The Train


Granny Min had left for Hogwarts on the 23rd of August to get ready for the new school year. Throughout the summer months, right up to Harry's birthday, she had been going to meet families of newbloods. Harry, for the first time, was exposed to the whole process. He had asked her how she went about it. The answer he got was hardly satisfactory. The newbloods were always delivered a letter asking for an appointment. It was during that time that she, Flitwick or Sprout would go and visit the families. They would be explained about magic, and shown a little demonstration, and that was it. There was no information about the prospects of the children in the magical world, especially after the end of their Hogwarts education. It was a shame. If the dementors did attack again on the train, there would be need for calming all the first years- the newbloods more so.

They all met at the train station having not met at the Leaky Cauldron- it was the time when Mrs. Weasley had romanticised the use of love potions. Amusingly, the Weasleys were early by an hour. That was new. And so were their robes, Ron's wand, all their pets, their trunks and just about everything else that money could buy. Evidently, they had made good use of the Basilisk money. But that wasn't all. As soon as Harry and Neville arrived from Longbottom Manor (Harry had been over at Neville's the previous night, thankful that he did not need to know what the old dog was getting up to with Amelia at Marauders' Place), Mr. Weasley had shepherded all the boys and Ginny together. Evidently, he hadn't made a promise to old Fudge this time around. While Mr. Weasley was having a last minute talk with Ginny and Percival, the twins cornered him.

"Harrykins!" exclaimed Fred.

"Our ickle Mal-au-the has all glow-n up Fled!" George said, wiping a stray mock tear.

"Look-y how tall he has become, tall-al than ickle Lawn-y!" Fred added, copying Sirius' action of grab-in-headlock-and-grind-knuckles-in-head.

"Geroffme!" grumbled Harry, trying to prise the offending twin off him.

"Look at that Fled! Aw-l weetle Harry doesn't like us any mole!"

"Gentlemen!" barked Harry authoritatively. "You are missing a very important proposition with your baby talk! I invoke the spirit of the Marauders!"

The change that this wrought was astounding and astonishing. They immediately went into conspiracy-and-field-master mode, grabbing Harry unceremoniously in a huddle. "Speak up Harrykins! We are all ears- well at least some parts of us are..." Harry had heard better ear related humour from George when he had had one lopped off.

"Gentlemen, I have been studying the Marauders' Map this summer, with my godbrother, and a devious budding pranking genius, Neville Longbottom."

"Seriously, you expect us to believe that?"

"Harry, at least lie believably!"

"I can testify to that, mates," the younger boy protested. "I have been over to his place liberally, over the summer. Well, let us just say, that between us, we can prank Snape out of his wits to prove our worth, if you like..." Harry offered.

"That is a deal."

"Well the more interesting part was this. Now that we know where the chamber of secrets is- and I know that you may think this is in bad taste- I think it can be an excellent base of operations for the new Marauders. It isn't on the map either, and I have a way in which you will be able to open the chamber."

"That is about the most splendid thing I have ever heard!" claimed George.

"It gets me," continued Fred, pointing at his heart, "right here!"

They would have continued their conversation without getting anywhere at all, if Mrs. Weasley called them all up with a call of "BOYS!" Harry caught up with Percy and congratulated him on becoming Headboy as they congregated towards the Weasley parents.

"Now, listen here you lot, and also tell what I am saying to Hermione. Sirius Black is a very dangerous criminal and he has been the right hand man of You-Know-Who. They think that he is out to get Harry for revenge." Harry snorted at that but hastily turned it into a cough. If Sirius was out to get him, it meant he would be looking to see if his hair was green or he had flippers instead of feet. "The thing is this. You have been in lots of misadventures over the past two years. You are not under any circumstances, to go after Sirius Black. Do you get me?" Mrs. Weasley asked with not a little stab at disciplining Harry.

"Mrs. Weasley, why would I go after Black if he is out to get me?" Harry asked, mentally adding, "Without a couple of dungbombs and Filibuster's Wet Start Fireworks? Or without possibly more incriminating Zonko's products?"

"Promise me, Harry," Mr. Weasley interjected. "Logic be damned, I don't want you going after Black!"

"Mr. Weasley, I-"

Thankfully Luna chose the moment to bounce onto the platform. "Are you all playing a huddle? May I join in?"

That highly disconcerted the Eldest Weasleys. "Not a huddle," replied Molly distractedly.

"Oh," said Luna with a mien of disappointment. "I thought it was like a team game. Harry, I'll go ahead and find some space for us, shall I?"

"Of course, Mooney, you do that. I think we might have quite a few people joining us. Of the back of my mind, I can count several, including Ronniekins, Gin-Gin, Hermione, Susan, Percy, Fred and George, and Neville- and of course us." Harry sincerely hoped that she wouldn't find the compartment where Moony presumably had already taken his seat, and it would be possible unlike last time, when they had been disastrously late. Any further discussion regarding Sirius Black was relegated to non-existence however, as the hordes of students and parents made a beeline for the train. With a quick bidding of goodbyes, all the Weasleys and Harry were ushered along to clamber onto the train, with fifteen minutes still left- a record for anyone ever bearing the Weasley name.

That was when Harry spied Amelia and Susan coming through the barrier. Neville had told him that Susan always stayed over at Hannah's the day before the train left after any long holiday. Amelia saw him and smiled smugly, filling Harry with foreboding. Taking his leave of the Weasleys for a moment as Amelia said her goodbyes to Susan, he approached her. As Susan left to sit with Hannah and her Hufflepuff friends with a cheerful wave at Harry and a last hug to Amelia, the older woman smiled even widely. "Mr. Potter, I sincerely hope that the situation with Sirius Black will be resolved soon. It is a pity that it is so hard on him that he has to hide. By the way, I kept your dog company, yesterday. He is a good doggy. He has a lot of style," she told him totally tongue in cheek.

Harry's eyes bugged out as he heard unwanted details about his godfather and Amelia- in that moment, Sirius was not his father. "You- you..." he stuttered, unable to articulate any further.

"Go on to the train, Harry," Amelia said, patronisingly. "Sirius told me that you are old enough."

