I don't want to sound conceited, and Merlin knows James doesn't need his head to get any bigger or he'll topple over when he stands up, but there is a tiiiiny chance that you'll hear about us when you get to Hogwarts. We, er, may have been pretty decent students back in our day. It is possible that people, some of the professors at least, may expect you to do as well as we did. I just want you to know that James your dad and I will be proud of you no matter how well you do in school. Though I do hope you will spend more times on your studies than your uncle Sirius did. And less time chasing women. And pulling stupid jokes. Oh, and…
"That is all for today. Please return your telescopes to storage and return to your dormitories. Remember, there is a twenty-minute grace period to give you time to get back with a reasonable stop along the way, but after that any students caught wandering the halls will be disciplined for being out after curfew. Now off with you."
Most of the students were only too happy to oblige, packing quickly and casually, eager to get to bed. The class had started an hour before midnight and it was just past two in the morning, well past when most were already asleep. Harry lagged behind, however. Hermione had run to catch up with Professor Sinistra, eager to discuss the differences in magical and non-magical telescopes and their understanding of astrological bodies. Knowing her, she wanted to discuss as much as she could before Sinistra removed her from the tower. Physically, if necessary.
Himself? He was content to just lean against one of the parapets and gaze up at the stars until she was finished. Hogwarts was mostly illuminated by candlelight, and the light pollution was practically non-existent. As far as he could tell there was no mundane city or village for hours in any direction, and it left the sky clearer than he had ever imagined seeing personally. Even some photographs of mundane dark zone skies weren't this clear.
Thousands, hundreds of thousands of stars winked and glittered above him, and even the hazy glow of the Milky Way was visible. So incredibly vast it was hard to conceptualize. Impossible, really. But it was certainly beautiful.
"Harry?"
Hermione's voice brought him out of his daze, and he turned to see her looking up as well, smiling faintly. Professor Sinistra was standing by the door, tapping one long, slender finger against her forearm impatiently.
"Ready to go, then?" He asked, picking up his telescope's case. Hermione's was next to her and he picked hers up as well. She was so transfixed she barely noticed, so he bumped his shoulder against hers. "Come on. Before Professor Sinistra chucks us off the roof."
"Don't think I haven't considered it, Mr. Potter."
Oops. He hadn't meant for her to hear that. He smiled sheepishly, and the usually stoic woman gave him a slight smirk. Hermione reached for her case and dragged herself away from the view when she couldn't find it. She tried to take it from him, but he backed away towards the stairs, out of her reach.
"Thank you for the lesson, Professor." Hermione said, her voice soft. "It's so beautiful out here."
"It is my pleasure. Now, you don't have to return to the Ravenclaw dormitory for another twelve minutes, but you can't stay here. Goodnight, both of you."
With that relatively fond dismissal they were ushered out of the viewing platform, and they showed themselves out of the tower. It would only take a few minutes for them to get back to Ravenclaw tower, so they took their time. Hermione seemed to be lost in thoughts of the galaxy and Harry was content to enjoy the first true peace and quiet he'd gotten since they had arrived. He had always been a solitary creature, but he wasn't sure if he preferred to be alone or with Hermione.
He rather thought it might be the latter.
"Which do you think would be harder? When we graduate Hogwarts, I mean. Giving up the non-magical world and staying in the magical one, or going back and giving up all of this?"
He considered her question for a moment, but it really didn't take long.
"Hard to say this early on. I don't have anything keeping me there, I suppose. No family or anything. I'd miss some creature comforts I suppose, but I can't picture myself giving up magic, you know? What about you?"
Her pause was much longer, and her pace slowed a bit. As though the harder she thought, the less brainpower was available for locomotion. So long, he thought she wasn't going to answer at all. The Ravenclaw entrance was in sight when she finally spoke again.
"I just don't know. The obvious answer is to stay here, in the magical world, but it isn't as clear cut as that. I have my family, for one. They would never really be welcome, would they? And there is so much the non-magical world is learning in different ways…"
An edge of concern crept into her tone. The line of thinking was clearly stressing her out.
"It seems a bit early to be worrying about it, don't you think?" She looked confused. "We've only been here for, what? Two days? Give it a few years, then see how you feel. You still have breaks to see what science has accomplished while you've been gone."
That perked her up a little bit, then slowly she smiled.
"You're right. I still need to gather more data before I can make a decision. Classes aren't until after lunch tomorrow, right? That means we can probably steal an hour or two poking through the shelves while everyone else is asleep."
He groaned playfully as she pulled the eagle knocker and waited for the riddle. That was assuming, perhaps prematurely, they were even able to get inside tonight.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you were able to get enough rest after your first astronomy session last night. I'll try not to take it personally if you aren't bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."
