The Next Day

Harry and Blaise had come down to breakfast the next day to see Hayden and Malfoy fighting each other just outside the great hall.

It seemed that Hayden and Ron had somehow escaped from Filch yesterday. Hayden had embarassed Malfoy by calling him a spineless coward infront of all the other first years during breakfast in the great hall. Malfoy had left the great hall and Hayden had followed him out after that.

The two quickly resumed their fight after stepping outside the great hall. Both of them had thown several jinxes at each other before brawling on the floor. Each of them was assigned a nights detention with Hagrid by Dumbledore who expressed his disappointment in them.

Hayden and Blaise grinned through the entire day. They had seen both their two least favorite people in the whole school get beaten up and get in trouble at the same time.

Harry met Tonks that afternoon to discuss his Metamorphagus Training

"Wotcher Firstie" Tonks said

"Hi Tonks"

Harry quickly steered them into an abandoned class room. He closed the door and cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm on it. Tonks raised an eyebrow at that.

'Quite Ingenious' Tonks thought 'People dont notice the door so they wont enter and disturb us'

"Notice-Me-Not Charms are now a part of the first year curriculum then?"

"No not really, I just picked it up from a library book"

"I think Notice-Me-Not charms are atleast third year material. You must have practiced quite a lot to learn it"

"Actually I learned it so that i could train in private"

"You train? How often do you train? Why do you train?"

Tonks seemed eager for his answer. Harry thought for a second

'How often do I train? Thats easy' "I train everyday."

'Why do I train?' His thoughts went back to his abandonment as a squib, his treatment at the hands of the Dursleys, his ambition to prove himself better than his brother and his desire to learn and use as much magic as he could.

"I train because I never want to be helpless or useless again."

Tonks nodded. 'Interesting little firstie'

"So you really want to join the Defense Club Firstie?"

Harry nodded. 'Yes I do wish to join the club'

"Well I will see to it you get your membership approved. The next meeting is Wednesday night after dinner in the Second Hall.

Now you want to train to be a Metamorphagus. Show me what you can do" Tonks rubbed her hands together.

"Before we begin, I want you to promise me you will never reveal my true form to anybody else."

Tonks was dumbfounded. She had thought that his current appearance was his true form.

"You mean this" She gestured at his body "is not your true form."

"No" Harry lifted a small gold pendant shaped like an 'Eye of Horus' from around his neck. "This pendant seals my true form and makes me look like I currently do. I dont have much control over my transformations so my dad provided me with this pendant to help stabilize my appearance. It also provides me a good disguise so that people dont recognize me."

"Why would you need a disguise?"

"My true appearance might raise a lot of uncomfortable questions for a lot of people."

Her eyes began sparkling "Are you a part of a conspiracy or something? May be an undercover agent like Bond James Bond?"

Harry snorted "I think his name is just James Bond and I am not"

Before she could interrupt, Harry continued

"I will show you my true form only if you make a magical oath that you wont tell anybody what I look like. And you dont have to help me for free. I heard that you want to join the Auror corps, I have a valuable skill that will be immensely useful to an aspiring Auror."

She didnt really believe a firstie could know anything worth teaching her. But this firstie had been different so far. "Alright tell me what skill can you teach me?"

"Occlumency"

Tonks was flabbergasted 'How could a first year know Occlumency?' Tonks went over all she knew of Occlumency in her head. It was an important skill for Aurors. It not only protected an Aurors mind from attacks but also boosted the memory and reduced the need for sleep. Possessing that skill when she entered training would help her easily get the top billings in training and in missions.

Harry was also deep in thought next to her. He had thought this offer through last night. He had been learning Occlumency from his dad for the past 2 years. He knew the basics well enough to help someone else learn it as well. His dad would get around to helping him finish his Metamorphagus training eventually but Harry wanted to surprise him before hand.

"Why do you know Occlumency?"

