"Financial cooperation?" the Weasley twins echoed incredulously.

"You heard that right," Harry chuckled, "everybody knows that the Weasley family, despite being one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, is far from well-off. Personally, I think that two fine gents like yourselves, gents with so much potential, shouldn't be halted by a lack of monetary resources. Therefore, I offer full monetary support."

"Full monetary support?" both twins echoed incredulously, "but Harrykins…"

"Shhh, stop!" Harry spoke firmly, cutting their protest short, "I certainly can afford it. As the sole heir to the Potter fortune, money certainly isn't something I have to worry about. There is no way I'll ever be able to spend it all. Besides that, my manager and I see that everything is very well invested. Hence, I could live off the interest alone. Anyway, why should I keep that fortune all to myself? You could certainly need a financial push. Don't you agree?"

At the mention of the Potter fortune, the faces of the twins suddenly turned calculating, "While this sounds good and all, what do you ask for in return?"

Tom was impressed. There was certainly more to the two red-haired menaces than met the eye. They were not only ingenious inventors but also seemed to have a certain degree of understanding of business and negotiation, which was highly uncommon for Gryffindors. Harry reached for his satchel and pulled out a sheet of parchment of the highest quality, "Gentlemen, I've been thinking about this for quite some time now and even had my account manager at Gringotts draw up a contract. Let me explain the terms I have come up so far for you. If you have questions or want to add or change anything, just voice your ideas."

After both twins had signalled him to go on, Harry spread the parchment on a nearby table for all parties to see and began to explain the terms of the magically binding contract, "Gred, Forge, if you agree to this contract, a vault will be opened for you at Gringotts. Each month, one hundred Galleons will be deposited in that vault for each of you…"

"One hundred Galleons?" both twins whispered, clearly baffled by the amount of money, which Harry was sure was significantly more than their father's monthly salary.

"Yes," Harry chuckled, "each month, you will receive two hundred Galleons combined to your free disposal. With that money, you can do whatever you want. Buy ingredients, books and other equipment, pay test subjects, marketing… You name it. Should you need more, I'm open for negotiations. In order to access your vault, you can deploy one of the Potter Elves. In fact, Sage…"

With a soft pop, a delicate looking House Elf suddenly appeared in front of them, "Master Harry, Sage is at your service. What may Sage be doing for young Master?"

"Good evening, Sage," Harry said, gracing the tiny Elf with a warm smile, "let me introduce you to Gred and Forge Weasley, my future business partners. They might be calling for you in the future to access their vault at Gringotts and have you fetch a few things in Diagon Alley."

"It is an honour for Sage to work for Master Harry's Weasleys," the tiny Elf squeaked in excitement, before bowing to the twins and disappearing.

"A House Elf?" one twin said in wonder.

Harry chuckled at their dumbstruck expression, "Your personal House Elf."

"Personal House Elf?" the other twin echoed.

"Yes," Harry laughed, "I myself was surprised at how many House Elves are serving the Potter family. Therefore, I'd gladly offer you the service of Sage. If you accept, she can access your vault and obtain books, potions ingredients, magical objects, clothes - you name it - from the magical shopping districts. Personally, I employ my House Elves to fetch whatever I need as well as get my letters and parcels from my rented post box in Diagon Alley. If you would like, Sage could easily open a post box for you for placing and receiving orders. Would you be interested?"

"Of course!" the twins said quickly, "but what do you…"

"Later," Harry said, cutting their questions short, "besides offering you financial support and the service of Sage, I also offer my personal help and expertise. If you want to, we could meet weekly to discuss your latest inventions. I could help you perfect your creations."

"But you are a first year!" both twins exclaimed.

A Cheshire grin graced Harry's face, "Add twice the amount of Peruvian Moon Beetles, pulverized not chopped, to your Instant Darkness Powder, simmer it while slowly adding eleven drops of sulfuric acid before dissolving three Nightingale feathers and your powder will work perfectly."

