A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Guarder Snake - we're officially past 50% done!

Thank you all so much for the continuous support!

For those of you interested in my other works, I've got a wealth of one-shots available as well as two other fics in progress!

A big thanks to my Beta's and Discord Staff - Alec, Alpple, Arty, Calamity, Destru, Fox, Hindu Hari, JT, Knight, Letus, Metzger, NerdDragonVoid, Spiral, Theo, Weather Report and Xevier

Feel free to join my Discord for updates, the chance to request a one-shot of your own and information, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!

(Sorry if you don't like the chapter!)

Bold = Parseltongue

P.S. = Guarder Snake will be getting three updates a month while the Saviour's Pariah takes a two-month Hiatus, then, the latter story will be getting focused alongside The Power of Love. Thanks to the Discord users for the votes deciding this.


July 31, 1995

Saturday Morning

Harry had woken up nearly an hour ago for his fifteenth birthday.

On past birthdays, he'd have been woken up by Ashtyn or Cora in another thirty minutes or so, but that wasn't really something he wanted anymore. He was fifteen years old, he'd spoken with Cora about his crush on her and it was likely based on Ashtyn's occasional appraising look that she knew exactly what caused the two of them to act a bit more awkward around each other, even if she'd never say anything about it.

He still remembered that conversation too, not word for word mind you, but the gist of it was still clear enough for him.

Cora had told him to 'talk to her', and he did.

Harry had told her he'd liked her since his third year or near enough, that he'd developed his first crush on her seemingly overnight, once he realised how beautiful (pretty was too childish when he thought of it ) and kind she'd always been to him. That was why he'd always tried to make her proud, why he'd enjoyed spending time with her as often as they had and why he'd decided to go with her to the Yule Ball rather than any of the other witches he could've asked… even if, at the time, he rationalised it as a convenience instead of something romantic.

Her reaction hadn't been horrible — she didn't pull any faces, try to dissuade him from his feelings or do anything else that could've made him feel absolutely shite. If anything, Cora had handled it in a way that both gave him hope, and at the same time, tore it away from him.

She'd told him that her being his first crush was 'cute' and she was happy it wasn't Clara (her ego likely went up a bit based on the teasing look she'd had) and then she'd thanked him for saying the kind words he had, even if she didn't necessarily agree with them. Cora followed that up by saying he didn't need to try to make her proud either, she already was, incredibly so after considering everything he'd gone through; apparently, she enjoyed spending time with him too considering she had a love of cuddling… that revelation was followed closely by a threat that those words never leave his room either.

Anyway, as flattered and well as she'd handled it, she told him that, at least right now, they couldn't date.

Cora had graduated from Hogwarts, she had her own home that was already staffed and on top of that, she needed to see where life took her; there were three jobs she'd applied for, all using connections from her family, and all three would take some months before they'd be cleared — one of those three wasn't in Britain either.

She still told him that it didn't mean 'no', there was a chance once he was older and if he still liked her, that they could give it a try so long as the conditions were favourable.

It just couldn't happen right now, not while he was fifteen and going into his Fifth Year while she was legally an adult going into any of the jobs she'd applied for.


"Ah, there's the birthday boy! Finally come down for breakfast, huh sweetie?" Ashtyn greeted him with a warm hug following her words, her embrace feeling as soothing and wonderful as it always did.

"Good morning Harry," Celtsean greeted from behind his copy of the Prophet, "We've got some business to go over with you being old enough now. But first, allow me to say happy birthday to a young man I've seen grow from a boy into the makings of a truly great wizard." — Celtsean stood up from his seat, shook Harry's hand just as he'd done with business associates, and then he presented him with a copy of the Prophet.

Harry read it with a fair few glances towards his surrogate family, for the news on it was truly wonderful for the man he'd come to see as an Uncle; Sirius finally received the Black inheritance, in other words, he had all his rightful properties and money so long after being pardoned for his 'crimes' that had locked him up once Peter Pettigrew finally broke completely.

Other families, like those of the Averys, Longbottoms or so had tried pushing the Ministry to pay Sirius for damages too, though the best they did was offer him a position in the Auror Department for 'standing against the followers of the former Dark Lord'... they refused to acknowledge Voldemort was still around despite the claims of four people, and Harry wouldn't press it either.

Dumbledore had tried telling him to so that others were prepared, but both the Averys and his two honorary uncles, Lupin and Sirius, had warned him against doing so. It simply wasn't worth the price he'd pay, for those who truly were loyal friends or against the Dark Lord would listen, while all others would all too happily graze in the fields while the wolves circled them.

"I thought the Wizengamot was in a deadlock?" Harry asked, setting the copy of the Prophet on the table beside his breakfast as he looked towards Celtsean.

"They were," Celtsean agreed. "Like all things political, money changes opinions as easily as it changes hands, so long as you have enough of it."

Harry opened his mouth to speak again, but the Floo sounded, alerting him to the presence of his first arrival; he knew who it was too, she'd made a habit of arriving at the same time, in the half an hour when he was usually asleep.

"Mother, Father," Cora's voice called out quietly, likely keeping her voice down so as to avoid waking him or alerting him to her presence.

"Kitchen," Ashtyn called back, her voice a normal tone as she glanced at Harry with raised eyebrows whilst indicating the door.

His Aunt's offer was clear; they'd cover for him if he wanted Cora to 'wake him up' or 'be the first to visit him' as she'd done for most of his prior birthdays, but he shook his head in response.

He wasn't a kid anymore, he'd fought Voldemort multiple times now, even if in the most recent he wasn't overly helpful, he'd still flung spells at the man while having avoided getting destroyed in the process — the scar on his shoulder might have something to say about that, as did the few smaller ones across his body from the debris that'd embedded itself into him, but he'd still come out as a survivor against the most dangerous wizard's wand.

Cora's steps grew closer until the girl's figure was in the doorway and that was where she'd stopped as she took in Harry. He could make out confusion on her face, followed by the briefest flash of disappointment, and then, it settled on something he knew as nostalgia… he was very intimately involved with the emotion considering his best friend had moved out of the only place he called home and truly meant it.

"Happy Birthday, Harry… you're up earlier than usual," Cora's voice was still quiet, though he suspected for a different reason now.

"Yeah, I figured I'd wake up early for breakfast to spend some time with everyone before our friends come over," — Harry motioned towards the seat beside him that was empty, it was the one Cora always sat in, and Aunt Ashtyn had already had a plate made waiting for the girl — "Are you joining us for breakfast or did you already eat?"

He hoped his voice didn't sound overly hopeful, it wouldn't do to rehash the conversation that'd only been had a couple of months ago, even if Cora hadn't landed any of the three jobs she'd been aiming for yet… he still didn't get how that was expected either.

"I had some fruit when I woke up a bit ago, that's it," — Cora smiled, made her way over to the seat beside him at a quick pace, and when she finally took it, she scooched slightly closer to Harry; close enough to mess up his morning hair worse than it had already been — "You're fifteen now! Only three years of Hogwarts left! Isn't it exciting? You probably made Prefect too!"

Harry had indeed earned himself the Prefect status for his year alongside Hermione, it wasn't overly surprising considering his year mates, but it still filled him with a sense of pride. Cora too, if her tone and the smile on her face were anything to go by.

