Ah, the sacred writings of Algebra class (this particular chapter was written while ignoring a lecture on how to divide and multiply polynomial fractions, or something like that)... Chapter 7: "He Knows All"

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A knock sounded through the room, and no one was extremely surprised when Albus Dumbledore strode in authoritatively.

"Harry," he greeted before turning to Snape. "Severus? Do you have the requested package? I need to take care of it."

Severus stood and began searching through the folds of his robe. "Here, Headmaster." He handed the package he had picked up at Gringotts to Albus.

Harry watched the old men's exchange silently. Vitesse was curled on the Invisibility Cloak, but Dumbledore didn't appear to care. Of course, if he knew Harry had the snake, he probably knew Harry could speak to it, which was a bit disturbing to the boy.

"Getting work done, Severus?"

"Yes, finally."

"Procrastinator."

Severus sighed. "Yes, Headmaster." He leaned back over his work, apparently lost in thought.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "I see you got your package," he said, smiling at the Cobra that was currently located on top of Dumbledore's gift to Harry on the child's lap.

"The old man," Vitesse hissed. "He knows of you."

"He knows everything, apparently."

"He can understand. He cannot speak, but he definitely understands. I can feel it!"

Harry looked up at the smiling, twinkly-eyed Dumbledore. He wouldn't be surprised if Vitesse was right. It was possible, sure. The man did seem to know everything.

He pet Vitesse thoughtfully under Dumbledore's stare, blue and warm.

"One week until start-of-term, Harry. Then you will be placed-"

"In a house, one of four: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff, with the other first-years. Then we will be showed a common room, where we will live all of term, along with the other members of our house."

"Dumbledore twinkled at him some more. "You've done your reading, I see," he said, noting the book on the table in front of Harry.

Harry nodded his head, careful not to move abruptly, avoiding by all costs disturbing a Cobra.

"Well, then. Dinner will be served in the Great Hall, Severus, I want you to attend. And Harry, my office. You'll need your cloak on, now, and Vitesse will need to be taken care of. We need to show you the Owlery, where Hedwig will be brought, and my office."

Harry hadn't expected that. And, more obviously, neither had Severus a few feet away.

"What?"

"You heard me, Harry. Let us go. We have business to attend to, conversations to have, Professors to see. And an owl to care for." He looked at Harry, without a twinkle, this time. "Hurry, now. Important business.  Accio Hedwig!" Screeching, the owl and its cage flew to the Headmaster. Without a word, Harry slipped Vitesse back into his robe, nodded to Severus, slid into the Invisibility Cloak, and followed Dumbledore out the door.

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"We need to talk, Harry," Dumbledore announced as they walked down the hall. Harry snorted.

"I gathered that much."

Dumbledore ignored him. "About Vitesse, your speak, and where we left off this morning."

Hedwig screeched from her cage in his hand when a Professor appeared around a corner.

She had her gray hair pulled back in a tight bun, very professional looking, and was wearing flowing red robes. Glasses sat low on her nose, below her piercing eyes. She smiled a tight smile and asked, "Talking to yourself, Albus?"

Harry recognized her from the updated version of 'Hogwarts, A History' as the current Gryffindor Head of House, nemesis to his current guardian, Severus Snape, who was the Slytherin Head of House. The lady was also the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.

"Yes, yes, Minerva," he twinkled. "Very decent conversation, also, if I do say so myself. But alas, I must bring this owl to the owlery with her other feathered friends."

Minerva nodded. "Very well. I'll be seeing you, Albus."

The Headmaster gave a kind reply and continued down the hall and up a flight or two of stairs. They ended up in what Harry figured was one of the turrets of the castle, judging by the view he got by looking through the glass wall of the owlery.

"Wow," he whispered to himself, looking over the Hogwarts grounds. In the distance was a cottage, where a giant of a man cared for a vicious-looking dog. In the other direction was a large field, with six large gold hoops set on poles; three perched at each end of the field, with the middle one on each side being the highest. It appeared to be a stadium, of sorts, with bleachers and seats surrounding the field. A glass box, like seen at most large Muggle stadium sat above the bleachers on the far side. There was a lake somewhere between the pitch and the cottage, with some creature with large tentacles slapping the water.

Behind him, Dumbledore freed the owl, and she flew up onto one of the perches. Dumbledore strode over to where Harry was standing, following his eyes to the field.

"That is the Quidditch pitch, Harry. Quidditch is a wizard's sport. A good book you might find on it is 'Quidditch Through the Ages,' which Severus probably has in his library."

Harry nodded, staring at the pitch. Turning to look back at the rather large man, he asked, "And who is that?"

"That is Hagrid. He's the groundskeeper her at Hogwarts. Also does personal errands for me occasionally. A good man, Hagrid is."

"What is that?" Harry said, pointing at the flapping tentacles.

Dumbledore smiled. "The giant squid. He's very fun to tickle. You'll meet him some other time."

Harry looked over the grounds one more time before they left, heading for Dumbledore's office.

The trip was not long, though very confusing for Harry. Every corridor and every stairway looked the same, making it especially confusing when the stairs moved. That particularly surprised Harry, causing Dumbledore to twinkle happily.

"Don't worry, child. It becomes easier to navigate after a little while here." They walked a little farther down the hall, stopping in front of a familiar gargoyle. "Here we are. Lemon drop!"

The gargoyle jumped away and a stairwell appeared, winding up to a door, and behind it, the Headmaster's office.

Harry recognized the office from his first visit. Fawkes the phoenix sat on his customary perch, and everything looked the way it did when he left.

"Have a seat, Harry," Dumbledore offered, waving a hand at a chair in front of his desk. Sitting across from Harry, he offered, "Lemon drop, child?"

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Author's Note: Alright, I know it's short, but some of these things needed saying. Not much action here, and this is more like a filler-chapter than much else. A major discussion coming up though! Next chapter: "Dinner With Dumbledore!"

Reviews as of now:

starangel2106: 35 points out of how many total? should I be proud? I think I'll just be happy for myself here. Thanks! And here's some more.

Molly Morrison: I'm afraid I don't know who you mean by Mary Sue... even though I think I just made myself look like an idiot... which may or may not be true, truth be told. She does have an unusual name, but it's my favorite name as well (does that say something about me?). It will be explained later, but Voldemort got a daughter by raping Vanella Incendie's mother. Speaking Parseltongue may or may not work against her in the end... I actually think it might make this somewhat interesting... especially since Harry knows... : )

End of Reviews, and my appearingly ceaseless rambling.