"Its a useful skill, I initially began learning it to help control my Metamorphagus ability but I havent able to complete the final step of my Metamorphagus training"

'It makes sense and Occlumency is too damn useful to pass up. Besides a Metamorphagus's true form is their greatest secret. I would want to protect mine with an oath if I could too.'

"Allright, I accept your offer" Tonks made a magical oath to not reveal Harry's true form.

Harry twisted a jewel in his pendant and immediately his form changed. His height had remained the same but his hair had started standing on end like needles making him look slightly taller. He looked a lot like Hayden Potter except that his hair was black instead of red and his eyes were green instead of hazel.

"So this is your secret. If your name is Harry Potter, then you are actually an illegitimate son of James Potter"

A nerve appeared in Harry's forehead 'How could an aspiring auror be so stupid?'

"No you moron! I am not an illegitimate son. I am Hayden Potter's twin brother"

"His twin brother? I heard he had a twin but that twin was a squib and sent to live in the muggle world."

"That was me but I found my magic. I dont want to go back to my family because they adandoned me when they sent me away to live with some horrible muggles."

His voice seemed to heave with emotion. She could hear the hurt in his voice. She could understand what he was going through. Her muggle father, Ted Tonks had abandoned her and her mother when she was 5 years old. They currently lived of the black inheritance given to them by her Uncle Sirius. She suddenly swept him into a hug.

"Dont worry firstie. I understand. I wont tell anyone who you are, especially them" She said quietly. Harry could say nothing to that.

Two Months Later

Harry had spent 2 months in Hogwarts so far. He had enjoyed most of it, the few bad instances being his interactions with Hayden and Malfoy.

Roger Davies was quite happy with Harry's performance in the Quidditch trials. He had immediately accepted Harry as the main seeker and began training him. The current seeker in training (Cho Chang) wasnt happy at being replaced by a first year but she got over it when she saw his performance on the school brooms.

The Quidditch season would only begin after Christmas, so there was enough time to train Harry to become used to Ravenclaws strategies and manoeuvres. Davies had already asked permission from professor Flitwick to allow Harry his own broom. Professor Flitwick had agreed immediately.

Harry had written home quite frequently over the past 2 months. He had so far talked about his classes, his selection to the Ravenclaw quidditch team, his friendship with Blaise and some other students.

He had managed to renew his friendship with Neville after he saved the boy from being bullied by Malfoy in the corridors. They had bonded over stories of their scary relatives.

Neville's grandmother seemed to be a formidable woman who was very strict. Neville explained his grandmother and great uncle had been forceful in making him show his magic by dangling out of windows. Harry sympathized with him, James and Sirius would have subjected him to several such foolhardy stunts had Lily not expressly forbidden it.

Harry didnt have any family except for his dad. However his dad was scary in his own right. Harry turned white as he recounted a story where his dad accidentally summoned him through the ceiling as he tried to call him down for dinner.

Susan had introduced him to the Slytherin loners, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis. They didnt seem so bad for Slytherins. Blaise had been friends with both Tracey and Daphne from before Hogwarts, so they got along well with them.

Hermione had also enjoyed studying with them in the library. She had slowly begun fitting into their group and wasnt nearly as uptight as before about following School Rules. She had infact introduced them to Hagrid, the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts.

Hagrid had helped Hermione get her school books and she made it a point to visit him atleast once a week. She had invited Harry and Blaise on one of her visits to meet Hagrid. Hagrid appeared to be an extremely large and frightening man who they later found to be a rather kind hearted gentle giant. His dog, Fang, an enormous Boar Hound was the same. Fang looked fierce but when released from his chain, all he had done was lick all of their hands and faces.

Lately during their study sessions in the library, another Slytherin Theodore Nott had taken to joining them. He was quiet and studious but he liked arguing about basic magical theory with Harry and Hermione. The others in their group had labelled them the 'Ultra Ravenclaws'.

Harry's skill as a Metamorphagus was growing albeit slowly. Tonks was poor at Occlumency but she had begun picking up the skill. Tonks had begun seeing Harry as a little brother. They were really quite fond of each other but preferred to spend their training sessions bickering instead.