"I did," Harry confirmed with a self-satisfied look on his face. "And yeah, it's pretty exciting to think I only have three years left of Hogwarts. It'll be really weird without you all though, almost like it'll be my first real year if that makes sense."

Cora brushed off his remark with a tilted head and wave of her hand.

"You mean you'll finally get to have some freedom without me, Clara and those Gryffindor girls constantly circling you," — Aunt Ashtyn snorted from behind her morning coffee while Cora continued — "You'll still have that little redhead girl, Ginny Weasley; Stuart's sister Anna too, and I'm sure if you wanted, I could have Aster's little sister and Clara's brother spend time with you… I think Reinhard has a sister in her third year too, maybe second."

Harry remembered her group didn't spend a lot of time with their siblings, it was more of a case that they'd rather stay out of one another's way and work within their friend groups. He didn't really understand it considering how attached he was to the lot of them, but he didn't question it — unlike Stuart, none of them had an issue with it.

"That's alright. I think Anna, Ginny and my Quidditch teammates will be more than enough company during the year," — Harry pointed towards the letter he'd received that was still sitting on the countertop, the one that indicated him as a Prefect. — "With those duties, studying and Quidditch, I probably won't have a whole lot of free time to spend with them as it is."

Aunt Ashtyn clapped a few times from her seat.

"You've grown up so much, Harry! It's simply wonderful!"

Harry smiled as his response, thankful that his Aunt thought he'd matured and in that instant, the Floo roared to life twice more.

It didn't take a genius to know who else had arrived so early on his special day, especially since the parlour room was filled to the brim with gifts that read two names.

"Harry Potter!" Sirius' voice boomed through the house, earning himself three annoyed looks from the Averys in the kitchen when he finally strolled in alongside a sheepish looking Pro- Remus.

"Sirius!" Harry said back, his voice raised and excited as he bolted from his seat to hug his Godfather/Uncle figure.

"You've grown an inch since I've last seen you! Look at your cheeks too, I see some stubble — oh you'll be a right lady killer, I can just picture the letters you'll be sending me!" — Sirius pulled Harry in close, a hand on either of the boy's upper arms as a faraway look told root in the man's eyes — "I'll help you with any bird you want Harry, you'll learn how to woo her, how to dre-"

Sirius' voice ended abruptly with a yelp, all the looks Remus had been sending the pair failing to stop them until Aunt Ashtyn shot a stinging hex into Sirius' side.

"He'll not be playing any ladies," Aunt Ashtyn said, her eyes moving from Cora to Harry to Sirius, "Harry's already said he'll be incredibly busy with his Prefect status, Quidditch and Studies, which means chasing after witches is something he'll not be able to do unless they have all three in common — which none will. Besides, Harry's a good boy, there'll be no heart-breaking for him."

Aunt Ashtyn finished her rant with a look to her husband, the man shrugging once with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Yes, what my lovely wife said."

"Fine, fine, I won't corrupt my godson," Sirius said with raised hands, though the wink he shot at Harry when he thought the other adults in the room weren't looking quickly betrayed his true feelings on the matter.

Harry knew right then that this particular birthday would be very interesting.


"Aw," Clara cooed, her arms wrapped around Harry in a hug that pulled him fully into her chest. "You've gotten taller, more handsome and yet," — Clara lowered her face until it was separated from his own by inches — "You. Still. Blush… Cutie!"

"Morgana, Clara. Won't you ever leave the poor boy alone? It's a wonder you were even invited with all the teasing you put him through — happy birthday, Harry, I hope you don't expect that same type of hug from me," Alisa's unamused voice dug into Clara before it turned more amiable when she'd switched her attention to the birthday boy.

"I was his age a few years ago, he probably lo- Clara! You shouldn't be doing that!" Aster had nearly sided with the overly-affectionate Clara, at least until Alisa turned towards her fiance with a raised eyebrow.

Reinhard, as usual, stood a bit behind Aster while warmly looking between his friends. He'd always been the quietest of the bunch, though when he wasn't, his personality was almost exactly like Aster's. It certainly made times enjoyable when the both of them were carefree.

"I'm with the lad," Sirius piped up from his position leaning against one of the nearby pillars. "Good to meet all of you, I'm more than familiar with each of your parents, though I imagine they've not said the best of things about me — I assure you, only some of the stories are true."

"Wonderful," Aunt Ashtyn interrupted blandly, lest the man delves into his tales. "Why don't we have the birthday boy open his gifts, then we'll have his birthday meal and finally, us old people will let the young adults here have their fun without us."

"But thi-" Sirius tried to raise an objection, but a sharp look from Ashtyn quieted him down.

"What about Cora?" Harry asked his aunt, looking around in the process.

"What about her?" Aunt Ashtyn returned while the recent Slytherin graduates as well as the other arrivals of Ginny, Katie, Neville and his old trio of Gryffindors all settled into seats around the room.

"Shouldn't we wait to start until she gets back?" Harry saw a few smirks from the girls in the room, a sad shaking of the head from Sirius and a warning look over his shoulder from Remus.

Before he could register all of that, he heard the girl currently hogging him all to herself squeak so loudly it nearly burst his eardrum.

"Oh, my mistake, my wand has a mind of its own sometimes — I'm here, Harry." — Cora strolled into the room, put herself between him and Clara, then regarded him with the warmest look since the talk they'd had — "Thank you for waiting for me, I'm glad to see Clara has not corrupted your innocence."

Clara snorted while rubbing at her rump, though the girl wisely didn't speak out against her friend.

"Me first!"

Harry's eyes, as well as those of most of the room, looked towards the energy-filled, almost childlike voice that'd said that once Harry had made to reach for the closest gift.

It was Sirius, and he looked excited.

That was never a good thing, Harry had learned that in the first few weeks he'd known his godfather. Remus had helped prove that too, an excited, madly-grinning Sirius all too often meant trouble of the worst kind.

"Sirius first then," Aunt Ashtyn declared after a long pull from her wine glass.

Harry swallowed on nothing and watched as the man floated present after present over to him until the entire area Harry was seated in was filled with a Tetris like stacking of various-shaped boxes — there were so many that Harry lost sight of those on the opposite side of the room, and worse, he couldn't reach the highest gifts without pulling his wand from his back pocket… which would mean touching Clara with Cora seated beside him.

Cora must've seen the predicament he was in too, for the girl had her wand in her hand in seconds as she gently floated down the first gift into his grasp; he wasted no time in opening it (after thanking the girl) and inside, he made out a new set of Quidditch practise gear for the arena that'd been built on the Avery grounds.

Harry peeked around the boxes again, wanting to show his thanks to the man who'd gotten it, but more importantly, he wanted to see that horrifying smile on the man's face to see if he'd imagined it.

Surprise surprise, he hadn't, as the look was still there… That meant this gift wasn't the prank one.

Thus was the loop Harry found himself in; opening gift after gift while looking to his godfather with the most devious of smiles on his face as the mountain of presents slowly shrunk until only one remained after nearly an hour of opening them — the man truly had tried his best to make up for missing all the birthdays and other holidays, despite Harry having told him it was of little concern, that it only mattered he was here now.