Harry was torn between wanting to run for the hills- er, train, and wanting to scream in disgust. He managed to combine the two by running away from her with a low strangled scream. It did not permeate Harry's brain that the reference might mean that Sirius had probably told her about the future.

"The boy is clearly scared of me for some reason," Amelia muttered in incomprehension. All she wanted was to tell him that Sirius and she had had a great time talking, coming up to speed with each other and in spite of his hard time at Azkaban, the old dog hadn't lost his style and charisma. Harry never heard it. He was working up his Occlumency to eliminate all bad pictures of the two.


Harry peeped through the panes on the doors to search for his companions, and froze when he found them. Luna and Neville had found the compartment right where Moony was, sleeping again, slumped into the corner between the seat and the side of the compartment, his head resting in an awkward angle on the window. Now that he knew why Moony was tired, he felt for the man. The 31st of August had been a Full Moon Night, and the month itself must have been terrible as it was a Blue Moon month, causing him to wince. All the same, he was still unsure how to react. He was really worried that he would blurt out something if Moony tried to speak to him. At least, Moony had made good use of the money he had been bequeathed. He was dressed impeccably.

"You could have found an empty compartment, you know," he chastised the two, with a bit of a glower.

"Oi, don't blame me! Moon went ahead and said that it was important that you sit here!"

"Why?" Harry asked Luna.

"It is, just as it is important that you should learn to fly on wings," Luna replied serenely.

Neville and Harry exchanged a glance, shrugged and then Harry settled across Moony, after divesting himself of his trunk.

Hermione joined them not long after, before Ron, Ginny and the twins checked in. Apparently, they had all been given strict instructions to be Harry's guard, much to his (concealed) irritation. They engaged in small talk for a few minutes before the twins left, presumably to corner Lee Jordan.

"Who's that bloke?" Ron asked in an offhand manner.

"Eh? Oh, that's Professor R. J. Lupin. I believe he would be the new DADA teacher," answered Harry, looking resolutely out of the window. "It's funny. I keep thinking I have heard that name before, or that I should know him, but I can't for the life of me place him." Harry swore he saw a faint smile on Moony's face in the reflection on the window pane. So the prat was feigning sleep. He deserved a good prank. Well, there would be a wondrous welcome for Moony.

"How'd you know his name?" Ginny asked with a blushing red face. Harry turned towards Ginny when she asked that and simply pointed towards Moony's trunk, causing her to mouth, "Oh."

It was then that Neville and Hermione asked him what the Weasley huddle was about. Ron answered in his stead. "Well, apparently, You-Know-Who is not enough. Sirius Black is after Harry for revenge." ("He must be- I played the last prank," Harry smirked mentally.) "He was YKW's right hand man and was the Potters' secret-keeper. He betrayed them to YKW. He has broken out to come after Harry," he reported with a nonchalant shrug.

Hermione had her hands over her mouth. She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry...you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry-"

"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."

"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily. Hermione glared at him. "No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," continued Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too." (Two out of the three statements was false. Harry knew how Sirius got out, and Barty Crouch Jr. was the first to escape.)

"But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."

"Hermione, this Black guy was YKW's right hand man!" Neville interjected.

"Exactly," agreed Ron. "Dad said that Fudge told him, that Black thinks if Harry snuffs it, YKW will be resurrected or some stuff like that!"

That raised everyone's hackles, including Harry's (for a different reason). "So he isn't content with killing Harry's parents, and so wants to kill Harry too? Oh, if he comes after Harry, I won't need my wand to take care of him," Hermione growled, so much like a lioness. That explained why Mione had changed from an otter to a lioness. It also meant that Harry would have to submit to a week of pranks from Sirius. The old mutt was right about the Patronus after all.

"'Mione, just leave it. Can we talk of something else please? How was Egypt, Ron?" Harry's pleading voice made Hermione back down apologetically.

"It was brilliant!" Ron gushed. "There were these pyramids, and lots of ancient places where we had to pay a fair bit of gold to get in and see. The twins tried shutting Percy into a pyramid, but Mum caught 'em." He shrugged with a morose expression. "Still, it wasn't as bad. Percy no longer has a ten foot pole shoved up his-"

"Language, Ronald!" admonished Hermione. "I hope you were going to stop at 'posterior'!"

"That works too!" he agreed. "Anyway, Bill was happier too. Well it is thanks to you really. Ever since you gave out that compensation thingy, Bill and Charlie haven't had to-" He stopped as Ginny hissed, "Shut up Ron!" and both their ears turned red.

Harry realised exactly what subject had been broached, and also which other had been broached by association. "Never mind, mate. You don't need to thank me. So, did you buy a new wand after that crash and the git?"

"Yes," grinned Ron happily. "Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair," he informed them, displaying it. "And what's more, Mum and Dad have even promised us each a pet and a broomstick. We'll get either for Christmas or our birthdays!"

"Fred and George are going to have a pet? Some poor creature is going to have them foisted upon it?" yelped Harry.

"As odd as it sounds, yes, they'll. But they said they'd share." Harry winced and shuddered in sympathy for whatever the poor pet would be.

"Speaking of pets, I can see that Hermione has a new one," Neville commented.

"Yes," squealed Hermione. "He is Crookshanks. He is a half-kneazle. Harry gave him to me," she told them, as Ginny and Luna cooed over the little monster and cuddled and petted him.

"What for?" asked Ron, a bit abrasively. He then took a good look at Crookshanks, and grimaced. "He looks like a squash-faced little pumpkin. Do me a favour, mate, never give me a pet as a present. You haven't got great taste in that!" Said monster pawed him with a hiss that Harry understood as a declaration of enmity.

"Ron!" cried Hermione. "I love him very much." Then realising that it may be construed another way, she hastily continued, "He is my pet. And he is absolutely cute." Crookshanks bristled at that. He was a handsome specimen of a feline male. He wouldn't be degraded by being described as cute.

"Call him handsome, Hermione. He didn't like being called cute," Harry advised her.

"How would you know?" Ginny asked in a small voice, still averting Harry's eyes. Merlin, he had to have a talk with this girl.

