Horcrux

"How are things going?"

"Well enough," Erenigh said in Bulgarian. "We're settling in. Greece is a really nice place."

"I wish you would let me come by," Viktor said.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Erenigh said.

"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it," Viktor said. "My best friend just disappeared half a year ago. The press is awful."

Erenigh laughed. "Oh, poor Viktor," he said. "Can't handle the press."

Viktor snorted. "They think you broke up with me," he said. "According to them, I've been 'too down for it to just have been a friendship'. It must have been more."

"Well, that's cute and all, but they are just a tad bit insane," Erenigh said. He felt a tap on his knee and shifted his gaze to Harry. The raven-haired teen pointed at his notes clearly wanting help of some kind. "I'll talk to you later Viky," Erenigh said teasingly. "I've got to help my young protege."

"Sure whatever," Viktor said. "See you."

"See you."

Erenigh placed the mirror down and turned to Harry. "What's bothering you?" he asked. He moved down to the floor.

I can't get this to work," Harry said. "My magic is just too unfocused. Most spells work fine, but this just won't work."

Erenigh sighed. "I'll get on us getting staffs first thing after work tomorrow," he said. "You're right. This is too precise to do without a focus. It's one of the problems with attack spells. They demand a precise focus to use most of the time. Its why I use a gun instead. It's easier than messing with offensive spells without a wand."

"Are you sure you can find a staff maker in Greece?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Erenigh said. "The magical community here is far too old not to have one."

Harry nodded. He gnawed on his bottom lip. "Will you teach me how to fire a gun?" he asked. "And how to fight?"

Erenigh leaned back. "I'll have to find a shooting range for the gun. We can train fighting whenever. We can start today if you'd like," he said. "I'll also have to get us gun licences so I should probably head to Gringotts."

"Am glad you know these things," Harry said.

Erenigh chuckled. "I have to be good for something, right," he said. He turned as a loud pop sounded through the room. "Hey Winky," he said.

"Master Erenigh," Winky said. She was holding a necklace out. "This be bad necklace. Can Master do something?" Her eyes were brimming with tears. She looked afraid. "It do something to Dobby. Hurt him."

"Is he alright?" Harry asked as Erenigh stepped forward to take the necklace from the little elf. He shuddered. Something was really wrong. He placed the necklace down on the coffee table. "I'm going to Gringotts now," he said. "Hopefully they can help us with this."

"I'll try to calm Winky down," Harry said. He looked at the crying elf. "I need to know if Dobby is OK or not."

Erenigh nodded. He grabbed the necklace, put his glamour on and apparated away. Améthyste walked up to the counter calmly. "I would like to speak to banker Leafblade. Would you please tell him Améthyst Umbra is calling."

The teller gave her a harsh glance, but he sent a runner off to deliver the message. It didn't take long for the runner to come back and lead Améthyste down a corridor. She entered Leafblade's office and removed her glamour. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," Erenigh said in Gobbledegook. "My elf showed up just moments ago with this." He placed the necklace down on the goblin's desk. "It is giving me the chills. I'm not sure what it is, but the magic is wrong."

Leafblade leaned down to look at the necklace. It was a beautiful locket with a serpent on the front. He studied it for a long while. Erenigh sat down while he waited.

"This is a soul-vessel," Leafblade said once he looked back up. "I'm not sure which kind. I'll take this to our researchers."

"You will help me even though the goblins wish to be neutral," Erenigh said.

"You are a goblin friend young mister Black," Leafblade said. "As long as you don't want us to fight, we're willing to help you with some research and spell development if necessary. You will have to help out as well though."

"Of course," Erenigh said.

"Now where was this found?" Leafblade asked.

"Black ancestral home," Erenigh said.

"Do you think it was placed there by the owner or ended up there in some other way?" Leafblade asked.

"I'm unsure," Erenigh said. "The elf I would have to call isn't reliable."

"I can make sure it doesn't know where we are. Only that this is Gringotts," Leafblade said.

Erenigh nodded. "Kreacher," he called.

A scabby looking elf appeared after a short while. He squinted at Erenigh. "Young Master Black," he said as he saw the ring on Erenigh's finger. "It is good to see that the next Lord will be Mrs Narcissa's child. Much better than now," he muttered about Sirius.

"Kreacher do you recognise this," Erenigh asked as he lifted up the locket from Leafblade's desk.