Saying that, Harry didn't regret receiving the copious amounts of gifts, for each one was wicked in its own way, though a few stood out proudly from the bunch of them, like; an illegally made Portkey that the Averys pretended not to see later in the evening, some sort of map that was meant to help Harry at Hogwarts despite it not showing anything on the sheet — apparently it was a remake of some original creation, a deed to a ruined Black property that Sirius promised the pair of them could work on rebuilding together as he grew older, and lastly, a decades-old mint condition Hogwarts Quidditch practise jersey.

"Final gift, Harry. It's a banger… open it on the balcony just in case," Sirius had already started backpedalling as he said the latter half of his statement, much to the worry of everyone else in the room.

"Sirius Black, if you got my Harry something that could burn the house down you- Harry! Don't go running off without us, it could be dangerous!" Aunt Ashtyn interrupted herself midway through warning Sirius to chastise Harry as the boy began sprinting towards the balcony with Cora as well as his friends hard on his heels.

Two minutes later and with half a dozen wands aimed towards Harry, he slowly, cautiously, unwrapped the present to the background of an emphatically nodding Sirius. A more menacing thing, there was not.

"What is it then? Go on, tell us!" Aster's voice spoke up from behind Reinhard's back, the boy sounding equal parts nervous and excited.

"It's a box," Harry said, looking towards the gathering of his friends and family while holding said box in his hands.

"You dolt, just like your father — read the card that fell out!" Sirius, momentarily brought back in time based on the faraway look his face held, yelled to Harry.

Cora, being the closest one to him as was natural, slid the piece of parchment over to him.

On it, was a two-word activation key.

"Seriously Sir-" Harry began to read as he'd turned it over

"Don't say it!" Sirius yelped, diving back into the house for cover.

Everyone looked in the direction of the man, who was now only peeking out so that his head was visible.

"Only use it when you need a distraction — it'll give you a bloody mental one… just make sure you're far enough away, yeah?" Sirius rubbed at his neck sheepishly, his eyes glued to the box still in Harry's hands.

Seeing the worry, excitement and a myriad of other emotions in his Godfather's eyes made Harry really want to open the mysterious gift, but he'd refrain… for now.


What followed his opening of Sirius' gifts were those of all the others.

Neville had gotten him the very gift his Gran had gotten him back in year one, though this was a golden one with faux wings attached to make it look similar to a snitch; Harry loved it, though he later hated seeing it change colours when it didn't tell him what had been forgotten.

Katie had gotten him a special pair of seeker goggles, ones that were charmed to act as glasses as well as being impervious to damage, weather, fog, dirt or bugs. Her gift had to be expensive, he knew as much based on all the charm work that had to have gone into it, but she'd said 'hush sweetie' as soon as he began stuttering out his thanks over and over again. She'd always been similar to Cora, more caregiving sometimes, though the girl had a provocative side to her too that contrasted starkly with her usual attitude.

Next up were his Gryffindor Trio of friends, and as usual, they'd gone into something large together based on the enormous box in the room — one that he couldn't begin to budge by trying to push it towards his seat. As such, Harry opened the gift while standing beside it, ripping off one whole side to the gift and only then did he see why it was impossible to pick up or drag where he wanted; it also made sense why nobody attempted to use their wands on it either.

It was a statue, one made of different metals with a few gems mixed within it, and on that statue, was him.

Harry stood atop a dragon victoriously, clutching an egg in one arm, Cora's hand in the other all the while a cup was on a pedestal in front of the pair — that wasn't where it ended though, as beneath the pair on dragon back, was a small replication of the maze he'd traversed for his final victory, with little miniature versions of the things within climbing out of the top.

Needless to say, that statue cleared his entire dressed top in his room after his Aunt enlarged it. There was no way he'd not have that be the first thing anyone saw when entering his bedroom. He'd given a big hug to Katie for her gift, an awkward one to Neville followed, but the three other Gryffindors gave him such a tight group hug that his breath was taken away for nearly fifteen seconds; he didn't mind.

Now, with only a few gifts left, he went to the next one thrust into his hands by Aster and Alisa; it was small, lightweight and made no sound as it was handed over to him. In other words, he had no chance to deduce what it was, so he ripped into it without any hesitation so the mystery couldn't stump him for very long… he did that after he hugged Alisa (lightly, as she liked) and fist-bumped Aster, the way the boy taught him.

Inside the small parcel was a deposit into the Potter Gringotts account for one-thousand Galleons, they'd matched his winnings from the tournament and added what he knew to be a lot of money by wizarding standards. They'd most certainly deserved the first thanks he'd given them in advance, and they'd be equally deserving of a great gift from him when Christmas came about.

Next up was the slip gift between Clara and Reinhard, though the two were a little less united in their giving it to him — that meaning that Reinhard plopped it down beside Harry while Clara pulled the boy to her until she was partway on his lap as he opened the gift; Reinhard was given the same thanks Aster was, though Clara took hers in the form of hugging him from behind and kissing the top of his head thrice. He'd let her though, she deserved it even if her gift was half as good as all the others he'd been given today.

Which it was.

Clara and Reinhard had gotten Harry — somehow — a list of redeemable discounts to nearly half the shops throughout Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. Some were as high as three-hundred Galleons off, while others ranged from fifty to two-hundred. He knew they were legit too, as they had shopkeepers signatures as well as parental signatures from his friends; he knew Cora's group had relatively powerful connections, but he wouldn't have imagined them being this strong.

'Don't worry, we only blackmailed half of them,' Cora had told him while laughing at his gobsmacked reaction to the items in his hands.

He wanted to doubt her words… but he didn't, Clara could be incredibly devious when she wasn't so incessant in her teasing or pampering of him.

With those gifts all having been opened, it left Cora and her parents, the latter volunteered themselves to go next, though they did take the last remaining gift out from the table it'd been stacked on. Instead, they got his attention, quieted the room down, and then… pointed to Sirius. Harry had no idea what that meant, and based on the look Sirius gave to Harry, neither did the man, not until Aunt Ashtyn spoke.

She and Uncle Celtsean promised Harry that the pair of them would assist Sirius using all of their resources and friendships in the repairing of the Black Property he'd been gifted by the man. It'd still be a project for Harry and Sirius, but, furniture as well as people who knew the installation, as well as the upkeep of properties, would be just as needed as the two men constructing it from the ground up — advisors on how to do the latter would be good too, lest the two men have their creation crush them on their first night indoors. Apparently, that'd been a concern of his Aunt.

Sirius tried saying he could help with it, but Ashtyn declined him before her husband could even speak up, saying that it'd be a project for all four of them to do together alongside him so that neither Harry nor Sirius would have to go out looking for people in a climate where so many were disreputable. Harry knew they'd also offered help since they were wealthier, after not having family members who squandered wealth or having taken a particularly active stance in the war as the other two had.

They'd planned it too, Harry realised, otherwise there would've been a fallback gift.

Finally, he looked to Cora, the girl already having used her wand to levitate the final gift over to him.

"Go on, I know you're only waiting to be polite," Cora said with a small smile; as usual, she was right, he wanted her to say he should open it before he ripped into it as he did the others.

