With a twitch of his finger, Harry summoned the three books that Madam Gatsby had mentioned when he explained that he was conducting research into time-travel for a article he was writing about. He had released a sigh of relief when she believed his lie, thanking whoever was out there that he had gotten rather good at it over the span of his short life.

Levitating them in front of him he walked over to a secluded table in the back of the library, his thick, forest green robes billowing behind him.

Quickly pulling out his enchanted quill and parchment, he muttered "velox verro" and tapped his glasses with his finger, silently thanking Herminone for forcing him to learn wandless magic. Picking up the first thick volume, Harry quickly flicked through the pages with the use of the quick read spell.

"Wish I had known this spell for my exams." He cursed quietly as his quill wrote down any important information that he read.

What would have taken him a least a week to read took him half an hour. Glancing down at his parchment he groaned loudly in frustration after seeing that there wasn't even two inches worth of notes. His eyes grew dull as he grasped his hair and pulled harshly, his eyes clenching in pain before his hand fell, running over his face. He looked at the other thicker books before resigning to his fate and reached out for the second book, his hand shaking slightly.

His mind drifted back to the memory of himself sitting for hours in the library with Hermione and Ron before his second task in the Triwizard Tournament and how they had steadily become frustrated. Snorting as he held back his laughter, he pulled the second book towards him and used it for a pillow as he started to feel panic rising inside of him. 'What if I can't go back?' he thought to himself, biting his lip, his eyes wide but unseeing. 'What's going to happen to me? ...as long as James and Lily get married I should be fine. Will everyone's memories be affected? Are they changing right now? Oh god, what if me being here is screwin-'

"I didn't think you would be in here Professor." A quiet voice called out to him making Harry look up startled, soft brown eyes met his own green ones. Remus stood before his table his face looked tired and it didn't take long for Harry to guess that a full moon was approaching. The younger males arms were wrapped around a small stack of books, holding them against his chest.

"Afternoon Remus" Harry sent his a small grin, his eyes softening their gaze happily as he picked up his parchment and placed it between the pages of his book before closing it. He didn't want the Marauders thinking he was up to something, having them following his movements could cause disastrous results. "Hmm, those books are for my class right?" he asked curiously leaning forward to try and see the title of the first book. His grin widened when he saw he was correct, "I've read your past reports, I'm glad you're taking an interest now. You got an Exceeding Expectations in the O.W.L's right?"

"Ah yes Professor" Remus replied his voice sent a shiver down Harry's spine. Standing up, Harry flicked his wrist, his two unread books gently levitated before stacking themselves besides him as the other flew to a cart near to be placed back. The brunette's eyes widened at the display of wandless magic, Harry placed his finger against his lips and winked as if to say that it was their secret.

"I'll take my leave then...unless you need my help?" Harry held his arm out for the books to gently fell into, his fingers caressing the leather spine as he looked down at the younger male, a gentle smile played across his face as the light in his eyes danced.

"Ah, erm, no I think I'll be fine Professor" Remus said quickly turning his head away, looking up at the darker haired man from the corner of his eyes.

"Very well, but if you need any help or advice you can come to me if you'd like" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, "it wasn't that long ago since I was your age and studying you know" his voice filled with amusement as he left without seeing the blush that spread across his student's cheeks at his words.

XxXxX

Four shadows ran around the grounds below, three larger than the fourth made Harry grin ans he sat on his window seat his legs drawn up close to his chest while his arms curled around them as he rested his head against his knees. His room lit by a single candle on his bedside table and the light from the full moon which shone brightly in the cloudless sky.

"I'm glad they found you Remus" he whispered and was answered by a loud howl as if the werewolf had heard him drawing out a content chuckle from his lips and his body ache to run alongside them all.

Dragging his body away from the window, Harry stood before the mirror in his room and stared at his reflection. Scars littered his body, some far deeper than others and now angry red scratches coloured his arms. Running his finger along a large raised silver line upon his arm, Harry looked down as his blunt nails clawed over his pale skin.

Shaking his head, he moved to grab his cloak, sighing as the material slide across his skin he reached for his wand and his bag as he left his room. Stopping outside his door he mutter "lumos" whilst opening his senses, tapping into the ancient magic of the school which hummed happily in response to his minds touch, whispering its secrets and passageways to him.

