The Great Hall, Friday 6 September . . .

"You actually know a family of squibs?" Jane asked.

Sally-Anne nodded. Everyone was at the Hufflepuff table this morning enjoying breakfast and reading the morning post. "Actually, there are about ten families of squibs that live in a private village located in the northern end of the Forest of Dean near The Pludds. They call it Rhosan Green," she explained. It had surprised everyone when the native of Herfordshire had got a letter from someone who had written to her on beautiful parchment even if it was delivered by her pet owl, a lovely masked owl she had named Kyrle in tribute to one of her hometown's most famous citizens. "I stumbled onto it when I was in the forest with my father one day back last summer; this was just before I got my Hogwarts letter and learned I was a witch." She giggled. "Libera - that's her name, Libera Meretrice - was out walking among the trees and worshipping them." She giggled. "It's so funny thinking about it now! I could see her, but Dad couldn't!" As people gaped at her, the forester's daughter then laughed. "Which was pretty fortunate for her, since she was totally starkers when I saw her!"

Silence.

"She was NUDE?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Which is understandable."

Eyes locked on Blaise. "You know them?" Daphne asked.

"I know of the family, Daph. They're actually distantly related to my mother's family. When they were still seen as an active magical family before they vanished from view - no doubt because they became squibs - they were pretty passionate when it came to adhering to the old druidic traditions that were active before Hogwarts was founded," Blaise noted. "Sarah, did Libera have my skin colour?"

Sally-Anne smirked. "She's a little lighter than you are, Blaise. I wish I had a picture of her, but my digital camera didn't work in that part of the Forest and I don't have a magical camera. I guess it was a magical ward that was there."

"So why was this girl out in the forest naked as a jaybird?" Achelois wondered.

"Oh, it was some ritual her mother Ceres wanted her to do. I actually met her and Libera's sisters - she's the oldest of a set of quintuplets, believe it or not - that day, too. No doubt, what they were doing was to make sure their place stayed hidden from normals like Dad since they didn't have magic." Sally-Anne then scanned the letter before she laughed. "Oh, there she goes! Calling me a 'mudblood' again."

More silence.

"And you're FRIENDS with this girl?" Hermione angrily exclaimed as everyone gaped at her save Chikage, who only arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Of course I am! Just because her mother's a prejudiced bint doesn't mean she or her sisters are bad people!" Sally-Anne stated.

"Every muggleborn I've ever met HATES that word!" Daphne stated.

"That's because they don't know how to turn the insult against the creep that makes it," Sally-Anne stated. "Mom taught me how to do that."

"How did she do that?" Marian demanded.

A giggle. "The Book of Genesis, of course!"

As confusion crossed the faces of all the magically-raised children, Hermione blinked, and then she breathed out. "Right . . .!" she drawled.

"Someone mind telling us what this is all about?" Pansy asked.

Sally-Anne smirked. "Chikage? You want to handle this one?"

Eyes locked on the traveller. "Genesis. Taken from the Greek word meaning 'birth' or 'origin.' In Hebrew, it's called 'Bereshith,' meaning 'in the beginning.' The first book of the Jewish Torah, the first five books of what the Christians later came to call 'the Old Testament.' No doubt, Sarah is referring to Verses 7, 21 and 22 of Chapter Two of that particular book. Verse Seven goes like this: 'Then the Lord God formed Man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and Man became a living being.' Now Verse Twenty-one: 'So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the Man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.' And the following verse: 'And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the Man He made into a Woman and brought her to the Man.'"

Hearing that, many began to laugh while many others still looked baffled. "Well, putting it THAT way, I can see why it would be useless!" Hermione noted.

"I don't!" Draco stated.

Hermione stared at him. "Draco, mud is formed when you take dust - which comes from the soil - and you add water to it. Therefore, according to the belief of every normal-born who saw or see themselves as Christians - even if they never went to church - that insult Sally-Anne just said means NOTHING at all!"

"In Christian belief, Draco, EVERYONE - regardless if you're magical or not - are descent from Adam and Eve; the man and the woman I just spoke of," Chikage added. "This means that when you address a normal-born like Sarah with that word, you're being the biggest hypocrite in the world. In her eyes, you are no different."

Draco jolted. "I'm not a mudblood!"

Chikage remained calm. "Draco, did I just say that?"

"I'm not!"

"Drake, she never called you that!" Pansy said.

"I'm not!"

Everyone watched as he turned back to his breakfast. "So how is it you still became friends with this girl even if her mom calls you that?" Brianna asked.

Sally-Anne giggled. "After I got my letter and Professor Sprout came to the house to convince my parents that I was magical, I made Dad take me back to where I first met Libera and her family. Turns out the girls were there again with their mom doing what they did when I first saw them." She smiled. "Libera and her sisters were really envious that I got a letter. But when Aunt Ceres began muttering about how 'mudbloods' were destroying wizarding society, I remembered what Mom told me after Professor Sprout warned me about that word. So I told Aunt Ceres, 'How can I be a mudblood and you can't? We're all God's Children, so we're ALL mudbloods!'"