Now that she gave it, he returned the smile and carefully tore off the wrapping paper in such a way that the package wouldn't be shaken about. It took him a bit longer, doing it that way, but it was a good move on his part once he opened the velvet case containing the present she'd gotten for him.

Inside of said velvet box was a glass object, one which contained multiple items of its own, to the point that he'd need to break the glass encasing the objects to get to them. That wasn't the case, Cora knew where his mind would go and spoke aloud for his sake, as well as that of all the people watching them.

"Tap the object twice, say the incantation at the bottom — once you do that, you push the item out with the tip of your wand… it's imperative you don't use your finger or something living," Cora demonstrated what she meant in real-time, plucking one of the small vials out before handing it over to him.

He recognised it after years of potions as well as additional lessons over the summer with Cora, and occasionally, her friends.

Cora whispered to him.

"Don't say it, Harry… yes, it's what you think it is — every gift inside is what it appears to be."

His eyes widened at her words, there were quite a few things she'd given him that he knew would come in handy.

One day.


August 2, 1995

Wednesday Afternoon

Dumbledore had sent a letter to the Averys, one that they shared with Harry after they'd found him listening in on their always-opened bedroom door, and once he read it, he was filled with far more questions than he had answers to. Chief among those questions, was why now was Dumbledore finally wanting to speak with Harry about his living with the Averys and why now was the Professor requesting to visit to strengthen the wards around the property?

Harry's run-in with Voldemort during the tournament had been far from his first fight with the man, he expected it'd be quite a ways from the last, so why now was Dumbledore so keen on protecting him and discussing his housing circumstances unless the Professor knew something more? Something that nobody else had any information on but the man himself?

It wasn't only the offer for a talk and improving upon the wards either, Professor Dumbledore also mentioned in his letter requesting the posting of two to four guards outside the Averys' home at all times. As worrying as that request was, Harry wanted his Aunt and Uncle to accept it, despite the neutrality they so often wished to claim.

"Dumbledore knows more than he's letting on, Harry. Why else would the man be so insistent on strengthening our ward schemes?" Aunt Ashtyn took a sip of her wine glass and sighed. "Was there anything different? When you fought him?"

Harry shook his head at the woman.

"No, I… I can't think of anything that may've been different this time around — he seemed stronger, but he was still possessing somebody."

Uncle Celtsean hummed in thought before finally speaking up.

"Should you remember a detail, regardless of how minor it is, please do come to us. Anything could prove helpful, though I fear with your assessment of his strength and Dumbledore's worrying, he's returning sooner than the old man thought possible," — Uncle Celtsean stood up from his seat and handed a letter to Harry — "Hand that to Dumbledore upon your returning to Hogwarts, don't lose it in the meantime."

"Yes Uncle Celtsean," Harry responded.

"Thank you, Harry," The man said before ushering the boy to the door. "Do go on, we already know where you stand in regards to Dumbledore's guards and offer — you'll know where we stand on it as soon as we do."

Harry knew that was the best answer he'd get and nodded his head, exiting from the room while hoping they'd accept the Professor's offer of aid.

Almost as soon as he left, he heard his Aunt's voice speak up; she had to know he wasn't gone yet… at least he reasoned that to himself as he stayed close by in hopes of listening to how his uncle would reply to her words.

"You'll need to speak with Harry soon, my love."

He heard his uncle take a deep breath.

"He's still young, Ashtyn. Far, far too young for the darker spells to be taught or for war stories recited. Would you truly have me start preparing him for the worst, a scenario that's likely years and years away?"

Harry heard paper get crumpled and thrown, a sigh from his uncle followed the noise.

"Dumbledore doesn't seem to think it's as far away as you do."

Silence followed, the conversation abruptly over — Harry made his escape before he got caught.


August 31, 1995

Wednesday Evening

"You're leaving?" Harry asked, his eyes blinking furiously lest they show any sign of te- water forming in them.

"I am," Cora confirmed. "My application to apprentice under a close family friend living in Belarus was accepted, so I'll be leaving the day after you make it to Hogwarts — there's no need to be worried, I'll still be here when you return for every holiday, I promise."

Harry looked at his friend doubtfully.

"How can you come back for every holiday if you're going to be an apprentice for somebody? I remember Clara saying she'd have to work through all of Yule if she ended up taking the Ministry position her family got for her."

"Clara was looking to do something very niche, and as a result, she couldn't be nearly as picky as I could be," — Cora pulled Harry into a hug, wrapping one arm around the boy while the other played with his hair — "I promise that I'll be here whenever you are, summer included. Have I ever broken a promise I've made to you Harry?"

He looked through his memory to see if he could play even the pettiest of cards on the girl, but he couldn't. Whenever Cora promised him something, she'd meet that promise… he still didn't like she'd be going so far away though. There wasn't anything he could do, she'd made up her mind, accepted the offer and unless he threw a childlike fit, it was done.

As tempting as that offer was, it'd go completely against his efforts in trying to take the older girl out on at least one date.

"No, you haven't," He finally answered. "How'll you be back for the whole summer too? Surely you can't take that much time away while being an apprentice to some old Belarusian Wizard."

"You'd be correct, but thankfully, I secured a term similar to that of the Hogwarts one — he was paid a fair bit for being so lenient with my schedule, believe me when I tell you he'll not mind. As for why I'm doing it this way, before you ask me that very question, it's to see if I'll truly be interested in working on spell crafting. It can take years to make them, even while working under a master of the craft, but I'll get to learn the basics from this man."

Cora's eyes gleamed with excitement, and it was then that Harry knew he couldn't try to dissuade the girl.

It wouldn't be right if he did.

He hugged her tighter, running his hands in circles on her back while she increased the strength of her grasp on him.

"It'll be weird… not seeing you until the Yule break."

"You still have the gift Mother and Father gave you, don't you? The one that shows you my status?" Cora asked quietly, her tone a bit odd-sounding to his ears.

"Of course I do!" He replied almost instantly, adding in only in the confines of his mind that he looked at it every time he woke up.

"Good," Cora pressed the all too familiar object back into his hand. "I had a modification made to it. It'll show more than where and how I am at the time of viewing, now, it also shares writing across the two of them — there's a special quill on your bed, don't use ink, just write what the words, I'll see them on mine just as you'll see mine on yours."

Harry hugged the girl tighter, putting his face in the crook of her neck to hide the stray tears that'd escaped his eyes; he swore he could feel similar wetness on his shoulders, where Cora had put her face.


September 1, 1995

Friday Morning

He was back on the Hogwarts Express for another year of Hogwarts, only this time, it felt different. There wouldn't be any of the usual shenanigans or conversations with his Slytherin friends, nor would there be any time spent with the older Gryffindor trio who'd taken him under their wings from his First Year on — they were all gone.

All he had left who were considered close friends were Stuart's little sister Anna, Ginny Weasley, Katie Bell and Neville Longbottom. That wasn't to say he didn't have other friends too, only that none of them was as close as the four aforementioned ones, especially after last year's fiasco with him having been entered into those horrible tasks.

"Harry?" It was a girl's voice that greeted him, one that he wasn't at all familiar with.