"I am a beast-speaker," he answered simply. "Snakes are just one of the things I can talk to." Crookshanks yowled at him. "Yes. I am sorry. That is the technical term, Master Crookshanks, but you are right, I shouldn't call you a beast. Do you want repayment through petting?" Harry growled back. Crookshanks eyed him apprehensively, than jumped onto his lap and purred in contentment as Harry scratched the cat's ears and returned to staring out of the window.

Sometime later, Neville broached the subject of Hogsmeade. "I can't wait for the first trip down there! It will be exciting to go there and actually hang about away from home."

"It should be exciting," replied Hermione. "It is the only purely magical settlement in Britain, the site of the 1612 Goblin rebellion-"

"Stop right there! The 1612 rebellion was wrongly reported in human circles. As Griffinheart, I am honour-bound to explain the Nation's stand. The Goblin Nation considers non-repayment of loans as fraud, and that includes any delay in the installments. Human relations with the Nation were at an all-time low. The Wizard in question had made several of his friends who were business owners in Hogsmeade guarantors to his loan. It was only a collection drive. 1612 was a time when female Goblins or Garnarukrana were still in service of the bank as its public face. Several humans severely insulted them, but one was physically violent towards a pregnant Garnarukra and she lost her child. There is no concept of Garnarukrana living through the loss of a child yet to be born- they cannot bear the sorrow as they are very much conscious of everything, even during the birthing process. If the child dies, it is only a rare Garnarukra who doesn't die. Retaliation was necessary and obvious."

This was new history as far as the others were concerned. Binns never taught history from the point of view of those that opposed magical humans. Hermione had a protest to lodge. "Isn't this unnecessarily violent?"

"SILENCE, HUMAN!" roared Harry in anger, making them all jump and jerking Moony out of his feigned sleep. He ploughed on regardless. "FOR A GARNARUKRO, FAMILY IS EVERYTHING. NO REVENGE, NO AMOUNT OF VIOLENCE IS ENOUGH, BAR THE SIGHT OF THE FLOWING BLOOD OF THE VERY LAST ENEMY, TO SATIATE THE HONOUR OF A LIFE AND A CHILD LOST, TO SATIATE THE PAIN BORN OUT OF THE LOSS OF A FAMILY MEMBER! AS A HUMAN TOO, I WOULD DO THE SAME, AND HAPPILY SO, TILL MY THIRST FOR REVENGE IS QUENCHED!" His magic was getting away from him all over again. It pressed them all against the walls of the compartment, and pinned them, a few inches off the ground.

The door flew open to admit Susan, who barked at Harry, having heard his dulcet diatribe from the adjacent compartment, "Stand down Griffinheart! Do not bring shame to the Nation by your actions! The Ministry will consider this a rebellion!"

Harry jerked out of his anger at her words, and rapidly cooled down. He blinked and then looked at them all sheepishly in turn. Approaching Susan, he bowed, and kissed her right knuckle. "Heiress Bones, I thank you for your timely intervention. I apologise unreservedly for any trouble that I may have caused you."

"Lo- Mr. Potter, my Aunt, the Lady Regent Bones had warned me that there could be such repercussions if anyone were to cast any aspersions on the Nation's actions. I am honour bound to follow her instructions." She then left.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Ms. Granger, I apologise for my wanton anger which though not unwarranted was misplaced, as it wasn't anything but curiosity that made you ask that question. As your sworn protector, I have failed my duty. My life is yours to claim." He knelt before her and exposed his neck, per Garnarukro tradition.

Hermione, who was still recovering from her fear at having seen Harry go berserk, was dumbfounded. They all stared at Harry, transfixed and dumbfounded, before Moony spoke up. "Ms. Granger, I believe Mr. Potter requires your response. As he has sworn to be your protector, but nearly went against the oath, you are allowed to pass the judgement of death unto him." Hermione blinked at Moony- Professor Lupin- with an open mouth, before Ginny shook her.

"I can't want to kill you!" she said in a high pitched, panicked voice. "It is okay!"

"Thank you, Ms. Granger. I will strive to be a better protector, if you would still find it in yourself to allow me a chance at making reparations." Hermione could only nod. Harry turned to the others. "Heir Longbottom-Dearborn, Heiress Lovegood, Professor Lupin, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Weasley, I apologise to you all to for any harm that I may have inadvertently caused you. Please name your conditions."

As only Neville truly knew the required protocol to be followed, he answered. "Mr. Potter, I believe I believe that I speak for us all. Your reparations were made when you apologised truly. Please do work to control your anger. That is the only condition that I name." The others added their agreements and acceptances to that.

"Thank you, Heir Longbottom-Dearborn." He turned to Moony, and asked, "Do you intend to name your additional conditions Professor?"

"No. I agree with Heir Longbottom-Dearborn. That is all."

"Thank you," he said, more politely than he had ever spoken to Moony. He then resumed his petting of an extremely angry Crookshanks, who had lost his petting servant rather violently. The eruption of Mt. Harry had scared everyone into silence, and they remained that way for the better part of the next two hours, till lunch time, when the witch with the food cart came by. Everyone bought several items, but Harry loaded himself with anything chocolate. Moony was still feigning sleep. Harry debated with himself whether he should try and entice the prat with chocolate and break his act, when his marauder side gave him a better idea. He was thwarted however, when Hermione approached him again.

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Neville asked awkwardly, nodding toward Professor Lupin. "He looks like he could do with some food."

Hermione approached Professor Lupin cautiously. "Er- Professor?" she said. "Excuse me- Professor?" He didn't move.

"Don't worry, dear," said the witch as she handed Harry a large stack of Cauldron Cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."

The journey resumed its companionable silence, at least till the annual pilgrimage by the Slytherin contingent. This time, it was Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. These were a pair that had earned their place in the House off their own merit. They'd be worthy opponents, or useful allies. Ron was about to make an abrasive comment, when Harry calmed him with an authoritative hand on the shoulder. As Harry now was among the taller people in his year, he easily towered over the two newcomers. However, Sirius had coached him in the use of elegance, and easy grace in the display of power, so he knew that imposing himself on anyone physically was hardly the way to go.

