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Thomas Potter was unhappy. Very unhappy.
Nobody was giving him the respect he deserved.
Sure, a few of these people treated him with slight awe, since he had defeated the Dark Lord. But only a small number of the population was treating him correctly.
He believed himself to be king of the school, yet none of these fools understood that. None realised that he would rule this place. Then he would show his upstart brother.
Even the professors had the nerve to compare the two. As tough Harry could possibly hope to match the superior abilities of Thomas. Even now, in his first year, he was on the Quiddich team.
But the teachers actually acted like his pathetic brother was as skilled as Thomas. What in Merlin's name was wrong with them? Were they idiots?
Thomas Potter was the Boy-who-lived. His brother was Nothing.
That was the train of thought he had had as he approached the 4 girls that Harry apparently was close to that morning. That was what motivated him to tell them just how pathetic his brother was. That he wasn't worth their time. And that they would be better off to stick with Thomas himself.
And that was why he was now unconscious in the hospital wing.
In Madam Pomphrey's clinic; it did not matter that the arrogant boy was the boy-who-lived. In fact, she was upset to hear what he said about her favourite student. Not that that had anything to do with her prioritization. No, there just happened to be far more serious cases in her ward that she needed to take care of first.
Two Slytherin boys had injuries that suggested being stepped on by Hagrid, while another two had fainted from sheer panic.
The hexes on Thomas Potter were not serious. Painful: Sure. But not serious. And so she let him stew in his mistake.
It went against everything that the matron usually practised, but today she was glad to see these 4 in the wing. Usually, it would be a flood of crying 1st years and potentially a few traumatised 3rd year girls. She had been betting on the elder Greengrass and Davis, at the very least, coming in today. Poppy was far from stupid. She was certain that Harry had done something to these 4 because he had known that the boys had been intending to take the two. Though she did wonder what exactly he had done to give these injuries. The shattered ribs required at least a few days in the wing, and the dizziness could have meant concussions. She wasn't inclined to let any of them out before the day after at the very least. Maybe the others would learn a lesson from this group's fate.
-(_)-
Hermione Granger was having the worst day in her young life.
She had been even before this; not only had she yet to find a single friend at her new school, but now the bullying had begun. Thomas Potter, and Ron Weasley had been mocking her after the Gryffindors' charms lesson, calling her a know-it-all and talking loudly about her having no friends. She knew she shouldn't have let it bother her so much. The pair of them were horrible people, and gradually wearing down the popularity that came with Thomas' title. People, apparently, had expected him to come and be a new version of the elder Potter. They had all quickly been disappointed by the arrogance the boy-who-lived displayed.
Even so, it reminded Hermione of the bullying she had endured to throughout her life so far; something that stung badly enough that she had retreated to the 4th floor bathrooms to cry her eyes out.
Now, that horror had escalated by far.
The 11 year old girl was frozen, staring up at the massive, lumbering grey figure that was swinging its club back and forth in a half-menacing half-moronic manner. What was she supposed to do? A first year knew next to nothing to combat the troll in front of the bookworm.
Hermione had a few ideas. Could she levitate the club away from its owner? Yes, but that wouldn't counter the fact that the towering humanoid was perfectly capable of killing her without his weapon. She assumed it was a he, anyway. She may well be wrong, but it struck her as more masculine than feminine. What on earth was a first year supposed to do against a full grown mountain troll?
The idiotic gigantic thing thudded along closer to the scared girl, and Hermione, in one of her less intelligent moments, retreated under a sink to escape, and began praying for somebody to save her. Her bravery, that brought her into Gryffindor, left her as she realised nobody knew she was here, and Hermione closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her head in a feeble effort to protect herself from the troll's wrath.
As a result, the first year missed her rescue.
Harry had checked his map; the one he made simply to prove he could, after his cowardly professor had ran into the Great Hall, yelled about the troll, and promptly feinted. The troll was simply referred to as 'troll' on the map, an odd fact that he filed away for future reference, and he saw that it was not, in fact, in the dungeon. It was moving slowly through the 4th floor. Right towards a dot called Hermione Granger.
Harry moved very quickly through the school. Maybe not the most Slytherin thing for him to do, but the Hat had told him that he'd fit in any of the houses. He could be forgiven for acting in a Gryffindor-ish manner every once in a while. Ugh, Daphne was going to chew him out when she found out about this.