There was a ripple of laughter through the class as the professor stalled until the last of the Gryffindors trickled in.
"My name is Professor Quirinus Quirrell, and I will be teaching your Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year. Ideally next year as well, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. To everyone getting in late, consider today your only freebie. After this I expect you to have planned ahead for how your astronomy class will affect your sleep schedule, and to take the necessary precautions. You aren't children, and I won't treat you like it. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Thomas, that means you."
The two young men had been trying to slink in discreetly while Quirrell was talking, and apologized sheepishly as they took their seats. Their Defense professor looked like he would brook no argument. He wasn't a very tall man, but he had broad shoulders under his robes that hinted at surprising strength. His expression as determined, and he spoke with the confidence that only came with experience.
"As you all, or most, know there are creatures in the magical world that go bump in the night. Mundane society think them only folk tales and mythology. This is because it is our responsibility, as those with the power to combat these creatures, to keep safe those who cannot defend themselves. Vampires. Werewolves, when their curse is active. Boggarts. Dragons. Manticores. Dementors. So many incredibly dangerous creatures that, should they be public knowledge, would be hunted to extinction by non-magical society. They, we, are incredibly effective at killing things more dangerous than ourselves. We have done it before, and we will do it again."
Harry felt himself leaning forward, and even Hermione had stopped taking notes. A sure sign of how fixated she was.
"But in the last twenty-five years, over eighty percent of deaths in the non-magical world came from a single species. Can anyone tell me what species that is?"
Hermione's hand went up, naturally, and a few other Ravenclaws. Even a few Gryffindor hands went up as well.
"Mr. Weasley?"
"Slytherins!"
The class rippled again with laughter, even Quirrell seemed thrown off by the adamance of the statement and smiled.
"I'll try not to take offense at that, Mr. Weasley. I have quite a few friends who are Slytherins. But I can see why you would say that and you are partially correct. Two points to Gryffindor for participation, minus one point for house bigotry. Do try to contain that in the future."
Ron looked torn between feeling proud and embarrassed, and to just duck down in his seat a bit and turn red.
"Humans. Particularly, for us, those with the ability to use magic. They are the witch and wizard's most dangerous predator. We will delve into the details of a few prominent 'dark' creatures," Quirrell sneered as he said it. Clearly, he didn't like the term. "But this year I will be doing my best to teach all of my classes the best way to survive an encounter with a magical practitioner who wishes you harm. Welcome to Defense."
The rest of the class was used to go through the syllabus for the upcoming year. Quirrell wasn't kidding when he said he would be focusing on other magical practitioners. Not surprising, considering the relatively recent war for Magical Britain. In fact, the class was rather similar to what Harry had seen being taught at a martial arts academy he had been forced to sign up for alongside Dudley years ago. That had lasted precisely as long as it took for Dudley to learn that most of the class would be about running away before he whined about not getting to get to boot people in the head and quit.
The first few weeks would be identifying those who would mean you harm, how to lose and avoid them, then the lessons would turn to more proactive defense. The last three months of the year had a segment marked 'Dueling Club' that Harry was rather looking forward to it.
"Can you believe this workload Quirrell has planned for us? It's ridiculous! Dueling? Really? Hogwarts hasn't had a dueling class for Merlin knows how long. And now he just waltzes in and starts in during our OWL year? Ugh, what did we do to deserve this."
Harry tried to focus on the book in front of him. Hermione had, true to her word, loaned him the history books that mentioned him or his family, along with color-coordinated tabs marking the relevant passages. It was hard to read with a small group of older Ravenclaws complaining a few feet to the side.
"I don't know, I'm kind of looking forward to it. Well… as long as we don't get paired up with Marcus Flint. Did you see how much he was grinning when Quirrell announced the duels? I swear, he is just waiting for the chance to hurt someone."
"I guess that means we had better take the class seriously then, huh? I suppose, in a way, people like Flint are exactly what this class is about."
Harry closed the book and tucked it under one arm. The group had been going on about Defense now for a while, and they probably weren't going to wind down any time soon. Hermione, who had been lounging on the couch next to him and burning through a tome of some kind, looked up at him as he stood.
"Going somewhere?" Harry shrugged.
"Off to stretch my legs. Maybe explore the castle a bit. Care to join me? Curfew isn't for another few hours and other than the forest I think we're allowed to roam as we please."
Hermione chewed her lip, glancing between the book and the door leading out of Ravenclaw. Clearly the answer was no. Whatever she was reading must have been good.
"Enjoy your book, I'll be back before too long."
She looked halfway between relieved and guilty.
