By the time the train reached the station, Illya had acquired a pair of new enforcers, scared the hell out of every wizard who tried to meet her eyes, despite being rather short, and discreetly placed herself as the top of the first year pure blood food chain.

Oh, and helped Neville find his missing toad, but honestly that thing was better off as potion ingredients. No one kept toads anymore unless they were highly poisonous and to be used in killing your enemies. Trevor didn't even have that going for him.

And the castle wasn't much to look at, though the ceiling was a nice touch. She might have to look into that...if she didn't enjoy sleeping in. An evil thought struck her...she had noticed the Tohsaka heir happened to be an anti-morning person through her familiars in the Emiya house.

What better way to annoy Rin than to literally have her wake up at the crack of dawn because her room looked like it was outside?

Illya didn't have to wait long for her name to be called. Either way, her name was the fifth letter of the English alphabet.

"Emiya, Illyasviel!" called McGonagall.

Interesting. Very interesting indeed. It has been a long time since a Magus child has entered these halls, and you haven't been a true child in a very long time.

So which house do I belong to, Hat-san?

With your natural intelligence, Ravenclaw might seem ideal...however you're a Magus through and through. Have fun teaching these rookies what real cunning and ambition is in...

"SLYTHERIN!"

Illya got up primly, and walked calmly and assuredly to the green and silver table. The older students who had tried to force her to give up her compartment wisely did not meet her eyes a second time. One by one, the other students were sorted. Some, like Malfoy and Parkinson, were not surprising at all with the way they were almost immediately sorted into Slytherin.

Then came the name that had everyone waited with baited breath. The hat argued with Potter for a good five minutes before loudly declaring to an anticipating audience... "SLYTHERIN!"

Stone silence... then Illya beamed at Harry who cautiously sat next to her. Dumbledore looked disappointed for some reason, and Snape looked like someone had slapped him silly with a fish.

Illya was going to have such fun breaking those two, particularly Snape.


In the span of a single night, after Illya claimed the best bed, she took unofficial control of the Slytherin house. Or at least half of it anyway.

It started out simply.

People noticed that when it came to normal social interaction, Potter stayed very close to the odd albino girl. Then came the notice that some of the less than pleasant Slytherins, all older years who wouldn't think much of ordering a first year around, especially an unknown foreigner, went out of their way to avoid her as if they were afraid.

But the biggest factor?

The heirs of the Crabbe and Goyle families had promptly abandoned the Malfoy scion's side despite orders from their fathers to the odd girl.

Which meant one of three things.

Betrayal by Malfoy, which wasn't likely considering how early in the year it was. Bewitched, also unlikely considering the girl's age and the fact there had been little to no time to set up something like that. Or they were doing it because they sensed a bigger predator that made even them wary of angering, loyalty or not.

Considering the actions of the older students, the last was the most likely prospect. Which made the older and wiser students wary.

Illyasviel Emiya was a wolf in a pack of sheep, and after being around her without the other students buffering it, they could feel it instinctively. Which kind of begged the question why Potter felt so comfortable around her.

In a single week, Harry Potter had come to a single conclusion.

Illya was absolutely right when she said wizards were lazy, unmotivated, and a bunch of sheep.

Using skills he had honed for years living with his so called relatives, Harry listened and learned.

Slytherins tried to be cunning and sneaky, but when faced with the real thing had no clue how to react. It was like they were going through the motions of hating muggles and any first generation magicals (or as Illya called them, First Gens), but it lacked the bite of actual hate. It was more like they were parroting without any knowledge why they were doing it.

As for Illya's obvious wolf image (according to Blaize, when Harry asked why the older students were so freaked by her), there was a reason why Harry stuck close, despite the fact everyone else was afraid of her.

Underneath his timid nature was the spirit of a child forced to live in abhorrent conditions and treated worse than most pure bloods treated house elves. Once he found out how to act in this new society, the real Harry was going to make an appearance.

And he was just waiting for the chance to fight back for once.

If Illya was a wolf that only acted tame, then Harry was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Malfoy was just annoying, though that was nothing compared to Weasley.

Ron thought that Harry had 'betrayed wizard kind' because he chose Slytherins over Gryffindors.

Didn't the idiot know that the placement of students didn't depend on the parents, but their personality?

Slytherins used cunning and trickery to survive, while Gryffindors charged right in.

And while backstabbing was kept in-house, at least they were willing to stand behind him outside.

It was nice to know the unofficial boundary line, and that no matter what they were at least consistent with the way they acted.

