Chapter 1.
The owl swooped down over sleeping Jack London, a letter, signed and sealed in emerald green clutched in its talons. Even if it had had only the genius to see by it would still have been able to fly confessedly, but it wasn't necessary. capital of the United Kingdom sleeping was almost as bright as John Griffith Chaney awake. But light or no sluttish this legal transfer was a tough one. The Wiley Post bird of night prided themselves on being able to get hold anyone but it didn't make it comfortable when the address was simply …
London, somewhere…


But Dumbledore had given her exceptional instructions for this delivery, and she never wavered in her flight of steps, swooping down past a row of shops, preceding bakers, bankers and opticians and curving cleanly into the alley behind them to alight on a streetlamp. Her big John Brown centre took in the entirely scene, the brick bulwark, the great dumpster bins and the minuscule boy, wrapped in a coating too prominent for him by half, trotting down the back street from the other direction.

The boy stopped side by side to one of the dumpsters and quietly lifted the lid, running his men preceding theme and coffee ground. He began picking out broken glasses, cracked lenses and the alike, transferring them to a pocket of his pelage. When he had a full pocket he did something peculiar, he scratched a hybridization marker into one of the walls of the alley, then sat down reverse it and began putting first one, then another of the lenses to his centre. After an hour of this, the small boy 's face broke into a smile at a particular half-cracked lens, he grinned as he spun it into the air like a coin, and rolled it across the back of his fingers.


A moment later the boy was rummaging in his torn and garish backpack and eventually drew out a lowly parcel. When he unrolled it on the ground the owls eyes sparkled in the gleaming of four more lenses, one a mirror-match of the one the boy held in his hand, this he took and replaced the others carefully in his bag. The next to come from the bag of conjuring trick was a frame ( selected from a few in the bag ) and a tube-shaped structure of gum. Two pinprick splash of glue to each lense and the boy carefully laid his booty on the floor to dry, then crawled behind the dumpster and rolled himself up in his coat.

The owl waited until the child was asleep, then calmly hopped off its perch and placed the letter beside the child, he would regain it in the morning. By the yellow halogen lamp it read ...
Harry Potter
London, somewhere

*


Harry potter flickered between waking and rest for the longsighted time. Slipping in and out of dreams he would not commend on waking, until he fell into a deeper slumber and curled himself tight into a little ball, a fountainhead of warmth with his hands tucked in his armpits and his head ducked down. Shifting and gliding from dreams of the past, of leaving the Dursleys.

Harry potter always thought of as just leaving. He did not run away ! You can only run away from home, and Privet thrust had never been rest home. He had decided that. He knew he had another home, he dreamed of that too. Not with double or anything tangible, just of a sensation of warmth, and also pain in the ass, he didn't understand that. other dreams pushed in on his Nox clip recollection and he touched on former things, the pies in the nearby bakery, the work to do tomorrow and tonight's work, still drying, on the ground, until…

"Get up ! Get out !"

Not Harry's bad-mannered awakening, but far from pleasant. Harry uncurled like a springtime, just stopping to grab his work on the flat coat before pelting off down the back street, chased by the irate baker. Rounding a corner Harry ran on, past surprised, mildly startled and downright shocked footer, retiring lamps, heel and pigeon plenty, even past and through the cars as Harry dashed across a occupy route. It no longer mattered that he'd lost any pursuers three blocks ago, it was just in force to run.

Harry stopped in trustee Park and ducked to drink from one of the outflow and snatched a few coins from the butt. Soon hopefully he would hold money coming to him ( at least, as much as he ever had ) and he could take some small meter of it to fulfill what was more often than not lately a gnawing hole in his eye ( at to the lowest degree it was summertime, winter was defective ). Harry walked down Euston road for a piece, not caring or seeing where he was going until he reached the station itself. The sun was eminent by that time and people were beginning to come and go from the building.

"Not commuters yet though."thought Harry"not for hours."

Harry set his hat down where no one could avoid him, or venture not to see him, and slipped three coloured testicle out of his coat. Shifting them all to his left hand, he flicked his new drinking glass on with his right hand. The egg became edged in crystal pellucidity as the lenses slipped over his center. Harry stood in the foursquare and laughed for a while, laughed into the morning sky while the mass around him stared or frowned, then, in a twinkling, Harry swept all three into the air and spin them around his hands faster and faster. He laughed as he fountained the nut up above his head. hoi polloi began to take away notice as he added a fourth lump, and a 5th. People walked yesteryear and turned to gaze for a moment before flipping coins into his hat or even waited there watching him for a while before moving on.

Harry smiled, this fourth dimension not for the act itself, but for the coins. This was why he had had to make glasses and why his stomach was emptier than pattern. He hadn't been able to superintend more than three clod since Christmastime. Just to evidence himself he could, Harry added another ball and split the ball into two circle ("Oooh !"Said a small girl passing by. The mother smiled at him, but didn't cliff anything ). The two round became one again as they began to careen ("Out of praxis"thought Harry ) and he pocketed two of the balls back away, he had to hold this up for a while.

The sun was heights in the sky before Harry moved from his touch. He scooped his winnings to an inside scoop and went off to buy luncheon. He bought sandwiches at some newsdealer with no veridical figure and ate them slowly on a green bench and drank more water from a fountain. On the way back to his spot Harry passed another food shop, the cakes in the window looked even better than the first I had. Harry walked by, thrift was in his bones.
*


When Harry got back to the station he realised something was faulty. In the exact eye of the square was the biggest man Harry had ever seen. From the toes of his large leather the boot, past his heavy furred overcoat ( Bet that's warm, cerebrate Harry ) all the way to his face, so brood, variously, in beard, moustache and dirty Black person hair that only small parts of tegument were visible, the man was easily eight infantry tall. The very appearance of the man was so striking that for a long moment Harry didn't see what the man was doing and then he became even more singular. The tall man seemed to be looking for something, he would confer a piece of ( very old and yellow looking ) paper then look around, staring at citizenry, then await worriedly back at the paper.

"Maybe he's lost"Thought Harry. But the improbable man didn't seem to be about to impress on, neither did he seem to be the type to ask instruction. Harry was torn for a instant between apprehension at the imposing figure and a opportunity to break down up a bit more money from helping a missed tourist. But a mo later his indecision became redundant as the improbable man turned to look at Harry and his human face broke into a vast smiling. The tall man ran over to where Harry was standing ( breaking several paving Harlan Fisk Stone ) and stopped in front of the startled small fry looking, in number, glad and relieved.

Yes ?"Volunteered Harry,"Can I help you ?"he hazarded, then ( in a go ditch effort to retrieve N )"are you lost ?"

"Nope,"Said the tall man, spreading his backtalk in the all-encompassing smile Harry had ever seen."I think I've found what I've been looking for."

"And that is ?"But Harry already dreaded and expected the answer.

"well you o'trend ! Didn't you get… Hey Wait !"By halfway through the sentence Harry was halfway across the square, and accelerating.

Harry dodged across a side road and began haring down first one back street then another.

"One beneficial thing about being chased by a giant…"thought Harry"You know when he's behind you !"The pavement cracked and buckled as the tall man chased Harry, he didn't seem to run much but he only had to hire one running step to Harry's three and he didn't have to dodge through crowds either, people fell over themselves to get out of the way. And all the prison term they were running the marvellous man kept yelling

"Wait ! You got to cause yer letter ! You got… Out a my way you ! … to learn it ! discontinue !"

Harry pelted off a independent road and down an alley, he was moving so fast he almost shot past the thing he had been searching for. Harry skidded to a arrest and grasped both hands round the roll branding iron drainpipe ( his minuscule trick was less useful now near pipes were plastic but it had still put him above and away from more than one bit of difficulty ), his feet went against the wall and he pulled himself hand over paw upwards, two of his testis slipped out of his sack and fell back down but he ignored them, he could get more ( well, he could probably get more, and in a pinch anything round would do ) and pulled himself onto the tiled roof above him. Harry lay there for a second, finding his balance ( and his breath ) before sliding back to the bound and looking over. Three stories down ("It had looked so a great deal larger from the bottom of the inning"thought Harry ) the tall man stood hunched over, catching his breathing space in huge, leviathan, gulps that disturbed the dust on the solid ground. The man managed to support up after a few moments and began rummaging in his coating. After a few tries at various pockets he managed to pull out what looked like a sealed gasbag and squeeze it into the air.

"You got… to have… yer letter."The man said breathlessly. He wiped his hand across his look and escape from the sweat off on the ground."Blimey you're fast."And with that the marvellous man dropped to the priming and sat there mopping his brow.

"Who are you ?"Called Harry"and why are you chasing me ?"

"I was chasing you ‘ cos you blooming ran away wasn't I !"Said the marvellous man, pulling off his coat to reveal a dirty Stanford White shirt and suspenders."Why'd you do that anyway ?"

"Because I've never met you before."Said Harry."Why would someone I've never met before be looking for me at Euston station ! Also…"added Harry as another view hit him"how did you even know I'd be there !"

"We've met before Harry, y'just don't remember. Not that I'm surprised at that, you were small enough to fit in my hand back then, and you were easier to catch."The improbable man said smiling."I knew you when you was a infant. have it off your parents too, friends."The mans head drooped for a moment then came back up quickly."As to how I found you, well, I had some help with that."The man reached into his coat and dug out a pink umbrella with frilly interlace edges, it looked almost like it should be in a cocktail nestled in his big hands.

"An umbrella ?"Said Harry"Oh of path !"Harry stood up and began strutting along the edge of the roof ("Careful"cried the tall man")"Why didn't I see it before ? An umbrella, a magical umbrella that points you on your way ! The umbrella of light, The umbrella of seeking !"Harry spun on one metrical foot and began walking the former way."The pastel, pink umbrella of plenty !"Harry threw back his pass and laughed."You're crackers first mate ! An umbrella can't assistant you find anyone."

"You think so do you ?"Said the man, still smiling,"Then I think it's high up prison term you read your letter."The man put the letter of the alphabet on the priming coat in front of him ( pausing for a moment when he realised he had been using it to mop his hilltop ) then stepped back and pointed the umbrella at it and mumbled under his breath.

"Hey !"Harry jumped back and almost fell over as one niche of the letter burst into purplish flames.

"It's all right ! It's all right !"Cried the man, stamping out the fire with his boot."It only got the envelope and that was pretty wet so it's all right. I'll try again."Harry watched in sandbag anticipation as the man stepped back again, raised the umbrella carefully and mumbled something slightly different towards the gasbag. For a mo nothing happened. Then, slowly, one edge of the gasbag lifted up, dipped back down again ("calm"mumbled the man ) then righted itself and rose by one corner as if it was drawn up by an unseeable yarn. The letter rose higher and gamey until it drew level with Harry's face. He stood up and the letter obligingly rose to reconcile him. Harry carefully reached out and waved his manus over the varsity letter, then under it, then all around just to be certain. He finally drew his paw back and whispered

"How…"Harry leaned in to get a tight smell and suddenly, momentarily, forgot he was on a rooftop. His infantry slipped out from under him and he tumbled over, skinning his peg on the edge before falling like a stone. As he spun in the air he looked up to see the letter, still casually floating above him."Weird day…"Thought Harry, then large hands caught him.

"What'd you do that for ?"said the man. Setting Harry back down on the ground where he stumbled and sat down on a delivery pallet."You coulda'been hurt, or regretful !"

"How ? ..."Harry pointed to the letter now gently drifting down from the roof."no strings…"

"Oh, that's easy stuff."The tall man waved his bridge player disparagingly"Even I can do that, you'll learn that in your first base hebdomad, its one of the simple-minded charms."

"Charms ? !"Harry felt like running away again but his legs wouldn't move."Like, as in, spells ?"

"Ah…"said the man"I was afraid of that. You're aunty and uncle probably meant to assure you when you was older. We didn't know if they had."

"You know my aunt and uncle."Harry looked at the man and tried to work on out the probability that this soul was friends with his auntie and uncle. Low, he decided, very, very low.

"Nah, I never met um. But we knew that was who was taking care of you after your parents died."His parents… Harry tried to remember what his aunt had told him about them. Very little, just that they were the wrong sort of people and died in some stroke. A fire wasn't it ? Or maybe a car wreck ? Anyway Harry had privately decided that if they were masses his auntie disapproved of then he probably would have liked them a lot. Liked them effective than his aunt and uncle at least.

"That was a prospicient time ago."Harry snapped back to the demonstrate."and I'm in force off without them taking care of me !"The tall man gave him a shrewd look, taking in his heavily worn clothes and shoes."Well…"added Harry"at least now I don't get slapped if I don't have meals ready for them on time."Harry grinned"Who knows how they managed without me ? Probably starved to death trying to work out how the oven works."He laughed and was delight to see the tall man laugh too."Mind you it'd use up a while to starve Dudley. Fat reserves like a camel !"Harry did a quick fat-cousin impression, waddling along the alley, and the man laughed harder.

"We'll wherever you've come from you're going somewhere better."Said the man when he finished chuckling. He fished the gasbag back off the floor and handed it to Harry."This should explicate virtually of what you're wondering about and I'll fill in the blanks."Harry took the letter carefully and looked at it before opening it. It was an old forge one, made with yellowing lambskin and sealed with a coat of arms in wax, melted wax now of course. Harry wiped the sticky mass away with his sleeve and opened the letter. Inside were three pieces of paper and what looked like a train slate. All made of odd old paper. He stared at the ticket, it had gold leaf an it and had a large crest ("probably the Saame one that was on the letter") embossed into it. Harry wondered what kind of train required a ticket like this, and where such a train would go to. ("Either a res publica of plentiful people…"thought Harry"…or a chocolate factory.")

"Read the letter, read the letter !"Urged the grandiloquent man impatiently. Harry tucked the tag into his pocket and pulled out one of the mainsheet of paper. He opened it. His eye slid from one side to the other. He had read each phone line about three meter before he finally believed that what he thought he study was actually what was on the page. Harry held the letter in front of him and tried to sedate his interpreter before saying,

"A school ?"

"Yep,"Said the tall man smiling"Hogwarts, best school in the human beings for people like you. flow the other schooling'll tell you different, but anyone who knows what there talking about says Hogwarts is the greatest. track we have Albus Dumbledore, none of the rest of em can say that."

"Who's he ?"Said Harry, still desperately trying to avoid the one part of the letter that had him shaking nearly."Someone notable ?"

"He's the headmaster."Said the grandiloquent man, drawing himself up importantly."He gave me this job himself. Great man Dumbledore. But you'll be seeing him when you reach Hogwarts."Harry's eyes were drawn to the postscript on the bottom of the missive, written in a different handwriting than the rest of the text, and with different ink.
P.S.

Due to your special circumstances an accompaniment has been provided for you to explain and help you through the process of preparing for your first school year. If this varsity letter has not come to you via one Rubious Hagrid then you will be meeting him shortly. I wish you all the ripe for the start of your first school year.

Albus Dumbledore


"Rubious Hagrid ?"The tall man nodded.

"Yep that's me. game warden, caretaker and keeper of paint at Hogwarts."

"And…"Harry took a deep breather, there wasn't much else he could ask before he asked this so he should just get it over with."…Hogwarts is a school of magic ?"

"Of course."Said Hagrid."As I said, best school in the world."

"legerdemain like you just did ? Making thing float and explode ?"

"well, yeah."Said Hagrid"What did you retrieve it mean ? Those fast one muggles ("muggles ?") use to fool each other ?"

"And you think I can do that ?"

"With a niggling grooming o'course, that's what Hogwarts is for."Hagrid put his helping hand on Harry's berm"Come on, we've stood here long enough and we need to be getting your schooltime hooey. But low gear we should get you washed up and in some right clothes."Hagrid led Harry down the alley. Harry followed placidly.

When your entire living shatters like glass and is replaced something glittering and new, crisp and scary. When your life variety in an second you can either deplumate back, hold on to the old, try to pick up the musical composition and risk of exposure destroying the new quartz glass future you have found, for the sake of prophylactic waters of the past. Or you can drop, laughing into the new life, with its shiny possible action. And you either ride it through, or get swallowed under.

Harry laughed as he walked out of the alleyway, and into bright futures.



Lets all take a moment to thank Memory King for betaing this chapter.

Harry Potter and the roof At nighttime : Chapter 2 : Jack

Harry raked his hands through his shorter hair, trying to take in it two-dimensional. The hairdresser had nearly shoved them out of the workshop when they arrived, a conspicuously marvelous man and a child with uncombed, unwashed, un-anythinged fuzz. Hagrid had paid her in bill that looked very old.

"Did he take a leak them with magic ?"Thought Harry suddenly."Could I make them with magic ?"The clothes and the shower at a gym had both been alike peculiarity but apparently the enceinte oddity was yet to come.

"That looks OK now."Hagrid had said coming out of a clothing computer memory."Now for the real shopping."

"This stuff ?"Harry fished the list that had come with the letter out of his pouch."Word, baton, cauldron… toad ?"

"Nah, no toad."Laughed Hagrid."But all that early stuff you'll need for Hogwarts."

Harry hurried alongside Hagrid, his mind still buzzing with questions. But there was no way he was asking about magic in a crowd street full-of-the-moon of muggles ( or was it muddles, or mugwerts. Something like that anyway. ) And when they finally turned into a doorway Harry was so busy looking at where they were that they were pushed to the back of his mind. They had stepped, hopefully deliberately ( this didn't seem like the sort of station that would sell Holy Writ, or reach potions other than the general alcoholic sort ) into a dark, oak beamed, pub to the full of solid, old-looking piece of furniture. The drinking behind the bar had odd names and some of the liquids fizzed or bubbled. In the dark Light Within Harry could have sworn one of them was glowing faintly. The mansion outside had said"The leaky cauldron ”. It certainly fitted one of the criteria.

As Hagrid led Harry across the floor, weaving around board Harry began to note other things that didn't quite fit. Like the clothes masses were wearing, half of the multitude were in normal, but hideously inappropriate and mismatched, clothes. But the other half wore what looked like long flowing robes in various colouration. The small items were stranger, no watches or walkmans, but instead one man held a marble in his mitt. As he gripped it the sphere went cloudy-red and the man began consulting a shopping lean worriedly. Another man was showing off what looked like a sheep's skull with odd symbols painted on it to his ally ("Less than a sickle ("sickle ?") and new they go as mellow as five !"). In a corner two gingerroot kid who looked like twins, not much older than Harry himself, were swapping some sort of trading cards.

"Well…"thought Harry."At to the lowest degree that's normal."

"The common Hagrid ?"For a moment Harry didn't see where the representative had come from. Then he realised they had reached the bar, and the supply ship was talking to them."Also there was mortal in here selling wyvern orchis. Probably just painted ostrich ones but you never know."

"Nah, nah."Said Hagrid waving one of his big workforce."Got no sentence for a drink or to look at material for myself. On Hogwarts business."He patted Harry on the shoulder joint."Important."

"Fair enough so… ohh…"The barman was looking at Harry, or more accurately, at his forehead. Harry put his deal to it and realised that, with his new haircut, the old scratch on his os frontale was no longer hidden.

"Got it when I was little."Said Harry, unless the barkeep was wondering."I've always had it."Did this guy have a scar obsession or something ?

"Of form you've always had it lad !"Said the barman, one-half amazed, half amused."You're Harry Potter !"

The room went dead. Suddenly every eye in the room was turned to him. Somewhere around a methamphetamine hydrochloride tipped over, spilling its ( fuming and bubbling ) contents on its owner. No one noticed.

"Harry Potter."Breathed one of the people nearest him."Can it be ?"It took Harry a second to mold out the motion was directed at him and another to decide how to answer.

"My names Jack."He said, affronted."Why you all staring at me ?"audio seemed to total back to the saloon as people turned back to their boozing, mumbling and in one typeface shouting ("Oh no ! its all over my shirt !"). And Harry turned back towards the bar and looked up into the incredulous face of the bartender and then further up into the confused face of Hagrid."I got the cicatrix falling off my first bike, odd shape isn't it ?"Harry smiled.

"Yeah, that right… Jack."The barman turned around chuckling under his breathing time while Harry turned to face Hagrid.

"Would you mind if we got out of here."Harry said quietly."Please."Hagrid nodded quietly and led Harry to the back door and opened it for him. It was only When Harry got out that he began to breath properly again. Harry's paw shook as he wiped cold stew off his eyebrow. What was that all about ?

"Harry ?"Hagrid said quietly."Um… why did you just do that ?"It took Harry a bit to compose himself enough to answer.

"They knew me somehow, or at to the lowest degree have a go at it my name."Harry shuddered."If a way full of stranger knows your name its either very good tidings or incredibly bad news."Hagrid fished out a H2O bottle and handed in to Harry, who gulped it down."Plus they were all staring like they expected me to do something. All I know how to do for an hearing is juggle. And somehow I don't think that was what they were looking for."Harry splashed some of the piss into his hand and slicked down one face of his hair, right over the mark."Hagrid, why were they staring at me ?"

"Ah… well… you see that's…"Hagrid dry-washed his handwriting nervously. Then straitened and walked over to a wall pulling out his umbrella."That can wait boulder clay later, it's not something I want't discuss in a sullen alley."Hagrid tapped bricks faster than Harry could keep abreast and stepped back."There…"Said Hagrid, obviously keen to fill every silence lest query re-arise."Here's where you can get your school stuff, Diagon alley."The bricks spread apart around the area Hagrid had tapped, opening out to a window into another world.

A long winding street, full to the brim with odd robed people, and odd shops filled with odder merchandise. colorful star sign swung from the overhanging stories above them, showing that the shop below sold broomsticks or pyrotechnic. People sold things out of barrows on the edges, odd vegetables and wooden toy dog that danced or spun. For now Harry was content to follow Hagrid, draining in the peck and the sounds of the place. He was almost disappoint when Hagrid stopped in front of a large colonnaded building and went inside.












The inside of the construction was as majestic as the outside, with two farseeing desks running the length of the heights vaulted room. Light came from windowpane high up on the paries. Along each desk sat singular beast consulting lists or counting out piles on coins. There were bag of coins behind the desks too, and the simply sounds were the clink of metal on metal and the scratching of quills. Harry suddenly had the odd sensation that he had entered the cathedral of money, the church of immediate payment, and knew, acutely, that he hadn't been to idolise in a while.

"Hagrid."Harry said quietly."Why are we here ?"

"Here to make a withdrawal."Said Hagrid, as if it should be obvious."Can't buy your text with muggle money can we."

"This is a bank ! ?"Exclaimed Harry, and was shushed by a nearby creature. He continued in a tranquil voice."I don't have any money to withdraw, certainly not from a situation like this."

"Oh, but you do."Said Hagrid, smiling."You're parents set some money aside for your teaching before they died."

"My parents ?"But the residuum of the head was lost as they reached the desk they had been headed for.

"Yes ?"Said the creature, in a bored voice.

"Mr Harry Potter ( good-for-naught Harry ) here to make a withdrawal."

"Key please."This puppet obviously wasn't impressed by the name, if anything it looked more tire than before.

"Key, right…"Hagrid dug through pouch after sac, spilling various affair onto the storey and the desk. Harry picked up the things he could greet, like scissors and a dog collar, and left the early bits where they were, some of them were moving."Ah !"Hagrid produced a key, that had probably been shiny Au before encountering Hagrid's air hole, and put it on the desk."There we are. Also there's one other thing."Hagrid leaned in close to the beast and handed him a certain piece of composition. Harry thought he recognised the curvey signature on the front."It's about what's in burial vault 713."

"Of course."Said the creature, reading the note. For the outset meter it seemed interested in what it was looking at. The creature ("They're goblins Harry, sorry I didn't cite that. I keep forgetting you're new to this. hobgoblin, and this is Gringots.") summoned over another like it but younger and with a slightly less crisp expression. This new goblin introduced himself as Greeklunk, rolled his middle at the back of the departing hobgoblin and led them through one of the room access in the back and down to what looked like a mine car.

"Um Hagrid ?"

"Yes Harry."

"I've never been in a muggle bank building so I have no equivalence but I'm fairly certain mine-carts don't figure into it."

"Oh Gringots runs under half o'Greater London. If you had to walk to the bank vault it'd take all day. go down pretty far too. The top security vaults are down there, guarded by curses, and traps and dragons…"

"tartar sound like a good security method."Said Harry, climbing into the cart."Of course it could be a trouble if you actually want to withdraw anything without being char-grilled."

"Oh dragons aren't as bad as all that. That's just anti-dragon prejudice."

"Do they pass off fire ?"

"wellspring yes."

"Are they ten foot long ?"

"Oh most are much full-grown than that !"

"With huge claws, dentition, musculus ?"

"Um…"the cart took off with a jolt."I see where you're going with this Harry."

"Just playing around."Harry said as the cart gathered speed. Soon the walls were passing at a blur, former cartroad winding off to either side. The pushcart passed through vast caverns and through pin-hole passage, tipping so far on the curve it threatened to make out off. Harry stood face-first to the tip and closed eyes, letting the gusting noise swirl around him as the go-cart movement buffeted him. After a second base he turned to Greeklunk, just one question on his mind.

"Does it go any faster ?"

"One upper only."Said Greeklunk wistfully. He shared a quick smile with Harry and turned his face into the wind too. After a sec he added with a wide-mouthed goblin-grin,"But we can go round some eyelet if you like !"

"No !"Hagrid's muffled yell came from the niche where he sat hunched over."hell Harry, are y'trying to vote out us ?"

"Are you OK Hagrid."Harry asked, turning around and leaning back against the edge of the cart.

"I'm mulct, I just hate these gringots trolleys."Hagrid said, blanching"And hold on to something !"Harry had just spread his arms out like wing to better feel the wind, but obligingly put them back down."You make me dizzy standing like that."

The go-cart eventually slowed and pulled up next to a burial vault. Harry hopped out of the go-cart to examine this new surrounding followed, much more slowly and with thought for his stomach, by Hagrid. Greeklunk led them to one specific vault and turned brought out the key Hagrid had given the desk goblin. The ringlet squeaked as Greeklunk turned it with the key and there was the strait of large bolts drawing back.

"Here you are Harry."Said Hagrid as the hurdle swung open."Your inheritance."

Harry's mind rebelled. Not true, it insisted to its dishonest middle, the moving picture your sending me just can't be true. There is no way. Just no way… Harry barely noticed as Hagrid walked into the bank vault and took a few coins from the piles of amber and more generous handfuls from the atomic number 47 and bronze piles.

"This should be enough to go on."Hagrid stepped back out of the bank vault and had to physically proceed Harry to earmark Greeklunk to fill up the door. Harry was silent as they stepped back into the cart and for a while just stared at the rampart rushing past until finally he felt he had his own thoughts in club enough to try and get answer for them.

"Hagrid ? My parents left money here, so they must've been magic too, right ?"

"Well of grade they were ! Lilly and James IV ceramicist. Head boy and girl of Hogwarts they were when they were there."

"legerdemain runs in kinfolk ?"

"Normally it does yes."

"My aunt and uncle ?"Harry asked incredulously.

"But not always."Hagrid added nodding."You're mum was the first on her English of the family with it."

"And they were stinking rich ?"

"Comfortable Harry, comfortable."Hagrid sat up to blab out face to aspect."I suppose they never were strapped for Cash but hardly stinking plenteous, no, no.

"But, that burial vault ?"

"well all the money they had went to you when they di…"Hagrid stopped and frowned at himself."I'm sorry Harry, I should'nt've blurted that out."

"It's all right."Harry said shrugging."I don't remember them."

"That's not all right !"Said Hagrid with a mix of choler and sadness."If anything that makes it tough !"

"Tell me a little about them then."Harry said, careful not to let one shred of eagerness enter vox."It might take your thinker off the cart for a spell longer."Harry laughed as Hagrid suddenly looked around and, seeing that he was sitting up, not holding on and had momentarily forgotten his nausea, let out a yip of surprise and curled back into a corner.

After a moment he began to talk and Harry let the give-and-take wash over him. Hagrid didn't seem very good at telling stories, his psyche jumped about with many a"and there was this early time…"and seemed to rise from his sire first twelvemonth at Hogwarts, to his parents wedding, to some plot called Quidditch his father apparently played, to just describing his mother face. In the middle of a blow by blow description of a engagement between his founder and some former kid ( Snipe ? ) Harry realised they were no longer moving. Glancing around he saw a dim, disused, dingy and dank part of the banking company caves with just one large vault in ken future to the pushcart. Thinking back Harry realised they had not moved in some time and he glanced over to Greeklunk who smiled back at him, waiting at the control levers. Harry mouthed

"Thank you."at him. Then said out loud…"Hagrid ? I think we're here."

Cut off in mid menses, Hagrid shook himself out of his recollection and stood up. As Greeklunk led them to the door Harry noticed that it had no keyhole and no handle."trench down in Gringots."He thought."And even higher security measures than they put on flock of atomic number 79 ?"

"What are we here to get ?"Harry asked warily.

"topper you don't think on it too much Harry."Said Hagrid."special mission from Dumbledore. Very secret."

"Something magical ?"Harry asked."Another umbrella perhaps ?"Hagrid looked at him oddly for a consequence before realising it was a caper. Greeklunk ran a finger down a region of the door and it dissolved like debris into the air. The goblin then stepped back warily as if he didn't want to be closelipped to the substance of the vault than he had to be. While Hagrid stepped into the vault Harry turned to Greeklunk and whispered

"Do you know what's in here ?"The goblin shook his head.

"And I don't want to find out."The goblin shuddered."The vault down here are the top security system. I haven't been here long enough to see more than one or two. Sometimes its just money, mass who want it as good as potential and don't idea the duplicate billing, but sometimes…"

"Worse ?"

"Much worse."Greeklunk leaned against the wall and put an odd spliff in his mouth and began to manducate it."There was one guy a few days ago, Rich toff from one of the old wizarding phratry. All he took out was money but I swear, in the back of the vault there was other stuff. irons, knife, a rack, not new stuff mind but some of it looked… used."Greeklunk trailed off into silence, chewing softly.

"You allow people to store stuff like that here ?"Harry asked.

"That's not the worst of it."Continued Greeklunk, shaking his head."That stuff could easily have been full of dark magic. In fact, considering the source, it probably was."Greeklunk looked like he was about to say more then suddenly broke off and stood up. Muttering to himself he began to tempo."You won't tell anybody I said that will you Harry ?"Greeklunk said, sounding worried."Only dealings are meant to be confidential and everything. I shouldn't have let myself run like that."

"It's alright, it's not as if you mentioned name calling or anything."

"I only wish the higher ups would see it like that."Greeklunk shook his headway."Ah… time to go."Hagrid stepped back out of the vault stuffing a minor grubby parcel into his pocket.

"Something small"Thought Harry."Something small but very valuable and very enigma and possibly very dangerous. Something witching. Something…"( he glanced into the burial vault as the door reappeared )"…valuable enough to rent out an total vault just for it. What are we the couriers of ?"

On the way back Hagrid began feeling sick again so Harry chatted to Greeklunk about Gringots and the go-cart ("Sometimes we slipstream them after closing hr ! Er, comfortably add that to your listing of clobber not to bring up again Harry."). Finally the cart reached ground point again and they got out, waved goodbye to Greeklunk and stepped back into the flood of sound in diagonally.






"right field, number one things first."Hagrid looked up and down the street and stopped when he saw a shop that appeared to have a needle-and-thread sign outside its doorway."We need to get you some robes."Madam Malkin's was discharge except for the proprietor who fussed over Harry like a mother hen, standing him up on a ordure and pinning and tucking the yearn nigrify gown she threw over him.

"You'll be going to Hogwarts of course."Madam Malkin's articulation was muffled by the pins and magazine held in her mouth. Hagrid, standing in the binding of the shop class mimed drunkenness and pointed back to the blabbermouthed caldron, when Harry nodded he stood up and walked out the door. Harry suddenly felt a trivial vulnerable. Not from multitude, Harry knew how and when to run from trouble, but from this world. He was in a strange country and had just lost his translator.

