A/N: Sorry that it's been a while (and that I was a little late) but I got it done, hope you enjoy it. Also I've made a small edit to the end of chapter 3 in case anyone hasn't seen that.

"Spoken dialogue or signs"

'Thought'

flashback or quotes

"flashback spoken dialogue"

'flashback thought'

Enjoy!

Open

It was several days after the Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch match and they had yet to really plan on how they were going to talk to Hagrid. Hermione and Allison had insisted they study, though with Christmas fast approaching, even they had some trouble concentrating at times. Harry was pacing back and forth impatiently. He, Hermione, and Allison were in an empty classroom on the fifth floor. "How are we supposed to ask Hagrid what he knows? He does tend to talk a lot but even he is able to keep secrets and he always quiets down and tries leaving the area if he can when I'm there." It was true, every time he went to talk to Hagrid about seeing him for tea, the half-giant would move away from the area as fast as he could leaving Harry mid-sentence. Though the last time was interesting, Hagrid had actually looked at him for a solid minute before running off but Harry had been too surprised by the look he had actually forgotten what he was there for, at first.

"We'll just send a letter then," Hermione suggested. "Either Allison and I could write the letter and that way he won't refuse, right?"

Harry stared at Hermione with an open mouth for a moment before he closed his eyes in frustration and asked, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Sometimes it's better to work as a group than by yourself, Harry," Allison said with a half-hidden yawn.

Harry nodded with a smile then lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was working in overtime for the last few days and was developing a headache. "Thanks for the suggestion, Hermione." She beamed at him. "Before we all head back to our dorms, anything new with Professor Quirrell?"

Allison spoke up this time. "I caught him wandering the third floor corridor muttering to himself. He seemed jumpy and was very wary of anything around him, at first I thought it was just another quirk of his like his stuttering or his turban but it seemed like he was actually talking to someone, taking a pause to hear their response, but I was not close enough and I didn't want to get caught so I'm not sure what it was all about."

"That's strange, even though he had his basic quirks, he's not been known to talk to himself, well, we'll just have to keep it up. At least we have some leads but right now I don't think I could think for another minute." Harry yawned loudly. The magic he was using to see wavered in that moment. "I should be going, and I'm thinking you two need the sleep too." They all had varying degrees of tiredness, Harry's exhaustion being the most apparent.

They bid each other a good night and went off to their own dormitories. Harry dragged his way back down to the Slytherin dormitory where he spoke the password to the door. Harry made his way to the boy's side of the dormitory and in spite of his exhaustion, he kept being wary. Even if it seemed like the Slytherin house tolerated him now, the older ones still looked at him with distrust if not hatred. He felt as if someone was watching him and turned to look around. Tracy Davis was watching him, eyes squinting but as soon as they locked eyes she quickly turned around and whispered to Daphne who only nodded along.

Harry didn't care, at least not yet. He'd think of what that meant later on. 'All I want is my bed right now.' Harry changed into his pajamas and was already asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

oOoOo

Over the course of the next week the trio took it easier on their search for whatever was being guarded on the third floor. Harry felt like he didn't have enough info to keep going at the moment and was uselessly working himself into the ground. Hermione and Allison took out a book or two for some light reading, leaving it up to luck to figure out what was going on behind the scenes so that they could enjoy their time at Hogwarts a little more.

In their next potions class together, Harry slowed his process intentionally so that he could watch Hermione work. In that class, it seemed like whoever was her partner, though wary, was more receptive to her attempts to help. She was seen talking with Neville more often now in between classes.

Playfully nudging Hermione during the next meeting in the library, Harry quietly said to her, "You seem to be getting along with Neville now, seems like you have more friends than me and Allison now, I'm a little jealous." Allison chuckled. With the intentional bringing up of that particular topic, Harry threw up a wall of silence just in case, you could never be sure of who was listening.

"Oh, about that," Hermione whispered back. Allison looked up from her books to listen. "After you'd saved me from the troll, I saw myself in Charms class."

"What do you mean you saw yourself?" Allison asked.

"I saw myself back in charms class earlier that day and I saw how I was acting. Every word I'd said in that class was with a tone of condescension… It was only then that I realized that that's why people have been ignoring me, even Neville who was nicer than most people and my parents would've been so very disappointed with me." Hermione explained, "It was strange to have seen that memory with such clarity, it must have been magic right?"

