PREVIOUSLY ON… HARRY POTTER AND THE HIDDEN THREAT

He had expected Malfoy to go back to harassing Hermione by now - he had been ready for any confrontation that would surface because of it. But it hadn't happened yet. That lack of action bothered Harry. He knew Malfoy and even though he hoped that the blond would stop being so bigoted as time went on, he knew he wouldn't just change in a second. If anything, Malfoy's silence worried Harry more than if he had joined Mulciber and Rosier in tormenting Hermione.

…

"Let me tell you something, Avery. That kid, he's brilliant, like truly brilliant. He's a little bit rough around the edges and he has much to learn, I'll give you that. But he has the potential to be the truest Slytherin out of anyone I've ever met. He's a natural, that's for sure, he just needs a push in the right direction."

CHAPTER 10: WINTER BREAK

Slytherin Table, The Great Hall

December 15, 1991

8:45 a.m.

Breakfast at the Slytherin table was almost unbearably tense, it almost made Harry miss all those dreadful family dinners at Potter Manor. This wasn't something new, the tension had been growing for a while not only inside the year but inside the house as a whole. The first cracks started after the whole study guide fiasco, which ended up breaking the year-group into three factions. There were Malfoy and the other bigots who never bothered to hide their hatred towards them, and even after the whole situation, he caught the sights of Malfoy's mask falling to glare at him for a couple of seconds. Then there were the Neutrals as Harry and Hermione had started to call them who were led by Greengrass. After the argument, the Neutrals stopped pretending to be nice around them, but apart from a few sneers here and there, there was no real attack from them. Which left the other group, Harry, Hermione, and most recently… Theo.

During November, the isolated Slytherin slowly started to incorporate himself with Harry and by extension Hermione. It started out as spending a little bit of time in the common room doing small, but mainly useless, small talk but by the end-of-term exams, Theo was constantly with them in the classrooms, the Great Hall, and even the common room. However, the one thing he didn't do was study with them, much to Hermione's delight as she didn't want to share the study guides with him. After all, the deal she'd made had been with Harry and Harry alone and he could tell Hermione still hadn't warmed up to the pure-blood. Hermione hadn't really warmed up to anyone except Harry, and even then, it had taken a lot of time to break down her walls to let him in. A part of Harry suspected that Theo knew that he and Hermione were the winners of the study guides and decided to not get involved unless invited, an action which made Harry feel grateful for his new ally (friend?).

But no, the tension at the table wasn't because of the bloody study guides, the problem in Slytherin House wasn't just limited to Harry's year. The tension was because of the other large confrontation that he himself had caused. Halloween. After that night, the House became truly divided, the lines firmly drawn on the ground. There were the pure-blood bigots who clearly wanted to attack him and Hermione and anyone associated with him. There was also the faction that consisted of him, Flint, their respective allies. And finally, there were the neutrals, the ones who just decided to watch the whole thing with amusement.

And so (for the first time in a long time according to Flint), Slytherin House was truly divided. While no other big confrontations had happened since Halloween night, it was clear to Harry that as soon as someone so much as twitched the wrong way, all hell would break loose.

Unfortunately for Harry, the quiet pleasant quietness from the table was suddenly disrupted by an obnoxious voice he hadn't missed at all.

"Why the bloody hell have you not answered your mirror!" Noah Potter snapped at him and at that moment he realized that whatever tension was in Slytherin House, it was much better than anything to do with his family. "Since you haven't answered, Dad has been calling me and demanding that I tell you to pick up! Five times just this morning!"

Every Slytherin (except Hermione, who was trying to burn a hole into Noah's head with the mere power of her glare) turned to look at him with blank expressions that didn't reveal how amused they were at watching more of the Potters family drama. Harry made himself a mental reminder to teach Noah about normal things like 'privacy' and 'discretion' but immediately discarded it. Teaching a Gryffindor how to be discreet would be as easy as teaching a lion how to fly. Harry, slower than usual, finished chewing the eggs that he had been eating and drank a little pumpkin juice before finally turning to face Noah.

"Oh, hello Little Brother," He said with exaggerated cheerfulness. "Pray tell, what can I do for you during this lovely morning."

Noah scoffed. "How about answering Dad so that he doesn't have to bother me every time he wants to talk to you."

"Oh, that. I know why he's calling me and I made my answer pretty clear to him when I decided not to answer. You can tell him that if you want."

"I'm not your owl!"

Harry looked him up and down dramatically. "Obviously," He deadpanned "Hedwig is much smarter than you will ever be." His brother glared at him and opened his mouth to make a rebuke but Harry beat him to it. "Look, Noah, be reasonable. Just tell Dad that I said that and that I made some ominous Slytheriny threat to stay away from me and he won't bother you again. We'll be rid of each other for the holidays and won't have to see each other for another three weeks! It's a win-win situation."

"Wait," Noah said, suddenly taken aback. "You're not coming home for the holidays? Why not!?"

