Harry, Draco and Luna spent the week following the 'Wizarding Wheezes' prank brainstorming ways that they could respond to the challenge. They were ninety nine percent certain that the 'Wizarding Wheezes' were actually the Weasley twins, but had no proof of the matter which meant that their responding prank would have to affect the entire school as well. And, as Luna had pointed out, if the Weasleys wanted to use an alias, they shouldn't do anything that might break their cover.

By the end of the week they had decided on a potion from the Maruaders' Grimoire that would have everyone singing their words. According to the book, the potion would last for twenty four hours so it would make classes exciting too.

The potion recipe looked ridiculously easy compared to the last two potions they had made, but in the end they decided wait a few weeks before making it. The Ravenclaw versus Slytherin Quidditch match was coming up, which meant a lot of time spent at Quidditch practise – particularly for Draco.

Jeremy had yet to add any extra practises for the Ravenclaw team and Harry really hoped that he didn't. The Gryffindors' last game was scheduled for a month after the Ravenclaw/Slytherin game and the Gryffindor team was already practising most days in preparation for it which, in addition to the Slytherin and Hufflepuffs teams practises, meant that they only times the Quidditch pitch was free was after dinner when Harry had Occlumency practise with Professor Snape.

Admittedly, even if Jeremy did decide to become just as fanatical about practises as Wood and Flint, Harry hardly needed to be present for them all. As the seeker he didn't really have anything to do with the rest of practise, beside which – he knew he could probably beat Higgs to the snitch with his eyes closed. Which sounded horribly arrogant in his head, but that didn't mean it wasn't true.

The night before the Ravenclaw/Slytherin Quidditch game, Harry knocked on Snape's office door at seven o'clock exactly. As usual, the door swung open on its own and Harry stepped into the room.

"Merry meet, Mr. Potter." Snape bowed from where he was standing near the unlit fireplace.

"Merry meet, professor." Harry nodded before moving to sit in his usual seat. As usual, he leaned back in the seat and sunk into his meditative state and, unlike when he practised his wandless magic, focussed on the muggle city he was building. He had been practising with the help of Professor Snape for three months now and he had built an entire city block around the library where the stored his thoughts and memories. The city block was still very flimsy and vulnerable, but it was definitely a start. The best thing was that the more Harry built, the easier it became. Now that the first city block had been built, Professor Snape had instructed him to spend time strengthening it all – after all, there was no point having a city if the first person who used legilimency against him could just tear it apart.

It was a slow process, frustratingly so, but Professor Snape had told him that Occlumency learnt this way was significantly more effective than when it was learnt the more common way which involved having someone use legilimency against him time and time again until his brain learnt how to protect itself.

Harry focused first on the library that held his memories and thoughts and slowly began to strengthen its walls the way that Snape had taught him to. Once he'd spent some time there, he moved onto some of the other buildings and the roads. He wanted his city to be as strong as it possibly could be.

"Mr. Potter." Professor Snape's voice eventually pulled him out of his meditation.

Harry opened his eyes and blinked at the light. "Has it already been an hour, sir?"

"An hour and a half." Snape answered.

Harry shook his head in wonder. "It always goes so quickly. I only managed to strengthen about a third of the block. How many times do you think I'll need to strengthen it?"

Snape moved closer. "It is impossible for me to know without using legilimency on you."

"Can you check, sir?" Harry asked.

"Are you certain, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yes."

Snape pulled out his wand and moved to stand in front of Harry. "Legilimens."

It wasn't the first time Snape had used legilimency to test Harry's progress, but it still felt as weird as it had the first time. The feeling was indescribable and, each time that Harry experienced it, he felt it a little more keenly. Almost as though his head was getting better at noticing when someone was looking around inside.

"Very impressive, Mr. Potter." Snape said eventually. "I suspect that you will only need to strengthen each section three or four times."

Harry was pleased. "So I'll be able to start on the next bit of the city next week?"

"Most likely." Snape agreed. "I would advise that you spend some more time creating defences in your library. Some locks on the doors, perhaps?"

"Couldn't someone just cast the unlocking charm and get through?" Harry asked.

"So create locks that the unlocking charm will not work against." Snape told him.

Harry spent the walk back to the Ravenclaw tower considering ways that he could defend his library. Maybe he could put a notice-me-not charm on it like he and Draco had put on the door into Hoth? Or perhaps even a parselmagic spell. The book on parselmagic that he had found in the Come and Go Room contained several different locking spells. One of which required a password, in parseltongue, to be unlocked. If he could lock his library using that spell, and hid the password inside the library, then it would be very hard for anyone to get inside.

23-23-23.

"It's on you, Harry." Jeremy told him seriously the next morning. "The Slytherin chasers are about as good as the Gryffindor ones, and the Gryffindors would have flattened us if you hadn't caught the snitch. You'll need to catch the snitch very early for us to have a chance."

