Chapter 28

The night of Harry's first transformation Lily Potter stood up to address the student body at dinner, "Good evening students. With the permission of the headmaster I would like to share with you a new policy of Hogwarts, but first I would like to share a quote. The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can flow along a stream."

Some of the crowd stared up at the Runes professor with confusion, while Harry gave a shrug of his shoulders, while the women continued, "Today, I saw two young men become cowards. They attacked a girl, having out numbered her, and out experienced her by seven years of magical training. I was disgusted, and I wished I had arrived on the scene sooner. But on the other hand I am glad I did not. Because I watched a young man turn down the face of fear. A hero is not a coward in the time of fear and strife, he is only a coward when the fight is over, and he has to live with what he has done. I tell you all this to remember the next time you face fear, take a hold of it, and control it, because when its over, you can be scared, because either you've won, or you've died."

The crowd was dead silence, and the teaching staff looked at their colleague in a bit awe and some a bit of admiration, "With the permission or the Headmaster I have been placed in charge of the punishment of all bullying within the school walls. Having been a muggleborn at this school, I can tell you first hand that its not good. So I offer my office to anyone in this castle who is being bullied regardless of house or blood. I can't promise protection, but I can promise consequences to anyone who finds themselves in the shoes of a coward."

Lily Potter walked off the stage, and Dumbledore stood up, "Fifty Points to Ms. Hannah Abbot for astounding student loyalty. Fifty points for Mr. Potter for standing in the face of fear, and being a hero. For that is what define us as astounding young men and women."

Dumbledore clapped a little, and some of the others in the houses did as well. Most of the Hufflepuff table just stared at Harry, and Hannah in awe, while some a little envy for being complimented by the headmaster in such a manner.

Harry however merely patted Hannah on the hand, and with a smile got up to leave the hall. He was halfway to the teachers quarters when he heard a voice come from behind him, "We know you didn't do it Harry."

Harry stopped at the familiar voice and said calmly, "What'd it take for you to realize it Abbot? Your family owing me three life debts?"

He didn't need to look to see that Abbot had recoiled, "Hannah told me what happened. She basically screamed at me about it, and slapped me pretty good. I'm sorry Harry. I shouldn't have doubted you. I was scared, and people were looking at me to do something, because thanks to you I have become a leader in this school. You were reclusive all year, and...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have suspected you for even a moment."

Harry shook his head, looking back at the boy, "Not forgiven."

Another voice came from behind, "Wait Harry, I have to apologize as well."

Cedric Diggory came into the empty corridor, but Harry was having none of it, "I don't want your apologies. I thought I could trust you guys, and you betrayed me."

Cedric sighed, "It wasn't that simple Harry. We knew you were delving into Dark Magic, we knew you would do anything to win the upcoming conflict. We thought you had just become lost in your quest to win a war before it even began."

Harry turned around now facing the boys, with tears in his eyes, "You should've TRUSTED me. We are in the house of the loyal and the hard working. You think I would've been sorted here if I had been attacking my own friends?"

Both boys flinched at the anger in his voice, "I know how its looked. I have seen all sides of the story, but you two were both to busy only looking at your own sides of it. But instead of doing that you took me to an abandoned classroom to confront me about it."

Darrel said sadly looking down at his feet, "Were not perfect Harry. We've apologized, what else do you want?"

Harry growled, "I want my life back. I want my friends back."

Cedric exclaimed, "Were still your friends Harry. We never stopped being your friends."

Harry felt his heart pulling at him, "I trusted you."

The two boys looked pained, and Darrel said, "Then give us another chance. Let us help you figure it out. Let us train with you again. We still can do this together."

Cedric nodded, and Harry looked between the two boys, "Your going to help me solve this? Your going to help me find out what has happened to my friends?"

Cedric shook his head, "Our friends Harry. We want to help you find out what happened to our friends."

Taking a sigh and giving a look of mistrust to the boys he looked up too he asked, "Okay where do we start?"

The month of May was now upon the student body, and the more intelligent among the student population knew that if there was going to be another attack it would imminent within the school closing down for the Summer. The rest of the kids were trying to prepare for exams, and in some cases graduation.

Harry, Darrel, and Cedric however were mostly doing non-stop research in the library over dark creatures. They had a few guesses, and none of them were good. One was very dark magic, so dark that Harry ruled it out because the castle would have been disturbed by it like last year. It was magic so dark the high priestess didn't even approve of the evil rituals. Which left two options, one was a gorgon, which everyone believed had been instinct for hundreds of years. Sadly wizarding history is not very valuable in England, and they didn't have many real reliable sources to confirm that, which left the obvious, the basilisk.