Harry sighed in exasperation and cursed whatever deity had cursed him to be Noah bloody Potter's brother. "For reasons that you clearly aren't smart enough to understand. Now, I would love to get back to my breakfast, so unless you don't leave now, I will actually make those threats I mentioned."

"Fine, I don't care. We'll be better off without you." Noah huffed angrily before walking away.

That, my dear brother, is the one thing we can agree on. Harry thought to himself numbly before turning back to his food. Unfortunately, it appeared as if Noah had broken whatever curse that kept everyone quiet because Draco Malfoy decided to open his mouth.

"So, Potter, you're staying here for the holidays?" He asked, not confrontationally but with curiosity.

"Yes, I am," Harry replied silkily. "After learning that Hermione and Theo would be staying here, I decided to spend my winter holidays here at Hogwarts with them." He recited the lie he'd come up with in advance.

"It seems that your father doesn't agree with your plans? How come he can't just force you to go home?" Draco asked.

"According to Hogwarts: A History; 'the decision to stay at Hogwarts during the winter holidays or leave the castle is entirely up to the student. The parents of the student don't have any legal authority to interfere with that decision.'" Hermione explained before Harry could even open his mouth. "It was one of the rules made specifically by the founders, and so it can't be ignored, retracted, or abolished. Not even the Headmaster himself can override it."

"But shouldn't the Ministry be able to get involved? Surely if someone really wanted to, they could find a way to bypass that rule?" Malfoy suggested.

"Hogwarts isn't controlled by the Ministry, in fact, it's older than it. The school is its own entity and the rules created by the founders limit a lot of what the Ministry can do in regards to Hogwarts nowadays. So, no, they can't force Harry to go home until the summer break when no student is allowed to stay at the school."

Malfoy slightly raised his eyebrows before shrugging and going back to his breakfast. Soon after that, most students left the Great Hall to make last-minute packing before the train left in two hours, leaving the castle alone for everyone except the teachers, two Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, and five Slytherins.

Astronomy Tower

3:45 p.m.

With the majority of the students half-way to London and the whole castle to himself. Harry had decided to explore the castle and ended up in the Astronomy Tower. At this point he had no idea how long he'd been there, admiring the view of the grounds, before his peace and quiet was suddenly interrupted.

"You're a hard man to find, Potter." Flint Marcus said gruffly from behind him.

"Only when I don't want to be found," Harry said calmly to mask his irritation without taking his eyes off of the beautiful view.

"Where are Granger and Nott? I rarely see you without one of them by your side."

Harry sighed and turned to face the older Slytherin, it was clear that Marcus had no intention of leaving. "They wanted to study and I wanted to be alone."

"Well, too bad," Flint said before suddenly throwing some large cloaked hood at him. "Because today, Potter, the two of us are going out."

"I'm sorry, Flint, but I don't swing that way." Flint rolled his eyes at him and Harry turned to the cloak in his hands. "What is this?"

"Concealment cloak. When you put it on with the hood it will conceal your face completely. You'll need that for where we're going."

"And where is that?" Harry asked archly.

"Diagon Alley. Well, first we'll fly to Hogsmeade and floo to Diagon Alley from there."

"Not that I'm against this little trip of yours, but I don't really get the point of it and somehow I don't think Dumbledore would be too happy with us leaving through the entrance, let alone fly away."

"The point of this 'little trip' as you so adequately called it, is to teach you how to be a true Slytherin. After all, I'm going to leave after your third year and you'll have to know how to handle yourself."

"I've been doing alright on my own, thank you very much."

"Potter, you would've been dead five times over if it weren't for me," Flint said angrily as he walked towards him. "There are a lot of things I've been doing behind the scenes that you don't know about but have stopped and will continue stopping any attacks on you and Granger. I'm not telling you this to boast or because I want your gratitude, but because I want you to understand that there are a lot of things going on that you don't know about and you still have a lot to learn."

"Are you really that concerned about my well being that you're going out of your way just to 'teach me' things? I didn't know you cared so much." Flint scoffed at him but didn't make a rebuke which surprised Harry, not that he showed it. "Well then, please Professor, start your lesson," Harry said in an over-the-top manner.

"The first thing you should learn is to take things seriously, Potter, but since that will probably take me the next few years to teach you I'll leave that for later. Now, tell me, Potter, why are you here? Why out of all places are you here, brooding while staring at nothing like some Gryffindor."

"I'm not brooding," Harry grumbled, and Flint didn't bother to hide his disbelief of that statement.

"Alright," He said condescendingly. "You're not brooding. Then what are you doing? Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to be alone -"

"Yes, but why! Why do you want to be alone! And why at this particular time!"

"I don't know, I just wanted to be alone, okay?" Harry snapped.

Flint paused and stared straight into his eyes. "What are you feeling?"

"Annoyed," Harry said dryly and Flint rolled his eyes.

"Stop evading the question, Potter, what were you feeling that made you want to be alone?"

"I never thought I'd see the day when Marcus Flint of all people asked me to talk about my feelings with him," Harry deadpanned.