"Yeah…?" He answered, looking at the girl with a Ravenclaw blue scarf around her neck despite the lack of cold.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Kelsie, Anna's friend — she was hoping you'd sit with us, at least for part of the way," The Ravenclaw girl, Kelsie as Harry now knew her as, chewed on her bottom lip once she'd finished speaking.

Harry hadn't made any plans beforehand, not when it came to sitting with anyone. If anything, he figured he'd wing it when he passed the cabins, it wasn't like there were a shortage of people he could sit with. Katie and the rest of the Quidditch team, as did Neville and the two Hufflepuff girls he spent his time with; Anna would've been third on his list, all things considered, though not out of any dislike on his part, really he just would've figured the girl would rather spend time with her friends than a boy she'd helped through the tournament.

"Sure, that sounds wicked, thanks," Harry finally answered, smiling at the girl and following after her once she shyly nodded at him.

Not a minute later, the pair of them were outside a cabin door knocking on it, and then, he heard Anna's voice calling for them to enter.

"Harry! You came! I wasn't sure if I'd be overstepping our friendship or if you'd be busy with others," Anna's energy and happiness was plainly seen with how she flung her arms about as well as the loudness in which she spoke.

"Overstepping?" — Harry rolled his eyes and stepped forward to hug the girl — "Not at all, I've got to credit you with helping me make it out of the tournament, don't I? You'll have to tell me if you liked the gift I sent you too, though only after you introduce me to your last friend here."

Anna's eyes were mischievous when Harry brought attention to the last girl sitting in the cabin, Harry recognised that look like one he'd see on Clara's face entirely too often and his suspicions were proven right when the Ravenclaw girl spoke.

"This is my best friend, Mary, she's in Ravenclaw too — she also may have the largest crush on you out of all the witches currently attending Hogwar-"

"Anna!" Mary squeaked out, hiding her face with her hands while kicking at the giggling girl.

Harry could scarcely believe how teasing Anna was being, considering she'd always been one to act insanely mature for her age, but the more he thought about it, the more he realised that could've been done for her brother's sake; Merlin knows Stuart never stopped worrying about his little sister despite all the times that was shown to be useless with the girl's natural intelligence and ability with magic.

He stepped in, choosing to sit beside Anna to spare the other girl any more embarrassment and as he did so, he glanced at Kelsie making her exit.

"Aren't you staying?" He asked.

It was Anna that answered.

"No, she's off to visit her boyfriend — likely going to be getting in a snog before they get separated for the opening feast, isn't that right?"

Kelsie blushed and looked away, though she answered Harry's question too.

"I am going to visit my boyfriend, but that's just to talk, not… not anything else. You'll have more than enough fun without me too, there's another friend of yours coming if I'm not mistaken."

"Hey! Don't ruin the surprise!" Anna yelled in mock outrage, the girl throwing a chocolate frog still in its container at Kelsie, the latter witch catching it as she made her escape much to the annoyance of the former girl.

"So…Who's joining us?" Harry asked, raising his hands when Anna's narrowed eyes rounded on him.

"No. Spoilers." — Anna looked about ready to say more when a knocking interrupted her, she sighed and opened the door rather than continuing — "Forget something Kel- Oh, it's you, you're early."

"Yeah yeah, you didn't specify a time sweetie," Katie's voice returned before the athletic-looking girl moved past the smaller Ravenclaw.

"Hi Katie," Harry greeted.

"Hi there Harry!" Katie returned, taking up the seat opposite of him beside Mary. "You look like you've grown a few inches this summer — maybe now you'll finally be up for a wrestling match, whaddya say?"

Mary, finally having gotten over her embarrassment, squeaked again.

"You can't wrestle with each other! He's a boy! That's… That's improper!"

Katie laughed, kicking her feet up and reclining in such a way that they settled on Harry.

"She's a cute one isn't she?" Katie said with a nod towards Mary. "Be a good boy and rub my feet? I promise I'll return the favour after one of our Quidditch matches — you wouldn't believe the amount of running around I had to do for last-minute shopping, I grew over the summer too, only it wasn't in height."

Anna's eyes widened too at that remark, the youthful Ravenclaw girl coughing pointedly while looking at Katie.

"Oh fine, I'll be more innocent for you all… at least until next year comes around, you do have to remember that you were the one that invited me though."

Katie finished with a laugh as well as a look towards Harry, as a large portion of her words were for the sole point of teasing the two younger witches. Again, Anna devolved into a stent about propriety that had the older Gryffindor girl laughing and joking with Harry before the subject matter quickly changed to Quidditch, then Defence Against the Dark Arts considering the new Professor followed by a myriad of other topics.

This year may be different in terms of who he'd be spending it with, but it looked like the conversations and enjoyment of the year wouldn't be too lacking.


September 5, 1995

Tuesday Evening

Professor Umbridge, if the woman could be called as much, was the absolute worst Professor Hogwarts had ever had — that was saying something considering one of them had been Voldemort himself while another had been a follower of the psychopathic murderer!

Now, Harry wasn't saying such rude things about a Professor out of spite or some other childish notion, the woman had fully earned it.

She'd started off her lesson by targeting him with multiple questions that, if he hadn't read ahead in his 'ministry-approved' books, would've been impossible to answer. He assumed the woman was trying to make him look stupid in front of his classmates, though the reason she'd do so was lost to him; he hadn't continued talking about his fight with Voldemort once the press started going after him, nor had the press continued once a fair few pockets were lined with Galleons after his silence took place.

Professor Dumbledore, on the other hand, had kept up with his warnings towards the general public about Voldemort gaining power and would continue to do so unless the Ministry stopped him.

Once that'd failed to accomplish anything other than making the new Professor look bad, she'd switched up her strategy by trying to goad him into speaking about 'you-know-who' or the murderer who was walking free that Harry called his Godfather or Uncle depending on the day.

Again, she didn't get a rise out of him, nor would she so long as he kept his wits about him. It'd taken a lot of self-restraint when she'd went after the Averys with a hushed comment as she passed his desk, but even that failed to earn the toad-like woman any form of response. Cora would've been incredibly proud of him, he knew.

After all of that was said and done, Harry went about with the rest of the 'lesson', though the things he'd learned had only been about the Minister of Magic or the personality of his newest Professor; needless to say both topics were completely useless to him, as were the people they covered.

So, Harry naturally did what he needed to ensure no time at Hogwarts was wasted — he went to the library.

Some books would be in the restricted section after the Ministry's request that certain authors, as well as certain works, be tucked away under new guidelines they'd hastily approved, but others that were close to as helpful wouldn't be. It wasn't like they could get them all, not with the level of incompetence the Ministry of Magic had shown since Harry was aware of them.

As such, he delved into book after book, checking out the limit that the librarian gave so that he could continue his information gathering until such a time he found a new duelling group. He figured his Quidditch team could be good, they'd be close to his level too, unless they neglected their magical learning. Harry wouldn't be bragging if he claimed the ability to beat most upper-years, especially not since he'd trained with their higher-ups throughout the years!

It was a shame that the new Professor would be yet another horrible one, but at the very least, the Hogwarts library was boundless in the information it contained and he was very willing to spend extra time making up for the wasted time spent in class; this was his life they were risking by going so political.


