A Dangerous Riddle

by ACI100

ACI100 A Dangerous Riddle Cheallenge Response. Harry is gearing up for yet another year at Hogwarts, one that threatens to be darker and more challenging than ever before with the return of Lord Voldemort. Harry expected darkness and challenges, but what he did not expect was the challenge of a new enigma who seems entirely too interested in him.

2. Harry's Savior and Snape's Victory

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, not one bit of it, it all belongs to J.K Rowling.

Authors Note 1:

This chapter is going up a little later than I usually post, so I'm sorry if that is inconvenient for anyone. I was out to dinner with my family so had to wait to post it.

Authors Note 2:

Thank you to my beta mineng101 for his work on this story.

Challenge Information: See chapter 1 or my challenge forums to see the full challenge details.

Recommendations

Harry Potter and Delphini Riddle: A Matrimony Made For Peace by Rago Dragovian. Cage and Key by Faromir.

BLOOD TRAITOR by SammieRose28.

The Forsaken Child, and Harry Potter and The Serpent Chronicles Book 1 by ACI100.

Review Answers

Xx DragonKing DragneelxX: I think you will find that "proud of" is a very vague statement. You can proud of somebody but not their accomplishments or goals. I'm not even saying that's how she feels, I'm just saying that it's not as black and white as you seem to think it is, my friend.

NakedGrizz: On the front of your grammatical correction, you are one hundred percent right, but I honestly can't find where the error was. I will fix it when I find it though, and I thank you greatly for pointing it out. On the other front, I think you will see that making Harry more powerful than Delphini would be unreasonable. For one thing, I think Bellatrix was probably more powerful than Lily, and maybe James. And Riddle himself… those are some useful genetics. There are also other factors that will be revealed in due time.

DZ2: I think you're concerns are unwarranted my friend, I actually think this challenge would have been right up your alley, but no worries, I understand you not taking it up. I am glad it intrigues you, and I think you will find that Delphini's relationship with Draco is a bit more complex than it appears.

"Speech"

'Internal Dialogue'

Parseltongue

Memories

Chapter 2: Harry's Savior and Snape's Victory.

It was a very thoughtful Delphini that exited the first meeting of the Slug Club, her grey eyes still fixed on the back of the three Gryffindors who were directly up ahead of her.

It had been a rather interesting day for Delphini. From the Zabini boy's rather obvious lust for her, to the near duel in the compartment, to the Slug Club.

To be honest, she kind of enjoyed the whole sherrade with Zabini. He actually thought he was being subtle. He would make an interesting play thing if Delphi got bored, and lust could quickly lead to loyalty, and that could be very useful in the house of serpents.

She had no doubt where she would go. She was the heiress of Salazar Slytherin himself, her blood demanded that she be a Slytherin, and she had no doubts that the hat would comply.

And then there had been the duel in Potter's compartment.

She had been tempted to curse Draco right there. How could he be so stupid? He was supposed to be inconspicuous this year, so what does he do? Only try to attack the Boy-Who-Lived.

She could not really assess Potter based on that. His reflexes were very fast… that was about it. His shield was solid she supposed, but it was an extremely simple spell, so she would expect nothing less.

She had not been impressed by his friends though. They had simply sat there as if they were helpless and allowed the other girl to be targeted. Had she not stepped in, the girl would have been hit with two curses at once.

She did however, note down their weakness for future reference.

She had certainly been annoyed with Draco, and it took a great deal of both Occlumency as well as natural composure to not at least chew him out on the spot. But she had managed, well… she had at least managed until they exited the compartment and got to their own.

The Slug Club meeting had been mostly boring to her, though there had been a few interesting tidbits, mostly involving Harry Potter.

First was the look in his eyes when he saw her. It was not one of lust, like that of Zabini. Nor was it fear like Draco showed while in private. No, it was simply suspicion, something she was not overly used to, and something she didn't like. She had no doubts at all that she could handle Potter on her worst day, despite that though, it almost seemed unfair, and it would certainly make her life more difficult if the Chosen One perceived her as an enemy.