"Look," Flint started, and Harry could tell he had managed to get on the older boy's nerve. "I'm not asking you this because I want to talk about your feelings or because I want to find them out for my own gain. I'm asking these questions because you, Potter, you don't control your feelings. Your feelings control you. And that's the worst thing that a Slytherin can do. You need to learn how to manage your emotions and use your head to actually think instead of letting your feelings do that for you. That is what makes us different from the Gryffindors. We're not different because we're evil and cowardly while they're good and brave. We're different because a Slytherin controls his emotions and thinks with his head while a Gryffindor gets controlled by his emotions and thinks with his gut. It doesn't matter how smart or how cunning you are, if you let your emotions direct you, you'll be just as much of an idiot as your brother."

Harry's first thought was to make some sarcastic retort or some angry comment but he stopped himself before that happened. Instead, he paused and counted to ten as he tried to get a hold of himself. It seemed that Flint may have had a point.

"Good, you're finally thinking with your brain. Keep it that way. You should at least try to control your emotions every time you're out in public, it's the best way to survive not just in Slytherin House but in the real world. Now, controlling your emotions doesn't mean completely suppressing them, that is extremely unhealthy. Controlling your emotions means that you don't let your emotions affect your decisions and actions while you're in public, but when you're in the privacy of your own company you should allow yourself to feel, process, and understand your emotions. In my experience, meditating every night before bed and keeping a private journal where you can free your thoughts and emotions are the best ways to do so." Flint offered and Harry nodded.

"Alright, I can do that."

"Good, now. I'll tell you the rest while we're in Diagon Alley. It's going to be a long day and we have much to do."

"Right, which brings me to my second point? How are we going to get there?"

Flint smirked at him before enlarging two miniature brooms he had inside his cloak.

Diagon Alley

4:10 p.m.

"I can't believe that worked!" Harry said incredulously to the hooded figure beside him. "You would think the wards would stop any brooms from crossing in and out of the Hogwarts grounds."

"That wouldn't be as good an idea as you may think, Potter," Flint answered, his voice distorted by the cloak. "Hogwarts is a school full of students, students like your brother who wouldn't think twice before trying a stunt like the one we just did. If there were wards like that and a student were to cross them, even by accident, they would be extremely injured in the best of cases and dead in the worst."

"And were you one of those idiotic students that tried to fly to Hogsmeade without knowing about the lack of wards?"

"Of course not," Flint scoffed. "I asked Madam Hooch about it in my first-year."

Harry nodded to himself. "So why are we here? And why today of all days?"

"We're here, Potter, because there are a lot of things you need to learn about being a Slytherin. Today, I'll start teaching you these things and making sure that you have the… right tools. We'll talk more about this after we leave here." Flint said as soon as they reached the entrance of Gringotts.

Thirty minutes later Harry and Flint left Gringotts after emptying the two thousand galleons that had been inside Harry's trust fund. Harry had to hide his surprise at the amount, considering that it was only required to fill the vault with a minimum of one thousand per year, but apparently, James had taken the liberty to give him two thousand. Harry filed away his complicated feelings for his parents and decided he would review them later tonight.

"Alright, Potter, one of the most important things about being a Slytherin is actually one thing you lack. Networking. You're too aggressive for your own good," Harry opened his mouth to interrupt but it seemed that Flint was prepared for him because he cut him off. "You are. Don't deny it. You've been aggressive for the last three months and while you had to be so that you and Granger could survive, you also need to know when the time is right to make truces with your enemies. Right now the whole house is in disarray and it's because of all the waves you are making, which is good! Those waves you made will end up changing the House for the better. However, you have to learn when to pick your battles and with whom."

Harry bit back a sigh of exasperation as the two made their way across the street.

"Going back to networking. You have a big problem at it to the point where people didn't know you existed! And you're not any random kid from any random wizarding home, like it or not you're the brother to The Boy Who Lived and your family has the attention of the whole press at any given moment in time. How you managed to stay out of the spotlight until Hogwarts, I have no idea, however, that is something that will have to change. With how many parties the Potter's host and how important they are in the Wizarding World at the moment, it's insane that you're wasting those opportunities to network with anyone who attends those parties."

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time everyone starts licking the dirt off of Noah's feet at those parties."

"You're thinking with your stomach, Potter. Next time you're at those parties pay attention as to who does that. No self-respecting witch or wizard, much less Head of House, would act that way. Only buffoons like Fudge who survive by sucking up to better wizards and people who want to be on the Potters' good graces do that. There are plenty of other people in those parties who you can network with, and the best way to start is by networking with the kids at Hogwarts."

Harry snorted. "With the house as split as it is, I somehow doubt that networking with the others is even possible at the moment. Besides, my father hates us slimy snakes. He barely invites any Slytherins at all, and for them to get an invitation they have to either be one of his superiors or someone who he is forced to deal with on a daily basis, which excludes most of my classmates and their families."