Gryffindors didn't even have that much, if the way the twins acted was any indication. At least Hermione lucked out and got Ravenclaw, after hearing Illya's blunt assessment of the houses, while Neville went to Hufflepuff.

Illyasviel was absolutely enjoying herself. Wizard magic, unlike magecraft, didn't weaken the more people used it. In fact their cores got stronger the more they used magic, though that no magic over the holidays was actually a control exercise for the first gens.

Magi and Wizards might not get along, but they did agree on one thing, even if it was for different reasons.

No exposing magic to the normals, unless they were close family, and sometimes not even then.

Magi because it meant that they would have to do a little...cleansing...of the witnesses.

Wizards, because they remembered all too well the pain of the witch hunts because of a few idiots and bad timing.

The thing was that the main reason they placed a no-magic rule was to teach first-gens an exercise in restraint. Children were always showing off, and that could be disastrous if people learned about magic.

Magi didn't bother with the 'warning' rule. If you came close to exposing magic, they'd send the Enforcers, no matter what age you were. It was why most families had the sense to stay in-house, or to instill the fear of being killed by normal humans before they were even remotely shown their first piece of magecraft.

Even that idiot Shinji had been able to grasp the 'no using magic in front of mundanes' rule, though it might have been more of a case that he couldn't use magic than knowing better.

Killing him had been fun.

But here, here she was practically a queen. None of the students below fifth year dared to oppose her, and the one idiot who TRIED ended up humiliated beyond anything the pathetic lions could pull off.

Pansy Parkinson learned the hard way you don't comment about Illya's family. She was lucky Illya had been feeling merciful at the time.

Otherwise it wouldn't have been kept in house.

And Potter...Potter was coming along nicely. He was considered Illya's second in command because he picked up her little lessons about being a Magus very quickly, and stuck to her side like glue. But at the same time his presence wasn't cloying, more like the silent sentinels that had been the homunculus pair that came with her to Fuyuki and served as her teachers/maids/guardians.

She had no idea if they even survived the assault on the Einzbern Castle when Gilgamesh showed up and killed her.

She was still trying to puzzle out how having her heart ripped out would somehow cause her to end up in what she could only assume was the past in a wizard's alley. Not that she was complaining, mind you, but it was rather curious.

And there was nothing a Magus child loved more than solving a mystery that not even their parents had experienced.

Then again Illya had noticed something the wizards took for granted.

Harry knew how to slip into places unseen, and more importantly when to keep quiet and listen. He was a spy, and in terms of Servants he could suit either Caster or Assassin, more likely than not the Servant of the Silent Blade.

The only obstacle to that route was the fact Harry had never taken a life, except perhaps that of animals.

If he wished to become a useful servant, rather than a tool, to her he would have to get over that limitation. Somehow, she didn't think it would be too difficult to accomplish.

Harry's life had been less than pleasant, from what she understood, and it had taken relatively little time for him to pick up on the 'lethal' and "Dark" spells once the war got bad enough without Dumbledore holding him back.

Besides, she still had to find a way to get in contact with her father Kiritsugu without the Einzberns finding out. If she was right, then there was a chance she could make up for the time lost because her 'grandfather' had been furious with Kiritsugu for ending the war without actually GAINING the stupid Grail.

And if she played her cards right, she could keep her new favorite minion with her. Root only knew that Harry's "Aunt" wanted nothing to do with him.

Still, there were some days Illya wondered why she bothered to hide the fact she was in Hogwarts at all.

Days like the confrontation with Severus Snape, for instance...


Illya felt the first 'hit' from the legilmency probe during her interview with Snape, two days before the first potions lesson. Unlike the other houses (except Hufflepuff) Snape preferred to get a handle on any illnesses or issues before the other teachers forced him to deal with it.

Family was more or less ignored unless there was outright abuse, in which case he would give a damn about their home life long enough to at least give them a way out. Snape might loathe having to work with children, but he didn't tolerate abuse in any way, shape or form.

Health wasn't an issue, outside of checking off a premade form about shots and the like...though there were a few cases where he had to make sure to tell the house elves about certain dietary restrictions. It wasn't often, but there was the occasional diabetic student that had to have a special diet, or a restriction on what could be placed within reach during feasts.

Then came the psychiatric evaluation, though he didn't phrase it that way. No, he called it a 'talk'. That was when he used the legilmency, to verify that they weren't outright lying to him.

He certainly hadn't anticipated Illya's automatic reaction to the probing.