She needed to change that if she wanted her plan to succeed. Apparently, Potter had knack for finding out things he shouldn't, and if he was already onto her, it wasn't a good start.

Then there had been the bit about the prophecy.

As much as his friends were apparently incompetent with a wand, they were loyal if nothing else. They had shot down Slughorn's insinuations before Harry could even react. She wondered if they knew that they had been lying through their teeth? She doubted it, Potter knew, of that she was certain, but she couldn't really blame him for keeping quiet.

His reaction had been interesting though. Draco and Snape had told her that Potter was essentially an arrogant toe rag who soaked up attention like a sponge. In the meeting however, he had almost wilted under it, at the very least, he had been extremely uncomfortable, which was a direct contradiction to everything she had been told. Granted, it could have just been the topic, but she sensed it was more than that.

Oh how she had wanted to look into his eyes and simply read the prophecy from his mind, but she hadn't, nor was she planning on it.

Now, as she made her way back to her compartment, she questioned what she had been told about Potter, and part of her wished she would have let the scrimmage go on a little longer before playing mother and stopping it before anyone got hurt.

As she re entered the compartment, she was surprised to see that Draco was absent and it was only Parkinson, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Where is Draco?" She asked one of the hulking figures quietly, though she thought she knew the answer.

The boy looked like he was going to refuse, but then there eyes locked and he saw her eyes flash and he gulped.

"One of the side compartments." He said quietly.

Her eyes widened, she had not expected him to act so quickly, this could turn out to be rather interesting.

…..

It had felt as if he had only just closed his eyes when Harry felt a disturbance that caused his eyes to flutter open.

He let out an audible groan as the pain brought on by the Cruciatus curse returned, he gritted his teeth and tried to stop from making any other noises, and that's when he came to the realization that he actually could clench his teeth, the spell had been lifted.

Harry made to stand and the world blurred, pain shot through his body and he would have hit the floor face first, had a figure not caught him. He felt warm arms wrap around him, and he was gently lowered back to the floor, as he let out a rather large gasp of pain, sounding as if he had survived a near drowning.

"Relax." Came a soft, soothing voice as Harry felt someone's fingers gently run through his hair. His instinct with unexpected contact was usually to pull away, however he just allowed himself to relax into it, as the woman's hand ran through his hair yet again, clearly trying to get him to calm down.

"I need you to relax if you would like me to help you." The same voice said, in the same soft, soothing tone it had used earlier.

He tried to move to face the girl but pain wracked his body yet again, and he let out a cry of pain which he tried to stifle.

"Shhh." Said the voice, as Harry lowered his head to make a face, this time he felt a soft hand brush up against his cheek. This time he did try and pull away, but despite the soft and gentle touch, the caress quickly became tighter, though still not uncomfortable as his head was tilted up to look into the bluish grey eyes of his savior.

"G-Gaunt." Harry managed through a cough.

"Potter." She responded calmly. "I am afraid I was mistaken when I said we would next meet under more favourable circumstances."

Harry didn't feel as if he had enough strength to laugh, so he just nodded.

"You've been tortured." She observed, her voice becoming a bit tighter as she spoke.

He nodded and made to reach up to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes but winced painfully as he tried to lift the arm he had forgotten to be broken.

"I'm afraid I can only numb the effects of the Cruciatus curse for a short period of time, proper treatment requires potions that I do not have on my person."

Harry raised an eyebrow and spoke, his voice gaining a bit of strength as his body began to slowly adjust once more.

"I didn't think there was any spell that could do anything against the Cruciatus?"

"There are actually multiple," said Delphini, "most are too difficult for even most healers to master, and some, like this one are extremely obscure. Others are extremely illegal." She slowly and gently turned him so he was facing her and cupped his cheek once more, again having to grip a bit more firmly to prevent him from flinching away. "Stop doing that." She commanded. "If I wanted to hurt you I would have just left you."

"Sorry." He muttered, something she chose to ignore.

"Hold still." She commanded him. She began waving her wand around him in a complex manner while chanting very quickly under her breath in a language that Harry was unfamiliar with.

After a few moments of this, there was a pulse of blue light around Harry, and he felt the effects of the curse leave him almost completely. He still felt a bit sore, sluggish and stiff, but it was all of a sudden very realistic to expect him to move.

Slowly, Harry got to his feet, Delphini gently guiding him with an arm around his waist. When he was upright, Harry slowly took a step, and then another, and realized he was mobile once more.

He reached up with his good arm to push the lock of hair out of his face and his hand came away red. Only then did he remember the fact that he had a broken nose, in comparison to the rest, that had seemed a rather minor detail.

"I can fix that." Said Delphini, gesturing to his nose.

Harry was a bit sceptical, but after what she had just done, he nodded.

She reached out for his face again, but this time much slower, as if to let him know exactly what she would do. He found it far easier to suppress his instincts to move away when he knew it was coming.

Gently, Delphini cupped his cheek and turned his face so she had a clear look at his mangled nose. To Harry's surprise, the sight didn't even make her flinch. He didn't know why she chose to do that again, as it wasn't neccesary.

She didn't even speak an incantation, she just pointed her wand and gave it a flick and Harry winced as his nose cracked back into place. He made to move away but she stopped him.

"Stay still unless you enjoy being drenched in blood."

Harry blushed a bit as Delphini siphoned the blood off of him.

"Any other injuries?" Asked the new girl.

Harry grimaced. "I think my right arm is broken as well." He confessed.

She sighed. "You are very lucky that it was me who found you." Said Delphini. "Anyone else short of a healer would have been useless to fix anything aside from your nose." She pointed her wand at his arm before looking at him with an apologetic look, "This will be the furthest thing from pleasant." She warned him.

Harry grimaced, but nodded.

"Os confractus e converso." Delphin muttered, twirling her wand in a graceful motion before stabbing it towards Harry's elbow.

For a second, Harry's arm was enveloped in a blue light. For a moment nothing happened, and then the blue light flashed and there was a loud crack from Harry's arm.

"Urgh!" Harry grunted out, while ducking his head once more. Mercifully though, his arm seemed to be back in order.

"It may be a bit weak for a day or two." Commented Delphini as she casually twirled her wand through her fingers.

Harry shrugged. "I'll take it." He muttered.

"Anything else?" Asked Delphini, a touch of concern edging her tone.

Harry shook his head. "Let me guess, we're already on the way back to London?"

"Not quite." Said Delphini. "but we will be soon. We should get going."

Harry nodded.

"Can you walk ok?" Asked Delphini as she stepped to Harry's side.

"Yes," said Harry, "how long will that anti Cruciatus spell last?"

"It depends on my power versus the power of the caster. I am fairly confident that it would get you a good way through the night, but I recommend going to the infirmary after the feast to get it properly taken care of."

Harry just nodded as they left the compartment and quickly made their way off of the train.

By the time they had exited, it was rather clear that no one was around.

Harry made to walk on, but Delphini stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "We can't just walk in." She told him.

Confused, Harry looked up at her and gave her a questioning look. "Why not? We've always been able to before."

"From what I have been told by fairly reliable sources, Dumbledore himself has added some very strong wards around the castle. It is very unlikely we would make it past the gates without being granted entry."

"What do we do then? Use an owl?"

"I suppose we have no choice." Said Delphini. "We could just summon one, you know, Accio owl."

Harry raised his wand to do just that when an idea struck him. This girl had proven quite adept at magic until now, so why not give it a shot?

"I don't suppose you know how to do the talking Patronus thing?" He asked, indicating the method of communication that was related to the Patronus charm.

