A/N - I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. I only play in the universe. Any ideas that other authors that recognize some of their ideas, I apologize, I have read so many stories that I can't remember where I get some of them. Send me a PM and I will try to give you the credit that you deserve. Also, constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. If you don't like the story, then don't read it.

Chapter 6

The following weeks passed by quickly for Harry and Hermione. No one ever figured out who froze the three Gryffindors by the forbidden corridor, though many suspected Harry and Hermione, they could never prove it. The two Ravenclaws spent their mornings exercising and building Hermione up to Harry's level of fitness as well as working on Hermione's true animagus form. They also continued to keep up with their classes and took notes so as to not draw attention to themselves. They had to make sure not to flaunt their power and had to force themselves to "fail" at the spells for the first few times, but always seemed to be the first to successfully cast the spells. All the while, they continued to prank Chris and his friends. A few times they got help from the Weasley twins and managed some spectacular pranks. Regarding the Marauders, Harry and Hermione hit Chris with that antler spell and caused him to sprout huge antlers from his head, they also cast some spells at Ron and Neville to imitate the other Marauders, Ron grew a tail and a snout and walked on his hands and legs for a day and Neville grew a snout and howled at the moon at different times of the night, each time he woke up the rest of Gryffindor house. The only people that seemed to understand the significance of the pranks were the three boys themselves, Lily Potter, the headmaster and Snape. They walked around cautiously for the days following the prank and watched everyone carefully.

One night at dinner, Harry and Hermione switched Snape's meal out for raw potions' ingredients, though nothing harmful, causing the man to spit out his food and get new food, only for it to happen again. At the same time they had an on going prank on the headmaster, every time he went to eat, his food would transform into lemon drops. Lily Potter had an army of library books following her around, yelling out the words of the first chapter in each book. McGonagall's classroom was filled with cat nip. A few times, Harry and Hermione pranked themselves to throw suspicion off of themselves; Harry would speak only other languages, while Hermione would have a hoard of books chase her, or have her books and parchment stick to her hands.

The most notable event was at the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor quidditch match. During which a rogue bludger seemed to take an interest in Chris. Every time it was it in one direction, it seemed to head towards the savior of the wizarding world. No one really knew what to make of it and it wasn't noticed for a bit. During that time, Harry concentrated on it and "saw" a thick tendril of magic connecting it with the DADA professor, Quirrell. Harry also "saw" a thin tendril connecting to it, coming from Snape. Harry could tell that whatever Snape was trying to do wasn't working so he sighed and left his seat. He quickly explained to Hermione what was happening and disillusioned himself and shadow walked closer to the teachers. He wandlessly sent a bludgeoning curse at the bench beneath both professors and watched as the loud Crack! was heard and nearly everyone on the bench, including Quirrell and Snape, fell backward off it. Afterward the bludger seemed to set itself right and the game went on for a few more minutes before the Gryffindor seeker, Cormac McLaggen, got lucky and caught the snitch, but in the process plowed straight into the ground because he didn't pull out of a steep dive. The Gryffs won, 210 to 100, but their seeker was in the hospital for two days with both arms broken, plenty of missing teeth and a broken clavicle.

In the first week of December, Harry and Hermione spied on the "Gryffindor Stooges" as they called them, and found out that Hagrid mentioned something about a man called Nicholas Flamel when they went to question him about the three headed dog, which turned out to be named 'Fluffy'. Being able to remember pretty much everything, both Harry and Hermione knew who the man was, the famous alchemist and oldest man living. Both of them agreed that this meant that the thing that was almost stolen from Gringotts and the thing that was being protected on the third floor was most likely the sorcerer's stone. Their curiosity sated, Harry and Hermione put it out of their minds but decided to keep an eye on the three gryffindors just in case. They agreed that it seemed like someone was leading them on and wanted them to know about the stone. Harry personally thought it was the headmaster but didn't know to what end. Also, he had a feeling that it was connected to whatever was going on with Quirrell.

They were a bit surprised to see the three Gryffindors in the library for the following week, but realized that they were looking for information on Flamel. They were forced to ignore the glaring the three sent their way and focus on what they were doing, which was continuing to write down simple spells to use in a duel and other things. They also started making lists of personal spell chains.

After a few days of the glaring Harry got tired of it and devised a way to get them out of the library. While they didn't have to study there, it was a nice, quiet place to talk and continue what they were doing with their spell journals and the map, which they estimated would be done before they left for break.

One day about half way through the week Harry and Hermione made sure to spell the other tables with aversion wards to make the trio sit closer to them. When they did, Hermione and Harry started speaking in Japanese. They were still speaking about what they were doing with their plans but every so often they would glance over to the Gryffindors' table and smirk. Eventually Hermione laughed slightly louder than normal, but within the limits of the library, and Ron blew up.

