January 3rd, 1992

The new years' feast was uneventful, as the train ride had been. There were no duels on the train, no magical abilities that had manifested over the holidays(none that had been revealed anyway), and Harry had spent the train ride in relative peace, reading a tome on Charms that he had stolen from the Potter Family Library. The rest of the Christmas Holidays had been quite relaxing, his egg had hatched, and Huggin, his new BloodRaven was already settling himself into the Family, making friends with Hedwig, Nathan's owl, rather quickly. Huggin had been a rather slimy and disgusting thing when he had first hatched on Boxing day, and Nathan had said as much, which had earned him a stinging hex to the face from Harry. No one else had said anything, and left him to his own devices. Harry had spent the next week learning the summoning charm from Remus and then using it to drag worms, grubs and the occasional birds egg from the surrounding woods through his window. Huggin wasn't ready to fly yet, but in another week or so Harry would be willing to begin let him practising around his room.

Huggin was currently nestled rather comfortably on a cushion next to his plate, his small wings flapping every now and then as he chirped quietly at his human. Dumbledore had gotten him permission to keep him at Hogwarts the day after he had hatched and had lent him a spare perch of Fawkes' until he could Transfigure, make, or order one for himself, it was oddly convenient, as the two birds were only marginally different in size when fully grown. Idly dropping a Flobberworm into his familiar's makeshift nest, much to the apparent disgust of the surrounding Slytherins, especially the females, he took a bite of the steak sat on his golden plate. Grinning inwardly at the glare Daphne was sending at him from across the table. Blaise, who was sat on his left, was forgoing his usual subtlety and grinning openly at the angry and annoyed looks she was sending the Potter scion.

"Must you do that at the table Potter? It's disgusting to watch and to hear" Daphne said, sniffing slightly at the almost silent gurgle the Magical Bird made as he swallowed the struggling meal. Harry shrugged as he took another bite, he wasn't that bothered with it and couldn't really understand why everybody was so disturbed at the sight. To him, it was only natural, and a needed thing for survival. Some of the older students from the less...reputable families had seen much worse, with a lot more blood, he assumed that was why Blaise was one of the few not bothered by it, the Zabinis were a subject of many a rumour, all over the world.
"I don't see the problem really, Huggin's only eating, aren't you?" He directed the last of his reply at the bird sat beside him, who chirped in reply at him, causing him to smile, and Daphne to frown. "Look, Daphne, by the end of the week, hopefully, Huggin will be big enough to fly and catch things on his own, I'll leave some food in my room and he can eat there, okay?" His blonde friend sniffed again, nodded at him, and went back to her meal, pointedly ignoring him. Blaise elbowed Harry in the ribs and leant closer to the paler boy so as to whisper in his ear,
"Look, Harry, she's not used to something, so, unsightly, at the dinner table, I think it's put her off her meal a bit, and that's what really annoyed her, she's probably just hungry, and can't eat because of your bird."
"Oh, I guess that is a reasonable explanation for her mood and Blaise? Huggin is a BloodRaven, not a bird, as you so eloquently described my familiar, you might as well have called a Phoenix a flaming turkey" Harry said as he gathered his things, the feast was almost over and his presence seemed to be an aggravating factor at the table, anyway, he was tired, and the announcements had already been given. "See you tomorrow Blaise, I'm off to bed."

Standing up and leaving the hall relatively unnoticed over the various conversations about the holidays, Harry made his way to the dungeons in silence. Huggin was in his shirt pocket, and the pillow was in his hand as he found his way through the maze of corridors, past dozens of old classrooms, store cupboards, and even the Slytherin House duelling chambers, before finally coming to a stop at the entrance to the Slytherin Common room. Stating the password as he made his way down the corridor made the wall that concealed his home at Hogwarts turn into that familiar opaque smoke, and he strolled through with no issue. The common room looked just the same as he remembered, the same bracketed torches, flickering with there green fires, the same fireplace surrounded by those comfortable armchairs and sofas, the same wall of books on all subjects under the sun, well, the legal ones anyway, and it was to that area that he went to. Perusing the shelves for a few minutes, he pulled a rather thick tome of the top shelf titled with A Wizards Guide To Guarding Their Secrets in faded but still shining golden lettering, it was written by Bartetrius Flint, and looked to be almost three thousand pages long, a quick flick through the pages revealed everything from simple charms to advanced Runic Ward Schemes that would not only stop unwanted people from hearing the things said within the ward, but would also tag anyone who managed to somehow break it with a piece of magic that would allow the ward caster to track down that person from almost anything short of the Fidelius Ward, Warding was above Harry at the moment, but that didn't mean he couldn't know some of the basic theory behind the concept.