Harry stomach clenched nervously. "You know that we can't win the Quidditch Cup, right?"

Jeremy sighed. "I know. Slytherin are way ahead of all of us in points, but we can at least win this game and be the first Ravenclaw team in decades to have won all three games."

"Terry, you need to keep Malfoy out of the game." Jeremy continued. "He scored at least half of their goals in their game against Hufflepuff, we need him distracted – keep on his tail."

Harry smirked inwardly at that, both out of pride for his cousin and amusement at the idea that Terry would be able to stop him. He's practised with both of them and knew that Draco would be able to fly rings around Terry.

"Alright, kids." Jeremy grinned. "Let's do this!"

In many ways the game was similar to the previous two games that Harry had played. Lee Jordan was commentating, the chasers were playing their own game between the two goal posts, and Harry slowly circled the pitch looking for the snitch. Higgs, the Slytherin seeker was also circling the pitch, though he was moving in the opposite direction as Harry.

Half an hour into the game, Harry could tell that Jeremy's prediction had been correct. If they were going to win, it would be because Harry had caught the snitch. The Slytherin chasers were all but flying rings around the Ravenclaws and the score was 70-30.

Harry flew a few feet higher and continued studying the pitch intently. He might not be able to win the Quidditch Cup for his team, but he would do everything he could find the snitch in time and win the game.

It took Harry twenty five more minutes to spot the snitch hovering above Madam Hooch's head, by which point the score was 160-50 to the Slytherins. Harry ignored the snitch for a moment, taking the time to ensure that Higgs hadn't seen it, before swinging his broom around and taking chase. He flew quickly, but cautiously, the last thing he wanted to do was fly into Madam Hooch. The snitch waited until he was ten feet out, before darting away and making Harry follow it through the chasers' game, darting around the players. Harry was less cautious now that there was no risk of flying into the referee and at one point was sure that he had very nearly knocked Terry off his broom, completely by accident. Harry tried not to feel too pleased.

When Harry eventually caught the snitch, uncontested since Higgs hadn't managed to keep up, it was a bitter sweet moment. Yes, they had won the game, but at the same time they had just lost the Quidditch Cup. Even when you included the hundred bonus points that teams got for winning their games, Slytherin were still seventy points ahead of them. At least they had beaten Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Well, they would unless Gryffindor got 350 points for their next game.

24-24-24

"Nice job catching the snitch." Theo commented later that day.

"Thanks." Harry nodded.

"Pity your chasers are so rubbish." Draco added.

Harry shot him a dirty look.

Draco smirked and pulled out his Transfiguration textbook. "Don't give me that look. You know that it's true. The only reason your team won today was because you caught the snitch, same as when you played Gryffindor."

Theo nodded. "The real problem for you is that most of the points you earn your team by catching the snitch barely make up for their inability to throw the quaffle through the hoop, so you don't win by much."

"At least I manage to catch the snitch," Harry replied defensively. "Unlike your seeker. He's rubbish!"

"Can you imagine what it would be like to play in a team filled with people who are as good as us?" Draco asked. "You, me, Flint…"

"The Weasley twins." Harry put in.

Draco grimaced but didn't disagree.

"You'd want Wood as keeper." Theo commented.

"And Johnson too." Harry added. "She's the best seeker in the Gryffindor team."

"It would be smashing." Draco grinned. "I could play without worrying about the fact that I had to get enough goals to make sure we'd still win when Higgs didn't catch the snitch, you could catch the snitch without worrying that your team had gotten themselves far enough behind that it wouldn't matter…"

"Basically what you're saying is that you want to try out for the Under Seventeen squad." Theo interrupted.

"Yes." Draco grinned. "It would be great."

"We're only twelve." Harry reminded him.

"If we're good enough then we're old enough." Draco replied. "I'll ask father what he thinks."

"Merry meet." Daphne, Pansy, Tracy and Blaise stopped in front of them and bowed.

"Merry meet." Harry and Draco both nodded in acknowledgement as their friends sat around them.

Harry watched in amusement as Pansy sat down next to Draco, close enough that their legs were touching, making Draco shift away. Apparently Cousin Narcissa had replied to Draco's letter about the situation with permission for Draco to do whatever he needed to get it through Pansy's head that he wasn't interested. Unfortunately for Draco, it seemed not matter what he did Pansy refused to take the hint.

"Nice catch today, Harry." Daphne smiled at him.

Harry smiled back. "Thanks."

"I'm sure Lord Black will be impressed." Daphne continued.

"How is Lord Black?" Theo asked with interest.

"Alright." Harry answered him. "I haven't seen him since that time at Saint Mungo's, but we write to each other about once a week."

"My father says that he's a blood traitor." Pansy said with a sneer.

Harry turned towards her in shock.