"Can't you two speak English! It's not enough that no one likes you, but now you have to speak a different language? And we can see you looking at us, stop talking about us!"

Harry's gaze cooled, "Sorry Weasley, but not everything revolves around you or boy wonder over there. We weren't talking about you, we were talking about our plans for the holidays and about some of the past holidays. The reason we were looking your direction is that I was telling Hermione about some of the last holiday I spent as a Potter and how Potter over there" he pointed to Chris, "gorged himself sick that year on just cookies and cake." Chris flushed and glared at Harry.

He angrily spat, "Well at least I have some place to go for Christmas, someplace where people want me!"

Harry smirked, "Well, considering that if Hermione's parents hadn't invited me over I would be spending it in the Bahamas, on a beach with girls in bikinis, I'd say I'm the lucky one. Much better than staying inside while it's to cold to even be outside."

Harry saw a spark of jealousy in Chris' eye but didn't say anything about it as Madam Pince came marching up to them.

"This is a library! Students are trying to study in here!"

Harry said, "I apologize ma'am. I like to take advantage of the silence in here and was until those," he pointed to the three Gryffindors, "started berating Hermione and I for having a quiet conversation."

Ron jumped up and said loudly, "Then why were you talking in the funny language?"

Madam Pince glared at him and he was silenced immediately, Harry responded quietly, "That would be because I was making sure that the spell for languages I put on her, took and she could speak it fluently, Weasley."

Hermione spoke, "We apologize Madam Pince, we will go if you wish. We were just taking notes on some books that looked interesting for next term."

She looked at them for a few moments then said, "No, I know you two are usually quiet and this is the first offence. You three," she turned to the Gryffindors, "need to leave. This isn't the first time I have had to tell you to leave because you were disruptive. Next time it will be a detention! Now, Out! OUT!"

The Gryffindors scrambled out of their chairs and ran out of the library, before they rounded the corner though they sent the two Ravens glares and Hermione and Harry smirked at them. After that, the three Gryffindors did not return.

Harry and Hermione continued working on their spell chains and the map. A week after the library incident, they had finally got it attached to the wards. Now all that was left was the spells to detect animagus transformations and other magical means of disguises, the password and commands as well as the charms to hide it from others. About this time, Hermione suggested that they start using Arithmancy to break down the spells they learned in class and try and make them better or at least their own.

She argued, "This way it will at least give us something to do. We could even put an illusion over our work to make it look like notes for class."

Harry agreed but they decided they wouldn't start until they came back from the Christmas Holidays.

When it came time to sign up to leave for the holidays, Harry and Hermione both signed their names. A few days later, Lily came up to Harry in a corridor as he and Hermione were exploring the castle a bit.

She said, "Um, Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Harry glanced at Hermione, then shrugged, "Sure, talk and walk Professor."

Lily cringed at the use of her formal title, but kept pace with the two first years as they made their way around the castle.

She started, "So I heard from Chris that you were spending Christmas with Ms. Granger's family?"

Harry smiled at Hermione, "Yeah, she wrote to her folks and asked. They said yes, it's better than what I had planned." Hermione blushed and hid her face.

Lily pushed on, "What did you have planned before that? Just stay in the castle?"

Harry shook his head, "God no. I would have taken up a friend's offer to put me up on an island in the Bahamas. He wouldn't really have been there, he would be home spending Christmas with his family, but he would have let me use his bungalow. He invited me once, but I don't really do family stuff all that well and his family traditions were different than what I am used to, they stay up all night and open their presents right at midnight"

He laughed, remembering the conversation. "When I asked, he joked and said,'Well, the tropics are better than an old drafty castle in the snow. At least, you aren't freezing and have bikini clad girls to look at.' I agreed until I had a better offer. I already know Hermione's parents from on the platform and they seemed like nice people so I'll spend Christmas with them, maybe take them somewhere as a thank you."

Lily had a pained look on her face and fought back the urge to chastise him for the "bikini" comment.

"Well, I thought you might like to spend Christmas with us?"

Harry looked at her oddly, "Why? I mean, thanks for the offer, but we don't really know each other and I've already done Christmas with the Potters. Just like I've done Christmas with Miku's family and Jamel's family. This year, I think I'll do the holidays with the Grangers."

Lily stifled back a sob when he said they don't know each other, but pushed on, "But we are your family. How are you suppose to get to know us if you don't spend time with us?"

Harry's face went blank. He responded flatly, "No, you are not my family, that would be Miku, Jamel, Ms. Cerina and the others that I've spent time with. Even the Grangers are more family than the Potters, so no, I will not be spending Christmas with your family. Thank you for the offer though." at the end his face went back to being cheerful again.

Lily had tears in her eyes as they came to a stop.