October 5, 1995

Thursday Evening

"Please Harry! Stuart taught you way more than he ever did me! I know Cora and the other older Slytherins taught you plenty too — think of it as returning the favour for the help I gave you with the tournament… please?" Anna whined, pulling on his arm enough to make the book he was holding fall out.

This wasn't something new coming from the girl either, she'd been wanting him to work with her ever since they found out the quality, or lack thereof, of the newest Professor at Hogwarts; Umbridge… if she could even be awarded the title she'd been handed by the Minister. Putting aside all dislike he held for the woman after she attempted to get him alone for one reason or the other, he could look back without bias to sum her up in one word.

Incompetent.

She wasn't a bad Professor because she made bad decisions, (despite her constant antagonising behaviour that'd transferred itself to sickly sweet) she was a bad Professor because she made no decisions; every topic covered in class absolutely and unequivocally needed approval by the Ministry of Magic. If any subject came up that didn't have said express permission, it was thrown into the bin and if pressed, the requester was given detention on the grounds of disrupting class — she'd almost got Harry with that tactic, but he'd stopped just shy of requesting a second time.

He was really curious with the Professor's attempt of seclusion, more so since he'd not heard from the Averys about their decision yet regarding Dumbledore's help and on top of both of those things, Dumbledore had doubled down on his attempt to convince the public that Voldemort was back; it was almost like the man was picking up the slack from Harry, especially when the boy would be shot questioning glances by his Headmaster.

But the Averys were equally as inquisitive about Dumbledore as he seemed to be about them.

Why hadn't the man tried harder to fight the new Professor that was only one in name? Why, after so long, had he finally decided to extend an olive branch so to speak towards the family that'd saved Harry from one far, far worse? Truthfully, he had many more questions, none of which could be answered when in regards to the Ministry, Umbridge or Professor Dumbledore… at least not yet, if he'd learned one thing, it was that shite got worse as the year progressed.

Merlin, to think the real Moody had been stuck in a trunk and only found after the other had ditched the premises the day Harry completed the maze. Bloody mental, it was!

"Harry!" Anna's face was right in front of his now, her expression more worried than the whine-filled one that'd been in its place before.

Ah right, Harry thought. He'd been talking to the girl, or rather, she'd been talking to him for nearly thirty minutes as he tried studying in a tucked away portion of the library. Still, it'd been more effective than the actual Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

"Fine."

Anna's eyes widened, though she didn't move away from him.

"Really? You'll finally agree to teach me and maybe a few other friends?"

Harry began to shake his head and open his mouth, as that certainly wasn't what she'd said to him; unfortunately for him, the short Ravenclaw girl continued speaking over him.

"Thank you so much! Was it the fiftieth time I asked that broke you? I'd love to know — how else will I know how many times to ask you something before you cave in?" — Anna pulled back from Harry, slid a chair next to his and scooched in so close that she was half-sitting on his chair by the time she was comfortable — "Doesn't matter I guess, I'm just so excited to learn from you! I bet you'll know all sorts of things that those Snakes and Housemates of yours taught you!"

"Wait," He said. "Who else would I teach? Whenever we spend time together, it's just the two of us. My Quidditch teammates will show up from time to time, but really, your other friends seem nervous around me… especially the girl you ratted out as having a crush on me."

Anna looked a bit sheepish as she hid behind the curtain her hair provided while attempting to casually whistle in a quiet enough way that wouldn't draw attention from the librarian; the result was a weird blowing of air that only occasionally had the desired effect until she drooled on her blouse from the spit she was putting behind it.

Such a move reminded him of Aster for sheer stupidity, though the Ravenclaw girl was anything but unintelligent. Ah, well, awkwardness knew no one type of person.

Once Anna wiped her face, dried her blouse with some heating spell and let the blush recede from her cheeks, she answered him almost right on time with someone else arriving at their table.

"We could bring in your teammates to start with, Gin-"

"Hi Anna, hi Harry sweetie," Katie had a wide smile on her face as she slumped down into the seat opposite of the two, "Your hair's a bit frayed Anna, I can take care of it if you'd like — I do mine and the other girls' all the time after Quidditch. Speaking of Quidditch, you missed a team talk today, Harry. Don't worry, I took notes for you, though you owe me a shoulder rub in the common room; you're my cutie now that Cora and Clara aren't always around you anymore."

"Perfect!" Anna said loudly, making the girl hunch her shoulders to avoid any stares, especially the one Katie was giving her. "Not, uh, Harry being your Cutie n-now — I meant, perfect that you're here! You can help me convince him to give us pointers in Defence! Please, you know how good he is after all the time he spent with those Seventh Years last year as well as his performance in the tournament!"

Harry looked to Katie, the girl who could be the persona of competition in one moment while the best caregiver in the other. He figured the latter personality would take over but the narrowed eyes told him the former had control of the girl.

"She's right Harry, I'm sure I could pick up a thing or two from you," Katie leaned across the table and spoke in an imitation of Cora's voice, "I'll let you cuddle with me…"

He sighed in response, the two girls breaking into a giggle fit as he did so.

It looked like he had two study partners now; hopefully, no more would apparate in behind him.


December 9, 1995

Saturday Evening

It'd been a couple of months since Harry had been convinced to help a few of his friends with Defence, and since then, he'd only been getting dozens of more requests for assistance. Some of them had come from closer friends of his like Ginny, Neville, the Twins and a few others… namely Ginny's friend, Luna — none of those were all that surprising.

There were others, however; Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis had confronted him as soon as he made his exit from the Great Hall one evening, all but accosting him for assistance from time to time so long as they weren't seen together considering Umbridge was on the Slytherins almost as much as she were on him. If they were together, they'd make too great an opportunity for the 'Professor' not to make an excuse to have them all brought to her office.

Another surprise along with those two Slytherin witches was Hermione, albeit in a roundabout way. She hadn't outright asked for his assistance, nor had she asked for his notes or what books he'd been reading, her offer had been one of peer review as well as questioning. Essentially, Hermione wanted them to quiz one another as well as review their works so they'd be absolutely sure if Umbridge was marking something off that shouldn't be.

It wasn't all that surprising to Harry given Umbridge's personality that she'd use whatever excuse she could to take points from Hermione while somehow managing to overlook those 'errors' in his papers — they'd written the same two lines in the hardest part of their papers to test that exact scenario.

After all those requests were given to him, Harry found himself denying a large portion of them until only a few were given the okay to join him and the other original two members in their backroom tucked behind a suit of armour in the library. Funnily enough, their knowledge of that room as well as the passage that led to it was a direct result of accepting a couple of people to their study group.

Fred and George; the twins seemed to know everything there was about Hogwarts on a physical level.

In addition to those two, he'd accepted; Ginny, Luna, Neville, Mary and Letia… Daphne and Tracey were fine with him too, though the pair refused outright to be seen with such a large group consisting of people not from Slytherin. Daphne hadn't wanted to say why, but Tracey had told him Draco would be nagging them until they finished Hogwarts if they became 'traitors' to Slytherin by interacting with other students outside of class.