The basilisk was the king of serpents, and the largest to ever have been born on this side of the World. When the boys discovered the answer they weren't sure to be excited about solving the mystery, or terrified at just what had been happening in their school. The first time they glanced over the creature they wrote it off, because the glare kills, but in another text from a German wizard who encountered one said that the creature can actually control its abilities, and unless it feels threatened it will only petrify predators or prey. Another problem with the theory was that if the basilisk was roaming the castle, then more people should have seen it, and why wasn't it feasting on the children. Unfortunately the book had answers for that too. Basilisk don't usually eat human meat, they eat Acromantulas, full sized ones, and prefer the king of the colonies, and this can satisfy them for an entire year.

After putting some pieces together Harry realized that the spiders he had been seeing fleeing were returning to the nest in the forbidden forest, and that the basilisk likely was using the pipes to get in and out of the school in order to feast, but he still returns to where is master requires him, which was in the chamber of secrets. When he told his friends that, they groaned, but assured them that he could narrow it down pretty easily. The answers were rather obvious once he got on a role too, if the basilisk was having to eat a few times a month then it was having to leave the school which meant it had to be in the dungeons, or on the first two floors. The boys were a little more enthused by this theory, but also realized that while they have a lot of answers the ultimate one to fixing the problem still remained untold, where was the fabled Chamber of Secrets?

They took their findings to the headmaster, and he thanked them for their hard work, and told them he would remain diligent, and prepared to act. That night Harry really wanted to hurt the old man, but knew there had to be more to the picture than what was really going on. Despite what everyone thought about Dumbledore he was still the most powerful wizard alive, and he still had more years of experience than some entire families do combined, so he held faith, but prepared.

Harry did as much research as he could into basilisk, and ways to kill them. The German that had defeated one last time promised that the roosters cry was not really fatal, and he was almost killed attempting that transfiguration multiple times. The main thing apparently was to blind the beast, so that way when it does switch to its killer gaze, everyone can still fight. They are nearly impossible to kill single handedly, and he took his down with a team of ten pretty mediocre witches and wizards power wise.

Other than all the research he had been doing, his training had also been stepped a notch preparing himself for the Summer. For about a week he continued to not allow his friends to work out with him, but after that passed, and things seemed to have calmed down they all continued working out together. Harry was pleased to know the whole group minus him had carried on, and tried to pick up the weight he had left behind. He was however told that he had been irreplaceable this late in the year, for quidditch or dueling, so he agreed to take his spot back on his respective teams, which led him to where he was now.

The Locker room was pretty quiet, as the team collectively caught their uneven breaths of nerve. Everyone knew that basically they had the cup in the bag, but they had won five consecutive games for Hufflepuff, and they intended to carry that on to six, but the Gryffindor Quidditch team was looking better than ever, and the team was genuinely nervous.

Cedric had attempted to be vibrant in the matter, but it was on deaf ears that his pep talk went on as they all contemplated the game before them. Soon enough they were all standing at the entrance to the pitch, and the roar of the crowds did nothing to quell their nerves. When Lee Jordan called out their names they each respectively took to the sky.

At the lineup Harry tried to get in front of Katie Bell who was the best Gryffindor Chaser, but every time he moved his brother did as well. Lee Jordan seemed to notice this and commented, "It seems the Potter brothers are in a spat on who exactly is going to be defending who, which can lead to some interesting match ups for the day. Harry Potter has put up 650 points in his past two seasons, with 700 hundred likely approaching quickly. The rookie of the year award will likely once again be going to a Potter however, but it is a close race between Hufflepuff keeper Ernie McMillan, and the chaser Jack Potter who has put up 160 points this season already. With the last game on the line, and Hufflepuff almost guaranteed the cup, the real question is, who will the MVP go to, and who will get the Rookie of the year award?"

Harry was told before the match started that the MVP trophy never went to the same player two years in a row, so that meant either Oliver Wood or himself would be getting the trophy. Secretly he told Madame Hooche, that if it was a close call that he wanted Oliver to have it, since he only had two years left to win it, and Harry fully intended on taking it next year. The women shook her head, smiled, and told him, "If we gave a sportsman trophy out Potter, a badger would get it every year. Wood is one of the best Keepers to come through Hogwarts, and he knows it because I have told him, but the MVP trophy about who the best overall player is, and right now its a close one, by the end of the game we will know who the best player this year was however."