For a long moment, the Weasley twins stared at him, their eyes open wide in shock and disbelief, before one of them said, "Can you repeat that again?"

Harry did. The next few minutes, he spent watching the twins as they compared their notes of the Instant Darkness Powder with Harry's suggested modifications, recalculating the recipe. Finally, they looked up from the parchments, "That actually works!"

"Surprised?" Harry asked in mock sarcasm.

The twins looked at each other, before facing Harry again, shaking their heads, "No."

"Good," Harry chuckled, before pointing at the next point of the proposed contract, "once you have reached the stage of production, I offer you my help and the help of my House Elves to start a mail ordering business and possibly even one of the Potter properties in Diagon Alley to use as you store. We may negotiate properly about this at a later point. But for now, let's not talk about shares, rent, or anything production related. Now…"

"It's time to talk about your side of the bargain," Gred and Forge interrupted him in perfect synchronicity. Tilting his head to the side, Harry eyed the twins suspiciously while Tom in the back did the same. It certainly was not uncommon for twins to share a connection but to speak, think and move in synchronicity to the degree the Weasley twins did, indicated something more. Wandlessly calling forth his magic, he examined the bond between the twins.

What he discovered was a lot deeper than he had expected. Invisible, yet thick tendrils of magic were floating between the two of them, indicating a deep connection that went beyond most magical bonds. Even deeper than most soul bonds. The twins shared a soul, which in itself should be impossible. It was against the laws of Magic and nature – defied everything that should be impossible. Yet here they were, sharing a soul, their magic, their thoughts – everything – even their lives, because Tom doubted that one of them could exist for long without the other. It certainly explained why they were only seen together and never alone. The magical pull between the twins was simply relentless.

Then there was the nature of twins' magic. Tom and Harry had felt it before, but now it was much clearer. As opposed to the Light affinity of their brothers, their magic was a lot darker, thicker and denser. Tom wouldn't be surprised if their true magical affinity, although shrouded at the moment by the lack of exposure to banned curses and rituals, was Dark in nature. The nature of their magic really was astonishing, especially concerning their heritage. They were Weasleys after all. On the other hand, soul bonds were much more common amongst Witches and Wizards with a Dark affinity. Since most Dark Magic highly emphasized on strong emotions, it was only natural for strong emotional bonds like Soul Bonds to appear more often amongst the practitioners of the Dark Arts. Tom could not help but feel curious whether the twins would answer the call of their magic.

"Harry, what are you doing?" the twins suddenly brought the Dark Lord and Harry out of their thoughts. Feeling like he had been slapped, Harry pulled back his magic and quickly tried to think about a plausible explanation, "I was… I… Well… Sorry guys, but my magic must have slipped my…"

"Stop trying to fool!" Gred suddenly said, interrupting Harry's attempt at an excuse, "how did you do that? Seriously…"

"…we felt that you were touching our magic, "Forge continued smoothly, "your magic was brushing against ours…"

Harry wanted to curse himself to the moon and back again. Usually, most Witches and Wizards were oblivious to any magic surrounding them. Only a few selected individuals were in tune enough with their magic to sense wards or anything around them, least of all minor intrusions like what Harry had done. Why, amongst all Witches and Wizards, were the Weasley twins amongst those sensitive enough to detect his magic? Sure, it spoke in favour of the twins and in the end, it had been Harry who had not been subtle enough, thus leading to his detection, but who would blame him? It was only natural to be curious.

"…we know that you can determine one's magical aura with the Revelio Spell," Gred explained, failing to conceal his excitement, "were you trying to do so without the actual spell?"

Harry only nodded his head, not wanting to give away more.

"Wicked!" both twins exclaimed, before George went on, "how do you do that?"

While his brother shouted, "Can you teach us?"

That certainly was not what Harry had expected.

"Seems like those two are more interested in the 'how' than you attempting to get a read on their magical affinity," Tom chuckled, "they're too curious for their own good."