Happy with his choice in reading material, and endeavouring to find a transcription spell from the library, Harry found his way to the Slytherin first year boys dormitories. His room was the same as he remembered, the same four-poster bed, the same desk, the same floor to ceiling bookshelf that he had spent hours putting together, still laden with the books he hadn't taken home with him. There were a few additional items though, a beautiful perch, gilded in silver, sat between his desk and his bed, and Harry instantly placed Huggin in the small oval bowl beneath it and placing the pillow on the edge of the desk beside it. The next out of place thing he noticed was a small package on his bed, wrapped in paper. Sitting on the edge of his bed and carefully unwrapping the package he was shocked at what gently fluttered onto the silk covers. It was a Phoenix Feather, most probably off of a wing or back, as Phoenix tail feathers were almost two feet long. It was a beautiful bronzish gold and positively shone with a fire that seemed to glint and flicker over the surface of the feather. Inspecting it further, Harry discovered the purpose, it was a quill, and a very finely made one at that. Phoenix Feathers were remarkably difficult to enchant to hold ink, not to mention their rarity. Placing it gently on the bed beside him and returning to the paper that had lain forgotten next to him, he found a note, stuck to the inside of the wrapping on a bit of parchment:

To Hadryon James Potter,
I found this feather on my desk the morning after your delightful new familiar hatched. Fawkes was giving me a most amusing look, and I felt it would be a waste to not capitalise on this most wondrous opportunity. Phoenix feather quills are remarkably rare, as is a talent of your promise, so I felt it was fitting. Use it well.
Your friend,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
P.S. I have managed to convince Professor Snape to give you advanced tutoring in Potions, you will have lessons with him every Wednesday and Saturday from 5 O'Clock to Dinner, I would advise you to try your best, but I feel the sentiment is unnecessary, I look forward to seeing you in my office, and offer my assistance on any matters of a magical nature you may have issues with. Your extracurricular lessons start on Wednesday.

Grinning at the headmaster's and his quasi-mentors note, Harry carefully placed the quill on his desk and placed the wrapping it had come in, minus the note, which he quickly un-stuck, in the bin by the door. Placing the note next to his new quill, Harry changed into his pyjamas and picked up his newly acquired book. Settling into bed, Harry stayed that way for almost an hour, reading, until he finally turned off the magical lamps in his room with a flick of his wand, and went to sleep.

January 4th, 1992

The 1st year Charms Classroom, shared by all Slytherin and Hufflepuff for this particular lesson, was bustling with activity, the yellow-robed students were still catching up with each other, their loud and boisterous conversations filling the room with laughter and white noise, indiscernible from each other, the Slytherin's in contrast, a much smaller, and frankly more civilised group, were huddled in smaller groups and having quieter conversations that could only be heard by each other.
"Apparently we're doing animation Charms today", Blaise told the three others on his table, "that's what the Ravens and Gryffs did this morning, according to know-it-all Granger, and we all know she absolutely hates anything that goes against her precious 'telling the truth' code, so I assume she's telling the truth." Harry grinned at his annoyed friend, who hadn't liked the muggle-born witch since she had the audacity-direct quote- to correct him in Herbology once, she had been right of course, but Harry was of the opinion that was the whole reason he was so annoyed about it, Blaise hated being wrong, so did Harry, now that he thought about it. Daphne just sighed at him, and took the bait that Blaise had left hanging in the air, "What did she do now Blaise, please tell, we are dying to know," she said, Blaise mock-frowned at her, hearing the sarcasm in her voice, but forged on anyway,
"OK, so, I'm in the library at lunch, doing Snape's essay on Aconite and its uses, and she just sits at my table and tells me! The nerve of that girl, honestly!"
"For some reason, Blaise, I don't believe you," Harry interrupted his friend, "she can be a right pain sometimes, especially to me, because she's friends with Nathan, but going up to someone she barely knows and doing something like that seems a bit unlikely, don't you think?"
"I'm telling the truth, I had just finished the essay, and was pulling out my Charms book, she obviously spotted it, and just told me we would be doing Animation Charms today!" Blaise said, somewhat angry now, he couldn't say anything else, nor could any of the others reply to him, as Professor Flitwick chose that moment to come out of his office, hopping up onto his stack of books, and addressing the class before him, which had settled into their seats and waited quietly.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to your first lesson in Charms since the Christmas break. Today will be a mostly review lesson of what we have done this year, and then towards the end of the lesson, we will begin on the theory and application of Animation Charms... ." Tuning out Blaise's snort and muttered 'I told you so', as did his two other friends, Harry touched upon his notes from the previous classes on the topics his teacher was discussing, the scratching of his quill and the voice of the Professor banishing most things from his mind.

