"There, look."
"Where?"
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
"Wearing the glasses?"
"Did you see his face?"
"Did you see his scar?"
Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day.
People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoes to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because all the attention was starting to get on his nerves.
Harry was lucky he had the Marauder's Map with him to easily find his way around Hogwarts, and often found himself leading Ron and Neville on the way to classes. They were amazed by the map, and both "solemnly swore" not to tell anyone about it, without Harry's permission.
Some of the ghosts were helpful, but some weren't like Peeves the Poltergeist. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
Then there were the classes themselves.
Harry wasn't really interested in Astronomy, Herbology or History of Magic, but at least the teachers were nice enough, apart from Binns, an old ghost who put everyone to sleep with his droning voice, going on and on about Goblin rebellions. Neville however, was very interested in Herbology, and seemed to be extremely confident in that subject in particular.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
Transfiguration was a subject Harry was very interested in. Using the map, he got to class quickly and saw that the cat sitting at the front was McGonagall herself. Asking an elf for a bowl full of milk, he placed it in front of the Animagus, just as the other students were entering. With a grin, he took a seat at the back next to Neville.
Harry and all the students watched with fascination as the cat took a few licks of milk, before morphing into Professor McGonagall. The students all cheered at the impressive Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall gave Harry 10 points for an explanation of what an Animagus was. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger and Harry himself had made any difference to their matches; Professor McGonagall showed the class how the matches had gone all silver and pointy and gave both students a rare smile.
Harry also found out that Neville was using his father's wand. This led to the two boys having a conversation with McGonagall who offered to write his grandmother for a new wand, Neville could leave on the weekend.
Harry also found out from Neville about what had happened to his parents. It made Harry feel much closer to the boy, who was remarkably similar to Harry.
At the end of class however, McGonagall held Harry back and told him that Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with him on Friday afternoon.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
Friday was an important day for Harry, Ron and Neville.
"What have we got today?" Harry asked as he poured sugar on his porridge.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Neville. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them — we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
Just then, the mail arrived. About a hundred owls suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.
Today, however, a school owl dropped a letter for Harry. It was a letter from Hagrid, the school gameskeeper. It was an invitation for a cup of tea on Friday afternoon, just before his meeting with Dumbledore. He decided to reply yes, and would bring Ron and Neville along as well.
Harry had been expecting Snape not to like him at all, due to his heritage. However, by the end of the lesson, even Harry was shocked by how much hate Snape held towards him
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new — celebrity."
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black and were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Granger's hand had shot into the air.
Why would he ask me a fourth-year question? He must be a really bitter man. Padfoot's gonna love this. Good thing I decided to read my mum's potion journals over the years.
"Draught of Living Death," Harry replied coolly.
Snape's face contorted itself into an expression of disbelief, then rage.
"Got lucky then, huh Potter? Let's try , where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
"Your potions cabinet, or in other words, the stomach of a goat," Harry replied in the same tone.
Snape didn't let up and asked yet another O.W.L level question. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"They are the same plant, which also goes by the name of acronite. Is there any legitimate reason you keep asking me O.W.L level questions? Are you so desperate to embarrass me?" said Harry glaring at Snape, having enough of Snape's pathetic excuses to embarrass him.
Snape snarled. "Well why aren't you all writing that down? 10 points will be taken away from Gryffindor for cheating, and another 20 for your cheek.
Harry simply glared at him, not really caring about house points, but not wanting to receive a detention this early in term.
They then proceeded to mix a simple potion to cure boils. Harry whispered instructions to Neville who was very nervous around Snape out of the corner of his mouth. Snape caught this soon, and took another 10 points of Gryffindor, claiming that Neville was now cheating, when his potion came out quite alright.
At five to three, the three boys made their way to Hagrid's hut. They each introduced themselves to Hagrid, pretended to enjoy the rock cakes which almost broke their teeth and told Hagrid about their first week at Hogwarts. Picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet, Harry read about a break-in that had happened at Gringotts, on the same day he and Sirius had gone. It seems nothing had been stolen, but the vault in question had actually been emptied earlier that day.
Both Neville and Ron headed off towards the common room, while Harry walked to the Headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall was waiting outside the entrance before a large and extremely ugly gargoyle.
"Candy cane!" she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.
