Harry Potter and his Princesses

Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I tried to start chapter 20 of Greek Kunoichi, but the words wouldn't come. I also pondered on doing a new chapter for Sacred Magic or even Heaven's Feel, but I don't have enough ideas for both right now. So since my muse seems to be pushing me more or less subtly in this direction, who am I to deny her? So Harry and his family are all finally back on Earth 1after more than a decade away. The times had changed. Some things are the same, others not so much. I'm still a bit unsure as to how go about the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle, but I'm sure I'll figure something eventually.

Now let's take a look at the stats shall we? We have 31 Reviews, 242 Followers, 203 Favourites, 5 C2 Communities, and 6 880 Views. Before anything else, I've chosen Harry's Animagus form for this story. Believe me it's very original, I never saw that particular animal been used before in the many Harry Potter fanfics I have read. And I also have an interesting idea for his Animagus form in "Where in the world is Harry Potter?", but for more, you'll have to wait until I write it lol XD Thank you very much everyone for your continued support. Now let's get this show on the road!

Additional Note: For future references in this story, I won't write any accents from any characters known to have one, like Hagrid and Fleur for example. I have two reasons for that. First, I have absolutely no idea how to do it properly and second, I feel that trying to do so would kill my inspiration. Thank you for your understanding.

Last Edit: May 19, 2017.

Hogwarts Castle was a large, seven-storey high building supported by magic, with a hundred and forty two staircases throughout its many towers and turrets and very deep dungeons. The castle was built in the late Early Middle Ages by a wizard Architect and the four most celebrated wizards and witches of the Age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and last but not the least, Salazar Slytherin. The Castle housed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, regarded as one of the finest Wizarding School in the world.

Hogwarts was built in a valley area — surrounding mountains were part of the epic landscape — with the fairly large Great Lake situated to the south of the main building. The huge main oak front doors leading into the Entrance Hall faced the west, and opened up to sloping lawns. The deep Forbidden Forest extended around to the west of the Castle. There were also exterior greenhouses and vegetable patches on the School Grounds. Hogwarts was located in the Scottish Highlands, near the all-wizard village of Hogsmeade and "not very far" from Dufftown, in Banffshire, and Achintee, in Lochaber.

That was what his mother and Sirius had told him about the Castle in front of them. While Hyrule Castle's exterior was grand, it would be found lacking comparing to this Fortress of learning in his mind. Harry could literally feel the magic in the air as they waited for the Gates to be opened. It was still rather early in the morning after all. While his mother and he could have smashed down the said Gates easily and make their way to the Castle, it was unnecessary. They were trying to stay above all suspicions after all. And while waiting was a bit bothersome, the local scenery more than made up for it, what with the big and gloomy looking forest and the mountains all around.

Then a very big man was seen walking in their direction at a good pace. When Harry saw him up close, he was totally stupefied. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide! He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins! While Harry pondered in the silence of his mind if the man was a distant relative of the Yetis of Snowpeak, his mother and Sirius had big smiles on their faces.

In fact, it was Lily who said with fondness in her voice and a big smile on her lips once the huge man was nearer

"By Merlin, Hagrid! It's good to see you again! You haven't changed one bit in all these years!"

Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, was an incredibly warm, kind hearted man, and would often forget his exceptional size and strength when patting people on the back or when hugging them. This would explain as to why the second he recognized Lily Evans Potter; he opened the Gates in a hurry and swept her into a rib-breaking hug all the while sobbing with joy.

"Lily?! Is it really you?! Of course it's you! You're alive! You're alive! Merlin, I can't believe it! I'm so glad to see you again! Everyone feared the worst when we learned what happened and saw that you and the little tyke had vanished! Dumbledore was sure you two were still alive though. Never gave up hope the Headmaster."

Lily did her best to reassure the half-giant and to play the role of human, she said with convincing strain in her voice

"Hagrid! Air!"

The gentle man jumped like he had been scalded and then fussed with many apologies. Then the Gamekeeper's mood seemed to plummet when he recognized Sirius. With a grim face rarely seen on the no longer jolly half giant he said

"You better have a very good explanation Sirius Black or else you are in for a world of hurt before I call the Aurors. You are the principal suspect in the Potters' betrayal. Where you not their Secret Keeper? Did you really forsake seven years of friendship with James and everything Charles and Dorea Potter did for you from the goodness of their hearts? All for the sake of what exactly? Power? Fame? Money? Women perhaps?

You swore up and down to everyone in hearing distance during all your schooling years and beyond that you would never go Dark, Sirius! Now it's time to prove it! I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt only because I saw you grow up from a boy to a man and I just can't believe the mischievous boy I saw become a man would do that, so you have only that one chance, DO NOT squander it."

