Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter.

Chapter 15

Brilliant shafts of golden sunshine effortlessly penetrated through the few wispy clouds in the sky, caressing a carpet of red and gold that surrounded an edifice which thrummed with unseen and seemingly sentient power. The azure sea overhead showed no signs of rain.

It was the perfect weather for Quidditch.

Sirius however, thoroughly disagreed.

"James, mate," he whined as he fell to his knees, hands clasped in a begging action as a giggling audience looked upon the entertaining spectacle, "Can't you play Quidditch some other day?"

Sirius Black, scion of the esteemed and politically feared house of Black, looked quite the curious sight. His angles on his pale face seemed to be cut perfectly as silky black locks that put most of the school's girl population to shame fell past his ears and stopped at his shoulders. His grey eyes weren't monochrome or boring, but bright and metallic, rivaling the most excellently polished suit of armor.

Truly, he was the heart-throb of the school.

"No can do, my dear chap," James replied, his hazel eyes glowing with adoration at his shiny new broom, the Comet Two Sixty, a recent and slightly humiliating gift from his dear mother as a present for not pranking the school on his first day back at Hogwarts.

"Look at this broom, Sirius," he motioned as he waved the handle of the flying apparatus in front of Sirius' face in a hypnotic manner, "Today's the day I test this baby out," he continued in a croon, stroking the brown oak lovingly.

Sirius was having none of it.

"James, my only love, why are you forsaking me in my time of need," he cried dramatically as he clasped onto James' leg in a total lack of shame, causing some of the more scandalous onlookers to immediately blush and fantasize about the most salacious of scenarios.

The gaggle of spectators that stopped by to witness the event was then slightly displaced as an older individual shoved her way through the throng.

"MR BLACK! MR POTTER! What in Merlin's name are the both of you doing," Professor McGonagall exclaimed incredulously as she finally pushed through, gazing upon the pleading face of a sixteen-year-old Sirius as he was ignominiously dragged along by one James Potter.

"Professor, can you please get him off my leg," James grunted as he continued to sluggishly walk towards the Quidditch pitch with one leg significantly heavier than the other, ignoring everything but the forward movement.

Seeing an almost mad light appear in Professor McGonagall's eye as she drew her wand, Sirius gave a frantic yelp and let go immediately, jumping to his feet with as much haste as possible, causing Peter to let out a squeak of surprise.

Almost in a disappointed manner, she tucked her wand back into her robes and looked around at the loitering mass of wizards and witches, staring at them disapproving until they muttered quick apologies and dispersed quickly.

She turned back to the roguish culprits and pursed her lips. As always in her methods of teenage interrogation for this particular quartet, she turned to the most reliable source.

"Mr Lupin, would you kindly enlighten me as to why your housemates were blocking the entrance and causing a ruckus on this fine Saturday morning?" she asked sternly.

Remus carefully put away a book that currently holding into his robes and suddenly flashed a brilliant smile at her, a full smile that was filled with animated life and mischief.

"Professor," he almost sang in response, "James was just going to practice with his new broom in preparation for the upcoming Quidditch match with Slytherin."

His eyes then turned large and beseeching as he clasped his hands, "Surely, you wouldn't want Gryffindor to lose its first match of the year," he implored, his voice full of suppressed laughter.

Receiving neither answer nor comment from anyone after a moment, he realized that he was met with complete silence. His smile slowly turned into a confused frown as he brought his hands down.

"What?"

Professor McGonagall was the first to recover from the stupor, closing her open mouth shut with an audible click as she wiped the expression of stunned surprise off her face.

"Mr Lupin, are you feeling alright?" she delicately asked after a slight pause, the unexpected burst of alacrity catching her off guard.

Remus's frown deepened as he processed the seemingly bizarre scenario he was in, first looking over his body to check for abnormalities, and then looking around in a quizzical manner at the slack-jawed people around him.

"Professor… is something wrong?" he helplessly asked, feeling quite small all of a sudden.

"Remus, you aren't… well…" James began carefully, his hands waving in the air as he struggled to find the right words.

He never got to finish his sentence.

"You're never this cheerful, what up with that," Sirius blurted out, cutting off the young Potter and causing the other members in the conversation to automatically cringe from the lack of sensitivity.

Tact was clearly one of Sirius's weaker attributes.