As he entered the office, Harry was amazed. The office was very interesting and quite beautiful.
It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat.
He also caught sight of a brilliant red and gold phoenix standing on a gold perch. "Dumbledore had a phoenix, typical," thought Harry. He then walked up to it and stroked it. McGonagall watched him critically.
"Ah, Harry, met Fawkes have you? You truly are a Gryffindor, not many people have the courage to go anywhere close to him." Dumbledore was walking down the steps.
Harry stayed silent and merely gave a polite nod to Dumbledore.
"Take a seat, Harry."
Harry took a seat. McGonagall stayed standing behind him, and Snape also walked in at that moment, and stood in line with McGonagall, but keeping a respectful distance between the two.
"How has Hogwarts been Harry? Settling in well? I hope you have had a good time so far," Dumbledore asked, in his grandfatherly tone.
"It has gone very well, thank you. I particularly liked the lesson where I lost 40 points for answering questions correctly and helping fellow students out," Harry said, glaring at Snape.
"Yes, perhaps I should have a chat with Professor Snape," Dumbledore said, with a pointed look at Snape. "Anyway, we must get to the real topic of concern here. Harry, I would like to know how you made your way to Potter Manor all those years ago," his eyes continued to twinkle.
It was at this time that Harry detected a light Legilimency probe from someone, most likely Snape. Harry knocked him out of his mind, reinforced his shields. "I will answer you when you tell your pet bat to stop trying to scan my mind."
McGonagall gasped, before reprimanding Snape. Dumbledore's twinkle instantly disappeared. Snape merely snarled. "How dare you disrespect a teacher with petty name-calling? 20 points from-
Dumbledore cut him off, obviously trying to diffuse the tension. "That is not required, Professor. I must also request you not to probe Harry's mind."
"Now to answer your question, I did not 'make my way' to Potter Manor all those years ago. I was apparated by my elves, when they rescued me from a beating the Dursley's had given me," Harry responded cooly.
"They beat you?" asked the old headmaster incredulously, while McGonagall merely glared at Dumbledore.
"Yes, they did. To them, I was a freak. So anytime I produced accidental magic, they would beat me, starve me and lock me in a cupboard. It makes me wonder what you were thinking by placing me there, Professor?" Harry continued in an emotionless tone.
"I apologise, Harry. I never expected them to treat you like this. It seems I made a terrible mistake all those years ago, when I made the decision to place you there."
"Apology accepted, but not forgiven."
Dumbledore stared at him inquisitively for a moment. "I wanted to ask you something else too, Harry. Are you, by any chance, in contact with a specific Sirius Black."
Harry almost snorted. In contact was a good way to describe it. "Maybe, maybe not, Professor. Do you Siriusly believe I would tell you the answer to that question?" Sirius would be proud of his witty answers.
"Looks like Sirius has raised you very well then. I only hope he has raised you with the right ideologies. And one last thing, a Potter family heirloom that was in my possession disappeared soon after your own. Would you know anything about it?" Dumbledore asked, hoping that the invisibility cloak was with Harry and not stolen by anyone else.
"Don't worry Professor, everything that belongs to the Potter family has been returned. Will that be all then?" Harry asked, getting bored of the conversation.
"Yes, Harry. You may leave."
Harry left quickly, and Dumbledore soon dismissed both Professors.
Dumbeldore thought about the meeting that had just occurred. Harry Potter was clearly raised by Sirius, the horrible joke he had made made it quite obvious. He did not seem to harbour any ill-feeling towards himself, but definitely resented Severus. The boy was also quite proficient in Occlumency, for a First Year. He carried himself with a quiet confidence, a perfect mix of his mother and father.
In all truths, he reminded Albus of a young Tom Riddle. Maybe placing him with the Dursley's hadn't been a good idea. Harry was related to Andromeda Tonks through his grandmother, he should've grown up there. With a Light-Sided family, two loving parents and a elder sisterly figure. What damage could the Dursley's wrought?
At least the boy was sorted in Gryffindor, and had made friends with Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley; both boys came from Light-Sided families.
He would see more of Harry throughout the year and form a better view of him.
Harry was very happy that Flying lessons were starting on Thursday, until he heard that the Gryffindors would learn alongside the Slytherins. Still, at least he would get to see if Malfoy could walk the walk, he certainly had talked up a big game in regard to his flying prowess.
