AN: In no way am I connected to RWBY or Harry Potter


The results of the First Task were interesting.

For whatever reason, the hostilities towards the two 'cheaters' ceased almost immediately. The Gryffindors were the most secluded; many of them had wanted a party afterwards, but the Twins had refused to get the supplies when they saw Harry walk off with the new group and they made sure no one said an angry word to him. They were among the few that weren't surprised that Harry didn't return to his dorm at all that night.

Harry was willing to sit the first detention for that, but not for the whole week as Snape had originally stated. Professor McGonagall overruled him, stating it a House business and Harry only had to sit the one.

Most of the students didn't know how to react to Harry. On one hand, he had defeated a dragon and was currently in first place of the tournament. On the other, he had no interest in interacting with the majority of the student body. One Hufflepuff had been angry Harry had shown no loyalty to his House. Harry had given a rather simple reply.

"I'm showing them the same loyalty they showed me."

The main reason that the students didn't know how to react to Harry was because he was changing. Before, during his Second Year, he had been very forgiving to the student body. Now, he wasn't and remembered who had stayed quiet, who had stood by him and who had bullied him. He was very cold and dismissive to the last group.

There was complete agreement on how to react to Mercury: avoid like the plague. It was one thing to have a knife that could scar a student, but those boots could kill a dragon in one shot. He was agile, dangerous and was not afraid to retaliate with violence with no concern for political connections.

Mercury preferred being left alone. He had gotten the impression these children only responded to fear and Mercury had very quickly become someone to fear. Unlike Malfoy, Mercury kept to himself and didn't interact with people unless they instigated it, which only a handful of magicals would. That was an arrangement all parties were happy with.

There was a little confusion on what to do with the little Peruvian Vipertooth. Mercury had initially given it to Ruby as a gift, but he had thought at the time it was a Conjured or Transfigured model that wouldn't last too long. Even so, Qrow told them to have Hagrid to take a look at it to be sure there wouldn't be any problems.

There was a problem.

It wasn't a Conjured or Transfigured model. The creature had originally hatched from an egg that had been magically duplicated from a true egg. The reason for this was so the handlers could study the species' behaviour (on a smaller scale) and attempt to make them less vicious. The reserve had ones that were older, so gave the newly hatched ones to act as models, not expecting to get them back. The little Hungarian Horntail had also hatched from a duplicated egg and had imprinted on Harry when he drew it from the bag. That was the reason he had attacked the mother dragon rather than Harry or just flying off. The Peruvian Vipertooth mini had imprinted on Mercury, but seemed to like his girlfriends' company just as much.

Learning that they had a genuine animal, despite how its egg was created, Qrow sent a message to Charlie Weasley. Charlie sent back a very detailed response. The dragon's behaviour would mimic her true species, with the exception that she had no reproductive instinct and did not require food to survive as there was no digestive system. She did have a sense of taste and would enjoy being fed if she liked the taste, but the food would Vanish in her 'stomach'. As she had imprinted on Mercury, it was very dangerous for a stranger to take her until she had matured past the infant stage, which was accelerated. That meant Mercury could keep her for at least six months and she would never get any bigger in her entire lifetime. She was still venomous, but not as potent.

Mercury wanted to keep her. It took very little discussion to allow it. However, Professor Ozpin did insist that Madam Pomfrey needed to have the anti-venom. Mercury pouted, but took the little creature anyway. She was under the impression that it was a Transfigured or Conjured model that someone had irresponsibly made poisonous. No one corrected her.

The carcass of the Peruvian Vipertooth had been worth more than they originally thought. Rather than the small fortune they were expecting, Mercury received a large fortune in which none of them would ever have to work again. He very willingly shared it with all of them.

The Basilisk had been worth even more. Harry had contacted Gringotts for a harvester and had needed to accompany them to the Chamber of Secrets. He had chosen to keep 20% of the components under a stasis charm in his vault, including quite a few sets of armour, and kept nothing else. All the rest of the profits had gone to the victims, including Ginny, with some of it going to the school and some for Ron, as he had been there and had confronted his worst fears for it. The one condition Harry had was that the parts did not end up in Lucius Malfoy's hands at all. For a price, the goblins agreed. With their connections, Malfoy Snr or any of his associates wouldn't even be able to find them on the black market. There was no way Harry was going to let him profit from the monster he willingly unleashed on the school if he could help it.

One set of Basilisk armour Harry had started to wear under his robes. While the armour did naturally grow with the owner to an extent, there would be a time when it would no longer fit him without thinning at the joints. With the amount of trouble that usually found him in Hogwarts, he thought it was a good idea and with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he needed every advantage to survive.

Professor Dumbledore had approached Harry after the deal had been made but before the harvesting had occurred and pointed out Harry could save money if Professor Snape harvested the Basilisk. Harry responded that Snape was the one who taught Malfoy Jnr how to Summon snakes at the Duelling Club for the sole reason of humiliating or harming Harry and was best mates with the one who was responsible for setting the Basilisk loose. Professor Dumbledore did not mention it again.

That one move ended all hostility towards Harry from inside Hogwarts. Even the Daily Prophet had changed its mind from Skeeter's articles. Those continued, even with a few quotes from Slytherins despite not being allowed on Hogwarts grounds outside of official reporting on specific days. Either no one noticed the illegality or they didn't care. The student body reaction to this was mixed.

Harry was mostly left alone, even with all the publicity.


Ruby, Blake and Emerald were wandering the corridors. They were looking for one student in particular, but someone they had never met before. While it had been Daphne Greengrass that mentioned her, she had told them that the school didn't like her, even if they had stopped stealing from her.

They had not been happy to hear that.

It had taken an hour to find her and it was by pure coincidence. They had already decided if they ran into Harry, they would ask him for help. Instead, they accidentally came across her in a random corridor on the second floor not far from the Grand Staircase.

"Hello Beacon." Her smile was genuine.

"Hi," Ruby chimed. "Are you Luna?"

"I am. You are Ruby Rose-Xiao Long."

Ruby blinked. She had never heard herself called that before, but it wasn't wrong. For the first time, Ruby wondered whether Dad was sad she hadn't taken his name. He had been proud of Ruby when she said she wanted to honour her mother and she didn't remember him being upset about it. He was always smiling.

She missed him.

Emerald wrapped an arm around her. [I miss him too.]

Luna tilted her head, curiosity on her features. "You two are…interesting. Mercury too."

Blake frowned. "Interesting in what way?"

"I'm not sure." Then her grin returned. "So Ruby Rose-Xiao Long, Emerald Sustrai-Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna, why were you looking for me?"

Emerald Sustrai-Xiao Long. Ruby could sense Emerald's surprise, but she didn't seem to mind the name.

