginalized either by going to prison, or banishment. That happened several chapters ago.

To the people that complained about Harry not being put into a house: I don't' think Harry would have survived being thrown into a situation like that after being alone for so long. Human psychology just does not work that way. This sort of social phobia is something that will be very real to him for a while, and will take a little while to get over. That's life.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone that is reviewing! You guys have provided the greatest feed back. Ok, that's all for now. Until next time, so long, do well, win awards, and thanks for all the fish. See you in the funny papers!