Ginny and Neville were great picks starting on the first lesson, as the study group turned less Defence focused into something where all subjects were tutored by the person who knew them best should help be needed. Neville was great with Herbology and Ginny was wonderfully helpful in making sure order was held whenever the group met.

Mary, Anna's friend, would often arrive with the aforementioned girl as well as Luna. Mary maintained a shy demeanour around him, taking whichever seat was the furthest by the start of the lesson and eventually working her way right beside him by the time it ended — her thirst for knowledge quelled her embarrassment of the crush he knew she had. Luna, on the other hand, had to be the most peculiar girl he'd ever met… which was saying something. If she wasn't speaking about make-believe creatures or surprising the group with strangely worded but correct answers to questions, she'd be staring off into space or directly at Harry.

There was the one time she told the group about a better place to meet, one that could be whatever you needed at the moment, but Fred and George debunked that nearly as quickly as she'd said it. Luna smiled knowingly, nodded a few times to something over Harry's shoulder and changed topics to something in the most recent issue of the Quibbler

All in all, Harry had finalised his group of peers to work with, though it'd taken far longer than he'd have thought… thank Merlin he hadn't accepted all forty or so students. It wasn't like he'd ditched them either, those that cared enough to ask could be given notes and study tips from everyone at the actual group, they'd just have to see the work through themselves.


December 25, 1995

Monday Morning

Christmas was here!

Normally, Harry would already be very excited about the upcoming holiday, as it meant he'd get to spend time with his family and friends away from Hogwarts for a few weeks. But now, it'd taken on a whole new meaning — Cora, he'd get to see Cora! Not only that, but he'd get to see Sirius and Remus too, along with all the other older Slytherin friends of his who'd graduated, the Gryffindors too!

It was as if Christmas doubled in excitement this year; if that happened again, he'd be liable to have a heart attack!

"Good morning Aunt Ashtyn!" Harry said with a wide smile after kissing the older woman on the cheek.

"You're in a bright mood this morning, aren't you?" — Aunt Ashtyn leaned towards him, her eyes narrowed exaggeratedly — "For some reason, I don't feel like I'm the cause of that excitement either… is it Sirius? No, I don't think so… maybe Clara? My niece's always been so cuddly with her favourite cutie!"

Harry had nodded at her first suggestion, then he'd done so with twice as much vigour to her second; anything to avoid teasing on what he knew she was building up to.

"Maybe, maybe, It's Cora… you wouldn't happen to have a crush on my daughter, now would you, Harry Potter?"

"Oh leave the man alone Ashtyn," Uncle Celtsean spoke up as he entered the room, saving Harry from his Aunt's teasing. "Good morning, Harry. I'll be resuming your lessons tomorrow, no exceptions for the holidays."

"Surely you ca-"

"Yes Uncle Celtsean!" Harry accidentally cut off his favourite aunt with the excitement his Uncle's words had, but he couldn't help it.

Training with the man had been entirely too draining, but it'd also been one of the best things Harry had ever done!

Just then, the Floo sounded twice as his Aunt answered him as to the whereabouts of Cora.

"She's still sleeping, properly tuckered out — she worked herself a few weeks ahead of where she should be so she could be here, lovely of her, isn't it?" Aunt Ashtyn wiggled her eyebrows at Harry for all of a few seconds before her husband grumbled at her to knock it off.

Right as that happened, the two people who'd entered from the Floo burst through the kitchen entrance, one with his arms spread out wide for a hug.

"Harry Potter! Happy Christmas!" Sirius' voice boomed through the kitchen, one of the nearby house-elves jumping at the loudness.

"Good morning Celtsean, Ashtyn," Remus greeted the couple before turning to Harry with a half-smile. "Good morning to you too, Harry, I'm sorry we're a bit earlier than expected. This one" — Remus elbowed Sirius, the man still holding out his arms for a hug — "Wanted to be here hours ago, you're lucky I managed to hold him off this long."

"That's alright Remus, please, take a seat… the hound too," Ashtyn answered for her and her husband, narrowing her eyes at Sirius while the man pouted at the Avery couple.

Harry was already laughing so early in the morning; he knew this would be a wicked Christmas.


For Christmas, he'd been given dozens upon dozens of things ranging from the usual sweets and Quidditch supplies to more unusual items like one of the prank gifts Sirius had saved for last, that being a piece of parchment that, whenever written on, changed the letters you'd inked onto it. Harry knew Hermione would be a great usage for that parchment, though Anna or someone else in his study group would work just as well.

Cora had gotten him a few odds and ends that'd help him during his school year since she knew about the horrible Ministry plant in the school. Most of her items had been books from Belarus that were more Dark Arts than they were a defence against them, but she'd said it was just as good to know how they worked as it was knowing how to counter them… he couldn't fault her for thinking so either.

From his pseudo-parents, he'd received a new pair of gloves that were equally as charmed as the glasses he'd received for Quidditch had been — there was also something added to them that claimed it would make his grip stronger on his broom, as well as the Snitch if his fingers managed to glance it. Uncle Celtsean had assured him that the gloves weren't against the rules yet either, which meant they were entirely fair game, even if they weren't fair to the game.

Knocking on Harry's bedroom door took Harry's attention away from the gifts he'd been looking at.

"Come in," He answered whoever was at the door, thinking he may well know who it was already.

Cora stepped in, the girl stopping only a few feet inside his room to take in the way he was sitting; that being on the edge of his bed while glancing at a few of the final presents he'd received.

"You made your escape early this evening, would I be right in assuming the night wasn't wholly what you wanted it to be?" Cora tilted her head when she asked the question, her eyes pinning Harry where he sat.

"It was good," Harry started, "Just different… we didn't spend the early morning together for the first time since you brought me here, then we didn't have our usual hot chocolate in the morning during gifts — you had coffee instead, I didn't think you drank it all that often. I know, I know, I sound spoiled or young, I'm not, it's just nostalgia."

"Nostalgia," Cora said with a roll of her eyes as she took another few steps towards him. "You're entirely too young to be experiencing that, though since the tournament you've seemed to be… older, in how you act."

"How so?" Harry questioned, his head cocked as hers had been.

Cora laughed, taking a few more steps towards him — the distance was less than ten feet now.

"If we would've discussed what we had a year earlier, you'd have done one of two things; hide your face in my shoulder with a hug or run off to my mother. Instead, you stayed seated, didn't raise your voice or act all spoiled, and talked through it with me." — Cora covered the remaining distance and sat on the other side of his bed — "How's your study group going, any girls your own age you fancy yet?"

Harry blushed and looked away from Cora, taking in the teasing tone of her voice that matched the expression her face had shifted to. It still felt odd, Cora messing with him after he admitted he fancied her, especially when, like now, she teased him about relationships. Then again, maybe that was better than other scenarios, like the time she'd been mad enough to ignore him for a good bit of time or if she tried setting up dates for him.

He nearly shook at the latter thought, it would've been horrible for everyone involved; he silently thanked any higher being for the result he'd gotten, that being a slightly more awkward Cora rather than anything else.

Eventually, as his answer, Harry shook his head enough times until Cora made a humming sound — he felt her scooch closer to him too.