She furrowed her brow but shrugged. "I know how to do it, as in the theory yes. But I don't actually know how to cast the charm simply how it can be modified."

Harry internally groaned. "How do you add the voice?" He asked, resigned to try.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You simply focus on the words you want to be said while you cast the charm, essentially replay them over and over in your head until the Patronus is formed. From there, simply state the desired recipient." She looked at Harry, a calculating look in her grey eyes. "I hope you realize though, that this will be of no use as neither of us can actually cast the Patronus charm."

Harry smirked, closed his eyes and pictured the moment that he had been told he was a wizard. "Expecto Patronum!"

Harry heard a soft gasp escape the girl beside him as a silvery vapour emitted from the end of Harry's wand before taking its shape as a stag. As the mist was taking form, Harry played the same words over and over again inside his head. 'There was an incident on the train and myself as well as another student were held up. Could you please let us in at the front gates?'

Delphini stared openly at the beautiful creature standing in front of them, which seemed to be comprised completely of silvery light.

"It's beautiful." She breathed out softly, her mask broken as she grudgingly revelled in the skill on display.

"Thank you." Said Harry genuinely as his Patronus looked around for danger before realizing there was none and turning to face him. "Here goes nothing." Muttered Harry under his breath. "Rubeus Hagrid." He said in a loud, clear voice.

Instantly, the Patronus took off and was gone so fast it was a blur.

"Where did you learn to cast that?" Asked Delphini, still a bit breathless, but her voice was sharp now, and Harry could not help but notice it came across as more of a demand than a question. When he turned to her, he noticed a difference in her eyes. He could not make out the glint in her eyes, though for a split second, he had thought he saw something change in them beyond the glint of hunger, though he failed to recognize even that for what it was.

He just shrugged. "I had some incidents with dementors during my third year and was taught the Patronus charm by our Defense Against The Dark Arts professor at the time."

It took every last bit of Occlumency that Delphini knew not to gape openly at the boy in front of her. He may not look like much, quite a lot shorter than her, a couple inches below the average, and very slim, but it was clear to her now that Snape, Draco, and even her father were wrong about him, at least to a degree. 'There is much more than meets the eye.' She noted silently.

"You were thirteen?" She asked, the expected skepticism noticeably absent from her voice.

Harry nodded. "Like I said, it was kind of a necessity at the time."

Delphini gently shook her head, he had completely missed her point.

"I think I see someone coming." Noted Harry, pointing ahead of them to a light bobbing down the path.

Delphini nodded, as she realized through the connection the two shared who the man approaching them was.

After a few moments in a comfortable silence, the gates slowly creaked open to reveal the victorious visage of Severus Snape.

"Well well, Potter." He drawled, drawing out every Syllable in the manner in which he was known for. "Did you not learn four years ago that attempting a grand entrance usually does not end favourably?" Harry flushed a bit at the reminder. "Or perhaps," continued Snape, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a smirk as he turned his back on them, gesturing for the two sixth years to follow. "Perhaps you simply thought that particular incident nothing more than a spout of bad luck? What's the matter, Mr. Potter, the attention of being "The Chosen One" isn't enough for you?"

Delphini actually scowled at the display. 'Way to piss off the greatest asset to the side you're supposed to be spying on Snape.'

"Actually, Professor," spoke up Delphini in a smooth, polite and confident voice which caught Snape's attention at once as he stiffened almost unnoticeably at the sound of her voice. "It was my fault, sir." She continued, looking down at the ground and letting a trace of artificial embarrassment creep into her voice. "You see, I got lost trying to find the restroom and Mr. Potter here found me and escorted me up to the school."

Snape fixed her with a stare, and Harry was shocked to see not a trace of venom in the man's eyes. It was, however, blatantly obvious that Snape knew it was a lie, but to Harry's shock, he accepted it, albeit very reluctantly.

