I do not own Harry Potter

Hey there everyone, I tried to do some research on Durmstrang but there wasn't a lot of information so I've just used my imagination. I do apologise if something isn't spot on but that is the joy of fanfiction Also in a previous chapter I wrote that at Durmstrang they sorted with a sorting hat like Hogwarts because I believe I read it somewhere, however, when I was writing the sorting I just didn't like it so I went back and changed that part. I just wanted to explain in case anyone got confused.

Also, there is a tiny bit of what some people may class as character bashing in this chapter. I'm trying to write it as less character bashing and more characters being self-centred at the present time

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for reading.

Chapter 6

Harry stared at the boy for a minute before coming to his senses and responding with a polite, "thank you." Harry took in the others appearance noting the deep red robes and the fur lined cloak that he himself was wearing.

The seventh year looked at him amused for a moment, "the Headmaster asked me to meet you and escort you to the sorting chamber. Just leave your things and they will be taken to your room later."

Harry nodded and gave a quick farewell to Zima and Hedwig before trailing after the other student.

The boy turned to look at Harry curiously, "we don't get many transfer students here, in fact I'm not sure if we've ever had a transfer student before."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just stayed silent, watching the other boy out of the corner of his eye.

They walked down a narrow hall before emerging in a small room, Harry noticed that the room was predominantly bare except for the 20 or so students milling around nervously.

"Wait until you are called" and with that his guide left leaving Harry to take in the other students in the room.

They were all younger than him, so Harry assumed these were the first years waiting to be sorted. Harry thought about what the boy had said about not getting many transfer students and hoped that this fact didn't draw to much attention to himself.

The first years looked at him with closed off expressions though Harry could see curiosity sparkling in their eyes, probably wondering what he was doing with them.

A few minutes later a voice called the first years out of the room. No one mentioned him, so, confused, Harry decided to stay put and wait to see if someone came for him.

As the minutes ticked by, he began to feel anxious and started tugging on his hair in agitation. Luckily before he could get too worked up the door opened again and a man stuck his head in, beckoning him out.

The man was older than Harry, looking to be in his early forties he was short and stout with chestnut coloured hair and eyes the color of honey. Though when Harry looked into his eyes he noticed that they held a hard glint, definitely not someone to cross Harry thought lightly.

Harry followed the man out of the chamber where they emerged straight onto a raised platformed area.

He looked around in open amazement at his first glimpse of Durmstrang, it was both similar yet completely different to Hogwarts. For one, it was smaller than Hogwarts though he wondered if the closed ceiling added to this feeling. There were only three tables instead of four, each representing the three school houses, though each table was filled with students. He noticed that the student's uniforms didn't differ to show what house you belonged to, though, he knew the three houses were Atticus, Concinne and Dontrine. Students in Atticus house are said to be daring and brave though also cunning. While Concinne house students are said to hold an innate charm, their house values not just pure blood but an inner beauty. Dontrine students are said to be the dreamers, the academics, not necessarily worried about how brave they are or how they are perceived by others but holding value in their pursuits. Harry didn't mind which house he was sorted into, he would accept the decision without argument, unlike when the sorting hat attempted to put him into Slytherin he thought with a slight roll of his eyes. The room was beautiful though, made of grey stone that looked like it could survive anything that was thrown at it. Even though there were no fires lit, the castle gave off a feeling of warmth.

Harry looked around some more and noticed that all the students in the hall were staring at him and whispering. He blushed brightly realising that he had been gaping like a kid at a carnival in front of so many people.

A man stepped up beside him and cleared his throat. Harry turned quickly green eyes meeting stormy grey before he looked away again, noticing the staff members watching him as well.

"Everyone" the loud voice of the man next to him echoed around the hall. As soon as he spoke the hall fell silent, attentive eyes taking in the man. "We have a new transfer student starting with us today, this is Harry Krum."

All eyes flicked to Harry and he squirmed slightly under the scrutiny.

"Now Harry, stand still while I cast the spell that will tell us what house you belong to."

With that the man raised his wand, Harry tensed slightly as he was enveloped in a soft white light. He felt magic coursing through him and watched as the white light surrounding him turned a deep purple.

"Concinne house" a deep clear voice beside him called out. The table in the middle started clapping politely though Harry noticed that there was not much enthusiasm behind it.

Harry cast a glance at the man beside him, getting a brief nod Harry walked off to join his new house.

As he walked towards his table, he noticed many students still looking at him, he sighed hoping the interest wouldn't last long.

He sat down smiling politely at the students around him before turning to face the front of the hall again.