This caused Harry's head to spin with thoughts until the ball was thrown in the air to start the game. Normally Harry would be going after the ball, but this was Maclom's last game to play at Hogwarts, and Harry and Heidi promised him that this was his show, and they wanted him to score more points today than he had in any other game, which would be tough considering the last game he scored a lot of goals.

Malcolm lost the tip off, but Katie Bell had tried to pass it over to Jack who was being thoroughly guarded with a switch tactic by both Heidi and Harry, which meant he couldn't seem to catch the ball when it was thrown to him. Harry took possession of the ball from there, and with a long series of intricate passes, Wood couldn't keep with the ball until Malcolm slammed it into the goal just to the right of Oliver's outstretched fingers.

The Hufflepuff stands cheered, and not for the first time, Hufflepuff was leading the game. The celebrating was short lived though when Jack threw a bomb half way across the field into Angelina's wide open hands and scored with an ease. The score was 10-10.

Harry looked at his brother with a bit of shock, having never realized he could throw so far, and the boy merely smirked at him, and flew off to get ready for the defensive possession. When the quaffle was in bounded to Harry he gave a finger roll indicating the play he wanted, and Malcolm shot down, while Heidi shot up. This left Harry the opportunity to fly straight down the middle of the field, with Darrel and Anthony blasting bludgers at the chasers to give them a bit of time. They made it three quarters down the field before they encountered resistance, which allowed Harry to toss the ball into the air, break formation, speed ahead, catch the thrown ball, only to take a fake shot at the goal causing Oliver to jump for it, while the ball had actually fallen down into Malcolm's hands taking an easy shot at the opposite goal.

It was a play that only usually worked once or twice a game, but Sirius had taught it to him when they watched the Arrows play, which was his godfather's favorite team. Harry always loved the play, and showed it to Cedric, who helped implement the massive offensive play, which almost always lead to a goal.

The game went back and fourth a lot, and the chasers were doing such tricky moves it didn't give much for the defense. In thirty minutes the game had only accumulated 180 points, with a perfect nine goals a piece. If Cedric wasn't the best Seeker in Hogwarts Harry would be worried. Looking at the captain in that moment though, he was completely focused.

Malcolm had managed to put up six goals thus far, with Heidi putting up 1, and Harry putting up 2. The game was good, and the youngest Potter on the field was proving to be a worthy chaser, and it was almost no doubt that he would be getting rookie of the year.

The game played for an entire hour beyond that which led the score being 210-190 in Hufflepuff's favor, and both Harry and Malcolm had reached their scoring goals. Malcolm had scored 10 goals, being an all time high for himself, while Harry had put up 6 making him earn 310 points for the season, and Heidi managed 5, which gave her 200 points for the season. Hufflepuff gained its 6th consecutive win, when Cedric swooped into catch the snitch ending up the game 360-190. Poor Neville had fallen for the feint 3 times, and when Cedric had actually seen the snitch Neville thought it was another fake, and completely missed his opportunity, however still ending the season with a good 2-1 record.

Somethings get better with age, and winning was certainly one of them. Harry was on the field celebrating with his teammates, after another undefeated season, and he couldn't believe they had done it again. The three chasers from Hufflepuff were in a tight embrace, and then they hugged each other separately, for they knew this was the last time that they would ever play on the same competitive team together, and it was bitter sweet that they were able to win this last game for their friend. Malcolm had been on the team since his third year, and out of his four years he would now have two House Cups under his belt, and a lot of great memories to go with them. Malcolm and Heidi embraced the longest, as the two had been playing together for the whole four years Heidi, having joined the team in her second year. It was an emotional moment seeing the young man shed a few tears as Cedric handed him the house cup, and held it up above his head, and the house of badgers roared their approval.

Harry saw Oliver Wood look sad, but determined as he watched Dumbledore raise the stage to hand Professor Sprout the cup. Wood had at least won a cup when Charlie Weasley was there, and Harry had a pretty good feeling that he wouldn't win another at Hogwarts. Jack looked sad that he had experienced his first loss at Hogwarts, but when Harry went over to the young man and hugged him, yelling over the crowd, "That's the best I have ever seen you play little brother! I didn't know you had such a canon for an arm!"