"It had to have been magic, because I saw that memory too," Harry said. They looked at him in surprise.

"You saw that too?" Hermione gasped, "But why didn't you say anything?"

"At first I'd heard things about you from others but I didn't want to jump to conclusions without talking with you first but the 'goodness' of Gryffindor kept rebuffing me at every turn for weeks until the night of the duel and then you wouldn't talk to me," Harry explained, "Then when I saw the memory I was trying to figure out how to bring it up to you without pushing you away but it seemed like you figured things out on your own though so I didn't feel the need, and also I was just happy to have another friend with us and then there was Quidditch and the thing with Quirrell and Dumbledore that has kept you, me, and Allison busy since then."

"Well whatever happened, glad you're able to make friends now Hermione, hopefully you don't leave us for them," Allison said jokingly.

"I would not, I'd rather have you two as friends than all the friends a person could possibly have," Hermione replied with a smile. Allison smiled in return.

Harry nodded and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Harry was slowly beginning to drop his mask in the private meetings and study sessions with Hermione and Allison. He felt that the need to lock himself away was unnecessary in their company but he was still reluctant to be completely free. He had done it for so long now it was a habit and it was hard to let go. Allison had said that at least he was making progress. Still, at most he would give a small sign that would seem like he was just shifting to anyone else but that was enough for them.

oOoOo

The next day, Harry had spent the early morning jogging around the castle grounds for a couple hours in the chill wintery air before he quickly warmed up due to the exertion. Working himself to a sweat, he eventually settled underneath a tree by the lake. Harry hadn't exercised as much as he used to due to his search for the connection that Dumbledore would have with whatever was in the vault at well as Quidditch practice. He decided to do so today because he wanted to work off whatever nervousness he'd built up in anticipation of the 'meeting' he would have with Hagrid later that day.

Allison had sent the letter to Hagrid asking if she could join him for tea. He had responded, agreeing as well as telling her to bring friends.

"That's strange, considering our friendship you'd think he'd be wary of you just as much as he is towards me," Harry said surprised.

"Maybe he's warming up to you? But this is strange," Hermione's eyes widened with curiosity, reading over the letter again.

"Well that's settled then, we'll be meeting with Hagrid tomorrow!" Allison chirped.

Watching the waves crash against the lake shore, Harry thought, 'I'm overthinking this, it's only because I met Hagrid and sort of got to know him. If I prove that I'm the same as I was that day, surely he'll open up again. If only I could call Hedwig down, that'd be amazing I think." Instead of overthinking, he would just not think at all and just relax.

He sat and did nothing but look around, ignoring the cold. The combination of the motions of the water, the slight breeze, the open sky with a cloud lazily moving across once in a while was very relaxing. Harry cleared his mind and noticed a flock of birds flying in the distance. 'What would it be like, to fly without the support of anything but a person's own ability? Of course it's possible for a person to fly with a broom and while it is a joy to do, it sometimes feels quite restricting to have to turn or pull up or angle downwards to move around. It must be amazing to move around like a bird… like Hedwig.' Deep breaths. Think about nothing but obscurities. 'I have power, a lot of it. Ollivander even said that I have a similar kind of power like Dumbledore. Would it be possible to use it to fly? With magic, almost anything should be possible, right? I have a lot of control, I can detect certain magic and can see with it. I can apparate and create walls of silence if I wish but… it seems like people have yet to figure out unsupported flying, at least, that I know of.'

The sound of fluttering wings broke Harry out of his musing and Hedwig descended. Harry held his arm out and the snowy owl landed upon it. "Well hey there Hedwig, what are you doing here? Did you come to see me?" Harry smiled at Hedwig now perched on his lap who only hooted in response. It seemed like it would be a good day or at the very least it would be a good start to the day. Even though Hedwig was perched silently upon him, he felt like things with Hagrid would be okay if not great but only time would tell… in four hours.

"How do I fly like you Hedwig? Hm?" Harry joked looking at Hedwig. The owl hooted and tilted her head slightly and gave him a look as if to say he was stupid for thinking he could fly like an owl. "It would be amazing though, to have free reign over the sky, the wind all around you, right?" An affirmative hoot.

