Chapter 5: Renovations, Classes, and Damn Dirty Slytherins

When Harry entered his new room, he was astonished by how large it was. It was easily bigger than the common room, and that didn't include the attached bathroom. He was taking a look around when he heard a slight pop behind him.

"Harry Potter Sir! You is back! Dobby knew you weren't hurt. Dobby knew that Harry Potter was too great of a wizard to be hurt by the bad Dark Wizard." The shrill voice of Dobby said.

Harry smiled slightly as he turned around. Dobby stopped in his tracks as he got a good look at the new Harry. His wide eyes swept upwards, to widen when they saw the pointed ears.

Harry smiled down at Dobby, as he began to speak in elvish. "Allou vera. Vesta linaly veros Dobby." I greet you. It is good to see you again Dobby.

Dobby started shaking, before dropping to the ground in a bow.

"Oh, the true masters have returned. I is so sorry for my rudeness master." Dobby said.

Harry gently walked towards the cowering house elf. He crouched down next to him, and lay his hand upon Dobby's shoulders.

"Astina vesto. Ti vath lesta vintaris." Calm yourself. You have nothing to be sorry for. Harry said gently.

"But, but, I is rude. I is not properly respectful." Dobby said, looking up at Harry with tearful eyes.

"Dobby, stop. Amongst humans you may be servants, but amongst your true people, you are welcome cousins. We are both elven, just different forms of elf. Your kind is welcome in our kingdoms. You are not treated as servants. In truth, my people have done yours a great injustice. We should not have abandoned so many of your kin when we retreated to our forest havens. We feel shame at what we allowed you to suffer through. If you wish, when I return to my home at Christmas, you would be most welcome to join me. You, and any who wish to accompany you, deserve to see your true home. You deserve the life you would have had if you had accompanied us when we left. On behalf of my kin, I beg your forgiveness for the misdeed we allowed to occur." Harry said solemnly.

Dobby looked up at him. "Is what you says true? Is we really cousins to the true ones? But sir, what about Hogwarts? Dobby does not want to abandon Mr. Dumbledore. He is needing Dobby in the kitchens."

"If you do not wish to journey to Falandais, I shall not force you. Know that if you ever wish to venture there, you are most welcome. It is your right." Harry said.

"Dobby will consider what you has said Harry Potter. Dobby has a message from Mr. Dumbledore though. He says that if you wishes to change this room in any ways, you is to feel more then welcome too. Dobby must return to the kitchens now. Goodbye Harry Potter. Dobby will see you again soon." Dobby said, as he left quickly.

Harry turned back to look at his room. He took it in for one more moment, before smiling again. It could definitely be improved.

He knelt down, laying his hands against the smooth marble floor. He pushed his magic out, spreading it through the marble, changing it. When he stood, golden, richly hued wood had replaced the cold marble. Next he looked up at the ceiling. It was bare. A quick wave of his hand, and it changed. It now bore the same enchantment as the ceiling of the great hall. Then he turned his attention to the stone pillars that stood in each of the four corners of the room. He knelt at the base of each in turn, and when he finished working his magic, the pillars had been replaced with living trees, their roots embedded in the floor below. Their branches swept out from the corners, and spread out into the room. The only thing that was left was the walls. With another quick wave of his hand, he enchanted them to show a forest. He further enchanted the walls to display passing wildlife, added a faint woodsy smell, as you would smell when deep in a forest, normal sounds heard within the forest, and even enchanted a small breeze to flow through the room. He even enchanted the fireplace so that when a fire was burning, it would appear to be a campfire, and the fireplace itself would blend in with the background. The effect was magnificent. If it wasn't for the wooden floors, and the furniture, he would believe he was resting within a forest haven.

He was relaxing on the floor, simply enjoying the sounds and smells of the forest when his enhanced hearing heard the sounds of feet approaching his door.

He stood, and turned to face the door just as Ron, Hermione and Ginny burst through it, grinding to a halt as they took in the very unusual room they found themselves in.

"You like?" Harry asked.

"Wow, Harry. This is magnificent. Did you do all this? I've never seen an enchantment to make illusions as authentic as these walls." Hermione said, as she approached one of the walls.

"Who said they were illusion?" Harry asked, and his point was further emphasized as they watched a deer run from one side of the room to the other, straight through the centre of the room.

"But, that's impossible. You can't make the walls connect with a real place. It can't be done! Unless this is some sort of elf magic?" Hermione asked in awe.

Harry laughed. "No, I was only joking. It's just a very complicated illusion." He said, as he waved his arm through a passing bird.

"This is bloody brilliant mate!" Said Ron, as he looked through the door into the bathroom. "Bloody hell! You turned your bath into a lake!"