Professor McGonagall put a palm to her face wearily, "In the name of Merlin, why am I the only one in this castle who is dealing with this ragamuffin," she muttered to herself in resignation

Remus gave a start of surprise and looked downwards at his thin hands in wonder.

"Does it seem that way?" he murmured under his breath, a slow smile spreading over his gaunt features. He looked back up to the expectant faces of four people, Professor included, he truly thought of as family, willing to accept him for what he was without prejudice.

Him, the contaminator of delight.

Him, the harbinger of misery.

Him… the accursed werewolf.

Him.

"I-I just feel… lighter," he finally let out in a soft voice after sorting out his thoughts, "I can't describe it."

A thick silence hung in place as they digested his ambiguous words. He then spied someone advancing onto him out of the corner of his eye.

"Not physically, Sirius," he continued with a louder voice in annoyance, his glare turning away an impertinent Sirius, one with mischief in his eyes that attempted to pick him up.

Sirius laughed gaily as he shrugged off the comment and slung his arm around Remus's shoulder in a relaxed fashion.

"Well, whatever it is mate; you're better this way," he chuckled as he poked his close friend's shoulder for emphasis.

A physical shockwave resonated through Remus's body as he trembled slightly with some unknown emotion from the genuine statement. The floodgates of his tired heart slowly grinded opened, rust stripping itself of the entrance as the path opened just an inch wide.

"Thanks, Padfoot," he said quietly, his eyes bright and mysteriously shining as the warm morning sun caused speckles of light to reflect off the glimmering orbs.

James then gave a loud hum after a moment, breaking the somber silence as he scanned the horizon with a hand to his forehead in a mock-survey.

"Say, Peter... I don't think the weather is actually that ideal for Quidditch," he observed with a serious face as he put both hands on his hips with in akimbo, turning towards the short figure beside him.

Peter nodded vigorously in return, "I've also heard that the house-elves in the kitchen have around three whole barrels of leftover potted shrimp," he chimed in strongly, some of his intrinsic squeakiness absent from his voice.

Ever since James had changed at the beginning of the semester, Peter had in turn tried his hardest to change as well.

Sirius widened his eyes, "James, didn't you say you were really looking forward to-"

Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes in exasperation at the hopeless guttersnipe and swatted his shoulder, causing him to detach from Remus with a yelp, "Be quiet, Mr Black," she chided.

"Now you lot run along please… unless you would like some detention for annoying your favorite Professor that is," she then informed with mock-sweetness.

Sirius gave her a roguish grin, "You know it Minnie, and you're as beautiful as ever too," he proclaimed with a cheeky wink.

Professor McGonagall did a double take in as she processed the audacious statement. "Why I-I ought to-to…" she spluttered, her face turning slightly red.

"Uh-oh, time to go," James muttered as he began to move, grabbing Peter's arm as he motioned to Sirius and Remus, recognizing the signs of danger from the aforementioned Professor.

Before she could realize it, they were off like the wind, running down the long bridge back to the castle, leaving only dust in their wake.

As they ran away, they heard a faint yell, "Also, the entrance to the school kitchens is a secret. How did you…" and the rest were lost in the wind.

The sun seemed to shine brighter with every passing second.

"Sirius," Remus yelled as they were still running, "Why did you need James's help just now anyway?"

"Does it matter?" Sirius shouted back as he laughed in a carefree manner, his exuberance infectiously spreading to all of them.

As they whirled back down to the castle in unfeigned laughter, dodging annoyed students while they were at it, only then did they realize that it wasn't just Remus who felt a light heart and soul. It was all of them.

Little did they know that they were sworn brothers, bound not in blood – but in spirit. A nigh unbreakable bond they will soon come to learn will never break or weaken, even through the toughest of times and the hardest of trials.

The bond of family.


Ariana's nose was itching.

Don't scratch it.

Now her nose was really itching.

She was in absolute stillness, every muscle and fiber in her body pulled taut. She was even afraid to blink as she held her breath, her last reserve of air fueling her as efficiency as possible as her body recognized that no more was entering her lungs. It was eerie sort of tranquillity, as if the world were encased in a cocoon, a bubble, and with no way out.

