Here's Chapter number 3. As promised.
The following pairings are now confirmed: James/Lily, Remus/Hermione, Sirius/Luna, and the end pairing Harry/Ginny, with at least one other pairing for Harry before that becomes a reality.
And yes, you read that right: ENDpairing. Come on, the only dating experience the guy has had at this point is a single disastrous date with Cho Chang and a failed Yule Ball date with Parvati Patil. Not to mention the only people he could've gone to for dating advice are Sirius, the twins, and possibly (though unlikely) Hermione. And you know why, regardless of being his good friends/godfather, Harry might question the advice the first three might give him if he'd asked. I intentionally left out Remus because after the end of third year, the only times Harry saw Remus were the end of the summer between fourth and fifth year, and Christmas and the bit where Sirius and Remus talk to Harry after he discovers James' questionable behaviour as a teenager, leaving little time to talk about dating advice. So you with Harry's obvious lack of knowledge and experience involving women, it would simply not be realistic if Harry found and fell in love with someone at first sight. Like many people, Harry will find his love through trial and error. Something I'd like to see more in fan fiction, instead of Harry meeting a girl and ending up marrying or falling in love with her at the end.
Shoutout to to my first and favourite proof reader, Wolf's Scream! Thank you, awesome fellow writer and reviewer, for correcting many of my mistakes. Contrary to what might seem in my writing, English isn't my native language, and this awesome man helped correct or remove my mistakes, and even gave me a few ideas.
Chapter 3
Conference room, top floor, Potter Manor, England
August 19th.
The final member entered the conference room behind Deckard, at long last, and closed the door behind her. The Bones twins, infamous war heroes of the war against Grindelwald, then took their respective seats close to the pair of Barons, and the meeting got started.
It had been a tiring month for Charlus, especially the first few days after they learned Harry had been a Horcrux, and what had to be done to create one. The nine kids were horrified that something like that had happened to Harry, and as Charlus had expected they had all flocked to support him. That is, until Harry revealed to them all his thoughts on Dumbledore, how the man had known and done almost nothing about it. The kids had been appalled, especially Miss Granger, who had long had faith in Dumbledore and authority figures in general. But even she could not continue to defend him with all the supporting facts Harry threw behind his theory about how Dumbledore had intended to lead him to his death to get rid of the Horcrux, especially the Prophecy that he let the others (Charlus and the others included) hear for the first time. A prophecy Dumbledore had witnessed, stating that Harry and Voldemort had to face one another in battle, and only one, or neither, would walk out. Charlus remembered being pissed at that one. Dumbledore had practically manipulated Harry his entire life so he would willingly walk to his death, so the Horcrux could be destroyed. Only the fact Harry was sitting there now, free of the Horcrux, had calmed him down.
They had immediately started a training regime all six kids had to follow. After all, Harry and Neville had supposedly been privately tutored across on the continent for their extreme skill and because of their power, and the others had been met due to lessons from the same tutors. They had to show their potential as well. Therefor, in the morning Charlus drilled them in an extensive training schedule, whipping them into shape, the Marauders included. Sometimes Sirius and Peter had tried to sneak out in the beginning in their Animagus forms, because they couldn't handle being awoken at the crack of dawn. Charlus hunting them in his Griffin Animagus form (and in the first week Fleamont in his Eagle Animagus form, until he had returned to the USA) had promptly persuaded them to stop those efforts.
In the afternoon, Dorea would get their spell work up to the expected standards, and in the early evening before supper, teach them all Occlumency. And as expected, Harry took to Occlumency the fastest (to the boy's own surprise. It was a shame the boy underestimated his own abilities so much.), and had mastered it entirely in a week. And Neville and Harry were by far the most powerful with their spell work. The others were certainly no slouches, but Harry and Neville simply worked on a level above the others. The Marauders even started a betting pool who of them could win the most often. At the moment Neville was in the lead with ten wins, seven losses... and nineteen ties.
Charlus had also noticed, to his surprise but extreme pleasure, that the Marauders had persuaded them to try and become Animagi, if only so they could all be there for Remus, someone they all held in high regard. At the moment, the Lovegood girl was the only one close to managing her transformation, but Charlus knew that advantage wouldn't be hers alone forever.
While they all trained hard, especially Frank and his girlfriend Alice Prince, they all had some fun time too. Most of the boys spent their time either regaling in the Marauders' tales of various pranks (a few of which had Charlus guffawing as well, when Dorea wasn't looking), or engaging in their own prank wars. The girls, meanwhile, often spent their time reading, talking up on events of the last few years so they wouldn't stand out (which they in turn related to the boys in the evenings), or taking revenge on the boys when a prank accidentally we off close to them. And to be frank, even Charlus had never heard of the Bat Bogey Hex the Weasley girl had performed on Sirius, and he found it hilarious.
But training his offspring and their friends wasn't all he had been up to. He knew that You-Know-Who had to be stopped no matter what it took. If a man had created Horcruxes, he was just as bad as Grindelwald, the man that had united their families in the first place. And so, he and Arcturus had worked tirelessly so they could all meet together for an extended period in time, and discuss what needed to happen concerning You-Know-Who.
And now, here they all were. Hyperion Greengrass and Howard Fletcher, as well as the latter's son Mundungus. The three of them had an extensive array of contacts in the underworld, the former in the muggle world and big time Wizarding world, the latter two specialising in the small time Wizarding world. In addition, Hyperion had a majority ownership in a large number of British Wizarding businesses. If Voldemort did anything concerning large amounts of money, Hyperion would know.
Aside them there were the Bones siblings, Deckard and Seraphina. The Terror Twins, as they were called by all who earned their ire, were devastating in any means of flight, be it Muggle Air planes, brooms or magical carpets, the two were deadly in the air, and no slouches with their wands either.
Then there was Hector Longbottom, a man with a number of contacts in the Auror department. Hector could get people to listen to him and appear in response to calls if he needed them, even the politicians like Scrimgeour or paranoid nutcases like Moody, although those were a stretch and not at his beck and call.
A mistake to forget, of course, were the lesser houses that Charlus respected fiercely for their loyalty, but who couldn't meet as often. Like Richard Croft, one of their lesser supporters. While he supported them with all his heart, he didn't have the fighting mentality like most of the others in the alliance. Instead, the man helped finance them and, with his muggle archeological background, helped them track down anything ancient or needed for rituals. Heck, with how much time spent in tombs the man could have been a curse breaker, were it not for his troubled past with Gringotts. The Shacklebolts, led by the head of their family, Anamaria, were also such an example. Their family was steadfast in their belief, and they enjoyed their alliance here. But in the Wizengamot and elsewhere they simply had too little power to effect real change, and kept themselves secluded in the background.
Charlus swept his gaze over the other families represented but who he didn't know as well due to the fact they had been recruited by others, like the Joneses, the Ropers, the Riverses, the Macmillans, the Smiths, the Davises, the Shafiqs... His heart ached when it came across the empty seat. There were other absentees, like Fleamont or the Delacours, who were both out of the country at the moment, and couldn't come back any time soon. But Charlus was looking at the chair that would always remain so, for their group didn't tolerate betrayers and backstabbers. Damn you, Reginald Lestrange.
And last but not least, there was the second founder of their group. The surly git, as everyone fondly called him, for he was one. But he was their strongest member in heart, and since Lestrange's desertion to Voldemort's ranks, their greatest expert on the Dark Arts.
Baron Arcturus Black.
Charlus reminisced about the past for a moment, as he allowed everyone a few moments to catch up. He could afford to, since they had over two hours. He remembered it all. Their Hogwarts days, and how they had initially been very hostile to one another. Heck, Arcturus' first scar was from a curse from Charlus he'd never allowed to properly heal. But then the Defense teacher had briefly been replaced by an imbecile like Merrythought, who didn't teach them anything beyond his usual tripe of encounters with magical creatures. And Arcturus had agreed with Charlus that they needed to teach each other in order to pass their OWLs. Inevitably, this had drawn in Hyperion Greengrass, Reginald Lestrange, and Archibald Davis, who were Arcturus' closest friends (Charlus expected this was simply because they had all such ridiculous first names), as well as Hector Longbottom, Deckard Bones, and Richard Croft, who were Charlus'. They all, in turn, brought in their siblings, who in turn invited their own friends who had to offer something... the next thing Charlus and Arcturus knew, both of them were teaching half of defence at Hogwarts, and many preferred their sessions to the mandatory Defense classes.
The bonds between them all strengthened over the years, especially when he began to truly get to know Arcturus, as well as his sister (and now Charlus' wife) Dorea, who he was star-struck with as soon as he saw her. And they, in turn, all got to know one another better, as well as their friends. Their friendships became so strong, in fact, that the large group even got their own nickname amongst those not in the know. One so strong and unshakable everyone knew it, and one from which enemies cowered upon hearing it.
The Rascals.
It was true, a few of them drifted apart due to their families forcing them to or their dreams to pursue careers overseas. But the core group, the ones currently present in the room, always stuck together.
And thus, when Grindelwald's campaign began to truly threaten England, they all answered the call to arms - in their own way, of course. One of the benefits of their group was that there were only a handful of spells and rituals they considered too dark or too wrong to use. The Ministry of Magic in Britain certainly wouldn't have condoned it. Much less the French, the Norwegians or the Germans.
It was fortunate, therefor, that most of the members came from wealthy families, and that they had the funds to wage their own war against Grindelwald. They smuggled themselves in behind the lines with help of the Delacours, who were French in origin but firm resistance fighters who would accept any help they could get. And then, once they and their friends and family members who wanted to help had smuggled themselves in, they had struck like lightning and disappeared like smoke. Half of Grindelwald's camps disappeared in raging Fiendfyres even he could not control, for they had been cast by multiple witches and wizards. Supply convoys had mysteriously Portkeyed away to Delacour lands, where the Rascals took their supplies and let the men go back to their furious master. A handful, like Michael Roper, had opted to join, and had their family names redeemed.
The Rascals gained infamy and notoriety when they stopped the heist of the French Gringotts branch. Grindelwald, in a moment of poor judgement, had had his allies (the Malfoys and the Selwyns, Charlus knew, although both families had covered up their involvement extremely well) try and rob Gringotts due to a need for financial influx to fund his armies. Upon hearing of this, the Rascals had literally geared up and stormed Gringotts, and stopped their respective families dead. Quite literally, Charlus would add. They did it with such a fury to protect their goblin allies, that Charlus and Arcturus had received the honorific Goblin titles Scourge and Blaze respectively, the promise they and their family members would gain Wizengamot (or whatever it was called in the country of their choice, like Fleamont Potter and Jeremiah Smith in the MACUSA, for example) seats in whatever country they wanted, and a promise their finances would be arranged for throughout the war.
With their financial troubles taken care of, and gaining sudden infamy and a reputation among wizards, they had opted for a name change. In the end, it was settled by the name The Great International Coalition to Better the Wizarding World. Though this was such a mouthful most simply called it the Great Alliance, or the old name the Rascals. None of the members took offence at either name anyway.