"He's the Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." Daphne responded icily. "I hardly think he could be a blood traitor."

Pansy sniffed in annoyance and put her nose in the air. "He was a Gryffindor!"

"So was my father." Harry told her stiffly.

"As was Lord Gryffindor." Theo grinned.

"What's a person's Hogwarts House got to do with their blood traitor status?" Harry asked.

Pansy looked to Draco as though for help. "Gryffindors are all bumbling and uncouth muggle lovers!"

"Neville Longbottom is a Gryffindor." Harry reminded her.

"Exactly!" Pansy's upper lip curled in disgust. "He's pathetic."

Harry gritted his teeth and stiffened his shoulders, trying to remember everything Cousin Narcissa had taught him about how to respond to situations where he, or his allies, were insulted.

"He's my friend." Harry told her coldly. "And the Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. Who do you think you are to pass judgement on him?"

Pansy's face reddened. "I'm a Slytherin!"

"So?" Harry asked her, curling his upper lip scornfully. "That doesn't make you any less of a peasant. Who are you to judge the Heir of Longbottom? Let alone Lord Black?"

Pansy's face was red with fury. "How dare you?!"

"Pansy, dear?" Daphne said suddenly. "Do be quiet. You are making a fool of yourself."

"Does anyone else think that Harry bears a scary resemblance to Lord Malfoy when he's angry?" Theo asked after a few awkward seconds had passed.

"I know." Draco agreed looking strangely proud. "And he's only had one year of tutoring. Can you imagine how terrifying he would be if he'd actually grown up in our world?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm nothing like Lord Malfoy."

"Harry, you are exactly like Lord Malfoy." Theo returned. "You're more like him than Draco is."

Harry looked to Draco expecting him to deny it. When his cousin didn't say anything, Harry's mouth dropped open. "Seriously?"

"Only when you're angry." Draco said defensively.

"You should get angry more often." Theo commented. "Just not at us."

Harry grinned. "Somehow I doubt other people would have the same enthusiasm for my anger that you do. My dorm mates for example."

Draco sneered. "They'd deserve it."

"Are they still being prats?" Theo asked in surprise. "I thought they would have gotten over it by now."

"Apparently I am everything that Anthony stands against." Harry told them. "His family is aggressively non-traditional, and despite the fact that Terry and Michael are traditionalists they have decided to pick his side over mine to avoid conflict."

"You know what really annoys me?" Theo asked rhetorically. "That it's acceptable for him to be a prat about being non-traditional. If we treated non-traditional people the way they treat us everyone would hate us for it."

Harry raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Draco does treat everyone like that."

"I do not!" Draco protested.

"Name one non-traditional person that you willingly talk to." Harry challenged.

Draco frowned in thought.

"Exactly!" Harry smirked.

"Yes, well, Draco's Draco." Theo said. "The rest of us aren't like that."

"And not all the non-traditional people are like Anthony." Harry pointed out. "Rodney Johnson's not."

Theo looked sceptically. "He's been a prat to you. Besides, he glares at us all the time. All your dorm mates do."

"That's because of their prejudice against dark magic." Harry explained.

"But we don't all have dark magic!" Theo argued. "I don't and neither does Tracey."

"No, but you're Slytherin." Daphne commented coldly. "That's enough for them."

"How is your sister, Daphne?" Harry asked in what he knew was a very unsubtle attempt to change the topic of conversation.

Daphne smiled softly. "She is well thank you. She is enjoying Hogwarts a lot and hardly seems to be homesick at all."

"You being here probably helps." Theo commented.

"Most likely." Daphne agreed. "I think mother and father are missing her more than she is missing them. She's the youngest and mother says the house it very quiet with all of us gone."

Harry watched Daphne as she answered and couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. She was definitely the prettiest girl in their year.

"What's Thomas doing?" Draco asked curiously.

"Still travelling around Europe." Daphne answered. "Father's starting to despair of him, I think. In his last letter he said something about watching muggle carriages race."

Harry grinned in amusement. "I think you probably mean motor cars."

"What are they?" Theo asked.

"They are like carriages, except they have a motor that makes them move without needing any magic, or any kind of animal to pull them along." Draco answered.

All the Slytherins turned to stare at him.

"Draco?" Theo questioned. "Is there something you need to tell us? How in Merlin's name do you know that?"

"Harry and I rode in one over the summer." Draco answered haughtily.

"Seriously?" Theo leaned forward. "You rode in a muggle carriage?"

Pansy sniffed disapprovingly. "This is what happens when you spend time with blood traitors."

Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you accusing me of being a blood traitor, Parkinson?"

"If the wand matches." Pansy replied disdainfully.

"And what exactly is it about me that makes me a blood traitor?" Harry asked her.

"You're a half-blood!" Pansy snapped.

"From which you could possibly make the argument that my father was a blood traitor." Harry replied. "But my parents' choices don't make me one."