As Draco glared at the blonde Hufflepuff and many of the other magically-raised children gaped, Sally-Anne laughed. "When I said that, Aunt Ceres got this totally goofy look on her face . . . " - She tilted her head to the left and shifted her jaw slightly as she made her eyes go wide, which made almost EVERYONE at the table laugh - " . . . and Libera and her sisters looked at me like I was Santa Claus giving them an early Christmas present!" She sipped her juice. "She even gave me my first kiss."

"She fancies you?" Chikage asked.

"Well, I don't really know," Sally-Anne admitted. "I mean, I don't really think of myself as a lesbian. I like boys, too! Especially all the handsome ones here!" As every boy within hearing range suddenly found themselves blushing, she then shrugged. "I guess Libera and Juno, Vesta, Bellona and Fauna - they're the other sisters - just liked the idea of meeting someone who's a witch and could be accepted by people in a society that rejected their ancestors when they all became non-magical. It's sad."

"It is that," Chikage noted as she gazed at Harry.

He noted that, and then he nodded.

Once he was out of Potions and enjoying a two-period break between that class and his first real class in History of Magic, he'd be writing letters . . .

Friday 6 September 1991
William J. Bone,
The Tower on the Ridge,
Osborne's Dyke
Dear Uncle Bill,
I hope this letter finds you and Aunt Connie well. How's Hank doing?
I just learned from a normal-born schoolmate of mine (Sarah Annette Perks, from Ross-on-Wye) that there may be a magical village hidden in the Forest of Dean near a village called The Pludds. It's called Rhosan Green. I don't recall if this would concern you or Aunt Matilda, so I'm writing a letter to her about this, too.
Just before she got her Hogwarts invite, Sally-Anne (that's what Sarah likes to be called by her friends) encountered non-magical descendants of the Most Noble Magical House of Meretrice of Wye doing a traditional ceremony close to their village. After she got her invite, Sally-Anne had further encounters with this family.
I don't recall overhearing either you or Aunt Matilda talking about this village when you meet the Queen, so I just wanted to make sure all was well with them.
Hope everything is okay there.
Yours truly,
Harry Potter

Friday 6 September 1991
E. Matilda Godwine,
The Chedworth Tower,
Glevum Coliseum
Dear Aunt Matilda,
I hope this letter finds you and Aunt Mariah well.
I just learned from a normal-born schoolmate of mine (Sarah Annette Perks, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire) that there may be a magical village hidden in the Forest of Dean near a village called The Pludds. It's called Rhosan Green. I don't recall if this would concern you or Uncle Bill, so I'm writing a letter to him about this, too.
Just before she got her Hogwarts invite, Sally-Anne (that's what Sarah likes to be called by her friends) encountered non-magical descendants of the Most Noble Magical House of Meretrice of Wye doing a traditional ceremony close to their village. After she got her invite, Sally-Anne had further encounters with this family.
I don't recall overhearing either you or Uncle Bill talking about this village when you meet the Queen, so I just wanted to make sure all was well with them.
Hope everything is okay there.
Yours truly,
Harry Potter

The Vanished Wing, early part of first afternoon period . . .

"So you wrote both of them just in case?"

"Yeah, I did," Harry said as he allowed Chikage to fasten the aikidō gi top in place with a white obi belt. "How did Uncle Erlking get all the stuff so fast?"

The traveller chuckled. "Harry, even in my universe, the ways of the Noble Tribe remains a mystery to most magicals," she advised. "Just pay gold and let them do the work you request of them and you'll be more than satisfied with the results."

"Yeah," he mused as he gazed into the southeast classroom.

"We're ready!"

Chikage turned as Achelois and Camellia walked out of the southwest classroom, they escorting Pansy, Tracey, Daphne and Millicent. All of them - as well as Harry's other friends - were now dressed in simple white aikidō gi with black hakama trousers over the lower parts of their bodies. "Looks good," she mused as she faces the four newcomers to their group. "Do the uniforms feel alright to you girls?"

"They feel great!" Daphne said, an excited look on her face. "Is this ACTUALLY what an aikidō artist wears? Like Steven Seagal?"

A nod. "Yes, this is exactly like what Seagal-sensei would have worn when he was still just a student at the art and not a master by the time you saw him in Above The Law. And by the way, a practitioner of the Art always uses the proper Japanese term to describe what they are: 'aikidō-ka,'" As the four Slytherin girls nodded on hearing that, Chikage looked at everyone. "Alright. We've had at least three periods with Professor Quirrell. What are your opinions of the man?"

"He's useless," Jane stated. "Uncle Hero can teach way better!"

"Uncle Moony can teach better! He got his Mastery in D.A.D.A.!" Harry spat.

"I think we can all say that!" Pansy growled. "How the hell are we going to be able to defend ourselves against Riddle with THAT type of teaching?"

"WHAT teaching?" Achelois snarled.

"No teaching at all, from what I could see," Aesup snorted, crossing her arms.

"Agreed," Chikage said. "Which is the reason we're going to form our own little 'defence club' where we will explore all the ways by which we can stay alive. After all, the best way to avoid the Killing Curse - for example - is to NOT be hit!"