"I never said to just network with the other Slytherin kids, I told you to network with the kids at Hogwarts. I can't say anything else, the first-years are supposed to find their place in their own year-group without any help from the older students, just remember that Slytherin isn't the only House of the school." Suddenly, Flint stopped right at the entrance of Knockturn Alley. "Now," He said, in the most serious tone he'd ever heard from the older boy. "What I'm about to show you today is extremely, extremely top secret. Out of the twenty-five thousand witches and wizards currently living in England, less than three hundred know about this. You're not allowed to tell anyone about any of this, not even Granger! Am I making myself clear or do we have to make another unbreakable vow to make sure you understand?"

"No," Harry said, hiding the fact that he was startled at the boy's sudden change of demeanor. "I understand."

Harry looked into the black void where he knew Flint's face was for what felt like a full minute before the boy nodded and they entered Knockturn Alley together.

"Don't say anything, don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone. Not until I tell you to." Flint whispered at him and Harry agreed mutely.

They walked together in silence until they reached the White Wyvern, the most popular pub in Knockturn Alley. Entering the mostly empty pub, Harry followed Flint who slightly bowed his head to the bartender, who in turn returned the gesture, before heading straight for the bathrooms. Flint went to the stall furthest away (which was out of order) and opened the door for Harry to step in, to which he reluctantly did before Flint joined him and closed the door behind him.

"Lovely, now, what are we doing here?"

"Shut up, Potter," Flint growled at him as he pulled out his wand and tapped several specific places of the toilet before doing a complicated wand movement. When he finished it, the piece of the wall behind the toilet went backwards and the toilet was pulled with it until there was a hole on the ground with a ladder that led to a chamber below.

Harry looked at the hole suspiciously before turning to Flint. "After you,"

Flint shook his head before sighing and descending the ladder as he muttered something that sounded similar to 'kids!' Harry followed him down the short ladder and looked around as he reached the ground. It was a small, dark room that was only lit by a single torch. It was also completely empty except for a large portrait of a muscular man who had what seemed to be a permanent frown on his face.

Harry stood beside Flint as the portrait did nothing but stare at them until Flint suddenly took off his hood and uncovered a part of his chest, where a black tattoo in the form of a vertical line and circle enclosed by a triangle suddenly appeared on his chest for a couple of seconds before disappearing. The portrait nodded gruffly before it swung forward and revealed what looked to be an extremely old elevator on the end of the chamber.

"Err… Flint? Where are we going?" Harry asked nervously as they got on the elevator.

"This, Potter, is the entrance to Midknight Alley. Don't ask me for a history lesson because I don't have one, but from what I have gathered Midknight Alley has been here for as long as Diagon Alley. Very few families know of its existence and fewer know how to enter, let alone are allowed to enter. As you might have guessed, this place is far from legal and it's the deepest and darkest market in the whole of Wizarding Britain. Anything you may want, you can find here or you can be sure they'll get it for you."

"But how is this whole place kept secret? How come the Ministry doesn't know about it? How come they don't do anything?" Harry said as the elevator stopped.

He and Flint stepped out into an extremely dark and ominous alley whose only light source was the occasional dim lamp and the charmed night sky. It made Knockturn Alley look as inviting as Diagon Alley. The place immediately put Harry on edge and a part of him hoped that he would never have to come down here ever again.

Flint started walking and Harry followed, ignoring the few people in similar attires to them that were walking around. "Of course the Ministry knows about it. Not everyone, but a lot of extremely prominent and important people are regularly down here. However, it is impossible for them to reveal it to the Ministry or do something that will jeopardize the Alley or the people who come down here. That tattoo I have that you need to show the portrait. That's a modified version of the unbreakable vow to protect the safety of the alley. Let's say for argument's sake that I were to become Head of the DMLE, I wouldn't be able to reveal its location or even send people undercover here. While I could still come down here myself and conduct whatever investigation I wanted, I wouldn't be able to threaten the secrecy of the place or the people who come here. What I just did, invite you without forcing you to make an unbreakable vow similar to the one I made when I got the tattoo is highly frowned upon and almost never happens, so keep that to yourself."

"And how do you get those tattoos?" Harry asked. As much as he never wanted to come down here again, he knew it would be best to have that option.

"You need to have a contact on the inside and even then, only ten families still have the ability to authorize it. Fortunately for you, you're in luck. The Flints are one of those families."

"Really?" Harry didn't bother hiding the surprise in his face.

"Yes, really," Flint said irritably. "While the Flint name may not command the same respect as before and we're now even poorer than the Weasleys because of many bad decisions over the past century, we still have some sway on some places and this is one of them. In here," Flint opened the door for him and Harry stepped inside the store, taking in his surroundings.

It was a small shop like all the other ones and it was full of weird objects that Harry didn't recognize at all and was sure probably had dark magic. Remembering Flint's rule to not touch anything, Harry decided to just inspect them from a distance.

"May I help you?" An older man asked them from the counter and Flint removed his hood. "Marcus!" The older man exclaimed, suddenly cheerful. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you!"

