CHAPTER 16

(A/N: I have received a few reviews stating the basic idea that my story is similar to one called Power of Time. At first I thought it was just one event, but when it was for more than once, I decided to look up this story. What I found was a story that I admit is creepily similar in certain events. The Christmas chapter I posted recently is one of those. I apologize to those of you who are disappointed, and I especially apologize to the author of Power of Time, I did not copy it on purpose, in fact, I had not even heard of Power of Time until I was notified by my reviewers. I send my apologies out once more, as well as my thanks for those who alerted me of this, and I will try to make sure that my story (ies) no longer has this mistake, thank you. A.S.Leif)

After returning downstairs, Harry found Remus and Sirius awake. "Did you sleep okay?" Sirius asked.

"Great, did you?" They both nodded.

Rubbing the back of his neck uneasily, Remus asked something "Listen, Tallon, I wanted to drop something off at Hogwarts, but you're faster at teleporting than I am, so I was wondering if you could take me there—do you think that would be alright?"

Harry smiled. "That's great actually, I need to put the founders' gifts there."

"What?" Sirius asked.

So Harry explained to them about the picture frames he'd made, and how they would allow the founders to travel from The Hideaway frames to the Hogwarts ones, and travel throughout the castle as well.

"That's some serious magic, Tallon." Padfoot said.

"I know, I've been planning them for a long time is all." Harry replied.

As they ate breakfast, Harry told Sirius about the other things he'd done, all except his being an animagus. He and Moony had agreed to keep it a secret until the next full moon—which was in three days.

After the three of them cleaned up, Sirius went to take a nap and Moony and Tallon teleported to Hogwarts. They appeared in the Great Hall, but there were no students in it, only a few teachers; and even they look sleepy still.

Remus greeted them with a friendly smiled. "Just here to drop something off," he said, and looked around. "Where's Selena?"

Flitwick grinned. "She went to wake Severus."

At that moment, Selena came running into the hall, "Peeves!" she yelped, raising her arms.

Cackling, the poltergeist grabbed her forearms and pulled her into the air, then lowered her onto the ridge above the door. She put a finger to her lips as Snape came in, sopping wet and a scowl on his face; his robe, the only dry thing, had been put hastily over his pajamas. "Where is she?" he snapped.

Splikvin crouched like something observing its prey. With a wicked grin, she leapt off and tackled Snape. "Payback for yesterday," she teased as she sat on his back.

"Selena," Snape growled, pushing himself up. He tossed her off his back and grabbed at her. With a cackle, Splikvin turned into a thestral and jumped into the air.

"Come down here!" Snape ordered as she hovered out of his reach.

"I don't think she's planning to," Remus remarked.

Snape jerked his head in their direction and hastily buttoned his robe. "What are you doing here?" he growled.

"Just dropping a few things off." Moony replied. Snape looked suspiciously at them, then returned his attention to the thestral circling overhead.

Harry went over to McGonagall, "Professor, I know this is awkward to ask," he began, and uncovered Godric's portrait. "But he wanted his portrait to be put in Gryffindor Tower." McGonagall's jaw dropped as Godric appeared.

"Well hello there," he said cheerfully, "Are you the head of my house?" Mutely, she nodded. "I hope it's not too much trouble, but I'd like to be in the common room if possible."

She nodded again. "It's no—no trouble at all." She looked at Harry. "Any other surprises, Mr. Potter?"

Harry grinned and uncovered the other three, "They'd like to be in their house areas too."

McGonagall's eyes went as wide as saucers as the other three founders walked into their frames.

"True lion heart," Salazar muttered in Parsletongue.

"Salazar," Harry sighed, "You could be a bit nicer you know."

"I will put you up wherever you wish," McGonagall promised, masking her surprise. "Harry, I have a feeling the headmaster will want to ask you about them."

Harry stiffened. "He can ask, but I won't promise answers." She looked carefully at him, then nodded and levitated all four portraits before walking away.

After she left, Harry called Hedwig and gave her a spherical parcel, which was Draco's present. "Could you put this in the Slytherin common room?" he asked in a whisper, "It's not anything bad." He added at her look of reproach. She trilled a note or two and disappeared.

Remus was still watching Snape's attempts to get his twin down, so Harry told him he was leaving, then did so.