Until then, Harry had slowly been making friends with the Hufflepuff Heirs in their year. He had spoken to Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan during the week, and had even sat on the Hufflepuff table during lunch on Wednesday, which had caused a lot of raised eyebrows, but had resulted in Harry gaining 10 points for his act of friendship between two houses.
He hoped that they had perhaps written home to tell their guardians of this development, and that the Lords and Ladies would support him in the future.
Quickly, Thursday had come by, and the flying lesson was upon them. During the lesson, Harry was one of very few who managed to summon their broom, a group which included Malfoy, to Harry's disgust. When it came to actual flying however, Neville kicked off too early and couldn't control his broom, leading to him falling off.
As Madam Hooch took him to the Hospital Wing, Malfoy picked up Neville's forgotten Remembrall and insulted him. Harry asked for it back, but Malfoy merely flew away with it. Harry followed him, ignoring Hermione's warnings, he begrudgingly noticed that Malfoy was a decent flier, but not on his level. Harry then completed a super dive to save the Remembrall that Malfoy had thrown.
However, to his misfortune, McGonagall had caught him. He assumed she had dragged him away to privately assign him detention, however she ended up introducing him to the current Gryffindor quidditch captain, and bent a few rules to get him on the team.
He also found out that both Fred and George were Beaters on the team.
Malfoy showed up and challenged Harry to a duel, after displaying his disbelief that Harry had not been expelled. Harry immediately accepted, having no lack of confidence in his own skills. Malfoy chose Crabbe as a second, while Ron offered to be Harry's second. Neville decided to come just to watch.
Harry inwardly smiled, the previously shy boy wouldn't have dared to do this before. Looks like he had a good impact on Neville over the last couple of weeks. They decided to meet up at midnight at the trophy room.
The second that the Slytherin's had left, Harry turned around to talk to the boys. "I don't expect him to show up, but we have to show up. If any of the old families find out that a Heir didn't show up to a wizard's duel, they could tear them apart. Malfoy doesn't know what he's done.
The boys gaped for a moment at this revelation. Then all three grinned wickedly and burst into laughter. To their displeasure however, it seemed Granger had been intruding on their conversation. She warned them that they would lose points for Gryffindor but they simply waved her off.
Later that night, the boys waited in their dorms for Dean and Seamus to sleep. Harry revealed his invisibility cloak to them, which they could put on as soon as they left the common room. Ron and Neville were awestruck at the cloak, and spent a few minutes trying it on and scaring each other. When they were sure the other two Gryffindor boys had fallen asleep, they walked down the dormitory quietly.
They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."
A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.
"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"
"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."
Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.
"Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.
Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.
"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."
"Go away."
"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so —"
But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.
"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.
"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."
They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them. "I'm coming with you," she said.
"You are not." Neville responded, having mostly been quiet since they had left the dormitory.
"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."
"You've got some nerve —" said Ron loudly.
"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "You're getting on my nerves." The bickering was getting more and more annoying.
However, now that Hermione had joined them, Harry had no intention of revealing his invisibility cloak to her. She would probably try to get it confiscated by a professor. So it remained forgotten, folded in his pocket.
They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.
Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.
"He's late, he's chickened out," Ron whispered. "I knew it."
Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy. "Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."
Harry groaned inwardly. Of course Malfoy hadn't shown up. However, what the Gryffindor's hadn't been expecting was Malfoy to tip off Filch. For once, Malfoy had pulled off a move worthy of a Slytherin.
"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.
The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.
"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.
"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.
"I —told — you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."
"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible.
They then ran into Peeves, who shouted for all of the school to hear. To escape him, the foursome ran to the end of a corridor, where the door was locked. Hermione unlocked it, and they closed it behind them.
However, they turned around to directly face a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.
Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, he'd take Filch
They opened the door and ran as quickly back to Gryffindor tower as they could. Once they arrived, they shouted the password at the Fat Lady who let them through.
They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."
Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."
"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."
She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."
Ron stared after her, his mouth open.
"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."