Another man had stood up and moved to the front of the platform taking in the students with a steely gaze. The man looked to be in his late 30's and with an aura of power that seemed to pulsate around him. Even from where he sat Harry could sense the power radiating off the man. He had dark hair like many others in the hall, however, his was long and tied loosely at the nape of his neck. Harry also noticed that the man had several scars across his face and neck, 'I wonder how he got those' Harry thought with curiosity. After a moment he addressed the hall.

"Welcome to Durmstrang Institute" the man said, his voice a deep rumble. "I am Headmaster Akulov. I may be new here but I know that Durmstrang Institute has an impressive reputation that I am entrusting all of you to uphold. Together, we can make Durmstrang truly great again." He finished as the hall broke into strong applause, many students stamping their feet on the ground or hands on the table in front of them.

Harry smiled at the man's words, no nonsense, no fluff, no mysterious words designed to confuse students, it was rather refreshing Harry thought as Headmaster Akulov returned to his seat. The headmaster must have felt Harrys stare for he raised his head and swung around to look at him. A flash of interest passed over the man's face before it was gone, and he turned to engage the teacher next to him in conversation.

Harry refocused his attention on the students across from him, two boys who looked to be a little older then him. Harry smiled shyly when he noticed them looking at him as well.

"Hi, I'm Harry," he said hesitating when he saw one raise an eyebrow at him.

After a moment they both responded.

"Hello Harry, I'm Blake and this is Martin" the one on the right responded while the one on the left just nodded in greeting.

Harry smiled softly, feeling a touch of excitement about possibly making some new friends, "It's very nice to meet you both. Are you seventh years?"

The boys shared a look of surprise at the new student's openness.

"Sixth years actually and what are you, second or third year?" Blake asked eyeing Harry's small stature and slim frame.

"I'm actually a fifth year" Harry responded with a slight huff.

Though neither student showed any outward change in their appearance they were both surprised, they shared another look. How could this small boy be a fifth year? They decided to let it go for now.

"Are you related to Viktor Krum by any chance?" Martin asked. Harry noticed that several students were surreptitiously listening in to their conversation.

"Yes, I am actually" Harry answered. Blake and Martin waited to see if Harry would say anymore, but he had returned to looking at his plate, effectively ending the conversation. They could take a hint and let the conversation drop, it was not unusual for students at Durmstrang to not be forthcoming with information about themselves.

Harry looked down at his plate, not wanting to get in a conversation about his past with these strangers. He looked around at other people's plates wondering where the food was.

As if reading his mind, the headmaster waved his hand and food appeared along the table. Some things he had seen before though there was a few he didn't recognise.

He dished up a delicious looking stew and tucked in, listening to the conversation flowing around him. The conversation mostly revolving around what everyone had done over summer. Harry found the light conversation comforting.

After dinner all the students moved as one heading for their own common rooms in various parts of the castle. As they started to shuffle out of the hall Harry found Martin and Blake on either side of him.

"We thought we would show you the way to the common room Harry, don't want you getting lost on your first night" explained Blake.

"Thank you," Harry said with a bright smile, appreciating the kind gesture.

As they walked through the castle Harry let his eyes trail over everything he saw while Martin and Blake pointed out things of interest along the way. The halls were lined with torches, providing light but also infusing the castle with warmth Harry knew that he would appreciate that warmth when winter hit. There were fewer paintings on the walls then at Hogwarts, though the ones that were there watched the passing students with interest. After a few minutes they arrived at a door, it actually reminded Harry of his bedroom door at home, large dark wood with an intricate tree carved into its surface.

The seventh years stood at the front of the gathered group, "this is the entry to our common room. As you enter there is a ward on the door that will only allow entry to students of this house or to other students who enter with a student of this house," a rather short girl with curly brown hair but a loud carrying voice explained.

"That's very clever" Harry murmured to Martin and Blake, who nodded in agreement.

As the seventh year who had spoken earlier opened the door and stepped through, the rest of the house filed through. Harry was amazed at the orderly fashion, there was no yelling or shoving in sight.

As he walked into the common room Harry found himself gaping again. Several students stopped to watch him, smirking at his reaction.

The room was beautiful, with large leather armchairs everywhere, tables to work at and even a few soft purple blankets that Harry could see himself curling up under with a good book in winter. The carpet was a thick deep blue and Harry found himself wishing he could run his hands through it to feel the soft texture. He fortunately decided that that was probably not going to make a good first impression on his fellow house mates, so he thankfully restrained himself.