She strained her ears as she dared to move her head slightly to the side. Hearing the pitter-patter of footsteps gradually disappear around the corner, life was once again restored as she sucked in cool air back into her body in big gulps, her rapidly beating heart finally slowing down. She almost let out a moan of pleasure as she scratched her nose in relief.

Today, she was stalking her mother.

Ariana peered around the corner as she watched Lily and another familiar looking girl enter the Hogwarts Library, both of them carrying magically expanded bags.

"Amazing; I can sense the magic on the bags even from all the way here," she muttered to herself as she crept up the entrance of the Library, her consistent trips to the Room of Requirement had been slowly but surely strengthening her ability to see magic, among other… abilities.

Her eyes roved over the occupants in the Library as she peeked in, and after assuring herself that the coast was clear, slowly tip-toed in with as much stealth as possible.

Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outwards greeted her, and those were in turn were in rows of neatly lined up bookshelves. Wooden tables and benches were interspersed throughout the Library, nestling in-between bookshelves and giving the room purpose.

She spied a mass of fiery hair just slip around a corner at the far side of the room and duly made her way it, attracted to the moving sea of red like how a moth was inexorably drawn to flame.

After she sneakily positioned herself on the other side of the bookshelf where her targets were situated, she quickly grabbed a random book from one of the shelves and quickly opened it up, not caring what page she was on as she buried her face in it.

As the older girls excitedly chatted away about everything and anything, Ariana gave a sigh of happiness and closed her eyes as she propped the book against her face, content with just listening to the soothing voice of her mother, the mellifluous highs and lows lulling her into a state of serenity.

Lily Evans on the other hand, was far from such a peaceful state at this specific point in time.

"Alice, are you even listening?" Lily reprimanded as she lightly whacked her friend on the head with rolled up parchment, halfway through a particularly onerous journal that lengthily described the twelve uses of dragon blood.

Alice rolled her eyes as she swatted the offending article away from her head, "Lily, you're my favorite person in the whole world, but why are we studying this hard on the second week back at Hogwarts?" she whined, clearly wanting no part in this.

She had soft features all round, from her facial structure right down to her curls of her short blonde hair. She groaned out loud when she saw Lily's face morph into something that Hermione would sometimes adorn, much to the amusement of a spying first-year.

"For our upcoming NEWTs of course," Lily answered, looking at Alice incredulously as if she had grown a pair of Hippogriff wings, "If I recall correctly, you mentioned many times to me that you wanted to become an Auror."

"Stop it Lils, you're starting to sound like Professor McGonagall," Alice moaned, and then widened her eyes in shock as she realized what Lily had just said, "Wait… the NEWTs are in the seventh year, w-we're only in our sixth!' she spluttered, aghast as her brain finally put two and two together.

"Exactly," Lily grinned evilly, her eyes alight with the burning desire for knowledge.

Alice opened her mouth to refute the smartest girl in her year, but knew that whatever she said would only backfire horribly against her, so she closed it with a snap and simply rubbed her temples instead. She came to a decision after a brief moment of intense thought, weighing the pros and cons in her mind.

"Fine, let's study then," Alice heavily sighed as she finally acquiesced, reluctantly bringing out her own parchment and quills from her bag onto the wooden table, causing Lily's face to light up with satisfaction at the decision.

"You're crazy, you do know that right?" Alice continued wearily as she used her wand to summon a couple of thick and dusty tomes onto the table.

"Yup, but you love me anyway," Lily teased, smirking in victory at her best friend as they begun setting out a draft of what they would study first, jotting down topics in a sequential order that closely followed the sixth and seventh-year syllabus.

Lily could have sworn she heard the faint sound of giggling behind her. Turning around in curiosity, she spied someone through a gap in the books, probably a first or second-year judging from the height, whose face was hidden by a book, titled "The Animagus Process and its Physical Applications".

Her brief distraction was cut short by the sound of a disgruntled cough behind her.

"Excuse me young ladies, if you can't contain your volume then you shall have to leave," came an irritated and nasally voice, belonging to the aged librarian, a bibliophile who enjoyed nothing more than some but peace and quiet.

They both hastily apologised to the decrepit old lady, temporarily forgetting that they were in a library and lowered their tone forthwith, now properly focused and ready to learn.

An hour quickly elapsed as the lazy Saturday morning finally picked up pace, the sun rising higher into the pale blue sky with each passing moment, the propitious weather welcomed by most of the populous in the enormous castle.