"I think this is where we leave you. I'll see you later Professor Potter."

Lily looked around and realized that she was at her office. After thinking for a moment, she turned and walked towards the Headmaster's office. When she got there, she saw James, Sirius and Remus sitting with the Headmaster.

She said, sadly, "He said no. He said he's spending Christmas with the Grangers and if they hadn't invited him, he would be spending it on a tropical island in a friends bungalow."

The four men looked sad, James said, "What did he say when you said the holidays are a time for family?"

Lily let her tears flow, "He said that we didn't know each other and that it is a time for family so he wouldn't intrude on ours. He said he doesn't do 'family stuff' well and that his family are the people he has met and spent time with in other countries."

Sirius said, "Well, we deserve that. We didn't exactly treat him like family." Remus agreed.

James said, "Maybe we could change his mind. Keep talking to him about it and maybe ask him in front of the family he is staying at if he would come over, just for a day or so, over the break."

Remus said, "You would rather guilt him into spending time with us than let it be his own choice?"

James replied, "If it is a way for him to just try and get to know us, then yes! It is the only way that we can get to know him again."

Sirius threw his hands up, "Why not just put compulsions on him to get him to spend time with you? After he realizes that you are trying to guilt him into it, he will just stop all together. From what I've heard, he's been nothing but cheerful and polite, try and force him to do something and that could change."

Dumbledore spoke up, "I'm afraid that compulsions and other related spells will not work on Mister Potter. His Occlumency training protects him from it."

Remus, ignoring the compulsions comment, raised an eyebrow, "He knows Occlumency?"

James snorted, "So he says, but I'm not so sure."

Dumbledore said, "I am sure, James. He could very easily crush Severus' mind. He caught me off guard last time, that wont happen again. He seems to have also taught the art to Miss Granger."

James scowled, "I don't understand why he hangs out with her. It's like she is his only friend, why not try and make friends with Chris and the boys?"

Lily answered, "Remember what he said the first day of term? I would imagine that he doesn't really like Chris all that much. I'm also positive that it was he who froze them outside the third floor."

Dumbledore said, "Be that as it may, we can not prove that he did it. We checked his wand and it shows nothing from outside of his classes. We also suspect him of what happened to me and the earmuffs but again, we can't prove anything. I say, he seems to be better at hiding in plain sight than you three when you were in school." he looked at the three marauders.

The old man continued, "On an unrelated topic, I am happy to say that the Wizengamot has reached a vote on repealing the old law that Harry enacted upon you, James, along with Frank, Arthur and Lucius Malfoy. That will not be happening again."

James nodded. After that, they talked for a bit longer about how to get Harry over for the holidays.

X0X0X0X0

Harry and Hermione continued walking around the castle exploring it more to add to the map.

After a while Hermione said, "You don't think they will let up about you spending Christmas with them, do you?"

Harry shook his head, "No, they will probably continue pestering me until we leave in two days. Then probably try and guilt me into agreeing when they ask in front of your parents."

Hermione scowled, "Don't they realize that forcing you to spend time with them will only make it worse for them?"

Harry smirked, "Probably, but they're desperate for us to 'get to know one another again'."

Hermione stopped, then turned to him with a smirk, "You said that on purpose didn't you?"

Harry put an innocent look on his face, "Who me? Why would I want to lead the Potter family into a trap of their own making?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved him with her hips. Harry laughed and did the same.

He turned serious and said, "You better be prepared for people to start insulting us again. The Wizengamot repealed the law that I used to get even with the Malfoys, Weasleys, Longbottoms and Potters. Apparently they don't like when someone uses their own laws against them."

Hermione snorted, "I wonder why? It only cost them more than the average wizard makes in two months. I'm not worried though, I've learned not to care what others think of me. That's why I seem to enjoy it when you say the things you do to the staff. Though I still have the urge to, slap you and tell you that we should respect them every so often, but it is getting more and more infrequent. Besides, I don't care what they say or think, only what you think, and maybe any other friends we make."

Harry smiled, "Well, that's good. You already know what I think of you." he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Though, we need to start checking our food and drinks for loyalty potions, our Occlumency will protect us from the charms, but it will have a harder time with potions."

Still blushing from the kiss, Hermione said, "Do you really think that they will go that far? I mean, no matter what they want, James Potter is a famous auror."

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, but I know that they old man will try almost anything to get me on his side. The wandless magic that we can do can easily check our food and drink, we can get something over the break to look for potions."

The rest of the day was spent exploring the castle and finishing up the map. When the initial parchment was charmed, Harry got a few more pieces of parchment and transfigured them into an exact copy of the castle in map format, that was able to fold out to see the whole castle at once, then made a copy. In short order, there were two maps sitting in front of them.

Harry said, "Now the only thing to do is personalize them, what should be call ourselves?"

Hermione thought for a few minutes, "Well, we should probably send a little misdirection, make people think there are more of us then there really are. So how about, 'The House of Shadows'? That way, we can talk about Walker business, and they will just assume we are talking about school yard pranks?"

Harry beamed, "Your brilliant!"

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek again and them got to work naming the map and the four aliases that they had; Raptor, Talon, Shadowclaw and Nightfang. He didn't even notice the blush that had erupted on her face or the bright smile she gave him. They had agreed that they would use both of their forms, again for more misdirection.

After they were done with both maps, Hermione took hers and spun an illusion around it that would make it seem like it was the most boring thing in the world to whoever tries to pick it up without permission. After that, they simply went with each other to explore more of the castle for fun, they had no other plans for the day. Luckily they did not run into any undesirables.

The following morning came bright and early for Harry. He walked down to the common room and waited for Hermione to come down for their morning exercise. He didn't have to wait long, she came down 5 minutes later and they were off.

Both first years knew that they were being watched, but didn't much care. They ran their 5 miles and then 1 cool down lap around the black lake and started on their katas. When they were almost through, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin came walking down from the castle.

James asked, "What are you two doing out so early?"

Harry and Hermione did'nt say anything, instead they focused on their forms and it was another 5 minutes before they finished and grabbed a water bottle out of their bag.

James was tired of being ignored, "Why are you ignoring me? I asked you a question!"

Harry looked at him with uncaring eyes, then flicked to Sirius and Remus, "Hello Sirius, Remus, been a while hasn't it?" turning back to James, "I didn't answer because I didn't want to do something wrong and start all over again. As to why we are out here, we get up early every day and exercise. It isn't against the rules to get up early. We haven't had problems so far, so we continue to do our daily routine."

Sirius asked, "But what were you doing?"

Harry turned to him and smiled a bit, "We were practicing our katas."

Sirius smiled, "But what, may I ask, is a 'kata'?"

Ignoring the looks of pain on the Potters' faces, Harry said, "It is forms of aikido. We practice them and they start to become second nature, by practicing them in slow motion, we incorporate the movements into our muscle memory."

Sirius said, "But how is that fighting?"

Harry smirked, "Well, would you like a demonstration? Try and hit me."

Sirius looked dubious and didn't really want to hit him, Lily said, "No! Don't hit my son."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Lily, "I already told you, I am no longer a Potter, biologically, I may share some traits with you, but that is the extent of our relationship." turning to Lord Black, "Now, Sirius, try and hit me. The key word is try. I bet a galleon that you can't hit me and that you will be on your back in under 10 seconds." he finished with a smirk.

Sirius chuckled, "I don't think so. I wont bet a kid like that."

Harry shrugged, "Fine, Auror Potter, would you like to take a shot?"

James looked sick, "No, I wont hit you Harry. I may have been a bad father but I won't hit you."

Harry smirked, "You're right. How about you Remus?" he left them wondering what James was right about.

The werewolf smiled sadly, "No, I'm stronger then I look and I doubt you could beat me."

Harry scowled, "You lot are no fun, fine. Hermione, you want to spar? Talking about it has made me want to now."

Hermione smirked, "Sure, do you want offense or defense?"

Harry thought for a moment, "I'll take offense."

James said, "Enough, there will be no fighting. If you want to prove it fine, I'll hit you," turning to Lily, "Not hard dear."

Harry shrugged, "Fine lets get this over with, I'm hungry and I need a shower."

James faced Harry, while the others backed away, Hermione said, "I'll put a galleon on Harry in under 10 seconds."

Lily looked scandalized, "Miss Granger! I cannot believe that you would gamble!"

Hermione shrugged, "What? I have been doing a lot of things that I didn't think I would be doing since I met Harry. He's opened my eyes a bit to the mistakes that people make. Besides, I have to keep busy somehow. No homework means that I have more time on my hands then before. The homework assigned over the break is almost done. I'm pretty sure that there aren't many other places in the castle that we haven't seen. So Harry and I tend to make bets between each other and see how long it takes for Snape to yell at someone, along with other trivial things around the castle."

Lily looked gobsmacked while Sirius and Remus were barely holding themselves upright laughing, both marauders managed to get out that they would take her bet. After a moment for them to get control again, Harry and James started.

James started with a halfhearted attempt to hit his son. Harry easily batted it away.

He said, "Those ten seconds don't start until Auror Potter here decides to stop his crappy attempts at hitting me."

James' face screwed up a little at the insult. The next hit was a bit harder but not much. Harry again batted it away.

He taunted, "Come on James. Are all aurors this soft? Or do you just depend on magic to do everything for you?"

James just shrugged off the insult as much as he could. This went on for another few seconds until Harry reminded James and Lily about the times they forgot about him at dinner and what they did if they caught him sneaking some food afterwards.

James snarled, he knew the barb would sting Lily, and went to hit Harry will all his strength.

Harry smirked, "Finally!"

As James' fist was about to impact Harry's jaw, the other adults gasped but Harry's hand came up and grasped it as he pushed it away and twisted James' arm and used James' own momentum to kick out the Auror's legs and had him on the ground in under five seconds.

Hermione smirked, "Easiest 2 galleons I've ever made." she held her hand out to Sirius and Remus.

The two marauders and Lily gaped at how fast Harry had put his father down.

Harry walked over to Hermione and held his hand out, "I'll take those." he motioned to the coins, "I bet they would come down and that I could get James to try and fight me."

Hermione sulked, "Darn."

Sirius smirked at Remus, "Moony, I think we were set up."

Lily asked, "How did you know we would even come down?"

Harry shrugged, "Logic. You tried to get me to agree to spend Christmas with your family, I said no. So the next logical thing I thought you would do is badger me until we left. It was only a matter of time until you brought reinforcements." he pointed to James, Sirius and Remus, "When we realized that you were watching us as we ran I knew that you would try and talk to me again. I knew you wouldn't try and interrupt our run so it would happen during our katas, which was the perfect opening to get him to try and fight me. Easy really."

He ignored their dumbfounded looks and he and Hermione walked back up to the castle to shower and go to breakfast. The entire way back to the common room was spent laughing at what happened and talking about what they would do at the leaving feast that night.

Once at breakfast they sat down to eat and then immediately looked up as the same party they saw during their workout, came walking into the Great Hall. They heard Chris greet them and start talking about their plans for the holiday, but continued eating, not paying them any heed. They talked about some of the simple spells they had learned so far and the different applications that each spell could be used for.

As soon as breakfast was done, the headmaster came up to Harry and Hermione.

"Harry, could you come with me to my office for a few moments?"

Harry looked at Hermione and they both nodded, Harry said, "Sure Professor. Hermione, I'll meet you in the common room. I'm almost packed, just a few other things."

Hermione nodded. They both got up and headed out of the Great Hall, then went their separate ways. When Harry got to the Headmaster's office, he found the Potters, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape waiting for him.

Harry sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "And this was turning out to be such a good looking day. Fine, I'm here professor, what do you need?"

Dumbledore sat down, ignoring the tone and said, "I asked you to come here so that maybe we can get past the problems you have with your family and spend the holidays with them."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I assume, then, that this does not deal with school, in any way, shape or form, then?"

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, you are correct."

Harry said, "Then I must ask that you refer to me as Lord Daniels." ignoring the looks of sadness and the scowl from Snape, Harry continued, "Now, what have I said that seems to be confusing you all?"

Lily asked, "What do you mean?"

Harry looked at her flatly and said, "Well, I have already told you that I don't want to spend the holidays with you and your family. I already have plans. I don't understand where you could have possibly gotten confused anywhere in that explanation, so enlighten me."

Dumbledore said, "But the Holidays are a time for family. You wouldn't want to impose on Miss Granger's family would you?"

Harry simply said, "Like I told Prof. Potter and Christopher Potter, if I hadn't been invited to the Granger's house for the holidays, I would have been in the Bahamas in a friend's bungalow."

Snape sneered, "Do you really think we would believe that ridiculous story?"

Harry looked at him and flicked his wand, "Nulla faucibus!"

Everyone watched as Snape's mouth disappeared from his face.

Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid that I will have to deduct 20 points from Ravenclaw for attacking a professor, Harry."

Harry smirked, "But Sir, you said this had nothing to do with school. Therefore I had every right to silence a man that was insulting me outside of school, since it seems like he can get away with anything during school, even murder. And that's Lord Daniels to you Mr. Dumbledore."

The other's gaped, Dumbledore, ignoring the murder comment and the 'Lord' comment, said, "Be that as it may, you till must respect your professors."

Harry said, "I know that you were having hearing problems at the time, so I'll say it again, I will respect people who show respect to me. He hasn't, he has repeatedly tried to gain access to my mind and has done nothing but insult me since we've met. Therefore, I will not respect him, I respect the position of professor and Potion's Master, but only the positions, not the man who has them. He must earn that respect on his own. Nor will I return his mouth until the end of this meeting. Now, is that all?"

Dumbledore was irritated inside, but said, "No, would you give us a reason why you are choosing to not spend the holidays with your rightful family?"

The room cooled drastically and Harry said coldly, "They are not my rightful family and do not insult my true family and friends again. The reason I am not spending time with them is that I don't know them."

James said, "But if you spend time with us you would get to know us."