But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed into bed. What had the Cerberus been guarding? He also cursed himself for not bringing the Marauder's Map with him, it would have been useful for a trip like this. However, that too would have drawn Hermione's attention, and gotten it confiscated. Harry mirror-called Sirius, who was both pleased to hear about Harry's first use of the invisibility cloak, and the political leverage Harry could gain over the Malfoy family, with Draco's refusal to show up.
However, Harry decided not to tell Sirius about the Cerberus, deciding that would just scare Sirius. And he didn't need Sirius to be distracted by anything, when Harry had clear plans to free Sirius.
Yes, life was looking better for both Harry and Sirius. They didn't realise just how much.
Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry, Ron and Neville were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning the three thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one.
Hermione didn't show the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor, and was now refusing to speak to the three, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus.
The arrival of a long thin package carried by six large screech owls drew everyone's attention at breakfast. The boys took it out of the Great Hall, after being accosted by Malfoy, who expressed his displeasure that Harry had received a Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick. They unwrapped it quickly, and Harry was very excited to try it out, having been using an old broomstick of his Father's at Potter Manor all these years.
On Halloween morning, Harry was feeling very sad. To him, Halloween represented nothing more than the day he was celebrated as a hero because his parents had sacrificed themselves to save him.
Both Neville and Ron seemed to understand, and mostly left Harry alone. Many people whispered and pointed at Harry, more than usual, maybe wondering why he seemed so withdrawn and quiet, when usually he was in a cheerful mood.
During Charms, Ron was, quite unluckily, partnered with Hermione. Hermione pestered him quite a bit about not being able to do the spell. After the lesson, he quite loudly made a comment about how she had no friends, which led to her shoving past him and crying.
Apart from the occasion, and Hogwarts being decorated, Harry felt it was a normal day. Until dinner. Professor Quirrell came shouting about a troll having somehow entered Hogwarts and was currently wandering the dungeons. Dumbledore told all the prefects to escort the students back to their common rooms, while the teachers would escort the Slytherins to the dungeons.
On the way, Harry remembered that Hermione was still in the bathroom crying, as Parvati Patil had explained during dinner to her friend Lavender Brown. The three boys immediately ditch the rest of their House, and ran off to the girl's bathroom.
In the end, it turned out to be Ron who had saved Hermione, with a perfectly timed Wingardium Leviosa, which took the troll's club and knocked the beast out. Professor McGonagall took 5 points off Hermione, then awarded five each to Harry, Ron and Neville, who felt that they deserved more, but didn't dare voice it to the Deputy Headmistress.
Harry had found yet another strange event to report to Sirius, who was also flummoxed by who could have let a troll in. They both instantly thought of Snape, who Harry had seen heading off to the third floor corridor while the other teachers went to the dungeons.
But before this happened, as they entered the common room where everyone else was eating, Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.
But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
As they entered November, the weather became extremely cold. Harry found himself placing warming charms on his clothes and his blankets at night. The Quidditch season had also begun. Harry's first game was against Slytherin, and if Gryffindor won, they would move up to second in the house championship. He wasn't too nervous, as he knew he was very quick on a broom, and had the fastest broom available.
He quickly found out that Slytherin were a very rough team. When Gryffindor pulled away to an early lead, they started committing fouls on purpose and started cheating. Soon Harry caught sight of the Snitch. However, he had somehow lost control of the broom. It started jerking and twitching, and carried him higher and away from the game. Then it rolled over, Harry only just managing to hold on. Hermione caught sight of Snape cursing Harry's broom, so she walked over to the teacher's stand and set him on fire. As Snape realised this, he lost concentration and Harry's broom returned to normal.
Soon enough, Harry found the Snitch, completing a superb dive, and then jumping off the broom and almost swallowing the snitch to catch it. Gryffindor won the game 170 to 60.
Afterwards, the foursome walked with Hagrid to his hut, where they told him of their suspicions. He was very surprised they knew about "Fluffy", the Cerberus. He also inadvertently confirmed that it was guarding something, and whatever it was, had to do with both Dumbledore and someone called Nicholas Flamel, who Harry was sure Sirius might've mentioned before.
The next morning, Harry decided to really put his plan in motion. "I would like Sirius to be free for Christmas, so the time to act was now," he thought to himself.
So, he called Neville, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott to a meeting of sorts in an empty classroom. There he addressed them.