"It's not a lake Ron. It's a pond. It's a difference of size. You see, lakes are very large, while ponds are fairly small." Harry said.

"Since when have you had such an sarcastic sense of humour? You seem to be making more jokes then before." Ginny asked.

"Ah, you see, that's a side effect of my training. You see, one of my trainers was, how shall I put it? A trifle off centre? Yes that works. Anyway, lets just say, after a month of hearing nothing but sarcasm and annoying jokes, you start to pick it up. I hope for your sake you never have to meet that elf. She would likely drive you insane within five minutes." said Harry.

"Hmm. Back to the reason we came up here-" Hermione began, but was interrupted by Ginny.

"HOW DARE YOU LEAVE US IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT MOB TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY ANNOYING QUESTIONS THEY ASKED?" Ginny yelled.

"Probably quite a few. That's why I had you three explain instead of me. So I didn't have to be pestered by a horde of Gryffindors." Harry said smirking. "Your not really angry at me, are you Ginny?" Harry asked, pouting, and making puppy dog eyes at her.

Ginny felt a tug on her heartstrings as he looked at her like that. She really didn't know why she had ever been angry with him anyway. It wasn't like he did anything really bad, he really did deserve to be forgiven- wait a minute!

"Don't you try that on me Harry Potter! You can't make me forgive you that easily!" Ginny said.

"Please Ginny?" Harry said, as he moved nearer to her. "Say you'll forgive me?" He said, as he stood directly before her, and lifted a hand to caress her cheek.

Ginny sighed. His eyes were locked on hers. She thought she would drown in those beautiful emerald eyes.

"Harry! What are you doing to my sister?" Ron cried.

Harry jumped back, trying to look innocent. "Nothing. What makes you think I was doing anything at all? I was just looking at her. Oh, look at the time, we really must get to bed, we have class tomorrow!"

With that he opened the door, and a suspicious looking Ron left the room, followed by a widely grinning Hermione.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, turning to the girl, who hadn't moved the slightest bit for the last minute.

"Oh, Harry! Right. Bedtime. Goodnight!" Ginny said, as she made her way out the door, still in a bit of a daze.

Harry chuckled as he gently shut the door behind her. This was going to be a very interesting year indeed.

Pagebreak-

Harry awoke the next morning at 5:00. He knew that the school would still be asleep for another two hours, so he knew that he would not be disturbed. He quickly dressed and made his way out to the Quidditch Pitch. Once there, he began his morning ritual.

He'd gone through this workout every day for the past month, and he was not going to let returning to Hogwarts make him weak. He started off with 20 laps around the pitch, followed by 1000 sit-ups and 1000 push-ups. Following this, he ran through a series of acrobatics designed to improve his agility. Then it got interesting. Conjuring illusionary opponents, he drew his katana. He spent the next 30 minutes repeatedly killing his opponents, practicing his skills. Then he spent another 30 minutes practicing with his twin shortswords, another 30 minutes with his daggers, and finished it off with 30 minutes training with his bow. By the end of this he was only beginning to feel tired.

He quickly dispelled his illusionary opponents, and returned his weapons to their places. He would carry a full arsenal of weapons with him at all times, though they would be concealed with elven magic. He had learnt early in his training that it was never wise to be caught be one of his teachers without some way to defend himself.

Before returning to the castle, he walked over to the edge of the forest, and gave a long whistle. Within seconds, the war unicorn he had arrived on burst through the foliage.

"Hello Rathi. Did you make contact?" Harry asked the unicorn.

"Indeed I did my friend." The war unicorn replied, and Harry understood its words perfectly, although to a human it would sound as mere neighing. "They have agreed. When we call upon them, they shall come to our aid."

"Excellent. I have a feeling we shall need all the allies we can get. I fear Voldemort will have little trouble countering the Elven Aura. In truth, it is only a viable option in battle against a foe who has never encountered our people before. Once they learn how it vanquishes all evil within a certain radius, it is not too difficult to counter. Still, if I am lucky, Voldemort will remain clueless, and I'll be able to take care of his next attack force with the same ease as the one yesterday." Harry said to the unicorn.

"Indeed. So tell me my friend. Have you had any luck with the red haired one you were thinking of so much on the journey here?" Rathi asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry glared at the unicorn. "Why is it that you are so persistent in this? It seems like every time we talk, you manage to bring up some mention of a female that you think I should be with."

"Because my friend. I, as the most experienced one here, know the true value of a mate." The unicorn responded, laughing somewhat.

"More experience my arse! For one, I know you only recently reached maturity. For another, I know for a fact that you spent most of my month in Falandais attempting to seduce that young filly. What was her name? Starburst? Starwind? Star-something." Harry said, with a smirk.