"What about this thing your grandpa made?" Millicent asked.

"The Kokujun?" the traveller wondered. As Millicent nodded, Chikage sighed. "To my knowledge, it's never been tested before and I don't fancy myself being the first one to try something like that out!" As everyone else nodded, Chikage took a deep breath. "So let's think of other ways of trying to keep ourselves alive and intact so that, when we finally get to our twilight years, we can look back on this time in our lives and pat ourselves on the back for being so smart in the first place."

"Yeah! Who says the 'Claws are the only smart ones in school?" Brianna noted.

Laughter echoed through the central hall. "Alright, let's begin." Chikage then beckoned everyone to the doorway of the southeast classroom, making them stop before they passed through the threshold. "Now, before we actually begin today's lesson, a quick lesson on etiquette when you enter and leave a dōjō. What's one thing everyone does when one enters or leaves a training hall? Anyone but Aesup? Marian?"

"You always bow," Marian answered.

"Excellent. The other rule. Tracey?"

"Never wear shoes or socks."

"Perfect. Pansy, Millicent, would you mind?"

Both girls perked, and then they moved to slip off their socks. "But the floors are cold here!" the latter then said as they bundled the socks up and slipped it into their trouser pockets underneath the hakama through the slits in their sides.

"Don't worry. The dōjō floor has a Korean ondol heat-pipe system underneath the wood so you won't be cold." Chikage then pointed to the small depressed area just past the doorway. "This is the genkan, the entranceway to the dōjō proper itself. If you want, wear shoes or slippers to this point, then slip them off before you step onto the floor. Eventually, I'll introduce you all to how we wear shoes where I come from. Now, let's all practice a bow. Try not to lose your balance. Rei!"

Everyone bowed deeply, though Tracey nearly stumbled. "Keep your balance, Tracey. It's not that hard," Chikage said. "Straighten up." Everyone made themselves erect. "Now, let's try it one more time, then we'll go inside. Rei!"

Another bow, this time without anyone stumbling. "Excellent," Chikage bade as they relaxed. "Now, one at a time, walk into the dōjō and bow, then sit down on one of the cushions I laid out there before the head of the room. Aesup, go first."

The Korean witch walked in, stepped onto the floor, bowed deeply, and then headed over to one of the floor mats laid out before a small shrine at the head of the room. "Perfect. Now, each of you, do it also," Chikage bade.

Everyone else filed in, bowed, and then made their way to sit down at the places Chikage set out for them. All of the non-Orientals were quick to sense the tender warmth of the floor as they made their way to their places. "Is this normal for Korea, Aesup?" Millicent wondered as she sat at the far left of the room facing the front.

"Ne. Instead of fireplaces, space heaters or central heating, we use hot steam through pipes under the floor to warm a room up," Aesup said as Chikage took her place at the head of the room. She then focused on the picture behind the traveller, and then her jaw dropped. "Oh, Hwanggung-nim! Chikage, is that . . .?"

Chikage smiled. "Indeed he is." She then turned to gaze on the smiling bald Oriental man, appearing to be at the same age as Albus Dumbledore, in the picture at the head of the room. "Ō-Sensei, would you please introduce yourself?"

A chuckle as everyone gaped. "Indeed I will, Hirosaki-san," the man said in accented English. "Konnichi wa, minna-san. I am - or I WAS when I was still alive - Morihei Ueshiba. It is my humble adoption of aikijū-jitsu - what I later came to call 'aikidō' - that Hirosaki-san will now teach unto all of you."

Hermione smiled as she bowed to him. "Konnichi wa, Ō-sensei," she said.

He acknowledged that bow with a bow of his head. "Um, forgive me, sir, but were you a wizard?" Daphne then asked as she stared wide-eyed at him.

"No, Greengrass-san, I was not," Ueshiba replied. "However - and Hirosaki-san confirms this is true with the Japan in her universe - a larger ratio of normals living in my homeland (and such is also true where young Mun-san hails from as well) are aware of those gifted to weld magic as would be found in your beautiful land in the West. Many magicals in Japan often came to me to study what I could teach them - and do so to this day with my children, grandchildren and other successors - so they could better adopt their bodies to use the gift of magic the Kami gave you all. And I was honoured to teach them; they were all eager students in the Way and I understood their passionate desire to keep matters secret from others concerning those gifts."

"The way I always heard it, most muggles would burn us at the stake if they found out we were magical," Millicent stated. "That's why we hide ourselves."

A sad nod. "Hai, Bulstrode-san. Such rhabdophobia was also present amongst many in my land as well. But fortunately, the Heavenly Sovereign and His Shōgun made sure that such people were protected by the samurai of the land before laws were established and His Imperial Majesty created the position of Mahō-Shōgun, the Supreme General of Magic. Which eventually became His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Magic when the position of Shōgun was done away with in the time of the Meiji Emperor."

"We'll be learning this in Mom's second year class," Jane warned.

Laughter filled the room. "Well, at least some cultures don't mind what muggles teach them," Pansy stated. "The way most wizards act, muggles are worse than dirt!"

"Sally-Anne's mom sure proved THAT wrong!" Daphne noted.