"Well met, Heir Nott, Mr. Zabini. I am Hadrian of the House of Potter. What may I help you with?" He asked with an inexpressive face, looking both boys straight in the eye, after nodding once to each of them.

Nott was clearly taken aback at this. He had obviously been expecting aggression, as a Slytherin. Given that he was the de facto leader among the snakes, now that Draco had been defanged, it made sense to not fight down a person of higher status and more importantly, higher power- even though it had a domino effect on Theodore's own father. Both boys returned the nods. "Well met, Lord Potter?" Harry allowed a barely there smile to grace his face, neither accepting nor denying the address. "I thank you for your help in bringing down the Malfoy scion from his ill-earned position. As a representative of the third year Slytherins, Mr. Zabini and I would like to extend neutrality with Gryffindor, with any reasonable terms that we may mutually agree."

"I must say that this is a very mighty concession on your part, Heir Nott. I believe that a train ride is not exactly an opportune place to discuss these matters. Perhaps we can adjourn our discussion till after dinner tonight? With your permission, I would ask Heir Longbottom to join me."

"Indeed, he would be most welcome. Till then," Theodore said with a bow.

"Till then," Harry replied with a nod. As he sat back down, he realised that the others- barring Moony who was still feigning sleep; and Luna who was really sleeping, snuggled into Hermione's side- were all staring at him.

"What?"

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"What the bloody hell was what?"

"Don't play dumb Harry," Hermione cut across Ron. "How did you manage a civil conversation with Slytherins?"

"I believe that I was only being polite, Hermione."

"But- but you sounded like Malfoy!"

Harry took one look at her and then laughed. It was a curious thing – the laughter was bark-like. Remus jerked slightly. Harry laughed like the lunatic. "Oh just listen to yourself!" he exclaimed wiping tears of mirth. "Are you saying that that bigoted blonde ferret spawn of a Death Eater has even a modicum of politeness? Please; I was only behaving as is expected of me in polite society!"

"But... how?"

"Look, my actions at the end of last term were important in bringing Malfoy down. The thing is that Malfoy, if he had been a polite person, and hadn't insulted you lot, would have been acknowledged for what he is- he is my cousin through my grandmother-"

"What?"

"Yes. My Grandmother Dorea Potter nee Black was Sirius Black's great Aunt, and so also of Narcissa Malfoy nee Black."

"You are related to Sirius Black?" asked Ron horrified.

"Yes. So are you. Your grandmother Cedrella was a Black, mate. Hermione had squib ancestors born in the Black line. Neville has Black ancestry too. Every so often there is a family that becomes fairly large. At the point before the last male son was put into Azkaban, there were, I believe, about fifty members. In our generation your family will be replacing the Blacks. Including you nine, and your extended family, you are what? Sixty, seventy people?" Ron attempted to think and then nodded. "So a lot many people will be cousins through the Weasleys, but since you have more male members, your name will carry, unlike the Blacks. So well, anyway, Malfoy- he is a cousin. However, he is a prime example of a waste of human reproduction capabilities." The classical insult, delivered in such sophisticated words, had them all chortling immoderately. "Anyway, he has been a git, and a person who doesn't deserve his place in Slytherin. By ruthlessly, and irrevocably destroying his position, I showed off that I was politically better off than he is. Plus, it didn't hurt that I claimed the Life debt in front of a packed hall, leaving him no chance to weasel out of the shame of owing to me. Then I showed everyone that they owe me. In essence, I showed them that I hold power over them, and then I have held that in abeyance till they do something worth punishment. I have given them cause to fear me- the greatest possible cause. It keeps everyone else safe from them, on my conditions. In effect I created my position of power."

"And this helps you how?"

"Nott's father is a Death Eater. We already have evidence of the fact that Tommy is still- I can't exactly say alive- existent on the mortal plane. When he returns, who do you think he will approach first? The Death Eaters, of course, for being a Death Eater is a lifetime of service or death. By creating a situation where I wield power over them, I can stop the children of Death Eaters from joining, if and when 'Mouldy-shorts' returns, cutting down his power base. I am not stupid; I know that there will be some who will want to join regardless. I will bind them to my will. For others like Nott, who clearly haven't demarcated their position, I can have neutrality in the short term, and possibly business relations if I need them. Why create an enemy, when he could be a powerful ally? Plus, by giving him plausible deniability over the actions of those he can't control, I give him reason to be civil to the rest of us. By establishing myself very high up in the power pecking order at Hogwarts, I bypass the internal political landscape of the Slytherin House, without needing to know its intricacies. One fortuitous incident whereby the whole school owes me a life debt, including an entire batch that has passed out, can be manipulated to whatever level I want. To people who won't, or can't understand this manoeuvring, it is just me taking revenge against a school bully."

They all just kept staring. Finally 'petulant Ron' reared his head. "But why take Neville along? Why not take me?"

Harry shook his head. "Familia Magicus Potter!" he incanted, and a Griffin very much resembling Firewing screeched his presence. "By my family magic, I place a geas on the occupants of this compartment. My previous explanation regarding my actions, and what I will explain now, till I command the geas' effect to end, will not be spoken to any that aren't present here, till I give them my express permission to do otherwise. The secrets of my words shall remain so till I grant leave to reveal them. So I claim it to be!" The Griffin dissipated in a golden mist and entered them all, including him.

"Look Ron, you are both my best friends, but these are Slytherins we are talking about. They respect power, ambition and cunningness. As Lord Potter, Lord Gryffindor, Lord Slytherin and Lord Peverell, I individually am the most powerful person in the school, and possibly, even in the Wizengamot."

"You are Lord Slytherin?" asked Ron horrified.

"I wasn't till I destroyed the scar. By conquest, I am Lord Slytherin now, as I defeated Voldemort thrice- it was my Mum the first time around," he explained patiently.

Ron's eyes glazed over. "That is bloody brilliant! You can lord over those slimy snakes now!"

