### Readers might have already noticed, but my ideas on reality distortion and illusory arts are heavily influenced by the movie 'Doctor strange'. The concepts of mind over matter and the mystic arts did wonders to my muse.

Hermione Granger was angry. No scratch that, she was furious. She had barely apprehended the real taste of magic, and already the entire wizarding world was focused on cutting down her wings. The headmaster had ordered that she would be placed under house arrest, which basically meant that she would have a separate dorm of her own. While the teachers might have decided that in fear that Hermione's aggression might have an effect on the remaining students, and thus her separation would have prevented that; Hermione knew better. She was positively exhilarated at getting her own dorm. No more would she have to contend with others about getting her own space. No more gossips from the other girls, no more she had to see that pathetic excuse of a Weasley in front of her every day; she was separated and could use it to advance her own studies.

Opening her own trunk, she took out a carefully folded piece of cloth. Lifting the folds open, she gingerly took out the tome that had opened her eyes about the reality of magic. The single tome, Magic moste evile, was completely rationalized in its naming. It was no doubt the vilest tomes she had seen. And considering that she basically lived in a dark-arts library all her winter holiday, that was saying something.

Gingerly opening the folds of parchment that contained in them, secrets of magic that the rest of the wizarding populous was forbidden to know; Hermione began her studies. She had to divine her next ritual by the end of the month. It was completely set, one ritual a month, twelve rituals a year. Soon, she would become the most accomplished witch that ever lived. She wondered if Voldemort had also felt the same. But no, she was not like that monster. She would not kill for fun. After all, she loved Harry. If she would even think about killing, it would be for Harry. Just for Harry.

Hermione could not still believe that Mr. Borgin had let her take books from his shop. The conversation she had with him was still vivid in her mind.

FLASHBACK

Hermione stared at the tome in front of her hands as the name registered in her mind. A year ago she would have perhaps run away in the reverse direction as fast as her feet could carry her, but now, her mindset had changed. It was with a smiling face that Hermione Granger opened the first page of the tome. She never noticed the dry smirk on the face of her employer standing in the shadows, as he spotted the name of the tome his employee was so keen on studying.

"Magic moste evile..."

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked up in shock, almost dropping the tome from her hands. Her bookworm-instinct, however stopped the tome from falling as she managed to hold it down, as she stared in the blue orbs of her employer, Mr. Borgin.

"I'm so sorry sir! I had finished my work and I found this tome and couldn't help but look though it and-"

"Miss Granger!" Borgin stopped her diatribe with his hand, and then spoke softly.

"What are you doing, holding that tome?" he asked, pointing at the tome in her hand.

"Reading it. Sir!" Hermione replied, her face downcast.

"Do you not know; it is a book on the dark arts? Surely your professors in school have told you all about the dark arts, how they are evil and should be destroyed." He countered with a taunt in his tone.

Hermione inclined her head narrowly.

"Yes sir."

"Then? What are you doing with that tome?"

"I like learning magic. I want to be the best at it. Magic makes me feel..." she felt a euphoria at the thought, "special".

"Indeed?" Borgin asked with a sly smile.

"Tell me Miss Granger, have you read any other books of such questionable nature before this?" He smirked at her wide eyes, "of course, I promise to keep the fact secret."

Hermione nodded. "I did make some notes from a dark arts book I found in school."

"what book was that?" Borgin asked out of general curiosity.

"Secrets of the Darkest arts." Hermione mumbled.

Borgin's eyes widened. Whatever he might have been expecting, this was not it. A fourteen-year-old, muggleborn girl, was somehow able to grasp the sordid details in the two most repugnant dark arts creations ever. It was completely shocking. The girl, Granger, had an affinity for dark magic, no doubt. Perhaps he was witnessing the rise of another Dark Lady. It was completely mind boggling how a fourteen-year-old girl was able to hold the tome she was holding since the last twenty minutes at least. A normal witch or wizard should have suffered mental spasms by now, given the polluted aura of the tome. He knew what was to be done.

"Tell me Miss Granger, would you like to own that tome? "

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Along with a couple more of such tomes? Of course, you would have to continue working for me until your holidays are over. I would even give you permission to study from the shelves in here in your free time. I know where you stay. You can spend the day here, only to return back for your sleep at the rent house."

"Thank you very much for your offer, Mr. Borgin, but.," Hermione's eyes narrowed, "no offence, but why are you suddenly acting so...magnanimous? What do you want in return?"

