Big thanks to Branwen777 for reading this for me. You are brilliant!

Chapter 8

So many people throughout history have had a warped view of the Founders. Just look at their chosen house mascots. The Ravenclaw's majestic eagle is an interesting symbol. Eagles living high up away from everything in their aeries are hardly a part of the world. The largest chick in a clutch is known to kill the others to insure its own survival. They hunt and live, coldly self-contained. Eagles have always been widely used as symbols for religions, nations, and families. Rowena Ravenclaw showed a distinct lack of creativity for so brilliant a witch. When Hogwarts was founded it seemed as if every group and family seemed to use an eagle on their standard. I never did have much use for Ravenclaws. All that wonderful knowledge hoarded from the world serves little purpose other than increase the sense of awe that the rest of the world is supposed to feel for that most studious of houses.

The Gryffindor's lion is also a study of amazing good press. Their prides are violent, ruled by the strongest male that will kill cubs sired by any other than himself. Beautiful and powerful, lions seem to be the perfect predator. Perfect scavenger is more like. Lions in the wild steal their food almost as often as they catch it. Then again, Gryffindor hypocrisy has always shaped our world.

Next is my favorite, after my family's house of course, the Hufflepuff's badger. Badgers are nasty little beasts. Highly territorial, when sufficiently provoked they will literally tear to pieces an invader in its territory; they have been known to drive away wolves, even bears. Aside from a few admirable traits, I think that they are little more than glorified rats.

Last, but certainly not least, is Slytherin's serpent. Snakes are misunderstood creatures. They are patient. They wait for the perfect moment to strike when the blow will cause the most damage, be the most successful. I think that people have just always been turned off by their being cold-blooded and afraid of a creature that can hide itself so perfectly.

They say that Salazar Slytherin was a patient man. People today would be surprised and disbelieving of that. It doesn't fit in well with the legend that has been manufactured about him. Sleazy, slimy, murdering, Slytherin. Now, some of that is true… but it doesn't even begin to describe Salazar, the man. Clever and calculating, he was not someone to cross. Once wronged, he would wreak a vengeance that would make anyone tremble; but once he loved there was nothing on this earth that would sway him. He was loyal unto death. They say that Hufflepuffs are loyal but the badgers have nothing on a Slytherin once his dedication is won.

My father says that I am a credit to our esteemed ancestor. I do try.

-0-0-0-0-

On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points.
–Virginia Woolf

-0-0-0-0-

Theodore Nott, or Theo as he preferred to be called, settled down on a bench to one side of the Entrance Hall. In this spot he could see out the front doors (when they were open, weather permitting), the Grand Staircase, the doors leading into the Great Hall, and the entrance to nearly a dozen different heavily traveled corridors.

In short, it was the perfect spot for a young man who liked to observe people. No one ever noticed him unless he wanted it and Theo liked it that way. He felt quite smug about all that he knew about Hogwarts' denizens. There was hardly a person in the entire school that Theo couldn't get one over on, if necessary.

If pressed, the students of the other houses would say that Theodore Nott was a loner. No more, no less.

His invisible man act worked very well for his newest task. Of all of his cohorts, Theodore could follow Harry the closest and stay the longest where Slytherins were unwelcome. Without Zabini even knowing that he was ever there, Theo had been able to interrupt several of his attempts at seduction over the week. He had "borrowed" Harry's method of communication for the DA from the previous year and used it to call the closest of his friends to come and save the day. It worked well and his role remained secret.

At breakfast that morning, a subdued Zabini had told Harry that he would have to leave school for the afternoon to meet with his mother—this time without Harry along. This could only mean that the two were meeting to coordinate their plans involving their respective famous beaus.

So Theo waited. He was good at waiting. Harry would eventually emerge from Gryffindor Tower, whether for food, or to study, or just to escape. One of Harry's many secrets that Theo knew was that the enigmatic boy hated staying still. Harry's restless mind, restless energy, restless magic, take your pick would always make it difficult for the Gryffindor to stay locked away. This led to late night wanderings throughout the hallways and tunnels of Hogwarts. Theodore had even seen Harry on more than one occasion loose himself in the trees of the Forbidden Forest. That was one place where Theo would not follow.