"You live with muggles!"

"Not voluntarily." Harry responded.

"You, you…"

"It's ironic really," Harry interrupted her, his tone deceptively even. "You accuse me of being a blood traitor, but I think the title fits you much more than it fits me."

Pansy opened her mouth to speak, but Harry continued without giving her time to say anything.

"What exactly is it that you thinks makes someone a blood traitor?" Harry asked her. "Because when you sit here and disrespect me you are acting no better than a Weasley would. At least they admit that they don't believe in the traditions, you claim to be traditional and then turn around and ignore them when they suit you."

Harry looked around the circle and took in the rest of the Slytherins' blank expressions. "I don't know why Draco, Theo and Daphne haven't put a stop to your uncouth behaviour, but I won't put up with it any longer."

Pansy sneered at him. "And what exactly do you think you can do about it, Harry?"

"It's Potter to you." Harry snapped. "Only my friends get to refer to me informally, and I don't want to be friends with a two-faced blood traitor like you."

"You think you're so high and mighty, Potter!" Pansy spat. "But you're just a half-blooded blood traitor playing at being noble."

Harry raised an eyebrow icily. "Oh, I'm not playing, Miss Parkinson. I know exactly what I'm doing." He stood up. "Merry meet. Draco, I will see you this evening."

Stalking away, Harry tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. He knew he'd done the right thing in standing up to her. Cousin Narcissa had taught him that it was important for him to stand up for himself when he was insulted – if he let people insult him without there being consequences then no one would respect him. The problem was, that he had no idea what sort of punishment he could, or should, give Pansy for her insults.

He should probably write to Cousin Narcissa and ask.

24-24-24

'Dear Cousin Narcissa,

I hope that you and Lord Malfoy are well. I hope that you don't mind, but I am writing to ask you for some advice regarding something happened between myself and Pansy Parkinson.

Earlier this afternoon I was talking to Draco, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, and Blaise Zabini. During the conversation Pansy said that her father thinks that Sirius is a blood traitor and, when I stood up for him, she insulted Neville Longbottom as well. Later in the conversation, Pansy called me a "half-blooded blood traitor playing at being noble". I told her off, just like you said I should, but I don't know what to do now. Should I leave it alone now? Or is there something else I should do.

Kind Regards,

Your Cousin,

Harry Potter

Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black

Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter'

14-14-14

It always took a few days for Cousin Narcissa to reply to his letters and Harry spent the time trying to figure out what do about Parkinson. He knew he couldn't just forgive her, and he didn't want to anyway. She had insulted Sirius, Neville, as well as himself, and Harry wanted to make sure she never did it again.

He'd asked Draco and Luna, but they hadn't been any help. Draco's go to option for punishing people was calling his father, and Luna had as little experience with these sorts of situations as Harry did. It left Harry with a problem though, how was he supposed to treat Parkinson while he waited for Cousin Narcissa's letter? Should he ignore her? Or should he try and treat her like Lord Malfoy treated people he didn't like – with cool distain.

In the end though his plan wasn't really needed since Parkinson didn't try to talk to him and instead settled for sneering at him from a distance. Draco seemed to find the whole thing more amusing than anything, though, when Harry questioned him about it, he explained that his amusement was in regards to Parkinson's stupidity. Harry thought that Draco was just hoping that the situation would somehow result in Pansy stopping her annoying habit of stalking him.

When Cousin Narcissa's letter finally arrived on Monday morning, Harry opened it immediately.

'Dear Harry,

Thank you for your letter. Lucius and I are both very well

I admit to being surprised to read about your unfortunate interaction with Miss Parkinson. Draconus had mentioned that her manners left much to be desired, but I had no idea that she was quite so uncouth. The House of Parkinson, whilst faithfully continuing to uphold our traditions, has never been haut ton, however, in the past they have tended to demonstrate more refined manners than Miss Parkinson seems to have. I applaud you for having defended your family, self and allies.

In regards to what your response ought to be, there are unfortunately limited options particularly in regards to your young age. Your first action should be to explain what happened to your godfather. It may be that he is willing to take care of the matter for you. If he is not then I suggest that you write to the Head of the House of Parkinson, who in this case is Miss Parkinson's Great Grandfather, and give an account of her actions. You should also write to your Gringotts' Account Manager and ask for information in regards to any business ventures that the House of Potter has with the House of Parkinson. If Mr. Parkinson responds to your letter as he ought, with apologies and a promise of discipline, then you may consider the matter closed. If he does not respond as he ought then you will want to have that information on hand in order to properly explain the possible consequences of the insult to your House and allies. You will not be able to follow through on any threats you might make until you are fifteen of course, but three years will not seem very long from Mr. Parkinson's perspective.

Please give my love to Draconus,

Your Cousin,

Lady Narcissa Malfoy

The Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy'