A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the delay, exams are a pain. Anyway, here is my last update for another couple of weeks. We have the Hufflepuff heir! (finally) and the first prank on Dumbledore!

Thank you for the reviews! Nice to know you're loved! So, Hannah, I was hoping to balance the number of muggle-borns, half-bloods and purebloods but I did forget about that Godric Hollows scene so yes I will be going back and changing it. Thank you!

Other questions: Yes Harry does like someone but I won't be saying who. No, Dumbledore had no idea what the "Order" is planning. And lastly, yes Harry would probably be meeting his great-uncle at some point in the future.

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Chapter 31: The Heirs Strike Back.

The students and their DADA professor made their way down to the Great Hall. They chatted happily trying to pry their next lesson from Remus' lips. The marauder was smirking fondly as he remained silent on the topic. The Great Hall fell silent when they spotted Remus walking in behind the Slytherins.

They watched him curiously at first but when Remus smiled and bowed they all went back to their breakfasts muttering softly amongst themselves. Harry took his seat but kept an eye on Remus who took a seat in between Charlie and Professor Snape. Keeping up with their charade Professor Snape smirked and muttered some snappy comment out of the corner of his mouth. Remus grimaced and whispered something back that caused Professor Snape's smirk to turn into a grimace.

Harry turned back to his breakfast, it was pancakes that morning and Harry piled his plate high with them and ate as he talked with the other Slytherins about their tasks. He was half-way through it when he was interrupted.

"Hey Potter!"

Looking up Harry spotted a sixth year Hufflepuff heading for him. Curious Harry raised an eyebrow as he stood; he concentrated on the Hufflepuff girls as he put his question out to them.

Who is that?

That's Cedric Diggory, he's the new Hufflepuff quidditch captain and our sixth year prefect. Susan answered him.

Thanks.

"Diggory. What can I do for you?"

"A private word." Diggory stopped a foot or two from the table and gave Harry a small bow which made the third-years snicker slightly.

Harry nodded and the two of them left the Hall. Harry led Cedric through one of the many secret passages Irene had shown him and into Slytherin's old sitting room, Harry dropped into his favorite armchair and gestured for Cedric to do the same.

"So, what did you wish to talk about?"

Cedric eyed the room critically noting the color scheme and likewise fell into the other armchair. "I've been hearing some rumors around and was hoping you could shed some light on them."

Harry smirked and raised his eyebrow again, "Really? Which rumors are you referring to and why should I tell you?"

"Er…well, I heard some of the Slytherins in my year talking about you being the heir and starting a war against Dumbledore or something. I'm not sure what it was exactly but it's got me curious. And you could tell me or not as you wish but I think I might be able to help you out." Cedric was slightly nervous as he waited for the infamous Evans temper to flare.

"Ah, I see, I shall have to degrade whoever it was. They should know better to talk about it in public. But..." Harry paused as he started another conversation with Irene.

Hey Irene, Diggory wouldn't happen to be the Hufflepuff heir would he?

Harry heard a sigh in his mind before Irene replied. You know I'm not supposed to say anything but yes, he is the one you've been looking for.

Thank you.

"Right, since Irene vouches for you I'll tell you on one condition. If you decide to join me you'll be sworn to secrecy and no one outside of my circle can know about any of it. And if you don't I will wipe this conversation from your mind."

Cedric hesitated slightly for a moment but agreed with a nod. "Okay."

Draco, can you come down. We're in Slytherin's old sitting room. I need your help.

I'm on my way.

Harry then proceeded to tell Cedric everything he could think of and almost laughed at the shock on the older boy's face. It was one thing to hear rumors but to have them confirmed? Cedric looked ready to faint from the sheer overload of information. Harry thought, maybe he should have taken it a bit slower.

"Okay…um…oh, one more thing. The rumors of Professor Lupin being a werewolf…?"

"True."

"Oh, I thought Jeremy was just being…wow, so last night he really…he has wolfsbane right? I mean the whole school knows that he and Professor Snape… so I don't think he'll have any help there."

"Again true, Draco brews the wolfsbane for him."

"Talking about me?" Draco walked into the room smirking but stopped short when he found himself confronted with a wand. Cedric obviously was pretty quick on the draw.