"Sorry. It's just, I'm trying to get ahead on Transfiguration tomorrow and this book is describing Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. See, apparently there are a few substances that can't be conjured out of thin air. One of them, food, can still be-…"
Harry held up his hands in faux-surrender and laughed.
"It's okay, do your reading. Once you have it figured out, give me the summary and I'll help you with your research. In the meantime, I'm going to get some fresh air. I think I'll be out by the lake if you need me."
The weather was still warm, even for the Scottish Highlands, so he left his outer cloak in favor of his lighter robes. The halls were mostly empty. A few students were wandering to or from the Great Hall for a late dinner, but classes were over for the day and most students had retired to their common rooms. It was the first time since arriving at Hogwarts that Harry had been alone and had time to think.
He wandered through the halls, unhurriedly, trending in what he hoped would take him to the main entrance and outside. Portraits, all moving to some degree, watched him wander with bored interest. The occasional suit of armor would salute him with their sword. He even saw a ghost cross the hallway in front of him, passing through two solid walls while doing so. There were so many bizarre things about Hogwarts he was still getting used to.
The lake itself was massive, with islands dotting the interior. Far too large to walk around, but it did have a few looping trails that Harry followed as he wandered. The air near Hogwarts was crisper than he would ever have imagined back in Surrey, and there was a strong breeze coming over the lake. The sounds of the castle seemed so far away, and it was easy to imagine one was completely isolated.
"So, you're the Harry Potter. You don't look like much."
The voice startled him. He had been so relaxed he must have missed the footsteps behind him. He turned to see the two twin women from Slytherin, the ones with the dead eyes, standing side by side and staring at him.
"Hard to believe someone like you was able to take down the Dark Lord."
They were older than he was, but it was impossible to tell by how much. It was clear that they were magically raised, though, and undoubtedly knew more magic than he did. Their hands were by their side, ready to draw their wands at a moment's notice. Harry took his hands from his pockets and glanced around for help, but they were alone.
"So they tell me. Though I couldn't tell you why a baby would have been able to kill him if Dumbledore wasn't. Are you, uh, fans of his?"
He winced at the stupidity of the question, but he was nervous and it was all that came to mind. They clearly didn't like him, though he hadn't done anything to them. Hell, he didn't even know their names.
"It made a lot of people very angry, you know." Said the sister on the left. "Surviving like you did. Killing the Dark Lord like you did. A lot of people."
"A lot of dangerous people. We would be careful, Potter, if we were you. Someone might do something…"
"Rash."
Before Harry could think of a response to that cryptic, and creepy, comment the two of them just turned and starting walking back to Hogwarts. Side by side, in perfect lockstep. He watched them go, making sure they wouldn't turn back to face him again, and only relaxed when they had reentered Hogwarts.
"What the fuck was that?"
Harry had ended his walk after that encounter, and met Hermione on the way back to Ravenclaw Tower.
"Harry! Are you okay?"
She was out of breath and had clearly been running.
"Yeah, I'm fine! I'm fine. What's wrong?"
Seeing him unhurt, she took a few steadying breaths, forcing herself to calm down. A bit of red stayed in her cheeks though, even after her breathing went back to normal and she coughed awkwardly.
"Well, I checked out the window looking toward the lake to see if I could see you, and saw those two women talking to you. I asked one of the upper classmen who they were, and they said their names were Flora and Hestia Carrow."
She clearly expected a reaction from him, but Harry had never heard the name before.
"They're related to Amycus and Alecto Carrow!" Still a blank stare. "They were Death Eaters! Followers of Voldemort? The man who killed your parents?"
There was a startled squawk and a clatter as another student jumped at the name and bumped into a suit of armor. The student left, hurriedly, leaving the suit of armor shaking a silent but angry fist at them as it picked up its helmet. Clearly people in Wizarding Britain were still nervous about the name.
"Yeah, I kind of figured they had some connection by their conversation. Have you ever seen Village of the Damned? Yeah, just like that. Turns out, I don't think they are fans of mine."
Hermione clearly didn't appreciate the humor of the situation.
"They could be dangerous, Harry. You should try to stay away from them in the future. Fortunately, they're a year ahead of us, so at least we don't share classes. But still."
She was actually worried about him. They had only met a few days ago, and she had run out to make sure he wasn't being axe-murdered by creepy twins from a murder family. It was sweet, really.
"Thanks, Hermione. I appreciate your help. I'll steer clear of them. Guess we'll need to take Quirrell's lessons more seriously that we thought, huh?"
She glared at him, but the expression softened as her worry drained away.
"Be careful, Harry. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you."
He cocked an eyebrow at that, and she turned away stammering. He fought down a laugh, and took pity on her.
"So, what did you find out about.. Gramp, was it?"
"Gamp! And listen to this…"
AN: "No review, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop, fanfiction author