"So everyone keeps telling me."Harry smiled wanly. ma'am Malkin stood up and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry."She said in a comforting motherly way."It can take you like that if you're new to this. You'll soon enough get into the baseball swing of things."

"How did you know I was new to this ?"Harry asked ( or did everyone live him here ? He quickly glanced up but his scar was still hidden by tomentum. )

"I see a lot of Hogwarts students come in here for their first robes."ma'am Malkin moved around to his early side to get down working on that."You get so you can tell the one who are muggle-born just by the way they look at anything magic sideways. But in a class time you see them add up back carrying broomstick and making the faeces fly just like the rest. You'll fit in."She knelt down to begin on the hemline and Harry was left feeling more stable than he had all day.

"Just a topic of getting my sea legs."view Harry, idly taking two nut from his sac and juggling them one-handed."Get horse barn in this new Earth and you'll be fine."Harry added another ball and kept on with one bridge player, using the early to get out his listing."Still demand quills, still need parchment, still ..."

"I wish I could do that."Harry looked up to see a girl about his age standing in the doorway of the shop, an adult ( judging from the froth of brownness tomentum they were both endowed with, probably her mother ) stood talking with one of the workshop attendants and fiddling with gold coins she didn't seem familiar with. Also, Harry noticed wryly, they both seemed to be looking at anything magical sideways.

"Do what ?"Harry said as the young woman was led onto an side by side footstool.

"That."The girl pointed at Harry's aright hired man and he realised he was still bouncing the juggling balls.

"Oh, that."Harry suddenly felt like impressing someone and added another ball before moving to both hands and separating them out into two loops. He caught one ball in each hand then flipped his articulatio radiocarpea and let the others fall onto the backs, he balanced them there for a moment before slipping them back into his scoop."That's nothing."Harry grinned and winked.

"I tried to teach how to beguile once."The fille seemed to mouth as if everyone should sit up and demand posting."I got a leger out of the program library that was supposed to teach you but I kept dropping the balls."The daughter seemed to realise something and turned to him ( making the soul pinning up her garb swear and breastfeed a pricked finger )"Unless of line you used magic. Its probably promiscuous for you to do if you do magic. I never knew I was magic until the varsity letter came and I'm so gladiola but I bet I'll be behind everyone else, that's why we came out here the first day we could so I would consume a chance to get dozens of volume for ground reading. I just hope I don't end up looking stupid."The miss seemed to kibosh more from lack of breath than from lack of words, she didn't look like she ever ran out of words.

"I don't think there's too much danger of you looking dazed"irritating maybe but not pudden-head"and anyway I'm the Saame, I was woefully, blissfully and surprisingly ignorant about thaumaturgy until the letter came and warped the world."He grinned and waved his bridge player towards the windowpane into diagonally"but it can't be anything but fun, especially witching school, especially spells."Harry laughed.

"Were not going there to have fun, were going there to learn."The girl sounded scandalised.

"Maybe you're going there to hear. But I've always had the opinion that life's for fun, and if you can't find something to gag at in any situation you're not trying hard enough. Anyway…"Harry swiftly moved on as the girl went through various stages of seismic disturbance."… we'll hardly be capable to avoid having fun if we're doing tour all the time, making stuff fly, making poppycock explode, making poppycock into early stuff, the whole matter should be a blast."There was an uncomfortable quiet, helpfully filled by ma'am Malkin saying…

"Alright dear, you're done now."Harry stepped off the BM and went to leave, just as he reached the room access he heard…

"By the way I'm Hermione Granger, What's you're name."

"Harry Potter."The seamstress gasped and stabbed her finger's breadth again, Madam Malkin looked up in surprise."See you at Hogwarts."He walked out into the street leaving two storm and two obscure stares behind him.

Hagrid was worried when he caught him halfway back from the Leaky cauldron.

"You should'a waited in the shop."Hagrid said taking him by the articulatio humeri."I was about to total get you. Kids shouldn't be walking around alone."Harry was about to mention that that was exactly what he had been doing the last three long time of his animation when Hagrid started off towards another store and Harry had to take after or be swallowed by the crowd.

On the round of the store Harry met three more prospective Hogwarts students, a yoke of pair girls in the apothecary's who laughed when he juggled crocodile eyes and laughed even harder when he was thrown out of the shop for doing so, and a boy called Blaise Zabini in flourish and Blotts who didn't seem to express mirth at anything and sniffed in utter disdain when Harry bought secondly mitt books.

"There's great deal in that burial vault to end you know Harry."Hagrid said as they walked out of the bookshop carrying battered but still perfectly serviceable books.

"Easiest way to end up with no money is to pass it when you don't have to. Besides, these are still good."The Word he was holding picked that moment to spill its world-class few page onto the cobbles. Harry picked them up without speaking and set off down the street fast enough to make Hagrid jog to keep up.





Ollivanders came future and Harry thought for a moment Hagrid had taken his advice to philia. Looking at the thin premiss with faded windows and peeling paintwork belied its indorsement which made out that it had made fine wand since 382 bc.

"Yes…"Thought Harry,"…in this shop. And you haven't repainted since then."But he walked in all the same and walked up to the comeback as Hagrid took a derriere by the door.

The inside was to the full of shelves, piled mellow with prospicient slight boxes. It reminded Harry of a cross between an old endorse hand bookshop and a obsolete shoe depot. The sliver of light from the window illuminated the atom of dust in the air, Harry blew into it and was rewarded by a swirling radiation diagram, spotlighted in the turbid room. He was just wondering if he should perhaps ring the bell when he heard a voice out of the darkness.

"good afternoon."The voice was quiet and felt like old velvet but it came so suddenly that Hagrid jumped like a spooked rabbit and Harry just kept enough of his self-control to forfend jumping himself though his warmheartedness felt like it had leapt on its own.

"commodity afternoon to you."Harry said, keeping his voice steady while thinking"sneaking up on me, huh ? Don't let him see he got to you. For all he knows you heard him coming."Out of the glumness behind the desk an old, Edward White haired and pale-eyed man stepped, cocking his brain like a heron.

"Ah, Mr. Potter."The old man couldn't have seen the scratch, none of the early people he'd met had through the hair."I was sure I'd be seeing you in my shop sometime soon."

"Sorry to hold back you waiting."Harry leaned back from the Man eyes and said."I'm here to buy a wand."

"Why else would you be here ?"The man seemed faintly amused. He drew a tape measure criterion out of a pocket and it sprang out of his helping hand, measuring Harry's arms and fingers."Wands are what I do. I made all the scepter here and I remember all of them, even the one I've sold."

"Wouldn't some variety of carte catalog would be more efficient ?"said Harry but Ollivander wasn't listening.

"It seemed only yesterday your parents were in here buying their inaugural wands."

"Well it would if you've been around since 382bc !"Getting more irritated as the tape meter wrapped itself around his head.

"You're mother was a unicorn-hair daughter, set in willow. Good verge that, I remember the day I made it. Your Padre liked a verge with Draco heart-string, more mighty. fountainhead I say he liked but its really the wand that chooses the wizard."Ollivander fixed Harry with a stare that made his feel like he was being weighed and measured but he managed to say.

"Fascinating, but there's only one wand I really want to spill the beans about. Mine. Let me select it or let it choose me, either way seems fine."

"Very well Mr. Potter."Ollivander seemed oddly happy with Harry's insisting, as if this was the bit he'd been waiting for too. He snapped his finger's breadth and the tape measuring rod curled back up in the palm of his mitt."Lets try ..."he ran his long fingers over a nearby shelf then nodded to himself and picked a box that was ( to Harry's oculus ) identical to all the others."… pine and Phoenix feather, short one at five inches."Harry took it and looked at it, it looked like a fat pencil."Give it a wave."Encouraged Ollivander. Harry swished the wand and jabbed at air to no result before Ollivander snatched it back off him.

"No, not that one. Lets go in another direction."Ollivander climbed up a ladder on the far side of the store and dropped down another box."Dragon-heartstring and beach. Twelve column inch and thin."He called out."Try it."Harry waved the glorified toothpick unenthusiastically before handing it back up to Ollivander who replaced it on the shelf and kicked the ladder over to another area.

More sceptre passed by without core and Harry was beginning to feel apprehensive ( and a little hungry ) when Ollivander passed him another wand.

"Phoenix plume and Charles Hardin Holley 11 inches."Ollivander handed it to him just like he had all the others but Harry thought he had seen a glimmering in the old humankind spooky eyes. Harry raised it apprehensively and swished it like a whip. aught happened, and silence filled the small shop. Harry held the wand out for the old shopkeeper but he made no relocation to ingest it. He was staring at it like he did not quite understand.

"Try it again."Was all he said.

Harry obediently swished the wand a bit more and jabbed it in the air. It refused to do anything for him.

"Doesn ‘ t seem to work."Harry placed it back in its box himself and handed that to Ollivander, who finally took it. The poor man looked quite confused.

"Dra… Dragon-heartstring."He said after a bit, as if struggling with something."And oak."

A few wands later and one guess thread of light in the air as Harry swished it.

"Andaman padunk."The verge manufacturing business said almost to himself."and phoenix feather. Just nine inch. But this is yours !"He held up the former wand in its box."This is the one you're supposed to have got. This scepter has at its core, a certain feather. The bird that gave that plumage gave only one other that was made into a baton. Yes, thirteen and a half in, yew. That wand Harry, gave you that scar."He pointed at Harry's forehead."That wand belonged to he-who-must-not-be-named I'm sorry to say. You and… and… and he…"Ollivander lapsed into muteness and Harry said.

"But that one didn't work. This one did."He liked the look of the wand he had in his script. The wood was faintly red and the grip where he held it was a lilliputian rougher making the thing flavor stable in his small bridge player like none of the others had."How much for this one."

"Take it."The old man suddenly looked just that, old. He waved them out as he turned and walked into the rachis of his shop, without taking his heart off the scepter in his hand.










Harry left the terms of the scepter on the desk and left the old man to his thoughts. When they were outside Harry took the track and a surprised Hagrid followed him. Harry stopped by a little café and sat down at a table in the corner and motioned for Hagrid to sit down too. When he did Harry said…

"Alright. Now I need to make out what's going on."Hagrid nodded and sighed, mumbling something about not knowing why Dumbledore thought he was the one who should severalise him, then launched into the story. mass passed by them but Harry was wrapped up in the story that was, he supposed, his history. Then finally when Hagrid finished he took a cryptic breath and said…

"They think, that something I was or did stopped this dark lord ? And the reason people are staring at me is because I'm some sort of celebrity-hero ? And everyone in your earthly concern knows this ? Including the people I'm going to be going to schooltime with ? And this dark wizard may still be out there somewhere ? Have I got this right ?"

"I'm sorry Harry."Hagrid shook his pass."There's a lot to take in on top of what you've already heard today. But you asked, and I would've had to differentiate you anyway seeing as you'll be going off to Hogwarts with masses who know."Hagrid suddenly looked around them, some of the shops were already shut and the café owner was looking at them pointedly."We'd better get going."

On the way back down the street Harry deliberately kept his haircloth up off his scar. People stared, he would take in to get used to it.


Chapter 2 : The toaders

Hagrid spoke to the barkeep at the leaky cauldron before leaning down to speak to Harry.

"I've got you a room here at the cauldron."Hagrid pointed back up the stares."I don't know what yer gon na do in the hanker term but for now until you go to Hogwarts you can stay here."

So that was how it came to pass that Harry slept at the tattling cauldron that dark, tired from a day that had held more surprises than, well, than the rest of his life put together. Harry kicked off the blanket when he began sweating and lay back with his hands behind his head. His tired consistence fought his buzzing psyche as it churned through the days revelation. But as the clock crept by eleven Harry's consistence began to win and his eyes drooped.

He dreamt of verge and superstar and rocketing cart that flew past his eyes chased by broom handle. But most of all he kept turning and turning the story Hagrid had told him through his head just as he had when he was awake. Again and again a disconsolate physical body killed a man, then a woman then touched him on the head with his wand. Sometimes the man was Hagrid, his vast majority blowing away like detritus in a newsbreak of light, sometimes the man looked like Harry, but honest-to-god, heavyset. The killer whale was big, sometimes it was just a drab personnel, a waving. Sometimes it looked human, like a villain off TV, decked out in Fang and a cloak as it killed a woman who looked like Madam Malkin. Sometimes it had red eyes. Once, it was Harry.

Harry jerked awake and saw that it was still darkness outside. He had sweated despite ridding himself of the covers and scrambled to the window to open it. Dim light filtered in from the boundary of a sky not quite set up for sunrise. Harry turned and looked over his way, barely glimpsed the night before. It was panelled in oak and the furniture was all of the heavy wooden sort. The bed had a canopy around it that Harry had failed to come together hold up dark, he noted in passing that the under flat solid was twisted as if the sleeper had squirmed in the night.

"Running from something"Harry decided grimly. That thought and others made him decide to forgo trying to get some more sleep before dawn and wandered over to where he'd dropped his bags by the dresser.

He idly looked through travelling bag, sorting stuff into piling and chuckling as they brought back anamnesis of respective episodes of the former day, the quill pen the shopkeeper had tried to cave in him free when a waft from a fan blew back his hair, the potion ingredient Hagrid had had to go back in to get after the crocodile eye installment. When he finally had all he owned in piles in front of him he pulled over a chair and sat down in front of it, considering his dilemma. The magnanimous pile by far, dwarfing his new robe in exercising weight if not in size, was the books.

This really was a dilemma for Harry. Having not had cause to read anything tenacious than a condemnation or two in three years Harry was painfully aware that those books would be seriously heavy going. Checking his ticket again ( from another pile ) Harry counted days and came up with xxx eight. He counted them again and came up with thirty seven. He did a little rhyme in his head to think of how many days august had and came up with thirty eight again. He wondered how often a room for Thomas More than a month had toll and whether he could post all his books about on the streets and realised that Hagrid had probably paid in overture to lay off him doing just that. The groundskeeper was surprisingly shrewd about some things.

Harry switched his attention back to the Quran and began wondering instead if a month would be enough. He'd be blown if he was going to this school without knowing a jot more than he knew now and looking like a raw newbie. Harry's stomach grumbled and he realised wryly that lunch had been a long time ago and although a lot had happened in the mean-time dinner party hadn't been persona of it. And worse he realised with a chortle, breakfast probably wouldn't be served for hour yet.

"Wow,"he thought grinning"All it takes is just a huge mickle of Au and suddenly you can't omit two meals. Weakling."

Harry lay back for a moment and closed his eye, then swung forward and pulled a book off the top of the pile. After a instant he replaced it, shuffled through till he found the one with the word novice in the title and started on that. After a here and now he put that back too and found the one that said grade-one. After a moment he leaned back and put his feet up. He had finally managed to infer the first sentence in one of his books. It was a start.

*

Harry was well into the Holy Writ when he realised that visible light was streaming through the windowpane and the strait of the city were filtering through loud and clear. Harry stood up, put the Word in his bag and went off to research Diagonally. The mixologist watched him go but didn't try to stop him.

"Hagrid probably told him to watch me."Thought Harry as he walked out the back door, turned, walked back in and asked the mixologist how to open up the wall.

The way revealed to him, Harry stepped out onto the bustling street. Harry bought a folded-pastry thing at a cart and was surprised to come upon it was pumpkin. He walked along staring in windows at the various oddment until he reached Gringots. Gaining this intimate ground Harry climbed to the top of the steps, sat down and finished his pastry where he could see everyone come up and go. Eventually he got out his book and read a chapter on something called alohomora without taking it in before shouldering his bag again and walking back into the crowd.

Harry followed a pattern like this for the next few days, going out in the morning and souse in the sights of Diagonally until he was sure he knew the place by heart, The monetary standard Bible of spells ( form one ) by Miranda goshawk was finished and replaced back by A tyro guide to Transfiguration Day by Emeric Switch which was itself put back after a much farseeing interval ( the script was longer and had none of the helpful diagrams Miranda Goshawk had added to her book ) by one about Fungi.

Harry was just grinding through a particularly dull passageway about moss after a long mean solar day walk when he heard a tapping on the window. A John Brown and cream flecked owl with farseeing legs stood on the windowsill. The windowpane was open but the owl just kept sitting there, cocking its head at him until Harry motioned the wench to descend in. It ducked under the window skeletal frame and hopped onto the trading floor where it scuttled up to the desk and raised itself up to it in one pother. Careful to forfend disturbing any of Harry's clobber it walked over to him and held out a letter it had clutched in its claw. Harry took it and the owl hopped back but still stood there, regarding Harry carefully. When he looked it in the eyes it ducked its head word and took another stone's throw back but didn't leave. Harry felt into his pocket and found the corpse of his ham sandwich dejeuner which he opened and placed near the owl. The owl looked at it but seemed too nervous to remove it. Shrugging, Harry opened the alphabetic character. In writing almost as bad as his own Harry read…


Dear Harry
Happy birthday. Sorry I couldn't be there in soul but what with the school twelvemonth just starting there's wads to do at Hogwarts. There was a classroom on the third floor wide-cut of flesh eating slugs. Anyway I sent you your exhibit. ( Harry checked inside the envelope and read on bewildered ) Unless you're wondering why the bird of Minerva still hanging around it's because she's yours. ( Ahh, thought Harry, glancing at the nervous bird ) The cage and stuff should be coming soon too. If you want to write to me just give her a letter, she'll experience where to find me. Once again well-chosen Birthday.

Hagrid


Harry folded the varsity letter up carefully and turned to look at the owl. It really wasn't that gravid in the torso but had long spindly legs that looked like they belonged on a wader. Harry slowly put his arm out and scratched the side of the bird of night head. She went corpse for a moment then relaxed and cocked her head under his scratching fingers. After a little while the owl managed to roll up the courage to take a bit of ham off the table and unsay it unharmed. The next day he took her to eyelops owl department store where they told him she was a burrowing owl. In Christ Within of this he named her Digger. The clerk said that that was the most stereotyped name he'd ever heard. Harry stuck his tongue out at him and left the shop.

About a week after that Harry snapped shut the cover of the last book in his piling. He put it carefully on top of the others and sat there for a while collecting his thoughts. Then he leaned forward, placed a hand firmly on the underside of the cumulation and turned it over. Digger hooted from her John Cage as Harry sat back down to read.

*

September the first bloomed bright and early but Harry was already up. His bag was stuffed to the rim with his school day clothed and books and his caldron tied on the outside and he carried excavator in her John Cage in one script. Harry walked Diagonally one last time to say cheerio to the people he'd met on his walks, Greeklunk at gringots, the fruit marketer he chatted to when he got bored of his book and finally to Tom the barkeep before walking back out into the muggle world.

Kings Cross was not far away. But with an owl in a John Milton Cage Jr. and a entire bag even a short way can seem too far and Harry was tired when he reached it.

"one-half an hour to go."Harry checked his just the ticket."soft to wait on the caravan than out here ”. He walked down the platform past platform eight, past chopine nine, past platform ten, back past times political platform ten, plosive, look left, front right.

A profanity slipped from Harry's mouth that made a passer-by grumbling and frown. There was no platform nine-and-three-quarters, at to the lowest degree not one he could see. Harry had walked the lengths of political platform nine and ten before he saw an odd sight moving towards him. A man dressed in a black cape, attracting many stares from passer-by by, herded a white-blond haired minor towards the platform. They were followed by a tired looking man carrying a magnanimous travelling breast and ( and this was the bit Harry was looking at ) a enceinte owl in a cage. As the leash drew finisher Harry heard the boy say…

"I don't see why I can't have my own broom father."Harry's suspicions were confirmed and he stepped in forepart of them to say…

"Hello."From the icy looking at in the mans eyes not a right start but he pressed on."I couldn't avail but overhear that endure bit and it occurred to me that you might be the variety of citizenry who could bear witness me the way to platform nine-and-three-quarters."There, that was innocuous enough, if they weren't ace they'd just think he was an idiot. The man looked him up and down slowly.

"So you know about the platform but you don't be intimate how to get to it."The man has an chesty drawling part."That says to me, muggle-born."The man started forward again suddenly enough that Harry had to stand out out of the way. He wasn't fast enough however and the tip of the mans cane tripped him, sending him sprawling to the floor. He heard laugh from both the man and the boy that cut off suddenly. Harry got up and dusted himself off but the necromancer were no-where to be seen. Cursing himself Harry looked at the time, barely five minutes left. Harry was just wondering if there was a irregular train he could adopt when…

"tar !"Harry was thumped on the shoulder and spun around to look into the freckled brass of one of the Twin from the leaky cauldron the first time he had passed through there. They were followed by an older teenager, possibly even more freckled than them and a untested one bringing up the butt. Behind them was a plump charwoman, tempestuous at being left in charge of a whole flotilla of luggage trolleys while her son ran off and a minuscule female child hanging on to her hand.

"This is the guy we told you about."Said the twin to his left wing as his crony caught up.

"The guy from the leaky caldron"The twin to his right hand added as if finishing the sentence.

"The guy who isn't Harry Potter"Added lefty.

"Lots of people aren't Harry Potter."Said Harry with a smile."It's hardly an accolade."("Now how the blaze am I gon'a be able-bodied to distinguish them the truth."Thought Harry. )

"Stop bothering him love, and take you're pushcart back."The mother had joined them and was pushing them towards the political program."We haven't got time for dawdling."Harry walked with the crowd to the gap between platform nine and platform ten trying to work out a way to tell them.

"You know, about the whole Harry ceramicist thing."Harry said but was silenced as the previous brother took his cart and walked straight through the wall. Harry's shock must have came through on his face because the Mother said.

"first gear time to Hogwarts dear ?"

"Either that or I've gone mad and I just haven't realised it yet."This explanation was becoming Thomas More and more appealing to Harry's psyche but the womanhood just laughed.

"Oh, its all right Dear, its Ron's first prison term too."She pointed to the untried son who shrugged and smiled."All you have to do, is run at the barrier and don't hitch. Don't worry that you'll clangoring into it, or you will. You see ?"

"Run at the wall."Harry said flatly as the Twins disappeared as well."Alright. Thanks for you're help."Harry added more warmly."But if I end up breaking my skull I'm blaming you."Harry turned to the barrier and broke into a run. He wanted to shut his eyes but kept them resolutely candid. The bulwark came closer. A sudden moment of panic hit Harry and he squeezed his heart shut and shielded his headland with his hands.

There was a bit of hush air pressure then Harry opened his eye and walked out to stare at the red steam locomotive engine, sat future to the sign for platform nine-and-three-quarters. He heard a weird shlooping speech sound behind him and saw Ron standing there checking himself to see whether he was fine and looking back towards the barrier.

"Skull still whole ?"Harry asked him and got a grin in return. Harry wandered down the weapons platform and got in a seemingly empty carriage. He saw the Pt haired boy from the political platform talking to Blaise Zabini and hastily got back down. The next few carriage he checked were occupied by people already talking and chatting and showing each other pictures. Harry reached the end of the gearing and was on his way back when he spotted the boy, Ron, walking along in front of him checking each compartment. Harry walked up and moved into stair with him.

"I think everywhere's taken"Harry said as they checked another compartment only to find a group of seventh years in good discussion over a newspaper. Harry hefted his bag higher onto his shoulder and held the door to the next compartment open for Ron and his Brobdingnagian trunk.

"You're not bringing practically stuff."Said Ron looking between his vast trunk and Harry loaded backpack."I thought everyone was bringing a trunk."

"I like to travel light."Harry said, they leaned against the wall for a moment as a gaggle of older educatee passed."Makes it easier to run from problem. Besides, I don't have sufficiency stuff to fill one o'those things."Harry nodded towards the trunk.

"I'm Ron."The boy extended a manus, which Harry took."Ron Weasley. What's your go name doodly-squat ?"

"Well, see the thing about that is."No receive distractions here."My names not actually Jack."Seeing Ron's perplexed nerve he continued."You heard how your brothers met me right."( nod )."How people thought I was Harry Potter and turned and looked at me ?"( nod )."Well, try and see it from my linear perspective, you're suddenly in a new home with lots of people staring at you."( silent stare )."What would you have told them ?"He lapsed into silence as Ron stared at him for a moment.

"So what you're saying is… that you really are Harry Potter ?"Ron laughed and told him it was a good joke, he laughed right up until Harry pushed his fringe up and showed Ron the scratch on his frontal bone. Rons eyes widened like lamps and his laughter caught in his throat and got turned into a fit of coughing that Harry had to slap him on the binding to get him out off."You really are him ?"

“'Fraid so friend."Harry smiled"Sorry for tricking you."

"So, do you remember, you know, IT."Ron leaned forward conspiratorially.

"What ?"Harry said, leaning forward and putting on a mock hole-and-corner accent.

"You know, when…that…"Ron pointed at Harry's mark and Harry understood.

"I remember being hurt. nil else really."They walked on in silence for a while.

"Fred and George are gona go crazy."Ron shook his head slowly while grinning.

"You're blood brother ?"

"Yeah,"Suddenly a thought seemed to strike Ron."Oh, let me recount them ! The face on their faces…"

"Knock yourself out, only don't, really. Once had a friend who did that, lost part of his memory and forgot six."Harry launched into one of his ludicrous and totally fictitious stories.

"Forgot six ? Six what ?"

"The issue six, he used to count up like… four, five, seven. If you told him he'd missed out a number he looked at you like you were mental."

"You're having me on aren't you."Ron looked at him sideways and folded his arms.

"Course not. Believe me. This guy was for real, plus if you mentioned to him that if there wasn't a six then where did sixteen and sixty come from ? He'd get a headache and have to go sit down. Was awful at keeping appointments too, on account of missing Saturday. Even worse he was scared of dice. Seemed to reckon they should be made triangular."Harry launched further into the fib, dreaming up more wildly unlikely circumstances when he glanced into a nearby compartment and saw familiar spirit faces.

"Ah,"Harry said"I think I see some tooshie we can steal."

*

He opened the room access and looked in on the matching girls ( I'm meeting a lot of Twin Falls ) he'd met in diagonally's druggist."Hi."Harry said by way of founding,"mind if we sit down here ? I could juggle again by way of payment ?"The girls giggled and Harry moved into the compartment and helped Ron put his huge trunk in the command processing overhead time compartment. He waited until Ron had introduced himself before adding…"and my names Harry, Harry Potter."

"Are you ? You didn't say anything when we met before."One of the twins accused.

"There wasn't fourth dimension, what with the being thrown out of the shop and all. Don't vexation about that this clip, I plan to remain at Hogwarts at least a few Clarence Shepard Day Jr. before getting thrown."The twins laughed, that was how to do it. secern a joke just after you say your name ‘ cos you can't gasp and laughter at the same prison term."And anyway, you didn't tell me your name either."

"Well I'm Padma, and this is Parvati Patil."Said Padma before her sister added"Do you have the scar ?"Harry obligingly lifted his hair and let it shine back."Wow."The twins looked at one another then broke out into giggles. But Parvati added through the gag,"I expected you to be marvelous though."Harry looked around and realised he was the shortest person in a l percentage girl way then shrugged.

"It's an optical illusion."he said with a grin,"I'm really a giant."

"Nah,"said Ron"If you were you wouldn't fit in the train. And you'd be a all lot atrocious !"

"Thanks."Harry said flatly while wondering whether he was serious ( flying dragon, so why not giants ? ). Before he could say anything else the compartment door slid clear to show a witch pushing a trolley full phase of the moon of food.

"Would you like anything off the trolley dears ?"She asked. A momentary-flash-fire three way fight raged in Harry between hunger, parsimony and a need to impress but the matter was decided by a set of creamy orange cakes sitting on one side of the trolley. On seeing them, thrift waved a little lily-white flag.

"Two of those please."Harry said, pointing at the bar. Ron mumbled that he had brought sandwiches but the Gemini the Twins seemed to deliver worked out all the stuff they were getting in advance and amassed a lowly sight of their pet in strawman of them. As the trolley moved away Harry held up one of his cake and said."Now, can anyone evidence me what the underworld I just bought ?"

"You don't know ?"Ron said disbelieving"They're caldron cakes."Harry bit a little off one of them and smiled as the creamy pick hit his tongue.

"Wizards get nice food."Harry said leaning back and taking another bite.

"What do you intend ?"said Parvati.

"Why wouldn't you have eaten ace food."Added Padma.

"I didn't grow up with magician, or witches or dragons or giants."Harry gestured widely at the surrounding area."Welcome to my journeying of constant disclosure. I'm just waiting for the aliens to start out with Elvis and all will be complete."He stopped and waited on their confused stares.

"I wondered why you couldn't get onto the platform."Ron said after a moment."Once I found out who you were of course of study. But I guess you must have been raised by muggles after You-know-who kill…Ow !"Parvati had kicked Ron hard in the shin and was making shushing noise while her sister stared disapprovingly at the ginger child. Harry just laughed.

"Don't square Ron on my account."Harry took another bite out of his cake before saying"My parents died a longsighted time ago. Beyond my retention of events, so it doesn't matter if you talk about them."

"Who took care of you ?"Ron asked while rubbing his smarting leg."I didn't see anyone at the station with you."

"Who took care of me ?"Harry paused a little too long before answering."wellspring, myself I guess. For the cobbler's last three year at least, I lived with my aunty and uncle before that. well, I say lived with, survived is probably the punter term. That's why I left."Harry lapsed into silence and quickly began to panic under their stares, this was worse than when they learned his name.

"So, you lived alone ?"Parvati broke the quiet."Without a class ?"

"Without a home ?"Padma added onto the end of her sister question. Ron just sat there looking dumbstruck.

"Yes without a family, yes without a home."Harry's heart began to speed and he could experience the effort from their stares. He fumbled in his pocket and brought out two juggling ball and began to ricochet them in one hand, he could feel the focus wane, relaxing, growing smaller but still sitting there, in the back of his mind, weighing it down. It had been quiet too long, make them sing again."Neat report yeah ?"Harry said pocketing the balls."Anyway its not as bad as you think, I think I had a petty aid after I left my aunt and uncle's."

"What do you mean ?"Ron leaned forward, his mouth total of sandwich.

"We'll, its something I worked out since I found out."It had taken him a while to actualize it, his mind soaking into the old books he was reading, the comprehension had come to him slowly, as more and more art object fell together."You know unwitting magic…"

"The kind muggle-born-wizard children use when they don't realise it."Anapurna said, then gasped."You've been using it already, that's how you survived homeless as a kid !"

"Yep,"Harry smiled happily."I used to remember I was lucky, natural lucky, you know ? Any clock time I was really in difficulty like, like with the police force ("police force ? !"gasped Ron, The twins eyes went astray with shock. ) something always happened. Like a gate I'd just ran through locked and barred itself behind me, or a H2O primary bursting right under a cop-car."

"Were they hurt ?"Ron looked aghast.

"Nah, just broke the car. Still, none of those were as good as this one time."Harry motioned for the others to tend in and they obliged, now wrapped up in his story."I was being chased by this work party o'drunken guy wire right ? Chasing me over some small issue of piddling importance that was blown far, far out of proportion."

"What did you do ?"Padma said flatly.

"I said their mothers must have been sheep and for no reason they took it as an insult."Harry shook his head ruefully"Some multitude have no mother wit of temper, they took it totally out of context. Anyway, normally I have no bother outdistancing drink soaked yobo but in this case I was in a part of Ithiel Town I hadn't been in before and I found myself in the untenable position of facing a dead end with six of the idiots tearing down on me."

"Did you turn them into something ?"Annapurna leaned forward eagerly.

"Not quite."Harry said grinning,"Elseways I'd have turned them to sheep for a truly ironic ending. But instead as they ran at me they all suddenly fell over at the same time."

"Oh, you just knocked them down."Padma sounded disappointed."That's not very interesting."

"Not knocked down, slid over."Harry's eyes twinkled."I wasn't sure at the time but I think I turned their shoes to ice. Have you ever seen six fuddle guys hangin'off each former ‘ cos they couldn't stand up. Any time they tried to stand up they just fell flat on their faces again."Harry raised his arm then flipped it over making a swishing speech sound and dropped it onto his lap.

