Me: alright, here is what the poll says so far.

Skip Around- 12

Book by Book- 6

Again, I will keep this open for a little while longer and I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter! Wonder what kind of things Sasuke would have to deal with…but first we shall tune into Hermione and see how she gets the information out of Hagrid and what was in the bottle!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. (WAHHHHH!)

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Unsure of what the potion in her hand was, Hermione poured it in to Hagrid's drink when he was outside for a moment then left before he could see her. The potion didn't look quite like the Truth Potion, but it may be a kind similar. When she saw him take a sip, she knocked on the door and was cheerfully told to come in. Hagrid grinned at her. "Professor Dumbledore, sir!" he greeted, stunning Hermione for a moment. A potion that caused illusions?

"Hello, Hagrid," she greeted back, hoping the potion would alter her voice as well for him.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Hagrid asked, thinking that he was speaking with Dumbledore instead of a student. Hermione caught the slight change in Hagrid's eyes, probably to make him see whatever the potion was supposed to make him see.

"Well, Hagrid, I need to check on the Stone," Hermione replied, sitting on the chair. "Yet I cannot remember how to get past your Cerberus. I tried to walk by him and he tried to attack me."

"Oh my!" Hagrid gasped. "Fluffy didn't hurt you, did he, Professor?"

"Oh, no," Hermione said, smirking. "I managed to confuse him for a moment and leave."

"Strange," Hagrid grumbled. "I never thought he would try to attack you. But if he has, I suppose you should charm an instrument of some sort to play music for him. He'll fall straight asleep."

"Ah, thank you for that," Hermione said as she got back up.

"Maybe I should come with you, sir, to make sure he doesn't try to attack ya again."

"No need," Hermione assured. "I'm sure I have a harp around somewhere."

Hagrid nodded as Hermione left the hut. She was halfway up the path when Harry suddenly appeared in front of her. She gasped and nearly fell down, but he caught her by her arm and pulled her back up. "Did you use it?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "He said music put the dog to sleep. He thought I was the Headmaster."

Harry smirked. "I managed to get a hair off of the old fool and used it for that potion so the drinker would see everyone as the person whose hair was in it," he explained. "I think it was pretty useful."

"How long until it wears off? Because I put it in his drink," she asked.

"Not long," Harry replied. "Five minutes after his drink is gone. As long as he doesn't see anyone else, he won't know what's going on."

"That's pretty smart," Hermione complimented. "Where did you come up with that?"

"The Restricted Section in the library," the Nin said with a shrug of his shoulder and a smirk non his lips. "I don't need permission."

Hermione gapped at him as he made his way back to the castle then ran after him. "What do you mean you don't need permission?" she exclaimed. "You're not breaking a school rule, are you? You can't be going in there on your own! Even if you knew Alohomora, you shouldn't be able to get in there without someone noticing."

"We get in all the time," the raven commented as they entered the castle. "So long as no one tells and no one sees, we can keep doing it."

"You are breaking in!" Hermione gasped in shock. "How are you doing it? Someone has to notice when the door is unlocked!"

"Who says we unlock the door?" Another smirk formed on his lips, a little bigger than his previous one. "I am only telling you this because it shows my trust in you. Mild trust, but trust all the same. If you tell anyone, that trust is gone. Consider this a test of how much I can trust you. Draco has already taken this test and has yet to tell anyone."

Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. A test of trust? "How do you get in?" she warily asked.

Harry stopped in his tracks, causing her to stop as well. He turned and leaned towards her until his mouth was by her ear. "We teleport," he whispered. "Not Apparate, teleport." He pulled back and walked off once again, this time without Hermione following. If she told, he could always use a Genjutsu of some sort to make her forget or rearrange her memories so that she was never told, but they would have to keep a closer eye on her. He felt that he didn't need to warn her about what would happen should she tell. She probably already knew.

He rejoined Terra, Roku, and Sasuke in the library. The Uchiha was sitting on a window sill, staring out at the large lake, as Terra and Roku skimmed over books they managed to take from the Restricted Section not long ago.