Theo sat in watchful silence as Harry's pack of hangers on taunted and manhandled a second year Slytherin. Granger and Weasley were there, watching from the edge of the crowd. Weasley looked like he wanted to take control of the Slytherin's suffering, while the mudblood was watching with a resigned look on her face. With his hand in his pocket he used his charmed coin and alerted the group.

When Harry appeared at the top of the Grand Staircase he showed no surprise, only fury, at the sight of his friends and housemates in the middle of a pack of students harassing a young Slytherin. The visible fury faded and settled on annoyance as Harry elbowed his way through the crowd to get to the poor Slytherin at its center.

"Tormenting the younger years now, Seamus?" Harry growled. "What could he have possibly done wrong for you lot to all gang up on him? Let me guess… he made a pass at Dean or did he just manage to figure out all those tricky second year charms before you?"

Finnegan's face turned a vivid tomato red. Theo was fascinated having never seen anyone change color so quickly without the help of a magic. The only thing that held the Irish boy back from attacking his own friend was a single, sharp word from the bushy-haired muggleborn.

It was impressive to see the amount of control Harry's little trio had over their housemates. "If only they used their powers for good." Theo snorted to himself.

Harry leaned over and helped the crying Slytherin to his feet. With a discreet wave of his hand, healed the other student's bloody lip but left the blood. "Go on." He said in a quiet, but carrying voice. "Go have Madam Pomfrey to see to that lip… or Professor Snape. A healing potion would fix you up just as well."

With a pointed look from Harry the crowd parted behind the second year and the boy began to slowly make his way through the muttering students, only to freeze when Granger began to shout.

"What is wrong with you Harry?" Granger shrieked. "You aren't acting like yourself and if you won't tell us what's wrong then we can't help you!" She was completely ignoring the fact that she had just been sitting back and observing the assault of a twelve-year-old boy.

"I am just curious," Harry began, ignoring Granger, "as to the purpose of this activity?"

"It was practice. Death Eater kids today, tomorrow the real thing." Weasley retorted. He pushed forward to tower over his smaller friend. "He's just a Slytherin, Harry. What do you care what happens to him?"

"That is excellent logic Ron. I know of a very clever man who used the same rationale, but he thought first the parents then the child. Although that didn't work out so well for him, now I think about it." Harry paused theatrically, to give the listeners a chance to puzzle out what he meant… well to give everyone but the Ravenclaw's a chance to catch up.

"But you really should have let me know what you were going to do. I could have conjured up some really authentic-looking white masks for you to wear. You know… just to be ready…" Theo was fascinated to see the Weasel's face go from red to purple by the time Harry was done speaking. (Apparently there was someone who could change colors even faster than Finnegan.) The crowd of students began to shift uneasily as the full meaning began to sink in.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Weasel shouted, looking like he wanted nothing better then to hit the other boy. Granger obviously saw the warning signs and quickly moved to stand between them. "What does it really matter? He will be a death eater just like the rest of his family!"

"That kid's name was Bonham; a half-blood with a muggleborn mother and a historically neutral family. His many-times great grandfather was the one who founded St. Mungos, if I am not mistaken. Was it fun attacking him? I am just curious…" Harry asked, almost absently, as if he didn't really care about the answer.

"My, my, this looks like a delightful gathering! And it looks as if all the houses were invited. How wonderful!" Theo smiled when he saw Pansy move effortlessly to the center of the crowd. Harry's forbidding expression broke a little at the sound of her voice.

"Hello, Hermione dear." Pansy exclaimed, oozing politeness that fooled no one. She moved languidly, sidling up to Harry, winding their arms together and leaning into his side. "What interesting robes! You must have purchased them at Madame Malkins' shop. A lovely women, really. She tries so hard." Pansy drawled, eyeing Granger critically. "Red certainly is a difficult color."

"I would give you the name of my modéliste, but she is terribly selective in her clientele and very expensive. Potters have always been well known for their noblesse oblige, but dear Harry can only be expected to do so much for the less fortunate."

Theo almost howled with laughter at the strange looks the other students began giving Granger and Weasley. They seemed to have begun reassessing the famous trio's friendship.