A benefit of the official name was that many people, and surprisingly the leading Wizarding Family in Russia, the Romanovs, were far more willing to work with them. And soon, with resources from the various resistance groups in Europe and support from Gringotts and Russia, there was a war against Grindelwald on two fronts: the various ministries on one end, and the Great Alliance on another (not unlike how the muggle Adolf Hitler fought against both the Soviet Union on one side and the Allied forces on another).
The Ministries had tried to approach them multiple times, asking and sometimes pleading for their open support. But Charlus had refused to answer and Arcturus had scoffed. The Ministries of various contries had let Grindelwald get far too powerful before doing a thing, ignoring the signs he was a mad man determined to achieve world domination and a dark wizard, much like how the British were now ignoring He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for the most part. They weren't effective at what they did, and if the alliance surrendered control they would lose far more members than if they worked on their own. No, it was better if they worked separately. Of course, that would bite them in the arse later.
The war came to an end, ironically, in the same city as the Muggles' Second World War: the city of Berlin. Charlus and Arcturus had fought to gain access to Grindelwald, who had taken refuge there after his armies had been decimated, hoping the muggle defences the Nazi's had put up to protect Hitler would help protect him as well. But it was not to be. The Bones siblings, the Twin Terrors of the Sky, were able to get many people behind Grindelwald's lines using brooms and flying carpets while devastating Grindelwald's air division, and Hyperion and Hector had managed to punch a hole in the defences near Tempelhof airport on the ground, letting many people, magical and muggle, into Berlin. The fighting had been intense, with many losses on both sides. Miraculously, the statute of secrecy had held, as many wizards and witches had charmed their wands and staffs to appear like rifles and pistols, and magical creatures they rode to appear like planes and tanks.
But as with the usual curse of Potter luck, others swooped in to take the glory after Grindelwald's armies had been dealt with. The Ministries had launched their own attacks, theirs twice as chaotic and uncoordinated as those of the Rascals, and managed to corner Grindelwald at the same fortress Hitler had taken shelter in. And history knew the rest: Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald, their duel became the fiercest of all ages (even Charlus would have to admit that), and the dark wizard was defeated, his wand confiscated by Dumbledore.
Charlus, Arcturus, and the rest of the alliance had held a permanent distrust of Dumbledore since, as they felt Dumbledore had reaped the rewards of all their hard work. Augusta Longbottom, Hector's wife, even wore a vulture on her hat on a daily basis, a permanent reminder for the old coot of what she thought of him. True, every family was awarded a large sum of galleons by the goblins as reward for the rescue of the French Gringotts, and all major families in the Great Alliance got a prominent seat in the form of parliament they wanted. Heck, Charlus and Arcturus got awarded the titles of Baron, an honorary title for their skill in battle and their fine virtues, something that had only happened ten times in the last fifteen hundred years, and which could not be passed on to their offspring upon their deaths.
But aside from that, their contributions went ignored by the various ministries, and the common people never gave them any recognition. After all, 'it was Dumbledore who defeated Grindelwald and ended the war' to most of the lot, which was something that bothered Charlus and many of the others greatly. Never mind the fact it was the Muggles and the Great Alliance's armies that had taken down most of Grindelwald's forces. They had suffered months, sometimes years in the Belgian trenches and foxholes across the fields of war, even fighting alongside Muggles in Berlin, Caucasus, and the Alps. Dumbledore had simply waited in fear of Grindelwald's power at Hogwarts, and only come out when the Light and Grey sides had started winning again, and only really fighting at the end of what came to be known to the wizards as The liberation of Berlin. While they and their men and women had fought for years and gotten little to no recognition for their deeds, Dumbledore got everything he could have wanted for a week's work at most. An Order of Merlin, First Class, the greatest award in Wizarding Britain. This was followed closely by his promotion to the Chief Warlock of the British Wizengamot. Six months later, getting elected the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederacy of Wizards. And barely a year later, Headmaster when Dippet retired.
Dumbledore got the spoils, while the Rascals got the refuse.
When they had told the children this entire story one night, that had cemented in all of them, even Hermione, that Dumbledore wasn't the saint they all thought he was, even if he wasn't evil by nature.
Unlike He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Charlus had sent Arcturus the memories in advance, so he knew what they were getting into. Arcturus had been outraged, mostly by the Horcruxes, but also by the fact his sons forced abused their freedom to rule their families and got his grandchildren into marriage contracts with the families that supported the monster. A freedom he had promptly taken away. And poor Pollux had met the end of his life that night at the hand of a fiery curse Charlus had taught Arcturus for exactly that purpose. But Bellatrix Black and Narcissa Black were still married off to Malfoys and Lestranges. Granted, the latter had been made when they were still members of the alliance, but everyone knew Reginald's sons and grandsons were morons, only skilled with a wand because granddaddy had taught them the spells. But without his guidance through letters Charlus doubted they would have passed their first year.
But Charlus had been especially interested in having this gathering as well. And not just for the sake of stopping Voldemort. It had been a long, long time since the entire gang had met up. Probably as far back as the unveiling of their memorial for the fallen on the Potter grounds a decade back. They all needed this reunion.
"Alright, everyone, thank you for coming." Charlus said, his words silencing everyone. They all instantly turned either their heads, if they were standing, or chairs, if they were seated, to the head of House Potter. "I know it has been a long while since we all last met-" he began, but Deckard Bones interrupted him.
"Damn straight." The man said, take a puff of his cigar. His looks were the very definition of the word Rascal. Rugged, weathered, wild red greying hair and a mischievous smirk. His clothes were the living image that Sirius Black hoped to portray, with a leather jacket, clothing of music bands (a hint at his pureblood origins, since most Muggles didn't wear shirts of music bands like the Beatles with that), and goggles for a motor bike hanging from his neck, leather boots propped on the table. "It has been five years since we last celebrated anything together." The man continued.
"No thanks to you, Neanderthal." The woman next to him snarked. She was the exact opposite appearance of her brother, Seraphina was. Proper clean dress robes with not a wrinkle out of place, makeup, her matching red and greying hair in a bun, and high heels as she carried her purse in hand.
But personality wise they were identical: troublemakers to the core, upsetting standards as they went. Deckard did so by doing the opposite of what was expected of a Lord and mingling with the common folk. Seraphina did so by doing the opposite of what was expected of a lady: making crass remarks in public where all could hear, and having a malfunctioning filter between her mouth and brain. She'd have been in trouble two times as often as her brother were it not for the fact she's twice as skilled with a wand, as well as muggle martial arts, as half the Auror department. It was often Deckard who was suspected of trouble, but it was more often Seraphina was the one causing it.
"Oh, really, my dear sister?" Deckard asked, turning in his chair so his chin leant on the back. "Do explain why."
"You scare most of them off with your terrible sense of fashion." She responded with a smirk. "Although with how often a lady has been naked on those pants might make you think you have such a sense."
"Oi!" He protested, sitting properly for the first time since entering the room and sitting in that chair. "And what about you, miss I-Hope-To-See-You-Without-Those-Robes-One-Day. And saying that to a woman, no less! You minx!"
"I blame you for being a bad influence." She continued wearing her smirk, and Charlus had to resist laughing aloud. It was no secret in the alliance Seraphina was one that rooted for the other team. And it was also no secret she was rather... open and explorative with that among friends. If she didn't try to flirt with Dorea every time they met he would have laughed. But he had a reputation to keep, and having a 'Witches Witch' in his household and approving of it would do quite a bit of damage in some of his social circles.
Fortunately, Arcturus thought so, too. "Save your frolicking for later, Bones." He grumped. "We're here for business, not pleasure."
"Killjoy." Seraphina muttered, but she regained her regal appearance, and Deckard sat upright in his seat, his back against the chair, fortunately.
"What's this about, Baron?" Hyperion Greengrass asked, ever the business man he appeared to be. The man preferred muggle suits most of the time, and kept a neat appearance except for a shaggy, grey sternum-length beard he kept together with a rubber band. His green eyes covered by rectangular glasses not dissimilar from his own son's, he stared down the two Barons. "Your message said it was urgent."
Charlus nodded, and tapped the round table, through which his massive Pensieve instantly emerged. He had already placed the important memories inside: the arrival of the time travellers, the fight with the future Death Eaters, the following conversation of what had happened, the next day's reveal about the Horcruxes and Harry and Neville's true potential, the prophecy, and the plan on how the kids would finish their education.
"Something happened a month ago, a week before Arcturus and I tried to contact you. The memories in the Pensieve explain it all. Fleamont was there when it happened, and Apolline Delacour has been sent the memories, so everyone who deserves to be will be informed."
The others nodded, and one by one, they all entered the Pensieve, until only Hector, Augusta, Arcturus, Dorea, and Charlus himself were left. Arcturus had seen those exact memories before himself, and Hector had been there for most of it. Charlus moved to look out the window of the room at the top and front of the manor, and stared down to the grounds four floors below. Harry and the others had a free day for once, and they spent it liberally. Charlus was happy to see they'd all bonded over common interests. Remus and Hermione were laying in and under a tree respectively, each reading a book Charlus couldn't make out from here. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Frank, Sirius, and James were playing quidditch, with Luna commentating, throwing in odd creature names in the mix whenever she felt like it and making everyone outside laugh good-naturedly, and Neville, Peter and Alice supporting their friends from the sidelines.
"We did well." Hector said, as he moved to stand beside Charlus, and looked in the same direction.
"Did we?" Charlus asked. "By Merlin's beard the things Harry alone has seen..."
"And he's still a kind and loving person in spite of all that." Hector insisted. "One intense summer of training won't break him. If anything, he'll thank you for helping him prepare to face that bastard and have him and his friends survive the experience."
Charlus nodded. Intellectually, he knew that would be the case. But sometimes, with how rough he was during his training... Then again, his own training by his father Daniel shortly before going off to fight Grindelwald was just as intense. And it had indeed helped him survive where many had not. Deckard and Seraphima's younger siblings, Susan and Edgar, hadn't, as a case in point; likewise Hyperion's youngest son Castor. And his other sons Cyrus and Thomas had alienated themselves from the family through their support of You-Know-Who and their insistence on an overseas curse breaking career respectively because they could not deal with Hyperion's PTSD at their age back then. The man was nowadays almost as paranoid as Moody.
God he was glad James hadn't suffered from his experiences with it.
"Thanks." Charlus said, at least partially reassured. "For being there."
Hector chuckled. "Potters and Longbottoms have stood together for generations, even before the Great Alliance. Harry and Neville are proof of that."
"As is the fact the sister of your brother-in-law's wife, Euphemia Montgomery, married my brother." He chuckled. "While I appreciate it, some can call it... overzealous."
"Hey, Algie doesn't mind." Hector said dismissively. "He barely comes out of the Department of Mysteries these days."
"Algeron Saul Croaker Montgomery only comes out of there if the world ends," Charlus laughed. "And even then only to record whether it fits with one of his theories."
They shared a knowing chuckle, as did Augusta Longbottom, formerly Augusta Croaker. Indeed, the man had eccentricities, but he was a leading expert on foreign forms of magic, and unfortunately it included Horcruxes. Hence, he had been brought into the meeting as well.