"You might be wondering why I've called you all to this 'meeting', but I do have a significant reason. Over the past couple of months we've been here, I've tried making friends, and forging allies for the future, when we will be the Lords and Ladies of our houses. I hope that like I call you my friends, you might also consider me a friend."
As far as Harry was concerned, this was only a half-truth. In fact, while the Bones and Longbottom family were both aligned with the Macmillan and Abbott families, Harry had no intention of fully allying the House of Potter with them. The Potter family had always, though, been allied with both the House of Longbottom and Bones, so those would stay.
He was planning to return the Potter's to the Grey Faction, as it had historically been. Allying himself with too many Light-Sided families was not in line with his plans.
"And it is time, you know the truth. The truth is that not only am I Heir Potter, but I am also Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
Susan, Hannah and Ernie all gaped at this revelation, Neville already knowing . After a few seconds, Susan looked to have found her voice.
"What, how? You are a Potter? How can you be Heir Black?" she asked, seeming still sceptical. Ernie and Hannah nodded in agreement.
"For some reason, it seems to slip many people's minds that my grandmother, Dorea Potter, was born Dorea Black. She was the sister of the previous Lord Black, Arcturus Black. And she was never cut out of the line of succession. That alone gives me an equal claim to Heir Black with Draco Malfoy. However, the reason that I am Heir Black and not he, is that the current Lord Black has named me his successor. I will not reveal who it is, although you may have suspicions.
"All I ask is that you support the Potter and Black families over the next few weeks, knowing I represent the Black family, not the Malfoys."
He then showed his Black Heirship ring to the others, as proof of what he was saying.
With this, Harry gave the four Heirs a smile, before saying "I don't really mind if you tell anyone about this, I'm not too fussed keeping it a secret." He then left silently.
It seemed that his plan had worked out perfectly. The next day, at breakfast in the Great Hall, Draco Malfoy stopped at the Gryffindor table.
"Potter, a word," he snarled.
"What do you want now, Malfoy?" he pretended to groan, knowing full well why Malfoy had stopped by now.
"People have been saying that you are the Heir Black. How dare you claim my birthright? I am Heir Black, not you, a filthy blood-traitor," Malfoy spat.
Wanting to end the conversation quickly, but still get his point across, Harry flashed his Black ring at Malfoy. His eyes widened, then a rage filled look marred his features, which was soon replaced by wicked glee.
"I have no idea how you are wearing the Black Heirship ring, but you are committing Line Theft. That is mine! Wait till my father-
"There you go!" Harry interrupted with a sarcastic happy look.
Malfoy looked completely confused by Potter's new attitude.
"If you are so sure I have committed a crime, tell your father, that will solve all of your problems!" Harry continued with the same sarcastic look. By now, the whole school had heard Malfoy's frequent threat of telling his father anything that annoyed him.
Malfoy slowly nodded, still flummoxed by Potter's weird behaviour, then quickly strutted off to inform his father of the day's happening.
Over on the Slytherin table, a blonde first-year watched with interest. Potter had just pulled off a move worthy of a Slytherin. Before yesterday, no one had doubted that Malfoy was the Heir Black. Out of nowhere yesterday, rumours had floated around that Potter was the legitimate Black Heir.
The encounter at breakfast this morning had proved that. Potter had shown the Black Heirship ring, which proved by all accounts that magic deemed him the rightful Heir Black. Malfoy, in his rage, had failed to understand this. Potter had subtly manipulated Malfoy into informing his father, who would no doubt call an immediate Wizengamot Trial to shame Potter. However, holding the Ring would clear him anyway.
The blonde Slytherin quickly deduced that Potter himself had started the rumours, but for what gain? Why had Potter, now, decided to reveal this information? The Slytherin decided to inform her own father of Potter's subtle ploys. Maybe there was more to Potter than just the Gryffindor Golden Boy.
his interaction with Malfoy, Harry excused himself and travelled by himself to Gryffindor tower. He had not really spent much time using the cloak or the map, and he wished a little time to himself.
Going back to his dormitory, he sat on the bed, examining the map, glancing at all the dots moving around the different areas of Hogwarts. He searched for his own name, expecting to be alone in the Gryffindor Dormitory.
Only he wasn't.
According to the Marauder's Map, the bed to the right of his, belonging to Ron, was currently occupied.
By Peter Pettigrew.