He stepped through the doorway, wand at the ready, and cast an incendio at the troll in front of him. The thing's loincloth set alight in an instant, and it dropped it's club, batting stupidly at the burning cloth.
Harry stabbed his wand at the dropped club, and it morphed into a steel spike. A levitation charm, combined with an altered banishing one, quickly resulted in the grey skinned creature dropping to the floor with an echoing thud.
Hermione screamed. That thud equalled her doom, surely that must be the sound of her being struck by the club-of-doom.
"Please be quiet." A voice told her. "The danger has passed."
"Wh-what? When did you get here?" She turned a shocked gaze onto her saviour. "What one Earth happened to the troll?!"
"It got stabbed by a large, metal spike." He said, matter-of-factly, while giving her a look that screamed 'I thought you were smart'.
"I saw that! I mean how did it get stabbed by a metal spike?!"
"I transfigured the club into a spike, the charmed it to stab the troll."
Hermione sat there, gaping at the older boy like a goldfish, as the sound of footsteps reached her ears from outside of the bathroom.
"Mr Potter! What in Merlin's name..." Mcgonagall asked, shocked at the scene in front of her, before a hint of pride leaked into her features as she realised what one of her favourite students had done. Aside from the frown at his name, his response was cordial as he answered her incomplete question.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I heard mention from one of the first year girls that Hermione had been missing and that they had seen her heading here. I assumed that the troll would still be in the dungeon, and that it was more important for the teachers to head down in order to contain it. I though it would be best for me to fetch her myself." He spoke, looking down as if in shame.
"I don't see any reason for you to apologize, Potter." Severus Snape interjected, sharing his house member's dislike of the name. "You have saved this first year's life. I believe you deserve, shall we say 60 points, for helping a Lion, through no obligation of your own. You easily could have simply fled, and tried to find a teacher. By that time, the girl would have been killed."
"Agreed. Ms Granger, would you please tell us why you were up here?" McGonagall questioned, a rare kindness outweighing the reprimand that was still evident in her tone.
"I- Nothing, Professor. I was just being stupid." Her face reddened.
"My brother looked rather guilty, Professor." Harry commented. Professor Mcgonagall frowned at the comment, and turned to the buck-toothed girl.
"I don't..." She relented after the stern expression of her head of house. "Yes, Professor. He and Ron were insulting me about having no friends."
"Thank you for telling me, Miss Granger. I'll make sure they receive the necessary punishment once we arrive back at Gryffindor tower."
-()-
Marcus Flint was not enjoying himself. His Quiddich team was mocking him very persistently about his fate the month before. Now, his bloody chaser was taking all the attention.
"And Potter scores again." Jordan commented in his amplified voice, frustration obvious. "C'mon Fred, George! Hit him!"
"Jordan!"
"What do you think we're trying to do?!" One of the twins yelled back at their best friend.
"Sorry Professor!" Jordan replied to the earlier berating.
"Wood passes to Johnson, and To Spinnet, Damn it! Potter intercepts! Potter passes to Pucey, and Pucey back to Potter! Potter shoots! Slytherin score." He finished minus enthusiasm as his house team was losing rather badly.
The score was now 110-30 in favour of Slytherin. And that was with the efforts of the Weasley twins. The Gryffindor team as a whole was the best team in the school, Harry knew, but the elder Potter made all the difference.
"To Bell, who passes to Johnson, and to Spinnet! Back to Johnson, to Spinnet, to Bell! Oh! And Flint and Pucey both taken out by savage Bludgers from the Weasleys! Quaffle back to Bell! What are you doing, Katie?! Bell fumbles and drops the Quaffle. Potter catches! Potter scores!"
20 minutes later, the scores were up to 130-70 after Bletchley was thrown into his goals by a bludger from Fred, and Pucey had yet to recover from his earlier fall. The Slytherin team was massively disadvantaged. Especially since Flint was being deliberately annoying to Harry and trying to do everything himself.
-()-
Hermione Granger had no idea why she felt the need to do this. Thomas was horrible to her, outweighing even his friend Ron in the insults he threw her way just because she outshined him in class. The boy didn't deserve her help, that was for sure. He wouldn't have gotten it, in fact, had Hermione not wanted to see Harry play.
But her parents had always raised her right. How on Earth could she let him get injured, or worse killed, just because she didn't like the boy? What if she got sent home after he fell from the broom? Surely they would shut the school down after a death of one of the students. Okay, maybe she had an idea why she was saving the-boy-who-lived, but she was unsure if she really should.