"And become the Gryffindor Malfoy? No, thank you. I will keep that bit of information under wraps, till I decide to or am forced to reveal it. Why waste such perfectly good political powers over school squabbles? Anyway, Neville is Heir Longbottom-Dearborn. As much as neither of us likes it, the stupidity that is the Magical Society puts you lower on the social scale than either of us. We won't stand for you being insulted by implication. As a Lord, I am higher up than both of them combined, but having Neville along stamps the power equation firmly in our favour, especially if they attempt something foolish. I don't like how it is, but if we want to change the system, we have to work from within it. Turn it on itself and watch the show. You hate it that I have spoken so crudely, if truly, but think, amongst us all, who is the most disadvantaged person?" They all actually thought about it.

"I am," Hermione admitted. "As a mud-"

"Hermione!" chastised Harry.

"Sorry, as a muggle born I have no status at all. Harry is a half-blood but a Lord of four houses. The rest of you are pureblood."

"Exactly," agreed Harry. "And don't use the term muggle-born - use newblood. Now my mum faced the same. People think of them as war heroes and then spit on her memory. I will tear apart the fabric of magical Britain, if that is what is required, to stop the bigotry. My mum could never live it that way; I won't let Hermione suffer the same. If we want to move and keep pace with the rest of the world, we have to drag the society with us. But just tearing the fabric is not enough- it has to be stitched anew. The needle that will do that is in our hands, but we need to be sure that we can salvage all that is good. That is the way of the true Slytherin."

Remus was listening to Harry speak. He had been expecting an adolescent, a teen. The one he found was a Charlus reincarnate. He still remembered that man. He had been a friend, especially after his parents had been killed. His death had been as much a blow as James' and Lily's. Most importantly, this was not the Harry, or Hadrian that Dumbledore had told him about. He was, different.

"How would you know the way of the true Slytherin?"

"I told you, I am not in Slytherin only because of Malfoy. I had no prejudice against them, just as Salazar didn't have any against newbloods, as they were called then. Salazar's wife and mother were both newbloods. We have been told a completely fabricated version of history. Even old Voldemort wasn't the true Heir of Slytherin. Somebody in his Peverell ancestry won the Slytherin house by conquest. Voldemort and I are blood related through the Peverells. They won by conquest and I won by the house carrying over. I have to restart Salazar's real ideals. Did you know that he was essentially the Charles Darwin of the magical world?"

A newly awake Luna asked, "Charles who?"

"Charles Darwin was an anthropologist and naturalist. He was studying how organisms sustained over eons of evolution."

Succinct, thought Hermione. It was extremely attractive to her, the way Harry had changed. While the Harry of before was not exactly cerebrally gifted, she had come to understand that it was because of the scar and the bindings. He was, with his Gryffindor nature, an even better Slytherin. Added to that was the vocabulary, and she realised that she wouldn't have to dumb herself down for him. She, unknown to anyone else, stared at him hungrily before coming to her senses. She was feeling the stirrings of a teenager. They lapsed into another long silence, before Ron brought up the abandoned subject of Hogsmeade again.

"Where do you want to go in Hogsmeade? I can't wait to get my hands on candy in Honeydukes."

"ZONKO'S!" answered Neville and Harry in unison after casting the "Muffliato" on Moony, Harry sounding like the thirteen year old he was supposed to be.

"Blimey! Fred and George gave the same reaction when I asked them two years ago!"

"Of course it will be! Zonko's-"

"The holiest of shrines for pranksters-"

"Where people like us can worship mischief-"

"The place where we can get the most desirable of prank stuff during Hogwarts-"

"We solemnly swear we are up to no good!"

"Merlin!" cried Hermione. "You turned into the twins!"

"Of course, Scrivenshafts', and Tomes and Scrolls are on the agenda too-" Neville said trying to pacify her.

"But Zonko's and the Shrieking Shack are places we want to go to!" Harry completed.

Ron looked at the two with barely concealed envy.


As they travelled further and further North, the sky darkened and so did the windows, reducing Harry's view. He had been mostly quiet as usual during the journey, thinking about everything as he admired the view. Mostly, his thoughts were centred on Moony. Now that he was faced with the man again, he couldn't really stay angry with his honorary uncle, his 'Unca Mooey'. He had tried his best to help him when he was there, and the man had the most inner demons to beat. When finally it darkened too much and the lanterns were lit along the train, he turned his attention back to his companions. He was chiefly worried that the Dementor would be back again.

His fears came to life when the train abruptly started slowing down to a stop, chugging like a tired old man, the pistons sighing and the wheels groaning. Before long it lurched to a stop. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness. Harry engaged his Occlumency shields at full power, as a squabble broke out in the compartment as one cat and four teens invaded each other's personal spaces.

Harry hastily wiped the window clean of condensation to check out of the window. Sure enough, there were very tall hooded figures coming aboard the train. Almost immediately, everything started feeling cold. He heard Ginny whimper. He retrieved the shrunken bag of chocolate treats from his pocket and handed one out to everyone, and Moony (bloody chocoholic werewolf - he had probably smelt the treats) too took it. Harry meanwhile barked out instructions.

"Listen up you lot! Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, all of you pour all your love and use this incantation- "Solus!" Keep thinking happy thoughts. Ron, you are in charge. Do not let anyone get in or out, except the Professor, Neville and I. There are dementors on the train. Neville and I can perform the Patronus charm." He summoned the Patroni without delay and the ethereal creatures joined them again. All of them gaped at the happy feelings that surrounded them again. Just as they were calming down, Neville's bear joined them.

"Neville are you taking guard?"

"No. I'll go with you."

"Alright; 'Mione –"

"Yes?"

"Not you Hermione, I was talking to the lioness," Harry chuckled. "'Mione, please stay and guard. Padfoot, Prongs, Firewing (Remus' eyes widened comically as he saw the forms) come and help."

"Honeypaws!" ordered Neville. "You will help too!"

"Honeypaws- seriously Nev, you named that big bear, Honeypaws?" Harry ribbed his friend. Neville did not dignify that with a response.

They moved through the train, driving away the dementors from the compartments, handing out chocolates to the severely stricken people. Neville was gleeful when he got to help Susan. It was as they were returning to their compartment, that they heard something odd. A mellifluous voice was calling out to a girl called Astoria, along with another pair of voices, one of which he recognised as Theodore's were also calling to her. The two boys exchanged glances. Moony was up front, talking to the driver. Shrugging, they knocked on the closed door, which was promptly opened by an extremely flustered Theodore.