Harry smiled, "Yes, but I do not wish to. I want to get to know the Grangers. They were kind to me on the platform and we talked a great deal before Hermione and I got on the train."

Lily choked back a sob and Harry sighed, rolled his eyes and continued, "Look, I'm not trying to hurt you, but I really don't want to spend time with people who neglected me and then decided they were going to take away the one thing that I found joy in and give it to my spoiled brother. All on the word of a man who things the sun shines out his own ass. Forget about me, don't try and change your minds about which child you want, halfway through their childhoods. Just assume that I died or ran away and never came back when I was five. Stick with Chris, he needs you a lot more than I ever have or will."

When he was done, he felt a sharp attack on his mind, unlike the previous times, this was a full out Legilimency attack. He knew it was Snape and so Harry, smirked at him. The others didn't understand what was going on though. Harry directed Snape's probe to a small labyrinth on one of the fake "planets" in his mind. All of a sudden Snape stiffened, then fall flat on his back, not moving, stunning everyone in the room.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "I told you to keep him on a leash. He tried to force his way into my mind and met with one of my layers of defense. He needs 'Mandrake Draught' he may not look it, but his mind is petrified. Next time, I will let him go further in my mind and see what other surprises I have."

Dumbledore was flabbergasted, "What have you done?"

Harry rolled his eyes and swore a magical oath that he merely defended his mind against a Legilimency attack, then said, "He got far enough into my mind that he got to meet the reflected gaze of a basilisk. He is petrified within his own mind. His body is fine. Just feed him the potion and tell him to stay out of my head. Now, since it seems that this meeting has devolved into people attacking my mind, I am done. Headmaster, this does not pertain to school matters, I must request that you stay out of my personal life. It is none of your business where I spend my time outside of school, neither is it any business of Misters Potter, Lupin and Black or Prof. Potter. Also, I will be informing my head of house of this attempt at coercing me into going to somewhere against my wishes and the blatant disregard of the privacy of my mind. If anyone besides Snape attempts to gain access to my mind, or Miss Granger's, again, I will be forced to go to the board and the DMLE. If Snape does it again, I have a few nasty surprises that Ms. Cerina taught me, be sure to tell him that. Thank you."

With that he got up and left the office, leaving everyone in the office gobsmacked.

Remus finally said, "Well, I can honestly say that we have next to no chance of getting him to give us a chance now."

James said, "Why did he seem to be friendly with you two but coldly formal with the rest of us?"

Lily answered sadly, "I would think that it's because both of them lasted the longest before falling into the same routine that we all did. But I think that we may have ruined that. In the end he referred to you two just as formally as he did to everyone else."

Sirius asked, "How could he do something like that with his mind?" pointing to Snape.

Dumbledore said, "He said he was taught Battle-Based Occlumency by the Mind Master of the American Mages. I did not believe him, but now I understand that was a mistake."

X0X0X0X0

Harry stalked through the halls as he made his way towards the Ravenclaw common room. When he got there, the other Claws knew to stay away, just from the look on his face. Hermione looked up and saw him, she jumped up and pulled him back out of the common room. they walked put of the castle. Once they were outside, they walked to the lake and sat down in the snow.

Hermione asked, "What happened Harry?"

Harry took a calming breath, "They were trying to get me to go to the Potters' for the holidays. Towards the end, Snape attacked my mind. I wasn't the little probes he's sent before, it was a full out attack. I directed the attack so that he came across one of my traps. He is now petrified within his own mind. I just got tired of them trying to trap me into going along with what they want. They insulted my family and friends and in a way, insulted you and your family. Not so much as your family as you in particular. You are one of my best friends. Definitely the only one anywhere my own age. They tried to make me feel guilty about intruding on your own family's holiday plans." Hermione's face hardened, "I just... I just lost control and that hasn't happened in a while, normally I would have just thrown him out of my head. Usually I am in control of my emotions and today, they just pushed me farther then they should have."

Hermione asked, "Why do you think it happened?"

Harry said slowly, "I think it was because Sirius and Remus were with them. They were the last people to fall into the routine of ignoring me. Even then, they at least said hello, even if they ignored me the rest of the time they were there. I think, in the back of my mind, that I still cared for them. The old man knew it and tried to use it against me, and they went along with it."

Hermione hugged him and whispered, "They don't deserve it Harry. They don't deserve to have your affection after ignoring you like that. They don't even warrant your sadness. They were willing to try and use your affection against you. Forget them, I know it's hard but that is the only way that you will feel better."