And so she snuck through the stands, heading towards Snape, with the intent to stop his jinx before this escalated. The first year girl's fire spread quickly on the greasy robes, and Snape leapt to his feet.
-()-
"And what's this?! What's going on?!" Thomas Potter's broom tried to buck him off. Repeatedly. Harry watched for a little while, right until he realised he had no interest in the outcome. The Weasley twins were going to catch him should the annoyance fall. "Oh, come on! Potter scores!" He exclaimed as though it was a curse. A fire appeared in the teacher's stand, Thomas clambered back onto his broom and the match resumed.
As Katie Bell charged toward the Slytherin hoops again, Harry appeared next to her, trying to take the ball from her. Oddly, the chaser thought the best way to calm her nerves regarding him was to close her eyes. And so she did.
A bludger from one of the Slytherin caught the nose of her broom, and she lost all control, beginning a rapid descent.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed the seekers in a race.
Thomas Potter was going to make it. He was going to get the snitch. Of course he would, he had been trained since he was old enough to walk by James Potter. The best player Hogwarts had ever seen.
Higgs was bigger and slower, Thomas pulled away and stretched out his hand, about to grasp the golden ball... and a Quaffle clocked him on the head, knocking the seeker off course.
"And Potter saves Bell! Thank Merlin!" The girl would certainly have been badly injured. "Umm... is that a foul?" He questioned as the Quaffle caught the Gryffindor seeker. Higgs caught the snitch and Hooch blew her whistle in a long, sharp blast. "Slytherin wins!" About half the crowd cheered for the outcome.
Katie Bell was red, extremely so, as Harry and she landed. He had pulled her onto his broom and to stop the balance being thrown off, Harry had held her close. She wasn't complaining, but her curtain of hair didn't quite stop the crowd from seeing the obvious blush.
Harry dismounted the broom and asked Katie.
"Are you injured?" She was really red, and he wasn't sure what that meant.
"Uh n-no. I'm fine." She squeaked out.
"Good." Harry commented. "This has happened twice in two years." Harry cocked his head. "It seems like an odd coincidence, and you are a very capable flyer?"
"No!" She yelped in a panicked manner. Did he really think that? Harry chuckled at her embarrassment. "It was an accident!" She assumed he was accusing her of falling on purpose.
"Okay." He said, with a nod, as he turned and headed to the rest of his team, slapping Higgs on the back in congratulations and joining them in the subtle demonstrations of their glee at defeating Gryffindor.
As Katie headed back over to her own team, they all appeared glad that she had not been hurt. Excluding Thomas who looked angry at his defeat, and Wood who appeared conflicted. The captain had his gaze locked on the Slytherin Chaser. He was angry at him for costing Gryffindor the game, but glad he had been there to help the youngest chaser. The effect was humorous as both sides of his face twitched rapidly, unsure of what expression to settle upon.
"Who does that Bastard think he is?!" Thomas Potter began the anticipated rant.
-()()()-
The next morning, Harry was pleasantly surprised as a red letter burst into life in front of his brother. He and his ginger friend had, evidently, been pranked by the twins before breakfast as Thomas' skin was a bright pink and Ronald's was a bright orange.
"THOMAS LILIAN POTTER!" The-boy-who-lived had certainly gotten the short straw in regards to their middle names. Why they felt the need to use bother parents names, Harry did not know.
"HOW DARE YOU BULLY THAT POOR GIRL?! YOU NEARLY GOT HER KILLED! WE HAVE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS! EVEN YOUR FATHER WASN'T THIS ARROGANT AT YOUR AGE! IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR YOUR BROTHER, YOU WOULD HAVE HER BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS, AND WE WOULD BE HORRIFIED WITH YOUR ACTIONS?!" Harry scowled at the reference to him. "IF THIS EVER HAPPENS AGAIN, WE WILL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME! YOUR FATHER IS HORRIFIED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOR, HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR THE WAY YOU ARE ACTING, BE GLAD THAT 3 MONTHS OF DETENTION IS ALL YOU ARE GETTING!"
Other than the slight annoyance at his mother, Harry was pleased by that scene. His brother, on the other hand, was fuming.
-()()()-
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Was the greeting that Harry received as he opened his door on the day after Christmas Eve.
"Bah!" He cursed as he jumped back, heart racing. "Merlin, I just woke up. Don't do that." He complained.