"Potter!" he said. "Please call the Professor." Harry complied with a Patronus message to Moony, by Firewing.

"Is there any problem Nott? May we come in?" The boy promptly stepped aside to let them in.

"It's Astoria. She collapsed after everything went cold, screaming..."

"Would you mind if I try something? Do not worry, I have shown what I will do to a certified Healer."

"Please," Nott implored.

The girl, a silvery blonde haired little girl with robes bearing no house crest, was lying unconscious on the berth, with her head in the lap of a girl who was presumably her elder sister. This girl was without a doubt beautiful, Harry noted, before chastising himself for thinking about it. Harry immediately pumped the little girl, presumably the one called Astoria with two Happiness Hampers. Slowly, she relaxed, as her eyes fluttered open. Neville meanwhile rolled a piece of parchment into a conical funnel, and asked the sister to open the younger girl's mouth. Casting a quick "Impervius" on the inside of the funnel, he melted some chocolate from Harry to a thick viscous liquid. While Neville was busy, Harry decided to pump the others with a Happiness Hamper each, too. That made them all smile, particularly the girls- the three elder girls smiled with a guilty and flustered expression, as if they were trying to not show the happiness they felt, or rather, as if the happiness was something they felt guilty about.

As the chocolate flowed into Astoria's mouth, she shuddered and gasped, but kept drinking the steady trickle of hot molten chocolate. When it was done, she got up weakly. The elder girl squealed, "Story!" and hugged her. Harry kept checking her, waving a wand around her in odd patterns.

"There's nothing to worry immediately, Nott. She will be well when she is rested. Is she a first year?"

"Yes. She is Daphne's sister."

Harry turned to the girl and smiled at her. "Are you alright now, Miss? I don't believe I have had the honour of your acquaintance."

The little girl blushed. Her elder sister, who Harry had thought to be beautiful, answered in her stead. She was smiling, and twitching almost imperceptibly. "I am Daphne, daughter of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, and this is my younger sister Astoria. This is Blaise Zabini. You know Theodore Nott, this is Tracey Davis, and this is Lyra Moon. I thank you for your help," she ended expressively. Harry nodded to them all in turn and asked after Astoria again.

"Please don't mind our intrusion, if we can be so presumptuous. We only feel that it would be prudent to wait until the Professor joins us," he told them all. He then turned to Daphne. "Please pardon me if I am overstepping my bounds, Ms. Greengrass, but are you a relation of Mr. Marius Greengrass?"

"He is our father," the girl replied. Harry smiled widely at that.

"It is twice the honour to have made your acquaintance, then. I have had the profit of his legal advice quite a lot this past summer." Daphne's smile widened a bit too. Lupin came to the compartment just then. Taking leave of them all, Neville said with a smile to the little girl, "You have our best wishes for the sorting, Ms. Greengrass. Hope you make it to Gryffindor with us."


Once they returned to their compartment, both pulled on their robes. Conversation resumed almost instantaneously.

"What the hell was the silvery stuff?" Ginny asked, apparently no longer blushing in the face, now that the dementors had been faced.

"That was a Patronus."

"I have heard about those," Hermione said in excitement. "How come you had four? Most people struggle to even have a corporeal form!"

Harry was in a fix here. "Why don't I show you all the charm when we get to the common room? It is not too difficult, really. We could even show it to the younger ones. They might end up being defenceless otherwise," he suggested. The others agreed. "I'll even show you how to cast it."

They reached the Hogsmeade station soon, and Ginny went off to her friends. Moony joined them again. For the first time since the fifth year in the O.T., Harry would get to the opening feast without incident. He saw that Moony was observing intently. Harry held his gaze, as a battle of wills ensued between the two men. One pair of eyes, brown, bordering on amber, gazed into the green, remembering the two friends the man had lost. The green eyes held the gaze accusingly, angry for never being there when needed in the boy's childhood. Moony blinked and looked away. He did not realise the silent glamour that had been cast on him as he was pranked. Harry added Sirius's master touch- the victim never knew he or she was pranked.

Neville got his wish at the sorting as a furiously blushing Astoria joined the Gryffindor table. The feast was unspectacular, with Dumbledore issuing his usual cautions and adding the bit about Dementors. He also introduced Hagrid as the new CoMC teacher. When he turned to introduce Moony however, there were several screams, shrieks and peals of laughter. The professor had come through the antechamber, and was ignorant about the prank played on him by the precocious cub. Remus was sporting a Garnarukro head upon a troll's neck and abdomen. He was a merman waist down. He eyed everyone oddly, assuming wrongly that everyone knew him to be a werewolf.

"Professor Lupin, have you run into some fun-loving people on your way here?" Dumbledore asked through barely contained snickers.

"No, sir," Moony replied genuinely bewildered.

"Then it must have been a very neat charm caster. To create an illusion of a glamour charm... could you please look at your feet and body and tell me if you find anything amiss?"

"No, sir, there is nothing wrong." By now Moony was pretty sure that his past misdeeds were catching up with him, and one of his Professors had probably pranked him.

"Well, you are sporting a goblin head, a troll's body and are a merman waist down. Since you have been like this ever since you came to the castle, I can only assume that some student decided to welcome you thus. Indeed, this student must have some skills to get the drop on our new DADA teacher."

Remus looked at the tables to see anyone behaving oddly amid the muted cheers, and immediately spotted Harry studiously averting the sight of the Head Table. The cub was a Marauder! It was a pity he would have to punish him- he still needed to learn how to behave and be inconspicuous after pulling a prank. "Well, I'll award fifty points to the House of this person for excellent spell casting!" he replied genially. The Gryffindor House was the first to find their points up. Pointing to the change, Moony continued, "I believe we have narrowed the list of suspects?"

"Impaled by your own sword, Professor?" Minerva asked with an uncharacteristic snigger.

"I think I may have seen that particular sword in action before," was all he said in reply, even as Minerva's eyes widened around her smile.