"Everard, it has been a while, hasn't it?" Flint asked jovially.

"Two years! You've grown! How the times have changed! I still remember when you were nothing more than a toddler, you know?" Harry was surprised to see Flint look sheepish for the first time. "What brings you here? Who's your friend?"

"Yeah, about that…" Flint looked at Harry hesitantly before turning back to Everard. "I need a favor, a couple of them actually. I need the specials."

As soon as Flint said this, the older man immediately stood straight, and with a couple of flicks of his hand the windows of the shop were closed and the door was locked. Harry had to exercise all sense of self-control to not let his jaw drop at the sight of wandless magic being used as efficiently and carelessly as that.

"Flint," The cheerful demeanor was suddenly replaced by a very serious look. "You know the specials are only for you and the other three families. I don't want any trouble and that's exactly what will happen if more people learn about them. Just because my family owes a great debt to yours doesn't mean that you can abuse the privileges I give you."

"I know," Flint placated the man. "And trust me when I tell you that I wouldn't be here unless it was absolutely necessary, but it is. It's life or death."

Everard looked suspiciously at Harry. "Who's your friend?"

"He'll take off his hood in a moment, just don't do anything rash, okay?" The man nodded and Flint turned to Harry. "Do it," He commanded and Harry removed his hood.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Everard immediately summoned his wand and pointed it directly at Harry. But Flint was ready and before the man could cast a spell Flint put himself in between him and Harry.

"Everard, please calm down and think!" Flint snapped.

"You bring The Bloody Boy Who Lived and the son of one of the biggest Aurors in the DMLE to my shop and you want me to calm down!?"

"He's not Noah Potter, he's his twin, and he hates his father!" Flint tried to make him understand.

"Why the hell should I give a fuck if the boy cares for his father or not!?" Everard growled before calming himself. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kick you out of my shop and ban you for the rest of your life."

"The Knights!" Flint shouted and that finally made an impact as Everard faltered on his feet and looked as if he had been struck. "Please, let me explain. Just not in front of the kid." Flint breathed out with a sincerity he'd never heard from the fifth-year.

Everard looked at Harry wearily before he nodded. Flint moved towards him and cast some privacy charms to keep Harry out of the conversation before he began speaking. As much as Harry wanted to impose and ask Flint what the hell he was talking about, he decided to keep his emotions in check and just ask him later. It was clear they were already in a difficult position with the shopkeeper and Harry didn't think it would be smart to jeopardize that. The two men talked for what felt like an hour but was probably closer to ten minutes before Flint canceled the charm and the man went somewhere behind the shop.

"What the hell was that?" Harry hissed at Flint.

"When the shop was starting up about three hundred years ago, the Flints, the Travers, the Goyles, and the Selwyns were the main investors of the business and one of the big reasons why it ended up being so successful. And so, the four families don't pay and they are the only ones who can get what Everard calls the specials. You'll see soon enough. unfortunately, you'll still have to pay and it won't be cheap."

"I didn't mean that!" Harry growled even when a part of himself reminded him that he did want to ask that. "Who the hell are the Knights!?"

"Look, I promise I'll tell you, and soon, but right now I can't, Potter. You're just going to have to trust me."

"Oh, trust you. That's rich. You can't just throw around some obscure and threatening name like the Knights and say they're related to me witho-"

"Harry!" Flint interrupted him sharply, using his name for the first time. He knelt down and looked at him straight in the eye and Harry was surprised at how vulnerable he looked. "Just please trust me. You can't deal with these people, I certainly can't and I doubt your father can, even with his reputation. They are ruthless, cunning, efficient, powerful, organized, and they are everywhere. They won't care about your threats and won't even bat an eye at killing you if you force their hand by pulling a stunt like the one you pulled with Parkinson. And this is just from the little I know about them!"

"They can't be any worse than Voldemort," Harry said offhandedly, wanting to hide how… afraid he truly felt. He had never seen Flint look this alarmed about anything or anyone.

"Don't call him that," Flint said seriously. "You weren't alive when he was in power, not really. You didn't see how vicious he was when he dismembered his enemies after torturing them for days on end or how powerful he was when he dueled with some of the most powerful wizards in the world. And my father was a Death Eater! I'm pretty sure I didn't see the worst of him. This is exactly the reason why I can't tell you anything yet! You need to learn to respect your enemies because if you don't, you've already lost."

"I won't fear Voldemort," Harry scoffed. "He was killed by a bloody one-year-old in diapers!"

"I never said you should fear him. There's a difference between fear and respect, Potter, and you need to learn what the difference is. Don't call him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or any of those bullshit names! Call him what he was: The Dark Lord." Harry looked at him for a moment before finally reluctantly nodding. "Harry, I promise that I will tell you about them, and soon. But before I do I need more information on them and I need to make sure that you're ready. These people - they may not be as powerful as Voldemort or his Death Eaters were but they were a close second, especially the leader, and the difference between the Death Eaters and the Knights is that the Knights are still out there and very much in power. Just please, trust me to keep you safe."