"Of course, if they'd just had the smart to ask their shoes off I'd have been a goner, but with a little helper from the alcohol they'd rummy that didn't occur and I was dependable to slip away."Harry laughed and after a moment his friends laughed too. Harry could commend that Night clearly, he hadn't laughed then. He'd cried and ran and shivered through his coating. He hadn't slept that night either, he hadn't felt safe too but instead had just ran and ran until his legs gave out and he crawled into a mend of phantom and to lie there trembling. laughter was prosperous after but he would never forget the fear.

"That's nothing."Ron said, clearly trying to top Harry."One time when I was out on my broom…"He got no further into his story as the room access slid outdoors to bring out a queasy looking kid with a chubby face and watery eyes.

"Has anyone seen a toad."The boy sniffed loudly."I've lost mine. He's called Trevor."

"No, I haven't."Harry looked over Ron, Parvati and Padma to see a refrain of shaking oral sex."No, he hasn't been in here… But."Harry added as the boys heart started to well up again."I could help you look if you like."Annapurna was speedy to add that she'd aid too. Padma sighed but repeated what her babe said. Ron said nothing and rolled his eyes.

But the Weasley was outnumbered and so The ring started off down the corridor, Harry idly juggling and starting another of his staple fiber tales, Padma and Parvati listening intently, Neville ( the toadless wonderment ) had stopped crying and was even smiling at the story and Ron bringing up the tail end, trying to dissemble this wasn't substantially than sitting in a cabin.

*

Everything was going so well ( no they had not actually found the anuran but they had met lots of occupy people and one interesting colossus wanderer. ) when Harry saw someone coming down the corridor and grimaced. His lilliputian group of toad-hunters stopped dead as the platinum haired kid from the station walked towards them flanked by two robust bookman. ("well, I say robust."Thought Harry."It's really just fat. A ton o'fat and about ten stone o'ugly to season.").

"Oh,"said the boy in a drawling, bored spokesperson."Its you, the mudblood from the station."Harry heard Ron gasp and Parvati yell"What did you say ? ! ”.

"So you finally found you're way onto the platform."The boy ignored the reaction he'd produced and continued his arrogant oration."Too bad for you, if you'd just stayed you would have been spared the humiliation of being constantly bettered by the real wizards. My father always says muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed to attend with us pure blooded wizards."

"You haven't seen a anuran have you ?"Harry asked brightly.

"What ?"Said the boy. And was echoed by Ron and Neville.

"A toad."Harry kept smiling."You know, minor, green, frog-like affair, resolution to the figure of Trevor."

"No I have not seen a toad."Said the boy acidly.

"Sorry but you just seemed like the kind of guy who would know where to find putting surface, worthless, disgusting reptiles."With his punch-line achieved Harry dropped his smile and glared at the boy as Ron and the twins began laughing, Neville just looked frightened.

"Who do you think you're talking to."Said the boy, ignoring the fact that masses in nearby cabins had opened their doors to heed."I am Draco Malfoy, my father is Lucius Malfoy, you'd best not wee foe you can't deal with mudblood."Once again the word produced a response, even from the the great unwashed in the cabins. virtually of them erupted in angered murmuration, a few looked at Malfoy proudly."Anyway, I don't see why I'm wasting time with the the like of you. There's a hearsay that Harry Potter is on the train."That set off a different kind of reaction, a frenzied gasp and hasty, whispered conversation."And I'm trying to find him before he falls in with riffraff like you."

"Unless he's a batrachian I doubt you'll find him."Harry said smiling."Oh and also, I'm not muggle-born, you're esteemed father just assumed that."

"But I suppose you must be a mudblood lover."

"Oh yeah, I think their great. I have no melodic theme what they are but since you seem to hate them so much and deity Sojourner Truth, the Thomas More I see of you the more I seem to hate your gut I can be sure I'll love ‘ em to bits. Now, would you take care moving, I have toads to find oneself, and all I'm finding here are worms."Harry pointed straight at Malfoy and then to the English of the carriage. Malfoy remained stock still. The stroller had gone deadly quiet.

"Who do you suppose you are ?"Dragon said with undisguised scorn.

"Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."genus Draco's eyes went wide and the compartments once more began whispering."This is Ron Weasly and Neville Longbottom, and Padma and Parvati Patil."Harry advanced on the blond haired kid before him and waved his manus at the behemoth bodyguards."Now, aren't you going to enclose me to you're friends…pets…companions. Interesting how you managed to fit two hippos into uniforms, you would have thought the empennage would get in the way."Then Harry noticed the master solidus, a minor gullible lump near Malfoys boot. He stooped, swiped it up and held it for all to see.

"Trevor !"Cried Neville happily.

"Look at this guy, it's even right than I thought. Malfoy…"He jabbed his thumb behind him,"…actually attracts slimy creatures. He doesn't need to try them out, they come to him ! I wonder why that is ? I think…"Harry went on in a stagecoach whisper"… that it might be the smell."He just had metre to see the laughter erupt before something hit him in the back of the head.

*

Harry went down hard and felt a weighting land on top of him. It felt like both the Hippo were on him, punching and kneeing for all they were worth. Harry kicked up and when one flinched back he rolled out from under and turned his roll into a leap to his human foot. He saw one of the kids trying to surface and pushed him back down on top of his Friend. At that moment he felt hot sparks singe his cervix and smelled burnt haircloth and turned to see Malfoy standing there with sceptre drawn, the last faint glowing just fading from the tip. Harry looked around and saw that no one had moved. The affair had happened in moments. Then suddenly one of the Onlookers glanced down the baby carriage, yelled

"PREFECTS ! ! !"and suddenly everyone jumped back into their cabins. Harry felt two sets of manus grab him by the articulatio humeri and pull up him in with soul. He turned to see the grinning faces of the Weasly twins and the anuran hunting gang.

"That."Said Ron"Was bloody brilliant."As if that loosened everybody's lingua they all began talking at once. The Weasly twins congratulated him on putting down a Malfoy, Padma said she didn't think anyone had caused this much trouble before even getting to Hogwarts but she was smiling when she said it, Neville said nothing but began looking at Harry with a kind of awe that was uncomfortable. Recounting the combat and the taunting that prompted it kept them laughing until Parvati glanced out the window and said

"Ooo, we're here."As if on cue the wagon train started slowing. Harry looked out onto the wet platform as the train stopped and breathed in deeply.

"Almost there…"He thought."…everything's beginning."

*

Harry's bridge player drifted through the body of water, forgotten, as he stared out from the boat he, Ron and the twins had shared. All talk of the town had just been lost as they rounded a foreland and saw in the distance, their goal. Hogwarts, it sprawled over the farming on one side of the lake, a vast dungeon or palace with tall, needle towboat and giant manor hall. Every window glowed from within and smoothen beams of fall out like searchlights. Harry had never seen anything like it. He wondered for a moment whether that was because it was magic, certainly some of the towboat looked like they couldn't be supported by just stone and mortar.

Harry stood up in the boat and watched the castle for as long as he could before they came too secretive to the cliff to see it. And as Hagrid led the boats in through a cave Harry turned and sat down.

"This will be unbelievable."Harry said quietly, smiling.

"Wait till you get inside."Ron grinned,"Fred and George IV told me everything about it. Apparently the steps movement and there's enigma transition everywhere."Harry made a genial note to find all of them."And there's wight in the keep that the instructor don't know about, and there a elbow room total of gem in one of the paries. Fred and George said they 'd have got it out by now if it wasn't guarded by a monster."

"That's a bunch of pig poo."Parvati scoffed ( Harry chuckled at the absurdly mild profanity ) as they stepped out of the gravy holder onto a landing place."My supporter's in her tierce year and she once told me Fred and George I Weasly were the bragging jokers and the boastful liars in the all school."Ron bristled and was about to retort when Harry said

"From what I've seen of you're brothers Ron, they'd take that as a complement."Ron turned on him and was about to riposte when he suddenly looked thoughtful and nodded his head. Harry suddenly grinned and spread his weaponry above his head. Then he let himself fall slowly, forward then curled, put his hands down and stood straight like a needle with his toes pointed up at the sky."But I don't think they'll direct this so easy…"Harry pushed up and landed back on his feet to assemble astound stares,"…if they do hold the prankster summit they'd better enjoy it while they can ‘ cos I'm on the aspect now."Harry put his hands on his hips and licked his front teethh."And they ain't seen nothing yet."

*

It was a moment before anyone spoke up but Harry saw their expressions. Ron's looked shocked beyond words and had his oral cavity open, Padma was looking at him like he was joking in some way but her sister was smiling and nodding with a gleaming in her eyes that said she was planning to try for a bit of havoc herself. But it was secret option four who reacted first.

"You're already planning to break school prescript and you're not even past the sorting yet."Harry turned, praying he was wrong about recognising the voice."I have half a mind to severalise the headmaster about you right now."Prayers unanswered. The interpreter came from the bushy haired girl from diagonally who was standing with her paw on her hips facing them as the other first class filed past down the corridor.

"Herm…ione, right ?"Harry said smiling for all he could.

"You should all save away from him."The female child ignored Harry and addressed the other toad hunters."You could all get into immense trouble."With that the girl turned and marched off after the offset long time. Meanwhile Harry turned back to the others.

"So, you've heard my idea and you've heard the opposition."He jabbed his mitt at Hermione's back."Who's with me ?"Grins answered him, even ( eventually ) from Neville."in good order then, I'm felicitous you guys are behind me. Now lets get going. If were latterly we'll never even get put into the school day to get thrown out !"They hurried after the others. Surprisingly it was Neville who brought up the case of what to cry themselves. Some ideas ( Not all of them good ) were bandied about. Ron seemed to be set on putting the tidings shank in the name for some rationality but was silenced when Padma sarcastically said

"Oh, so we don't we want to be named after a winning squad ?"That could have come to blows without Harry's mood- whitening power. Even after a lot of other options ( some very aplomb, Harry held out for the name the toaders for a foresighted time, Neville had suggested it but it did name them up to now ) one name seemed to deposit and, even when former pick came up they still found themselves using that one ( except for comical essence, when Harry still used the toaders. ). It felt mightily somehow, like they had already been using it and just hadn't known it.

"After all ..."Said Ron"My Brother could count as the old I, and we're out to supercede them, so were the new 1 !"Harry didn't think that was the reason somehow, but the name itself fit like a glove.

So, as Harry ceramicist, Ron Weasly, Neville Longbottom and Padma and Parvati Patil walked into the waiting Granville Stanley Hall by the great hall and the hold out of the sunset-sunlight streamed in through the window the New predator were born.

*

They stepped into the with child hall in a row and giggled when they gasped in tandem. The stack was awe inspiring, the vast board of students staring and pointing, lighted by one C of floating candle and even better, Harry's eyes travelled upwards and he smiled in rapturous marvel. The nighttime sky greeted him above, every star topology bright and clear like a back-lit infield. Like gold dust. Having never been far out of the M25 Harry had grown up with streetlamps and igniter befoulment. The stars were gifts, just one Thomas More thing he wanted to thank this spot for.

He quietened as an older Wiccan carried an old hat out to the stage and set it down on a stool. She straightened and delivered her instructions in a crisp, efficient articulation and the Charles Francis Hall instantly became still. Harry thought he saw the hat relocation then turned back to the witch. But no ! it had moved, and now it split down a ridge and opened like a lip to say…


Lasting M years and more
By the illustrious Hogwarts four
The houses of renown

Each one of award true up and expansive
And at their parturition you understand
My job was then set down

I was put here to sort you jokes
You sorry, snotty, shorty, folks
To one of them today

To Griffindor
The lions roar
The brave and bluff dwell there

To Ravenclaw
Where there it's more
The mind that holds the chair

To Hufflepuff
Of sterner clobber
The loyal and the just

Or Slytherin
The wits to win
Where slyness is a must

These four alone await you here
And I can choose,
just volunteer
Nothing to fear
Just lend an ear
I'm quite solemn
Can't delay to see them jump and barrack !

And when you're settled
Where you belong
I will be done
Just like this strain

"Funny yeah !"Ron leaned over to Harry.

"Not really."Harry had taken the shorty kinfolk comment a bit personally. He was also deeply worried that, of all the descriptions mentioned in the song, cunning described him in effect than wise or steadfast and definitely just than brave. When Harry looked over to the Slytherin table he recognised some of the citizenry who had cheered Malfoy on the train.

His spear carrier probe before arriving had also turned up the Slytherin name, frequently associated with the dark and evil. And the hat's description had matched him. Harry felt suddenly very cold and small and he felt like a sinister cloud had touched him. He shivered and told himself it was his imagination.

He could swear he felt heart on the back of his headland but when he turned around the only person there was a thin, spooky looking wizard in a turban chatting to a lank-haired and sallow-faced prof. The lank-haired teachers eyes flicked to his grimace, then to his forehead and Harry turned back quickly. Just in time to try the first public figure called out.

*

Harry stood, his heart beating fast in his pectus and his lungs feeling like weights had been hooked to them. One by one the people around him sat down to be sorted, he blessed the fact that he wasn't called Brown or archimandrite, he couldn't have taken being the first to the stand.

Each person chosen prompted a new mass of cheering from the house they were chosen for. Harry had the insane itch to get out his juggling musket ball just to relived his stress but knew he couldn't, not under all those eyes. A moment later he recognised Hermione walking up to the chair and sitting, jamming on the singing hat, a few moments later and the hat pronounced her a Gryffindor and she ran down to the table. The next person he recognised was Neville, he tried to exclude away all his nerves and give Neville an supporting wave as he walked past, ashen faced. After what must deliver been proceedings the hat sent Neville to Gryffindor too and the relief on his face was clearly visible.

Malfoy went to Slytherin and Harrys gut seemed to cease up tighter. They were on to the P's now and Harry was sure his brass must be showing his thought despite his drive. The twin went on one after another, the hat sat for an age, chewing and mumbling over Padma before eventually sending her to Gryffindor but Parvati followed after her almost instantly. One to a greater extent gens then…

"Harry ceramist !"

"Alright."opinion Harry"If there was ever a time you needed to keep you're aplomb. This is that time."He made himself prance a minuscule as he walked over to the chair through the rustle and stares then forced himself to grin as he dropped the hat on his pass. The dark was welcome as the hat slid over his eyes but then…

"Hm… Another slick one."It was the voice of the hat, but quieter now, and coming from just outside his ear."Good mind but underused, patriotic soul but no demo trueness, and with your fears…"

"Hey !"thought process Harry, for a bit Thomas More furious than dash."Who the infernal region said you could look around in my psyche anyway ! That stuffs flaming buck private !"The hat seemed amused.

"I only look to put you where you'd fit in sound, it's in your best interests you know. To go with people who understand you, whose minds are like your own, full of cunning elbow room, hidden way of life, other way to get what you want. I can transmit you where you'll fit in, where you'll ascertain friends, in the house of Salazar Sl ..."But Harry cut him off.

"That's enough ! I will not let myself be placed in a house of saturnine wizards and disgusting the great unwashed !"Harry thought angrily."I don't see what gives you the rightfulness to chose either. I chose my path ! Always ! If you looked a trivial further in my mentality you'd see the mightily o'that ! I chose to leave menage ! I chose to come here ! No parent ! no guide ! I made my own way here, ME ! Its my life and I want to go to Gry ..."

"GRYFFINDOR !"The hat yelled triumphantly in the middle of his sentence and Harry was dumbstruck for a import before grinning and rolling his eyes.

"Cheap trick."He said to the hat, before placing it down and walking towards the cheering red and gilt table.

*

He sat down near Padma, Annapurna and Neville who had saved distance for him and Ron.

"That's a bit of a relief."If he had been being honest Harry would give birth said he felt like he was walking on air."I don't know anyone in the other houses."A few moments later Ron was put with them as well and dropped down in the remaining seat, looking as relived as Harry felt and said.

"Don't know what my parent would possess said if I hadn't been picked for Gryffindor."Harry was about to say something comfortingly-funny when the Hall went hush. Harry looked around and saw that the man sitting at the eye of the high table had stood up.

He looked very old but he stood without a stoup and had straightened smoothly. His hair and beard were snow-clad white and tied into two tails, one down the front end, one down the rear. As he surveyed the mansion, Harry could cause sworn the gentleman's gentleman eyes fixed on him for a split second before moving on.

"Who the perdition's he."Asked Harry.

"Albus Dumbledore unintelligent !"Hissed Parvati."The Headmaster."

"One piece of advice comes to me at this time."The old mans voice sounded faintly amused, like he knew something funny story that everyone else didn't."hungry kid listen only to their grumble tummy. With that in judgement, tuck in !"Harry saw the plates in movement of him fill with everything imaginable. Plates of meat and tater piled richly, and pitchers full of juices and milk. Harry looked so long he didn't click that everyone else had started.

"Not hungry ?"Ron asked through a taste that said clearly that he was. Harry shook himself and started fishing affair off the denture for himself. He was almost defeated when the desert appeared and was definitely disappointed when they went though he couldn't have eaten another bite. He was sitting in a happy, sleepy, wax and contended fog when he saw the schoolmaster boost to his invertebrate foot again.

"I have a few announcements to throw. Firstly, that first off old age are reminded that they are not allowed their own broom, that showtime and second twelvemonth are forbidden to enter Hogsmead village, that all scholarly person are tabu to move into the forbidden woods and that anyone with any sense of ego preservation should invalidate the third floor corridor on the right bridge player side. Thank you."

"one-third floor corridor ?"Said Ron."Hey George ! Fred !"He yelled down the table at his crony."What's on this thirdly floor corridor ?"

"Nothing the last time we looked."Said Fred."Why ?"

"Is short Ron scared ?"Added his blood brother laughing. Ron turned back sullenly.

"What do you think ?"Harry asked the radical as a whole.

"If there was anything there end yr they'd know about it."Ron said crossing his arms and directing a dark feel back along the table."So whatever it is it must have only just happened."

"Their hiding something."Said Parvati confidently."There's something brawny they're researching and they want to keep it secret, there's no danger."

"Dumbledore said the great unwashed who go up there could die. You saying that's not severe ?"Ron asked.

"Well of course if Dumbledore says it then it must be true up. He couldn't possibly he lying or exaggerating to make for sure cipher goes up there."Padma raised an eyebrow at Ron."That would just be silly."

"But wait !"Neville had just caught up with the conversation."You're all talking like we're actually going up there !"

"Oh we're going."Harry took a sip of succus before going on."There was never any question of going or not. As soon as it became nix it became our first base target."

*

But there was small hazard for Harry to carry through on his promise for the first few days, moral followed lesson and Harry found himself challenged to keep up. Everything in the books he'd read seemed to constitute about one one-hundredth of what they needed to know and each new concept sent him out from the lesson scratching his top dog back to the books and then to the new ones he'd got out of the library.

The only reason he wasn't totally swamped was that after every day he could return to the Gryffindor commons room and sit down on the table that had already been designated, even by sr. students, the vulture board. On his second day Harry had simply invaded this tabular array and pulled four former hot seat around it, plopped his bag down and waited. By day four it was established and the station reserved.

It was near enough to the fire to be warmed by it and was constantly piled with their Koran and bags, whatever sweets they had each donated to the pot, a whizz chess set in permanent wave muddiness, at least one copy of Witch Weekly and, more often than not, Trevor. And under the sight, between the pages of the books or hidden in sweet housecoat there were mapping, details, paper and ideas.

The five of them would work on the days onerous homework till the unwashed elbow room began to empty, then the Word of God would close and the work would lead off in earnest. It had moved beyond the third storey corridor of grade, there were plans to get into cabbage power, McGonagall's post, each of the other common rooms, plans to curse masses ( 99 % of those mass being Slytherins and 80 % of them being Malfoy ) and plans to find all the privy passing of the school.

Harry laughed Sir Thomas More than he ever had before and did joke as they planned. Harry had never believed that Hogwarts could be like this, friends everywhere and a fete at every repast. Even the lessons couldn't put a dent in this. Then, on Fri, Harry awoke from sleep after a particularly right planning academic session and went downstairs to breakfast. If Harry had had a unity prophetic os in his body he would have shivered when looking at his days timetable.

"Oh,"He said brightly."Potions today."

*

"Potion devising is as… beautiful a science as it exact. As deadly as it is composite and as hard to learn as it is rewarding to those who have the talent, and the predisposition to do so."

Harry and Padma looked at each other sideways and each saw the early barely stifling giggles.

"For those lucky enough to be able-bodied to excel in my subject."The hook nosed, sallow faced prof continued."It will draw them rewards far beyond any puerile charm or spell. What spell can fill the stemma with fervency, can kill dumb as a mouse, can fan life back into what other go would hold a stiff, can broadcast someone into so deep a slumber they will never awake."

"I don't know any spells for the last one but his part is doing a pretty good job so far."Padma whispered and Harry had to seize with teeth his upper lip to keep the sounds in. They had been set at a desk thankfully near the back of the division and could look clear across the whole class to where the teacher, one Severus Snape, stalked in front of the chalkboard. The reason they were laughing so hard was that, before the deterrent example, Ron's pal had treated them to an feeling of Snape which, at the sentence, they had thought was an exaggeration.

"But well-nigh of you will not take that skill and will doubtless happen yourself confused… baffled… and, if prior catastrophe are any indication, severely burnt in this classroom. If that is the case then I ask that you don't hesitate to fare to me for help."("WHAT ?"Harry's dumbfounded expression was mirrored on every face in the class )"And I will tell you what I tell all the other scholarly person pillock enough to come to me. ‘ I don't CARE.'” The teacher waved his wand at the control panel and some instructions appeared there.

Later in the lesson, when Snape was making his stave around the desks staring at everyone's cauldrons and making derogative remark to everyone not in green trimmed robes, Harry made a item of looking Snape directly in the center as he passed by and smiling from ear to ear.

"Something good story Potter."mind turned to watch."You see something you find amusing ?"

"I don't think you'd get the caper prof, it's a youth thing."Harry said sagely."Generation gap and all. But…"Harry added."I'll be surely to came to you if I ever feel baffled… or burnt."

"A State Department of function I foresee happening frequently. Lets see if we can hurry things up a little. Tell me…"Snape's back snapped straight like a willow branchlet and he looked down at Harry."What would I get if I added powdered base of asphodel to an extract of wormwood ?"

"Draft of living death."Harry's prior-reading-parachute deployed on cue to redeem him."A sleeping potion."

"Incorrect."Snape glowered.

"excuse me."The annoying whirl to the words… the self-important accent… Hermione sat at the side by side table over and was turned towards Harry and Snape."The answer is the gulp of living last. A sleeping potion powerful en…"

"Five gunpoint from Gryffindor Miss Granger."Snape said without turning."The correct solvent thrower ... Was ‘ draft of living Death sir'. Another ten compass point from Gryffindor."Snape swept off leaving Harry glowering at his back.

"That wasn't fair."Said Ron, turning from the board in movement that he shared with Neville."He can't take power point if you get the right answer."

"wellspring you were a bit cheeky to pass on off the Sir."Hermione said primly and folded her branch. Behind her on her tabularise Lavender Brown ( not a toader but a friend of Padma and Annapurna. Harry had promised to teach her to juggle once and was now trying to find a way to joggle out of it ) rolled her eyes."But it shouldn't have been ten degree, maybe five."

"Harry do you think of which of us it was that asked her opinion ?"Ron said glibly.

"Can't reminiscence Ron. Why would one of us do something like that ?"Harry replied grinning and Hermione turned back quickly and looked down as if absorbed in her notebook computer. Ron did a silent laugh and turned back to his desk but Harry leaned back and bit his lip thoughtfully. He'd just insulted, without incitement, mortal who had stood up for him. He tried to think of something suspect to say that would make Hermione laughter and realised he didn't know anything she'd like. A second later Snape swooped back retiring and the chance for talk was over.

While failing to piddle his potion Harry thought carefully, Hermione didn't go around with anyone, she didn't sit with the same multitude in any two family, he'd never seen her talking in the common room with anyone. In fact, the simply times he'd seen her out of form was when he took books out of the subroutine library, then she was always there, with her forefront deep in progressively thicker books.

"That doesn't mean she doesn't have friends."intellection Harry while crushing porcupine quill pen."She could love citizenry in other years from before she came here."

"She's muggle-born."Another parting of his brain said"How would she already have Friend at a wizard school."

"Oh…"Harry looked over at Hermione and Lavender, only talking to cite the instructions on the panel and at other times Hermione was craned over her book and Lavender over hers.

"She really doesn't… and you snubbed her…"Harry was quiet until the end of the moral. He didn't want to speak. When you find out something you don't a good deal like about yourself the last thing you want to do is utter about it.

*

Harry tried to talk to Hermione several times over the next few weeks but she always just ignored him or ran off. defective, Padma and Parvati had told him she had taken to crying in the daughter toilets during geological fault and after lessons.

"Maybe you could do something."Harry pointed out during a late September evening after a particularly successful antic of some twenty percent year Slytherins"You sleep in the same bloody elbow room. Surely you talk to her."

"She doesn't talking to us."Parvati explained"Always has a book or homework or something out and doesn't want to be disturbed."

"She's alright if you ask her about prep of ask helper with something."Padma carried on."But for anything else she just doesn't want to know."

"Why do you like anyway ?"Ron asked him pointedly."If she wanted citizenry to like her she wouldn't be so stick by up. If she keeps pushing the great unwashed away it's probably because she doesn't want friends."Parvati and Padma nodded sadly but Neville ( quiet on the sidelines as always ) gave a small shingle of his head. aloneness was soft to empathize from experience than from observation.

"No reason really, it's just we've got to experience with the rest of our class for the next seven years and that'll be well-heeled if were at least on speakin'terms with them."The others seemed to accept this partial explanation. The truth of the affair was Harry didn't want to see anybody lonely either.

*

Harry decided to try a more direct glide path. The next day, after lesson but before dinner, Harry went down to the subroutine library and approached the now companion sight of a bundle of books and Hermione. He pulled up a chair and sat about a third base of the way around the table from her.

"face like you beat me here."Harry said without provoking a reaction."Last copy."He added, pointing to a random account book near her human elbow. Without looking or speaking Hermione pushed the playscript to him then got up and walked to another table. Harry sighed and followed her.

"Look, you can't go on going like this forever. Humans need to sing to early humans or they go crazy."Harry twirled a finger near his ear and let his eyes go crossed."Anyway don't you…"

"No I don't !"Hermione slammed the Scripture shut and looked at him angrily. He saw red around her eyes."And if you don't mind I'm doing a special labor for professor Flitwick and it's in tomorrow. Some people care about school."And with that she darted to yet a thirdly table and sat with her back to him. After a consequence he saw her articulatio humeri begin to throw off with sobs.



Harry stood there for a here and now feeling worthless then turned and walked out of the subroutine library. But that wasn't the last he'd see of Hermione that day, a fiddling later when Harry was on a fact-finding delegation ("I swear foumart keeps a spare part key in one of the janitors closets."Ron had said. Harry had agreed to look into it without realising how very many janitors closets there were and what unpleasant scent inhabited them ) he passed a doorway to an disused schoolroom and heard voices inside.

"impart it back !"Hermione's voice ?"You arrogant snake ! Give it back !"

"Oh ? And why exactly should I ?"Hermione and Malfoy ? Harry's helping hand moved toward the door-handle."I just want to have a read."The hold turned but the threshold didn't open. Harry groaned as he realised this was one of the weird doors. He tried the grip again more gently, then tried stroking it and humming to it. Inside the conversation had become more heated.

"fall in it back you foul, foul matter !"

"Crabbe, Goyle, hold the nasty mudblood away from me. I'm trying to read."Stroking the door, kicking the threshold, poking the door… fare on door ! You can get a line what's happening in there the same as I can !

"What an interesting document mudblood. Flitwick would throw been astounded with it. Probably would have earned you a few house points eh ? Except you won't be able to impart it to him. undependable as you mudbloods are, saying you'll do something then not having even a single sheet to manus in. Terrible."Harry heard prick from interior and redoubled his exploit at the threshold. Was n't there a spell called allohamora ? Harry flicked his wand out and tried to cast it. null happened. He tried again. nothing. Oh damnit ! This was n't one of the doors that would n't open ! This was one of the walls that look like a threshold. Harry peered through the keyhole to try to see another door. Malfoy was holding up the newspaper for Hermione to see and said,

"Then I'll say ‘ Oh professor, if you wanted mortal to write up that you should've asked me. I've been researching it. Just in my spare time of course. Thanks for the menage points mudblood."Harry heard another door candid then close and ran in the focussing of the phone. Malfoy and his minions were already out of lot so Harry quietly opened the door and went in. Hermione was slumped in a pile in the middle of the flooring. He approached carefully and tried to think of something to say.

"Um Hermione…"She looked up then scowled when the saw him."You could tell Flitwick, tell apart him what happened. If Malfoy's really gon na keep it then all they have to do is find it on him and…"he got no further.

"Shut up ! You're as bad as he is ! Breaking regulation and playing clowning ! You can't talking !"Hermione ran out of the room leaving Harry speechless. Harry stood for the longest clip in the middle of the deserted schoolroom before walking slowly back to the Gryffindor common room. The predator stopped talking when they saw his face, a mix of wrath and hurting. They all looked to him as he sat down.

"Forget all the other plans."Harry's voice was grave-quiet but his eyes had a unholy glow."We're breaking in the Slytherin common room. Tonight."The objections washed over him from the others ; they weren't ready, they hadn't planned, tomorrow was Halloween and they needed to be rested for the party and most of all they could run into Snape. Harry sighed inwardly and began to differentiate the full phase of the moon taradiddle as quickly as he could. It was already getting shadow, and they had seat to be…





Authers note
Hi, thought i should leave an billet eventually. retrospect if you have time, this is my first fable so please feel resign to tell me how auful it is.



"We're going to be caught. We're going to be caught !"

"Of course we'll be caught if you don't shut up Neville !"Padma held her manus over Neville's mouth and pulled him further into the cupboard. Harry waved them both to outride still and peered back out through the keyhole. Filches lantern gleam was far up the corridor but he waited a in force tally of thirty before pushing the door exposed and leading the others out. In the end the choice for his fellow were simple, he couldn't take more than two or they'd be seen for sure and they needed some people to stay in the uncouth room to vouch for them if inquiry were asked. The others had reluctantly agreed and then it became a matter of who was going. Despite Neville's own arguments Harry insisted he was the perfect scout.

"You get lost so much if someone finds you out of place you can just say you were looking for the common room. And anyone but Snape'll probably let you off."

As for Padma, she was the entirely one who could reliably incur the Slytherin dungeon since she had been in charge of that especial objet d'art of recognisance and after all, she had been the one to find out the password. Harry had been incredibly impressed until she revealed that she had just gone up and asked Goyle.

"I just asked him straight out."She had explained while Harry's grimace slowly lost its amazement."It had to be Goyle though, Crabbe's too hurt to be fooled by that sort of thing."It had actually taken Harry quite a long time to realise she was joking.

The three of them crept down the cobbler's last flight of stairs and Padma silently pointed to a flat musical composition of wall ahead. Harry nodded and he and Padma moved on while Neville got his baton out and pushed himself deep into an alcove behind some armour. Harry gestured back at him and got out his wand.

"Mico Neville"Harry muttered, sending the signaling, and having his own verge vibrate as a response. It was the best way to send sign, the person had to be within ten or so meters but it was virtually mute. Harry crept towards the wall and stepped aside so that Padma could give the Password.

"Ophiophagus"The bulwark dissolved from the midpoint and revealed the doorway.

"Anticlimax."Muttered Harry, surprised that the entrance to the Slytherin room should be so unobtrusive."Expected fireworks."Harry moved into the shadow within and felt Padma following him.

It was disconsolate but not slant. A few dying coal in the huge marble fireplace gave an sinister incandescence. All the furniture was large and dark, and in the bad lightness it looked oddly sullen, looming like drop-off above the creeping baby. Padma tugged at Harrys gown and as he looked back she waved her hand in nominal head of her optic and shook her straits. She couldn't see. Harry knew his eyes were good by night and he kept forgetting the residual of his clan didn't share the welfare of his previous, mugwump lifestyle. Harry guided her to a rampart and put her behind a paries hanging, sitting near a large urn unpleasantly decorated to resemble a screaming cheek. Harry placed Padma's baton in her hired hand and looked at her case before leaving. She was wearing a shape verbalism but her eyes were blanket and she was breathing hard.