"It's okay Cedric. He's one of mine. I asked him here to help me once you decide."

"Right, sorry."

"No it's good. It means you're careful. Oh that's another thing I'm not sure if you've met Irene yet."

Of course he hasn't. He's not even aware of his heritage.

Oh boy this could take some explaining.

Harry frowned as he checked his watch, they only had fifteen minutes till the first class of the day started.

"Okay, here's the short version. Hogwart was infused with an elf when it was created. That same elf is tied to all the heirs that come to Hogwarts. Her name is Irene and she tells me that you are one of us."

"Me? Wait you said one of us? Who are the other two?"

"One, I'm the heir of both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Luna Lovegood is the Ravenclaw heir and you are the Hufflepuff heir."

Cedric shook his head obviously not believing Harry on this front. Harry and Draco snickered out loud when Cedric jumped as though he had been stung. It took a minute or so but Cedric finally believed that he was an heir of Hogwarts.

"So, have you decided? I don't wish to push you but classes start in ten minutes so we need an answer."

The Hufflepuff bit his lip softly a couple of times before nodding. "I'll join you, but I don't want to be the only Hufflepuff there. Do you think my best friend can join us?"

Harry checked Cedric's sincerity with Draco first before he spoke. Receiving a nod Harry turned to Cedric again, "Okay, what's his name?"

"Nathaniel Sanderson."

Not recognizing the name Harry hesitated, "I think he can be your outer circle follower. But let me watch him first, I'm not sure if he's going to be a good part of our group or not. Either way you won't be the only Hufflepuff . There are a few of yours with us."

"Really? So you do have people from all houses in your group?"

"Yep, and we will discuss more later, but we've got Potions and you know how Professor Snape is about punctuality. Ever been exploring around the unused classroom of the ground floor?" Cedric shook his head and Harry continued. "Well, there is a portrait of the founders there. The password's connect four. If you can't find it there is an entrance in your common room, behind either a portrait or a statue of your ancestor."

"Right, I'll be there after dinner?"

"Before or after. At least one of us will be there. We're working on a project at the moment so we'll be there."

"Okay, see you then…um how do I get out?"

"Ask Irene, she'll show you shortcuts and secret passageways. She's a useful friend."

Harry smirked and with a final nod he departed with Draco transforming into their animagus selves to get through the secret passageways faster. Luckily Professor Snape was running late today and they reached the classroom a mere minute before he did.

"Inside."

Professor Snape wasn't in a good mood today which made their lesson all the more interesting as they watched the Gryffindors facing the full force of his wrath. The day continued slowly for Harry who couldn't wait until classes were over and he could get back to planning Dumbledore's ruin. Even as distracted as he was Harry still managed to earn Slytherin another sixty points that day.

So far the house cup has been rather balanced although Slytherin and Ravenclaw were still the ones in the lead the other houses weren't that far behind. Harry dropped into his armchair in the common room directly after his last class, Ancient Runes. As much as he loved the subject he couldn't wait to get out of there, Professor Babbling was covering things he had already learned over the summer and won't let him move forward.

Harry closed his eyes and soaked up the warmth of the fire that he had sub-consciously lit with a small sigh of happiness. The first thing he had noticed when he had entered the room was the addition of the extra armchair that bore Hufflepuff's mark on it. Now he opened his books to get started on his Charms homework when a voice interrupted him.

"Harry! We've got a problem."

Looking up Harry found his newest recruit nervously facing nine wands. The others have yet to arrive from their different classes. Harry sighed as he stood and moved forward. He clasped Cedric on the shoulder and held out a hand.

"It's okay guys, he's one of us now. Cedric I want you to meet a part of the group…"

"…part?..." Cedric looked around as the others put their wands away; he obviously hadn't anticipated such a large group.

Harry smirked and shrugged, "Yeah, Draco you already know. Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Arianna Anderson, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood." Harry pointed out each person who nodded or waved as they were introduced. "Everyone, this is Cedric Diggory the last heir."

They all nodded and returned to their activities as Harry showed Cedric around finally coming back to the common room as the others arrived. He had given Cedric his potion and coin and was unsurprised to see that Cedric was a Badger. Cedric settled into his armchair as he watched members from all four houses come together and chat like they were best friends. Harry whistled to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, we have a new member. Cedric meet Hermione Granger, Fred and George Weasley, Mia and Cara Costa, Susan Bones and Hannah Abott. Guys, Cedric Diggory."

