Three days after the incident with the troll, Harri received a letter. It was a month in coming, and Harri had begun to wonder if she would ever receive a reply to the note she had dispatched to Remus Lupin. Her own note had read:

Dear Mr. Lupin,

My name is Harri Potter and I have learned from a professor of mine at Hogwarts, Professor Snape, that you knew my father quite well at Hogwarts. I don't know much about my parents. My aunt and uncle didn't talk about them, and I didn't know about magic until I received my Hogwarts letter. I was hoping that you might be able to tell me about my father. I don't have anything specific in mind, maybe just something kinder than what Professor Snape has to say about him. In any case, I hope this letter finds you well, and that if it isn't an inconvenience you could write me back.

Harri

It had taken five drafts before Harri felt comfortable sending the letter off with one of the school owls. She hadn't wanted to come across as an ignorant school-girl, though she was pretty sure she had. Harri just hadn't written many letters in her life. She didn't know how to address Remus Lupin. She could only hope that he might write back.

And he did.

Dear Harri,

I apologize for the late reply, I was recently ill and was indisposed for about a week. I was very shocked to receive your letter, and even more surprised to hear that you live with your Aunt and Uncle. Your mother and her sister did not get along.

Harri, your father was the best of men in my eyes. I miss him dearly, and it saddens me greatly that you don't know anything about him. We were dorm mates in Hogwarts. I was often ill, and your father went above and beyond when it came to assisting me at school. There was never a time or a place that I was happier, and that was largely thanks to your father and our friends at the time.

In school, your father and I formed a group called The Mauraders, and we got into trouble often. Your father was very clever with a wand and enjoyed making mischief whenever possible. Our seventh year your father was Head Boy along with your mother as Head Girl. It was the first year he didn't blow anything up. Perhaps it was the long nights patrolling the corridors, but your mother finally agreed to give your father a chance.

They were soulmates and knew it from the moment they got on the Hogwarts Express. I think at first Lily was enamored with him, but James being eleven, wasn't very mature yet. By the end of the first week, Lily declared that there must be some mistake.

So finally, they started seeing each other and fell madly in love. Their happiness only grew when you were born, Harri. If I can tell you anything in this letter that your parents would want you to know it is this- they loved you completely. More than anything in the world, including their own lives. I wish they could have seen you grow up. In a perfect world, you would have grown up with your parents and three strange uncles. I still mourn dearly that isn't the world you live in.

I can remember the day you were born with perfect clarity. Your mother was overdue by about a week, and your father was losing his mind. Lily begged us to get him out of the house, so we took him out to a pub for a few hours. By the time we made it back to Godric's Hollow, Lily had already left for St. Mungo's. Her friend Alice was in the healer training program and had stayed with Lily until we dragged your not so sober father to the hospital. Your father made more noise than your mother honestly. Running around like a madman. He had no idea what to do with himself. Until he held you for the first time. He looked down at you in his arms, and the man I knew changed. He had looked so lost before, none of us had any idea what it would be like to be a parent. He was looking down at you, and it was as if his entire world shifted.

I hope this letter finds you well,

Remus (Mooney) Lupin

Harri was glad she had elected to read this letter in private. It was a much better account of her father than the one Professor Snape had given, she thought, dabbing her eyes.

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered with frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harri would be playing her first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harri play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harri should be kept, well, secret. But the news that she was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harri didn't know which was worse- people telling her she'd be brilliant or people telling her they'd be running around underneath her holding a mattress. She was worried she would spend the entire match semi-visible out of sheer embarrassment.

Harri was ever thankful that she had Hermione as a friend. She didn't know how she would have gotten through all her homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent Harri Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Ron and Neville had saved them from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harri's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during a break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harri noticed at once that he was limping.

He was also clearly in a foul temper. Something about their guilty faces caught his eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"It's Friday, Miss. Potter. Have you been to the hospital wing today?"

"No sir, I was…"

"Do not waste Madame Pomphry's time then. If you are supposed to go in the morning I suggest you use your breaks more wisely than loitering around."

He then limped off. Harri's relationship with Professor Snape was complicated, to say the least. She liked the man. Strangely. He wasn't nice. In fact, he was usually quite rude to her. He did not cut her, or any Gryffindor, slack in his class. He was always sticking his hooked nose into her business.

Yet, he seemed to mean well in a lot of it. Neville had officially caused three separate explosions in potions class. So Snape seeming snappish in class was probably warranted. If directions weren't followed students ended up in the Hospital Wing. He did favor Slytherin, but he wasn't blatantly taking points away from Gryffindor.

"Wonder what's wrong with his leg?' Neville asked as Harri packed up her bag to head to the Hospital Wing before their next class.