"No shame to game out."Harry whispered in her ear, for the beginning metre having doubtfulness about tonight's venture."I did kinda hold everyone in at the deep end today."

"I'm staying."Padma's spokesperson as barely more than a whisper."I chose Gryffindor didn't I ? I'd better start earning it."And with that she pulled back into the alcove.

"She said she chose her house too."Harry thought as he headed towards the sleeping accommodation."Perhaps there's more to the sorting than brave, cunning or whatever. Perhaps its not what you are…"Harry's judgment kept considering as he slipped into the stairwell."It's what you want to be…"

*

Harry had to chuckle as his fingers found a doorknob in the shadow. What he had thought would be the concentrated role had turned out to be the well-situated. They had debated for ages how to find out which room was Malfoy's, from bribing somebody to covering his shoe with ultraviolet ink but it had been all for nothing. Harry checked the brass nameplate on the door and chuckled again before moving into the room. Like a specter, Harry tried not to even think loudly. Like a ghost, here then gone, no trace. The room was large for a individual person room, great even than the one in Gryffindor towboat he shared with four early people.

"Can't make precious pet Malfoy contribution a room."Harry sneered in the dark. If there had been a way to silently tear apart the place he would have done so, instead he began looking around for the project. He slid his mitt onto shelves and held theme up in the moonlight to read the covering. The sole time he stopped was when he was searching by Malfoy's bed and saw something on the covers. He'd had to double up to keep from laughing and he'd felt like every nervure would burst. Malfoy had taken his teddy to school with him.

Harry could see a clock on the mantle, the hands glowing faintly in the dark and saw that he didn't have much prison term left. For a moment he stopped looking and just stood in the dark to cerebrate. There was no way he could search the entirely place, not going as slowly as he had to to avoid detection.

"The hat said I think like them."Harry shuddered at the thought but pushed on, no time for self-recrimination."And Hermione said I'm just like him. So where would I hide it ? Where would I trust to be safe enough…"Statues moved more than Harry in the hanker second of the night.

"Nowhere. I wouldn't put it anywhere because I wouldn't confidence it enough. I'd continue it with me from the moment I got it till the moment I let it pass on my hands."Harry's gaze shifted to the prone figure on the bed."Under the pillow ? No, not that obvious. In his air pocket ? If it's there then I'm screwed so…Where else… No where. This communication channel of opinion has got me no-where and metre is running out."Harry threw up his men in frustration and at that moment felt something in his pocket vibrate. He brought his wand out to palpate the shaking in his hands.

*

reverence wasn't what he needed now, neither was a mad elan. Running now was the last affair he wanted to do… Just creep back through the threshold and go quietly down the stairs. Down the stair to where there's a Christ Within on. Harry crouched at the top of the stairwell and shielded his eyes to keep up his night sight before sliding a tiny periscope between the balusters ("Do you convey unanimous toyshops around in you're pockets ?"Parvati had said when he showed them some of his tools like the periscope."You never know when this stuff'll come in handy."Harry winked and twirled a ignition lock pick between his digit. ) The bantam mirror-pipe revealed a pocket-sized cluster of 5th years who looked like they had just come in. They began talking loudly about some news or other and Harry carefully slid back from the edge. Now what ? He didn't have the project, and his way out was now blocked. Correction, his and Padmas ways out were now blocked. Harry slid back to the edge, the Slytherins seemed to be settling down for a night of raucous conduct as they lounged in the gravid chairs with a bottle of something, probably stolen from the kitchens. If they were distracted ? If Harry waited until they simply fuddle themselves into a stupor ? Perhaps they'd go to bed soon ? Harry cursed as he saw one of them detach themselves from the group and weave uncertainly towards the stairs.

"What the hell was he gona do now ?"Harry's Einstein worked quickly"Run back, fell in a… oh no don't !"Harry watched as Padma slipped out of her hiding place holding the grip of the monster urn.



"rear in !"Harry mouthed, abandoning the periscope and sticking his point between the banisters."Before they see you."She shook her read/write head stubbornly and raised the pot above her head.

"She's making a distraction !"Harry cursed"Stupid ! stupefied ! I told them ‘ no nobility during heist !'” Harry at least had the presence of mind to wrap his scarf around his face and trademark forehead before standing up and yelling…

"Oh no they're awake !"Harry gestured at imaginary pattern in the discharge hall behind him"Go ! Run !"Harry had sentence to see the drunken serpent take in his red and Au edged robes and clamber over each other towards the stairs before he took his own advice and ran back down the hall.

It takes quite some power to run quietly but Harry had experience, his footfalls were light as shiner on the floor board. He turned and saw a familiar door. Switching himself from quiet-running-mode to bloody-silent-creep he slue into Malfoy's room and shut the door.

"people chasing you expect you to run away, especially if there's a lot of them. They don't expect you to go to ground."Harry spoke the words in his head, hoping that would make up them true.

"Start searching the rooms !"Ach… Harry desperately looked around the elbow room for a place to hide but to his consternation saw only darkness. He had lost his Night eyes in the unwashed room.

"What was here ? Where did I search ? Oh my god, please just remember !"The rattling doorway handles and irritated spokesperson got closer, thank heavens Salazar Slytherin built his rampart thick and care oak door or Harry was indisputable Malfoy would deliver woken.

"closet ? It had had glass in the front ! Under the bed ? No room !"Harry's sentiment grew panicked as the voices got closer."Walls, floor, ceiling, bed, desk, wardrobe, fireplace…"Harry dropped to his mitt and genu and crawled across the floor as fast as he dared. He was sure he was making noise now but he didn't have the nerve left to go any slower. His hired man reached the cold stone of the hearth and he felt his way into it. No ashes at all, the open fireplace had never been used. Later on that Night Harry would realise that the Slytherins probably heated their bedroom by legerdemain so they didn't get the smoke and gained a more even oestrus, all he thought at the clock time was a panicked…

"Thank you !"as he stood up. His custody found a bar embedded in the wall to advert grass from and he lifted himself up and stood on it. At that import light flooded in from below. Harry could see that his substructure were only a few inches from the top of the hearth and hoped fervently there was no one too short in the search party.

"What do you think you're doing !"Harry heard Malfoy cry out indignantly."Why are you barging into my room in the middle of the night Flint ?"

"Yes Malfoy."Harry thought to himself"Good Malfoy. Now be you're piffling stuck up, umbrageous self and confuse them out of your room."

"There's someone sneaking around in the rooms."The voice sounded like the utterer was gargling gravel."We thought he might have come in here."

"No ones been in here you idiot ! If they had don't you think I would induce woken up ?"

"Nope."Harry chucked as his affright began to pass."And you're the imbecile Malfoy. You should pay Thomas More attention to your gravely pal."

"He's not in any of the other rooms."A new voice, possibly younger and more hesitant than the gravely boy."And we checked the gutter and back down in the common room."Harry hoped Padma had had the brains to be well on her way back to their common room by then, and to get Neville with her. Harry's hand brushed something in the paries behind him, careful not to make a audio he slid it out of the wall and choked back a triumphant gasp as he read the lettering on the back of the parchment.


The use of qualify static-induction appealingness in

the context of adhesives and fasteners.

Hermione Granger

"Yes !"opinion voice of Harry's judgment."I'm still born lucky ! This is what I came here for."…"This is what I came here for ?"Said another role in incredulity"adhesives and fastener ?"Harry shook his head and laughed at himself a bit before folding up the theme and slipping it into his robe. Back in the bedchamber the conversation had become more heated.

"When my male parent hears about this !"Malfoy was in full argumentative swinging"You will all be drear ! The Malfoy family own your father flint ! And you can be sure there will be language on the theme of this incident."

"I'm sorry Dra… Mr Malfoy."The other boy was obviously older but the veneration was plain in his voice.

"You know."Malfoy's vocalism was more sly now"You know how you could make up it up to me."

"But world-class years… never… go on the squad. No affair how, absolutely, brilliant they are at Quidditch."The sr. boy was obviously fearing some reprisal to boot-lick so obviously."Definitely future twelvemonth though !"

"That remains to be seen…"A new voice, a slimy voice, a vocalisation dripping scorn with every intelligence !

"Ah"Thought Harry as his gut clenched up"There's that panic again."Professor Snape continued talking in the room.

"Tell me why some of the leading appendage of Slytherin mansion are awake at this hour ? Hmm… Some of them stinking of cheap vino !"He almost made the fact that it was brassy phone like the worst component part."well ? Or have you all been rendered dumb by drink !"

"We were chasing someone !"Flint said shakily"Someone was sneaking around in here !"

"Inside the Slytherin unwashed room ?"

"Yes."

"Inside the word protected Slytherin common room ?"

"Yes !"flint was frantic but Snape just snorted.

"Lunacy. All you saw was the wine-coloured natation in movement of your eyes seeing as you seem to have drown yourselves in it !"Harry heard Snape's footfall head towards the door.

"There was person ! They were wearing Gryffindor robes !"The footsteps continued and Harry heard a door undetermined"And they were short !"The steps led out the door"And they had a scarf around their head !"steps then…

"WHAT !"Snape thundered back into the room."They wore cloth around their promontory ? !"

"Yes ! So we couldn't see their face I'll bet !"

"Don't be dolt, he could conceal his identity better than that."Snape seemed to be talking to himself slightly at that decimal point but then…"Search everywhere ! Every elbow room, turn them upside down and stimulate them if necessary !"Harry's heart leapt into his throat and he looked around wildly for a way out. But he already knew the only ways, down or up. Harry pushed his back against one paries and carefully shifted his foundation onto the diametric one. Hogwarts was old stone and there were lots of handholds to serve him chimney up faster, and more quietly. But just as he was thinking he had reached beyond their sense of hearing someone said.

"What was that in the chimney ?"Bloody Malfoy ! Since when did Snake sustain such good capitulum ? Harry went absolutely still except for his lips moving in a silent curse."I heard something !"Harry looked down and was met by a relieving sight. The lamp chimney curved as it went up, He could no longer see the circle of light at the bottom.

"I can't see anything."Flint again, thank welkin for small minds.



"relocation over."Harry heard a clunk as Snape pushed his student out of the way then…"Acerbus cuspis !"Harry's eyeshot was momentarily lighted as bar of under the weather atomic number 47 igniter shot up the chimney towards him then his sight was lost in botheration. Harry's feet slipped but he grimly held on by his handholds, gritting his teeth against the stabbing knots of infliction each lance had left in him.

"I heard scraping Professor !"Malfoy must stimulate heard his boots slip-up."Something's up there !"

"Acerbus cuspis !"This meter Harry was flattened against the wall and only a few of the thunderbolt hit him."pinkeye !"that spell winged right past times him, cracking Saratoga chip off the wall above him, then…"Relashio !"Heat flooded up the chimney to him and Harry's skin felt like it was going to vesicate. He bit his tongue between his tooth and pulled one sweaty hand off the wall so he could fumble in pocket for a large metallic element jar. At the time Harry had thought Ron's hint had been a bit pillock but now he was especially glad he had agreed to work the jar along. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and dropped the contents before they had a probability to prick him, far below he heard…

"Aaaa ! doxy !"A few to a greater extent piece rang out but none directed at Harry, even the heat stopped, allowing Harry to put his fundament back against the rampart and give his aching sleeve a rest. Below him he heard Snape yell out

"lookup the former rooms."Harry waited a long time before climbing encourage up. His weapons system needed the residue anyway and there was no way he was gon na try to sneak back out through the Slytherins tonight.

*

The fire up below was lost behind Harry as he ascended out of the keep. The chimney he was climbing joined others then split again. One or two of the chimney had ladders in them, or at to the lowest degree parts of run, but almost of them he had to clamber up. The air was hotter and Smokey here, perhaps some of these chimney were still in use this late, or more in all probability it was early enough that the kitchens had woken up. Harry would be the foremost to allow ( to himself at least ) that he had many fears but claustrophobia wasn't one of them. He pulled his scarf tighter above and below his glasses to hold back out smut and around his oral cavity to breath through as he climbed up into more employ chimney. Harry felt himself travel out into a large region but couldn't see the paries through the dark and the sens. Questing digit found a eat ladder and a few moments later Harry pulled himself over the threshold of a huge chimney and let himself down to the rooftop below.

Tired but elated Harry pulled his scarf from around his human face and tried to find some clean house material somewhere on himself to wipe his glasses off. When he put them back on he was struck obtuse for a moment by the sight that met his eyes.

Rolling hills of tile and depository financial institution of slating. pillar popping out at Angle and fagot balconies with balustrade like lace. Harry walked along the roof ridge he had landed on in curiosity, there was a whole world up above Hogwarts. More chimneys jutted out everywhere, some just tube and some, like the one he'd emerged from, with width like industrial towers. Harry sat down on the ridgeline and rock his head in disbelief. Even the climb hadn't taken his breathing place like this did. He lay back and lay eyes on another marvel. The stars from here seemed brighter, almost as ripe as the astronomy tower ( Harry's favourite lesson, just as an excuse to stargaze ).

"And no-one up here but me."Harry said aloud, there was no one to hear."Peace."Harry could experience fallen asleep against those tiles but something moving below caught his eye. Snape, passing along a corridor with tall Windows all along it. Harry moved to hide then realised his soot-black gown blended perfectly against the night sky and wrapped his scarf joint around his facial expression to enshroud the net garden pink skin. His Methedrine were still grubby enough not to shine.

Harry trailed Snape over the roofs, not even for a minute cerebration of going back to the Gryffindor suite and thinking even lupus erythematosus of the peril. Here on the cap he was in his element, there was no danger here. Snape stopped at what looked like a instructor quarters and pushed through the threshold without knocking. It took Harry a moment or so to find out the corresponding windowpane then lowered himself down near it. By luck or the sleepers habit it was ajar. When Harry moved closer he heard ...

"D…on't know what you're talking about Severus. I've been asleep he…here the wh…ole time."Quirrell ? Snape had gone to Quirrell ?

"What whole clock time ? How do you even know when this happened ?"Snape's spokesperson was angry and accusing."The simply fact that keeps me from cursing you into dingy obliviousness right now is that I can't quite bring myself to recollect that even one so pathetic as you would be stupid person enough to think it was moved to the Slytherin dungeon of all places."

"Th…Then why are you here ?"Quirrell's voice grew a trivial steadier now, just a trivial."Why ejaculate to me ?"

"Because perhaps you were looking for something else, perhaps a way past my protective covering of it or some clue as to what that protection is. I assure you, you would have found neither. My oeuvre is as satanic as it is complex and as crafty…"Harry groaned inwardly, not this talk again."And you could never pierce it. Never. Despite Dumbledore's sovereign want of judgement in hiring you and letting you assist in the protection of the stone I will keep slimy affair like you from it !"With that Snape turned and stamped out of the room. Harry was about to leave when Quirrell quietly spoke.

"He, suspects something master. We can not do it tomorrow."

Harry waited but that seemed like all Quirrell felt like saying. Harry left over the rooftops and mulled over what he had heard as he scrambled towards Gryffindor tower.

"Do it tomorrow ? Do what tomorrow ? What's so limited about tomorrow ? former than it being Halloween ..."

*

"How could you leave him there !"Ron was still yelling despite all attempts to calm him down. Parvati grabbed him and clamped her helping hand over his mouth.

"Thank you."Padma breathed and shared a quick smile with her sis. But she quickly fell silent again. If she was to be honest with herself she would cause to say she was ashamed. Ashamed that when Harry had stood up on the stairway she had instantly realised what he was trying to do ( having been about to do the Saami herself ) and had for a minute not known quite what to do. She was ashamed that after she had taken an age behind the curtain working up spunk and steeling herself to provide a distraction and Harry had done the same in an trice. She was ashamed that, when she heard the great unwashed coming back towards the common room, she had bolted back though the door, pulled an amazed Neville from behind the armour and had shepherded him across the school, not once talking until they passed behind the fat lady and got back to Gryffindor common elbow room and into the awaiting and recriminating stare of Ron Weasly.

"What will pass now."Neville's voice was minor and he was hunched in on himself on his chair. But even he had been braver than her, he had signalled the Slytherins coming and had waited once they had passed to persist in keeping watch.

"He'll probably just get detention, he'll recede us a few sign of the zodiac point for being out after curfew."Padma knew her sister was deliberately making matter seem better than they were to hit her tactile property better. Sometimes Padma thought they had been born to with personality opposites, the ageless optimist and the misanthropical pessimist. Except this time her sis wasn't just being affirmative. And neither was she just being pessimistic when she said…

"But he could be expelled."The others went silent and looked down. They had all been thinking it."For breaking into another home. For attempted stealing. He could be expelled."She had got Harry ceramist expelled from Hogwarts because she wasn't brave enough. She knew when the hat had left it up to her she would chose wrongly. She didn't deserve to be here."In Harry's first full term he'll be expelled."

"I'm doing what now ?"

The New marauder turned en hatful and saw a blackened and scraped Harry drop from one of the high Windows. His brass was red and raw and he had a ugly bruise on his left hand cheek, his hands were bleeding and he staggered as he hit the ground but he wore a smile of joy and victory as wide as they had ever seen on him.

"missy me ?"Harry's stagger became a swagger as he approached them."I wasn't gone that long. Although of course, in the company of Slytherins it seemed much longer."

"How did you…"Padma's voice breathed disbelief into the air."They were properly behind you."

"Chimney."Harry said lightly."Easy climbing really once you get past the kickoff bit. Oh and one former thing…"Harry fished around in his pockets and drew out some newspaper. Padma found herself shaking her head, no, not after all that happened, you can't still have got it, no ones that good."We got what we came for. It may demand some cleansing though…"With that the sluicegate came loose and the Marauders began peppering Harry with questions. The unusual child laughed as he unrolled a chronicle that had them gasping. As she listened Padma realised she was glad she'd made her choice, even if she wasn't brave enough for Gryffindor she wouldn't give up the Marauders for the universe. And besides, she thought as the looked at her sister, at Ron, at Neville and especially at the soot clothed figure animatedly talking before her, even if I'm not brave now I'll be learning from the best.

*

Hermione rose former from her sheets and was mildly surprised to see that they weren't covered in tears. She was surely she'd been crying when she went to sleep. She dressed mechanically and didn't talk to anyone as she made her way down to breakfast. Not that that was unusual she conceded to herself but today especially she didn't want to talk. That thought only made her suspicion in further over her solid food. Before anyone else had left the table Hermione walked out of the great hall, leaving the ease of her intellectual nourishment behind ( even if she hadn't had somewhere to be she felt too nauseous to eat ). The labor was important, it was the sort of affair they gave thirdly and fourth years to work on. Hermione straightened herself up as she walked towards Flitwicks office. advantageously get it over with…

"leaving somewhere Mudblood ?"genus Draco Malfoy lounged in the corridor in front of her. She ignored him and walked on past only to have him bind his foot forward to try to trip her up."What ? No abuse ? No ‘ Give it back !'today ?"Hermione kept walking."Oh, I don't have it with me. That would be a bit blatant, I figure I'll give it to him tomorrow. Or the day after, you know, so he doesn't get suspicious but is still impressed by my obviously superior talents."Draco grabbed her by the shoulder joint and spun her around."Don't ignore me Mudblood !"He grated,"This is only the first stage. I'm going to cook sprightliness hell for you and all the early filth at the schoolhouse until you'll drop out of your own free will. I'll… Oh hello Professor !"Professor Flitwick had just emerged from his way and was looking between them.

"Hello untested Mr Malfoy."He chirped"Are you and misfire Granger friends."

"We were just discussing the magic spell assignment you gave her."Draco turned to her with an evil smirk."It's a topic I myself find very interesting."

"Then perhaps I should let you read Miss Grangers write up. It was most detailed."

"What !"Malfoy's voice rose an octave. Hermione would have laughed if she hadn't been so shocked.

"Yes, left on my desk this morning. I flicked through it over breakfast. I used to learn the daily prophet of a first light but there's so many advertizement in it now."The professor shook his head and didn't appear to notice the totally dumbstruck saying on the two first-years faces."I'll give you comfortably feedback when I've read it fully young lady farmer and then…"Flitwick turned to Malfoy"…I'll be sure to yield it to you."With that the curt fellow wandered off humming faintly to himself.

"How."Malfoy had anger and electrical shock in his middle."You didn't have early copies. You said you didn't have other copy !"

"I didn't."Hermione was surprised at the shadow of smugness in her vocalisation. Malfoy was looking at her with barely suppressed rage. Then he seemed to find something and for a here and now his eyes widened in recognition then screwed up in even darker anger than before. Then Hermione realised he wasn't looking at her with such hatred, he was looking behind her. She turned and looked back down the corridor. And there stood the vulture. Tired and resplendent, staring Malfoy down with five Cheshire-cat smiles. The Slytherin looked like he was about to go down on a vein, or possibly shoot steam out of his ears.

"YOU ! ! !"He bellowed striding towards them pointing with his wand."It was you !"Harry and his admirer stood their ground against the charge and Malfoy was brought to a standstill, it was that or take the air into a human rampart."You stole it ! When I tell my sire he'll bring it to the school regulator and…"

"Tell them what worm."Harry's voice was replete of laughter.

"That we cunningly and evilly broke into your rooms and stole something awfully precious from your rooms ?"Parvati said in a voice like she was talking to a nipper. She leaned forward."Admit that we stole something that you stole yourself !"

"Even if you were bequeath to get a declination just to put us in trouble."Ron continued to a suddenly crestfallen Malfoy."Even if you did, where's the proof ? The reports right back where it should be and zippo else was taken from your rooms."

"Not even a chemise bear."Harry raised his brow and began chuckling. After a moment the repose of his gang began laughing as well. Malfoy turned and stalked away against a backcloth of hysteric laughter. Hermione was surprised to she was laughing too. At the end of the corridor Malfoy turned back and yelled…

"You win this round of golf ceramicist ! But I'll get you succeeding meter !"

"I look forward to it."Harry said between wheezes."You can record me the eternal sleep of your stuffed creature collection."

*

The unfortunate by-product of the heist was that Malfoy was even to a greater extent acid than usual in course of instruction that day. Despite repeated admonition from teacher he insulted Harry and the rest of the marauder with every former breather. Fortunately though that breathing space was wasted as nine times out of ten the marauder in dubiousness was asleep on their hot seat. Hermione sighed, but not unhappily and reached for a new pinion. She'd better shit these notes good, it looked like they'd have to be copied from a few time. When she reached the plebeian room there was a 6th professorship by the fireside board. She smiled and felt warm interior for the outset time in what seemed like forever and walked over to sit down with her friends.


I own nada, certainly zilch Harry Potter related.

Seriously, i 'm not kidding ! Do I count full-bodied than the fairy ?



"Go on !"

"No ! I can't !"

"Go for it ! You've come this far."

"He'll see me !"Hermione glanced over the balustrade to where Snape was berating Ron and Neville for ‘ fighting'in the corridor. What the boy had in fact been doing was distracting Snape so he would come in and support under the overhanging upper story. That persona of the plan had gone perfectly. The future piece was proving problematic.

"Just plectrum it up and tip it on his head."Harry spoke slowly pointing first to the pail of cooking oil ( a few pieces of burnt chicken were still floating in it ) standing between them then down to the potions master."Then we run like hell."

"You're all softheaded ! Any one of the stunts you've pulled could justify expulsion ! How longsighted do you think you can go on getting away with it ?"Hermione's voicelessness was angry and horse."And if you think"She pointed at his nous"I'm tipping that"A gesture at the filth"over a Hogwarts instructor !"a digit stabbing down at Snape"You must be softheaded !"She swung her arms wide in exasperation and they both heard a clump, then a splashing noise.

Harry saw his friends face turn from righteous angriness to grey dread fast as a striking match. She kept her oculus firmly ahead and, as if denying what had just happened, shook her head. Harry in line had grinned like a maniac and now grabbed Hermione by the robe and began running off through the corridors pulling her after him. A consequence later they heard a violent roar behind them

"WHO DID THIS TO ME !"Harry suddenly found himself as the being pulled along as Hermione outdistanced him."THE STUDENT WHO DID THIS WILL PAY WITH nuisance !"Harry pulled Hermione to a stop and dragged her sideways into a lilliputian put-upon corridor, with her still wide-eyed and ashen-faced he pushed her to a pre-opened window.

"Come on ! Just like the plan !"Harry said, then added"Only REAL !"Hermione almost jumped through the windowpane and disappeared as she clambered up a ladder. Harry swung out after her, shut the windowpane and slid onto the tiles above. He wasted no metre in pulling himself back to the edge and poking his periscope back down to the edge of the chalk. A secondly later an irate Snape ran past. Harry only caught a glimpse, but he thought the man seemed pat than common. Harry rolled back and looked up at Hermione who still seemed shaken.

"I hope Parvati and Padma were in place with the camera. I wouldn't have wanted to have to do all that again."Hermione's expression sent Harry into another fit of giggles.

*

A week or so latter the morning bloomed shining and early as the vulture made their way down to the supergrass in front of the castle. Harry stopped to post up a few more pictures after making certainly the glide was crystalise. The Slytherins were tearing them down wherever they saw them on Snapes ordination but Harry had even seen some of them trying to hide giggles as the wizard poster displayed Snape being doused again and again. The balance of the schoolhouse didn't bother to hide it and the school had been awash with laughter ever since the maiden one went up three solar day ago.

The instructor were all trying to notice who was posting them ( Harry had caught both Flitwick and Sprout laughing when they thought no one was looking and even McGonagall had cracked a smile when an incoherent Snape had burst into her classroom brandishing a wad of card that had papered the primary courtyard ). The teachers didn't make out how so many of them were getting so many places around the grounds. Harry knew, it was just a matter of a W. C. Handy rooftop and a following wind. When he had seen some errant video carried into the sky by gust he had idly wondered just how far they'd go.

Hagrid too had been roped into removing them but when Harry went down to his hut to see him the elephantine man had laughed and handed a plenty of posters back to him.

"They told me I had to take ‘ em down."Hagrid had said with a wink."They didn't say what I had to do with ‘ em after."Harry had been even happier to see a stack of envelopes on Hagrid's table. It looked like the distribution was going to even all-embracing than he thought.

The teachers search and Madam Hooch's earlier ill health were some of the reasons they were going to their first flying moral bundled up in winter clothes.

"Now…"Madam hootch's voice rang out over the tack Gryffindors and Slytherins"Just raise your right hand over the broom and yell UP ! Just like this… UP !"Her broom leapt obediently into her hand, Harry noted that it was varnished and looked a lot fresh than the unity the student had."Well go on…"

The class obediently placed their hands over their brooms.

"UP !"Harry yelled, feeling a bit jerky, the joint by his infantry refused to budge."UP !"Harry looked around and saw first one then others of the grade acquire their brooms."UP !"Harry thought maybe Malfoy had replaced his magic broom for a genuine heather in revenge but the thing had been handed out randomly. Harry shifted his human foot surreptitiously underneath his Calluna vulgaris and tensed ..."UP !"Harry grabbed the rising Scots heather and held it nonchalantly on his shoulder. He caught Annapurna looking at him and giggling.

"What ? I didn't do anything."

"That's right you didn't !"

A few moments later everyone had their ling and Madam hootch was showing them how to grip the poor fish things.

"Right, now… Just kick off from the ground, hover for me for a bit then leeee…an forward and float back down again."Madam hootch demonstrated then held up her gloved hand."Three… Two… One."dowry of the stratum rose unsteadily into the air, others remained grounded or had slipped off their ascension Calluna vulgaris. Harry glanced to his sides shame-faced as his broom resolutely refused to demonstrate any feature beyond long, wooden and prickly. Harry motioned towards Ron who was dropping down smoothly beside him and held out his broom.

"Let me try with yours."

"No, I don't want the dud broom !"Ron strafed out of range to the side with a practised helping hand before coming to take a breather."Take Neville's."

Harry turned and saw Neville rising at a snails pace with a aspect of teeth-gritting concentration."At that charge per unit the course'll be over before he gets down."Harry turned back"Come on, I just want to see whether Malfoy really has screwed this broom."

"Only powerful conjuring trick can step in with about broomsticks."Hermione was landing ungracefully beside him, gripping the broom with Edward Douglas White Jr. knuckles. Harry chuckled at the view that she still found concentration left to lecture them."These are old brooms but their still fairly resistant to that variety of thing."

"This isn't dark magic I'm talking about its him swapping it with a normal broom."Harry poked at the bristles trying to kindle some chemical reaction."Why don't you lend me yours then, you don't spirit like your in a precipitation to fly again."

"And what is that supposed to mean !"But Ron cut off any ensuing logical argument

"Oh fine…"He held out his ling."Just give it a shot if you have to."

"Thanks."They swapped brooms and Harry got himself back into the demonstrated riding position. He hopped off the ground but dropped back down just as quickly.

"Still having worry ?"Harry saw Ron float over his head and driblet down in front of him,"Nothing wrongly with this one mate."Ron knocked his knuckle joint against the wood of Harry's broom."I think its even a little good than my one."

"In that subject reach it back."As Ron laughed Harry held up his Calluna vulgaris"Or I'll show you the former way to use one of these !"

"Having trouble Potter."no… not now…"Your flying's so miserable even the weasel here can beat you and that's saying something."Malfoy floated along in front of Harry, sitting side-saddle and not even bothering to go for on."Didn't your father ever teach you to fly… Oh no wait I forgot ! He's a bit too mouldy to sit on a broom now !"The comment about his parents washed over Harry but the early insults bit and he sneered at the Edward Douglas White Jr. haired kid in front of him. Ron however erupted."What do you intend that's saying something !"He was back on his Calluna vulgaris in a trice and whipped himself around Malfoy so fast the Slytherins robes billowed in the lead."one-half of my mob's been on the Gryffindor Quidditch squad !"

"As if that's saying anything."Malfoy shot back but he had had to grip his Scots heather in the crosswind and was now sitting normally, staring Ron down."Gryffindor harbor't won the cup in twelvemonth. Being on a team of also-ran is no honour weasel."

"Yeah, they haven't won since my brother Charlie left !"Ron's tirade had began to pull attention and Madam hooch was walking over. Harry tried to catch Ron's eye but failed."estimable seeker in a decade ! He coulda'played for Engl…."

"Mr Weasly ! Mr Malfoy ! Decend at once !"ma'am Hooch didn't wait for them to respond and instead grabbed the fronts of their ling and yanked them to the floor. Ron fell in a heap, Malfoy kept his Libra the Balance but only barely."I will have no arguments in my classes and I distinctly told you to rise then drop, not levitate like blow fly !"The flying instructor spun and walked back to the rest period of the form leaving Malfoy and Ron glaring at one another.

Harry shifted his broom under himself, all during the argument he'd tried to rise up and join his friend but the broom had refused to strike. By the end of the example he'd flown once, a few wobbling substructure followed by a total prostration into the grass. Malfoy had laughed worse than before and Harry said some things that lost them planetary house period ("An XI year old shouldn't know those watchword Mr Potter, much less know what they mean !") and the Marauders were a muted lot that ascended the stairs to Gryffindor tugboat. Parvati tried to lighted the feel by pointing out how many students had the drenched Snape post-horse on the walls of their rooms and Harry decided to stop moping.

"rightfield,"Harry cracked open a drunkenness stolen from the kitchen."John L. H. Down to the severe business. What have you all found out about Quirrell ?"

*

"I still think Snape's your bad guy Harry."Ron tapped his finger on the table as if to accent himself. Neville, Annapurna and Padma all nodded but Hermione snorted dismissively.

"Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean value you can blame them for anything Ronald."Hermione shook her head as if explaining to a child.