"Alright," Harry said, disinclined. "I'll trust you." Flint smiled at him genuinely before standing up and walking up to the counter. "Why?" Harry whispered, causing Flint to stop and look back. "All of this, it goes way beyond the vow we made, and yet you're still doing this when you could just stand back and watch. So why are you doing this?"

Flint sighed and looked away. "Maybe it's because you would be a pretty shitty ally if you died on me right now. Maybe it's because I feel pity and think you wouldn't have a chance against the Knights unless I helped, maybe it's because I want to cash in my favor before you die. Maybe you remind me of someone I used to know." The older boy shook his head before looking at Harry straight in the eyes, and it was only now that he suddenly realized that he had the same emerald eyes as him. "Or maybe, just… just maybe... I've grown to like you more than I'm willing to admit."

The two of them looked at each other, truly looked at each other, because that's what it felt like. It felt that after everything, they were finally seeing the real people behind their masks. After a couple moments of quiet Harry suddenly chuckled and looked away. "Don't get sappy with me, Flint. You'll make me think you're going soft."

Flint mirrored his laughter. "We can't have that, now can we?"

Before Harry could reply Everard returned carrying a tray with three items, each in their respective cases. "Here we go, Marcus." The man said in a shaky voice that Harry considered to be an improvement to the threats from earlier.

"Potter," Flint called out.

Harry walked towards the counter and looked at the three objects while Flint placed an arm on his shoulder. Harry opened the first case only to see a pair of rectangular glasses.

"Nice thought, Flint. But my glasses still work quite well."

Everard snorted mirthfully as a twinkle appeared in his eye. "That, boy, isn't just any set of glasses. They are charmed with pretty much any legal and illegal charm that could be applied to them. They are charmed to be impervious to water or fog, the glasses automatically adjust to your eyesight needs, and they have a model that helps you see much better and the dark. And those are just the legal charms. They can see under invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms, or any other form of magical concealment. They have an infrared mode, they can see through most walls, and even have a feature that will help you listen to the conversations that are happening on the other side of the wall, I could go on and on. However, I want to focus on one particular feature specifically. They have a magical detection mode that can be used to detect residue of spells and potions. So not only are they extremely useful to detect if magic has been used in a certain place or object and what type of magic it was but you could also see if a person is under the effects of a potion or a spell." He finished proudly.

"Wait, are you telling me these glasses can tell me if someone is under the imperius curse!?" Harry asked incredulously.

"The imperious curse!?" The man barked a laugh. "Of course not, that's the thing about the imperious curse! It leaves no magical residue and it can't be detected. No, unfortunately, you can't see if someone is under the effects of the imperious curse with these glasses. However, they allow you to see if someone is under the effects of charms like the confundus, glamours, transfiguration, and many other spells. It also allows you to see if someone is under polyjuice potion or any other potion. You can also use it to scan your food and drinks to see if they are potioned or not. There are more features and there's a full list of what spells and potions it can detect and how, but you can read all about that, it's all in the instruction pamphlet inside."

"This is brilliant!" Harry exclaimed with a large smile. "How much are these… Mister...?"

"Oh, please. Call me Everard." The man waved him off though Harry could tell he was hiding something. "As for how much, they're seven hundred galleons." At that Harry's jaw dropped. "Not only are they extremely useful and something you'll only need to buy once. But these are also only the fifteenth pair in existence. To say they are extremely rare is a massive understatement."

"Right," Harry nodded to himself while feeling slightly lightheaded. "That makes sense."

"Say, Everard?" Flint said as he stared at the glasses. "You wouldn't happen to still have them in eye contact form like the ones you gave me when I started Hogwarts, would you?"

"Why yes I do," Everard grinned. "Would you prefer them to the glasses?"

"Yes, please Everard." Flint replied before Harry could even open his mouth.

"Alright. Just give me a moment. You can tell him about the necklace while I'm gone." He said before quickly leaving the room.

"Why do you want me to use eye contacts instead of glasses? I was fine with them."

"Harry, you're an identical copy to your brother and the two of you are identical copies to your father. If you keep looking like them then people will keep grouping you three together. If you really want to separate yourself from your family and make people respect you for who you are then you need to create your own path and image helps. Thankfully you already comb that mess of hair of yours and now with eye contact lenses, people will truly see how different you and the other Potters are. Now, all we need to do is change your style, but that can be done in the summer."

"That… that is actually a good explanation," Harry said, slightly surprised. "But won't people suspect that I have these new, cool eye contacts if I stop wearing glasses?"

"No, they'll think you just switched to any other normal version of eye contact lenses. Remember that very few people know that these glasses exist and they all know that only people of the four families that invested in them can get them. The last thing they will do is think you have them, it wasn't exactly easy to convince Everard of agreeing to this."

"How did you manage to do it, by the way?" Harry asked but Flint ignored him as he picked up the second case and opened it, revealing a silver necklace.