"Terra," Harry called, bringing attention to him. "Has Tayuya taught you how to play the flute at all?"

Terra thought for a moment then nodded. "She has," Terra replied. "She even gave me a wooden one made from bleached wood. Why?"

"I think we have an audience of three wanting to hear your music," Harry chuckled. "Though if it isn't as well played as Tayuya's, it may just put your audience to sleep."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. What was this kid saying? Whatever it was, Terra and Roku seemed to understand well enough from their nod.

"And I was thinking," Harry said with a small sigh and a smirk. "Maybe we can see how strong a spider's thread can be by hanging from it from a unknown height and see how long we can last."

Roku nodded. "Anything unexpected could happen though," he pointed out.

"We'll just have to deal with it as it comes," Harry chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.

Harry shook his head. This Uchiha was so slow. Why did his father want him so badly? He could always try again with Itachi. "If we speak out native tongue here, people will either think we're plotting something or they will just assume we're discussing private matters," Harry pointed out. "The old man will believe we're plotting. Why give him the pleasure?"

"Because it's more fun?" Terra giggled, jumping onto the window sill next to Sasuke then swinging her feet.

"Be that as it may," Harry sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "We don't want him thinking he can control what we do. If we talk about things like this in our language, he will probably believe we are figuring out a way to get around everything. In a way, he would think we're doing exactly what he wants us to do. We could give him the pleasure, but if we continue to plot like this, he will probably try other things in later years thinking he can control us."

"Why not go ahead and let him?" Roku suggested with a wave of his hand. He got a few confused looks. "Deception. We do what he wants us to do and act like we don't know he wants us to do it. Eventually, he will think he has total control over us. And when he thinks that, we'll make it all crash down."

"I like that idea!" Terra stated with a grin.

Harry and Sasuke both stared at the two. "Well, if we act like his faithful puppets, we would probably get more and more information as time goes on," Harry pointed out. "But if he even suggests a Re-Sort and try to get us into the obnoxious House, we're killing it there."

"OR we can tell him we'll be inside spies since we're trained in stealth," Terra said.

"Best to not bother," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, the winter break is coming up. We can use this as a chance to prepare or carry out while others are gone. We don't know what to expect."

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"Hey, do either of you two know where the Uchiha went?" Harry suddenly asked when they headed from the dorms to the common room.

"Probably doing his morning training," Roku scoffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets as they entered the room, only to stop in the middle of it and stare. "This is strange…" he commented when they saw a large tree in a corner with many colorful boxes under it. Jiyo just stared from his spot on Roku's upper arm.

"Hai," Terra agreed with a nod of her head, not even disturbing the groggy hawk on her shoulder. "What is this?" She looked over at Harry.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, leaning away from his female teammate.

Ritsa moved over to the pile of colorful boxes and tasted the air around them. She didn't taste anything dangerous in the air. A slight nudge at the pile forced a wrapped object on top to fall over and land next to her, making the serpent jump in surprise and rush back over to Harry, coiling herself around his leg.

Harry looked down at his summon then over at the pile of wrapped objects before walking cautiously over and picking up the one that nearly fell on Ritsa. He looked at one side then turned it over and went wide-eyed when he saw his name on it. "This has my name on it," he said in shock.

"We don't know what it is," Roku pointed out.

"It's pretty light, probably some piece of clothing," Harry said, weighing the object in his hand then using his other hand to press down on it. He placed it down and pulling out a kunai, using his weapon to rip away the wrapping to reveal a silvery robe. "What's that?"

Terra went closer to it and picked it up. "No idea," she said. "Mind if I put it on?" Harry waved his hand in approval before Terra grinned and threw the robe around her then wrapped it around her completely, leaving only her head uncovered. Seeing both boys staring at her in shock, she looked down only to see she no longer had a body. "Nani?" she exclaimed, throwing the cloak off of her and onto a couch.

"How about we go down for breakfast and figure out how to deal with this afterwards," Harry suggested, picking Ritsa up from his leg and placing her around his neck. "We might get a clue as to what is going on. Maybe Hermione-chan can shed some light on this…confusion."