Pansy turned towards Harry, dismissing the sputtering Gryffindor girl completely. "Harry my dearest love, Blaise has ordered me to fetch you. Apparently he is absolutely lost without your divine presence." She rolled her eyes dramatically and continued, "Draco is about to go to Professor Snape to put Blaise out of his misery. It would seem that you left him quite desolate."

At this point Granger's sputtering had increased in volume and shrillness and Pansy could no longer ignore her. Spurred on by the sparkle she could see faintly shining in Harry's eyes, she turned back to the furious Gryffindor girl.

"Now Miss Granger, that is quite enough." She said sharply. Her voice had gone from her normally saccharin smoothness to sharp and lecturing. "My mother always says that '1the gentle minde by gentle deeds is knowne; for a lady by nothing is so well betrayed as by her manners.' Now I understand completely what she meant when she said that those not fortunate to be born into our society should be sent to finishing school before inflicting us with their presence!"

"Pansy." Harry interrupted what looked to be a very long winded and insulting rant, casting an apologetic glance at Hermione. "Didn't you say that Blaise was looking for me?"

Pansy's grip on Harry's arm tightened as she began to steer him away from the motley group of students, towards the dungeons. She chattered nonsense until they were far enough away from the stunned group to speak freely. The last thing they could clearly hear was Pansy apparently lecturing Harry about his friends.

"…and Mother once told me that *'as for the virtuous poor, one can pity them, of course, but one cannot possibly admire them'. Remember that, darling."

Theo smiled from his isolated spot. Merlin, he loved that girl. He had never known anyone but Pansy who could stun a crowd with only a few sentences. It probably had something to do with being completely shameless.

His eyes had never left the crowd of assorted students. Theo watched their astonishment at Pansy's, admittedly horrid, treatment of Granger. He was pretty sure that he almost caused himself an injury keeping from laughing out loud at their expressions. It definitely didn't escape his notice that Pansy and Harry only moved away once the second year was out of sight, speeding off towards the dungeons.

-0-0-0-0-

Severus swept into his private quarters and was completely unsurprised to find a gathering of students. He wasn't even surprised to find Harry Potter settled in comfortably in the middle of a pack of his Slytherins. He was even less surprised that they were, once again, partaking of his liquor cabinet.

It was a small comfort that no one appeared to be hysterical, this time. What did surprise Severus was seeing Harry sitting comfortably, chatting easily with Crabbe and Goyle on his sofa.

All conversations halted when Theodore noticed the professor's arrival. Only Gregory had the grace to blush at their invasion, before sending and uncharacteristically wide smile at his head of house which could only be attributed to finally being on friendly terms with his boyhood hero.

Harry only watched Severus closely, with hooded eyes and no visible expression.

"So what did they say? What did Cassius say?" Draco asked eagerly.

"Was my father there?" Pansy asked with a hopeful, pleading look.

Severus shook his head. "No. I believe that he is still traveling in Spain with…" His voice trailed off.

Harry smiled and asked "your mother?"

Everyone stilled and looked cautiously at Pansy who refused eye contact. Theo touched her shoulder and gave her a questioning look when she finally acknowledged him. She shrugged and turned away, pretending to read the titles of the books on Severus' shelves.

"Pansy's mother died when she was six, Harry." Draco said.

"But- how?" Harry stuttered.

"Azkaban." Theodore said darkly. "There was a raid on her family home and Mr. Parkinson, like the cowardly berk he is, claimed that his wife was the owner of any and all dark artifacts in their home. He said that she brought them in when she married him and he was too afraid of her to destroy them or report her to the ministry."

"And they believed him?" Harry asked incredulously.

"They believed the sack of gold that he gave to the aurors." Draco growled. "Her trial was a farce and she was gone before the week was out—accidentally kissed is what they claim."

"I spent most of my childhood being flooed between the Malfoys and the Crabbes and Goyles, or with the house elves." Pansy said feigning indifference. "My father likes to travel. He says that I remind him too much of his pain in losing Mother…"

Harry walked slowly to her side, taking time to gather his thoughts.