She could have been a good Slytherin.

"I want nothing in return Miss Granger. Your services in bookkeeping are enough for me. It's nice to see a young woman like you taking interest in the ... finer things of magic. I always encourage such people who are able to look beyond the cover and try to grasp the archaic secrets of forbidden magic."

Hermione's eyes flashed in merriment.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Masters of the Illusory arts know that reality is just a perception of the senses. Not just our physical ones, but also our magical senses. Our magical senses can feel much-"

"Excuse me, Master" Harry interrupted. "did you say magical senses? As in plural? There is just one magical sense, I mean the one by which we sense magical spells, wards and stuff, right?"

Salazar smirked at him. "Of course."

He continued. "So as I was saying, magical senses help us in perceiving not just what is around us, but what can or will be around us. However, Illusory magic is based on not just fooling one's magical senses, but also changing their perception of reality. A true Illusionist can capture his opponents in his own self-created reality, a place where he is God."

"What happens when the Illusionist is overpowered?" Harry asked.

How does his mind flit from being a dumbass one moment to being a perceptive genius the next? Salazar wondered.

"You have rather quickly grasped the main weakness behind Illusory magic. If the Illusionist is overpowered, the Illusion ends. That is exactly why Illusionists always attack from the shadows."

Harry nodded in appreciation.

"That goes for causing an illusion. As for the attacks, an Illusionist calls for energy from the Chaos Dimension. Think of it as a plane with infinite reserves of magical energy. There is a threshold energy level that can be safely withdrawn from the Chaos without having any repercussions. However, should you draw out energy more than that, the effects are detrimental."

"What kind of effects?"

"The most common. You start falling into the illusions cast on you by the Chaos Dimension. Knowing what you know about it, the Illusions are nearly permanent and hellishly difficult to break out of. Most Illusionists fail in this part of the path to master forbidden magicks."

Something inside Harry bugged him as he heard his mentor talk about the Chaos. He could not explain what he felt, but the chaos felt similar and unknown to him at the same time. The feeling was inexplicable.

If Salazar had noticed Harry's change of expression, he did not show it. He continued with his diatribe. "The fundamental point here is that we use this Chaos energy to fuel our spells, create illusions, perform magic. The energy that answers our call is raw energy, waiting to be molded in the hands of the Illusionist. It can be anything and everything. A blade, a shield, a dark curse, a light spear, anything and everything except a derivative of soul magic."

"Soul magic." Harry took a moment to understand the implications of what his mentor taught him. "Because of the intent?"

"Because of the composition. To cast a spell based on soul magic, Avada Kedavra for instance, would require you to place your intent right at soul level. You need to feel the intent wholly and completely, and embrace that you are going to mutilate another soul. You need to accept what you are going to do."

"The way you sound it, it sounds complicated. But the death eaters were supposedly able to cast the spell very casually." Harry questioned.

"Once you perform the killing curse, it destroys the rigidity of your soul. You don't surely think that you could obliterate the connection another soul has to a body, without effecting your own soul in the process. Something happens to wizards who kill. Your soul gets fragmented, maimed and inverses your Occlumency upon itself. It inhibits your emotions and makes you more susceptible to further killing."

"A vicious cycle. Killing becomes easy once you have already killed someone." Harry enunciated.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Salazar appreciated.

Harry nodded, feeling better already after receiving some appreciation after a long time.

"Back to the Illusory arts. We will not pursue the more theoretical approaches to the arts until you are comfortable in dealing with the two basic practical techniques. The Clypeus shield and the Illusion blade. The shield will help you parry any attacks on yourself," he cast a pointed look at Harry, "any attack. Even the Avada Kedavra theoretically. It is a shield that is completely based on intent. Your intent to deflect the attack must be stronger than the intent of the killing curse. It is no easy, but it is possible."

"have you ever done it, Master?" Harry could not hold himself back from saying.

"one does not get through countless battles without being the center of attraction for killing curses. There are only so many times you could conjure a stone slab in front of you to save yourself."

Harry could not help but stand in awe at his mentor.

"But remember, only do this if it is the last resort. We do not want the world to know that you are capable of wielding illusory weapons."

Harry nodded in silence.

"As for the blade, it is one that can cut through any shield. The principle is similar, yet opposite. Your intent at breaching the shield must be greater than your opponent's intent to hold the shield. But I forewarn you, mastering these techniques is not easy. I would be surprised if you would be able to do it at all." He cast a challenging look at his apprentice.