He finished by crossing his enormous and muscled arms around his torso, his imposing figure guarding the Grounds' Gates, preventing the Marauder from going any further until his say so.

Harry wasn't expecting at all that their party would be met by open mistrust. While his mother and Sirius had explained in broad strokes the Blood War and who the big players had been, there was a difference between been told about it and seeing some of the results firsthand. The big fella, Hagrid, was suspecting Sirius of having told their location to this Voldemort character? What could have motivated such a thing if it was true? Chasing those thoughts out of his head, he took the parole for the first time since the Gamekeeper's appearance and said

"Well I'll leave you all to your adult stuff, guys. In the meantime I'm really hungry so I'll go in the Castle see if I can find something to eat. See you later!"

While his voice snapped Hagrid out of his suspicious mood and glaring contest with Sirius, albeit temporarily; the two responsible adults in Harry's life had different reactions to his speech. Sirius just told him to

"Go ahead and have fun. We'll find you when we're done here."

Lily, thought, had wanted him to wait with them for conveniences' sake, but before she could rein in and catch her impulsive offspring, the lad had already dashed ahead out of her grasp, barely keeping his supernatural speed on the down low. While she could have used Wizardry to summon him back and made him wait, he would only make a scene. Harry was every bit as a Drama Queen as his father had been around his age when he was on an empty stomach.

Hagrid, who had only just remarking the boy since he had been quiet so far, tried to grab him. That's the keyword here, tried, since the kid dodged his grabbing hands with a very disconcerting ease. After all he hadn't given the party permission to enter the Castle Grounds yet. His title was not a made up one after all. Hagrid was the one who guided the newcomers in and those wanting to leave, out. While the Headmaster was the master of the wards, the Keeper of the keys was the master of the gates. Rubeus Hagrid took his duties very seriously. Thus the fact of seeing a youg'un getting passed him so easily was rather vexing.

Turning his head toward a now sheepishly smiling Lily and giving her the stink eye, he said, a bit annoyed

"That's James' son alright. Not even a student of Hogwarts and he's already breaking the School rules left, right and centre. Oh well, It's not like a twelve years old boy can do much damage on his own. Besides, it's Saturday so he won't disturb any classes. Never mind the kid, the Professors will surely take care of him; you still owe me an explanation Sirius. I am waiting."

He finished with his countenance grim once more.

Lily was half a mind to intervene, wanting to resolve this in the privacy of the Headmaster's office, but she knew that Hagrid wouldn't budge. And if she wished to keep her cover intact, she just couldn't make him move no matter how strong the temptation was. At least Harry should be safe around the school. Even at his young age his magical resistance was insane! He shrugged off most of the Wizarding spells doing physical damage as if they were annoyances at best!

Of course, both Sirius and she didn't put their full power behind the spells, not wanting to seriously hurt their (god) child, but the facts stayed the same. If they were at the Clock Tower though, now she would have reined him in immediately. Lorelei Barthomeloi, the Queen of Clock Tower, was an expert at ferreting, fighting and killing Dead Apostles. She could even take on a few lower level Ancestors all by herself for Akasha's sake! That was one human she was wary of and with good reason.

While Loreilei was entirely outmatched against Altrouge or others Apostles stronger than her, Barthomeloi was one of the few people she didn't want anywhere near her son until he was fully trained, grown up and armed up to the wazoo! Probably with a sub-machine gun enchanted to shoot magic enhanced bullets or maybe a few Holy swords if she could find some. Or at the very least, he should been able to use the Twilight Portals at a moment's notice before going anywhere near the Clock Tower.

Grandpa Zelretch was much more powerful than the Barthomeloi bitch, very true, but his brand of "fun" was preferable to the next great adventure and to be fair to the Old man of the jewels, he wasn't omniscient. Then Sirius began his tale.

(Sirius and Lily had rearranged the "Official" story of what happened that Halloween night beforehand. In place of talking about new Planets, Realms, alternates Dimensions and everything "impossible" for Wizard kind, they would tell that they went abroad on an unplottable Potter propriety to raise Harry in secret and safety and also for them to grieve James' death. Only a few chosen would get the "Real" one.)

How he felt he was far too obvious for making an effective Secret keeper after James asked him since everyone knew they were like brothers, how there was a leak in the Order and since Remus was often abroad in some top secret missions, the suspicions fell on him. Thus James and he both decided to prank the Dark Lord and his Followers. Peter, shy little Peter, who would have suspected him?

While quite talented in some things, I mean becoming an Animagus at fifteen years old was nothing to sniff at, he always had crippling self esteem issues, and thus those same issues were stunting his powers. He had never been a high profile person so they had decided to make him the Secret Keeper of the Fidelius. Albus had offered himself for the job but James had refused, wishing to keep things tight with the Marauders.