After fifteen minutes, the others all emerged one by one. As expected, the young unspeakable looked most disturbed of all. "Horcruxes?" He asked. "The man was stupid enough to create Horcruxes?"
"Yes." Charlus said. "The results of his test revealed Harry had until recently been the sixth Horcrux, meaning there will likely be at least five more."
"Bollocks." The man swore, slamming his hand on the Pensieve that was slowly turning back into a table again. "Horcruxes are incredibly hard to destroy. The only thing I know of that can do it is Fiendfyre."
"Basilisk Venom works too, apparently." Seraphina said, going with the serious mood for once. "Harry and the Weasley girl confirmed it themselves: the diary's powers and its hold on her ended when he unloaded a fang filled with venom onto it."
"So does time travel apparently." Deckard quipped. "But both of those are hard to find or control, as is Fiendfyre, and we have no idea where to find the Horcruxes. Or even what they are."
"Or if he has created them yet." Arcturus pointed out. "The simple point is this: You-Know-Who is dangerous, near-impossible to kill, but not unbeatable. It can be done, even if it is extremely difficult."
"We need to know more." Charlus said simply. "We need to know how the man thinks, what he likes, what he does. We need to know, so we know what he might choose as his Horcruxes.
"Or where he hid them." Lana Shafiq said. "That of itself would be bloody useful."
The others nodded in agreement, or mumbled something along those lines anyway.
"A shame really." Richard Croft said, an shy smile on his face as he turned to Arcturus and Hyperion. "That two of our members have children and grandchildren that walk amongst his ranks."
Charlus turned to his old friend in surprise. The man had a point. Arcturus' grandchildren Bellatrix and Narcissa were either Death Eaters themselves or married to one of them, and the rumour went around his grandson Regulus wasn't far behind. Not to mention Hyperion's son Cyrus, who was in his fifth year at Hogwarts now.
"Cyrus won't talk." Hyperion sighed sadly. "I might try, but he avoids me like Dragon Pox, and our last words exchanged weren't exactly friendly. If we do speak again, I will expect it will come to blows and curses.
"I will speak to them." Arcturus confirmed. "They might not want to, but I can enforce them to speak through the family magic if I have to."
"Arcturus!" Dorea said with shock. "That magic is very dangerous. It could kill them."
"Better they die at my hand than at the hands of that monster and his ilk!" Arcturus retorted. "You saw what Bellatrix would do to Frank and Alice if she stays with Lestrange! Those bastards will torture them! Make them lose their minds!"
"That's low." Hector growled angrily, and Arcturus had the courtesy to bow his head in shame.
"I'm sorry." He said. "But she's my grandchild. My grandchild did that to you. And I'm at least partially responsible because of that"
"You're not." Charlus said. "But we're not here to determine guilt, Arcturus. If anyone's guilty, it's Riddle." Charlus paused for breath, then looked at his friends one by one as he gave them their tasks.
"Harry has slowly had memories of You-Know-Who returning to him day by day over the past month, and although none of them were as important as the first two, Fleamont's analysing all of them for clues on the Horcruxes as we speak. If we learn of one of them, we'll let you know."
"Arcturus, ask your granddaughters to come, and ask them about Horcruxes. Subtly, mind you. We don't want to let him catch on that we know, and even if you believe your daughters won't tell, we don't know the extent of the Mark's powers yet. If they won't come, at least give them a warning before using Family magic to make them come."
"Hyperion, try to ask your son if he wants to meet. If he won't, he's a lost cause, and everyone is free to treat him as they wish. And as soon as we know what he used as Horcruxes, you and the Fletchers will try and find out where he found and got them, or if we can get them before he does.
"Croft, I want you to do a bit of preventive work, and find out what works have information on Horcruxes, down to the barest obscure reference to the subject. If we succeed in all this, we want to be able to prevent a repeat of past mistakes, and knowledge of this dark art should best be eliminated from the world."
"Everyone else, unless I send word to you earlier with other assignments, prepare for war. When finds out, and he inevitably will, You-Know-Who isn't going to take our hunt for his Horcruxes quietly, and he'll turn to fight against us instead of his current reign of terror. And when he does, we need to be ready. Any questions?"
"If we find one, do we destroy it on sight or collect it and later destroy them all at once?" Anamaria Shacklebolt asked.
"Depends on the object." Arcturus answered. "If it's something of extreme value, like an artefact of the Founders or something like that, we'll check with Ironfeet if they can cleanse the object. If it's some common object, like a coin-"
"Or Merlin forgive, his underwear!" Deckard said in shock, making the others chuckle. At Arcturus' and his sister's glare he raised his hands. "What? It's what I would do. Make it an object no one would want to even come close to, much less touch"
"As we were saying." Charlus continued after a few snickers. "Collect them, keep them somewhere safe, preferably in Gringotts where he can't get them, and instantly consult with Arcturus or me. If what Harry told us is true, it might have some influence on us we won't know about until it's too late." Shacklebolt nodded in agreement.
"I highly doubt objects of such a nature can ever truly be stored safely." Richard Croft said in concern. "If what we suspect is true, and they can influence our decisions, it would be better to place them somewhere remote where no one would stumble upon them."
"If we go by that logic, Rich, we might as well just leave them there." Hector retorted. "No, Gringotts should be the safest bet. Who knows, they might be able to remove the taint and transfer it to something else. That way, we might even recover some long-lost artefacts."
Satisfied with the help he'd gotten, Charlus then turned to the twins.
"You two get the fun assignments. Learn all you can about Tom Riddle. If Harry manages to learn what they are before we do, great. But all the same we're going to make an effort to identify them faster. Learn how he thinks, what he likes, down to how often he shakes his business when he does it. Anything could help us determine the hiding places."
"Terrific." Deckard said sarcastically. "We get the fun jobs."
"Oh, that isn't the fun part." Seraphina chuckled, getting out some lip gloss from her purse and applying it nonchalantly "Checking out the possible places is the fun part."
"Glad to hear it." Charlus chuckled. "Augusta, you're one of few of us that still attends the Wizengamot regularly beyond the required amount and does not create a scandal doing it." He looked at Seraphina at that one, who tried to look as innocent as possible. "Quite a number of them are Death Eaters, or have sons amongst his ranks, last I heard. Mind keeping an eye on Death Eater activity there?"
"Of course, Baron." Augusta replied, bowing her head slightly.
"I'll keep an eye on the ministry itself." Hector volunteered. "I doubt Death Eaters are only placing their moles in the Wizengamot."
"You do that." Charlus agreed. "Harry has already found a number of names for you to look into, beyond the usual suspects like Malfoy, Nott and Selwyn. Augustus Rookwood and Barty Crouch's son, to name a few, and a Dolores Umbridge might be a sympathiser, with how much she parrots his pureblood rhetoric."
"Wait. Crouch's son is a Death Eater?" A member Charlus didn't instantly recognise ask. Roper, he thought the man was called.
"Yes." Hector replied. "I heard the last one from him, too. He's the one that tortured me alongside the Lestranges."
"Son of a bitch." A visiting Jeremiah Smith said under his breath. Charlus nodded.
"Yeah, he is. But it could be potential blackmail for later on, so for now only tail him and keep watch. Anything else?" No one made an indication, and after agreeing to meet again in a week at Arcturus' manor on the border of Northern Ireland and Ireland proper to truly prepare for war, the group disbanded.
'Marauder quarters', first floor, Potter Manor, England
September 1st.
"I'm telling you, James." Sirius said, packing up his trunk and preparing to leave for King's Cross station. "We need to help loosen up Hermione. She's almost as bad as Remus, only without the fun pranking side to compensate. Hell, that makes her worse than him."
"Lay it off, Padfoot." Remus grumbled, sitting in his own already closed and packed trunk. "She's twice as skilled as you are at most of the stuff we do, and I'll bet she can prank as well as you do if she put her mind to it."
"That's my point, Moony." Sirius whined. "She doesn't. She rarely relaxes, and keeps studying or reading most of the time we do fun things. She's boring."
"Come off it, Padfoot." James said in frustration, and Peter grunted in agreement as both pushed to get Peter's overfilled trunk shut. "Why do you only appear interested in the girls, when you have your own godson?" Sirius had been making these arguments all week. But that was mostly because he was bored. Neville spent most of his time with Frank and Alice, getting to know them better, and he had gotten a bit tired of Harry. Sure, he loved the kid already, being his godfather (damn that was an odd phrase to say) but the kid was also way too serious about his training. Ron had gotten tired of being pranked so often and avoided him. That, in turn, left only the three new girls. Luna was... Odd, and James could see Sirius had trouble figuring her out, and Ginny had practically scared Sirius off with her bat-bogey hex, which she refused to teach anyone. That left Hermione to bother the others about. At least until one of them figured out how to talk with the blonde girl. That was still something only Harry had managed... And something Sirius wanted to be able to do as well. "He's so serious." Padfoot whined.
"No, you are." Peter snickered, and Sirius glared at their rat-Animagus friend.
"This is your fault, you know." Sirius accused, pointing his finger at Peter.
"Excuse me?!" Peter said indignantly, as they finally managed to get the trunk closed and locked. "Are you implying the fact you're bored is my fault?!"
"You did make us all go to bed early, Wormie." Sirius pointed out. "Usually only Moony or Dorea force us to do that."
"Well, I beg to differ it is not my fault, long haired fleabag." Peter said mockingly.
"Cheese lips." Sirius scowled.
"Devolved dog brain."
"Eater of garbage!"
"You know when Evans said we needed to grow up?" James asked Remus in a whisper. Remus nodded.
"I think I'm starting to get it now." James said, gesturing at his two friends who had devolved their fight to a name-calling contest. Remus chuckled.
"Yeah. Now all that needs to happen is for 'em to grow up." Remus said, before jumping off his trunk. "Come on, let's get our trunks downstairs." James nodded, and together they lifted the large trunks and moved them downstairs.
'Time travel corridor, second floor, Potter Manor, England.
September 1st.
With a final thud he managed to close his trunk. There, it was all inside. His clothes, his school supplies, the cage he'd bought for Hedwig now on top of it. He checked everything in his room. Merlin, it still felt weird saying that. After their extensive day in Diagon Alley and the long conversation afterwards, Charlus had dedicated the entire second floor of the four-story manor to them, so they all had places to stay. Six of the nine rooms were a bedroom for one each, the seventh and eight were communal bathrooms sorted per sex, and the ninth had been turned into a game room, with multiple board games, a table tennis table, and a closet filled with books for amusement reading.
The last few weeks had been... productive, to say the least. Charlus had promised that, as long as Harry focused on his education and kept sending the Pensieve memories of Voldemort's time, he would take the initial steps of dealing with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Harry sighed, as he thought of the argument with his friends again, and his reasons behind calling him only Voldemort from now on. The odd hyphenates like You-Know-who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were ridiculous, and only helped increase the power he held over people. And Harry nowadays outright refused to call him Tom, Riddle, or anything of the sorts. While it would vex the man for sure, that man is a monster, and after seeing him... See what he did to Myrtle's body, he refused to see him as anything remotely human.