Jack laughed and yelled back, "I gotta hide some of my skills from you guys, or else I wouldn't have scored any of those points."

Harry patted the kid on the back smiling, "The rookie of the year award is you bro, you deserved it!"

Harry looked out over the crowd that had stormed the pitch, as Dumbledore was speaking about the history of the cup, and when he looked out he saw three broom sticks, but four riders. The Maruaders each had a broom, but the honorary Marauder that was Lily Potter sat behind her husband as she held a camera in her hand. Harry had a good feeling that the proud mother had just gotten some great pictures of him and Jack hugging in front of all these people, but those thoughts were put on the back burner when Dumbledore finally announced the awards, "While Hufflepuff has finished back to back seasons with a perfect 3-0 record, the MVP and Rookie of the year award is a special one this year. This final game was what decided just whom would get these prestigious trophies, and it is my great honor to allow Madame Hooche to make the special announcement of a first in Hogwarts History!"

Madame Hooche with her wild silver hair had a huge smile on her face took cast a sonorus charm on her wand and spoke clearly, "The headmaster is correct. In the over a thousand years Hogwarts has been around, and the five hundred in which quidditch had been played, the circumstances of these awards have never been met before. For the first time the trophies will be given to respective brothers, who are only separated by a single year, and a few shades of color on their uniform. The MVP and Rookie of the year goes to the...POTTER BROTHERS!"

Harry was stunned by the turn of events. It should have been obvious, but for some reason he just didn't believe he was MVP material, and they had just announced that he in fact had been, and that his brother was rookie of the year, making it a doubly special moment.

The two stunned brothers were pushed forward to the stage by their teammates, and when they reached the podium and trophies were handed to them, two famous Potter grins came over their faces, and as one they held up their trophies to the roaring crowds, making it one of Harry's happiest memories, in which he would always share with his brother.

The hype of the quidditch tournament being complete was still alive when the dueling matches came upon them. This year Harry had the day 1 matches, which meant the last dueling match of the year would take place the following day, and the oldest Potter son would not be participating.

Darrel and Harry however were fully prepared to take the team to a solid 5-0 before Cedric would lead the team the rest of the way home to another perfect season.

Today's Gryffindor fighters were the more powerful team as well, starting at the back of the line up was, Ron Weasley, then Katie Bell, Cormac Mclaggen, Jack Potter, Neville Longbottom, and the Gryffindor captain Percy Weasley. The top three duelist were pretty stacked, but that just meant that the next day's best duelist was Oliver Wood, whom stood no chance against a seasoned and ready Cedric Diggory.

The match was starting for the day, and Harry was giving Hannah the Pep talk, "Seriously, Ron Weasley is going to be a rag doll, you have nothing to worry about. Katie and Cormac are both barely above average, your going to pull off a solid victory or two. At best Tamsin takes 1, and Anthony get a single victory, and that would force my brother to fight like two people just to get down to Malcolm or me. Your going to be fine."

The girl took a deep breath, "This is the last match of the year, I am just a little nervous. My uncle came in from out of town to watch the match, and I just want to do well."

Harry took the girls soft hand gently, "Your going to do fine! You work five times harder than anyone else on that team other than maybe Neville, and my brother, but you work longer, and it didn't come as naturally for you, which makes you the better duelist in my opinion. Just go out there and blast these idiots off the platform."

This seemed to be confident booster for the girl as she nodded, while Dumbledore called the second to last match to a start, "Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to welcome the friends and family of the two undefeated power houses in our school. Last week we witnessed a stunning quidditch match, in which Hufflepuff took the glory, and today we will witness the young people of our school attempt for a second chance at glory. Eleven seeds please take the floor."

Third Year from Hufflepuff Tamsin Applebee was now the eleventh seed duelist, while she was facing Ron Weasley. The duel that would follow would be won by Tamsin for the soul reason that she could shield, and Ron Weasley could not produce anything solid. From there she would be beaten by an arrogant Cormac Mclaggen whom was in her year, and pretty strong with his spells.

Before Anthony went on stage Harry went over to speak with the boy, "Good luck Anthony. Keep your head clear, and just remember you've improved a lot. Don't lose focus, and remember your shield charms."

Anthony was a nice enough kid, and Harry had worked with him during practice on his shields, and Harry thought him proficient enough in the skill, but his nerves often got the better of him. He was a pretty good duelist, and a fourth year. The reason Harry had worked with him though was the fact that he had yet to win a match all year. The rest of the team had pulled off at least one victory, and Anthony confided in Harry that he felt useless with all these younger duelers out performing him. Being the leader Harry was though he put in a little extra time in with him, and the fact that he hadn't turned on him during the Chamber incident, was a huge plus in Harry's book.