"Where did Young Master get that?" Kreacher asked. "Those thieving elves be stealing from the house."

"The elves were sent there by me, Kreacher," Erenigh said. "Winky is my elf. She did bring me the locket since she could tell it was dangerous. How did it end up in the house?

Kreacher swayed back and forth. It was like he was considering telling Erenigh but wasn't sure he was allowed. "Young Master sent Kreacher with Dark Lord," he said finally. "We went to a cave and the Dark Lord made Kreacher drink and awful potion. Kreacher thought he would die, but Young Master called Kreacher back. He asked Kreacher to take him to the cave. He ordered Kreacher to make Young Master drink the potion, and then he ordered Kreacher to leave with the locket. Kreacher was supposed to destroy it but Kreacher couldn't."

"We will destroy it for Master Regulus," Erenigh said. At least he assumed Kreacher had been speaking of Regulus. It couldn't be Sirius considering how much the elf hated him.

"Truly?" Kreacher asked. "Young Master Erenigh will do what Master Regulus wanted."

"Of course," Erenigh said.

"What can Kreacher do for Young Master in return?" Kreacher asked.

"How about you teach Winky what it means to be a Black elf," Erenigh said. "She needs to be able to act the part."

"Kreacher will teach Winky," Kreacher said. "Kreacher hopes Young Master will come home soon."

Erenigh smiled. "Could you do me a favour?" he asked.

"What, Young Master?" Kreacher asked.

"Don't mention me to any human," Erenigh said.

Kreacher smirked. "Kreacher can do that," he said.

"Thank you, Kreacher. You can go back home now," Erenigh said.

Kreacher bowed before he popped away.

"Well that tells us that the soul piece most likely belongs to the British so-called dark Lord Voldemort," Leafblade said. "That's a start."

"Now we just need to know what kind of vessel this is," Erenigh said.

"That will be your first job," Leafblade said. "You will have to look through human documents to see what you can find that match this."

"I'll get right to it," Erenigh said. He sighed. He had some nasty work set out for him. "I'll come back when I find something out." He rose from the chair.

"Hopefully it won't take long," Leafblade said.

Erenigh put his glamour on and walked out. He was not heading to the library that day. He was going back home so he could start teaching Harry martial arts. He wasn't great at it himself, but he was decent enough. It was good exercise. Against a magic user, it was good to know even a little. Just having better reflexes helped. He doubted they would be running into anyone that was actually a practitioner of the arts.

"This is hard," Harry said.

"Yeah, did you think it would be a walk in the park?" Erenigh said. "It takes years to become good. Most people who are really good started when they were like six. You're a bit old."

Harry failed to laugh. He was a bit too winded.

"I think maybe we should start with some yoga instead," Erenigh said. "For now we should just get you in shape."

"Do you think we could get me a gym pass too?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Erenigh said. "Though I suggest you arrive there already in training clothes. I don't think you should mess around in the women's changing room."

"No thank you," Harry said.

"Thought so," Erenigh said. "I think I'd like a shower."

"Yeah me too," Harry said.

"Go ahead I'll do some more exercises," Erenigh said. Harry headed off to the shower and the snowy-haired teen moved on to some yoga exercises. It would be a bit of a stressful time ahead. He did not look forward to searching through the darker tomes at the library. He knew how bad the books could be.

It took weeks of searching. Hours of flipping pages. Picture after horrible picture. But he found it. Erenigh found what he was looking for. Horcruxes. Voldemort had created Horcruxes. He was glad he had a tough stomach. Améthyste copied the book and headed with it to Gringotts. She was glad the library allowed you to see any books they had no matter how dangerous it was, but in some ways, she wished books like the one she was bringing out were not available to just about anyone. The goblins let her into Leafblade's office, and she removed the glamour. "It is a Horcrux," Erenigh said. He placed the book down and opened it to the correct page. Leafblade started reading. He flipped through the pages. "This is against nature," he said. "It is no longer a matter of just aiding a friend of the goblins. We must do something about this."

"Just help me find a way to deal with it," Erenigh said. "We can't travel all around the world to find other insane objects he might have made into Vessels. We need some way of dealing with it that means we don't need all the vessels."

"I think you should come with me," Leafblade said. "We'll go talk to the people we put in charge of this. They need to know this information too." He rose from his desk.

Erenigh put his glamour on and followed the goblin out of the office. They headed down several corridors before reaching a room. Five or six goblins hurried around with clipboards and thick books.