Harry felt a hand on his back and jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" said Blake soothingly. "I just wanted to introduce you to your fellow fifth year boys," he indicated three boys who were sitting together talking on one of the leather lounges.

Harry took in the appearance of the three boys as they made their way over. The one on the left had rich auburn color hair, even though it was a different shade, the color reminded him of Ron, and he felt a pang of sadness for a moment thinking of his once best friend. The other two looked as though they could be twins, and Harry hoped they didn't cause as much trouble as the Weasley twins. They both had hair and eyes of the deepest black that regarded Harry with an unreadable expression as he made his way over to the trio.

"Harry this is Timur" Martin explained pointing to the red head, "and this is Roman and Lukas" he said pointing to the twins. "Harry will be joining you as a fifth-year student."

The three nodded in understanding.

"It's nice to meet you" said Harry, smiling sweetly holding out his hand to shake first Timur's hand and then Romans and lastly Lukas's. All three boys were staring at him and Harry surreptitiously brushed his face in case he had food left over from dinner there.

Martin seeing this fought back a chuckle, the new boy was actually quite adorable and obviously unaware of the fact.

Timur stood up, "Welcome to Durmstrang Harry."

The twins stood as well, on closer inspection Harry noticed that they looked nearly identical. He looked from one to the other and the twins noticing his attention smiled slightly.

"Yes, we are identical twins Harry" one of the twins said, Harry thought it was Lukas if the introductions earlier had been accurate.

Harry flushed slightly at being caught staring.

Before he could think of anything to say two girls approached their group, both eyeing Harry with suspicion.

"Harry this is two more of your fellow fifth years, Jasmine and Annika" Blake said pointing to the two girls.

Harry frowned slightly at the looks of hostility on one of the girls faces, what could he have done to upset her, they had only just met!

Harry looked a little unsurely at the pair before adopting a friendly look on his face, "Hello there, its nice to meet you."

Jasmine nodded, "welcome Harry."

Annika however scowled at him, the look of hostility caught Harry by surprise, and he frowned in response. The gathered boys watched the exchange with interest, Annika was known to be difficult to deal with especially for those who did not know her well.

"Ah, is there a problem?" Harry asked eyeing Annika's scowl. At his words though her scowl just deepened.

"I'm just wondering how we ended up with the only transfer student Durmstrang has seen in the last 100 years?" Annika answered snidely eyeing Harry up and down with distaste. "I bet you aren't even a pureblood are you?"

At her words Harrys eyes narrowed and his green eyes flashed, his fellow fifth years as well as Martin and Blake watched as anger morphed on the previously sweet face, the glowing green eyes nearly mesmerising.

"Not that it's any of your business but no I am not a pureblood, I'm a half blood. It is completely ridiculous to judge people based on blood purity, some of the strongest witches and wizards I know are half-bloods or muggleborns." Harry finished a little more calmly then he had begun but honestly how stupid could some people be. "I actually read an article recently about how magic is dwindling in purebloods due to all the inbreeding" Harry said, a small smirk gracing his lips.

At his words Blake burst out in laughter, his eyes alight with mirth.

Lukas, Roman and Martin stepped up beside Harry, "and what exactly is wrong with being a half-blood" Roman asked menacingly.

Annika paused for a moment seemingly realising that she had said the wrong thing.

"We don't even know him, I don't trust him" Annika hissed.

Harry let out a big sigh the fight running out of him. It was the same old story, people judging him when they hadn't even bothered to take the time to get to know him.

"That's right you don't know me, so don't stand there judging me," Harry said wearily running his fingers through his dark hair. "Look, could we do this another time I'm pretty tired and want to get to bed."

His fellow fifth years frowned at him, noticing his change in demeanour, Roman shooting a glare of annoyance at Annika who just shrugged in return.

"How about we show you our dorm?" Timur asked, Roman and Lukas nodding beside him.

"Good night Martin, good night Blake, hopefully I will see you both tomorrow" Harry said quietly, following Roman towards a door off the common room.

Now that he was looking, he noticed that the room was lined with doors. He counted and realised that there was two for each year, one for girls and one for boys.

They walked up to the tenth door, Roman opening it and leading the four boys inside.

Harry looked around and noticed that the room really wasn't that much different from the boys dormitories at Hogwarts. Four beds lined one wall, Harry was pleased to see the beds were covered in what looked like thick warm blankets, there was also black hangings around the beds offering a modicum of privacy. Harry observed that there was no fire place but again the torches on the walls helped to warm the room. The room was cool even in late summer, he dreaded to know how cold it would get in winter.