"Very well, I expect that this will not become a habit of yours, Ms. Gaunt." He then turned to Harry. "Be that as it may, Potter, you should not have still been on the train at the time, least of all near the girl's lavatories." He said that last bit with a triumphant smirk as Harry went scarlet. "Though it was admittedly… fortunate, that you found yourself in such an unlikely position. It is, nonetheless, a violation of our school rules, and does not entirely disprove my original theory." He paused, seemingly for dramatic affect as he surveyed Harry with cold satisfaction. "Let us see, 25 points from Gryffindor I think, and a detention, the date of which will be decided at a later date."

"But…" said Harry, furious at the false accusations, but he stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, quickly followed by sharp nails digging painfully into the skin. His rant was cut off by a wince, and when he turned to glare angrily at Delphini, who had stopped digging in her long nails and was now simply clasping his shoulder, he saw her shake her head, a stern look on her face that broached no arguments.

For some reason, Harry felt oddly compelled to obey her as he looked in her eyes. He actually shook his head and made to bite back but to his shock no words came out.

He had not been silenced, as he coughed a moment later, but as he stared incredulously into her eyes, he could not seem to speak the words he wanted.

Grudgingly, Harry turned away from her, shooting her one final contemptuous look.

"Ms. Gaunt," said Snape as they neared the castle doors. "I have business that must be attended to elsewhere. I trust that you will not let Mr. Potter do anything inconceivably idiotic in my absence."

"Yes, Professor." She answered in the same voice she had used earlier.

Seemingly satisfied, Snape turned and left.

"What was that for?" Spoke up Harry immediately after Snape had left, gesturing to his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. "You took a Cruciatus but you're going to act like a five year old who scraped his knee over this?" She said, padding his shoulder as she spoke.

"Well…" started Harry, before realizing he had no counter to that.

She smirked. "Do you not realize I just saved your house at least another ten points? If you would like, I can let you ruin yourself in future, just make me aware of those desires prior to the act or acts themselves."

Harry stared shamelessly at her, his jaw hanging open like a fish.

Delphini smiled, and before Harry could move, reached out and gently closed his mouth.

Harry glared at her before they came to the entrance of the Great Hall.

Delphini shooting him one last smile before making to enter the hall.

"Gaunt." Called Harry, causing her to pause in her stride and turn to him.

"Yes, Potter?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice that gave Harry very unwanted flashbacks of a certain toad like woman.

"Thanks." He muttered, looking at the ground as the embarrassment of the situation hit him. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come."

She didn't smile, but looked at him seriously this time. "In future, be more careful, Potter." She advised him. "You have enemies on all sides, and I may not always be so inclined to save you. I believe twice in a day will do for a while."

And with that parting message, Delphini gracefully swept into the Great Hall as Harry followed suit.

The Great Hall with its four long house tables and its staff table set at the top of the room was decorated as usual, with floating candles that made the plates below glitter and glow. It was all a shimmering blur to Harry however, who walked so fast he was passing the Hufflepuff table before people really started to stare. By the time people were standing up to get a good look at him, he had spotted Ron and Hermione and sped along the benches towards them, and forced his way in between them.

"Thanks," said Harry, referencing the fact they had saved him a seat. "How's my nose looking?"

"Normal," said Hermione anxiously, "why shouldn't it? Harry, what's happened? We've been terrified!"

"I'll tell you later." Said Harry curtly. He was very conscious that Neville, Ginny, Dean, and Seamus were listening in. Even Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had come floating along the bench to eavesdrop.

"But…" said Hermione.

"Not now, Hermione." Said Harry in a darkly significant voice. He hoped very much that they would all assume he had been involved in something heroic, preferably involving a couple of Death Eaters, and maybe a dementor. Of course Malfoy would spread the story as far and wide as he could, but there was always a chance it wouldn't reach too many Gryffindor ears.

He reached across Ron for a couple of chicken legs and a handful of chips, but before he could take them, they vanished. Being replaced by puddings.

"You missed the sorting anyway." Said Hermione, as Ron dived for a large, chocolate gateau.