"We were told your father was the owner and writer of the Quibbler?" Blake asked. Luna nodded cheerfully. "What kind of publication is it?"

"Every kind." Luna's smile grew. "Do you want to report the Quartet-Wizard and One Muggle Tournament? Daddy wouldn't mind. He would be happy to publish it in the next issue."

Ruby sniggered at the name. It wasn't as catchy as the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but it was more accurate. Then she realised what Luna had said. "Well…We weren't wondering on us writing it…"

She knows we're muggles?

"You were wondering if we did," Luna nodded absentmindedly. "We tend to leave that to the Daily Prophet. Daddy doesn't like to write those articles, but he would like to publish them. He doesn't like the Ministry. You don't like the Ministry either."

As much as she didn't want to make judgements on something she had never had any personal contact with, Ruby didn't like the Ministry. Harry's experiences with the Ministry weren't great. Ruby's experiences were the officials that were responsible for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and that had become an insane circus.

She wasn't going to say anything on Skeeter. Mercury may not care about the lies she was spreading, but Ruby did. He had never given an interview, wasn't even there for the 'Weighing of the Wands' and yet there was one in the 'newspaper' after it and after the First Task. That would be bad enough if it wasn't for the fact the Ministry were behind her and not the truth.

No. Ruby was slowly beginning to hate the Ministry of Magic.

"What does your dad like to write about?" Emerald asked.

"Magical animals. Often unknown or undiscovered ones. A lot of people don't believe in them, like the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Blake sighed and shook her head. "There are a lot of animals that are undiscovered. Just because no one's found one doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Luna nodded. "Exactly. Daddy loves magizoology. He would like to include articles for things that occur at Hogwarts, but he doesn't want to write it himself. He was wondering if I wanted to as a student, but I want to go with magizoology with Daddy."

Ruby did wonder why the events Harry told them hadn't been reported in the newspaper. Uncle Qrow had stated that if that got out, Dumbledore would have been thrown out of the school within the hour. The Minister would probably be sacked too for allowing it to happen.

That did explain why the article on the Basilisk merely skimmed over how much damage she had done in Hogwarts. Everyone had focused on the Harry Potter and Salazar Slytherin aspect and seemed to have overlooked the 'threatening the school' part.

Luna was still smiling. "If you're interested, you can just send a message or your article to Daddy. Just put 'Quibbler's Office' on the front. Or ask Winky to deliver it. She likes to work."

Ruby didn't think anyone actually knew that the trio had hired Winky. Blake was thoughtful, but it was obvious she didn't see the significance of Winky. It wasn't exactly a secret, but Winky had been the only free elf except for Dobby and the others were happy working for Hogwarts.

"…We'll think about it," Blake stated. She did seem very interested.

"Speaking of magical animals," Emerald was frowning a little, "do you know which creatures pull the carriages?"

Luna's eyes sparkled. "They're called Thestrals. They're very gentle animals, but have a poor reputation."

"Is that because only a few people can see them?"

The girl's smile faded a little when she nodded. "They can only be seen by people who have seen death. Many people think they are bad omens, especially when they don't know."

People who have seen death.

Mercury had killed his father. Emerald had watched him do it. As experienced as they were, it wasn't a shock that the Remnant adults could see them. Blake couldn't. She didn't agree with the White Fang these days and got out before that, if the rumours were true about the White Fang actions. Yang couldn't and neither could Ruby. But what about Ren, Nora and Zephyr? What had happened to them? Why could they see them?

Emerald hugged her closer.

Ruby snuggled into her a little, but spoke to Luna. "Can you see them?" Her question was asked softly.

Luna nodded. "They are beautiful creatures in their own way. The ones in the Forest are very friendly. Maybe I'll introduce them to you someday."

"Maybe," Emerald replied. Reading her aura told Ruby she was sad, but she wasn't showing it. Ruby still wrapped an arm around her waist.

Ruby wondered if Marcus Black wasn't the first person Emerald saw die.


The first weekend after the First Task was a Hogsmeade weekend.

Harry and Hermione wandered around the village. It was brushed off by many as mindless exploring. In reality, they were checking that no one was following them or paying them too much attention. Today was very risky.

Sirius had sent a letter to Harry to tell him he was in the country and that he wanted to see him during the next Hogsmeade visit. Harry had been torn between anger and terror when he read that, but he chose to trust in Sirius' reassurances that he was safe. If he wasn't, the Prophet would be all over it.

No one paid them the slightest bit of attention.

Padfoot was sitting outside one of the buildings close to the Hog's Head. When he saw them, his tail wagged and he stood up. He nudged Harry's free hand and Harry laughed as he scratched the dog behind the ears. After a moment, the dog pulled away and headed towards the mountains. Naturally, Harry and Hermione followed, quickly and eventually finding themselves in a cave.

Padfoot changed back into Sirius.

"Seems you two have had a busy year."

"Don't we always?" Harry responded. It did come out a little bitterer than he expected.

Sirius gave him an interested look there. "I read the story about the Basilisk. How bad was it? They left that part out."

"Four muggleborns were Petrified, including Hermione. Nearly Headless Nick was Petrified too. They were restored at the end of the year and Ginny Weasley was possessed by Voldemort for most of it." Harry hadn't been happy to see most of the danger had been ignored by the Prophet, but he was relieved there was no mention of Ginny.

"Possessed by Voldemort?" Sirius frowned. "How did he get into the school?"

"Through a diary Lucius Malfoy slipped to Ginny. The year before, he possessed the DADA teacher."

"And now the tournament," Sirius mused. "Voldemort was definitely behind that. The only question is how. If your dreams are right, he's not moving from his little hideaway. So he must have an agent inside the school. The issue is that there are too many suspects, including students from the other schools. He went travelling before and probably after he was defeated."

Harry thought back. "Dumbledore did say he was in Albania two years ago."

"The rat helped bring him back here." Sirius pointed to a pile of newspapers as he pulled a chicken leg out of one of the bags the pair had brought along. "There have been quite a few fishy things recently and I don't think they're just a coincidence."

Hermione frowned and picked up one of them. "Barty Crouch?"

"He's the most obvious." His features darkened. "He used to be Head of the DMLE. Workaholic would be the kindest thing to call him, but I can't remember a day that he was ever off work back then. The timing for his illness is a bit convenient. He fought hard for this tournament."

"I guessed." Harry remembered the night of the Champion Selection. "He didn't exactly look ill when my name came out. He just looked tired and stressed and with two extra Champions…" Harry shrugged. Then something occurred to him. "If he was Head of the DMLE back then, was he the one who sent you to Azkaban without a trial?"