For two days Harry spent his time with Sirius and Remus. They practiced spells, both old and new, as well as quidditch moves, had snow fights, slept late, and talked. Finally, the night of the full moon arrived. Remus had a bottle of the Wolfsbane potion, which he'd gotten from Splikvin when he and Harry had gone to Hogwarts briefly, and went into his room to transform.

Sirius followed in his friend's direction, and looked back at Harry. "We'll see you later, okay?"

Harry smiled. "Alright." So Sirius entered the room and Harry went outside to wait. Remus knew the place to meet him. Sure enough, a werewolf and a black dog exited the house a few minutes later, heading for the forest.

Harry transformed into a cobra, then slithered after them. Moony would hear, but not Padfoot, and that was the important thing. Harry followed them until they stopped in a small clearing in the wood. There, Harry slithered onto a boulder and became a panther. Sirius' back was to him, and Moony was scratching his ear. Silently, Harry pounced on his godfather, pinning him to the ground.

Only when Remus rolled over while yipping his laughter did Sirius stop trying to frantically break free. "What's going on here?" Padfoot demanded.

Harry freed him, purring his own amusement. "Nothin' Padfoot." He said.

Sirius took a step back. "HARRY?"

"Nope," Moony said, "Tallon." Sirius tackled his friend in response while Harry laughed—this was going to be a fun night.

It took a few days for the moon to wane, so the three of them went out each night until it did. During the daytime of the next week, Harry spent with Remus and Sirius. Sometimes they would go outside, others they would stay indoors and talk, play chess, or just laze about. During evenings, Harry worked on his customized shield spell, spoke to the elements, make various potions, or read the book his mother had written. It was full of tales of ancient wizards and witches, some good, some bad, some true, others not. There was even a chapter on the legend of elementals, beings who could control the weather and such. Harry smiled when he read that, he couldn't control the elements, only talk with them.

Also during the evenings, Harry talked to the founders. They told him about what was going on at Hogwarts, how Dumbledore had reacted, and any other miscellaneous things they came up with. They had agreed to only retain human for at The Hideaway too.

Then came the day that Harry had to return to Hogwarts. He was sad to leave Sirius, but Remus had promised to visit Padfoot on the weekends; Harry was plotting to do the same. Before Harry left, Sirius hinted that he might see a brown-haired stranger during the next Hogsmede trip. Harry smiled and teleported to Gryffindor Tower around the time that the other students should have arrived.

After he put his trunk away in the boys' dormitory and pet Hedwig for a bit, Harry went to the common room, and found Godric's portrait hanging above the fireplace.

"Well hello Harry," the founder greeted.

"Hi Godric, is the connection spell doing alright?" Harry asked.

Godric nodded. "It's working great. I suppose I should tell you that Dumbledore isn't exactly a happy camper about you staying away for the holidays."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not exactly a happy camper about his trying to force me to stay."

"Well, I'm not announcing it to the public, neither are the others, but we're with you on that one."

"Thanks," Harry replied, "How have the others been doing?"

"Helga's happy as can be, same with Rowena. I haven't talked to Sal much, but I think he likes being in the dungeons again." They continued to talk until a few Gryffindors entered the common room, immediately they began to gawk at the new portrait—apparently they'd gone home for the holidays.

Since classes didn't start until the next day, and it was only a few hours after breakfast, Harry worked on his shield spell while sitting next to the lake.

For the next few days, Harry was aware that Dumbledore was watching him. Not with anger, not with annoyance, just watching. Waiting maybe? Harry often thought.

On the fourteenth of January, there was another quidditch match: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Man, it's been a while, Harry thought as he mounted his broom. Ron and Davies shook hands, the whistle blew, and they were in the air.

Harry watched for the snitch, while also keeping an eye on the rest of the team. He'd shared with Ron some of the tactics Godric had taught him, and Ron had then thought about them and changed them to suit the team better. Ginny, Jackie and Elise used an older move called 'Splinters', where they rapidly passed the ball back and forth in seemingly random directions, and soon scored the first goal.

Neville and Euan were doing a superb job. The Ravenclaw beaters were having a hard time keeping the bludgers away and also in getting them past the two Gryffindors. Harry did a few laps around the pitch, aware that Cho was following him. When Jackie scored another goal, Harry shot downwards in a Wronski Feint; Cho followed.