"Runeaxe," Leafblade said. "Mister Black has brought us information."

A squinting old goblin turned around. "Let me see," he said. He was handed the book he moved through it quickly and stopped on the section Erenigh had found. He muttered angrily before turning around and casting several spells at the locket. "This isn't good," Runeaxe said. "This is not good."

"Can we do something about it?" Erenigh asked.

Runeaxe scratched his head. "We might," he said. "It is going to take some work, but we should be able to do it." He gave the human a calculative look. "How fast do you need a solution?" he asked.

"I'm not in a hurry," Erenigh said. "How much time do you need?"

"Oh, the more time we have; the better we can make it," Runeaxe said. "You give us six months we'll have something that works perfectly."

"Sounds good to me," Erenigh said. "I appreciate the help."

"This is a crime against nature," Runeaxe said. "We will fix it up. You might need some powerful individuals to help you with this."

"I'll find them if I need them," Erenigh said.

"Good," Runeaxe said. "Always try being prepared."

Erenigh nodded. He stayed for a few hours just speaking to the goblins. He wanted to know as much as he could. He was starting to realise that they would have to fight Voldemort. They would need a plan.

…

Erenigh was late home several days after he'd last spoken to the goblins. He found Harry lying on the floor surrounded by his notes. The raven was fast asleep. A soft smile spread across Erenigh's face. He walked up to the younger teen. The floor could not be comfortable. He bent down and lifted Harry up. He placed the younger teen on the couch. Slowly he ran a hand through Harry's messy black hair. His brow furrowed. He moved black locks to the side. Harry's lightning bolt scar became visible. There was something wrong with it. There was magic there, but it wasn't Harry's magic. It reminded Erenigh more of… he stood up and donned his glamour.

"Harry wake up," Améthyste said. She reached down and shook his shoulder. "Harry!"

The raven twitched and sat up startled. "What?" he said confused.

"Put your glamour on we need to go now," Améthyste said.

Green eyes widened and Harry reacted immediately thinking they had been discovered or something similar. He put his glamour bracelet on and grabbed Améthyste's hand. The two of them apparated away. They landed in Gringotts. The tellers just sent Améthyste along, and they headed down the corridor to Runeaxe's lab. Améthyste spoke the password set on the door and walked inside. "Runeaxe," she called right before she removed her glamour.

Harry had removed his glamour too. He was confused. Erenigh was speaking to an elderly looking goblin in rapid Gobbledegook. Harry couldn't understand them. He wished he knew what was going on.

"Come here Harry," Erenigh said calmly after a while, using French this time. "Take a seat. Runeaxe here wants to confirm something."

"What is going on?" Harry asked.

"Could you please wait until after he's done his scan?" Erenigh said. "If I'm wrong, I don't want to worry you unnecessarily."

"I'd rather you just told me," Harry said. His arms were crossed over his chest. He wasn't budging.

Erenigh sighed. "Fine but please come over here," he said.

Harry rolled his eyes. He guessed it wouldn't hurt him. He walked over and sat down next to the snowy-haired teen. "So, what is going on?" he asked.

"You know Winky showed up with that locket," Erenigh said. "And I told you what it was." Harry nodded. "Well, there is magic in your scar that feels the same as that locket. I haven't noticed it before. Your magic has been covering it since it is so much stronger."

"You're telling me that I might have part of Voldemort's soul in my head?" Harry said.

Erenigh turned to Runeaxe as the goblin muttered angrily. "You are sure?" he asked in Gobbledegook.

"Yes, you have sharp senses for a human," Runeaxe said. "I'll have to speak to our healers. We need to remove that without hurting the kid. It's good you found this out now. Our device might have killed him. If we deal with this now, however, he should be safe enough."

Erenigh nodded. "Thank you," he said and Runeaxe headed off. He turned back to Harry. "It would seem I was right," he said. "You are a Horcrux."

Harry leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. "Well, that's great," he said his voice muffled.

"They are probably going to want to run some tests, but I'm sure they can figure out how to fix this," Erenigh said. "I know I startled you, but I… I guess I was scared. I know that what they are working on in here will extract the souls. If that happened to you, there is the possibility that you wouldn't make it."

Harry nodded slowly. "I get you," he said softly. "It's… it's just disgusting. How come no one figured it out before?"

"Maybe they knew, but didn't feel like dealing with it," Erenigh said.