Harry sat there by the tree with Hedwig on his lap, just watching the lake and the sky for another hour. It was peaceful and Harry resolved to do this every other week, he'd bring Hedwig down with him next time if she wanted to of course. Harry held up his arm and Hedwig hopped onto it. "I've got to get ready for breakfast, Hedwig, you should go hunting too, I'll see you again soon," Harry said. Hedwig hooted softly and flew off.

Harry headed back to the castle, showered and changed. On his way to the Great Hall to meet up with Hermione and Allison, he saw Marcus Flint talking with Terrence Higgs and thought back to the "meeting" they had after the game had been won.

Marcus Flint had berated him over what he had not done back in their first match. Harry took it all in calmly and asked if the team captain doubted his ability as a seeker.

"Do you remember what I told you?! Work with your team, screw with the opposing team, that's how we're going to win! You pull that stunt again and you're off the team, understand?!" Flint yelled at him in front of the entire team in the locker room after the match was over.

"Do you doubt my ability as a seeker? Is that why you're willing to cheat in order to win? I got the Snitch in spite of the Weasley twins bludgers and my broomstick that was going wild."

"You could've gotten the Snitch earlier and we would have won either way! You should have just taken the opportunity!"

"I know Slytherin house is full of the ambitious and cunning but is this really the actions of a Slytherin? Outright cheating where everyone sees what you've done? That's not very cunning, too obvious. That sounds more like the actions of a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, possibly the occasional Ravenclaw. If you can't win without cheating in Quidditch, why bother playing at all?"

"I can always go back to Higgs and kick you off the team, Potter!" Flint spluttered in confused anger.

"Yes, yes you can, and I don't doubt that he's a good seeker but are you really willing to keep winning like a Gryffindor and give up my nimbus? I will destroy it," Harry threatened. He wouldn't. After all he had experienced, besides the company of Allison, Hedwig, and Hermione, flying was the most freeing thing he could experience. Harry did consider quitting but Snape did say that he would be allowed to keep the broom provided he kept winning for their team. He was sure that with the money in his main vault that he could just buy another broom but it was sure to be expensive and he didn't want to waste the gold on a new one.

After a moment of silence with some kind of internal struggle clear upon his face, Marcus Flint gave in and shouted, "Fine! You keep playing as you want! But that won't stop us from practicing as we have!"

Harry secretly hoped that Flint would fall off his broom sometimes and wished he did now but for the moment he would put the thought behind him.

"Hey Harry, you look happy," Hermione greeted.

"Is it that obvious?" Harry asked.

"Only to us it is," Allison said from the stairs, she arrived just as Harry did. "Hermione and I have figured out that there are quirks to your mask though you have to look for them." Harry closed his eyes in response and steeled his face to its usual look. It felt funny but it worked because the girls sighed.

Finally the time came and they were heading up to Hagrid's hut on the grounds for some tea, though the trio had something else in mind.

Allison knocked and said aloud, "Hey Hagrid, it's me! I brought my friends with me!" The instant she finished the last syllable a dog began barking and scrabbling at the door.

"Back Fang! Back!" came the loud rough voice of Rubeus Hagrid. The door opened and the man welcomed them in. "Hello Allison, nice to see ya again, come on in and make yourselves." Hagrid stepped back and tended to the kettle over the fire. Harry shared a look with Hermione and they all sat down.

The hut was a cozy little thing. Hams and pheasants were hung around in the single room and in the corner was a huge bed with a patchwork quilt on top. The dog named Fang was being very friendly licking at their faces which they all laughed at. Hagrid was silent though.

Harry steeled himself and walked to one of the windows and opened it and shouted as loud as he could, thinking back to the early morning. "HEDWIG!" The shout echoed far and wide yet no one could really tell whose voice it belonged to. But the gorgeous snowy owl came flying by in a matter of minutes. Every other occupant of the hut was surprised by the shout, Hagrid most of all and nearly knocked the kettle over, even Fang was now silent and paying attention. Harry held out his arm and Hedwig landed softly. Harry brought her inside.

"Hey girl, remember Hagrid?" he whispered. Speaking up, to Hagrid, Harry asked, "I know you've been avoiding me Hagrid, I know I'm in Slytherin and Slytherin has a terrible reputation but you met me, you know me, why?" Hedwig half glided to Hagrid's head and sat down upon his huge mane of bushy hair. The half-giant gently put the owl down onto a table who hooted almost indignantly but remained otherwise silent as he tended to the kettle for several minutes, the atmosphere felt thick, almost hard to breathe. Then he spoke.