Agreeing with the Dark Lord's assessment for now, Harry returned his focus on the two red-haired menaces, "The answer to your question is a lot of meditation to focus and finetune your magic. We can talk about this later. But before we return to our negotiations, I must ask: how close are the two of you? Do you exchange thoughts? Can you even stay apart? And lastly, do you share your magic?"

This time, he had caught the twins off guard, "How do you know? Nobody has ever realized nor asked about it!"

Raising an eyebrow, Harry enquired, "Not even the Headmaster?"

"Not even the Headmaster. He has never been interested in us. It's always Ron and our younger sister Ginny that he seems to be interested in," the twins confirmed, "but how do you know?"

"Well," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders, "let's just say that I'm very proficient at reading the magic surrounding me. We can talk about my magic sensitivity and your 'special' connection later. Anyway, let us now turn to my end of the bargain. I demand absolute confidentiality from both of you. My name stays out of the picture. I do not want to be associated with your inventions. The source of your financial backing is to remain a public mystery. My involvement in any pranks stays a secret. Basically, I want our cooperation to stay in the shadows, preferably sealed by a magical confidentiality contract signed in blood. Or is that condition too severe for you?"

"Not too keen to taint your public image, "Forge said, before Gred continued, "oh Golden Saviour."

"Exactly," Harry replied, accompanied by a sharp smile, "I want nobody to suspect that I'm up to… certain things."

"What about Lee Jordan?" both twins suddenly asked, "he is an integral part of our… business plan."

Contemplating about this for a moment, Harry and Tom reached a conclusion. In the long run, it would only arouse suspicion if the twins would distance themselves from their friend. Therefore, it was better to include him at some point, but not now. Taking a deep breath, Harry met the twins' eyes, "For now, I would like this to stay between the three of us, at least as long as most of your inventions are still in the developmental stage. As long as your friend agrees to the same terms of confidentiality, he may join at a later point. But what about you? Would you agree to magically seal our secret and sign a binding contract? That is the only real and binding condition I demand from you."

The twins shared a quick look, before simultaneously shrugging their shoulders, "Sure! We will keep quiet, dear Harrykins!"

"Good," Harry chuckled, "apart from that, there is only one demand, although the word 'demand' is a bit harsh. A time might come, when I might ask you to do a few things for me. Ask, not demand …"

"Like favours?" Forge suddenly asked.

"Like favours," Harry confirmed with a curt nod of his head, "it won't be anything too taxing and certainly always doable. Furthermore, you will always have the option to decline, although I hope it will never come to that point. Those favours will always be reasonable. Anyway, do you have to interject, change, or disagree?"

Both twins shook their heads, "For now, not. But are you serious about not adding more points to your side?"

"Yes, that's all I ask for," Harry answered with a sincere smile, "what about you?"

"Give us a minute," both twins said, devious grins appearing on their faces. Without further ado, they snatched the contract off the table and retreated to a corner of the room. Harry could neither see nor hear what they were doing. It seemed like now that Harry knew about their special connection, the twins had no qualms about utilizing the soul bond to their fullest capability. But that was not the only thing. Roughly thirty minutes into their silent discussion, he saw both of them lifting their wands pointing them at the parchment. Harry's eyebrows rose as he heard the incantation. How did those two know about this obscure spell? The spell was commonly, although mostly forgotten by now, known as "Un-crossing the Foe"-Spell. Although highly complicated in nature, it could uncover any hidden curses, runes and rituals that had been covertly applied to magical binding contracts. Outside Gringotts and the ancient families, it was rarely used nowadays. Not only did the twins know about the spell, they also seemed to have applied it correctly as the parchment started to glow in a light blue, indicating that it was free of any hidden clauses, "Dear Harrykins, we think we can agree on all points although we want to add a termination clause."

"They truly are devious and too clever for their own good," Tom remarked as Harry listened to their demand. It was quite an ingenious move on their part without putting Harry at disadvantage. All parties would be able to terminate the contract at any time, yet none would be able to reveal anything to the outside. Both Tom and Harry were fine with that. Thus, the clause was swiftly added to the contract.

