Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr Pot – Emerald!!!

'Wingardium Leviosa.' Emerald said without emotion.

'Come on, Potter.' Snape snapped, his patience clearly at an end. 'Use some emotion, for Merlin's sake. Do you think the Dark Lord is going to wait patiently while you look through your books and attempt to practice them?'

Emerald rolled his eyes wearily. 'I somehow doubt that. Unless he's a retard. But hey, you'd know if he was a retard, seeing as he's your lord and master. So, Snapey old boy, is old Voldy a 'tard?'

Snape clearly gritted his teeth. 'Show some damned respect, for Merlin's sake, Potter! It's an attitude like that that'll get you killed.'

'You do realise that my name isn't "Potter". Hell, it may be a lot better than everyone going around saying "Harry, my boy", or "Harry Potter, the saviour!", but seriously, it's getting old now. Speaking of old, how old are you? I mean, I can see a grey hair or two appearing already. Admittedly, it's quite hard to tell through the grease that makes up your hair, but if you concentrate hard, you can just see it.'

Snape growled, one side of his face ticking as he stared at the amused looking boy in front of him, who languished luxuriously on a chair in front of him, idly holding his newly purchased wand in his hand. Emerald raised an eyebrow at the tick, looking at it in mild interest. 'Say there, Snapey, that's an interesting problem you've got there. I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't do you any favour with the ladies.'

'Cruc –!' Snape stopped himself just in time, glaring with hatred at Emerald, who winked at him.

'Temper temper, Snapey old boy.'

'That's it!' Snape screamed with anger, storming out of the room, his robes wishing behind him as he stormed out of the room.

Emerald sighed with obvious sadness. 'Another one bites the dust,' he remarked casually.

On the stairs outside of the room, Ron, Hermione and Ginny rushed eagerly to the stairs to watch Snape slam the door behind him, leaving a smirking Ginny, who held out her hand as Ron put a sickle in her hand. 'And that makes twelve sickles all together, Ron. So what do you have to say for yourself?'

Ron shook his head ruefully. 'I never thought that he could break Snape.'

Ginny smirked wickedly. 'Apparently he can. Hermione, how many people is that now?'

'That makes Tonks, Kingsley, Hestia Jones and Snape.'

Ron whistled. 'He may look like a filthy snake, but he has some guts. I mean, to piss off Snape...'

'Suicide.' Ginny grinned. 'I wonder who the next victim's going to be...'

Sirius stood in the kitchen doorway, watching Snape slam the door behind him. He shook his head in amazement as he turned towards Remus. 'Man that kid may be annoying as hell, but he's a damn good Snape ward. What do you think about recruiting him as a bodyguard, Remus?'

'Shut up, Sirius.' Remus said idly, turning another page of the Daily Prophet.

'What?' Sirius protested, looking at Remus in mock hurt. 'I was just saying...'

'If you think you can do a better job than Snape can, then why don't you give it a go, Sirius? You've been complaining of having nothing to do, this seems like something you can attempt at.'

'Yeah,' Sirius said thoughtfully. 'I could give it a shot, at least, couldn't I?'

'So what are you waiting for, Sirius? Go and have a go.'

'Fine, I will.' Sirius said, walking towards the room where four Order members, two of whom were Aurors, had tried and failed to at least get Emerald up to a second year's level, in terms of practical spells anyway.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny watched in amusement as Sirius walked towards where Emerald was currently lounging in plain sight, a leg hanging off of the arm of the chair. Sirius visibly slowed down for a second, before straightening and walking forward into the room, closing the door behind him. Ron turned towards Ginny. 'I'll give it ten minutes,' Ron said.

'Five.'

----------------------------

Emerald looked up lazily as Sirius entered the room. Sirius smiled nervously at Emerald, who in response raised an eyebrow, looking mildly interested. 'Can I help you?'

'Ah,' Sirius started, not knowing where to really start. 'Um, Harry –'

'Emerald.'

'Yes, of course, sorry, Emerald. Right, I was wondering whether you would rather learn magic off of me rather than some old greasy bat.'

'Not particularly.'