Alice had hit a brick wall and had been stuck on a particular train of thought for quite some time. Still puzzled, even after she tried to approach the problem from numerous angles, she decided to consult the knowledgeable girl beside her.

She softly nudged Lily, causing the red-headed girl to jump slightly as her concentration on the book in front of her was broken, "Lils, why are there different types of Animagus forms within the same animal species?" she asked in a quiet whisper.

Lily's brow furrowed in confusion at the wording of the question, "What do you mean?" she whispered back.

"Well, let say if two Animagi could transform into a hyena, what are the factors that will separate their physical appearance? For example, one could be spotted while the other could be striped," Alice clarified, her voice now in an undertone.

Lily scrunched her face up in silent thought as she thought hard about the intriguing question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't research into that section hard enough when I was going over it," she confessed with an apology after a brief moment, slightly disappointed at own herself for not knowing.

Her eyes brightened as she remembered something. She cupped a hand over her mouth and leaned over to Alice.

"The person on the other side of the bookshelf behind us was reading the exact book we need. Hopefully he or she still has it," she murmured softly.

Relief flooded Alice's eyes as she nodded in thanks and got up, desperate to find the answer to a question that had been plaguing her for quite some time.

Ariana on the other hand, had all but forgotten that she was currently stalking someone and had instantly fell in love with the book that she had randomly chosen, an especially challenging and stimulating read on how one transformed into an animal through the sheer power of will, and magic of course.

As she was devouring the fascinating contents on how magic morphed physical organisms, she couldn't help but feel that she was being watched, maybe not her, but perhaps someone nearby. Irrationally, she dismissed those feelings as she refocused back onto her readings.

On the cusp of reaching the last chapter in the colossal six-hundred-page book in merely an hour, she saw movement out the corner of her eyes and suddenly froze in terror as the gentle face of Lily's study partner met hers.

Curiosity, as always, overtook her fear temporarily, as she quickly gave the new arrival a once over with her eyes, feeling an all-familiar tug at her heart as she analysed her. All sounds were dulled as her mind raced with terrifying speed and came to a conclusion, realizing with a jolt that this particular girl was someone who mattered to her.

Alice Longbottom. She thought with wide eyes.

I've only ever seen her once before at St. Mungo's, with her eyes vacant, her voice feeble, and her mind… broken.

In contrast, Alice's eyes were currently bright, her voice strong, and her mind bursting with potential, ready to take the world on with all her might.

It was then, when something finally clicked in Ariana's mind, after the long period of time where she was trying her utmost to sort out what role should she play in this new world of hers.

She realized that, on the contrary, there was no role to play, because this was not a tale where her ending had been foretold in the stars, this was not a story where her tale had been intricately carved in stone, or even where her choices were lovingly woven in tapestry.

She thought back to her old life, where she recalled Mad-Eye Moody telling her about all the unspeakable horrors and loss of life in the First Wizarding War. If she continued her role as a player in the shadows, like a fool, hoping for history to repeat itself, she would be condemning good men and women to their deaths, as they fought teeth and nail for a cause… that amounted to nothing.

She took a deep breath, her heart, mind, soul and magic humming as they came to a unifying consensus. She suddenly felt the pervading fog that had been clouding all her senses since the very first day she came here, vanish into nothingness, as if her body has sudden been freed from constricting shackles that had weighed down on every thought and action.

She felt indescribably unburdened as the mist on her eyes cleared, as if she could take the whole world, and take it once again. Her gaze settled on the young and innocent face of the sixth-year in front of her, a face that was would one day make her own unique mark on this ever-changing world.

There was too much suffering in the past.

This all changes…

now.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she suddenly burst out with a stunning smile, her already bright green eyes glowing brighter, her pale skin flushed with colour, and her onyx hair dancing and curling around her face from a gentle breeze that only seemed to affect her.

The entire thought process took only a couple of seconds, but to her it seemed like hours.

Alice raised an eyebrow in amusement at the chipper voice, resisting a very powerful urge to whisk away the pretty young girl in front of her and dress her up with a million different dresses.

"Hi there, I'm Alice, and I was wondering if I could borrow your book for a brief moment to check something," she requested as she briefly introduced herself with a very maternal look on her face.