"Gentlemen," Harry smiled, "if you do not object, I think it is time to sign the contract."

Since neither twin voiced their opposition, Harry reached for his satchel and pulled out a simple, yet masterfully crafted mahogany box. Small runes were etched into the polished wood to obscure the magical aura of its content. Even if the object would be removed from the box, the protection would last another hour. Without further ado, Harry opened the box.

"Wicked!" the twins exclaimed in awe, stepping closer to inspect the object, "how did you manage to get a Dark artefact like this lovely Blood Quill inside the castle?"

"House Elves, Rune protection and my account manager at Gringotts," Harry chuckled, "I hope you do not object to using the quill, do you?"

At this, both twins laughed before Gred grabbed the Blood Quill, "Of course not! Ever since our brother Bill told us about them, we've been curious about them and finally, we get to use one. As long as there is…"

"…no long-lasting effect, which we know there isn't, we have no problems signing the contract," Forge continued, accepting the magical quill from his brother after he had signed the contract. Seconds later, both signatures had been completed. The blood was shining in a deep crimson on the otherwise mostly colourless parchment.

"That wasn't as bad as we had anticipated," both chuckled, while shrugging their shoulders. Harry then went on to add his signature to the magical contract. Once he had signed with his full name and title, the Blood Quill was placed back in its box and Harry went on to pull out his wand. Fractions of a second later, Latin chants filled the air sealing the magical contract. The air around him and the twins began to change as sequence after sequence of the magical contract was activated. Suddenly, he felt a wave of magic wash over him. The twins next to him gasped as the contract took hold while staring at the softly glowing parchment with big eyes. It was official now. Three mischief makers were now united.

After that night, things progressed smoothly. Harry was surprised how busy the next weeks were. Apart from the daily classes and homework, Quidditch practise took place twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the approaching Slytherin versus Ravenclaw game, it was most likely that the training schedule would only increase. Then there were the private Potions 'lessons' with Severus. They had started shortly after Samhain. Officially, Harry would be 'taught' about more advanced Potions and Potions theory. In reality, Harry, Tom and Severus spent Wednesday night before Harry's Astronomy class refining Severus' latest inventions, working on older, abandoned projects where he had hit a brick wall, or inventing something entirely new. Their Sunday lesson was mostly reserved for duelling sessions in the Room of Requirements. Severus certainly was a worthy opponent and Harry was more than glad for finally being able to put his abilities to the test. So far, nobody suspected that the advanced Potions lessons were nothing but a cover. While Dumbledore had made a surprise visit some time during the middle of November, he had witnessed nothing but Severus 'teaching' Harry how to brew a "Bone Mending Potion". Apart from voicing his concern about the difficulty of the potion regarding Harry's age, the Headmaster had not said much and so far, had not visited again.

Besides Quidditch and the advanced Potions 'lessons', Harry had also started teaching his year mates practical defence spell work. It had all started with Hermione complaining about Professor Quirrell's inability to explain or demonstrate the spells and defences they were supposed to be learning in class. They had been sitting in the library when Hermione had let it all loose. Lengthy library sessions in turn also had become a regular occurrence. Usually, Harry was sitting together with Hermione, Draco and Neville working on their homework after classes, but it was not uncommon for Blaise, Pansy, Rhea and Millicent to share their table. At times, even Theo, Daphne, and Tracey would join them. But on that day, it had only been him and Hermione.

"I just don't get," she had said, clearly expressing her frustration, "how anyone at this school is supposed to learn anything practical in that rotten class taught by everchanging incompetent fools? Clearly, not everyone is a prodigy like you are, Harry. Hell, even the Minister addressed the lack of quality education. But what about our current situation? Who is going to teach us the Shield Charm properly? Certainly not Professor Quirrell. The older years are busy and struggling themselves and the other professors are helplessly overworked…"

"Well, I could help you with the Shield Charm," Harry had said, shrugging his shoulder, "like right now if you wouldn't mind."