"It just doesn't make sentiency Ron."Harry continued"Snape may be a git but it doesn't make signified. He thinks Quirrell's trying to steal something, from what I overheard afterwards he probably is. Why would Snape caper like he's accusing Quirrell when only Quirrell was in the room ! Also why would Quirrell play like it's him when nobody was in the room !"Harry leafed through some papers again while the others bickered, the casual prophet from a few calendar month ago was there, a raid at gringots where nothing was taken. Other things too, Quirrels disc, researched through old Indian file, an intelligent student, masterful in the possibility if not the practice of defensive measure against the dark fine art, the final stage few years of his life spent travelling around dealing with dangerous dark brute. Harry pushed them away and pulled over a dilutant Indian file, Severus Snape, potions captain of Hogwarts and long metre envier of the defence force against the dark-skinned graphics post. There wasn't much else, Snape didn't seem to be a very newsworthy person.

"It's decent there."Ron was taking to him again. Harry pressed his manus to his temple, there's only so very much imperativeness one can take."Snape wants the night prowess job and is trying to get Quirrell sacked."Harry was about to explain then stopped, if the last thirty clock time hadn't done it…

"We're not going to know until we see what's on the third floor."Padma said with a bank note of finality."Until then all this is just academic."She waved her hands over the mesa. Harry silently thanked her, he could always count on her to cut straight through the bull.

"We won't be capable to do it."Hermione crossed her arms."Well we won't !"She said to their recriminating stares"I'm not just being… being…"

"Yourself ?"Ron said and earned a charge from Parvati.

"Being strait-laced. I've been looking into it the same as everyone else has which is exactly the percentage point. We've all been caught loitering around the third floor a few too many times. Did you hear what McGonagall said in class yesterday ?"They all did, she'd basically just repeated what Dumbledore had said at the start of term but she had looked right at them the full time and each password had been clipped like little razors."She knows we're provision something and she probably knows we're behind the bill too, she just slant prove it."

"So ?"

"So, Mr Ronald Weasley they are watching us like war hawk. I'll bet there's a teacher guarding the third floor right now and another just on the other side of that door."She pointed at the other incline of the fat noblewoman portrait, from this side looking like a hole in the wall."Even putting aside the feeling of detention, house-points and especially expulsion ! We'd never get close up enough to the corridor to ascertain anything. It's all your fault really"She continued without a breathing time."If you hadn't done your pointless formula breaking we might be able to find out really important poppycock now."That comment was the reason an argument broke out that Harry had to calm down with wit. It was also at to the lowest degree partially the reason Harry stayed awake that Nox till he was sure Ron and Neville were asleep then got out his darkest clothes and slipped out one of the windows before heading in the focus of the proscribe corridor.

*

Harry peered through a window and saw prof Vector idly marking some assignments by the light of his wand while sitting on the stairs above the fat lady's portrait. Reminding himself to tell Hermione later ( she'd be insufferably smug but she deserved the satisfaction ) Harry slipped away and made his way over to the third trading floor corridor on the right manus English, or above it at least. The affair was in the midsection of the building, no chimney or window reached it and Harry could only peer through a side window at the necromancer guarding the doorway… Quirrell… Standing in a patch of lumos-light, his shadow jumping as he nervously twiddled his baton in his digit. Harry slid inside and dropped behind a column. Quirrell was guarding it ? He'd been so sure… Maybe the others were compensate and Quirrell wasn't attempting thieving after all. Or maybe he just hasn't gotten past the defense mechanism Snape mentioned yet. Then why isn't he inside the corridor trying to break through them. Harry's mental monologue was cut light as the solvent leaned out of the plot of darkness it had been sequestered in, unseeable even to Harry's eye's.

"Nervous Quirrell ?"Snape slid from his shadowy corner, his wand held lightly but readily in his script."Or perhaps not happy with the company."Harry saw now that it hadn't just been the dark, Snape's intact torso blended into the background, changing colouring material like a chameleon. Only his eye stayed the same, Shirley Temple holes even against the illuminate grey rock behind him, it made them seem like they were floating above the ground.

"Why ever w…would I be unhappy Severus."Quirrell was leaning away from the wraith-like frame before him."No one better equipped to ward this place than you and I, Eh ?"

"Because if you were unhappy with this arrangement."Snape continued like nothing had been said."You'd have to get used to it because I've made sure all our guard duty's occur on the same nights Quirrell, won't that be fun."Snape laced the death Bible with such poison Harry was surprised the dada prof didn't run like a lapin. Instead he jumped like one and whimpered.

"Y…you truly don't trustfulness me Severus ?"

"No Quirrell. I do not, have never and will never hope you."Snape slid back into his shadowy niche and once again became virtually invisible. Quirrell swallowed loudly and brightened his verge, peering into the darkness around.

But Harry was already prepared, while they had been talking he had sneaked around into the way next to the be-turbaned wizard and entered. It was an abandon classroom, desks piled up to the roof. Harry waited near the door as the searchlight beam swept past his position, swinging across the room like passing headlight before moving on. Harry waited patiently. Step two was already in motion.

*

Crack…

"What was that !"Snape pushed forward from his hiding shoes at the minor but nearby sound. He pointed his camouflaged arm at the far wall, by some pillars."I heard something over there."

"I didn't hear anything."The rat said in his fearful quavering tone."Perhaps you're… ha… ha… imagining things…Severus."

"It should be Snape from the likes of you."Snape kept scanning the darkness before him and a moment later

Crack…crack…

"There."Behind a tower, perhaps the ceramicist boy or one of his clique trying to achieve the corridor again. An irritation he didn't need with something so much more important going on. The rat Quirrell needed watching. For now Snape wasn't sure whether he wanted the Harlan Fisk Stone for himself or for… for… Snape shuddered away from the name in his nous. Dumbledore said saying it would fix him fear less but to Snape it was too much. The old soft touch didn't know, he hadn't been up close. Some things deserve fear.

"fountainhead if you think so th… then go over and check."

"Oh you'd love that wouldn't you Quirrell."Snape jammed his wand under the servile wretch's chin. Quirrell squealed and tried to support on his tiptoes to escape the dark-wood point."leave you close to the door unsupervised while at the Saame metre turning my back on you. Something I will never do."Snape pushed the man towards the early bulwark."You go first."

They walked like hostage and kidnapper up the frigidness Harlan Fiske Stone pathway to the pillar. Quirrell raised his verge. Not a chance…

"book binding down by your side or I will take it and possibly the hand It's gripped in too."Quirrell's arm guessing back down. As they reached the pillar Snape let the rat take the Pb and look around the corner. Better him to contract the commencement reversal if one came.

"There's n… zip here Sev…Professor Snape."No there isn't now, not after you distracted me for so long. Useless idiot.

Snape stepped around himself and saw nothing but three oddly placed sway, all together, near the reason where they might have fallen. They were both considering the conundrum when a fantasm skirted the book binding wall and stopped by the no-longer-guarded door.

*

"Alohomora."just a whisper like silk sliding over silk but the lock clicked and Harry slid the door open just ever so slightly, then entered the prohibited hall.

"Ha."Harry thought as he took one go coup d'oeil at the professor before closing the door."Lighter than air liquorish. Eat it speedy or it melts in the air ! also if you tie up a rock 'n' roll or two with it you get a racket about five moment after you take it from its wrapping. Who needs Q when you have mail-order Honeydukes ?"Harry turned back and for the first fourth dimension took a look at his surroundings.

Pitch Black person. Not even optic trained for this could penetrate it. Harry squatted down quietly and let his early senses have a try.

Cold, clammy, slight intermittent breeze. Odd that, you'd think there was nowhere for a picnic to make out from. Also the air had been dead still out on the roof.

dampness odor with a hint of mud and spate. There was water in there somewhere too and early things even less savory. Bit like a wet dog smell…

And most importantly in a osseous tissue cooling, heart leaping, cold-sweat, dry-palms, running-for-the-door-despite-Snape-and-all way, the phone of breathing. Heavy in-out breather with a hint of slobber on them. More like snoring actually. Harry tried to quieten himself down and at least partially succeeded. Getting out his baton he smothered the tip in his gown then breathed.

"Lumos"

The glow through the fabric was like dead fireflies but it showed Harry the contour of what was in front of him. Its bulk half way to the ceiling and slowly rising and falling with its breath. Like a muffled wraith Harry moved across the base, skirting the rampart until he had travelled all the way around the beast, having to step over its prat where it brushed the wall. There were no other threshold. This room and this beast was all there was to see. Harry edged closer to the front of the thing, his feet turned and poised to flee to the door at any moment.

"But what if I'm not libertine enough."Harry tried to silence his learning ability but it kept up its shrill booking"What if its like a Dragon and it doesn't matter how fast I am. It'll wake and I'll die in one bright flare pass in the duskiness !"

"It'll viewing for certainly if you don't shut up and let me concentrate !"Harry edged in closer to the beast and stopped when his brightness revealed a modification of texture in the floor. Harry carefully traced its sharpness in his brain."A square… a trapdoor… that which is hidden… that which is forbidden."Harry grinned in the dark. The alone problem was the dark mass obscuring one corner of the foursquare, a paw or claw of the matter. Harry's movements was as slow as drifting feathering and as quiet as his work force found the sharpness of the affair, and the hold, on the reverse side to the claw. Harry wanted to eliminate his wand but the sound he'd have to create was worse than the stifled luminescence. Harry reached for the trapdoor handgrip and applied the lightest touch of draw to it, increasing by whisker breadths Harry felt the wood move.

A oink near his shoulder joint made his muscles freezing and his warmness race. He felt frame move all around him and the air brought new wafts of malodor. But the beast just grunted again and fell back into snoring. Harry eased the room access up a half span more then stay put his hired hand in and felt inside. No footfall met his questing helping hand, just a straight light beam. Harry propped the door open with a rod and felt in his air pocket. He drew forth a tenacious string. His nimble finger felt the plumb on the end and he put it through the trapdoor then slowly and evenly paid out R-2 counting under his breath. The string went slack. About eight m. With something soft he'd do it. With cold stone he'd break a leg. Harry wondered if a veridical wizard would roll in the hay some self levitation charm to get themselves down safely. He pulled back up on the string and suffered a surprisal. It was stuck ! He tugged on it again. No give at all. He tugged again and in a heart stopping import, felt the rod brush his arm.

The trapdoor banging closed was like a cannon orb in the gut and Harry felt the darkness motion around him. He threw himself backwards as a guttural growl filled the way with primeval fear. He saw a shape the size of an oven smash down in battlefront of him and try wood splinter and go. Harry whipped the cloth from his wand and the bare shadows danced eminent on the walls before him as the massive rottweiler head turned and looked at him with bloodshot centre. Harry dived again to avoid its teeth and looked up to see it descending from above him too ! Harry kicked off from the ground and slid, he felt hot breathing spell on his back and the snap of jaws behind him but he was gone. Straight into the ruined trapdoor and plummeting down the shaft.

*

Harry spun in the air and he felt operose painfulness as his brain caught itself a crack on the passing wall. He landed in a plant and in a stupor, his centre showing him Black spotlight more than anything else. He lifted his hand to his chief and was surprised to see it came back pick, without blood or possibly brains. He shook his brain to clear it and held his excite hired hand and wand up to reveal his surroundings. A nondescript room with this flora covering the floor, covering some of the bulwark too, and the roof, and him !

"What the Inferno !"Harry shouted at the tendrils as they wrapped themselves around his legs. He tried to pull them off but they were like telegram ! They wrapped his waist too ! Harry pulled and tore at the vines !"Acerbus cuspis !"Harry used the nemesis Snape had aimed at him but bare threads of light shot from his wand and the flora barely noticed. What was that early one ! ? Think ! Think !"Relashio !"red sparks and hotness crack from his wand and where they hit the industrial plant drew back."Relashio !"Harry aimed at his wooden leg and cried out as his peel burned. But he was innocent. He stumbled to his base and blasted a few last tendrils. He leapt to the door and pushed through, staggering down the corridor occasionally pointing his sceptre back in case the demon flora had tried to follow him, he reached another threshold and carefully pushed it heart-to-heart, wand out in nominal head he entered the way, and was met by a unknown sight.

Shining, fluttering glittering things, flying near the roof hundred of them. Harry edged out into the substance of the high domed blank. The fairy Muriel Spark remained near the cap and Harry at last stopped eying them crooked. He walked over to the door on the other side of meat and tried the handle. Locked. Obviously. It could never be easy could it ? Harry was just wondering what to do when he heard voices from behind him. Spinning like a jump cat Harry saw faint lighting coming from around the edges of the door he'd just come through. The light and the voices got stronger as Harry searched for a hiding place. He ran to a bulwark buttressing and grabbed for a handhold, thank welkin they like ribbon around this place…

*

"I assure you Professor Dumbledore no one got past us. Unless they were… hm… invisible ! Ha…"

"I am not impugning your power Quirenius I merely wish to be sure."Dumbledore walked slowly as if there was no hurry. Severus had alerted him as soon as the dog had awoken and had himself tried to becalm the beast which was tearing at the floor near the trapdoor in a frenzy. Still, the old sucker still had his humour about him. He'd made them both leave while he placated the dog so neither of them had seen how to do it. He'd conjured a stairway to withdraw them down and a marble walkway over the devilsnare with a casualness that betrayed his true ability. Snape had to privately accommodate to himself he couldn't have replicated either exploit. That made him wince inside but he took some comfort from the fact that if he could not do it, Quirrell certainly couldn't and so the Harlan Stone was still safe.

They emerged into the key bedchamber and Snape strode forward and jerked the handle. The threshold was still locked.

"They could have locked it from the other side."Ivy and keys ? Foolishness and idiocy. The other instructor hadn't protected the stone nearly well enough.

"But if they had."Dumbledore said in his insufferably placid vox."Then the key would have been locked on that English with them and I think… Ah !"The old man pointed a be-ringed digit towards the ceiling and Snape strained his eyes into the cloud of scintillation but failed to nibble out which one the old man was indicating."It's still here. So… crisis averted. Or more correctly, there never was a crisis in the first place."

"well. I… I for one am calling my replacement."Quirrells voice was shrill and grating. Snape made a genial Federal Reserve note to add de-lunging to his list of tortures once he finally caught the loathsome animate being."I'm all of a fl… flutter."Quirrell turned and walked back down the corridor.

"Professor."Perhaps he'll listen to me now. Perhaps the doddering tomfool will hear to what I have to say now."As I have said before, Quirenius Quirrell has every intent of stealing the philosophers stone."Snape was so incensed he didn't even notice the movement above him in a high-pitched alcove, like mortal getting into a better position to listen."He was seen snooping around the Slytherin park way a hebdomad ago and he's never really explicate why he took the defense lawyers job in the first place."Snape couldn't give voice to the genuine reason for his mistrust. A gut feeling, a twisting knife in his heart and an aura of menace he felt in every cell whenever Quirrell was nearby. An irrational fear too. A reverence of being discovered, a fear that made every here and now a soundless prayer that his mental defences would give and he wouldn't be found out for what he was. He hadn't felt like that in over ten years…

"And as I have said before Severus I have no reason to mistrust Professor Quirrell."As he half become away Snape could possess sworn that Dumbledore's rim tilted into a tranquillity smile."But if it would help you kip ameliorate I will place my own protective covering on the stone tonight rather than waiting until after Christmas."That was certainly a shock !

"professor you have resisted every request that you add your own thaumaturgy's to the security of the stone."He had. All the other teacher had done it but the headmaster had maintained he wasn't ready yet and he still needed to test."What has changed ? Have I truly swayed you ?"

"Many affair have changed. Before I had not tested enough. Now I have."Dumbledore took a lowly sweet out of his pocket and popped it in his oral fissure before continuing."I intended to do a bit more screen but…"The old man spread his mitt."I suppose the current version will probably work well enough."

"May I ask what this providential auspices is ?"The headmaster had made some over-the-top claim about what his protection would do."A protective cover that not the Dark Lord, nor any destruction Eater, nor anyone with indirect request to use it for ill or avaritia could infiltrate ?"

"Ah Severus."Now the man was smiling. Sometimes the senile old man was just plain insufferable."You are always telling me I'm too trusting and now you want me to reveal my brilliant protective cover ?"His smiling eyes glanced at Snape over the top of his glasses before he turned and walked back down the passageway. There wasn't much Snape could do but be him.

*

Harry waited a good half hour after seeing Snape disappear, just to be surely he was truly gone before slipping out of his hiding place and climbing down to the floor. With a furtive glance around he made for the threshold and was almost there before…

"Leaving already Harry ?"

Harry turned on his axis, his case frozen mid pant and looked up into the look of Albus Dumbledore.

"Headmaster."Harry said doing his best to smile."I was just inspecting the security you have here. sort of… um… assessing it for you so I could tell you where you could… improve…it…"Harry trailed off under that teasing stare.

"And…"

"And ?"

"And how could I improve it ?"Dumbledore was half smiling when he said that. Under that strong smiling face Harry relaxed a lilliputian, this didn't tone like a conversation that could end in expulsion.

"wellspring, the two headed dog was good."

"cobbler's last I looked it had three heads."

"wellspring I didn't stick around long, I only met two. The industrial plant was less secure though. A little heat, a few electric arc and it's backing away."

"Devilsnare has clamed one-time and wiser magician than you Harry. You'd be amazed how few people can still think clearly enough to burn it away while being constricted."Dumbledore stepped forward and touched Harry's face. A moment later he nodded and touched Harry's forehead with his wand. A instant later Harry felt an odd tingling fill him, the burns on his legs faded and disappeared, as did the excoriation he'd received throwing himself away from the dog."There. All better."Dumbledore moved back and folded his subdivision."And now I'm afraid to say I must ask the real rationality you came down here tonight."Suddenly the air had grown colder. Expulsion was back on the table.

In defiance of custom Harry tried the truth.

"I overheard prof Snape threatening Professor Quirrell the night before Halloween."Dumbledore just nodded as if this was rule."Snape seemed to think he was going to try and steal something. We…"No, better he thinks I'm the only one to find fault"I worked out that it must be what's hidden here. What you got Hagrid to collect for you the same day we shopped for my school clobber. The Same thing someone tried to break into Gringots to get later."

"The philosophers stone."When Dumbledore saw Harry's face he continued"Harry, don't feign jar I know you overheard my late conversation with prof Snape. What I wish to know is why you came here in the middle of the night and alone."

"Couldn't risk anyone else. And besides, they all make too much noise for this sort of work."Harry tried to figure Neville sneaking past the dog and giggled."The only way I could do this was alone."The early reasonableness of course was that after being humiliated by Malfoy on a broomstick he'd wanted to prove to himself that he could do it alone.

"Harry. As amazed as I am to say this it is possible you are going to turn out to be more worry than your Church Father. I never thought anyone would dispute that crown."Dumbledore's smile was back, and this time not a half one. He shook his head ruefully then frowned as if a terrible store was surfacing. But the smile was back in a moment and he motioned Harry over to the wall behind him where a tall mirror was stood.

"That wasn't here before."

"I brought it down after conversing with Professor Snape."

"This is your protection ? What your using to protect the Harlan Fisk Stone ?"

"portion of it."Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at the mirror for a minute then turned back to Harry."Its called the Mirror of Erised. Look into it and tell me what you see."

Harry obediently moved in forepart of the mirror and stared into his mirror image. He wasn't alone in the mirror. Behind him stood the new piranha, some of the other student he'd talked to around the schooling, Hagrid, even Malfoy for some understanding, more faces he'd met and some people he hadn't but still felt some odd joining to, as if they were… friend. As he watched he saw himself age, and the others around him too, passing through teenage years he grew taller, passing further and further, lines appeared on his face, then grey in his pilus. He grew to an old man, smiling, surrounded by his acquaintance. Then in an wink he was back as a baby and he saw it begin again.

"What does it intend ?"Harry looked at the silver haired professor who was standing nearby."Is it showing the future tense ?"

"One could hope so, but no."Dumbledore seemed pleased but faintly surprised as he looked down at Harry."The mirror shows us nothing more or less than what we truly trust above all else. You Harry, who by your own choice lived a lone and frigid puerility desire Quaker, and companions and more than that ..."Dumbledore took Harry by one shoulder and kneeled down to talk to him face to face"…you want to know you'll keep them. You want to know that you don't have to go back to the cold sprightliness. Because that is what you most fear."

Harry looked back at the mirror. The faces were still there standing behind him, some were laughing now, or talking amongst themselves. The figures were growing misty for some reason, Harry wondered if there was something damage with the mirror. Then he felt the sting in his eye. Wordlessly, Dumbledore handed him a tissue.

"Let me take you back to your room Harry."He said quietly."Your admirer are waiting for you."They walked calmly back through the suite and out into the sleeping castle.

*

"So."Said Harry at a loss for conversation."How ‘ d you get past the other security ?"The Headmaster fixed him with a critical eye.

"I reckon I could get yesteryear ‘ em."Harry grinned up at the old maven."Got past two didn't I ?"

"Indeed you did. The particular of which I would prefer you keep to yourself."He smiled back down at Harry."And perhaps you are right field. I strongly suspect that my own protection would not trouble you at all."

"Hm, how do you get past a mirror ? Break it ! That's the answer isn ‘ t it."

"Oh please Harry. Do you really imagine my protective cover would be so crude."

"Exactly. It ‘ s so unproblematic that no one would suspect ! That's how I ‘ d do it."

"Then I am thankful Harry, that I am not actually employing you."

*

"Harry !"Ron's voice filtered down from the first long time room to where Harry was idly skimming through one of his schooltime books by the Christmas Tree."What are you doing down there ?"

"What do you mean ?"Almost no one else left in the Gryffindor unwashed room since everyone was away for the holiday, thus Harry didn't feel the want to curb his articulation when yelling back to Ron. It was just one of the fun things they had worked out about being left behind. Of class Ron wouldn't have kept quiet anyway. Ron had no volume ascendence."And Merry Dec 25 to you to !"

"Merry Noel ? Yeah I can see why you'd leave that to hold up seeing as you've left all your presents up hear."Ron emerged from the staircase and tossed a present at Harry who caught it before it could criticise over a lamp."Why'd you just result them up there ?"

If Harry had been reliable he would cause said that he'd just assumed they were Ron's. Instead he went for…

"Didn't want to wake you. And why are you using my present tense as projectile ? What if it had been fragile ?"

"Nah mate."Ron shook his head ruefully"I can tell what that one is, however you wrap them they all feel the same."Harry unwrapped the piece of ground and pulled out a wild blue yonder, knitted jumper. On the front man were three juggling balls in red, yellowed and greenish."My mum."Ron said holding up a standardized article."She makes them for all of us. Must have heard you weren't expecting many presents."

"Its pretty good. Very debonair."Harry pulled the sweater on over his head teacher and they went back up to the room to get the rest of the present. Of course Harry had sent his champion presents ( poor power shovel had been run ragged. The little owl was so eager to please she didn't seem to take any breaks in escape. ) but it kind of failed to click in his mind that he ‘ d probably get some in return. Harry noticed one with Hermione's straight handwriting on it ( after all, he ‘ d copied off her bill adequate times. Occasionally even with permission. ) and pulled it over first.

"It ‘ ll be a Koran mate."

"Wow Ron, a thick, heavy, rectangular package from a known pedant ? And just from that you can imagine it's a book ?"

"That, and she got me one too."Ron held up a book with a checkerboard cover, there was a rook on the front but Harry couldn't read the title. Pulling the paper off his own nowadays he smiled. It was an magnanimous excerption of chocolates but what made him grinning was the Federal Reserve note on the top that said


Admit it, you thought this was a book didn't you ?

Ron himself had provided Harry with an absurdly Orange hat and Neville had found him some juggling billy charmed to trail rainbows in the air behind them when thrown. Padma and Parvati had got him record book, but it looked like they'd collaborated because the titles read Secrecy and fantasy, magical spell of concealment and Beyond allohamora, unlocking your obstacles. virtually of the rest were edible things ( not that Harry minded ) and he bit into a bar of umber while settling down to read.

*

Harry popped the second to utmost of his Christmas chocolates into his mouthpiece and handed the hold out one to Parvarti who was skulking in the shadows nearby. At to the lowest degree it was a skillful night, nights with rainwater had been rather unpleasant. For the past few months the marauders had been working on the Quirell mystery but getting nowhere. Eventually one day when they were researching in the library Harry threw his leger away in disgust and said

"This is pointless."

"You ‘ re the one who said we had to get him mate."Ron had been staring at a book on ancient chemistry for the retiring one-half minute. He hadn't turned the page.

"We do get to get him."Harry waved his hand wearily over the board."But we ‘ ve gone through all this stuff. We ‘ re not gona find anything this way."

"We can ‘ t really do anything else Harry."Herminone had pointed out. Of course she would say that. She was probably enjoying this."We just don't know enough about what he ‘ s doing."

"No…"And that was when the idea had formed in Harry's mind. It was so simple he wondered why he hadn't thought process of it before."But we can line up out."

"How ?"Neville had asked.

"We become his fantasm. We watch him everywhere he goes. He ‘ s got to splay up eventually right ?"

Organising a night sentinel had seemed like a lot More fun than it was. In teams of two they rotated, each team taking either the inaugural half of the Nox, the indorsement half or having a night off. After a hebdomad and a one-half of reduced sleep the 1st year rascals were getting a bit ratty. At least he was paired with Parvarti. She was mostly cheerful.

"This isn't working."Or not…

"We know he's going somewhere. Some nights."Ron had woke them all after one of his round with the news that Quirrell had slipped out furtively. Him and Hermione had moved swiftly to the thirdly base corridor to head him off, but he had never showed."We just involve to go for a little longer."

"But I'm tired."The usually chipper twin hadn't taken well to the hr."And he's never going to come out."

"Funny you should say that…"Harry ducked low and pulled the lady friend down with him as he saw the threshold to Quirrells quarter open and close, permitting the instructor to scurry off down the hall.

"Yes ! We've got him. LET go !"The fatigue had drained from her face and she had regained a smiling. She moved off without a word but Harry had started in the opposite management."Hey ! The third floor corridor is that way !"

"Yeah but we don't know he's going there."Harry held her hand as they walked a cap ridgepole on the side of a courtyard."I'm not making the Sami fault as the others, I'm not letting him out of my sight."They slid silently down a drainpipe onto a flat roof above the kitchens and Harry saw the turbaned ace faux pas out a side door, cross the court, then insert a door leading to the entrance hall.

"Well we can't…"But Harry held up one fingerbreadth to silence her and a moment later they, heard a door hatchway and closedown then could clearly see the dark-skinned shape of the wizards robes as he crossed the earth towards the preclude forest."What do we do now ?"

"We watch him."Harry said it without the condemnation it usually held and with a good dose of fear in there as well."You go back and tell apart the others."But he was surprised when she shook her head.

"No, I'm going with you. You can't go in there alone."She started moving before he had a chance to object."Besides, I've heard there are Centaurus in there. I wouldn't thinker seeing a centaur."

*

"Do you know where your going ?"Parvarti hadn't seen any Centaurus, but there had seen other thing skulking between the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. Harry looked back and wished he would throw offered some reassurance. He knew he could chance the way back, wellspring probably. He had made certainly to check it at steady intervals with slash on the tree trunks. But tracking a man through timberland was zilch he had even thought of doing before. They had entered the timber at about the Same touch as Quirrell and Harry had had his Hope boosted by finding a footprint impression in mud nearby but after that nothing.

He was vaguely aware that they should depend out for broken sprig or song but the branchlet seemed to have no discernable features and the forest was eerily quiet. Except for the things.

"Look at this !"Parvarti was pointing at a folio nearby. When Harry moved closer he saw what she was pointing at. A silver liquid covered the leaf, it felt wily and oleaginous under his digit. Also slightly warm."And there's more."Again she was right, there was a track leading across the path they'd been taking more liquified tinged the ground in both counseling."It must consume been bleeding !"

"It ? What it ?"

"The unicorn silly !"Parvarti pointed her burglars lantern back at the leaf."Oh I cant imagine what could do such a thing ! This is unicorn ancestry Harry, and it looks refreshful !"

"It is."Confirmed Harry with a draught."Its even still warm."Why are we here ? Why did I do this ? Why didn't we get the others or tell McGonagall or… Harry tried to prevent his aspect impassive but it was hard.

It was one thing knowing nasty thing were out in the afforest butchering nice thing, quite another to have proof and another still to have them be so close that the lineage wouldn't have had time to cool in the nighttime air. He looked at his protagonist and was suppressed to see no awe in her face, only anger that something would hurt a unicorn.

"But which way did it do ?"She shine her light first one way then the other.

"This way."Said Harry in absolutely tint and pointed at the land ahead. In the mud there, all the way for all to see, was the bounder of a boot print. Harry didn't want to admit even to himself that his first inherent aptitude on seeing the mark was to aim the other way. That or run for the Hill."Alright. come together the shutter on the light right down, we can see the stock well enough. And go slow."Parvarti did as she was told and they set off again into the forest. Harry couldn't have told anyone afterwards how foresightful they had walked, it seemed like an timeless existence. The splashes of rip grew larger and more shop at, the further they went until.

"!"Harry stopped dead and put his hand out flat in battlefront of the early Marauder. There was a clearing up ahead, bathed in the humpbacked moonshine and the Night air carried auditory sensation to them. It sounded like an obscene slurping and gurgling and along with it there were the strait of faint movement. Harry pointed left, around the sharpness of the clarification then once again put up a single finger. Silence.

They moved around until they were behind a fallen Tree then slowly looked over the top of the log. Through the ramification that his them they saw an awful sight. The unicorn was splayed on the flooring like it had been run to basis and a cloaked figure hunched over it, drinking its rakehell out through its wounds.

A tug on Harry's sleeve brought him back to the moment and he crouched back down with Parvarti. Her face was a movie of angriness and she mimed jumping over the log while brandishing her lantern. Harry shook his head firmly. What the Scheol was she thinking ? She gestured more firmly then touched her fondness and made a pumping apparent movement. What was that supposed to mean ? She opened her backtalk and mouthed something to him but he couldn't order what. She did it again more enlarged and the signification hit him with sickening certainty.

"It's still alive !"
Harry looked over the log again and saw what he had missed the first base time. The Unicorns chest was indeed still moving up and down and its breath disturbed the dust near its head. He sat back down and made the heart pumping gesture while nodding, he'd seen it too. Obviously Parvarti wanted to pull through the fauna if possible. Harry stuck his finger in the dirt between them and wrote one word.

HAGRID

Then pointed to her. She nodded, then pointed to him. He smiled and wrote one More word.

beguilement

*

Without further ado he moved further around the glade so that when he ran he would drive the matter away from the commission Parvarti would bear to go to get help. He was sword lily to see her moving off too, rather than arguing with his decision. Harry wrapped the scarf round his head word again and tucked it in so it wouldn't unravel. This would do, he thought. No sense waiting around. He got out his wand, took careful aim and yelled

"Acerbus cuspis !"

The cloaked figure was caught off guard duty and some of Harry's conk spears had hit it. It flinched back, more surprised than hurt then an new haphazardness came from its hood, a drawn out hungry auditory sensation. Like a snake having a rat dangled in its case. Wonderful, thought Harry as the thing rose up, Uncle Vernon always said I was vermin.

It was as if that thought snapped him out of his fear paralysis and he ran, away from the clearing and the thing. He moved without thinking, pes slamming on firm primer where possible and pushing off roots and mud when not. Harry never looked behind him but he knew the affair was still on him. He moved into new sections of the timberland where the trees were different shapes, senior, novel, taller, more brush they all shot by him in an instant, too fast for him to see properly. He did notice that they weren ‘ t group meeting any animal and thought that they were probably scared of the matter behind him.

He reached a thick pedestal of trees and brush and slipped in sideways. Here he risked a look back. nix. English ? front line ? Nothing. Harry allowed himself a controlled breath. It looked like he had lost it. Harry sat for a second on a log and let his legs relaxation. The tiredness of the preceding week and the tension of the night caught up to him at once and he sagged against the tree behind him. He didn't know how farseeing he sat there, he may even have fallen asleep but he did have it away what caused him to total to aid suddenly. A twig breaking nearby. Harry moved slowly and backed away from the reference of the strait when a hand grabbed him from behind and swung him around roughly. Harry's fear of attempt turned into rest, then quickly back into fear.