More laughter. "Well, now that we've met Ō-Sensei, let's begin with a basic lesson in etiquette when you're actually INSIDE the dōjō," Chikage stated . . .

The Great Hall, suppertime . . .

"That is one impressive broom you've got there, Draco!" Harry noted.

"Thanks, Harry!" Draco said with a grin as he showed the Gryffindor his new Nimbus 2000 broom. "This should last me just a year or so; by that time, Nimbus is going to come out with the 2001 model! Vince and Greg got the same type, too."

"So when are the tryouts for your house?" Harry asked.

"Next weekend," Draco replied as everyone sat at the end of the Slytherin table to sit down and eat. "Why?" he then wondered as he gave Harry a wary look. "Gonna spy on us, Harry?" He wagged his finger in a "no-no" gesture. "Not a chance."

Harry laughed as food appeared before them. "No, not me. Ron's still after me to join the team, but the instant that gets to Rose, I'm dead come Christmastime."

"You're lucky you've got a sister that cares for you that much," Blaise noted.

"Don't you have any siblings, Blaise?" Chikage asked.

"No, only child," Blaise noted. "Mother wanted to have more children, but never really got the chance after she married again." A sigh. "And again and again."

"It's real bad luck, Blaise," Draco noted.

"Yeah, it is," Blaise noted with a light smile. "I envy you two," he said as he gazed on Draco, and then on Harry before gazing on Vincent and Gregory. "And both of you as well. It must have been really nice to have sisters. And a cousin, too!" he then added as he indicated Draco. "I'd give a lot for that."

"Did anyone ever discover the reason why?" Achelois wondered.

A shake of the head. "No," the dark-skinned boy stated. "It hurt Mother a lot whenever something happened to the men she married. I'm probably the only wizard in all of the United Kingdom who could claim he had six fathers."

"That's awful!" Hermione breathed out.

"What did you expect, Hermione? His mom kills them all!"

Silence.

Blaise turned to glare murder at Ron Weasley. "What - did - you - just - say?" the dark-skinned boy demanded in a voice that promised pain.

"RON!" Harry and Hermione snapped together.

"Oh, Merlin! Here we go again," Brianna muttered under her breath.

"It's what everyone else says about your mom!" Ron snapped. "She marries rich wizards just to kill them so she could inherit their . . .!"

His mouth then flapped open and closed with no noise coming out of it. "That is more than enough out of you, Mister Weasley," a cold and icy voice declared as people watched Severus Snape come up to him. "Fifty points from Gryffindor for such slander against Mister Zabini's mother. AND a week of detention with Mister Filch."

Hermione sighed. "Professor, I must . . . "

"Enough, Miss Granger!" Severus stated as he stared at her, and then looked at Harry. "You as well, Mister Potter. There's no need to apologise for Mister Weasley's words. You two, at least, exemplify the most positive traits of your house: Honour, chivalry and courage to stand up for your convictions as they apply to others as well as yourselves." He then glared at Ron. "Mister Weasley, however, gladly adheres to the negative side of those very traits: Selfishness, arrogance and an unwillingness to see the world beyond the basic division of black-and-white. Now, Mister Weasley, you will head to your table and kindly not darken the presence of my charges again."

Ron sputtered before he marched off, his feet stomping loudly on the floor as he went. Everyone nodded politely as Severus headed to the head table. With that, people relaxed. "Now THAT, I will admit, is a real mudbrain," Aesup then noted.

Draco stared at her. "You'd call HIM a mudbrain?"

"Of course I would," the Korean asserted as she stared intently at him. "I call you that because you deliberately blind yourself - or your parents blind you; I don't know which way it is! - from a lot of things! But at least you, Draco, have got the smarts to open your eyes up and see things as they really are. And you're in the right house to learn how to do just that!" She nodded towards Ron, who was at the Gryffindor table stuffing his face. "That pabo, on the other hand, is too damned LAZY to see what he's doing to himself because he's NOT been trained to use his brains!"

"No doubt because of his mother."

Eyes locked on Harry. "How do you know that, Harry?" Daphne asked.

"I talked to his oldest brother Bill on Tuesday night," Harry said. "He works at Gringotts as a curse breaker; he was here with the team Grand-uncle Ragnok sent up here to deal with what that tsidoki did with Professor Binns. He told me that his mother can't stand the idea of people interacting between houses like we're doing. She's the one that's actually forcing Ron to try to be my friend. And atop of that, there's her daughter Ginny to worry about, too. She'll be here next year."

"She's a 'Boy-Who-Lived Groupie,' you mean," Blaise said.

"Yeah," Harry said with a drawl in his voice. "She believes all those moronic books everyone wrote about me and what happened ten years ago when my parents were killed. She even wants to be my wife! And her mother's encouraging it, too!"

Silence.

"Harry, that could be seen as line-theft," Theodore warned.

"Harry is protected."

Eyes locked on Chikage. "How?" Draco demanded. "In case you didn't notice, Chikage, Harry's an orphan. Atop that, he's now the head of his house, which is part of the top tier of the Wizengamot. He's a sitting target for any witch that wants him! And that doesn't begin to speak about what could happen to Rose, too!"

