Draco was already in a foul mood after having to eat his words and attend the defence class, Potter once more in the limelight was not something he was prepared to tolerate. "Do you honestly expect us to believe you can stop curses with that bit of tin? It looks like something our house elf would serve sandwiches off."
Harry ignored the sniggering being aimed in his direction. "This shield is not designed to actually stop curses, rather deflect them away from you. That takes a lot less power and really lengthens the life of the shield. A powerful dark curse would probably shatter it, but the same curse would pass right through a magical shield. This also frees up your other arm, allowing you to fight back at the same time."
The wannabe leader of the first years was dismissive of all this, and made no attempt to hide his disbelief. "Prove it!"
Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly at their teacher and got a nod of acceptance in return. "Stinging hexes ok Mr Crow?"
After agreeing, Harry made his way to the front of the class. He withdrew his knife and took up a defensive stance, awaiting the first hex.
Bill deliberately aimed his hex at Harry's chest, just above where the lad had positioned his shield. The boy though was incredibly fast, moving and deflecting the curse away from him. The high-pitched yell alerted the teacher that the stinging hex had actually hit someone else in the class. Draco now wore a rather pained expression and was currently rubbing his shoulder.
Harry glared at him. "Was that enough proof Malfoy or do we need to go again?"
Draco knew he couldn't back down, this had now become a challenge. "Nothing but a fluke, he aimed right at the shield... agh!"
Bill had fired three hexes at Harry in quick succession, all at different body parts. Harry had deflected the first one at Malfoy again, dodged the second but the third one connected with his thigh. Harry though didn't cry out, merely bowed in acknowledgement to his teacher's skill.
"I think Mr Crow ably demonstrated the effectiveness of a physical shield, and some of its restrictions." Bill was sure the lad could have dealt with all three hexes he'd fired, Harry though appeared willing to take a hit to ensure the first one was deflected back at the Malfoy boy. He decided not to mention this, instead used the hit as a teaching point. "A good magical shield would easily have protected Mr Crow from all three curses. Using a combination of both shielding methods should see him better protected in the future." Bill was also thinking the lad would need more extensive lessons in defence than taking the timetabled class with the rest of his year-mates on a Monday and Thursday could provide. He'd obviously had some previous training and Bill would be making enquires about all of this on his return to Gringotts.
Hogwarts newest professor was just getting the class back on track about the best methods of defending yourself when their visitors arrived.
Albus thought that this would at least be better than having the lad put on the spot in the great hall, he well remembered how his own attempt at that had gone.
"Excuse us Professor Weasley, sorry to disrupt your first class but we require a few words with Mr Crow."
Cornelius spotted the black-haired bespectacled boy sitting at the front of the class and waded right in. He was after all the Minister of Magic and used to getting his own way. "Harry my boy, you have no idea how distressed I was to discover just how you'd been raised. I'm here today to put a stop to this goblin nonsense, and also see you being cared for by a proper wizarding family. I'm sure we can soon clear up this momentous misunderstanding..."
The giggling had turned to full blown laughter at his last comment, causing a puzzled look to replace the minister's confident expression. "Em...sir, my name's Michael - not Harry."
This saw the volume of laughter increase, as did the minister's confusion. "Well, if you're not Harry, who is?"
Harry stood to face this fool in the green bowler hat. "My name is Harry, though probably not the Harry you're looking for. You see, I have no need of a new family and am certainly not your boy."
Lucius was always amazed that, no matter how stupid he thought Fudge was, the man still retained the ability to prove he was even stupider than Lucius believed. Appearances though had to be maintained. "Do not speak to the Minister of Magic in that tone boy, show some respect for your betters." "My 'betters' would know it is extremely ill-mannered to address someone without introducing yourself first, something I noticed you didn't bother with either. I would also like to point out that divination isn't an optional subject until third year, how was I supposed to know this was the Minister of Magic? If that ridiculous green hat is some sort of badge of office then you really need to rethink that image. A sword is way cooler. I am Harry Crow, son of Barchoke, Gringotts Senior Accounts Manager."
Hermione was of course sitting in her usual seat, right beside Harry. In the defence classroom, this placed her between Harry and the door. Hermione was left sitting just in front of where Harry was now standing and the young witch was already twirling her hair due to her mounting anxiety. Her best friend had basically just told-off the magical equivalent of the country's Prime Minister. Both wizards who'd entered with the headmaster appeared flabbergasted, though the lady's eyes were practically twinkling with amusement.
"Mr Crow, my name is Amelia Bones and I'm head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Harry bowed to the woman and answered her respectfully. "Well met Madam Bones, I sincerely hope you'r not here to arrest me?"
Amelia actually broke into a smile at this. "Not at the moment Mr Crow. This is Minister Fudge and the other wizard is Lucius Malfoy..."
There was an instant change in Harry at this news, he immediately addressed Draco's father. "My apologies sir. At my goblin school, we were taught classes on Lucius Malfoy. Again though, only your deeds were examined in great detail which is why I didn't recognise you."
Hermione thought she had seen all of Harry's faces but here was one the young witch didn't recognise. Harry was practically fawning over Lucius Malfoy, something that went against everything she knew about her best friend. The only explanation that made any sense to Hermione was if Harry was up to something. As the senior Malfoy was lapping up Harry's praise like Pooh Bear slurps honey, she didn't think it would take too long to discover if there was a sting in the tail.
"You attended classes about me?"
"Certainly sir, you are required reading for nine year old goblins in their economics classes."
Dumbledore didn't know Harry near as well as Hermione did but even he suspected the lad was up to something. Decades of dealing with students playing pranks had given the headmaster almost a sixth sense about these things. Albus decided he wanted to know more and, at this particular time, anything that diverted attention away from him was a good thing in his book. "What did these lessons consist of Mr Crow?"