"I was scared. So many dark witches and wizards have come from Slytherin. You-Know-Who was especially terrible." Hagrid pulled one of the hams he had strung up and cut off the knots before putting it down for Hedwig to snack on. "I thought it was terrible what happened to your parents and that scar. That scar was a symbol of hope to witches and wizards everywhere. When you were sorted into Slytherin, I thought maybe it wasn't a symbol of hope but rather a symbol showing that you were corrupted by the dark side, that Voldemort had destroyed your family in more ways than one. But then I saw you meeting with Allison and Hermione here for weeks now and I was working up the courage to apologize. I should have realized that even if you were sorted into Slytherin that that one moment with your owl in the shop proved you were anything like the Slytherin students that I've gotten used to seeing everyday."

"It's okay Hagrid, I'm just glad that you realized that. Most people still seem to think that I'm the second coming of You-Know-Who," Harry responded, stepping up to Hagrid and with an affirming squeeze on the big man's arm. Harry thought that it was too easy but there was no hint of a spell around them. He was glad, that meant Hagrid was genuine, at least he thought so. Allison and Hermione certainly thought so and they grinned at Harry who gave a small smile back.

"They may not be wrong, some people believe he's biding his time but he wouldn't come back if so many of his followers had returned to the good side as if they got out of a trance of sorts."

Hagrid put a bunch of rock cakes on a plate and the three took one each, biting into it which jarred them so much because of just how hard the rock cakes were, as if they were actual rocks, and put them down.

The four of them talked about their Hogwarts experience, Hagrid nodded as if he had heard the same from several students before but Harry could definitely tell it was a genuine smile. Lonely students coming to the one person who would listen and enjoyed their company he imagined.

Then they began edging their way to the topic of what was being guarded by the three headed dog in the third floor corridor. "Fluffy? How'd you all know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked, dropping his rock cake onto the floor where Fang scratched at it.

"Fluffy? So you know what it is!" Allison exclaimed.

"Yeah he's mine, bought him off of an old Greek chappie I met in a pub last year and lent him to Professor Dumbledore to guard the-," Hagrid said before Hermione interrupted.

"Yes?" She asked eagerly.

"Don't ask anymore! That's top secret, I shouldn't be saying anything!" Hagrid said gruffly.

"But someone's trying to steal it! It might be Professor Quirrell!" Harry exclaimed.

"Rubbish! Why would he do that?"

Hermione replied instead when noticing Harry's pause at the question. "It was at the Quidditch game, Hagrid, Quirrell was looking at Harry unblinkingly muttering something, clearly he was jinxing Harry's broom to go haywire even though it didn't last more than a few moments."

Allison said the same as well.

"You're wrong!" Hagrid said a little hotly. "Quirrell may be strange but he wouldn't hurt a student! You three should stop trying to meddle in this, it doesn't concern you! Forget Fluffy, forget Professor Quirrell, this is a matter between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel!" Hagrid stopped dead silent. "I shouldn't have said that, I should not have said that, you three forget what I just said." Hagrid took away the tea and the rock cakes and shooed them out of his hut waving them goodbye as though nothing happened. Hedwig followed them out the door landing on Harry's shoulder.

"Well that was odd, but anyways, have either of you ever heard of Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked. "I studied a lot yet I don't think I've ever come across the name."

"I've never heard of it but if Dumbledore is working with him, then surely he must be pretty well-known," Hermione surmised.

"If not well-known then at least he is someone that is as strong as Dumbledore maybe?" Allison asked.

"Well we have about three weeks before the holidays are here so we can figure it out then but in the meantime, don't forget about your other studies," Harry said needlessly. They rolled their eyes at him before they all headed up to the library.

oOoOo

November became a thing of the past and December arrived and with it, so did even colder weather, snow sometimes drifted down from the sky as well. Harry brought Hedwig to Hagrid's hut so that she wouldn't have to stay cold in the Owlery. Every so often, an owl or two would be hurt by the stormy cold weather and they'd be healed by Hagrid at his hut and so Hedwig would see over the whole thing. According to Hagrid, these owls were even calmer than normal with Hedwig around, something the half-giant rarely ever saw even though it happened every year.

"I can't believe it's been nearly three weeks since and we've yet to figure out who Nicolas Flamel is, we've looked in so many books yet have found nothing just like before," Harry complained in an empty classroom that Hermione warmed up with a fire spell.