Being a member of the Defense Club, Tonks had also started training Harry in Defense spells and Duelling. Tonks was a firm believer of the arts of self defense. She confided in Harry that her interest in self defense began when one of her ex-boyfriends tried to force her to use her Metamorphagus abilities to look like someone else. Harry flourished under her tutelage. He had slowly begun learning various spells from Tonks such as the Blinding, Cutting and Destruction Charms.

Hayden and Malfoy were prats as usual. Hayden with his pranks and Malfoy with his insults. Thankfully they had an insider in Gryffindor who would warn them of the pranks as they were planned. Nobody suspected to Neville Longbottom to be the spy.

Hayden was no longer topping all his classes. Neville was the best student in Herbology. Hermione was beating Hayden in Charms. Daphne and Blaise were both extremely talented with Potions. Harry himself was excelling in DADA thanks to Tonks' tutelage. Currently Hayden was still the best in Transfiguration.

Nobody paid any attention to History of Magic but they would sometimes hear Blaise and Hermione arguing about a Goblin Rebellion once or twice a week.

As the last week of October approached, Hayden and Ron Weasley were slowly becoming unbearable. Hayden could be heard in the classrooms during breaks declaring that this would be his tenth year anniversay of triumphing over the Dark Lord. Ron Weasley would stand next to him flattering Hayden like a Sycophant.

On the day of Halloween, Hermione had failed to meet the rest of the group in the library that evening. Neville had informed the group about how Hayden and Ron made fun of her during their Charms class that afternoon and how she had teared up and run away.

The group went searching for Hermione. Susan and Tracey had found her in the second floor girls bathroom. Harry had immediately asked her to sit with them at the Ravenclaw table during the feast.

The Halloween Feast

The feast was delicious. Hermione was sitting with Harry and Blaise at the Ravenclaw table. She was smiling and looked much happier than whenever she sat at the Gryffindor table. Penelope was telling Hermione about her preparation for her OWLS and Hermione was listening with great interest.

The feast was just about to end when Quirrel came running through the doors of the Great Hall. "A Tr-Troll is loose in the Castle" he shouted before fainting immediatley afterwards.

There was sudden increase in the volume of the Great Hall as students began panicking and shouting when Dumbledore stood up from his seat

"SILENCE" he demanded

The hall fell silent immediately.

"All the students will all stay here. The Great Hall will be defended by Hagrid"

He took a look at Hagrid who nodded. Snape looked Dumbledore in the eyes and then took off with out another word.

"The rest of the Professors will split into pairs and begin searching the school"

Harry and Blaise saw Hayden and Ron sneaking out of the hall while Hagrid was distracted while talking to the Gryffindor Prefect, Percy Weasley.

Blaise whispered "Potter and Weasley are sneaking out, Where do you think they are going? Do you think they might try to fight the Troll?"

Harry nodded "That just might be the kind of stupid thing that Hayden would do"

"Why do you call him Hayden instead of Potter? Its almost like you are familiar with him"

'Whoops, Blaise is getting suspicious. I need to careful from now on' "Not really. My surname is Potter too, Calling Potter feels weird." Harry improvised

They saw Neville sneaking out after Hayden and Ron.

"Is Longbottom also the same as Potter?" Blaise asked

"I dont think so, It is more likely that Neville is trying to prevent them from doing something stupid" Harry stared pensively for a moment before continuing "Blaise, lets sneak out after them"

"Why? Are you worried about Potter and Weasley too?"

"Those two can go stuff themselves" Harry shrugged "I am worried about Neville"

Harry began sneaking out without waiting for Blaise to follow him. Blaise looked at Harry's back for a moment.

'Of all the Stupid Gryffindorish things to do' Blaise snarled at himself before following Harry

Harry saw Neville head up a flight of stairs outside the Great Hall. He hurried across the corridor and turned to climb up the steps when he saw Blaise following him.