Harry laughed but there was no mirth. "That would be so Dumbledore," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're right."

Several goblins came up to the humans. They performed so many different tests that Erenigh lost track. He tried his best to get Harry to think of something else. Hours passed. The two teens were served food at one point. It was really hard to keep track of time. Eventually, they were led to a bedroom where they could sleep. Améthyste still left to go to work the next morning, but she didn't stay as long as she usually did. Erenigh wanted to be there for Harry.

"Are we going back to deal with the scaly one?" Erenigh asked. "I doubt anyone else is going to do anything."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, we should, just so we don't need to hide if nothing else," he said. "You'd think someone else could do something."

Erenigh shook his head. "Most people would rather bury their heads in the sand," he said. "We can do something, and we are affected so I think we should do something. We wouldn't be much better than them otherwise."

"True," Harry said.

"I guess we should figure out some way of dealing with them," Erenigh said. "We have quite a lot of time to prepare so we could even go for a ritual."

"I think we'll have to go back to Hogwarts. We could easily force Voldemort to attack there," Harry said.

"Yeah, we'll work out some plans for that as well," Erenigh said. "Let's make some different scenarios before we decide. For now, I suggest just keeping it between you and me. We'll see if we want to involve anyone else and when that should happen later."

"You're obviously already coming up with ideas," Harry said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well the first thing we need to consider is, as whom," Erenigh said. "Are we going to Hogwarts as Erenigh and Harry or as Améthyste and Jade?"

Harry looked surprised for a moment. He hadn't even considered going back to Hogwarts as Jade. It had its advantages. "How would we do that?" he asked.

"As teachers," Erenigh said.

"Jade is a bit young for that, isn't she?" Harry said.

"We can probably change your age," Erenigh said. "You haven't really been in contact with anyone in the magical world so far so it should be easy."

"You really think I could teach?" Harry said. "I mean I did try a few times and that went well, but…"

"I'd be right there with you," Erenigh said. "We know the students. Just remember what your previous teachers did well and what they did badly. Learn from their mistakes."

"What position would you take?" Harry asked. "I could go Defence of course, but how about you?"

"Well, Uncle Severus has been complaining about the younger students for years. He really would like an assistant. I could probably convince Dumbledore to take me on as both his and your assistant. At least if I amp up the charm," Erenigh said.

Harry just shook his head. "This is insane," he said.

"But it could work," Erenigh said.

"Yeah, but why would he pick me?" Harry said.

"You would need a Mastery," Erenigh said. "Difficult but not impossible."

"I see why we need more than one plan," Harry said with a smile. "Circumstances might make one completely unusable."

"Yepp," Erenigh said. He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. He wondered how much longer the goblins needed. He really hoped they could help Harry. His eyes travelled over to the younger teen. Messy black hair fell down his head. It had grown so long it now reached his shoulders in the back. It fell down to cover his eyes hiding those sparkling green orbs from view.

Harry closed his eyes. Knowing that a part of Voldemort was in his head, did not make him feel great. He was glad he wasn't at Hogwarts though. Some people back there might very well have tried to kill him if they learned what he now knew. He wondered what Voldemort might have done though. Probably nothing pleasant.

The door opened and a goblin came in. She spoke to Erenigh for a moment before she turned to Harry. The snowy-haired teen turned to Harry. "They will operate now. They are sure that they can remove the foreign soul without harming you," he said.

"Operate?" Harry asked. They had to cut him open?

"That's what she said," Erenigh said. "I pretty sure you don't need to worry. Goblin healers are more reliable than human once most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Harry said. "That is making me feel better."

"It depends on what they are doing. Magic and head they will be better than any human you can find," Erenigh said.

Harry stood up. He straightened. "Wish me luck," he said.

Erenigh rose. "Good luck," he said and then he leaned in and kissed the raven-haired teen. It was just a peck. Nothing special.

Harry blushed. His eyes were wide. The goblin said something and he was pulled back to reality. He followed her out of the room. He was nervous, but his mind was no longer focusing on the oncoming procedure. It was busy analysing the kiss. He walked into a clean room with a surgical table.

"Please lay down here," Runeaxe said.

Harry nodded. He hoped whatever they were planning on doing would work. He lay down and closed his eyes.

