Harry quickly decided that the Ravenclaws were an odd bunch. They didn't seem to work well together at all. That wasn't to say they were a bad bunch, but their culture seemed to encourage competition. It could get a little bit nasty at times, to be perfectly honest. He supposed that it was because they didn't suffer fools lightly, but it could be a bit wearing. Part of the problem with segregating people according to personality he supposed.

Harry had shared Transfiguration with them before Potions on Monday and quickly began to find them irritating. He'd never minded Hermione's lecturing. She really just wanted to help. Well... and maybe prove she was right at the same time, but that was more of an added bonus. Some of the Ravenclaws seemed to think that the Hufflepuffs were a bunch of idiots and were very condescending. Others were nicer though, so he decided to reserve judgement. People were generally worse in large groups, when they felt they had to fit in, anyway.

They really only ran into the Slytherins in the halls and aside from the occasional insult they seemed content to leave them alone. He only started hearing the horror stories when he had Herbology with the Gryffindors on Wednesday. The interhouse rivalry seemed very strong, much worse than the slight tension between them and the Ravenclaws.

The name Draco Malfoy was throw around a lot, which did not surprise Harry one bit. Every time he'd run into Draco the boy had proven himself to be the worst sort of pureblood. Ron Weasley, a loud boy who came from a large family had made the mistake of catching Draco's attention on the train. It had ended with Draco setting his goons on Ron; the boy still sported large bruises and his movements were stiff. Percy, Ron's brother and a Gryffindor prefect had taken the matters to the professors, but Snape had argued against punishing his godson and the other professors had been unable to do anything without the Head of Slytherin's approval.

Father did seem to be right about Professor Snape, at least partly. Harry knew how biased the man was sometimes and he'd remembered how Lupin had always been a little quiet when he was telling one of the Marauders' stories that related to 'Snivellus'. Whatever the case was, Harry felt that Professor Snape must be in some part a contributing factor to Slytherin's culture. It definitely didn't help that the children of so many Death Eaters had also been sorted into the house of recent times, but that couldn't be all of it. From what he could see and had heard of Snape rarely took points from Slytherin and took a disproportionate number of points from Gryffindor. Harry had a horrible feeling he might be able to lay part of that at both of his fathers' feet.

Speaking of his father,why hadn't he sent him a letter yet? Harry had a horrible feeling the school owl had fallen foul of one of the nastier wards Father had set up. He supposed only time would tell.

HPHPHP

Harry had his answer when a large snowy owl landed in front of him on Saturday. Neville eyed the bird dubiously. "I don't recognise her Harry. Who's is she?"

Harry took the envelope and accompanying package from her offered leg and opened it, his eyes widening in surprise. "She's mine." The bird hopped over to him and rubbed her head against his hand. "Sirius sent her as a 'Congratulations On Surviving To Make It To Hogwarts' present. Do you have a name?" he asked the bird, stroking her head gently. She hooted negatively. "I suppose I'll have to find a name for you then."

"What did Sirius say?" asked Hermione. "He wasn't disappointed, was he? I've heard some of the other students talking about how their parents reacted to them being sorted here."

Harry smiled. "No. He was surprised though. Apparently he thought I'd be going into Gryffindor like my parents." His eyes continued down the page and he groaned.

"What?" asked Hermione, alarmed.

"He's been holding the school owl captive so I wouldn't get the idea he was ignoring me," said Harry in exasperation. "Does that make any kind of sense?"

Hermione's brow furrowed and Neville shook his head. "Not really, no. What's the package?"

"Package?" Harry asked confused. "Oh!"Harry had quite forgotten the package while he'd been focused on the owl and now scooped it up, pulling the paper and twine off, revealing an old, scratched hand mirror. His eyes widened in recognition and he quickly pocketed it. Harry didn't fancy Snape seeing it in case he recognised it from his school days.

"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Kind of a magical mobile telephone or walky talky," replied Harry. "I'm just not certain it's entirely allowed at school, that's all. Sirius must have the other one."

"Why wouldn't it be?" She looked a touch peplexed.

"I've told you about my father and Sirius's reputations, haven't I?" replied Harry, grimacing. "They probably used this to get up to something nefarious at some point."

"They sound a little like those Gryffindor boys, don't they? The Weasley twins?"

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I've never admitted it to anyone before, but I sometimes get the feeling they were a little more malicious than that."

She seemed to mirror his expression. "Ah... Well, when are you going to talk to him?"

"Probably after lunch," said Harry. "Want to catch him awake, don't I?"

"But hasn't he always kept very reasonable hours?" She looked a little alarmed at the idea Sirius would be anything other than awake at this hour.

"He has a tendency to get up to... things when I'm not there," replied Harry. "Just about the only time he winds down his paranoia and gets out of the house."

"What sort of things?" Hermione asked scandalously. She'd never heard about this side of Sirius before and Harry felt very embarrassed to have brought it up.

"Er," he mumbled weakly. "Well I-"

"It's not really appropriate to ask," said Neville, coming to his rescue. "So Harry, what are we doing this morning? And no, Hermione, we will not be studying. It's only first week and we deserve some time to explore."

Harry grinned at the indignant look on her face and leant forward, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Well..."