The dinner was a success by all accounts, particularly, as Ron had decided to ditch his atrocious table manners to preserve his clean new robes. It made for a relieved Harry and Hermione who exchanged glances with the twins over this development. Apparently, Ron could eat without appearing to be a downright slob.


Once the feast was over, they cornered Percy, and explained the matter with the Slytherins to him. He in turn, explained it to Minerva and she assigned Remus as the sole neutral party to officiate matters. The meeting took place in the antechamber.

"Lord Potter, Heir Longbottom," Nott greeted formally with a slight bow to Harry and a nod to Neville.

"Heir Nott, Mr. Zabini," the two returned.

"First of all, Lord Potter, I must pass on thanks from Ms. Greengrass for your timely actions."

"Please do not mention it, Heir Nott. I was around and I was able to help, instead of being a hindrance. That is all there is to it."

The Slytherins nodded at that. "So now, let us get on to business. Your claim of a Life Debt against Malfoy, created a lot of waves in the House of Slytherin."

"It was as I anticipated."

"There are people who will be hurt by association, and may try for retaliation against you, Lord Potter."

"I do expect that, Heir Nott. The fact remains that proud purebloods allowed the son of a near squib and a muggle to mark them as their property. They have hurt themselves."

"I do not get your meaning, Lord Potter."

"Begging your leave here, Lord Potter, Heir Nott, but the prospect of discussing past rivalries and bigotries are not of consequence right now. I believe we must limit ourselves to the statement of terms of the neutrality agreement," Neville interrupted sternly. Hadrian nodded appreciatively.

"Indeed. Well, Lord Potter, our terms are simple, I speak on behalf of anyone in the third year in Slytherin House. We will abstain from open aggression and enmity."

"You say 'open' Heir Nott. As Slytherins, we do not expect any less from you. Open enmity is a moot point. Neutrality implies no enmity active or passive, even if there might not be any friendship. If we are to agree on neutrality, all that we will ask is for you to ignore people from other Houses if you cannot hold a civil exchange with them. I will take care and ensure that the message spreads throughout the school. No sabotaging of potions during lessons, for example; or, none of you should aggravate and irritate people outside of your House. Should it so happen that third years, and third years only, behave in a way that sabotages the neutrality, you will be made aware of that, with proof. Should the offender repeat his behaviour, he/she will be asking for retaliation. You will not be held responsible."

"So basically, you are just asking for a live and let live agreement with the third years on behalf of the whole school?"

"Not the whole school, no- the policy only extends to newbloods from all Houses and Gryffindors for now. If you wish, I can help you with similar agreements with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, by way of introductions."

"What about attacks on us?"

"The same policy that we ask for- if a Gryffindor or a newblood from other Houses picks trouble with Third Year Slytherin, or any year below you, I will be the first contact, and will help you confront said person, irrespective of year. Thereafter the person is open to retaliation. That said, if the matter is about love or something like that, I will not intervene, unless there is clear proof of force by any side," Harry answered with a moue of distaste.

"You keep on reiterating about the third year. Do you doubt my power within my House?"

"I am giving you plausible deniability. You are responsible only for your year, and have the chance to mould the years below you as you see fit. I can understand that there will be delinquents on both sides. There will be siblings of hardliners or actual Malfoy-like people in the years below you. You can try to influence them, but your success with them is not a condition to the agreement. However, lack of open enmity, as you say, won't prevent you from retaliating through them. That will violate the agreement. That's why we insist complete neutrality. If you do otherwise, I will know, and you will not like that."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, a promise; I never make threats."

"What about those in the years above me?"

"You are not responsible for them. That will be a matter between them and me. That said, however, if anyone from Slytherin House shows why the House has earned the reputation of criminals, that person will be publicly shamed and destroyed physically, mentally, psychologically, financially and politically till the satisfaction of the victim, irrespective of the Victim's house. This will be true irrespective of the perpetrator's house."

The four held an impromptu staring match. Each held firm, till both sides, almost simultaneously raised their hands for a handshake.

"We agree."

"I think we should decide a timeframe for enforcement. One week should be sufficient, in my opinion."

With nods, and a swig of butterbeer each, the deal was agreed and Nott and Zabini left with a seventh year Slytherin prefect.

As Hadrian and Neville with Percy and Moony following them to the Gryffindor tower them, Neville asked Harry something that had been troubling him a lot. "Don't you think it is suspicious that he allowed you to make the demands, and accepted the conditions far too easily?"

"Of course he did. And I am looking forward to him finding ways around that. He doesn't know one key bit of information, does he? He doesn't know that as an Heir of even one of the founders, the wards report to me if there is some sort of wrongdoing going on, including deliberate sabotage of the agreement by planting false evidence, and I have the responsibility to stave that off the best that I can. It is a huge power and responsibility. Not that it will remain secret for long. Right now, I have used it to trap him into thinking that he has trapped me. If he defends anyone who I can prove did something wrong, he annuls our agreement. At the same time, if he can't defend his Housemate, it undermines his power."

"Damn it, mate. The way you speak, I often think that you are the Gryffindor Head of House by conquest and Slytherin by blood!" Harry only smiled. Behind them, Remus, who was listening in, agreed to that. It added more intrigue to the enigma that the cub was proving to be. He had a strong feeling that he had probably bitten off more than he could chew with Prongslet.

As they reached the Tower, Remus bade Harry to stay behind and bade Percy and Neville to go on. Harry instructed the two to inform the entire House the exact outcome of the discussion that had taken place between the third years from Gryffindor and Slytherin. As Percy, the go-to person as Head Boy for inter- and intra-House discipline was the one speaking, (and Harry had told him exactly how this would help his tenure beforehand) the idea would be well-received.

"Mr. Potter," started Moony.

"Professor," Harry answered.

"It was a wonderful bit of spell-casting that you displayed when you pulled a prank on me today."

The widening of Harry's eyes and his stutter as he protested without lying gave him away. "W-With all due respect, do you have pro-proof Professor?"

"Have you ever heard the bit regarding teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs?" Moony asked absolutely tongue in cheek.

"No sir."

"Then I believe I should teach you a thing or two about not being caught. Detention tomorrow at six-thirty in my office," Moony replied with a smirk. "I know that prank well myself, having played it on our defence professor in my fourth year, Mr. Potter. See you tomorrow evening."