"A pity that the day he - and she - swore a Loyal Oath to the Crown, every marriage law passed by the Wizengamot and every marriage decree issued by the Ministers for Magic all got flushed down the nearest toilet," Chikage then said.

More silence.

"You're kidding me!" Pansy gasped.

"It's true," the traveller said. "It's a lucky thing Jane's mother is now teaching us history and plans to teach us everything about the Separation Act in spring. If it was still Professor Binns, you would probably NEVER learn this." She sipped her tea before she sat back in her chair. "Get yourself a copy of the Legis Magicus and read it over from front to back, everyone. Especially the Separation Act and all the other acts considered directly tied to the Separation Act as part of the Magical Constitution of the United Kingdom. You'll be amazed by you'll learn."

Draco nodded. "We'll keep it in mind."

The Gryffindor dorms, later . . .

"Harry! How could you just sit there and not say a thing?"

"What in Fate's name was I supposed to say?" Harry demanded as he turned from looking out the window to glare at Ron. All of the first year boys were now relaxing in his and Neville's bedroom space. "That I was to act as if what you said to Blaise had no relevance? How could you accuse Aunt Vanessa of that? You don't know her!"

"I know her enough!" Ron snapped.

"How?" Neville demanded. "Have you ever met her?"

"No! But Mom and Dad heard about all that . . .!"

"And WHERE did THEY hear that?" Harry asked. "Did they ever meet her?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know!"

"So how could you just come out and say that?" Before Ron could answer, Harry turned to Dean. "Dean, you lost your dad during the war, right?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I did. Or at least I think I did. Mom never found out what happened to him. Heck, she never learned he was a wizard before their last night together." A sad sigh. "Heck, I don't even know his real name. I guess if it was Tom Riddle's people who killed him, it would've been smart for him to keep it quiet."

"So how would you feel if someone came around and accused your mom of murdering your dad?" Harry then wondered as he crossed his arms.

Dean blinked. "Pretty angry. Mom holds Dad's memory pretty high. Even if I've got a stepdad now - he's a taxi driver; he's really great - and got two half-brothers and two half-sisters now, Mom still loves Dad." He then smiled. "Actually, part of the reason I wanted to come here to Hogwarts was to find some way to find out all about him so that Mom would understand what happened to him and why."

"I'll help you with that."

Silence.

"Why?" Dean said as he stared at Harry.

"Because you and she deserve closure over what happened to your father." Harry then sighed; he had returned to gazing out the window. "You guys want to know what it was like for me growing up?" he then asked before picking up his tea cup to sip from it. "Both before and after I left Little Whinging to go live with my sister?"

"What happened?" Seamus asked.

"Before Rose came, I was practically a house elf to Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley," Harry said as he indicated the picture of his mother's relatives on the nightstand. "I was kept in the cupboard under the stairs because I was too 'freakish' to be allowed a 'normal' bedroom. I did all the chores in the place: The cooking, the cleaning, the lawn and garden, everything!" He sighed, ignoring the shocked looks from the others in the room. "Yet despite how they treated me - and we never knew about Dad's prank, by the way! - they loved each other. They were human beings underneath it all. And even if I found it hard to care for them, I could still respect them. And I found it within me to forgive them when Rose came and we were freed of what Dad did."

"I read about that in the Prophet when you vanished," Neville said. "Your uncle's a pretty brave guy. Grandmother really admired that letter he wrote."

"I'll tell him that when I write him next," Harry said. "So I go off to where Rose and I live now. I learn all the things about being a wizard. I got to meet centaurs, goblins, house elves, giants, vampires and even natives of the Mundus Magicus. I also reunited with my dad's best friend, who happens to be a werewolf. Atop that, my sister's godmother is also a werewolf. And all of them are good people. Yeah, we've got our differences, but at least we RESPECT that those differences are there!" He then turned to glare at Ron. "And now here YOU are trying to make me be something that makes me feel like I've got a whole nest of acromatulas crawling inside me!" Seeing Ron pale on mentioning those creatures, Harry then waved at him. "At your mother's prompting, by the way! Well, I'm sorry, Ron, but I'm not going to do it for you! Or your mom or your sister for that matter! If she cared so much for me, then where the hell WAS she when my family and I happened to need her?"

Ron growled as his fists clenched, and then he moved to lunge at Harry . . .

. . . only to have the point of Harry's wand pointed right at the bridge of his nose. "You better be warned of this, Ron," Harry said in a voice that made the other boys shiver and Ron gulp in shock. "I've been practicing with a wand since I was SIX. And I've been trained by two Dark Arts Defence Masters in using it! Are you going to try your luck with me?" He then smiled. "You're lucky Rose didn't see you try for it. She would have gone straight for a few Reductos to sever your arms and legs! And she would do it with a smile on her face, too! She LOVES the idea that she can sleep better at nights knowing she can hex the crap out of almost everyone she meets! And so do I, by the way!" He then lowered his wand. "So when you decide to stop listening to your mother and start being your own man, then you can be my friend!"

Ron shuddered, and then he stormed out of the bedroom before stopping and looking back. "I'm trying to save you from going Dark, Harry!" he snapped.