The other two nodded in agreement as they left the common room. They didn't worry about the cloak being stolen seeing as they were the only Slytherins that stayed over the winter break. Only they didn't call it a winter break. The staff called it the 'Christmas Holidays'. Whatever that was…

There were few Gryffindors that stay over this 'Holiday', including Hermione, but unfortunately also including a certain red-headed Weasley that more times than not made Harry want to slice his neck with a kunai. "Ohayo, Hermione-chan!" Terra chirped, skipping over to the bushy-haired girl. The Weasley glared at them, but they ignored it.

"Ohayo, Terra-chan," Hermione greeted back. Little by little, Hermione had been learning Japanese. Just enough to get by with basic greetings and questions. Terra had been very helpful teaching her. "Happy Christmas!"

"Christmas?" Harry and Roku repeated, looking at each other in confusion before back at Hermione. "What's that?"

Hermione seemed to freeze in shock and stare at the two like they just announced they didn't know what a blade of grass was. "You don't know what Christmas is?" They shook their heads. She sighed heavily then started to explain it. Once she was done, they understood now why they didn't know about it before.

The shinobi didn't have 'Christmas' back home. In their minds, it was a waste of time that could be used for training or for missions. They didn't know what it was, but it was just pointless in their minds. Not only was it pointless, it showed weakness. Giving gifts to those they cared about only let others know that the person receiving the gift was a weak spot. Orochimaru never done Christmas, and no one back in Otogakure did it either. It was time wasting in their minds. Besides, it made no sense.

This 'Santa Claus' person could not exist. If he did, then how would he get into heavily guarded villages and get past traps that were around every corner? Harry didn't think it was like that in other villages, but Orochimaru was paranoid. It just made no sense.

"So did you open your presents?" Hermione asked with a wide smile.

"We opened one that almost landed on Ritsa," Harry replied with a shrug. The snake seemed to pout. "Some kind of cloak. Terra put it on and suddenly, she was just a head in the air."

Hermione was shocked once again. "Who was it for?" Hermione asked before Roku and Terra pointed to Harry. "You got an Invisibility Cloak?" she exclaimed. "Those are really rare!"

"And Invisibility Cloak?" Harry repeated in confusion. "We're trained in stealth, why would I need a cloak that turns me invisible?"

"Well on information gathering missions, you can stand in the middle of a room filled with important people to hear what they are planning and they won't know it," Terra pointed out with a smirk. "Or you could sneak into a camp and do whatever the mission is without anyone know it."

"True," Harry agreed with a nod of his head. "Let's go get the Uchiha. I gotta tor- I mean, train him. Because Chichue said so. Yeah, train him." His teammates only smirked knowingly at him. "We'll see you later, Hermione-chan."

"Okay!" she said as the three turned and left. "Wait, what about your breakfast?"

Each of them stole some toast and sausage from a plate on the Gryffindor table.

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Still unsure of what to expect, Harry was once again in the Restricted Section of the library, leaning against the wall with a book in his hand. It was mostly useless things in it, so he sighed and closed the tome before sliding it back into its place. A thick black and silver book caught his attention next and he reached up to get it. He only opened the cover before the book started screaming. He closed it in a second and placed it back.

Hearing someone close by, he concentrated his chakra to his feet then ran up the wall and onto the ceiling silently. As soon as he was on the ceiling in the middle of the library, Filch and his cat came in. He looked around, spoke softly to the cat, and then went into the Restricted Section. Harry continued his silent run along the ceiling and out of the library. As soon as he was in the hallway, he fell to the floor and softly landed, barely making a sound, then ran off at top speed.

He had to skid to a stop and hide in the shadows behind a statue when he heard someone else making their way towards him. Seeing a door ajar to his left, he squeezed through it without it moving and hid inside as the two pairs of feet walked by the room.

As he waited for them to leave, he glanced around the room. It looked unused with desks and chairs stacked against the wall, but in the center was a mirror. It was large, about as high as the ceiling with golden clawed feet and a golden frame. His eyes glanced up at the inscription on top.