She slammed her Occulmency barriers down on him, hard. It was like a wall of glacier ice, as cold and unforgiving as the environment outside the Einzbern castle during winter.

She was half tempted to use her Mystic Eyes on him, but while he had thoroughly pissed her off, he had yet to give her reason to show off any of her ace in the holes.

Wizards were limited to wands and incantations. Magi didn't have to worry about such things, if they prepared themselves correctly.

Once he got over the shock, Snape's estimation of the girl went up considerably. He might not be as subtle as Dumbledore, but most children couldn't detect a probe almost instantaneously like that.

"Since you are going to be difficult, I suppose we'll have to fill this out the hard way. Let's start with the simple questions first... What the hell is a Magus doing in a school full of wizards?" said Snape bluntly.

It was obvious to those that knew the difference what Illyasviel Emiya was...but it didn't explain why she was here. Magi typically looked down on wizards, and most pure bloods would do the same. At least those like the Malfoys anyway, who weren't stupid enough to piss off an older family.

"I was about to die from having my heart ripped out, and woke up with no memory how I ended up in Diagon Alley. Since I'm not entirely sure if this is the same past I remembered, I thought I might as well see what the whole hubbub about Hogwarts was about...and piss off some senile old men at the same time. Lowering the casualties of your little war is just bonus."

Snape paled.

"You know how it ends?"

"Dumbledore ends up dead at your hand, even though he was doomed anyway from the curse he got stuck with, Voldemort ends up dying at the hand of Potter only after he briefly commits suicide to rid himself of the soul piece in his scar, and a lot of people died that shouldn't have. And nothing actually changes outside of a few more lines being wiped out because Tom Riddle just had to continue throwing his hissy fit," said Illya shrugging.

Her grandfather insisted she learn about the recent war, if only to emphasize the folly of wizards and why it was a bad idea to marry inside the same lines.

The fact he hated Dumbledore with a passion because he had done something to royally piss off her grandfather had nothing to do with it. Nope, not one bit. Pointing out the other old man's follys was something he had enjoyed just a bit too much though.

"We're getting off topic. What are your current goals and how badly do you plan to harm my Snakes?"

"Mostly I'm killing time until I can see if this is the same past I remember, preferably by getting in touch with my father. An owl would be too obvious and he wouldn't trust it in any case. As far as I'm aware he's never had ANY contacts with wizards and I'm supposed to still be in the castle in the Germany, well out of reach of any wizard alleys. As for your snakes, the only plan I have is to teach them a lesson they should have learned years ago. They are not the top dogs of this world, and learning there are people out there who are less nice than I am in reminding them of that will do them some good. At the very least that fool Malfoy will learn his place," said Illya darkly.

Malfoy had not made a good impression on Illya, and it was all she could do to keep the fact her mother was an Einzbern from the general populace. While it would shut him up in an immediate fashion, it also ran the risk of the fact a 'second' Illyasviel was around. And they only needed one.

She had no desire to accidentally end up as an experiment in Clock Tower.

Snape looked her long and hard in the eyes.

"Permanent maiming and killing are off limits, but temporary damage and psychological trauma are acceptable so long as it doesn't bring their parents down on my head. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, Professor," chirped Illya with an innocent smile that didn't suit the subject matter at all.

"I do have to wonder...what is Potter's role in all this?"

"Harry's role is simple. He's my means to drive the old goat insane. It's considered common knowledge that Dumbledore held him back from his true potential, and if I train him right he won't end up being forced to marry a fan girl when the dust settles. He could have been much more interesting if he had the training of a Magus."

Snape nodded.

"I'll reserve my opinion until after my interview."

Illya decided to nip something else in the bud as well.

"It's also considered common knowledge that Potter was sent to live with his mundane aunt. And that after he reached his majority he gladly cut all ties with them," she added.

Snape paused and looked at Illya with horrified eyes.

"He sent him to Petunia?" he asked.

"You can confirm it yourself," said Illya smugly.

"You're dismissed. Send in Potter next will you?"

Illya gave him a polite curtsey, not because she thought he warranted it, but because she had been brought up properly by people who understood the Rules of polite society everywhere, even in the wizard's backward understanding of it. There were protocols one should follow if you actually respected someone, especially if you were a girl.

Not that she cared about the whole 'marriage and babies' bit.

Whatever was said to Snape in that interview (the only outward sign was the addition of fresh fruits and vegetables on Harry's side of the table, and a brief visit to the school nurse for potions), it did wonders for their student-teacher relationship.

Specifically the fact Snape didn't openly attack Harry during potions two days later.