With that, he was gone. Harry lowered his wand. "Who are you to judge that, Ron?" he wondered before turning back to sit down on his bed and sip his tea.

"You're pretty fast with that wand, Harry," Seamus noted.

"Didn't you hear him?" Dean wondered. "Trained since he was six, remember?"

Neville and Seamus blinked, nodding. "Good point," the former said.

"So what's Ron's big problem anyway?" the latter wondered.

A sigh. "He comes from a family with a way-too overbearing mom," Harry said. "On the one hand, I can probably understand that. She lost her whole family thanks to the Dark Moron. But on the other hand . . . " He shook his head. "Mama and the other elves that raised Rose and me cared, but they never overdid it. Even Uncle Moony, Aunt Nancy and all the others knew not to overdo it. Yet . . . " He shook his head. "I hope that Blaise and Draco aren't right and she's not trying to pull something on me."

"Like what?" Neville asked, tensing.

"Like trying to force her daughter to marry me?"

Silence.

"Why are you so worried about that?" Dean asked.

Harry shrugged. "Orphaned head of a Noble and Most Ancient Magical House here, remember?" he said as he held up his House Ring.

Neville nodded. "Yeah, that'd do it."

"What do you mean?" Dean wondered.

"In our world, it's called 'line-theft,' Dean," Neville stated. "Most witches - and their parents - would look at Harry and see him as the perfect catch for an unwed daughter. And don't get me started with what could happen to Rose when people realise she's also eligible. They're of the highest rank of our society; you remember Chikage calling him 'Marquess Potter' when she tore apart that tsidoki?" As Dean and Seamus nodded, Neville took a deep breath. "Atop that, the Potters are also wealthy. I've heard the Weasleys fell on hard times during the war with You-Know-Who. They - and the Prewetts, which is the family Ron's mother comes from - were once pretty high up in our society. Getting Ginny - that's Ron's sister - married to Harry . . . "

"A family of gold-diggers, you mean?" Seamus asked.

"No, not the whole family," Harry said. "From what I've heard, Ron's dad Arthur works really hard at what he does. Bill - that's Ron's oldest brother - is one hell of a good worker for Gringotts; that's what Grand-uncle Ragnok and Uncle Erlking have said about him. And Percy and the twins are pretty okay, too." A shrug. "Heck, Ron's pretty okay, too, if he can just quit looking at people like Achelois and Camellia like they were the enemy! How can he ask me to do that?" he wondered as he threw up his hands. "Achelois and Jane are my two oldest friends! You're gonna ask me to turn my back on them because Achelois is in Slytherin and Jane's in Hufflepuff? Get real!"

"Yeah, I can't understand that either," Dean noted. "I mean, I can understand dividing the school into houses; it's the way private schools work! But to think that just because they went into another house, they're evil? That's stupid!"

"And that's what made what Riddle did possible," Harry noted.

The others looked at him. "You think he's still out there?" Seamus asked.

"I KNOW he's still out there," Harry noted as he pointed to his left forearm. "If the berk was really dead, Seamus, the Dark Mark on the arms of all his followers would be totally gone. It's not. Look what happened to those three Death Munchers who've been killed and crucified in Knockturn since he went down thanks to Mom."

The other boys all gaped at him. "So that's why you've been training so much!" Neville then said. "You're preparing for when Riddle comes back, right?"

Harry closed his eyes. "Yeah."

"Think you can take him out?" Dean wondered.

A sigh. "Hard to say," Harry admitted. "He's got a thirty-five year head-start on me when it comes to magical knowledge. And I don't know spit about what happened to him after he graduated from this place to when he started up his little club of thugs so he could start killing everyone in sight." He closed his eyes. "But if I can do it, I'll do it. But not for people like Ron or anyone else who thinks of me as their 'boy-who-lived.' It's personal. It's for me, my parents and my sister. That's it."

The other boys considered that, and then they nodded. "In a way, you got a right to feel that way," Neville said. "I feel the same way about the bastards that put my parents in Saint Mungo's and almost made my sister Grace a squib. If I have to fight them - IF they escape from Azkaban, that is! - that's why I'll fight them." He closed his eyes. "Even if I am a pureblood, there are things about this society of mine that I really think should be dumped into the ocean and fed to a kraken!"

"So what do normal guys like us do?" Seamus asked.

"Learn everything you can and hope for the best," Harry advised as he sipped his tea. "But be prepared for the worst, too. It ain't over yet, you know."

The others nodded . . .

The Vanished Wing, Saturday 7 September . . .

"Hey! There you are!"

Harry looked up from the cauldron, and then he smiled. "Hey, Pansy!" He then perked on seeing she wasn't alone. "You must be Mike! How do you do?"

"Hey, Harry!" Michael Parkinson - that was actually his middle name, which he preferred over his first name, Matthew - said as he shook the offered hand. He was a second year in Ravenclaw, a quite handsome young man that was starting to experience the wonders puberty normally breathed into boys his age. "Good to meet you!" He then perked on seeing what he was doing. "So what are you making here, anyway?"

"A calming draught," Harry said as he turned back to watch the potion.