"Hat say anything interesting?" Asked Harry, taking a piece of treacle tart.

"Same as usual really," said Hermione. "Advising us all to unite in the face of our enemies, you know."

"Dumbledore mention Voldemort at all?"

"Not yet, but he always saves his proper speech for after the feast doesn't he? It can't be long now."

"Snape said Hagrid was late to the feast too."

"You've seen Snape? How come?" Said Ron between frenzied mouthfuls of gateau.

"Bumped into him." Said Harry evasively.

"Hagrid was only a few minutes late." Said Hermione, "Look, he's waving at you Harry." She said, pointing up at the staff table.

Harry looked up at the staff table and grinned at Hagrid, who was indeed waving at him.

Hagrid had never quite managed to comport himself with the dignity of Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, the top of whom's head came up to somewhere between Hagrid's elbow and shoulder, as they were sitting side by side, and who was looking… disapproving at this enthusiastic greeting.

Harry was surprised to see the Divination teacher, Professor Trelawney, sitting on Hagrid's other side. She barely left her tower room, and he had never seen her at the start of term feast before. She looked as odd as ever, glittering with beads, and trailing shawls, her eyes magnified to an enormous size by her spectacles.

Having always considered her a bit of a fraud, Harry had been shocked to discover at the end of the previous term that it had been she who had made the prediction that had caused Lord Voldemort to kill Harry's parents and attack Harry himself. The knowledge had made him even less eager to find himself in her company. But thankfully, this year he would be dropping Divination.

Her great beacon like eyes swiveled in his direction. He hastily looked away and towards the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy was miming the shattering of a nose to raucous laughter and applause. Harry felt his insides burn again and glanced up at the staff table and then down once more at his treacle tart before realizing what he had seen.

There had been another chair drawn up at the table, and Delphini sat there, sipping from a glass of tea. For a moment, Harry was surprised, and then he realized that she had missed the sorting too, and would likely be sorted later, therefore, having nowhere to sit in the present.

He looked back down at his tart, his mind returning to the blonde ponce at the Slytherin table. What he would not give to fight Malfoy one on one.

"So, what did Professor Slughorn want?" Asked Hermione.

"To know what really happened at the ministry." Replied Harry.

"Him and everyone else here." Sniffed Hermione. "People were interrogating us about it on the train, weren't they, Ron?"

"Yeah, all wanting to know if you really are the Chosen One."

"There has been much talk on that subject even amongst the ghosts." Interrupted Nearly Headless Nick, inclining his barely attached head to Harry so that it wobbled dangerously on its ruf. "I am considered something of a Potter authority. It is widely known that we are friendly. I have assured the spirit community that I will not pester you for information however. Harry Potter knows that he can confide in me with complete confidence I told them. I would rather die than betray his trust."

"That isn't saying much, seeing as you're already dead." Ron observed.

"Once again, you display all the sensitivity of a blunt axe." Said Nearly Headless Nick in affronted tones.

"I suppose you'd know better than me." Muttered Ron.

This was apparently the final insult for the ghost however, as he rose up into the air and glided back down to the far end of the Gryffindor table just as Dumbledore got to his feet at the staff table.

The talk and laughter all across the great hall died out almost instantly. "The very best of evenings to you!" He said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room.

"What happened to his hand?" Gasped Hermione.

She was not the only one who had noticed. Dumbledore's right hand was as blackened and dead looking as it had been the night he had retrieved Harry from the Dursleys'.

Whispers swept across the room. Dumbledore, interpreting them correctly, merely smiled and shook his purple and gold sleeve over his injury

"Nothing to worry about." He said airily. "Now, to our new students, welcome! To our old students welcome back. Another year full of magical education awaits you."

"His hand was like that when I saw him over the summer." Harry whispered to Hermione. "I'd thought he'd have cured it by now though. Or Madam Pomfrey would have done."