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

It made no sense, but then he read backwards. 'I show not your face but your hearts desire.'

Curious, he stepped towards it until he was standing right in front of it. He stared at the frame before looking into the mirror himself and gasped. His mother stood behind him. He had only seen the pictures Orochimaru kept in his possession, but this was her. He looked behind himself and reached a hand out. No one. Only air. He looked back to the mirror to see the red-haired, green-eyed woman and smiled softly.

"Okaa-san," he said softly. She smiled at him and nodded her head, running her hands through his reflection's hair. He closed his eyes with a sigh, imagining the feeling of his mother's hands combing through his black locks. "Otou-san misses you." She seemed to giggle at that. "Are you truly here, okaa-san, or are you just an image of what I desire?"

She only continued to smile gently at him. He smiled back at her then sat on the floor. There was a foggy image in the background behind his mother, but it did clear out and there was everyone he held dear to him from Otogakure. Orochimaru stood behind his mother and Kimimaro, who looked healthier than ever, sat next to Harry. Tayuya stayed off to the side with the rest of the Sound Five. Kabuto was standing behind Kimimaro. Though currently with him inside of the castle, Terra and Roku appeared in the mirror as well. Terra stood next to Tayuya as Roku was seated by Kidomaru.

His family, both here and gone. In both this world and the next.

He closed his eyes. He truly was soft. Not showing it, but deep down, he was. There were so many people that could be used against him, and he knew that the number of them would only continue growing. He opened his eyes to stare at his family. His mother seemed worried and his father only had his head tilted to the side. Kimimaro had a hand on his shoulder and Kabuto looked ready to kidnap him and cuddle him until he felt better. Harry smirked slightly, remembering when Kabuto often did that when Harry was younger. Everyone else just stared at him, not showing any concern but he felt that it was there.

"Am I weak to let all of you this close to my heart?" he asked softly. He noticed Orochimaru seemed to smirk before shaking his head, same with Kimimaro and Kabuto. His mother smiled at him and hugged him from behind. The Sound Five seemed amused, as did Terra and Roku. He sighed gently. "If you all say so."

"Say what?" someone asked. Harry barely jumped, so engrossed by the mirror that he foolishly let his defenses down, yet would not show it. He turned his head to see the Uchiha leaning against the wall next to the door. "Why are you staring at that mirror?"

"According to the inscription, it is supposed to show my hearts desire, just as it would show you yours should you be in front of it instead of me," Harry replied, turning his attention back to the mirror. He stood up and took a few steps back, the image in the mirror disappearing once he was a couple steps away. "Stand in front of it and tell me what you see."

"Why should I?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Because I said so," Harry stated with a firm, stare towards the Uchiha. "Do it. I'm curious as to what you would see."

Sasuke scoffed again, but made his way to the mirror and stared at it. "I see nothing," he said before Harry pushed him forward and to the left a little more.

"You must stand in an exact spot for it to work, I assume," he noted. The Uchiha sighed but stared at the mirror before his black eyes widened. "So what do you see, little Uchiha? Do you see your family living? Do you see your bother dead by your hands? Do you see yourself as ruler over all, filled with power? What do you see?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and turned his head away. "Why should it matter to you?!" he snapped, practically stomping out of the room.

Harry smirked slightly. "He must have not expected what he saw," he commented to himself before looking to the mirror. "Such a wise way to find ones weakness, if others could see the desires as well."

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His team was gathered around him, Terra to his right, the Uchiha by her, and Roku by him. All of them had their weapon pouches yet none of them had their summon animals with them. "Now would be an opportune time to collect our target," he stated. "There are few students here and with it being this late, there will be few senseis wondering about. Remember, Uchiha, as soon as we collect it, you are to return home. The sooner it gets home, the higher chance there is for things to work."

"I haven't forgotten," Sasuke commented.

"Then let's go, and be prepared for anything," Harry said before the four were off.