"Yep. That said, I was one of the lucky ones. Some were Kissed without trial. He wasn't one of Voldemort's supporters, quite the opposite in fact, but he was ruthless…and ambitious. He wanted to be Minister for Magic and was sure to get it after Voldemort fell when something happened. During the war, he authorised more brutal tactics and even the Unforgivables. He may have had honest reasons at the beginning, I wouldn't know, but he quickly became as brutal as the Death Eaters. He had his supporters and with every Death Eater that was killed rather than captured, well it was one less to worry about. No one had sympathy for the Death Eaters unless you were one. It was a very dark time."

One sentence in that bothered Harry more than the rest. "What happened then? Why didn't he get the job?"

Sirius' smile was sinister. "Soon after Voldemort fell, his son was caught with a bunch of people trying to bring him back to power."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "His son?"

"Yep. Must have been quite a shock for old Barty. Here he was fighting Death Eaters and he raised one."

"…Was his son a Death Eater? Couldn't he merely have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, like Winky?"

"No idea. The others were definitely Death Eaters, I'm sure of that. Who's Winky?"

Harry immediately noted the angry gleam in Hermione's eyes and chose not to interrupt.

"Winky was his house elf that he fired for no reason whatsoever. I bet he's feeling her absence now. Serves him right."

Sirius looked interested. "Did he give a reason for firing her?"

"Some crock about the Dark Mark during the Quidditch Cup Final. First he puts in her in the top box when she's afraid of heights, doesn't even show up for the match and then dismisses her for being near the wand that cast the Dark Mark even though she couldn't possibly have been responsible. Despicable-"

"What did he do once he saw his elf had the wand? And whose wand was it?"

"Mine," Harry answered and thought back. "He went to look in some nearby bushes. I guess he didn't find anything because he came back furious. Fired Winky on the spot."

Sirius threw the final chicken bone to Buckbeak, who happily crunched it, and stood up to pace. "That sounds like the Crouch I know, but something's not right. If it was just one no show then so what? But this many, especially for him, doesn't make sense. Then there's Bertha Jorkins' disappearance too."

Harry and Hermione stared. "Who?"

"She's does something or other for the Ministry, can't remember the details off the top of my head. Anyway, she went missing several months ago and no one's found her. They claim she's forgetful and irresponsible; my memory half agrees. I remember her having an excellent memory for gossip. She could be considered a liability in the Ministry and so they wouldn't look very hard for her but…"

Hermione frowned. "That doesn't really sound so important."

"On its own, it's not. With everything else though, it's probably not a coincidence."

Harry remembered something. He grabbed the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and said the password. "For someone who's missing a lot of work, he spends a lot of time in Hogwarts." Harry pointed to the DADA Professor's Office. "He's there now."

Sirius stopped. He held his hand out for the Map and Harry handed it over. "You say he's there often?"

Come to think of it… "Whenever I look. It's not often, but he's always there. I saw him in Snape's Office a few weeks ago."

"Snape huh?" Sirius was quiet for a moment. "There were rumours about Snape being a Death Eater. Never went anywhere and he was never accused but he hung around with those that became Death Eaters in school. Greasy git." Harry grinned as Sirius thought some more. "That said, Dumbledore must have some information we don't if he allowed him to teach."

"Badly," Harry muttered. "No matter how much anyone complains, it never goes anywhere." Hang on… "Snape was a Death Eater?"

"He might have been. He might not. I never found out one way or the other. Not liking a git that happens to know loads of Dark Arts by his First Year isn't enough to consider them a Death Eater. If Dumbledore's protecting him, then there must be a reason for it." Sirius shrugged and began to look at other areas of the Map. "You said in one of your letters that three people don't appear on this?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Mercury, Emerald and Amber."

"Those are three of the 'odd' muggleborns. Mercury's certainly not related to me."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, Harry with a pleading expression. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"They're not muggleborns. You have to see them to truly believe it, but they come from a different world, like Earth and not like Earth. Rather than Earth, they call it Remnant."

Sirius glanced up and studied Harry's face carefully. After a moment, he nodded. "I see. So the way he killed the dragon wasn't Dark Magic."

Hermione let out a sigh. "It was their technology. Like Harry said, you have to see it to believe it."

Sirius believed that impossible tale. Just like that. "That doesn't explain why a few don't appear on the Map. It's linked to the Hogwarts wards so it can't be fooled…The simple explanation is that the wards don't register them. But why only three?" After a moment's quiet, he handed the Map back. "I'll think on it. You mention them quite often in your letters."

Harry shrugged.

Hermione gave him a sympathetic glance. "Nearly all of the student body turned on Harry after his name came out. They didn't and have been very helpful with the tournament itself as well."

"…And Ron?"

"Quickly became one of the worst." Hermione sighed. Harry felt that sting too but kept quiet, listening to his friend. "I don't think he truly thought Harry put his name in, but his jealousy overrode his rational mind. Then Harry began to spend more time with the Remnant group and the feeling got even worse. By the time he was willing to admit he knew about the dragons for weeks, it was the night before. He even got kicked off the Quidditch team and he loves the sport. I just can't justify it."

Sirius' face remained blank, but he was deep in thought. "I remember the article stated that the Weasley family was going to visit a brother. How many brothers does he have?"

"Five. And one younger sister."

Sirius let out a thoughtful hum. "I remember Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. They were Molly's brothers and died in the war. I wonder how well Molly coped."

Harry was now very confused. "What does Mrs Weasley have to do with this?"

"Harry, don't you think it odd that a family has six boys and the girl happens to be the youngest? Especially with Ron and Ginny born so close together. Maybe they were trying for a girl when Ron was born. They didn't mind, but when Ginny was born, she got most of the attention. Ron got overlooked a lot."

Hermione bit her lip. "Nearly all his stuff was hand-me-downs when we met him. Still is in fact. He only got his own wand when his brother's broke."

"He didn't have his own wand?" Sirius was very surprised at that.

"So what?" Harry asked. He got the feeling he wasn't going to like where this was going.

"Harry, what is the most important equipment for a wizard?"

"The…wand…" Now he was beginning to see.

"I don't doubt that they love their kid. But when they choose to use prize money for it rather than hard earned and also use that money to visit a brother, you can see how he feels he isn't loved as much. Do you know if Ginny got her own wand from the start?"

"I…don't know. Probably. She got a new dress for the Yule Ball when she might not even be going while Ron's dress robes are…unique in a bad way."

Sirius shook his head. "Parents can have their favourites, but they don't usually show it. Being the only girl in a family of boys does give her reason to have new things, but not a wand or books or a new dress when another would be humiliated. I'm not saying they are bad parents, but they are playing favourites even if they don't know it. Ron thinks he's the unfavourite. He found a place in school and that immaturity led to a bad decision that he didn't know how to fix. Then public opinion got to him."