"Don't you ever wear a shirt, Harry?" Daphne asked, as coolly as could be expected. Once more, Harry had no idea the effect that he had on the girls as he stood there in only a pair of sweatpants.
"Not while I'm sleeping." Harry responded, stepping away from the door. "Please, come in." Obviously, that was what they wanted, and Harry did not feel the need to deny them.
The girls, yet again, were shocked by the changes and moderations Harry had made to his room. It was about half the size of either house's common room; showing his abilities in charms. A large bed was resting against the far wall, a desk on another and a large chest to the side of that. He also had a couch large enough to seat 5 people comfortably, and a television that he had carved runes into the side of, allowing it to work perfectly even in the magic rich environment of Hogwarts.
"So, how did you all meet up before 7am?" He checked the clock, before asking, looking particularly at the two Ravenclaws.
"We arranged it yesterday." Tracy answered with a smile. "We agreed that it'd be best to surprise you to exchange gifts, and whe better to surprise you than when you're asleep?!"
"I'd rather you did it during the day, personally," Harry remarked. "But that's mainly 'cause I only fell asleep a couple of hours ago."
"Staying up so late isn't healthy, Harry." Caroline lightly berated.
"It's fine when you don't get woken up at 7 in the morning. Cats are quite often nocturnal." Harry corrected, as he sat down on the edge of his bed. "Is exchanging gifts really exciting enough to need to do it at this ungodly hour?"
"Of course! Just because you're a Grinch doesn't mean that the rest of us have to be!" Jasmine replied to this one. So many people in the conversation was difficult for Harry to deal with so early in the morning. "Christmas is fun!"
"I'm not a Grinch, I just don't understand Christmas. It holds no significance to me."
-_-_-()()-_-_-
'Moron.' Harry commented, silently. The three of these firsties were actually dumb enough to come down here on their own. Against a Professor, even one who was as pathetic as Quirrell, they stood no chance. Not to mention the fact that Harry was sure they thought Snape had been the teacher responsible. If Snape had wanted them dead, a simple Sectumsempra would more than likely deal with the trio in a single blow. Now, Thomas Potter was down here on his own.
Luckily, Harry had overheard them. Now, he was hidden under the cloak he had enchanted as an invisibility covering. Unluckily, Harry wasn't confident that he'd beat the Death Eater in front of him in this form. The cat would be capable if he had the element of surprise, but in the time it took to change, Harry would be hit with the killing curse. He wasn't going to die for his arrogant younger sibling. Nor to protect the fake stone. Why would the Flamels let Dumbledore put the real on in his little trap/test?
Oh. Looked like his brother was saved, then. Harry saw the conversation end as Quirrell started speaking to himself. The defence Professor raised his hands and began removing the turban from his head. Harry's trap was triggered.
As Quirrell had walked through the doorway, a series of runes had transferred onto his person, complete with a trigger of removing his head gear.
The first activated as a disturbing face was revealed. The material twisted, and wrapped around it's master's throat. The bald man scratched wildly at the cloth, and the other end of the turban curled around his wrists, trapping them and preventing any other action from the limbs.
"What are you doing, you little- ARGH!" He was cut off by his throat constricting further, before the robes he was wearing jumped up, curling around his head and blocking his view. The collar tightened, especially.
The collar started burning, and set itself on fire, unnaturally hot. The skin and flesh melted, and his throat was damaged irreparably. He began making strangling noises, before the robe fell back down, and the turban fell to the floor along with it.
Quirrell's face turned purple, and he dropped to his knees, hands clawing at his throat as he struggled to breath. Harry vanished through the nearest wall, no longer caring, as Thomas Potter watched one of his teachers die, utterly confused.
It irritated Harry greatly that the boy-who-lived later took credit for saving the 'precious artefact', and then was awarded by the headmaster just enough points to rob Slytherin of their favouritism; had Harry known that would happen, he'd of recorded the event, and stopped the little bugger from taking credit for his work. Of course, he couldn't of taken credit himself; Harry was popular, of course, but even so he was still a Slytherin. A Slytherin killing a Professor, even one with Voldemort stuck in the back of his head would, instantly, be labelled as evil. Unlike the newly crowned golden boy of Gryffindor.
The applause was annoying as hell. At least when Ravenclaw beat them, they were gracious about it.
-()()-
"Harry, wake up. We're at the station." Tracy shook her friend lightly, watching unsurprised as his eyes shot open, and snapped onto her own.