"Out for a midnight amble ceramist ?"

"professor Snape."Harry said trying his best to put on a good font."Thank god you found me."

*

The boy walked in silence in straw man of him as Snape led him back towards the castle. The charms he'd laced the edges of the woodland with had tripped, waking him and warning him that Quirrell had gone on another of his nightly pleasure trip. But once again the fiddling louse had eluded him and he'd been on his way back when he'd seen potter in a stand of tree diagram. His mouth felt like twitching into a smile, at least some undecomposed could come of this night's work.

"What are you going to do when we get back to the castle."The boy voice was steadier than he expected. Planning something… Ha ! Just like the former ceramicist this one thought he was smart.

"We are going to your capitulum of house. Then to Dumbledore. Then you can explicate what you were doing in the forbidden timber after hours."Snape allowed himself a mo of joy then said."Then you can go back to your room and multitude for the wagon train journey back. From which you will never return."

"But what if I've got a good reason for being here ?"

"What potential reason could that be ?"

"Same reason you are. Following Quirrell."Had that been a shot in the dark ? He tried to charm the unsufferable child's heart but he looked unbowed ahead."And unlike you I succeeded."

"Quirrell is a companion teacher. With every right to claver the woods if he so chooses."

"Oh."The scion of his enemy said brightly."So you wouldn't be interested in what he's doing in there then ?"

Insufferable, Worthless, Sneaking, COWARDLY, MANIPULATING !, WORM ! ! Snape took a import to assemble his sentiment before turning thrower and looking directly into his eyes. There was a flashbulb, a board, some faces… a frown crossed the boys face for a bit then he shook his header worriedly. Even Snape could not conceal his stupor as a blank wall appeared before him, slowly fading over the memories. The boy was an Occlumens ! But he couldn't know what he was doing, it must be subconscious mind ! With a flicker of veneration his heart were drawn to the cicatrice on the male child forehead. Or was it entirely subconscious ? ability would be transferred in such an event, great power…

"What are you suggesting ?"Inside himself he was seething. He so wanted to see the son of James ceramicist expelled. It would make up for so much but… Quirrell was more important, if there was even the slender chance the endocarp could be use to bring back… ceramist could waitress for another time.

"You forget this ever happened and in one week I ‘ ll tell you what I saw tonight."Smug and impossible. And in this case right.

"Why one week ?"

"Because it would look odd if in one week you go to Dumbledore and say ‘ I caught Harry Potter in the forest a workweek ago, I just didn't Tell you till now.'” They had entered the castle now and were on their way to the common way. They stopped outside the portrayal door."Well ?"

"Agreed."

*

Harry breathed again and slipped in through the door. A moment later he was attacked ! Visiously and unexpectedly, it took him a moment to recognise it was Hermione. She had thrown her weaponry around his neck and was sobbing against his chest.

"We thought…"She sniffed giving Harry a luck to look around. Everyone was there, including Parvarti. They all looked relived."That it had… got… you."

"claim it easy alright. I'm alright."Harry levered her off him and took a breath only to be re-bowled over as Parvarti hugged him."What the ?"

"We shouldn't have left you. And it was me who wanted to write it in the first property, I…"

"I. Am. Fine."He pulled her of as well and was about the speak before looking up expectantly at Padma.

"Oh fine if everyone else is doing it."She stood up and hugged him too. Then let out a talk through one's hat sob and said"And I broke a nail this morning !"Harry grinned and she returned to her place at the table.

"So, now we know what he ‘ s doing the next step ‘ s to find out why. And what we ‘ re gona to do about it."



*

The following few workweek were full-of-the-moon of disappointment. Except for the Slytherins who got a temporary reprieve from pranking. Hagrid had saved the unicorn and in thanks for their help he told them all about the properties of unicorn roue and what it could be used for. Snape hadn't been any help, when Harry told him the tale a week later he merely nodded and told him to get out. From what they knew they could act out that Quirrell was after immortality but for what reasonableness ?

"Maybe he ‘ s not after it for himself."Neville had said one day. Harry tried to always care for Neville's suggestions as smart in the hope it would persuade the boy to talk more."You said he called mortal schoolmaster when he thought he was alone."

"But he was alone Neville."Ron apparently hadn't heard about that plan."Wait… that's our explanation. He ‘ s crazy ! Nuts ! He ‘ s prob'ly talking to his turban !"

"Or he had some sorting of sorcerous communicator in his room."Padma said scathingly."Something he was talking to somebody through."

"Oh, yeah."Ron looked down a little sheepishly. Then brightened."Hey ! Maybe if we got our work force on the communicator we could, I don't know, trace it back to this passkey ?"

"That would bet on how sophisticated it is."Hermione's voice came from behind a pile of books, shed already begun revising for the end of year examination and at least some of the other vulture seemed to want to link her."But Dumbledore could probably do it."

"Alright then."A program began to make in Harry's idea."Dumbledore said he had no reasonableness to mistrust Quirrell and Snape's got no proof to show him otherwise. If we get this communicator then they've got the proof they need and they can strike to stop Quirrell."

"But Harry. We don't know where the communicator is."

"I know. That's why we ‘ re going to heist Quirrell."

"Is ‘ burglarize ‘ even a word."Padma asked.

"The spellchecker seems to think it is."

"What's a spellchecker ?"

"it's a charm that detect misspelled wrangle, underscore them in red."

"I really need to revise."

*

But the opportunity didn't come for a long patch. Quirrell had begun sleeping with his window closed and the lock on his door resisted all the tricks in beyond allohamora. ("I can't believe you gave him that."Hermione had said"Its like giving a scalawag the key to the plantation."Ron had shot back"Yeah, or you the key to the depository library !") and there was null to be done but time lag and watch for Quirrell to slip one's mind up. There was a plus side though. guard duty duty gave them plenty of prison term to retool. Then the exams came, sore and inevitable with the fear and dubiety that came with them.

The lonesome ones Harry was at any way comfy about were good luck charm and astronomy, the latter because unlike other classes he actually paid attention and the former because ( perhaps due to his Christmas present tense ) he was genuinely good at the magical spell. Potions was a nightmare and defence mechanism against the dark artistic creation worse. Quirrell had taken to watching him out of the corner of his eye when he thought Harry wasn't looking. Harry hadn't told the others, Quirrell wasn't watching them and he didn't want to worry them.

Even with the exam and their go on failing in their job it was hard to feel bad. The weather had turned to terrific and students could always be found out sunning themselves on the smoke. Harry was just on his way to spend an afternoon in just such a manner ( the respite of the marauders already waiting ) when he looked up and saw what he had been waiting for for weeks. Quirrells window, open.

Harry glanced around, did he dare go up on the rooftops in the middle of the day ? When the whole schoolhouse would be able-bodied to see him. Harry turned to where he knew he could wax up and stopped. Should he get the others ? No. Quirrell might return and their only fortune would be lost. He quickly scurried up the wall and slipped in through the window.

The elbow room smelled strongly of garlic and indeed there were clove tree hanging in diverse places around the room. He quickly began searching using what they knew of communicating charms, mirrors were often used, sometimes gems or crystal. He checked the mirror in the lav but it appeared to be the formula kind ( no response when tapped with a wand ). He was about to check off the bedroom when he heard a phonation behind him.

"Come into my parlour said the wanderer to the fly."




Note, if your wondering why some of the chapters are twice the duration of the others it 's because they used to be two chapters. I put some of them together because its taking so long to get the stuff posted. Also because they seemed pointlessly short before.


"Well, well, well."prof Quirrell had lost his stammer and stood in front of the interlock door with his wand pointed at Harry's chest."You do get yourself into a great mint of muggy situations."

"it's a gift."Harry tried not to glance at the window. It was still unresolved, and there were some trees in the courtyard below. He might make it.

"No !"Quirrell flicked his wand and the window banged shut. Another flick and it glowed for a moment, accompanied by a squelching audio."No, you're not leaving that way Potter."He grabbed Harry's arm, jerked his wand out of his pocket then pulled him to the door. The 1st year could feel the tip of Quirrells wand against the small of his back."Now walk, calmly and unhurried. To the third base floor."

The corridors that were always so entire of smiling pupil were virtually void now. All of them outside enjoying the sun. The few he saw in the distance too far away to signal to.

"Face forward."Quirrell hissed."If you attempt to warn anyone then that person atomic number 66 then you die is that clear ?"

"Why are you taking me up there ?"Harry tried to win over his brain to puzzle out but he seemed to be missing learning ability electric cell.

"Oh that's quite simple. Your going to avail me, I knew what you and your little friends were up to so I laid a maw. Now you are going to aid me with something, with two things actually. The inaugural is round-eyed, all you have to do is flirt along. Lie. You're beneficial at that yes ? The bit is a bit more complex. You see…"They grew close to the corridor and Quirrell pulled him to a plosive consonant and into a disused schoolroom."I've spent the class devising goofproof ways to get past each demurrer except one that still eludes me."

"Snape."Good old sneaky bastard Snape.

"Yes Snape."Quirrell drew an odd potion from his gown, it was pitch Joseph Black and looked oddly oily."His protective cover I don't know how to pass by but… that is for later. For now ? Drink this."He held out the potion."Just a sip, we only need the burden for a few minutes."Harry hesitated."Do it ! Do it or you die !"

Harry took a bantam sip of the potion and instantly felt the effect. His manpower seemed to farm and he pulled off his shoes as the pressure in them increased. Black hair grew down in front of his optic and he flicked it out of the way. After a few moments the effect ceased and he stood up again, taller by far than when he had begun.

"Ah, wonderful."Quirrell said smiling."Now put these on."He handed Harry some farseeing dismal robes and gestured to the mirror nearby. Harry took them and walked over, stopping for a moment in cushion. He looked like Snape !"Get on with it boy !"Harry struggled into the robe then did them up and allowed Quirrell to lead him towards the dread corridor. Harry saw professors Flitwick and Sinestra outside the room access. Sinestra was sitting mark legged and appeared to be meditating in some way. Quirrell prodded him in the back. Of course, Snape would attain the commencement move. He tried to make his part as sneering as possible then said.

"We're here to relive you."Apparently that was all that's needed as the two teachers nodded and left the corridor murmuring au revoir. Quirrell pulled him towards the doorway."What if they meet the real Snape ? They'll know he's not here."

"prof Snape was called away unexpectedly."Quirrell smirked confirming to Harry that his absence was no coincidence."He thinks he arranged a replacement on guard duty but unfortunately the owl never got through. Oh and in character you were wondering your precious Dumbledore is gone too, called away to the ministry. No one can help you."

"I can help me."Harry thought desperately as they entered the room with the jumbo dog. Its three fountainhead instantly rose to watch them but Quirrell pointed his wand at the floor nearby and a harp appeared. Another composite movement and it began plucking out a dim-witted tune. The great wildcat lid drooped and it fell quickly asleep.

"seminal fluid on boy ! I haven't got all day."Quirrell pulled him forwards to the trap room access then pulled it open. He whispered a piffling charm and a roach began curling its way out of his sceptre. Quirrell seemed to have to concentrate a heavy mountain to pull out this off and Harry backed away slowly. He felt some thing behind him and put a manus back to feel. It was the harp. Acting on instinct, Harry grabbed the harp and smashed it as hard as he could against one of the dogs gargantuan manus. The dog awoke with a holloa and bit through the harp remains in a single bite. Then it turned to the other interlopers in its way.

"Boy ! What do you think you're…"But then Quirrell was forced to defend himself as the great heads reared up above him. He screeched a 1 word and fireball smacked one on the nose. Harry took the chance and bolted for the door."I'm not done with you yet mess around !"Quirrell screamed. Harry glanced back in time to see red light, then darkness.

*

"Where the hell is Harry ?"Ron glanced back at the palace roiled."He said he was only gon na be a few minutes."

"Why are you worrying Ron, when you could be sunbathing !"Parvarti stretched out on the ground and sighed happily.

"He's probably just got distracted by something Ron."Hermione was doing her type of sunbathing. With a book."Honestly, sometimes I think he has a inadequate attention span than… than… well than you !"

"I can't think your reading out here."Ron caught the quaffel thrown to him by Neville then threw it back."The exam are over Hermione."

"For this year."

"You're actually revising for next years exams ?"Ron shook his head then yelled"Hey !"as a quaffel smacked into the incline of his headspring.

"Oh sorry Ron."Padma commented with monumental hollowness."Were you not ready ?"

"Oh look the mudblood army seem to be missing a general."The marauder turned en spate to see Malfoy strolling towards them with his paw in his pouch."punter get used to it though."

"What did you say !"Ron yelled at the same metre as Hermione said"What do you mean get used to it ?"

"I mean scum,"Ron's clenched fist clenched."That your lilliputian hero seems to consume finally gotten into more trouble than he can plow. Oh yes, I saw a teacher carting him off. Looked furious too."

"Which teacher ?"Padma's question seemed ominously quieten in the open air.

"professor Quirrell, but don't think that… Hey !"But Ron had grabbed him by the front of his coating, knocking his wand away. The carrottop was vaguely aware of his supporter surrounding him with baton drawn. Keeping Crabbe and Goyle at bay.

"Where did you see them ?"Ron punctuated each Holy Scripture by shaking the Slytherin up and down."WHERE !"

"Th… Th… Third floor. That corridor with the maypole painting."Ron let him go. That was rectify next to the dog's room.

"Mr Weasley !"McGonagall was striding across the yard in anger."I never expected such violent behaviour from…"

"prof McGonagall !"Ron interrupted her ( something never done ), bringing gasps from the onlookers."Harry ceramist's in peril. And so's the Philosophers Stone."

*

"wake up Mr ceramist. emanation and radiance for the steel new day."The sentence slid around the black cocoon of Harry's unconscious."Now now, that won ‘ t do. Up !"Pain blossomed in Harry's tummy and the sting of it pulled him back to realism. He drew himself up on the insensate stone floor shaking terribly. The long sleeve of his robes fell down over his arms and he realised he was back in his own body. Quirrell aimed another savage rush at Harry ‘ s bureau and he sprawled on the floor again.

"You think that's pain potter ?"Yep, sure seemed like it, at the very least he had a cracked rib."I can introduce you to the torture execration if you want. If you choose not to co-operate with me."Harry raised his heading wearily and realised that he was in a new room. fervency blocked both doors and on a tabular array in the centre a row of feeding bottle stood, twinkling in the torchlight.

"Wh… where ?"

"The traitors trial."That hadn't sounded like Quirrell. Harry looked up and saw fear in Quirrells eyes.

"So."Thought Harry."He has the communicator on him. That must have been his masters voice and whoever the master is he's scared of him."

Quirrell bent over the table and read with a smile…

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will avail you, whichever you would happen,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only get to wine,
III of us are killers, waiting hidden in personal credit line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To assist you in your choice, we give you these clue four :
low gear, however slyly the toxicant attempt to hide
You will always find some on nettle vino 's left side ;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would make a motion onward, neither is your friend ;
tierce, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither midget nor giant holds Death in their interior ;
quartern, the sec left hand and the secondment on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at world-class sight."

The wizard shook his head angrily.

"What kind of a task is that ? You don't even need magic. And besides, I've never taken the logical path to get solvent. I so prefer the… experimental approach."He picked up one of the bottles at random and held it out to Harry with a peaked smile."Drink up !"

*

"He's there !"Ron was shouting now. Heedless of the steady stream of rubies that must make been leaving the hourglass in the keen Marguerite Radclyffe Hall."He's there right now having god knows wha…"

"Mr Weasley ! If you can not hold yourself I will accept you dragged to my office where I will flue your female parent ! And we will discuss your uphold mien at this school !"The argument had moved from the exterior to the corridors as the deputy headmistress had failed to listen."As it is you are all already in adequate trouble for just knowing about the stone ! Let alone disrespect to a Hogwarts professor. Two professors in fact as I think Professor Quirrell will want to hear about the base accusal you have made."

"But you don't…"Ron was brought to a halt by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Neville holding him back with a terrified smell on his face. He shook his head quickly.

"You should listen to your Friend Mr Weasley."The prof said while turning and walking down the student residence."Now you will all watch me to my authority where we can decide…"

"Petrificus Totalus !"

The predator crew watched in utter silence as their pass of business firm went firm then slowly but inexorably fell backwards. Ron caught her and lowered her to the floor, ashen faced. He looked bout to see Neville standing with his wand out and a horrified expression on his expression.

"I… I … I had to…"Neville stuttered without moving."God, that was like cursing Gran."

Ron looked down at McGonagall font. A person shouldn't be able to fire fear while only moving their eyes but somehow the set of them said there would be hell to pay.

"Ok then."Padma broke the silence."Since it seems we're going to get drum out anyway lets go get our boy."

*

"Nil for two Mr Potter !"Harry fell choking on the floor as Quirrell took a sip of the potion he'd just proved was good."Still born golden I see."Harry fell into a fit of coughing that wracked his organic structure with pain. He pulled his foreland back and idly noticed the line of descent all over his sleeve. So, Sir Thomas More than a bonkers rib then.

When he had refused to drink the first nursing bottle Quirrell had used some sorting of bludgeoning swearword that squashed him back to the level. As he had lain there vainly trying to get his breath back Quirrell had pulled his point back and tipped the potion down his pharynx. The indorse time he had tried to protest to a greater extent and been formally introduced to the cruciatus jinx. He was ashamed to say he willingly took the bottleful in shaking bridge player and drank a sip himself. All the prison term feeling wretched and a coward.

"Now."Quirrell looked down on him almost proudly."Since you seem to have learned your office in this little drama."The sadist looked down for a reaction but Harry didn't rise to the lure. He wasn't sure he had the zip too even if he had wanted."I'll let you choose the next one."He waved his hand over the remaining feeding bottle and stood waiting.

Harry pulled himself up on the edge of the table and tried to bring a genius cell to bear."Hermione where are you when I need you ?"He must have said it out loud because Quirrell laughed and said

"I could get her if you want. I'm certain she'd like to see the cruciatus expletive. As a purely academic work. Of course to fully appreciate it I would have to do it on her as well."Harry looked from one bottle to another and a snatch of song came back to him.

Neither dwarf nor heavyweight holds death in their interior.
Harry's eyes slid to the smallest bottle in the row. His bridge player shook almost too much for him to take up the bob out and he spilled some as he took a sip. An New York minute cold sensation trickled down his throat and into his arms. But was this the forth potion or the back one ? It didn ‘ t really matter since Quirrell was between him and the way back, so only one way remained. Harry put his manus to his throat and pretended to suffocate, falling towards the flame he took a heavily gasping breathing time.

"Trickery ! Get Him !"DAMN IT ! Harry reacted on instinct and kicked the nearest board leg. One of the remaining potions fell between him and Quirrell, cracking on the floor and bursting into bluish black fire. That was all the distraction Harry needed as he clawed himself off the floor and jumped headfirst into the fire.

The floor on the other position knocked the wind from him but he wasn't burnt. It had been the right potion.

"You will pay for that !"A mountain chain with a claw shoot through the drapery of flames, trailing sparks.

"A screen shot."Harry thought muzzily."But I can't stay here."

He pulled himself up and staggered along the corridor clinging to the wall. Quirrell continued to shout behind him but he ignored it, there was a way up ahead. He walked in and barely saw the place. All he took in was the tall mirror in the centre, familiar. Without really realising what he was doing he moved towards it and fell to the ground in strawman of it. Oh, god everything injury. He looked up into the mirror and saw his Quaker familiar faces surrounding him, filling the mirror-Harry with heat and happiness.

"Where are you."Harry spoke to the empty room. He felt himself falling backwards, lonely and die."Where are you now ?"

He floated in the darkness for a moment then was brought back around. Instinct again waking him when he was no longer alone. He turned to see a charred figure, gown in tatters and his turban unwound and trailing behind him.

"There's always more than one way round a challenge."The phonation was cracked and thirsty but replete of malevolence and ire"You just have to think outside the box."

*

"No."Harry pulled himself away from the advancing figure. Forgetting for a instant that there was nowhere to go.

"Yes Potter. What Severus seems to accept forgotten…"The wretched trope said as it stalked towards Harry on ruined branch."Is that I would much rather walk through fire than acknowledge failure to my master. Much, much rather."He came to a stop in front line of the Mirror and pointed his blackened wand at Harry.

"No wait, this won't work."He threw the wand away like garbage."But luckily I have another."He drew out Harry's wand, unblemished and pristine. He laughed at Harry's shocked human face and said"Rubbed in what picayune of the potion you let cast on the level. It was bound to survive safe than mine. After all, phoenix plume are meant to pass through fire."He flicked the wand negligently and ropes bound Harry's legs under him.

"Yes, you left just enough for the wand and for…"His hand rose involuntarily to the back of his fountainhead and a quiver of pain ran across his boldness."But enough !"He stood in front of the mirror, his anticipation decipherable on his typeface."I see myself presenting the stone to my master. He is restoring my soundbox, making me well again… But how do I get it ?"

"Use the boy."Quirrell grabbed his arm and jerked him back in straw man of the mirror. The figure of speech swam in pain in front of him. His ally faces still stared back at him, mocking him with their happiness.

"Well boy ? What do you see ?"

"Well…"Harry though."…since I seem to be dieing anyway…"

"I see myself you charred bastard. It's a mirror."

"Crucio !"Pain obliterated the world again but soon enough he was throw off awake and slammed in figurehead of the glass.

"What do you really SEE !"

"I ‘ ve just found every burnt umber frog add-in. My appeal is complete."

"Do you delight pain ?"Quirrell's face was twisted beyond realization."Do you cogitate even for a moment that your little defiance will actually achieve anything !"

"Alright fine."Harry brought a rictus grin to his face"I see Hagrid with a giant spiked baseball bat. He's sticking it right up your…"the world once again dissolved into pain.

*

"A chess set, what the…"

"Oh god tone here on the floor… Blood."

"Do you think he.. ?"

"No clip for this ! We need to travel !"

*

Harry floated again on the ocean of excruciation. But this time he wasn't alone.

Brave, or maybe simply foolish.
That voice again. The professional.

Your parents were fearless Harry ceramicist. It didn't do them any good either.
"Oh so you know my parents too. Got any good anecdotes ?"He wasn't sure if he said that out loud but the voice laughed.

Oh yes. Joking in the fount of painfulness. That is something I think your Church Father would do.
"Yeah."Harry said as the world began to swim back into focus."But I've got my mothers eyes."He looked up but Quirrell was standing a room away, curiously with his back to him. Harry groped around for his glasses.

"There by your elbow."The part almost had a teasing tone to it now but Harry was struck by a bingle question. How did he sleep together ? He pulled his glasses back on and was met by his horrific answer.

"Yes Harry."The boldness spoke with spitefulness now, and barely controlled anger."This is what you reduced me to. Ten yr ago."

"Oh my god."Harry gulped as he realised the Sojourner Truth."Voldemort."

"Yes Harry Potter. Creator Voldemort. Now do what you are assure and secernate me what you see in the mirror."

Harry turned without wanting to and asterisk again into the shining surface. The faces stared back, laughing and happy.

"Their probably still out on the grass."opinion Harry. The Ron in the mirror patted him on the dorsum."They don't know about this iniquity. This darkness. They haven't seen it. They don't have to grapple with it. And they shouldn't need to."

"I see…"

"Yes… yes !"

"I see… stars."Harry smiled and flung himself at the mirror.

The crashing sound echoed through the dormitory and Harry felt ice sherd cut into his skin. He tried to cast but a crisp pain in his arm caught him and he stopped, quivering.

"You FOOL."He felt himself picked up and shook like a doll."You destroyed it !"He fell to the priming coat again and saw Quirrell rifling through the fragment, heedless of the track and blood."Where is it ! Where is it ! … Gone… You knew !"The repeat head came up and looked him straight in the eye."You knew that wouldn't liberation the stone !"

"Dumbledore told me."Suddenly Harry actually did sense like laughing."But on the minus slope, that should be seven years bad luck."

"You.. YOU ! !"The doubling creature stood quivering with rage."fountainhead I hope you taste your victory."The thing drew Harry's verge"Because, it is the last opinion you will ever have ! Avada Ked…"

"tarantella !"

The whammy spun over the tool head and broke against the far wall. Harry turned to the door and saw the Marauders standing there. Five wands pointed ramrod-straight at the thing, that had swung around to face them.

"Children."Quirrell's voice again. They probably hadn't even seen the other cheek."What are you doing here ? This area is forbidden."

"Put the sceptre down."Ron's representative quaked a trivial as he said it. But he kept his wand trained."scepter down now !"

"You wouldn ‘ t hex a teacher would you."Quirrell was playing with them. His articulation was just like it had been when he'd forced the swallow on Harry."You'd get in so very much trouble."

"I ‘ ve already petrified my caput of house."Neville seemed to have left his stutter in the human beings of awe and could verbalize calmly now he'd moved on to terror."It can ‘ t get much worse."

"You think not ? Then perhaps I should be talking out of the early side of my face."Quirrell turned on his bloc and Parvarti shrieked.

"minor !"Quirrells blazon twisted back, cracking round at the elbows to give Voldemort ascendancy of the wand"I will not be stopped again by children !"

"Petrificus Totalus !"Hermione's articulation rang out but Voldemort raised a buckler disdainfully. The rebounding curse took the young Wiccan in the chest and she fell like a rock.

"Crucio !"Neville dropped to the ground. His grimace a mask of pain.

"Crucio !"Padma fell, her weapon wrapped around her chest. Screaming. He was still playing with them. He could cause death as easily as hurting.

"Crucio !"Ron fell in his tracks. He had tried to charge the puppet.

"Im… im… obstruction !"

"Crucio !"Parvati's spell died on her scepter and she fell beside her Sister. He had to do something. He had no wand. He had no weapon… He had glass. Harry pulled his too long sleeves up around his hand and picked up a long shard.

"Pathetic creatures."The face spat the words."Unworthy of living !"Harry stepped closer careful not to disturb the glassful on the floor."You will all die ! For defying Almighty Voldemort. You will…"

"passe-partout reckon out !"But Quirrell's word of advice was too late as the long sherd plunged into his tum. Him and his assaulter fell together and Harry jerked the deoxyephedrine out only to plunge it again into the thaumaturge flesh. His hands bled, the textile of the robes hadn't been nearly enough to protect them. Quirrell rolled over under him and the serpentine face looked up at him in hatred.

"You can not destroy me Harry Potter. I can not die ! Whatever you do I will turn back !"

"fine then snake-face."Harry raised the shard above his capitulum."See you in another ten years. Do try to come back pretty next time."And plunged the shard through Voldemort's eye.

The belly laugh rundle out through the bedroom. Rising higher and higher, louder and louder till the shard still on the floor shattered into sand. Then the body slumped like a rag dolly and finally lay still.

Harry fell back drained. It felt like he had zippo left in his vena, felt discharge. He slumped on the level and looked up to see five concerned faces crowding around him. They were saying something but his mind couldn't quite stool sense of it. The prototype suddenly reminded him of something and he pointed at them with a rickety hand.

"pillock mirror."He laughed."I thought I broke you ?"Then the dark rolled over again and he didn't see a matter.

*

"I could just take the one…"

"Ron people left those for Harry !"

Voices ? …

"But I just want the card."

Familiar…

"It'll try to hop away when you open it !"

"Oh please that's what he's preparation. Then he'll ‘ have'to eat it."

Ah…

"Maybe I'll just conduct a cauldron cake…"

"You so much as try it…"Harry pulled his eyes open with an effort."…and I'll hex ya fingerbreadth off."

"Harry !"The piranha crowded around the hospital bed."You awake ?"

"Well yeah."Harry shook his promontory to clear it before answering Hermione's question."Why would I not be ? How yearn was I asleep ?"

"Days I ‘ m afraid mate."Ron shook his head ruefully."They had to commit you sleeping potion while everything healed. Did you know you broke your arm ?"

It had hurt when he rolled over, but surely he would take noticed ?

"How ‘ d you follow me ?"Harry groggily shook his headspring again."I swear all the potion got drunk."

"Dumbledore said they regenerate."Hermione answered smiling."We had to go through the chess part too."

"Ron was amazing."Parvati said beaming. Ron blushed and said

"Oh that, that was zilch. Anyway it was Neville got us past the devil snare !"

"Devil snares soft. Anyway you got the key."

"That was a team effort. The twins were up there too. Plus Padma worked out the dog."

"There was a get out harmonica on the floor. What else could it have been but music ?"

"I don't know, its allergic to dwell ?"

"Children."The 1st years turned as Albus Dumbledore stepped into the infirmary wing."I can not imagine how pleased you must be that your friend is awake however,"He continued with a spark in his eye as he peered over his spectacles"…it will mean that you will have to find a new rootage of cocoa frogs."Ron at least had the decency to look hangdog."Now, if you would pay us some privateness I would care to speak to your friend."The predator filed out and Harry was left alone with the Headmaster.

"The mirror."Harry began,"Was it… worthful ?"

"Irreplaceable."Harry's stomach seemed to pass out his consistence."It ‘ s a skillful thing it is being repaired."

"You could stimulate told me that bit !"Harry shook his foreland as he regained his stomach.

"Although they may leave one shard out. It may need to be kept for posterity."

"So is he… gone then ?"Harry's voice was bright but something in him already knew the answer.

"Nothing about this death was any different from his previous one. If he survived that I believe we can assume he can live on this."

"Will he come after the I. F. Stone ? I mean, when you fix the mirror you can get the Edward Durell Stone ?"

"Yes, and it will be destroyed."Harry breathed a sigh of easement."But it appears I was wrong about one affair Harry."

"Hireling a man who was literally double-dealing ?"

"No Harry."Dumbledore fixed him with a patient stare and Harry bit back a grin."I mean that you were ineffective to get preceding my last protection. You did not get the stone."

"Yeah. What was I supposed to do ?"

"When you saw yourself in the mirror there. What did you see ?"

"The Saami thing as before."Harry shifted uncomfortably"You know, friends."

"So faced with the prospects of eternal life and unending riches, your dream remained the Same ?"

"I have a great deal of wealth now, and if perpetual life means being someone's scalp I think I ‘ ll liberty chit on that too."

"Very well Harry. I will not pry any further. But there is something else that we need to discourse before I let your friend back in to niggle further."

"Hm ?"

"I want you to return to your aunt and uncles house."

"No."

"Harry, I can assure…"

"No. The answer is no Professor."Harry looked directly into the schoolmaster glittering gaze."I will not."

"You are football team Harry."Professor Dumbledore put his deal on Harry's shoulder and his articulation went lenient."It would be negligent of me to let you impart my care without assuring myself that you would be looked after."

"You did it once before. Left me on a doorstep."a sliver of steel entered Harry's voice.

"I thought that you would be happier with family, even aloof ones."

"You were wrong. Would you like to see some cicatrice by way of proof ?"

"No Harry, I see I can not sway you on this mark. I will coiffure for you to stay at Hogwarts over the summer, it has been done before in certain circumstances."

"Thank you."Harry smiled and he saw a certain tenseness lift from the air. Harry looked down at the talent arrayed in front end of him and picked up one."deep brown anuran ? Go on, otherwise Ron ‘ ll just take all of them."

"Thank you Harry."Dumbledore took the squirming confection and stood up."Now I shall just see this offstage former resident then leave you to yourself."

"Who ?"Harry looked around and spotted a twosome of slider poking out from behind a curtain."Who'zat ? They Ok ?"

"Oh they ‘ ll recover quite soon."Dumbledore seemed to notice something in this slightly good story."She's just sleeping off an improperly formed Petrificus curse."

"Oh."Said Harry uninterested."How soon will she get skillful ?"

"Hopefully after your friends leave."

*

"Last fortune for legal deception !"Fred ( or George ) yelled as he walked down the Hogwarts expressage. His pal walked beside him ringing a hand-bell up and down."I repeat ! Last chance for all summertime !"

"You heard that Harry ?"Ron said as his brother walked past the vulture carriage.

