Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your reviews and comments! Please keep up the flow! I've decided that this story will have a Dark!notevil!Harry so sorry to all of you who don't like that... I'm going to leave it a secret which of the story options I've chosen, try and work it out for yourself! Okay, if you're confused by what in earth I'm talking about, please read my other fic which I'm in the process of rewriting called Accidents Happen... It's a light cheery fic which is generally feel gOld! Please read and review, happy reading

Chapter 2: the mystery unfolds

Follows Remus' POV:

Monday came quickly and Remus soon found himself in Quirell's old defence classroom. The room was old and dusty though not without interesting items dotted around the place- for example, a small dragon skeleton hung from the ceiling along with a tapestry depicting the noble death of Godric Gryffindor at the hands of the evil Salazar Slytherin. In addition, Remus had a sneaking suspicion that there was in fact a Boggart in one of the cupboards because whenever he moved near the cupboard it shook and Remus felt a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach. A sharp knock on the door made Remus look up at his wall clock and then back at the door.

It was five o'clock. Time for Harry's long awaited detention.

'Come in!' Remus called from behind his desk where he stood flicking through old manuscripts of ancient tales.

'Mr. Potter, do sit down,' Remus said calmly before walking round to sit on the front of the teacher's desk. Harry had come with his hair even messier today with a large cut on his forearm and a scrape on his cheek that looked fresh, specks of blood could be seen on the collar of his shirt. Where had that come from?

'You are just in the nick of time! I was just about to open my first package but before that! A Boggart has found its way into one of my cupboards, I figured I may as well wait for you so you can learn about them and eventually defeat this one! Sound alright to you?' Harry stood still and gulped before nodding slowly, he had a cold, guarded look in his eyes but it was quickly covered by his usual sparkle.

'Sounds great, I'll get my wand,'

'You do know what a Boggart does?' Remus said doubtfully, after all, most first years didn't even know that there was such thing as a Boggart.

'Yes, it will change to become my worst fear. I say the defence and think of something funny and then I laugh,' Harry said slowly as if by procrastinating it would go away.

'Yes, the curse is-'

'Riddikulus,' Harry cut Remus off, much to Remus' confusion. How was he so aware? There was more to Harry than there seemed, something mysterious.

'Yes, do you have any idea what it may be?' Remus questioned.

'Yes-' Harry said quietly before looking down.

'Care to say?'

'I don't want to say,' Harry said quietly but with force to Remus, who just smiled and nodded. Remus felt that it may be of great interest to see a little further into the darker, more secret areas of Harry's life. Perhaps, through his fear, he could unearth the real person.

'Ready when you are,' Remus said calmly. With a small click Harry unlocked the door and out creeped a tall man with red hair pointing a wand at Harry's head, he wore long robes with a sword underneath his over robe. Harry's face lost all colour and he fell to his knees mumbling something about 'making it quick'? Whatever that meant.

'Oh, Salazar, what am I to do with you? CRUCIO!' the man had a harsh, mocking voice but seemed to be intent on causing Harry pain, but that made no sense. Who would have crucioed Harry?

'Ri-riddikulus!' Harry said as he got to his knees, his face was contorted in pain and his eyes were wide and startled. The man turned into a large mannequin with the man's red hair and dress but with a considerable amount of make up on, giving the appearance that the man was in fact a girl. With a small, tense laugh Harry banished the Boggart and then fell down onto a desk.

'Harry, who was that?' Remus said carefully as he studied the pale boy before him. Before Remus could stop him, Harry had sprung up and aimed his wand at Remus. After seeing who it was, he put his wand back into his holster and apologised to a very startled Remus.

'That was a man I hoped I'd never have to meet again, one I never should have to,' Harry said whilst pacing around the room, slowly inspecting the more valuable items around the room.

'How did you know the cruciatus curse if you're only a first year and how would you have met someone who said it to you?'

'I'm Harry James Potter, I just have,' Harry said simply much to Remus' irritation. Harry James Potter his backside!

Remus looked at Harry carefully from across the room. At first glance he appeared laid back and just a schoolboy but behind that, there was a hidden, but still present, tenseness that was only visible sometimes, like when something spooked him slightly- for example, when McGonagall knocked on the door to check Harry had actually turned up. Remus supposed that it was just from the duel with Voldemort and he just hadn't relaxed fully yet.

'Professor, I'm done,' Harry said setting the last remaining books on the shelf.

'Well done Mr. Potter, I don't want to see you on detention again! Alright?' Remus said with a mock scold but there was no real bite behind it, Harry was too like Prongs to be punishable.