All the portraits slept and no ghost crossed their path. One teacher was walking around on the path they had chosen to get to the location quickly and without detection, but he was easily avoided. They eventually did reach the third floor corridor and stood outside the door that held the Cerberus. "Tayuya has taught you enough, I hope, Terra," he said.

"She has," Terra assured, twirling the bleached wood flute in her hand.

Harry gently opened the door and the four stepped in. Three growling heads looked towards them before Terra started to play a tune she often heard Tayuya play. Knowing it was a demon song, Terra often practiced it in case Tayuya ever taught her how to summon and control demons. At the first note, the eyes were already dropping and the snarling was growing quiet.

The three-headed dog lowered to the floor and fell asleep as the three boys made their way over to the trapdoor. Roku opened it and the other two looked inside.

"It's so dark," Harry commented. "I can't see the bottom."

"Neither can I," Roku said, peering over the edge once the door was laying on the floor. "Still, spider string or a large snake?"

"Spider string," Harry answered. "The opening isn't large enough for all of us with a snake, even if we went down one at a time with the snake."

Roku nodded then started making the hand signs after biting his thumb to draw blood. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he exclaimed softly so he wouldn't wake the dog, a large plume of smoke erupted around them before revealing a spider about the size of an elephant. "We need you to make a string of web strong enough to hold all four of us to go down safely. As soon as you no longer hear the music, return to your realm."

"Understood," the spider said before spinning its web and lowered it into the darkness.

Harry went first, then Sasuke, and then Roku. Terra continued playing her flute, but made her way over to the large spider. A piece of the web continued down until a firm tug on it told the spider that no more web was needed. Terra glanced at the large spider before giving it a sharp nod. The flute left her lips and the dog was starting to stir. She jumped into the trapdoor. As soon as she was far enough down and holding onto the web, the spider closed the door then disappeared before the dog was fully awake.

"You up there, Terra?" she heard Harry called.

"I'm here!" she answered.

"It's a soft landing! Try to speed things up! We'll get rid of this plant down here!"

"Okay!"

"Sasuke," Harry turned towards the Uchiha as they calmly waited for terra to come down. The Devil's Snare was already wrapping around them, but not too quickly since they weren't panicking. "You know any Katon?"

Sasuke nodded then quickly did the hand signs. "Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" A burst of fire erupted in front of him, burning the plant before they fell through. Terra apparently let go of the web when she saw the fireball since she landed on the stone floor two seconds after they did.

"Next up?" Roku joked, already going down the hallway, which was already starting to slope.

The trials they had to get through were so foolish, easily defeated. After the plant, they came across a room filled with flying keys. A simple wire attached to a shuriken and precise aim, and they had the key needed and were able to get to the door, unlock it, and open and slam the door closed before the rest of the leys managed to impale them, or even get close to them.

A few simple jutsus managed to convince the oversized chess pieces in the next room to leave them alone and let them continue on their way. Of course, Harry summoning Ritsa's older, rebellious brother helped quite a bit since he did destroy a few pieces on both sides and the kings and queens let them pass.

The troll that was supposed to be next was already knocked out.

Spending enough time around Kabuto gave three out of the four plenty of logic to think by, so the potions that were next weren't that hard for them, but there was only enough for one person to pass through the black fire.

"Only one of us can go through," Harry sighed.

"Not really," Terra stated. "Two of us can. Remember, I can feel the pain, but I can't be hurt. You may need me, Harry. Just in case."

Harry nodded then turned to Roku and Sasuke. "You two wait here or go torment the chess pieces if you want, but stay close. We may need you, and Sasuke, you still need to take the Stone to my father so it can be used to heal the others." The Uchiha nodded his head once while Harry grabbed the smallest bottle. "You ready, Terra?"

Terra was already standing by the black fire, about to step through. Harry smirked and swallowed the bitter-tasting potion, feeling ice flow through his veins, then both went through the fire. For a moment, the dark flames were all they could see until they finally entered the final chamber.

(Everything is now in English)

Harry wasn't very surprised to find Quirrell there. "Why am I not surprised?" Harry asked as the two stepped closer to him, Terra slightly behind Harry.

"Oh, suspecting me, have you?" Quirrell asked without his usual stutter.