Harry's face scrunched up at the challenge. He hated when people didn't think him strong or old enough. All his life he had had to live up to confrontations, and he hated it when somebody told him that he was hopeless at something. He would show Salazar that he had in him to master the two techniques.

"So how do I conjure the shield?"

"I will show you. Follow me."

Lucius Malfoy regarded himself as the epitome of Slytherin values. A pureblood of good pedigree, he had access to tons of old money, or at least enough to buy out any government official and donate in charities without making a dent in his fortune. He had successful business ventures throughout the world, both magical and mundane, although most of his success was because of his mundane investments, not that he would accept it in public. Mundanes were after all, savages who lived in huts and had no magic. Lucius smirked.

The previous Wizengamot session had been rather benumbing. No one in the right mind could accept the fact that there was a new Lord Slytherin in town. Hell, Lucius had his wand in his grasp, ready to look behind, in fear of hearing his ex-master's voice booming in the corridor. He knew it was a wildly foolish imagination, but something about the Slytherin Lordship grated his nerves.

The dark lord was supposedly the heir of Slytherin, and it was obvious that someday he would take over its lordship. Lucius may have been a death eater, but he was no idiot. To say that he was disappointed when the dark lord did not take up the lordship would not do justice to his emotions. Lucius was flabbergasted, completely perturbed by the fact that his 'Lord' had rejected the lordship and resorted to 'hit-and-run' tactics. That was the act of a terrorist, not a high and mighty lord of a prestigious House like Slytherin.

The Malfoys were a branch of the French Malfoire family and had emigrated to Britain in the early 1600's. Pureblood of the highest order, the family had its original roots going back to before the Viking invasion. Being a quintessential Slytherin, Lucius had been instructed by his father about the treaties that his House had with other families. The most important of them all was the pact with House Slytherin. Lucius's great Grandfather, Hippocrates Malfoy had been a confederate of Slytherin House, which had supposedly squibbed out in the years to follow. It was therefore a very pleasant surprise when Lucius had known that the dark lord had been the heir of Slytherin. His proof, the fact that the dark lord was a Parseltongue. Parselmouths were rare, and the most recent one of them had existed around 600 years ago. That made his lord's claim sound more legitimate. Although that never stopped Lucius from wondering why his Lord would choose to be addressed by a made up name. Any sensible person could figure out that the name was made up. The dark lord had no surname when he could go by Slytherin; and unless his name was 'Lord' and he was born into the 'Voldemort' family, the name made no sense. Lucius suspected his lord was an illegitimate child. Bastard or not, the man had power, and tons of it; and Lucius would be damned if he did not utilize his lord's power and influence to increase his own power, and of course, the Pureblood propaganda.

Then, his lord was obliterated from existence by a fifteen-month old boy.

Lucius had barely kept himself out of prison by donating generous amounts to charity and to the minister's election fund, but many of his associates were not so lucky enough. He saw his extended family, the Lestranges go to prison, claiming their devotion to the dark lord, to be more than anything. They were behaving like a bunch of HufflePuffs for Merlin's sake, what with the way they embraced prison time instead of giving out information about the Dark Lord's plans. At least Karkaroff had the presence of mind to do that.

For thirteen years, Lucius had wormed his way out, using deceit and cunning, often hiding behind a veneer of civil magnanimity. He had the ear of the minister, he had his successful ventures, he held a powerful position in the Wizengamot, he was a Governor of Hogwarts, and importantly, he was successfully molding the world in his image of a Pureblood. Easily and peacefully, unlike what his self-styled Dark Lord had done. He wasn't a betrayer to the dark regime, he was a Slytherin, and acted like one, a perfect opportunist.

Everything had been great until 1991.

Harry Potter had entered the game.

His son had acted like a buffoon and Potter had rejected a potential ally in return. Lucius was mad over it for days. He had asked Draco to subtly test out Potter and bring him into an alliance with the Malfoy family. He knew that Potter came from old money, and with his status as the Boy-who-lived, the boy would make political waves in future. But instead, his son had committed all sorts of tomfoolery all year and made Potter his potential enemy, instead of an ally.