'No I won't professor, see you in class and next year,' Harry said brightly before grabbing his jumper from the pegs by the door and pulling it on. Remus was very amused to see that the cuffs were singed and on the left sleeve there was a patch on the forearm which had been clearly burnt away, by what was unknown. Just as Remus was about to sit down to finish his lesson plans, he froze: How had Harry known he was teaching next year?

In the Staff Room later that day:

'So Remus, how did you find Mr. Potter? Not too much trouble I hope?' McGonagall said after sipping on her steaming mug of tea, she bore a knowing smile as she looked at him.

'No, he was no problem at all! He burst into laughter randomly quite a lot, is that normal for him?' Remus asked thinking back to Harry's strange habits.

'Yes, and it's the same with Mr. Finnegan,'

'Professor-' Remus started.

'Minerva: we're colleagues now,'

'Sorry, Minerva, how bad is Harry actually?'

McGonagall have Remus a long hard look before falling into the back of her chair with a small sigh.

'Mr. Potter is actually one of the nicest people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. He has a good, though slightly dark, outlook on things and has a great sense of friendship. He often is seen plotting for his next prank, although he hardly ever pranks people individually unless it is a teacher or Mr. Malfoy- though it is not unwarranted as Mr. Malfoy is often seen provoking Mr. Potter. He is well and truly James Potter jr. but with both Lily and James' sense of kindness, he does have quite a dark attitude to the people he dislikes but that changed within the first term. He has his off days, naturally, and when he does, you do not want to cross him.' McGonagall said almost in warning. She shook her head slightly as if to clear a thought from her head, as she did this her face grew pale but quickly coloured again.

'Anything the matter Prof- Minerva?' Remus asked on noticing her movements, more out of kindness than curiosity, however Remus was itching to know what had made her react so strongly.

'No, it's nothing, just an errant thought,' McGonagall said in a tone that shouted 'case closed, no more questions'.

'I've got planning to do,' Remus said curtly before standing up, brushing his jeans for imaginary crumbs and picked up his stack of textbooks before leaving the staff room with a small nod.

So Harry was quite a friendly person with a dark side? Now where would that come from? Learnt behaviour? Or maybe he is just like that? Remus mused as he traipsed along to his room along the empty corridor. Just as he was about to unlock the door to his room he was accosted by an average height boy with blonde messy hair and blue eyes from thin air, he staggered to a halt an inch away from Remus and looked up sheepishly but that didn't last for long as soon they were both knocked off their feet and landed in a bundle on the floor with the third mystery person, Harry James Potter. With a sheepish yet cheeky grin, Harry stood up and offered Remus a hand before pulling the other boy up which Remus guessed was the famous Seamus Finnegan.

'Ah, Mr. Potter, long time no see and I suppose this is Mr. Finnegan?' Remus asked with an amused glint in his eye.

'Yes, the name's Seamus sir,' Seamus said with a pleasant Irish accent as he held his hand out to shake it with Remus which he promptly returned.

'Now, what would you two boys be doing in such a hurry? Especially from seemingly nowhere!' Remus said sternly though it held no bite. As far as Remus knew there was no passage near here, though he was most likely wrong!

'Er, you see sir-' Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he tried to work out what to say, 'We were- in trouble with Filch and-'

Remus cut Harry off, 'And pray, what had you done to anger Mr. Filch?'

Harry mumbled something that sounded distinctly like 'dung bombs, flour, feathers and water' whilst Seamus shifted from one foot to the other.

'Sorry, I didn't catch that,' Remus said sweetly.

'He had the idea that perhaps we had put flour, feathers and dung bombs in a bucket with a bucket of water on top of the great hall doors, but he had no proof!'

'Apart from that you admitted it to him, stupid!' Seamus laughed whilst face palming.

'Life's boring if you always get away with stuff! Besides, I'm going for another visit to Dumbledore or a hanging from my ankles, Filch is a tad obsessed with disembowlment though,' Harry mused with a happy twinkle in his eye. He was so like James and the traitor it was hilarious! The way they actively went for detentions just so people knew it was them! Seamus didn't seem annoyed by it at all, it was clear Harry was the leader of the pair.

'So, now you've escaped Filch, you've met me and I still have that cupboard to clean Mr. Potter,' Remus said mockingly at Harry whose eyes just widened and he shook his head profusely though Seamus had other ideas.

'How does Saturday sound?' he laughed at Harry who had seemingly changed his mind and who then nodded approvingly.

'Dumbledore said we couldn't get a Saturday! We'd be the first ever first years to do it!' Harry said excitedly. It was almost like the detentions have him an adrenaline high! Remus thought.

'See you Saturday boys, don't forget to bring your wands!' Remus said before pushing his door open and stepping inside. Not that he actually doubted that Harry and Seamus didn't bring their wands everywhere they went.

The late evening sun shone through the high stain glassed windows of the defence room, throwing shards of colour onto the cold stone floor, long beams of coloured light drifted across desks and chairs that were yet to be used by students. In the corner of the room slept a man whose face was concealed by a large open copy of the Daily Prophet, the front page bore the picture of Harry Potter being awarded some form of Order of Merlin from Fudge despite that Harry looked slightly repulsed by the pudgy man violently shaking his hand above the article:

Potter: The Boy Who Lived or The Boy Who Conquered?

My dear read, it is me, Rita Skeeter, reporting to you the latest news from the land of Hogwarts. Rumours have spread like a wildfire around the country about the elusive Harry Potter but which are true? Me, myself and I want to know.

Harry Potter was, from the moment I first saw him, extraordinary. His entire being radiates confidence and heroism, he walks in with a broom slung over his back, his hair wind swept and messy.

On greeting the young man, for that is what Mr. Potter obviously is, I am struck by the gentlemanly attitude I am shown, here is a man of great character, I can tell already.

R: 'So, Mr. Potter, I hear that you have once again defeated the dark lord, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named? Is there any truth behind this rumour?'

HP: 'Ms. Skeeter, as much as I would love to dispel these rumours, I must admit, I have, I believe, temporarily stopped Voldemort,'

R: 'Temporarily? What stopped you from defeating him entirely?'

HP: 'Ms. I am only 11, he is at least fifty, I am not yet capable of defeating him,' through just these few words, Harry's modesty and humble attitude shines through again.

R: 'Would your parents be proud do you think?'

HP: 'I certainly hope so, however my escapades this year may somewhat concern them,' Harry laughs.

R: 'Escapades?'

...

The article carried on in the same manner for five pages at least, Remus wasn't entirely sure how Harry coped with the interview if he was brutally honest! It was relentless! However, Harry seemed to have coped and no hate mail had been received yet that he was aware of, things were going well at Hogwarts.

'Sir! SIR!' a scared voice echoed through the near empty chambers, the voice startled Remus from his sleep and he looked around bleary eyed as hammering on the door confused him slightly.

'Sir! Come QUICK!' the voice that Remus recognised as Seamus' bellowed through the key hole of his cedar wood door. Remus jogged over to the door and clicked it open to reveal a terrified Seamus on the other side, instead of being distressed by Remus state of clothing - he wore a pyjama shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts- he seemed more intent on pulling Remus out of his room by his arm.

'Woah, Mr. Finnegan! What ever is the matter?' Remus asked slightly alarmed but amused by the boy's antics.

'It's Harry! He's having some fit! Please come quick!' Remus' bemused expression slid off and was replaced by sheer worry, his mouth suddenly became dry and he couldn't control his body properly, with maximum attention he was able to rasp out, 'Where?'

'The boys' dorms, quick sir, this way!' Seamus pulled Remus in the completely opposite way to the dorms much to Remus' confusion, about five metres down the corridor Seamus crouched down and whipped out his was before levitating a stone out of the floor to reveal a dark hole and a ladder. With a flick of his wand he illuminated the passage and after looking up at Remus to show him what to do, he slid down the ladder into the near darkness. After looking around for people, Remus followed Seamus who had already started levitating the stone back into place and then grabbed Remus' wrist again and running through a network of tunnels.

'Where are you taking me?' Remus spat out as he tried to clear his mouth of cobwebs.

'The boys' dorms, quick, he might die!' Seamus pulled Remus along even faster down rickety corridors and narrow passageways. They approached a ladder which Seamus climbed up and pushed open a trap door from the top lifting up a rug on the boys' dorm corridor, he squeezed out before lifting up the rug entirely to let Remus out, after Remus was out he slammed the door shut and ran until he skidded into his dorm from which gut-wrenching screams resounded from, piercing, haunting screams. Remus barged through the few worried people that crowded around the door, people had started to poke their heads out of their dorms to try and work out what in Merlin's name was making that racket, inside Harry's dorm was another crowd of people desperately trying to work out what was wrong - the twins, a boy named Dean and Thomas and Alice and Frank Longbottom's son, Neville- they all kneeled around Harry trying to rouse him.

'Out the way!' Remus ordered as he rushed to get to Harry who had stopped screaming and now was reduced to mumbling incoherent words.