Satisfied that no one was in the corridors he needed to walk through he left, his footsteps making no sound as if he was floating his eyes scanned his surroundings, his body tense. Seeing the portraits sleeping in their frames brought a smile to his lips. He was glad that he was now allowed to walk through the corridors after hours, it had started to become a pain using the invisibility cloak once he and his friends finally finished puberty and their feet had stuck out of the bottom making them crouch. Ron had always complained about backache after they used it.

Stopping before a familiar door Harry cast out his senses again before quietly opening the wooden door and closing it behind him. "Hello Myrtle" he called out to the ghost that haunted the bathroom.

"Who are you?" she demanded angrily as she flew out of her toilet her eyes widening when she saw him making Harry roll his eyes. Even now it seemed she had a crush on him.

"I'm Professor Harry Evans" he offered her a kind smile knowing that she didn't get that many visitors, "I hope you tormented Miss Hornby while she was a student here."

Myrtle floated down closer to him, her high pitched voice sent a shiver through his body as he remembered her joining him in the prefects bathroom.

"Oh yes I did, I followed her through the corridors and scare her when she thought I'd given up" she cackled in glee as she pressed herself as close as possible to him without actually going through his body, "it made me sad when Dumbledore told me to stop."

"Everyone needs a good scare don't they?" he agreed moving away from her and towards the sink running his thumb over the serpent embossed onto the metal, "Myrtle can you do me a favour, if anyone comes in while I'm not back. Give them a scare for me please?" he shot her a grin over his shoulder.

A giggle erupted through her ghostly body as she nodded in agreement "if you die down there, you're welcome to use my toilet."

Shaking his head he turned back to the sink "Open" he spoke, watching as the sink sank and its neighbours moved forwards to create a large hole in the floor as he muttered "repellunt" to repel the dirt and "aer bulla" created a small bubble of fresh oxygen covered his mouth and nose before he jumped in.

Once at the bottom of the pipe he quickly made his way through the tunnel towards the sealed serpent door, his feet cracking the bones of rats and other small rodents. Large, sticky cobwebs covered the walls and blocked his path "incendio" he muttered, fire blasting violently from the tip of his wand and burning through the silky material.

Once he had reached the door to the chamber he hissed again, his voice echoing through the tunnel and watched as the door activate, marvelling at how finely crafted it was, coughing slightly as dust filled the air.

Entering the chamber he saw the statue of Slytherin's face as he made his way across the water covered floor his footsteps caused movement behind the walls of the large room signalling that he had woken the basilisk.

"Come to me" he hissed his eyes shut, the mouth of Slythering rumbling as it opened to reveal the large beast who hissed in anger as it slithered across the flood and bared its fangs menacingly at Harry. "I'm not here to hurt you" he hissed back causing the snake to stop in confusion.

"Who are you?" it asked circling Harry, "I cannot smell the blood of Slytherin in your veins."

"That's because I'm not the heir to Slytherin" he answered honestly, "the bloodline is dead, you have no master. I came to ask you not to hurt the students of this school."

"And why should I do what you ask?" it replied curiously as it stood behind Harry, it's head not an inch away from Harry's own breathing in his scent, "what do you offer me?"

"I'll ensure that you are fed more than rats" he hissed back calmly, his eyes remained closed and his body relaxed. "May I ask for your name?"

"You ask my name boy?" it scoffed moving away towards the statue of its first master, "you're asking to be my new master boy?"

"No, I'm asking to be your friend" Harry's words made the serpent stop, the chamber was filled with a deafening silence before hissing filled the air. It took Harry a second to realise that the basilisk was laughing, at him or the thought he didn't know.

"You are a strange human boy...Mikhail."

"Mikhail?"

"My name boy. Mikhail."

"I'll ensure that you'll get some better meat as often as I can. Now if you could do me a favour..."

XxXxX

"Now class, who can tell me the best spell to use against a Boggart?" he asked his students who sat quietly, the majority of the females had chose to sit at the front of class for some reason unknown to Harry. He had chosen to use the first few weeks to understand what level the students were at so that he could quickly fill in any holes in their knowledge and bring them up to an Acceptable standard.