"To be fair, the holidays have come up and I've been thinking of mum and dad," Allison said wistfully. She missed her parents though they did send letters to each other with her hawk-owl every other week.

"Speaking of which, I didn't sign up to stay at Hogwarts," Hermione told them. "I'll be heading home for the holidays and I promised my parents that I wouldn't spend too much time studying when I get back, I do spend a lot of time reading, at least, they say I do."

"I think we all are at the moment and we should take a break, I won't go home back to the Dursleys even though I know your parents would let me join them for the holidays but I don't want to intrude on your family moment, Allison," Harry thought aloud.

"Oh come on, Harry, you said you know they'd welcome you with open arms and I'm sure they would even prepare a room for you!" She pleaded.

"Please don't argue with me on this, Allison, I'm not ready for that yet," Harry said with a tone that was moderately even yet his eyes betrayed his emotions. Allison met his eyes and instantly understood. She nodded and dropped the subject.

"If you need us, just write to us alright?" Hermione told him.

"Of course I will, you two are my friends, if I find anything here, I'll let you guys know," Harry answered quietly. It was so quiet in their empty room that one could hear a bubble pop if they listened enough. "Look, I appreciate it, I'm glad your parents are willing to accomodate me but this is a year that means something to me even if it seems like I've already been talked to about it to help put it behind me. This is the only year I'll stay here, I promise."

oOoOo

They didn't bring up the topic again as promised and so they began to enjoy the final week before the holidays would begin and the majority of Hogwarts would leave. The Weasley twins had bewitched snowballs to bounce off the back of Professor Quirrell's turban which was admittedly not nice but the man didn't even try and stop it nor did he punish them. He overheard Ron telling Seamus that he and his brothers would stay as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be travelling to Romania to visit another brother of his, Charlie. There were only a few of each student from each house that would be staying for the holidays which would mean that the castle would be eerily empty in a few days. For Slytherin it looked like Tracy Davis would be staying as well, though he wasn't sure why. Surely her situation wasn't the same as his but maybe he was judging to early, still, she was best friends with Daphne Greengrass, anyone could tell that, so why not go home?

The second last day arrived and Harry couldn't wait for things to finish. He finished his assignments quickly and left. The speed with which he had left the final Potions class before the holidays surprised even Snape. How could any student finish a potion in a third of the time when instructions both on the board and in their books say otherwise? Did he read ahead? Was he an innate genius? These were the questions that went through his mind and similar ones sometimes occupied the minds of the other professors.

He wandered the castle for a while just gathering his thoughts and looking around, he never really appreciated the castle decorations and other additions in the months since arriving but maybe there were secrets to be found? A while before classes were up, he headed back to the dungeon classroom so that he could meet up with Hermione then they would meet up with Allison. As he did, he heard Ron asking Hagrid if he wanted help. Harry waited just by the entrance of the corridor that was blocked by Hagrid and the giant fur tree.

Draco then insulted Ron for his family's financial situation. Snape's voice was heard beyond the tree and the professor took five points from Gryffindor for fighting. Draco and Crabbe and Goyle pushed passed the tree and walked into view. Harry kept his head down while Draco and his goons walked by him, laughing at Weasley and the Gryffindors. Several moments later, Harry then cast the dancing-spell "Tarantallegra" at Draco. The blond boy started dancing to his embarrassment and when he tried to cancel the spell his wand flew from his hands. "You idiots! Do something!" There were still students walking about and started laughing at Draco's sudden dancing. Hagrid with his tree and Ron and Hermione walked into view where they saw it. Ron laughed hard and it seemed like the noise attracted Snape's attention who immediately cancelled the spell and Draco huffed and tried to regain what dignity he currently had at the moment, though it was so obvious that he had been affected by the spectacle by his reddening ears. Snape went back in the direction he had come from since he couldn't figure out who had cast the spell and shook his head.

"I don't know who did that but I want to thank them!" Ron exclaimed with joy on his face.

Hermione then saw Harry standing by the corridor entrance and noticed him putting his wand back in his pocket. She narrowed her eyes at him but her face was otherwise struggling to contain a smile. "Let's go to the Great Hall, Hagrid said it looked great."