Erenigh watched Harry as he walked away. He knew he couldn't stay in there. He would worry himself to death. He put his glamour bracelet on and left the bank. He needed something to do. He headed to the library. They needed some way of dealing with the scaly one and his munchers. He didn't really want to end up a mass murderer though. Sure, he had killed people to defend himself and protect Harry, but he wasn't all that interested in having to kill all the munchers. There were worse things than death. She walked into the library. She was looking for a ritual.

…

Harry stirred. He opened his eyes slowly. He was lying in the room he'd been staying in while the goblins tried to figure out what to do. He was alone. Erenigh wasn't there. He sat up slowly. As he woke up more, he realised his head felt a lot clearer. It was like his brain had been stuffed with wool before.

There was a knock on the door and Runeaxe came walking in. "Ah, good you are awake," he said. "We managed to remove the soul piece. Hopefully, you don't feel too bad. Your magic was trying to fight us a little so you might feel weak. I would advise against any spells that require a lot of power for a few days. We also fixed your eyesight while we were at it. It is quite unnecessary to have bad eyes in the magical world. I hope you don't mind."

"Ah, no I don't," Harry said just realising that he wasn't wearing his glasses. The world was clearer than ever. Maybe he hadn't been using the right subscription for a while. It was nice to see well. "So everything worked out?" he asked

"Yes, it was a little harder than we initially expected it to be, but we adapted. You should be perfectly fine. There is no trace of his soul stuck to you anymore," Runeaxe said.

"Where is Erenigh?" Harry asked.

"He left for work this morning and has not returned yet," Runeaxe said. "You can return home after you have eaten something as long as you don't use magic."

"The glamour is fine?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yes I mean that you shouldn't use magic not that you can't be near it. Using the glamour is just fine," Runeaxe said.

"Good," Harry said. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Runeaxe said. "This has all been quite the opportunity."

Harry nodded. He went to one of the dining halls that existed above the offices of the bank. He grabbed some food and ate before heading home. He opened the front door to find Erenigh sitting on the floor where he usually sat. Books surrounded the teen. Harry froze. Erenigh had kissed him. The raven-haired teen had struggled back and forth with his own emotions for weeks. He really liked Erenigh. 'Damn it all,' he thought. He walked forward and sat down next to Erenigh. "'Nigh," he said.

The snowy-haired teen turned to him. "Harry hey," he said. "Feeling alright?"

"Yeah, much better," Harry said.

"That's good," Erenigh said. "I've been looking into how we could deal with the scaly one and his munchers." He smirked. "I found a ritual. It needs some variables, but if we could get the right people we could drain the magic from dozens of people all at once. We could make so-called purebloods into nomags."

Harry looked down at the papers in front of the other teen. He looked the notes over. "We need people of different elemental affinities," he said. "How do you tell elemental affinity?"

"There are spells for that," Erenigh said. "Once upon a time witches and wizards could actually use elemental magic, but these days our powers are too diluted. There are still some who register as a single element though. I know I do and I check you too."

"What element am I?" Harry asked.

"Air," Erenigh said with a smirk. "And I'm shadow."

"Guess that might explain why I like flying so much," Harry said.

"Well, I guess it could," Erenigh said.

Harry looked back down at the diagram. "So we need fire, water, and earth," he said.

"Yepp," Erenigh said.

Harry bit his bottom lip. "Is it possible that someone who is good with plants is a pure earth?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is possible, though, they might also be earth and water," Erenigh said. "It depends. We'll have to check in on that. It is a wild shot, but it would be perfect if we could get it to work."

"That's why we need more plans," Harry said.

"Of course," Erenigh said.

Harry watched as the snowy-haired teen started gathering his notes together. "Erenigh," he said.

"Yeah."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to."

"Do you like me?"

Erenigh turned to Harry. "Yes," he said honestly.

"Why?" Harry asked realising just as soon as he had asked that it wasn't really a fair question. He wasn't sure he could put into words why he liked the older teen.

Erenigh just smiled though. "You're kind and driven," he said. "You want to help others, but you're not willing to let people walk all over you. You won't send others to fight your battles." He smirked. "And you're quite good looking which is nice."

Harry blushed. He shifted and moved forward so he could kiss Erenigh. He was fumbling at first, but Erenigh slowly guided them to a better pace. He dropped his notes and pulled Harry up with him. There was so much fun they could have.