He had worked the best he could since witnessing such a disgusting thing happen. Realising to what horrors Voldemort would go to keep hanging on to his life had motivated him to train harder and better, and no longer slack off. No, he needed to be better if he wanted to defeat that monster. Right now if the two were to go head to head, Harry wouldn't last a minute. Hell, he'd gotten out of the Graveyard by sheer dumb luck their wands had somehow connected. But he couldn't depend on that forever. He needed to improve himself and his grades. In a way, he was grateful he could redo his OWLs in another time. Now, he wouldn't slack off and fill in the simplest answers. This time, he could give it his all.
Neville, Ginny, and Hermione were right with him on that one. Neville and Ginny because they also knew what Voldemort and his followers were capable of, and now had a chance to stop it with their extra training. Hermione, on the other hand, wanted to help them. In the past she had put her faith predominantly in Dumbledore, because of who he was and how powerful and wise he was supposed to be. But Harry had shocked her out of that when he laid out all the facts in front of her.
She had tried to defend him valiantly, he had to give her that. But after all that had happened on his watch and how odd it would seem to the average adult he had broken through to her. Especially with the facts about the Horcrux in Harry's head and how Dumbledore had been leading Harry to his death. She had needed a few days to recover from that. After all, her entire faith in the Wizarding world had been uprooted, and in the first two days he had often found her crying in her room, clutching some book or another from the Potter library for dear life.
But she had come out stronger for it. When she did, she was often the one leading them in the exercises, after Charlus. She had been one of the most motivated. She had been working the hardest to get better and improve herself.
Ron... Was getting there. Like the best friend he was, he supported Harry from the get-go, despite his family's obvious faith in Dumbledore. To quote Ron at that moment, "I don't care if he is Merlin himself! No one leads my friend to his death like that!" But Ron still needed work. He was always the slowest to start up the exercising, and rarely did it on his own. When he had the (sometimes not so) proverbial kick under his butt to get moving, Harry admitted he worked almost as hard as Hermione and him. But it was the fact he still needed one that bothered Harry.
And Luna. Luna was her usual conundrum to others. The Marauders didn't know how to talk with her, and avoided her a bit because of it - as did Hermione, unfortunately. In fact, aside from himself the only ones he'd seen talking to her were Ginny and on occasion Dorea. And none of those times had it been a serious topic of conversation; Luna had ended it by talking a bit about her creatures, none of which the others seemed to believe in.
And so, Harry had taken her for a brief jog into the forest of the Potter property and talked with her.
Flashback
"Are you alright?" Harry asked, as they came across the Thestrals in the forest. He took off the fingerless gloves he'd taken to wearing all the time to hide the scars Umbridge had made him carve on his hand with a blood quill. It wouldn't do to have to explain to the student population why where were words carved into his hand, and to be honest he liked the feeling of them a bit.
"I'm fine, Harry." Luna said in her dreamy voice, as they took a short break and Luna went to look at the Thestrals. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I rarely see you talk to others." Harry said, as he walked up to stand beside her. "And I'm a bit concerned."
"Thank you, Harry." She said, petting one of the adults as it walked up to sniff at her. "But you don't need to worry. The Flutterbies keep me company."
"I know." Harry said. This was usually the point where most others stopped the conversation, a bit creeped out by her creatures. Ginny had learned to press on anyway, and Dorea sometimes did so too out of concern. "But you're my friend. You know you can talk to me when something's wrong, don't you?"
Luna was quiet for a very long time, and were it not for the fact her arm was still petting the Thestral he would have thought she had disappeared after that. He took a look at her face, and was mildly surprised to see tears roll down ether cheek.
"Thank you, Harry." She finally said, and Harry saw a smile grow on her face. "So far, only Ginny has been a friend of mine. Can I call you a friend?"
"Of course!" Harry said immediately. Out of all of his friends, only Luna really understood what he had lost. Sure, Neville couldn't really talk with his parents. But at least they were still there, as much as they were. But Luna, like him, had lost her mother forever. He suddenly realised why Luna had been a bit distant: they were in the past, in a time her own mother was still alive... and possibly still attending Hogwarts. She might get to meet her own mother again as well.
"Hey," he said, bumping her shoulder. "Once we go to Hogwarts, shall we try to find out what happened to your mother?"
Luna's smile brightened, and she nodded. "I'd love that. Her name's Pandora Celeste McGregor, by the way."
Harry nodded, and let his own smile creep through. "I'll ensure you can meet her if she's there. And your father."
End Flashback
Ever since she had trained at least as hard as the others. In fact, some of her charms were among the better ones there were. To his surprise, when he'd once entered her room to tell her supper was ready, he found her room covered in drawings. He had to admit she was a very good artist, as there were quite a number of nice drawings of him, Hermione, Ron, and the others. To his surprise, he noticed there were quite a few more of Sirius than the others.
When he'd asked her, she simply said "I like his laugh. And his dog form smells nice." Harry had promptly left the room after announcing supper was ready. While he liked Luna, he didn't need that mental image in his head of Luna and his Godfather.
He lifted up his trunk and carried it down the stairs. While the work out Charlus had them perform twice a day was tiring, and the potions he was fed were disgusting, they had good side effects. While he was still on the short side, he was no longer that thin. He had gained a bit of weight, and he noticed he was more toned. Or at least you couldn't count his ribs any longer, which in turn was a big plus. And he was now strong enough to lift his trunk up on his own for longer periods of time. When he came downstairs and into the foyer, he noticed his father and Remus were already there, as were Hermione and Neville. Frank and Alice had returned to their own homes yesterday evening to pack, and would meet them later on the train, or in the Great Hall at the latest.
"Where's everyone else?" Harry asked.
"Ron's still asleep." Neville answered. "Although this time he at least had the foresight to pack already."
"Ginny and Luna are still packing." Hermione said. "Though they'll be done any minute now."
"And Sirius and Peter are name calling one another." Remus answered. "They're already packed, but they got into an argument about something. How did you find the Arithmancy book by the way, Hermione?"
"Very interesting, thank you." Hermione thanked him. "It's very informative. I didn't know Professor Vector's exercises could be done in such a constructive manner." "Until I saw that book I didn't either." Remus answered. "Did you know, that..."
Harry tuned the rest out. He didn't take Arithmancy, and wouldn't understand half of what was said. And frankly, he was a bit tired of listening to his friends talk about school stuff like that. During the summer, he'd asked Remus and Hermione if he could get a crash course in Ancient Runes so he could drop the useless subject of Divination. At least Runes had some uses. But the fact he'd had to do hundreds of exercises and memorise thirteen Runic alphabets in six weeks had left him tired and annoyed. True, it wasn't as difficult now that he could remember it more easily with Occlumency, but it was still tiring to do.
"-Quintiny's work on the Geometric solutions is fascinating." Hermione said.
"I agree." Remus said, and Harry noticed him duck his head away for a reason as he said it. Did he have a rash or something?
"Where do you think I can find books on it?" Hermione asked him. "The Hogwarts library, I'd imagine." Remus said, and Harry finally saw what Remus was hiding; a slight blush.
"I'll look for it there, then." Hermione said. Before they could continue their conversation, however, there was a loud thud upstairs. A moment later two trunks slid down the stairs, Sirius and Peter riding one each.
"Yeeehaa!" Sirius yelled as he slid down the stairs. He made it to the bottom of the stairs, miraculously without crashing, and slid halfway across the foyer before making it to a stop against Harry's trunk. Peter crashed into Sirius' bare seconds later, and the two were thrown off their respective trunks by the impact.
"Children." Hermione muttered.
"You see what I have to deal with on a daily basis at Hogwarts?" Remus asked. "And it even gets worse when James joins in with them."
"I pity you." Hermione sympathised. "I can't imagine what stress you must be going through with them every year, especially with your Lycanthropy."
"Don't lay it on too thickly." James warned, as Ginny and Luna came walking down the stairs. "Remus here has made quite a bit of chaos and mischief himself. Remember when you put potions in all of the Slytherin's drinks so they all had Slughorn's mustache?"
"I have no idea what he's talking about." Remus said immediately when Hermione turned to him in shock. Harry smirked at the amused twinkle in his eye, however.
"Oh, really?" Peter asked innocently. "Because I remember that specific potion had been noted down in your notebook in your handwriting. Want us to have a look?"
"Don't we need to go to the Platform?" Remus called out, and the group was joined by Ron, with Dorea and Charlus close behind him holding a bag of Floo powder. Harry grimaced; he still hadn't got the hang of Floo travel, and preferred a broom or thestral above other means.
"Indeed we do, Remus." Charlus said, eying Peter and Sirius carefully as they tried to look as innocent as possible. "We better get moving if we want to avoid the rush of the crowd." Charlus led them to the fireplace in the living room, and grabbed a pinch of powder, calling out "Platform Nine and Three Quarters" as he stepped in. Harry and Neville followed first, and arrived swiftly. Indeed, he noticed only three other families on the entire platform, one of which was only just arriving through the barrier. He cleared the space near the fireplace, and Ron and Luna emerged next, followed closely by Ginny and Hermione.
"Can I talk to you guys for a few minutes?" Charlus asked. Harry nodded, and the group stepped to the side of the fireplace so they could have a little bit of privacy when the others arrived.
"Look," Charlus began. "I should have mentioned this earlier, but when you go to Hogwarts this time around, there are bound to be a number of people from your time that were quite bad back then. But you need to give them a chance. In quite a lot of the cases, whatever turned them that way hasn't happened yet."
"What?" Ron whispered in astonishment. "You want us to befriend Slytherins? Most of them will curse us in the back first chance they get. They're evil."
"Dorea was also a Slytherin." Charlus pointed out, before sighing. "Look, if you truly are against the Slytherins that much, I won't force you to interact with them. But I met my best friend... my brother in Slytherin. At least give them a chance."
Harry nodded reluctantly. As much as he hated to admit it, the man had a point. He could turn many lives for the better with this second chance, and he should make the attempt, if nothing else. From the looks of it they had already succeeded doing so with Peter. "Alright, one chance." Harry acquiesced. "But if they start throwing curses at us they're fair game."
"That's fair." Charlus admitted. He smiled, and patted them all on the shoulder. "You've all done incredibly well so far. Just keep up the good work, and I'm sure you'll all achieve incredible things.
Harry nodded in thanks. Indeed, they had come very far. Some of them even already knew what their animagus form would be (Most of them matched their Pat round, so Luna would become a hare and Ron would end up a dog, albeit smaller than Sirius' form. The rest either didn't match or hadn't mastered their Patronus that far yet.), and Harry was close to discovering his own. If he kept it up, and got a bit of help from the Marauders, he knew he would be capable of transforming by Christmas.
"Good." Charlus said, before leading them back to be rest of the group. "A pep talk between a father and his son and friends." Charlus explained at Dorea's questioning gaze. Dorea nodded in acceptance of this, and herded them all to the train.
"Have a good time at Hogwarts dears." She said with a smile. "Try not to cause too much trouble. And I'm looking at you four here." She indicated with her fingers. James looked mock-indignant and hurt.
"Mum! Where would you get such an idea?" He cried dramatically.