The Parkinson siblings both gaped at him. "A calming draught?" Michael exclaimed. "Harry, that's NEWT-level stuff! I thought Pansy said . . .!" He then stopped as he and Pansy exchanged a surprised look, and then they grinned as they stared at him, noting the impish look on his face. "Oh, you sly bugger, you! Why the hell did you get sorted into Gryffindor? You deserve to be in Ravenclaw . . .!"

"Or Slytherin for that matter!" Pansy added.

Harry laughed. "Well, when Sir Alastair - that's the Sorting Hat's real name, by the way - sorted me, he told me that I had a perfect mix of the things all of the Founders looked for in a student." He then shrugged. "Since there's no house to take in people who could fit in multiple houses, I had a choice to make." A sigh. "I could have chosen Slytherin since Uncle Severus was the head-of-house there and he's been teaching me both potions and defence since I got together with Rose five years ago." As Michael and Pansy both gaped at him, he shrugged. "But that would've had me butting heads with Draco and his friends right away . . . and that's just the guys in our year. Who knows what the seniors in that place would have done to me. I could have chosen Ravenclaw." He waved to Michael in emphasis. "But Hermione fitted more in Ravenclaw than I would and Sir Alastair put her in Gryffindor. So it was a toss-up."

"Between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. And everyone expected you to go into Gryffindor," Michael finished for the younger boy, nodding in understanding.

"Uncle Severus has been teaching you for FIVE years?" Pansy demanded. "Harry, you BETTER be careful in saying that! If it wasn't us . . .!"

"Pansy, why ELSE do you think I couldn't go to Slytherin?"

She stopped, and then laughed. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

Harry then made a dramatic bow. "On behalf of Gryffindor, I accept your judgement on the matter and the points awarded, Professor Parkinson."

More laughter. "The thing I don't understand is Chikage!" Michael said. "Why the hell is she in Hufflepuff? I've seen her this whole week and she . . . "

"My family, Michael, and how I view myself."

Everyone turned as the traveller stepped inside. "Your family?" Pansy asked.

Chikage smiled as she took a seat in one of the empty desks close to where the others were. "My love and loyalty to my family, especially my half-brother," she explained. "Sir Alastair found me to be as much in balance when it comes to the traits all the Founders desired in their students as he did Harry. But in my case, there was one strong attribute that saw me become a Hufflepuff in lieu of a Ravenclaw."

"That must be some feeling of love," Michael noted.

"And it is deeply based in one of my most cherished beliefs," Chikage stated. "I am what is called in my universe a 'reincarnationist.' In other words, I believe - and have strong metaphysical proof - that I have lived in previous lifetimes before my current life. I understand that's not an accepted philosophy amongst your people."

The Parkinson siblings nodded. "Once you die, you ascend to what you see as Heaven," Pansy noted. "Avalon in our case as we adhere to the old Celtic beliefs. Or the Christian versions of Heaven for people like Hermione and Sally-Anne."

"And I can accept that. But in my universe, my Earth had an encounter in 1984 with a race who call themselves the Sagussans," Chikage stated. "Each and every one of them possesses this ability to view in their mind an energy field they called 'Te'a,' which in English would translate as 'That Which Is Above mortal understanding.'"

"The power of God, you mean," Michael noted.

A nod. "Roughly the same idea. It actually matches more with the concepts of Shintō which state that all physical things have divine - and by extension magical - power within them," Chikage noted. "The Sagussans put it this way: 'From the Te'a, your soul emerges when you are born; to the Te'a, your soul returns when you die.'" She smiled. "And then there's what George Patton wrote after the First World War:

So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see;
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.

And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings,
It was through His Will I fought.

So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.

"That's beautiful," Pansy whispered, her eyes misting.

"Indeed it is," Chikage said. "A pity General Patton was born a normal; he would have fit VERY well in this society." As Pansy tittered and Michael laughed, she sighed. "In many of my past lives, there was always HIM at my side. My lover, my husband, my guiding star, my obsession and my destiny." She closed her eyes as a wry smile crossed her face. "But in this life, he is my half-brother, Wataru Minakami. And it was that which Sir Alastair locked on when he chose Hufflepuff, Michael."

"Well, we could understand that. Family's always important." Michael then sighed. "A pity too many people didn't realise that when Riddle was here."

"How are people reacting to that?" Chikage asked.

Michael sighed. "Well, in Ravenclaw, there are just too many people who are plain relieved that we don't have to solely concentrate on goblin rebellions these days so we can learn REAL history," he noted. "There are some in my house who, I think, might have had parents or relatives who fought for the man ten years ago. They just can't accept the very idea that the man who was the icon of pureblood supremacy is a half-blood! That he could have LIED about that to everyone who was willing to fight and die for him! Others - mostly the muggleborns, the half-bloods and the purebloods that don't care about that nonsense - are just shaking their heads and trying to hold back the laughter they feel when they hear others whisper about it."

"What about your house, Pansy?" Harry asked as he moved to gently stir his draught. "I know you, Daphne, Tracey and Millie don't really care about that sort of garbage - not to mention Achelois and Camellia - but what about the guys like Draco and all his friends, much less the older years?"