An hour later, Hermione had been able to conjure a decent Shield Charm. After that, Hermione kept asking for Harry's help. While Harry had helped his fellow Slytherins with practical magical work before, they soon insisted on joining him and Hermione. In the end, the practical magical training became a regular thing and the first year Slytherins and Hermione would meet on Mondays and Fridays. Harry's schedule really was becoming busier and busier.

In late January, the Daily Prophet once again brought great news. Bartemius Crouch Senior had been appointed as the head of the newly formed Committee of Education. Tom internally congratulated Cornelius Fudge for the move. After all, Bartemius Crouch was nothing but a capable Wizard and knew what he was doing. He might be heavily on the bureaucratic side and certainly had lost a lot of standing because of the arrest of his son at the end of the war, but still was an important name within the Ministry. If somebody would successfully and fairly examine, judge and restructure Hogwarts, it would be Bartemius Crouch. The Committee would furthermore consist of Saul Croaker, an Unspeakable and even better, an unidentified Death Eater who had joined the Dark Lord a decade before his unexpected 'disappearance', Helena Yaxley, the supervisor of the Magical Law Enforcement trainee program, Eleonore Diggory , the deputy head of the Department of Magical Education, and Thorfinn Rowle, who as a multiple Duelling Champion and private Defence and Duelling instructor perfectly qualified as an independent adjudicator for the Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum. Overall, the personnel of the Committee sounded nothing but promising. As far as Tom knew, each member was a capable Witch or Wizard and apart from Crouch and Diggory, all members lined in with Tom's personal agenda and ancient Pureblood beliefs. Therefore, Tom and Harry were more than curious about the work of the Committee, who would start to evaluate Hogwarts, its staff and classes after the end of the Easter Holidays.

But for now, the two had other things on their mind as Harry was walking down to the Quidditch pitch. It was the first February weekend and thus time for the first Quidditch match of the new year, Slytherin versus Ravenclaw.

While Draco was unusually quiet and behaving rather twitchy, Pansy and Hermione were vividly discussing Pureblood customs. For a couple of weeks now, it seemed like Pansy had taken it upon herself to teach Hermione everything about the old customs, etiquette, pagan holidays, and the Ancient Pureblood lines as well as the Wizarding communities abroad. Occasionally, Rhea and Millicent would join into her explanations while Hermione would internalise everything like a sponge. The animosity and mistrust between the Slytherins and Hermione had finally vanished and was instead beginning to be replaced by a growing mutual respect that slowly seemed to be turning into friendship. The more days passed, the brighter the smile of the bushy-haired Witch got. Finally, it seemed like Hermione was being embraced by the Wizarding world instead of being rejected. The first year Slytherins quickly learned to value the bright young Witch as she was always willing to help with the homework, lend an open ear, and provide for an interesting and intelligent conversation. While the Slytherins would educate Hermione about the Wizarding world, the Gryffindor in turn would answer an increasing number of questions about the Muggle world. It certainly was an interesting development.

But whereas the Slytherins were slowly starting to open up to Hermione and embracing her presence, the Gryffindors did the opposite. While Parvati Patil and Romilda Vane still treated her relatively civilly, the rest of the lions openly voiced their disdain about her selection of acquaintances, calling her a traitor. So far, they had not resorted to physical means, but it was only a matter of time. Therefore, Harry had taught Hermione basic Wards to guarantee her safety at least while she was asleep. Furthermore, he had gifted her a bracelet with a magical token. Should she ever feel threatened, trapped, or be caught in any sort of precarious situation beyond her control, all she had to do to activate the bracelet was to slightly push her magic against the token. It would immediately alert Harry of her location. The fact that Hermione had accepted the bracelet without protest clearly spoke volumes. Harry knew that deep down, Hermione regretted her stubbornness at getting sorted into Gryffindor. It really was only a matter of time until things would escalate.

Today certainly had potential to be that day. Quidditch was always a highly emotional matter. While the snakes were not playing against the lions, many would still perceive Hermione's presence in the Slytherin stands as treason. Hopefully, it would not be the catalyst to the inevitable escalation. Hopefully, the Gryffindors would be too distracted by the 'surprise' referee. One could always pray.