"I understand." He said. Harry kissed her hand and smiled wryly, "Apparently my aunt was quite pained at the loss of my mother too. You and I will just have to be family then."

"I would like that." She sniffed. "As my mother always said, (2) 'there is no greater power than the power of passive dependency.'"

Harry laughed. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know." Pansy gave a watery smile. "But I always liked the sound of it."

"You just like the sound of your own voice." Theo said fondly.

Pansy glared at him then dragged Harry back over to the sofa and pushed him down into his original seat and lowered herself to the floor at his feet, leaning against his legs.

In the silence that followed all eyes turned to Severus, who felt oddly like he was about to give a particularly unpleasant lecture. Although he had never had a student look at him the way that Harry Potter was looking at him now. The cold, calculating expression only appeared on the boy's face when he was interacting with Severus. With the other students Harry seemed relatively normal.

How much of this was Harry Potter and how much of the boy was a fabrication of Albus Dumbledore. Severus shivered; Cassius' parting words were still ringing in his head as those eyes watched him so dispassionately.

"Mr. Nott's father and Augustus Rookwood will be assisting in the research on freeing Harry from the headmaster's influence and Mr. Malfoy's father will be trying to find evidence to discredit Madame Zabini."

"That's it?" Said Draco, disappointed in the lack of urgency.

Harry laughed. "What did you expect, Draco? Death Eaters swooping in to rescue me on Firebolts with their wands blazing?"

"No." He continued slowly. "This is a smart plan. There is little risk for them and few people tied up and taken away from other duties. The potential gain could be great, but it is a gamble and not necessarily worth the effort… no this is a good plan…"

"How can you say that?" Draco shouted. "This plan is shit. You are stuck with Zabini for the foreseeable future and who the fuck knows what Dumbledore will do next!"

"Are you finished?" snapped Harry. He pushed himself up, off the couch, stepped lightly over Pansy and moved over to the fireplace where he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. He looked closely at each of the Slytherins assembled in the room.

Severus could finally see Lily in Harry's face, as he stood there with the light of the flames flickering over him. James Potter had been more robust in appearance--strong jawed and very masculine. Harry's features were finer, more graceful than Potter's could have ever been. Lily's stamp was stronger than anyone had ever credited.

"You feel guilty." Harry declared, interrupting Severus' musings.

"You did expect a grand rescue, didn't you?" Harry chuckled. "You are thinking like a child. The sufferings of a single person aren't worth the ruination of a lifetime of work."

Draco bristled at the implication that he was childish and lurched to his feet. "You came to me for help and I failed. What am I supposed to feel?"

"My gratitude. When I approached you I was completely lost… desperate. I had nothing." Harry pushed off the wall and walked to Draco and gripped his wrist tightly.

"For the first time in my life, I have someone to talk to--someone who understands my situation. You have given me a group of people willing to help me for no other reason than that I need help. You have also given me a group of people who, helping me is ultimately in their best interest. That is a motivation that I trust."

Draco shifted uneasily. He looked into Harry's face and was astonished by the honesty so openly displayed there.

"You…" Draco spoke hesitantly, knowing how much he was exposing himself to Harry and everyone in the room. "Are you disappointed in me?"

Harry smiled and gave his wrist a squeeze before releasing his hold. "Of course not. You did far more then I could have had reason to hope for, and I thank you for it… all of you."

"Now if you all don't mind, I would like to talk to Professor Snape. We have… things to discuss."

Pansy smiled brightly, clearly pleased at the idea of the two of them setting aside all of their issues and bonding. She hugged Harry before leading Draco from the room. Harry took time to shake hands with Theo and Vincent and let out a loud bark of laughter when Greg hugged him tightly as well. He smiled happily to them all as they walked out the door. His joy in his new-found friends was obvious.

The second the portal closed his expression changed. Harry turned to Severus and the calculating look was back.

Harry resumed his spot by the fire and the dappled light no longer highlighted the delicacy of his face, but the coldness in his eyes.

"Tell me, Severusss." He hissed. "Tell me of my allies and those who would still be my enemies."

Severus shivered at the sound and found himself responding much as he would have before the Dark Lord. He almost fell to his knees at Harry's feet.