"This is a portkey. A very illegal and very powerful portkey. While the usual portkeys only work for one trip or one roundabout trip, this one is special. It's a completely reusable portkey that you can use all the times you want and it will still work. For them to work though, you actually have to be at the location and set the destination to be exactly where you are standing. You can of course play with the settings to change the destinations as many times as you please. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you." He grinned at him. "It has five different settings that you can activate with different keywords. So essentially, you'll have five reusable portkeys with you at any time with just that necklace."

"Alright," Harry said slowly. "And why are these better than just apparating? Wouldn't they be useless by the time I learn how to apparate?"

"Because these are not normal portkeys," Everard called out as he entered with another case which he switched up with the first one. "These portkeys are completely immune to any anti-portkey jinxes. Which makes them extremely useful in situations of danger!" The man smirked. "Don't worry, this is much more affordable than the glasses. A measly three hundred galleons."

Right, measly, bloody hell this dude wants to bankrupt me! Harry mentally screamed but didn't let any of it show. "Naturally," He responded with a smile that didn't look completely forced. "So what's in the third case?"

"Ah, the ring. One of my most proud achievements and a recent one too. This is only the fourth in existence and Marcus right here has one of the other ones. Tell me, Mister Potter, what do you know about wands?"

"Well, wands work as a way to channel the magic of a witch or wizard so that they can perform magic in a more focused manner."

"True, but wands aren't the only tools that help a wizard channel their magic. Staffs are also commonly used, and there are even some cultures that still use wandless magic that requires decades of training, in fact, here in Britain there are only two people who managed to grasp wandless magic to some extent, and that's Dumbledore and The Dark Lord. My point with this is that wands aren't the only ways to channel magic. And so, I show you the ring. This was a pretty large challenge, it took many years to perfect, and I'll be completely honest and say I had to use some magic that would raise the Ministry's red flags. Nothing truly dark, granted, but the ministry still wouldn't be happy with what I did. It's made with goblin-wrought silver and has a small piece of thestral heartstring inside, but to truly make it work with you I'll have to bind it to your magic. That way, the ring will work perfectly for you and only for you, to anyone else this is just a ring."

Everard opened the case and Harry looked at the ring. It was a silver ring decorated to look as if it were a snake that had emerald eyes.

"Now," Everard interrupted Harry before he could reach out for the ring. "This ring doesn't make you a master of wandless magic. Not even close. It can actually perform very few spells. The summoning and banishing charms, the levitation charms, motions charms. Any charms that are related to the movement of objects. But that's it, you can't perform any others. This can be a very powerful aid, but it's just that, an aid. And it should be left unsaid that if you're using your ring on the right hand then you can't use your left hand to use magic."

"Obviously," Harry drawled. "Is that how you closed everything with your hand?"

"Naturally," Everard almost scoffed at what he must have considered such a stupid question. "I have some notice-me-not charms in my ring and I know Flint does too, but that's optional. I would recommend you do. Another thing you should keep in mind is that learning spells with your ring will be different from learning them with your wand. While with wands you do wand movements and say incantations, it doesn't work that way with the ring. The ring is all about visualization, you need to see what you want to happen before you cast the spell and you have to have a pretty precise picture, otherwise it's not going to work. It's much harder to learn the spells on the ring but it may end up saving your life. With the ring you also don't use incantations, so don't even bother trying to practice with them."

"You should also not use your ring unless you're in a life or death situation." Flint continued smoothly. "Not only because we don't want to advertise that you have the ring to the teachers or other students, but because in a fight the element of surprise is everything."

"Precisely!" Everard agreed and Harry was about to ask the precise but the man beat him to it. "The ring is going to be five hundred galleons."

Great, fifteen hundred galleons gone in an hour. Harry grumbled mentally but didn't stop himself from pulling the miniaturized bag nor did he stop Flint when he enlarged it and paid the man. After making sure the other five hundred galleons were there, Harry asked Flint to shrink the bag again.

"Excellent! Now we just need to bind the ring to your magic and that'll be all!" Everard said cheerfully.

"Wait, before that," Flint spoke up. "Is there any way for Harry to receive the tattoo? I know you're one of the few who can do them."

"Unfortunately, I can't. While you are a Flint and will have the power to authorize it in the future, I would need the authorization from the current Head of House Flint."

"My uncle," Flint growled. "Alright, it was worth a shot."

Twenty minutes later, an exhausted but pleased Harry Potter walked out of the shop with his contacts, ring, and necklace all on his person. He looked at the glasses in his hand before he suddenly stopped right before they reached the elevator, much to Flint's confusion. Harry suddenly threw the glasses to the ground before stomping them with his foot and grinding it over them. After he was satisfied he continued walking to the elevator and didn't look back.

"A bit too dramatic for my taste," Flint's distorted voice said mirthfully as the elevator rose back to the White Wyvern.

Harry didn't respond, he just smiled to himself.

Malfoy Manor

9:25 p.m.