"Probably the same as what's going on in Mike's house," Pansy noted. "But it's more profound for a lot of the older years. Slytherin DOES have a reputation of growing people who gladly jump in and support a revolution when one's wished for, after all." She then walked over to gaze out a window onto the lawn beyond the main wall line of the castle. "How did that old toast go again, Mike? 'Here's to bloody wars and sickly seasons' or something like that?" A snort. "Give us an idea and if we believe it's the best one available to us, we jump on it . . . " She then sneered. "Even if it was one Master Salazar himself would hate! People twisted what he said all those years ago when it came to admitting students here! Don't limit them to just purebloods! Just make damn sure they're FULLY indoctrinated in wizarding society and wizarding traditions! How in Morganna's Name did that get so warped?"

"Because battles are written by the victors. Those who follow Godric's way - or say they do - wanted the man who 'betrayed' a long friendship to their spiritual lord to be shown in the most negative light possible," Chikage said. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Twenty complete stirs clockwise, twenty counter-clockwise. Pay attention."

He jolted, and then he turned back to his draught as the Parkinson siblings laughed. "Ten points to Hufflepuff for watching out for your friend," Pansy noted.

More laughter. "I can agree to what you said, Pansy," a new voice then said.

"Hello, Hermione. How are things in the Lion's Den?" Chikage asked as Hermione walked into the room, dressed in her hakama and aikidō gi.

"Somewhat tense. Percy, Fred and George went after Ron for losing fifty points for saying what he said to Blaise," the normal-born said as she sat down at a desk close to Harry. "A lot of the people in all the years - once they learned what Ron actually said to Blaise - thought it was pretty crude. Still, it's hard to say anything when said person who got that insult is a Slytherin and it's practically seen as verboten to say anything good about them if you're a Gryffindor." She shook her head. "It spells it out in Hogwarts: A History. Everything about what Headmaster Slytherin believed in and WHY he felt he had no choice but to leave the school! And even if Headmaster Gryffindor was hurt, he still respected his friend well enough to forgive him in the end. Why in God's Name can't people simply sit down and READ?"

"Because most people in this society of ours are lazy, Hermione."

Eyes locked on Michael. "And they wonder why Dark Lords always love to show up every once in a while? Like Tom Riddle and Gellert Grindelwald?" Hermione demanded, and then she moaned. "Oh, God! I wish I knew about Beauxbâtons before I got my invite to this place! I would've been better off THERE instead of HERE!"

"Don't blame you," Michael noted.

"HARRY?" a voice bellowed from the central hall. "Where are you?"

"In here, Aesup!" Harry called out.

Aesup peeked into the classroom. "Oh, thank the Fates!" the Korean witch said. "Did you get the howler that was sent out to you?"

Harry perked. "What howler? I ate early, then came here right away so I could make a calming draught!" He then muttered, "After last night, I NEEDED one!"

Aesup blinked. "You needed a calming draught? Why?"

He stared at her. "Ron."

She took that in, and then she sighed. "Right . . .!"

Hermione was trying to pick her jaw up from the floor. "You're making a calming draught? How in God's name are you able to do that? We don't . . .!"

"Harry."

Eyes turned as Severus walked inside, a red envelope in hand. Everyone was quick to see it wasn't smoking. "It came with the morning post and was left on the Gryffindor table by the owl - I believe it was the Weasley family owl, but I wasn't close enough to see it - that brought it here," the potions master stated as he held out the envelope for the younger man. "I deactivated it, then came here right away."

Harry blinked, and then he sighed as he reached over to take it.

"Harry."

He stopped, looking at Chikage. "Before you open it, make sure the potion is secure and stand away from it," the traveller then advised.

He blinked, and then turned the burner off before he placed a stasis charm over the cauldron. As the Parkinson siblings gaped at this, he then took the letter from Severus - who was nodding in approval at Chikage's move to keep things safe in the classroom - and walked over to one corner of the room before opening it. Hermione, Aesup and Pansy went over to look at it. A moment later, Harry sighed as the girls all flushed with rage. "I don't BELIEVE the bint!" Pansy snapped. "How DARE she? She's not Harry's guardian; Remus Lupin is! Why, I . . .!"

"This is unbelievable!" Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Who in God's name does she think she is? She's not related to Harry!"

"I guess that proves it."

Eyes locked on Aesup. "Proves what?" Michael asked.

"That Ron inherited his mudbrain-ness from his mother," Aesup stated.

Silence.

"Is that even a word?"

Eyes locked on Chikage, and then laughter filled the room. Harry then sighed as he showed the letter to Severus. "I can't let this pass, Uncle Severus."

The potions master took it and scanned through it before he shook his head. "Oh, Merlin! I don't BELIEVE this!" he breathed out before staring at Harry. "What do you have in mind?" he asked as Michael came over to read it.

"You KNOW how good Rose's howlers are," Harry said with a grin.

Severus blinked, and then he nodded, madly grinning. "Good point."

"May I offer an addition to that?"

Eyes locked on Chikage, who had a sly smile on her face . . .

To be continued . . .