"Her name was Starlight, thank you very much. I'll have you know that she was the number one, that's number one, most sought after filly in our year group. And I won her. Me." Rathi responded.

"Only after using the whole 'I'm going away and I don't know if I'll ever come back' line on her! I can't believe she fell for that load of bull." Harry laughed.

"Well still. I'm more experienced, so I say, go after the redhead." Said the unicorn.

Harry sighed. "I think I will be the one in charge of my own love life. I have to get back up to the castle soon, so I better get going. Continue your patrols of the forest, if you can, make contact with anyone you feel would be appropriate. If something comes up, give me a telepathic shout, and I'll get out there as soon as I can. The same goes for me. If I need you, I'll call. Oh, and I have a feeling Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher I told you about, will want to have a look at you, so if you see him, feel free to approach him. You can trust him with your life."

The unicorn nodded, then turned and ran back into the forest. Harry shook his head, watching him disappear into the trees. That unicorn was too damn nosey.

Harry quickly made his way back up to Gryffindor Tower, carefully avoiding anyone who was walking the hallways. There was still thirty minutes before breakfast began, so he would have plenty of time to change into his school clothes, and take a quick shower. He'd decided to skip wearing the customary school robes. He wanted to wear something more comfortable, and easier to fight in. If anyone made a fuss, he'd just say that he had to wear clothes suitable to his race, and if that meant not wearing robes, so be it.

By the time Harry had finished getting ready, breakfast had already begun. He carefully arranged his long hair so that his scar was clearly visible, then checked to make sure all the concealment charms on his weapons were working properly. Then he made his way down to the great hall for breakfast.

By the time he made it down there, word of his identity had spread from the Gryffindors, and now the whole school was aware that the elven prince was none other than Harry Potter. As he walked into the Great Hall, nearly every eye was on him. When he didn't to anything very interesting, other than sitting down, about half of those watching him stopped, and turned their attention back to their food. That half was the male population of Hogwarts. The female population couldn't seem to tear the eyes from Harry. Perhaps it was because he was wearing a tight shirt. A very tight shirt. A shirt that very clearly showed of his muscled chest and arms.

Harry was starting to get more than a little uncomfortable with all the attention, so he decided to do something drastic.

Standing up again, he pulled Ginny out of her seat. "Ginny," he began, in a voice that carried easily to the other side of the great hall. "Would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

She didn't say anything, but he could see the joy in her eyes. She nodded.

"Great!" Harry said, then promptly sat back down, pulling Ginny back down with him.

A quick glance around the room confirmed that he was no longer the centre of attention. Now a large number of the girls were glaring daggers at Ginny's back.. She didn't seem to care.

"Thanks Gin. I'd planned to ask in a bit more private a location, but I figured I might as well get it over now. Plus, now everyone knows I belong to you." Harry said.

Ginny smiled at him. "Thanks Harry. Now what to do with my new possession?"

"I can think of a few things." Harry said, winking.

"HARRY!" Ron cried. "I may be willing to accept you going out with my little sister, but there are some things I don't want to hear."

"Hush Ron," Hermione said to her boyfriend. "I've heard worse things come from your mouth."

Ron blushed. Harry just laughed, and turned his attention to his plate.

Pagebreak-

Harry and Hermione went to their first class, which happened to be Potions. They were the only Gryffindors to have qualified to take 6th year potion. Harry wasn't very concerned about it. He may not have studied human magic or potions during the summer, but he did study elven potions, many of which were more complicated than human ones. He also had an excellent memory, so he knew he wasn't likely to have any trouble in this class.

Shortly after taking his seat, Professor Snape entered the classroom.

"The last two years of potions are by far the most difficult of your entire stay at Hogwarts. Some of you," and here he glared at Harry, "will almost certainly fail, however I am certain that others in this class will perform quite admirably." At this he looked at Draco Malfoy.

"The potion you will be brewing today is Veritiserum. The instructions are on the board. You may begin." Snape said, before entering his office and shutting the door.

"So Potty, looks like you found another way of attracting attention. Tell me, are those ears fake?" Malfoy drawled as soon as the door had shut.

"Shut up Malfoy. You don't want to anger me." Harry said coldly.

"I'm not afraid of you Potty." Draco sneered. "You'll die just like your idiot parents."

He didn't even have a chance to blink. Before anyone had seen him move, Harry was across the room, slamming Malfoy into the wall, and bringing the blade of one of his knives to Malfoy's throat.

Professor Snape, hearing a load THUD coming from his classroom, emerged from his office, and was shocked at what he saw.

"Potter! Release Malfoy immediately. I'll have you expelled for drawing a weapon on a fellow student." Snape said triumphantly.