While she was talking, Ariana shook her robe and grasped her wand as it fell onto her palm from her sleeve, quietly casting a soft Muffliato under her breath to ensure their conversation didn't reach the ears of anyone, with the librarian mainly in mind.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Ariana," she politely reciprocated, pushing her wand back stealthily up the folds of her robe after she was done with it.

"This question of yours, could I know what it is?" she continued with enthusiasm, "I've almost read the entire book, and could surely help you in one way or another."

Alice nodded in simple agreement and repeated what she had previously said to Lily.

Ariana tapped her chin with a slender finger as she donned a serious face, chewing her lip as she thought hard about the question.

"Well, the standard thinking is that characteristics in the human form are passed onto the their animal counterparts as physical features," she began slowly, "However, I think that visual variations like aposematic colouration, countershading and such, stem from an increased level of magic," she continued, her articulate diction and expansive lexicon astonishing the sixth-year.

Her eyes lit up as she ploughed onwards, "Viviparous animals also seem to differ from oviparous ones, from my own inference of course. For example, if you were to transform in a banded krait, the markings are-"

Alice suddenly held up her hands, cutting Ariana off as she finally knew what was wrong with the situation.

"Hold on, this is sixth-year material… you're only a first-year," she interrupted with a gasp, her eyes almost popping out of her head, the little curls of her blonde hair bouncing in place as she recognised what year Ariana was in from her red robes.

"…yes?" Ariana replied in slight confusion, her head tilting at the currently flummoxed witch, so heavily invested into explaining her profusion of thoughts that she forgot that she was mentally years ahead for her age.

Alice put her hands the sides of her head in disbelief from the reaction and swayed on the spot, "Great, another genius in Gryffindor that will make me look like I don't know anything," she whined, her transparent jesting causing the younger girl to giggle at the display.

A new voice suddenly joined in the conversation, causing Ariana to automatically sit upright in a grip of silent panic, her heart racing as her pupils dilated.

"Alice, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" Lily grumbled, massaging her ears gently as she rounded the corner, "There is this constant buzzing in my ears."

As she approached the table, the pained look on her face disappeared and she hesitatingly lowered her hands, "Hold that thought – the buzzing is gone," she continued quizzically, forgoing even an introduction as she looked around for an answer.

Ariana took an audible gulp as she mentally slapped herself.

Okay, is there a particular reason why you are terrified of talking to Lily? She questioned herself, unable to pin-point why she was constantly feeling like this around her mother.

Insidious thoughts that didn't seem to be hers rose to the forefront of her mind, darkening her mood as they spread their poison.

Are you afraid that she won't love you? Are you afraid that she won't act how James does? Are you-

The voices abruptly vanished, her face sliding into an emotionless mask as her meagre training in Occlumency was sufficient enough to wipe away all traces of the whispering voices.

Pulling out her wand discreetly once more, she murmured the counter-charm to the silencing spell that caused a buzzing in the ears of anyone nearby, causing strands of green magic that hung in the air, which she was sure, only she could see, to fade away into nothingness.

Alice looked around the area in uncertainty before looking at Lily.

"No clue what you are talking about Lily," she said in a worried voice, hoping that her friend hadn't come down with some sort of illness, "We've been perfectly fine… isn't that right Ariana?" she added as she turned her head towards the first-year in affirmation.

Lily's face snapped upwards as Alice reminded her that they weren't alone, her eyes narrowing in thought as she took in the new girl's appearance.

Lily Evans had a kind of understated beauty, perhaps because it was it was easily overlooked, as she wasn't covered in excessive makeup or adorned with jewelleries and trinkets. She was all about simplicity, the inner beauty that lit in her eyes and softened her features. When she smiled and laughed, one couldn't help but smile along too, even if it was just on the inside.

"Your eyes," Lily breathed in astonishment as she gazed upon them, her own sea green eyes meeting electrifying eyes of the same color, causing her to tingle from the unusual intensity of the gaze.

As they gazed into each other eyes, true to what the voices had just foretold, Ariana saw no love in her mother's eyes, only polite curiosity… and nothing else. She struggled to contain her emotions as she gripped tightly on her chair.

Of course she's acting like that you fool, she only just met you. She thought to herself tensely, the obvious justification calming her down somewhat.