Harry knew that he would have forgiven Ron if he did this last year or the year before. Lashing out at him like he had after the ceremony was something he wouldn't have normally done. Ron had no idea how to react to that and had gone off on his own.

The Quidditch practice…McLaggen said that he was only on the team because he was friends with the Boy-Who-Lived and had two brothers on the team. In hindsight, I was the most difficult target to hit. Maybe he wanted to prove himself a little while making me look bad.

"It doesn't excuse his behaviour," Hermione retorted. "Especially with the dragons."

"No, it doesn't," Sirius agreed. "That said, I don't think he realised how dangerous the tournament was until he saw them in action. That's why he thought you would be fine Harry."

"He had no intention of telling Mercury," Harry responded. "He always believed they were crazy, even when they described the monsters they were trained to kill. Ruby said some of them were bigger than the dragons."

"It's not an excuse Harry. Friendship is a two way street. But jealousy is known as the green-eyed monster for a reason."

"I'm not becoming friends with him again," Harry responded angrily. Ron had siblings that loved him; still had parents; had a home to go back to every summer. He had no right to complain. "He has money now and good friends with Dean and Seamus. If he's willing to get thrown off the Quidditch team, which is what he has wanted ever since I first knew him, then I don't know him and don't want to." Harry had given him the money because he had earned it for facing Aragog with him. "He's changed too much."

"Some would say the same about you," Hermione muttered softly.

"I have a tournament to survive. I can't afford to sail through like I was. And most of them never knew me. I'm the Heir of Slytherin, remember? I'm the one who cost them 150 points in First Year. I'm the one who cheated to get into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Why should I give a damn about what they think?"

"Language Harry." The response was automatic and there was no bite in it. Retelling their three years at Hogwarts had made Hermione realise as well how bad their experiences had really been at school. The teachers were one thing. The students were a horse of a much worse colour.

Harry swallowed. He had been thinking for a while, but he did he ask?

"Sirius…If I wanted to leave the Wizarding World…how would I do it?"

Sirius was quiet for a long while. "For starters, you would have to be very sure that's what you want. It won't be easy. No one is going to like the Boy-Who-Lived leaving the Wizarding World. You would be in for one hell of a fight."

"…Let's say I was."

Sirius sighed. "Okay, if you drop out now, you lose your magic because of the tournament. Legally, after you pass your OWLs, you can do whatever you like as long as you obey the Statute of Secrecy. They're not going to care about that with you, but I wouldn't recommend leaving until then. The Ministry can choose to put you under," he scoffed, "'protection' for your own good."

Protection. Minister Fudge's idea of protection was Azkaban.

"So I would have to wait until I was seventeen to be sure they couldn't legally kidnap me?"

"Sixteen. And your age would be irrelevant. They would kidnap you anyway." Hermione was furious. Before she could speak, Sirius continued. "The tournament, ironically enough, gives you the best out. If you lose your magic, they have to expel you from Hogwarts. The Ministry won't be as interested in a Squib. That said, the public would be hanging every member of the Ministry for allowing it to happen."

Harry scoffed.

Sirius finally looked him in the eye. "The question you need to answer first is very important Harry. Are you willing to give up on magic or the magical society? Put a lot of thought into it Harry. This isn't a decision to be made rashly."

On the face of it, the answer was obvious. But was it a fight he was willing to make? Once he started, Harry couldn't back out.


"Professor Dumbledore, I have a question for you and your answer will decide whether or not you come to harm."

Two weeks after the First Task and they had had little luck in deciphering the screeching inside the egg. However, when Emerald opened it again a very short time ago, the little Peruvian Vipertooth (which Mercury had named Talaria) had been in the room for the first time. She had nudged Mercury and led them to the Black Lake. Opening it under the water had given them the clue.

Tempers had been very high since.

While Mercury and Qrow had gone to the Room of Requirement to blow off steam, Professor Ozpin had headed straight for the Headmaster's Office.

Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I cannot give out details-"

"The Second Task involves the Champions being underwater in the Black Lake for an hour and also involves mermaids. Does it or does it not involve live hostages?"

"They will-"

"My students will not be involved at all."

"They will be in no danger."

"You cannot guarantee that. The Black Lake is huge. If something went wrong, then we have no way of interfering. Mercury is trapped in this tournament. He is the only one from Beacon that is going in the Black Lake."

"The poem-"

"Uses the pronoun 'it'. That does not refer to a person. The poem also claims that after an hour, it is 'not coming back'. A venomous and swift dragon already got loose in the First Task. This Task has a much greater possibility for unseen problems and we will not be able to interfere. You are free to put your students at risk. You will not put mine at risk."

"Each school-"

"My school did not agree to participate in this tournament. Mercury's participation does not allow you to endanger my other students for the sake of this circus. You cannot guarantee their safety. They will not be involved at all."

Professor Dumbledore rubbed his temples. "Mercury cares about his girlfriends most."

"Put either of them down there and there will be a very literal bloodbath. We will not let you take them or put any of the others down there. We will retaliate the way they wanted to after Mercury's name first came out. Are you willing to fight this for a poem that you fully intend to ignore anyway?"

Silence.

"…What do you suggest?"

"Put one of your students down there as you feel that is acceptable. Mercury will rescue the one that he hates the least or the one that doesn't belong to the other Champions. I am not putting my students at risk."

Mercury was trapped in this tournament. If he didn't compete, he could die. Whether he reached the hostages or not was not the main concern. Merely finding a way for him to survive an hour underwater was. Mercury's survival was important, not his position in the circus.

"I will discuss-"

"Don't give me that Dumbledore. Mercury killed a dragon in one hit. Do you want that turned on you, especially after you deliberately put his girlfriends in mortal danger? He will not care for restraint then. Nor will Yang or Qrow. None of my students would sit back and allow kidnapping, especially if it is apparently legal. Their weapons are just dangerous as Mercury's. Your magic works very poorly on us. You would have many deaths before you took even one of us down."

They could not put Emerald at the bottom of the lake at all. Their magic did not work on her at all and she would happily kill in self-defence, especially with how self-righteous these people were proving to be. That was a secret they were determined to keep though. All the students would fight to protect each other and it would only be after the blood has been spilt that it would even occur to them what they had done. Mercury and Emerald probably wouldn't care.

Professor Ozpin did not want that. Murder or even justified homicide was a heavy price. For someone who saw himself as a pawn on a chessboard, Mercury was willing to pay it for a good enough reason and his restraint was mainly because he could be taken away from his Gems, not due to morals. If it meant keeping his family safe, both Mercury and Qrow were willing to pay it.

Dumbledore looked horrified, yet a little sad too. "Are your students that familiar with death?"