Sirius, however, was not troubled, but instead smiled at him. 'Now, I did think that you would say that, which is why I prepared accordingly.' Unbeknownst, to Sirius, Emerald's hand slid into his pocket, where his gun still was. No one had bothered to ask Emerald to give it back after the zombie attack, and so Emerald chose to keep it. Sirius reached into his pocket, causing Emerald to grip his weapon, pulling it out slightly. Suddenly, his grip relaxed as Sirius pulled out, to what Emerald could admit to be surprised, a packet of cigarettes.

'My oh my,' Emerald said softly. 'Sirius, is this a bribe?'

Sirius smiled at him. 'I prefer the word...incentive.'

'Yes, I'm sure you would. But what makes you think that I even smoke?'

'I don't. However, and don't forget this is a pure guess, but, you, Emerald, are a guy whose basically been living without rules or restrictions, free to do whatever you want. Now, you've been forced into a dusty old house where the expectations of many, many people are on you. You're unable to drink or go out, so I have little doubt you're extremely bored. This is where I come in. Now, I want to help you Emerald. If you go to Hogwarts the way you are now, you're basically going to be laughed out of the school. Because you're magical power and knowledge is pathetic, I'm going to offer you an incentive. For every successful spell that you pass, I will provide you with a cigarette. If you manage to complete an extremely complicated spell, you get alcohol.'

'What kind of alcohol?'

'Firewhiskey.'

'Sod off, I'm not drinking any of your shitty drinks. I want the hardcore stuff, whisky, beer, hell, I'll even drink rum if it means I'll get pissed. You wizards are seriously weak as far as I'm concerned.'

'So that makes our alcohol weak?'

'Duh!'

'Right, one of these days, you will sit down and drink firewhiskey, even if I have to force you. Then we'll see just how cocky you still are.'

Emerald raised an eyebrow, smirking at him. 'You know, you may just turn out to be the only half decent person in this bloody lot.'

Sirius grinned back. 'Without a goddamn doubt I am.'

Emerald leant back. 'Shall we get to teaching then?'

'Yes, lets...'

-----------------------

Snape stormed up through the castle, through the ancient hallways of Hogwarts, passing various frightened looking house-elves who stood to one side as Snape passed them, not willing to get between him and his infamous rages. He stormed to the guarding gargoyle, snarling the password at it before storming up the staircase. Dumbledore sat in his office, watching the door, an amused smile on his face as Snape shoved the door open, glaring at Dumbledore.

'Ah, Severus.' Dumbledore started calmly, holding out a tin. 'Lemon drop?'

'No I would not like a damned lemon drop!' Snape yelled at the headmaster, before leaning back, his face full of anger and half regret.

'Is there, something the matter?' Dumbledore enquired calmly, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

'Potter.' Snape growled.

'Ah yes, the infamous "Emerald".' Dumbledore said. 'And what, may I ask, has he done this time?'

'He's like his damned father, that's what!'

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. 'Really? Emerald is like James Potter? I must say, the James I knew is much different from the James you apparently knew. For one thing, James wasn't as aggressive.'

'I beg to differ,' Snape said, an angry look on his face. 'You never had to put up with them throughout all of your school years.'

'Am I under the impression that James Potter fired a gun at you?'

'No, he just sent a werewolf at me.'

'An experience I hope to never encounter.'

The two men remained in a silence for several minutes, each lost in their thoughts. Finally, Snape looked up. 'He's not Lily's son.' He said in a bitter voice. 'I...I had hoped that I wouldn't see James in him at all, but...oh, I don't know. The only thing that reminds me of her is her eyes, and even they are shaped by James Potter...' He slumped in his chair slightly. 'I don't know,' he said sadly. 'Why did I ever bother in the first place with that bloody creature? I ruined everything I ever had with her, all for a madman!'

'We all make mistakes,' Dumbledore said, quietly. Snape waved his words off dismissively.

'Serving that man is not a mistake. Taking his mark is not a mistake. I'll tell you what it was, it was insanity. I have wasted the greater part of my life serving him, when I could have been doing something worthwhile with my life instead!'

'We all make mistakes, Severus. What really matters is how we get past them.' He stood up, stretching himself slightly. 'So then, Severus, what seems to be the problem with Emerald?'

Severus sighed, rubbing his face. 'He's insolent, cocky, an idiot and generally being an abomination upon this earth. In short, he's a Potter.'

Dumbledore looked at Snape sadly. 'Tell me, Severus, in your honest opinion, do you believe that this boy is the Chosen One?'