"Kind of hard not to when my head feels like it's being split open with a dull kunai… every… single… time… you're around," he commented. "I've always suspected you. Your act is too fake."

"Hmm, and here I thought I fooled everyone," Quirrell scoffed, snapping his fingers before both Harry and Terra were bound by ropes. "I'm actually surprised that both of you made it through. I thought there was only enough of the potion for one person."

"Why should we tell you our secrets?" Harry chuckled.

Quirrell scoffed again then turned his attention to the mirror. "Keep quiet, the both of you, so I may examine this interesting mirror," he ordered uncaringly.

"It won't show you how to get it," Harry pointed out with a soft sigh. "Pointless."

"I have it, I'm presenting it to my master," Quirrell said softly. "But how do I get it? Where is it?"

"This guy has a short temper," Terra snickered, slipping a thin knife from her sleeves and making quick work of the ropes.

As she was working on the robes binding Harry, they heard a voice hiss out, "Use the boy."

Quirrell snapped around, rebound Terra, and then grabbed Harry before dragging him to the mirror. He forced Harry to stand in front of the mirror. "Now tell me what you see," Quirrell ordered, squeezing Harry's shoulder.

Harry stared uncaringly at the mirror, erasing his hearts desire for the Stone's usage, only wanting to find it, which difficult, he managed to do. It worked. His reflection smirked, pulled the Stone from its pocket and when it put the Stone back where it pulled it out, Harry felt a weight in his own pocket. Interesting. "I see you being eaten by a very large, very hungry snake," he commented before spinning around and kicking Quirrell in the stomach.

He ran over to Terra, quickly freeing her, before shoving the Stone into her hands. "Tell the Uchiha to get back to Otogakure with this as fast as he can, let him borrow a hawk if he has to," he quickly said. She nodded then ran through the fires that were still burning. He looked back towards Quirrell, who was running towards him.

Harry jumped over him, his foot catching the man's turban and knocking it down. He spun on the spot where he landed, his eyes widening when he saw the grotesque face on the back of Quirrell's head.

"Harry Potter," the face said, its voice hissing and soft, almost weak.

"I can guess who you are, but I really don't want to," Harry growled out, crouching low to the ground as he pulled a kunai out of his pouch. "It doesn't matter since you'll be gone within a few seconds!"

He lunged towards Quirrell, who spun around and grabbed Harry's wrist before the kunai made contact, then screamed out in pain. "My hands!" he shouted. "My hands!"

Confused, Harry looked to see shiny red, raw, and burnt skin. He smirked slightly, kicking Quirrell in the chest ignoring Voldemort's shouting. Quirrell landed on the floor, Harry soon standing over him before he grabbed Quirrell's face. "So much for the snake's meal," he commented as Quirrell screamed in agony, his face burning, darkening the longer he held on.

There was pain in his own hands, yet he ignored it. One had to be used to pain if they were to be shinobi, after all. All he could hear was Quirrell's shouting, Voldemort's yelling, and possibly another voice in his head, calling his name.

"Okaa-san," he identified the third.

Quirrell soon grew silent and still. Harry rose and stepped back, turning towards the dying fire. As he approached the flames that were nearly gone, he felt something fly straight through him before seeing a dark shadow glide through the air and disappearing. His legs felt weak and he soon fell to the ground. He could hear two pairs of feet running towards him and his teammates calling his name.

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If anyone back home every heard about him being unconscious for three days straight, he would never be left alone. Terra promised not to tell, but Roku was the main blabber-mouth, spilling anything that could embarrass anyone else. As soon as he woke after those three days, he expected to see his teammates (maybe Hermione and Draco as well) by his bedside, yet to his displeasure, he saw the Headmaster.

Dumbledore asked what happened and Harry told him nearly everything. There was no need to inform him about Sasuke, or that the Uchiha left with the Stone. He told him about the trials and about fighting Quirrell. When he mentioned that his touch seemed to burn the man, Dumbledore nodded in understanding, saying something about his mother's love for him giving him protection that was under his skin, which was apparently, a good reason to send him to his aunt and uncle in Surrey.