The day had gone exactly as Draco Malfoy had expected. The train ride was long and boring, but at least he managed to goad Potter and the Weasel one final time. His father's welcome was just as cold as he had known it would be and the absence of his mother wasn't really a surprise, he rarely saw his father and his mother together even though they lived under the same roof.

Dinner had been quiet, which was expected but as part of Draco couldn't help but miss the ambiance of the Great Hall. It seemed so warm and full of life while the dining room at Malfoy Manor was the complete opposite. It was cold, dead, a graveyard with a table would have more life than this. His father was seated on the complete other side of the table, leaving a good twenty to thirty feet of space between them.

It wasn't until they had both finished eating that his father finally spoke up.

"How was school, Draco?" His father asked formally.

"It was well, Father," Draco replied vaguely, knowing that this wasn't really what his father was interested in.

"How were your marks?"

"I'm in the top ten students in the year," Draco answered, managing not to roll his eyes.

"Good," He replied primly and there was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "And how was the other assignment I left you?"

"The one about Potter and his mudblood pet?" At his father's blank look he continued. "I did as you asked me, father, I remained neutral and watched them. As much as I hate to admit it, Potter's smart, and his filthy mudblood is just as smart, if not more than him. While Potter knows how to handle himself in the house and how to deal with any situation that he faces, the know-it-all mudblood is the best of the year. Not even Pansy could beat her."

"Tell me about these situations Potter's faced?"

"The idiot grew attached to his mudblood pretty quickly, almost desperately. He defended her and stood up against the whole House for her and the others didn't take it well. While many of the confrontations were just verbal there were a couple that turned more physical. In his first week at Slytherin, he managed to send Rosier to the infirmary and allied himself with Marcus Flint."

"He's no threat. The Flint's have lost all their money and influence."

"Maybe so, but Marcus has a lot going for him. He's prefect, quidditch captain, and he has many allies in the House and outside of it. While he may not be a threat now, I don't doubt that he will be in the future. And for now, he's enough to keep Potter and his mudblood safe. He proved himself capable of that on Halloween where Potter, Flint, Nott, and the mudblood took on three trolls and Mulciber, Rosier, Carrow, and Avery at the same time. After that, neither of the four have even looked at any of them."

"Interesting…" His father muttered to himself, barely loud enough for Draco to hear. "Tell me about Potter and the mudblood. What are they like?"

"Potter is smart, but he's also aggressive, he's sloppy, and he's depending too much on Flint. He's making too many waves but he doesn't seem ready for the consequences. However, he seems to handle himself well during stressful situations. He's too much of a Gryffindor but it's obvious there's a snake behind the lion." Draco sighed. "He's complicated, his future in the House will depend on the next few months."

"Indeed," His father agreed. "What about the boy's relationship with his brother? With his father?"

"Broken would be putting it nicely." Draco shrugged. "It's clear he hates them and the other Potter clearly hates him just as much. I haven't seen much of his father but by what I've seen, there's no love lost between them."

"And what of his mudblood? Could she be one of us or is she as filthy as the rest?"

"It's hard to tell. The girl barely reveals any emotion, she has one of the best masks in all the House. But I don't think it matters. The two of them seem to be a package deal. Nott has joined them recently, but it's clear the two of them are extremely close, and certainly closer than they are to Nott."

"So young Theo has gotten involved with them, you say? Maybe that will be the last straw before Thaddeus fully disowns him and after everything, I can't say I would blame him." Draco saw his father's mask break for a second and repress a shudder.

"What happened between them?" Draco said before he could stop himself. His father raised an eyebrow at him so Draco decided to continue. "I mean, I remember they were so close, and then suddenly… they weren't."

"It's none of your business, Draco." His father said coldly. "I don't want you looking into it or I will make you regret it." Draco gulped but nodded. "Now, going back to Potter and the mudblood…" He said to himself as he thought for a couple of moments. "The Potter boy is the heir-apparent to one of the most wealthy and influential families in the country and his willingness to ally himself with Flint shows that he doesn't have his father's prejudices. I want you to keep a close eye on him and I want you to start sending me monthly reports on whatever he's doing. I believe you are right, these next few months will decide whether Potter ends up surviving the ramifications of his actions during this term. Stay neutral with him and the mudblood and ignore Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson if you must. If Potter shows any signs of surviving the upcoming storm then allying yourself with him would be a smart move."

Lucius's face broke into a full grin.

"And if the Potter boy ends up being a worthy Slytherin and his relationship with his family is as bad as it seems, then we must make sure he knows who his true friends are."

Thanks, Proton6 and MasterChaos1 for alpha reading and ATP Synthase for beta reading!

This is the first part of the winter break, next chapter we'll get more Harry and Hermione (and Theo) and we'll finish off the winter holidays. I have already plotted out all of year one and unless chapters get divided because of length, there are only six chapters left.

I hope you liked this chapter! And yes, I know my characters talk like 500-year-olds, okay Val. I'm a shit writer