Remus's hand shot up alongside Lily's and a Slytherin student, "yes Lupin?" he asked with a smile hoisting himself onto his desk and leant forward his hands pressed together showing the younger boy he had his attention.

"The charm used against a Boggart is Riddikulus Professor" his voice quiet as he shyly met Harry's eyes before glancing away quickly.

"Correct, ten points to Gryffindor" Harry said happily flashing Remus a grin, "a Boggart is an amortal shape-shifting non-being that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear. Now it's normally best to have more than one person with you when trying to get rid of one as it helps to cause it confusion but normally life isn't that kind to you. Now I want everyone to put their books away and place their bags by my desk" jumping from his own desk he watched as the students came to his desk confusion evident on their faces. Waving his wand he pushed back the desks making them stack themselves neatly against the walls and the chairs stood in two piles by the door, once he was satisfied he flicked his wand again and levitated a large wardrobe to the centre of the room.

"Now I believe that a practical approach is the best way to learn. So everyone line up in an orderly fashion. Don't worry, I'll be right here if you need me" he kindly reassured them, "now if you really don't want to do it, come talk to me and I'll arrange another time for you to do it on your own" he glanced at Remus who was looking at him worriedly, motioning for Remus to step out of the line and stand next to him he turned back to the class. "Remember, the best way to combat a Boggart is laughter" waving his wand the door to the cupboard opened and a large clown slowly emerged.

Turning to look at Remus he saw that he was staring at the Boggart fearfully, 'he's scared it'll show the moon' Harry thought to himself biting his lip. He watched as Lily and Alice had their turns, shouting out to them to think of something funny before they shouted the spell. Like his own lesson against the Boggart, many students had backed away in fear until he called out to them, reviving their resolve to combat the creature.

It was now James's turn, standing straighter Harry watched with interest wondering what his younger father's fear was. His eyes widened when he saw an elder man lying on the floor, dead ble eyes staring into James's own. Black hair littered with grey was plastered to his face by blood and his skin deathly pale. His robes were ripped open around his chest as blood seeped through the long, deep slashes, the white bone of his ribs could be seen causing Harry to chock in horror.

"Dad" he heard James whisper in distress before the Boggart once again changed into a woman roughly the same age as the previous man. Again her eyes held no light in them as the stared at the ceiling, her mouth stretched open wide in terror. There were no visible signs of harm on her body making it obvious that she was killed by the Unforgivable curse. The class, both Slytherin and Gryffindor gasped in horror at the sight, some crying out as James fell down to his knees, tears slipping from his eyes as he stared at his mother.

Memories of those he couldn't save flew through Harry's mind making his heart race and cold sweat break out across his forehead and back, his body shook from the sudden wave of despair flooded his body.

With speed Harry almost forgot he possessed, he stood before James, his arms open wide causing the Boggart to turn its attention onto him. In a blur it had changed its appearance once again into a Dementor's causing his students to chock and become paler.

" Riddikulus!" He shouted angrily, the Dementor changing into Dumblore in his pyjamas. Harry flicked his hand at the dark being, flinging it back into the cupboard and locking it firmly.

Remus and Sirius ran to James's side attempting to comfort the young man as he shook in their arms. Glancing around, Harry saw Lily stare at James in sympathy before walking over to the three men and tried to help in the other two's attempt in comfort.

"Right, class is finished but I want you all to write eight inches regarding Boggarts, where their habitats, targets, other spells that are useful against them and for extra points what their natural appearance is" he called out to the students.

Ushering them out of his classroom, he turned around and walked towards the five remaining students, Peter hovering over the other four. "Pettigrew, Evans, make your way to your next class now. I'll help Lupin and Black get Potter to the Hospital Wing." Lily looked up to protest but saw the panicked gaze in his eyes before nodding her head and grabbing Peter's sleeve and dragging him along side her out of the door.

Kneeling down he looked at James before sighing. He had not anticipated that this would happen.

"Potter, can you hear me?" He asked receiving a small nod in return, "I need you to stand up, can you do that for me? Lupin and Black are going to help me take you to the Hospital Wing."

