AN/ I have unexpected visitors today, so I didn't get to write as much as usual. Here's a short chapter.

Hunter settled in to a chair at the Three Broomsticks across from a very old and dear friend. Sean was grinning hugely as he perused through his electronic pad, a device that had been bespelled to be nearly invulnerable and to work even in the magical world. Shaking his head, he mumbled, "There are times I envy Bree her super speed. I don't envy her, the boredom, but there is just only so much I can get done in a day."

"Hello, Sean."

"Hiya, Hunter," he said looking up. Then with a double take that sent his soft blond hair shaking side to side, he said, "Interesting form you've chosen."

Hunter smiled and said, "It's less confusing this way. The wizards expect strange from the fae, and some even recognized daeoni, but I don't think they're quite ready to handle me in my natural form. How're the others?"

"Let's see, Balyn is still complaining that his students don't know how to write a complete sentence, Troy has an audition with some performer who thinks she's a singer. To be honest, she's little more than a pole dancer. Heather is attempting a hostile take over of Virgin Atlantic, Bree is working on adapting Daniel's technology, and Morgan is doing genetic research after that incident in the desert." Then looking around, "By the way, exactly what year is it?"

"Ninety-six."

"An era we both skipped."

"So it would seem. As my mother is wont to say, time travel is a pain in the backside."

"I've been reading the wizarding papers. You've been busy."

"It gives me something to do. There's a dark wizard out to kill my cousin. I intend to soften him up a little before I let him get anywhere near Harry."

"Why not just deal with it yourself, and be done with it?"

"Because he killed Harry's parents. I think I owe Harry that much."

Sean nodded and said, "Remember what your dads taught us. Don't get so caught up in revenge that you lose sight of what's important."

"I won't. What can you tell me about the Black Lake? Is there a portal there?"

"There is, and it's stable."

"What are the chances of it causing problems like the ones Alden created?"

"You'd have to ask Morgan about that. But since it doesn't cross realities, or even time, I think it's pretty harmless. The giant squid uses it to access the deep oceans to feed. The other end is out the in the middle of the North Atlantic."

"A giant squid adapted to freshwater?"

Sean laughed and said, "I've learned that when it comes to magic, that nearly anything is possible. This one is also quite intelligent and has a wicked sense of humor."

"You are a genuine treasure, you know that Sean? If you weren't married to five of my closest friends, I'd snatch you up myself."

"Don't go there," the tall man teased.

"Don't worry. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are," Hunter replied. It was good to have friends to tease and be teased back. "What can you tell me about the merfolk?"

"An isolated tribe. They seem to be an amalgam of both the Greek and Irish branches." The blond smiled broadly and added, "More importantly, there's a rather strange settlement of what at first I thought were nixies on the side opposite the castle, near Hogsmead. Turns out they're something entirely different."

"What?" Hunter asked.

"Well, if I didn't miss my guess, I'd say about half of them are thenali. They're the same size I am in my other form. They've got the florescent hair, and webbed fingers like I do. The other however, are more your height, have finned ears and webbed fingers and speak a rather interesting dialect of Daeoni."

"You're telling me you've found a tribe of Sea Tyri?" Hunter asked excitedly.

Sean shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I think so."

"If that's true, you realize what that means?" Hunter asked.

"Not particularly. I'm a scientist and a fisherman at heart. I'm more interested in their building techniques than I am in political ramifications."

Hunter smiled and said, "Let's just say that you would never catch grief from another of my father's people over your interest in such mundane things as how to shape coral again."

"I'm never going to live that down, am I? And it was Queen Alamora's people that gave me grief, not your father's people. He thought it was beneath the dignity of a warrior." Then leaning back, he asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Hunter smiled said, "Can you stick around for a while?"

"I'm on sabbatical, and the colony I told you about is more than willing to let me study their stonecrafting techniques. Balyn and Morgan are stopping by occasionally so it's all good. We're thinking of visiting London later on." He grinned and said, "Which by the way, your restraint is to be commended. The city is still standing."

Hunter chuckled and said, "I didn't live through the Massacre of the Bells, and don't have quite the same prejudices toward the English as my parents."

"Well, we're going on a tour of the Scottish Highlands later in the week. Autumn here is quite beautiful. And the fish are biting."

"You and your fishing," Hunter teased him.

"It kept me sane as a boy."

Hunter nodded and said, "I think I understand."

"You want me to keep an eye on the young man?"

"If you don't mind," Hunter said.

"No problem. Between him and the nixies, I'm not going to get bored."

"Thought you said they were Sea Tyri and Thenali?"

"I'm referring to them as nixies until I get a confirmation from your people. Could you pass on the request for me, please?"

"Be glad to," Hunter replied. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Sean said with a smile. "Can you introduce these people to Dr. Pepper? Butterbeer is nice and all, but I miss my Dr. Pepper."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Hunter?" Sean asked seriously.

"Yes?"

"These people really don't have any idea of who or what you are, do they?"

Hunter shrugged and said, "I don't know. I don't think so. And I'd rather keep it that way. Them finding out that I'm the scion of both the Morrigan and Poseidon would throw them into a tizzy. Of course, you're not really any better."

"Who me? I'm just a scientist from the University of Miami with an interest in all things aquatic."

"You're a primal vessel, Sean. We both know the word that keeps getting tossed around about you and your family."

"Godling," Sean said bitterly. "Funny, I don't feel all that divine."