She knew she was being foolish and selfish at the moment, but she couldn't help herself — she was only human.

She forced a smile onto her face as she stood up, "I'm Ariana Peverell," she simply introduced herself, thrusting out a hand.

"Lily Evans, nice to meet you," Lily responded as she amiably reached for her hand.

Time seemed to come to a complete stop when their hands touched, each girl gasping as they felt an explosion of magic deep within their hearts, the souls crying out and harmonizing as one. As their hands separated from the shock, both of their fingers inexplicably tried to grasp for the each other's, each one hoping for just one more second of contact.

It seemed that space and time in all their physical and temporal might, could not sever the bond between mother and child.

Ariana stumbled slightly as she felt tears prickle the corner of her eyes, a flashback of a memory fully occupying her vision, the Library all but absent from her sight.

Lily was tendering looking down at him at the train station, their hands interlocked in an unbreakable clasp.

"We will meet again soon enough, you'll see. We will always love you, remember that Harry."

For all her bravado and newfound courage she displayed, Ariana had finally reached her limit.

Clutching her wrist in pain as her silver bracelet seemed to set her arm on fire, she simply ran, ignoring the cries of the older girls and the librarian as she flew out of the library and through the castle, randomly stumbling into an empty classroom after a while and locking the door behind her. She fell to the floor, sobbing her heart out in happiness – or sadness – she could not tell.

It was a while before her shoulders stopped shaking and her small form stopped quivering.

"You were right all along, Mum," she whispered in a quavering voice, sniffling as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

Drying the last few droplets of water from her reddened face with her hands, she brought her strangely numb wrist up to her face, meaning to heal the burn from her life-saving bracelet.

"What in the-" she blurted out incredulously, starting in surprise as she saw only clean pale skin, as if there was no previous damage at all.

This is the second time now my wrist has healed on its own… what is happening to me?

She let out a watery chuckle as she let her arm flop tiredly back onto the floor with a muted clink, her lustrous hair sprawled in every direction on the cold stone.

Honestly, I don't even care anymore.

Giving a large sigh as she felt her muscles all burned out in more ways than one; she collected herself up off the floor and began smoothing out her robes. However, the persistent wrinkles and creases created from her outburst were almost impossible to straighten by hand and forced her to give up, opting out from the orderly look she always tried to display.

Her eyes then hardened slightly, and then softened slightly, as she thought about her next move.

I think it's time to properly meet the Marauders.

Nodding to herself with renewed energy, she looked around the empty classroom one more time just to be sure that she was indeed alone, and then turned towards the door, turning a large lock that held the door in place.

Opening the door, instead of the normal white light from the sun greeting her, an inky blackness instead suddenly covered her vision, causing her to scream in surprise.

Her cries were cut short as her voice was muted with a spell. She was roughly pushed back in, hearing another person enter the classroom as well and lock the door behind him or her.

"That spell that you cast in the Library," a low and dangerous voice immediately growled in her ear, "Where did you learn of it?" it continued as it released the spell that bound her throat, waiting for a reply.

Although the voice was magically distorted, it was obvious that it belonged to a male. She stopped floundering and stood completely still in concentration, not in the least intimidated from her current the lack of sight.

She focused intensely and then gasped in wonder as she suddenly saw the world through a black veil instead of the total darkness, her own magic untangling the invisible strands of magic around her eyes.

She could feel the other person recoil in shock as she stared straight into his shadowy face, her vision able to understand, extrapolate, and interpolate the magic that sought obscure her vision in her eye sockets. Unfortunately, she could not discern the details of her attacker, only that he was tall and had sharp cheekbones.

"It is a spell that I recently learned on my own," she calmly replied in honesty, looking away from his face as she looked around in wonder at the classroom with her new eyesight.

The figure seemed unnerved at her composure and writhed with anger at the response.

"Liar," it spat, the voice that was full of venom sounding oddly familiar.

Only then did Ariana recall when she had learned that particular spell. It was written in a book that she was deeply invested in before she died; a simple Potions book on that only had one sentence that really stuck out in her mind.

This Book is the Property of…

She widened her eyes in shock as she whirled around to face her interrogator, her mind finally connecting and unifying the voice and familiar facial structure to a person she was extremely familiar with.

the Half-Blood Prince.