HPHPHP

Harry sat under a secluded tree by the lake, looking down at Sirius's incredulous face. "So you didn't scam your way into Hufflepuff? I figured you must have bribed the hat to be with your friends or something."

Harry laughed. "What could I bribe it with? It's a piece of cloth" he countered, shaking his head at the idea.

"Um... a wash? It certainly needs one if memory serves." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Um, no, I guess not. Repairs? Oh hell Harry, I don't know. Stop looking at me like that." Sirius's small image frowned up at Harry as he smirked. "So anyway, how did both your friends end up in Hufflepuff too? Neville I understand, sort of, but Hermione? I thought she was prime Ravenclaw material."

Harry went silent while he considered his answer. "He said it was me."

"Eh?" Sirius's brow furrowed.

"He said my handiwork was all over their minds," Harry explained, somewhat miserably."He said I manipulate my friends to make them what I think they should be. Does that make me a bad person?"

Sirius looked a little stunned for a moment. "Harry, don't you dare think you're a bad person. You know you aren't. Now, before you start arguing, do you think Neville or Hermione would let you do anything to them they disagreed with? Do you think they would let you shape them into bad people? You're just very persuasive, that's all."

"But-"

"Have you ever done anything to hurt you friends Harry?"

"Well no but-"

Sirius looked triumphant. "Well there you are then. Now, I don't want to hear another word about it,okay, and you mustn't think on it. It's a piece of cloth, just like you said."

"Okay," said Harry slightly reluctantly. He wasn't entirely convinced, but he supposed Sirius had a point.

"Now tell me, how has Snivellus been treating you?" asked Sirius eagerly. "And how are you going to get him back for it?"

Harry groaned. He didn't like the sound of where this conversation was heading.

HPHPHP

Harry had ran into Draco on his goons on the way back to the castle, a very unpleasant experience, though of course they hadn't said anything. Ever since Sirius and the Longbottoms had applied their political and monetary muscle to tear down his father's Imperius plea things had been tense between them. Not that Draco would ever try something directly. Though his mother had managed to hold onto the family wealth, the Malfoys were still disgraced in the eyes of the public and it wouldn't do to damage their reputation further. It did make every meeting awkward however.

Harry thought that the two boys accompanying Draco were probably Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They'd probably be more trouble since their fathers had also gone to jail without Lucius Malfoy's protection and they didn't have the political intelligence that Draco seemed to have gained from his mother.

He eventually made his way to the library, after nearly getting lost a few times. He really wished he had the Marauders' map he'd heard so much about from Father and Remus. It would make his life so much easier. Only problem was that it was probably still in Filch's office and having a go at getting it back would probably end with him in detention.

Sirius and Remus had once tried to reproduce it, but without James' expertise it had been a futile effort, especially considering that he was the one who'd had the majority of their notes. So, if Harry wanted it, he'd either have to find out how James did his part of it, or steal it off Filch, neither of which sounded like particularly attractive options.

Slipping through the rows, he eventually found Hermione in the corner, hidden behind a stack of tomes. "Hermione, its about time for dinner."

The girl looked up, momentarily disorientated. "Oh. Right, sorry."

"What are you looking at?" asked Harry curiously. He glanced at the one book covers and frowned. Muggle Greek Mythology? Ancient Greek Monsters?

"Neville and I had an... unusual experience while you were out of the castle," said Hermione, scowling. "Those Weasley twins unleashed some sort of Duplicating Snapping Geese things. Neville and I got chased by a pack of them and didn't realise where we were going. We ended up on the third floor corridor."

Harry's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you went in."

Hermione nodded tersely. "Yes. Unlocked the door and barrelled through before we realised what was on the other side. They're keeping a giant three headed dog there, did you know that?" Her voice shook with rage. "We barely got out in time and only survived because the geese decided to rush it for some reason."

"What on earth are they doing with a beast like that?" asked Harry, shocked.

"It's guarding something, that's for sure," said Hermione. "That's what they're for according to the books I've been reading. I'm just angry that they'd keep it behind a door tha was unlocked so easily."

"Where's Neville," asked Harry, suddenly concerned.

"He said something about talking to the house elves," Hermione replied, scooping p the books she wanted to borrow, which was most of them and putting the others back on their shelves. "What are house elves by the way? He was gone before I could ask."

"There a kind of servant species I guess. They magically bond themselves to a family. We've got one at home named Kreacher. He's a little old and he and Sirius don't get along, but he's always liked me."

"So they work for you and you pay them?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Er, no," said Harry awkwardly. "I tried to pay Kreacher once when I was little and he got really upset. I mean really upset. In fact, the only time I saw him more upset was when I offered him a holiday. He thought I didn't want him."

"So he wouldn't take it? He's happy being a slave?" She looked horrified at the thought.

"I guess. They're very powerful, but aren't really big supporters of independence. Kreacher once told me that there was no greater dishonour for a house elf than being free."

Hermione looked extremely disturbed. "I'll get these books out and meet you in the Great Hall, okay?"

"Okay." Harry walked off, looking at her over his shoulder. He hadn't supposed it would be such a disturbing concept for Hermione. Hopefully she'd focus on the giant killing machine on the third floor and not on the house elves. He couldn't see anything good coming out of that.