'No- ne'er- you wouldn'- cruc-' Harry gasped for breath and scrunched his face up in what looked like extreme pain.

'What is this? What was he doing?' Remus asked as he tried to stop Harry from hurting himself in his fit.

'He said he was tired and he went to bed- he then started doing this-' a boy with an Afro stuttered.

'So a nightmare then!' Remus said in enlightenment before his face grew stony, his forehead creased in concentration. It was well known that you didn't wake someone from a nightmare, Remus had great experience in that sense- he had been woken many a time after a full moon and been greatly confused and terrified from his dream- however, Harry's dream seemed slightly worse than his. Here goes nothing! Remus thought before pointing his wand at Harry and enervating him. Harry shot up and aimed his wand and the person closest to him which was incidentally Remus, his eyes were guarded and cold, they swept around the room, taking in the surroundings: five four-poster beds; three wooden desks; numerous trunks and cages and about fifteen children and one sickly looking adult. Harry muttered something under his breath that sounded like nothing Remus had heard before, it was more like a hiss of air escaping than any words. Swiftly, Harry checked himself for any injuries before turning back to Remus.

'Professor, may I enquire as to what you are doing here?' he said silkily with a touch of threat.

'I was told you were having a nightmare or a fit and I came to check,' Remus said as he ran his hand through his hair, something wasn't right, this wasn't the same Harry he had met earlier; was this Harry in a bad mood?

'Well I assure you, I am fine and require no assistance and as for my 'nightmare', it was nothing uncommon, I forgot to warn my friends about how violent they can be,' Harry spoke with great thought behind every word, like he didn't want to offend anybody.

'Well no harm done, care to share?' Remus said jovially, but at Harry's look of distaste and glare behind him, Remus turned and shut the door after ushering out the dorm mates.

'Professor, my dreams are nothing more than dreams, it does you a great disservice even bothering to consider the possibility of truth behind them. I, for one, don't pay much attention to them for they are in the past,' Harry said curtly as he went to pick up a large leather bound book from across the room, it had silver clasps and a coat of arms on the front that included a snake, Remus stared at the book before looking back to Harry who had opened the book and was flicking through the pages.

'It is of no concern to me, I am here to help you, no matter how small the task,' Remus did all he could to restrain himself from reaching out and putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

'I need not counselling, what I need is some time to think things through,' Harry said sharply as he looked at Remus with a cutting glare, one that Remus would expect from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as opposed to a small boy.

'You should talk more about things like that, it would help,' Remus said softly though Harry caught all he said.

'WHAT I DO AND DO NOT DO IS OF LITTLE CONCERN TO YOU! You would do well to remember that!' he spat with a look reminiscent of the look James Potter had received from Snape all those years ago.

'I am a professor! Do not shout at me Mr. Potter!' Remus snapped angrily but by the end of his sentence all the anger had left his sentence, leaving him speaking only a little louder than usual, 'I know you have just woken up from what looked like a horrible nightmare, but that is no excuse, one more snap like that and detention,' Remus said softly as he looked at the cold, detached boy that was so different to the one he met earlier. With a small nod, Harry looked up and swallowed quietly, in fear or annoyance Remus wasn't sure.

'I apologise for my actions, they were uncalled for,' Harry said stiffly, Remus wasn't entirely sure of the sincerity of his apology but he accepted it anyway. With a sign of acceptance, Remus turned and departed swiftly, leaving a very confused crowd of onlookers who had heard the raised voices but weren't sure entirely was had come to pass.

Remus stormed down the corridor and into his office, he barely noticed the startled children he pushed past as he made his way to his room hurriedly. His face was set in an expression of sheer concentration and confusion as he sat down at his desk, pulling a piece of parchment before him, he grabbed a quill and dunked it in the blue ink before him, with a small twiddle of his fingers he began writing.

Harry James Potter:

What I know:

-11 years old

-Orphaned

-Happy with dark outlook

-Has very bad moods

-Quite a temper and a way with words

Reasons for this:

-His nature

-Learnt behaviour

-Lived alone? *Dumbledore left him with relatives.

-Naturally clever and articulate.

Possible secrets:

- None thought of yet.

Remus looked down at the ink splattered mess that was his list, it made no sense. Why would Harry have such a different personality now? Maybe he was putting it on to make people leave him alone? Possible.

But then again, so many things were 'possible'.

A/N: Okay guys, here's the next chappie! Please review, it's really nice to see people review even if it is just to say 'I like this,' the more the merrier!

PS: please recommend this or add this to any appropriate communities if you have a community or are staff on one! Thanks! I'm just trying to get my story out there!