"No, they're not. As I said, your magic works very poorly on us. They know that. Whatever spells you want to use to ensure their safety would break very quickly. You would condemning them to death and I wouldn't even know about it until it was too late. I'm the one in charge of their safety; that was the agreement we had. If you went over my head, I can't guarantee your safety from them. They will see it as an attack and fight fire with fire. If I cannot count on discussing this like rational humans, I will be fighting alongside them. You claimed that the Wizarding World is magnificent. These actions equate to tyranny. Your magic is wonderful Dumbledore. It is about time you starting taking responsibility for it and all its possibilities."

In the corner of his eye, Professor Ozpin saw Talaria on the windowsill. The threat from Mercury was very clear: 'if Dumbledore doesn't agree to change the plan, I'll kill him'. The thought was very understandable.

If Dumbledore still chose to undergo his current course after getting the facts explained to him, Professor Ozpin would handle it himself. There was no need for there to be blood on his students' hands. It would have been his failure to keep them safe.

Albus Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock, Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump. If he chose tyranny, then there would be war.

The Great War across worlds.


The Yule Ball.

Harry had not been happy to hear about that. It wasn't just that he couldn't dance; it was that he had no interest in humiliating himself in front of the school for no other reason than entertaining the masses.

The Beacon students had no interest in going unless they were invited by someone they genuinely didn't mind spending time with. Rather than join the circus in the Great Hall, they were going to have a dance in the Room of Requirement. While Mercury was the main one that had been targeted by Hogwarts, the others had been treated coldly as well and weren't interested in causing tension on what should be a good time.

They had said Harry and his friends would be welcomed with more than a polite hello. The party after the First Task had been great.

Harry sighed as he wandered the halls alone. He hadn't asked anyone and didn't really intend to. He remembered the short conversation he had had with Hermione immediately after the announcement two days after the First Task.

"Hermione, if I was going to the Ball, I would ask you to go with me as a friend."

Hermione smiled at that. Then she frowned. "What do you mean 'if'?"

"I'm not sure I'm going. If I am going, I'll go stag. Even if I go, I don't think I'll be good company."

"That's not what I meant Harry. Why don't you want to go?"

Harry scoffed. "Why would I want to go?" He sighed and shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not sure at all and I don't want to waste time doing something I know I'm going to hate."

"You're not making sense Harry. What are you unsure about?"

Could he tell her? She would probably freak out, but she would listen. "I'm not sure I'm coming back to Hogwarts next year."

Hermione hadn't freaked out. She had listened to his arguments calmly, then responded logically with agreements and disagreements. She did not like the idea and it was clear she wanted to talk him out of it, but she did admit his points were very good ones. She had then urged him to talk to someone else about it: someone else he could trust.

When they went to see Sirius, Harry had asked him.

In the carriage on the way back though, Hermione had asked him something else. Something that he had immediately dismissed at the time, but Sirius' explanation and thoughts brought back to the front of his mind.

"It might be easier to walk away from the Wizarding World, but do you think it's possible to fix it?"

Harry's initial thought had been 'no'. However, the thought had stayed. When Sirius explained how difficult it would be to leave the Wizarding World, he had said the public would hang everyone in the Ministry for letting it happen. Since then, that seed of doubt had been growing in his mind.

The Boy-Who-Lived.

Snape had always accused him of using his fame to get what he wanted. Beacon had pointed out that it was impossible to have happened the way everyone thought it did. But since when did facts stop them from gossiping?

But could I do it? Could I use the Boy-Who-Lived to help change the Wizarding World, rather than just attract enemies?

Those thoughts had plagued him. Sirius was right in that he had to be committed if he was going to leave and he didn't want to be left with any regrets. That was why his decision was taking so long.

That doesn't take into account Voldemort either.

That was another question. Would Voldemort stop searching for him if he left? Past experiences said 'no'. It was a key reason why Harry knew if he was going to leave, he needed to keep his magic. That meant he had to at least sit his OWLs. That was only one more year.

But would I live to see the end of it?

Nearly dying was a skill Harry was perfecting. Maybe next time it wouldn't be 'nearly'.

The main problem was that Harry did not want to save the Wizarding World. What had this society ever done for him? They had made it very clear they hated him. It wasn't that he had to do anything; the purebloods were dying out. In a few generations, there would be none left. What did he owe them other than a lifetime of pain? Not one had checked on him when living at the Dursleys, even though they were happy to appear and disappear before he got a proper look at them.

Back then they treated me as a good luck charm. Now I'm an illness to avoid at all costs. Would it kill them to make up their minds?

Probably.

His fist hit a nearby wall. Naturally, Ruby had told him the riddle from the egg after they had calmed down enough to be near a magical. Quite frankly, Harry agreed with them and spent quite a bit of time with Mercury and Qrow, who were still destroying things in the Room (Harry's personal favourite were the mannequins that were modelled after the judges). Neville had offered a solution quickly, so Harry just had to learn how to swim. Nora had confirmed they had got a swimming pool out of the Room before and all of Beacon were willing to teach him. None had judged him or made fun of him.

'What can we do to top stealing from a nesting mother dragon? I know, let's send them to rescue hostages in a freezing cold lake in February where so many things could go wrong that will take about an hour.' I doubt they're going to get the hostage's permission before sticking them down there either. I'm fairly sure that's called kidnapping, but what do they care about a little thing called human rights?

Why should he care what happens to this society?

But you do. You will let them tell the world.

Blake had approached Harry earlier in the week and told them of an idea they had. Seeing as Skeeter should not be called a journalist, they had been given permission by a magazine called the Quibbler to send them articles to publish. They wanted to clear the air about the tournament at the moment, but had asked Harry if they could use some of his experiences, yet nothing that could be linked back to him. Harry could have said 'maybe'. He could have said 'let me see it first'. Instead, he said 'go ahead'.

Maybe lynching most of the Ministry would be helpful.

Maybe threatening to leave would motivate the Minister to do his job.

Maybe he could help those from Remnant find their way back home where they belonged.

Maybe he needed to think on this more.


All of the students were in the Room. Yang and Nora were trying to batter mannequins without breaking them (with little success). Ruby and Zephyr were brewing potions in a nearby corner. Ren and Mercury were at a table reading one topic while Emerald and Blake researched something else next to them.

"Here." Ren pointed at a page and pushed the book over.

Mercury began reading.

The main problem Mercury had was that he couldn't breathe underwater. Spells were out because he couldn't perform them. Neville had suggested gillyweed. He knew the effects very well and how it affected the human body (unlike most magicals) and that was the possible problem. Did Mercury's aura affect him on a cellular level? Qrow said it could have when he was in the infirmary, which meant he needed to learn how to control that ability first. That did assume it was an ability and not a fluke from the circumstances.