Glancing once again at the beds he spotted his trunk then saw Hedwig and Zima sitting on his pillow.

He gasped in happiness, his dour mood instantly lifting as he spotted his familiars.

"Hedwig! Zima!" He cried as he ran forward and scooped Zima into his arms, scratching behind his ears with one hand while patting Hedwigs soft feathers with the other.

"How do you like our new home?" to which he got a soft trill from Hedwig and Zima rubbing his cheek against Harry's chin.

"Who are these beautiful creatures" Timur asked approaching Harry and reaching out a hand to delicately stroke Hedwigs feathers.

"This is Hedwig" Harry said pointing to his owl, "and this is Zima" he finished pointing to the Kneazle that was currently leaning against his chest and watching the other three in the room with a critical expression.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you both" Timur said formally, making Harry smile.

Harry went to the adjoining bathroom to get ready for bed and when he came out, he found the other boys already in bed. He frowned when he noticed that his bed was in between Lukas and Roman's.

He hesitated for a moment looking at Roman and Lukas's blank expressions.

"Ah if you prefer to sleep in beds next to each other I don't mind moving."

At that both twins rolled their eyes at him, "No, we don't mind you sleeping between us Harry" one of the twins said, Harry looked closely and thought it was Lukas, there was just something a little different about Lukas's eyes.

Harry shrugged and climbed into bed, failing to see the look the twins shared.

He laid down and listened to the idle chatter around him for a few minutes before calling a quiet goodnight to his dorm mates and pulling his curtains closed. He cast a strong silencing charm around himself and snuggled down into a restless sleep.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

At Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore's office was filled to capacity, he rubbed his temples tiredly as the continuous noise threatened to give him a headache. Harry had been found to be missing a week ago, but no one was any the wiser about where he was. Albus had been shocked to learn that no one was actually sure how long he had even been missing for, by all accounts he hadn't been seen since school had finished up.

Sirius, Remus, Molly, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the Minister for Magic himself were the cause of all the yelling that now filled his office.

"Where the bloody hell is my Godson!?" Sirius yelled angrily spit flying from his mouth as his faced turned red.

"How should we know? He was supposed to be at his muggle relatives for the summer!" Mrs Weasley yelled back just as angry as Sirius.

"Hermione, Ron, haven't you been writing to him over the summer? Has he said anything about where he is?" Remus enquired a little more calmly though the amber glow in his eyes let everyone know just how close the woof was to the surface.

Here Ron and Hermione looked uncomfortable. "Ah we haven't actually written to him yet this summer. There was just so much else going on we never seemed to have the time," Hermione answered sheepishly.

"Well some friends you are" Sirius sneered angrily.

"Like you can talk Black," came Snape's snarking tone from where he was leaning against the wall near the fire place watching the fight unfold. "He is your Godson, surely you have been writing to him all summer yourself?"

Sirius's jaw shut with an audible click as he realised the truth behind that statement, he hadn't written to Harry at all this summer either. He'd even forgotten Harry's 15th Birthday he thought as his stomach twisted uneasily. Sirius turned cold eyes to Snape who just smirked knowing that he'd hit home.

"I've had a very busy summer Snape, now that I've been accepted back as an Auror, training takes up nearly every hour of the day" Sirius justified while Remus nodded beside him.

Here the Minister interjected angrily, "we need the boy back for the victory ball that the ministry is throwing. He is the symbol of the light, people will expect to see him. He lifts peoples spirits and makes them feel safe, he needs to be there."

Here Dumbledore nodded, "indeed he does need to be there, with so many death eaters still on the loose the public will be looking to him for guidance."

Ron approached the Minister a cautious look in his eye as he took in the other mans agitated expression. "Sir, I will do everything I can to help find Harry but if he doesn't return will I still be receiving the Auror training that you promised?"

Severus actually rolled his eyes at the words, of course the youngest Weasley was more interested in his future career options then his supposedly best friend.

"We shall see Mr Weasley, for now we need to organise a plan as to how we will find Harry."

"Severus, are you able to contact any death eaters that are still at large to see if they are holding Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape merely nodded his head, annoyed that Dumbledore was asking him to put his life in danger yet again.

"Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Remus, can you please write to Harry. See if you can gather any information about where he is. I will also organise members of The Order of the Phoenix to conduct searches of anywhere I feel Harry may be being held. Are there any questions?" Dumbledore finished eyeing the now quiet group.

When no one voiced any concerns, he dismissed the group and began organising a list of places that would need to be searched.