Harry smiled while Blaise simply looked frustrated. Together they began searching for Neville when they found him and Hayden and Ron fighting the Troll.

Neville and Ron were levitating objects to throw at it while Hayden kept shouting 'Stupefy'. The Troll shrugged of the Stunners but the floating objects kept it distracted while the trio of Gryffindors slowly backed away.

Suddenly the Troll began a massive swing of its club, the tiles of the corridor cracked at the impact of the club sending shockwaves through the floor, all three Gryffindors lost there balance, the troll lifted its club up again to crush Neville who was nearest to it.

Harry and Blaise ran over as fast as they could. 'Blaise, Get Neville out of the way. I will distract it'

Harry shouted "Diffindo". A bright red crescent shot out of his wand and hit the trolls exposed chest. The troll roared its fury and looked at Harry with its tiny black eyes. Harry was remined of the Fat Pig Dursley in one of his murderous rages.

Blaise had gotten Neville away from the troll. Hayden and Ron had already fled leaving the three of them to face the troll alone. Harry began looking for weaknesses in the Troll. He remember one of their homework sessions with Penelope. He almost heard Penelope's voice describing the Troll to him

'Trolls and Giants were extremely strong, they also possess Magic resistant skin and are difficult to stun. Only extremely strong spells can penetrate a Trolls tough skin'

Harry could apparate away but then his friends would be alone with the Troll. Harry knew what he had to do. The troll was focused on him and roared a cry that promised death and agony before charging at him. He lifted his wand and took careful aim at the trolls head. He reached into the gift that his dad had given him. He shouted 'Diffindo' and pushed as much energy into the spell as he could. The crescent he shot was not red in color, it was bluish silver and it sped through the air at an incredible speed. The crescent impacted the Trolls exposed neck beheading it. A sudden spurt of Blood of went through the air drenching Harry as the trolls beheaded corpse toppled in front of him.

Harry hurried forward to Neville and Blaise to make sure they were fine. Neville and Blaise were both looking at him with awe and fear. For a moment none of them spoke, the silence was broken by the heavy footfalls of the professors approaching them.

Minerva Mcgonnagal blanched when she saw the dead troll and Harry drenched in blood. Her partner Filius Flitiwick was also stunned by the sight. He recovered quickly and rounded on the first years.

"What are you first years doing out here? Didnt you hear the headmaster at the feast! You all could have died! I am especially disappointed in you and . I expected better from my Ravens"

Neville could not stand his friends being punished for rescuing them

"Please sir, this is all my mistake. Harry and Blaise are my friends and they cam to rescue me when I was in trouble"

Professor Mcgonnagal turned to look at Neville "Why were you out here then ? Your friends almost died because they came to rescue you"

Before Neville could mutter an apology, Blaise quickly interrupted "Its not his fault Professor. Neville left the great hall because he wanted make sure that Hayden Potter and Ronald Weasley did not get into trouble."

Blaise quickly narrated the story of how Hayden and Ron had left the great hall and how Neville, Blaise and Harry had followed them to make sure they were safe.

"Very well then. I will question and later. 20 points from Gryffindor for your foolishness and Detention for an entire week"

She turned to Professor Flitwick. He nodded and said the same "20 Points from Ravenclaw each and detention for a week"

Before they could leave however, Professor Mcgonnagal gave them an almost-smile and said "I think 50 Points each to Ravenclaw for showing loyalty to their friend and saving his life would also be appropriate, wouldnt you agree Professor Flitwick?"

Harry, Blaise and Neville returned to the great hall together. They spotted Hayden and Ron there. Professor Mcgonnagal had called them both out and lambasted them for being foolish before deducting 30 points from Gryffindor each and assigning them a week of Detention as well.

Penelope told them off for going off to face the troll while Hermione did the same for Neville. When they went to sleep that night, Harry was glad that no-one was harmed by the Troll. He knew he would have to explain to Blaise and possibly Neville how he managed to kill the troll but right now he felt too tired to think about it.