…

Erenigh yawned as he sat up in bed. He turned his head to the side. Harry was still sleeping. Erenigh smiled softly. He reached out and ran his hand through the raven locks. They'd been a couple for a bit over a month. Once Harry had gotten over the initial embarrassment he had grown really bold instead. Jade would greet Améthyste with a kiss now. That hadn't happened the first week or two. He was getting inventive in the bedroom too. Erenigh had seen the magazines. He hadn't said anything, but he had seen them. Harry was figuring things out. He didn't mind that. It was kind of fun.

Erenigh got out of bed. He needed to get to work. His Master had spoken of a potion that was quite difficult to make. It required two persons. He thought it sounded quite interesting. He wondered if there was any way to make it easier to create. He had made quite a lot of changes to common potions that Master Spiros made a lot of. He wanted a bit of a challenge.

"You should start thinking about what you want your Mastery Potion to be," Master Spiros said when Améthyste arrived at the shop.

Améthyste slowed her steps. What did she want her potion to be? A determined look came over her face. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to make a cure for Werewolves. She would need to do a lot of work for that though, and she needed ingredients. She had considered it before and even worked a little on it using the already created Wolfsbane Potion, but she knew it wouldn't work. She needed something new. Or something really old. She needed to head to the library after work. "I know what I want to do, sir," she said. "I'll start working on it."

"Good," Spiros said.

Erenigh and Harry would come to spend many days researching and learning. The leaves on the trees turned yellow and fell. The rainy season started. It was as close to winter as they would get. The two teens spoke to the goblins who helped them arrange so they could take their NEWTs. Harry was nervous but determined to do his best. Erenigh didn't really care. His Master wouldn't throw him out on bad grades now. He had already proven himself. He wanted to do good anyway of course, but he wasn't as worried as Harry was.

Jade was standing in front of the man who was going to grade her. He kept telling her to perform spells. Some of them were really obscure. Harry only knew them because he had researched as many spells as he could. Eventually, the man called someone else in and they spoke for quite some time. The person disappeared and returned not much later. They spoke and looked at some papers. Jade was nervous. Had she done something wrong? She really hoped not. She started playing with her bracelets. She was wearing several now. Every single one had a different shield. One could even detect lesser poisons.

The man holding her test came walking down to Jade sometime later. "I must say it has been a long time since this happened in any subject for us," he said. "You are outstanding in defence. Have you considered taking up an apprenticeship under a Master?"

Jade relaxed just a tad. "Yes, I have," she said.

"You are a bit older than people taking their NEWTs usually are, but I can see you made the right choice in waiting. It is your right to do so," he said with a smile. "I know a few Masters. I would be honoured to introduce you to them. Maybe you can find someone that suits you and is willing to take you on."

"I would be very grateful," Jade said.

"Then I will contact them," he said. "You have more tests to take?"

"Yes two more," Jade said.

"Good we might even be able to do it today then," he said. "I will find you later and let you know how it worked out."

Jade smiled. "Thank you," she said with a slight bow. She headed out of the room.

"How did it go?" Améthyste asked.

"Well, they want to get me a Master right away," Jade said.

"That is good," Améthyste said. "That meant you did amazing."

"How about you?" Jade asked.

"I did what they wanted me to do and then some," Améthyste said. "I wanted a good grade, but I didn't go all over the place. Besides, you know more spells than I do when it comes to defence and offence."

"But you know more overall," Jade said with a smile. "And definitely in potions. At least I think I made the potion correctly."

"You better have. I didn't spend hours with you on potions so you could fail," Améthyste said. "I thought it was too easy so I made another one as well while I was at it."

"Of course you did," Jade said.

"The woman holding the test already knew I had a Master though. She looked quite sour," Améthyste said. "Let's head to Transfiguration."

They had been speaking French mostly since they were surrounded by people speaking Greek and they didn't feel like having people listen in. They did the tests for Transfiguration and Herbology, and then they headed home happy that they were done. Three weeks later the results arrived.

Harry had already started studying under his Master. It was a stern but fair woman who seemed to know more than most. He looked his results over. He was happy enough with them. There were a lot of Exceeded Expectations and some Acceptables apart from his Outstanding with honours in Defence and Offence. Erenigh hadn't done too badly either. One or two EEs and the rest Os. His grades were better than Harry's overall, but both of them had done fairly well.

"That's nice," Erenigh said as he saw Harry's grades. "How about I reward you for that." He gave Harry a come hither look that just could not be ignored. Nothing else was accomplished that day. They were busy.