Thus Lily had cast the spell since Charms were her specialty, Peter accepted his role but it turned out that he was the traitor in their ranks, feeding information to the other side! Sirius was only meant to be the decoy, thus it was why he had let slip things and hinting at being the Potters' Secret Keeper. It was all to keep the heat away from Peter. Next, Sirius told about having a very bad feeling that fateful evening.

He had mounted his motorbike, rode all the way to Peter's bolt hole, but found the place deserted with no signs of struggles. Almost panicking beyond reason, he had pushed his bike to its maximum speed, in direction of Godric's Hollow. He had hoped to arrive in time, but unfortunately he was too late. James was gone to his next great adventure and while Lily and little Harry were both alive somehow, she was devastated. Only the bawling toddler in her arms kept her from going into a catatonic state.

Thus Lily had suddenly decided to go abroad on a hidden Potter propriety in self appointed exile, to both mourn her husband's passing and to raise their son. Sirius, as the Oath bound Godfather, had then impulsively decided to follow them. He was now the principal male influence in Harry's life after all now that James was no longer with them.

Then Hagrid had to bust the sombre moment by saying

"Merlin, Lady Vivian and Morgana, I sure hope that the boy won't be as bad as you were when you finally realized that girls were interesting Sirius! Hogwarts doesn't need another man-whore roaming her corridors so soon after the last one! How you managed to never catch any STDs is beyond me."

The comment had for effect of sending both Lily and Hagrid into hysterics while a very flustered Sirius started spluttering denials after denials in vain.

While the adults were hashing things out between them, Harry was making a good time towards the Castle's entrance. Midna was currently silent, but was extending her magical senses all around since she was curious. She was in awe with the feeling of sheer magic floating freely in the air. So that's what it felt like to be around a magical building that stood for a millennia and served as a school for magical children? Bringing back her senses to her current partner in crime, she saw him sneak inside the school and then sniffing the air like a hound looking for his prey. He was trying to find the odour of food among everything floating in the air of the Castle.

When he was out of the Entrance hall, he saw various students of various ages head to somewhere in particular. Many were wearing robes of all things! Even in Hyrule, who was rather medieval on many things and renaissance on others, there was nobody who was wearing those. Braies, overalls, canvas pants and long tunics were often seen on men where women generally dressed in dresses and gowns of various styles. There was always the exception to the rule of course, but they were rare.

To be honest, Harry wasn't a boy who was much concerned with fashion. His mother bought raw fabrics in Castle Town and made clothes for everybody in the family. At home Harry was often wearing only his Bermuda style shorts since the weather in the Upper Zora's River was always very mild and humid at the minimum, his Apostle constitution rending him very resistant to capricious weather and his leather boots were also easily removable since he was often in the water with his Zoras friends. While he may have been born here on Earth, Harry had grown up in Hyrule, so home for him was there, not here; at least for now.

Since they were going to a more modern world, his mother had sewn for him what she had called Jeans. Honestly, it wasn't uncomfortable, but it was a bit weird. Well, after transfiguring the fabrics into the right one that is. They were black. He also had a long sleeve sweater that was grey-white and since it was still chilly due to being in April, he also had on an earthy brown homemade jacket she made from a few cloaks. Of course his feet were adorned with his Adventurer set leather boots.

Figuring the students were eating in the Great Hall, he pondered about joining them or finding the Kitchens. Sirius had told him a lot of stories about his time at Hogwarts and had emphasized on some places more than others. Like the fact that the boathouse could make an excellent and discreet love shack if you knew which way to go. Almost nobody went there. Not that he was very interested in girls in that way to begin with, so that info was not very useful.

Deciding that the Great Hall was closer and too hungry to go in search of the Kitchens, Harry covered himself with a powerful notice-me-not charm. People would see him but he wouldn't register really in their minds. He would be just like a passerby. That way he could eat without the drama about the return of the Potter Heir.

Seeing the four House tables plus the Staff table, Harry then pondered lowly under his breath

"Okay, to which one I should go?"

Midna then decided to piped up

"Why not go to the one with the silver and green banner? Slytherin I think was the name? I remember Sirius saying that it was the rivals of his own table/House, Gryffindor. I owe him a good prank, so why not give him a nasty shock by seeing his godson "fraternizing with the enemy"?

Since she was part of his shadow, only he could hear her, so she could talk with no fear of being detected. It was a trick she had mastered during her partnership with the previous Hero. Nodding with acceptance with an amused smile, the black and wild haired boy with luminescent emerald green eyes followed other people wearing green and silver to their table. Once seated near a rather tall and gorgeous long blonde haired girl and a slightly taller brunette with hair in a pixie cut, he served himself from the plates around him, not really paying any attention to the conversations around him.

While Harry was eating his fill and trying the new dishes around him all the while profiting from his anonymity, he had not taken in account that some people around him might have possessed Gifts that could likely see through his attempt to be inconspicuous or at least register his presence. While his Notice-me-not charm had fooled all the members of the Staff including the Headmaster, Daphne Greengrass could feel an unknown presence very nearby.

In fact, it was a part of her gift. There were unknown vibrations on the bench and on the table, thus making her wary and to be honest, a bit nervous since she could not focus on the newcomer sitting on her right side and she didn't like that one bit.

Normally she wasn't that paranoid, but with the number of students that were found petrified since Halloween still going up and with seemingly no end in sight to the attacks, her nerves were rather frazzled. The Staff were utterly useless in this crisis, running around without a goal like a beheaded chicken. And to make it worse, Malfoy and his cronies were crowing out loud in joy and dare she say patriotic pride each time a Muggleborn was found petrified. Even he was smart enough to not call for their deaths were authority figures could hear him though. Draco knew that if he was expelled, he would ruin his future, it was the principal reason as to why he was toeing the line.

While Daphne was not admittedly very fond of Muggleborns in general since most of them sneered or looked down on centuries of traditions and the fact that they always wanted to modernize things without trying to learn exactly why Magical Society operated the way it was; she also knew that fresh infusions of unpolluted blood were needed to keep the ancient bloodlines strong.

Look at her family per example; they almost always looked for partners outside of the U.K Enclaves! And also they never married close relations, since inbreeding was a one way trip to extinction. Her father was from Northern Ireland, like the rest of the Greengrass Clan, but her mother was a half-blood witch of Viking descent hailing from Norway.

While it may not have looked like it from an outside's point of view, Slytherin House was not entirely ruled by the Blood Purists. They were just the most vocal faction inside the House. But gold talked and while the Malfoy family was not all that high in the British Wizarding World's nobility ranks, they seemingly had cash in abundance to burn. Draco was buying support for his views and ideas with his insanely high allowance. Daphne was still too high in the current hierarchy to be threatened or blackmailed into "service" like a few unlucky others girls who were devoid of a powerful patron's backing, but if she was anything, it was a realist.

The day was likely to come sooner than later, what with her blossoming figure and the male population starting to leer disgustedly at her. And to add insult to injury on her situation, she had started to have her menses a few months ago. Now that she had crossed the teenager threshold, it was only a matter of time before the male Blood purists started "asking" her for favours. Her status and family wealth would buy her some time, but sooner or later she would be asked to "contribute for the Cause".

And it would not end well, not at all. Daphne knew that if she put herself into the right mindset, a specific application of her Gift could make a blood bath before they could do anything to her. But she was not a killer, which was why she was already looking for alternative solutions. There was always the Metal manipulation side of her Gift, but to be honest she wasn't sure that she could use it fast enough to restrain every Blood Purist in Slytherin House before she would be incapacitated.

She would have to practice that side of her Gift more and ask her father and/or grandfather for more advanced lessons this summer. Maybe her mother had some tricks that she could share with her to discourage overly amorous boys?

Professor Snape was always trying to come down hard on them for this kind of behaviour, but there was little he or the other teachers could do without proof. Those who talked generally ended up in worse situations than before. It was already a good thing that the man had managed to pound into those inbred nitwits' minds with the help of Headmaster Dumbledore that that sort of conduct would get them into heaps of trouble outside of their House. Professor Snape was also brewing in batch every week potent contraception potions and had the House Elves put it in every student's drinks during meal times. There would be no Line Thefts and/or teenage pregnancies so long as he was a teacher at Hogwarts!

Back to the Blood Purists' case, It was one thing for them to insult the Muggleborns with derogatory names or been sexist in public, but it was another ball game all together to try to exert their dominance on those they felt were lesser than them by force. There was always a high risk of retribution in those situations. The Purists weren't the only ones inside the School willing to use other spells than schoolyard jinxes and hexes… One particular thing made her laugh when she was in private though. Her frosty disposition had earned her the moniker of "Ice Princess" by the Rumour mill. It was entirely erroneous but still amusing, since her family gift had her tied with the Earth itself.

The Greengrass family were what was called Earth benders. Earth bending was one of the four elemental Bending Arts which consisted of Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Earth bending was the geokinetic ability to manipulate earth and rock in all their various forms. Daphne, using her bending, could use a sixth sense that was called seismic sense.

With that she could identify the various persons around her by their way of walking. It was with this sense that she was able to concentrate on the stranger next to her. Of course, it wasn't the same as seeing it with her eyes, but with the seismic sense she could deduce that the stranger was male and likely around her age due to his size if she wasn't mistaken.

The boy wasn't doing anything overly suspicious, he was likely just eating a big breakfast, what with the food disappearing from the plates at the centre of the table and going to his own. But if he wasn't planning anything nasty or forbidden, why was he hidden? The guy must be under a very powerful Notice-me-notcharm to be able to fool the entire school population except her! Well, Astoria and her father could have likely detected him too, but her sister wasn't due to start school until next year and her father wouldn't come to Hogwarts unless there was an emergency or a parent-teacher conference.

Letting your children go to Boarding School and putting them into the Teachers' care and to intervene only when called by the Head of House or the Headmaster during the school year was a part of letting your child grow up in the U.K Wizarding World. It seemed rather like a hands off approach to raise your children, but it was tradition since the founding of the school. The Wizarding World was very attached to their traditions. Thus she was the only Earth bender currently attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Daphne had also heard many theories citing that the Castle was alive and somewhat sentient. She could attest that it was the truth. Logically, it would have been far too risky to Earth bend inside the castle except for minor things, but it could regenerate itself very quickly!

She saw it with her own eyes when she used her Gift one day after the Yule Holidays last year, to get rid of the pests following her everywhere that were Draco and his flunkies by raising a wall at one intersection once she was out of their field of view. It had the expected result of forcing them to take the long way around to join the Great Hall. Normally she wouldn't have misused her Gift for something so petty, but she had lost her cool that day. As soon as the pests were far enough, the wall had came down automatically without any outside help and the corridor had also lost all traces of the damages done by bending the stone floor!

After that day, she started to get nudges, for a lack of a better term, coming from the Castle's consciousness. It almost never talked to her with words, but mostly with feelings and images. When they really needed to communicate by words, it would talk to her through either the Bloody Baron or the Grey Lady. She was often asked to reinforce a few sections of the Castle with the help of her bending, where the wards and the magic seeped into the stonework were now weaker nowadays, thus more vulnerable to the ravages of time and bad weather than elsewhere.

Realizing that during all this time lost in her thoughts she had been on auto-pilot, Daphne came back to reality and offered her best friend and sister in all but blood Tracey a somewhat sheepish smile. Daphne was answered by an amused grin and twinkling in amusement sky blue eyes. They both knew each other's enough to have non-verbal conversations, what with having grown up together. After finishing eating, both girls decided to have a little digestive walk around the school. They hadn't much better to do anyway and the Library wouldn't be open until one in the afternoon anyway.

Once the duo was gone from the Great Hall, it was the exact moment that the doors leading outside opened to let in Hagrid followed by Sirius and Lily. Having now eaten his fill, Harry guessed that if stayed around that he likely would be asked to take part in a boring discussion between adults; he made a snap decision. Harry, still under his Notice-me-not charm, decided to make a tactical retreat while he still could. Midna was a bit miffed that Sirius hadn't seen them, but she could still one up him by telling him later where they had eaten.

Being a shadow had some nice advantages; the Twilight Princess had consumed a few plates herself without being seen. Maybe it was Fate or maybe sheer coincidence, but Harry's tactical retreat took him on the same path previously taken by Daphne and Tracey. What both Daphne and Harry didn't knew, it was the fact that their meeting would be what was needed to change her destiny. Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter's meeting would be the boy's "official" start at collecting "Princesses" affections.

Back with the adults, once the uproar from their return died down, Albus was quick to direct everybody involved to his office. While overjoyed that his hunch had been proved correct with Lily and Harry's survival and his unfounded doubts about Sirius' guilt been just that, he knew there was bound to have a story behind their sudden return. Quite frankly, it would change from his routine of trying to find where the damn Chamber of Secrets was and what was petrifying his students.

Minerva would have likely joined them but she had elected to go back to her office to grade assignments. While she had been close to the Potters and Sirius, what with being their Head of House, she knew that Severus would need closure first. She could seek her former students later. And if she had time, she could try to track down little Harry. If Lily was here, her son was surely near too.

So once everyone was seated, Albus was suddenly quite surprised by Sirius' maturity. As soon as Severus' presence was accepted, the Dog Animagus walked to the Potion Master and bowed low before saying with a formal tone of voice

"Mr. Snape, I wish to officially apologize for my ill treatment of you during our schooling years. I had no excuses to act like I did and I can only point the fact that I was an immature bully for the reason of my misdeeds. I am sincere in the fact that I regret my actions. I do not seek your acceptance or your forgiveness since I crossed the line one too many times, but you were due an official apology of my part."

Once done, Sirius ignored Severus entirely (it was an improvement to be honest, in the past he would have constantly antagonized him for no reason other than he could) and went back to his chair, resisting the temptation to smirk at seeing Dumbledore and Snape's shocked faces. While it could have been a great prank, this time he was very sincere. He had crossed the line one too many times and Snape was due an apology at the very least. He would never like the man, they would never become friends but they likely could learn to tolerate each other's by small doses when necessary.

Severus Snape was totally flabbergasted. Did that just seriously happen? Did Sirius Black have really apologized formally to him of all people? To be sure he wasn't dreaming, he casted on himself a wand-less stinging hex. The pain registered, nothing had changed so he was sure that it was real. Well, he will have seen everything. What's next? Dumbledore will shave his long beard, have a much needed haircut and then wear regular robes? *snort* Yeah, he wasn't betting anything on those odds.

Dumbledore was quick to steer his guests to the much needed conversation. He offered tea, biscuits and Lemon Drops, but almost no one took him on his offer for the candies. Sirius hated anything that tasted sour, Lily/Altrouge preferred Blood Pops anyway and Snape, well he decided to dash Albus' expectations by taking one. His face was priceless! Who said Severus Snape didn't have a sense of humour?

After a bit of grumbling since he knew he was being teased by one of his Head of Houses, Albus took the parole

"It does my old heart good to see you both again after so long, Lily and Sirius. But something is bothering me, where is young Harry? I didn't see him with you when you entered the Great Hall."

Lily smiled a bit and answered with the tone of a proud mother

"My son ran ahead of us when we were discussing with Hagrid at the Gates. My Harry is quite the adept in the stealth department, so I think that he might had cloaked himself with one spell or another to stay incognito. He was feeling hungry, so I guess he likely sat at one of the House tables in the Great Hall or found the Kitchens."

Albus was rather surprised. A twelve years old child could already do that? Well, he might not have been taught in a magical school then, since those kinds of spells weren't on any curriculum before the NEWTs years. Lily and Sirius must have tutored him then. The educator in him was very curious to see the boy's level, but that could wait for later. There was need of a serious discussion. Young Harry Potter's schooling would be a topic to be brought out at a later time.

Severus really didn't know what to feel at the moment. He had bound himself to the Headmaster at the time where his mind was addled by his grief, in attempt to obtain redemption from his mistakes. For it was he who had brought part of the Prophecy to the Dark Lord; the very same Prophecy announcing the arrival of someone able to vanquish him. Because of his information, the Dark Lord hunted the Potters and the Longbottoms without rest. In his heart of hearts, Severus couldn't care less for James Potter and his accursed spawn's lives, only Lily; his only light in the darkness that was his life had counted.

He was admittedly elated that she had survived the Dark Lord's visit to her home but he was rather disappointed that Potter's crotch spawn had had the same luck. He had only seen the babe once, but seeing Lily's eyes and her cheekbones on James Potter's face had been too much for him. He had refused to look upon him again. Severus did not know if the Dark Lord had truly spared her like he had begged him to or if Lily's survival was due to other factors and frankly, he did not care enough to find out. She was alive and it was all that truly mattered to him.

He had loved her more than anything and anybody else in the whole wide world, but she had given herself to his most hated nemesis. Now, about eleven years later, she and her son were both back from where ever they had been and while Lily didn't seem to hold any more ill will towards him, she had not greeted him with warmth either. Severus honestly didn't know which situation was worse. Been hated for turning to the Dark Arts and uttering that disgusting slur during one of the lowest moments of his life or been brushed off as a mere acquaintance or as an old childhood friend you lost contact with years ago.

But what else could he do about the present situation? Honestly, Severus wasn't even sure what he was truly feeling for Lily Evans (She would never bear the name Potter in his eyes and in his heart) was lust, familial love or even romantic love. After all she had made her choice years ago. But she should have been his! Not Potter! He would have even given her his blessing if she had accepted another man's ring! But no! It just had to be Potter! Potter who had stolen everything from him and who even had the gall to save his life from Black's ill planed prank!

Potter who had fathered a child with the woman that should have been his! Even dead that man was still haunting him! And he couldn't just go turncoat again and go back to his old ways to get rid of the obstacles in his path, for the Life Debt he owed the father had been transferred to the son! Even if the boy wasn't as arrogant and insufferable as his late father has been, Severus really wasn't looking forward to teach the boy. For where else the child would be educated now that Lily was back?

Every members of the Potter family had attended Hogwarts after all. And even if he really wasn't looking forward to it, he couldn't just abandon his students by resigning from his current post, so he would swallow his distaste and teach the Potter brat.

Severus emerged from the depths of his thoughts to find out that the Headmaster's office was now empty except Lily and him. Now able to look at her with more attention, he remarked that those eleven years had been kind to her. She looked hardly passed her mid-twenties while she normally should have shown a bit more of her thirties. Where ever she had been during this dozen of years had been good for her musculature, since his Spy's gaze could see the lithe but efficient build she possessed. Had he known who she truly was behind her facade, her musculature would have been rather deceptive.

Then she broke the silence by saying rather neutrally but with a smidgen of amusement in her voice

"The years haven't been good for you, Severus. Pardon my language, but you look like shit. I've told you quite often to leave your Potions lab for a few hours each day and enjoy some sun and fresh air, that way you wouldn't look like a vampire."

When he started to talk, she interrupted him just after her name left his lips

"Lily…"

"Shush Severus. Let me talk please, it's important. First of all, I want you to know that I forgave you for the words you said to me after our OWLs. Second, yes I married James of my own free will. Yes we had sex numerous times before and after the marriage, yes it was great, yes James gave me orgasms and yes we had a son that looks like him with my eyes, cheek bones and nose. It happened, now get over it.

I never loved you like that Severus and even now that I'm a Widow, it hadn't changed. You always were a good friend. Yes, a friend. Yes, I am and was aware of the torch that you carried for me, it was kind of obvious to be honest, but I was too young and not enough experimented in life to let you down gently.

I honestly apologize if you felt that I lead you on, it never was my purpose to do so. Now, it's time for you to let go of your school grudge. James is dead and buried, Peter betrayed us to Voldemort before doing a runner- oh stop flinching! It's not even his real name for God's sake! - Sirius finally grew up somewhat and Remus is God knows where, trying to live with his affliction. The Marauders are no longer your tormentors, Severus.

We are no longer school children; it is time to leave petty grudges behind and look forward. I know that you are better than that. Now, my son and I are going to be guests of the Castle for a few weeks, to give us time to adapt to the current climate in the magical and mundane societies. My boy will surely be seen running around, but I don't intend to enrol him as a student. Knowing him he wouldn't tolerate the uniform and I really don't want to be out of his life for nine months a year. If you can't be polite with him, simply ignore him. I will instruct him to return you the same courtesy.

I trust that you will be able to act as a rational and responsible adult and not as a petty and immature bully holding a grudge against a dead man? However, I am warning you only this one time. If you take your past grievances with James upon my son, I will cut off your balls and fed them to you. Believe me you don't want to provoke me. Now, excuse me, I've got to find Harry before he get in trouble. Have a good day, Severus, I'll see you around."

And with that, she left him alone in the Headmaster's office, with only the sleeping portraits of the previous Heads as witnesses. Severus would likely never know, but compared to what Altrouge could have done to him if she had been who she had been about thirty years ago, he had gotten off quite lightly. The ninth Dead Apostle Ancestor wasn't someone you crossed lightly, not if you wanted to keep living that is. Being Lily had tempered her character and made her stop to kill people left or right for nothing. But if you so much as threatened her family, all bets were off.

Back to the many corridors of Hogwarts, Daphne and Tracey were followed by a still under Notice-me-not Harry. The boy had nowhere in particular to go, his mother and Godfather hadn't called him back, Midna was mapping the castle with her eidetic memory, so following two pretty girls around was better than nothing. He was wondering something though, why almost everyone here were wearing strange bath robes as uniforms? And what was it with the hats he saw several adults wear at the meal?

Was it the fashion here? To be honest, Harry couldn't see himself wear something similar; it looked way much too restrictive! How could he still run around, hunt, forage or climb if he was dressed like that? What Harry didn't understand yet was the fact that Earth was not like Hyrule where the towns had much distance between them. Here the villagers who were not living in larger cities didn't have to find their subsistence from the wild or from farming. Progress and modernization had changed their ways of life.

But he would not have long to think about the differences between his birth place and his home, since Daphne had decided that she was now quite fed up of having a stalker. Once they were in a deserted corridor where nobody was around, not even a ghost, the blond haired girl made a silent sign to Tracey to stand aside and when the taller brown haired girl did so, Daphne then took a martial art stance before stomping powerfully on the ground. Her stomp had for effect of creating a two metres tall wave of rock and with a straight punch in the air, the wave was sent at high speed towards Harry.

Showing that the training Sir Augustus Rook had pounded into his head was working, Harry used his supernatural strength to jump in the air, dodging the wave of rock sent toward him. Since he was now actively doing something that would make him stand out, the Notice-me-not charm cancelled itself, thus letting the girls register his appearance. Tousled neck length raven black hair, luminescent almond shaped emerald green eyes and aristocratic cheek bones on an oval shaped face and dressed with Muggle clothes.