While Harry and Draco entered the changing room, the rest of the Slytherins and Hermione departed for the stands. After Marcus Flint's impressive speech, the team finally entered the pitch. Unsurprisingly, three quarters of the student population was booing, but they were not booing the Slytherin team. The crowd's attention was focussed solely on the lonely dark figure in the middle of the pitch.

Just then, the Ravenclaw team entered the Quidditch pitch. Upon seeing the dark figure, they stopped dead in their tracks. A moment later, their captain and Beater Duncan Inglebee stepped forward and started yelling at the dark figure about the unfairness of the situation.

Not intimidated by the rigid crowd and the yelling Beater, Severus instead Silenced the rabid Ravenclaw with a silent flick of his wand and told the rest of the team to cease complaining and mount their brooms, or else, there would be severe consequences.

A week ago, Severus had told Harry and the Dark Lord during one of their weekly Duelling sessions that he had spoken to the Headmaster and expressed his concern about the upcoming Quidditch match. While the Headmaster clearly seemed to be unconcerned, Severus had reminded him of what had happened during the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match. To protect his snakes, Severus had insisted on refereeing the upcoming match. With him as referee, hopefully no one, the name Quirrell remained unspoken, would dare mess with Harry's broom. While Severus' move certainly was not necessary – Harry could defend himself thank you very much – he appreciated the gesture.

After Severus had threatened the still complaining Ravenclaw team with the loss of a hundred house points, the match could finally begin. At the command of Severus, fourteen brooms rose in the air. Harry immediately chased after the red Quaffle, snatching it away from Roger Davis. A few seconds and a corkscrew dive later, the Slytherin stand erupted into cheers as Harry scored the first goal of the match.

Much to the surprise of all in attendance, the match progressed smoothly. Despite being the Head of Slytherin, Severus refused to favour any team throughout the match. Not that his help was necessary. The Slytherin team played vastly superior. Because of their superb Chasers, Slytherin quickly pulled ahead. By the time the Ravenclaw seeker Colin McDougal caught the snitch after Adrian Pucey had been hit by a vicious Bludger, Slytherin was leading by more than three hundred points. The cup was as good as theirs.

A few days later, Harry entered Severus' personal quarters to discuss one of the Potions Master's latest inventions, a concoction fittingly named Anti-Matter Potion. If perfected, the Potion would allow the drinker to pass through any solid obstacles for a certain amount of time. It was quite an ambitious project, but Tom had a few fresh ideas that mostly evolved around the incorporation of an ancient Japanese rune alphabet, hummingbird feathers and the extraction of the hybridised Nightshade Scorpion Grass.

"I wanted to thank you for being impartial and fair throughout the match," Harry said while throwing his satchel on a dark wingback leather chair before dropping on Severus' comfortable black three-seater couch, while chuckling, "I think you gave most of the student population the shock of their lives. A fair Severus Snape? Do we live in an alternate universe?"

Severus looked at him for a long moment, his face as blank as the frozen surface of the darkest lake, before his lips curled into a sinister grin, "If you think that a fair me is a strange thing to behold, wait until you experience the Headmaster's special entertainment on Valentine's Day. I think this year he has truly outdone himself."

While Tom was brooding about the horror that would possibly befall upon them, Harry wrinkled his nose, "Please don't tell me there will be a magical kiss cam in the Great Hall?"

"A what?"

"You know, like the one they use at Muggle sporting events," Harry began to explain, "they use a video camera to pick couples. Their image is projected on a large screen and they usually kiss. Has the 'esteemed' Headmaster copied that since he loves Muggles so much?"

"Actually, it's much worse," Severus sneered before erupting into dark laughter, "I can't wait until you experience the Headmaster's special messengers of love."