With introductions over Harry went about filling Cedric in on everything else he had missed out that morning. When Harry was done overloading Cedric's head with even more information he put Cedric to the test and was amazed when Cedric was able to last five minutes in a duel before Harry was able to dispatch him. He was definitely the heir of Hufflepuff, he was powerful, more so then Luna. But of course age and experience had a hand in that as well.

"At the moment we are trying to get even with Dumbledore for the whole Remus being a werewolf thing. I think you've had more than enough information for one day. So, I'll be assigning you the same task as Luna. Reveal yourself to your house; get them under your control and hopefully on Remus' side." Harry smiled.

"Yeah, I can do that." Cedric nodded trying to look confident.

"Great! Well it is dinnertime so let's get going before Blaise eats everything."

"Hey I resent that!" Blaise called from the Ravenclaw passageway as he exited with his arms full of books and parchments.

"Oh really? And who was it that ate an entire plate of chicken wing the other day?"

"Well…I'll have you know I had help…"

Laughing the group headed off for dinner and parted ways in the entrance hall. Things passed swiftly for another couple of weeks as they organized their first major pranks. They now went about adding the Hufflepuff element to their 'message'. It had been about a week since they had first started their planning that Harry send two of the outer followers into Hogsmeade with his invisibility cloak and some galleons for more supplies.

Finally it was time for their first prank, dinner that night started out as normally as it always did. It struck seven when, as several students stood to leave, fireworks went off from the head table, specifically from the headmaster's plate and under his seat. The Great Hall was filled with bright colorful lights as the entire student body laughed. There were only a couple who remained silent like Percy Weasley and some Ravenclaw girl.

This went on for another fifteen minutes during which the professors, unsuccessfully attempted to vanquish the fireworks. Every time a professor attempted to vanquish a firework it would merely double in both size and quantity. The only professors not moving were Remus, Charlie and Professor Snape who were too busy fighting laughter to draw their wands.

When the lights and smoke cleared everyone fell silent as they witnessed their headmaster stuck to his chair covered in stripes, namely the four house colors. There was a banner of magical smoke proudly displaying the crest of Hogwarts right above the Headmaster. Magical writing started appearing above that, large and clear for the entire school to read.

This is what happens when you mess with the heirs of Hogwarts. Beware, this is just the beginning, you will pay!

Not a single sound was made as everyone read the words above Dumbledore's head. Dumbledore himself was unable to move or speak as he witnessed the shock on everyone's faces. They were looking between Harry and Dumbledore confused. Some were also sneaking glances up at Remus, who feinted shock as he too looked at the writing.

Even the professors were silent with confusion. Professor Snape and Charlie also faked their confusion so as to not give themselves away. Professor McGonagall was looking particularly upset as she looked to her mentor in disappointment. Having access to the school records Professor McGonagall knew who the heirs were and was shocked that Professor Dumbledore had tried to harm any of them.

Professor McGonagall stood and addressed the room, "Whoever is responsible for this, we will catch you and you will be in trouble. That said could we please have the headmaster back soon." Internally she thought; I need to talk to Remus about this. She knew the only ones who could have pulled off a prank like this were the twins, the marauders or Potter himself.

No one made a move as they waited for the headmaster to unfreeze which he did about ten minutes of silence later. There was a thunderous lion roar followed by a loud hissing noise, next a badger's growl and then an eagle's call. As the eagle's yell faded Professor Dumbledore finally managed to stand up started yelling at the hall silently. He still hadn't recovered his voice though and would not do so until the following morning. Those in Harry's group who had studied Gaelic were shocked at some of the words he was mouthing.

Realizing that no one could understand him Dumbledore stormed out of the Great Hall furious. A few seconds later the chatter began at the Ravenclaw table and spread. Soon the entire hall was whispering about the incident as they left in packs. Who were the heirs of Hogwarts? What had Dumbledore done to them? What is going to happen next? The whole school wanted to know. Harry smirked to himself as Draco, Neville and himself headed for a secret passageway; it had begun.