He heard Alex say that Ginny had scored yet another goal as a bludger came towards him. He executed a Sloth Grip Roll and continued to dive, Cho was still following. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Harry gently pulled his broom up—he shot towards the sky like a rocket. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cho jerk her own broom to the left to avoid crashing, but she was then hit by the oncoming bludger. Sorry about that, Harry thought as he continued to fly up, and then felt something go into his sleeve. He halted his broom and the snitch rolled out and into his hand. As the whistle blew, Alex announced the final score. "And Potter catches the snitch in his sleeve, ending the game at 230-30, to Gryffindor!"

The crowd cheered and Harry finally jerked out of his daze. "It was a complete accident!" Harry told Ron in the changing room.

The prefect grinned. "Keep up the accidents then!"

A few days after the quidditch match, DADA had an interesting event happen. They'd entered the classroom before Splikvin had, and were talking quietly with each other when Snape exited her office, a mischievous glint in his eyes—the Gyrffindors shuddered. After he left, Slikvin came through the hall door. "My apologies for being late," she told them, "I will be back in a moment." She went into her office, a shriek followed. Splikvin came out, holding a black kitten well away from her. "Anyone recognize this…thing?" She growled. The students rapidly shook their heads. She set the cat on her desk and picked up a note on her desk with a frown. The frown turned to a scowl as she read it. "One more moment," she said, and returned to her office. Through the slightly open door, they heard her light a fire in her fireplace. "SEVERUS!" she yelled, "WHY THE HECK DID YOU PUT A CAT IN MY OFFICE?"

A dark chuckle answered her. "A birthday present." Snape's voice replied, "Enjoy."

Splikvin re-entered the room, furiously she glared at the cat. The students barely kept in fits of laughter. "We are done with vampires, so we will move on to dueling again for today. Get with your partners." They did. She got up from her desk, after glaring at the purring kitten again, and looked at them. "You have been working together for a while now, since the beginning of the year. You've gotten used to each other, you know each other well enough to know your partner's strengths and their weaknesses. Today you will test that. Today you will not work with each other, nor will you work in partners. Today you will duel your partner." Several of the students looked concerned, others groaned. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Splikvin demanded, "Begin."

Harry stood opposite of Draco and they faced off. Harry knew he could have used Parsloz magic and ended it quicker, but he stuck to normal spells a wizard of his age was supposed to know. The easier fight also allowed Harry to observe everyone around him. They'd all gotten much better with the endless drills Splikvin had used, and the new spells and maneuvers she'd taught them gave the others confidence.

Once everyone else had begun to finish their own duels, Harry turned his attention fully on Draco. He was pretty good, better than anyone else in the class; in power and in speed. Using a stunner followed by a full-body bind, Harry was able to freeze him.

He picked up Draco's dropped wand then unfroze the Slytherin and returned it. "Not bad," Draco said, then added quieter, "You were holding back."

Harry gave the tiniest of shrugs. "So were you." Draco's mouth twitched in a small smirk and they began again.

Splikvin blew her whistle, calling the duels to a stop. "Alright, not too bad. Return to your seats." The desks appeared from the floor again. "Read chapter fifteen in your book. A summary on it is your homework, so tomorrow."

They took their seats once more and obeyed. Meanwhile, Splikvin stared moodily at the kitten on her desk, which was purring loudly and contentedly. "What the heck am I supposed to do with you?" she muttered, rubbing her temple. She looked up at her students, "Does anyone here have a cat?" A few people, Hermione included, raised their hands. "Any suggestions on what I should do with the thing?"

"Give it a name," a Hufflepuff said.

"And ideas?" Splikvin asked.

"Blackie!"

"Fuzz?"

"Claw."

"Midnight!"

"Shadow."

Then someone said jokingly, "How about Snape?" Professor Splikvin jerked her head up, she actually was considering it. Her face split into an evil grin. "Perhaps you're not too far off. I think its name will be Sevvie." The class roared with laughter, while 'Sevvie' purred. Splikvin created a dark green collar with a silver nametag and put it on the kitten; the name was official.

When Snape found out about the cat's name during lunch, everyone knew it—and it took all their willpower to not burst out laughing. Sevvie was often seen in the Defense and Potions classrooms, and trailing behind either Snape or Splikvin; it earned him the nickname: Sevvie the Slytherin Shadow.

Coming Up:

Azkaban

Valentines Day

The Founders Help Out

Then:

Quidditch and Classes