The very large fortune had gone to use straight away. Rather than use the school's ingredients, they had bought their own. It hadn't even made a dent. Ozpin and Amber were looking at accommodation outside the school for the summer, much to Mercury's relief. After all the problems they were having with Dumbledore, he did not want to rely on him for anything.

If Qrow hadn't dragged him to the Room that day, he would have happily killed Dumbledore and every person involved in this farce of a circus. That said, Qrow had been just as furious. Ozpin had been pretty livid as well. Mercury was genuinely surprised the organisers, but especially Dumbledore as he knew they had aura and not magic, had merely assumed they would be okay with it.

That may be why Yang was struggling not to destroy the mannequins.

Mercury had learned to direct his anger into more useful areas when he was quite young. Qrow had not dragged him to the Room to quell his anger; he had done it to direct it away from Dumbledore. Mercury had not cared about politics and had wanted to prevent the danger. Qrow had agreed with the sentiment but not his desired actions.

Maybe it would have been a bad idea to kill a man who many consider to be infallible.

It would be a great way to test whether or not he was completely immune to their magic.

With the attempted kidnapping and murder avoided before it started, Mercury could now focus on the most difficult aspect of the Task. With spells out and gillyweed unknown until he tried it (which would almost certainly require a lot of practice assuming it worked), there were very few options left.

Mercury and Ren had put a lot of effort into researching Ancient Runes. They had found that it was possible to infuse Dust rather than magic and that it even worked for them. The experiment had been quite small, merely a force field specific to fire, but the only fire that had worked against it was Amber's Maiden power. Ren hadn't been there when that part was tested. More to the point, using aura, they could switch it on and off. That was something they hadn't been expecting.

The experiment had been conducted using wood, mostly because Ruby had seen runes on Harry's Firebolt and also because wood was a very flammable and readily available material. Ren and Mercury had intended to test Dust infused runes with metal next.

When they learned what the Second Task was, they widened their range. Ancient Runes were something Mercury could use practically. However, was it possible to find a way to use them to breathe underwater for an hour? It was worth looking into.

After another hour, when it was approaching curfew, Qrow approached Mercury and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Silvertongue. We're going for a walk."

Why?

Not knowing what he did this time, Mercury followed.

There weren't any students around. The lit torches in the darkness made for a rather haunted atmosphere and yet there were no ghosts in sight either. 'Depressing' was the word Mercury would use. Recently, the presence of students hadn't changed that, except maybe raising the status to include 'annoying'.

Talaria was trying to bite his rerebrace again. She wasn't even able to leave a scratch or any venom, so he wasn't worried. She was currently at the infant stage and they liked to bite things. He fished in his pocket and gave her a flat stone to bite. She accepted it happily. He was originally going to let Ruby name her, but he changed his mind when hearing her suggestion: 'Coppera'. He got why due the scale colour, but that wasn't sticking. It made him wonder who named Zwei.

"Qrow, where are we going?" Mercury hadn't said much during the walk and was curious. Still, Qrow hadn't given a reason for this late night wander and half of the Gryffindors becoming canaries had absolutely nothing to do with him.

The nine Slytherins that were affected had been due to him and Emerald, but Qrow had no way of knowing that. He was very sure Blake was behind the four Ravenclaws. He didn't want to know what they did to annoy her.

"A Grimm Studies class." Qrow was leading him right to the edge of the water.

Grimm studies? They hadn't seen a Grimm since they got here. Confused but intrigued, Mercury joined him. Why have a Grimm Studies class with only him?

"If you had a Grimm, we could have released it into the Suicide School ages ago."

Qrow snorted. "Somehow, I don't think your teachers would be very impressed at your attempts to cull the underage magical population."

That wasn't quite true. "Only the very stupid ones." They were pests, so the imagery was quite accurate.

"I don't think that difference will make a difference to their disapproval."

"Shame." Mercury was honestly curious as to how their magic would affect Grimm. "So why are we out here?"

"Create your Guardian Form in the lake."

Mercury frowned. The question 'why' was still running through his head, but he did as ordered. Maybe Qrow wanted to see whether or not it was under control. His past record wasn't great. In fact, it was atrocious.

The dragon may be a light silver, but it didn't glow in the dark. There was no worry of someone looking out of a window and seeing it, even from the ship on the lake. It turned towards the school and bared its teeth, but it didn't get out of the water. It was as large as it had been at Mountain Glenn: absolutely enormous.

Talaria let out quiet, high pitch whine and tried to make herself as small as possible, partially hiding behind Mercury's collar.

Now that Mercury studied it closer, something was off.

"No wings?" It had definitely had wings before. In fact, those looked like… "Are those fins?"

Qrow sighed. "Your Guardian Form was never a dragon Silvertongue. That's a Grimm."

A Grimm? The dragon…was a Grimm…?

The huge creature turned its head to look at him. Mercury met its gaze.

His Guardian Form was a Grimm. The Simple and Guardian Forms were what reflected his entire personality and essence. The winged fox was easy to understand and was rather predictable in a way. But a Grimm? Grimm were bloodthirsty monsters that thrive on chaos.

In hindsight and under scrutiny, Mercury could see the resemblance. It made him smile. A Grimm as a Guardian.

No wonder I first created it when I did.

"Did you always know it was a Grimm?" Had Qrow known he could create a bloodthirsty monster from the very beginning?

"Yeah. There's a picture of the original article in one of the upper year books at Beacon, though one hasn't been seen for quite a few years."

"Why did you never tell me before?" It wasn't an accusing tone. Mercury was merely curious.

"Heh…Well the reasons at the time are obvious." Mercury would agree with that. Qrow's gaze went from the teen to the Grimm. "Then we wound up here and you ended up in a deadly circus. It didn't matter that it was a Grimm or a dragon as you can't control it yet. It doesn't matter whether or not it's a Grimm when it would attack the crowd rather than the Vipertooth. You're not the kind to rely on what can be called a 'wildcard' at best when there are other options. I didn't tell you because I don't think it matters and was only going to tell you after you could control it merely so you knew what was 'factually correct'."

Mercury thought that over. Qrow wasn't wrong. Mercury spent a lot of free time working with Ren on Ancient Runes and their experiments. He had read up on many potions and was pretty good at brewing them, but he didn't enjoy it the way Ruby did. He read Blake's notes on spells solely for recognising the damage that the opponent wanted to do to him so he knew how violently he could counter. At the moment, his research was practical and all his free time was spent with his Gems.

They had had a lot on their minds without adding the implication that a great amount of Mercury could be likened to a Grimm. The only difference between an aura Grimm and an aura dragon that mattered at the moment was that a Grimm would be more difficult to control. Mercury didn't care about that.

Qrow didn't care.

"You're telling me now because this Grimm is suited to being underwater." The fins were a testament to that.