"I hear there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up soon, why don't you take that Bell girl? She was always sweet if a bit overly affectionate in a way far purer than Clara," Cora's voice was casual as she listed off one idea before going into another two. "There's also that Weasley girl that you saved earlier on, or Stuart's little sister, she's a cute one."

"I'm alright, really. Most of my time's already taken up by Quidditch or Studying, trying to plan a date this year would be horrible for whoever's unlucky enough to go with me," Harry hoped his excuse, valid as it may be, would suffice to have Cora stop her prodding.

Based on the 'mhm' she gave in response as well as the pulling away from him again, it hadn't been.

"I'll see you tomorrow for some reading… if that's something you'd still like to do," Cora's voice was a bit off-sounding now.

Harry figured she meant the way they'd read together in the windowsill, and he jumped on the opportunity.

"I'd lo- that'd be wicked," He cut back on his loud answer, coughing midway to respond in a more calmed manner.

"Great," — Cora got up from his bed, walked around it until she was in front of him, then pulled him into a hug that lasted all of three seconds — "I'll see you then, Harry. Sleep well."

"Yeah, you too," He responded off-handedly, watching the girl retreat from his room just as easily as she'd entered.

He missed her.


January 13, 1996

Tuesday Evening

Professor Snape strikes again, and by that, Harry meant the man let his extreme disliking of him shine through whatever helpful lesson he was meant to be giving on the subject of Occlumency. Because, as inept as Harry was on the subject matter at hand, he knew you didn't start by brute-forcing your way into the learner's mind — that was far from helpful, especially with the splitting headache and the reliving of painful memories that it caused.

When Harry called the man out on it, he was given a sneer, a few comments of arrogance and the 'know-it-all' mentality he'd developed in the last couple of years thanks to 'imbeciles' from his own house who should've known better than to mingle with those in Gryffindor. Harry wasn't an idiot, he knew why the Professor felt that way, but it wasn't Harry's fault that his mom thought the man before him wasn't worthy of her friendship past a certain point. Blimey, could anyone stand being around someone as self-loathing, people-hating and overall mannerless as Snape?

He doubted it, and at the very least, he admitted that he couldn't; so he left the room despite the raised voice of Snape along with the protest that Dumbledore expected him to stay for the lessons despite the difficulty of them. There was no chance that would make him stop, Snape was sorely mistaken if he thought it was any more likely to work than trash-talking his family, new or old.

After that failure of a lesson, Harry made his way straight to his dorms, skipping talking to the Headmaster altogether because he was in favour of another solution. One that was much more hands-on and far more likely to work to his benefit; besides, his Aunt had said it was about time over the summer, Harry would just be the one to give his Uncle an extra push. Snape made it loads easier with his attitude, as he always did whenever the man would see Harry.

'Dear Uncle Celtsean,

As I stated in my last owl home, I've been having dreams about Voldemort, only, the Headmaster told me they aren't dreams. Dumbledore said we're linked, he and I, in a way that one can see into the other's mind. I still don't know all that much on the topic.

Dumbledore was incredibly vague when he discussed it with me, but he said there's a way it could be twisted, manipulated. I'm pants at explaining it, Uncle, but I'm worried that he could do something that'd make me powerless to stop. Snape was assigned to teach me Occlumency, as that can cease Voldemort's incursions into my mind, but it didn't work, far from it.

Please, Uncle Celtsean, teach me Occlumency. I'm afraid Snape will keep bashing his way into my mind, time after time until any chance at forming a defence against him is gone.

With love,

Harry'

Harry finished, sighed, and threw himself onto his bed — he'd take a few minutes to collect himself, then, the letter would be off.

He hoped he didn't need to wait long for a reply.


Two days — Otherwise known to Harry as the time it took for his owls to reach home, that was all it took before he was called to the Headmaster's office, that was all it took for his Uncle to come for him.

Professor Snape was notably absent from the meeting, while Uncle Celtsean's usually calm demeanour was gone, the man pacing about the room with fire in his eyes while speaking in loud whispers to the tired-looking Headmaster. On one hand, Harry felt bad for Dumbledore, as the man had never done anything against Harry; another side of him was angry, almost seething with rage that Dumbledore assigned Snape as his instructor for something as delicate as the mind arts.

Just where did that old ma- Harry clamped down on the heated thoughts, rolling his neck and taking in a deep breath.

Snape was gone, his Uncle would be his new instructor, and the man had told him he'd open up a bit more about his family; about the time they'd spent together after graduation — Dumbledore gave them usage of his office too, a kind gesture that further served to calm the rising emotions from Harry's mind.

"So… the war then?" Uncle Celtsean asked with no pretence, his eyes glued to Harry.

"Yes, Uncle. You've always been a bit… distant, like you know more but you'd never say it," — Harry stopped speaking and watched as the man tensed — "You don't need to tell me everything, I know that'd be impossible. I just want to know something, anything, it doesn't need to be the whole story or even half of it."

Celtsean watched Harry, the books on Occlumency forgotten as much as the subject they were here for in the first place; that wouldn't last, not at all, but Celtsean did relent.

"Only the very start, when the war kicked off and James went to the Aurors," the man finally said, looking anywhere but at Harry.

No words of acknowledgement were spoken by the boy, he simply nodded in silence, and waited.

It didn't take very long.

"My family was larger once, I had a brother and cousins, not like James, who was an only child. When the war started, it wasn't with a blast or massacre as you so often hear, but one murder of a schoolmate of ours — someone who was very against the Pureblood status quo. I'll not lie to you and say I liked them very much, they wanted to do away with everything, but a differing of ideals isn't a reason to murder a man in his own home," — Uncle Celtsean paused to take a breath — "That idiocy started the conflict, one that saw my family as well as many of the old blood signing up in droves to support a man who stood for murder and his own gain, it was never about supporting their rights. Your father fought against my family in the opening months, I had to pick one or the other and side with them for the duration of a conflict that should've never started."

Uncle Celtsean stopped speaking, and Harry could make out in the candle-lit room the faintest of tear tracks running down the man's cheeks.

He couldn't help himself, he asked the question on the tip of his tongue.

"Who'd you pick Uncle Celtsean?"

His Uncle looked back to him, his eyes watery and his face as weak as he'd ever seen it — in a rasping voice, the man gave his answer.

"Neither."

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ApexofRuin: Thank you very much, and I will!

Matt9917: I'm pretty sure I responded to this on Ao3, so I'll just say thank you!

Clavyus: Thank you very much, and while it was close, I definitely enjoyed taking the spins I did with a more competent Harry! As for the Graveyard, there will be complications that arise some of the repercussions should be visible this chapter too.

Pteaset: Appreciate that, thank you!

DeadDredd: Thanks! Our worse stuff is coming soon, so buckle in! Fifth Year has been very fun to write, it's already done too!

mwinter11: Thanks, hope you like this!

Kshv Agrwl: Glad you like us so far, and thank you!

Rumjunkie: Oh you're completely right, his maturing process and the problems that come with it sure are something! !

Hank1967: Thank you very much, this chapter is potentially one of the largest so far! Sirius' role as well as the graveyard was very fun, and the latter will play a very important role later on. Yule Ball was super fun to write too haha, thank you!

Guest of July 19: Appreciate you so much, thanks for the love!