Harry said emotionless, "They were the last people to care for me. They were the last links to my life before I left. Even though they didn't pay attention to me after the initial greeting, or gave me Christmas and Birthday presents, they still acknowledged my existence and that was what I wanted. Sirius would bring two presents, but Chris would just think the second was for him too and Sirius didn't want trouble with the rest of the Potters so he didn't say anything, eventually he stopped bringing me anything and got both of them for Chris. Remus didn't have a whole lot of money and could only afford one gift and so he got it for Chris. It never bothered me, they still hugged me and said hello. My own parents didn't even realize that I wasn't at dinner half the time, and when they did, they just shrugged and had a family meal without me. I got used to it."

He took another calming breath, "I realized very early that I wouldn't have a real family. That I would always just be a stranger living at Potter Manor until I was of age. I realized it and accepted it. But then I learned that they were going to take the one thing that I had, the only thing that made me happy, my magic, they were going to take it and give that to my brother as well. He had everything while I only had one thing, and they were going to take it and give it to him. Then they wouldn't even be merciful and send me away, they were going to keep me and make me watch as they used magic for every day things, reminding me of what I had and what was taken from me. So I left, but before I left, I said goodbye. Not to them, but to Sirius and Remus, now when I'm back they are using what I felt for them against me, to try and get me to go back to them, so they can do it all over again. I think that deep down, I still was a Potter, even if it was just a minuscule piece of me."

Hermione hugged him tighter and tears formed in her eyes, "Don't worry about it Harry. They can't get you. You and your real family made sure of that. I will make sure of that. But you can't keep bottling up your emotions. They will eat at you, you need to let them out, blow something up, hit something, do something with your pent up emotions before you lose control again and do something that you will regret."

Harry knew she was right. He sighed and stood up. Hermione stood with him and watched as he pulled out his wand. Harry's eyes focused all of his attention on the lake. He didn't utter a sound as he waved his wand around and a huge sphere of water, at least the size of Hagrid's hut, rose up out of the lake. It was crystal clear and Hermione thought it was beautiful. Harry waved his wand around more and watched as the sphere started to freeze, after about 30 seconds it was completely solid. Harry continued waved his wand like a conductor and Hermione watched as he shaved the ice off of the sphere until it was as smooth as glass. All of a sudden Harry stopped and it hung in the air, then Harry slashed his wand downward and a jet of flame erupted from his wand and he started to shape the ice as he wanted. He continued like this, melting parts of the ice away, then shaving it smooth again, for at least ten minutes. When he was done, he and Hermione stared at his finished work, a statue of a small boy sneaking around a wall. The boy looked remarkably like a younger Harry.

After he stared at it for a minute, Harry jabbed his wand towards the boy and the ice that had melted away, froze into ice again and together with all the ice shards at had been shaved away swirled around Harry and Hermione and shot toward the statue. Slowly the ice shards ate away at the statue and the shards from it added to the shards that were attacking the statue. After a minute there was nothing left of the statue and the shards turned to snow and drifted back to the ground.

Harry turned back to Hermione and smiled, "Thank you. I needed that."

Hermione smiled, "Any time. But what did you do?"

Harry said, "I showed myself that Harry Potter is dead and will never return. Harry Daniels doesn't know those people and should not care who they are. Harry Potter and Harry Daniels are completely different people. Harry Potter wasn't wanted or needed. Harry Daniels is wanted and needed by his friends and family. Harry Potter was desperate for attention because he was never given any. Harry Daniels doesn't care what others think of him, only his friends. I am not Harry Potter, he is dead, I am Harry Daniels."

Hermione smiled, "Good, because I like Harry Daniels, that Potter bloke sounds like he didn't have a very good life, you on the other hand seem to have had an extraordinary life. I mean, who learns different subjects all over the world? And has been to more places then most will ever see in a lifetime, even for a magical's lifetime."

Harry laughed and held his hand out to her, "Come on, I need to talk to Flitwick and we need to finish up what little homework we have so we can have fun over the break."

She took it, smiling at him and they turned turned to see Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, Potter and Aurors Potter and Black along with Remus Lupin and a good number of students.

Harry ignored their blank stares at what they just witnessed and said, "Ah, Prof. Flitwick, I was just coming to look for you. I need to report that again, Prof. Dumbledore has tried to interfere with my personal business, particularly my choice of holiday plans. I must request that Article 3, Section 4, Subsection C Paragraph 7 of the Hogwarts Charter be enacted."

Flitwick stared at him for a moment, puzzled, then asked, "Could you please refresh my memory, Mr. Daniels?"

Harry nodded, "Of Course. Article 3, Section 4, Subsection C Paragraph 7 states that if a student requests and has a credible reason for the request, their head of house may act in all areas as their headmaster. If I must speak about something school related that would normally be taken to the headmaster, I would come to you and you would then go the headmaster. If the headmaster must speak to me, he will have to go to you and bring the matter to you so that you can speak to me about it. It basically means that you are the middle man between Headmaster Dumbledore and myself. The only interaction we will have is in the Great Hall during meals and if we come across each other in the hall, and even then he may not speak to me about school matters and since he has no business with the Daniels family or the other families that I am head of, he really has no reason to talk to me at all. Furthermore, I have no affiliation with the Potters, besides going to the same classes with their son and living in the same building as Mrs. Potter. Unless I break a law or witness a crime, Aurors Potter and Black have no need to speak with me and Mister Lupin has no affiliation with me at all. The same goes for those that are in my family or protected by my family so I ask this for Miss Granger as well."

Flitwick sighed, he knew Albus would push Mr. Daniels to far one day and now it is here. What had happened in his office that made Harry so angry?

He replied, "According to the Charter of Hogwarts, I agree that this is a reasonable request. I accept on behalf for you, Mr. Daniels and you, Miss Granger. Any and all school related matters will go through me and I shall bring them to your attention."

Harry nodded, "Thank you professor. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to finish up that pesky History of Magic essay, then we will be done and able to relax over our break."

McGonagall asked, "You already finished your homework for Transfiguration?"

Hermione nodded, "Oh Yes, we finished that yesterday, along with Charms, Potions, Herbology and DADA. We didn't get any Astronomy homework."

Flitwick squeaked, "But most of that was assigned yesterday and the day before?"

Harry shrugged, "Well, we finished already. It's not like it was that hard, we usually finish our work the day it is assigned. Anyway, we should go so we can finish. Again thank you sir."

As he started to walk away, Flitwick asked, "Before you go, may I ask what were you doing? And where did you learn to cast spells like that? It was... for lack of better word, beautiful."

Harry turned to him, "Well, I was venting my frustration and anger at them," he pointed to the Potters, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore, all who looked sad, though Lily looked distraught and Dumbledore had a puzzled look on his face, "As to where I learned to do that, I took an art class in Paris. My teacher noticed that I tend to hold my emotions in and so he taught me this to vent and not hurt anyone. If I hadn't I would probably have blown up the common room because of them." again he pointed to those that were in the meeting.

Flitwick nodded and watched as Harry and Hermione walked away, people moving out of their way.

He turned to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, as Mr. Daniels has requested, I am to act as the liaison between yourself, Mr. Daniels and Miss Granger. Failure to do so will result in a report to the board. If it happens again, the board will be forced to put you on probation, a third time will result in your immediate termination as Headmaster. I don't know what you did Albus, but that young man is angry. I would not try it again. I don't understand why you feel the need to interfere with his personal life or the lives of the Potters, but it is my business if you interfere with one of my Ravens."

Turning to the Potters, Sirius and Remus, "You heard him, Harry Potter is dead. Leave Harry Daniels alone, you have no reason to talk with him. Lily, if you have reason to speak with either of them about school matters, then bring it to my attention and I will inform them."

With that he walked away with the other two heads of house, leaving the others gaping.

Sirius felt tears gather in his eyes, he felt as if he had lost something he didn't know he had before. He knew that trying to pressure Harry into spending time with them wasn't a good idea, but he didn't realize that it would lead to this. He slowly turned to walk away, not saying anything to the others. He made his way to the edge of the wards and apparated home, he needed to get drunk. He didn't think this Christmas would be as enjoyable as he thought. He was going to propose to his girlfriend, Emmeline Vance, an auror in her first year out of the academy, but he didn't know if it would happen now. He was to depressed.

Remus wasn't much better. He felt worse then he did after his transformations. The wolf howled in pain at losing one of it's pack, even if he had been missing. He didn't realize that Harry would push so hard if they tried to pressure him into getting to know them again. It would be lucky if he acknowledged their presence from now on. He turned and walked away, headed home to get drunk. He had a feeling that this Christmas wouldn't be as fun as the past years.

James and Lily were speechless. Their long lost son had just cut all ties to their family and told them, not 1 hour ago, that he didn't need them and never would. Now he claimed that Harry Potter was dead. Both realized that something had broken in their hearts that they didn't realize was there. There was something missing inside them that they didn't know was there. Lily's knees gave way and James had to catch her. Slowly they made their way back to their quarters. Not knowing how they could possibly fix this.

Dumbledore was angry, he had just tried to help a family get back together. Now he lost all contact with Harry and Hermione. Not that Miss Granger was important but she could have helped him get to Harry. The amount of power and control he had was astounding for someone his age. Could he have made a mistake? Could Chris not be the Boy-Who-Lived? If so, he needed to get control of Harry and guide him onto the path he, the Leader of the Light, set out for the Boy-Who-Lived, be it Chris or Harry. He started back towards the castle thinking of ways he could get back into Harry's good graces so that he could eventually guide him. But first, he needed to test them to figure out who was the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry? Or Chris?