A few days later, Harry was making his way to the Great Hall for breakfast while his fingers were brushing over his unregistered Alder wand that was hidden in the sleeve of his robe. Today was the day – the day he had been dreading for days now. It was Valentine's Day.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Harry and the rest of the Slytherins stopped dead in their tracks. Pink glitter was raining off the enchanted ceiling. Colourful balloons were hovering in the air. The long house tables were laid out with pink cutlery and loaded with rose bouquets and mountains of candy. Still, the worst hadn't even arrived yet.

Swallowing his anger, Harry quickly led the rest of his year to their house table while covertly spelling away the glitter and erecting a Shield. Listening to the near-silent muttering of the Slytherins around him, Harry scanned the Hall. On the staff table, no teacher seemed to be sharing the enthusiasm of the Headmaster.

Roughly thirty minutes into breakfast, Dumbledore finally rose from his chair and declared that the messengers of love would deliver messages between the merry residents of the castle. Just then, the doors of the Hall burst open to reveal a whole squad of menacing looking Dwarfs dressed up as cupids. While the dwarfs were scuffling towards the staff table, Harry silently flicked his Alder wand underneath the table and pushed forth his magic. Once the dwarves had reached the staff table, the Headmaster was about to open his mouth when the tallest of the dwarves with the largest and most shining harp and bay wreath cleared his throat, "Today, we, the messengers of Cupid, are here at Hogwarts to deliver a special message to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the greatest Wizard who has ever wandered the face of the earth. This is for you, oh magnificent magician, our heroic Headmaster."

While all eyes in the Hall were firmly glued on the Headmaster, the dwarves started to pluck the strings of their harps and the unmelodic and off-key singing of the messengers of love floated through the Hall.

"There's things that you guess

And things that you know

There's boys you can trust

And girls that you don't

There's little things you hide

And little things that you show

Sometimes you think you're gonna get it

But you don't and that's just the way it goes

I swear I won't tease you

Won't tell you no lies

I don't need no bible

Just look in my eyes

I've waited so long baby

Now that we're friends

Every man's got his patience

And here's where mine ends."

While the Purebloods in attendance appeared to be mostly confused by the dwarves' tune and the staff seemed to be frozen in shock, the Muggle Borns were quickly catching up to what tune the dwarves were singing. Most were trying to hide their amusement while some were openly clapping along to the song, although the twins were some of the loudest singing the chorus of "I Want Your Sex". But before they reached the truly raunchy part of the George Michael song, the dwarves swiftly transitioned into something with a bit more of a disco vibe.

"Lookin' for a lover who needs another

Don't want another night on my own

Wanna share my love with a warm-blooded lover

Wanna bring a wild man back home

Gotta have some hot love baby, this evenin'

I need some hot stuff baby tonight

I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'

Gotta have some lovin'

Got to have a love tonight."

Before the dwarves could reach the second part of the chorus, Professor McGonagall pulled out her wand, the vein on her forehead throbbing dangerously, "This is enough! You will stop immediately!"

But instead of obeying her order, the dwarves simply continued.

"There's a new game we like to play you see

A game with added reality

You treat me like a dog

Get me down on my knees

We call it master and servant

We call it master and servant

It's a lot like life

This play between the sheets

With you on top and me underneath

Forget all about equality."

All around him faces got redder and redder, Tom truly applauded the Muggles for coming up with such 'interesting' lyrics. The Weird Sisters could definitely learn something from the likes of Donna Summer and Depeche Mode. While listening to songs about dancing Hippogriffs was entertaining initially, it could get old rather quickly. The Magical music groups and singers should certainly broaden their lyrical content.

At the staff table, McGonagall and the Headmaster were meanwhile trying to quiet the dwarves – without success. They couldn't be magically silenced. It was another layer of Harry's enchantment. Dumbledore seemed to realise this, too, and did the only thing possible: he fled. Unfortunately, the squad of dwarves followed, singing a rather raunchy sailor's tune. Throughout the entire day, the dwarves could be seen following the Headmaster, delivering rather slippery and raunchy messages of love. Overall, Valentine's Day turned out to be much better than expected.