Ron noticed Hermione talking to Harry who was looking at where Draco had just been and looked angry and confused at the same time. They made eye contact for a second and there was a twitch in Harry's blank face and Ron could have sworn he saw something else for a split second before it disappeared.

oOoOo

For the days until Christmas, Harry was rarely seen and if he was, he was either in the Great Hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner or else it was in the library where he was seen reading books that had no relation to any classes that a first year would be taking. Tracy Davis, for whatever reason, started trying to get his attention. Harry guessed she was just bored so he ignored her, he would not be a person's play thing.

She was starting to be relentless just like Allison was, at first she would leave him alone after a while but she was staying longer and longer around him and it was getting harder to ignore her.

In the early afternoon of Christmas Eve, Harry finally responded.

"You study so much, are you sure you're not a Ravenclaw? Seriously I think you study even more than that Ravenclaw friend of yours or any Ravenclaw for that matter," Tracy Davis joked as Harry turned another page in a book "Practical Applications of Runes" but then he sighed. He shut the book with a snap which actually made the girl jump.

"What is it, Ms. Davis? Months ago you told me to stay away and I have, what else do you want now?" Harry asked staring at her dead in the eyes. She looked a bit shaken at the emptiness of his own. "You even reacted as if someone just killed your cat in front of you the last time."

"H-Hey, I just said stay away from Daphne, not me, we could have gotten together if you wanted," Tracy Davis looked like she didn't believe her own words as she said them.

"That was never my intention with Ms. Greengrass, now if you'll be kind enough to let me get back to my reading."

"Are you serious? Do you have nothing else to do but read? The only thing people really know about you now is that you're part of the Quidditch team, you're the top student, and you spend all your time either in the Great Hall or in the library with your two friends and you're almost never in the dormitory."

"I may be boring but I do think magic is fascinating, if I can maximize my knowledge of magic while I'm here, then it'll be worth it in spite of the people here."

"That didn't really answer my question though," Tracy whined from across the table that they were sitting at.

He felt like he was going to get a headache. "It does and it doesn't, I exercise sometimes."

"Everyone knows about that, some people wake up just as early as you do you know."

"Then you know everything there is to know about me."

"You're lying."

"Prove it."

"I can't though," she whined.

"Exactly."

"But you weren't even making a point, you're just ignoring me!" Madam Pince made a shushing noise at her.

"..." Harry flipped a page over, jotting notes down. Tracy Davis growled in frustration. "Why are you here, Ms. Davis? Surely as a friend of Ms. Greengrass you'd be going home too to be around her?"

Tracy Davis smiled a little bit, "If you must know I'm only a halfblood and Ms. Greengrass, due to her status as a pureblood and as the future Head of House Greengrass, has several obligations to which she must attend to and will keep her too busy even for me, also my parents said they're too busy to take care of me right now so I had to stay."

"Oh how interesting, please tell me more," Harry said completely uninterested.

"The House of Greengrass is an Ancient and Noble house and that means there are rules they must follow and things they must do if they wish to maintain their image such as attending fancy balls which is one of the more popular things that they do."

"I really don't care."

"Hey, you said to tell you more. Fine, tell me something interesting about your family."

Harry sighed and thought back to one of the times he was at Gringotts. "Seven centuries ago, the heads of house of the Greengrass family and Potter family had a minor dispute about a pig."

Tracy Davis stared blankly at Harry and began to laugh really hard so she buried her head in her arms to keep too much noise from coming out. A minute later and Harry had returned to studying the Runes book as the girl across from him lost her mind to something stupid.

"A-are you seri-serious?" Tracy wheezed. "You didn't j-just make that up?"

"Of course not, I may not say much about myself but I don't lie about something that minor."

"Oh I have got to tell Daphne this when she gets back!"

"Why? Surely she already knows?" Page flip.

"Anyone of an Ancient and or Noble House is required to learn of the other houses whether they be enemies or allies and a basic history of how they came to be such a House but the other minor stuff is deemed useless so it is never taught to the children." Scratch of a quill on parchment.

"You wanted me to stay away from Ms. Greengrass yet you're telling me a lot that has to do with her."

"I'm bored and you said you don't care, you're also talking to me finally so I may as well since I have nothing better to do."

"You could study."

"I'm doing fine in class, I don't need to study during our break."

"Why would Ms. Greengrass even care? It's not like it affects her anyways, that our families had a conflict over a pig."

"She is still a person you know."

"I know she is."