January 8th, 1992

The past few days had been rather uneventful for Harry, he settled into his classes quickly, and regained his spot as the best student in every one of those classes, despite Hermione Granger's best efforts. The only difference in his routine was a strange thing that had occurred after dinner on the first day of classes. Nathan had asked to borrow the Cloak of Invisibility, for what Harry didn't know, and he hadn't thought to ask, but it was still strange. Nathan had pretty much forgotten about it after the first week, and Harry had only used it to sneak into the Library at night. He had continued his extra studies almost immediately after he had returned, albeit at a more sedate pace than before. He had Huggin to look after, as the young Bloodraven was still quite vulnerable and weak, not to mention he constantly tried to distract Harry from his work, especially if he was hungry or if Harry had ignored him for too long. Harry found the attention rather endearing, and his progression was barely slowed by it.

Harry had decided to bring his Magical abilities to equal footing, focusing more on the mundane and physical aspects of Potions and Herbology, Astronomy and even a little more history, no matter how dull Professor Binns teacher was. He had found the ancient tomes on wizards and witches past absolutely fascinating, and often stayed up late at night, pouring over reports on battles that had shaped the world he lived in, pondering on the famous duels of the last 2,000 years. His favourite was by far was the duel between Romulus and Remus, the twins who had founded Rome. Remus had wanted their city to be the capital from which they would rule their wizarding empire, uniting all that was magical under one banner. Romulus had disagreed, saying that the magical people were too different to be united and that their city should be the shining example of civilisation, surpassing even Athens in its beauty. The argument eventually evolved into a fledgeling war between the two brothers and their supporters, and it finally came to a heading in 752BC. The two brothers fought for hours until Romulus finally defeated and killed his brother. The duel had shaken the earth so tremendously that it caused the nearby volcano Monte Cavo to erupt and form Lago Albano. Romulus had then gone on to form Rome, in the image he had killed his twin to achieve, and the rest, as they say, is history.

That particular duel interested Harry so much was because it proved, in his mind at least, that not everybody and everything was as it seemed. He knew that he knew that already, subconsciously at least, but the story of the ancient twins confirmed it for him. Those brothers had fought with each other on their ideas. That fight and their subsequent refusal to back down to each other had founded the greatest the empire Human history had ever known. Harry resolved then, that night in the Slytherin common room, face half hid in shadow and with that ancient Historical tome in hand, to always fight for what he believed in, no matter who stood either beside him or in his way.

Hours later, his new goal was being thwarted in its beginnings by the seemingly immovable door of Professor Severus Snape. It was a Saturday, ten minutes to five O'clock, and Harry had made his way to the office of his Head of House. Harry had made an excuse about his absence to Blaise, who had simply shrugged him off and continued, ironically, with a Potions essay, and Harry had quietly slipped away, resolving to ask his new extracurricular instructor on whether his friends could be informed of the extra lessons. The walk had been quick and undisturbed by anyone, as was the norm with treks through the labyrinth that was the dungeons. He had come across his problem with the door when he had knocked, he didn't hear anything. No matter how hard he had pounded away at the oak with his fist, not even a dull thud had been audible. He had then tried unlocking the door, manually, and when that hadn't worked, magically. Both attempts yielded the same results.