Snape shrugged. 'To be quite honest, Dumbledore, I've never believed in prophecies. I dislike the idea of mankind being unable to have free will. I don't know what'll happen. Maybe Potter will defeat the Dark Lord, maybe he won't. Either way, the only real thing that we can do is to fight for what we believe in.'

'And what do you believe in, Severus?'

'Peace.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Ah yes, peace. A worthy goal to fight for, is it not? The chances to simply watch life go past you without fear of violence or hatred? It is a magnificent thing to hope for.'

'I doubt that I will ever see it in my lifetime.'

Dumbledore's head bowed. 'You should not be so pessimistic, Severus. None of us can truly tell the future. No prophecy is ever written in stone. However, this prophecy represents the best chance that the Light Side has for victory, and for achieving peace.'

Severus smiled bitterly. 'Love hasn't saved anybody, Dumbledore.'

'You have your opinions, Severus, just as I have mine.'

The two men stayed sat in their seats, a silence falling over the two of them, each of them with immense pressure held over them in their own way.

--------------------------------

Around four days later, Emerald found himself, along with the others, at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. There were a huge crowd of people there already, talking to their parents and school friends. Quite a lot of people looked at him as well. Today, Emerald had forgone his usual cloak that covered him up. He allowed his full features to show. What amused him most though was the amount of looks he was generating from the girls at the station. Nearly all of them were interested. Something told him that this was going to be a good school if all the girls were like this.

Flanking him were two people (who he assumed) who were in the Order, namely Tonks and a big black guy, who looked like he could handle himself in a fight. Behind him were Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Emerald sneered at the thought of them. He remembered the conversations that had been held about him earlier on, if they thought that he was going to reduce himself to becoming friends with those people, then they had another thing coming. Not only was Ron filled with jealousy over Emerald, but Hermione herself was an irritable know-it-all. While he appreciated their usefulness in some cases, he knew that unless you could apply that knowledge, it was worthless.

Finally, after getting on the train, the trio dumped their trunks in the corner of the compartment and sat down, pointedly ignoring him. Emerald smirked, like that was going to bother him. The silence was starting to bother him though. He felt frustrated, bored. Normally he'd be up to something with one of the gang members.

After around five minutes of this, the train still hadn't taken off, and the people inside of the compartment were all still silent. Emerald groaned in boredom and stood up, getting the attention of everyone.

'Where are you going?' Ron asked, hostility in his voice.

Emerald ignored him and just walked out, grabbing his trunk that had been made feather-light, curtsey of Tonks. He wanted to find an empty compartment, somewhere where he could be alone, hopefully in a more private setting. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't guaranteed as when he passed the wizards and witches, they either stared at him in amazement, lust, jealousy or just outright hostility.

Finally, finding an empty compartment, he dumped his trunk in the room, sat down, put his legs up and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, smirking in satisfaction as he lit it and inhaled its smoke. He would probably regret it in the long one, but hey, maybe it would piss off the wizards. Then it would be definitely worth it.

Sirius, after spending the majority of those four days with him, had caused him to quickly learn about spells. Who would've thought the rewards of being given alcohol and fags would cause him to learn quickly? They should introduce that in every school, results would skyrocket! As of now, Emerald currently had six packets of cigarettes and two bottles of vodka with a case of beer. Sirius had managed to get Dumbledore to send him reports of how Emerald would do in class, and for every decent result, he would receive cigarettes and alcohol.

But still, that was a problem that he would face later. For now, he was content to just strum his guitar, play familiar songs that he used to play at concerts, and dream about his home and his friends. He remembered various fights, gang wars, shootouts, loves, friends, sex, parties; he remembered the life he used to lead. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized how much hatred he now felt for Dumbledore. The man would pay, one day.

---

Well, Emerald thought, the train was certainly a disappointment. He'd managed to get his peace and quiet, that was true, but in return he'd received at least half of the school passing his compartment, and another three quarters of that half going back for another look. Emerald wasn't unused to attention, but this was just pathetic now. If he was getting all this attention now, just imagine what it'll be like when Dumbledore informs the entire school of my title and my "name". Is it so hard for him to just use his name that he'd been brought up in? Emerald! It's not a hard word, Em-er-ald. Even a bloody baby could say that! Well, if it was a genius baby, anyway...