As he left, whistling, Harry grumbled under his breath. Moony had had the last laugh.


As Harry entered the common room, grumbling under his breath, he saw his friends waving out to him. On the way, he exchanged polite nods with people passing by. He made a point to talk to Colin Creevy, and suggested that he take a complete list of the new Gryffindor first years. As the fourth of September was the first Saturday of term, he decided that he would show all of them around the place so as to help them out. He also told Colin to pass a message from him to the first-years, that they would be getting notes regarding the way to various classes, as soon as they would get their timetables, if they would tell him where the classes would be, as that changed from year to year. Colin almost had an aneurysm when he found his hero talking to him. It didn't help his hero worship any, that the compensation from the basilisk slaughter had helped Colin's father establish his own Dairy business.

When he took his place in the corner that they had occupied, he was hit by a barrage of questions. He ended up explaining everything, including his actions and the motivations behind them. While the twins who were listening in, thought that this was an excellent and political prank, and praised him when he told them that he had been given detention for the prank he played on Moony, Percy had been intrigued by the way he wanted to welcome the first years. He was effusive with his approval about it however. Hermione was extremely impressed by it. To her eyes, Harry had made the step up from just Harry to Harry, with the accents. Harry remained blissfully oblivious to the change, even though it was something he wanted.

Finally, Hermione pestered him about the Patroni. "When did you learn to cast them?"

"Oh, last term, I saw the Charm in one of Oliver's books. I just tried it according to the theory. It worked a little, but I soon found out that the theory is wrong."

"Oh?"

"Yes. The book said that we have to think up happy thoughts when summoning the Patronus. But if the dementors leach off all happy thoughts, how can thinking of them help you? You will only lose your happiness faster. Instead, I concentrated on the description of the Patronus as a projection of all the love and protectiveness ever felt by the caster. Now I can concentrate on that so well, that I don't need to say the spell. I can cast it silently and without wand movements!"

"How did Neville learn it?"

"Well, I saw Harry cast them, and the positivity from them was tremendous. I just felt like casting one myself, and there it was."

"Can you show us?" Hermione pled, her eyes almost shining with anticipation.

The enormous silver bear blossomed out immediately, bright and powerful. Harry sat back, smiling happily towards his friend, while the other Gryffindors still in the common room, sat amazed and shell-shocked before applauding with their encouragement.

Oliver and his year-mates, who were sitting watching the bear, approached them. They had been having problems with casting the charm, and with the Dementors now placed around the school, the problem had just become too personal.

"Blimey! Longbottom, it takes a seriously powerful wizard to cast a corporeal form! How did you manage it at just thirteen?"

"That's a myth!" Neville replied. "Harry told me that it was just concentrating on real love felt for and from someone- say your parents, or siblings, family or even someone you love; it worked that way. It is a force of love and protection!"

"Is it so? Show us yours Potter!" the Gryffindor captain commanded.

The four creatures bounded out and stood in front of them, almost entirely solid. When Prongs rode out, his hooves actually clattered on the floor. Hermione instinctively got up and almost in a trance walked up to the Patroni and caressed the Lioness and Griffin almost lovingly, a smile and wonder on her face. The tender moment would have stretched on, with the seventh years forgotten, but Neville started hollering unabashedly with laughter. Hermione blushed and she looked at him questioningly.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Neville, before dissolving into a rib-rattling laugh. He blustered incoherently for another minute before continuing, "Her- Hermione, just tell us why you wanted to touch just those two?"

"I don't know," said Hermione uncertainly. "The Lioness, she seemed almost like an extension of my consciousness. Also, Harry did call her 'Mione, did he not? The Griffin seems quintessentially Harry. The others seemed parental figures." As all the others gaped at her, she asked a bit huffily, "What?"

Ron closed his mouth. Now that he thought of it, the Lioness did seem to give off vibes that reminded him strongly of Hermione. The Griffin reminded him, as Hermione had said, of Harry. It was quintessentially Gryffindor. And it was really him. He then frowned. Why did Harry have Hermione as his Patronus? Harry and Neville on the other hand made no move and still stared at her open-mouthed.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Hermione asked angrily. That instantly broke them all out of their stupor.

Harry let Neville take the reins of the situation here. He was the one who had dug the trench anyway. Neville gulped in fear, shot Harry a scathing look and faced the angry girl. "You see, when we first cast the Patroni in Ollivander's shop, Harry said the same. The stag represents his parents, the dog was their best friend, the griffin is Harry himself, and the Lioness, which was originally a female Otter who gave off the same feeling of being an extension of you, is his conscience. He says that you are his conscience. The Lioness really does represent you."

Hermione looked at Harry in surprise at this explanation and then quickly assumed a neutral expression. He was however avoiding her eyes stoutly. "Harry? Harry look at me please." When Harry sheepishly met her gaze, she continued, "Is that true? Please explain this." She kept a very neutral tone.

Harry tugged at the rug with the toe of his boot, looking like a child explaining to his mother how the cookies had gone missing. "Yes. You see, the Patronus charm only works with pure, unadulterated happiness and love felt from the perspective of the caster. Prongs and Padfoot were the embodiments of my parents' and their friend's memories. But the Lioness, she is the calming influence in my life. She would most likely be the one I'd listen to, or hear out. I have never had anyone tell me the correct thing to do. You are the one who does that. I trust you unreservedly. If you tell me something, I will always end up doing that because you said so. So yes, Mione the Lioness is my conscience. Most of the time anyway. I can't always agree with you on everything" He turned his eyes to the ground again. His declaration had been in a way, little short of telling her that he loved her. So afraid was he of offending her, that he missed the smile that graced her face.

Hermione Granger was nearly on cloud nine. Harry, her best friend had a Patronus that was a manifestation of her influence on his life. While she didn't know the whole theory behind the working and intent of the charm, she certainly knew that it worked on the basis of love, happiness and positivity. She was honoured, flattered and most of all, felt tremendously loved for the first time by somebody other than her parents and immediate family. She crossed over to Harry and hugged him; what else could she have done?