To the girls, it was clear that he wasn't a student, since he was their age and they had both made their business to recognize their year mates, no matter their House affiliation. They were willing to cross House borders if it could bring them powerful allies. Then they saw him leap metres high in the air to dodge Daphne's attack! What the hell?! Tracey, with a sharp movement of the wrist, called her wand in her hand from her wrist holster and was ready to start hexing.

But Daphne wasn't done and with a shake of the head, Tracey now knew to not intervene unless the situation was dire. Kata after kata, she sent multi shaped projectiles made of stone to the boy who, to her growing frustration, was dodging them with an incredible grace and speed. That smile on his face was starting to do strange things to her insides, so she decided to wipe it from his face!

Then after letting the castle regenerate, the Earth bender decided it was time to change her tactics since ranged attacks were not very effective. While normally Daphne would have stopped and talked things through by now, she had been really frustrated for months and the stranger was a welcome if unexpected target on which she could unload all the aggressiveness she had been repressing. With a quick move, she put a knee on the ground, and then thrusting one hand directly into the stone floor! There was almost no resistance, similar as to what happened when you stabbed a hand into a water source. Then Daphne brought out a spear made of stone!

Harry was frankly in awe at the blond girl's powers. He had never seen anything like that before! He just had the time to let out a low

"Whoa…!"

Before his eyes widened and he had to scramble away, since Daphne was now surfing on a wave of rocks toward him at great speed! She was very quick and agile since he barely managed to escape been hit and she had managed to nick his brand new jacket! The one his mother made just for him! The blade of the spear had torn a long gash into his right sleeve all the way to his shoulder! Now very annoyed, he said with a strange accent in his English that the girls couldn't actually recognize

"Now that does it! You wish to play rough Milady? Then let's play!"

Jumping back a few metres, Harry took advantage of the distance to use Shadow Magic. Bringing his hands together in a rough sphere shape, a red sphere of light with tiny black squares in it started to form in between his hands! A few seconds later, after a loud and grave grunt of exertion, a strange obsidian coloured sword with soft blue glowing lines along the upper part of the blade and a strange carving in the form of an eye at the head of the pommel appeared from nowhere, floating in the air until the boy took it in hand! Now properly equipped, he took a guard stance and said with the same smile that gave Daphne butterflies in her stomach

"Now, shall we dance Milady?"

Mistaking his jovial tone for a mocking one, Daphne growled with anger and with another thought, she started surfing on the stone made corridor again to gain supernatural speed. Harry, with his Apostle constitution, could and did match that speed of hers on his own two legs. With a loud "CLANG!" both Rock Spear and Twilight Sword clashed once, twice, thrice, before Daphne had to retreat since Harry was clearly the better trained weapon user of the two. Showing her innovative mind, she managed to surf up the nearest wall and on the ceiling, trying to spear him with her weapon.

Tracey was left there, gaping at the skills of her best friend and their strange stalker. While she knew Daphne could do things like this, there was a difference between knowing about it and seeing it firsthand! While she was rooting for her friend, Tracey was a realist. Daphne was now starting to tire; Earth bending so much was hard on her still developing body and on her magical reserves. Daphne was matching the strange boy blow for blow right now, but little by little, he was clearly taking the upper hand. He had so far showed supernatural speed and reflexes and she could now add endurance on the list, since he was clearly not winded.

Then it finally happened, the end of their duel. Daphne was now clearly huffing and puffing, her face was red with exhaustion and she could almost no longer bend successfully or so Tracey and Harry thought. In a flash of precise movement, the boy successfully disarmed her, launching the Rock Spear away from Daphne's hands. And since her hold on her Earth bending was slipping due to her fatigue, the Castle reabsorbed the stone spear all the while repairing the impromptu battle ground. With a little flourish, Harry put the tip of his blade under Daphne's chin and with a smile that in two to three years would be considered quite roguish, he said

"I am the winner! Do you yield, Milady?"

Defiant forest green eyes glared back to the twinkling emerald green ones. So, he thought it was a game huh?! She would show him! You did not mess with Daphne Greengrass with impunity! With the last of her reserves, she slammed the ground with a fist, which had for effect of creating a wall between the girl and the swordsman and faster than he could react due to the cheap shot and the fact that he had lowered his guard, Harry was propelled fast against the closest wall.

Hitting his head hard against the said wall, he slipped down until he was sitting on the ground dazedly, his back on the wall. The girls had taken advantage of his disabled state to get away before the noise made during the duel got the attention of someone in authority. The last thing they needed was a loss of points and a detention for fighting in the corridors. Since Harry could no longer concentrate, the Twilight sword he had created vanished away in Twilit Particles.

With a slurred voice, Harry said with a rather dopey smile on his lips

"I think I'm in love…"

And that was the first meeting between Harry James Potter and Daphne Ophelia Greengrass.