5 more minutes." He closed his eyes again, after finding no threat.
"Potter." Daphne poked him in the side. "Get up."
"No." He groaned, leaning further into the wall. He liked sleep.
Jasmine, surprisingly, jabbed Harry in the stomach, and the teen shot up with a surprised grunt. The girls seized his arms to prevent him from floppin back onto the bench, and Harry relented.
"Fine, fine..."He stood and stretched, before making to wallk out of the cabin. "What are you waiting for?" The girls had not moved.
"Potter!" Daphne barked, just as Harry was about to leave. The ebony haired boy turned and found her stood there, arms crossed and tapping her foot.
"Trunks?" He asked. It was his own fault, for retrieving them every year hence. Plus, he could lighten them and shrink them legally; it made sense for him to fetch them.
"Trunks." Daphne confirmed. Her male friend easily removed them for the 4 girls, and tapped each, shrinking and lightening each without any of the pesky repercussions that the others would get from using magic outside of school, due to the runes he had drawn on the side of the leather of each.
"Y' don't have to be so rude about it." Harry remarked, as he walked out of the room again; not upset, just sleepy and in no mood to be barked at.
-()-
Adelaide Greengrass watched her self proclaimed son's retreating figure with a sad frown. Why he had to leave for half of each summer, she didn't quite understand, but at least she was certain that he'd be safe. Her girls were reacting in a similar way, though each of them had a slight glare marring their pretty features as they were angry with each other.
It was easy for Lady Greengrass to see why they were upset. It'd be difficult for her husband, sure, but she saw the competitive expression that Caroline, Tracy and Daphne shared as Jasmine kissed Harry on the cheek. Then, the four repeated her actions, each lingering slightly, and shot a scowl at their female friend. The start of a war between them was inevitable, Adelaide believed, even if Harry was wholly unaware of their crushes on him.
-(_)-(_)-
'It's strange for my brother to be so different from me. How can we be related yet share so few personality traits?' Yet again, Harry's shameful little brother had rushed into the danger head along. Now, how was he going to avoid having the little shit take credit for the work he was about to do?
A truth rune? That'd work, he supposed. And if Harry's little brother happened to get in trouble because he happened to blurt out something that was worthy of punishment, all the better.
Harry felt his body shift into another form just as he hissed "Open" at the doorway in Parseltongue, following Thomas' path into the chamber of secrets. The dank smell hit him in the damp hall and Harry cringed, his heightened senses made him more susceptible to the effects this had. As the segment of wall moved apart, Harry rushed through, taking the most recently developed animal he could use. A tiny bird, one that he himself knew to be the Peregrine Falcon, flew unnoticed into the air and observed the scene below, circling the statue and people beneath.
Harry watched as Thomas talked to the odd person with him. He was wearing a Slytherin uniform, but Harry definitely did not recognise the boy. In fact, he was shimmering slightly. Not a ghost, obviously, but perhaps something similar. The diary lying discarded on the floor certainly seemed significant to the Animagus. But his attention was quickly removed from the object when he heard the stranger hiss to the massive statue of Salazar Slytherin.
"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the four!"
The mouth did, indeed, open. But no words escaped the cavern. In fact, what came out shouldn't have surprised Harry. A massive serpent slithered out of who-knows-where, and obeyed the command to attack that came forth from 'Tom Riddle'.
'Well, at least Thomas isn't a complete moron.' Harry thought as he scampered away from the Basilisk. Harry briefly contemplated letting his brother in blood just die, but decided he would have felt bad for leaving the little Weasley girl down here.
The Peregrine Falcon swooped downwards, arching toward the massive beast at 200mph, distracting the snake.
"Hah!" The young Voldemort laughed at the feeble attempt. "What do you think that such a minuscule creature could do to the king of snakes?!"
He was right in that assessment. The bird barely weighed 2lbs, it certainly wasn't built for this type of conflict. Luckily, that hadn't been the plan Harry had.
"Ignore the bird, focus on the boy! The boy is all that matters!" Riddle screamed at the snake. Apparently forgetting Parseltongue in his rush. As he finished, the young version of the Dark Lord watched as the bird turned in mid air, tucking it's wings into an even faster dive, approaching the 300mph mark. The teenager smirked at the idiocy.
That smirk vanished as the bird's body shifted. The black feathers became just as dark fur, and the body grew unreasonably. From 23 inches to 8ft. The prehistoric cat plummeted toward Slytherin's monster at the massive speed ad slammed into the snake. The thing weighed 800 odd pounds. A weight that was very useful when it crashed into the other predator in the room.
The snake was thrown off balance, with a very large cat latched onto it's face, long canines digging behind a vulnerable scale in the snake's forehead. With a frustrated growl, Harry managed to tear said scale loose. He bit into the vulnerable spot, and ripped it apart. The flesh tore from the skull underneath, and exposed the bone.
Pondering how he was to go about getting through the hard material; he couldn't get the angle to pierce it properly, after all, Harry spotted a glint of silver in a ratty, worn out hat.
Discounting the fact that he didn't know how the sword got there, the feline leapt, with the grace you would expect from a cat, over to the sorting hat, and shifted form again.
His mass decreased significantly, to less than 200lbs, but his body widened greatly, his length shortened to about 4ft, and his height increased slightly to 6ft 6. The wingspan of the Argentavis was truly amazing at 23 feet. Scooping up the sword of Gryffindor, the massive bird flew toward the snake, and changed to the tall-ish human form of Harry Potter, gripping the blade in his hands. With a swift motion, Harry plunged the goblin-made blade into the serpent's brain.
Thomas Potter wondered who this was; he couldn't see any real features other than the unsurprising obsidian hair. He hopped back, using the transferred grace from his forms, and flipped over, landing, once more, as the sabre-tooth black cat.
The snake flailed briefly, before it slowed, dropped heavily, and died. Turning, Harry ran at his brother, sheathed his claws, and batted him over the head. As tempting as it was to tear his throat out, that wouldn't be a good idea.
Turning back, Harry stood, stretching as he did so, and faced Tom Riddle.
"Voldemort?" Harry wondered. That's what it sounded like to him, and it would make sense for Voldemort to be the heir of Slytherin, from what Harry understood.
"I'm Lord Voldemort as he was at 16, yes." Riddle replied as Harry moved over toward the corpse of the Basilisk. He was interested in the origins of the teen that had put on such a show.
"Hm. Why Ginny Weasley? Could you not have bewitched an older, powerful student?" He shrugged at as he arched an eyebrow. "She's only twelve. Her core's nothing special."
"I would be inclined to agree with you. But one of my followers gave her the diary. Not on my orders, mind you." He growled out. "What are you doing." Harry wrenched a tooth out of the snake's mouth. Harry moved over to the diary quickly. "Wait!"
"She deserves life more than you do. Also, I'm not a fan of bigoted ideals." He knelt next to the diary and plunged the fang into the black cover. The boy, as well as the diary, screamed, and ink spurted from the torn pages.
"Hmm." Harry turned to the unconscious figures in the chamber. "Now how do I get you two out of here?"
-()-
It was time for the OWLs, and Harry was confident. Not due to arrogance, but due to indifference. He saw no reason to be overly concerned with the levels that he was rewarded by a Ministry official that he would never meet, and disliked the idea of getting stressed about his future anyway; he did not understand the people around him, cramming desperately with looks of anguish and, in the case of a few Ravenclaws, openly weeping.
Harry was prepared for the tests, he supposed that he was also smarter, and far better under pressure, than most of the students around him. That was the answer he had given when a few of his year mates had demanded to know why he was so calm. They had looked angry at that, for some reason.
Now, he was leant against a wall in the Entrance Hall waiting to be called in for a practical demonstration of Runes; he had given up the lessons after finding tuem insanely easy, but was not allowed to take the exams any earlier than this. He could take the runes and Arithmancy NEWT later in the summer, though, and that was something to be grateful for getting out of the way. He hoped it wasn't true that the practical only consisted of drawing and activating a single, low level ward or he'd end up showing everyone up.
As his name was called, Harry shrugged the thought away. He wasn't going to hinder himself, after all, and maybe the examiner would e somehow entertained by the demonstration from a higher-level teen.
-()-
James Potter looked far more sullen than he ever had in Sirius Black's memory. He wished he could be surprised about that reaction, but he was well aware of the cause. The two aurors were stationed at Hogwarts this year, in addition to the dementors released to prevent the rat and the psycho from infiltrating the grounds.
Pettigrew had turned into a rat in a fit of panic, and, in what could be considered a fit of genius from one so intellectually challenged, thought to free Bellatrix, figuring having her release on his record would help him to gain favour when, and if, he found his master.
It was theorised that they would try to take revenge on Thomas, and therefore the highest protection was given to their saviour.