Harry ignored him. "This piece of scum insulted a member of the royal family. For a non-elf, that is a crime punishable by death. I am merely deciding whether or not to execute the sentence. And you cannot have me expelled. I do not answer to you. You cannot influence any aspect of my life."

"Your elven laws do not apply here. This is Hogwarts! Not an elven kingdom." Snape said.

"There you are wrong. This foundations of this castle are that of the ancient elven citadel of Dalandrin. Hogwarts was built on those foundations. This castle answers to elven magic." Harry said.

"What?" Snape asked, shocked. "I don't believe you. This castle is not elvish. It was built by the founders."

"And one of the founders was an elf, and knew on what he was building the school. You desire proof?" Harry asked. "You shall have it."

With that, Harry placed his hands upon the nearby wall. It seemed to melt away, revealing a room beyond.

"This dungeon rests within the original foundations of the citadel. This room is an elven armory, see?" Harry said, as he walked in, summoning a light.

Glittering on the walls of the room were hundreds of weapons. Racks and racks of swords, bows, and armour spread out across the floor.

"I had planned to open this room in private, and return these weapons to Falandais at a convenient time. They must be removed immediately. They cannot remain here." With that, Harry threw out his arms, and golden light shone out of them, enveloping all the items within the room. In a flash, the weapons and armour that had sat in that room for thousands of years vanished.

"That is your proof Professor. If any should insult my parents in my hearing again, I may not be merciful. Anything not revolving around the direct education of the students of this school is my responsibility. The defenses and wards will no longer accept a human's control, now that an elf has entered their boundaries." Harry said.

Snape simply nodded, stunned, before turning and running as fast as he could towards the headmaster's office.

Harry walked back to his place, and started making his potion, ignoring the looks his classmates were giving him.

pagebreak-

Following the rather interesting potions class, Harry made a brief detour to fully explain things to the Headmaster. To say that Albus was shocked to discover that Hogwarts was built on the foundations of an elven citadel would be an understatement. However, he didn't make a large fuss about it, understanding that Harry understood elven matters far better than him. The only thing he asked was that Harry attempt to refrain from frightening his classmates, which Harry reluctantly agreed to.

Pagebreak-

The rest of Harry's classes past without incident, although he did seem to find them much easier than they had ever been before. At the end of his transfiguration class, his last class of the day, Professor McGonagall asked him to stay after class so she could talk to him about something.

"Yes professor? What is it you wanted to talk about?" Harry asked, after the rest of the students had left the room.

"You will be happy to hear that you have been allowed to play Quidditch again, and you have been selected as Quidditch Captain." McGonagall said, smiling slightly.

"Really? That's great!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes. Ms. Weasley has willingly given up her position as seeker, so that you can retake it. I believe she has her sights set on being a chaser. As you know, we have to replace our three chasers, as Ms. Johnson, Ms. Bell, and Ms. Spinnet graduated last year. I have taken the liberty of booking the pitch for tryouts on your behalf for this Saturday afternoon. Do try to choose a good team, won't you?" McGonagall said.

"Of course Professor. Thank you!" Harry said, as he rushed out of the room.

Pagebreak-

"Guess what Ron?" Harry said, as he sat down next to Ginny at dinner. "I've been made Quidditch captain!"

"Well who did you expect it to be? Me? Ya right! No Harry mate, it should be you. You have four years more experience than anyone else on the team." Ron said through a mouthful of peas.

"Congratulations Harry. I knew you'd get it." Hermione said.

"Ya good job Harry. You deserve it. You will pick me for chaser won't you?" Ginny asked. "You couldn't deny your oh so pretty girlfriend anything, could you?"

"Now Ginny, I have to be fair. I can tell you this though. From what I've seen of your flying, you stand a very good chance of being picked. Right Ron?" said Harry.

"Mhhhm." Ron tried to say, spilling peas all over the table.

Ginny giggled. "I suppose that's a yes?"

"Mhhhm." Ron said again, this time nodding his head vigorously.

"Good." Ginny said. "I really want to be a chaser this year."

"I have faith in you. Don't worry Gin, I'm sure you'll do great." Said Harry, before turning his attention to his own peas.

Pagebreak-

That evening, Harry gathered all of Gryffindor into the common room.

"Okay you lot. Listen up. I've been picked as Quidditch captain. This year, we need three new chasers. Tryouts are on Saturday if you want to try out. Thank you."

That being said, he sat down, and played a game of chess with Ron, before going to bed. He lost the game of course. Even elven skills can't help you if you suck at chess.

Pagebreak-

Draco was fuming as he sat in the Slytherin common room that night. How dare Potter get the best of him? He was a Malfoy! Still grumbling, he rose, and began writing a letter to his father.

Dear Father,

You'll never guess what I found out today...