"We're the picture of innocence!" Sirius added, swooning theatrically in James' arms. Harry chuckled at their antics, fondly remembered how Fred, George, and Lee Jordan could behave when they were accused of something. Though like the Marauders, it was more often than not that they had actually done it.
"Yes, and I am Merlin's court jester." Charlus deadpanned. "Unfortunately, we've got a meeting in a few minutes with the rest of the Rascals core group. The Terror Twins think they know where they can find out You-Know-Who's current hideout, and we need to find a way to make sure without sending someone in."
"We love you all." Dorea waved goodbye, as they headed for the train. "See you at Christmas!" Harry waved goodbye to his grandparents for the first time, and with extreme reluctance followed the others in boarding the train. It was the second time, first if you didn't count the Christmas with the older Sirius, that he didn't look forward to returning to Hogwarts as much as usual. It was a rather surprising change. But he welcomed it. Though Charlus, Dorea, and Hector had been rough, it had been a very good summer for Harry. Not to mention Potter Manor was almost like home.
Almost.
He was, therefor, so lost in thought reminiscing that he missed the others entering the train, and realised he was currently alone on the platform, aside from the other families in the distance on the platform. He hit his forehead mentally upon noticing, and hurried to the closest entrance to get on the train, lifting his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage onto the carriage. Sighing, he made his way down the train looking for the others. He couldn't have walked that far, so they had to be close by.
In his hurry to find the others, he missed the fact the next couple of people entered the carriage near him as he walked past, and he accidentally tripped over someone's foot. He fell onto the ground, dropping his trunk which fell open and spelled most of his clothes, and making the other two people stumble as well.
"Sorry." The girl said, and she sounded a bit embarrassed. "We didn't look where we were going."
"That's alright," Harry dismissed, as he waved his wand and with a look of concentration made all of his clothes roughly fly back into his trunk, which he locked securely with a charm this time. "I wasn't exactly focusing on my surroundings either."
"Nice spell work." The other, a boy with black greasy hair said. Harry looked up, both the voice and the boy's looks seeming vaguely familiar. The memories of them were too distant, however, and he dismissed them for now.
"Thanks." Harry said, picking up the empty cage and sticking it to the lid with a sticking charm. He decided to give a part of his false origin of being taught abroad, and began to spin a small tale. "Learned it from a tutor in Southern Portugal. A small town close to Faro."
"I see, ho-" but then the voice stopped, and Harry curiously looked up. The boy looked at him with a snarl, and the girl, a red head next to him, certainly didn't look happy either.
"Potter!" The other boy snarled, and his hand reached for his wand. Harry instantly recognised where he had heard that voice before. There was only one man who could say his name with such hate and resentment. Severus Snape. The situation didn't escalate into a fight, however. The girl pushed Snape's hand away from the wand, and so Harry didn't bother reaching for his own. Then the girl looked at him in anger.
"Go away, Potter," she said. "I'm not in the mood for one of your usual taunting flirts."
And then Harry got a good look at her eyes, and took in a sharp but silent breath. Immediately, to cover it up, he raised his hands in surrender. "I think you're mistaking me for my brother." He said. "Allow me to introdu-"
"Spare me." Snape drawled. "I fell for the twin trick once before. Never again." With that, and a billowing of his school robes that followed that did a fine imitation of those he wore as a Potions professor, he stalked down the way Harry had come. The green eyed, red haired girl sent one last glare at him, before following. Harry stared after her for a few moments, before resuming his search for the others.
While he had seen Snape's memory, he didn't need the reminder that Snape and his mother had been very close friends before the OWLs.
It took him only five more minutes to find the others. They sat surprisingly close to the Prefect's carriage, in a compartment close to the door that led to it in fact. The eight of them, Remus excluded due to the fact he'd been made a Prefect and needed to attend the meeting, were all cramped in the compartment. Peter took advantage of his Animagus form and sat as a Rat on Luna's lap being scratched behind the ear by the girl. Ron looked a bit sickly at it when Peter and the other Marauders weren't looking, and Harry knew from experience he was reminded of the Wormtail from their time, the traitorous "Scabbers" Ron had let sleep in his bed.
"Harry, there you are." Hermione said as he opened the door. "Where were you? We were almost going to go and look for you." Harry nodded, eying Sirius lazily stretched out with his legs on James' lap, James with his head leaning against the wall sleeping, and Ginny reading an issue of Witch Weekly with an air of boredom around her. Right, almost about to look for me.
"Sorry," he apologised as he sat down in the corner right next to the door, the only remaining free seat. "Got lost in thought and missed you entering the train. I got in a bit further back. And I had an interesting first meeting with my mum."
"Really?" Neville asked curiously. "What was she like?" Harry hesitated, unsure how to describe his first (quite awkward and hostile) encounter with his mother. In the end, after due consideration, he settled for the simple answer that would explain it all.
"Let's just say she confused me for him." He said, pointing at James. Sirius threw his head back in exasperation.
"Ah, that can't have gone well." Sirius said. Upon the confused looks of most of the others, Sirius explained "She might become Harry's mum one day, but at the moment Evans can't stand James' attitude. Says he needs to grow up."
"Is that her?" Ginny asked, looking up from her magazine and staring at something outside the compartment. As Harry leaned around to look through the small window of glass in the door, he indeed saw a flash of red hair stride past.
"Yep." Sirius said. "Don't be surprised if she dislikes you simply for being friends with him. Only Moony managed to break through that curse, and we still don't know how he did it."
Harry sincerely hoped he could break that curse. While he couldn't blame her after how he saw his father behave, he hoped she would give him a fair chance and allow them to get on friendly terms with one another. He wanted to have a chance to meet and get to know both his parents, after all.
The train ride, surprisingly, went by very peacefully, aside from the awkward first-meeting with this mother. Since the compartments were too small for a group of ten to comfortably use, the Marauders and Harry's group each decided to take separate compartments. And Harry actually relaxed as he realised something.
He wasn't going to get the traditional train visits anymore from Draco Malfoy. Something they all celebrated with a liquorice wand when he pointed it out. Even Hermione cracked a smile and took one. Which was amazing, considering she rarely ate anything with sugar due to her dentist parents. Then again, as reluctant as Hermione was to admit it, the blond ponce's absence was something to be celebrated.
Harry settled, like Hermione, to reading from a Practical Defensive Spells book, while Neville and Ron played Exploding Snap, and Ginny and Luna took turns reading the single Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly they had between them. It made for a calm train ride, and it was all too soon they were back at Hogwarts.
As they had been instructed by Dumbledore and McGonagall in their acceptance letters, they made their way with the first years to the boats. Harry stopped for a moment to smile and enthusiastically greet Hagrid, but stopped at the last second with pain in his heart. While Hagrid was a good person, the man didn't know him in his time, and greeting him like that would just come off as creepy. Instead, Harry merely settled for a smile and a nod.
Since they were too big and heavy to settle for four in the boat, they settled for three in each this time, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in one, and Neville and the others in the other. Ron looked uneasily at the water, reminded there lived a giant squid inside it. But Harry wasn't overly concerned. After all, the view of Hogwarts from the lake was spectacular, especially after dark, and Harry took every chance he got to relive it.
"Bloody hell." Harry heard Ron mutter a few seconds later, and he smiled, gazing upon the awe-inspiring view of the large castle. No matter how welcome he was at Potter Manor, or where he had to make his living in the world, he would always consider Hogwarts his first home. It wasn't too long before they arrived at the underground dock for the boats, and he was forced to leave the boat. He did so as the first of the three of them, helping Hermione and Ron out as he did. Together, they rejoined Neville and the others, and followed the group of anxious first years (who all couldn't help but stare at the group of much older teenagers) and Hagrid to the Hogwarts gates. As expected, McGonagall awaited them on the other side, although she looked considerably younger, and her hair was still mostly streaked with black hair instead of being entirely grey.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here," she said, and the gatekeeper made his way around to the Great Hall and his own seat at the staff table. Harry and his group, meanwhile, followed McGonagall to the reception hall Harry had visited in his first year. She started her introduction speech, and Harry was mildly surprised it wasn't any different from the speech he and the others got in their own time. She must have practiced a lot
"And unless any of you have urgent questions, you will wait here until I summon you all for the sorting ceremony." McGonagall finished. In the end, a scared first year raised her shaking hand. McGonagall put on her friendliest and most benevolent appearance, and nodded. "Yes, Miss Talbot?"
"P-Professor," she asked meekly. "Why aren't first years allowed a broom? M-my brother said the rule wasn't around when he came to Hogwarts."
McGonagall immediately looked down and shook her head. "Because, Miss Talbot, the last time we let a group of first years handle brooms, half of our Quidditch stand was gone by the end of the day. For further details, you must seek out the fifth years Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Since they were the perpetrators, and I was absent for the day, they will know the full story."
Harry snorted as Ron and Ginny looked at him with expressions of shock. He couldn't blame them to be honest. Ron had complained quite often in his first year about that rule, at least until Harry got his position as youngest seeker. And Ginny did so too before the Diary's hold on her got worse. It would be a shock for them to hear it was their friend's father, a Quidditch fanatic himself, who was responsible for that rule.
"And I assume you are Misters Longbottom, Potter and Beckett, and Misses Beckett, Bay, and Swann?" McGonagall asked finally, turning to their group. Harry nodded, and held out his hand for shaking.
"A pleasure to meet you, Professor." Harry said sincerely. "My brother speaks very highly of you."
"They are the best in my class." McGonagall complimented. "I pray you aren't as much of a troublemaker as your brother."
"I try to stay out of it, professor." Harry promised. "But with a brother like him, it inevitably finds me."
McGonagall nodded. "A fair point, Mister Potter. I hope to see you in my house," she said, before retreating through the door to prepare for the sorting. Ron tapped his shoulder.
"Your father is the one that got us that rule?" Ron asked. "Really? Why didn't you tell?"
"Sirius and Pr- Remus didn't get around to that story yet." Harry said honestly, because he hadn't, although he'd hinted he knew why that rule was. But Mrs. Weasley interrupted them too often with requests to help in the cleaning of Sirius' house for them to spend much time together, and neither Sirius nor Lupin had been able to pass the story on.
"Bloody hell." Ron muttered. "They make Fred and George look like amateurs."
"That's not true." Ginny said back. "They once managed to get detention before even arriving at the school, for pranking Montague, Pucey, Flint and Warrington so much they wet themselves in misery."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Marauder tradition." Harry countered. "I mean, come on, this seems right up Sirius' alley. 'Look at me, I'm so awesome I even got detention before coming here!'. My father too, now that I know him a bit better."
The others couldn't help but nod in agreement. Over the summer, while mostly a kind person, James had the tendency of being a cocky git. It was only his kind nature to those he liked that mostly compensated. Still, Harry didn't mind too much at the moment. He was simply glad he got to meet his father at all at the moment.
Professor McGonagall returned after a few moments, heading over the group of new students and gestured for them to form two lines. They all complied, and Harry ended up standing next to a nervous, scrawny, blond-haired girl, who he heard muttering a number of things under her breath.