"Yep. Must have been quite a shock to the first explorers that came across it. It normally lives in the sea, but has attacked airships before. Most of the shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea are the result of this thing."

"Doesn't change the fact I can't control it." Mercury had never heard of the kind of Grimm that lived in the sea. Why was his Guardian Form that? Why not the gorilla like Grimm from Initiation? "Maybe I can get a different aura animal for underwater."

Qrow scoffed. "I wasn't aware you liked swimming so much that you were happy to go in a large northern lake in winter."

Mercury groaned. "Whoever designed these Tasks needs to be checked for insanity potions."

"I doubt many at their Ministry of Morons would last one day there if that wasn't a job requirement."

"That's a pity." Then a thought occurred to him. "How are the spectators supposed to watch this Task? Are there going to be a bunch of people with cameras down there?"

"Probably not," Qrow chuckled. "I'm guessing the spectators are going to be very bored."

"Serves them right."

The Grimm turned its head back to the school. It shot out of the water with incredible speed, but Mercury instantly dismissed it. He had not ordered it to go to the school and there was no doubt what would have happened had it reached. However, Ozpin was insistent Dumbledore should get a chance to make an informed decision.

If someone still came for his Gems, Mercury was going to kill them and screw the consequences. They had been warned. Let's see how these guys fight against someone that is immune to their weapons, along with the fact they had no idea how to adapt.


The last time Harry had been in the Forbidden Forest at night, he was almost eaten by Aragog. He was steering well clear of that area.

The only reason Harry was in the Forest at all was to avoid the Yule Ball. Professor McGonagall had not been happy to hear Harry wasn't attending. She had argued with him and wasn't backing down. After ten minutes, Harry had enough and said that short of the Imperius Curse, which didn't work on him, nothing would get him to go and good luck finding him. Professor Dumbledore tried his luck then, but had no more success than Professor McGonagall. He tried to play on school spirit, but Harry pointed out he had killed a Basilisk and faced a dragon for this school and the student body hadn't cared.

If they were looking for him now, Harry didn't care. He had told them they would be wasting their time. It wasn't his problem if they didn't listen.

Harry had not gone too deep into the Forest and he stuck to the trail. If his mind was going to wander, he couldn't allow his feet to.

He chuckled as the Ford Anglia came to mind. Was that still roaming in these trees?

This must be the clearing in which the dragons were kept. It was quite close to the school. Harry was beginning to wonder how many students knew about the dragons beforehand. Probably not many, but it could have been a few. All of the Beacon students had admitted to going into the Forest out of sheer curiosity. That trio had followed Karkaroff in, but what had made Karkaroff curious in the first place? He had probably heard them.

The Second Task involved hostages, so the Headmasters and Headmistress must know about it.

Headmaster Ozpin hadn't.

Harry had no doubt Professor Ozpin hadn't known about the hostage part until they had cracked the puzzle and heard the poem. Why? If they wanted to put Ruby or Emerald at the bottom of the lake, surely they would have consulted with the one in charge of their safety. For some reason, they hadn't.

Was it because they are thought to be muggleborns with no political power? Surely Mercury's knifing of Malfoy would tell them that they would fight back violently.

Legal kidnapping.

Sirius had said that the Ministry wouldn't allow him to leave the Wizarding World. Harry couldn't have survived a Killing Curse, but that hadn't stopped them from dubbing him the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. However, Hermione had pointed out that Harry had killed the Basilisk, not because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, but because he wanted to save his best friend's sister.

Still, the newspaper had then made it about the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry kept coming back to the same question: was he willing to use his influence from a lie to change things that didn't want to be changed?

Why should I? They're not my responsibility. I'm only fourteen.

Harry really didn't want to give up on magic. He didn't want to give up on his friends. But he wasn't willing to stay in Hogwarts until Seventh Year. Magic was wonderful and Hogwarts was great, but he just couldn't put up with this student body for that long, especially after seeing how another school operated. How come an of age warrior school was better disciplined than immature teenagers with magic?

A clatter of hooves caught his attention. Harry turned his head to the side and saw two centaurs. They had originally had their bows drawn, but had lowered them at the sight of him.

"Foal. You should not be in the Forest."

It took a moment for Harry to reply. He tried to remember what Hagrid had told him. All he could remember about that night was Voldemort and Firenze. They hadn't been happy with Firenze that night, so Harry didn't want to bring it up. He didn't recognise these two at all.

"Sorry. Am I trespassing?" Maybe the reason the Forest was forbidden was because it was centaur territory. He had always assumed it was because it was dangerous but that didn't fit with Hogwarts' general lack of health and safety.

"The Forest has many dangers foal. Why are you here?"

Harry wondered. Why had he picked the Forest? He could have just found a room in Hogwarts and with the Map, he could be sure no one would find him.

"I needed to clear my head." Though he wasn't any closer to finding his answers. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Perhaps you should watch the stars foal. Mercury is bright tonight and Mars is growing closer. It would be wise to return to the castle."

Huh? Mercury's survival smart but what has that…Hang on. Mercury the planet. What did that mean? I remember doing this in Divination. What did that one mean?

Mars was the planet Harry knew. War. The centaurs had mentioned that Mars was bright when the unicorns were being killed. Harry wasn't in the mood for another life-threatening situation. He got in enough trouble without going looking for it.

"Understood." He didn't want to fight for his life tonight. "Thank you."

"Do not stray from your path." The centaurs vanished deeper into the trees.

With a sigh, Harry turned back the way he came. Seemed he wasn't going to get any peace in the Forbidden Forest, so he had to find a classroom or something to hide in until past midnight. He had his Invisibility Cloak in his pocket, so that was also an option. That was how he intended to get back into the Tower.

He had no intention to returning to the Tower so soon though.

A random classroom it is.

However, as Harry passed the lake, he saw someone moving near the shore. Judging by the movement, they were skipping stones. Curious, Harry threw the Cloak on and moved closer. He hadn't expected someone else to be out on their own.

Who is that?

She was wearing Ravenclaw robes, but Harry didn't recognise her, not even as someone in his year. Was she in a different year? Possibly Third or less.

"Hello Harry Potter."

Harry jumped. He took note of the fabric around him before being sure she couldn't see him. Yet she knew he was here. How? She merely skipped another rock without looking at him though, so he could walk away if he wanted to.

Harry took the Cloak off. "How did you know I was here?"

"I heard you approach."

"But how did you know it was me?" The girl just smiled. She skipped another rock. "Okay. You know who I am. What's your name?"

"I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Pleasure to meet you Luna."

Luna waved her wand towards the water. "Accio." One by one, rocks began popping out of the lake and landing at their feet. She picked one up and put it in his palm. "This was my best throw."

To Harry, a lot of these stones looked the same. He had never skipped stones before, so he wasn't expecting much. Four skips.

