In order to get used to Tenebrae, Xanxus made a point of staying in dragon form often when he wasn't reading. A pair of rather amusing red haired twins kept trying to sneak up on him, only to end up in the air half the time by him picking up whichever was slowest with his massive teeth and shaking them lightly as if they were a dog with a toy.

He found it hilarious he earned a backdoor into the common room of the bird brains when Mammon let it slip that his hoard was actually books and knowledge, rather than gold and jewels. Being accepted as an "honorary Ravenclaw" the first time one of the older bird brains caught him in the library with a book on magical history and reading it to a happy Belphegor who was curled up in his lap made his inner bibliophile happy.

The hidden Ravenclaw library was very well stocked, though the older ones were horrified when he claimed several books were highly out of date or just plain inaccurate. And the less said about the sheer lack of any decent fiction, the better. The bookworms were shocked when they came down one morning only to find a large stock of actual fiction (both regular and science fiction) in their common room. Granted most of them were used, but well cared for books, but the sheer fact Xanxus had actually donated such a thing for them to read on their off time was a massive shock...and firmly cemented him a permanent invitation to act as one of the Ravenclaws even if he hadn't actually been sorted into their house.

Xanxus, on the other hand, had been keeping his eye on a few of the students. Particularly one of the Slytherins who definitely recognized him.

So he wasn't very surprised when the Latent Cloud approached him discreetly when everyone else was at dinner.

"Zabini," he said evenly, having already recognized the boy's family.

"Vongola," he replied in the same tone. "Last I heard you were under special house arrest by the don."

"Special house arrest my ass. We were trying to flush out a traitor only to find out that one of our own was behind the rumors of a coup and claimed I was the ringleader. Fucker didn't even give me a chance to tell him I already knew I was adopted long before his ass came into the picture before he hit me with some stupid flame technique."

"You already knew you weren't Vongola by blood?"

Xanxus smirked.

"The Vongola might like to claim their Primo sprang out of 'common' blood, but that's full of shit. Giotto was a Potter who wasn't due to inherit that decided to start up his own branch of the family when he realized that he had everything already established to do it. He just made it official," said Xanxus.

Blaise blinked.

"That...actually explains far too much. Skies don't exactly pop up out of thin air, regardless of what people might think...especially powerful ones like the Vongola Primo."

Blaise suddenly looked at Xanxus, who was wearing his glasses for once since his contacts were giving him grief, before realization hit him like a brick.

"Oh that is hilarious. No wonder the goblet summoned you...and the tainted Sky has no idea of the truth!"

Xanxus smirked.

"Not like I was trying to hide it that hard," he admitted.

Blaise just laughed, having figured out who Xanxus Vongola-Black really was, not who everyone assumed. It was a skillful misdirection from a true Slytherin. Best of all, no one would believe it since Xanxus was physically seventeen.

Blaise knew all too well how common it was to abuse the hell out of time turners in the mafia in order to get the magical exams over and done with quickly, which lead to the minor side effect of aging a year or two.

Xanxus might look close to seventeen physically and have the core to match it, but according to all the records he was actually fourteen. And since no one was aware of who he really was, no one would suspect the truth.

Blaise's eyes glinted.

"You have room for a Cloud?" he asked hopefully.

Xanxus' grin was terrifying in how ferocious it was.

"That depends... you willing to follow orders? Because I have a traitor that needs replacing with someone who's fucking loyal and won't try to pull the same bullshit he did."

Blaise's smile was equally predatory.

"My mother is known as the Black Widow among pure blood circles...however not all of the deaths were caused by her. I know four languages already, and I'm semi-fluent in two more. Considering my only options around here are to follow a so-called Lord who's more like a spoiled brat whenever people don't agree with whatever he's saying and a senile old Sky who lost his balls when it came to violence a long time ago, I'd rather go back home and get a real job. Besides, only an idiot would piss off someone who can turn into a proper dragon, not the paltry imitations that exist now."

Xanxus smirked.

"I'll get you up to Quality standard in time to kill that fucker who betrayed me before we leave. Be nice to have someone competent for a change."

Blaise held out a hand.

"It'll be a pleasure to work with you, Boss," said Blaise smiling.

Xanxus firmly shook it, pleased when the smaller Italian didn't even flinch at his grip.

This mess was turning out to be a good thing in more than a few ways. Not only was he going to get a competent, loyal Cloud, but he had finally unlocked Tenebrae properly!

Xanxus was aware he was being watched. He didn't care.

A small blond girl with wide blue eyes plopped down on the seat across from him.

"It's fascinating how two pieces of chained light can make such pure, untainted darkness. Though why people seem to think the dark is a bad thing I'll never understand," she said dreamily.

Xanxus lowered his book and actually looked at the girl. Very few were aware or cared that both of his spirit animals had been named after "darkness". Or knew that he had been born of two 'light' oriented parents.

Though the idea of them being chained light was far too appropriate.

It took him a moment to register what he was looking at, before he snorted.

Of course. A Lovegood.

"You know I find that the description of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack's habitat sounds really inaccurate," he commented.

She blinked for a moment, before she beamed brightly.

"You believe in them too?"