"Okay." Tracy went silent, prompting Harry to look up from his textbook. She looked deep in thought. "Where were you on Halloween?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry refused to stiffen up. But now he was really paying attention. He knew Tracy Davis, Daphne Greengrass, and Draco Malfoy all saw him leave and return, but who would know about the troll? There were fortunately no rumours linking him to the troll so he had put it out of his mind.

"Of course you do, you disappeared when the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors headed up to their towers because of the troll, so where did you go? What did you do?"

"I went to use the bathroom, what else would I have done?"

"I didn't want to know that." Tracy said with a look of revulsion.

"Hey, you asked."

"I'm going now, I imagine you'll be at the Great Hall for dinner?" She shook her head and got up to leave.

"When do I miss a meal?" Harry asked rhetorically. Tracy Davis finally left and Harry almost immediately missed her company. 'Strange, that was enjoyable but strange.

Later that day, he finally left the library and waved to Madam Pince who nodded back. 'People don't give Madam Pince enough credit, then again, young children usually hate being quiet.' She once told him of his parents, James and Lily Potter and how they would often study together at the same table he had sat at. She was one of the few people at the castle who didn't look at Harry with hatred or fear just for his placement in Slytherin and so he respected her for that.

True to his routine, Harry showed up at the Great Hall for dinner that evening and sat down at the single table that the professors decided was easier rather than having all House tables out with the few people still there sitting alone. To the surprise of pretty much everyone there, Harry responded to Tracy Davis' benign questions and general conversation though he still said little of anything else.

Later that night as curfew struck, Tracy asked one more question before they went to their separate rooms. "Are we friends now?"

"Do you think we are?" Harry asked . She considered his response and shrugged and they parted ways.

The next morning at the foot of his bed was a small pile of presents. Harry got up and examined them. There was a letter from Allison along with a box of chocolate frogs and a book about Quidditch, a moderately thick book from Hermione called "Impossible Feats of Magic Through Time" and then some kind of cloak with a note on it that simply read: "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you."

'Who would send me a present without naming themselves?" Harry stared at the package with eyes narrowed in suspicion. Harry thought of who may have a connection to him. 'I know almost no one in this world. People I have met and have talked to personally have been Ollivander, a few shop clerks, and the goblins at Gringotts… The professors and some students here and there but that's it. Besides, so many people are suspicious of me because of Slytherin house so who would send this to me?'

He examined it and found thousands upon thousands of impossibly tiny runes stitched into the cloak itself and several powerful compulsion and tracking charms as well as something far more sinister. He couldn't just put them on something else like he did with those spells that had been affecting the Taylors but he could try destroying them outright. The cloak itself seemed to be a very incredible magical item and he did not wish to destroy it.

"I have this magical energy that has absorbed spells in the past, it even stopped Quirrell's jinx… If I raise it like I did then, could I absorb the energy of these spells? I only ever moved those spells from the Taylor house to Hagrid because I figured those minor spells would have no effect on a half-giant or at the very least it would only tickle the man. It's almost ironic, I think, I have survived death twice yet now I may be causing it to myself." Harry gathered his magic around himself then reached out to the spells on the cloak.

As it was before with the Taylors house, the spells fought to reattach themselves, the unknown sinister spell fought the hardest of them all. Harry willed his energy to take out the 'break the will' of the compulsion and tracking spells which it did with a small flash of light accompanied by a snapping sound. Harry started to feel the intentions of the sinister spell that he held at a distance. It wasn't like the compulsion charms as it would actively alter the mind in some fashion and Harry couldn't afford to have that happen, he didn't think anyone could. Harry compressed the spell and it started to crack and scream. Breaking it more and more the spell fought now to attach itself to him and not the cloak. It emitted a final piercing screech that cracked the mirror in his room before the spell was crushed into pieces and it faded. The spell's energy no longer felt sinister, it just was. Harry then allowed the magical energy he had acquired from those spells and took it for himself, growing his already formidable energy pool.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he examined the cloak more carefully now and found several ancient runes that related to sight, to light. It was as if the cloak was meant to hide itself. 'Could it be?' Harry threw the cloak on and stepped in front of a mirror and saw nothing but his head. 'It really is an invisibility cloak! There are so many more runes than I know about on this thing, I wonder if I would ever be able to decipher them all.'

Harry folded the cloak up and placed it in his trunk before taking Hermione's book to the Slytherin common room.