"A very good first attempt. Mine only went two." She smiled at Harry's confusion when she slipped a few into her pocket. "Talaria likes flatter rocks."

Talaria. "Who?"

"The little Peruvian Vipertooth that imprinted on Mercury. It was a pity what happened to the Hungarian Horntail."

That was an actual dragon?! Hang on… "The Horntail model was an actual dragon?" And he had-

"Yes. It's okay Harry. You didn't know."

That didn't change the fact Harry killed it. It had imprinted on him and he had killed it. He was no better than them.

"Harry, you had no reason to think it was an animal."

That didn't help. "Were all of the models animals?"

"No. Just yours and Mercury's and he didn't know it at the time. The ones in charge didn't know it either and wouldn't have cared if they did know. You care. That makes you better than them."

"They didn't throw it into the arena to face a nesting mother."

They threw a human in that could adapt.

"They would have destroyed him afterwards anyway." Luna offered Harry another stone. This one was a lot more circular, but Harry didn't care. He took it and threw it as hard as he could. "Middle of the lake. I think I can get my next one farther."

She did.

Harry may be able to throw his next five stones farther each time, but Luna always managed to throw hers exactly where she said she would. Harry was very bad at that skill. He was reminded a little of de-gnoming at the Burrow.

He ignored the pang in his chest.

"Didn't fancy the Ball then?" Harry asked. His next stone was close to a pyramid shape and only went a few feet.

"No. This Ball is not for fun."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Zephyr had called them 'performing monkeys, with no offence meant to monkeys'. "Nothing about this tournament is fun."

Luna smiled. "The sad thing is that the original ones were."

"They didn't have five Champions."

"Back then, they would have been welcomed, not scorned. Nargle population has been on the rise since though."

Harry had no idea what a Nargle was. "What about the Ball Remnant are having?"

"That's for fun."

"Fancy a dance there?"

"I would like that very much."

Hermione had gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, who had originally liked her because she wasn't a fan girl that couldn't be in the same room as him without squealing. Harry sympathised a lot with that and told her to have fun. He wasn't going to be happy if Krum upset her and he was going to let Krum know it.

Luna had wanted to get changed first, saying it wouldn't take long and that it was appropriate. With a shrug, Harry snuck into Gryffindor Tower to get changed himself. As formal wear went, his dress robes were okay. They weren't as bad as Ron's old ones anyway. He had wanted to wear them merely so they weren't a wasted purchase before he changed his mind.

Harry wasn't finding answers tonight.

Still, it was Christmas.

The door to the Room of Requirement appeared when Harry paced. Curious as to what he would find, Harry pushed the door open.

A…ballroom…

It was a decorated ballroom and a fairly big one too. There was a side table for refreshments, circular tables to the side for resting and even themed decorations around. The only thing missing was a raised platform, but there was no need for one: there weren't any live performances.

"Oh. Doilies. Interesting." Luna liked it at least.

The adults were in the corner, smiling and chatting. Seven students were dancing on the dancefloor. Yang moved away for a few moments to place a record next to the recorder before returning. The two boys weren't wearing dress robes, so they probably hadn't gotten their outfits at Hogsmeade. Every girl was stunning.

More importantly: all of them were having a good time.

Blake finished her dance with Ren with a bow and went to greet them. "Hey guys."

"Hi," Harry replied. "Somewhere in your world?"

"This is a smaller version of the Beacon ballroom. We had a dance a little while ago and this was what we came up with, except for the fog machines. The Room couldn't duplicate that."

Their dance had had fog machines?

"Zephyr?"

Blake smiled. "Fleur invited him to the Yule Ball. He agreed to go." Harry remembered how Ron acted around her and worried a little for Zephyr. That expression must have shown because Blake chuckled. "The reason Fleur asked him is because he's immune to her allure. She's half Veela; she can't help it."

Looks like Harry had misjudged both the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons Champions. He hadn't really talked to them at all though.

'Little boy'…Wonder what she thought when hearing about the Basilisk.

"Thank you for the invitation." Harry followed Blake as she re-joined the group, leading Luna. It only occurred to him now he didn't really know how to dance, but he found he didn't care.

Harry did feel a little guilty at his rebellious behaviour. He hardened his heart a little. He was thinking about leaving the Wizarding World. Why should he care if he didn't play the performing monkey?

After three dances, Harry had had enough. Luna smiled at him and dropped him off at one of the circular tables with Mercury (despite him not telling her what he was feeling) and began to dance with Nora. Ren was by the drinks.

"Enjoying yourself?" Mercury asked.

"Err…Dances aren't my thing."

"Tell me about it. Still, it could be worse. We could be downstairs."

"Yeah." Harry turned his chair a little so he could watch the dancers. "Why do you think your name came out in the first place?"

"A prank. Whoever put your name in took off the three school limit and mine was able to come out."

Harry snorted. "Whoever did that is probably regretting it."

Mercury smirked. "Hopefully."

With a sigh, Harry switched seats so he was directly next to Mercury. Mercury merely raised an eyebrow. "Can you keep a secret Mercury?"

"I can. Doesn't mean I will."

Emerald with Yang. Ruby with Blake. Nora with Luna.

"If I was to say I was going to leave the Wizarding World, what would your reaction be?"

"That you've got a working brain in your head." Mercury glanced at him. "At some point, ask Qrow about the muggleborns and half-bloods that graduate Hogwarts. Voldemort is the least of this society's problems."

Ren joined the group. The song changed to a much quicker beat than a waltz; something that a DJ might pick. It was less of dancing with partners and more of large group synchronised fun.

"You wouldn't think me a coward?"

Mercury's eyes returned to the dancefloor. "No. I would call you a survivor. There's a big difference between bravery and stupidity. Sometimes it takes more courage to leave than stay."

Harry's eyes went to the dancefloor as well. He mulled the words over.

How many of his actions had been due to stupidity rather than bravery? If he was going to stay alive in Hogwarts at least until his OWLs, he needed to be more careful.

The Sorting Hat had wanted to put Harry in Slytherin. He had not wanted to be in the same House as Malfoy, but his hatred of Slytherin only came later. But how many Slytherins had he interacted with except for Malfoy and his goons? Almost none.

If Harry wanted to live his life, he needed to start balancing his Gryffindor side with his Slytherin side.


AN: I will admit, it didn't occur to me to use the Basilisk for armour, so thank you for that suggestion. In comparison to dragonhide armour, I think that Basilisk would be just as good if not slightly better, but was able to grow a bit with the person until the difference was too large so rather than buy several dragonhide armour, Harry would only need two or three Basilisk armour.

It occurred to me when reading OOTP that Moody found someone using goblin connections. It wouldn't surprise me that they had links to the black market.

Thanks for reading.