"You can relax." He whispered to her, guessing her nerves were about how they would be sorted. "My brother told me the sorting is very simple. All we have to do is put on a hat."
"Really?" The girl whispered back. When he nodded, she visibly sagged her shoulders in huge relief, and he held back a chuckle.
Eleven year olds. So melodramatic.
He only had a moment to hear her thanks, though, for the next one they entered the Great Hall. He made a show of being amazed as he stared around, as he, James' twin brother returning from the continent, wasn't supposed to have seen the majestic Great Hall of Hogwarts yet.
He stole a glance at the various tables, and saw the Marauders smirk at them from their place at the Gryffindor table, and Frank and Alice giving Neville reassuring smiles from further along. He smiled a bit when he saw his mother and a group of her friends rapidly look from Harry to James and back, her frown increasing a bit more every time.
She wasn't the only one who saw the similarities. Various Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs glanced between him and his father, and whispered their own conclusions to one another. The Slytherins did so as well, but most did so with glares, rather than inquisitive looks, most dominantly by Snape. Unsurprisingly, his father wasn't loved at the Slytherin table.
As they all arrived at the forefront of the hall, in front of the stool with the hat and the staff table behind it, Dumbledore rose from his seat. Harry frowned a bit. While he held no love for Dumbledore, and more than openly questioned some of his methods, they were of a man from another time. This man hadn't committed any of those things to Harry yet, even if Charlus had proven he would be inclined to do so. But he had barely spoken to the man here, much less experienced how he might differ from his future counterpart. Remembering Charlus' words on the platform, he decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt.
"I know it is tradition for us to start with the sorting of the students." Dumbledore started speaking, instantly quieting the entire hall. "But considering the nature of this particular announcement I felt it was right to delay it a little bit. This year, we will be joined by six additional students, who have all come from the continent to learn at our most prestigious school of Hogwarts. May I introduce the siblings of some of our students Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, and their friends Hermione Bay, Ronald and Ginevra Beckett, and Luna Swann."
There was an instant applause from the Gryffindor table (the area where the Marauders and Frank and Alice sat respectively) and the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables followed a few moments later. The Slytherin table came last, and they did so reluctantly and a bit more subdued. "Smile and wave, Neville." Harry heard Neville mutter to himself from behind him, likely to calm his nerves. "Smile and wave."
Dumbledore smiled at the reception the new students all received. "Now that that particular announcement is out of the way, I believe we should let Professor McGonagall get along with the sorting." He retook his seat, and Harry turned his attention to the Hat. It opened its rim, and sang its song to the entirety of the hall. Harry noted that, like the last time he heard it, the song spoke of unity between the houses more than the founders in general. Understandable, given they were at war in both times, and they needed to stand together.
As the song ended and the Hat bowed to the four tables and the group of first years and Harry's friends, McGonagall started the Sorting, calling an Achilles Abbot forward first. Like Harry's former classmate Hannah, the hat put him in Hufflepuff quite quickly. He was followed, surprisingly, by Hermione. Clearly there were no other surnames starting with the A. Hermione walked up to the stool, and actually had to flatten her hair a bit to ensure the hat could sit on her head, something he was sure made Sirius snort in amusement. The hat sat on her head surprisingly long, at least two minutes. But as Harry had predicted, it wasn't a mystery that the hat inevitably shouted "Gryffindor!", and she walked over to sit in one of the free spaces the Marauders had reserved for them.
Ginny came next, and smiled as the hat was put on her head. Like Hermione, she had it on her head for quite a while. But she too, was sorted into "Gryffindor!" And was sat at the table near the Marauders, opposite from Hermione. Ron followed next, and while the hat took nearly as long as the others, he to came to sit by his sister and friends. Sirius clasped him on the shoulder in congratulations, and Ron smirked back.
They were followed by a smattering of first year students, who upon seeing the older years walk as calmly to the hat as they did seemed a lot less nervous about the prospect of the sorting. In fact, one even skipped over before being sorted into Ravenclaw, and another practically ran to it, so energetic he couldn't even sit down before putting the hat on himself. Harry's eyebrows rose when 'Gilderoy Lockhart' was called, and he watched as the future fraud of a defence professor walked up to the hat, and after a few moments strode to the Ravenclaw table like a peacock. Harry was queasily reminded of Draco Malfoy at that moment.
"Neville Longbottom." McGonagall called next, and Neville walked up to the hat with a calm stride, though the shaking of his right hand betrayed his nervousness. When he sat down, Harry was surprised he took the longest, being an official 'Hatstall' with a time of over five minutes. But he was the one who smiled the brightest when the hat shouted "Gryffindor!", and he gave the hat to McGonagall before sitting next to his father and Ginny, his mother diagonally across from him as she sat across from Frank.
The first year Harry had reassured came next, and she was named Josephine Moon by McGonagall. Harry was mildly surprised he recognised the name, placing her as the relative of one of Hannah Abbott's and Susan Bones' friends in Hufflepuff, Lily Moon. But unlike her younger relative, the girl was sorted in "Ravenclaw!" after a minute of silence, and the girl smiled brightly as she sat near one of the other first years.
A small handful of first years came before him, before inevitably "Harry Potter" was called forth by the deputy headmistress. Harry smiled as he walked up, and calmly let the hat be put on his head. Part of him had been looking forward in excitement at what the hat would say.
Why am I not surprised to encounter another Time Traveller? The Hat asked after a moment in mock exasperation. Harry sarcastically thought it might have something to do with the fact four more had come before him.
Ah, the wit and sense of humour of your mother. Even in my previous two sortings of an Evans, or past and future ones if you think about it, I always got to enjoy it as it came past.
Well, better the sense of humour of my mother than that of my father, or the school would be in chaos before the week was up.
If I am to judge by the amount of times trouble, chaos, and adventure seem to find you, we likely will anyway. By Halloween at the latest, I predict.
Oh, brother please not. The disturbing memories of Tom Riddle were enough for this year. He would clean the Sorting Hat by hand in thanks if he could get at least one quiet year with his parents.
I'll take that bet.
'I bet you would.' Harry thought tiredly. Now if only the sorting bit could begin.
I always got a bit of enjoyment to make the old man nervous, especially by sorting someone somewhere he doesn't like them or taking long in the sorting, like with you and your friends. But if you insist... Now, you are quite loyal to your friends, especially with how you care for Miss Lovegood and the trauma Miss Weasley suffered in her first year. And this summer you proved to Charlus often enough you were willing to put up a lot of hard work. You could have a comfortable home in Hufflepuff...
Then again, despite your previous working habits, you've proven yourself to be quite intelligent. But there is more to Ravenclaw's house than intelligence. Namely a thirst for knowledge - but you don't exhibit that strongly enough to be a member of her house. Slytherin isn't suited for you either, for while you do possess a lot of its characteristics, you would be dead by the end of the week if I sorted you there.
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't fit to be sorted into Slytherin? Despite being descended from that founder?
I didn't say that. I said you would die at the end of the week if I sorted you there, and I do have to take a student's welfare into mind. But your courage, your nobility, your kind nature... While you are the closest we have to a potential member of all houses in decades, we both know where you will end up, don't we?
Harry mentally agreed. There was only one place he could truly call home in Hogwarts.
"Gryffindor!" The Hat shouted, and Harry smiled at his new head of house as he handed the hat back to her, before striding proudly over to his father and both of their respective friends, all of whom were clapping the loudest of the entire table. Peter even gave a loud whistle in congratulations, and Harry smiled back at the boy in return.
Harry ended up sitting between James and Hermione, with Ginny sitting across from him. "Congratulations." James said, smiling proudly at his son. The marauders all also looked proud Harry had managed to get into Gryffindor two times in a row, and Harry nodded.
"Thanks." He said. "Now you'd better get on the Quidditch team." Frank said adamantly from across the table. "With trying out, you cheeky bastard."
Harry smirked, recalling the memory. When his father and Frank had first asked him about Quidditch, Harry had pulled one over on them, saying he never tried out for the team, which was technically true. McGonagall hadn't even let him try out before putting him on the team after the stunt with Neville's remembrall. The looks on the faces of the Marauders, Frank, Alice, Charlus and Fleamont that day had been priceless, and he was so glad Luna had discreetly taken Peter's camera and captured the moment forever. To his even greater amusement, Neville and Ron had caught on to his little prank, and gone on dramatically about how bad Harry was during Quidditch, and that when Harry called 'up' to a broom it rolled away from him (something that actually happened to Hermione). They'd lasted for about ten seconds before they descended into rounds of guffaws at their horrified faces. The pranking they'd received afterwards from all of them for that stunt for weeks had been well worth it.
And especially the proud looks of the Potters when Neville let slip Harry was the youngest Seeker in a century, and when the others confirmed that that was not a prank. Frank, the new Quidditch Team Captain of Gryffindor now, had sworn on the spot he would have Harry try out for the position, since a number of people had graduated since and there were three open spots on the team.
"Luna Swann." McGonagall called, and Harry snapped out of his thoughts, looking at Luna as she serenely walked to the hat. And to Harry's confusion, she sat on the hat even longer than Neville. One minute turned into two. Two turned into five. Five soon even turned until ten. Harry's sweat started to roll down his forehead, wondering what the hell could be going wrong.
But he sagged in relief when she was finally sorted. Even more so when she was sorted into "Gryffindor!" Like the rest of their group. She smiled as she headed to the Gryffindor table, and finally sat down between Ginny and Sirius.
"Congratulations on making it to Gryffindor." Sirius told her happily. "I knew you had the heart of a Lion."
"The hat did want to put me in Ravenclaw." Luna admitted as she now looked at her Crimson and golden tie. "But I managed to talk him out of it. And then we had a short little chat."
Remus, who sat across from Sirius next to James, frowned. "You had a chat with the sorting hat?"
"It's lonely, you know? It spends nearly the entire year sitting in the headmaster's office gathering dust, only to be removed from the shelf for one evening. I thought it would be fun to tell him about the many undiscovered magical creatures still out there."
"Like the crumple-horned Snorkack, right?" Harry asked with a smile. While he wasn't certain if they truly existed or not, until he received hard and conclusive evidence that they didn't he would believe her. She was his friend after all, and she had believed him when he needed it.
Besides, the descriptions she gave some of them were truly amusing.
"Yes." Luna said, the same smile on her own lips, and Harry and Luna laughed outright at the confused expressions of the marauders. By Merlin's beard it was fun to befuddle the marauders like this.
Luna was the first to recover, and gave the marauders a description of the Snorkack, to Remus' and Sirius' fascination and Peter's and his father's even greater confusion. Harry tapped the latter's shoulder to get his attention.
"Luna can be a bit... Odd, sometimes." Harry admitted. "But she always means well despite some of her beliefs, and she helped me in a time I needed her the most. Unless there actually is hard evidence her creatures don't exist, I'm willing to believe her."
James nodded, now looking contemplative instead of confused as he thought it over. Harry smiled, relieved he managed to get at least one of them to hear her out on it, and letting Luna take care of the rest.
Which she did in a spectacular Luna fashion. Luna took a look at James, and frowned. "Oh, no!" She said dramatically. "You've got blibbering humdingers all over you."