As Anthony was called on to the stage, Harry fist bumped the boy and patted him on the back pretty good while he nervously went to fight a cocky Cormac Mclaggen. The oldest Potter son couldn't hear what was being said, but it was clear Anthony was embarrassed or angry at the words.

The duel that would follow would be very short. Mclaggen threw fourth three wide spread blasting curses, but Anthony Rickett surprised the Gryffindor team, and the other teams who had dueled him before when a shield appeared and deflected two of the spells right back at the Third Year Gryffindor at a speed that did not even allow him to block. Cormac was up rooted and thrown backwards to the ground, where Anthony was then given time to banish the boy off the platform effectively ending the duel.

Anthony smiled, while the Hufflepuff team cheered for their teammate whom had been trying to pull off a victory all year. Harry suddenly realized that if Anthony beat Katie Bell, then Jack would be facing Hannah, whom was already nervous as it was.

When Katie and Anthony did the bowing and separated, the Hufflepuff beater was all smiles as he took across the stage. When the duel started Anthony got the first five spells off, before Katie could even respond. The difference between Katie and Cormac however was that Katie was an agile chaser, and she had great speed. Her dodging ability was impressive, and she was getting closer and closer to Anthony, and Harry wasn't sure if his friend was going to be able to pull this one out. He was quickly proven wrong when Anthony dove to the ground landing just a foot or so in front of her with a freezing spell that was followed with a stunner!

The team roared their approval, but Harry noticed Hannah paled. Anyone who would have thought about it realized that Jack Potter was a pretty serious duelist. He had Harry's speed, but not his power or his spell repertoire. Hannah was a fast duelist, but when it came to power and strategy Harry wasn't quite sure who would pull it off.

Anthony was on cloud nine though when Jack took to the mat he looked more concentrated then Harry had ever seen him, and Harry had a feeling Anthony was about to be in for a rude awakening. Peering around to see some of the reactions from his team they looked thrilled. One duelist was down from their team, and the Hufflepuff team had managed to take down three now, with Jack a first year coming up some of them thought this was in the bag. Susan and the others had seen Jack fight though, and they knew the Potter family gave the Wizarding world the best duelist, and knew better than to underestimate him because of his age. The red headed Hufflepuff second year was gently talking her friend through some strategy, while Harry watched his brother bow in respect to the headmaster, and Anthony was looking so excited that it almost looked like arrogance, as if he could take on the world.

When the countdown began, Harry blinked with each number. When the number one was said however he blinked again, and Anthony was on the floor unconscious.

The crowd was stunned to silence, and the Hufflepuff team looked like their jaws had just dropped. Harry didn't see the spell that was fired, but he didn't need to, to know that his dad had taught him the Potter specialty stunning spell. It was a spell that left no magical imprint, nor made any noise, the only way you would know the spell was cast is if you threw up a shield, and you held it under the pressure.

The crowd clapped after a moment almost unsure what else they should do after seeing such a confusing display of magic. Harry quickly went over to Hannah trying to shake her of her confusion by placing two hands firmly on her shoulders, "Listen Hannah, I won't try and sugar coat this, my brother is a good duelist, because he has been training under the Marauders for years, and he has good practice, but you have more experience in actual dueling with your own wand. The spell that Jack just took Anthony down with was a specialty Potter spell that I can't tell you about, because its a family secret, but as soon as the duel starts throw up a shield. At the count of one you need to be shielding, because he is going to try it again. Put your shield up and start moving. He will take a step forward before he throws a blaster, and a semi-step back when he throws a stunner. Keep on top of his patterns and you will take him down." The girl seemed to be just staring at the platform in shock and fear, so Harry did the only reasonable thing he could think of and that was kiss her on the forehead, "Come on Hannah you can do this. Go out there, and show these people that you have worked harder."

Hannah blinked twice then looked at him as if he had never been himself before, and then shook her head, taking a determined look, before nodding her head, and taking the platform. Harry crossed one hand across his chest, and put the other on his mouth to hide all visible emotion, while the two were bowed into the fight.

As the two marched across the platform Harry heard some cheers from both sides, and when the countdown began, Harry saw the confidence in his brother's eyes, and believed that his friend had just been put against a determined Potter, and that this duel was not going to end well.