Steeling himself, he looked at Harry and asked "Is this you now? The real Harry Potter."

Harry laughed mirthlessly.

"I told you before that what I once was no longer exists. The little boy who cowered before muggles is dead."

"Who are you then?"

"Imagine Severus, being intimately connected to the mind of a brilliant, old, mad-man. Every time he touches my mind more of him infects me and becomes a part of me. He has started showing me pensieve memories he has of Tom Riddle and has asked me repeatedly if I can see when Riddle went wrong." Severus' heart stuttered in his chest at Harry's icy smile.

"When he was my age Riddle experienced much of the same. Dumbledore is teaching me magic that he made sure was forgotten; the same way he taught Riddle. He bends our minds and makes it impossible to see the world outside his vision of it. In us he sees himself as he truly is, not how he presents himself, and is disgusted. Voldemort is Dumbledore and I am becoming both of them."

"H-how does your connection to Voldemort affect you?" Severus asked hesitantly. Being connected mentally with Dumbledore was bad enough, but he was curious about how the Dark Lord's recent improvements had impacted Harry.

"He blocks the connection on his end now. I still get flashes of strong emotion, but it is nothing to what it was. When he was unaware of himself, every time he used magic against me, every time he touched me physically I would get a flood of his memories…"

"But enough of this." Harry said sharply. "Tell me about the Council. Who are the members and where do they stand with regard to me?"

Severus explained the role and function of the Council. And about how after the debacle in the Ministry of Magic, when Voldemort regained awareness of himself he founded the Council because he no longer trusted his own instincts.

He explained about how the Dark Lord chose his most loyal and clever followers to lead the Death Eaters in their cause. Nott, Avery, Rookwood, the Lestrange brothers, the Malfoys and Severus now made decisions along with the Dark Lord and together they made all of the decisions regarding the war.

Severus started to describe their mission when Harry interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"I don't care about your cause. I understand that a fundamental part of it is ridding the world of Albus Dumbledore, everything else is just words. I don't care." Harry tilted his head and examined Severus closely.

"Make sure that this… Council understands that freeing me is in their best interests. Aside from Voldemort and myself, I don't think that any of you has the power to stop Dumbledore in a duel-"

"And you do?" Severus asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do and don't interrupt me again Severus." Harry growled.

"Let them know that I am willing to do whatever it takes to end Dumbledore. In every way. If they help me, I will be your greatest ally. But if they choose not to, well then…" Harry smirked. "They might as well turn themselves in because with me at his side, in the world that he created, Dumbledore is unstoppable."

-0-0-0-0-

A/N: Pansy's character is an homage to Maggie Smith in the wonderful movie, Gosford Park. One of my favorite lines in the movie is her saying "Difficult color, green," when she was insulting one of the other characters who she considers beneath her. It was a bit of improv, which apparently was very Maggie Smith. Love it!

Also, one reviewer said that Harry's behavior was confusing in Ch 6. In case anyone else is having difficulties I thought that I would explain--I am not sure how successful it has been, but I mean for him to be confusing and hard to pin down at this point. His character in this story hasn't been established yet because he is still under Dumbledore's control. If you are getting worried that this is a dark!Harry (I am so amused by the "!" designations.) don't be. He will get less dark and less contradictory in his behavior as the story progresses. Things will start to come together in a few more chapters. I promise!

People have also asked about Ron and Hermione. I will be getting to them and the rest of the Weasleys and the Wizarding World in general. In some ways this story feels like it is moving really fast at times and at other times quite slow. I am curious to hear your opinion to that.

Thanks to all who have reviewed particularly: maggi22211, Erus, Makurayami Ookami, BeLlIxiEs, Touch_of_the_Wind, CelticHeiressFiona, Lientjuhh, SBwTrish, nljfs, who all reviewed in the last chapter and many of the previous ones. Your reviews have encouraged me to keep going and sometimes have generated an interesting discussion that makes me try to make the story better.

1–Edmund Spenser… slightly altered (lady/man, her/his). I also gave Pansy an *Oscar Wilde quote in this scene. Cassius gets most of the quotes, but this one fits perfectly and I like it coming from Pansy.

2-Marilyn French