"Yep."And indeed he could see the London skyline around the caravan as they pulled towards power Cross. He had asked Dumbledore if he could accompany his friends on the gear and the headmaster had agreed.

"You gon na be alright over the summertime on your own Harry ?"Parvarti leaned over considered him quietly."You ‘ ll write everyone right wing ?"

"And you have to shoot the breeze home."Ron said through a mouthful of sweets"Mums been bugging me about it ever since she found out."

"May just take you up on that Ron."Harry stretched as the caravan drew into the station."Oh, and before wizardly becomes illegal…"Harry took a small parcel out of his pocket, tapped it and pulled back as his bag expanded to full-of-the-moon size.

"You brought your bag ? Why did you bring your bag…"Hermione's voice became shriek and a trivial frightened. But the question was moot, everyone in the baby carriage had guessed the answer.

"Oh, occur on guys."Harry shot them a grin and slid out of the carriage."Don ‘ t say me you didn ‘ t see this coming ?"

"Harry ! The fighter of the wizarding world can not just go AWOL !"Padma shook her head in skepticism."Dumbledore will find you, or the ministry."

"The ministry can only cut through me if I use magic."Harry said jumping down onto the platform."And distance counts too, I ‘ m thinking Greece or possibly Spain. Mediterranean certainly."

"You ‘ ll never get away with this Harry."Hermione spoke but all for some reason didn't quite believe it. The marauders stood in a semicircle around Harry with respective edition of disbelief on their faces. But after a year they had realised that Harry mostly made his own prescript.

"What they gon na do ? hold back their polishing hero ?"Harry winked and smiled his evilness genius smile."And I ‘ ve realised something. Being a homeless person vagabond sounds a totally lot more fun if you ‘ ve got a heavyweight pile of gold underground to fall back on. It ‘ ll just be like going somewhere fun, to have fun."

"I think that's called a vacation Harry."

"rightfulness, that."Harry pointed and nodded."I think I ‘ m due one of those."He turned and began walking down the chopine."spell every day ! But no traceable computer address !"

"HARRY ceramicist YOU GET dorsum HERE ! ! !"

"Got ta go."Harry broke into a run as the teachers appeared at the other end of the platform. He dodged between groups of students as the yells got closer and shot between pushcart. He saw his chance, launched himself like a trebuchet off the tree trunk of an astonish student and dived through the barrier. He kept running through Kings cross, past groups of amazed muggles. Running for exemption.

*

"Think he'll lose ‘ em ?"

"Oh, Neville you know the answer to that."Padma smiled at the chaos Harry had left in his backwash on the political program."It's the piranha first prescript. ‘ You can do anything you set your judgment to if you've got the boldness to see it through.'”

"I thought that was ‘ Never get caught'?"

"That one too."




Phew ... one book down ! Six to go.


Harry ceramist stepped back onto British territory with a spring in his step and a tan fit to blind gull. Officially there was not direct magical path across the groove save by broom or other prick of trajectory. However Harry had known before he had ever held a wand that the most useful things were always hidden from those in charge.

It had been by this ancient fireplace, disconnected from the remainder of the flue pipe network but with a direct nexus to a interchangeable holes and portal around European Community, through which Harry had left the country weeks ago. An eleven year old can not ledger a aeroplane just the ticket alone much LE jerk a cosmetic surgery on a broomstick and even if he could do so those mode had probably been watched.

After he was gone he'd sent a letter to Dumbledore, with a borrowed owl and an untraceable name and address. He'd received a stern one in reply. The headmaster understood his decision and his need for freedom, even sympathised with it. But Harry needed to be kept safe, protected.

But to Harry protected meant trapped and the reason he needed to be kept safe was the very affair he needed some freedom from. So Harry ceramicist had spent the majority of the summer as Jack Match, juggler and tumbler on various Hellenic beaches. He had explored the wizarding side of the ancient country too, he had watched a school of hippocampus breaching and jumping like mahimahi off the coast of Aeaea and seen the monster of Cecil John Rhodes. He had walked to the Temple of Alcmeonidae at Delphi and climbed hand-over-hand up the prospicient trailing vines of ivy to where it floated in the sky. Levitated above the ‘ ruins'below and concealed from muggle eyes. But the seers that gathered there had seen through his disguise and greeted him as Harry ceramicist. They had treated him with an eerie respect and he had been taken to let tea with the stream oracle. It was a meeting he would never forget…

"Sit dear one."She led him to a shock on the level and sat down herself nearby him. She looked like she was barely a yr or two quondam than him but he knew that if he believed that he was a fool. Only her eyes betrayed any pinch that this was possibly the most right visionary in the world. Harry had been shocked when he first saw them, he had heard stories that the greatest prophesier had milky white eyes showing that they were blind to the mundane. The oracles middle were normal except that the iris of one was deep purpleness and the other igniter green. Oh and the student ( and Harry had had to look hard to form this out ) were shaped like stars.

"Thank you Pythea."Pythea wasn't her name, the oracle held it as a title in laurels of the first."But you really don't have to do any of this."

"It is not very often we receive visitors."She smiled at him with those rich eye. Something in them betrayed a lasting lugubriousness, a hint of the memory concealed behind. retention that spanned hundred.

"If you wish to encourage more than visitant your seemliness. Perhaps you should install stairs."He instantly felt that perhaps he was being too companion. Harry generally ignored confidence but the quiet down superpower of the small girl before him ( even sitting as she was, barefoot in a simple white dress ) was hard to deny. Anyway he didn't he didn't want there to be stairs. Too many people, especially too many tourists, would ruin this peaceable place.

"Yes, that is why we do not have them. And no, I prefer that you speak freely before me."Harry looked up broken and she laughed. It sounded like falling water supply."Your occlumency is quite good for one doing it unconsciously. But access code to mentation is one of the talent that comes with being… this."The sadness was back in her eyes for a moment then she reached forward and poured him a deoxyephedrine of water out of a tall fluted jug.

"Thank you."Harry took it and sipped it. It smelled like mountain air. He grinned and looked down at it speculatively."Is this going to make me see visions or pass away out ?"

"Those things are more likely to chance if you do not drink it seeing as you climbed for half an hour in the summer sun."

"Mad frank and so on…"Harry took another gulp of the scented drinkable and asked."But, why did you ask in me up here ? Why am I sitting, joking, with the greatest illusionist in the world."

"I wanted to meet you myself. I ‘ ve heard about you of course, the boy who lived. You are not what I expected."

"Oh."Harry looked down guiltily. He knew he was a bit of a disappointing hero but coming from her it seemed unfit.

"You are anything but a disappointment Harry. I think you are equal to the task ahead of you, more than adequate. I look into your soul and what I see gives me keen Hope. You are Sir Thomas More than you think you are Harry, you are far to a greater extent than you, or anyone else, realises. You must trust that you know the path you need to walk, not anyone else, and above all you must trust yourself."

"Really."Harry's throat was suddenly very dry. He took another gulp of water supply."Anything else ?"

"I like your eyes."

Harry coughed and spluttered and the little seer laughed. He realised she was teasing him.

"You're a brat !"He sniped at her.

"Am I ?"She seemed to calculate far away for a import then derive back down to earth."Why do you say that ?"

"Because you ‘ re teasing me ! You're a seer, aren ‘ t you supposed to be telling me my time to come or something ?"

"Do you really want to sleep with ?"She seemed amuse."Really ?"Harry thought about it for a present moment.

"No. No, if I knew what was gon na occur it wouldn ‘ t be any fun."

"Good."She smiled."Good choice. But I think I will pay you something anyway. In central for a future not told."She dipped her script into a pocket of her frock and drew out a pendant on a braided leather electric cord. Harry leaned closer and saw that it was made of sea shell, glittering like it had just been plucked from the water. She held it out towards him.

"Hair please."She commanded and he obediently lifted his shaggy mane up so that she could tie the cord behind his sunburnt neck.

"What is it ?"Harry lifted the casing to look at it stuffy but it didn't have any markings at all. It looked like it was made of two pointed coil shells, hanging vertical from its clasp. Harry looked closer and saw that the very bottom full stop was tinged green and the very top tinged purpleness."Is it thaumaturgy ?"

"Yes."

"Are you gon na evidence me what it does ?"

"No."

"Meany."Harry tucked the chandelier into his jersey and felt it pretermit down near his heart.

"You ‘ ll find out what it does eventually. But you will bear to learn a few thing for yourself before you do. scream it a little firearm of your future."She took his hand and raised him to his feet."Now I am afraid I must say sayonara. The duties of my role call."She seemed genuinely sad to see him go and Harry suddenly wondered if she was lonely up here.

Not trusting himself to speak Harry bowed for the first time in his life and walked towards the threshold.

"Oh and when you go back to Hogwarts."The petty daughter said as he reached for the handgrip."Could you tell Sybill Trelawney to stop owling me. delight ?"

Harry climbed back down and walked a little ways away before turning around and gazing back at the peacefully drifting building, floating over the horizon. shovel flapped down on a rock future to him and handed him a letter. He took it without reading it and slipped it in his air pocket, still thinking. Then he walked over to a clump of prime sprouting out of the stone nearby and picked some of the expectant single.

"Up there please."Harry nodded towards the temple while holding the flowers out to his owl."Pythea. And be careful."The owl obediently took off and Harry walked off down the road with his straits still total of thoughts.

It had not been long after that when he found his way to the krybo-lakkos market in capital of Greece and to the odd clayware chimney that connected to the under-flue and that could get him dwelling.

*

"Five Galleon ‘ s. Here."The shopkeeper pointed to a pot next to his cash register. Harry nodded to him while dusting himself off and dropped five of the amber coins in the jar. This holiday had cost him surprisingly slight, tourists had liked his juggling on the beaches and liked his witty remark even more. The galleons to get there and the galleons back was probably more than he'd spent the whole time in between.

Harry stepped out into a dingy alley and set off away from the shop. Walking quickly he made for the lighter end of the street where he could hear Sir Thomas More people moving. masses turned to stare at his bright summery habiliment in the wickedness and shadowed street and he heard grumbling and muttering. A bony manus fell on his shoulder and he broke into a run. Shadowy figures leapt out at him and to a greater extent manus tried to gain purchase, Harry broke off as his way ahead was blocked and he sprinted down a side street. He could see the bright sounds of diagonally ahead of him and sprinted as intemperately as he could.

Suddenly he hit what felt like a condom wall, picking him up and bouncing him back into the darkness.

"What the… ?"But there was no prison term to think. flesh were closing in and Harry dove in the antonym focusing. He slipped down another road.

Sir Thomas More cloaked trunk seemed to pop out of every phantom. The small boy dodged down another street and found himself at a dead end. The incoming to the back street was blocked by a small crowd, five or so virtuoso and witches in drear ragged robes blocked his way back.

Harry slipped his wand out of his sac into his good hired man. His centre scanned the wall around him but they were straight up and down. No handholds. The crowd advanced on him with manus out. Harry crouched down, if he was gona die he was prepared to die like a rat in a quoin. Biting and scratching till the shoemaker's last.

"What have we here ?"A scabby and dishevelled witch said with a cackle."Kids shouldn't be in knockturn alley. Something bad could happen."She reached out towards him and Harry's hired hand tightened on his scepter.

"Stand aside hag !"A flash of red light shot from the early end of the alley and the witches hair burst into flame.

She shrieked and jumped away while the others tried to put out the fire. This left Harry with a clear thought down the alleyway to the man standing there, his prospicient baton out.

"Never fear young rascal !"The man said in a palmy articulation."Markus Michelson is here !"

*

"Who in the… Hey !"Harry tried to object but the man had reached him in three long stride and picked him up with one hand."Put me down ! Put me down !"

"silence down pipsqueak."The man set off out of the alley with Harry held almost nonchalantly in the crook of his heavily muscled arm."You're in dependable workforce now."

Harry tried to pry the fingers off of him but the mans grip was like a vice. Harry continued to struggle until they got out into the good harbour of diagonally and he was dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"For individual being rescued by the cracking warrior, venturer, lover and explorer that the public has ever known."The man put his fists on his coxa and bent down to put his facial expression near Harry's."You sure don't seem to know how appearance you're grateful."

Harry sat up and checked himself over before replying. For a second his hand rested on the leather cord around his neck then he looked up and responded.

"Yeah, sorry. Thank you. Thanks."The man reached out a hand and pulled Harry to his feet.

"Not to worry. I'd imagine getting stuck down a deadened end in knockturn alley is a slight frightening for individual not as… imposing… as me."He tucked his scepter in his belt and Harry looked him up and down. Even without taking his hat into account the man was easily seven ft tall and had berm like a ox. He wore thickset leather thrill and leather trousers above them, fitting tightly over muscled ramification. The belted ammunition was ophidian peel and he had what looked like animal teeth tied hanging off it so they clattered as he moved. Above that he wore a form fitting red vest that left his arms bare. Harry could see the border of a tattoo peeking up amongst his chest hair and another on his bicep. Further down his sleeve he wore two capitulum stripe. To top it all off the man wore a cowboy hat over his thick blond pilus with a tenacious red plume tucked into the band on one side and three rifle fastball on the former.

"Who are you ?"

"cerebration I introduced myself before. Never creative thinker, probably slipped your mind in all the excitement."The man struck a pose."I am Markus Maximus Michelson. glad to make your acquaintance pipsqueak."

"My public figure is Harry."Odd to hear that after a summer of Jack.

"Good to fulfill you footling Harry. Now…"the man looked around at the crowds"…where are you meeting your parents. Can't leave you alone out here since you seem to pull trouble. You piddling tyke."He ruffled Harry's hair as if he was a petty kid, earning himself Harry's eonian hatred.

"…um. The ice pick place."Harry lied with a true face."Their probably waiting."

"commodity, good."The man grabbed his arm again and set a alert pace through the crowd. There were a lot of people this time of day but they parted to let Markus through. Harry had hoped that when they reached Fortescue's ice pick parlour the odd adept would pull up stakes him alone. He did nothing of the variety however and sat down at a table, leaning far back on his professorship and tucking his pollex in his belt loop. Harry was just wondering why he was waiting around when the ground walked up to the table.

"Can I get you anything Mr Michelson."The waitress was a young witch, probably not far out of Hogwarts, and she blushed as she spoke to Harry's rescuer.

"My little acquaintance here needs a chocolate Sunday to settle down him down. He's just been in a bit of a muggy berth down knockturn skittle alley. For myself just seeing you smile is all the sweetness I need, and please…"he plucked a yellow daisy out of air and set it behind the girls ear"…call me Maximus."

"You helped him ?"

"Oh no."idea Harry."She was here last summer. She knows who I am."

"You saved Harry Potter ! Oh, you ‘ re so audacious and like, unassailable !"

"Harry Potter.. ?"The man looked at him for a moment with a light smiling then turned back"Yes I did. And yes, I am rather potent. Mighty is my middle name."The girlfriend swooned and rushed off to get Harry's ice ointment. When she was gone the man turned back and fixed him with the smile again. Harry crossed his arms.

"Thought your middle name was Maximus."

"Nope, Mighty."The man flexed his bicep and Harry was able to read the tattoo there. It was five Ms written one after another. The man pointed at the it with his other hand."Markus Maximus Mighty Majesto A. A. Michelson"he tapped the monogram with his finger."But the first of my middle public figure is my personal favourite. So these parents that we're waiting for…"

"My friends parents."Harry fabricated."I ‘ m animation with them this summer. I didn ‘ t explain because I prefer to go under the radar a bit, you know."

"Can ‘ t honestly say I do picayune man."Harry's sunday appeared and he began eating it quickly."How can you not walk down the street and feel the basking adoration of the people Harry. I owe it to my legend to be seen, in the hope that I inspire Thomas Young whelp like you to get just like me. Its my duty Harry, as a man."

"Oooo."The waitress had stuck around to listen to Marcus speak and was now holding her men clasped together over her chest of drawers."You're so smart as well as so hansom cab. You're like a poet or a radiocommunication ace or something."

Harry rolled his eyes and finished his ice cream quickly as the vain wizard chatted to ( or more accurately chatted up ) the girlfriend. Harry dropped the price of the meal on the board.

"Ah, there they are."Harry pointed off in a random direction and got up."See you."

"Sure I will Harry."The man said cryptically before turning back to the other objective of his attending.

*

Harry moved quickly once he was out of the piece sight and slipped into Gringots. He got money out more quickly than he should bear by simply ignoring the queue and asking for Greeklunk. His old hobgoblin acquaintance quickly helped him refill his pouch for another class. While he was down in the vault Harry stuck his t-shirt in his bag and instead took out a long robe with a hoodlum. At Greeklunk's confused expression he said…

"Someone back up on the street that I ‘ d rather didn ‘ t recognise me."

"Oh right. Bloody paparazzi."

Harry stepped back out into the street and did his schoolhouse shopping quickly. When he walked back past Fortescue's the wizard was still there, showing the waitress a long cicatrice on his arm.

*

Harry stood in the country lane and rechecked the letter he held in his hand. He was sure he was at to the lowest degree in the right village and probably on the correctly road. It was just that the road went a long way in both directions and Ron's advice on getting to his household had been rather vague. Like he'd only really seen the surrounding countryside from the air. Harry folded the letter away and shrugged, there was always another way. He walked over to a where a husbandman was sitting near his tractor, fiddling with something in the railway locomotive.

"Hi. I'm looking for the family of ginger mass who keep owls as pets."

"Down the lane, round left at the co-op."The man said without looking up."And distinguish the man I need my pull back."

*

Harry had to resist the urge to stop into a run as he caught slew of the Weasley house. Outside it in the overgrown garden he could see three boy working, flinging something he couldn't make out over the garden wall. Harry smiled, they were expecting him today but he hadn't exactly been able to reach them an exact time. As he walked closer the door to the firm opened and molly Weasley ( Ron had told him all about his sept ) emerged, carrying a tray with drinks on it. Behind her a new daughter ( must be Ginny ) stepped outside and leaned against the doorpost looking bored. None of them seemed to have noticed him yet, or maybe the tan had changed his appearance a bit. As he stepped up to the front gate he spread his subdivision panoptic.

"Aloha !"

"Harry !"Ron jumped in surprisal"You ‘ re here."The twins jumped up too and ran to meet him, but the most extreme response came from the youngest Weasley. Ginny went dead Edward Douglas White Jr. under her whisker and her mouthpiece seemed to propel as if she was trying to say something then she bolted through the still capable door.

"She has some form of objection to aloha ?"Harry asked the ginger gang.

"Nah, mate."Ron shook his head."She ‘ s been jumping and squeaking every prison term we so much as mentioned your name. surmise you in the flesh was just too a good deal for her."

"Ron, be nice to your sister."Mrs Weasley's vocalization was rump for a consequence then turned soft again as she turned back to Harry."She ‘ s just shy Harry. I ‘ m trusted she ‘ ll get over it the more she sees of you."

"Probably."Agreed Harry"The zep matter doesn ‘ t last. I ‘ ve been told on restate occasion that I ‘ m a massive disappointment."

"Who told you that ?"Molly Weasley looked aghast.

"Snape."

"Yeah but he said you had floberworms for brains too."Said Ron."And we're fairly sure that's not true."

"Right."Chimed in one of the twins."We ‘ re pretty sealed they ‘ re doxy droppings."

"At least that's up the evolutionary scale."

*

But Ginny's odd demeanour didn't stop. Harry found that she was incapable of staying in a room that he was in and that any attempt to speak directly to her was enough to send her scurrying away. One sunrise when he came down and found her curled up on the couch with a clip he decided to put a plosive speech sound to it.

"Ginny."She stiffened and looked like she was about to flee."Don't run away please."He walked around and sat following to her on the lounge. She looked like a pocket-sized gnawer confronted by a serpent, heart wide candid and too scare off to run."Can you tell me why you run every time I try to talk to you or enter the room ?"Silence, except for the twitching she could suffer been petrified."Look Ginny I don't know what it is but could you please blab out to me. We ‘ re going to be going to school together for the following six years. Could you babble out to me. Please."

"Y… you…"Harry had to strive to get word her faint whisper."you destroyed you-know-who."

"Oh you ‘ re still thinking about that ?"Harry waved his manus dismissively."That happened ages and geezerhood ago. No one cares about that. Apparently Markus Mandy Michelson is everyone's hero now."

"You ‘ ve got the scar."

"I ‘ ve got a lot of scars. Which one in particular ?"Ginny reached out to level at his forehead and Harry brushed away the whisker to discover the cicatrix. But apparently this was too much for Ginny and she bolted up the stairs almost knocking over Ron.

"What ‘ s that about ?"He asked sleepily.

"She ‘ s still shy around me. That sucks."

"Why are you so messed up about it."Ron asked. Then looked up as if he remembered something."You were acting like this about Hermione too, hold out class. Back before she liked us."

"And that turned out OK."

"You ‘ re not gon na climb up a chimney again are you Harry ?"

"No Ron but I think I do think I need to take drastic military action to chasten this situation."Harry thought for a moment then latched onto a brilliant plan. An amazing programme. Possibly the large plan he had ever devised."You have a few Scots heather here right ?"

"Five close time I looked. My old one, the twins, Hotspur's and one Charlie left here."

"Excellent. I would wish to wager some Quidditch."

"But Harry you can ‘ t frolic Quidditch. The last time you got on a broom you made a discharge fool of yourself."

"Exactly !"

*

This was the unfit architectural plan he had ever come up with.

"You have to follow through."Ron made a jabbing motion with the flat of his hand. That meant follow through Harry knew, the bridge player signaling were about all he ‘ d picked up during the secret plan."Just concentrate on following through. That was the problem that time."

"No Ron, the trouble was that I flew into a tree."Harry tumbled to the priming and spat out a leaf."What's the signal for ‘ You're about to fly into a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ‘ ?"

"There isn ‘ t one, we'd have to invent it just for you."Ron helped him back on his broom and they flew back up to join the twin. Ginny was sitting a little fashion away watching them, when Harry had fallen out of the tree diagram she had jumped up in shock. But as Ron and the twins had begun laughing at him he had seen a phantom of a smiling crisscross her face as well. That vestige was all that was keeping him from giving up the integral endeavour and getting his feet back on solid undercoat.

"Right."Ron said as they hovered at their end of the pitch."You make for the right hand handwriting side. I ‘ ll perpetrate them off to the left then pass it to you. Then you can mark. Got it ?"

"Aye aye chieftain !"Harry saluted and almost overbalanced.

"Oh and by the way, from now on this…"Ron grinned and put both fists out straight ahead."… from now on that means tree."

"I would perforate you Ron, but I ‘ d twilight off if I tried."Harry began moving off to the right and saw his friend shoot away with the Quaffle. After a moment Ron turned and chucked it ahead of him. He rushed forward to overhear it, fumbled it, then snagged it in one hand.

"I got it ! I got…"Thump !

Harry struck the primer coat hard and rolled to a stop in the long grass.

"Ow."Harry put his hand to the back of his mind and sat up. Looking right into the face of Ginny Weasley. She had run over to see if he was all right and now stood, wide eyed before him.

"There didn ‘ t used to be four of you."Harry pointed at her with a palpitation mitt."Stop being four of you, person… girl… Where am I ?"Harry blinked and looked around blurrily. A small haphazardness brought him back to the present and he looked forward. Ginny had her hand over her mouth and was trying hard not to laugh. petty sounds kept escaping like steam out of a boiler.

"You ‘ ve got steam in your mouth !"Harry tried to get up and fell back on his behind."Like piddle but… broken. Where are my deoxyephedrine ? The four of you should be able to find them."And with that Ginny burst out laughing.

The four Weasley's carried him off the lurch and Fred and George IV ( who seemed to have experience with headland accidental injury for some intellect ) pronounced him ticket.

"Maybe we should take a break."Ron said worriedly."You know, kick in him time to recover."

"punter idea."Harry tossed his broom to Ginny."You take my spot. I am never ever ever ever ever ever getting on one of those again. From now on I walk where I need to go."

"Hey ! I don't want her on my team."Ron said angrily."That ‘ s not fair when we're already behind !"

"Ron…"Harry pitched his voice to tally Mrs Weasley's"Be prissy to your babe ! And besides, your selection are me or her."

"Welcome to the team Ginny."

*

"See ! No one can tucker my squad !"Harry grinned and slapped his chest as the secret plan drew to an official closing curtain.

"What do you mean your team."Ginny glided past him smiling and laughing."When you went off you were eight goals down. How can you say you won ?"

"The team won."Harry explained with sweeping hand gestures."And we all played a section in that."

"And your part is ?"

"Cheerleader. I really should get some pompoms."



Note : Right, thats the second yr started.

Interesting news about Dumbledore, but it makes sense when you look back on it. Department of Energy kind of make it more tragic however. The champion of accepting masses for who they were died without ever himself being accepted. He probably never even told anyone. The bit about how he did n't incite against Grindlewald was interesting too and puts the whole thing in a new Light. What if Grindlewald was well cognisant of Dumbledores flavour and used him to gain power in safety ? Knowing full well that Dumbledore was the only one who could birth posibly stopped him. Ah well ...

This is why we need JK Rowling to save some prequels.


# include `` standard legal disclamer.h ''

Ok, thats a very nerdy joke but thats fine 'cos anyone who laughed is just as nerdy.






Kings hybrid was crowded beyond impression as the Weasley kinship group crossed the station towards platform nine and three quarters.

"rush up."Mrs Weasley herded her assorted armorial bearing towards the barrier."right hand. come everyone, while the muggles aren't looking."One by one the redheads shot through the barrier. Harry waited until last, as the summertime had drawn to a close he had wondered if perhaps he might not be let back into the school. He had got the record lean but perhaps that had been automatic.

"You go first. I ‘ m fine."Harry motioned Mrs Weasley ahead of him."I want to enjoy my last here and now of freedom."She disappeared through the barrier and Harry took a deep breath. There wasn't much more he could do to put this off. He started running forwards, lowered his brain and closed his eyes as he reached the barrier.

fling ! Harry bounced back and fell to the land gasping. The barrier hadn't opened ! He put his hand to his forehead and it came back bloody. His brain reeled.

"They don't want me back."Harry blinked and looked up at the clock. Less than a moment till the caravan was supposed to leave behind."They expelled me."

Harry stayed on the floor despite the odd looks he was getting. There didn't seem to be much point in getting up. The clock ticked over the hour. The caravan was leaving.

Harry looked down platform ten and thought he saw a wisp of smoke rise from beyond the cut. Where was the wizards platform anyway ? A mad idea struck Harry and he was stood back up in a flash. His metrical unit seemed to move of their own accord and he took first one then another halting step along the political platform. Another wisp of smoke. He broke into a run and willed his legs to carry him loyal and faster.

"it's a steam train."Harry dodged past a galvanise music director at the end of the political program and jumped down onto the tracks."It takes a piece to speed up up."He pumped his legs for extra speed.

"Digger !"Harry reached onto his backpack and flicked his owl's Cage spread."Catch me up at Hogwarts !"Harry guess to the edge of the train rail and looked down. The pattern, muggle gear caterpillar tread coming out of top executive cross were raised up on a sort of long bridgework, raising them several chronicle above the city streets. Harry glanced down in metre to see the end of the Hogwarts limited squeeze itself out from between the bricks of the bridge and head off down a trail that looked disused. Up ahead the rails rose up and joined with the others, if Harry was going to do it, he ‘ d have to do it now.

"Please ! Oh god please let me still be born golden !"Harry prayed silently, then launched himself off the English.

He crashed into the top of the concluding carriage and hung onto it for good life sentence. The gearing was beginning to break up up speed and Harry crawled to the border. Thankfully the carriages window was open. Harry swung his bag in through it then slid down into it himself.

"Harry thrower. Nice to meet you."He said to the aghast first age who's carriage he'd dropped into."See you at Hogwarts !"Harry walked shakily out the door. Once he was safely in the corridor he leaned against the wall and slid down till he was on the storey. He wanted to get up and find out his friends but for some reason none of his tree branch seemed to mold. He caught a glance of himself in the glass in front of him and blinked in shock. He looked a wreck ! lineage ran down the impart side of his facial expression and was matted into the whisker above.

"M… Mr Potter."Harry looked around and saw the witch with the trolley standing looking at him. Harry gulped for air.

"Two cauldron bar please."He said, trying to suppose of something that would tranquilize his nerves.

She wordlessly handed him the cakes and took the Leontyne Price of them without once taking her eyes off him. When he was about to leave she finally said.

"Did you… just… startle onto the train."

"No."Harry shook his headway"No. Definitely not. You ‘ d have to be crazy to jump on a moving train."

*

Harry moved down the power train as quietly as he could. Trying to feel his Friend without drawing too much attention. Unfortunately talk travelled fast on the Hogwarts limited and he couldn't go five stone's throw without encountering another stare or draw a group of pupil without them breaking out in a fit of whispering.

"So pathetic care seeking Potter smasher again."The voice was behind him. Harry turned around and sagged when he saw Malfoy and his goons staring at him.

"Malfoy I really don't have the energy for this now."It was true. Harry would give birth liked doing nothing more than simply collapsing on the floor there for the remainder of the journey."Could you please, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, sod off and die like the diseased while of dilate rectum flesh you are."

"Big talk for a kid who can barely stand."Malfoy took a step forward and Harry retreated."And I don't see your little friends here to aid you today. This may just be my lucky day."The three Slytherins advanced on him and Harry drew his wand when…

"ceramist !"Harry turned and saw professor McGonagall standing in the carriage. Malfoy and his bodyguards disappeared through a door."How in Merlin ‘ s epithet did you get here ?"She grabbed him and pulled out her wand, touching it calmly to the cut on his head then whisking away the blood on his case."I just spent an unpleasant few instant arguing with mollie Weasley who was franticly trying to get us to break off the geartrain. She seemed to be under the impression that the barrier had sealed with you on the other side."

"It did."Harry nodded."That's how I hurt my head."

"But then. How did you get here ?"

"You honestly, really and truly don't want to know."

"Harry…"

"I jumped onto the train."

"YOU JUMPED ONTO THE train !"

"The roadblock had sealed up ! There wasn ‘ t any former way ! And besides, I had a head accidental injury. I ‘ m not sure I was in an entirely rational frame of mind."

"That is beside the point Mr potter, but after the stunt you pulled at the end of death year I suppose I should not be entirely surprised."She straightened up"We will take to hash out this further in my business office at Hogwarts. At the very least you will find various days detention."

"But if I have detention…"Harry grasped at this straw"… then I ‘ m not expelled ? right hand ?"

"No Mr Potter. Not this time."She began walking away down the train."Go to my office when we reach Hogwarts."

"After the sorting ?"

"As soon as you reach the castle."

"professor please…"Alright this is McGonagall, you know how to fool McGonagall. She acts tough but she's all mushy inside."… my friend's sister's getting sorted today and she ‘ s worried about it. All her buddy are in Gryffindor, whole mob really. I should be there for her. Please ?"

"Alright Mr Potter. After the sorting."McGonagall's heart had gotten softer as Harry had spoken."But before the feast."

"Of course Professor. I ‘ ll be there."

"And I will owl Mrs Weasley to inform her you are safe."She turned away and Harry was left alone once again in the corridor.

*

Harry eventually found the piranha compartment and slid the door open.

"how-do-you-do freindlies !"

"Harry !"Hermione's rima oris dropped open."Ron said you couldn ‘ t get onto the platform !"

"Couldn't."Harry noticed Ginny sitting quietly in the corner of the compartment. Ron had probably been told to continue an eye on her."Had to assume ledger entry to the train by… former means."

"Apparation ?"Padma had apparently also caught some sun over the summer, though it was less noticeable on her."You do know that's illegal."

"Couldn ‘ t care less. But no."

"Portkey ?"Neville seemed to think for a moment."Or a broom ?"

"No."Ron and Ginny spoke at the same clip but Ginny backed down and Ron continued."Harry swore blind he ‘ d never touch another broom."

"Oh god I know what it is."Parvarti put her hand to her mouth and began shaking her head."I was talking to Lavender down the early end of the train. I thought she was joking."

"What is it ?"Hermione asked and the marauder seemed to hang waiting for the answers.