He had then been stuck on some crappy boat, having been basically dragged over there by a massive giant of a man, had his hand shaken reverently by him, received a strange look at his tattoo because of it and had been forced into a boat with three first year students, all of whom looked at him in fear. It was enough to drive anyone crazy!

And now, while everyone else had gone inside what he had heard that teacher, McGonagall, call the first years into the Great Hall to get Sorted, he had been informed to wait outside, and had also received a very disapproving eye from McGonagall as well for the clothes he was wearing.

Actually, he couldn't blame her on that point. But he may as well have got the message out, robes were absolutely shite! Especially on girls, as it covered up their bodies. There was no way that he was wearing one. So, he decided to wear his own clothing.

Finally, he heard Dumbledore standing up; this was his "big moment".

'And now, my dear students, I have several announcements to make to you. Firstly, as we all know, the forbidden forest is precisely that, forbidden. A list of banned items can be found on Mr. Filch's door. And sadly, Quidditch will not be taking place this year.

A large noise broke out, mostly filled with questions and moaning. Emerald rolled his eyes, what the hell was Quidditch?

'If you could all remain silence!' Dumbledore called out, causing the room instantly became silent. Emerald rolled his eyes.

'Instead of Quidditch, a very special event will be taking place this year in October next month. I am pleased to announce that we have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.'

At that, there was a massive explosion of noise. From what Emerald could tell from standing outside of the doorway, he believed that Dumbledore allowed the noise to continue for at least several minutes. Emerald shook his head in disgust, leading a gang had taught him several skills. Firstly, you couldn't allow noise unless they had a decent point. It appeared that there was no discipline whatsoever in the school.

Finally, 'Silence!' Dumbledore cried out. Again, complete silence. Maybe Dumbledore did have some ideas of leadership, but even so, Emerald could hear some lowered conversations going on between various students. Dumbledore really needed to get some lessons in leading.

'Now, I have one more very, very important announcement. It has been fifteen years since the first defeat of Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately, as many of us have discovered to our great misfortunes, he returned three years ago. However, we still remember the ten year peace we had in between those times. And it was all thanks to one person. Lost for those fifteen years, we had feared that we would never find that person. However, I can now inform you that we have found him. I would like to announce the return of, Harry, Potter!'

Emerald waited. He would not budge until he had his real name. He assumed that he had been meant to go through the door at that point. He folded his arms and waited for his true name to be announced instead.

'Harry Potter!'

Nope, he was still going to wait.

Harry Potter!' That sentence was now yelled desperately.

Emerald sighed and rolled his eyes, may as well give the man a clue. He raised his hands to his mouth, enhancing the volume of the words.

'Emerald!'

'Harry Potter!'

'Emerald!'

'Harry Potter!'

'Emerald!'

'Harr- oh forget it. Emerald.' The last sentence was said dejectedly.

Emerald smirked and walked through the doors. A shocked silence hit the hall immediately as he walked through up to where the Headmaster was standing along with McGonagall and some weird old hat. He raised an eyebrow as he noted the huge stares coming his way. Okay, this was getting pretty weird now.

Suddenly, he noticed two girls sitting on a bench who were staring at him, dumbstruck. Emerald felt his own face do the same, and he halted in the middle of the hall. Lavender and Parvati! He blinked at them, before shaking his head in mild disbelief.

'Mr. Potter, if you could please come and sit on the stool.'

Emerald broke off from his conversation, glaring at McGonagall. 'Ok, for the benefit of everyone here, do not call me Harry, Potter, Potty, Hazza or any abbreviations on that name. You will call me Emerald. Failure to comply will result in pain. Not just any pain, but mega pain.'

He walked up to the stool, sitting down and suddenly felt a hat put on his head. Instantly, a voice broke out.

'Hmm, difficult, quite difficult. You have a lot of potential, Emerald. I believe that every Founder of the four houses would fight tooth and nail to keep you in their house. You show a great loyalty to your friends and allies, and you'd even die for those that you left behind. You show great cunning and ambition, that is, to take over most of Muggle London. You also show great courage as you have proven yourself many times under fire. And you show great intelligence, as you've put it to good use. Any house would be proud to have you. You've even saved friends, and sadly have put some out of their misery. You have led a very difficult life, Emerald.'

'But in the end, there's only going to be one house that'll suit you,'

The Hat took a deep breath.

'Slytherin!'