"I know at least two people who've described you as divine."

Sean blushed a deep red. "Let's not go there."

Hunter smiled and nodded. Sean had always been sensitive about his relationship with the rest of his team, and was very protective of the "reputations" of Bree, Heather, and especially Morgan. "Very well, my friend. And thanks for your help."

"You're welcome. What do you want me to do if there's an actual attack on the school, and how likely is that?"

"I'm not sure. This Voldemort is growing desperate. He might launch such an attack, but I doubt it. As for what to do, do whatever it takes to protect the children."

"Got it." Sean said. "Drain the lake and drown the attackers."

"Sean..." Hunter warned.

"Just an option, Hunter," Sean teased. "Just an option."

"The merfolk, the giant squid, and the nixies wouldn't appreciate you draining the lake."

"True."

Harry Potter and the Fae Prince. Harry Potter and the Fae Prince.

"Harry, wait up!" Ron called as Harry made his way down the stairs toward the main hall. "Where'd you go last night?"

"Up to the astronomy tower, and then to Dumbledore's office. He wanted to show me something."

"What?"

"I'll tell you about it later," Harry said looking around. "Too many people I'd rather not hear about it around."

Ron nodded and said, "I understand."

"What's your first class?"

"Living in the Wizarding World," Harry said.

"Why the hell did you take that? I mean you've been here for five years now."

"Ron, there's still a lot of things I don't know. Remember what I said about your dad and the turnstile?"

Ron frowned and said, "Yeah... that as a git thing to say by the way."

"Well, here's another one. I'm in the same boat when it comes to living in the wizarding world. I can sort of navigate my way, but I've made a lot of mistakes because I didn't understand things. My handling of Malfoy could have been better."

"You've handled Malfoy just fine," Ron said. "Stupid git that he is."

Harry shook his head as they pounded down the stairs and said, "No. I made an enemy out of someone who could have at least remained neutral if not a friend. I didn't know that that natty old boot was a portkey, and half the time I get into trouble for doing things I didn't know wasn't allowed in the wizarding world. They say that ignorance of the law is no excuse, so since I don't have an excuse, I need to fix the problem. Hopefully, this class will do that."

"Where's the fun Harry Potter that's my best mate?" Ron asked. Harry was unsure if he was serious or not.

"I'm still here, Ron," Harry said. "But I'm tired of being in the dark. I'm tired of having to have things explained to me, and I'm tired of other people making decisions for me. We aren't boys anymore. We may not be adults yet, but we aren't kids either."

Entering the Great Hall, they found Hermione, Neville, and Luna already there. Sitting down, he grabbed a plate of food and began to eat. He found it to be filling, if somewhat bland in taste. He made a mental note to himself to see if maybe Lugh would be willing to arrange for a few care-packages from the kitchens at Muriashome. He'd have to be careful that none of the other students ate any of it, but at least it would have some taste to it.

Forcing himself to finish the food, he smiled over at Hermione and said, "Sorry for keeping you up worrying last night."

She blushed and said, "No problem."

Then, much to everyone's surprise, Daphne Greengrass sat down next to Ron. "Hello Harry, do you mind if I join you?"

"Slytherin table is over there," Ron said between bites of sausage.

"Ron!" Hermione chastised him. "That's rude!"

"Please," Harry said. "I believe you know everyone here."

"I do," she said shooting daggers from her eyes at Ron.

"Please thank your grandfather for the books he sent me. They've been very helpful."

"Glad to hear it," she said. Then looking at Ron, she added, "It may be the case as Hagrid has said that every dark wizard in Britain's history has come out of Slytherin, although I think that's an exaggeration, but every Slytherin isn't a dark wizard. There's a lot we could teach you, Weasely."

"I'm sure," the redhead said eyeing her up and down.

"Excuse me," Harry said standing with his plate of bland food. He'd had enough of this. "I can have friends from other houses. I think I'm going to sit at that empty table over there. Anybody who wants to eat without sniping at each other is welcome to join me." With that, he crossed the room to an empty table that was usually reserved as overflow. Hermione, Neville, Luna, Daphne, and much to his surprise, Collin Creevy got up and joined him.

"What did I say?" Ron asked in shock.

"How you managed to stuff your foot in your mouth alongside your breakfast, I'll never know," Hermione told him as she got up to leave.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, little brother, that you have a knack for being a git, "Fred said as he and George sat down beside him.

"Now, we're going to sit here with you while you figure out just how big a git you are."

"At least for today. But after today, you're on your own."

Harry turned back to the others and said, "I'm sorry about that. But to be honest, I'm sort of sick of this pitting one house against another. From what I've been reading, that's not something the Founders ever intended. Houses were supposed to be in friendly competition, not a life-long hatred of each other."

Daphne laughed and said, "That's a Gryffindor for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neville asked.

Daphne held up her hand in surrender and said, "Just that what he said is the perfect example of being a Gryffindor."

"I think you're right, Daphne," Luna said. "It was a very brave thing to say, and to do."

"Exactly," Daphne replied winking at the other blonde.

"Come to think of it, you both are right," Neville said leaning back. "I'm proud of you Harry."

"What about you, Collin?" Hermione asked. "What do you think?"

"I think I'd rather sit at a mixed table than have Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan give me another noogie."

"Noogie?" Daphne asked.

"They think it's cute because I'm so small" Colin said.

"You might be small, Collin, but you've got a big heart," Neville told him.

"Thanks Neville."