"You jumped onto the top of the train."The marauders turned as one to search at him.

"Maybe."None of his friends seemed to want to talk.

"Harry ..."Neville broke the silence."…you ‘ re crazy."

"I know."Harry sat as the other snapped out of their shock and started speaking all at once."It ‘ s beginning to worry me."

*

The railroad train meandered its long journey through the hills and Harry ducked out of the conversations around him. His promontory still hurt and he didn't have the energy to entertain the great unwashed. He leaned against the cold-blooded window as rainfall started to streak down, leaving little trails on the window Zen. He closed his eyes and lay there for a long while. little trails of pee, swirling, drowning.

"Harry."He shook himself awake and looked over at the youngest Weasley, leaning over to him."Are you alright ?"Harry looked around the compartment, the rest of his friends were still talking amongst themselves."You ‘ re look was all scrunched up like you were dreaming."

"Oh, are we there yet."Harry kind of wanted to get back to eternal sleep. Even if it was to bad ambition.

"Not for a while."Ginny bit her lip worriedly. Harry noticed that her fingernails too looked like they had been chewed.

"Worried ?"Harry grinned as she jerked in surprise. Harry waved his hand dismissively."Don't worry. You ‘ ll love it there. Lessons are easy, specially charms. Friends everywhere. Plus if any of the Slytherins bother you we can show some Swift retribution. We're feared by that house."

"That ‘ s kind of what I ‘ m worry about."Ginny glanced at the red sharpness on Harry's robes.

"Ah."thought Harry."My guessing was right, and I just made that up to relent up McGonagall."

"You ‘ re worried about the sorting."Harry said out loud."Want to be Gryffindor ?"

"Yes. If I don't my sidekick ‘ ll never forgive me."

"Then recount it so."Harry looked at the young girls startled expression."You know what the sorting hat is right ?"nod."Then tell it you want to be a Gryffindor. Don't take no for an answer. It's your life, don't let a hat make decisions for you."Harry leaned back down and closed his eye again.

*

"What the hell ?"Ron voiced what they were all thought process as the piranha moved away from the train at Hogsmead. Ginny had left to take her fiddling gravy boat drive and the six admirer now stood in front of a line of coach, each drawn by a thin out scaly horse with folded leathery wing."Charlie told me the baby carriage pulled themselves ?"

"Maybe they've changed since your sidekick day."Said Harry climbing into one of them."And besides…"He looked around"No one else seems to think anything's amiss."

"Still think this is weird."

*

Ginny Weasley stood fidgeting in front of the hall as the sorting hat finished its vocal. She was so unquiet she wanted to bite her nails despite the cheek they were already worn to the marrow. Well, at to the lowest degree she was a Weasley. Her name would be called near to last. She saw Harry on the Gryffindor table spinning three forks in the air in front of him. She tried to grab his eye but failed, he was talking to his really friends. Everyone began to pay attention as Dumbledore stood up.

"Before we begin the sorting I ‘ d like to announce two things. One is that, despite what this hollow chair seems to indicate, we have found a new defence Against the darkness Arts teacher."Ginny looked along the instructor put off and saw a lank-haired professor grimace. She giggled, that must be prof Snape."Sadly he could not be here tonight as he has been managing the exaltation of his belongings from oversea. Rest assured that he has my to the full confidence and he will introduce himself, probably at length…"did the lank-haired professor just make a face even more ?"…in your kickoff deterrent example with him tomorrow. Now the second thing is that we will be doing this year sorting backwards."

"What ?"That prompted a murmuring about the entrance hall.

"Yes, call it an old mans project. Now let us continue so that we can enjoy a brilliant feast after we are all done."Dumbledore sat back down but the murmuring hadn't ceased. McGonagall then took her seat, the verbalism on her typeface clearly showing that the master had not discussed this with her. She looked down at her paper and read…

"Weasley, Ginevra."

"What ! Oh…"Ginny thought as she walked out in front of the school."Backwards…"The last thing she saw before she pulled the hat down over her centre were the predator turning to watch her.

"Another Weasley, seems I see those on almost a annual basis. But a Weasley young woman ? Why I haven't seen one like you in…"

"I chose Gryffindor."It seemed to her that the hat gasped loudly all around her.

"That's not quite how it works Weasley girl."

"No. That is how it works. Harry told me I could choose my house. I want to be in Gryffindor."

"Quite brave of you to just shout it out it like that. Almost force me to blame Gryffindor."Shout it out ? …Oh god !

"Ah… You didn ‘ t realise you were speaking out meretricious ?"
Ginny lifted the brim of the hat just enough to see around the Hall. There was whispering everywhere, and every fount had an very physiognomy of shocked astonishment. Her middle searched out her brothers at the Gryffindor table. Percy had buried his typeface in his paw and seemed to be trying to pretend it all wasn't happening, Fred and George were watching her with immense evilness smile and Ron, Ron just looked disordered. Her eyes flickered past Ron to Harry and their regard locked, then the boy did the singular thing, he pulled up his sleeve, put his hand medal out and jabbed forward.

Follow through

Ginny glanced back at the teacher table, where every face mirrored the astonishment of the students. She glanced back to Harry and he jabbed again. Well, if she was gon na follow through then there was only one thing for it ...

"Yep."She said, trying to not have her spokesperson break out in whimper."Definitely Gryffindor."And with that she pulled the hat off her caput, set it down on the hot seat and walked steadily towards Harry. She blanked out everything else in the anteroom, the rustling rising, the teachers, everything. There was a tush next to Harry and she was sitting in it. She reached the bench and hopped onto it, everyone was looking at her.

"Stay perfectly calm."Harry's articulation but she swore his lip barely moved."look straight ahead and don't give them any foretoken they're getting to you."Easy for him to say ! She stayed exactly where she was as the silence crawled on. Then something touched her hand by her side. A confect of some kind. Without a Bible, and before the silent stares of the unit hall, she brought out, undo and calmly ate a licorice wand.

Every eye in the hall turned as they heard McGonagall exonerate her throat then…

"Kingston, Victor."

It was as if the hall had been holding its breath the intact clip and now let it out in a Wave of cackle. Ginny felt someone clap her on the back and looked sideways into Harry's face.

"Thank you."Ginny breathed through the disturbance."I didn ‘ t know what to do. I didn't even realise I was talking out loud."

"Figured as much."Harry said glibly and offered her another liquorice wand."Good thing I was paying attention, who the hell is Ginevra Weasley ?"

The small boy with exquisitely waxed hair and sunglasses apparently named superior Jamaican capital had reached the hat and was looking down at it worriedly. He looked like he was about to pick it up then looked at the board in the anteroom.

"Ravenclaw. I think I like Ravenclaw."

"On the positive incline you may sustain started a revolution."Harry had leaned in to blab out to her again."On the minus McGonagall's gon na kill you…"

A vague looking girl was now looking at the hat thoughtfully before declaring that she was going to"The red haired girl's house."

"Are you our new house mascot Ginny ?"Fred leaned over and grinned at his sister.

"We could shit up some new banner if you like."His Twin Falls leaned in from the other English of the tabular array.

"parting her twins."Harry was holding her by both shoulder away from her sr. sidekick."She tricked the hat, swindled McGonagall, caused a hybridizing firm revolution and all in presence of the stallion shoal !"Harry grabbed her and hugged her from ass."You can ‘ t have her ! She ‘ s ours !"

"What's he talking about."Ginny didn't think she could grin more than she was as she shot the interrogative at her brother across the board. But it was Parvarti Patil who answered her.

"He means that you ‘ re the type of person who goes for what they want and has the nerve to see it through and doesn ‘ t care what the rules say or who thinks what !"She stuck out her hand"Welcome to the Marauders."

By the end of the day Ginervrador House ( as it was briefly called ) had an unusually prominent division of first years. Filch had to incite some of the beds.

*

As Harry trudged back from his number 1 detainment with McGonagall that dark ( polishing century and C of establishment buttons that were just going to be transfigured into beetle anyway ) he leaned on the wall near the portrait hole and closed his eyes for a instant.

"Harry potter sir !"

Harry opened his eyes and immediately realised his head hurt must feature been unfit than he thought. The delusion had tenacious pointy ears and was wearing some kind of ragged cloth like a toga.

"Wha… ?"

"Harry Potter should never stimulate got on the train !"

"Who ?"Harry shook his head but the modest name remained"What and/or who are you ?"

"Dobby sir. Dobby the menage elf."The odd little tool bowed to him, its nuzzle almost touching the level."Dobby is truly sorry to feature caused trouble for such a outstanding ace as Harry potter. But Harry ceramicist must entrust Hogwarts !"

"Caused fuss ? What worry ?"Harry slid off the paries and stood straight person. His wand was inconveniently tucked in an inside air hole, hard to reach. Was this tool a threat ?"What are you talking about ?"

"Dobby thought that perhaps if Harry Potter was hurt he wouldn ‘ t be able to go to Hogwarts."

"What precisely…"Harry heavily enunciated the word"… are you talking about."

"Dobby thought that if the platform closed…"

"That was you !"Harry snapped forward like a blastoff and caught the little creature by the arms. The matter whined and tried to break away but he held on."I could have missed the bloody train !"The creature nodded and whimpered a little more."I could have been killed ! Wait… knockturn alley…"Harry remembered the rubber wall. The elf stiffened again and he seemed to be avoiding Harry's center."That was you as well ! Why WHY !"He picked the thing up and shook it roughly."Are you trying to kill me ? Are you ?"The elf was truly crying now and Harry let him go. The poor affair crawled away from Harry and sat on the floor, looking up at him with its huge, tear filled center. It looked like a kicked pup.

"face, I ‘ m sorry."Harry reached out towards the elf but it shied away."I didn ‘ t mean to hurt you. The hospital wing isn ‘ t far, can I…"

"No !"Dobby's font became a masque of fearfulness."Dobby can not be seen. Dobby ‘ s lord can never know. Dobby isn ‘ t trauma, Dobby gets far worse than this at home. Dobby's masters are…"the elf seemed to constrain for a moment then he rushed over to the bulwark and began hitting his head on it gruelling.

"Bad Dobby ! Bad Dobby !"

"hold ! Hey, Stop !"Harry was torn between the pauperization to discontinue it hurting itself and trying to avoid grabbing it again since he'd obviously hurt him. He pulled his robe off, quickly balled it up and ( between head bounces ) slid it between Dobby and the paries. The poor elf continued on for a couple of smasher, apparently not realising he was now cushioned, then dropped to the floor.

"Thank you sir."The elf's vocalization was a little quaky."Dobby almost spoke ill of his masters."

"Dobby…"Harry saw a need to trample carefully here."If, IF commend ! Hypothetically I asked who your masters were. Would you have to punish yourself ?"The elf quickly nodded.

"If I asked you to write it ?"nod.

"If I asked you to act it out like charades ?"The elf appeared to think about this, cocking its school principal to the side. Then he nodded.

"If I asked you to recite me why you want me to leave Hogwarts ?"the elf's headland stayed very still."How often can you tell me without having to punish yourself ?"

"Danger. Dobby knows that peril has come to Hogwarts. Death…"

"If I asked you whether your masters were involved ?"Dobby tensed like a rod."Just IF remember, if I asked you that would you get to penalise yourself ?"

Dobby nodded. Harry smiled, that meant his master were involved. Otherwise why would he be forbidden to tell anyone ?

"And is I asked what organise the peril would deal ?"

But at this Dobby shook his head furiously and put his hands over his ears. The poor elf began rocking backwards and forwards and keening.

"It ‘ s OK Dobby. You don't have to secern me."The rocking stopped and the elf uncurled.

"Harry Potter will leave Hogwarts ?"

"No. But I will be thrifty, very careful."

"Harry thrower must leave, Harry Potter is in danger."

"I usually am Dobby."Harry leaned forward conspiratorially."That just makes it more fun."





Please review, especially if you think it 's bad. Really, it 'll help me improve.


"Wonder if he ‘ s cute ?"Parvarti wondered quizzically as the back days wandered to the vindication against the dark arts classroom. They had the class first flow Monday, so would be the first to meet the new teacher."Dumbledore said he ‘ s foreign, so I bet he ‘ s cute."

"I just enquire if he ‘ ll be a good teacher."Hermione hung her foreland a lilliputian."After a class of… of bad precept we need to entrance up. We ‘ ll be lucky if we can lay down it up in metre for the OWLs."Harry could say she had been about to say Quirrell, but had stopped herself. As far as he could tell none of his champion wanted to think about the result at the end of death year.

"Well, so long as he only has one expression, I ‘ ll be happy."Harry stuck his deal behind his head and laughed."Right ?"The others stopped for a moment, then grinned with him."sentiment so. Anyway…"Harry was the number one to the threshold and pushed it spread."… after Quirrell we can ‘ t do much worse can we ?"

"Pipsqueak ! Told you I ‘ d see you again !"

"No…"Harry looked across the room at Markus Maximus Albert Abraham Michelson"…please no…"

"aim a arse up forepart my good lad ! I can already tell this is going to be one of your preferent classes !"The marauders filed in the front row and the other student moved in behind them. All of them looking a little apprehensively at the booming muscled figure in battlefront of them.

"The name's Professor Markus Triple-M Albert Michelson. I ‘ ll be your defence against the night arts teacher this year. cerebration I ‘ d take a break from the globe-trotting to pass away on some of my knowledge to the succeeding genesis !"He swept his hat off and birl it across the elbow room, it landed neatly on top of a wooing of armour."Oh and by the way the Ms viewpoint for Maximus, Mighty and Magesto but they might as well stand for Muscular, Magical and most of all Masculine !"He laughed and put his clenched fist on his pelvic girdle."So, on to the matriculation !"He grabbed the register off the table and began yelling out figure, variously chuckling at the odd names and winking at any girl who answered him quickly. When he got to Potter he said

"Know you ‘ re here Pipsqueak ! Don't pauperization to even ask !"then went on. Harry dreaded looking backwards but did so anyway. Near the endorse Dragon Malfoy looked at him and mouthed the parole pipsqueek then sneered. Harry groaned, he ‘ d never hear the end of this.

When the register was finished the professor strode up to the strawman of the family. To the seismic disturbance of all watching he slammed one fist back into the chalkboard. Words jumped off the aerofoil as if they had been jolted into being.

"Duelling !"The professor said and indeed this was the claim on the circuit card."Who here has cast something harsher than jelly-legs at another wizard ?"

A few men went up around the family, including Harry's. Neville gulped and tried to hold his paw as low as possible, but Padma took it and jerked it up.

"You there !"Markus pointed to Neville. Padma giggled."What have you used ?"

"Full Body Bind sir."Neville appeared to be wishing he had a maw to crawl into.

"Good ! good firm enchantment ! Incantation, for those who don't know is Petrificus Totalus. And who did you use it on ?"

"McGonagall."

"Mc…McGonagall ?"A uneasy titter of laughter ran around the classroom."right field, OK. Um… Anyone else ?"He pointed at Harry,"How bout you pipsqueak ?"

"Acerbus cuspis."

"The pain-spear spell."The instructor stopped moving and turned back towards Harry."A curse originating in the time of the Inquisition, considered by many to be darkness Magic ?"

"Er…"

"And who did you use it on ?"

"Quirrell."

"Right OK."Michelson shook his psyche."Before we dredge up any more assaults against Hogwarts instructor lets start on something else. Who here knows what a shield charm is ?"Many of the men went down ( though not of course of study, Hermione's )"Right ! we'll start there."

*

The category let out an hour later. Many of the students had the after-effects of minor jinxes and jinx on them from when their shields hadn't been good enough or when their opponents had been too good. Professor Michelson seemed to think all of it extremely funny remark and laughed outrageously at every furiously-dancing, uncontrollably-coughing or unnaturally-warty student before cancelling their affliction and sending them on their way. Half way through the class he had picked Harry to manifest some more serious hex to the division. Harry ‘ s buckler good luck charm wasn ‘ t nearly good enough and he ended up suffering for every magic spell that winged his way.

"I hate him ! I hate that muscle-head mongrel !"Harry ranted as they walked to history of magic."He knows my gens and he keeps calling me pipsqueak ! He singles me out ! He will pay for this ! right field ?"

The former piranha kept a safe aloofness, giggling behind their hands.

"You know Harry, he seems to be a pretty beneficial teacher."Hermione said. Harry rounded on her."I mean, some adult wizards can't do screen charms and he managed to get half the class doing them in just one lesson."

"He keeps calling me brusk !"Harry didn't understand why the others didn't get this"And didn ‘ t you hear him ? Mighty, Majestic, Mouldering… He loves himself !"

"Well…"Parvarti chipped in"He is cute."Harry's face became bouldered and iniquity."And he… winked at me."

"You ‘ ll see."Harry turned and began back towards the history of magic classroom"You ‘ ll all see ! After you meet him a few times you ‘ ll agree with me about Markus Mary Michelson !"

*

But they didn't.

Defence Against the shadow artistic production quickly became the most bet forward to moral by the entire school. Every few lessons Markus Michelson would premise a new armed combat spell and piece of work with them, pulling them with laughs, belittlement and encouragement, to perfect the spell. From disarming and stunning through to shields and self-defence he taught everything with an identical laugh and identical self-important attitude. Harry remained sullen and unsounded in these example especially when the inevitable happened and he was called up to aid demonstrate a new spell. He had tried to get the vulture riled up to play a put-on on Professor Michelson but they had flatly refused. Harry had to content himself with dropping potion on a group off Slytherins that gave them oozing boils. It had been quiet composite, whoever the pus hit when the boils exploded developed them as well.

It was on his way back from heavy detainment that he heard someone vociferation. Harry saw a first twelvemonth rush past him upstairs and followed him, towards the noise. A group of students were gathered on the third trading floor. Harry pushed through them without a thought and stopped at the front to see a horrific mountain. Painted on the paries in what looked like blood were the words…

Arise those of ancient stemma ! Cast out the impure from this home of our beginner ! Be true to your bloodline ! Destroy the enemy of the heir ! This is the vociferation to weapon system !

Harry glanced to his side, lined up next to one another stood a radical of Slytherins. Malfoy, Goyle and flint stood side by slope, each wearing identical face of gleefulness.

On the trading floor in front of the letter crouched short victor Jamaican capital, the kid who'd liked the flavor of Ravenclaw, curled up in fright behind his sunglasses.

Harry moved closer on instinct and put his finger's breadth to the male child neck.

"What are you doing ?"A phonation behind him hissed but he ignored them.

"He doesn ‘ t have a pulse."Harry murmured, trying to locomote his fingers around for a better feel."No pulse. Get Madam Pomfrey ! Get Dumbledore !"

"Both are here Harry."Harry looked up to see the Headmaster walk to the edge of the crew. He stood back gratefully as the school nurse went to bring.

"Is he… utterly ?"An sure-enough Ravenclaw at the edge of the circle asked and a whispering of breathless shock swept the crowd.

"No."Professor Dumbledore said calmly"He appears to cause been petrified."

"Will he retrieve ?"Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw was a prefect, she had probably known winner.

"Yes miss Clearwater. I think so, in time."Tension seemed to go out of the grouping but the prefect pressed on.

"Professor…"She glanced up at the writing on the paries."Victor was a muggleborn, do you retrieve that there ‘ s any danger ?"

"I am surely I can swear every student here to act in a way that does not dishonour the good epithet of this school."

"Yeah right."Harry thought and glanced back at Malfoy and the other Slytherins."Seems a war's been called. the great unwashed are already choosing sides."

*

The first onset happened just the succeeding morning. Hannah Abbot was found with a unwrap arm at the rump of the pace leading down to the Hufflepuff green room. Her bag and books strewn haphazardly at the top. She'd been coming up from the cellar early on to get breakfast and been pushed back down.

Professor sprout took her to the infirmary backstage. But no one had seen what happened, not even Hannah, and no issue how much they asked the Professors couldn't find who had done it.

The next day a chemical group of Slytherins cornered a low gear yr in one of the upper corridors and began hexing him over and over. Only Flitwick happening past times had stopped worse happening.

In a subject of weeks it was no longer safe for a muggleborn or half-blood scholarly person to be out on their own. madam Pomfrey was being worked of her understructure by the stream of trauma coming into her fear.

Then, one dayspring, Oliver Sir Henry Joseph Wood the Gryffindor Quidditch police chief was petrified in the prefects bathroom. The teachers had tried to keep open a lid on it but the words that had been scrawled on the walls somehow got out.

Mudbloods and blood-traitors cower in reverence ! The heir of Slytherin returns and the chamber has been opened. stand up up around his touchstone ! Spill the bodge rake on the ground !

"It ‘ s getting worse."Harry said as they walked towards their following category."I mean just look !"He gestured out the window.

There was a huddle of scholar scurrying along the rampart and slipping in a door. A mo later a group of Slytherins hurried into the courtyard with their with baton out.

"Harry no !"Harry was aiming his wand out the window but Hermione jerked his arm back."If we start fighting back things will escalate ! We have to let the teachers handle it."

"They can ‘ t."Padma said dully as they passed the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom"Not on this scale."Her babe nodded silently. Her normally cheerful temper dulled.

"Padma ‘ s right Hermione."Ron shook his top dog."thing are just getting worse and besides, we can ‘ t afford to suffer any more than Quidditch players."

"Is that all you care about !"

"I just meant…"

"Shut up."Harry snapped back at them irritably."Quidditch is about as much use as you two bickering when things are going to hell all around us. We ‘ ve got to do something."

"But what ?"Padma said, shaking her head."This isn ‘ t like Quirrell Harry. There ‘ s no evil star behind it. Its half the schoolhouse, trying the kill the other half and we don't know till too later which is which."

"With some we got a pretty practiced idea."Harry murmured darkly as they passed a grouping of Slytherins. The vulture curled around Hermione like a human carapace as they passed and only spread back out after they had gone. A 2d later Harry's sceptre vibrated in his pocket."tinker's damn it !"Harry motioned the others to quiet and the sound of hexing could be heard above them. They broke into a run towards the close step.

*

"Leave him alone !"Ginny's own part sounded shrill in her ears. She stepped in front her injured friend and tried to swallow her fear.

"What ? Protecting your mudblood boyfriend traitor ?"Marcus flint stepped out of the anchor ring of Slytherins surrounding her and Colin."whole step aside for me. I ‘ d rather not spill wizard blood, even your families, unless I have to."

"Mico Harry."Ginny whispered, holding her sceptre out in figurehead of her. Hoping he was in range."Mico Harry."

"Your beau doesn ‘ t look up to much."flint said stepping finisher and eyeing the quivering Gryffindor."Maybe you want a real man ?"

"Mico Ron. Mico Hermione."

"What's that ?"Flint leant forward to hear."That supposed to be a hex ? Ha ! What ‘ s it do ?"Flint laughed and his cohorts around him started laughing too.

"It summons daemon !"

As Marcus'head jerked up a bludgeoning hex struck him in the chest. He was thrown back and his friends drew their baton as the marauders rushed them from the stairwell.

*

Harry was the for the first time to admit that he probably wasn't destined to be a dueler. His first strike against the 7th year had been lucky and he now found himself shielding for his life in the middle of a war-zone. former students from former business firm had been drawn in or joined in or been pushed in by the crowd and now the corridor was filled with flashing brightness level and cries of pain.

"You ‘ re stagnant potter. Oh you ‘ re dead."Flint advanced on him and Harry ducked behind a statue as the big Slytherins curse smashed into the ground near his feet. A s one smacked into the stone wizard and it began to topple over. Harry scrambled out as it crashed to the flooring and jabbed his verge at his assailant.

"Expelliarmus !"The patch struck Flint River but his thick, sausage-like digit were curled tightly around his wand.

"Confringo !"Harry leapt out of the way of the blasting curse and fell badly on his articulatio humeri. He threw his own back in response and the snake stumbled backwards. Harry jumped to his human foot and barb a bludgeoning hex only to have it resile off a shield and slap him in the pectus. Tumbling backwards he landed on his back among the detritus. His verge skittered off along the floor. A tail fell over him and a Brobdingnagian bring up foot slammed onto his chest, holding him down.

"hi Potter."Flint River pointed his sceptre at Harry's face."Now I ‘ m gona have some fun."

A here and now later flint was thrown off him as a traverse wave of light shot through the corridor, forcibly pulling opponents apart.

Harry's hand darted out and grabbed his wand while he looked for the reference of the patch. His optic found Albus Dumbledore standing at the end of the corridor with several other teachers behind him.

"Is any student here injured or in indigence of the infirmary offstage ?"His voice was stony as he eyed the get together students. A few students raised their hands. Dumbledore nodded and turned to speak to the teachers behind him."Please see them there."No one spoke as the wounded were gathered up. Harry saw Markus Michelson handing Ginny her bag with one bridge player while picking Colin up in his early. As prof McGonagall walked past him he caught her eyes for a moment, they were cold, harsh and defeated. When the finally of the bruise were gone the Headmaster turned back to the remaining scholarly person.

"Now can anyone tell me why this happened ? Why Hogwarts student saw fit to turn this corridor into a battleground ?"He looked over the educatee and Harry realised that he and Flint were right out in the eye, the two of them surrounded by vacancy. Somehow the ringleaders had been singled out."Why scholar who I thought I could trust to act in upright faith instead acted like fools ?"

No one spoke. No one wanted to make aid to themselves.

"You will all return to your common suite now. Tomorrow forenoon you will all come to the great hall where you will pass your Saturday in silence. You will return the day after that and for many weekends to come until I decide that the peace and quiet of the schooling has returned. Your parents will also be informed of your let down behaviour."Dumbledore gestured at the children."Go off now. Not you Harry !"Harry was drawn back by Dumbledore's vocalisation. Marcus flint smirked at him with his troll-like smile and slinked off. Harry followed the schoolmaster in quiet as he turned and walked off through the school. He stopped before a gargoyle on the second floor.

"Sherbet Lemon."The childish password seemed oddly out of kilter with the berth. They remained mum as they were raised up by the staircase and walked out into the master function.

Harry glanced around in marvel at the odd silver grey machines, many moving or making soft auditory sensation, filling table around the edge of the office. His eyes were drawn to the perch behind the desk where a tired looking red bird sat. Even as Harry watched another of its plume fell off and twirled towards the storey.

Dumbledore caught it before it hit and slipped it into an interior sac of his gown. He turned and sat behind the grievous desk. Saying nothing, he regarded the pupil before him over steepled fingers.

Harry knew that with any other teacher this was the meter to be tranquillise and look guilty, but with Dumbledore he might actually be wagerer off explaining.

"Professor."He began and licked his dry lip. Dumbledore's eye flicked to his."I heard the audio of someone being attacked nearby and I went to see whether I could help. When we… I got there Marcus flint and some other Slytherins had the initiative years surrounded."He couldn't evidence what consequence this was having on the schoolmaster. His expression was inscrutable."I fired a spell to pee-pee them back off and they responded, I never thought that so many other educatee would be drawn in or that it would snowball like this. I ‘ m sorry."

"You cast the first hex ?"

"They had been beating up Colin Creevey before we got there."Harry felt too hangdog to lie."But I threw the commencement armed combat spell yes."

"respective students are injured Harry."Gods teeth the ragged bird was eyeballing him as well."And there was some structural hurt to the shoal. respective paintings were damaged and statues broken."

"I was just trying to help sir. I didn't want any of that."

"And with this standard pressure of concern already around the schooling you have given everyone another reason to hate each other."Harry felt very pocket-sized in front of the continued stare."worsened, you have escalated this problem with your natural action. Next meter people will be even speedy to draw wands in anger. Next time the jinx will be sorry and multitude could be seriously injured Harry, do you sympathise that ?"

"Yes sir."Harry thought of Marcus Flint's smirk. Next time they wouldn't wait to taunt multitude.

"Today you chose to fight hatred with anger and violence. That way will always spawn further hatred do you understand that ?"

"Yes sir."

"See that you do not double this mistake."

"Yes sir. Thank you."Harry walked out of the berth. All the way to the threshold he could sense the old humankind eyes on his vertebral column.

*

Harry walked back slowly to the Gryffindor common elbow room. By opportunity the route took him back past the battleground. Some endeavour had been made to houseclean up but the shoes still felt damaged. groovy glob were missing from the gemstone and the fail house painting had all been taken down. The musical passage was bare. Harry saw movement at the other end and tensed for a second, then relaxed as he saw red haircloth and freckles.

"Ginny ?"

"Harry."The slight girl moved up the corridor towards him. Stopping just a little way down from him."I ‘ m so sorry I got you into trouble. I shouldn ‘ t have micod for you. Hermione said you could be expelled."

"If I was expelled every metre Hermione said I would be I ‘ d be some sort o'universe record."Harry walked up to his fresh enlistee and ruffled her hair."And I taught you that call exactly so you would call me if you were ever in trouble. All this…"Harry waved his hired man at the legal injury and judder his head."Not your fault. But why are you back here ? Shouldn ‘ t you be in the common room."

"I was… waiting… for you."Ginny glanced to the left wing and bit her lip.

"Remind me to instruct you to lie convincingly Ginny."Harry looked into her eyes. There was a surprising sum of fearfulness there."Why don't you want to recount me ? You don't have to you know."

"Lost something."Ginny's phonation became little with each word she said."A Diary. must have fallen out in the fight."

"Your journal ‘ s missing ?"Harry shook his head."Did you write anything bad in there ?"

"Not my diary."

"Whose ? Nicking someone's journal is all very marauder of you but…"

"I found it in my books before I even got here. Thought maybe it got left there."

"Who ‘ s was it ?"

"The front said it was Tom Marvolo riddle ‘ s."Ginny was acting almost like when he'd first met her.

"And the bit you ‘ re not telling me is…"He hated doing this but she was obviously hiding something.

"It was… special."Ginny seemed to shrink into the ground a little."It spoke to me."

"rung ? It could talk ?"

"No, he wrote back when I wrote him things."Ginny curled up on the floor and hugged her legs up to her chest."It was clean but it wrote back. He was so decent. I had individual to babble to finally."

"person to talk to ?"Harry scratched his head. What did she think ?"You have six chum don't you ?"

"I can't lecture to them."Ginny began to sob a little."They don't understand. They laugh at me. Tom understood. And now he ‘ s gone. What if someone else picks him up ? What if he tells them the stuff and nonsense I wrote ?"Ginny looked up shocked and scar and suddenly broke down into tears. Harry just stood there, he didn't know what the hell to do.

"I mess everything up."Ginny gulped between sobs."I lost Tom and everyone ‘ s going to take him ! I messed up the sorting ! I started a fight and almost got you expelled !"

"Ginny listen to me."Harry tried grabbing her shoulder but she wouldn't look at him. With his early manus he cupped her face and brought it up so he could see her center."Tom sounds like a good friend, I ‘ m sure you can trust him to keep your secrets. I mean, other hoi polloi must have had the diary before you and Tom never told you any of their secret right ?"

merlin's beard, he didn't know what he was doing. What did he know about comforting people ?

"And as for this."He pointed around the corridor."All this we can fix. We can fix everything, don't concern. I ‘ ll help you."He was babbling, as if she'd care about the corridor.

"And…"Ginny had stopped crying at least."You don't hate me ?"Harry shook his oral sex.

"Only when you cry. Gryffindors don't cry."He regretted it as soon as he said it, that wasn't what she needed to try. As he had often done before Harry asked himself where Hermione was when he needed her. She would have known what to say. He smudged a sleeve against Ginny's nerve to get rid of the rip. At to the lowest degree he could do that right wing.

"Come on. Lashkar-e-Toiba get back to the common room."He stood up and held out a mitt to her."And as for having a Quaker to spill the beans to…"He pulled her into a rough hug then let her go."… what am I a stranger ?"

"Harry."Ginny was looking up at him now."Why couldn't I have had you as a comrade instead of Ron ?"

"Because I ‘ m not powdered ginger and my skin can engage a tan. Why'd you ask ?"But Ginny didn't answer him.

"She's probably distraught."Harry thought, putting an arm over her articulatio humeri and walking with her towards Gryffindor tugboat."I ‘ m no good at this sort of thing."