At the count of one, much like the last duel, Jack started the duel with the specialty stunner, but Hannah had taken Harry's advise, and shielded the spell and began moving back and fourth in a rather unorthodox fashion. After a few moments watching Jack fire spells at such a rapid speed was like shooting fish in a barrel, but Hannah's dodging was incredible, and her shielding was executed with perfect timing.

One minute had passed, and Hannah had yet to even return a spell, and Harry had walked over to stand next to Darrel who had mimicked his position, but was speaking with Harry, "She's doing good. She is going to either wear him out, or sneak something in and knock him out."

Harry nodded, "Jack is looking good, but he is getting impatient, and not controlling his power. I think your sister might have him."

"I understand your neutrality in this one, but I hope my sister knocks your brother on his ass!" Darrel said half jokingly.

Harry grinned, "Between the two of us I hope she does too. He had been getting a little too confident, and not very humble, a bad beginning to arrogance, which according to my mum runs in my family."

Darrel shook his head as sparks and spells bounced around the platform and the two minute mark had passed, and Hannah had yet to return a spell. Jack was drenched in sweat, but Hannah wasn't fairing much better. If Harry had to guess though, Hannah's magical core was probably fairing better. At the three minute mark Jack stopped and shouted, "Are you going to fire a spell?"

Hannah grinned, while Harry shook his head at his brothers foolish frustration. Hannah merely grinned and stepped forward practically screaming, "REDUCTO!"

Harry was surprised at the amount of power that left her wand, as she swooned a bit. Harry watched Jack try to summon a shield, but not only was he unable to block it sufficiently which caused him to be thrown roughly backwards and hit the mat hard. Harry expected the boy to get stunned, but instead Hannah disarmed him, and stood on shaky knees. The Hufflepuff team was going crazy, because all of them had expected Hannah to go down without much of a fight.

The crowd had clapped politely even, but then Harry noticed Percy and Oliver trying to pick the boy up, and he wasn't being responsive. It was in this moment the oldest Potter realized something bad had happened. He started running towards the platform and jumped up with an unnatural vertical, probably tapping into his animalistic nature. He slid a little to get to his brother with optimum speed, and had his wand out casting diagnostic spells that his mum had taught him in case someone was hurt during their practice. Dumbledore wasn't far behind, but Harry was already doing work, "He has a minor concussion, I think he hit his head pretty hard when he went down. He is going to need Madame Pomfrey's attention immediately. He has a little bit of trauma which needs to be fixed pretty soon, but he needs a professional to look at him for further damage just in case."

Lily Potter was on the platform shortly after in a frantic, but she was quickly reassured by the other players who kept her back just in case she interfered with whatever Dumbledore and Harry were doing. Remus was shortly behind the rest of the Potter family, but he volunteered, "I will take him up to the hospital wing."

Harry was about to protest that he would go to, but Dumbledore clapped, "A splendid idea, we still have a match to complete, and while Ms. Abbot has just won, there are still two Gryffindor duelist prepared to fight. I believe Mr Potter just needs some rest."

James and Lily both wanted to go, but Remus insisted that there son would likely still have to duel, and that Jack would be fine. They all then watched the Godfather of the youngest Potter son walk away quickly with his godson in his arms. Harry watched the two walk away desperately wanting to follow, but knew he still had a duty to his team. As Harry walked back over Hannah looked like she was going to cry, "Harry, I am so sorry, I was just trying to finish the duel, I didn't mean to-"

Harry put a soft hand on the girls shoulder with a sad look on his face, "It was an accident, it could've happened to any of us. Just get out there and be careful. Neville is up next, and Jack is basically his little brother, and he is going to want vengeance. Be careful and don't take a spell to the head please!"

The girl nodded, while Harry gently patted the girl on the back and went back to his spot on the sidelines, while Darrel was steadying the girl, and ended up wanting to withdraw her, but she remained steady, and wanted to finish the best she could.

Neville was looking pretty fit these days. For a twelve year old boy he was pretty tall, and fairly well built around the shoulders, and his magical aura was pretty impressive. He had a deadly calm look on his face as well, which made the boy look intimidating.

The formalities were quickly given, and when the duel started Neville went completely offensive, and within seconds had Hannah stunned and bound.