"Is that bad?" James asked, now sounding slightly concerned. "Not necessarily." Luna answered, briefly glancing down the table before returning to look at James. "But they distract you with thoughts of the person you love the most. And rather mature thoughts of them out of clothes for some reason."
Harry smirked, as he realised what she was doing. She'd once given a description of that humdinger thing to him, and it decidedly didn't do that. Which meant she was preparing to take the mickey out of him. This would be good.
"Ooooh." Sirius teased, and he and Peter snickered at the sudden flush on James' face. "I bet he's bothered by them right now."
"Is there a way to get rid of them?" Remus asked, a slight smirk on his own face as well.
"That's simple, really." Luna said, her ever present dreamy voice a bit changed due to her own amusement. "Boys get rid of them by masturbating."
That did it, Harry couldn't keep a straight face any longer, as the Marauders, Harry's own friends, and everyone within earshot looked shocked at her crassness. Even Hermione was speechless, her mouth slightly agape because of it. And Luna kept a most innocent expression painted with a benevolent smile on her face the whole time! He snickered, which in turn let to him laughing out loud, which in turn let to a guffaw as most of them. It was soon joined by most of the marauders' laughter as James suddenly looked like he wanted to be somewhere else right now.
Then he got a smirk of his own. "Luna, are these... What did you call them?"
"Blibbering humdingers." Luna supplied. "Right. Blibbering humdingers. Can they be passed on to others?"
Luna's smile got a bit bigger. "Yes, actually. You call someone on their own crush."
Sirius and and the rest of the marauders immediately stopped laughing, suddenly looking very panicked. "Now listen, mate..." Sirius started.
"There's no need to go to this." Remus tried to reason. "Come on, we're all friends here."
James smiled, and grabbed a bit of parchment from his pocket, as well as a quill and miniature ink bottle. He wrote down six names, leaning away towards Harry as the Marauders tried to stop him... And Harry even switched places with them as Remus actually tried to get up and stop James. Harry read over his shoulder as James let the ink dry.
Sirius-Marlene McKinnon
Remus-Roxanne Sterling
Peter-Mary McDonald
Harry smirked, as James passed the paper on to Luna, who read it eagerly. He heard the Marauders tease James about the crush on his mother all the time, which seemed to have gotten worse when they learned it would eventually happen. It was time they got a bit of their own medicine.
"I'll even point them out to you later." James promised Luna, who smiled back in return.
"Traitor." Peter said to James, though the slight twitch of the lip betrayed he wasn't all that angry. Before any of them could retort, the headmaster stood up, and Harry realised the sorting had finished. He gave his own usual welcome backs and start of meal speech, and Harry noticed that as with McGonagall, the words had changed very little. There was the odd selection of words as the feast was brought to the table. Harry indulged himself as well as he could. Treatment from the Dursleys had taught him that he should eat as much as he could when he was away from them. And being in a different time altogether counted in his opinion.
When they all finished with their meal Dumbledore rose again, this time to give his usual start of term announcements. "Now that you've all had your healthy fill." There was a mild protest from Ron as he was still eating. "I would like to give a couple of announcements. First off, The Forbidden Forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden for all years, something a few of the older years would do well to remember." Dumbledore have a pointed look in the Marauders' direction, which they tried to match with an amusing innocent or indignant (in the case of Remus) expression of their own. "Secondly, the list of banned items has been expanded to include Fanged Frisbees as well. For the full list one can look on the door to Mister Filch's office."
"Like any of us go there voluntarily." Sirius mumbled. Harry nodded in agreement, his eyes searching the teacher's table.
His eyes froze on a single figure, and his heart skipped a beat in dread. He was there. The same rotund professor who told Voldemort all about the Horcruxes. He looked a bit older, as he had more wrinkles and his moustache had started to grey a little bit. But it was definitely the same man.
"Thirdly." Dumbledore announced. "I would like to welcome back Professor Isaac Clarke, who has consented this year to take up the teacher's position for Defence against the Dark Arts." A man in his late forties with short-cropped black and greying hair rose from his seat, smiling and waving politely at the students. He wasn't particularly muscular or tall, but Harry could see he was fit and well-built. An ex-Auror, if Harry had to guess. Various students rose in applause.
"He's not that bad." James said in relief. "He taught us in second year as well, before leaving on a brief tour to America to help his family. Heck, my uncle probably knows him well, with how often he has us use potions in the class."
"We have potions mixed with Defence?" Hermione asked. "Why?"
"All sorts of useful things can be made and done with potions." Remus answered, as he switched spots with James so he could elaborate. "Exploding potions, blinding potions, the draught of rotting flesh... All of those things can be thrown at an opponent. He said he taught that to fifth years and upwards, so we missed it when he was around first time. But this year could get very interesting if he's back..."
"Lastly, if you wish to join your house's Quidditch Teams, I advise you seek out Madam Hooch, our flying instructor, or the Team Captains of each house for try-outs. For this year, they are Frank Longbottom of Gryffindor, Michelle Davies of Ravenclaw, Edgar Bones of Hufflepuff, and Graham Mulciber of Slytherin."
Harry nodded, as he and the entire table quieted down to prepare for the school song. Frank already had him scheduled to try out, something he never even objected to. It would be good to play for the house team. Flying was one of many things that helped him relax whenever things became too stressed or busy for him. It was one of the reasons he hated Umbridge even more when she's locked away his Firebolt.
Harry tried to keep his voice a bit more quiet when the school song came along, as he didn't want to stand out. But the Marauders stood up on their own accord, and sang in a low funeral march very similar to those of the Weasley twins. Harry sent a questioning look at Ron, who just shrugged and joined them in singing in that tone. Ginny and Neville joined them a second later, and Frank and Alice did so too with an exasperated expression, although there was a twinkle of amusement in Frank's eye. Harry sighed. If he sung normally now, he would stand out. He rose, and matched all of the others in their march-like tone. Hermione gave them a scathing look, before she shook her head in exasperation too and matched their tone as well, though she didn't rise like the others.
Everyone else finished much sooner than they did, and the evening was dragged on because of them by fifteen minutes. When they finished, Dumbledore clapped the loudest while the other teachers gave looks of relief. After a thunderous thank-you from Dumbledore, they prefects led the younger years up and away, and the other students departed for their dormitories.
"Good luck with the firsties, Moony." Peter said, as he departed.
"Have fun with Evans, and point out the good snogging spots." Sirius smirked as well, as he and James left, James only giving a wave of goodbye as he left as well. Harry tried to follow, but Hermione held him back.
"We haven't been here before, have we?" She asked. "We don't know the way. We should wait for the prefects to gather us and give us a tour."
Harry mentally slapped his forehead. Of course, they'd only been here in the future. In this time, they would never have been here before. A sloppy mistake to forget that little detail.
Remus shortly returned to them with the rest of the first years, and Harry saw his mother at the back of the group. He noted that when she glanced at him, she wore a slight blush and looked away. Likely a bit embarrassed she'd confused him for James earlier on the train. Harry made a note to talk to her later and tell her it was all right. He understood, and he did resemble his father quite strongly. Though in this time, his 'brother' would be a better word. He made a note think of him like that for now on, to stop him from messing up out loud later.
"Right, gather around everyone." Remus said, shifting his tone so it sounded more professional. Harry instantly paid more attention, as it was extremely similar to Professor Lupin's voice whenever he was teaching. "I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Lily Evans. We'll give you a brief tour of the castle before showing you to the Gryffindor Common Room and your dormitories. If you have any questions, either now or in the future, feel free to ask either of us, or the Head Boy and Girl if you encounter them. We're happy to help."
And so, they were led all around the castle, from the Great and Entrance Hall, to the various courtyards, by the Astronomy Tower and Ravenclaw Tower, passing through the lower levels and past the Hufflepuff part and the kitchens of the castle, even making a brief detour through the dungeons and passing right where he and Ron entered the Slytherin Common room, until finally passing the ordinary classrooms and returning to Gryffindor tower.
Along the way, Remus and his mother gave various bits of helpful information and landmarks that would help the first years remember their routes. Harry wished Percy'd given them these tips years ago when he'd been a first year himself, as they were very helpful. True, it would likely be a bit much to take in at the moment, and they would likely have forgotten half in the morning unless they'd been here before, but it was more helpful than just showing them around.
They finally arrived at the Gryffindor tower and the Fat Lady's portrait that guarded it. Remus gave the password (Dragon Breath) and the portrait swung open to reveal the common room. Most of the students were already in their dorms, as it was quite close to curfew and many students would be tired from the long trip across England. Remus gave final instructions as to where the dorms were, as well as a time tomorrow when he would gather them and lead them to breakfast. Harry moved to to join the others in heading upstairs, but he was held back by someone again. Only this time he was met by the face of his mother.
"Look, Harry." She started, the blush returning to her face. "I'm sorry for what happened on the train. I didn't mean to have such a bad start with you. It's just-"
"I look a lot like my git of a brother?" Harry asked knowingly.
"I... Yes." She said, a slight smile on her face. He shook his head.
"It's all right. I know he can be quite cocky and vain, not to mention a bit obnoxious if he thinks no one he doesn't like is watching. I didn't expect that everyone here would like him."
Lily sighed in relief. "I know. I don't mean to bad mouth your brother, but I have a strong reaction against him and he continuously rubs me the wrong way."
"Let's start over then," Harry proposed, before holding his hand out for shaking. "Harry Fleamont Potter." He'd started using his uncle's name as his middle name, as it would be quite odd to have his brother's first name as his middle one.
"Lily Jaina Evans." His mother introduced with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Harry said. "I better go before my brother and his friends unleash pranks on my trunk. See you in the morning at breakfast?"
"Sure. Good night, Harry." She said, and Harry returned it, before she returned to her group of friends, who were waiting by the stairs with Hermione, Ginny and Luna. Harry smiled after her, glad his proper introduction to his mother had gone so well. It certainly seemed like they could be good friends, despite his father's behaviour. He made his way up to the dorm. Aside from the beds of himself, the marauders, Ron, and Neville, there were three others. On each bed was a plaque with their names, and he recognised his own, those of the marauders, and the three other residents: Gaetan Moliere, Vincenzo Santorini, and Joshua Sweet. Spotting his trunk in front of his own bed, he sat down to take off his boots.
Only to practically jump up when someone leaned over the bed's canopy. It was a dirty, grizzly boy with thick stubble on him, wearing omniculars with lenses like a microscope in front of his eyes, and a lit muggle flashlight mounted next to it.
"You have disturbed the dirt." The figure glared at him, speaking with a French accent. "What?" Harry asked, only to be pulled aside by the figure as it landed.
"You have disturbed the dirt!" The boy repeated in a panic, pulling off Harry's sheet, revealing multiple heaps of dirt laying on his bed, each with a miniature flag of a country planted into it. Harry shared a look with Neville and Ron, who looked just as confused and shocked at the boy's behaviour as he did. The marauders, on the other hand, were snickering away, and Harry scowled at them. They'd known of this boy and neglected to warn him, the buggers. For that alone he'd ask his mother to help make them pay.
"Dirt gathered from around the globe, spanning the centuries." The boy lamented as he made the piles a bit neater, before gasping in shock. "What have you done?! England must never merge with France!" The boy returned his glare to Harry. "Who are you? Who sent you? Speak Up!"
Harry, overwhelmed by the boy's tirade, barely managed out an "Uh..."
Evidently, this didn't do for the French boy. "Bah. I will find out soon enough." And with a span of two seconds, he'd gotten out a small pincher, grabbed one of Harry's fingers and retrieved a speck of dirt from underneath it, then put the speck under his omniculars for examination. Harry flinched when he did it, but otherwise looked on as the boy mumbled.
"This comes from an Englishman born in Godric's Hollow, raised by an aunt, uncle, and a son, the latter two too fat to live beyond the age of fifty, you own an owl, a snowy one, third-born in a nest of seven."
The French kid turned to Harry, frowning as he looked at the dirt. Harry stared at the kid in wonder. How had he divined all of that from a speck of dirt? "You have the makings of a half blood," Harry flinched when the boy actually tasted it with his tongue. The boy immediately intensified his glare. "And a flyer." He practically spat the word.
Harry grew even more confused, not seeing how that could be considered something bad. But the boy, now in a frenzy, grabbed Harry's trunk and threw it into his arms.
"This is an outrage!" The boy cried out, pushing Harry rapidly and multiple times towards the exit from the dorm. "You must leave at once! Go, go, go, go, go!" The boy kept pushing. Harry tried to push back or step out of the way, but with his hands full with his trunk, the boy's surprising strength, and the others not helping because they were too busy laughing, he made almost no headway. He was almost out the door when he bumped into something, and he turned around and looked up. The French boy also immediately looked up, his frenzy momentarily forgotten.
Only to be met by the tallest and most muscular fifth year Harry had ever seen. He was bald, dark-skinned, and had a twinkle in his brown eyes that was a mix between amusement and exasperation as he looked down on Harry and the short and fat French boy.
"Uh oh, sat in the dirt didn't you?" He asked knowingly. When Harry nodded, the taller boy shook his head and stepped around Harry to face the French boy.
"Moliere, what did I tell you about being nice to the new kids?" He asked, waggling his finger at Moliere as if at a naughty kid. When Moliere tried to speak up the taller boy got something out of his pocket. "Stay back! I've got soap, and I'm not afraid to use it."
To Harry's amazement, Moliere actually shied away from it, holding his hands up in defence as he hissed angrily at it. When the boy finally started to slowly retreat to his own bed, the taller kid threw the bar of soap after the kid for good measure. It struck the boy's arse, who actually jumped up on shock and scurried to his own bed.
"Back, foul creature!" The taller kid called. "Back to the pit from which you came!"
Moliere finally made it to his bed, stopping only to take his pillow before scurrying under the darkness of his bed. A second later the flashlight on his goggles went out as he hid underneath the bed.
"Sorry about that." The taller boy said as he turned to Harry's bed, flicking his wand as he moved the various heaps of dirt in a neat way to Moliere's own bed. "He's nice and helpful once you get to know him, but we're half convinced his mother paired with a mole most of the time."
"It's alright." Harry said, finally recovering enough to put his trunk back in front of his bed and clean himself up. "I'm Harry Potter." He introduced himself, before pointing to Ron and Neville. "These are Ron Beckett and Neville Longbottom."
"Joshua Sweet." The taller boy introduced himself, giving each of them a firm handshake. "The guy over there is Vinnie Santorini. Never leave your potions alone with him, as he's sure to make a bomb out of 'em."
"At least I know what I want to do when I get my NEWTs," the final boy said. He was about Remus' height, had a thick moustache, though not as big as the rotund professor's, and had all black hair covering most of the top of his head. The boy spoke with a thick Italian accent. "I mean, what's wrong with loving to blow things up?"
"There is when you aid these four" he pointed to the marauders, who were all still laughing from Moliere's antics "with blowing up half the dungeons. How else would they get muggle fireworks?"
"Be happy I didn't make them dynamite." Vinnie returned. "Or the school would've collapsed."
Harry chuckled at his dorm mates' banter. He'd sometimes wondered who in the hell could tolerate the marauders as dorm mates. But he should've figured that was only because they were as crazy as those four.
"Interesting year mates." Harry commented. James nodded in agreement.
"Welcome to the Hogwarts fifth year class of 1975, gentlemen." He said. "Make yourself at home."
Conference room, top floor, Potter Manor, England
September 2nd
Charlus sighed, as the group had gathered for the second time just moments ago. The results since last meeting had been... mixed. There was a big heap of good news and a big heap of bad news.
The good news was that they had gathered a lot of intelligence on You-Know-Who's forces in the last few weeks since the first meeting, thanks to Augusta and the volunteers ready to monitor the various locations. Many of the Wizengamot members turned out to be Death Eater supporters, if not outright members of the inner circle like Abraxus Malfoy, Claudius Nott, and the bastards Reginald Lestrange and his son Randolph. And with various volunteers from the Kingsley, Fletcher, and Jones families, to name a few, ready to monitor their manors for suspicious activity, combined with various tracking charms cast on anyone entering and leaving the wards... They'd identified a lot of members, including the recent initiates Theodore Nott, Lucius Malfoy, and Igor Karkaroff.
The bad news, however, consisted of two parts. For one, they learned how Dumbledore was involved in this exactly. Namely, he led a volunteer group of people who scouted out the ministry and Wizarding hotspots for Death Eater activity. The Order of the Phoenix, the lot called themselves. Charlus had yet to see how they would respond to an actual attack, as there hadn't been any since they learned of its existence, but from the looks of it the Order went for quality instead of quantity. That's the impression Charlus got at least when he learned Head Auror Alastor Moody was a hardcore member, as well as Dorea's close friend Minerva McGonagall, both of whom were very skilled duelists.
Normally, the fact there were other people aside from them and the ministry fighting You-Know-Who would be considered a good thing. In fact, were it not led by Albus Dumbledore, he knew many of them would vote to have their respective factions merge, or at least work together quite closely. But Dumbledore was manipulative and controlling, not to mention inconsiderate of other people's thoughts in his planning. And he would most certainly not tolerate Alliance Interference.
The second bit of bad news, or second and third, depending on how one looked at it, was that there was no intel on You-Know-Who himself, and the same went for his Horcruxes. The blasted man moved around too much for them to get a proper fix on his location, and he quickly undid the tracking charms before departing. The memories Harry had supplied since (since he got one memory of his life every day) were mostly of his day-to-day life at Hogwarts for now. And while it was amusing to have blackmail with the fact Miranda McKinnon had in fact slept with him in her time at Hogwarts, it didn't help them determine where or what the Horcruxes were.
A second initiative had been taken during the meeting, however, that slightly made up for it. One or two prominent members of the alliance (that is, a Potter, Black, Bones, Longbottom, or Greengrass, all of whom were magical powerhouses) would be placed at each of the large magical hotspots in the UK that they knew of: The Ministry of Magic, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Godric's Hollow, and Hogwarts. In addition, two dozen members of the remainder would always be on standby in case of an attack, so they had an instant response force to send out. It would reduce the number of people they had available to gather information, but that could be delegated to allies of the alliance that weren't yet full-fledged members.
Charlus sighed again. Two dozen families were members of the Great Alliance and willing to help in the actual battles, and at least two-third of them had multiple members of their own family aiding them. It wasn't the armies they'd once had at their disposal during the war with Grindelwald, but after the bloodbath of that war not everyone wanted to return to that kind of life. And instead, like Richard Croft and Archibald Davis, they donated their family fortunes or times and artefacts to the cause for study, like rituals on strengthening the magical cores or increasing the body's speed, to name a couple.
But it wasn't the kind of support Charlus needed. They already knew how they needed to stop You-Know-Who. They just needed to find the bloody things, and take him and his followers out, goddammit.
"Breathe." Hector admonished from behind him. "You're not supposed to be all tense like this. You might end up like Arcturus."
"Heard that, you mongrel." Arcturus said from across the room. While the less prominent families had left, Arcturus, Hector and Augusta, Hyperion and Agatha, and the Bones twins had stayed over, so the friends could catch up on old times.
"You were meant to, obviously." Seraphina returned cheekily from her seat, where she, Augusta, Agatha and Dorea sat drinking tea. "We needed to test your hearing, after all."
"I should curse you." Arcturus said, slowly turning away from his conversation with Hyperion and Deckard. The smile betrayed he wasn't that badly insulted. "Might kick the filter on your mouth back into gear."
"You mean the filter that keeps the cum out?" Seraphina asked. Arcturus' retort died in his throat, and all male and most females in the room had to look away to hide their blushes.
"Phinie, you crass wench." Deckard sputtered. "Save that talk for when you actually find a man, for Helga's sake!"
"I don't know, I seem to have my pick of the lot here." She smiled, gesturing to the others in the room. Arcturus finally cracked, and had to look away to avoid becoming a stuttering mess. Indeed, Seraphina was quite a beautiful woman for her age, and combined with her skills with her wand, on a broom, and her body (in martial arts, Charlus quickly corrected in his mind before he could get any disturbing thoughts), there were many men who wanted her as a wife. The daily pile of marriage contracts she received from across Europe was proof of that.
But both he and Arcturus were happily married, not to mention brothers in arms alongside Hyperion, Hector, and Deckard, and he had a duty to save his brother. "Does that mean you consider sharing a bed with your own brother, then?" He asked. To his satisfaction, it was Seraphina's turn to blush profusely, the tint matching her red hair.
"So what had your knickers in a knot, then?" Deckard asked before the situation could get more embarrassing. Not that he didn't have a stake in this. After all, it was his sister being accused of incest. Then again, that was always a risk if you limited yourself to Purebloods only. Six out of ten would turn out to be your cousins or other relatives.
"Just my frustration with our lack of progress on the Horcruxes." Charlus finally admitted. "I had hoped we'd have at least one sign of them by now."
"Charlus, it's been three weeks." Hector said exasperatedly. "I know you want to have success quickly, but this would have been too fast. And a trap, more likely. Give it time."
"If we haven't found one by Christmas, we can always ask your brother to come back." Hyperion reassured. "He wanted to retire and sell it in a few years anyway. Might as well have his successor take over early. If nothing else, I could take over remotely for a while, and Floo over daily should it be necessary."
Charlus nodded. That put his mind a bit more at ease. Fleamont was one of the experts, aside from Richard, who was actively researching Horcruxes. It would feel a bit better if their (soon to be) experts among them were close at hand.
"I'll do that." Charlus said. "It's safer anyway. No chance of the memories Harry sends through being intercepted when he can just pass them through the Floo."
"Good." Arcturus said, before raising his glass. "Now, let's forget this grim mood, and celebrate our long-overdue reunions. To the Rascals!"
"To the Rascals!" Everyone toasted, and for the remainder of the night the bad mood had been forgotten.
That's it. Next Chapter: a taste of first week, a reminder Voldemort's out there and very strong, and discussions about reviving (or starting, considering the time jump) the DA, as well as more Snape
see you then.
Lucian Valerious