"Considering the sheer level of magic that exists in the world in places humans have never touched, I'm saying there's a possibility it could exist, just waiting to be found. We know more about outer space than we do about the true depths of the oceans," he countered evenly. "After all, dragons and unicorns were once considered fairy tales by the new bloods, until they found out magic was real and things once considered myth were very much real and thriving. And don't get me started on how many dismiss the faerie realms as imaginary. There's no way this plane of existence is the only one and it's fact that certain people have the ability to actually See things most dismiss."

The girl clapped her hands with delight.

"Oh god... she's corrupted him now too!" said Cho Chang in horror, staring at the interaction between Xanxus and Looney Lovegood.

Several of the more logical Ravenclaws looked at Xanxus with pity and Luna with disgust...only to quail when Xanxus turned a single blood-red glare at them.

"Just because you're too busy sticking in a narrow world view that doesn't allow room for error shouldn't mean she has to do the same," he shot back.

One Ravenclaw, a girl who was a strong Lightning Latent, spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"How much of science was once deemed fictional nonsense or heresy because people refused to believe that the impossible is in fact possible?"

She looked thoughtful.

"Most of what is considered modern science, such as chemistry, actual flight, or electricity was considered science fiction. More than a few scientific minds were often mistaken for alchemists and killed for it because they were trying to experiment with common chemicals and such."

"So it stands to reason that if certain 'truths' can be proven false or can be altered to fit new knowledge, why can't creatures that sound utterly fantastical or ridiculous be real, just waiting to be discovered in some unseen territory that's more or less hostile to humanity?" countered Xanxus. "For all you know her 'fake creatures' could just be an unusual example of a Lazarus Taxon that they got a few details wrong about or mistook for something else."

Dead silence.

"What's a Lazarus Taxon?" asked Marie Edgecrombe, one of the worst instigators when it came to tormenting Luna.

"It's the scientific term for a creature thought extinct, only to reappear in the present more or less the same as it was during it's fossil record. A famous example is the coelacanth, which was believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered alive in 1938 near Madagascar," said the Lightning girl. "And it never occurred to me that perhaps she might be mistaking her creatures for something else entirely."

Xanxus smirked. Luna looked beyond delighted that she finally had someone on her side that was able to get the more stubborn idiots off her back about her imaginary creatures.

"Can I stay with you?" she asked hopefully.

Xanxus looked at the blond before an evil, evil idea came to him.

"I know an old crone who'd love to have someone like you to corrupt."

In Italy...

Daniela looked up from her coffee with a scowl.

"Something wrong?" asked Lilou.

"I have the sneaking suspicion my dear grandson just called me old in a very insulting manner...and yet managed to find me a delightful minion to drive that imbecile of a son of mine up the wall."

Daniela was glad Xanxus was out of the ice...and pissed her son thought he had been clever keeping the truth from the boy without bothering to get all the facts.

Timoteo had looked rather pale when Daniela provided proof that Xanxus was most certainly NOT his son and was in fact related to the Primo himself...more importantly the boy had already known this fact (that Timoteo wasn't his father, not the part about the Primo) long before he was ever brought to the Iron Fort. Xanxus had mostly played along because he wasn't Stupid and knew he'd only get snatched up by someone else if he didn't pretend he was a Vongola.

Massimo had been in shock and Federico had been pissed their father had openly lied to them about Xanxus' heritage...and that he hadn't bothered to get the truth of the coup before using such a dangerous technique that would only cause long-term damage to the boy who was trying to help the Vongola in his own way by flushing out a traitor.

Both of them were so gung-ho to get Xanxus out of that cursed ice...right until Daniela told them he was already free and not because of their father's actions.

Thanks to the fidelius charm, even if they did try to say anything, no one would remember it anyway. They were both relieved and a bit pissed some ancient artifact had dragged Xanxus into what was normally a death trap and that he had kept the fact he could use magic from them.

Then again, considering their father's less than stellar decision making of late and the way he listened far too much to that arrogant blowhard Iemitsu it was understandable.

Though Daniela didn't tell them the rest... that the second Xanxus was done with that ridiculous tournament he was going to give a massive blow to the idiots that put him in the ice.

Iemitsu wanted to pretend he was a good father and a family man, when he almost never saw his wife and son? Xanxus would happily shred that lie to pieces and reclaim the bloodline, while kicking him out of it.

Xanxus was nothing if not vindictive, and this would be a direct spit in the face to both Timoteo and Iemitsu when it got out that they were merely branch members of his bloodline, not the other way around.

"So how goes it with the gossip circles?"

"When that boy of yours reappears, he's going to have a hell of a lot of support from the old crowd. They're not to happy with the decisions your son has been making of late."

Daniela didn't even try to defend him, which was telling enough.

"He lost Enrico through his own complacency and froze Xanxus out of stupidity. If I find one more foolish sin to lay before his feet, I am going to personally wring his neck before insuring that our family survives. Once is bad judgment, twice is coincidence, but three times is a pattern that I am not about to allow to continue," growled Daniela.

Timoteo might have forgotten the old laws of the Vongola, set by the Primo for whatever reason... though now she knew it was laws he had followed with his original family... but she had been brushing up on them since she found out he had put Xanxus through the Zero Point Breakthrough when he was trying to deal with a traitor.