"No," Harry argued. "I will stay with Chichue. It is where I belong." Besides, the 'protection because of his mother's love' thing sounded ridiculous.

"Now, now, Harry," Dumbledore sighed, holding his hands up pleasingly. "Your mother sacrificed herself to save you. If you live with your aunt, her sister, then we can place up wards to keep all those with evil intent away from you. It will be the safest place for you."

"The safest place for him would be with me," someone stated.

Both looked towards the doors were a tall man with pasty-white skin, gold eyes, long black hair, and purple markings above his eyes and going down from the corner of them down the side of his nose, standing there with his arms crossed. He was dressed in a tan tunic with white hakamas, and to Harry's surprise, without the purple thing always tied around his waist.

"Chichue!" Harry exclaimed with a grin.

Orochimaru held his hand up calmingly, and Harry visibly relaxed. "Roku and Terra are very informative," he stated, giving his hand a lazy wave. "I just arrived in time to hear about my son being taken from me."

"Your son?" Dumbledore repeated. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken. Harry is the son of Lily and James Potter. And may I ask who you are, sir?"

"Orochimaru," he answered, stepping towards the old man. He seemed to stare at him calculatingly before smirking down at his son. "Now you know why I wish to keep these looks as long as possible." Harry chuckled. Orochimaru sighed heavily, then looked back at Dumbledore. "There are other schools closer to home he could attend, you know. If you continue harassing MY son and even think of taking him from me, not only will I take him back, but I will make your life miserable and you won't ever have him attend this place again. Hell, I may even feed you to Manda, though I don't think he'd would find you tasty."

Harry started snickering under his breath, covering his mouth with his hands to stop himself from bursting out laughing. He was probably the only one who could find Orochimaru's humor somewhere. "Chichue, you think of anything to get your way, don't you?"

"Of course, why not?" Orochimaru answered. "Now, old man. What say you? Shall you leave my son alone or will I have to feed you to the snakes and laugh as they tear you apart and swallow every piece of you?"

Dumbledore paled very little. This man was Dark. Harry had to be taken from him otherwise he may lose his weapon. Harry could very well be on the road to the Dark and it was up to him to set the boy straight. "Sir, as Harry's magical guardian, I decide who is suitable to take care of him," he stated. "And I will have many agreeing with me."

Orochimaru chuckled softly, shaking his head at the old fool. He had a head as big as Jiraiya's perversion…or as big as Tsunade's breast. Whichever was bigger. "Well, I would love to see you fight against a Lord, a Kage, over him. And don't think I will make it easy. Besides, I believe it is his choice as to who he stays with."

"Chichue," Harry stated. "No doubt. I stay with Chichue."

"Harry, I would like it if you thought long and hard about this-" Dumbledore started before Harry interrupted.

"I do not trust you and ever since I came here, you continuously tried to control what I did and what I was suppose to be like, wanted me to be your weapon," he shot at the old man. "Why should I trust you now?"

"I would never-"

"You tried to make Hermione Granger act as a spy for you, tried to bribe her into spying on me and reporting to you whenever I did anything suspicious," he pointed out. "I saw you. And strange how when I find the mirror, it's gone the next day. Or how about sending someone completely loyal to you, make you seem like the perfect man, yet completely incompetent as our guide? And the Weasleys, strange how wizards try to keep their world a secret, yet they shout out the platform number right when they were close enough for us to hear.

"So many things you've done, yet I can't seem to think of them all right now. And I wonder, will those people you mentioned before still stand behind you if they should learn that there was a Cerberus in the school, one that could attack any student that could have accidentally made their way in? Would they still have faith in you when they are told that three children made it past those trials to get to the Stone?

"I don't think they would."

Dumbledore was silent and Orochimaru was smirking. Yes, Harry was definitely his son.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Me: alright, so we've decided on skipping around, but include important parts for the other books. I'll start doing that the chapter after the next one. The next chapter will be the team leaving Hogwarts, going back home, and heartfelt reunions. So plz review!