The clapping was fairly subdued having the crowd seen the violence from the previous duel. When Malcolm came onto the floor the same thing nearly happened. The #5 seed vs the #3 seed however turned out to be a violent duel between the seventh year Malcolm and the Second year Neville Longbottom. Most people couldn't believe it when the second year defeated the veteran NEWT student, and the crowd was positively stunned, that the boy didn't even bat an eyelash at the victory.

Harry was called onto the platform next, and Malcolm was limping towards the sidelines when he was revived. Harry stepped onto the platform next making the duel now the #3 seed vs the #3 seed, but this would be a rematch from last year.

Neville grinned at his friend, showing the first sign of emotion since he took the platform, "Hey there Harry. I think you are going to be in for a rude awakening today."

Shrugging his shoulders, "If you beat me Darrel is going to close house. I want this to be a good duel mate."

The boy grinned with a sinister smile, and bowed to him when the formalities were called. Both boys bowed to Dumbledore out of respect, much like before, and when it was time to separate they both shook hands again, and went to their respective ends of the platform.

Dumbledore called down the fight, but Harry blinked at the count of each number and when one was called, unlike last year, Harry was moving, "Reducto, Aqua Eructo, Stupefy, Expulso, Bombarda, Defudio!"

It was a six chain spell Harry had been working on for weeks, and it was executed perfectly, already pushing Neville backwards, and Harry was relentless. The number of times he exchanged his blasting three chains had nearly hit fifteen when Neville tried to slide under one, and catch a full stunner to the face.

Harry quickly revived his friend saying, "Sorry man, but my brother is in the hospital wing now, and I am going to get to him as quickly as possible."

Neville grunted, but smiled, "You are looking sharp, looks like I need to duel with you a little more often, because that beating was thorough."

Harry laughed lightly, and the two hugged briefly, and separated. When he walked back Darrel whistled, "Damn Potter, I don't think I am going to get to duel today."

When Dumbledore called the Gryffindor captain forward, Harry took a look of determination once more, "No you aren't. I am going to get to Jack, and make sure he is okay."

Darrel nodded, as Harry turned his back to his friend and went to face his next opponent. Harry suddenly laughed out loud as an idea popped into his head, and turned to face his dad, and just laughed again. Most people probably thought the young man had lost it, but when Sirius and James both just erupted into laughter, the crowd had officially striked the fact that they were missing something.

When the duel was getting the count down Harry started sprinting at one, and used his shield multiple times, making Percy have to dodge the reflected curses, and at point blank range Harry leaped through the air taking a stunner to the chest, but that didn't matter as his animal side had taken control, and turned him into a 500 pound beast. Harry was now on top of the boy, and had slapped away his wand with his feet, and roared in triumph.

The crowd was stunned into silence, while the animagus Harry merely looked at Dumbledore waiting for him to call the match, but even the headmaster seemed stunned. The only people who weren't stunned were the Potter's who were cheering with a roar, and Hannah was merely laughing as Harry had now taken a seat on the Gryffindor captain. After another moment of long silence Harry stood up and turned to the headmaster beating his chest, and roaring impatiently. This seemed to snap Dumbledore out of it, and he began clapping, "And Hufflepuff wins the match!"

Harry nodded towards the headmaster and bounded towards the hospital wing, hopping a long on his knuckles with a quick speed. In just a few minutes he reached the medical wing, and upon arrival he looked around confused, and when Madame Pomfrey came to him she screamed loudly, but Harry transfigured his body back to normal, "Where is my brother Madame Pomfrey?"

The women huffed, "Mr. Potter this is not a funny prank, I haven't seen your brother all year. Now what seems to be the problem?"

Suddenly Harry's eyes widened and he ran out of the hospital wing as fast as he could down towards the great hall. When he made it to the fifth floor he heard a quiet whisper, "Master...Master."

Harry had the worse feeling build in the pit of his stomach, and he transformed back into his animagus and panicked to get down to the lower floors. Instead of going down the stairs though he launched himself off of the stair case, and caught onto a lower stair case that was moving, and then dropped down onto the second floor where the whisper was louder. He pursued the noise, until he came to an area that looked like a bomb had gone off. A part of the wall had been blown away, and Harry knew a battle had taken place here. When he turned a final corner he saw his Uncle Remus laying on the floor in a pool of blood, trying to breathe. He wanted to rush to the man, but the message in the background forbid him from doing so. He had been frozen to the very core. For on the wall, a message written in blood proclaimed, "His Skeleton will lie in the chamber forever!"

(A/N)