But Thomas was not why the Lord Black's best friend was upset. No, that was his eldest. The OWL year student had ignored Lord Potter throughout the year. Not once responding to the calls of James. Nor Sirius, for that matter. Even Remus, who was one of the boy's teachers, was barely given the time of day.
However, that mattered little at the moment, since the two captain aurors had just checked the map, and found, to their horror, that Thomas and friends were fleeing for their lives.
Not from the Death Eaters, no. They were running from Remus.
"Moony! Stop!" James screamed at his childhood friend. Actually, that was quite effective. Not in that it stopped the werewolf, but in that it drew the attention from the fleeing trio and onto the pair of Animaguses.
"Get ready, James." The messy haired man nodded, and the two changed forms. They could match the wolf, most likely beat it, when put together. But they had to do that all while stopping it from getting any of the wizarding children. They were at a serious disadvantage.
And that disadvantage was why James was injured by their changed friend. The wolf bit down on his side as the Animagus threw himself in front of his idiot son.
Thomas Potter had done his best to 'help' the two by rushing back and attacking the werewolf. This kid really annoyed Sirius, but he had no choice in the matter as he attacked his friend wildly, trying desperately, and succeeding, to get his attention back onto the perceived threat.
The wolf pursued the dog through the grounds; obviously wanting desperately to kill the nuisance. Sirius Black now knew that he was screwed.
Completely and utterly screwed.
He led the werewolf into the woods; the most sensible idea he could come up with, to try to find something else for it to fight. He wasn't expecting the answer to his prayers to come sprinting out of the forest at him and his pursuer.
It was another wolf. Some kind of wolf, anyway.
Remus was massive compared to an average wolf, the same as next to every werewolf. In fact, Sirius was sure that Remus was large for a werewolf. But this wolf was bigger.
Definitely bigger.
And scarier.
The moonlight highlighted the raven furred wolf as it charged toward the dog-wolf pair, and Sirius leapt out of it's path, catching a glimpse of it colliding with the werewolf in front. The creature seemed just about fully grown, though maybe it would fill out in the shoulders some more, but the not quite adult creature was clearly winning the brawl. It and Remus both reared back onto their hind legs and tore at each other, but the larger wolf did much more damage as his razor sharp claws tore chunks from the other's body.
With a pathetic whimper, Moony turned and fled, instincts outweighing bloodlust as he headed into the forest at a quick pace.
The mystery wolf turned to face the downed dog that was still, barely, conscious, and let out a rumbling growl. Sirius scrambled to his feet, favouring his right side as his left had been torn into slightly in the first bout against Remus, and further aggravated by the running.
Grey eyes locked onto emerald, and the wolf turned, dismissively, and jogged into the forest.
-()()-
"James! I'm telling you, it was Lily! Lily saved me!"
"Padfoot, I've said before, Lily's form is a doe. It's definitely not a, in your words, big ass wolf!"
"It's possible to have more than one form, James! All the books say that!"
"And it's incredibly rare for someone to have more than one! They say that, too! Not to mention Lily discovering one just out of school, and the other now!" James Potter shook his head. "Besides, you said that the wolf was black. Lily's hair is red!"
This entire conversation took place in hushed, but urgent, tones at the head table. Luckily, the roar of conversation had hidden it from everyone but the headmaster sat next to Sirius, as a way to show the importance of the security the ministry provided.
Sirius' eyes drifted over the students, from Gryffindor, over the other houses, to Slytherin. There, he happened to meet the eyes of another emerald-eyed Potter, as opposed to the hazel both other males of the family had.
"Holy shit! It was Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, turning to his childhood friend with shock written on his features. That shock was quickly copied onto James' face, as the headmaster looked on with a knowing twinkle. Then, James grinned widely.
"Takin' after his old man!"
"Don't forget his Godfather, Prongs! His form's more similar to mine, after all!"
"Yeah." James snorted. "Just a better version!"
"Hey!" Sirius barked indignantly. "Snuffles is a chick magnet! His one, we need a name for him, by the way, would just scare them all off!"
"Whatever you say, Padfoot, whatever you say..."
The headmaster chuckled, as he wondered just what forms Harry Potter had. None were easy for him to recognise so far. Well, the small, and very speedy, falcon was easy enough, but none of the others had been turned up in his enquiries so far. Just how strong was the popular Slytherin, anyway? Dumbledore's eyes twinkled curiously.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