The next year, Lucius was shocked to know that the Chamber of Secrets was open. He knew that the diary was a dark artifact, it had to be one, given how the Dark Lord was so protective about it. It had been twelve years since the Dark Lord was gone and Arthur Weasley, curse that moron, was rummaging through pureblood homes, searching for presence of potential dark artifacts. He knew that the diary was one, Merlin knows even Borgin refused to buy it. It seemed like a very Slytherin plan to put it into the Weasley girl's basket. If things played out right, the diary would be found and Lucius could use the opportunity to create more problems for Weasley. But cursed luck, the diary had not been found. Instead, the Chamber of secrets was opened once more and the 'horror within' was unleashed. Lucius had spent weeks worrying about the detrimental effects his idea had produced. He could never forgive himself if something had happened to his only son. Draco might be a buffoon but he was his only son, and Lucius chose family above everything else. His worries came to an end when he got a missive from Hogwarts that the horror had been stopped.

Once again, it had been Harry Potter.

Lucius could have used the opportunity to familiarize himself with Potter, but cursed luck, Potter was already antagonistic towards him. The boy was already playing into Dumbledore's hands and waving the bloody sword of Godric Gryffindor. He right away pointed to Lucius as guilty of the entire situation and Dumbledore had been smirking at him all along. Lucius had been enraged by all means. To add to that, the boy just had to trick him and lose him his elf. Blasted brat! Lucius had lost all control and was about to curse the brat when that blasted elf had hurled him away by five feet. Who knew house elves packed such a punch?

It gave him nightmares on a few occasions.

And now, there was this new Lord of Slytherin. A lord who had joined hands with Sirius Black, the new Lord Black and joined the neutral circle. Lucius was completely stumped at the revelation. He knew Sirius Black as a prime example of Gryffindor, he should have run with his tail entwined in his legs, running to join Dumbledore and his merry men. Instead, he broke away and joined Slytherin House with the neutral banner. What was the deal between the two and Greengrass?

Greengrass.

Lucius blinked.

A wild thought flitted through his mind.

Daphne Greengrass was dating Harry Potter. Draco had written to him about that.

Potter was a Parseltongue.

Potter had defeated the horror inside the chamber, which was later revealed to be a mighty basilisk.

Potter had defeated the Dark Lord, the apparent heir of Slytherin.

James Potter had no Slytherin blood. But Lily Potter? Muggleborn? Was she tested for inheritance?

Could Lily Potter been an heir of Slytherin too? Perhaps from some squibs?

Sirius Black was Potter's Godfather.

Sirius Black had chosen to join arms with House Slytherin, instead of Dumbledore.

Harry Potter was Lord Slytherin.

Blink.

There was a pause.

"AAAARGHHH!"

Harry Potter was the blasted Lord of Slytherin.

It all made sense. But at the same time, it changed things.

Lucius would have to ponder over it. Perhaps it was time he took the situation into his own hands. Leaving it to Draco would not do it. Not at all.

"Dolly?" he called for his new house elf. "Bring me a parchment and the ink, and the official seal too from my study."

He had work to do.

AUTHOR NOTES :

I have decided to finally answer out a couple of questions asked to me by my precious readers in the reviews.

The little girl. No, I am not yet saying who she is. I know a lot of people have guessed her identity, but there is more to her than what meet's the eye.

Dumbledore did not overpower the Room of Requirement. He is the headmaster and lets just say, 'there are some.. advantages of being the headmaster'. He simply sent his intent as the Headmaster, kind of a veto power over the castle..

Yes Dumbledore is almost happy with Harry now playing at Wizengamot level. the keyword being 'almost'.

Yes, Hermione character is heavily influenced from Morgana, hell I mentioned that in a previous note.

No Salazar has not gone round the twist. I believe that it is possible to have a Harry Potter story that has more than two agendas in it. The canon story showed just two, one- Harry Potter surviving his annual challenges from Voldemort, and two, Dumbledore's planning. My story has characters having their own agendas and Harry is at the center of it. Just not Voldemort. This is AU and not limited to the HP-Voldemort struggle storyline. You might have already guessed that part. :P

Harry did not quit Quidditch. I plan on giving a take on Quidditch in the next couple of chapters.

There is a downside of Portrait to ghost transmutation. No I am not saying what it is.

Yes, my hero is always fainting. He is a 13 year old boy and learning magic. He is not some super powered WARGOD that shoots his enemies down right and left. Harry is growing strong and he will have his victories, but "time"...

Cyrus Greengrass sent a Patronus(eagle) to Dumbledore and called him for help.

Magic demanded the price. The bigotry was started by narrow minded individuals. that's just like blaming social media sites for potential threats to children. We are responsible for our actions.

That's for now! reviews everyone! and thank you.