I own nothing, J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far too creative for me to just make up! Don't say I didn't warn you alright!

This will be the last chapter I post before I go home for Xmas. I won't be back until January 14, and as I haven't seen my friends for a year, I daresay I'll be rather busy for those three weeks. Just thought I'd let you know, I haven't abandoned my story just as it's getting interesting, I just might not have access to it for a while.

Merry Xmas to you all, and I hope you have a great new year as well!

Chapter 16 – A Matter Of Trust

Harry and Hermione were standing at their table in potions finishing off their batch of Veritaserum and its antidote.

"Right, now all of you should have something that resembles a clear liquid."

He glared at Harry before continuing, "those of you who have managed to make this potion correctly, will be able to tell once you give it to your partner. Those of you who haven't…"

He glanced at Harry, who swore he saw Snape smile. But before Harry could think more on the matter, Snape continued talking "will find the potion quite useless. You may begin whenever you like."

Harry looked at Hermione and asked her if she wanted him to take the potion. She agreed, so Harry picked up a spoonful, and gulped it down. He immediately felt drowsy, but didn't feel like going to sleep. He could vaguely hear Hermione asking her questions, but she sounded much further away than she actually was.

"What's your favourite colour?"

Harry found himself answering without thinking.

"Maroon"

"What's your favourite subject?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Harry was quite shocked at the power this potion had over him.

A few minutes later, Harry had taken the antidote, and it was Hermione's turn for the potion. Harry then asked a few innocent questions,

"What's your favourite book?"

"'The Lord of the Rings', by J. R. R. Tolkien."

Harry blinked. He'd been expecting her to say 'Hogwarts: A History'.

"Er, who's your favourite teacher?"

"Professor Lockhart."

Harry stifled a laugh. He was kind of expecting that, but it was still hilarious. Hermione then swallowed the antidote, and looked at Harry horrified.

"Don't worry Hermione, I'm not telling anyone. It's all about trust, besides we didn't ask anything overly personal."

Hermione agreed, albeit a little reluctantly, and the two of them shifted their focus back to the lesson.

Snape asked them to cork their samples of both potions and to bring them forward. Harry remembered what Snape had done to some of his potions last year, and quickly put an unbreakable charm on them. He then kept two vials of Veritaserum and its antidote (four vials in total) in case Snape decided to vanish his samples again.

Harry made his way to his Defence Professor's office after dinner. He, Ron and Hermione had finished talking about their respective days, but Harry kept his word and didn't tell Ron what Hermione had said when under Veritaserum. Ron and Hermione then left to start on their Charms homework, while Harry went to meet Trent.

Trent was waiting for Harry and ushered him inside. Once Harry was seated, he was able to have a look around Trent's office. He spotted the picture of the werewolf in the process of its transformation. He also recognised pictures of a Grindylow and a Kappa, before spotting something he'd never seen before.

"Pr…Trent, what's the picture next to the Grindylow?"

Trent looked to where Harry was pointing and smiled.

"That, Harry, is a Bunyip. It's an Australian dark creature. You won't learn about it, because they're extinct. The last known capture of one was 1843, and no one has seen any since. They're highly intelligent, and have a fantastic sense of smell. But enough of that, what brings you to my office? I'm dying to know why you wanted to meet with me so urgently."

Harry smiled sheepishly, "it's not that urgent. I was just hoping you'd help me learn more about sensing other people's auras, that's all"

"No"

"No? What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. No. I'm not going to teach you more about it."

"Why not?" Harry asked, starting to get a little frustrated by Trent's refusal.

"You just asked that."

"Yeah, and you didn't give me a reason. You just said you wouldn't."

Trent stood up, and turned his back on him. Harry was getting annoyed at being ignored, but before he could say anything, Trent turned around.

"Fine, you want my reason? You want to know why I'm not going to help you with this? You think I don't want to help you?"

Harry nodded. Trent sighed before continuing, "Harry, look. I'm not going to help you because frankly, I don't trust you."

Harry looked incredulously before spluttering "what…you don't trust me! After everything you told me about your past, all you can say is you don't trust me! This is about what happened in Duelling class, isn't it!"

Trent closed his eyes and when he opened them, Harry could feel those hazel eyes boring into his own.

"Partly. It's not that I don't trust you Harry, I don't trust your judgement. I can't tell you exactly how to detect other people's aura, or how to figure out whose aura belongs to whom. I can only sense those people who have particularly strong auras and who I know. Having said that, I could tell you exactly where my esteemed brother is hiding right this very second."

Harry looked stunned, and Trent continued "I hope you never find out how to do this, Harry. Or at the very least, not for a long while. You have been known for acting on impulse before, and I'm scared for you."

"You've told me that before. You're not still talking about me becoming the next Voldemort, are you?"

"No, but you do always seem to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You seem to believe that you're responsible for everything Voldemort does. I'm afraid of what will happen if you actually do figure out how to sense Voldemort's aura. That you'd go after him without a moments hesitation."

Harry just looked at Trent for a while before admitting defeat.

"You're right. As much as I want to argue, I can't. Because deep down, I know you're right."

Trent looked relieved before saying "you've grown up, Harry. I know you're probably sick of people telling you how much you look like James, but I see more of Lily in you."

Harry looked up. "What? No one's told me that before."

Trent smiled "while it's true you look like James, you act a lot like Lily. She was compassionate, kind to her friends, and also had a lightening quick temper. Or so your father and his friends told me."

Harry grimaced as he was reminded of how he acted at times last year.

"You aren't really into pranks like James was. And when you put your mind to something, you won't stop until you've mastered it. Remus said Lily was like that."

"I wish you'd tell Snape. He's always going on about how I'm exactly like my Dad."

"Try not to worry about him too much, Harry. Severus knows how to hold a grudge, and nothing will change his mind."

"But he was actually nice to me when he picked me up from the Dursley's in the summer. I thought he must've hit his head or something."

Trent chuckled "Severus may act like a…well like he does, but most of it's an act. It's true that he doesn't like you very much because you're James' son. But remember, he's a spy. He's had years of practice and knows how to act in certain situations. What do you think Voldemort would do if Severus started being nice to you all the time? He has to keep up appearances."

"I never thought of it like that. If he's acting, then he's really good at it."

"I did say he's had years of practice didn't I? Anyway, what did you really come to me for? I daresay it wasn't just to have a chat about sensing energy, was it?"

Harry looked a little sheepish before replying,

"Well, most of it was, but I do have a couple other questions. Is it possible to change your magical signature, so people can't recognise you? And my other question is when do you have time to teach me about how the house elves apparate around Hogwarts?"

Trent frowned at Harry, but Harry knew he was just thinking about what to say.

"I'm not sure, Harry. No one's ever had any reason to change their magical signature before. I really have no idea, there might be, but it'd most likely be a really old spell that hasn't been used in centuries. As for learning about the house elves, I should have some time just before Christmas. I guess we could start then."

Harry agreed then decided that he'd better get back to Gryffindor tower before anyone caught him being out this late. He was about to leave when Trent grabbed his arm.

"I'll show you a little taste of what to expect."

Harry looked around and took in his surroundings. He was stunned to find himself back in the Gryffindor common room. Harry turned to Trent and stuttered "that…that's amazing, but won't it set off alarms or anything?"

"Do you hear anything? The house elves don't, so why should I? Besides, this way you won't get in trouble for being out at this time of night. Anyway, see you tomorrow."

With that, Trent vanished in a flash of orange light, leaving Harry alone in the common room. Harry trudged up to his dorm and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, despite the information Trent had given him swirling around inside his mind.