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harri, Ron, Hermione, and Neville sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking their Charms homework. She wouldn't let anyone copy, but by asking her to check they got the answers right anyway.

Harri was due to head down to one of her meetings with Snape. What a way to spend a Friday night, she thought grimly. They were nearly done collecting her memories at least. Harri was quickly running out of memories of blatant abuse, but Snape was starting to give her prompts to see if anything new came to mind. They wanted to be as thorough as possible, to get a complete record of Harri's time with the Dursleys.

Harri bid her friends goodbye and wandered down to the Hospital Wing. She peeked inside but didn't' see anyone. There were no injured students, and the lamps were all low. Madame Pomfrey had a light under her office door, but the door was shut. Snape wasn't here. Harri checked the time, she herself was already ten minutes late.

She made her way to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again. Nothing. She could hear muffled talking inside, maybe they couldn't hear her? Perhaps Snape was inside… she pushed the door ajar and peered inside- and a horrible scene met her eyes.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harri realized this was not a scene that was meant for her eyes. She tried to shut the door quietly, but-

"POTTER!"

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hid his leg. Harri felt her magic frizzle around her. The pure rage in Snape's voice reminded her viciously of Uncle Vernon… she could see his face clearly. His big beefy neck pulsating with rage, his face gone purple… his fists curled.

She was frozen. Why did she always freeze? She wanted to run, she couldn't run.

Whatever Snape was saying to her, she couldn't hear. She was suddenly lost in memories of Uncle Vernon's rage. Of his purple face twisted in hate, the way he shouted her name, "POTTER!" or "GIRL".

A hand was on her shoulder. She flinched back at the sudden touch, tripped over the back of her robes, and fell to the ground. She looked up, mentally back at Hogwarts and away from Privet Drive.

Snape didn't look nearly so angry now. He looked resigned, as he often did around Harri.

"You should have waited in the Hospital Wing," he said with a hiss.

Harri only nodded, not sure of what to say. He extended a hand and helped her to her feet. He motioned for her to come, and led her back the way she had come. When they reached the Hospital Wing it was now thirty minutes past their appointed meeting time.

With a wave of his wand, light filled the wing. They moved to their usual table in the far corner, and Snape took a seat. Harri hesitated.

"Sir," she began, "Why haven't you had Madame Pomfrey heal that? Cerberus bites have corrosive agents in them from the saliva."

Snape's eyes narrowed at her. "And how would you know that, Miss. Potter."

"I read about it at the Library. I like zoology."

"Let me rephrase then. What do you know about the Cerberus in the school"

"I'd rather not say, sir." Snape looked up at the ceiling and seemed rather like he was counting to ten.

"Have you been in the same room as the beast, Miss. Potter."

"Well… um… yes."

"And it didn't bite you?" Snape said with clear exasperation in his voice.

"Well no, I know how to make it go to sleep," Harri replied.

"And I suppose this was also in your library book?'

"Yes." Harri met Snape's eyes for a moment and thought about the dog being fast asleep in the third corridor.

"Are you trying to steal whatever the dog is guarding?" Harri asked the question before it was fully formed in her mind. As always with such a question, she regretted it immediately. Anger could be the only response.

But Snape didn't look angry, only very wary. "How do you know the dog is guarding something, Potter?"

"I was with Hagrid when he collected a package from Gringotts. I didn't see what it was. But Gringotts was broken into later that day."

"Aren't you quite the detective," Snape replied with a sneer. He looked very far from happy.

"Miss. Potter, I must implore you to keep this information to yourself. It is not I trying to steal such a thing. But what is being held here at Hogwarts is of the utmost importance. It must not be stolen."

"Then why were you with the dog?"

"Use your head you silly girl. Why would a troll be in Hogwarts? As a distraction. I saw through that," he spat.

Harri simply stared at her Professor. "You were protecting it."

"Yes," Snape hissed.

Harri nodded… still not entirely sure what had occurred Halloween Night.

"I think," Snape said, "that we will not meet tonight. Back to your common room. I won't have it said that Slytherin won because I kept the Gryffindor seeker detained till late in the night."

The game. Even Snape was thinking about it. Harri felt the nerves that had followed her around for the last two weeks catch up to her again.

"Everyone will hate me if I'm no good," Harri said glumly; confessing what she had worried about for weeks.

"It is a foolish sport, Miss. Potter. I myself detest flying. Anyone who links one's ability to fly with a person's character is not worth your time."

"That was strangely comforting, Professor."

"God help me if I am giving comfort to a Potter," Snape replied, a rueful twist to his lips. Harri felt that she had been forgiven her for seeing his leg, and replied with a small smile of her own.

"Goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight, Harriet."

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast,"

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

Harri felt terrible. In an hour's time, she'd be walking onto the field.

"Harri, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harri, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

Lavender and Parvati were sitting nearby, consulting Witch Weekly's horoscope page. Lavender read Leo aloud. "You may feel a bit stodgy today, Leo, but things are going to pick up tonight. There will be a great deal of air to fuel your fire, and you're ready to burn! You could be like a desert of dry sagebrush just ready to be set alight. The whole mountainside is about to go up in a beautiful blaze of glory. You're ready to shine like the brilliant star that you are"

"Looks great then, Harri! The stars will be in your favor. Air to feed your fire. Leo is a fire sign after all" Parvati exclaimed. Harri wasn't sure if that was what the horoscope had meant.

Hermione just shook her head and muttered about what tosh horoscopes were.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

The first year Gryffindors were all sitting together in the top row. As a surprise for Harri, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Lavender and Parvati had managed to paint it to look very like the real Gryffindor crest, and Hermione had enchanted the lion to move and look like it was roaring.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, Harri and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green).

Wood cleared his throat for silence.

"Okay men," he said.

"And women, there are more women than men on the team Oliver," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all be waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harri, "we were on the team last year."

"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."

"Two years without Charlie and everyone acts like the team went to the dogs," George whispered to Harri.

Oliver just glared at them all, as if to say win or else.

"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

Harri followed Fred and George out of the locker room and, hoping her knees weren't going to give way, walked onto the field to loud cheers.

So far the game hadn't been going badly. Gryffindor was in the lead, and Harri was managing to dodge the bludgers that were headed her way. It was easy enough to avoid hearing the commentary or think about the stands below. All that mattered was the Snitch.

However, it was as Harri dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past her head, that it happened. Her broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, she thought she was going to fall. She grabbed the broom tightly with both hands and knees. She'd never felt anything like this.

It happened again. It was as though the broom as trying to buck her off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harri tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal post, she had half a mind to ask Wood to call a time-out, and then she realized that her broom was completely out of her control. She couldn't turn it. She couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated her.

Her broom then began to roll over, with Harri only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harri's broom had given a wild jerk and Harri swung off it. She was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

The whole crowds was on its feet, terrified. The Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harri safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good- every time they got near her, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath her, obviously hoping to catch her if she fell.

Finally, for whatever reason, Harri was suddenly able to take back control. She clambered back on to her broom, and in her relief, she saw a glimmer of gold. Harri dove. She was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw her clap her hand to her mouth as though she was about to be sick. She hit the field on all fours- coughed- and something gold fell into her hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" she shouted, waving it above her head, and the game ended in complete confusion. Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty.

"It was Snape," Ron was explaining. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"But he wouldn't!" Harri exclaimed. "I like Snape, why would he want to make me fall off my broom." Then Harri remembered their conversation last night. Harri knew about the three-headed dog. She knew that Snape had tried to get into the corridor.

"Rubbish," Hagrid was saying to the others. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

"I found out something about him," Harri said slowly. The others looked very curious. "I really don't think he would do anything though. He wouldn't. He… he was good friends with my mother. He's told me about her. Why would he try to kill me?"

Because you may know too much, Harri thought. What if it was all a front? Another person pretending to be kind to Harri. Pretending to care about Harri.

"What did you find out?" Hermione asked.

"He had a run in with the Cerberus on Halloween. He said he was stopping someone… whoever let the troll in. It bit him."

"But what if it was Snape who let the troll in!" Ron exclaimed.

"And Snape was trying to go through the trapdoor!" Neville added. Neville hated Professor Snape with a passion. Snape had taken to hovering over Neville during potions, which only made him more nervous and prone to messing up.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked, not paying attention to Neville and Ron's accusations.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah- he's mine- bought him off a Greek chappie I met in a pub las' year- I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"

"Yes?" said Harri eagerly.

"Now don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it," said Ron.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he try and kill Harri?" cried Hermione.

"We don't know he was trying to kill me," Harri defended.

"He was making eye contact!" Hermione nearly screeched. "I know a jinx when I see one, Harri. I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"The fire could have made any number of people stop making eye contact," Harri shot back.

Hermione glared at her.

"How can you trust someone who may well have tried to murder you today, all because you knew he had tried to get past Fluffy on Halloween?" Neville asked with a frustrated tone.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harri's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn't try to kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh- yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's gaurdin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel-"

"Nicolas Flamel…" Harri muttered to herself. She was sure that she had heard the name before. "Did… did Dumbledore train with him?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself, and wouldn't answer Harri's question.