Frowning at the unexpected problems, Harry set his bag down behind him as he drew his wand. Muttering a quick Lumos and sticking the ball of light to the wall next to the door, letting the white light wash over the doorframe. There were slight notches in the wood, ones that wouldn't be visible if he hadn't been specifically looking for them, that formed crude symbols and patterns in twirling sequences. Runes. Harry didn't even recognise the dialect, though it was possibly Scandinavian in origin, as he recognised Unknowable hidden in the bottom left of the door, almost continuing under the door. Finding a solution, Harry drew his wand and traced Disruption with the slightly glowing tip, cutting through a Rune joint and effectively splitting the whole sequence in half. The whole pattern glowed a fiery red for a moment, attempting to fix itself, before finally failing, and the runes that had been so meticulously carved into the wood disappeared, as though wiped away by a cloth.

Harry couldn't keep the slightly smug smirk off of his face the second time he knocked, and as the loud thuds of his fist on the wood echoed around the corridor he was standing in. The door swung open almost instantaneously after his third knock, revealing the infinitely scowling face of the resident Hogwarts Potions Master, his customary black robes and equally dark hair making his pale face look especially pallid.
"In Potter, you're early," The older man said, turning his back on Harry and striding over to the desk sat in the centre of the room. Harry followed him and took a seat on the other side of it when he was offered.
"I apologise if I have inconvenienced you Professor, but I felt it best to be early, opposed to late," Harry said once he had settled into the surprisingly comfortable chair. Snape didn't seem the type to cater to his guest, Harry doubted anyone came to see the dour man over anything less than perhaps an emergency, except perhaps Professor Dumbledore. Snape shook his head slightly at the apology, inattentively arranging a few spare pieces of parchment on his desk, making them a neat pile. A quick glance from Harry revealed them to be fifth-year essays if Percy Weasley's name was anything to go by. Snape started speaking when his papers were placed to the side of his, allowing a new, blank piece and a quill to rest unhindered,
"No apology is necessary Mister Potter, though I would appreciate it if you wouldn't disable my privacy measures in future. On closer inspection, you would have found a deactivation Rune on the inner frame on the left side. But nevertheless, not many of my third-year students could deactivate that scheme so quickly and efficiently, so I suppose twenty points to Slytherin are in order."

Harry nodded slightly in thanks at the compliment but stayed otherwise silent as the Potions Master observed him. The older man's brow slightly furrowed. He barely noticed it at first, but the subtle prod of a Legillimency probe was definitely noticeable in the silence of the room. Especially with no distractions. The probe was quickly excluded from his mind with little fanfare, and Harry's defences were nearly doubled in the next second, awaiting a second attack. But none came. When Harry focused on the room again, having found his eyes closed with the short mental skirmish, Snape was standing at the door, holding it open expectantly. Harry stood and followed the man to a door across the corridor, identical in shape and colour to the ones beside it. When it was opened, a spacious Potions laboratory was found behind, easily twice the size of his mother's and outfitted with almost four times as many cauldrons of all sizes and materials. Harry even spied what looked like one made up of a reddish silver metal, almost three inches thick at the rim settled over a bright green flame. Within it was a perfectly clear Potion that was absolutely still, no bubbles, not even any ripples. Harry was startled from his observations by the Professor behind him speaking again in his usual perpetually drawling and sarcastic monotone, which was a remarkable oxymoron in and of itself,
"Your Occlumency will be tested periodically, an I clear?" Harry nodded, "good. Now we'll be doing this properly, similar to an apprenticeship but without the extra baggage, so begin..."

February 6th, 1992

The lake's shore was always quite, especially in the early mornings, when Harry took his runs. There were very few distractions, and only the rustle of leaves could be heard amidst the calming silence that dawn provoked in almost all things. There were very few things that could disturb his peace in the morning, and they rarely deigned to actually do it. This morning seemed to be an exception to the routine. Harry stopped and glanced at the sky as the caw of his familiar sounded above him. Huggin's pitch black feathers were easily spottable among the clouds, and the Bloodraven was quickly on his shoulder, talons digging slightly into his arm as Harry found a seat on a relatively flat rock, so trying to spot his avian friend in the air become a rather moot point. His familiar had changed immensely since he had hatched over a month ago. Where before, Huggin's feathers were a dark grey, they were now a gleaming black, simultaneously seeming to reflect and absorb any light around him. The effect was escalated at night, and he was practically invisible when in shadow. Huggin had grown as well,