"Merry Christmas," Tracy called from a chair by the fire. Noticing the book tucked under Harry's arm, she sighed and exasperatedly said, "Seriously? Even on Christmas? Do you never stop reading?"

"I told you, I like learning more about magic, and Merry Christmas to you too I suppose," Harry explained again.

"Fine, so what's it about?" she asked as she bit down on a chocolate frog. Harry showed her the title of the book.

"Oh I see."

For an hour, Harry read about various incredible magical feats that advanced magical society little by little. Then he came across Dumbledore. Various developments in magic such as his works in spell casting and spell theory were thanks to the elder wizard as well as his work in alchemy. 'Alchemy?' Harry thought. 'Maybe I should search for things related to alchemy that will lead me to whatever Dumbledore is hiding in the castle but would he really be that… obvious?'

"Dumbledore again?" Tracy cried out. "Bah!"

"What about him?"

"It's nothing, I just keep getting his chocolate frog card with these things, you want it?" she asked holding the card up showing a blank space with Dumbledore's name written underneath it.

"No, it's not like there's anything important about a card with a magic portrait," Harry dismissed.

"Maybe it's not important but it does give a brief description of the witch or wizard whose name is on the card," she told him.

"Just throw it out, I'm going to go to the library," Harry said.

"You're boring, even if Daphne wanted to see you, she would be repulsed by how much time you spend in books," Tracy told him as he went back to his room.

"There's nothing wrong with books," Harry said over his shoulder.

"No, I know, but come on live a little!" Tracy called.

A short while later, Harry arrived at the library and greeted Madam Pince who did the same in return. Looking around Harry found a small section about Alchemy and found a book on the basics. "Basics of Alchemy"

It seemed like it was a relatively old book so Harry took extra care to not fold its pages.

"While Dumbledore has made several incredible discoveries in various branches of magic including the branch of magic known as Alchemy in recent history, there is no one quite as renowned as Nicolas Flamel who is the only known maker of the legendary artifact known as the Philosopher's Stone." Harry celebrated, cheering in his mind. 'I found it! Yes! Thank you Hermione! At least, I think I did.'

"The Philosopher's Stone has been theorized to be able to turn basic metals into gold as well as create the elixir of life which heals any illnesses and prolong a person's life. More about the Philosopher's Stone will be found in section 6."

Harry snapped the book shut. 'That has to be what Dumbledore is hiding! But why would it be here? Clearly someone is after it or else it would have remained in the vault that Hagrid took it out of... Quirrell is the most obvious suspect but how are we supposed to prove it? Even if I confronted him about it, surely he would just lie and report to the other professors and who knows what they would do to me? And since Dumbledore is here there's no way he would try and steal it… right? I'll send a letter to Hermione and Allison, maybe they will know what to do, or at the very least we can think of something to do when they get back.'

Harry finally didn't feel the need to read, he put the alchemy book back where he had found it and left to wander the castle halls. Maybe he would find some interesting items hidden or lost by Hogwarts students over the years, though he imagined that it wasn't going to be that easy, the caretaker, Argus Filch was very obsessed with his cat Mrs. Norris and making sure nothing was out of place and that all things were clean.

The chill in the castle was starting to get to him and Harry decided to return to the common room to warm up.

oOoOo

Later that night in a far off room with a full-length gilded mirror was Albus Dumbledore, waiting with impatience, tapping a foot incessantly and shivering from the cold. "Where is Harry? He should've thought about coming to this room ever since I gave him the cloak! Does he know it's me? That can't be possible, the bastard is only eleven!"

Dumbledore would be fruitlessly waiting for Harry Potter in that room for another three nights.

oOoOo

As Harry went to bed that Christmas night, he thought about his parents, about the life he wish he could've had as he sometimes did. He was grateful for being born as well as their sacrifice that allowed him to live and escape the Dark Lord. He was grateful that because of them, he found true friends in Hermione, Allison, Hedwig, and Hagrid. He wondered who else he would be able to meet besides Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass thanks to Lily and James Potter.

"Merry Christmas... mum and dad, thank you.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Please leave a review.

Edit: I was thinking about this chapter and realized I wanted to add one more thing at the end. I hope you liked it. As for the next chapter, that will come some time around September, I have some real life stuff to figure out that'll keep me occupied for the whole month of August.