The younger Potter stood up with the help of Remus and Sirius, his knees wobbly as he struggled to stand. Motioning for them to follow, he hurriedly left the room and followed the corridors leading to the Hospital Wing, stopping occasionally for his three students to catch up.

"Poppy!" He all but shouted as he threw open the doors to the ward, pointing to a bed for James to lie in.

Poppy popped out of her office, annoyance written on her face for being disturbed in such a rushed manner. Her eyes flew from his face towards James before rushing to his side, "what happened?" she demanded over her shoulder at Harry.

"A Boggart. It took the forms of his parents" he replied walking over, his eyes gazed down at Jame's in concern, "I didn't anticipate that it would be his greatest fear."

After telling them to stay where they were, Madam Pomfrey rushed into her potions cupboard to get a calming potion for James. Harry looked down at the floor, guilt clear in his eyes as he bit his lip.

"...it's not your fault Professor" James said quietly, his voice still shaking. Looking up, Harry saw all three of them were looking in his direction, "you couldn't have known what my fear was. I should have said something."

Shaking his head, Harry sat down at the foot of the bed and smiled gently at James, "I should have asked if anyone wanted to not participate James, so I guess we're both equal to blame. If you need to talk about what...happened or anything else, you're more than welcome to come to my office to see me alright? The same to the both of you."

He watched as they nodded to him before he stood up as Pomfrey approached, "I shall leave them to you then Poppy" he said before leaving the Wing and making his way back slowly to his office, thinking of how he could make up for his mistake.

XxXxX

Once the last first year student had left, Harry flicked his wand levitating the tables and chairs back to their places and placed the wardrobe back in its corner before leaving his classroom.

He nodded back as students called out to him happily in greeting as he made his way to the dungeons towards the potions classroom. Gently knocking on Slughorns office he waited for the muffled acknowledgement before entering.

"Ah, Harry lovely to see you" the elder mad said happily moving from behind his desk to shake Harry's hand and motioned for him to sit down, "tea?"

"Yes please Horace" Slughorn conjured another cup before pouring tea from his matching teapot. Gently grabbing two sugar cubes, Harry dropped them into the hot liquid stirring it with his spoon.

"How can I help you Harry?" the elder Professor asked curiously, "it's not often that you come to other Professors offices."

Sipping at his tea Harry before placing it back down on the table and made himself more comfortable in his chair, "I was wondering what price I could get for basilisk venom, I know it's rare and expensive" he stated, no use beating around the bush in his opinion.

Slughorn choked on his tea as he stared at Harry in wonder, pounding his chest he coughed to clear his throat before answering "well my boy, it's very rare and the venom's potency lasts years. I would suspect that someone would pay a high price for a a few drops of it. Why do you ask?"

Reaching inside his robes, Harry pulled out two of the four vials of the venom and placed them on the table by his tea.

"I have two vials of Basilisk venom for sale and I a reliable supplier so I can obtain it frequently if so wished. Do you know anyone who would buy them for their potions?" Slughorn's eyes bulged as he stared at the two small vials sitting innocently on his desk Harry saw his hands rub together greedily.

"May I verify it?" the elder man said, motioning to the venom. Harry nodded his head as he rested it in his hand, his legs crossed as he relaxed into the chair and sipped his tea. Slughorn gently picked up a vial, standing up he moved towards a small plant sitting in the corner of one of the many book shelves and pulled out the cork. Dropping a small drop into the soil, the plant started to decay causing Slughorn to release an excited squeal.

"This is brilliant, I'll buy them off you now Harry. How about two-hundred galleons per vial?" The man smiled sitting back down and pushing the cork back in.

"I know it's worth more than that Horace" the younger man raised his brow unimpressed. His eyes hardened in warning that he did not like to be played with or to presumed that he did not know the rarity of the venom. "Six-hundred galleons. Per vial."

Slughorn chocked on his tea at the price, pounding on his chest he gasped out "six-hundred!? I'll give you five-hundred."

Sitting in silence as he watch the man get his breath back Harry smiled happily, "agreed." He soon left the potions master's office with his money pouch heavy and his shoulders lighter. Now he just had to wait until the weekend to visit Gringotts to open himself a vault.