"It looks as if it's died." Said Hermione with a nauseated expression. "But there are some injuries you can't cure. Old curses, and there are poisons without antidotes."

"And Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Those who wish to play for their house Quidditch team should give their names to their heads of house as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators who should do likewise."

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year, Professor Slughorn." Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big waist coated belly casting the table below into shadow. "He is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post as Potions Master."

"Potions?"

"Potions?"

The word echoed all over the hall, as people wondered whether they had heard right.

"Potions?" Said Ron and Hermione together as they turned to stare at Harry. "But you said…"

"Professor Snape meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising his voice so it carried above all the muttering, "will be taking over the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher."

"NO!" Said Harry, so loudly that many heads turned in his direction but he did not care, he was staring up at the staff table incensed. How could Snape be given the Defense Against The Dark Arts job after all this time? Hadn't it been widely known for years that Dumbledore did not trust him to do it?

"But Harry, you said that Slughorn was going to be teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts." Said Hermione.

"I thought he was." Said Harry, racking his brains to try and remember when Dumbledore had told him this. But now that he came to think of it, he was unable to recall Dumbledore ever telling him what Slughorn would be teaching.

Snape did not stand up at the mention of his name, he merely raised his hand in lazy acknowledgement of the cheers coming from the Slytherin table. Though Harry thought he could detect a look of triumph on the features he loathed so much.

"Well, there's one good thing," he said savagely, "Snape'll be gone by the end of the year."

"What do you mean?" Asked Ron.

"That job's jinxed. No one's lasted more than a year, Quirrell actually died doing it. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another death."

"Harry!" Said Hermione, shocked and reproachful.

"He might just go back to teaching potions at the end of the year." Said Ron reasonably. "That Slughorn bloke might not want to stay long term, Moody didn't."

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had not been the only ones who had been talking. The whole hall had erupted into a buzz of conversation at the news that Snape had finally achieved his heart's desire.

Seemingly oblivious to the magnitude of the news he had just imparted, Dumbledore said nothing more about staff appointments, but waited a few seconds, making sure that the silence was absolute before continuing.

"Now, as everybody in this hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength." The silence seemed to tortin and strain. As Dumbledore spoke, Harry glanced at Malfoy. Malfoy was not looking at Dumbledore, but making his fork hover in mid air with his wand, as though he found the headmaster's words unworthy of his attention.

"I can not emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer. We are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you therefore, to abide by any security restrictions your teachers might impose on you, no matter how irksome you might find them. In particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything suspicious within, or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you all to conduct yourselves always, with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety."

Dumbledore's blue eyes swept the room once more before he spoke. "One final bit of business before we head off to bed however, would Ms. Delphini Gaunt please come forward to be sorted?"

The room seemed to fall into a tight silence for several long moments before chatter erupted once more. At the name Gaunt, the Slytherin table practically sat stock still, some of them even straightening rather noticeably.

Delphini stood gracefully from her seat and swept forward, her long, blonde hair fanning out behind her before she took her seat at the stool.

She sat for about a minute before the hat loudly proclaimed.

"SLYTHERIN!"

With thunderous applause from the green and silver table, Delphini stood, bowing to the staff table as she gently placed the hat back on the stool and made her way over to join those of the house of cunning, taking a seat between Malfoy and Zabini.

Dumbledore stood once more and smiled at them all one final time.

"Now, your beds await. As warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well rested for your lessons tomorrow, let us therefore, say goodnight. Pip pip!"

…..

Authors Endnote:

Yet another chapter in the books, I am actually having SO MUCH FUN writing this story, and it is coming very easily to me, so I will continue to write it. I am going to try for weekly uploads, so if there is a particular day of the week that works best for everyone aside from Wednesday or Friday please let me know.

So, what will become of the newest member of Slytherin House, and how will it change the arch of our hero?

Keep reading to find out!

Next chapter; lessons begin, and Harry gets his first taste of lessons with new teachers, odd textbooks, and a new prodigy in their midst.